ASTROLOGY STUDENT CONFERENCE 2012
Exploring the Planets
From Medieval, Mundane, Medical and Psychological Perspectives

Saturday 21st April & Sunday 22nd April 2012 10.30 a.m. – 5.45 p.m.

Hughes Parry Hall, University of London,
19–26 Cartwright Gardens, London WC1H 9EF


SATURDAY 21 APRIL 2012

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Registration

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. WENDY STACEY
Neptune in Pisces
Neptune re-enters its own sign of Pisces in February 2012 and will remain there until January 2026. Neptune in Pisces will bring new perspectives and challenges, and these will have a significant impact on what we believe and perceive and, ultimately, on how we live. This talk will look at the various ways in which the ingress and journey of Neptune through Pisces will affect us from a social and economic perspective, and we'll consider how this may relate to the current and future economic climate.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Coffee break

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. MIKE HARDING
Thinking and Feeling: The Play of Mercury and the Moon
Do our thoughts reflect our feelings, or do we feel what we think? In this hour we shall explore the fuzzy borders of emotions and intellect through the charts of writers, philosophers and psychologists whose business is to put into words their sense of life's delights and dramas. We shall also look at how language itself frames the way/s in which we experience our world, and see how the language of astrology allows us to make meaningful connections that otherwise remain unfelt and unspoken.

1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Lunch break

1:50 p.m. – 3:10 p.m. SUE TOMPKINS
As Above, So Below, As Within, So Without – Medical Astrology in Practice
Each planet is part of a line of interconnectedness, linking animals, plants, rocks, gases, chemicals and – in the human – mind and body. Understanding which parts of creation belong together potentially holds the key to curing the ills of both individuals and society. We are used to studying how the planets operate in psychological and mundane terms, but tend to overlook their allied physical manifestations. In this extended session, Sue will discuss the planets in terms of rulership over different parts of the body and how they manifest in terms of health, disease and, sometimes, cure.

3:10 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Coffee break

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. LIZ GREENE
Bad Boys in Love: Saturn and Chiron in Relationships
This talk will explore the surprising frequency of close synastry contacts involving Saturn and Chiron between those involved in close and passionate encounters as well as within family relationships, and the psychological dynamics involved in attractions that invoke discomfort and pain as well as self-discovery and self-expression. Although the astrological significators of love are usually assumed to be cross-aspects involving Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars, it seems that the relationships which generate the deepest and most enduring foundations and help to encourage the fulfilment of individual potential – as well as those which create the deepest hurt and disappointment – involve these 'bad boys' of the celestial pantheon.

4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. FRANK CLIFFORD
Jupiter: It's Too Much – But is it Enough?
Jupiter reveals how and where we're blessed – so much so that we can inspire others with its message and give freely and generously of this gift. But can Jupiter be too much of a good thing? In this talk, Frank will be looking at the charts of people with prominent Jupiter placements to gauge its wide range of expression in temperament, behaviour and interest. From the evangelist and guru to the confidence trickster, from the philanthropist to the demanding diva, we'll examine the various exemplary and sinister sides to the Greater Benefic.

6:00 p.m. Travel to restaurant for 6.30pm dinner at Anacapri, 10 Dorset Street, London W1U 6QR, 020 7935 6441

Includes a three-course Italian dinner and coffee (travel and beverages not included). Details of the menu and directions to the restaurant will be given on the day (off Baker Street, 5-8 mins walk from Baker Street underground).

SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2012

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Registration

10:30 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. RICHARD SWATTON
The Outer Planets and the Astrology of Illumination
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto 'promise' to bring us into a relationship with something beyond individuality and, hopefully, towards a greater understanding of the meaning of life. Whether these experiences lead to a breakthrough or a breakdown, a true baptism or a sense of drowning, an increase or a loss of depth, is dependent on one essential factor: the degree of consciousness we have. Focusing on the outer planets in the charts of those who have experienced such profound awakenings, we shall explore the theme of radical changes of consciousness.

11:40 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Coffee break

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. FAYE COSSAR
Vocational Love and Arousal: the Sun, Venus and Mars
Imagine what it would be like to wake up each morning wanting to go to work. We can and should be aroused by our job. A horoscope can help define what we love to do and it can pinpoint our calling. As astrologers we can encourage others to do the same. In this talk, Faye will describe three parts of her new book on creating a vocational profile by showing how to define vocation, talent and style using the Sun, Venus and Mars.

Her recently published book is Using Astrology to Create a Vocational Profile (2012). Faye's website is at www.fayecossar.com and her business astrology site is at www.juxtaposition.nl

1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Lunch break

1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Two-Hour Afternoon Workshop Option (£30)

2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. A film by JOHN GREEN
From Stardust to Starbucks
Beyond the boundaries of Saturn lie the outer planets of Uranus and Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto. Gracefully moving in their slow orbits around the Sun, hidden from the naked eye, they mark time for the collective, shifting us into new and different generations, dreams and ideas. This new film by John Green will look at what the movements of these outer planets mean for us here on Earth.

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
CHART INTERPRETATION FORUM
This is a chance to have a part of your own chart analysed by the speakers and the audience. Please submit your chart to Frank or Wendy either on Saturday or some time on Sunday morning, noting the area of your horoscope that you'd like examined.

3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Coffee break

4:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. BERNADETTE BRADY
Old Mesopotamian Sky Stories and Your Moment of Birth
On the day you were born there was a 'sky story', a personal as well as collective sky narrative. This story weaves into your horoscope, informing, adding images and inserting ancient sky stories into your contemporary life. This is not new astrology, just forgotten astrology – astrology at its genesis. This lecture shares some of these stories, stories that were dismissed by the Greeks but which nevertheless run through your life. Step back two and a half thousand years to the beginning of astrology…