For my Cypriot readers: A Venus-Neptune theatre recommendation

This isn't really an astrology-heavy offering, other than to mention that my Venus-Neptune trine was merrily zinging tonight because...

(... and this is the point of this post...)

... this evening I saw a wonderful, original Greek-language work by the extremely talented director Magdalena Zira, entitled Metamorphosis: a seven-actor ensemble piece created by Zira's original translation of Ovid's eponymous poetry, and performed at the Cyprus Theatre Organisation's (CTO's) Experimental Stage in Agios Andreas, Nicosia.

Usually I whinge and complain about the dearth of quality theatre in Cyprus, but this evening, my passion for the performing arts was well-sated. Indeed, I was very proud that the show was having its world premier in my home-town.

The set-design was beautiful, the ivory costumes stylised and striking, the young cast lithe and confident - having obviously benefitted from many hours of rehearsal under a sure directorial hand.

As for the material, the tales enacted are stories of transformation as the title suggests.

Yet what I found fascinating and timeless about the unifying theme was not so much the physical metamorphoses imaginatively brought to life by Zira and her team (here kudos also to the lighting designer and composer of the original score), but actually the protean, ever-in-flux and ultimately - often tragically - unstable nature of love itself.

Naturally, such instability exploited to the max by the capricious deities of the Greek pantheon who grace the stage much of the time.

Hence, if you enjoy theatre and have ever been provoked, moved or even simply entertained by classical Greek mythology, you are in for an utter treat.

I would have loved to have posted a link to rehearsal stills, but was mysteriously unable to find any (bar one tiny one) on CTO's website.

So, instead, I settled for a cropped version of John Williams Waterhouse's Echo and Narcissus which you can see above, at the start of this post.

(Having said that, I almost went for the more famous painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, which, if you're curious, can be found here.)

I repeat once again: for theatre-buff Nicosians and Cypriot readers in general... this show is not to be missed. As good as almost any (actually better) as I've seen Off-Broadway in dear old New York City.

More information about Metamorphosis' performance times and dates, (in Greek only) may be found here.



The image above was taken from this site.

Looking Ahead: Unlocking the Potential of Saturn-Pluto (and Pluto-Venus)

As a way of distracting myself from the ongoing sadness of the break-up, I'm looking ahead to transiting Saturn's entry into my natal second house as of this October, where natal Pluto awaits for the inevitable conjunction.

You always sense the changing of the guard astrologically before it happens. Especially with the transits of Saturn. Whatever is the issue that will be at the forefront with its ingress into a new sign is already 'in the air' by the time it's finishing up its passage in the sign before.

Saturn is almost done with my Virgo first and I feel like I'm 100 years old. I'm also even skinnier than I was before and wrinklier, too. Which is a rather odd combo, since I'm still considered youthful-looking (despite the advanced age of 34) so now I look like a really young-looking old guy. Weird.

But for a long time now, and growing in tremendous urgency over the last year, has been the issue of income. I'm tired of my hitherto stop-start earnings. I take most of the responsibility for this in that I never wanted a mainstream 9-5 job. In my defence though, my educational background is so varied (and arty) that I don't really fit a mainstream job. Quite apart from which, in Cyprus, the media jobs in the English language (since my English is stronger than my Greek) are few and far between.

However, mostly, I blame myself. If I wanted the security and money badly enough, I'd have sucked up the boredom in what was available and got on with it. That would have been, my natal retrograde Saturn in Cancer reminds me, the mature thing to do.

Now, I'm determined to unlock the doors of abundance in employment and - transiting Jupiter in my Sixth - to do so in a way that is meaningful to me. I am determined to start my shamanic training this August, but before that happens, I'm determined to make the most of my grab-bag of skills to become a truly independent freelancer.

There is another, far more major reason for my reticence to take on a mainstream job in conservative Cyprus, which, for reasons of privacy, I never mention on this blog. One day, I hope that obstacle and its power to make me feel like a freak, to be gone from my life. And perhaps one day, I'll feel brave enough to talk about it openly.

But the fact remains, I'm still more comfortable setting my own hours and working one-on-one with people in a creative/spiritual/healing way. You'd think astrology as a fulltime career would be the answer. But even the best astrologers among us attest to how the profession is not a get-rich-quick field. And with natal Pluto in my second opposite natal Venus in my eighth, I feel there is a much greater store of abundance than I have experienced so far, available to me. Of course, both Pluto and Venus are squared by natal Saturn, so there is huge fear involved with tapping into the power (and wealth) of that Pluto-Venus dynamic.

But I'm determined to heal myself of that fear and start making money. Money will mean more freedom, independence, self-sufficiency, confidence AND flow of energy in other ways. Movement in my life which has been marked by either periods of incredible frenzy and others of seemingly unending stagnancy.

Of course, like many, I tend to 'mythologise' my life. It's just an ordinary life in many ways, and I've been incredibly privileged.

But making decent money on my own terms... that will be part of the new chapter that is now beginning. I hope I can be of some service/use to others. I hope I can unlock my creativity in tangible form. I really, really hope I can slay some of the demons that have haunted (and tormented) me for so long.

Money. Transformation of potential (and values - here's hoping it includes a new self-worth). Re-structuring of self-sufficiency and plenty. Saturn bearing down on natal Pluto in the Second. Abundance.





The image above was taken from this site.