“Postcards to the Future” Mercurial Musings – and Festive Greetings!

‘…As a human community

we are at a time of major epochal shift. A deadly

airborne virus upended our way of life in 2020. Major

cultural, political and environmental turbulence is

set to continue, radically altering the way we live on

planet Earth…’

(from P.S. Windows to the Future, the final essay in “Postcards to the Future” p 365)

As readers who have been following my blog in recent times can see, I have been continuing my Mercurial Musings (along with many other astrologers!), as our world situation becomes more turbulent and challenging with every month that passes: Pluto’s 2023/4 transition from Capricorn to Aquarius –which he enters on 23 March 2023 for the first time since the 1770s – is a major symbolic significator for the new world order slowly being born. No doubt I’ll be publishing a sequel to “Postcards…” before too long, at the rate I’m going! My major astrological interest these days is undoubtedly in the larger planetary cycles, which I have written about extensively in “Postcards…”, which brings 60 of my essays, articles and columns from 1995 to 2021 together. You can view the whole list HERE.

I’m writing this post – partly – for the time-honoured reason of tapping into the Festive Season market and offering my book – which has been wonderfully well reviewed, I’m happy to say! – as an ideal gift: as Juliet Sharman-Burke, psychotherapist, astrologer, tarot specialist, author and Administrator for The Centre for Psychological Astrology, said in her October 2021 review:

“Postcards to the Future” is the perfect book for the present time. Today so many people feel fragmented, too busy to concentrate on anything for long, overwhelmed and exhausted with the amount of information coming at them from the internet, the media and social network platforms and cannot face embarking a long complicated book which has to be read chapter by chapter to make any sense. “Postcards to the Future” offers a range of incredibly stimulating and wise bite-sized essays, articles, interviews and blogs covering all things astrological which can be dipped into by beginners and knowledgeable astrologers alike. There is literally something for everyone in Anne’s “ Mercurial Musings”. 

Credit for the above poster: Dawn Durrant

However, the other reason is to say a big Thank You to those of you who so generously reviewed, sold and bought “Postcards…” during this year just passing. I also want to extend thanks and welcome to the many new subscribers to my blog since the wonderful Michael Wright thoroughly re-habbed and streamlined it this autumn. About time too, after ‘Writing from the Twelfth House’s 15 years on the Net!

So – despite the harsh times our world is going through at so many levels at present, I hope you can find some happiness and inspiration both during this Festive Season and the year to come. And – I’d love it if you bought my book, recommended it, and if possible shared this post to spread the word. I’m already putting my next book together: a compendium of writings and research into The Moon’s Nodes in Action including my latest mini-study which appeared on Astrodienst last month. So – if you want to be kept up -to-date, folks, do sign up !!.

Happy Solstice!!

Mercury Retrograde in Gemini: more book surprises…

More lovely book PR surprises this week…

Sister-in-law Julie, visiting daughter Ciara in London, found time to drop by The Astrology Shop in Covent Garden, check out ‘Postcards…’, and say “Hello” to the Shop’s proprietor (and legend) Barry Street. Thanks all!!

And also, the latest lovely review of ‘Postcards to the Future’. Thanks so much, Armand!

Here it is:

(from Dr Armand Diaz, published Spring 2022 in the USA’s NCGR MemberLetter)

When was the last time you curled up in your favorite chair and opened up an astrology book that you knew was going to be informative, entertaining, and would really get you to think?

Pretty often, if you’ve been reading the books I’ve been reviewing in this and past editions of Memberletter. But Postcards to the Future offers something different, because it’s a collection of essays on a wide range of topics, from specifics like the cycles of the planets, to professional issues like ethics, all the way to the “Big” questions about astrology, life, the universe, and everything.

That’s a tall order, but Anne Whitaker is up to it, as she takes a heart-centered and thoughtful approach to the topics. The essays contained in this book were also written over time, so that they are the products of the author’s reflection and consideration. One outstanding characteristic of her writing, to me at least, is that Whitaker doesn’t come from one hundred percent within the realm of astrology. As much as she is an astrologer, and an accomplished one at that, and as much as she has extensive knowledge and experience, she comes across as curious about astrology, and that curiosity leads to an openness that is very refreshing. There’s no dogmatic insistence that she has the right answer, and no tacit understanding that the reader will agree with everything she says.

One of my favorite essays is on “The Art of Astrology: Healing, Wounding, Or Both?”, an extended discussion of how astrology helps, but also how it can wound. Encouraged by the report of a one-time client she had seen years ago, Whitaker asks her long-term students to write about their experiences with astrology. Typical of her style, the author assumes little going in, and is cautious in dealing with the (encouraging) results.

Science and astrology is always fertile ground for debate, and Whitaker doesn’t disappoint. After a brief introduction to the topic, she states – correctly – that “I know it’s not like me to rant.” Her first short essay in this section should be required reading for astrology students, not because it will help convince skeptics (it will not), but because astrologers themselves need to understand enough about why astrology can be valid while not fitting into the scientific-materialist paradigm.

There’s so much more. A section on the Moon. Mundane transits, like Saturn’s ingress into Aquarius. There’s a section on fate, and one on teaching. Throughout all the many topics, Anne Whitaker’s friendly, comforting, insightful style pervades, inviting discussion. She’s probably out on a walk in the lonely Scottish landscape, and you’re curled up in your favorite chair. Have some tea. And read this great astrology book.

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Anne Whitaker’s new book ‘Postcards to the Future: Mercurial Musings 1995-2021…’ is available everywhere on Amazon, here for Amazon UK , locally in Glasgow G20 at the lovely Opal Moon, in Glasgow G3 at The Yoga Extension, in London at The Astrology Shop and Watkins Books – and from The Wessex Astrologer

Anne is on Facebook at Anne Whitaker, Twitter @annewhitaker, Instagram @stargazerh12,  and on her website www.anne-whitaker.com

Julie and “Postcards…”

600 words ©Anne Whitaker/Armand Diaz 2022

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see About Page 

“Postcards to the Future” : bringing astrology to life…

Here is another lovely review of my latest book ‘ Postcards To The Future’ this time from Trish Marin of the Astrology Quarterly magazine, from the January/March 2022 Issue, Vol 86, No 4. 

“Postcards…”

Thank you, Trish!

“…Anne Whitaker’s mercurial musings weave through the last quarter century, unpicking some of the highlights of astrological patterns and mundane events. Postcards To The Future reveals the correspondences and synchronicities between our everyday lives and planetary movements in a convincing display of astrology of the moment. 

The book is an entertaining compendium of some of Anne’s prolific blog posts and articles published over the years by a wide variety of sources. Broad in scope, it whizzes authoritatively through planetary cycles, notable conjunctions, typical beginner’s questions, interview Q&A and correspondence, while scattering generous gems of astrological wisdom. 

As an astrology teacher and meticulous researcher, Anne provides clear explanations of some complex concepts presented in an engaging and memorable way. As she explains in the book, she was initially a sceptic, until her ‘encounter’, described here in humorous detail. Throughout, the astrology is brought to life with witty and amusing examples and stories from her own life experiences and those of her clients and students. Sprinkled with literary references and philosophical reflections it makes an enjoyable, illuminating read. 

I felt compelled to reach for the ephemeris and to look again at the Jupiter/Uranus conjunctions and the part they played in my own past adventures. Secondary progressions had always seemed a rather subtle, internal influence but I was prompted to re-examine their impact with some unexpected insights. 

Anne admits to being obsessed by Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and has written of her synastry with Dolly the Sheep, as Frankenstein’s real-life enactment. Furthermore, Mary Shelley has a twenty-first century counterpart who, like her, is sounding a siren for the future of the earth; Greta Thunberg, born nearly two hundred years later, carries her message forward. 

A mercurial book, suitable for both beginners and experienced astrologers, delivered in bite sized chunks it can be dipped into or savoured in larger portions. I highly recommend it to all our readers…” 

To read more five star reviews, click HERE

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‘Postcards to the Future: Mercurial Musings 1995-2021…’ is available everywhere on Amazon, here in UK for Amazon UK , locally in Glasgow G20 at the lovely Opal Moon, in London at The Astrology Shop and Watkins Books – and from The Wessex Astrologer,

‘Postcards…’

400 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2022

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House