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Astrology

The Dragon’s Head

Imagine, having a clear picture delivered from your higher self of what you’re meant to accomplish during this lifetime, a picture that ordinary astrological techniques and ordinary astrologers cannot provide?

Background

Just like the Tropical zodiac (developed in ancient Greece) used by western astrologers and the Sidereal zodiac (older than the hills) used by eastern astrologers, the Draconic zodiac is a method of assigning the planets (and other important points) to one of the twelve zodiac signs.

  • The Sidereal zodiac lines the planets up against the fixed stars or constellations.
  • The Tropical zodiac (now 28 degrees out of sync with the Sidereal) is a moving target. It lines 0 degrees Aries up with the vernal equinox which, because of the earth’s wobble on its axis, shifts ever so slightly each year.

The Dragon Speaks

The cosmic dance of Rahu, the Dragon’s head and Ketu, the Dragon’s tail

The Draconic (Dragon) zodiac is a completely different kettle of fish. Although based on the tropical zodiac, it realigns all planetary placements in keeping with the north lunar node (the dragon’s head). It is the cosmic dance of the two lunar nodes which plots the predictable point at which the moon will cross and crisscross the ecliptic (or the apparent path of the sun through the sky). Traditionally, the lunar nodes are more spiritually inclined than the rest of the planets/points; the north lunar node heralds your future, your destiny, whilst the south lunar node symbolises your past, as well as what’s holding you back.

The upside of this is that whilst both the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs rely completely on the Sun’s movements, the Draconic captures the cyclical waltz between the Moon and the Sun. It is for this reason that the Draconic zodiac is believed to capture the essence of a soul (or higher self) incarnating into the earth plan as well as documenting the karmic strengths and weaknesses carrying on through multiple incarnations (rather like the Akashic Records).

If the natal chart erected using the Tropical zodiac fleshes out the personality or temperament of the incarnated individual, the chart erected using the draconic zodiac provides the skeletal framework. It’s the equivalent of having a snapshot of your higher self and its intended evolutionary goals before coming into this incarnation, highlighting important lessons intended to be learned this time around. 

Destiny Calls

Where the tropical natal chart and the draconic charts intersect, there’s much information to gain; in essence, this is destiny calling.

As you can see, the structure of the chart remains the same but the planets and angles will have changed sign. In my Draconic chart, my Tropical Sun has shifted from Libra to Sagittarius. Indeed, although using the traditional western Tropical zodiac, my chart is primarily air (6 planets), using the Draconic zodiac, it is primarily fire (6 planets). 

Tropical zodiac on the inside compared to Draconic zodiac on the outside ring.

To me this suggests that over many lifetimes, I’ve nurtured a fiery optimistic, spiritual, philosophical, and holistic approach. This has likely been accomplished through extensive travel as well as a good deal of higher education (Sagittarius). 

My natal Tropical Moon in Gemini loves learning, reading everything upon which I can lay my hands. Certainly, this would fuel a continuing need to develop my wisdom but Sagittarius implies more understanding than does Gemini, which is generally more interested in gathering information than doing much with it.

My Draconic Moon in Leo may help here because it comes more from the heart (Leo) than the head (Gemini). Leo brings natural authority and fierce sense of pride to the table, a personal pride that quite honestly, I’ve never actually felt before. Having my Draconic Mercury in Sagittarius will also help in applying what I learn across a broader board. It might also be the source of my active interest in creative writing, which I’ve long believed is not really explained by my natal chart.  

In my Tropical birth chart I have no fire and so I have never believed that my intuition (fire) was reliable. But then again, looking back over nearly six decades, my intuition never has let me down. I also have struggled keeping up faith in myself and in life in general, but all that fire in my Draconic chart suggests that perhaps I overdid this (i.e. held too high an opinion of myself) in prior lifetimes and so in this life, I needed to learn some humility.

This theme of humility is mirrored in the closest connection I’ve noted between the two charts – that of the Tropical Pluto sitting close to Draconic Jupiter. Together, these suggest a desire for power that might have got out of hand in past lives. There’s also plenty to suggest that Jupiter (king of the gods) is my spiritual guiding light (all that Sagittarius, which Jupiter rules) but in this life my Jupiter in Gemini is in detriment. Perhaps I need to find a new and less traditional way to express my urge for power?

Destiny is Answered

I’m still working with this new zodiac and am very excited about what it might add to my astrological coaching mix. Next, I’ll explore midpoints and synastry. There’s also a whole new way of thinking about transits and progressions. Watch this space.

Astrology

UK Tory Leadership Challenge

Some believe it’s smooth sailing for Boris Johnson in the 2019 Tory leadership challenge. But based upon his current Solar Return (SR) (2019/2020), I suggest that even if he should prevail, he will neither prove effective nor enjoy a comfortable ride.

This SR chart has no angular planets (i.e. planets conjunct the ‘cross of matter’). This suggests that during this period (birthday to birthday), Boris will not be able to make a significant impact in the world at large. 

The only planet making a tight Ptolemaic aspect to the angles (in this case the Ascendant/Descendant axis), is the Moon which suggests that Boris might be prone to ‘wearing his heart on his sleeve’. According to Ebertin, this combination does impact one’s personal relationship with others, but more likely than not, in a disingenuous (and disharmonious) way. . 

Trying to be all things to all people never wins the day

Boris Solar Return 2019/20

The most remarkable thing in this chart is its stellium of planets/energy in Capricorn in the 10th house – Moon, Pluto, Saturn, and the South Node. This is a very public place– and so may well suggest taking on the role of party leader but again, it’s not likely to go well for Boris.

According to Ebertin, the combination of Moon/Saturn/Nodal axis suggests isolation, and inhibitions in organisations and association. Feelings of loneliness and standing alone in life are indicated. Add Pluto to the mix and there’s a necessity to rely only on oneself.

Tied in with this stellium by opposition is Mars/Mercury in Cancer. This might add the ability to think and act strategically so as to further one’s plans. Equally, it might suggest rashness and the tendency to exaggerate not to mention quarrelling and fault-finding. Ebertin even suggests this combination can result in using the ideas of others for one’s own benefit.

A Tiger does not easily change his stripes

What you have seen in the past with Boris, is very likely what you’ll see in the future. It is also worth noting that in his natal chart, Boris not only has a high dose of Gemini but no Capricorn. His Saturn, natural ruler of Capricorn, is in Pisces where it does not do Capricorn things like accomplished leadership well.  

This suggests that the Capricorn energies reflected by that stellium in the SR return chart for 2019/2020 do not sit well with the basic temperament of Boris.  To succeed with Capricorn energy requires persistence, hard work and concentration, anathema to any Gemini.

Astrology

Writerly Promise

In considering whether or not to return to my long-abandoned writerly aspirations, I’ve done some research regarding the astrological indicators that statistically have proven best for successful novelists.

  • Key are Mercury and Venus, with Venus winning hands down for novelists. Her preferred zodiac sign is Taurus and her preferred location is on or close to the Ascendant. 
  • Mercury, a good indicator for journalists, does well in Capricorn and Aries and wants close contact with Jupiter and/or the Ascendant. 
  • Virgo and Gemini also seem to be important for successful writers like Agatha Christie and Stephen King. But there’s no statistical evidence (apparently) to support this.
  • A strong emphasis of 3rd house (communication) planets also helps with the ability to express oneself well; novelists in this category are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Margaret Michell. 

Where do I fit in?

Although there’s no apparent statistical evidence, Mercury in Libra (which I have) is great for artistic, poetic flair such as with Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. My stellium in Libra (Mercury/Saturn/Neptune) also has promise. Even though my Mercury and Venus are not forming an aspect with each other, they are in mutual reception (Venus in Virgo is in the sign ruled by Mercury and Venus rules Libra). That’s a huge help. Likewise, my Moon in the 12th house and Cancer rising denote a vivid and sensitive imagination. 

For luck in having my work published, I would want connections between Mercury and the 3rd house. Although I could use more, at least I do have with that mutual reception with Venus in Virgo ( 3rd house) and Mercury in Libra.

Pity, I don’t have any planets in my 9th house. But my Mercury is in reception with my Jupiter in Gemini, although such reception is not mutual. Finally, although I’ve no planets on my MC in Pisces, there is a connection (by rulership) with both Jupiter and Neptune (part of my Libran stellium).

Overall, there is promise for writing lovely and entertaining copy but certainly nothing suggesting that I’ll make a fortune as a novelist – but then again making money isn’t everything, is it?

Astrology

The Joker Runs Wild

This chart is set at Washington, DC for the Sun’s ingress into Cancer for 2019; the exact moment of the summer solstice. This should give clues as to the dynamics in play for the United States from then through the vernal equinox in September.

Other learned astrologers have suggested that by this point in time, the US might well be at war. Yet this chart shows none of that, at least not in the ordinary sense of a military operation. So what, in its stead, are we to expect?

Summary

Even if traditional military action is not in the cards, international diplomatic relations relating to finances and the American economy are headed either for ‘dreams come true’ or tragic consequences. It all depends on whether Trump, as head of the American nation, acts sensibly or naively in whatever situation(s) manifests.

Details

  • Venus (15 Gemini 22) is the most prominent planet in this chart, high in the sky at the midheaven and in close proximity with all the angles of this chart. This means that Venus has power to make things happen in the outer world – i.e. influencing actual events.
  • In the context of war, Venus represent victory. In the more generalised context of mundane astrology, it represents all that the American nation finds fashionable and fun as well as national resources and its financial institutions. 
  • This Venus is caught up in a tight T Square with Neptune and Jupiter. 
  • The current Neptune/Jupiter configuration is opportunistic – the ‘Dream Catcher’ aspect. Both these planets are strong in their signs of rulership and so, very beneficial in the hands of someone both sensible and willing to do some good-old-fashioned hard work. 
  • Yet because both Jupiter and Neptune share a taste for the boundless, they are also the signature of the dreamer/visionary expressing a foolhardy naivety. 
  • Tie this in with Venus and the dynamic is that of happy days for those who display common sense and are willing to work and not so happy days for those who don’t. 

Enter the chart of Donald Trump, the current American president. His Uranus  (radical individualism) at 17 Gemini 54 ties in with (and may set off) that T-Square.

  • What happens as the result would, in my opinion, be determined by whether Trump behaves either sensibly or in a foolhardy way in regards to whatever tensions this T Square represents in the international community. Areas of interest include national resources, financial institutions and of course, that which the American nation finds fashionable. 
  • I won’t try to second guess actual events – but we can say that because this T-Square sets off the 10th, 4th, and 7th houses in the ingress chart, that whatever happens (and something will definitely happen) it will impact the common people and their concept of ‘home’ (4th) , as well as foreign relations/agreements (7th) , and of course, the American president and federal government (10th).

Final thoughts

It’s worth noting that ingress Mars/Mercury (fighting words) conjuncts Trump’s natal Venus/Saturn (hard-heartedness). Add ingress Pluto (22 Capricorn 26) by opposition and you get separations caused by fanatical criticism and/or heavy attacks or assaults from others. Add ingress Saturn (so close to the ‘fated’ nodal access that it is scary), and we might expect tragedy as the result of all of the above.

Astrology

Happy Birthday JJ

The Solar Return (SR) chart gives a brief snapshot of the 12-month period birthday to birthday. Such predictive techniques are necessarily short and snappy and give you plenty of opportunity to fill in the details.

Summary

The year ahead will be warmly social. As long as you make adequate space for quality ‘me time’, then building and maintaining relationships of all sorts will prove highly useful.

The trick here is not to let others intrude too much, as with this energy they probably will do. Thoughtfully but aggressively you need to push back. Otherwise, stress and strain in your love life could lead to painful separations.

Details

  • Solar Return (SR) Venus is prominent in this chart, being close to the SR Ascendant and in the 1st house. Put this together with SR Venus in opposition with SR Jupiter in the 7th house, and you can expect to be extraordinarily social, with your relationships of all sorts being helpful, cheerful, and warm. 
  • As good as this sounds, however, if you’re not careful it could all get a bit much and so you’ll need to periodically take time out to be alone and ‘do your own thing’. You may not wish to hurt anyone’s feelings even when they intrude on your ‘me time’ but you need to consider all aspects of every situation and this year, put yourself first.
JJ Solar Return 2019/20
  • If you fail to do this, you open yourself up for potentially painful separations. The midpoint of your SR Saturn/Uranus is in Square (difficult) aspect to your Venus; this is a warning that stresses and tensions especially in your love life can and will take its toll.
  • Your SR Moon and Saturn are closely conjunct and in the same degree as the nodal axis. When it comes to your emotions, this brings a fated quality to the mix and with this influence there will be tendency to keep them under wraps. Whether this is good or bad is not the point. The key here is temperance – a little of anything goes a long way.
  • Not only is this true in keeping your emotions under control, but also in your desire to accomplish too much too quickly. The midpoint of your SR Mars/Pluto is Square (difficult) aspect to your SR Mercury. You’ll have lots going on and much of it very exciting, indeed (SR Mercury is in the SR 3rd house), but you still need to balance work with play. Again, a warning that overdoing it could lead to anxiety and nervous issues.  
  • Mental attitude is key to making this year work for you (SR Ascendant in Gemini and the ruler of Gemini, is Mercury). Your beliefs about life and your place in it are probably out-dated (SR Moon in the SR 9th house along with SR Saturn/Pluto/South Node). Although the next twelve months may prove demanding, you have a unique opportunity to re-evaluate your philosophy such that in the future, it works much better for you on all levels: spiritually, emotionally, and physically. 
  • Your beliefs about relationships regulate your demands and expectations of them and so you’re back full circle to a warm and cheerful social life one that will work well for you as long as you take enough time out to recharge your batteries. 
  • There’s an old saying that ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow’  – exchange Jack for Jill and take appropriate action accordingly.
Astrology

Happy Birthday Ms AS

The Solar Return (SR) chart gives a brief snapshot of the 12-month period birthday to birthday. Such predictive techniques are necessarily short and snappy and give you plenty of opportunity to fill in the details for yourself.

Summary

Now is the time to put yourself to the test – rally your talents and strengths and make yourself shine! Once you set out on this path, helpers will come along but remember not everyone who comes along is a helper.

Rely on yourself and your intuition. Beware of shared finances and think twice before taking on debt. In this respect, attention to detail pays off but beware of making yourself a nervous wreck.

Details

  • Solar Return (SR) Sun is very close to the SR Ascendant, bursting over the horizon and into the first house. The most important question that you will ask yourself this year is – ‘what will you accomplish for yourself?’
  • The first house is the place of self-discovery and with the SR Sun here, you need to explore and deploy your talents in such as way as to make yourself ‘shine’. It’s all about what it is that makes you uniquely you and that’s a fantastic opportunity.
  • The key to this is small steps at a time – pace yourself – you simply can’t accomplish this all overnight – and you don’t want to do either. This is a test of your own strength and self-sufficiency so no one is going to push you down this path of self-discovery. You’re going to have to do this on your own.
  • However, the good news is that once you start moving, helpers will appear by your side. This is just how the universe works. But there’s a trick to this. Because your SR Moon and SR Saturn are in the same degree as the nodal axis (18 Capricorn), you’ll be tested as to how good you are at discerning friends from foes.
  • Moon/Saturn contacts this close can be scary. Emotional isolation and strain are a potential reality. Always feeling as if you can depend only on yourself takes its toll. Yet there is work to be done and upon whom but yourself can you honestly depend upon? 
  • Tricky stuff but here, you do have an ace in your pocket. Your Moon/Saturn (and South Node) are in the SR 8th house, where you enjoy acute emotional awareness and significant psychological powers. With such a placement, intense realisation can and will give with to insights of subtle manipulations and power plays. Now the question becomes which side of this chess game are you on? 
  • In this respect, it is always incumbent on you to behave in adherence to the highest ethical standard. If you don’t, it won’t go well for you. On the other hand, this does not mean that you should let others push you around to your disadvantage. Be especially wary when it comes to debts and shared finances. Attention to detail pays off especially now and, oh yes, do keep an eye out for genuine mistakes. 
  • The midpoint of your SR Mars/Pluto is in square aspect to SR Mercury; avoid the temptation to get so wrapped up in this that you end up a nervous wreck. If you fall into that temptation, you won’t be thinking straight and that definitely gives others the upper hand. You’ll need to trust someone so choose wisely and carefully. And oh, yes, one more thing – this does not mean that those who have been on faithfully on your side in the past are, necessarily, still faithful now.

Solar Return Chart for Ms AS 2019/2020

Astrology

The name of the game is shame?

I don’t know about you, but I often worry about whether by taking poor decisions, I might be making myself bad karma. Mind you, I’m not even certain what karma is, much less how it might work but I’ve always been told that ‘what goes around does come around’ and for the most part, that seems to be true.

Yet, is comeuppance guaranteed? I mean, considering all that’s happening in the world of politics at the moment, I really do have to wonder. Might it be that some folks are so blessed that they can do whatever they want without consequence? 

Regardless, I opt for sensible guidelines and given that Saturn and Pluto are together dancing their jig in Capricorn, I’ll take my lead from them and so ‘shame’ will be the name of my ethical game.

Rather than thinking of shame as a punishment, as we are often wont to do, I figure shame keeps us from doing things that the person that we want to be ought not to do. In this context, shame is not a painful conclusion but a joyous opportunity.

For Buddhists, shame is the frontline defence against inappropriate actions. Such action not only produces negative karma (locking you into the painful cycle of rebirth) but also leads to difficult rebirths.

Even non-Buddhists find inappropriate actions to be trouble.  Folks tend to get annoyed when one steals, murders, and cheats.  Likewise, they shy away from those who frequently lose their temper and fail to honour their commitments.  Indeed, during the course of a single day, you are confronted with a whole host of activities that someone considers inappropriate. If you wished to comply with all of them, you might as well just stay home.

In reality, we cannot always abide by an external set of rules when deciding what we should or should not do.

Yet assuming that you do want to be ethical, then what standard might you use? I suggest using your own ‘sense of shame’.

Astrology

Sentimental Journey

Each and every month, the moon returns to the exact position it held at the moment of your birth. Factor in where you’re currently residing and you’ve got a Lunar Return (LR), or map of your emotional journey for the month.

Usually, the Lunar Return also points to actual events.

This month’s LR is two hours after the new moon suggesting that for me, a whole new emotional cycle is starting. My LR Moon aligns with my LR Sun, suggesting that at long last, my heart and head are working together. My LR Moon/Sun are high in the sky up in my 10th LR house (and close to the midheaven) suggesting this all manifests concretely – in full view – in my career. 

  • Virgo is on my LR Ascendant and in sync with my natal Venus/Mars conjunction in Virgo.
  • This suggests that this month’s emotional energy will compliment my personal values (i.e. that which I love) as well as how I go about achieving them.
  • Good news! I love Virgo’s discriminating abilities. Just what I need for effective implementation of my plans.
  • Even better, the ruler of my LR Ascendant in Virgo is Mercury and he’s strongly placed in Gemini (another sign he rules) high in the sky in my LR 10th house (career).
  • Lots of extravagant and exciting communication (LR Mercury opposes LR Jupiter) that makes me feel good and further my career goals.
  • LR Mercury also sits within one degree of my natal Jupiter: good luck with speaking engagements, blog posts, and my new e-book. Fantastic!

Theme for this month: in the limelight and feeling good about it in regards to communication about the things that I love!

To date, I can affirm that’s exactly what’s happening – I’ve joined my first networking group to promote my new astrological coaching endeavour and it was great! I’m also making huge head way with Linked-In connections, some of which look very promising. The first one-half of my new e-book is just now out for beta-testing.

Watch this space. This is experimental for a potential new offering in my astrological coaching practice. I’ll be looking for beta-testers soon for this so if you’re interested, give me a shout!

Astrology

The art of the mini-holiday

Monday is governed by the Moon and astrologically, the Moon is about emotions. It only makes sense that if we want Monday morning to go well as we’re returning back to work from the weekend, that we’ll need to pay closer attention to getting our emotions in balance.

Recent research suggests that we can do just that by treating our weekends like a mini-holiday or vacation. Even better, research suggests this can be accomplished by a change in mindset rather than by rushing off spending precious time and money on travel.

The idea is simply that you go into the weekend instructing yourself to treat it as a holiday rather than a ‘regular weekend’. This does not mean you completely neglect household chores but that you spend a little less time on them than usual. It also means that you’ll need to resist spending time catching up upon ‘work’ stuff that didn’t get finished earlier.

Stay in bed a little bit longer with your partner and eat a bit more, treating yourself to, say, a favourite breakfast. 

Mindset shifts such as these have a powerful effect.

Research shows that by slowing down and paying more attention to the particular activity at hand and the people sharing it with you, allows everyone to take more pleasure. Get creative; listen to your favourite music whilst running errands or sip a margarita whilst folding the laundry. Even if you can’t afford to take the entire weekend ‘off’ , you can still carve out a piece of the weekend to be fully in the moment, savouring a fun activity. 

Mind you, this approach is not for every weekend because if it were, then by becoming the new ‘regular weekend’, it would lose much of its therapeutic value. But when used judiciously, this simple reframing technique allows you to make more of your time off without a huge investment.

Astrology

Abuse of Power/ Pluto & Mars/ Virginia Woolf

Every astrological aspect tells a story about the relationship between the two (or more) planets involved. Each planet strives to fulfil its specific need and does this through its interaction with that other planet(s).

Background:

  • By far the tightest aspect in the natal chart of Virginia Woolf is Mars (27 Gemini 23’58’’) semi-sextile Pluto (27 Taurus 23’ 28’’).
  • It is 30 seconds of arc.
  • Although the semi-sextile is often considered a ‘minor’ aspect, when it is as tight as this, I would consider it important, very important indeed.

Mars signifies aggression and the survival instinct. We need to set boundaries and protect ourselves from predators. Pluto is about pure power; it is the active agent for cleansing and purification and because it is transpersonal in nature, it is extremely hard for any individual person to control this power. 

Synthesis:

Put Mars and Pluto together, and the result is the compulsion to use force to achieve objectives through whatever means; ruthlessness, brutality, and cruelty. Put Mars and Pluto together in a semi-sextile and the two energies work in harmony and so we might expect to find themes of the use of power in Woolf’s writing.

Even more, as I suspect, because of social constraints against power being actively used by women during Woolf’s lifetime (i.e. her ability to set boundaries and protect herself against predators was thwarted), we might expect her writing to contain hints of abuse of power, especially abuse of power by men against women.

Analysis:

Whilst answering a letter received from a (unidentified) gentleman asking for her opinion on how war might be prevented, in her essay, Three Guineas, Woolf launches into a historically rich vindictive questioning not only the sense of asking her such a question, for unlike the gentleman she had been denied access the education that would have allowed her to answer him, but also how such inequality had come about.

Whilst in full flow in answering the latter point, she quotes from Gray’s Ode : ‘what is grandeur, what is power? – what the bright reward we gain?’

Gain indeed; power is what people want and the writing of Woolf not only demonstrates this but she also deals with some of the ways and reasons it occurs.

For example, in her memoirs, Moments of Being, Woolf recalls how when just eighteen years of age and after a long evening of being dragged about London to a series of gala parties and strategically important social events, her step-brother had crept into her bedroom and ‘flung’ himself on her bed, taking her ‘in his arms’ as a ‘lover’. If by power we mean that one person possesses a sense of dominion over another, then certainly with such behaviour her step-brother (older and presumably wiser) had abused his power although what he had wished to gain through it, Woolf does not conjecture. That she thought it an abuse of power is clear enough however for the next few sentences note that his behaviour would not have been acceptable to the ‘old ladies’ of ‘Kensington and Belgravia’.

In her novel, To The Lighthouse, Woolf investigates the power struggle between a married couple, Mr and Mrs Ramsay – which through those memoirs Moments of Being, we learn are created in the likeness of her own parents. Whilst Mr Ramsay wanders about pondering great things like the philosopher David Hume ‘enormously fat’ and ‘stuck in a bog’, his wife sat charitably knitting stockings for needy children. In conjunction with reading Woolf’s memoirs, we can conclude that she believed that in essence Mrs Ramsay had died young feeding her husband’s constantly flagging vanity. Is this an abuse of power in the sense of exercising dominion over another? Perhaps not – but we do know that at least Mrs Ramsay took pleasure in her ‘bright reward’ when exercising her power by refusing to tell Mr Ramsay that he had been right that it would rain tomorrow, she knew she had ‘triumphed again’.

In that same novel, Woolf also touches on wider social issues of use/abuse of power when Mr Ramsay ponders on whether the progress of civilisation depends on ‘great men’. He concludes it does not because the ‘greater good’ does depend on the existence of a ‘slave class’ (like the liftman in the Tube). Whilst he himself finds this idea distasteful, he decides the best way to avoid dealing with it an upcoming lecture he is to present, is to ‘snub’ the ‘predominance’ of the arts – which only decorates human life and does not represent it. The reader cannot help but think such contemplation rather rich given the privilege Mr Ramsay himself enjoys with his summer house in the isles of Scotland complete with a bevy of servants and maids.

Unlike with her essays, in her fiction Woolf oddly refrains from abuse/abuse of narratorial/authorial power by pushing one view at the expense of another (as do many writers). Instead she maintains a gentle neutrality – presenting a story and letting it speak for itself – and at least in To The Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway the narratorial/authorial voice never intrudes has it does in, for example, EM Forster’s Howards End.

Even where we do hear the narratorial/authorial voice as for example in her novel, Orlando, both sides of the power struggles are evenly presented – not only does Orlando’s lover ‘Sasha the lost, Sasha the memory’ jilt him when he is a man (instead of the other way around), but as a woman Orlando sees both plusses and minuses of her new gender-based situation – although her new skirts are ‘plaguey’ around her heels, the stuff of which they are made is the ‘loveliest in the world’ as it shows off her skin to such ‘advantage’.

Conclusion:

In both her essays and fiction Woolf demonstrates that she is more than aware that power is what people want – Three Guineas deals extensively with this point in regards to how for so many generations men and the church have used the power of their money to deny women equal access to education. She deals with the sexual abuse perpetrated by step-brother in her memoirs and also the inevitable power battles inherent in a marriage. Interestingly unlike in her essays, in her fiction Woolf does not use her authorial voice to push an agenda, instead simply letting the story speak for itself.

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