Astrological situation on Monday January 19 2009

Check elnu.com for daily horoscopes, news and comment.

The Moon in Scorpio makes a favourable, sixty-degree aspect to Mars in Capricorn. It's a day when most of us will have a lot of energy and we'll be able to accomplish more that expected. And provided we're careful, physical activity can be the prelude to good fortune - move our body, change our luck!

At 10.40 pm London time the Sun moves into Aquarius - which is 5.40 pm New York time, 2.40 pm Seattle time, tomorrow morning in Asia and Australasia. It's a time of year when people are focused on technology, and how it might be useful in the real world. And if we've got a bright idea then we should be making plans to bring it out into the open.

If it's your birthday then over the next twelve months your social life will be buzzing with activity and from a career point of view your can benefit from your friends.

Edgar Allen Poe, a Capricorn, was born two hundred years ago, on January 19 1809. Poe was famous for his gothic horror stories, and he had an obsession with death and dying.

Capricorns often have a macabre streak, and they understand the inevitability of death. And with the Sun making a close conjunction to Mercury, the planet of communication, Poe would have had no difficulty expressing himself. In his horoscope Mercury ruled the Eighth House of death, further describing what he wrote about.

Edgar Allen Poe had a Scorpio ascendant - in other words, he had Scorpio rising. He saw the world as a heavy place, and he perhaps dwelt on the negatives.

No-one's too sure how Edgar Allen Poe died, which is not something we can say about Capricorn singer Janis Joplin, born on January 19 1943. Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose.

The day before her death she visited a studio to listen to the instrumental track of the Nick Gravenites song Buried Alive in the Blues.

As devotees of Edgar Allen Poe will know, being buried alive is one of his most famous themes - for example, his stories The Cask of Amontillado and The Premature Burial.

Edgar Allen Poe died on October 7 1849, compared with Janis Joplin's October 4 1970.

Nick Gravenites was born on October 2 1938.

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Check elnu.com for daily horoscopes, news and comment. Here's something I wrote on the site a few days ago about Prince Harry...

Prince Harry has been in the news, for the wrong reasons. It has transpired that while undergoing officer training a few years back he used language that was racially derogatory. One could argue that he didn't mean his language to be racist, that the press are taking his words out of context, but that's not the point. Racist language is the thin end of the wedge, and Prince Harry should have been aware of his position and should have been setting a better example - after all, he's only three accidents away from the British throne.

One can still ask what was going through Harry's mind when he made his remarks. Wasn't he analysing the situation? Or thinking about the future? Or wondering what was appropriate behaviour for someone who was third in line to the throne? Surely a Virgo would know better?

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every Virgo is a careful person, who never puts a foot wrong. However we have to remember that Virgo is an Earth sign, and Harry is up to his neck in Earth. He has a Capricorn Ascendant, and Capricorn's an Earth sign; he also has Jupiter in this sign, and the Moon in Taurus, which is yet another Earth sign.

While the Earth signs can be sensible - the Queen, his grandmother, also has a Capricorn ascendant - they can, at times, be crude and two-dimensional. The Earth signs look at the surface details of their situation, and respond accordingly.

We should also bear in mind that Earth signs tend to be very traditional. 'The salt of the earth' can indeed be a good way of describing them, and they like things done according to the old ways - so not surprisingly they can be resistant to change. And as Harry grows older, I think tradition will become more and more important to him, and I doubt that he'll tolerate his past behaviour in his own children.

The strongest planet in Harry's Western horoscope is Venus, at eighteen degrees Libra. Libra is the sign of Venus' rulership, and this makes him likeable, and in social situations he knows how to relax and have fun. And when he's surrounded by his kind of people it's easy for him to lose himself - though at times he might be too trusting, and by going along with the crowd he could get himself into trouble.

In Harry's horoscope Venus, as well as being in Libra, is in the Ninth House - and in astrology the Ninth House is connected with adventure, with travelling and with foreign countries. And perhaps this suggests that Harry will be most fortunate when he's abroad. His tour of duty in Afghanistan, as an army officer, gave a lot of credit to himself and his family, and it contrasted with his playboy image, drinking his way through the watering holes of London.

Harry confirmed this view, when he was quoted in the British press as saying:

But I generally don't like England that much and, you know, it's nice to be away from all the press and the papers.

Venus often represents women, and in a male horoscope one looks to Venus as a way of pinpointing the characteristics of the ideal partner. Which brings us onto his girlfriend, Chelsy Davy. She has her Sun at twenty degrees Libra, within a couple of degrees of Harry's Venus. And she's a woman who comes from abroad, from Zimbabwe. So in some respects Chelsy Davy is a personification of his Venus, and it's not surprising that he's hanging out with her.

I'm not sure what the future holds for the relationship. On one hand their horoscopes indicate a powerful attraction, that could keep them together for a very long time. On the other hand, they're probably moving in different directions, and if I'm right, and Harry becomes increasingly traditional as he grows older, there could be problems.

Harry's Moon is in Taurus, in a sector of his horoscope that's very low profile. This Moon is in the same sign as the North Node of the Moon, which astrologers regard as being a point of destiny, an indicator of the direction that one's Karma wants to go. In previous incarnations Harry might have enjoyed the bright lights, and certainly in this incarnation he's had loads of publicity. But when he says he wants to be away from the press and the papers, that's not just the idle musings of a random celebrity. It's a cry from the heart, a statement, conscious or not, of how he sees his destiny.

There are many way in which Harry can use his Moon in Taurus, and I'm not going to list them all. However the first thing that came to my mind is agriculture. His father, Prince Charles, is known for his interest in farming, with particular emphasis on environment friendliness, and once Harry leaves the army he could do a lot worse than study agriculture and devote the rest of life to tending the land. He mightn't like the hard work, but at least he'd be going in the right direction.

One still has to consider the importance of being abroad. If Harry wasn't a Royal, he could emigrate, and find a sunnier and more agreeable clime to plough his trade. However because of his position he has responsibilities to the home country, and this probably includes charity work. Under these circumstances, he could be a gentleman farmer, but he could also get involved with a charity that helps people in the third world become agriculturally self-sufficient. That would give him plenty of opportunities for travel, in a way that his Karma and destiny get properly honoured.

Yet this is all a note for the future. Until 2025, when Harry will be forty, there'll be constant changes, and he won't get a true handle on what he's supposed to be doing. I would therefore advise him to think very carefully before rushing into marriage. His journey of self-discovery is still at an early stage!