Asteria was conceived so that we could delight in astrology and offer the fruits of our experience, gained over many decades of practice, free from the constraints of formal exams and a static syllabus. We aim to explore theory and practise in a creative and open way, working with students’ charts as well as examples from the big wide world.
Astrology can be approached as the practice of applied imagination. It has huge scope to enrich and illuminate our self-understanding and our sense of belonging and connectedness to all things.
Our desire is to make astrology accessible and encourage our students to make their own relationship to the subject. We acknowledge astrology’s rich and varied tradition and we offer experience-based guidance through the maze of different techniques and ideas, to emphasise its deep wisdom and its relevance to everyday life.
I was always drawn to astrology but didn’t formalise my training until the end of the 80’s. I have been lucky enough to consult, lecture and teach for over 30 years and can happily say I still feel it’s the best and most satisfying subject I’ve ever encountered. I tutor privately one to one and teach classes for the London School of Astrology and for Astrology University.
I have diplomas from both the Faculty of Astrological Studies and the LSA, but firmly believe that exam success is not the heart of being a trustworthy astrological guide.
I am also an independent celebrant, poet and professional vegan cook.
I have been an astrologer since gaining my Diploma at the Faculty of Astrological Studies in 2000. I am a former President, Summer School Organiser and Director of Studies at the Faculty, contributing extensively to its syllabus and founding its online classes programme. I also teach for Astrology University, Heaven & Earth Workshops, MISPA (Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology), Relationships & Astrology, and the Uranai Academy, and am the co-founder of The Centre for Astrology, Myth and Symbol. I hold the Practitioner’s Certificate in Horary from the School of Traditional Astrology. I also hold an MA in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred, and was a tutor for several years on the Sophia MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.
Asteria is the ancient Greek goddess of divination by the stars, associated with astrology and dream divination.
Her name means ‘of the stars’ or ‘the starry one’.
One of the mighty Titans, she was the daughter of Coeus (‘intelligence’) and Phoebe (‘bright shining’). Phoebe was associated by some with the Oracle at Delphi, of which she was said to be the original owner and which she gifted to her grandson Apollo. Asteria was also the mother of Hekate (goddess of witchcraft). Thus Asteria, the goddess of the stars, is linked in myth to the wisdom of the bright heavens and to the arts of divination and magic.
Desiring her, Zeus pursued Asteria and in order to escape his advances, she transformed herself into a bird and threw herself into the Aegean Sea, transforming as she did so into a wandering island. The island became known as Asteria (because it had fallen from heaven like a star) and also Ortygia (‘quail island’). When her sister Leto was looking for a place to give birth, Asteria gave her shelter, and Apollo and Artemis, deities of the Sun and Moon, were born. Apollo fixed the island in one place and it became the island of Delos, sacred to Apollo.