Want lucky stars? Fly to Honolulu on your birthday
NO ONE could call me an irrational woman. For the past 30 years I have successfully negotiated the worlds of publishing and A-list celebrity and written 16 biographies. I have spent days interviewing Hollywood stars and rock gods. I have run my own business and flown all over the world.
And yet, now in my late 50s, I admit to what some people might call one major flaw in my otherwise entirely sane and no-nonsense approach to life: my unshakeable belief in astrology, which over the years has only grown stronger and deeper.
For me it began three decades ago, when my first book was showcased at the Frankfurt Book Fair and my publisher, out of the blue, gave me a volume on astrology to read on the way home. To my surprise, I found it fascinating and convincing and was hooked.
Of course, many people believe to some degree in their horoscopes. But my belief goes further than that, and has seen me flying across the world in pursuit of the perfect ‘ solar return’. This is a powerful — but little known — astrological idea that claims that where you are on your birthday determines your fate for the 12 months that follow.
Once a year, on your birthday, the Sun — which is the most important element in an astrological chart in determining your fate — is in the same position in the sky that it was when you were born.
Some astrologers believe that travelling on this date to a position on the earth which allows the angles of planets and the Sun to line up in an auspicious manner, gives good fortune and prosperity for the next 12 months.
For perfect results, you need to be there for 12 noon exactly — the time when the Sun reaches its zenith in the sky. If you like, it’s a kind of astrological rebirth — reconnecting you to the cosmic forces that have guided you since you entered the world.
Of course, it’s hopelessly complicated to work out, so you have to visit a professional astrologer to have your birthchart drawn every year to work out where you need to go.
That is why for the past ten years, I’ve stuck slavishly to the solar return chart which my astrologer John Townley has drawn up for me(at £130 a time), telling me where to go. As a result, I’ve spent my birthday in San Francisco, Honolulu, Germany, Jamaica, Russia and Somerset, all in the interests of insuring that my horoscope is one which tilts the forces of destiny in my favour. And yes, I think it works. Years in which I’ve stuck exactly to where I was supposed to be have seen me enjoy excellent finances, good health and flirtations with handsome men.
Conversely, missing a solar return can have devastating consequences. My worst moment was 11.45am on September 12, 2013, when it was all I could do not to jump out of my plane seat, storm the cockpit and demand that the pilot step on it and get me to Saint Petersburg on time. As we flew over Sweden at exactly midday, I had to face facts.
Because my BA flight left Heathrow late, there was no way I’d be there when I got my solar return. And yes, the subsequent year didn’t evolve for me felicitously.
SOuNd batty? Well, I am not alone in my faith in the stars. The Conservative MP for Bosworth, david Tredinnick, a member of the Parliamentary science and technology committee no less, is a firm believer, who recently declared that we should all use astrology to diagnose health issues.
‘I am absolutely convinced that those who look at the map of the sky for the day that they were born and receive some professional guidance will find out a lot about themselves, and it will make their lives easier,’ he says.
So what is in store for this coming year? Well, the astrological calculations have been done and the verdict is in. If I spend my next birthday in New York, with Jupiter, the Sun and the Moon in the 7th House, I am told there will be major developments on the relationship front.
And then, in 2016, I can look forward to marriage and happy ever after…
do I honestly believe this? My head tells me no, it’s all highly unlikely at this stage in my life. But my heart says yes — and so I dismiss my doubts yet again, and I book that flight for September.
At the very least I shall celebrate with a cocktail at the New York Plaza. And if it works out, well, it was all in the stars.
astrococktail.com