Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Hi Jim,
I am a bit lost with finding a destination to go to for mate's upcoming SSR.
Every time I think I have found the ideal spot, it seems a malefic planet is spoiling the party.
The Moon-Venus line is from Ireland alongside Portugal's coast going towards Africa and off the coast, not ideal imo.
The Jupiter line in England is joined by Pluto and Manchester brings the natal Neptune to the fore.
We can travel further away however close to home would be good too.
Venus also slices through Genoa in Italy and as we have been there a while ago we look for something else to explore.
Would you have a look if England would be alright?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Flo

dob: May 14 1952 2:24PM Amsterdam Netherlands 52N21 4E52

Taking a look now...

Just look at the two rings on a 90° dial as a prelim, that Moon-Venus 14' square would be really sweet to grab except it does highlight Pluto. A tactic to get away from that is to put Moon exactly on an angle where the mundane displacement knocks Pluto a bit farther away. (He has SSR Moon conjunct natal Pluto regardless, so it's not like we're going to evade anything about it. We probably don't want to maximize it by putting it precisely on an angle, though.)

Uranus' transit conjunct his Sun is also eye-catching. We want to stay away from Mars to his Saturn and Uranus. - This is all in addition to the general tactic of grab the benefics and evade the malefics.

You've probably seen all of these things already. I'm just warming up. I'll look more carefully.

Did you consider near Edinburgh? For the city exactly, transiting Jupiter < 2° from MC with natal Uranus and Pluto exactly, so life won't be ordinary, but the tone is very positive. Moon aspects Venus 14' and natal Pluto 46' so you get Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and two Plutos.

I don't mind Pluto, though I also set a goal of playing up the Moon-Venus if possible without necessarily maximizing Pluto along the way.

The complication is that natal Pluto is square transiting Jupiter within minutes, so any longitude that maximizes Jupiter will also bring in natal Pluto. Bristol, for example, is first glance seems better (and warmer <g>), with transiting Jupiter 8' from IC, but of course natal Pluto about as close. It also brings Pluto conjunct natal Moon (< 3° mundo) into the foreground, which makes it double (bidirectional) Moon-Pluto. If you're concerned about Moon-Pluto stuff, it's not a great idea. (The overall tone of the chart isn't quite as upbeat.)

Belfast grabs the Sun-Uranus. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not Venus-Jupiter dominant but Uranus is a benefic and the whole should be refreshing, renewing, and terribly interesting for him. It gets Sun-Uranus in several ways, since his natal Sun-Uranus rotate to a paran on the angles, too. It looks like this (mundoscope) in addition to the 0°14' Moon-Venus:

26°16' H3 - t Uranus
29°08' H6 - r Uranus
0°58' H4 - t/r Sun

Solar Moon is on an angle (EP-a 1°10') but t Venus and r Pluto are not.

Dublin actually brings all this closer overall, though the individual natal angularities aren't as tight:

27°31' H3 - t Uranus
28°08' H3 - r Uranus
1°55' H4 - t/r Sun

Totally stay away from western Europe (as if that weren't obvious already). Mars through Moscow and Saturn through Kiyv... well, I don't need to say more. Scandinavia is as bad with all three malefics square angles through much of Norway and Sweden.

I do like that band of SSR Sun and three benefics squaring angles from Italy, Austria, Chech, western Poland. The southern part of that keeps you farther from the Saturn line that starts to cross them in Poland. Looking to see what the natal planets do:

OK, I have my recommendation. I know you said you've seen Genoa, and maybe you've seen more of Italy. Nonetheless, by best astrological recommendation is that you see more of it. The band across central Italy has no adversity. Jupiter is within 1° of Nadir for Rome, and it conjoins natal Sun on that angle. You get very close transiting Moon and Jupiter and natal Sun and Pluto (Pluto the weakest, moderate overall). The location can be fine-tuned. Prugia is similar (less exact), which I picked just to see how those arcing benefics work reaching northeast across the central country. Moving inland to Firenze shifts the emphasis to Uranus and drops the Jupiter, so you probably don't want to wander in that direction. South to Latina has the Jupiter even closer but loses the angularity of Sun (so loses the benefit of the Sun-Jupiter). (On the east coast, San Benedetto does much the same.) Having both luminaries strongly aspecting benefics - Sun conjunct Jupiter and Moon square Venus - is a great, so I don't think we should avoid it.

Terni is astrologically quite excellent in this regard. On the opposite side, Rimini is too far north, loses the benefics though there is nothing negative and the luminaries shine.

So yes... I think my suggestion would be Terni. See Assisi. Try the high minerality wines of Umbria then head north for a few days enjoying the phenomenal food and wines in Emilia-Romagna (the best food-wine natural pairings I know from the whole of Italy).

Dear Jim,
Many many thanks for your advice.
It was spot on.
I thoroughly read your explanation and my mate got very excited about your suggestion of Terni.
Actually I was also considering that area as an option to England. I had many reservations about England and am glad you confirmed that. Italy is way better. Coincidently a friend of ours runs a yoga Tararetreat center in a beautiful surroundings near Perugia. Thus we now have a fantastic chance to visit her. Regards, Flo

Fantastic. Enjoy!

Isn't it interesting how the planets seem to drive us toward a particular place? I reread what I read above and it was almost as if you were being herded toward that location.