crimsoncurrent | Entries tagged with 2026

Marks & Spencer Found Alicante Bouschet (often from Alentejo, Portugal; recent vintages like 2021/2022, ~£8–£10, 14% ABV) is a standout in their "Found" range, spotlighting lesser-known grapes. This 100% Alicante Bouschet red is one of the few teinturier varieties (with red flesh as well as skin), giving it intense color and bold flavor.Overall RatingsVivino: Around 3.8–4.0/5 (community notes highlight black fruit like cherry and cassis).
Expert praise: Frequently recommended in The Guardian, Decanter, Irish Times, and Good Housekeeping for value and character.

Key Review Highlights"Vivid, fruity red that tastes of dark cherries... great with duck" (The Guardian, 2021 vintage).

theguardian.com

"Delicious full-bodied red with rounded dark cassis" and "unusual... great value" (Irish Times).

irishtimes.com

Decanter: "Vibrant and lifted, boasting grippy tannins, dense blackberry and mulberry flavours and bright acidity. Has real character and chew."

decanter.com

Other notes: Perfumed with damson fruit, creamy, elegant (IWC 2022); intense and inky (Olive Magazine highly commended).

olivemagazine.com +1

M&S customers: "Nice and light with a great taste... will buy again."

marksandspencer.com

It's praised as an easy-drinking yet characterful bargain red—deeply colored, fruity (blackberry, plum, cherry), with soft tannins and good acidity. Pairs excellently with grilled meats, lamb, spicy veggies, or standalone. A step up in interest from basic supermarket reds, especially for the price.Here are some photos of the M&S Found Alicante Bouschet bottle (vintages vary slightly):irishtimes.com

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UK 1066 chart and Mandelson/Starmer disgrace/FALL of Labour

Dec 25, 2025 starts at 26°49'Leo and ends 7 years later on Dec 25, 2032 at 23'24 libra
on what degree is Feb 3rd, 2026

Final Answer
Feb 3, 2026 = 27°42′ Leo (MARS/SATURN)

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UK 1066 chart STARMER GETS REPRIEVE

Dec 25, 2025 starts at 26°49'Leo and ends 7 years later on Dec 25, 2032 at 23'24 libra
on what degree is Feb 11th, 2026

Final Answer
Feb 3, 2026 = 27°54′ Leo

what is the difference between pluto/vulcanos midpoint and zeus/vulcanos midpoint.....also how would both midpoints togetther at same time?

Thought for 52s

In Uranian astrology (Hamburg School, as developed by Alfred Witte in Rules for Planetary Pictures), midpoints like Pluto/Vulcanus and Zeus/Vulcanus are symmetrical planetary pictures combining a traditional planet (Pluto) or transneptunian point (Zeus) with Vulcanus, a hypothetical transneptunian representing immense power, might, brute force, intensity, and overwhelming energy.Pluto/Vulcanus MidpointThis symbolizes mighty changes or transformations that occur with great speed; rapid, forceful development or evolution; "hothouse" growth (intense but potentially unnatural or rushed).
Positive manifestations include powerful breakthroughs, profound shifts under pressure, or exerting great influence to drive change.
Negative or challenging sides involve unhealthy/rushed developments, overwhelming upheaval, or being subjected to intense external forces leading to disruption.Zeus/Vulcanus MidpointThis represents immense directed energy and power; mighty creation, leadership, or execution; powerful fires, combustion, machinery, military force, or explosive action.
Positive aspects feature great strength in directed efforts, successful leadership with overwhelming might, creative firepower, or achieving goals through intense focus and energy.
Negative sides include destructive explosions, wars, aggressive overuse of power, or violent eruptions (literal or figurative).Key DifferencePluto/Vulcanus centers on transformation and change amplified by Vulcanus's might—it's about profound metamorphosis, evolution, or destiny-altering shifts happening forcefully and quickly (Pluto's domain of depth, rebirth, and inevitability meets raw power).
Zeus/Vulcanus focuses on directed action and energy amplified by Vulcanus—it's about willful creation, leadership, fire/weapons/machines, or controlled (or uncontrolled) explosive force (Zeus's principle of aiming, procreation, and ignition meets raw power).
In short: Pluto/Vulcanus is transformative intensity (change-oriented), while Zeus/Vulcanus is kinetic intensity (action-oriented).Both Midpoints Active TogetherWhen both are triggered simultaneously (e.g., a personal point like Sun/Moon/Ascendant/MC falls on or aspects both midpoints, or transits activate them in a chart/dial), the energies combine for extremely potent, high-impact periods. This creates overwhelming power blending rapid transformation with directed forceful action—think explosive developments, mighty shifts driven by intense will/energy, or great power applied to both change and execution.
Positively, it signals tremendous capability for breakthrough achievements, leadership in crises, or forceful evolution/creation (e.g., major innovations or turning points with immense drive).
Negatively, it warns of destructive intensity: rushed upheavals with explosive or violent elements, overpowering conflicts/wars, or unhealthy forced changes (e.g., catastrophic events, power struggles with rapid consequences).
Overall, it's a rare, high-voltage configuration emphasizing supreme might in motion and metamorphosis—handle with awareness, as Vulcanus amplifies everything to extremes.These are drawn directly from Witte's system and related Uranian interpretations; exact experiences depend on the full chart context.

Examples of Pluto/Vulcanus in charts

Barry Goddard
6 January at 12:12
·
ZEITGEIST
It seems to me that 3 of the 4 major world powers - the US, China and Russia - are all aggressively taking care of their immediate spheres of influence, their 'backyards', while the 4th, Europe, stands by wringing its hands. It represents a return to realpolitik, and a breakdown of the post war UN agreement that one country mustn't invade another. This collective breakdown and assertion of individual power is one way we can read the upcoming Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries.

Meanwhile Pluto is finishing his square to the UN Sun - its goals - and Neptune is coming up to oppose the exact Venus-Neptune conjunction in Libra. The 7th House Sun and Venus in Libra both speak of international friendship and co-operation, and that is going to have to be interpreted in a new way.
Meanwhile Saturn and Neptune are about to make their final transit across the EU Angles, which are at the end of the mutable signs. Hence the current hand-wringing. Saturn-Neptune is asking the EU whether or not it still wishes to be a world power.

2. Predictive Techniques (Classic Hamburg School)
a. Solar Arc Directions

All factors (planets, points, and angles) are advanced by the same arc as the Sun has progressed since birth.

Sensitive points (midpoints, planetary pictures) activated by solar arc directions to natal positions often describe major life events.

Uranian astrologers place huge emphasis on exact midpoint pictures formed by these arcs (e.g., SA Sun = MC = Admetos/Kronos).

b. Transits to Midpoints

Rather than simple transits to planets, Uranian astrologers monitor transits (and progressions) to midpoints and planetary pictures.

Example: Transit Vulcanus = natal Mercury/Admetos might correspond to intense mental focus or stubborn intellectual work.

c. Solar Return & Directed Charts

Annual Solar Returns are read alongside the directed chart on the 90° dial.

Emphasis on angular hits (MC, Asc, Sun, Moon) and midpoint activation.

Events are timed when multiple contacts occur within a tight orb (often ≤ 1°).

d. Arcs of the MC (Meridian System)

Witte developed the Meridian System, a precise timing method based on the moving MC.

The MC is symbolically moved through degrees or minutes to identify when it “hits” significant natal or directed midpoints.

e. Planetary Pictures

A “planetary picture” is a structure like A = B/C, meaning planet A resonates with the midpoint of B and C.

Predictive interpretation often involves identifying when a current planet or directed arc forms a new planetary picture that matches natal or solar-arc configurations.

🌌 3. Modern Uranian Theory & Practice

Contemporary Uranian astrologers (e.g., Gary Christen, Martha Lang-Wescott, Arlene Nimark, and others) have refined and expanded Witte’s work.

a. Integration with Outer Planets & Asteroids

Modern Uranian astrologers include real bodies like Chiron, Pholus, Eris, etc.

The hypothetical planets are treated symbolically, as archetypal fields rather than literal bodies.

b. Psychological & Evolutionary Framing

Many modern practitioners blend Uranian midpoint structure with Jungian or evolutionary astrology — treating the eight Uranian points as deep unconscious forces rather than predictive triggers alone.

c. Computational Tools

Software like Solar Fire, Win*Star, and Nova Chartwheels allow 90° dial rotation and midpoint searches instantly.

This made Uranian predictive timing far more precise and accessible.

d. Refined Orbs and Precision

Uranian astrologers typically use tiny orbs:

1° for planets

0°30′ for midpoints

seconds of arc for rectification or exact event timing.

e. Modern Predictive Approach Summary
Technique Description Purpose

Solar Arc Directions Move all planets by Sun’s arc Long-term life events
Transits to Midpoints Trigger events when planets hit midpoint axes Timing & manifestation
90° Dial Work Shows symmetry & hidden hard aspects Structural insight
Planetary Pictures Symbolic combinations (e.g., Sun = Admetos/Vulcanus) Precise meaning synthesis
MC / ASC Directions Move angles for timing Day-level precision

🧠 Example

For instance, suppose someone has Mercury = Admetos/Vulcanus in their natal chart.
When a solar arc Sun or transiting Kronos activates that midpoint, one might expect:

Intense concentration, intellectual breakthrough, or writing under pressure (Mercury = Admetos/Vulcanus).

The timing would be verified using the dial, when the directed Sun or MC exactly contacts that structure.

🧩 4. Difference Between Hamburg

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Method (how this calendar was built)

Natal data used: 11 Feb 1958, 22:45 (10:45 pm), Manchester, England (you gave these).

Solar Arc background: Solar Arc ≈ the Sun’s progression since birth (roughly ~1° per year). For 2025 you’ll be ~67 years old, so Solar Arc ≈ +67° (this is why SA hits often line up with midlife themes). Solar Arc hits are treated as background — long-running themes.

Transits to natal midpoints & planetary pictures: I prioritized transits from outer bodies (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) and from Uranian hypothetical points (Vulcanus, Admetos, Kronos, etc.) to sensitive natal midpoints (Sun/Mercury, Sun/Pholus, Mercury/Admetos, etc.). These act as triggers for events.

Orbs & importance: For Uranian work I used pragmatic orbs: 0°–3° for slow points (Pholus, Chiron, Uranian points) and 0°–1°30′ for fast inner planets — you can tighten or widen those orbs depending on your practice.

Tools you can use to verify: Astro-Seek (midpoint and solar-arc calculators), Serennu (Uranian points and centaurs ephemeris), Astro.com/Swiss Ephemeris (for Swiss-standard positions and Hamburg points). See links I used: Astro-Seek midpoint & solar arc tools and Serennu ephemeris.
Astro Seek Horoscopes
+1

2) Combined Uranian predictive calendar (high-value activations, 2025–2026)

Below are selected, high-leverage events — the kinds of hits Uranian astrologers would flag first. Each entry shows: what is activating, when (window), how to read it, and what it might look like in life.

A. Solar Arc background for 2025 (major theme)

What: Solar Arc Sun ≈ +67° (year 2025) — that arc will be moving across a set of natal midpoints through 2025–2026.

Timing: ongoing across 2025; exact hits depend on natal midpoints.

Interpretation: a significant “visibility” year — SA Sun activates public status midpoints (Sun = MC, or Sun = Sun/Pholus, etc.). Expect more focus on legacy, reputation, and crystallizing long projects. If SA Sun contacts Pholus or Admetos midpoints, that’s when previously locked or compressed material opens or becomes public.

Practical: use solar-arc hits as the long thread; look to quicker transits to pinpoint when things occur.

B. Transit Pluto → natal Sun/Pholus midpoint (Deep restructuring / revelation)

Window: 2025 mid → 2026 (Pluto has been active in Aquarius/late Capricorn era; exact window needs ephemeris check).

What it means: Pluto transiting a Sun/Pholus midpoint (or Pluto forming a planetary picture with Sun = Pholus/…) is classic for deep transformation around identity and things that were “locked” or buried. This can bring slow, profound change — endings that lead to rebirth and uncovering of previously obscured material.

Possible expression: major career redefinition, exposure or release of something long-held, or letting go of a role. If you work with archives, language, or concentrated research, this can be a breakthrough.

C. Transiting Uranus → natal Mercury/Admetos (Sudden insights; breakthroughs in communication)

Window: late-2025 → 2026 (Uranus is active in the 2025–2026 timeframe — exact dates depend on orb).

Interpretation: Uranus to a Mercury/Admetos midpoint is an electric trigger: sudden, surprising communications, breakthroughs in understanding, or unexpected travel/contacts that change a thinking pattern. For Uranian practice this is a clear “outside shock triggers internal decoding” pattern.

Practical: expect sudden insight, flashes of unconventional thinking, or abrupt changes in correspondence. Good time for experimental writing or tech projects.

D. Transit Saturn → natal Mercury/Admetos or Mercury/Vulcanus (Focus, editing, constraints)

Window: 2025 → 2026 (depends on Saturn’s path and your natal Mercury degree).

Meaning: Saturn transiting Mercury-type midpoints usually brings concentration, editing, responsibility in communication. If Saturn touches Mercury/Admetos, it can feel like an enforced period of careful translation, compression, or slow analytic work. Productive for finishing long technical or scholarly projects.

Practical: deadlines, refinement, legal/contractual review, methodical work.

E. Solar Arc Mercury = natal Admetos (Mental focus hits)

Window: throughout 2025 (because SA ≈ +67°, SA Mercury will be roughly natal Mercury +67° — check exact).

Interpretation: When Solar Arc Mercury contacts Admetos (or Mercury = Admetos picture is activated), you get concentrated mental effort: translating, decoding, or working with compressed/secreted information. This is a Uranian “solve the puzzle” signature.

Practical: excellent for research, translation, or long editorial projects.

F. Transiting Jupiter → natal Sun/Vulcanus or Sun/Admetos (Opportunities to make private work public)

Window: episodic — Jupiter transits can create openings where hard-won concentrated efforts get visible or rewarded. Expect opportunities / invitations.

Practical: take advantage of openings to publish, submit proposals, or expand visibility.

G. Pholus (centaur) contact windows (cusp activity)

Why watch: Pholus often acts like a catalytic centaur — small causes produce big effects. You mentioned Pholus on the Aries cusp in 1799; for your chart, look for transits or solar arcs that place Pholus within ~3° of major natal angles or Sun/Mercury.

Window: intermittent across 2025–2026 depending on Pholus’ slow drift.

Effect: a small, seemingly minor event puts an old issue into motion; can be sudden release or catalytic transformation.

H. Practical 6-month checkpoints (how things may cluster)

Early 2025 (Jan–Apr): SA Sun & SA Mercury movement starts to prime midpoints. Expect flagged background themes: increased focus, slow clarifying events.

Mid 2025 (May–Aug): Outer-planet transits (Uranus/Pluto) produce triggers to Mercury/Admetos or Sun/Pholus midpoints — watch for sudden insights or deep developments.

Late 2025 (Sep–Dec): Saturn/Jupiter transits bring consolidation/opportunity — good time to finalize projects started earlier in the year.

Early 2026: Pluto/Uranus continued contacts — deeper structural outcomes from the seeds in 2025.

3) How to get precise, verifiable hits (exact degrees & times)

If you want every activation to the arc-minute (the usual Uranian professional standard), follow these steps (or tell me to run them and I’ll compute them for you):

Tools (recommended)

Astro-Seek — midpoint transits & solar-arc calculators (free, can include minor bodies).
Astro Seek Horoscopes
+1

Serennu — ephemeris that includes Uranian points, centaurs, TNOs — use for Vulcanus, Admetos, Pholus positions.
serennu.com

Astro.com / Swiss Ephemeris — for authoritative positions and Hamburg-point options.
Astrodienst

Exact recipe I’ll run (if you want me to calculate every hit now)

Generate your natal chart at the exact moment & place you gave. (Astro-Seek or Astro.com).

Produce a natal midpoint table (include Uranian points, Pholus, Chiron, major centaurs). Save these midpoints.

Create Solar Arc chart for 2025 and 2026 (Solar Arc = progressed Sun) and list SA positions for all planets/points. Identify SA hits to natal midpoints (exact date/time).

Run a Transit → Natal Midpoint search for 2025–2026 including classical outer planets and Uranian points (Vulcanus, Admetos, Kronos, Poseidon) and centaurs (Pholus), listing entry/exact/exit times for each hit. (Astro-Seek’s midpoint transit search can do this.)

Produce a sorted timeline and short interpretive notes for each exact hit.

If you want me to do that computation now I will — I’ll use Astro-Seek (midpoint/transit search) + Serennu (to confirm Uranian point longitudes) + Swiss Ephemeris / Astro.com conventions so results match professional Uranian practice. Say “Run exact calendar now” and I’ll produce a table of exact hits (dates, times, body → midpoint, orb, and short plain-English meaning).

Short practical takeaway (if you want to act now)

2025–2026 is a key period for concentrated work and possible breakthroughs for you. Treat 2025 as a background “visibility + concentrated work” year (Solar Arc Sun + Solar Arc Mercury themes).

Watch for sudden communications/insights (Uranus to Mercury/Admetos), slow consolidation (Saturn to Mercury), and deep structural change (Pluto to Sun/Pholus).

Actionable: pick one long project (research, book, translation, an archival or concentrated piece of work). Time your effort clusters around mid-2025 and late-2025 as likely windows of opportunity and trigger.

Do you want me to run the exact, minute-precision Combined Uranian calendar now (I’ll output a date-sorted table with exact degrees, orbs, and concise interpretations)? If yes, I’ll compute:

Solar Arc hits for 2025–2026 to your natal midpoints, and

Transit → natal midpoint hits for the same period (including Vulcanus, Admetos, Pholus, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter).

Say “Run exact calendar now” and I’ll produce the precise table.

This is the time of year when we step back from our focus on the daily transits to look at the longer term trends. What I’ve been focussed on in 2024 has been Sedna’s dive into Gemini (the AI boom) and Haumea’s dive into Scorpio (exploding fundamentalism), which has gone along with Pluto’s dive into Aquarius (collective consciousness change). The sign changes are very significant for the dwarf planets, and remember, Pluto is also a dwarf planet.

In 2025 everyone's talking about the Uranus ingress into Gemini, but what most astrologers are missing is that Sedna is right there at the start of Gemini, which means we're coming up to a Uranus Sedna conjunction. This transit is going to bring transcendent change to our lives over the next couple of years.

Uranus enters Gemini in July, and in September, Uranus and Sedna will be conjunct within 22 minutes as they both turn retrograde, so we’ll see the shape of the conjunction in the events in our lives at that time. The exact conjunction occurs in May 2026.

The World Awakening of Uranus conjunct Sedna

I predict that we are heading for a consciousness explosion, as the planet of networked ideas, Uranus, meets the planet of spiritual destiny, Sedna, in Gemini, the sign of personal consciousness. There is a huge soul growth potential with this transit, because Sedna represents what our soul really wants to do in this life.

Sedna was discovered in 2003, the same year that neural networks were developed. These are based on our brains and they enable AI's to learn from their experience, so Sedna rules AI. Sedna’s on-and-off dive into Gemini over the last couple of years has seen an explosion of AI, with the launch of ChatGPT and all the other new generative AIs.

For several years I have been predicting the AI boom that would happen when Sedna entered Gemini, and now it is undeniable. I also predict that because neural networks are based on our brains, AI will become conscious over time, and we might start seeing the early signs of this during the Uranus conjunction.

The challenge that AI is posing to us during Sedna's Gemini sojourn, is to let go of our old consciousness framework and transcend to a new understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. Can we learn to be humble enough to live alongside intelligences which are much smarter than us? And, as we give them all of our work (because we don't want to do it), we'll have to ask ourselves: Who am I, if I'm not the work that I do?

On a more spiritual level, this conjunction will give us the opportunity to be more intuitive (Uranus) with what our soul really wants to do in this life (Sedna). This will be stimulated by integrating AI into our lives, which will take work off our shoulders and give us time to do other more meaningful things.

If we think that our soul incarnates over a series of lifetimes and that it has an intention to grow through those experiences, then the Sedna placement in our chart tells us what that work is in this life. In that area of our lives, we transcended to a new holistic spiritual consciousness where we can allow love and harmony.

Transiting Sedna is talking about how our holistic spiritual consciousness, or soul consciousness, is developing. And we know that transiting Uranus brings new energy, surprises and adventure into our lives when we are open to it, and also upsets and unsettling experiences when we are not.

Sedna's always trying to get us onto the spiritual path, and, if we are unconscious of her energy, she sends us crises that force us to let go of our old consciousness framework and transcend to a new understanding of ourselves and the world we live in.

So we can see from the unconscious manifestations of both Uranus and Sedna, that if we are not sensitive and open to the transcendent change that is occurring in the world this year, we will experience unsettling crises which will push us to look at our lives in a more spiritual way.

As we develop spiritually, Sedna teaches us to keep our heart open in what we are increasingly realising is a sort of hell that we are currently living through. We are still very early in our consciousness development as a species, and we have to keep our heart open for our benefit and for everyone else’s benefit in this difficult phase.

To enable this, Sedna encourages us to nurture our sense of humor. Humor is a wonderful tool on the spiritual path, because it allows us to release baggage and lighten our load on our soul’s path of destiny. So the more open-hearted and light-hearted we can be this year with these transcendent changes, the better they will go.

At the spiritual level, Sedna motivates us to beat our drum and sing our song to life. As we step up to do the soul-based work that we are here to do, we move through a fated transcendence to a more transpersonal consciousness. This is the call to duty that the conjunction will bring.

So, the more we can embrace our spiritual destiny and joyfully do what our soul wants to do this year, the better everything will work. At the top level she brings us transcendent peace, and the ability to nurture abundance. When we’re in tune with our soul needs, our material needs manifest in our lives in each moment. It may not be what we want, but it is what we need. And, as we have the courage to embrace and nurture that, we open to the source of abundance in our lives.

The forces of change are strong in the world with this Uranus conjunct Sedna transit, and we need to be sensitive to both our soul needs and to the demands of the huge social change we are experiencing, so we can navigate this sacred time. The more conscious we can be of this process, the more we can transform it from a crisis, into an opportunity to allow love and harmony and nurture abundance.

Early Sedna Scholarship

And what better way to become conscious of the process than jumping into our Sedna course? This is running in June and July, just as the Uranus Sedna conjunction approaches it's closest point for the year. By studying Sedna in your chart you understand the soul value of the experiences you are having.

This is our flagship course and, to encourage you, I have a handful of Early Scholarships. This will be the only time these will be offered, so grab your opportunity to get the best deal on this course, and give yourself a structure and tools to process this world awakening so you can make the most of it.

Sedna Early Scholarship
Buy Now

And remember, this course has our new structure with a choice of two Zoom times, giving the British and Europeans a new morning option which is proving very popular. This new Zoom time also gives those in Singapore and Perth an afternoon option, and other Aussies & Kiwis an early evening option.

It also has our new Tutor support program which provides small group tutorials to help those students who need assistance to complete the assignments. The assignments are consciousness exercises, and now, wherever you are with astrology, our tutors can help you participate.

Join us if you can on Sedna and thanks for your work embracing these new aspects of consciousness.

Love and laughter

Alan

"Melissa’s teaching is both complimentary to Alan’s content and unique, as her effervescent personality shines a light for all to see the various aspects of the class in a cohesive manner. I would happily take another class with her."

Mary Anne Pitt, USA