And now we are 34!

I looked at our Progressions and Transits, but couldn’t see anything significant, so I’ll have to waffle on about something else instead.

First some sad news. As most of you know, Jacqui Calder had her severalth and last argument with cancer, and sadly she died early in the year. Some of us here tonight attended the funeral, so you will know that it was a well-attended ceremony. We are having a collection tonight for a cancer charity.

Also, I’ve discovered that Allan Thompson died last year. He hadn’t been well for some time and could no longer manage the stairs here. I don’t know the details yet, but I suspect that it was fairly sudden for him.

Some of our other members continue to have unfortunate health. Audrey Tennant is still under the weather, as is Cameron Greig, who sends his apologies for absence this evening.

However, the SAA has had another interesting year. We have just had one of the most “flexible” programmes ever, with various speakers having to cancel or postpone for a variety of reasons. Which just goes to show that an organisation with a fixed Aquarian Sun really can adapt to circumstances! In November last year we hosted one of the Astrological Association’s “away days”, with Sue Tompkins as the chosen speaker. The AA has been trying to spread the benefits of membership around the country. The deal was that any loss on the day would be borne by the AA and any profit shared with the SAA. I’m happy to tell you that there was indeed a profit, although not enough to invoke one of our spending sprees. We’ve also started a series of themed discussion evenings, in the hope of encouraging attendance and participation. The first seemed to be popular – but of course it was about Trines. I await with trepidation the evening on Grand Crosses.

Committee-wise, Max Ridder-Patrick had to step back, as he is involved in some work-related courses. Robert Stokes is standing down for a while, as he doesn’t yet feel up to resuming all his normal activities. Consequently, we would like to invite anyone with some willingness to come onto the committee. We need someone new to squabble with!

However, in the next programme we will have some guest speakers, whom we all enjoy so much. Hand-picked ones, too! For some reason it never seems too difficult to persuade speakers to travel to Edinburgh.

So, to follow this and to end on a feel-good factor, I’ll remind you of our natal Sun/ Jupiter conjunction and say,

“Wha’s like us?”!

Caroline Gerard, Chair
16th February, 2008