AGENTS in THE OUTBACK
– STAR CAMP 1
September 2011 HoneyMoon Gap – NT – Australia

Well, what a great 4 days it was! From our first meeting with Agent 77 in (optional) full Agent uniform at the Airport, to our last evening around the campfire. We gathered together in the hexagonal workshop room to set our intentions around the Equinox chart as our first group session. With zero Aries rising at Honeymoon Gap for the opening of the Libra Ingress and the opening of our Star Camp, Uranus on the Ascendant and the Moon in Leo in the fifth house, we were excited and prepared for anything. We weren’t perturbed by the smoky haze of bush fires that we knew would obscure the night skies. Like all good Cosmic Agents we were ready for adventure, learning and FUN.

Our operative, Agent – 77 , Marg welcomed and introduced us to the fine surroundings of Honeymoon Gap, some basic housekeeping and a brief outline of the upcoming Agenda for the next few days. We selected our swags and placed them in the white-gummed valley that was to be our home for 4 days. Our hosts, agents 77 and pi, Dan, made us all feel comfortable and special and it wasn’t long before we eased into the magical surroundings and made ourselves very much at home.

After some welcome drinks, a feast was prepared and pi’s band “ The Not Real Cowboys” entertained us with some truly appropriate songs tuned into the spirit of the Outback. We got to know each other as we gathered from Melbourne, Daylesford, Gippsland, Adelaide, Robinvale, Byron Bay and even our new found Agent 5-0 from Hawaii.

The next day kicked off with an optional yoga class run by Raven followed by a sumptuous breakfast prepared by the lovely Desdemona. Then an experiential class run by 77 and Kerry, Agent 22  the first of 3 experiential workshops. The tone was set as the floor chart was used as an ice breaker to get to know each other around the floor chart at our Ascendants, Suns , Moons , Venus’ etc. As I remember there was lots of Cancer ”we are family “ comes to mind. An easy morning walk into the valley and up the top of the ridge followed. The air was filled with smoke as there were fires burning all around us thanks to a fire bug in the area,  how very Uranus in Aries! We happily spent an afternoon in the cool comfort of our hexagonal room with Kerry and Tash, as they took us through… Kerry, the ancient wisdom of Moon Gardening and Tash, her process as a creative artist and how her art is inspired by the cosmic realm.

Anticipating a night when we would see the majesty of the Milky Way, which again appeared that it would not be so, we awaited MK Turner OAM, a senior indigenous elder who would talk to us about the connection of her people to the Milky Way. She began in her softly spoken voice to tell us that all the animals have gone and left the area due to the smoke, the tales of echidnas and the power of the full Moon, a sure call for hunting  and we learnt of  the healing qualities of Emu oil. In the language of her people- the Arrernte, she told us of “Arakwe”, the Milky way , known as a “Pathway”, the pathway that showed the way, the way it is. As astrologers we relate strongly to the heavens as a pathway, full of signs and symbols. A falling star for instance is not seen as auspicious, but a sign of some bad news about to arrive. Why otherwise as, she said would the star be falling out of the sky?

The next morning we were in for another treat, our agent pi,  having lived in Alice for many years has built up great friendships with many of the indigenous people, passionately embracing their stories and connection to the sacred land . His long time friend Doris Stuart, took us on a bus tour of sacred sites around Alice. Doris is Apmereke-atweye for Mparntwe ( that is she is half of the relationship with Kwetengurle…for every country there are 2 forms of responsibility, one tells the story the others make sure it is told the right way)

As the bus left honeymoon gap, Doris told us of the story of the mountain ranges , the MacDonnell ranges that surround Alice Springs the story of the local Guardian Dog  Gnoilya, and his puppies that are dotted around this countryside. Without giving away too many details for those that may join us next year, we could feel Doris’ pain as she relived the stories and the importance of these creation stories to her people. As this ancient creation story for this area, resonated in our hearts and minds, she told  the story of the Intruder Dog, coming from the South. No doubt this Intruder Dog related to the White Man and showed us how ancient myths never die, but live on eternally. Truly a highlight for many of us as we wiped tears from our eyes. The need for a change of attitudes toward our Indigenous peoples reminded me of Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn, as the indigenous hang on to their rich traditions and deeply rooted connections to the land, the winds of change make sure nothing stays the same, perhaps a new approach to the telling, sharing, and listening to these stories is something very much needed. We all felt privileged to hear them.

Returning to base camp for the afternoon we gathered again for our next workshop. This time “The Spirit of 2012” the astrology of the year to come presented by Agent 12 Julija. The presentation included info on the shift of Regulus to Virgo in Nov 2011, the Mars retrograde beginning at the same time as the Year of the Dragon, appropriate as it’s also the year that Quetzalcoatl of Mayan history is said to return to Earth, the rare Venus occultation in June and  the first of the Pluto Uranus squares in June and September 2012.

Our next workshop the Astrology of Yoga run by Agent 5-0, Tom Lescher was a  truly soulful experience. A 13 step program  took us through the connection of the body to astrological signs. We laughed as we tried to balance our bodies in Libra, worked on our kundalini energy in Scorpio, raised our arrows in Sagittarius and a particular highlight for most of us was the giving of the Capricorn sequence, the Aquarian dance of unity and recognition of each other, and the harmonizing and deeply moving synthesis as we returned to Pisces in an endless soulful mantra. Thanks 5 -0, we will never forget it.

On our third night we were blessed with an opening of the skies. Although each night at about 10pm, bedtime for some, but a call to stay up for others as Jupiter would rise in the East. Jupiter in tropical Taurus,  but in the constellation of Aries, would taunt us night after night to keep laughing, singing, philosophising and of course talk Astrology. Disappearing and reappearing at will behind the smoky haze,  Jupiter was a  beacon reminding us of the treasure of our experience and our magical adventure in nature. Astronomer Andrew Fitzgerald, a refreshing and friendly local astronomer, with no aversion to Astrologers,  told us more about the night sky as well as the disintegration of Comet Elenin. Together with 37’s Nicks, telescope flown in from Melbourne, and Andrew’s telescope, we saw the stars in the constellation Scorpio setting in the west, and Antares, who knew it was a binary star? The fan fare of stars exploding in Sagittarius,  a sign associated with celebrations and partying, looked like a bunch of fireworks. Knowing that Uranus would also be up there somewhere ahead of Jupiter, it was not to be found that night.  For the six of us however ,that travelled to Uluru after the star camp, where we were graced with perfect night skies and no Moon ,and with Nicks telescope taking over the back seat of our “Y” number plated rented Van, (the Y resembled Aries- and the C*I*A has an Aries Moon ) we did on the night of September the 30^th, find and SEE Uranus. What a treat to witness the grey blue disk, bright and clear, a definite planet. We felt very blessed  to see Uranus, a perfect time of year to do so, as Uranus was opposite the Sun . Thanks to 37 and his expertise in knowing where to point the telescope. Next mission- SEE Neptune!

Our last day involved a walk to the dry river bed across the road, a wide sandy area where we divined for water with Agent 36 , Michele and Neil’s diving rod, and made an astrological Mandala out of the local bark, rocks, sticks and leaves making a great connection with “As above, so below” with the gorgeous help of our young agents Cushla, Lila and Roley. As we “Ohmmed “ around our Mandala with the wind blowing down the river bed and swirling through the trees,  one of the young Agents requested that “now Agents , it’s time for 10 Push Ups”. Which we did of course! A fit Agent is a good Agent.

Back to Camp and  our last workshops , more impromptu than the rest, as this was designed as an easier sort of day,  involved a workshop where Agent 12, Julija explained the magical cycle of Venus and her conjunctions with the Sun, creating two pentacles in the sky every eight years. Venus makes a conjunction with the Sun every 9 and a half months, one retro, the next superior and the current points are made in the signs of Aries, Capricorn, Scorpio, Leo, Gemini .  This magical cycle was plotted onto our own astrology charts and as explained once embedded into them one can follow these points to tune into our own cycles of creation..

Next Agent 37 Nick, took us through the ever important connection of Astronomy and Astrology, a guided tour of the heavens from an astronomers eyes. To understand declinations, right ascension, left ascension, the way the planets move along the ecliptic, retrograde etc was easily understood through the Stellarium software  which Nick showed us all how to navigate. Next Olga, magical Agent 33 – took us through the  power of chakras, releasing energies with a diving rod and with the extra boost of some special essential oils, she managed to  make  us all feel centered and renewed.

Our mastermind 37, also devised a way to put all our  astrology charts together to come up with a combined chart that included all of us. By using a Davison Relationship chart for the whole group, a chart for the midpoint in time and place of all the charts.  Because we could only get Solar Fire to do 2 charts at a time, he divided the group into pairs, then derived a  relationship chart for each pair, then did a relationship chart for those pairs, etc. etc. until it all boiled down to one chart. The location for our Group Chart was a place called Blood’s Creek, 35km south of the South Australian and Northern Territory border and 180km east of the Stuart Highway.  On the Map of the world  this was not too far from where we were, no wonder we felt so at home,  the chart was uncannily appropriate for the group. Taurus rising which was being transited by Jupiter all weekend and  had an exact conjunction to “Controls” (Julija’s) Venus at 5 degrees. We proudly took on the Pluto Uranus conjunction of 1965 , our Moon in Aries and the Sun in Virgo. As the C*I*A have a chart- with a Virgo Sun and Aries Moon conjunct the North Node,  we are destined for more pioneering and adventures.

Our last night , with many more songs and stories to tell and with a toast from the “sacred chook of destiny” we recalled our highlights and experiences of the Star Camp, had many laughs , listened to the awesome sounds of ukele and guitar playing Agents, but couldn’t help feel somewhat melancholy as we didn’t want it all to be over yet. What made us feel better was our talk of next years Star Camp 2.

The last morning  it really showed how Virgo this group really was, as we packed up our swags, cleared and cleaned the campsite in what seemed like, no time, we then gathered for the final experiential workshop and a goodbye circle. Four volunteers were given a mystery chart, and had to sink into  a role presented to them by a natal Chart not knowing who they were playing out, all they knew is that these 4 were somehow connected. They were thrown into scenarios and asked to behave and form alliances as the charts dictated. The volunteers had no idea that when they isolated , Agent 37 because he had a mean Pluto-Sun they were isolating Voldemort!! Or that telling Andrew,  he was just too nice to get too much happening, we were talking about Harry, or that when Julija and Tom hooked up as a team, we were talking about Hermione and Ron. Apparently JK Rowling is an astrologer and created charts for her characters. A great exercise to show the power astrology holds in understanding character, motivations and goals. Thanks 77 and 22 for a great series of workshops.

At our last goodbye circle, we could say we all  had been Centered in the Centre. Full of new found wisdom, friends and a truly great and soulful experience in our hearts.

Thanks to all of you who came and a made our first Star Camp the great experience that it was, Andrew, Vija, Christine, Rowan, Nikki, Rita, Sharon, Cherrie, Neil, Michele, Raven to all those who ran the workshops, Kerry, Tash, Julija, Tom, Olga, Nick our wonderful cook Des, Lucy and daughter Afton and Roley who helped us enormously with the workshop set up and in the kitchen. A special thanks to magnificent agent PI, a true agent of Chaos, who’s endless stories , songs and wisdom ignited somethings we will never forget. And mostly to our fabulous agent 77 , Marg for organizing everything so well, doing so much work and organization to make all this come together , but also for having a vision of what this could be. I remember it was 9 months ago that we started planning and 9 months later it happened!

Thanks to all and thanks for being there because that’s what counts the most. I am truly very grateful and happy that the spirit of the C*I*A and all it’s great Agents are well and good and getting stronger and we have many more missions and adventures, learning and healing ahead. Plans are being made for Star Camp 2  2012- so stay tuned!

Thank You All,   -
Agent 12 – Control – Julija
remember we are all in “Control”

Happy to announce dates for STAR CAMP  2012 – more info here, register early and don’t miss out!

Testimonials

From the moment I landed in Alice Springs I had a really wonderful time, to be met by Marg in her CIA Gear and sign and meet the other Agents was really warming and encouraging for me. We really didn’t stop talking, and personally I felt so at home and accepted by a wonderful group of “Strangers” that I had no trouble at all relating to. The Camp Site was a real surprise really well set up, Marg you and Dan had thought of everything, it was camping 5 star, I loved my first time experience of sleeping under the stars, the facilities and Des’s great food made it also memorable.

But mostly I want to thank all of you the C*I*A, Control and all the agents for sharing, teaching and allowing me to be part of a truly unique experience. Meeting MK and being taken on the tour and the sharing of the stories by the Elders was another moving and memorable event, but the sharing of humour, singing, knowledge and all the stories leave me with an experience I could never have imagined when I spontaneously picked up the phone a week before and said “that”s for me “
I now have an avid urge to learn a lot more about Astrology, I loved Nikki’s Video of “The History of Astrology” and once more thank you all for your warm hospitality and
the opportunity to feel” Yes I have an indelible imprint of the Center of Australia imprinted on my Soul.” Love to you All,   Christine x

“I had a wonderful time with a great bunch of people. I came away from the space with gratitude for all that I did receive, insights, knowledge, new beautiful people in my life and much much more.” Rowan

It was a life changing experience to be a part of the camp. I feel my sense of place in the world, on the earth, in my country so profoundly since the trip thank you to you and Dan for facilitating the experience. VG