Dawne Kovan’s Blog

If you haven’t already discovered this excellent video, take some time out and enjoy.  Though this is a serious subject  Sir Ken discusses, his dry wit will have you rolling on the floor in agony!

I have also written a review of his book “The Element – How finding your passion changes everything”. you will find that below the video.

This book is both inspiring and uplifting, written with great passion and love by a writer who is obviously in his “Element”. Robinson, or Sir Ken I suppose I should call him, is an educator; not a teacher – but someone who seeks to bring out the best in all young people and who sees that while some teachers may do this, education systems around the world do not seem to.

Although this may sound dry – actually it is anything but, as the book is peppered with the stories of those whom the education system failed and who climbed out of that failure to become world leaders in their chosen fields. People like Paul McCartney, with whom Sir Ken is on the board of directors of LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts); Gillian Lynne, tutor and principal ballerina at the Royal Ballet and choreographer of Cats and Phantom of the Opera; Matt Groening of The Simpsons; and many, many, more.

The complete title of the book is “The Element – How finding your passion changes everything”.  Sir Ken expects that the aim of all education – private, public, state or home-based – should be to honour the Element within each child on an individual basis. If that is not achieved then the schooling children receive at age 5 may continue to teach them to be cogs in an Industrial Revolution model, but it may not fit them for careers that don’t even exist yet in a tomorrow that is way off our scale of imagining today.

The need for inspired young people, who live in their Element, their passion, is never more than now. However, the book is written with love and warmth rather than being a rant – worth reading, I think.

See below how to order your copy.

There’s lots of action – your favourite word! – happening in Aries right now. Mercury and Venus as well as the New Moon and Sun are happily moving through your sign. Mercury has his winged boots on again so is zipping through in about 3 weeks; Venus, on the other hand, is going backwards, so gets to bring you more than relationship and friendship fun for a lot longer than you would usually expect.

Venus is in Aries right now then takes a tiny visit back to Pisces for about 10 days in early to mid-April, and then re-enters Aries where she stays until early June. As a result you can expect your days to be filled with people – some new to you, and others coming from your past, who are likely to have a significant effect on your future. The fun really gets intensified through May when your ruling planet Mars comes along to join in -and we all know what can happen when Venus and Mars get together, don’t we?

Mars stays in a sign for about 6 weeks so can impact on your solar houses for about a year. These last few weeks Mars has been in your 12th solar House and will stay there almost to the end of April, so will have held your energies in check somewhat. This may not have been a bad thing, though a little frustrating sometimes, because it gives you the time you need to get down to doing the research that you’ve been putting off for some time.

Then, when Mars goes into Aries through May, this is a time of feeling right on target because you are armed with the information that you gleaned in April. It’s as if all your arrows are hitting the bull’s-eye dead centre – so focus your sights on whatever you choose and go for it! With Venus also being involved you will have to take someone else’s opinions into account, though – so get your negotiation skills activated – it’s a useful skill for you to learn.

June/July Mars is in Taurus, so you will be focusing your energies towards your financial status – or even take some old ideas out of the attic and revamp them to bring in some extra cash. Through the second half of July and through August, it’s the time for you to communicate your desires – maybe even learn some new skills to enable to teach what you already know.

September/October see Mars slowing down in Cancer – home matters are in your face – making you feel as if you’re on the back foot. You are having to curtail your own desires to help family members realise theirs. It could be a good time to take a rest and chill out – just let life happen around you instead of always driving things along.

From November until June 2010, Mars goes to and fro in your 5th house of creativity, children and enjoyment. So take the time to have some fun time, but just make sure that you keep a tight rein on all your expenses and maybe have a quieter Christmas than usual – we are living in straightened times this year and next. I say this because Mars also rules your Solar 8th House of joint finances and arrangements like mortgages – so you need to keep a good weather eye on what comes in and what goes out during this period.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though, you can still enjoy yourself as long as you don’t rush head first into 2010, tempting though it will be! It does promise to be a creative 6 month period for you and one that you will look back on in years to come.

NB – The readings below can either be read from your Sun Sign – ie your birthday – or your Ascendant sign, which is calculated from your time of birth. Try also reading it from your Moon Sign, as Hindu astrologers suggest.

Don’t know your Moon Sign? Get your FR.EE Sun/Moon combination reading  and discover how your emotions impact with your ambitions to create your unique life path.  Just email me your birth date, time and place and I’ll email it back to you FR.EE!!!

Aries : 21st March – 20th April – see above

Taurus: 19th April – 20th May – This month there is a real emphasis on hidden matters coming to light. It’s a time for researching your family tree, the old stuff in the attic and also clearing out those attitudes and beliefs that have been holding you back for so long. This could be a period of heightened imagination and dreaming. You may even find that your spiritual life is going through a change of direction, which could be due to someone coming back into your life who offers you some new world views. You may find that your long term objectives receive a good shake-up as well. This is not a month to sit life out on the sidelines. Make new friends, go out of your way to meet people, even if you’re tired after a hard day at the office, and stretch your mental faculties by taking a risk on the new rather than staying safe.

Read the rest…