Jonathan Dee, Astrologer & Author 1957 - 2010

It's very sad that we learn of the passing of Jonathan Dee last week as a result of a brain haemorrhage. A regular contributor to radio and television programmes, he was also the writer of over eighty books on historical or mind, body, spirit subjects with translations into ten languages. These included subjects such as Tarot, Runes, Feng Shui, Ancient Egypt and of course Astrology. Jon was also an expert Egyptologist, as well as being an established artist and illustrator.

Jonathan was the resident astrologer on BBC Radio Wales for over 20 years and a long-term member of the British Astrological and Psychic Society. I met Jonathan less than two weeks ago at the UK Tarot Conference 2010 where he gave an entertaining talk on the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

My first Tarot deck, complete with book, was the Jonathan Dee Tarot Pack, reviewed here on Aeclectic Tarot http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/jonathan-dee/

Time Travel through Music

Music. What is music...pleasing harmonious sounds by one or more voices or instruments? Yes, of course it is but it's so much more than that. A certain piece of music can instantly transport us to a different time and/or place. It's almost like a form of time travel and along with that comes all the emotional stuff.

I find that some songs have such an emotional hold over me that I can't listen to them without becoming taken over by the memories they hold. Daft maybe but they are so deeply entrenched in my psyche and hold such vivid memories of particular times of my life.

How is it that we can remember so many words of so many songs from so long ago - without even trying. An interesting project for the future would be a timeline of my life....in songs.

To diet or not to diet?

For almost as long as I can remember I have been on some sort of diet. After my first child was born I found I needed to lose weight which was hardly surprising considering my daily afternoon visit to the cake shop whilst I was pregnant. I worked hard on a diet I found in a magazine and lost the weight I needed to and more - magic! I now had absolute power! Until the next pregnancy and then I was back to square one but I lost it again.......and again, after the third baby was born.

From then on my size varied between size 10 and size 14 but it was always a struggle to maintain a sensible weight...and it still is. And then, of course, there is the wardrobe full of three different sizes.

I have never succumbed to particular types of diets eg Cambridge, Atkins, food combining etc., just concentrated on low fat and low calorie and, of course, the dreaded exercise. There have been periods when I have been to the gym five times a week or swam a mile a day at the local pool, been running, walking, cycling...all of these things work well if you can keep them up. And that's really the crux of the matter. It's easier when one has a goal to focus on, a certain date to lose the weight by or a holiday to look good on but when it's a weight maintenance goal...not good as this is for ever and nothing at the end of it to look forward to.

Anyway, these last couple of years I have accepted that I am unlikely to ever be a size 10 again, I could be a size 12 if I tried really hard but I can't muster up the enthusiasm or put myself through that torture any more. Not eating enough food to maintain my weight makes me grumpy and bad tempered so why should I make myself (and my family) suffer needlessly. I still don't eat everything I would like to, so I suppose I am still "on a diet" albeit a weight gain minimising diet. I do eat healthily - lots of salads, vegetables, fruit, no crisps, no cakes, no chocolate (rarely) but I do have a tendency to eat too many sweets (I've always had a very sweet tooth) and that is my downfall.

So what if I do have a spare tyre (not just in the car) and my chin is starting to sag (hereditary?) - that's life, and my age. I just wish I could bring myself to get rid of all the clothes that will never fit me again....perhaps I'll keep some of them....just in case. :-)