A great day one summer at a funfair on Hampstead Heath is recorded in this photo of Roy waving a cheery hello and enjoying that merry-go-round with every fibre of his Inner Leo Child essence. Perhaps we can let this be the image with which we wave goodbye to this fine man, an inspirational astrologer in the growth and transformation of our world and our own personal lives. I for one would find my life truly impoverished had I never met him.
by Christina Fielding (formerly Christina Rose)As I sit here with “all that was Roy”, words - particularly in a necessarily condensed form such as this - can only point to the essence of a truth; they are never that essence itself since that is wordless and can only be felt at a deep inner level. As it happens, this also goes some way to describing the seed of Roy’s work as Astrologer, Philosopher, Psychotherapist, Writer, Scientist and Artist, as I remember him over a 15-year friendship and professional collaboration.
Meeting in the early 1970s, two new recruits to the world of astrology, we quickly established a kindred connection. We both felt disenchanted with the seemingly cut-and-dried mechanical methods of interpreting people via their charts which, though a valid starting point, we felt made little difference to them. We were each seeking to enhance and expand astrology’s effectiveness whereby it could not only inform people’s lives but enable them to sit at the centre of those lives, grow and transform. Roy’s Moon/Mercury Virgo sensitivity, practicality, insight and eloquence within a creative Leonine context were exactly what was needed to put these awarenesses into actuality, and both his book “Chart Synthesis” (Aquarian Press 1984) and his Journal articles on “Context – A New Dimension in Astrology” (Winter 1983-84) and earlier “Active Astrology – A Complete Healing System” (Parts 1 and 2 – Winter 1980-81 & Spring 1981) are searingly profound yet effortlessly accessible avenues to understand the utilisation of astrology’s insights in a way that makes a real inner shift difference. In this I regard Roy Alexander as a true Pioneer.
Always addressing himself to the real life situation of working with clients, Roy amply demonstrated the role of astrology in growth and transformation through inviting his clients to touch into that centre within which knows how they need to be, or what they need to do, if they would but allow it to do so (as opposed to running life from the standpoint of mental and emotional patterns in response to environmental pressures, consequent inner decisions about ourselves and the continuation of past patterns). Thus his concern was to help an individual move beyond the small self with its ego identity needs and mental constructions into an expanded awareness where we experience ourselves as creating our own reality.
This was accompanied by his intellectual ability to examine the paradigm of scientific materialism and its challenge in the light of modern developments in science, and present an awareness of the need for a shift in world view. He could never understand why astrologers appeared fixated with “proving” astrology with statistics and experiments but felt it would surely be more useful to start with the irrational concepts of relativity, quantum theory, wave mechanics… and rethink astrology in terms of them. Indeed, his last book “Meet Your Planets” (Llewellyn Publications 1997) addresses these issues in his characteristic masterful way in the final Appendix.
Roy struggled periodically with the burdens of loneliness and depression in his personal life, yet encoded in these wounds were the seeds not only of his own self-realisation which he readily and consistently addressed but also conveyed to humanity at large through his artistry. The Poet and Writer within the Astrologer inspired him (and indeed us) to approach the birth chart and its component factors as metaphors to increase our awareness of who we are (see for instance “Astrology: The Feminine Science” (Journal Autumn 1984). Instead of utilising keywords, he utilised imagery, often through the use of poetry, to reach a more alive sense of the meaning of planet, sign or aspect. This theme is redolent in “Meet Your Planets” where, if you ‘look’ (i.e. absorb) more closely beyond the fun and lightheartedness of the book you will be richly rewarded by an incredible depth of meaning allotted to each horoscopic factor through characterisations and images which stir a “felt sense” understanding within. His previous book “The Astrology of Choice” (Samuel Weiser Inc .1983) was an enormously courageous piece of work as demonstration of the entire astrologer/client/chart triad wherein facing the truth (or choice) of one’s life rather than being the victim of it is again (as in his article on “Context”) presented as the avenue through which the true effectiveness of astrology can be experienced.
Roy was also one of the most fun-loving and humorous people I have ever met. How I miss his characteristic and unmistakeable laughter from the audience at my not-so-funny jokes from the lecture platform! His artistry also expanded into photography at which he excelled, often liking to do nothing more than wander round the city for a day with his beloved Nikon to capture fleeting moments of people, animals, places, situations shot through with symbolic meaning, feeling, depth, connection and unspoken understanding.
BIRTH AND DEATH DATA:
BIRTH 15th August 1931, 09:58 BST, Manchester, UKDEATH 6th July 2007, London “before noon”
Return to the List, A-K
To the List, L-Z
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD? This memorial is interactive, and we welcome your memories and tributes, which we will add to the page in the order received. They may be edited for length, grammar, or suitability. If there are any additional contributions we should mention or any inaccuracies in the memorial, please bring them to our attention. We would also love to have photos to bring back vivid memories. (Photos will be scanned and returned.) To suggest names, share memories, create tributes, or volunteer, send us an e-mail.
CREDITS: This memorial written by Christina Fielding (formerly Christina Rose) and created by Liz Houle with graphics from Word of Mouth Web Design.