Welcome...

My name is Martin and I’m the astrologer behind Ursa Major Astrology.

My path into astrology began through an earlier fascination with tarot and divination. Like many people, I first encountered tarot as a symbolic tool for reflection and guidance. But the deeper I went into studying the cards, the more I realised they were part of a much larger body of knowledge.

Behind the imagery of the Rider–Waite–Smith and Thoth tarot decks lies a network of older esoteric systems including Hermetic philosophy, Kabbalah, astrology and alchemy. As I began exploring the symbolism more seriously, one system kept appearing again and again at the foundation of it all.

That system was astrology.

What started as an attempt to understand tarot more deeply quickly turned into a deep dive into astrology itself. Studying planetary cycles, traditional techniques and the structure of the birth chart opened up an entirely different way of understanding the patterns that shape our lives.

The experience has been genuinely mind-blowing. Over the past year of practising astrology seriously, I have seen some of the most strikingly accurate insights and predictions of my life. Time and again, the movement of the planets describes real events and turning points with an uncanny precision.

Astrology often feels like the source code of the universe. The positions of the planets at the moment of your birth create a unique imprint that describes temperament, potential, and the major chapters of your life story.

Your birth chart is a map of that imprint. By learning how to read it properly, astrology provides a framework for understanding who you are, where you are in your life’s cycles, and what may be unfolding next.

My background

Many people first encountered my work online when I was reading tarot under the name The Tarot Bear, particularly through TikTok Live, where I built a small but vibrant community of people interested in exploring esoteric ideas and personal insight.

Those sessions developed a reputation for being thoughtful, direct and grounded rather than theatrical. I’ve received warm feedback from both querents and fellow readers for the depth of my knowledge, my storytelling approach to the cards, and my ability to connect esoteric symbolism with real-life situations.

My interests have always leaned toward the deeper roots of these traditions. Rather than seeing tarot or astrology as isolated practices, I’ve been drawn to the underlying philosophical systems that connect them.

That curiosity is what eventually led me further into astrology.

Astrology and tarot

Astrology now forms the foundation of my practice.

While tarot remains a useful and intuitive tool for exploring immediate questions, astrology provides the larger structure behind life’s unfolding story. The birth chart reveals the deeper patterns, while planetary cycles help us understand the timing of events and transitions.

Both systems have their place, but astrology offers the broader map.

Ursa Major Astrology focuses primarily on astrological readings, including natal chart interpretation and predictive techniques that explore how planetary cycles are shaping your life.

Tarot readings are still available as a complementary service for those who find value in combining both approaches.

A personal perspective

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a parent, and someone who has lived through the unique social and political landscape of Northern Ireland, I bring a wide range of lived experience to my work.

Life here has always had its share of complexity, resilience and dark humour. If you know, you know.

That experience informs the way I approach readings. My goal is not to deliver mystical pronouncements, but to offer grounded insight that connects symbolic systems with the realities people are navigating in their everyday lives.

The aim of Ursa Major Astrology

Ursa Major is one of the most recognisable constellations in the northern sky. For centuries, its stars have helped travellers navigate by pointing toward the North Star.

The name reflects what I hope astrology can offer: a way of orienting yourself within the larger patterns of your life.

Astrology does not remove uncertainty, but it can help illuminate the cycles we are moving through and the possibilities that lie ahead.

Sometimes that clarity is all we need to move forward with a little more confidence and understanding.

My approach to Tarot

I believe that a tarot reading should feel human, grounded, and connected. My readings are always shaped by the energy and questions of the person in front of me, balanced with the symbols and archetypes of the cards themselves.

The result is a conversation that blends the mystical with the practical, offering both clarity and perspective.

What sets me apart as an online tarot reader in the UK is, I suppose, the way I interpret the cards through both a symbolic and esoteric lens. I don’t simply recite learned meanings; I weave the cards together into a story that reflects your situation and helps you see paths forward.

You don't need to understand or agree with my particular belief system to get value from my tarot reading services. But I wanted to explain it here tp demonstrate that I do truly believe in the magical side of tarot, as well as its usefulness as a tool of self-reflection. So...

How does Tarot actually work?

While tarot readings can be psychologically useful, my approach goes deeper into the Western esoteric tradition. I work with the Qabbalistic Tree of Life, particularly the idea of the Four Worlds:

Atziluth – pure energy or divine will
Briah – the world of archetypes and concepts
Yetzirah – the realm of symbols and formation
Assiah – the physical world, where the cards themselves appear

For me, the tarot acts as a bridge between our reality and our daily lives and truth from a higher level of reality where the lines between our individual souls (and between the past and the future) are a little blurrier.

The cards are physical objects (here in the world of Assiah), but they depict symbols (in the world of Yetzirah) which describe meanings and truths from this shared level of reality (Briah).

This is why tarot can feel uncannily accurate: it draws down truths from higher levels that are simultaneously shaping our lives and reflecting archetypal patterns.

I genuinely believe that tarot is not just fortune-telling, but is a mystical tradition that connects us to universal truths, while offering practical guidance for the here and now.