HODGE-PODGE

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of unrelated items:


Mad as a Hatter: the origin of this phrase is interesting. One of several theories proposes that it relates to the days when hat-makers used mercury in their work.

Whatever the true origin of the phrase, the fact that over-exposure to mercury can affect the nervous system and brain is interesting, especially so because in astrology Mercury rules mental processes and communication, awareness, thought, the nerves, dexterity, speech.
(Illustration - The Mad Hatter by John Tenniel from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland").

"Mercury used to be used in the making of hats. This was known to have affected the nervous systems of hatters, causing them to tremble and appear insane. A neurotoxicologist correspondent informs me that "Mercury exposure can cause aggressiveness, mood swings, and anti-social behaviour.", so that derivation is certainly plausible - although there's only that circumstantial evidence to support it.
The use of mercury compounds in 19th century hat making and the resulting effects are well-established - mercury poisoning is still known today as 'Mad Hatter's disease'. That could be enough to convince us that this is the source of the phrase. The circumstantial evidence is rather against the millinery origin though and, beyond the fact that hatters often suffered trembling fits, there's little to link hat making to the coining of 'as mad as a hatter'. "

From here

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Two snippets by 20th century astrologer Ivy M. Goldstein-Jacobson from her book "Here & There In Astrology"~~

Poem reflecting Venus, Uranus & Saturn in the 7th House

"I met her but a short time since
Yet knew at once that I
Would hold her ever in my heart,
And love her 'til I die."

And: Planets in Mutual Reception
(As Uranus and Neptune are at present, Uranus in Pisces, Neptune in Aquarius),

"Two rulers in each other's sign always see eye to eye.
It means they share and share alike, so nothing goes awry.
And even if they break a rule or some convention flout----
Whatever one gets into,
The other gets him out."

So...if Uranus (unexpected change) got us into this economic quagmire, will Neptune(creativity, imagination) get us out of it, I wonder? Alternatively if Neptune (oil) got us into it, will Uranus (change, invention) get us out?

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Further to my Sunday blog on Walt Whitman and his natal chart, here's one of his short poems, written in the 19th century. Its wisdom remains intact in this 2008 election season:

Walt Whitman's Caution ~~~

TO The States, or any one of them, or any city of The States,
Resist much, obey little;
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved;
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city, of this earth,
ever afterward resumes its liberty.