ARIES & Mr. H.

Once again, we greet Vernal Equinox and enter the zodiac sign Aries to begin another annual cycle. I'm wondering what on earth I can find to say about this sign that hasn't already been said or written a thousand and one times.




Aries represents all that's bright, energetic, warm, enthusiastic and full of potential. That's the essence of Aries. The essence can get pretty mashed up and diluted though, when it becomes a part of that peculiar life-form known as a human being.

There is no such creature as "an Aries". It's convenient shorthand, I use it myself. I should stop doing so!

The beauty and individuality of Aries, and of any other zodiac sign, is in the way it blends with the rest of the chart's contents. How does a hint of impulsiveness, a little impatience, a yen for leadership, or a habit of walking and doing most things quickly and with enthusiasm, mix with and match other chart ingredients?

If Sun, Moon and rising sign were all grouped in Aries, there'd be an outside chance of encountering a near-stereotype - but even then, a stray Mercury in Taurus would slow it down. Venus in Pisces would soften it. All manner of combinations could get to work on the Aries essence to modify it. The result: something unique.

My husband's Sun is in the first degree of the sign, he really isn't stereotypical Aries. I have Moon and Saturn in Aries, which could qualify me as more of "an Aries" than he is. In reality though, we're both a tangle of allsorts.

The only other person with Sun in Aries who I've known well, and over a long period of time, was my very first boss. I'll call him Mr. H. That's what the tea lady used to call him when she brought our morning and afternoon cuppas.

Mr. H was County Archivist of East Yorkshire, and I was his assistant - my first job after leaving Grammar School. We were a department of two, so it was essential that we got along. He trusted a teenage me to do stuff that nowadays would be tackled by someone at least of university graduate level: helping to clean and catalogue valuable archives, rescued from stately homes in the county. It was a totally fascinating job. I find it hard now to understand why I ever left it to go wandering into the hotel life and later into the civil service. I did return though, after my first defection, at his invitation. I did a second stint of three years with him, until love and wander-lust had me on the move again.

Mr. H was a great guy. I had a crush on him, of course. His great sense of humour enchanted me, and I was not easily enchanted in those days. But, quite honestly, I can't identify him "an Aries", textbook style. Oddly though, I often see or rather "feel" an eery hint of Mr. H in my husband (birthday 22 March). Something in the way he tells a joke, notices certain things - other stuff too. It's hard to put into words, complicated, esoteric even, peculiar to myself, I guess, and nobody else would understand. It feels strange at times.

I hadn't looked at Mr. H's natal chart before. I can't remember whether his birthday was 27 or 29 March, but I know the year was 1922. I've investigated both dates. Either way, his Sun and Venus (& maybe Moon) were in Aries. Mercury in Pisces conjunct Uranus - here's possibly why we got on so well, Uranus being my Sun sign's ruler. But there's more: his Mars was at either 16 or 17 Sagittarius - my Venus is at 19 Sagittarius! And of course, my Aries Moon complemented his Aries Sun. He had Saturn and Jupiter in Libra opposite his Sun and Venus in Aries; his Aries traits were balanced by the charm and diplomacy of Libra.

Mr. H. died in 1999. We kept in touch for many years, and when I heard that he had suffered a stroke in 1998, I visited him in hospital. I'm not certain whether he remembered me or not, but from the twinkle in his eye, I believe he did. I've always been very thankful for knowing Mr. H, for his influence on me as a young woman, and for what I learned from him.


(Crocus from the husband's camera, blossom (above) from mine.)