Looking Back, Being Human, Hoping to Dance.

Our departure has had to be postponed due to treacherous road conditions here and where we'd be heading. Maybe tomorrow ? We can but hope. It gives me an opportunity to look back back to a post dated 31 October 2008, featuring The Killers' song "Human": "Are We Human or Are We Dancer?" That post has attracted more hits than any other since the start of this blog in late 2006. 3 months after posting it still receives many hits every day.

The producer of a delightful video, shot on the day of president Obama's Inauguration, having seen my post, contacted me with a link to her video which uses "Human" as background music, and to great effect.

So, in classic Mercury Retrograde style, I reviewed 31 October's post, then looked back to 20 January, re-lived that day's events and emotions, prompted by Emily Troutman. Her wonderful video presentation puts the two together in a moving and very memorable way.

Emily's blog is Who We Are/How We Live.
Her video "President Obama: Words For How We Feel Now" is there, with her explanation of the concept and how she compiled the video.

I've embedded the version from YouTube here, but please do visit Emily's blog for further detail and a link to a slightly larger format of the video.





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Something completely different:
My husband stood at the kitchen window with his pocket camera yesterday morning, then came up with this brief video which I liked enough to share.




PS: This should be my last posting for about a week - as long as road conditions have improved by tomorrow morning.

Jazz, Astrology, A Trip & Eclipse Update.

On Saturday evening we saw Chris Brubeck and his group "Triple Play" perform at our local theater. What a treat! I went along with slight trepidation, not knowing whether my meager appreciation of jazz would be enough to prevent boredom and earache setting in. I needn't have worried. Unlike his famous Dad, Dave Brubeck, Chris and his companions, Joel Brown and Peter "Madcat" Ruth don't concentrate solely on jazz, they offer an eclectic mix of folk, blues, funk and classical, along with some jazz proper.

Astrologically, all I can tell, and from the mouth of Chris himself, is that he and Joel Brown (center in the photograph) share a birthday (but not the same year). That birthday, according to Wikipedia, is 19 March (3 days from my husband's, who is an avid jazz fan). Chris commented, from the stage, that this could be part of the reason he and Joel get on so well. Their two natal Suns sit around the last degree of Pisces. Chris has Mercury and Jupiter in neighboring Aries. The husband's natal Sun is at first degree of Aries with two planets in Pisces. I'm wondering whether this Aries/Pisces cusp area might be a jazz and musically infested zone. I shall look into it later.

From the husband's camera.

I chuckled to myself when Chris Brubeck, told about one of the group's songs. It concerned the wife of a Mississippi riverboat captain. She studied astrology, numerology, biology....all the ologies...and was known as "Mrs. Hippie" (groan!) That, I thought to myself, is the one and only time I shall ever hear the word "astrology" uttered from this particular stage in deepest Bible-belt Oklahoma!

These are three highly talented musicians, but just as important, to me, they are three guys with appealing personalities strong enough to project across the footlights. I always feel let down when artists decline to talk to their audience. Chris (on piano in the photograph) chatted a lot, explaining sources of songs and pieces, sprinkled with with tales of his famous father. The guys looked as if they were really really enjoying themselves, as well as entertaining an enthusiastic audience. If a passing reader ever has the opportunity of attending one of their concerts, they should take it - no doubt at all, whatever their musical taste.

This is the only YouTube presentation I could find of the group, it's a pity the piano isn't featured. I recognise those shirts! The group play a piece called "New Stew Opus 2", which I recall he told us was the name his father preferred, as sounding better than the original title "Memphis Soul Stew".





More detail at these links
http://www.brubeckmusic.com/tripleplay.html
http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/music/faculty/Brown/brown.html
http://www.madcatmusic.net/tripleplay.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Brubeck


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We have a few more jazz and musical evenings on the horizon now too. We intend visitng San Antonio, Texas later this week, weather permitting. A late birthday treat for moi. We've planned such a trip on two previous occasions and had to postpone, so I'm not holding my breath. While in San Antone we'd like to see The Alamo of course, and the Jim Cullum Jazz Band who will, we hope, be playing at "The Landing" next weekend.

I'm planning to absent myself from the blog for a week, after tomorrow's post (also on a musical topic). Setting out this morning is not on the cards - freezing rain, sleet and frozen roads hereabouts. Drivers in this part of the world are not equipped for, or experienced in, driving in these conditions and should be given a very wide berth - we will not tempt fate! Weather should improve later today. Any interesting eventualities while we're away, possibly connected to the eclipse, Mercury Retrograde, Jupiter in Aquarius will be posted via laptop from wherever.

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A WEE UPDATE eclipse-wise:
As I mentioned in Sunday's post my husband's younger daughter has a birthday on the 26th, the day before mine, so the eclipse was on her natal Sun too. We sent her a card and gift late last week; my husband called on Monday morning to ensure it had arived. Haaa! She had forgotten it was her birthday because she had been moving home all week, and forgot to let us know. Hopefully the card and gift will be re-directed (Mercury Retrograde?) Now there's a bit of symbolic eclipse-driven change for ya - or is it? I'm not quite ready to eat my words yet, cherry on top or not.

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KRIS KRISTOFFERSON

Recently I wrote about Bob Dylan, and was left with some reservations about Bob the man, if not about Bob the writer. Here's another singer/songwriter/actor who came to prominence around the same time as Dylan, but about whom I have few reservations on either score: Kris Kristofferson.

Kris was born 22 June 1936 in Brownsville, Texas. Astrotheme gives his time of birth as 3.30pm.



I used to think Kris had Sun in Gemini. I was mistaken - but only just. Sun at 1 degree of Cancer, linked by conjunction to Mars and Venus in Gemini a degree or so behind. Mercury is also in Gemini - it's own sign. No need to ask the source of his writing talent then - it's all there! Classic line-up for a writer, in this case a songwriter, with Cancer Sun adding warmth and sensitivity to what might otherwise have emerged as a cooler, less emotional individual. Sun is conjunct South Node of the Moon - a sensitive point inthe natal chart, further emphasising the Cancer/Gemini cluster.
Fixed Star Aldebaran, one of the Royal Stars lay within a degree of Mercury as Kris was born - an additional boost to his mental processes. He was a brilliant student and Rhodes Scholar in his youth. He rejected a military or teaching career in favor of following his dream to be a songwriter.

If the time of birth used is near correct, Scorpio rising is reflected in Kris's early and enduring erotic pull for the ladies. Moon in Leo close to midheaven links to his career on stage both singing and acting.
He's one of the few singer/songwriters who have also made a good impression as a movie actor - Gemini versatility. A strong Jupiter in Sagittarius, its own sign, forms a harmonious trine to Moon in Leo, helpful for publication (of his songs and acting endeavors)

The other well-known facet of Kris's personality is a strongly left-wing political leaning. I'm pinpointing avant garde, rebellious Uranus in a very strong position on the descendant angle to represent this.






There are challenging aspects in Kris's chart too, of course. Hardly anybody gets away without some of these. There's a Grand Cross here, linking Neptune, Mercury/Chiron, Saturn and Jupiter by squares, consequently throwing up two oppositions: Saturn/Jupiter and Neptune/Mercury.

I haven't been able to find out much about Kris's personal life, other than that he has had three marriages, 8 children and 2 grandchildren, and is still on friendly terms with both ex-wives. He has probably dealt with alcohol and drug problems - he wouldn't fit the template of his times and profession if not! I suspect the Grand Cross relates to that, but also to his political opinions. He was brought up in a strongly conservative family in staunchly Republican Texas - he must have had many challenges before moving to a more liberal environment. Later he must have experienced ongoing inner conflicts as one after another administration disappointed him. From his Official Website
I'd say he's a happier man now - the banner headline starts "God Bless Obama....."

Kris's songs are thought of by many as country music. I consider them to be without category, or at the most crossover folk/country/popular. I recall hearing on one of his recordings an audience member calling out to him something along the lines of "Is that country music?" or "That ain't country, Kris", and he answers in his signature lazy drawl, "If it sounds country, man, that's what it is!"

I had trouble deciding which video to post - he wrote so many wonderful songs, but the videos remaining on YouTube after recent copyright purges are of indifferent quality, being mainly live performances and shot by audience members. Here's my choice:

"Kris Kristofferson performing "The Pilgrim" at the 2007 Ottawa Folk Festival. It was drizzling and near freezing and the man didn't once complain! In fact, he THANKED the fans for sticking around! What a class act!"

Indeed! Kris's voice isn't what it was - and to be honest it was never a super-dooper voice, but it's the voice I prefer to hear singing any of his own songs.

This particular song caused Jeff, a relative and friend, a Gemini Sun, and a professional writer, to identify it (and with it) as a song typifying Gemini. He's right too!



And no astrology blogger could ignore this one:
"Jesus Was A Capricorn"

ECLIPSE, and me, and them.

This month's Solar eclipse falls directly on my natal Sun which is at 6.46 Aquarius. Well, there are 16minutes of arc difference. The eclipse falls on 6.30 Aquarius. I'll be in dreamland as it occurs here, in the early hours of tomorrow, Monday 26th.

Others who spring to mind immediately, whose natal Sun will also be very close the this eclipse (because their birthdays are on the same day as mine) are Keith Olbermann, Chief Justice Roberts (who made a boo-boo when administering the Oath to President Obama), Mohamed al Fayed (father of Dodi, Princess Di's friend), Derek Acorah, a British medium, Brugh Joy MD (my almost astrological twin), and my husband's younger daughter. My post of last year covers some of these. (Hard to be Humble Birthdays).

When I first noticed where the eclipse would fall I felt a little nervous. I tracked back to the last eclipse in a similar area, this fell in 1990, January 26, at 6.36 Aquarius, even closer to the exact minute of my Sun. I recall nothing of note during the weeks and months immediately following that eclipse. It seems, however, that 1990 eclipse was not of the same series as this current one. The last one of the same series as this touched a degree of Capricorn, in 1991. Still, an eclipse is an eclipse is an eclipse.

My nerves about the upcoming eclipse have now dissolved. I'm not convinced that eclipses are as significant as all that anyway. It's difficult to attribute happenings in one's personal life, or in world affairs, to a single celestial event. Eclipses, solar and lunar occur several times every year. In my opinion they are neither rare enough nor long-lasting enough for us to be able to say that some change or event was "a result of the eclipse".

Currently we have a Saturn/Uranus opposition in Virgo/Pisces, Pluto has recently changed signs from Sagittarius to Capricorn, Jupiter has recently moved into Aquarius for a protracted stay - and now a solar eclipse in Aquarius is added to the mix. There's a lot going on up there, so why attribute anything to a relatively fast-moving eclipse? There'll be another one along soon, then another pair later in the year. In contrast, the Saturn/Uranus opposition will be with us for a lot longer, and Pluto in Capricorn is there for the long haul. Gradual changes are bound to develop over the coming few years, with or without help from eclipses.

I regret departing from commonly held astrological theory on this, but I'm being honest - and obviously I could be very wrong. We shall see. I'll report any significant changes over coming weeks and months, and am prepared to eat my words - with a cherry on top!

A Question With An Answer (for once).

Question: What links Fixed Star Rigel, late January/early February, and the name Samantha?

Answer: The Feriae Sementivae or Paganalia in ancient Rome and rural Italy. A festival of seed-times, the sowing of seeds and praying for a good crop. This took place on two days, seven days apart. Offerings were made to Tellus, better known as Mother Earth (below right) on the first day, and to Ceres (bottom right) a week later.


Sementivae was one of those "moveable feasts", the actual dates declared by priests, year by year. Most sources have 24 to 26 January as choices for the first day of the festival. The reason for choice of dates relied on the weather, and the weather forecasts were calculated by the sidereal calendar used in rural areas, based on the rising and setting of specific stars, in this case Rigel.






In ancient Roman times we are told that Rigel set just before dawn on what was the night of 24/25 January. The sky has moved on now, of course, due to precession of the equinoxes, and our calendars vary from those used in Roman times. Current equivalent dates would be around first/second week of February.







And Samantha? The name derives from Sementivae. Female children born around the period of a Sementivae festival were given this name, it means 'one who bestows plenty of food.'

Links:
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/86555
http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Paganalia

Arty-Farty Friday ~ Diane Arbus

Not a painter this week, but a photographer.

Diane Arbus was born in New York on 14 March 1923. Time of birth not known, so in the chart below, set for 12 noon, the ascendant sign, and degree of Moon are not accurate, though Moon would remain in Aquarius whatever the time of birth.







Wealthy parents, classy education and artistic talent gave Diane Arbus the best possible start in life. At age 18 she married Allan Arbus, a fashion photographer, born 15 February 1918 - Aquarius Sun to match her Aquarius Moon. They had two daughters. Later, after their divorce he became an actor , and is still alive at the time of writing. She, after achieving success as a photographer in her own right, tragically commited suicide in 1971, aged 48.

Diane Arbus's best known work might give us a pointer to her personality. She made a name for herself with skilfully posed portraits of what she, and the press, called "freaks". I will not use that word again. I find it inaccurate and distasteful. She chose to photograph ordinary people who she saw as being different in some way from the norm - or from her own perception of the norm.

Commentary on her work, and through it her character, falls into two camps. There are critics who see her work as a kind of voyeurism, rather cruel and mean spirited, exploiting her subjects. So by extension they suppose that the photographer herself had a nature to match. The other camp saw her as an empathetic character, a tad naive, who was able to use her camera brilliantly and show her subjects in a way nobody else has ever matched.

She suffered from bouts of depression, one of which ended in her suicide. I'm not sure whether depression or suicidal tendencies have any astrological signature. I doubt there's any single signature. Background, circumstance and charts of others in the life of the subject will have a close bearing on individual situations. I have noticed that in the natal chart of another suicide victim, Sylvia Plath, there's an opposition between a personal planet and Chiron (the asteroid known as The Wounded Healer). There's an opposition in Diane Arbus's chart, from Saturn to Chiron. Coincidence, perhaps?

From her natal chart, I'd guess that Arbus was certainly empathetic. Pisces seldom displays itself as mean-spirited or cruel. Uranus is quite close to her natal Pisces Sun, however, which adds a touch of the unexpected to her personality. Uranus also forms part of a Grand Trine in Water, linking to Pluto and Jupiter bringing extra emphasis to an emotional nature, and a touch of darkness via Pluto.
Neptune, ruler of Pisces and planet of creativity (including photography) lay quincunx Uranus - an irritable aspect, and a generational one. As Uranus is part of that Grand Water Trine though, Neptune's scratchy aspect to it would ruffle the Water's calm surface.

Her well spread planets form several other chart patterns. This happens in many splash pattern charts, not all of them can be heavily significant. Among her configurations Arbus had a Grand Cross to contend with, offering a life of continuing challenge (possibly her depressive states) and a Yod with Uranus at its apex - emphasising again that rather unusual side to her personality, manifesting in her choice of photographic subjects. (Below: boy holding grenade.)
Aquarius Moon and Venus add innate intelligence, and reflect a quiet, somewhat detached side to her nature.

So which camp of critics was likely to be correct? On the scant information we have, and without a time of birth, I'd say the middle-way would be accurate. At times she must have seemed cold and uncaring of her subjects, displaying them so clearly and - it seems to us now, cruelly. Yet I doubt she saw it that way herself. She was a professional and objective in her work. She probably saw her subjects as people who deserved to be valued and given some attention.

In one light it seems like a cynical opportunistic enterprise to attract recognition for the photographer, but there had to be a lot of kindness in the way she was able to relate to her subjects. She tried to catch them looking straight into the camera - unafraid, daring viewers to sneer. I'd like to think they are saying, "This is me - I am just like you! "

Right: The type of camera Diane favored - TLR (twin-lens reflex)More photographs available via Google image or HERE.
More information at New York Times article: "Arbus Reconsidered"

Death Charts ?

I was recently asked by a relative and friend who reads my blog whether a chart drawn up for the time of a person's death says something about the person, or the life they've lived.

My response was "No", and that as I see the natal chart, a death chart, or any astrological chart, they provide a kind of time-stamp which carries within it the qualities of a single moment, supposedly identifiable by the position of the planets at that moment - but there could well be other things involved. The moment of death might disclose a tight conjunction or aspect between a transiting planet and a planet in the natal chart of the deceased, but in the charts I've studied it seems not always to have been the case. Referring to an ephemeris (a book containing tables of planetary positions during a century (or more, or less) one could trace backwards and find likely periods when the path of life might well have changed for the native, but these would have no bearing on how the native actually responded during these periods.

I'm aware that my chosen view of astrology is a minimalist one. I believe that at some point in the future discoveries will be made which can validate the barest bones of astrological doctrine, but will leave much of the peripheral stuff and fine detail at best still in doubt, at worst completely discredited. That is my own feeling, driven by my personal astro-makeup though. I could be totally wrong about it all.

I wonder whether anyone passing through Learning Curve on the Ecliptic might have a theory on the matter of death charts which they'd be willing to share?

AQUARIUS STRIPPED

Around this time each year I start inwardly grumbling. And, no it's not courtesy of regular doses of huevos rancheros cooked up by Himself to ward off the cold weather! It's about Aquarius, and how the sign has come to be commonly perceived.

I had a wee grumble last year towards the end of January (here). I described a handful of Sun Aquarians I'd known and loved, and found little in them to match astrological interpretation of the sign.

What has gone awry? Is it me? I'm probably as guilty as anyone else of being drawn into the crowd's expectations - calling Aquarius quirky, avant garde, rebellious, unpredictable, cold and aloof....you know the rest. Humanitarian, another commonly stated characteristic of Aquarius is often apt, but it fits more nearly with Pisces in reality. Most people with Sun in Aquarius have a planet or two in Pisces. Intelligent? I'll go along with that one, it's the only description common to all Sun Aquarians I've ever met. Intelligent, mind you, not genius or even highly intelligent. They simply possess an innate cleverness irrespective of schooling or higher education, which, in some instances when applied can bring out inventive talent. Aquarius is Fixed Air. Air relates to mental processes, so it's reasonable to expect that all Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini and Libra) will share natural intelligence, honed to sophistication by education, or not, as the case may be.

I don't agree with the "love of groups" thing for Aquarius. Where did that come from? In any case it contradicts the "aloof, detached and cold" motif. I haven't ever met a Sun Aquarian who loves to join groups. I run away from them as fast as my little legs will carry me, so did my Dad, and my Aquarian friends. So perhaps we are a tad aloof and detached, but I prefer to think of it as independence.

I think the rest of the commonly used keywords, apart from humanitarian, belong more properly with planet Uranus, delegated to replace Saturn as ruler of Aquarius in modern astrology. I continue to suspect that Saturn was more appropriate as ruler of Aquarius; a Saturn in Airy mode, lighter and less tied down, whereas Capricorn hosts a heavier, Earthy Saturn.

Where does Uranus truly belong among the signs? Its accepted characteristics can infect and invade any of them with its presence, and with equal intensity. The rush to allocate the outer planets to rulerships was curious, I think. Why was it necessary ? Weren't things working satisfactorily in personal astrology beforehand? The outer planets seem to relate far more to mundane issues.

In my old copy of Llewellyn George's "Student Chart Reader" (1934), he says this about Sun in Aquarius:

"In Aquarius the Sun gives a quiet, patient, determined, unobtrisive and faithful nature, as a rule. The Aquarian is refined, pleasant, friendly, generous, charitable, dignified and humanitarian; fond of art, music, scenery and literature; cautious, steady, intelligent, intuitive, discriminitive, concentrative, studious, thoughtful and philopsophical. Good reasoner, practical as well as theoretical; strong likes and dislikes and often with very radical and advanced ideas; is cheerful, sincere and honest, easily influenced by kindness, slow to anger, but will not be driven; loves liberty and is fond of occult research."

I like that description, even though parts of it are too general to be identifiable as purely Aquarian - eg. pleasant, fond of art, music, scenery. I especially like the the last few phrases (easily influenced by kindness, slow to anger, but will not be driven; loves liberty). Interest in the occult applies to this particular Aquarian, but I haven't personally met any others with the same leaning. Perhaps this is another facet belonging more properly to Pisces, although there are two Fixed Stars in Aquarius with traditional connection to astrology.



So this is my own, stripped down, bunch of keywords for Aquarius:

freedom lover, independent, naturally intelligent, quietly determined, loyal, faithful, studious, practical but also theoretical, stubborn, slow to anger, will not be driven.

Radicalism, the avant garde, rebellion and quirkiness will, in my view, be a part of the Sun Aquarian, or any other sign's makeup only if Uranus is in close aspect, or on a sensitive point in the chart. Other characteristics occasionally found in Sun Aquarians come via emphasis on neighbouring sign Pisces. That's my story and I'm sticking to it -'cos I won't be driven !

"COMETH THE HOUR............."

Today will change the view of America, in the hearts of its own citizens and in the eyes of the rest of the world. The long awaited Inauguration Ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama is about to change the lens.

As the Sun slides into Aquarius, just three degrees from benign Jupiter our new President will be sworn in. That sounds good! It sounds optimistic - if all of the American people will just go with the flow ! If the spirit and will of the people of America rises to the occasion, if they can bring themselves to put their trust in a guy who seems to me to want nothing but the best for the country - and all its inhabitants - then it ought to be a glorious day.

There's an excellent assessment of the full chart for the Inauguration written by Dharmaruci at Astrotabletalk.

Today, outside our home, the American Flag replaces the Earth Flag, just for today, in honor of President Obama. When we can work out how to keep it lit by night, as etiquette demands, it may fly there permanently.

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man!"

Pondering upon how to put a slightly different slant on this fabled Inauguration, that phrase kept returning to my thoughts: "Cometh the hour, cometh the man". I've used it quite often, for it does seem to have embedded truth. Sir Winston Churchill "cameth" when his country needed him most, as did Abraham Lincoln, George Washington - the right men for the jobs. Throughout history many such men and women can be identified as popping up at exactly the right time, with exactly the right combination of talent and character. They can, however, only be seen with hindsight. Whether our new President will be "the man" remains to be seen by historians in years to come. I suspect he will be seen in that way.

Some Google meanderings took me slightly off track, as far as the presidency goes, but led to a sideroad marked "astrology". I searched for provenance of that favourite phrase of mine. Others have searched, but in its entirety the phrase's source hasn't been identified. The nearest match comes from a novel by Sir Walter Scott, written in the early 19th century: "Guy Mannering". "Because the Hour's come, and the Man" appears in the first edition, and in the magnum opus edition that Scott supervised in his last years, the phrase is emphasized by putting it in italics. A similar phrase appears in another of Scott's novels.

"But what has this to do with astrology?" I hear them cry.

Guy Mannering was an astrologer. The secondary title of Scott's novel was "The Astrologer".

In Scott's novel, astrologer Guy Mannering predicts the future of Harry Bertram, newborn child of his friends. It appears that Sir Walter Scott based his novel upon an older story or legend recited to him by an old Highlander. Full text of that legend, and another tale, mentioned below, can be read HERE, as part of a kind of preamble or explanation of the author's method of writing his novels.

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man" - I realise now that the phrase could easily be linked to astrology - it yells it!

Anyway...."Guy Mannering" departs from the theme of the legend, and astrology, after a few chapters, because it seems Sir Walter Scott feared that astrology may not be acceptable subject matter to many of his readers ("astrological doctrines have fallen into general contempt" ). The linked narrative does continue though with another tidbit. The author tells of a late "professor of the art of legerdemain" (sleight of hand), who was also interested in astrology. He constructed his own natal chart and found that what it showed fitted well with his past experiences, but then he found an anomaly.

".....but in the important prospect of the future a singular difficulty occurred. There were two years, during the course of which he could by no means obtain any exact knowledge whether the subject of the scheme would be dead or alive. Anxious concerning so remarkable a circumstance, he gave the scheme to a brother Astrologer, who was also baffled in the same manner. At one period he found the native, or subject, was certainly alive—at another, that he was unquestionably dead; but a space of two years extended between these two terms, during which he could find no certainty as to his death or existence.

The Astrologer marked the remarkable circumstance in his Diary, and continued his exhibitions in various parts of the empire, until the period was about to expire, during which his existence had been warranted as actually ascertained. At last, while he was exhibiting to a numerous audience his usual tricks of legerdemain, the hands, whose activity had so often baffled the closest observer, suddenly lost their power, the cards dropped from them, and he sunk down a disabled paralytic. In this state the artist languished for two years, when he was at length removed by death. It is said that the Diary of this modern Astrologer will soon be given to the public."

And that's how I got sidetracked in Google.

George Michael

For some mysterious reason, Huffington Post last week featured a 3-year old article by Johann Hari: an interview with George Michael which had appeared originally in the UK's Independent newspaper. Old or not, it was an interesting read and got me itching to look at George's natal chart again.

Born 25 June 1963 in London, England at, according to Astrotheme, 6.00am.




In the interview covered by Hari's article George discusses the sensitivity and vulnerabilities he experienced, arising from realisation that he is gay. One of the commenters at HuffPo remarked that being gay never did Elton John any harm, even allowing for his peculiar wigs, specs and hair-dos. Astrology explains this difference. Elton John has Sun in Aries. Aries Suns don't give a flying wotnot what others think of them, their appearance or anything else about them. I can give personal testimony on this, for my husband has Sun in Aries. George Michael's natal Sun is in ultra-sensitive Cancer, and whilst I cannot give personal testimony to Sun in Cancer, I know only too well that my natal Cancer rising endowed me with a multitude of pesky and painful sensitivities. Some of George's self-penned songs are testament to his intense sensitivity: "Jesus To A Child" and "You Have Been Loved", for example ooze with pain and deep feeling.



George Michael's chart will have been chewed on many times by astrologers in the past. He has decorated news reports on several occasions following some less than salubrious incidents in public toilets. I wrote on the topic in 2007 - here.

I'll not do another boring old interpretation. I will though point out a couple or three things, expanding on what I wrote earlier.

The two Yod formations with Jupiter at one apex (right) and Neptune at the other(below). Both link directly or indirectly to Pluto which, at the time lay conjunct Fixed Star Zosma.








One Yod has Pluto as one half of the sextile, in the the other Yod Pluto links to the Mercury/Venus conjunction via square (90*) aspect.

I came across Zosma when looking into Ann Coulter's chart - here. This Fixed Star is said to have connections to victims or saviours. Neither of which type seemed relevant in Coulter's case, and nor do they here - well not exactly as usually understood.

Because Pluto is a very slow-mover it remains in the same area for a long period, so millions would have been born during the time Pluto and Zosma lay in close proximity. The conjunction becomes significant in a natal chart only when there's an aspect or connection from Pluto to a personal planet or sensitive point. In George Michael's case, Mars is conjunct Pluto/Zosma, also they form part of a Yod formation linking to Jupiter, as well as making square aspect to Mercury and Venus.


In George's chart I don't look in particular for his singing talent - he's good, very good, heck, he should have been one of the greatest! There are many other good vocalists in the crowd. He has a particular peculiarity - notoriety in the realm of public sexual activity. Pluto traditionally links to sexual issues, and Pluto's relatively rare but potent connections in this chart are likely to play a major part in George's past scenarios.

Regarding Zosma, I suspect that we should take the traditional interpretations of it, and of all Fixed Stars, with a good pinch of salt. I intend to assume that when one of them is closely involved in a natal chart, something extra special or extra unusual is likely to be found in the individual, depending on which planets and stars are involved. But that's just my personal view!

"Jesus to a Child" - George's song written in tribute to a lover who died:

.........So the words you could not say
I'll sing them for you
And the love we would have made
I'll make it for two

For every single memory
Has become a part of me
You will always be My love....

Tiddely-pom!

Today, 18th January would have been the birthday of A.A. Milne. He was born in London, England in 1882. His was a very Earthy natal chart: Sun, Moon and Venus in Capricorn. Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto in Taurus. Uranus in Virgo. Air enough to crank up his writing skills came from Mercury in Aquarius and Mars in Gemini. A Grand Trine in Earth links Uranus to Neptune & Jupiter to Venus, perhaps to Moon also. (Chart is set for 12 noon in absence of a known birth time.)






A.A. Milne's best known books were written for children. The adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their friends have delighted generations. They contain depths of wisdom we could all use these days. For instance, today's doom and gloom merchants and their victims could take note of these two:






'Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?'
'Supposing it didn't,' said Pooh.
After careful thought Piglet was comforted by this.







It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately.


And I find this one very true to life, very often, when writing the blog!


When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.



And the title...?

The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
On snowing. And nobody knows (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
Are growing.
A. A. Milne
The House at Pooh Corner

(Illustrations by E.H. Shepherd, whose lovely work adorned many of A.A.Milne's books.)

Saturday ~ Saturn's Day

In general Saturn gets a bad press. Just for a change, a post and a toast to the ringed planet.

Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,
And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road;
But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.
Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald v.31.

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,
Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star,
Sat gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone.
John Keats, poet.


But a good Saturn, or a good response to Saturn ... is one of the best features that map can display. So long as conscientious work, prudence, punctuality, common-sense, and temperate and well-controlled habits have any worth, so long will Saturn, rightly understood and interpreted in our lives, be a planet of the utmost value. It is when we wish to dictate to him and extort by violence or cunning what WE think will be good for us that he becomes, in our eyes, a tyrant.
C.E.O. Carter, astrologer.



The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
Mark Russell, political satirist & comedian.





Saturn's influence is only painful to the majority of people because they have not acquired perfect self-control and unselfishness, once these are learnt Saturn becomes the guide, philosopher and friend; the wise counsellor.
Major C.G.M. Adam, occultist & astrologer.

Finally, a re-airing of my video compilation showing three sides of Saturn: the father, the worker, and the stable, lasting relationship.