Thursday, December 12, 2013

Auntie Sagittarius

As the Sun visits each sign of the zodiac I often get to thinking about people I've known who either typify that sign or fly in the face of tradition and remain mavericks to their Sun sign. Sun is currently in Sagittarius. This is the sign of the eternal optimist, a sunny, happy-go-lucky individual given to excess of one kind or another, who will philosophise or take off travellin' at the drop of a hat, and can occasionally be found with foot in mouth, due to a tendency to be blunt. This is a favourite sign of mine, yet Sun Sagittarians I've known well can be counted on less than the fingers of one hand - on one finger, in fact! Maybe for some reason our paths just don't cross, or maybe it is that although I like the idea of Sagittarians, the feeling's not mutual and I don't appeal to them. I think I did appeal to this one though:

My mother's sister, my Aunt Lil' (Lilian) was a Sun Sagittarian, with Venus conjunct Sun. Perhaps I inherited my own Venus in Sag. from her. In her youth she had the Sagittarian draw towards adventure, left home as a teenager to join the ATS ( women's army) during World War2. She met and married a guy in the forces who hailed from her hometown. Curiously, for reasons I never understood, the marriage wasn't accepted happily by either set of parents. I suspect it was a matter of that demon "class" (or assumed class!) Though a rocky union, it did last until "death did them part" in the late 1990s.

I knew Aunt Lil' best during the early years of my life, then during the later years of hers, in between we didn't cross paths often. She and my mother had one of those strange sisterly love/hate relationships, which made for long periods of estrangement and a few affectionate interludes, mainly in their later years. Oddly, my two cousins, Aunt Lil's son and daughter, seem to have the same love/hate relationship going on as their mother and aunt did. Sometimes I'm glad I was an only child, it does at least avoid that kind of heartache.

Aunt Lil's Sagittarius-ness showed in her warmth and sense of fun, but it could often be drowned out by two personal planets in intense Scorpio: Mercury and Jupiter. I never did receive her negative side, because I think she loved me quite a bit. She often said I reminded her of herself! Others in the small towns where she spent all her years often saw her as a little eccentric - probably a reflection of her natal Mars in Aquarius. A Grand Trine in Water signs linked Uranus, Pluto and Jupiter natally. She did suffer, as she used to describe it, "with nerves", throughout her life. Now I can see that her warm Saggitarius Fire was in constant battle with Scorpio and a Watery circuit of the Grand Trine. Stereotypical Sagittarius she was not, yet its qualities shone through, especially in later life. Aunt Lil' died at Christmas, 2005, when thankfully her son and some of her grandkids were around her, but sadly I was 5,000 miles away.

Though my experience of this sign, apart from my own Venus in Sagittarius has been scanty, I do appreciate, from afar, some natives of the sign: the incomparable Frank Sinatra, and Tina Turner; the late lamented comedian, Bill Hicks; author Bill Bryson; writer/cartoonist James Thurber; and astrologer Jonathan Cainer populate my personal roll-call of long-time Sagittarius favourites.

16 comments:

mike said...

My older sister is a Sag Sun and ascendent...she's perhaps the most "normal" of us siblings, in that she's very mainstream, fundamentally religious, and family values focused. Yet, she's quite the character: judgmental to the point of excluding those of different thinking, extremely conservative and proud of it, always willing to have an ideological showdown. She has severed ties with family members, only to reconnect as if nothing ever happened, then disconnect again. She plays mean-spirited, practical jokes on us siblings...she has twice sent me gift cards with $0 on them...ha, ha, ha...so funny.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful Sun in Sag brother-in-law married to my other sister. He has all of the positive qualities one hears of the sign Sagittarius.

I've known a couple of other Sag Sun signs over the years...most have been like their stereotypical qualities...a bit scattered, fun-loving, adventuresome, see the expansive horizons, and ready for a good "toe-poppin'" dance. None have been foreign travelers, lawyers, advanced educational degrees, or philosophically inclined, though. There's usually something bold about their attire, usually bright colors or into abstract patterns of color. I've never known one to be tidy!

“While a Sagittarian tends to be candid, there’s also a part of them that could be described as being more devious than Pisces, more deceptive than Gemini and more carnal than Scorpio.” Rosemary Breen, Horoscope Compatibility for All the Zodiac Signs

anyjazz said...

Aunt Lilly was a character. I always enjoyed our visits to her house in Brid.

Twilight said...

mike ~ Your older sister has some of the negative traits of my aunt, it seems i.e. severing of family ties, then reconnecting only to disconnect again. Odd, because that doesn't match anything in astrology text books on Sag. that I've ever read. I'd put it down to some contrasting traits elsewhere, becoming "triggered" by transit or other, then "untriggered"...although that could apply to any sign, not only Sagittarius. My husband's younger daughter (Aquarius Sun) has similar traits too - I've often told husband that she has reminded me of Aunt Lil at times.

Re the quote in your last lines - Carl Payne Tobey thought the opposite in his comparison of 2 signs with the same planetary ruler: i.e. that Pisces is the more devious of the two.Bearing in mind the legendary fertile imagination (to think up falsities?) belonging to Pisces, I think Mr. Tobey could have been right.

Twilight said...

anyjazz ~ She certainly was, especially in her senior years.
It's a pity you didn't get an opportunity to sample her cooking when she was a bit younger - she was a superb cook (inherited talent from her mother, my Grandma. I didn't inherit it though, as you well know. ;-)

James Higham said...

I never did receive her negative side, because I think she loved me quite a bit.

As one does of course.

Twilight said...

James Higham - Well... of course (pouting bottom lip)...I was her only niece.
;-)

Sonny G said...

my daughter is a sag with a cap rising and aqua moon..
she shows so many cap traits, so many:)

Twilight said...

Sonny ~ That's a nice combo - the winter signs. They might be conflicting at times but I think they have a kind of understanding of each other, being all of a season, so it's likely to be a well-rounded nature, Mercury is likely to be in one of those signs too. :-)

DC said...

In British terms Ozzy Osbourne and Churchill come to mind after reading this :) I myself lack any Sag in my chart (no gemini either)even though I've lived out of the states for years.

Twilight said...

DC ~ Two good examples of over-done Sag-ness. We were glad of Churchill's traits, at least for some of UK's most crucial years.:-)

Hmm - maybe your natal Jupiter is prominent or heavily aspected then?

DC said...

you're right...my Jupiter is heavily aspected. It's conjunct Saturn in Capricorn in my mid-heaven (10th house)sign....both Jupiter and Saturn are square my Aries Sun(I'm Aries sun and Aries rising....double wheel guy). My chart has always been an enigma to me....March 23rd 1960 6:30 a.m..... Pisces pulling back on Aries....Merc-pisces...venus pisces...and both of those in a pluto in Virgo opposition..Aries/pisces cusp sun...thankfully an Aquarius moon, although conjunct mars....maybe one of my only saving graces....if that. I'd love to hear your interpretation if you'd ever be so gracious to give my chart a peek.

Twilight said...

DC ~ Hmmm (smiling) your birthday is a day after my husband's (different generation though). He has the Aries/Pisces thing going on too. It was a bit of an enigma to me when I first met him. I'm glad of it though - I think it greatly softens what might otherwise be quite a hard-edged personality (him) with his Leo rising too. Also, your Sun/Moon mix is the mirror image of mine, and I too have Pisces influence, Jupiter in Pisces is in exact semi-sextile to my Sun (both at 6...)

Anyway.....I'm wondering whether you've calculated your relocated ascendant? I'm interested to know whether you "feel" differently in the place where you are now in any profound way, not in ways connected to customs and culture of the new country, I mean. My own ascendant moved from Cancer to Aquarius, and I think, although natal Cancer rising will always be a part of me, that re-located Aquarius rising kind of frees the Aquarius-ness of my Sun-self, it's no longer drowning in the crab-ridden sea. ;-)

I like your chart DC (I calculated it on my software using Washington DC as birth place -due to your screen-name - it's probably not exact but near enough it puts things where you mentioned they should be.) I like the Aries/Pisces/Aquarius mix, it's a mix of beginnings and ends, hard and soft, hot and cool, winter and spring....a span of understandings.

You have enough astrological know-how to sort out your aspects, so I'll not rattle on about those. I notice that you have Jupiter (as well as being well-aspected and near mid-heaven) conjunct a Fixed Star : Polis. Hadn't come across this one before, so looked it up. http://astrologyking.com/polis-star/

Apparently, if well-aspected Polis can denote high office in spiritual spheres i.e. Archbishop etc. (Fixed Star interpretations always seem hyperbolic), in your case, the more moderate "someone whose interest and knowledge of things spiritual may be both keen and profound" might apply; as well as putting extra emphasis on Jupiter and the travel/living abroad issue.

You've had Uranus transit your natal Sun, back in early Summer 2011, after quite a few Uranus "pings" on various Aquarius and Pisces planets before that - so those potentials for the unexpected are over....sigh of relief? :-) Oh, and Pluto transit on natal Jupiter in 2010 . One more Pluto transit, on Saturn, to come but not for a couple of years-ish. Might not be noticeable, or might indicate a transformation of your working life in some way. Then it'll be plain sailing.

Those are random thoughts, DC, hope they make some sort of sense!

DC said...

THANK YOU so much for the time you took looking at my chart. I'm not that familiar with the ascendant relocation thing but I think it has merit....I feel I'm where I should be anyways.
The Polis link was eye opening and you were gracious to include the positives where that was concerned even tho I suspect there may be some of the less fortunate aspects present with me...maybe anyway lol.

Once years ago I was obsessed with getting my chart rectified accurately and came across a very old rectification tool in a book that dated back to Babylonian times. (I clooected old astrology books back then)
That book disappeared just as mysteriously as it appeared and to this day I can't remember where or how exactly I came in contact with it. Anyway.....the details are fuzzy but and I'll try and paraphrase the best my old man's memory can, but I DO remember that it listed some variables that a native must have in order for the rectification to work or be valid...and to my surprise I did have all the right house/planetary positions that were required....so I went ahead and read on. The striking thing that I remember the most is that it said that (with all other clarified positions withstanding) the native could positively rectify his chart to the exact degree IF 1) the native's parent met an unexpected death and 2) if the native was present at the time of the parents death and 3) if the native had Saturn at mid-heaven in the 10th house/ cardinal.
Both of these applied to me....my father was accidentally stabbed when he fell on a knife in our house when I was seven and I was there at the time and remember it vividly. The rectification went on to say that if Saturn was close to the mid-heaven (in the 10th house I believe it said) that the degrees from the mid-heaven to the point where Saturn was would be the same in degrees as the native's age at the time of the death of his parent. I was shocked....I had only to make a slight adjustment to "move" my wheel to the point where Saturn was 7 degrees from the mid-heaven!
It hen made my ascendant 2 degrees Aries I believe.
It also went on to say that at the exact time of death, IF the native was physically present, then attributes of the father would then be directly transferred to the native at the moment of death. I was there watching when my father took his last breath and was suddenly whisked away by my older brother. Strange too that I never ever felt sorry or sadness because of this....I never grieved for my dad even tho we were very very close. He was a fine artist and as strange as it may seem I too have become a fine artist.....graduating back in the day with a degree in fine art. To this day I maintain a studio and feel a strict adherence to all things artistic. Maybe you know of this ancient rectification technique? To this day I am hard pressed to find the actual instructions that I found in that very old book years ago.
I was born in Los Angeles btw...and the time of my birth was handily on my birth certificate unlike so many today.
I haven't shared this with anyone EVER, as it is just beyond most lay people's ability to take in such matters......but you are of course different....in a good ol Aquarian sort of way. lol. I have always got along so well with Aquarian aspected folks and consider it a strong influence where my mind (moon) is concerned....I'm sure you understand.
Thanks Annie....it meant alot to me for you to do this. And oh yes....spiritual matters (and art) are what my entire life is all about. If only you knew....then again it seems you might!..Again...thank you. :)

Twilight said...

DC ~ Glad you didn't find my thoughts too outlandish! :-)

By the way, there's a section at Astrodienst where relocation chart can be calculated easily, if you ever wanted to see yours.
Sign up first (all free)
Go to Extended Chart Selection and look in the pull-down menu of available chart calculations....Relocation is towards the bottom of the list if I remember correctly.

That's an amazing story - the rectification method you read about and used! I haven't come across that particular method.
I've read of Hermes Trutine method - too complex for me - which I assume is pretty ancient. Maybe the one you discovered is some facet or offshoot of that....
I took a quick look around the net using different search words and found a mention of something almost similar on this blog - not exactly the same but perhaps based on the method you used.

http://tonylouis.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/my-very-first-chart-rectification/
Snip:
At some point in the early 1970s I came across instructions in Llewellyn’s A to Z Horoscope Maker about how to rectify a chart. The book instructed one to use the first event before age 30 that had a profound impact on the native. In my life that event was the death of my mother just a few days before my 8th birthday. The book went on to say that if the event is the death of a parent, use Saturn if it lies near the MC/IC axis. Saturn symbolizes death and the MC/IC axis represents the parents.

It's interesting, too, that you are an artist - my husband (born 22 March) loves to paint too, not professionally, but it has been a hobby of his since childhood. And throughout my life I've somehow gravitated towards artistic types. My first schoolfriend, with whom I still exchange greetings cards, went to Art School and has always loved painting; my late partner of 33 years was a talented amateur artist too, and a couple of work-friends the same. Yet I myself can't draw or paint at all.

I suspected that the spiritual mention might be appropriate - due to your avatar. :-)

DC said...

Thanks for the links Annie.....interesting stuff. Glad you could relate to my story as odd as it is. Your suspicions are right on about the "avatar" too....and the moniker DC was one I "earned" back in the day due to spiritual pursuits (and hopefully achievements;))....it stands for Diamond Cutter...from the Diamond cutter sutras....Vajrachedika in sanskrit...Vajra-diamond, chedika-cutter...I liked the initials DC better than VC, for some reason it had a familiar ring to it and it stuck...and a "diamond cutter" being one who shapes the rough "stones" we all are at one point into spiritual "jewels" or diamonds....a potential we all have....to be that diamond if only we strive to be such.
I suspected your hubby to be artistic as you once had a drawing of his as your banner pic some time back. :)
thanks again for the links!
your insights are true gems!

Twilight said...

DC ~ Oh that's a very nice long-form of your screen signature, DC.

Most of us could be described as "rough diamonds", some possibly more akin to Cubic Zirconiae, I guess. ;-)

And...thanks to you, too, for an interesting exchange. :-)