Natal charts of three famous boxers are shown below, all three were born when the Sun was in zodiac sign Cancer. The first two charts are set for 12 noon as no reliable times of birth are available, the third chart is set for a rectified time given at astro.com ('C' rating only).
How, one might wonder, do the commonly attributed Cancer keywords (for example: gentle, maternal, sensitive, nurturing, defensive, contemplative), manage to fit three guys who made their names professionally by trying to knock the living daylights out of an opponent?
Defensive - there's that! My late partner was as keen on boxing as husband Anyjazz is on jazz, and had had some involvement in the sport. He would always declare that boxing should properly be a sport of defence, not aggression. If that is so, then Cancer's symbol, the crab, is no slouch in defensive action, sporting a hard shell of protection, pincers that could hurt, scuttling away, albeit with peculiar gait, when trouble is sensed. But really, what I see as crystal clear from the experiment below is that Sun signs are always much-modified by the rest of the chart's components.
Jack Dempsey born in Manassa, Colorado on 24 June 1895.
Leon Spinks born in St. Louis, Missouri on 11 July 1953.
Mike Tyson born in Catskill, New York on 30 June 1966, time of birth rectified to 9.40 AM ('C' rated at astro.com).
Most Cancerian traits do seem quite unsuited to "the noble art" - how boxing earned that title is explained nicely in a blog called The Way of the Warrior HERE. In the three charts above I first noted the mix of Cancer with Leo and Gemini - and came closer to seeing rhyme and reason. Successful boxers need to have mental acuity (here supplied by Gemini) as well as as physical strength, and for a professional boxer some Leo flavour will propel him to enjoy the spotlight - if he's sufficiently skilled.
Dempsey's Cancer planets were flanked by a generational Pluto/Neptune conjunction in Gemini which linked via helpful sextile to natal Mars and Venus in Leo, assisting the blend. Uranus in harmonious trine to Jupiter, contributes elements of surprise - delivering the unexpectedly punch is essential for a successful boxer. Saturn trines his natal Sun, putting a sturdier "backbone" into Cancer's potential softness.
Spinks' Sun, Uranus and Mars in conjunction has to be a classic astrological signature for a boxer. Cancer's urge to protect itself, Uranus' unexpected punches, and Mars dynamic strength and energy. His Cancer planets are flanked by personal planets in Gemini and Leo...there's that blend again!
Tyson has a similar blend with personal planets in Cancer, Leo, Gemini. His generation has a Pluto/Uranus conjunction in Virgo - it links to his Cancer Sun/Jupiter conjunction by sextile, adding power and an element of surprise to aid the Cancerian urge to protect itself. Tyson's opponents usually felt that additional power in action, very early on!
These three boxers were able to call the full orchestra of their natal charts into harmony when at work in that square ring.
How, one might wonder, do the commonly attributed Cancer keywords (for example: gentle, maternal, sensitive, nurturing, defensive, contemplative), manage to fit three guys who made their names professionally by trying to knock the living daylights out of an opponent?
Defensive - there's that! My late partner was as keen on boxing as husband Anyjazz is on jazz, and had had some involvement in the sport. He would always declare that boxing should properly be a sport of defence, not aggression. If that is so, then Cancer's symbol, the crab, is no slouch in defensive action, sporting a hard shell of protection, pincers that could hurt, scuttling away, albeit with peculiar gait, when trouble is sensed. But really, what I see as crystal clear from the experiment below is that Sun signs are always much-modified by the rest of the chart's components.
Jack Dempsey born in Manassa, Colorado on 24 June 1895.
Leon Spinks born in St. Louis, Missouri on 11 July 1953.
Mike Tyson born in Catskill, New York on 30 June 1966, time of birth rectified to 9.40 AM ('C' rated at astro.com).
Most Cancerian traits do seem quite unsuited to "the noble art" - how boxing earned that title is explained nicely in a blog called The Way of the Warrior HERE. In the three charts above I first noted the mix of Cancer with Leo and Gemini - and came closer to seeing rhyme and reason. Successful boxers need to have mental acuity (here supplied by Gemini) as well as as physical strength, and for a professional boxer some Leo flavour will propel him to enjoy the spotlight - if he's sufficiently skilled.
Dempsey's Cancer planets were flanked by a generational Pluto/Neptune conjunction in Gemini which linked via helpful sextile to natal Mars and Venus in Leo, assisting the blend. Uranus in harmonious trine to Jupiter, contributes elements of surprise - delivering the unexpectedly punch is essential for a successful boxer. Saturn trines his natal Sun, putting a sturdier "backbone" into Cancer's potential softness.
Spinks' Sun, Uranus and Mars in conjunction has to be a classic astrological signature for a boxer. Cancer's urge to protect itself, Uranus' unexpected punches, and Mars dynamic strength and energy. His Cancer planets are flanked by personal planets in Gemini and Leo...there's that blend again!
Tyson has a similar blend with personal planets in Cancer, Leo, Gemini. His generation has a Pluto/Uranus conjunction in Virgo - it links to his Cancer Sun/Jupiter conjunction by sextile, adding power and an element of surprise to aid the Cancerian urge to protect itself. Tyson's opponents usually felt that additional power in action, very early on!
These three boxers were able to call the full orchestra of their natal charts into harmony when at work in that square ring.
11 comments:
Nice post. Actually there's something pretty crab-like about the way boxers move around that square ring -- sideways, quickstep, but rarely straight ahead -- and with their hands held high encased in big pincery shells.
Christina - Hi there! Thank you. Excellent point you've made - yes indeed! :-)
Pugilists are a strange breed! Most appear to have strong egos displaying macho bravado and narcissism, but that may simply be a guise and come with the territory, like a peacock's tail feathers. I enjoy following the careers of several of our local amateur, Golden Gloves participants, but I don't like viewing the brutal assaults, which over time, will provide permanent brain damage.
I followed Oscar de la Hoya when I lived in Ventura, CA, as he was considered a local...he lived next door in Oxnard, CA. Oddly, he does commercials for one of our local car insurance companies here in TX, Fred Loya Insurance.
The only commonality I can perceive from these boxers is a bundling of planets around the Sun. Non-Cancers Pacquiao and de la Hoya have that, too. Floyd Mayweather does not.
mike ~ I always see boxing's heyday as being some decades past, when several famous heavyweight champs ruled the days, and following the sport was a popular pastime for many in the UK, the USA and elsewhere. I clearly remember, as a child in the 1940s, my parents gathering around our radio eagerly following commentary on a fight between then British boxing favourite, Bruce Woodcock and, I think it might have been Joe Baksi. Onward, into the 1970s, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali continued to keep international interest in the sport alive and well for huge audiences. Nowadays boxing's place has been mostly taken over by soccer (UK), football, baseball (USA).
I very much doubt there's commonality between natal charts of most boxers, but I would expect there to be at least some emphasis on mental acuity (Air signs), as well as physical power/energy, in those of the best and most successful. The three boxers featured in the post came together for me only because I saw Jack Dempsey's name in the birthdays for 24 June, then added a couple more Sun Cancerian boxers for good measure, out of curiosity.
I did, many, many years ago, try to do some mild research on boxers (and sportsmen in general) long before the advent of home computers and astrology software. I spent hours in a city library reference section searching for birth dates, as a first stage, then did what I could from that, plus what I could discover from the few astrology books I owned back then. I meant well, but without proper source material it was a bit of a lost cause, but good practice for me!
Famous boxers by Sun-sign distribution:
http://astropolis.lv/en/articles/research/361/Zodiac_and_Boxers
The Cancer-Capricorn cardinal axis wins.
mike (again) ~ Thanks for the link - interesting! Both Cancer and Capricorn, as well as having cardinality in their favour, are likely to have personal planets in next door Air and/or Fire signs. (That could apply to boxers of other Sun signs too, of course). The other cardinal signs are not quite as well placed for Air: Aries has Pisces/Taurus next door, Libra has Virgo/Scorpio adjoining. Though Aries and Libra both have Mars potentially very strong, from Aries' ruler and Libra's neighbouring Scorpio.
Disclainer: That's painting astrology with a very broad brush, and without checking boxers' actual charts.
Did you look at Astropolis' "Zodiac and Tennis Players" and "Formula-1 drivers"? All Sun-sign based...interesting results. I'd previously read about the prominence of Mars in athletes' charts, but Astropolis' research tends to imply the TYPE of sport or athletic activity is important to consider. Statistically, I would expect a random distribution of Sun-signs when considering boxing, tennis, or race car drivers, but that isn't the case.
http://astropolis.lv/en/articles/research/
Astropolis is soliciting for natal chart time rectification...it appears to be free and part of their research activity:
http://astropolis.lv/en/articles/research/250/Determine_your_exact_birth_time_rectification
You might be interested in this site's diverse astrology research:
http://astrologyresearch.co.uk/does-this-prove-astrology/
mike (again) ~ Those are some very good links, minke - thank you! I've bookmarked them all for future reference, and I shall certainly have a good look around them all. Been a bit biz today though.
I do remember trying to research race car drivers, along with boxers, way back when, during my sessions in the reference library. From the little I could glean I remember coming up with a lot of Scorpio influence - that was for all kinds of motor racing though, not just Formula One. But as mentioned, my efforts didn't amount to much other than good practice. :-)
mike (again)~ minke, is your screen name translated into Late Night Gobbledegookish - and as Michael Caine would say: not a lot of people know that! :-)
Do you have a leesance for zat minke?
... Bloody 'el :)
kidd.
Anon/kidd ~ Yeah - we keep it in the bath mister... (singing softly to herself)"whale meat again, don't know where, don't know...!"
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