From Agatha Christie and Charles Darwin to Keira Knightley, Francoise Hardy and Morrissey, the socially awkward and anxious have changed the world for the better. Have we forgotten the benefits of being shy?
A good read, I found, and an interesting take on being shy. Mr Robson references a new book by Joe Moran:
How could someone so successful still be so insecure? This is the paradox at the heart of a new book, Shrinking Violets, by the cultural historian Joe Moran, which explores shyness in politics, literature and psychology. Moran’s book portrays this full spectrum. Consider Dirk Bogarde, who, having learned how to hide his feelings from bullies at school, likened himself to a hermit crab hiding in a scavenged shell. “I was safe from predators,” he wrote, “and by predators I meant everyone I met.” He had hoped to conquer his shyness in adulthood, but he found it was “a malady” that “crippled me before I walked into a crowded room, theatre, restaurant or bar”. Acting in the West End, he would throw-up before every performance, saying “you can’t be as frightened as I am now and still be alive. This is as near death, execution, and everything else that I’ve ever come across.” As Moran points out, Bogarde was not taking these words lightly: he had fought at D-Day and in the following battles in Normandy.
Consulting my tattered copy of 20th century British astrologer C.E.O. Carter's "An Encyclopaedia of Psychological Astrology" I found this under "Shyness":
Shyness is a form of Sensitiveness (q.v.) and is to some extent connected with too pronounced a consciousness of the self. It is also to some degree analgous with suspicion and timidity.
Astrologically the usual indications are Saturnian-lunar afflictions in some form or other, and a lack of the positive elements in the map. Cancer is especially shy, and just as the lunar influence is strongest in childhood and then grows weaker, so adults usually grow out of their shyness.
Besides Cancer, Virgo is often extremely shy, and the same is sometimes found in Scorpio or Pisces children (v.Self-confidence).
Under "Sensitiveness" which Mr Carter directed the reader to see, he talked about this being common to all watery signs, especially Cancer, and to the negative signs, excepting Taurus. Leo and Sagittarius probably come next in lack of sensitiveness, he wrote. Also:
Under Self-confidence Mr Carter, among other things, emphasised that a prominent Mars is the chief thing to look for....Moon Venus and Neptune are the least self-reliant, Neptune has much to do with inferiority complexes (q.v.)Virgo is easily hurt and inclines to adopt an attitude of what is commonly called "huffiness". Capricorn readily feels slights or snubs and is very sensitive to neglect or being overlooked. Libra is easily hurt but has a short memory for such things. Gemini and Aquarius are predominantly mental and do not feel injured over-easily.
A quick look at natal charts of some of the people mentioned in David Robson's essay, to discover if C.E.O. Carter's propositions...erm...hold water.
I'm stating only what immediately jumped out to me from these linked charts, at Astrodatabank, in context of this post:
Astro.com has two different times on birth on offer. In one (DD rated, so not reliable) Darwin had Sagittarius rising with Neptune conjunct Saturn on his ascendant. That'd be a shy signature. In a chart with a rectified time of birth Virgo was rising with the Saturn/Neptune conjunction closer to the nadir...still good but not as good.
Sun in Virgo, Virgo rising, Saturn in Virgo in first house of self. Yes!
Virgo rising, with Neptune in Libra in first house; Saturn in 10th house of career opposing Venus in Sagittarius. Not as clear a shyness signature, but more of a dampener I'd say. Shyness not out of the question.
Saturn and Jupiter (not quite conjunct) in Virgo opposing Mercury and Uranus conjunction in Pisces. His Pluto at 6 Cancer trined his Mercury/Uranus in Watery Pisces.
As someone with Cancer rising, I'm pretty sure I have that to thank for intense childhood shyness, which continued into maturity, better hidden. Being an only child didn't help either, I guess. There was less of Cancer involvement in the few charts I investigated, above. Extreme, deeply Cancerian shyness could deter a person from even trying to seek public acclaim or fame and fortune. Characters like those investigated here might be secretly shy, but not cripplingly shy enough for it to act as deterrent. This broad, random proposition could be easily struck down though (said she, shyly).
Any thoughts ?
I'm pulling-out of my biweekly, near-death experience...mowing, edging, weeding...four hours in the yard this morning. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI was an extremely shy kid, plus I had a bad stutter. The stutter finally started to diminish around the age of 12. I agree that shyness is a pronounced awareness of self, as I was self-conscious about everything and lacked confidence. My shyness was with me for several decades and has decreased the older I become. I had to give presentations for my job, which I hated, but I became used to the formality and felt that it provided a means of over-coming my fear of public speaking...by force...LOL. The past several decades have brought me to the opposite side of not fearing what I say. I'm fairly outspoken now and don't give a poop.
I have Saturn in Virgo square Mars in Sagittarius, with Sun-Mercury-Venus conjunct-combust in Scorpio at the midpoint (semi-square). Is that the correlating astrology? Works for my situation.
I suspect childhood experiences account for much self-consciousness. My parents were not social, so I had minimal interaction with those outside of my immediate family. We were not members of anything. I don't ever recall having anyone over for dinner. I believe that children indulged in social discourse, whether by lots of interaction with relatives, parents with many friends and acquaintances, or simply exposed to varied social platforms (clubs, sports, school programs, etc) will fare far better with self-confidence and social interaction abilities. It's a learned behavior, to an extent, so shyness may have more to do with environmental factors than actual astrology. Under the right circumstances of environment and astrology, shyness can be crippling.
mike ~ In the kind of heat that's around in your area right now it must be difficult to do yard work. The healthy side of providing exercise has to be offset by the heat exhaustion factor. Hope you had a nice rest afterwards. I persuaded anyjazz to get a lawn-guy to do ours, front and back, a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt seems your experience in childhood was much the same as mine. I didn't have a speech impediment, but was a little overweight - which bothered me a lot. Work experience, self confidence gained from that, and losing weight (lost too much for a time, probably didn't do my bones a lot of good) gradually eased things for me - though I always detested having to do any form of presentation - managed it when essential though, with lots of preparation and practice - and managed to fool 'em! ;-)
Your astrology does fit the Virgo and Saturn mix, similar to the characters mentioned in the post.