Arty Farty Friday ~ A.A. Milne, E.H. Shepard, Christopher R. & Winnie the P.

Watching a DVD of the 2017 biographical drama film "Goodbye Christopher Robin" this week reminded me that here was another of those magical collaborations we encounter from time to time, partnerships which bring forth something that becomes almost legendary. I've mentioned a few such partnerships in past blogs...off the top of my head: Billie Holiday and Lester Young, Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. Author A.A. Milne and artist E. H. Shepard make up another such pair. In this case though, sadly, it is said that neither man was too happy about the success of their collaboration, because it overshadowed their other work. Milne's famous son Christopher Robin was also unhappy about his involvement. That does seem a tad ...erm... ungrateful all round, doesn't it? Perhaps, from their point of view, their lives were taken over in ways they had neither planned nor foreseen - they were all taken in directions they would rather not have pursued. Still, millions of children and adults have reason to be grateful for what emerged.

This set of first editions is priced $16,500

The film, by the way is well worth a look.

My 2009 archived post on A.A. Milne is HERE. I'm curious to see A.A. Milne's natal chart against that of E.H. Shepard. Both charts are set for 12 noon as birth times are unknown. Click on chart image for larger version.

A.A. Milne born in London, England on 18 January 1882.

Milne's is 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. Moon's position isn't exact as shown, due to lack of a birth time.

Shepard's chart isn't as Earthy, his Sun and Mercury are in Fiery Sagittarius, but there's still emphasis on Taurus from Neptune and Pluto, with Mars there too. Uranus is in Virgo in both charts, so the pair shared an Earthy generational tone, along with millions of others.

Both men had served in World War I, they suffered from memories of the horrors they had experienced. I'm tempted to connect their ease of collaboration to Chiron (the mythological Wounded Healer) in Taurus, sign ruled by Venus, planet of the arts. Chiron is conjunct Jupiter and Neptune in Milne's chart; conjunct Neptune and Mars in Shepard's. Their writing and drawing collaboration could well have afforded a means of healing their mental wounds.

E.H. Shepard born in London, England on 10 December 1879.

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.)