HALLIBURTON

I read recently in our local newspaper that Halliburton have started laying-off employees. It seems that no company is immune from current financial problems - even this giant. Digging around in the archive files I came across my February 2007 post about Halliburton. I've wiped away a few cobwebs, added chart and photograph of the man himself, and now give it a re-airing:


THE FOUNDER OF HALLIBURTON & HIS ASTROLOGY

What follows is the result of a walk in the park on a sunny winter's afternoon. I stopped for a photograph by a statue, and thereby hangs a tale!

Halliburton is a dirty word these days. Not many can find a good thing to say about the company, perhaps for very good reason. It was not always so though, and nowhere is it more apparent than in this small Oklahoma town where Erle P. Halliburton established the headquarters of his first company in 1919.

One of the inscriptions on his statue (left) reads:

"Erected 1993, in memory of a man who left an indelible impression on Duncan and Stephens County. He touched the lives of many people, no only as the county’s largest employer, but as a perpetually inquisitive person whose technical inspirations became legends in the oil industry around the world. His deep and abiding concern for the welfare of the people of this area and is remembered fondly."

Erle P. Halliburton was born in Henning, Tennessee on 22 September 1892. (No time of birth known, chart below set for 12 noon).



Sun conjunct Saturn may account for many of the characteristics highlighted in the extract which follows. It's said that this conjunction can indicate the "self-made man" who has succeeded through sheer hard work and determination." An abundance of Air and positive polarity in his chart endowed him with an agile mind - quick in thought, determined in action. There's a Grand Trine in Air linking Sun/Saturn in Libra to Mars in Aquarius to Neptune/Pluto in Libra. These Airy and helpful links emphasise Mr. Halliburton's innate intelligence, inventive talent, and ease in dealing with all things intellectual.

The chart also likely contains a "Mystic Rectangle" - a configuration consisting of two oppositions Mars/Venus and Moon/Jupiter (depending on time of birth) with trines and sextiles joining these Air and Fire planets.

Kevin B.Burk, astrologer, says this about mystic rectangle configurations:
"Once an individual has integrated a Mystic Rectangle, it represents a core of strength for them, and a solid foundation that can be a great gift in handling whatever else life throws at them."



The generational Pluto/Neptune in Gemini conjunction is a part of the Air Grand Trine mentioned above, Neptune is connected, astrologically, to oil - very fitting!





A short extract follows. It comes from Dan Briody's book "The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money" The passages highlighted in red relate rather well to the astrological factors I've mentioned above.

"Before there was a $13 billion company, before the World Wars and the Texas oil boom, before there were pet presidents and vice presidents, campaign contributions and gov ernment contracts, union busting and sanction dodging, there was simply a man, fiercely struggling to escape poverty, doggedly pursuing his piece of America's manifest destiny. At the time of his birth, September 22, 1892, in a small farming town on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, the name Erle Palmer Halliburton stirred no national emotion. It held no political intrigue. It had no impact on government or business. It was only the name of one of five sons of Edwin Gray Halliburton, an anonymous jack-of-all-trades, who would not live to see Erle's thirteenth birthday. Halliburton, as a name, meant virtually nothing to anyone outside of Henning, Tennessee. But Erle Halliburton was determined to change all of that.

As a young boy, Erle Halliburton showed a natural inclinaion toward mechanics, often dismantling and reassembling devices for pure recreation. While boys his age in Henning were playing with toy trucks in sand boxes, Erle was tinkering with gears and repairing simple machines. His curiosity drove him to understand how things worked. He was an excellent student, completing both elementary and high school courses over an eight-year span by age fourteen. Yet, even then, Erle Halliburton was uninterested in the idle trappings of youth. In what would become one of his trademark characteristics, he was intensely focused on higher aims.

After his father passed away in 1904, the Halliburton family was left with little money and even less opportunity. Two years later, hopelessly impoverished at age fourteen, Erle decided it was time he left home and pursued his fortunes elsewhere.

Diminutive in stature at just 5 foot 5 inches, the future of the Halliburton clan was resting on Erle's narrow shoulders, the new man of the house. But he brimmed with confidence, promising his family he would not return to Henning until he had pocketed a million dollars, a claim that no one could have taken seriously at the time. Underestimating Erle Halliburton would be a mistake that many of his contemporaries would repeat over the years, for as author and Texas historian J. Evetts Haley put it, Halliburton was "fired by the stern disciplines of hunger and want."


Alone, directionless, and penniless, Halliburton embarked on a worldwide journey that would take him from Brooklyn to Manila, working dozens of jobs as varied as driving a locomotive to selling automatic stokers. At age eighteen, he joined the U.S. Navy and received the first formal training of his young life, serving two tours and working engineering and hydraulics before leaving the service in 1915. The work suited Halliburton's mechanical mind, and he ultimately ended up in Los Angeles, running a pressure irrigation project for the Dominguez Irrigation Company, pulling down $100 a month.
After nine years of wanderlust and job-hopping, Erle Halliburton found the oil industry."...................

I'm tempted to add "the rest is history". I wonder whether Erle P. Halliburton would approve of what his company has come to stand for ?

Under my original, unedited, post of February 2007, HERE, there's a lengthy comment which might be of interest to passing readers.

Sam Walton, his Walmart, his astrology.

Sam Walton - the founder of American supermarket giant Walmart was born this week in 1918, on 29 March.

On the night I first arrived in Oklahoma with HeWhoKnows, after fighting my way for many months through visa and immigration red tape, house sale, and a variety of other obstacles, my very first experience(at 2am!)was a trip to Walmart to fill up the fridge.

Since that night I've grown to realise that though Walmart has many benefits, especially for the inhabitants of small towns in rural America, it has grown into a monster.

Sam Walton was born in Oklahoma, in a small town called Kingfisher. After reading a little of his biography I was struck by a similarity between Sam Walton and Earl P. Halliburton (about whom I wrote HERE). Both men rose from poor backgrounds and through sheer hard work and determination became owners of two of the biggest companies America has known, companies which in later years, after the deaths of their founders, have become two of the most hated comapnies, in America, and in the world. Walmart is accused of using virtual slave labour in developing countries to produce goods to sell at low prices in America, of treating its staff abysmally, not providing adequate health cover for them, and generally acting like the big bully in the world of retail.

From Answers.com
"Sam Walton, with his brother Bud Walton, founded Wal-Mart, the chain of discount variety stores that in the 1990s became the world's largest retailer. Sam Walton went into the retail business in 1945, and by the time Wal-Mart first opened in 1962 he owned a chain of 15 variety stores in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Walton's savvy marketing skills and attention to detail led to Wal-Mart's expansion throughout the United States. By 1990 Wal-Mart was the nation's top retailer in terms of sales, and Walton was one of the richest men in the world. After his death in 1992 the company continued to expand, including online commerce and stores around the world. By 2001 there were more than 4,500 Wal-Mart stores worldwide.
Since Walton's death the chain has come under fire for its labor practices and aggressive marketing tactics. Arguing that Wal-Marts drove out other merchants, many local communities fought to keep new stores from opening, and in June of 2004 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of 1.6 million women, charging that Wal-Mart discriminated against female employees".

ASTROLOGY:
Sam Walton was born with Sun and Mercury in Aries. Again and again in various biographical articles he is referred to as "a pioneer in the retail industry" - very appropriate ! "Pioneer" is a standard keyword for Aries.
Venus and Uranus are conjoined within 2 degrees in Aquarius, from which placement, no doubt came his drive towards implementing massive change in the retail industry, in the form of supermarket merchandising. Venus/Uranus sextile Mercury and form a "Yod", which is an arrow like configuration formed by two inconjunct aspects from the sextiled planets,to Mars in Virgo. I'd read this as signifying Mr Walton's ability to combine his Aries pioneering with Aquarian foresight and innovation and to channel them through a dynamic and service oriented Mars in Virgo. We cannot know for certain the position of the Moon or ascendant in his chart as birthtime is unknown. At noon Moon was at 1* Scorpio, so there's a possibility that it could have been positioned in Libra had he been born early in the day - I'd guess that he DID have Moon in Libra, for with Sun in Aries he'd have two main bodies in cardinal signs (the initiators), as well as Pluto in Cancer, another cardinal sign. I'm surprised not to see business-oriented Capricorn figuring in Mr Walton's chart. Perhaps his ascendant was there. Had he been born around 2 or 3 am his ascendant would be Capricorn and Moon in Libra - I like that!

Both Earl P. Halliburton and Sam Walton personified "The American Dream" in those early days. Their dream gradually, over many years, has grown into a nightmare. I often wonder how these two men would now view their 'progeny'.

The Founder of Halliburton, and his astrology.

What follows is the result of a walk in the park on the warm and sunny afternoon we enjoyed here yesterday. I stopped for a photograph by a statue, and thereby hangs a tale!

Halliburton is a dirty word these days. Not many can find a good thing to say about the company, perhaps for very good reason. It was not always so though, and nowhere is it more apparent than in this small Oklahoma town where Erle P. Halliburton established the headquarters of his first company in 1919.
One of the inscriptions on his statue (left) reads
"Erected 1993, in memory of a manwho left an indelible impression on Duncan and Stephens County. He touched the lives of many people, no only as the county’s largest employer, but as a perpetually inquisitive person whose technical inspirations became legends in the oil industry around the world. His deep and abiding concern for the welfare of the people of this area and is remembered fondly"

I found Mr Halliburton's birth date in the extract which follows below. He was born on
22 September 1892, near Memphis, Tennessee. (No time known).
He had Sun, Saturn and Moon in Libra at 00*, 2* and 18* respectively (12 noon chart). Mercury in Virgo, Venus at 14* Leo and Mars at 9* Aquarius. Jupiter at 22* Aries. Pluto and Neptune at 9* and 11* Gemini. Uranus 4* Scorpio.


Sun conjunct Saturn may account for many of the characteristics highlighted in the extract which follows. It's said that this aspect can indicate the "self-made man" who has succeeded through sheer hard work and determination. An abundance of Air and positive polarity in his chart would have endowed him with an agile mind - quick in thought and determined in action.


There is probably a"Mystic Rectangle" configuration in his chart (depending on birth time) consisting of two oppositions Mars/Venus and Moon/Jupiter with trines and sextiles joining these Air and Fire planets. Kevin B.Burk, astrologer, says this about mystic rectangle configurations:
"Once an individual has integrated a Mystic Rectangle, it represents a core of strength for them, and a solid foundation that can be a great gift in handling whatever else life throws at them."
The generational Pluto/Neptune in Gemini conjunction is trine Mars in inventive Aquarius. Neptune is thought to be connected to oil, so this fits well.

A short extract from Dan Briody's book
"The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money"
"Before there was a $13 billion company, before the World Wars and the Texas oil boom, before there were pet presidents and vice presidents, campaign contributions and gov ernment contracts, union busting and sanction dodging, there was simply a man, fiercely struggling to escape poverty, doggedly pursuing his piece of America's manifest destiny. At the time of his birth, September 22, 1892, in a small farming town on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, the name Erle Palmer Halliburton stirred no national emotion. It held no political intrigue. It had no impact on government or business. It was only the name of one of five sons of Edwin Gray Halliburton, an anonymous jack-of-all-trades, who would not live to see Erle's thirteenth birthday. Halliburton, as a name, meant virtually nothing to anyone outside of Henning, Tennessee. But Erle Halliburton was determined to change all of that.

As a young boy, Erle Halliburton showed a natural inclinaion toward mechanics, often dismantling and reassembling devices for pure recreation. While boys his age in Henning were playing with toy trucks in sand boxes, Erle was tinkering with gears and repairing simple machines. His curiosity drove him to understand how things worked. He was an excellent student, completing both elementary and high school courses over an eight-year span by age fourteen. Yet, even then, Erle Halliburton was uninterested in the idle trappings of youth. In what would become one of his trademark characteristics, he was intensely focused on higher aims.

After his father passed away in 1904, the Halliburton family was left with little money and even less opportunity. Two years later, hopelessly impoverished at age fourteen, Erle decided it was time he left home and pursued his fortunes elsewhere.

Diminutive in stature at just 5 foot 5 inches, the future of the Halliburton clan was resting on Erle's narrow shoulders, the new man of the house. But he brimmed with confidence, promising his family he would not return to Henning until he had pocketed a million dollars, a claim that no one could have taken seriously at the time. Underestimating Erle Halliburton would be a mistake that many of his contemporaries would repeat over the years, for as author and Texas historian J. Evetts Haley put it, Halliburton was "fired by the stern disciplines of hunger and want."


Alone, directionless, and penniless, Halliburton embarked on a worldwide journey that would take him from Brooklyn to Manila, working dozens of jobs as varied as driving a locomotive to selling automatic stokers. At age eighteen, he joined the U.S. Navy and received the first formal training of his young life, serving two tours and working engineering and hydraulics before leaving the service in 1915. The work suited Halliburton's mechanical mind, and he ultimately ended up in Los Angeles, running a pressure irrigation project for the Dominguez Irrigation Company, pulling down $100 a month.
After nine years of wanderlust and job-hopping, Erle Halliburton found the oil industry."...........................................

I'm tempted to add "the rest is history". I wonder whether Erle P. Halliburton would approve of what his company has become ?