Taking the 5th (House, that is!)

 Leo by Ronald Searle

The Sun is about to leave zodiac sign Cancer and begin its transit through the sign of Leo. Leo is associated with astrology's 5th house. 5th house represents, among other things, childhood and child-like activity.

We all, no matter how sophisticated or knowledgeable, retain remnants of childhood/child-like fantasies within our nature. As this summer progresses and nothing at all in current news cycles has much ability to improve a dismal mood, it might be wise to simply "5th-house-it", at least for a short interval, before heading back into the gloom.

Authors of books intended for children often had timeless wise advice to offer, for us all, whatever stage of maturity we have or haven't reached. The following wee snippets always cheer me during times of worry, and wondering about what could possibly come next:




Think (laterally) about A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh ~~~




'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."

The old gray donkey, Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.

Then think about the Sesame Street story:

There's a Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone



Grover is horrified to learn that there is a monster at the end of the book, and begs the reader not to finish the book, so as to avoid the monster.
Fearful of reaching the end of the book, Grover constructs a series of obstacles, such as attempting to tie pages together and laying brick walls, to prevent the reader from advancing. Increasingly frightened (and also in awe of the reader's strength at overcoming the obstacles), Grover pleads with the reader to stop reading as the book nears its conclusion. However, the monster turns out to be Grover himself, making the story self-referential.

OR: the Harry Potter tales~~~


"Happiness can be found even in the darkest times if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Albus Dumbledore.




HOWEVER...

If You Give a Moose a Muffin, by Laura Joffe Numeroff ~~~

If a big hungry moose comes to visit, you might give him a muffin to make him feel at home. If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix.

Hmmmm.....yeah!




But, it's always good to remember that:

Zodiac Sign Leo Considered

 Leo by Erté,

In his book, Astrology published 1964, Louis MacNeice, not an astrologer, but a poet and scholar, gathered together much of interest from a variety of sources, ancient and modern. On zodiac sign Leo, through which the Sun now travels, he wrote the paragraphs below, quoting from a variety of professional astrologers. This extract was not copied and pasted from elsewhere, but copy-typed by my own fair fingers; the Mussolini illustration comes from the book; additional illustrations were added by me.

Leo the Lion
July 23 to Aug 23.

A fixed and fiery sign. With Leo, Ingrid Lind begins by picking on the apparent paradox "or contradiction...in the thought of fixed fire ". The answer, she says, lies in "molten gold", but she could also perhaps have used her cookery ingredients analogy. She goes on to contrast Leo with the first Fiery sign, Aries, who is anything but fixed. Aries is impulsive and restless; Leo, like the Sun, stays put on his throne. People born with Leo rising include Bismarck, Garibaldi, Huey Long and Picasso. Among those who had Leo as their Sun-sign were Lorenzo de Medici, Louis XIV ("le Roi Soleil"), Napoleon and Rubens.

Caption under photograph: Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was born with Sun in Leo. The planet and the sign have similar astrological character; when combined (as in Mussolini's horoscope) they are said to lead to aggressive ambition and power seeking.

This, then, is obviously an extravert sign; it has produced far more than its share of presidents both in the U.S.A. and in France. As to the physical characteristics of Leo men, Pearce attributes to them "a large, fair stature, broad shoulders; prominent and large eyes; hair generally light and often yellowish; oval, ruddy countenance; of a high, resolute, haughty, and ambitious temper." Varley, less flatteringly describes Leo physiognomy as "most resembling a lion, especially in the nose and retreating chin; such as the profile of King George III." Barbault distinguishes two physical types of Leo - the Herculean and the Apollonian - but they are both athletic and fine figures of men. As for Leo ladies, Barbault notes that they go in for la grande toilette [translation: the full dress. Perhaps indicating a flashy dresser?]

 Leo,  from drawings by Ronald Searle

The Sun in Leo is at his greatest strength, and it is this strength that is the essence of this sign - the strength of a fire that has now been brought under control and is harnessed to useful ends. Morrish (in his psycho-evolutionary scheme) brackets Leo with Cancer as the "fundamental positive and negative polarities underlying everything." Barbault contrasts Leo with Cancer: In Cancer the umbilical cord has not yet been cut; it is Leo who breaks out into independence.

But though independent and very full of himself, the Leo man is far from anti-social: "His ego disappears in his vocation" and he is a great worker. However passionate and ambitious he may be (with him "vouloir c'est déjà pouvoir" [translation: not sure - ? to want something and it's already done - maybe our equivalent would be "no sooner said than done".]) Barbault says, his ruler the Sun acts as a sort of internal gendarme. Not that he always obeys this gendarme. As with any other sign, the types can go wrong. One should specially beware of Saturn in Leo, a sign in which he is "in exile": This can produce people like 'Cesare Borgia.

There seems no need to stress the animal symbolism of Leo - the king of beasts etc. His 30 degrees of the Zodiac are filled with roaring. But when we step over the border between this sign and the next we perhaps hear a typewriter, or a vacuum cleaner, a secretarial voice reading the minutes, a whispered aside of criticism. We have entered territory where everything must be "just so" - floors must be swept, files must be kept, i's must be dotted and t's crossed, beds (in all senses) must be properly made.

Astrologers mentioned:
André Barbault
A.J. Pearce
John Varley
Morrish (L. Furze-Morrish?)

Mr Irrepressible ? + OPEN THREAD

What was I thinking, back in 2008 when I wrote this in part of a post titled Irrepressible Leo?

It would be a shame if Mr. [Mike] Huckabee limited himself to a political talk show, or "religion-on-the-box" though. He'd also limit his audience, and I think he has a lot to offer that is neither political nor religious - just warm, wise, humorous and human. Still, it would be a start, once into the loop his irrepressible Leo could lead him elsewhere in TV-land.

From Learning Curve on the Ecliptic 25 February 2008

"The man's a natural. I wish he'd give up his current career and get himself a chat show or something similar. Something far removed from religion or politics. He's entertaining, warm and charismatic, you can't learn those qualities, they come part of your astrological package. Five Leo planets form a big part of Governor Huckabee's astro-package. He has already tried two professions suitable for a quintuple-Leo personality, one more remains: show-biz! I'd bet good money that he'd be a bigger success there
than he could ever be in the other two. "

From Learning Curve on the Ecliptic on 30 November 2007 [Chart at link]

All those Leo planets must incline him towards the public stage, be it pulpit or political platform. What would he like to hear - in his wildest dream? "Lights, camera, action!"

I wonder if anybody has noticed the likeness between Mike Huckabee and Kevin Spacey? They do share some Leo natal degrees. Spacey was born 26 July 1959, South Orange, New Jersey. His Uranus is at 15 Leo, Mike Huckabee's Jupiter is in the same Leo degree. Huckabee's Uranus is at 00 Leo, Spacey's Sun at 2 Leo. Their natal Mars are just a few degrees apart 28 Leo for Huckabee, 3 Virgo for Spacey. The likeness may be pure coincidence, but when Kevin Spacey's face flashed across the TV screen last night in a trail for a movie, I was surprised at the similarity.

Fixed Stars in Leo - a few noticed in natal charts.

On I go, with a series of monthly posts on Fixed Stars in each tropical zodiac sign.

Data for Leo from Astroweb (HERE), showing star positions in 1900 in the left-hand column and in 2000 on the right.

All I can dredge up from my own natal chart is the first star in this list, Talitha, known to ancient astrologers as "daughter of the assembly". Talitha was a little more than a degree away from natal Pluto when I was born, in first, or maybe second house, depending on exact time of birth and house system used. The star is located on the front foot of the Great Bear star formation, Ursa Major.

Most interpretations of Talitha are variations on this one from Librarising HERE

Quiet, prudent, suspicious, mistrustful, self-controlled, great anger when roused; control of wild animals.

I like this one though, from an article at Lunarplanner about a couple of dwarf planets:

Haumea's North Node primarily conjoins Talitha, Iota of Ursa Major, and Kappa,which mark the forefoot of the Great Bear. I dub Talitha to be the protectress, guardian, and nurturer of humanity. This duo is also the Chinese "High Dignitary." Although minor stars, they should not be taken lightly, as they hold a principal office within the Bear. Of the Great Bear they are associated with the global scene and world powers. They inspire us to become a caring and nurturing force for each other, an enabling force that responsibly supports our emergence from darkness, dogma, and delusion, emergence from the limits and bounds created by selfish, fearful or controlling beliefs, a force that supports us to move into freedom and in greater personal fulfillment.

Enough about my own natal chart - what about some of these Leo stars in the charts of President Obama, or would-be presidents Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?

Acubens, at between 12 and 13 Leo would have been close to President Obama's natal Sun and Hillary Clinton's Mars and Pluto, at their times of birth.



At Constellation of Words

One significance of Acubens is the enforced use of applied intelligence when finding oneself in combat at someone else's behest, as we may say the Crab's front leg finds itself driven on by the Mars Al Tarf on the back leg. But a generally more positive quality to read from Acubens is that of a sharp intellect and ease of coming to grips with problems, for which one might earn public renown. But, again there is the note of doing this under pressure of others demanding 'from behind'. [The Living Stars, Dr. Eric Morse, p.50.]

Donald Trump has Giansar close to Pluto natally.

From Terry Nazon HERE

Penetrating and analytical mind, travel and many friends, craft, ingenuity, and valour, but danger of robbery and accidental poisoning

And Alfard/Alphard (with Mars). At Constellation of Words:

Trouble and scandal through love affairs. Attachment to a married person.

ALSO Regulus at his ascendant! Hmm.
(From Terry Nazon)

The most Royal Star. Raphael, the Healing Archangel, the Watcher of the North. Nobility, ambition, alertness, great power, status, leadership, sudden downfall, accidents, violence.

Bernie Sanders has only one planet in Leo: Pluto at around 5 degrees - fairly close to Praesaepe when he was born. Main indications for this fixed star from traditional sources seem to be eyesight problems, but those come up regularly in respect of several other stars too. I tend to ignore this interpretation when considering people born 20th century or later. Praesaepe hasn't been seen as a fortunate star in general though. Maybe there'll be better indications from stars further along the zodiac.

Anyone else have anything of interest to report in this vein, either in personal chart or other charts we would recognise?

"Long Lion Days"

By Ronald Searle, from Searle's Zodiac.

"It would probably be difficult indeed to find anyone strongly under the fifth sign who did not express himself in some way; for the Sun must shine." So wrote English astrologer C.E.O. Carter in his piece A Pride of Lions on zodiac sign Leo.

Dante Alighieri, centuries earlier, wrote
"All your renown is like the summer flower that blooms and dies; because the sunny glow which brings it forth, soon slays with parching power."





Alighierei's quote reminded me of the popular (in his day) author Guy de Maupssant (1850-1893), cut down in his early 40s by syphilis. He had Sun in Leo. He'd obviously expressed himself too much, early on, and in all the wrong places!

Another writer with Sun in Leo, and featured in the past on this blog, is
English poet Philip Larkin. One of his last poems, found written on the back of an illustrated postcard depicting illuminations from the Book of Hours, in this case Leo for July/August:

LONG LION DAYS

Whatever conceived
Now fully leaved,
Abounding, ablaze –
O long lion days.
(P.A.L 1982)

On the distaff side, J.K. Rowling has shone very brightly, as befits Leo Sun, via her Harry Potter novels.

Writing hasn't been the favourite mode of expression for Leo-types though, neighbouring sign Virgo, ruled by Mercury, takes up the slack on that front.

A few less commonly mentioned points about zodiac sign Leo, as made by C.E.O. Carter in his Pride of Lions piece, linked above:

But we must always remember that Leo is a sign of very varied expression. There are four main points in a nativity: Sun, Moon, ruler and ascendant; and with Leos two are the same. Therefore much depends on the sign emplacement and aspects of the ruler which is also the Sun. Another point to consider is the sign on the midheaven, which in these latitudes may be Aries or Taurus; the former are commonly more mobile, physically and mentally. Thirdly, if we agree that the constellations have some value and accept Cyril Fagan's calculations, the first 23 degrees or so of Leo are in the constellation Cancer which would make the natives of that area quieter and more sensitive and more of "family men" or women. Fourthly, we must bear the decanates in mind. Leo-Sagittarius-Aries by the Hindu method; Saturn-Jupiter-Mars by the Chaldean.

From an archived post of mine on Leo:

I've met few Leo Suns in my time - a couple of guy friends I recall, back in the 1960s, in Devonshire, the English south-western riviera. One had clear Leo tendencies - he wasn't wealthy - far from it, but he made it his business to have a flashy Jaguar car to make a good impression. Onlookers probably never guessed that the back seats were supported by a couple of old soda crates, and various other bits and pieces of the interior had seen much better days. He started his own business, a one-man affair which hadn't truly taken off at the time I knew him. He had dreams of building a lovely house on a Devon cliff-top, took me to see the site he wanted to buy. He was a sweet dreamer. I often wonder how things turned out for him.

The other Sun in Leo guy friend I met, around a year later, was a very different character. He was the foster son of a couple of elderly spinsters who ran a small boarding house where I stayed when attending an interview in the same town. I got the job, and later the son befriended me. He was neither outgoing, nor particularly warm. No aim to be successful. He had, I think, been worn down by life with the two ladies. I tried hard to like him, but didn't succeed. Several years later after I'd been away from the area and returned for some reason, I happened upon one of the ladies from that boarding house. She told me that her foster son had committed suicide some months earlier. That was a shock - and so very un-Leo-like! I don't know his chart other than his birthday - 27 July - so can't say what other unfortunate placements might have added to his obviously distressing situation. I suspect he might have had only Sun in Leo with, perhaps, small groups of personal planets in both Cancer and Virgo - but that's a wild guess.

I mustn't forget Himself - my husband - who has Leo rising and Moon in Leo (+ Aries Sun). I really do struggle to identify any strong typically Leo traits in him.

Husband does express himself via painting, so Leo peeps through. Maybe his Moon and ascendant degrees are within sidereal Cancer....they are! His midheaven is less than half a degree from Taurus (in Aries), a slight tweak in birth time could bring it into Taurus.

With only Pluto in Leo myself - just into that sign by the skin of its planetary baby teeth - I'm one of the first of the Pluto in Leo set.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Edward James and His Folly, Las Pozas.

Commenter "mike" alerted me to today's Arty Farty Friday subject - thanks mike!
Edward James and his creation in Las Pozas, Mexico.

My goodness, though, this guy was such an amazing character, where to begin, there's so much!?
For any passing reader with just under an hour to spare, this video is excellent, and features the man himself:

For passing readers in more of a hurry: I'll begin at the end, at Las Pozas and work backwards.

Las Pozas was Edward James' folly. In England it's not unusual to find follies, they're smallish ornamental structures such as a tower, sculptured column, or a fancy quirky gazebo, they're always in the middle of nowhere, constructed by wealthy landowners or members of the aristocracy, and for reasons best known to themselves. Follies. Los Pozas was a folly of huge proportion, a peculiar but beautiful sculpture garden covering acres of Mexican jungle where Edward James had originally intended to breed orchids, but after unexpected frost killed off his plants, he began creating his wonderful folly.

A few examples - for more just type Las Pozas into Google Image search box, or at YouTube (if you can stand the adverts now almost universally inserted before content!)

Edward James was the epitome of an eccentric Englishman. Born in 1907 into a wealthy family background. His grandfather, an American millionaire had married a mining heiress, before the couple moved to England. One of their sons was Edward James' father, who married an English gal said to have been the illegitimate daughter of Edward VII, she became Edward James' mother.
James went to Eton, and Oxford University but was unhappy in both environments, despite his wealth and privilege. He wandered into the then London literary high society of Sitwells, Mitfords and Cunards, Noel Coward and John Betjeman, of Agustus John and Randolph Churchill. James was said to have been charming, lively and a good raconteur, ridiculously generous on occasion, with periods of introversion.

 Hat-tip Mondoblogo

He wrote poetry and some novels, became friends with avant-garde artists of the day, such as Dali and Magritte. He appears in one of Magritte's well-known paintings:

 Not to be Reproduced (La reproduction interdite, 1937)  by  Belgian surrealist René Magritte.  It was commissioned by poet and Magritte patron Edward James and considered to be a portrait of James .

Quinky-dink sidelight - in a DVD set of a past TV series, Eli Stone we're watching currently, during the opening credits what seems like a loose version of this painting is shown. We recognised it as a nod to Magritte's painting, but had no idea of the painting's connection to Edward James - until I began preparing this post.

He met and married dancer Tilly Losch. The marriage was doomed. Tilly sued for separation, charging homosexuality among other things. James countersued, accusing her of adultery with Prince Serge Obolensky. Back then, this was not something a gentleman did. James moved to Europe. Polite society had shunned him. In 1939, with war brewing, he moved to the USA. In Taos, New Mexico, he lived among a community of artists there including D H Lawrence and his wife, Frieda.

Throughout his life he gave money freely to all manner of painters and writers; he built clinics for poor nuns, bought houses in Hollywood and Malibu, land in Mexico, and supported an assortment of freeloaders. In the late 1940s James eventually found his dream situation in the Mexican jungle. There he adopted a local family and set about building a “stairway to imagination”, as he once put it, in plant and stone. He himself lived in a tiny apartment, a bedroom, living room and porch on two stories. On one wall he scrawled in pencil his poem "This Shell": "My house grows like the chambered nautilus...." His huge and incredibly valuable collection of artworks, his lands in England , America and Mexico, houses from California to Scotland all abandoned for a tiny "doll's tree house where a man could hide".

He died in 1984 after a stroke, while on a return visit to Europe. In 1964, Edward James had conveyed his family mansion, West Dean, art collection and Estate to The Edward James Foundation, a charitable educational trust. The creation of such a trust averted the fragmentation that death duties would have dictated and allowed the materialisation of Edward's vision: creating a community where the Estate supports a college dedicated to the arts and crafts. In 1971, Edward James's vision became a reality when the gates of his family Estate were opened under the auspices of West Dean College. (See HERE).


(General information sources HERE and HERE)


ASTROLOGY

Born on 16 August 1907 in the south of England, probably at his family's mansion, West Dean, near Chichester, Sussex.

For brevity's sake I'm looking only for indications of eccentricity in the natal chart of Edward James. It's set for 12 noon as birth time isn't known. Moon would have been somewhere in Scorpio though, whatever time he came into the world.

Eccentricity in astrology is usually reflected by the position of Uranus; here Uranus conjoins Mars in Capricorn, the duo is opposed by Neptune (imagination, creativity) in Cancer. That, I'd say, was the "epicentre" of James' eccentricity. The three intensely personal planets (Sun, Mercury, Venus) in dramatic Leo, though not harmoniously situated in relation to Uranus, had to have input into the way his eccentricity would manifest. What could be more dramatic and theatrical in nature (pure Leo) than his beautiful jungle follies?

Music Monday~ 3 x Leo : Sheen, Knopfler, Obama, & Brothers In Arms

Two Sun in Leo artists, different genres, were seen and heard at the closing of the episode, Two Cathedrals, finale of the second season of acclaimed TV series The West Wing (we watched it on DVD at the weekend):

Martin Sheen (3 August 1940 at 8:03 PM, Dayton, Ohio - chart at Astrodatabank); and
Mark Knopfler (12 August 1949 at 9:50PM in Glasgow, Scotland, UK at 9:50 PM - chart at Astrodatabank ).

Martin Sheen, playing President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet, having just attended the funeral of his longtime secretary, has questioned his faith during a wonderful diatribe in the cathedral, anger aimed at God for all the ills visited upon him, his friends and the world at large. After a moving scene when his dead secretary and boyhood mentor seemed to speak to him, as she had done often in the past, bringing him back to earth to remember what is truly important, he's about to face a barrage of questions from the press about his, until now hidden, multiple sclerosis. He walks outside into lashing wind and rain, towards the State Department and a press conference, refusing a raincoat held out by his aide. White House staff follow to the press conference, a riveting guitar plays in the background: great television, great song, great guitar! I recognised the guitar at once (one of the only two I can recognise : Mark Knopfler's - the other being Willie Nelson's). The track playing was Brothers in Arms, written by Mark Knopfler, from the Dire Straits album of the same name. The track was exactly right for the atmosphere of the scene. It's here, on YouTube!



The song's lyrics:

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptism of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Martin Sheen's natal Sun, Moon, Mars and Pluto are all in Leo, sign of The Leader, so his West Wing part of President Bartlet fits him like a glove.
His Aquarius rising connects to his well-known political activism in real life, for which I have the greatest admiration.

However, having said that, while researching, I came across a piece published in March which gave me pause. "Martin Sheen Has Harsh Words For Progressives Critical Of Obama", by Joshua Ostroff.

I suspect Mr Sheen, in spite of his reputation for activism, cocooned as he is from much of the real world by his fame and wealth, remains unable to see and accept that the President (Sun in Leo-type #3) and the Democratic Party are truly as corporate and uninterested in serving the needs of the people as are the Republicans.

I do not take kindly to the finger-wagging of Martin Sheen, much as I admire him as an actor and an activist. I voted for Obama in 2008 because of his positions and promises, I was, then, enthusiastic and hopeful about the next four years. I didn't wake up one morning with my opinions suddenly reversed. A gradual descent into disillusion has happened, arising from broken campaign promises, disappointments again, and again. A commenter (The Handyman) in the thread of comments below the linked article wrote more or less what I'd have wished to say myself:

Sheen has confused playing a President on TV with actually being one as well as having forgotten all the HOPE and CHANGE Obama promised but has failed to deliver on. Sheen is apparently still stuck in all those words Obama throws around but somehow fails to reconcile the difference between the words and the real action required to make those words meaningful.

There was his promise to filibuster the FISA and Telcom bill which he reneged on. There was the promise to come up with a single payer health care plan and then he dismissed it. There were the 9 things that the health reform bill had to have in it before he would sign it, like the public option, which we later found out he lobbied against, and yet when he signed it it had none of them. He said he was going to bring the troops home from Iraq and only wound up doing so because Bush had already signed an agreement with Iraq as to their removal date, or they would still be there.

There is his increase in the number of military in Afghanistan and that war's expansion into Pakistan not to mention Somalia, Libya, Yemen. and Bahrain. He is rattling the swords of war on behalf of the Israeli's.

Then there is his cut to Social Security revenue through his backdoor ploy by cutting payroll taxes which support SS.

There is his support for new nuclear power plants whose construction is not only paid with US tax payer dollars, insured with tax payer dollars, but eventually cost the taxpayer higher energy bills and then left with the cost of paying for their upkeep and eventual dismemberment. Not to mention the danger of all the waste and radiation caused by accidents! And this is barely scratching the surface.

Sheen is blind and confused, we Liberals and Progressives aren't! We understand Obama is as dangerous to us as Bush was. His signing of the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act ) after threatening to veto it proves it!

Sheen's praise for Occupy Wall Street (OWS) towards the end of the linked article doesn't take account of the fact that his hero, President Obama, didn't ever speak in support of Occupy, in the way many Republicans voiced loud support for the Tea Party. The Occupy movement appears to have crumbled.

We are left with a choice of voting for two bought-and-paid-for corporate parties, with hardly anything to choose between them. If only people such as Martin Sheen, with a public platform and many admirers, would acknowledge this and begin the fight for something better, there might be hope of change. There isn't. Fiction and music are helpful, occasionally healing, distractions but real life is always there, waiting.

Back to Mark Knopfler:

....so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones.

SUN.......SUN....SUN....

Another quote from 20th century British astrologer Ingrid Lind's out-of-print little book Astrology and Commonsense (1962). Here she considered astrological Sun.

SUN: Stands for the male principle. It "rules" or has affinity with the sign Leo.

Keywords: power, vitality, self-expression.

The sign of the zodiac containing the Sun at birth can be known by the birth-date alone, without reference to exact time. For many this constitutes the whole art of astrology and they will tell you that they are Leo, Taurus, Libra, as if by virtue of having Sun in a given sign they were the sign's embodiment. But while the Sun's position strongly affects the individual this is a gross over-simplification. In any chart the Sun should be studied quite separately from its sign-position before any conclusions are formed. Its strength is highly significant: for instance if rising exactly or overhead it fortifies the personality and enhances the likelihood of (or urge for) prominence. If it strongly aspects other planets the strength of such planets is increased, for the Sun empowers all it touches.

Solar traits are similar to those of the sign Leo, which is "ruled" by the Sun; and a strongly aspected Sun can correspond with characteristics associated with those of Leo regardless of the sign it is in. Too much Sun tends to make the individual overbearing ("too much" could be the Sun rising, where it strengthens the ego, and in strong but not easy aspect to other planets, or it could result from too many planets in Leo.)

When considering the Sun, as indeed any single factor, the general picture of the chart with its strengths and weaknesses must be kept in mind. A chart (or person) can be strong enough to support an overbearing Sun; but, if otherwise weak or afflicted, as will be shown in the chart, the pronounced characteristic is nothing but a nuisance to its owner, since it will only accentuate the difficulties of his make-up.

It's useful to be reminded that a "strong" position of the Sun in a natal chart can seem to endow the individual with Leo-type characteristics. There's a snag though: an exact time of birth is required before the Sun's position (chart-wise, not sign-wise), can be established.

Astrologers with Natal Sun in Leo

Continuing a monthly pattern: a look at a crop of astrologers, this time those born with Sun in Leo; most names are taken from Wikipedia's list.

With these monthly posts I'm trying to test what could well be a half-baked theory of mine that a combination of Air (mental acuity) and Water (intuition) is often found in astrologers' charts.

Enter the Sun in Leo astrologers: in birthdate order - second and third on list were not strictly astrologers by profession, but are included because of their interest, writings and contributions to astrology. Joan Negus was not included in Wiki's list, I found her date of birth elsewhere.




Alan Leo Born 7 August 1860, Westminster, UK. Died 1917.

Prominent British astrologer, author, publisher and theosophist, often referred to as "the father of modern astrology". His work stimulated a revival of astrology in the Western world after its decline at the end of the 17th century. Leo was a devout theosophist and he worked many of its religious concepts such as karma and reincarnation into his astrology.
Leo (he took his Sun sign as a pseudonym) is credited with starting the movement towards a more psychologically-oriented horoscope analysis in astrology, being the first astrologer to argue for a loose interpretation of possible trends of experience rather than the specific prediction of events.

In 1914, aged 54, Leo faced prosecution against the charge that he "did unlawfully pretend to tell fortunes" through astrology. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence, but it led to Leo's belief that astrology needed to be revised in order to be legitimised. His advice to fellow astrologers was:
Let us part company with the fatalistic astrologer who prides himself on his predictions and who is ever seeking to convince the world that in the predictive side of Astrology alone shall we find its value. We need not argue the point as to its reality, but instead make a much-needed change in the word and call Astrology the science of tendencies.
Astrodatabank Air/Water theory not holding up too well here: Only Uranus in Air (Gemini) with Water represented by Venus in Cancer and Neptune in Pisces (where it is especially potent - being in its sign of rulership). Leo (the sign) takes centre stage: Sun, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and ascendant all there.



Max Heindel 23 July 1865, Aarhus, Denmark. Died 1919.

Danish-American Christian occultist, astrologer, theosophist and mystic; founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship of the U.S. He wrote Astrology and the Ductless Glands, Astro-Diagnosis, and Message of the Stars.
Astrodatabank :
My Air and Water theory for astrologers isn't as apparent in his case either. Heindel had only a generational planet, Uranus, in Water (Cancer); but in Air: Venus in Gemini, Saturn in Libra. Holding centre stage again: Leo with Sun, Moon and Mercury.



Carl Jung 26 July 1875 Kesswil, Switzerland. Died 1961.

Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology. A practicing clinician, he considered himself to be a scientist, but much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas, including Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. His interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic.
Astrodatabank A better Air/Water showing here: Jupiter in Libra, with Saturn and ascendant in Aquarius. Mercury and Venus in Water: Cancer. Sun and Uranus in Leo.



Sydney Omarr 5 August 1926, 10:27 AM Philadephia. Died 2003.

Popular astrologer of his time, prolific writer and speaker on astrology and numerology.
From Obituary by Lois Rodden:

.....Each year, he produced 13 books, one for each sign of the zodiac, and his books sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, making him a wealthy man. Rarely granting interviews, he appeared confident yet modest, part mystic and part everyday-Joe. His disease of multiple sclerosis, diangosed in 1971, robbed him of his sight in the early 1990's. When he died at age 76, Omarr showed remarkable spirit and zest for his work with syndicated publications. Paralyzed from the neck down by MS, the world's most widely read astrologer was now blind, still working with the assistance of his aides. His column still appeared in more than 200 newspapers.

Astrodatabank This is more in line with my theory.
Water: Moon, Venus, Pluto in Cancer; Saturn in Scorpio; Uranus in Pisces. Lots of Water!
Air: Libra rising and Jupiter in Aquarius......not bad for Air.
Sun Mercury and Neptune in Leo.



Joan Negus Born 30 July 1930 at 6:04 AM in Trenton, New Jersey. Died in 1997.

American astrologer, educator and author of, among other titles, Basic Astrology: A Guide For Teachers and Students , and Cosmic Combinations. Recipient of the Regulus Award in Education, 1995, recognizing her work of teaching and inspiring further generations of astrologers. I have her book Cosmic Combinations on my shelf, and remember finding the sets of exercises it contains very helpful.
Astrodatabank
Ms Negus had Moon in Libra and Mars in Gemini, providing Air input. Water from Jupiter and Pluto in Cancer. (Air and Water theory standing up here too.)




Mystic Meg 27 July 1942 Accrington Lancashire, UK.

British Sun sign astrologer and alleged psychic who had regular astrology columns in The Sun and News of the World newspapers until their demise.

Astrodatabank More good news for my Air/Water theory: Water represented by Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all in Cancer; Air: Saturn and Uranus in Gemini.
Sun, Mars, Pluto and ascendant Leo.



A. T. ("Tad") Mann 18 August 1943, Auburn, New York.

Highly acclaimed American astrologer, author, designer and artist with at least 18 books to his name. He is best known for books and paintings on astrology and Sacred Architecture, sexuality and gardens.

Some of Mann's astrology books are based on the concept of a logarithmic time scale derived from the work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky and Rodney Collin, and contributing to an application of astrology called Life Time Astrology.

Astrodatabank
No Water planets at all here! Air is represented by Neptune (Libra) Saturn and Uranus (Gemini).
Sun Jupiter and Pluto are in Leo; Moon in Aries; Sagittarius rising. Fiery!

Regarding my Air/Water "theory":
Four of these astrologers : Jung, Omarr, Negus and Mystic Meg uphold it; Alan Leo, Heindel and Mann do not. There's a difference in those two groups. The three who don't seem to fit my pattern are/were into the theosophical side of the subject. Of the others, two can be easily categorised as "popular" astrologers, one an educator in straightforward astrology, and Jung was more of a scientist than an astrologer, but not given to lofty flights of theosophy as far as I know.

Music Monday ~ Leo-tinted Songs

Sun is now in Leo. A list of Leo keywords from here set me delving into my memory banks for songs to match the Leo traits listed there. Among the songs to surface were a few from stage or screen musicals, very appropriate for spotlight-loving Leo-types.





Loving, loyal, faithful - Always ("I'll be loving you - always, with a love that's true - always...").

Self approval, self worth, self confidence - I Have Confidence in Me (Sound of Music).

Warm, affectionate, generous - Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (from The Lion King - there had to be one!).

Dignified, honorable, integrity - I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General (Pirates of Penanace).

Honest, direct - Would I Lie to You? (Air Supply)

Vital, commanding - If I Ruled the World ("every day would be the first day of spring") From West End musical "Pickwick".

Authority, teacher - The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain (My Fair Lady).

Arrogant, egotistical - I'm Too Sexy (by Right Said Fred).

Conceited, vain - It's Hard to be Humble ("when you're perfect in every way....") (Mac Davis).

Snobbish - Top Hat White Tie and Tails (Irving Berlin, Fred Astaire from movie Top Hat).

Creative, dramatic - We are the Champions (Queen).

Talented, artistic or musical - With One Look (With one look I can break your heart, with one look I can play every part) (Sunset Boulevard).

Fun loving, playful - You Make Loving Fun (Fleetwood Mac).

Finally, mustn't forget this - a tribute to all Leo-types: You Are My Sunshine - fun version from, would you believe: Star Trek ?

Happy Birthday to any Leo-types passing by!

For The Child in Us All

Zodiac sign Leo, through which the Sun is currently travelling, is associated with 5th house in astrology. 5th house represents, among other things, childhood and child-like activity. We all, no matter how sophisticated or knowledgeable, retain remnants of childhood/child-like fantasies within our nature.

Amid the current bad news cycle of debt ceilings, deficits, impasses with world-wide financial calamity waiting in the wings, it might be wise to "5th-house-it all". Simplify, simplify.....at least for a few minutes, before heading back into the fray.

Few ordinary people, and not too many extraordinary people, fully understand the underpinnings of the present crisis, even less the theatrical games being played by Washington DC's pantomime artists. Authors of books intended for children often had timeless advice to offer - for us all, whatever stage of maturity we have or haven't reached. I don't know about you, but these wee snippets always cheer me during times of worry and wondering about what could possibly come next:







Think (laterally) about A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh ~~~


'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."


Then think about the Sesame Street story:

There's a Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone


Grover is horrified to learn that there is a monster at the end of the book, and begs the reader not to finish the book, so as to avoid the monster.
Fearful of reaching the end of the book, Grover constructs a series of obstacles, such as attempting to tie pages together and laying brick walls, to prevent the reader from advancing. Increasingly frightened (and also in awe of the reader's strength at overcoming the obstacles), Grover pleads with the reader to stop reading as the book nears its conclusion. However, the monster turns out to be Grover himself, making the story self-referential.


AND

If You Give a Moose a Muffin, by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

If a big hungry moose comes to visit, you might give him a muffin to make him feel at home. If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix.

That one's a fable President Obama might benefit from reading!