Arty Farty Friday ~ CAT ART ~ Louis Wain & Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Balancing last week's Arty Farty dog photographs, a look at a couple of artists known for their illustrations of cats: Louis Wain, and Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (hereafter referred to simply as Steinlen to save my typing fingers).



Louis Wain was born on 5 August 1860 in London, England. His story is a sad one. Born with a cleft lip, one of 6 children, the only male. His youngest sister was certified insane, none of his other sisters married. Louis studied art, taught for a while then became a artist/illustrator specialising in animal subjects and rural scenes. He married his youngest sister's governess, Emily Richardson, causing something of a scandal. His wife died three years later of breast cancer. Louis started drawing their cat Peter to amuse his sick wife.

"Emily encouraged him to send these drawings to newspapers and magazines, and soon the Louis Wain cat was a household name, not only in Britain but also in America, where his comics and drawings of cats appeared in several newspapers. Louis Wain was elected as President of the National Cat Club and wrote the book 'In Animal Land with Louis Wain' in 1904.

After the First World War, the public's interest in cats diminished, and Wain reached a personal crisis, falling into poverty and being affected by schizophrenia around age 57. In 1924, he was certified insane and admitted to the pauper's wing of a mental hospital.

Years later, he was recognized and a fund was set up for him (by prominents such as H.G. Wells), enabling Louis Wain to spend his last years, until his death in 1939, in comfortable asylums where he continued to draw and paint cats." Wikipedia

Chart set for 12 noon in the absence of a birth time. Moon would have been somewhere between 18 degrees Pisces and 0 degrees Aries.

Louis Wain's descent into psychotic illness could have stemmed from some genetic weakness, bearing in mind one of his sisters spent her life in an asylum. Other speculations are covered at Wikipedia (link above).

One chart indication of the problem could come from Moon (inner self) conjunct Neptune (Neptune = delusion, as well as creativity).

He returned from New York broke, and his mother had died of Spanish influenza while he was abroad. His mental instability also began around this time, and increased gradually over the years. He had always been considered quite charming but odd, and often had difficulty in distinguishing between fact and fantasy.

He was, when in full health, clearly a cheery, often child-like Leo-type according to his four planets in that sign, and his early paintings. Venus, planet of art in gentle, sensitive Cancer is opposed by Mars from serious and much colder Capricorn, reflecting some inner challenges.

In the second decade of the 20th century when his mental disorder arose Uranus was transiting Aquarius, and at times would have been opposite one or other of his Leo cluster of planets....another astrological possibility relating to his mental descent.








The paintings done after his mental breakdown show marked differences. The cats' eyes become hostile, the cats' bodies shown as fragmented.










Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, the other artist best remembered for his cat illustrations. His were more formal, often stylised depictions.

Steinlen was born on 10 November 1859 in Lausanne, Switzerland. He started his career as designer trainee at a textile mill in eastern France. He and his new wife moved to the arty quarter of Paris where he met the owner of Le Chat Noir, a nightclub/cabaret, who commissioned Steinlen to produce some posters - they are now world famous. Cats were not his only subject, just the appropriate one for this post.







A couple of brief points: There's a nice Grand Trine in Water signs linking Venus (the arts)/Neptune (creativity)/ Jupiter (publication) - good for poster production!
Moon would have been in Taurus (ruled by Venus) whatever Steinlen's birth time, perhaps opposing his Scorpio Sun, or Venus - balancing any over-passionate traits with practicality and common sense.

SELF, SOCIETY, SECRETS , FREUD, BERNAYS, REICH.

(Long post, so covers Wednesday and Thursday)

Century of Self, a set of 4 on-line videos (links below) was recommended to me recently. I watched them two per sitting, greatly impressed. I must have been fully engaged to have been patient enough to watch the whole four hours without skipping anything!

Century of Self originated in 2002 as a BBC TV documentary series written and directed by Adam Curtis. The films are also available in DVD format. They explore Sigmund Freud's theory of the subconscious and how it has been successfully exploited during the 20th century and beyond in the areas of consumer manipulation and social control.

The BBC's brief overview of the four episodes is HERE.
Episodes are
#1: Happiness Machines
#2: The Engineering of Consent
#3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed
#4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering

Links to on-line videos of the episodes are at end of this post.

The concept of "self" is, of course, central to much astrological interpretation. Astrology assists people to understand themselves. What astrology cannot do, though, is indicate what might be being done to us by others, while we are busy studying ourselves. Deciding exactly how to approach this topic astrologically is tricky, but there's a lot to be learned from Century of Self, one way or another. Let's see what develops.

First, a brief synopsis of Century of Self, with clips from a review by Paul Shepherd.

Leading roles:
Sigmund Freud, neurologist/psychoanalist, born in Moravia, Austrian Empire (now part of the Czech Republic).
Anna Freud, Sigmund's daughter.
Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew, Austrian-born, influential pioneer in the field of public relations.
Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychoanalyst, pioneer of sexual freedom.

Tentacles of their influence have reached out through many decades, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Focus of attention on "self" and away from "society as a whole" is key.

At centre stage, the starting premise of Sigmund Freud regarding the unconscious: that humans

were motivated more by irrational sexual and violent urges than by rational thoughts, and therefore democracy was not a matter of allowing people to choose for themselves between a range of different policies, rather they had to be guided towards the 'correct' choice by an elite composed of people in command of the theory. People just like Edward Bernays.

Freud's theory was taken up by his daughter Anna, and exploited by his nephew Edward Bernays as a tool of psychological, political and social control, for benefit of Big Business and political elites. The development of marketing techniques, later adapted and modified by Reich's theories was where it all began.

Bernays set to work for major corporations, with one of his most spectacular successes being to help break the taboo against women smoking. He paraded a group of attractive young ladies through New York smoking and bearing the slogan 'March for Freedom'. Anyone criticising the idea of women smoking would now appear to be against freedom, and the numbers of women taking up the habit shot through the roof.

After this success Lehman Brothers and other big New York banks financed the development of department stores, confident that they could use the techniques pioneered by Bernays to persuade people to purchase a range of products that left to themselves they may very well not have bothered with. This period also saw the introduction of the techniques of product placement and psuedo-scientific product endorsement so familiar to us today. All of this dubious activity in the capitalist economy was one of the main factors leading to the bubble which ended in the Wall Street crash of 1929.........

The psychoanalytical theories of Wilhelm Reich also fed into this stream, despite his being a convicted fraudster with some very strange beliefs. Reich argued that the release of orgasmic sexual energy was neccessary for the mental health of the individual and society. After the defeat of the New Left in the political conflicts of the late 1960s and early 70s, Reich's theories gained a mass influence as many former activists turned in on themselves. The thinking now was that perhaps you didn't need to go on demos., hand out leaflets etc., what was required was to change oneself, though not neccessarily in the traditional, transcendental sense. A myriad groups emerged, all promising that they had the correct technique for the re-discovery and re-moulding of the Self.

A blend of techniques arising from the ideas of Freud, Bernays and Reich remains in place, both in business and, more importantly and dangerously, in politics today.

Any idea of manipulation and control of the minds of others is an anathema to me, and I suspect it's the same for everybody, if they stopped to consider it. It can only be that they are not, and have never been, aware that this has been going on - and for many decades. I wasn't fully aware until now, apart from realising that advertising is a mild form of mind manipulation. I ought to add here that, perhaps, at the start, there may have been no ulterior motive involved - simply a genuine attempt to construct a better system by those who believed they had superior intellects. But were those making decisions fit to be the deciders? Is anybody? Eventually, their own human nature could, and did surface with a different agenda, far removed from the good of society.

I'd like to discover how such long-term influence has been able to take a hold in a diverse and vast country such as the USA and a small but historically independent one like the UK. Can astrology help here? Do I investigate the natal charts of the Freuds, Bernays and Reich? That can be a start, but will it throw any light on how their influence has been so powerful and long-lived? Perhaps some connection to the slow-moving outer planets which represent long spans of time will emerge. Perhaps.

Here are the natal charts of the 2 Freuds, Bernays and Reich. Clicking on the images will enlarge them. (Note: Place of birth for Reich is set as near the coordinates given at astrodatabank as possible. All but Sigmund Freud's chart are set for 12 noon - birth times unknown, so ascendants and Moon degrees are not accurate.)

SIGMUND FREUD




Sigmund, although at the root of this discussion, is really "odd-man-out" astrologically. He belonged to the generation before that of the other three characters. He planted the seed.

Bearing in mind that Freud himself had, as far as we know, no aspirations to control directly, he simply presented the theory upon which the "empire" was built: that humans need control.

Freud was mainly a blend of Taurus/Gemini, grounded, determined with the soul of a communicator. His passionate, investigative Scorpio ascendant seems, to me, to be what links him most to those who came later. That's all I'll say about him, in this context. Millions of words have been written in connection with other aspects of his work and his astrology, and are available elsewhere.

ANNA FREUD



Anna carried her father's work into the next generation. She never married, and in Century of Self is described at times as a rather unpleasant character. In her chart we see the symbol of her generation: Pluto conjunct Neptune in Gemini. I've noticed, and commented several times on the blog that Pluto in Gemini people in all spheres, the arts, sciences, politics, seem to carry within them "something extra special", for good or ill. When Pluto conjoined Neptune in Gemini an exta layer was added to the characteristics of this already gifted group to which Anna, Bernays and Reich all belonged.

Sun in Sagittarius was opposed in Anna's chart by Pluto/Neptune in Gemini. Moon could well have been in Gemini matching her father's Moon. The Scorpio planets, Mars, Uranus and Saturn make up a formidable stellium (cluster) they are the planets of energy/aggression, rebellion/change and restriction/limitation, and uneasily blended in the sign ruled by powerful Pluto, the dwarf planet with with dark connections.

EDWARD BERNAYS



Bernays, using his uncle's theory, became the driving force in development of a method of "people control": feeding the desires of the masses to repress other urges. Later his ideas were opposed by William Reich's theory that "it's the repression of unconscious drives that is the cause of trouble."

Sun in the last degrees of Scorpio with Pluto/Neptune in opposition - repeat of a similar in Anna Freud's chart, this time also taking in Mercury/Venus. This opposition, in Bernays' case, forms part of a T-square involving 90 degree (challenging) aspects to Jupiter in Pisces, possibly reflecting some of the challenging situations to his leadership arising from Wilhelm Reich's opposing theories.

Pluto and Scorpio are a common denominator thus far.

WILHELM REICH



Here's a chart of a slightly different flavour. There was, in all probability though, an opposition similar to that in the previous two charts, involving the Pluto/Neptune conjunction, this time Moon instead of Sun being part of it (Reich's Moon would lie somewhere between 13 and 28 Sagittarius. As to Scorpio input: Uranus was in late Scorpio conjunct Saturn in early Sagittarius, and in harmonious trine to Sun and Mercury in early Aries.

Reich is described at Wikipedia as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.

"Later in life, he became a controversial figure who was both adored and condemned. He began to violate some of the key taboos of psychoanalysis, using touch during sessions, and treating patients in their underwear to improve their "orgastic potency." He said he had discovered a primordial cosmic energy, which he said others called God, and that he called "orgone". He built "orgone energy accumulators" that his patients sat inside to harness the reputed health benefits, leading to newspaper stories about "sex boxes" that cured cancer...." See here

He believed that the inner self should be encouraged to express itself, rather than be repressed and controlled. A movement arose from this and developed rapidly in the USA using self-help programmes, books etc. The so-called "Me Generation" emerged. Corporations saw a new opportunity here: to encourage people to feel they are unique individuals, then sell them ways to express their individuality, using techniques developed by Freudian psychoanalysts to read their inner desires.




COMMON DENOMINATOR throughout ~ Scorpio and Pluto/Neptune: powerful, deep, long-lasting elements, motive hidden from view, dark and often paranoid. Sex, also connected to Pluto/Scorpio involved too, via the theories of Reich.

If we are in the midst of decline now it is due to a serious lack of integrity in certain individuals discussed above. Astrologically those individuals shared some of the most powerfully dark zodiacal and planetary "flavours".

The truly unconscionable element in all of this is the notion that any individual(s) should have the power to secretly dictate, manipulate minds, in such a way as to benefit one section of society over another section....or for any reason whatever.
The public is not to blame for what happened in the past, and what still happens today. The public is, in fact, victim of a near atrocity in my view. We need to take control of our own minds, or others will be ready to do it for us.

Links to on-line videos of the 4 episodes of Century of Self:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6718420906413643126#
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-678466363224520614#
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6111922724894802811#
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1122532358497501036#

(For viewers in the UK, if strapped for time, I'd recommend starting at episode 3, but the background presented in the first two episodes does shed a lot of essential light on what came next.)

WHY GRANDPARENTS COUNT (OFTEN) MORE

GUEST POST BY GIAN PAUL

For children, and with respect to one's parents or grand-parents we will always be that, the better part of the "old ones" are the grand-parents, most of the time anyway. Astrology gives some answers for that, tentatively at least. Also, I must say beforehand, that my comments are due to an often tense relationship I have had with my father. But knowing that this is not a big exception and quite often also happens to others, father and son or mother and daughter, this post may be helpful to someone else, rather than just being of "astrological interest".

At the boarding school I attended there was a truly genial teacher of natural sciences. He had a strange head, very conical, which earned him the nick-name of Dr. Pot (Topf in German). Had he lived longer (he died shortly after our class had graduated), he would have been proud to discover that about one third of his pupils became either chemists, physicists or medical doctors.

"Dr. Topf" is mentioned here because he presented an intriguing idea, but also added that there was no proof for that, and that he hoped that one of his students may prove it one day. He said that the human being was built on 48 chromosomes etc. In his view, as every human has 4 grand-parents, most probably each of them was contributing with 12 chromosomes. In a democratic world that is, an interesting detail, he gave. I do not know if science today has been able to corroborate "Dr Topf's" assumption.



It actually is not even so important (except for science maybe). What struck me then, was that my all-dominating, controlling father was not the only one who had contributed to my existence, and neither my mother who was exceedingly obedient to him, as at least I was thinking then, at the "revolting age of puberty". I clearly preferred all my grand parents over my parents and to discover a biological explanation for that was very satisfactory.

Besides "Dr. Topf's" scientific (although not proven) theory, there was circumstantial evidence for such preferences. Not only were the grand parents much more patient and rarely criticized us (I have a brother), but they took us more seriously and listened to us. But, and that was some consolation, my parents were not different from other parents, I rapidly found out from several of my classmates. Parents lack objectivity with respect to their immediate offspring. Or patience. Today I realize in all objectivity, that the grand parents, for having more life experience, have an advantage. They also usually see their grand children in more favorable circumstances than just day-to-day. At Christmas, birthdays and during other often special circumstances. But in fact my relationship was much better with my grand parents. And "Dr. Topf" gave the reason and I believe this somewhat "defused" the problems I had with my father.

Unfortunately I never attempted to have a conversation about this with my parents or one of my grand fathers, especially one of them who had a scientific mind. It might have helped to further clear the "generational conflicts" from which I suffered and which were really stupid, creating permanent tensions, especially with my father.

Later on, when I got involved with astrology, I tried to find out about any links a natal horoscope may offer to one's parents and grand parents. As usually happens, I started with myself and others in my family. What I rapidly discovered, also extending my observation to people outside the family, is that a child very often has, if not the same Sun-sign as one of his grand-parents, so his/her Ascendant often turns out to be of the Sun-sign of one of his grand-parents.

My Ascendant is Sagittarius, both my parents were sun-sign Sagittarius. In that sense I am a direct product of my parents. So I had to look further for the reasons for my sun-sign, Aries. Three(!)of my grand parents were Aries. My parent's respective Ascendants were Libra for my mother, Scorpio for my (quite dictatorial) father. The one grand parent who was not Aries, was a Virgo, my maternal grandmother. I was very close to her - and happen to have Moon in Virgo. This, for me, was an important corroboration of the value of astrology (which I then was still contemplating with some skepticism).




My brother, a Leo, has Ascendant in Virgo (same as the sun-sign of the grand mother just mentioned). Two of my three cousins are sun-sign Leos. I suspect that one of my 4 grand parents must have had Ascendant in Leo. But could not investigate as I do not have their hour of birth. But my brother's and 2 of 3 cousins' sun-sign in Leo points the way for that being probable. (Most likely, a grand parent's sun-sign reappears in one or several of his/her grand children's Ascendant or sun-sign. Or vice-versa).

As time went by, I met people who had doubts about their birth hour or could not find it at all, especially in Brazil. Lula, the outgoing president here, e.g. even has two dates of birth: one for the day his mother says he was born, another for the day his father went (as Lula said himself on donkey's back) to the next town to register the birth of his first son. Did he indicate the day of birth, if he remembered that, or the day he arrived in town and his son was registered? That Lula is a Scorpio appears certain (judging by his character), but exactly on which day in October or November 1945 he was born, nobody knows.

For most of the cases where I proceeded to "rectify" a horoscope (a technique used when the birth hour of somebody is uncertain or totally unknown and presenting quite a job, but rewarding), I inquired about the sun-signs of the grand parents of the person concerned. And, without having "kept statistics" for that, it often helped to confirm my findings when the Ascendants were in doubt.

This may sound like a lot of technicalities for non-astrologers, but isn't this blog designed to explain and to help finding out what's on Twilight's (and her reader's) Ecliptic? What happens to people in their childhood often leaves an imprint for life. And given a child's dependence on adults, parents and grand parents play a decisive role in many cases.

The further one investigates, the more many things appear to be connected. With respect to one's parents, one may be well advised to take into account what Dr. Topf's "thing with a democratic distribution of chromosomes" may mean in practice: More access for children to their grand parents. But that needs intelligent behavior and understanding by the parents. If grand parents are mostly used as a "dumping-ground" for children when needed, it creates the wrong premises. Parents should beware of the sensitivities involved. On all sides.

The position defended here is mostly the one of children. However, the interests of parents are not being neglected by recognizing the important role grand parents can play. Children have a great deal of "genetical sensitivity" which over time, as they grow up, may disappear. But it probably is something much more fundamental than imagined and astrology appears to have some explanation for that.

Music Monday ~ New Songs for Old ~ Old Songs for New

I have a mild obsession these days with musical combinations of classical and modern. Maybe something is in the air - the astrological atmosphere. Saturn currently transits in opposition to Uranus/Jupiter. That, being translated = the old & the new connected in teeter-totter fashion (Brit translation = see-saw fashion). This configuration could have a lot to do with my current interest, more especially because Saturn and Uranus are co-rulers of my natal Aquarius Sun. Am I following a "siren call" of the planets? (wink)

Monday postings have recently featured classical music of Carl Orff, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Rodrigo used in modern settings. During the past week my attention has been drawn to a couple more examples - one of them in the opposite direction, so to speak : taking a modern composition and teeter-tottering it to sound classical.

A friend and relative, known here as commenter TNPOTUS (aka Jeff), sent me a link to the video below featuring Rick Wakeman (once upon a time on keyboards for the group Yes), and classical guitarist David Paton playing a classical-sounding version of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. Love it! It's refreshing to hear the pendulum swoosh t'other way from the usual "lift" of the classics for modern use. Not just anybody can achieve this level of perfection though - the modern piece has to have the right quality and potential, the arranger has to have special musical skills, comparable to Wakeman's - pretty rare these days I'd guess.

The other examples, this time old to new, are by the British group Muse, headed by Matthew Bellamy. In two tracks from their most recent album Resistance Bellamy has "lifted" part of Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin for Collateral Damage (which slips smoothly in after The United States of Eurasia). On another track part of the music from an aria, “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix”, from Samson and Delilah, written by Camille Saint-Saëns is used towards the end of I Belong To You.

I'll post the classical originals first, then the songs where Muse includes the music. In both cases the classic references come in the later part of the Muse videos.

I'm wondering whether anybody knows of other instances like the Rick Wakeman one, where modern becomes classical ?

FEAR

9 years ago today, before 9 o'clock that morning, the people of the USA hadn't any inkling of what was about to happen - imminently or in the years that followed. I doubt that the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan had any inkling of what would soon descend upon them. On the same day, a woman (me) still in the UK, had no inkling of how her life would change radically, during the next few years.

Borrowing a Douglas Adams description, "life, the universe and everything" keep some of their most important secrets up their sleeves. I suspect that's exactly as it should be. We have too many people already feeding fear into life's equation, as a means of control. LUE (Life, the Universe and Everything) dictate that we ought not to spend our lives in fear.

In astrology, it's important to note that there's no planet of fear, though paranoia, associated with the darker sides of Pluto/Scorpio, comes close. Mars and the signs it rules (Aries & Scorpio) connect to courage, according to astrologer C.E.O. Carter. Scorpio, via its modern ruler Pluto also connects to power, control, and paranoia. I suppose the reason sign and planet represent these opposite concepts is that both fear and courage arise from the depths of our being. Pluto/Scorpio govern our "depths". I see Uranus, planet of the unexpected, as astrology's "trump card" - and beneficial - though often not recognised as such.

Certain events have to happen for a variety of reasons, reasons that must remain forever unknown to us. We are not supposed to be able to foresee these. It'd be bad for us. This is where Uranus, planet of the unexpected, comes in. I guess that fear of the unexpected could arise from the knowledge that Life keeps certain secrets - but what would be the point of such fear?

“It's fear of the unknown. The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, all that--it's all illusion. Unknown is what it is. Accept that it's unknown and it's plain sailing. Everything is unknown--then you're ahead of the game. That's what it is. Right?” ~John Lennon.

"Fear can be headier than whiskey, once man has acquired a taste for it." ~Donald Dowes

It's best that we try not to acquire that taste!




Whenever we are presented with a fearful scenario it's wise to ask ourselves: "what's in it for the presenter?" What's in it for them will either be a source of money or a source of power and control, of one sort or another. The peddlers of fear have no inside information other than what they have cooked up for reasons of their own. Pundits can surmise, debate and offer likely events and outcomes, but they too are just as much in the dark about the future and its possible surprises and secrets as the rest of us.

"Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them". ~Brendan Francis

We all have a strand of fear-potential within us. Some natal charts might contain a stronger thread than others. We all have the ability to question and rationalise our fears too. We (I include myself in this) should use it frequently.

I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. My hopes indeed sometimes fail, but not oftener than the forebodings of the gloomy. ~
Thomas Jefferson.

Arty Farty Friday ~ William Wegman & His Dogs

Whenever a dog turns up in a movie, TV drama or in real life - my attention is immediately drawn to it - no matter who else is on the scene - even if it happens to be one of my all-time favourite actors. So when I stumbled upon some doggy photographs by William Wegman I simply had to investigate. I love dogs.

William Wegman's career began as a teacher of art in college/university and as a painter. His acquisition of a pet Weimaraner who he named Man Ray, after the legendary artist/photographer, he began taking photographs of the dog. The Weimaraner's deadpan expression, along with imaginative poses and skilled camera technique Wegman used caught the attention of the public. After Man Ray died Wegman replaced him, some years later, with another Weimaraner, this time a female: Fay Ray, who seemed to enjoy being a photographer's model even more than her predecessor had. So the theme continued, and has developed into a set of children's books, books for adults, videos, calendars, prints, etc. Prints now sell in the thousands of $$$$.

Wegman's doggy family has grown to include Fay’s offspring — Battina, Crooky and Chundo — and later, their offspring: Battina’s son Chip (in photo, right) in 1995, Chip’s son Bobbin in 1999 and Candy and Bobbin’s daughter Penny in 2004.

A glance at some of Wegman's photographs tells us that his stock-in-trade is wit, humour, a touch of satire - and love of his subjects. Not all art critics and members of the public are enamoured of Wegman's work. Some see it as kitchy, cheesey and boring, while some dog lovers probably worry about animal cruelty. I don't care what art critics say, and I seriously doubt that cruelty enters into the scene - ever - at all. These dogs are born "hams" -doggy Oliviers and Garbos, you can tell!

William Wegman was born on 2 December 1943 in Holyoake, Massachusetts. 12 noon chart shown below.


He has a very positive chart - all Fire and Air, unless his unknown rising sign adds Earth or Water, that is. His Moon would have been in Aquarius whatever time he was born.

Lots of Air, then (here's the wit). Moon in quirky Aquarius: his photos are nothing if not quirky! Venus and Neptune (art and creativity) in Libra, ruled by Venus, planet of the arts. Uranus, Mars and Saturn in communicative Gemini, with Uranus opposing his Sagittarius Sun and Saturn opposing his Sagittarius Mercury. Uranus planet of the unexpected in a see-saw opposition aspect with his ebullient Saggitarius outer self, seems to echo his quirky Aquarius Moon. Serious Saturn in a balancing act with an exaggerating Mercury helps draw in the reins a little on Wegman's urge towards excess, and channels his talent towards business aims. Jupiter (representing publication) in outgoing Leo lay in harmonious trine to Mercury in Sagittarius - connects to the success and popularity of his work.

Not sure where to look for an astrological link to dogs/animals. I think I've read somewhere that Sagittarius Sun and its ruler Jupiter might be connected, and Venus, of course. In Wegman's chart Venus lay in harmonious sextile to Jupiter in Leo - that seems to fit.

Some examples of his photographs. I'm avoiding most which entail dressing the dogs in human clothes, those are my least favourite poses.

BLUE PERIOD





YOUNG BRIDGE



SEEING EYES



KYPHOSIFIED















More pics HERE & Lots more can be seen using Google Image.

The photographer's own website
Wegmanworld