WEEKEND WINKS

I look on it as a daily necessity to check "People of Walmart" to make sure nobody has presented a shot of me or himself or both of us (chuckles!) It could happen. We must remember, from now on, never to go shopping in our jammies, and his dinky lion's head slippers.

I saw these two photographs earlier in the week (29 September) and thought:

"Could that barcode on the guy's head be his astrological data - scan it and a beautiful natal chart appears in hologram?" It might be a thing of the distant future - a prediction waiting to happen.


"And is the tall guy in the other photograph an astrologer?" With a tie like that he ought to be, either that or he should be arrested by the fashion police. To be honest, I do quite like that tie, he's brave to wear it, and I'm brave to admit to liking it. Wonder if he has Sun in Aquarius?






After discovering "The Funny Times" the other day I decided to subscribe. A monthly dose of cartoon humour could be a useful antidote to newspapers, on-line and off, which tend to raise blood pressure. We impatiently await our first issue, but in the meantime I hope the paper's publishers and the author of this cartoon strip, Eric Per1in will allow my inclusion of this example. It's from from sometime in 2008, I think. Threre's a point embedded in it, one which could vary depending on one's own point of view....:


BASELESS BELIEFS by Eric Per1in





PS~~~~ My desktop computer crashed on Friday morning, I'm using the laptop until techs at our local computer shop can diagnose what went wrong, and whether or not I've lost everything on the hard drive. Typographical errors and other nonsensities might emerge more often than usual now, so - apologies in advance!

ARTY FARTY FRIDAY ~ Kees van Dongen

I can almost hear a passing reader mumbling "Who the heck is he then?" I said the same when the husband handed me a copy of an old "Réalités" magazine from 1960. The cover bore an image of the painting shown at left. "There's an artist who might be a good subject for you", said the ever helpful spouse, "that painting has always attracted me". "A tad too much eye makeup", I grumbled, "and it reminds me of that dreaded anime style." The painting is "Corn Poppy" by Kees van Dongen



Kees van Dongen, it turns out, was a Dutch painter, born in Rotterdam on 26 January 1877, at, according to Astrodatabank, 7am. He moved to Paris in his twenties and achieved some success, using inspiration from the raw sensuality he found in that great city.

Wikipedia:

"Kees van Dongen developed the lush colours of his Fauvist style. This gained him a solid reputation with the French bourgeoisie and a resultant profitable lifestyle. As a fashionable portraitist his subjects included Arletty, Leopold III of Belgium, Louis Barthou, Sacha Guitry, Anna de Noailles, Maurice Chevalier. With a playful cynicism he remarked of his popularity as a portraitist with high society women; ' The essential thing is to elongate the women and especially to make them slim. After that it just remains to enlarge their jewels. They are ravished.' A remark that allies itself to another of his sayings - ' Painting is the most beautiful of lies.'"

Painters with Sun in Aquarius are not too thick on the ground. Offhand I can only think of Jackson Pollock and Manet. They embraced two very, very different art styles. Kees van Dongen's style is nearer to Manet's than he is to Pollock's, but really it's akin to neither.

A quick look at van Dongen's natal chart then. I'm looking for the key to his pull towards the overt eroticism evident in many of his paintings. This obviously had to do with making his work commercial, as well as satisfying any drive within himself. Still, it ought to be represented in the chart somewhere.



Sun and Mercury conjoined in Aquarius in first house, Black Moon Lilith within a few degrees of them. I haven't made up my mind about Black Moon Lilith yet, I don't necessarily accept its mythical relationship to any demon goddess or negative feminine symbolism. It is actually the point at which the Moon is at its furthest from the Earth - the Moon's apogee. The Moon represents the feminine and all its attributes, so Black Moon Lilith might represent, rather than all the best of "the feminine", i.e. grace, compassion, caring etc. perhaps the more superficial, worldly side of feminine. If that were so, then an artist with this point linked their personal planets could be particularly drawn to that side of "the feminine".

Kees van Dongen's natal Venus (planet of the arts) lies in Capricorn, earthy, business oriented Capricorn, and is in mildly helpful semi-sextile to Black Moon Lilith. For me this symbolises his use of superficial feminine images for commercial motives. This is further underlined by Saturn (ruler of Capricorn) in Pisces, semi-sextiling Sun/Mercury from the other side of Aquarius, and again echoing a purely business link to Piscean creativity. Those two links (to Venus in Capricorn and Saturn in Pisces) are very similar in flavour, I think.

This, from New York Times "The Moment" blog is relevant to those links. It refers to the mutual dislike that existed between van Dongen and Matisse, the more established painter and his contemporary.

"Indeed, Van Dongen enjoyed off-color pleasures that would make Matisse blush, from sketching prostitutes on the piers in Holland to portraiture work of society women in his later years. The joke is that, as a painter for hire, Van Dongen himself became the prostitute. But by refusing to do prim and proper landscapes, he changed the face of Expressionist Fauvism — inadvertently setting the tone for the lascivious dance between art and commerce yet to come."

A few examples of his work, more at Google Image:

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and the ugly truth.

Once again, Shepard Smith proves that he's the one news anchor at Fox News to have any semblance of conscience and intellect. See HERE There's a video of the incident included at the link.

"The Fox Report" on Fox News, hosted by anchor Shepard Smith, ran a piece by reporter Dan Springer on how Canada's single-payer health care system is forcing Canadians to come to the United States for care because the waiting period for treatment is too long. The report was intended to contrast negatively with proposals in the U.S. to include a public option in health care reform, however Smith questioned whether the report they just ran was actually fair....."

This may not seem like much, but I'd give Shep Smith yet another gold star for it. At the very least it might encourage viewers to stop and think, or ask a few more questions of their representatives.

My previous posts on Shepard Smith and his astrology are at:
Shepard Smith - Fair and Balanced
and Shepard Smith of Fox News.

That news item ties in with something I've been steaming about for a couple of days. I wrote to our two Senators a while back, urging them to support a public option as part of the proposed health care bill in the USA. Both our Senators had indicated that they intended not to support this proposal. I didn't expect to hear anything further, but writing helped me feel I was doing what I could. I received a response from one Senator: James Inhofe.

What was written would be funny if it wasn't so damned pathetic. He has sent me what I assume is the standard response prepared for sending to "pesky left-wingers" like myself who dare to write in. He has the gall to criticise the UK National Health Service, and the Canadian system too, offering examples of their faults. He neither knows nor cares, of course, that one recipient of his letter spent most of her life under the wing of the National Health Service and sees the lies in his letter for exactly what they are. For myself it doesn't matter, but for others who receive a copy of the same letter, without the experience I'm so lucky to have had, it is tantamount to brainwash.

Sen. Inhofe and his astrology have been the subject of two of my previous posts:HERE
and HERE

I've also read this week that Sen. Inhofe is to attend the international meeting on climate change in Copenhagen. See here. He gives this peaceful state of Oklahoma a bad name.

"How more removed from the day-to-day reality of most Oklahomans can you get than flying to Copenhagen, Denmark to tell the international community the United States will not pass legislation anytime soon dealing with global warming?

But that’s just what U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe says he intends to do, according to the National Review. Inhofe says he will lead a “truth squad” to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December. This squad will argue there’s not enough support in the U.S. Senate to pass a bill."

I don't blame James Inhofe for being who he is, he can't help it. I blame the people of Oklahoma for voting him into the Senate and giving him such power over their lives.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY

I found myself heading in this direction after noting that today, 30 September, is the birthday of one Claude Vorhilon aka "Rael", founder of a UFO religion known as "Raelism". (I'll feature other Weird Wednesday subjects from time to time - there are a lot of 'em about!)

Vorhilon holds that he "had an alien visitation" in December 13, 1973. "According to Vorilhon, in a secluded area within a French volcanic crater, an extraterrestrial being came out of a craft which had descended gently from the sky, and told him, in French, that he had come for the sole purpose of meeting with him. Vorilhon claims he was given a message by this alien and told that it was his mission to pass this message on to the people of Earth." (Wikipedia)

Yeah, yeah yeah, I thought, I bet he's made lots of money out of it all. It's not a case of "cherchez la femme" in these instances, it's more "cherchez le motif" (hope that's correct French!) His foundation of a cultish religion has led to all kinds of shenanigans, including some supposed human cloning.
See Sydney morning Herald, 2002.

The debate over the morals of cloning humans has degenerated into farce with the claim by a religious sect that it has a cloned a baby ready to, as it were, go. While religious leaders, scientists and ethicists have argued, the Raelians say they have duplicated a human as part of their quest for "perpetual orgasms through cloning".

Jest or genuine? The truth of the matter eludes all. But it is clear the Raelians have turned cloning into a situation comedy.

The man behind such a peripatetic quest had something of a wandering career before finding his true calling as a prophet of free love, cloning and the return of aliens to Earth. Nearly three decades ago, Claude Vorilhon, a sportswriter and race car driver, stood at the top of a volcano and began a movement that now lies behind what is either a stunning scientific breakthrough or a staggering hoax.

Vorilhon, a Frenchman who calls himself Rael, claims to have held six meetings with space travellers at the volcano, after which he founded a religion based on the belief that aliens created humankind through cloning 25,000 years ago. Now, a research company with close ties to his sect, called the Raelians, says it has followed suit: cloning a baby girl called Eve from cells provided by a 31-year-old woman. Clonaid, the company, offered no proof of its success when it announced on Friday what it claims is the first human cloning. But it said independent tests backing its claims would be finished in about a week.

Let's have a quick look at this man's natal chart. Born 30 September 1946 in Ambert, France, at 5am (Astrodatabank).



First thing I notice is that it's a rather unbalanced chart - so many planets clustered together with lots of empty space elsewhere. Other than two outer, generational planets there's only Saturn outside of that Libra/Scorpio cluster which overflows very slightly into Sagittarius. This is not to say that there's anything inherently wrong in a blend of Libra-Scorpio, but I find it significant that Mons. Vorhilon has no planets in Earth signs - saving grace may be Virgo rising, but it has a lot to talk down to common-sense Earth level, Airy Libra and Watery Scorpio seriously outweigh it.

Sun is conjunct imaginative Neptune, with Mercury close enough on the other side to be conjoined also. I think there's little doubt that this man's imagination and creativity leads him, and rather than drawing him into art or music, it has led him to spread his imaginings to others, forming a cult-like following. Saturn, the planet of organisation and business is in outgoing Leo, sign of showmen. No doubt this has assisted him in combining showmanship with business throughout this and his previous careers (motor racing, pop musician). The time of birth given by Astrodatabank puts Uranus, the planet most associated with UFOs in communicative Gemini and right at midheaven, the career and public status area of the chart; not only that, but trining natal Mercury, planet of communication as well.

This all seems highly appropriate, given his story.

WHAT IF.........

What if a nuclear conflagration were to take place on Earth, resulting in the complete annihilation of the human race? The planet would be left devastated for many thousands of years. What if, eventually, after a minor hit from a small asteroid which carried spores from outer space, a form of life began to take root, mingling with whatever remained among the formerly radioactive rubble? Several more millennia would pass with lifeforms becoming more sophisticated and intelligent, though in no way similar in form to the human race. Would the sensibilities of these beings still be governed by the same planets, Sun and Moon, seasons and cycles as we are, we the human race ? Would the same astrological imprints still endow similar benefits and drawbacks. Would there still be that tiny seed of hatred embedded, that same seed which we all carry within us? Are we, as a race, warts and all, simply as we are because of our particular physical place in the universe? And would any other developed race spawned on this planet have the same problems because of the planetary setup?

The price we pay for the beauty of the Earth and its benefits is that its human inhabitants carry a mix of characteristics capable, at worst, of destroying themselves. If, as astrologers believe, these characteristics are governed (in part) by the physical situation of our planet Earth, and how it relates to celestial bodies surrounding it, then nothing will ever change fundamentally - only superficially. Wars and hatred will always be a part of life on Earth, the features of its inhabitants, uniforms and figureheads may change, but the core drive of hatred (and greed) will remain, always.

If this is so, then the only way for a better world would be to find another planet capable of supporting life, with a different planetary setup surrounding it. There's a snag though. What if the human race did de-camp from Earth - a different setup would not necessarily be a better one, and and it could take thousands of years to discover the new astrological workings. Humans born there might have less, or even none, of our good traits and more of our bad ones. In any case, that scenario is not likely to happen.

We have to carry on "playing with the hand fate dealt us". It's a gamble, and gamblers do very occasionally win, even with the odds against them.

MUSICAL MONDAY ~ Miles Davis

On this day, 28 September, in 1991 Miles Davis died. Davis's musicianship, trumpet playing and composing is part of jazz history - he is almost universally revered, yet is said to have had a difficult and strange personality. His music, then, must have been exceptionally brilliant to overcome that drawback.

I first became aware of Miles Davis through my husband, the jazz fan. Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, featured on the Davis album "Sketches of Spain" has entranced me from the first time I heard it. I can hardly call myself a jazz fan, yet I can appreciate some pieces, especially those with a semi-classical base.

Miles Davis was born on 26 May 1926 in Alton, Illinois, at 5 am according to Astrodatabank. Some sources have his birthday as 25 May, but Astrodatabank gives 26th and 5am an AA rating - I'm going with that.

Here's an excerpt from an on-line biography. My comments on related astrology follow.

For the last two decades of Davis's career he became more of a jazz curiosity than a musician to be taken seriously. A good part of his fame owed less to his considerable musicianship than to his strange personality. Davis gained a poor reputation in performance for turning his back on audiences, for expressing racial hostility toward whites, for dressing poorly early in his career and wildly later—all of which contributed to his mysterious image.

Davis was a complex man with strengths and weaknesses that would ultimately destroy him. Himself the victim of a policeman's clubbing (reportedly, racially inspired), he had the fairness and courage in the late 1950s to challenge black jazzmen's expectations by filling a piano vacancy with a white player, Bill Evans (1929–1980); but then, by all accounts, Davis often racially taunted him. A physical fitness enthusiast (with his own private gym), he nevertheless took vast amounts of drugs (sometimes, but not always, for pain). Oftentimes unfriendly, he was also capable of acts of generosity toward struggling musicians, both black and white.

Davis was married three times—to dancer Frances Taylor, singer Betty Mabry, and actress Cicely Tyson. All three marriages ended in divorce. He had, in all, three sons, a daughter, and seven grandchildren. He died on September 28, 1991, in Santa Monica, California, of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and a stroke.

The Gemini Sun in Davis's natal chart links closely to very little - it lay within a few degrees of the ascendant, but in 12th house, which astrologers consider to be an area of withdrawal. I think this might account in part for his strange personality - turning his back on the audience, for instance, might be a reflection of this.

There's a Grand Trine in emotional, creative and sensitive Water signs in his chart. It links Moon/Saturn in Scorpio to Uranus in Pisces and Pluto in Cancer. While Water signs are generally emotionally driven, and a Grand Trine is a helpful circuit between signs of the same element, the inclusion of Saturn, Uranus and Pluto in this particular Watery circuit bring in a touch of negativity and some bloody-mindedness.

The other main configuration in this chart is a Grand Cross (shown right), involving Moon/Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune - made up of square aspects and oppositions - all challenging in different ways, often resulting in a few difficult personality traits. Davis had many challenges to overcome in his life - racial prejudice, addiction and ill health being high on the list. The planets involved in this Grand Cross relate to communication (Mercury) publication and expansion (Jupiter), creativity and addiction (Neptune) and Inner self (Moon)/rigidity and discipline (Saturn). One integrated opposition: Mercury and Moon/Saturn is especially notable here, involving, as it does, Mercury the communications planet opposed by Moon/Saturn a kind of inner self policed by Saturn push-pulling with a need to communicate.


On the positive side, his art - his musicianship - is underlined by Venus, planet of the arts, in go-getting Aries forming a helpful trine to Neptune, planet of creativity in Leo. In addition to his talent in music, I ought to mention that Miles Davis was quite an accomplished painter, it was something he enjoyed in his later years.








More about Miles and his music at "Miles Styles" by Michael S Smith.

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT ~ a poem

Waldo Williams was a Welsh poet, born 30 September 1904, with Sun in Libra. Wikipedia tells us that he was also a notable pacifist, anti-war campaigner, and Welsh nationalist. The first two I applaud, the last, not so much - but to each his own. I particularly like this poem of his, the fourth verse especially contains great wisdom.

The Welsh are justly proud of their mystical tradition. Waldo's poetry is said to be strongly influenced and inspired by

"the mystic revelation he had as a youth about the unity of the whole of humankind. This revelation was realised in the cooperative and harmonious living he witnessed amongst the farming communities in the Preseli Hills and reflected in feelings of belonging, knowing, and a desire that people should live together in peace – constant themes in his poetry."
See Welsh Icons.

What is it to be human?
by Waldo Williams

What is staying alive? To possess
A great hall inside of a cell.
What is it to know? The same root
Underneath the branches.

What is it to believe? Being a carer
Until relief takes over.
And to forgive? On fours through thorns
To keep company to an old enemy.

What is it to sing? To receive breath
From the genius of creation.
What's work but humming a song
From wood and wheat.

What are state affairs? A craft
That's still only crawling?
And armaments? Thrust a knife
In a baby's fist.

Being a nation? What can it be? A gift
In the swell of the heart.
And to love a country? Keeping house
In a cloud of witnesses.

What's the world to the all powerful?
A circle spinning.
And to the children of the earth?
A cradle rocking.

Translated by Menna Elfyn
From Poetry Foundation.

SEEING THE FUNNY SIDE

It's not easy to find real-life stuff to laugh at these days. Most of what's in the news frustrates, angers or saddens, rather than amusing us. Yet there's supposed to be a funny side to almost everything.

It's undeniable that infectious laughter and bright smiley faces light up life, make us feel better immediately, even in the face of dire circumstances. We are sometimes told that it'd help to be more child-like in our approach to life. Children laugh easily, I guess because they have little or no responsibility. We have to somehow strike a balance between child-like appreciation of the bright side of life with the serious responsibilities that arrive with maturity and a clearer understanding of the ways of the world.

Perhaps a person's astrological blueprint governs where their funnybone lies, and how sturdy and resilient a bone it happens to be. A well-respected British astrologer. C.E.O. Carter wrote a little on the topic of humour in his "Encyclopedia of Pyschological Astrology". He states that:

"Each sign has its special kind (of humour), but the general astrological indications of this gift are Venus and Taurus, Jupiter, Neptune, Sagittarius and Pisces, Moon Cancer and Uranus. Humour in the strict sense, I put under the Moon and Cancer.

Venus and Taurus seem to have to do with laughter and amusement generally; Moon, Neptune and their signs with whimsicality (which is also noticeable in many Virginians (I think this must refer to Virgoans rather than inhabitants of Virginia); Uranus with incongruity and unexpected effects; Jupiter and Sagittarius with fun and satire. Mercury must, of course, be prominent where the power of humourous expression is involved. Humourous persons, unlike witty ones, have not always the gift of speech.

Wit depends upon a strong Mercury, the quality of wit being determined by the chief aspecting planet. It is often found aspected by Mars, Jupiter or Uranus.

The signs which most commonly lack humour are Leo, Scorpio and Capricorn, as these often produce persons with a strong sense of personal dignity, not to say self-importance. They can seldom appreciate a joke at their own expense, as the Jupiter person can. It is probable that Saturn afflictions to the Moon tend to destroy humour, while Martian ones coarsen it, and incline to horseplay."

I dare not and should not argue with Mr. Carter, but I do wonder about one or two things he has written, especially in the last paragraph quoted above. I've found that it really is not possible to accurately categorise people by their Sun sign, or by a planet, as in "a Jupiter person", as Mr. Carter appears to be doing (but perhaps I'm misunderstanding him, if so, I apologise profusely).

A person with Sun/ascendant and more in Leo could have all kinds of aspects pointing towards humour in their chart, which would completely overcome any over-developed sense of self dignity. In fact, a good dose of Leo is very helpful in presenting humour to an audience.

I've found people with a lot of natal Capricorn to often have well-developed dry humour, which could combine easily with any sense of self-dignity. As for Scorpio - perhaps black humor (dark in content, not skin color) which seems to be gaining popularity, might be a genre natural to a Scorpio-heavy person, or one with Pluto (ruler of Scorpio) prominent.

As far as I can see (and perhaps that's not far enough) nothing in astrology can be set out as "cut and dried" for every individual. One man's hilarious joke is another man's yawn, or even obscenity. And come to think of it, isn't that word "hilarious" vastly over-used these days, at least in the USA where exaggeration seems to be the norm? I've lately heard the most inane or trivial stuff described as "hilarious", which makes me wonder if my own funnybone is suffering from osteoporosis.

Back to my original thought about seeing the funny side of things that in reality are not at all funny. It's a special talent, probably inborn and not easy to cultivate. As the wise old saying goes "if we don't laugh, we'll cry"; for sure laughter and sorrow are close together, on either side of that cusp dividing the normal from world shattering events, personal or communal. I'm going to guess that those people with Sagittarius and/or Jupiter well prominent and without blight from Mars, Saturn or Pluto are those who are most likely to be able to laugh in the face of disaster, with an ability to see through the gloom and into that elusive funny side.

ARTY FARTY FRIDAY ~ Jack Davis

I wouldn't have recognised the name Jack Davis before I met my husband, who's a great fan of Davis artwork, often found on LP sleeves and book covers, in magazines, and advertisements. Whenever we visit antiques stores on our travels he can be found rifling through piles of LPs and magazine covers, searching for examples of Jack Davis's artwork he hasn't yet acquired.

Jack Davis is an illustrator and cartoonist, he draws a mean caricature, and it's said he's one of the fastest "draws" in the nation. The ability to catch facial likeness on paper always intrigues me - and to have the talent to do so at speed is mind-boggling. Such skill requires a particularly incisive eye and mind.

From Wikipedia

"Because Davis could do cartoon illustrations in a matter of minutes, he was sometimes called upon to save ad campaigns which had gone awry. This combination of speed and top clients at one time made Davis the highest paid illustrator in the world. Davis said many of his assignments came from art directors who had grown up reading Mad (magazine)."

Born 2 December 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia, Jack has his 85th birthday just around the corner. His chart is set for 12 noon, the exact time of birth isn't known. Moon position will not be accurate, and rising sign can't be calculated without a birth time, so house positions are in question too.



Jack Davis's Sun, Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius nicely reflect his light-hearted good humoured approach to illustration. Jupiter (excess, expansion, and publication) and Mercury (communication) are conjoined symbolising his prolific output leading to mass publication in a variety of forms. Neptune, planet of creativity and imagination is in helpful trine to Mercury/Jupiter from Leo.

There are two other conjoined pairs of planets: Saturn/Venus in Scorpio and Mars/Uranus in Pisces. Venus, planet of the arts and Saturn planet of hard work blend together in Scorpio (here's his incisive insight), as do Mars (energy - possibly where his speed comes from too, and Uranus (quirky, zany) in imaginative Pisces.

Moon at 12 noon on the day Jack Davis was born was in Pisces; if he was born in the morning, at 7am or earlier, Moon would have been in Aquarius. It's not easy to guess which is more likely. I think Moon in Pisces best reflects his kindly approach, yet his pull towards a quirky cartoon style seems more Aquarian.

It's easy to recognise Jack Davis illustrations by looking at the feet of the characters he draws, they are always oddly ultra-long.





















More illustrations HERE and via Google Image.

HATRED

While we were away, and since we returned home, even though I've attempted to avoid upsetting news stories and the opinion of others, one thing has seeped through the brief instances I've happened upon accidentally : hate (that's a verb) so I should really have written "hatred", I guess. Whether noun or verb, it's still obnoxious.

Hatred is like fire -- it makes even light rubbish deadly.
George Eliot

British astrologer of the last century, C.E.O. Carter wrote that:

"Hate is one of the most extreme Martian vibrations, through Scorpio rather than Aries, and probable generally with an admixture of Saturn or Uranus. The last-named is often violent in its antipathies, and, like Scorpio, may remember slights and insults after long periods. In maps capable of nourishing hatred and revenge the benefics are usually obscurely placed."

We have an "admixture of Saturn and Uranus" hovering above us just now, in the form of a celestial opposition between the status quo (Saturn) and change (Uranus). Perhaps it's this reflected in earthly terms that we keep encountering here in the USA.

Extreme political right-wingers seem hell-bent on the destruction of any aims of President Obama and his administration to right many societal wrongs, particularly in relation to health care in this country. These wrongs are clear to others, but the hatemongers remain blind to them, or obtusely uncaring. Hatemongers will use any twisted logic and lies to persuade the uninformed or passive that their views are the right ones. This is bad enough, but as long as it stops at people waving hate-ridden signs, and shouting abuse, not much is lost. I fear that whipping up hatred of this nature among many who will not stop to think things through for themselves, could lead to much worse eventualities. Blood could well be spilled before long. In fact, immediately after drafting this post yesterday afternoon, I saw this article at Huffington Post: "Census Worker Hanged: Bill Sparkman Found with "FED" on his Body". This man was a teacher and part-time worker collecting information for the census in Kentucky. Investigations are ongoing.

Hatred is like fire -- it makes even light rubbish deadly.

What could be done to alleviate the situation?

When we were in South Dakota last week, enjoying one of the many sights there, I heard a nearby group of tourists discussing the political situation. One of the group said "all Muslims are terrorists, and now we have one in the White House". On another occasion, in an antiques mall in Nebraska, another group of people stood discussing health care, and though I didn't hover too long, as I passed by them I couldn't help hearing just one sentence concerning what is, in the USA seriously misunderstood and looked on as a dirty word: "socialism". What is a person like me to do in such circumstances? Should I insert myself into their discussion? That would be very rude, and in any case my views would not be welcome because the minds of these folk are made up, set in stone. Yes their minds are set in stone. There's nothing to be done, but to live through whatever comes next.

I don't hate these people, I feel dreadfully sorry for them. I feel sorry for this beautiful, beautiful country that is has a proportion of citizens who do not want to see the wood for the trees.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
(From Rogers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" )

ZODIAC SIGN LIBRA

As we move on past the autumnal equinox, and into the zodiac sign of Libra, I find myself pondering, once again, that I can never really get a grip on this sign and its supposed attributes. Astrologers usually give Libra a good write-up. Adjectives such as charming, diplomatic, tactful, courteous, agreeable, even-tempered, artistic, refined are used. The worst I've ever seen in a description of characteristics attributed to Libra is "indecisive". I do often use the same adjectives myself when writing about Libra in a natal chart, assuming that my own views of Libra, which are rather more jaundiced, must be peculiarly skewed.

Libra is one of three Air signs in the zodiac, Gemini and Aquarius being the other two. Having Sun in Aquarius myself, on paper I'm supposed to get along famously with Sun Librans and Geminians. It does usually work with Sun Gemini folk - I seem to immediately take to these characters. With Sun Libra folks it's not always so easy after a possible initial attraction. The sign is one of two ruled by Venus, planet of the arts, the other being Taurus, the Earthy face of Venus.

My mother had Sun in Libra (28 September), and we fought - a lot. I loved her though, and admired many of her characteristics. She was the hardest worker I've ever known (apart from my Dad), she was the driving force in their aim to become self-employed and remain so, which they did, with reasonable success. My Dad had the skill, my mother had the drive. She loved a good time, loved to have a few drinks; loved new clothes and shopping (that's probably a Libran trait), was always generous to her only daughter right to the end, but also highly critical which didn't go down too well with ultra-sensitive yours truly. My mother could accurately be described as domineering - though it was with the best possible intentions. You don't try to dominate an Aquarius Sun with Aries Moon though....not if you're wise! I have to remind myself here that Aries is Libra's opposite sign, and that we all tend to reflect a little of our opposite. My Sun Aquarius Dad (without Aries Moon) was happy to be dominated, loved it, in fact, and loved my mother deeply until death parted them and devastated my Mum, and me.

We grew much closer after Dad died, and yet there was still trouble brewing because my late partner and my Mum fought like cat and dog, with me as "pig-in-the-middle". I loved them both; having to referee their bouts tore me up. They did, thankfully, call a truce in the last few years of Mum's life.

(There are 60 years between the two photographs of Mum, the second was taken during the last of many Christmas holidays spent together, just 20 months before her death.)


My only other close encounter with a Sun Libran was with my first husband (born 27 September). The marriage, which also took place when the Sun was in Libra, was disastrous, a huge mistake. Whereas Aquarius/Libra had worked so well for 55 years, for my parents, in my own case it was a catastrophe. We separated after a couple of on-off years, and I vowed to never marry again, so disillusioned had I become. Divorce was painfully slow because he disappeared without trace (probably to his native Italy) and the law being what it was in those days, I had to wait - I think it was 7 years - for court proceedings to begin. I prefer to draw a veil over this part of my life, it has no doubt left a nasty taste of Libran flavour in my subconscious mind. I cannot bring myself to write about the first husband - he's best forgotten.

So.....I think what the above experiences prove is what I try to emphasise each time I write about a zodiac sign. There's really no such creature as "A Libran", "An Aquarian", "A Virgoan" etc. etc. The whole natal chart has to be considered, and there'd have to be billions and billions and billions of labels if every individual could wear one.

Looking at my mother's natal chart again, I feel perhaps the snags that arose between us might relate to her Saturn at 15 Cancer which is on my ascendant - though the astrologer who recified my chart said the degree could vary a bit - in which case Mum also had Mars at 24 Cancer and Pluto at 3Cancer - all three of these planets can be on the antagonistic side. As my mother almost died when I was born, this could have some relevance. The rest of her chart, apart perhaps from Mercury at 0 Scorpio, isn't all that antagonistic to mine.

Just because the Sun lies in a certain zodiac sign at one's time of birth doesn't ensure that the whole blueprint of that sign's characteristics will be imprinted. The rest of the birth chart will modify Libran characteristics, sometimes so much that classic Libran traits become practically unrecognisable. How one's own natal chart relates to that of another is also a big point to keep in mind. With regard to how one might view a Libra-heavy individual: "one man's charming diplomat is another man's pain in the arse". (Winking).

Using the term "Libran" is shorthand only, it's useful but as with all other Sun sign descriptions, ought to be read with flashing disclaimers!