Under One Sky & Heading Out

Under One Sky, (2004) brainchild of Rafael Nasser, contains the biography of a woman, completely unknown to 12 different, well-respected astrologers. In its pages each astrologer gives their "blind" interpretation of the woman's personality and life history, with only her birth data for guidance. Each used their own specialised system. Systems include Vedic, Western, Mediaeval, Hellenistic, Mythological, Evolutionary, Archetypal, Uranian, Psychological, Western Sidereal, and Light-hearted. The astrologers specify how and why they reached the concusions they did.

The subject's biography is stated in detail, by the woman herself - a little wordy, lots of detail. I picked out a few key points which, in my opinion, ought to come through loud and clear in an accurate interpretation. These were: world travel; academic ability; spirituality; health problems/accidents; relationship with her father.

It wasn't as easy as I imagined it'd be to see clearly which astrologer had come closest to describing the anonymous woman. Some astrologers were overly wordy, somewhat woolly too in places! Finally I concluded that one astrologer who used the sidereal zodiac, and one who used the tropical, delivered the best, clearest, and most accurate reports. No names, no pack drill (don't want to get into trouble!)

For astrology-minded readers this is a fascinating book, I definitely learned one or two things from reading it:

1. Both tropical and sidereal zodiacs work, in the right hands.

2. Too many words muddy the waters, even when the writer obviously has style and flair.

3. A light touch is best.

4. Not everything is shown in a birth chart, even when experts translate.

5. Basic tropical astrology can be as accurate as the most complicated specialised type, or using a variety of different celestial bodies, or myths.

HEADING OUT

Tomorrow we'll be heading west and to higher, cooler ground for a few days, so the blog will be quiet 'til we return. Where are we going? Clue below but, as John Steinbeck said:

"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."

John - still and always sadly missed.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Leo and Lion Art

Painters and photographers born when Sun was in Leo are pretty thin on the ground. I suppose all good Leo Suns are busy doing stuff in the spotlight instead of spending their days hidden away, painting in some remote studio, or standing behind a camera putting the spotlight on others.

There were a couple of French painters in the 18th century, both born 14 August, and father & son: Claude Joseph Vernet (1714) and Antoine Charles Horace Vernet (1758). Their paintings, though masterly, weren't anything out of the ordinary for the period, so these artists don't make interesting blog subjects.

In the absence of interesting painters born under the sign of the lion, a look at painters who put lions into art.

There are numerous wildlife artists from the 20th century who have produced beautiful paintings of lions, but their full birth data isn't online. One of these, Simon Coombes, born in England in "June 1940" (so either Sun in Gemini or Cancer) lived much of his life in Africa, died in December 2004 as a result of being gored by a wild buffalo.

This is one of his lion paintings.




Below: Una & The Lion by Briton Rivière, Irish artist born in London on 14 August 1840 - Sun in Leo - one I almost missed!

Una, is a character from The Faerie Queene, an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Una is the personification of the "True Church". She travels with the Redcrosse Knight (who represents England), whom she has recruited to save her parents' castle from a dragon. She also defeats Duessa, who represents the "false" (Catholic) church and the person of Mary, Queen of Scots, in a trial reminiscent of that which ended in Mary's beheading. Una is also representative of Truth.(Wikipedia)

Artist of the 19th century French Romantic School, Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix featured lions in a few of his paintings. One depicts a lion tearing its prey to pieces, which doesn't appeal to me, but the watercolor of his shown below is beautiful.

Delacroix was born 26 April 1798 in Charenton Ile de France. He had Sun conjunct Jupiter, and Mercury in Taurus, sign ruled by Venus, planet of the arts. Sun conjunct Jupiter (planet of expansion and travel) links nicely to his love of travel, which led him to Africa, and, no doubt inspiration for his paintings of lions.





From the Daddy of 'em all: sketch of a roaring lion by Leonardo da Vinci - another Sun in Taurus painter (and the rest). Natal chart available at Astrodatabank.



From Charles Le Brun's physiognomies - comparative drawings of human and animal faces. Charles Le Brun a dominant artist of 17th century France was born in Paris, on 24 February 1619.

The goal of physiognomy is to judge character according to features of the face. LeBrun studied the lines linking different points of the head in a complex geometry which revealed the faculties of the spirit or character. Thus, the angle formed by the axis of the eyes and the eyesbrows could lead to various conclusions, depending upon whether or not this angle rose toward the forehead to join the soul or descented toward the nose and mouth, which were considered to be animal features.(See here).

Finally, back to the stars with Bill Stephens , digital art and and:
The Creator.

Ramblings on Capitalism & Astrology

I am ill-equipped to be blogging about economic systems, yet feel the itch to write something on the topic of capitalism, and to try to relate astrological factors to it. Planets, points and their place in the zodiac offer a kind of celestial shorthand, I always think, when trying to clarify complex topics. It's a useful language, and well worth the effort needed to learn it.

First a definition of capitalism. I'm not trying to be patronising here, and realise that most of us already know what it is, either vaguely or geekily in depth. I'm clearing the way, and my own mind. This definition is copied from the Hippie Dictionary: a cultural encyclopedia (and phraseicon) of the 1960s ...By John Bassett McCleary at Google Books. It's less
highfalutin than some others, and easier to absorb for non-economic minded mortals like me. Before turning away with a sigh when a passing reader sees the word "hippie" - wait a while and read it. To my mind it's a fair assessment from the perspective of ordinary people who are not part of the 1% wealth-infested elite.


In astrological terms, capitalism, being involved with expansion (of wealth and power), can be connected to Jupiter - planet of expansion. Jupiter is usually thought of as benign rather than malignant. Expansion, in itself isn't a bad thing. But Jupiter also connects to excess, which is almost always a bad thing. Excess requires some kind of brake, limitation, regulation. The last three words connect to Saturn. So, for capitalism to work at its optimum for both capitalists and the people Saturn needs to be linked to Jupiter. In periods where there is no strong enough link, and Jupiter is allowed free reign, economic collapse might eventually follow. I'm getting a vision of that old Monty Python sketch where a BIG guy is being served huge amounts of food in a restaurant - he eventually explodes from over consumption.






It's a good thing, and probably no coincidence that Saturn is currently in opposition to Jupiter, and people are slowly, at last, waking up in the USA to what has been happening for decades. The system of democracy has been corrupted while ordinary people went about their business, too busy and otherwise engaged to notice what was happening. There is no real democracy, or real elections.

The country has been taken over by a corporatocracy. Even many who enthusiastically voted Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, taking his promises at face value, are starting to wake up and question his actions (or inactions, or "compromises"). This appears to be alarming the President's minions. Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary this week spluttered a completely unprofessional outburst against what he considers to be "the professional left" for criticising President Obama's record to date. The record is proving that the President's first interests are with the capitalists and corporations rather than with the people who believed his campaign speeches.

Saturn is also opposing Uranus, planet of rebellion and reform though, putting the same brake on any seminal revolutionary yearnings among those on the "true" political left. This is also a good thing....unless Uranus gains the upper hand in opposing Saturn as the see-saw swings!

Revolutions have a romantically adventurous flavour, in theory. In practice however, they mean blood and guts, death, injury, imprisonment. I don't think we're yet at the stage where enough people, though now awake, are angry enough to risk that. Younger generations ought already to be complaining bitterly. Earlier generations would have been out peacefully protesting in the streets by now. There isn't the same fire in their bellies. Apathy and learned complacency have taken over. Unless things change for the better soon though, young and old will become angry enough to rebel in earnest. The only reason Britain avoided the revolution against monarchy that so many European countries experienced was that they changed course, ever so slightly, just in time to prevent it. Maybe there's a lesson there for the US administration?

During coming months and into 2011 Saturn, Jupiter and Uranus will be slow dancing, sometimes retrograding, sometimes resuming closer opposition, reflecting an on- again/off-again atmosphere in public opinion as regards capitalism, corporatism, and unfolding events.

The late and oft lamented comedian George Carlin already knew exactly what was going on in the USA, some years ago: "It's a big club and you ain't in it!" he told us.....Thanks, George - would you finish this post for me, please? ~~~

Wednesday Women ~ Elizabeth Warren

Coincidentally, one of last week's Wednesday Women was born in Oklahoma, and so was this week's subject: Elizabeth Warren. She is in the news a lot at present as a candidate to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The President will soon be choosing the person to fill this important post. There's much controversy, and strong opposition, from some quarters to Ms Warren's candidacy, due to the fear that she'd be too tough on the big banks and the finance industry. Fat Cats don't like to be frightened like this - they're not used to it and can scratch, claw and spit at any likely enemy.

There's a good page about Ms Warren at Who Runs Gov ~ Profiles. Extract:

Growing up in Oklahoma, a decade after drought and depression crippled the state's economy, Warren understood the value of the dollar at an early age. When Warren got sick, her mother would decide whether to take her to the doctor based on Warren's temperature and how much they already owed the doctor . "I worried about money from the time I was a little kid," Warren told Newsweek.

Warren went to Houston University, earning a bachelor’s of science in 1970. Shortly afterwards, Warren got her law degree from Rutgers University. She then taught at various universities, including in Texas, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

In 1995, she took a full-time position at Harvard Law School, where she continues to teach.

I've seen Ms Warren twice on TV in Real Time, interviewed by Bill Maher, and was enormously impressed by her down to earth attitude and sharp intellect.

David Corn had this to say on the matter in Politics Daily:

The obvious candidate for this new financial sheriff position is Warren, the Harvard law professor who first proposed such an agency in 2007 -- before the Wall Street meltdown. As head of a congressional panel overseeing the TARP bank bailout, she's been an outspoken and plain-speaking foe of Wall Street and the big banks. She has denounced shifty credit card companies and shady mortgage lenders. She deserves this position. And progressives love Warren. But Geithner may not. Last week, the Huffington Post, citing one "source with knowledge of Geithner's view," reported that Geithner was opposing Warren for this position.

If Obama dumps Warren, the White House will justifiably enrage reformers and progressives -- that is, part of its base. If Obama nominates Warren, the White House will have a major fight with banks and GOPers. "That may be a fight worth having," a Treasury Department official says, "but that's up to the White House to decide." It's a mighty big decision.

My feeling: never mind the Consumer Protection Bureau -we need this woman in the White House! Take a look at her natal chart.


Born on 22 June 1949 in Norman, Oklahoma. the 12 noon chart below will not show exact Moon position or ascending sign, as time of birth is unknown.




Stand out factor in her natal chart = Sun conjunct Uranus (the rebel and reformer) tightly conjoined within 12 minutes of arc, in sensitive nurturing Cancer. Jupiter in Aquarius forms a Grand Trine in Air (mentally oriented) signs with Neptune in Libra and Mercury/Mars in Gemini - an intellectual circuit!

Saturn at 1 Virgo lies in sextile to Sun/Uranus reflecting her ability to blend meticulous structured arguments with a "left-field" rebellious reformer's insight.

That's enough for me to be strongly on the side of Elizabeth Warren, in whatever capacity she chooses to progress.

LSD - Good or Bad? And other, similar Compounds?

GUEST POST by Gian Paul

A young financial analyst, the Head of Finance at Sandoz, a major Swiss pharmaceutical company, told me that in future most drugs will be influencing the brain and then through the brain that body part which is creating health problems. And how right he was!

Dr. Albert Hoffman, a chemist at Sandoz, had synthetized LSD on November 16, 1938 for the first time, tried it himself on the spot and did not recall how he got home that night, and by bycicle!

Some two month or so ago, the American FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) authorized pilots to use tranquilizers while on service. I thought how terrible, especially after those two guys had overshot some airport by over 200 miles, if I recall correctly. And presumably they were not on tranquilizers!

The other day, internationally known Dr. Christiane Northrup, specialized in women's health and wellness, published some very interesting comments in Huffington Post about the ongoing excesses of usage of tranquilizers (Prozac & Co.) Furthermore she stated that most tranquilizers have no better effect than a placebo. And also that their use is mostly questionable, quote:

"To get over depression one must be willing to make some changes that will support healthy brain bio-chemistry. Otherwise, the depression is likely to recur".

In summer 1989 (see map), on July 13 exactly, I suffered a heart attack. A bit early to be comfortable when it happens before age 50, I was told. 20 years later I am still alive.

An American Professor treated me on the spot as he was visiting Geneva to promote some new cardio-devices. That was luck. The Swiss MD who then took over, however was less of a genius. He prescribed a solid dose of Beta-Blockers, then in fashion, to protect me from "strong emotions" (I was a portfolio-manager at that time).

The attached horoscope shows that on July 13, 1989 Neptune was at 10 degr. 43 Capricorn and retrograding. So was Saturn, at 9 degr. 51 Capricorn, conjunct Neptune. When I was back at work, 3 months later, mid October 1989, Neptune had gone direct and was transiting the spot where Saturn was when I had the heart attack.

I could feel that these Beta Blockers were interfering with my thinking and talked to my doctor about it. His reply was that I should not worry about that, even Formula 1 car racers were taking these pills!

As I could not detect an astrological reason for my heart attack, I was even more highly suspicious of the little pills I was taking. And without telling my doctor, I stopped taking them. And immediately I felt much better again, like being myself.

The horoscope of when Albert Hoffman discovered LSD (right) gave me a clue of a link between my heart attack, the Beta Blockers which I had discontinued taking and what is being now described here in this blog of my friend Twilight:

My heart attack happened when Venus was exactly
1) conjunct Mars in Leo, and
2) square Uranus in the horoscope
when LSD was discovered by Hoffman. 15 degr. Leo for the former and 15 Taurus for Uranus in the LSD map. Moon on July 13, 1989 was conjunct the Sun of the LSD
horoscope, in Scorpio.

After all, how else could LSD have become what it did, had it not Sun in Scorpio and Venus (R) conjunct it? Not to forget Moon conjunct Neptune in Virgo, the sign of matters of health!

Not unlike Dr. Northrop, I may sound skeptical about psycho-medicaments. What strikes me is that most doctors prescribe them and then do not know when to stop their use. I can believe that the Beta-Blockers I was taking had a positive effect immediately after the heart attack, but when would my MD have stopped me using them? Probably never as he knew what my profession then was!

If Sandoz (Novartis today) - and their competitors - derived many wonder - drugs (mostly, "profit-wise") from LSD and similar compounds, they may be responsible for many thousands or millions of people living in "sort of a haze", when in reality they could stop taking tranquilizers or similar, in my view stupid, drugs. Not only creating psychological dependence but costing often too much for what is their
return.

PS. In the years since my heart attack and having given considerable thought to the use of tranquilizers, I was able to help at least 3 people to stop using such. Simply looking at their horoscopes and finding a favorable moment for them to give it at try to liberate themselves from that dependence.

It's not complicated: In most people's lives occur periods of stress or feeling very down-beaten. But these phases also come to an end. A correct interpretation of transits on a birth-horoscope can help identifying a useful moment. And obviously also some convincing argumentation at that moment will help. To know these phases helps to sound convincing.

Music Monday ~ Eve of Destruction, P.F. Sloan, Barry McGuire

The Eve of Destruction, Billboard No 1 hit in 1965, was played by Tim Rice the other day in his current BBC Radio series. The shows feature musicians from, or songs about, some of the 50 states of the USA, state by state. Oklahoma was up - so I listened on the i-player. Oklahoma-born Barry McGuire's version of the hit song was on the playlist.




The song was always a favourite of mine, way back when, in the 60s, the big guns at BBC censored it from their airwaves as being unsuitable for the delicate ears of their listeners. Barry McGuire sang the song and sang it very well. Real credit for Eve of Destruction ought properly go to its writer, P.F. Sloan, a prolific songwriter for many famous names of the 60s. On his website Mr Sloan tells how he came to write the song.

The song "Eve of Destruction" was written in the early morning hours between midnight and dawn in mid-1964......... I was 19 years old. The most outstanding experience I had in writing this song was hearing an inner voice inside of myself for only the second time. It seemed to have information no one else could've had. For example, I was writing down this line in pencil "think of all the hate there is in Red Russia." This inner voice said "No, no it's Red China!" I began to argue and wrestle with that until near exhaustion. I thought Red Russia was the most outstanding enemy to freedom in the world, but this inner voice said the Soviet Union will fall before the end of the century and Red China will endure in crimes against humanity well into the new century! This inner voice that is inside of each and every one of us but is drowned out by the roar of our minds! The song contained a number of issues that were unbearable for me at the time. I wrote it as a prayer to God for an answer.

The lines:
"Think of all the hate there is in Red China then take a look around to Selma Alabama.
And marches alone cannot bring integration when human respect is disintegrating"
are about racial un-harmony issues.

"Hate your next door neighbor and don't forget to say grace",
simple hypocrisy but it made me feel angry.

"You're old enough to kill but not for voting"
was about the injustice of using youth in the army to defend the country but they had no say in its policies. More hypocrisy!

"You don't believe in war so what's that gun you're toting!"
Okay!

"The pounding of the drums the pride and disgrace"
were written in relationship to the powerful Kennedy assassination.

Without a time of birth Moon's exact degree can't be established, but it would have been between 5 and 19 degrees of Aquarius and quite probably forming a harmonious trine aspect to Aquarius's ruler, Uranus in Gemini. Both Aquarius and Uranus connect to social conscience, radicalism, rebellion and futuristic thinking. I'd guess that the Moon's position had a lot - in fact everything - to do with the subject matter of P.F. Sloan's hit song. Lyrics are shown at end of this post. Mr Sloan's natal chart also reveals Sun and Mercury in Virgo (ruled by Mercury the writer's planet); Jupiter and Neptune tightly conjoined in Libra (sign ruled by Venus planet of the arts), indicating expansive creativity, imagination, and perhaps a feel for philosophy (Jupiter in Libra).



P.F. Sloan's 2006 album Sailover contains the song with re-worked lyrics, according to this THIS USA Today article, which also mentions that Sloan spent most of the past three decades battling mental and physical illnesses. Barry McGuire, now a Born Again Christian, has also recorded some up-to-date lyrics, not sure whether these are different from those on Sailover. See them at THIS website.


We were not, as it turned out, on "the eve of destruction" in 1965, and we're not now. Even so, it's very useful to have these lyrics repeated, "again, and again, and again, my friend"......because if we don't get our act together quick-sharp, we could well find ourselves on that dreaded brink - unexpectedly.

Sticking with P.F. Sloan's original lyrics and the Billboard No 1 hit version by Barry McGuire:

Further information available on both the songwriter and the song at Wikipedia.

The Eastern world, it is explodin',
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'.
You're old enough to kill, but not for votin',
You don't believe in war -- but what's that gun you're totin'?
An' even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'.
But you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say,
An' can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away,
There'll be no one to save, will the world in a grave.
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy.
An' you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin',
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'.
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
Handful of senators don't pass legislation,
An' marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin',
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'.
An' you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Think of all the hate there is in Red China,
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama.
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space,
But when you return it's the same ol' place,
The poundin' of the drums, the pride an' disgrace.
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace.
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace,
An' tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction,
No, no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Blogging ~ Surprise "Hits"

Blogging, especially astrology blogging, can be, to use an expression beloved by British soccer fans, "a funny old game". Some posts, often those I've especially enjoyed researching, writing - and even reading and re-reading (narcissist!) cause little interest, while a few I've written with some reservation, thinking "Hmmm - nobody'll want to read THIS!" have proven to be constant "hit-getters" over a long period.

The four posts linked below, some posted as long ago as October 2008, still garner views, occasionally gluts of views, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the person or topic featured may be in the news, or linked to someone in the news; or perhaps there have been links to an archived post on forum message boards, not necessarily astrology forums, resulting in a spike in the statistics.

Linda Lovelace - A Star Is Porn

Are We Human or Are We Dancer?

A Libran Exception - Irma Grese

Black Moon Lilith

A post this week racked up more hits than I've ever seen before:
Monday's post with just a simple mention of Adam Lambert brought lots of visitors from a Fan Forum. Evidence of Adam's burgeoning popularity, and on that score, if little else, I can now say "Told ya so!"
(Other Adam Lambert posts can be accessed by clicking on his name in the Label Cloud in the sidebar).

The posts which spark most interest do not do so, in the main, due to their astrological content. Astrology is still a fringe interest, even though its popularity has increased over decades since the 1960s. I always hope that readers landing, via a link, without any interest in astrology might notice its relevance and leave with the thought at the back of their mind - "well, perhaps astrology isn't as far fatched as I'd thought". This may be a forlorn hope on my part, but it's partly what keeps me inspired enough to spend time blogging.

Arty Farty Film Makers ~ Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa.

"If I said Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, what would first come to mind?" I asked my husband.

His response, "Art films".

"Good! I thought you might say foreign films. Arty Farty film makers this Friday then!"


Definition of an art film: a cinematic film intended to be an artistic work rather than a commercial film having mass appeal. I'm as far from an expert on art films as you can get. I'll wander art galleries filled with abstract, surrealist and modern art in general, and enjoy the experience, but sit me down with an art film and I'll be restless and complaining about pretention, elitism and experiencing boredom within the first 20 minutes. I can still investigate the astrology of three of the biggest names in the art film genre though. Their natal charts are shown together below, for easier comparison.

The three guys I named were all foreign to the USA, and the UK, as it happens.
Art films were the speciality of foreign directors back in the 1950s and 60s. Not many of these filtered through to the town where I grew up. Censorship prevented wide circulation of the movies in the UK, early on. In the USA anything vaguely "furrin" was encountered with paranoia, suspicions that it may reek of, and spread, communism or at least "pinko" sentiments. I do recall seeing a French movie La Ronde in my early teens, before I was supposed to be allowed in to an "X" rated film. I'm not sure whether this could be classed as an art film or not -but I wasn't impressed either way.

So then: Bergman, Fellini and Kurosawa. In alphabetical order, with minimal biographical notes, and links to further bio and filmography. I shall try to spot any differences in style or focus before looking at the natal charts.

Ingmar Bergman, born in Sweden, son of a strict Lutheran minister. His movies deal with relationships, psychological conflict, pain, death, spirituality. He uses facial close-ups a lot. For Bergman, focus on face, or hand allows the camera to reveal the inner aspects of human emotion. In his autobiography, Bergman claimed that he was always trying to generate his mother's face .

"No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul." Ingmar Bergman

Link to Bergman at Internet Movie Database





Federico Fellini born in Rimini, Italy. His movies center on his life experiences, the women who both attracted and frightened him, and on an Italy dominated in his youth by Mussolini and Pope Pius XII. Fellini started recording his ideas and dreams in notebooks in the 1960s. Life and dreams were raw material for his films. From my limited experience in this genre I'd say that Fellini's movies are lighter and brighter than Bergman's - more whacky too, more outlandishly artistic than sensitively so.

"Everyone lives in his own fantasy world, but most people don't understand that. No one perceives the real world. Each person simply call his private, personal fantasies the Truth. The difference is that I know I live in a fantasy world. I prefer it that way and resent anything that disturbs my vision." (Fellini in I, Fellini, ed. by Charlotte Chandler, 1995)

Fellini at IMDb





Akira Kurosawa was born in Tokyo, seventh child of a strict soldier-father. His early loves were oil painting and literature, including the Western writing, influential in Japan. These interests became important throughout his film career. The painter's eye is obvious in his films, especially in the sumptuous later ones. Kurosawa adapted film plots from Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and detective writer Ed McBain. He stumbled into the movie business as a young assistant director and scenario writer, directing his first film at age 33. Kurosawa's style would fit somewhere between Bergman's seriously depressing introversion, and Fellini's eccentric and colorful visions. Hauntingly beautiful presentation, rather than introversion, shock value or eccentricity is his focus.

"People today have forgotten they're really just a part of nature. Yet, they destroy the nature on which our lives depend. They always think they can make something better. Especially scientists. They may be smart, but most don't understand the heart of nature. They only invent things that, in the end, make people unhappy. Yet they're so proud of their inventions. What's worse, most people are, too. They view them as if they were miracles. They worship them. They don't know it, but they're losing nature. They don't see that they're going to perish. The most important things for human beings are clean air and clean water."— Akira Kurosawa

Kurosawa at IMDb



Natal charts with data from Astrodatabank follow, click on them to enlarge. What ought to stand out is an emphasis on Neptune, said to rule photography and film. Also a strong arty Venus, possibly eccentric Uranus in Fellini's case. Let's see:

BERGMAN: If time of birth is accurate, Neptune conjunct Mercury and Saturn lies at midheaven - one of the strongest points in a natal chart. Venus sextiles this cluster from Gemini. Moon in Libra, sign ruled by Venus also sextiles Neptune.



FELLINI: Neptune conjunct Jupiter in Leo = planet of film & creativity blended with planet of exaggeration and publication! Venus (art) in Sagittarius lay in harmonious trine to these planets. Sun and Uranus form a semi-sextile at 29 degrees of Capricorn and Aquarius, blending the business sense of Capricorn with the eccentricity of Uranus.



KUROSAWA: If 12 noon time of birth is correct (I guess someobody has to be born at noon) Neptune lay very close to the ascendant degree - the strongest point in the natal chart. Other than that, there's not as much of significance here as in the other 2 charts. A T-square links an opposition from Neptune to Uranus with squares to Saturn = film/creativity, avant garde and work or business connected in a challenging way. This could reflect difficulties encountered in his homeland, where he was not originally as well appreciated as he is in the West. His experimental (Uranus) work may have been before its time for Japan.

INTEGRITY and the Planets

A couple of linked articles earlier this week attracted my attention. Both by Russell Bishop:
Is there any integrity or honesty out there?
And Could impeccability be the missing key to integrity?

Wikipedia defines integrity, when applied to human character:

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy.

How is integrity, personality-wise, indicated astrologically?

In his Encyclopaedia of Psychological Astrology, C.E.O. Carter didn't list integrity or impeccability. His book advises "for honesty see dishonesty". Not an optimistic start! I tried "truthfulness" - yes that's there ! After all one can't exhibit integrity, impeccability or honesty without truthfulness.

TRUTHFULNESS

The regard for truth as an instinct and an ideal is Aquarian and to a certain extent Scorpionic and Uranian, in that both Scorpio and Uranus try to get to the bottom of things and have a contempt for shams. In this latter respect one can associate Aries with them. From these characteristics arise the uncompromising candour and freedom from conventional restraint that are found in Uranus and Aquarius. Libra and Sagittarius are normally truthful, except that the latter easily exaggerates, as does Aries. Saturn in a good position always tends to truth and keeps the native down to hard fact......For deliberate unthruthfulness see Deception. (Not today thank you, we'll stay positive and.... enough copy typing for now!)

Among the comments following one of the linked articles was one that made me ponder. The commenter asked, if one came to a mandatory four way stop in the middle of wheat fields in Kansas and could see for miles in all directions would one nonetheless stop, or just blast through? The commenter asked why would it be right stop. Not to be angelic, he/she thought, but because of good habits. If one ignored the stop sign once, they'd do it again and some day that bad habit's gonna get them killed - the commenter's conclusion.

Interesting thoughts, and the described circumstance has happened to us on more than one occasion, in Kansas and elsewhere. My husband always stops. Always. (Aries Sun, Saturn conjunct Mercury in Pisces), the most law-abiding citizen I've met anywhere. I don't drive, but if I did I probably wouldn't stop in those given circumstances - I'd slow down to a crawl though. But although this is an interesting concept it really isn't a test of integrity - standing alone. It's simply a test of obeying the law. As it happens, my husband does have integrity too, I hasten to add.

What I think the commenter had in mind in the Kansas crossroads example was the idea of "doing the right thing even when nobody's looking" - one proof of having integrity.... and nobody knows this for sure but you!

Here's the thing though - having one's name on a Goody-Two-Shoes list should not automatically imply that "this is a person of integrity". Joseph Wambaugh, American author of several best-sellers, a former police officer has said,"As a cop, I dealt with every kind of bum and criminal. They all have more integrity than some Hollywood people." (I bet he'd willingly add to that "and politicians").

Personally, I doubt that astrology can accurately pinpoint the existence of integrity, or hypocrisy, in someone's character from their natal chart. Integrity is more likely to be something learned from teachers, parents - or experience. The potential for one or other could show astrologically - but I wouldn't rely upon it. Anyone can behave with integrity when it's relatively easy - it's when someone else offers to buy it out that the crunch comes......and

The possession of unlimited power will make a despot of almost any man. There is a possible Nero in the gentlest human creature that walks.Thomas Bailey Aldrich

A glaring example from yesterday's news of how integrity is a hard-to-come-by commodity: "Most of the oil "spilled" in the Gulf of Mexico is gone". Please. Do they think we are completely clueless? Best comment I've seen on the matter - a quote from Jaws:

"I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means 'friendship.'"--Mayor Larry Vaughn, Jaws.

I read the news today - Oh Boy!

Wednesday Women ~ Oklahoma's Gubernatorial Gals & their chances in November.

For once Oklahoma politics can spawn a headline rather more inspiring than Senator James Inhofe's "Global Warming is a Hoax", or Senator Tom Coburn's constant negativity.

Oklahoma's governor race: Cracks in the glass ceiling

In November's election for Oklahoma's Governor we have two women facing off. Last week's primaries threw up a November contest between Democrat and current Lieutenant Governer Jari Askins (on right in photograph), and Republican congresswoman (and previous Lieutenant Governor) Mary Fallin. The Governor's seat is being vacated by Democrat Brad Henry.

I ought to clarify this much: Democrats in Oklahoma, and some neighbouring states, are not yer progressive left-leaning "power to the people" types. As far as I can tell, the Oklahoma variety lean slightly, very slightly mind you, to the left of Margaret Thatcher. Conservative in all but name. Still, anything has to be better than this area's staunchly ultra-right-wing Republicans who lean slightly to the right of Attila the Hun. Mary Fallin, Republican candidate is, by the way, endorsed by Sarah Palin.

Fnyeh!

I should feel pleased, I guess, that two women have shattered that mythical glass ceiling in this, one of the most backward states of the Union. I'd feel a whole lot more pleased though if a candidate of either gender with real red-blooded populist policies had come forward and fired up the masses. Ain't gonna happen. Not in this decade.

I took a look at the two ladies' natal charts, wondering whether there'd be a clue as to November's winner. Current polling indications seem to point to Mary Fallin leading. However, Jari Askins has been a dark horse in the past, and come in from behind to win the day. One reporter describes this as "a little Jari Askins magic"


Jari Askins born 27 April 1953 in Duncan Oklahoma.
Mary Fallin born 9 December 1954 in Warrensburg, Missouri.

I'm not looking here to interpret the personalities of the two women from their natal charts, I'm looking for any planetary tranists on the day of the election, 2 November 2010, which might touch their charts. All timings are for 12 noon, so Moon positions will not be reliable. In both charts shown below the outer rings contain planetary positions for 2 November 2010, the inner circles contain each lady's natal planetary positions.

First Ms Askins', second Ms Fallin's:




Most significant is the fact that transiting Saturn at 11 Libra is opposing Ms Askins' Mercury/Venus in Aries. I'd interpret that as a challenge (which the election is anyway) but also a limiting factor. The Sun is opposite her natal Taurus Sun - though that's not too important. Transiting Mars at 3 Sagittarius is opposing her late Taurus Jupiter/Mars conjunction, another indication of tough challenge. It'll be a hard, hard fight. She'll need some of that "Jari Askins magic" to pull off a win.

Not looking like an easy ride for Ms Askins, but she's obviously an experienced fighter, so I wouldn't count her out. One brighter indication for Ms Askins is that in the chart for the date Oklahoma achieved statehood 16 November 1907 (its "birthday" - chart at end of post) Moon was in Aries, and quite likely conjunct, or very close to, Ms Askins' Mars/Venus. In mundane astrology the Moon is thought to represent the people - so....here the people are more in tune with Ms Askins, symbolically speaking.

Ms Fallin has transiting Saturn in helpful sextile to her natal Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius. Transiting Mars at 3 Sagittarius is in a tight challenging square aspect to natal Mars in Pisces, and just 5 degrees away from natal Mercury. More evidence of an aggressive race.

The Sun in Scorpio "atmosphere" of election day looks to me to be rather more compatible with Ms Fallin's chart in general. I suspect she'll be feeling the more comfortable of the two women - but this doesn't necessarily indicate a win.

Any passing readers are more than welcome to chip in with their thoughts of a possible outcome of this November election for Oklahoma Governor.

Astonishing Correlations: Facebook vs. World War I

GUEST POST by Gian Paul

Facebook, launched on Feb. 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends at Harvard, just celebrated it's 500 millionth adherent. Revenues for Facebook should surpass $1.1 billion this year and Apple/Microsoft and others may soon get into mega-battles to gobble it up before it get's too expensive to do so.



On May 20, this year, Facebook carried to all it's subscribers and fans Draw Mohammed Day. Success was mitigated, I think. Business-wise at least. Pakistan took Facebook off the free net and subsequently introduced a "censured" version. So did other countries.

Over half of Facebook adherents are non - American, 70% at the last tally. Free speech is what the Draw Mohammed Day was propagating, so it must sound like a threat to many Muslim regimes. Iran obviously and others, more moderate, also non-Muslim (China).



World War I started on 28 of June 1914 in Sarajevo by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. That horrible war, 5 years later, put an end to the Ottoman Empire, the biggest ever existing Muslim "world power".













Once before I'd been intrigued by the date of the start of World War I. And had predicted (posted in Astrologymundo some 6 weeks before) that some type of war action was imminent in Kashmir, which had gained it's - subsequently lost - "independence" on Aug. 15, 1947, jointly with India/Pakistan. The Mumbai attacks on Nov. 26, 2008 occurred when Pluto was opposite his own position of the Sarajevo assassination and
Neptune had gone direct to cross in opposition the place where the Sun was when Kashmere/Pakistan/India gained their independence from England.

In retrospect I think it was more intuition than science which had guided me. But it's again back in my mind, try to explain?!

Back to Facebook and Drawing Mohammed Day:

The day Facebook was launched, Feb. 4, 2004, there were astrologically speaking very strong aspects (by "heavy" planets and far beyond statistical probability) on the "Sarajevo Assassination" map: Saturn conjunct Sun; Uranus in opposition Mars (less than 1 degr. divergence); Neptune conjunct Uranus (1 degree divergence) and foremost Pluto opposition Saturn, exact, 1.5 minutes divergence only!

On May 20, when Facebook carried the Draw Mohammed Contest around the world, irritating many Muslims, obviously, the Sarajevo map received the following major transits, again far bejond any statistical probability:

Mars opposes Jupiter (1 degree divergence) - Uranus squares Pluto ( 1 degree divergence) and really ominous, Pluto opposes Sun at also less than 1 degree.

This is EXPLOSIVE STUFF. And Facebook (or who is behind and manipulating) knows it. Here are merely shown the astrological facts and evidence that should be a warning to thread this path of "helping the freedom of the press" a bit more lightly.

In my opinion there is no point in provoking against the innate (automatic) beliefs and instincts of many Muslims (the simply devout and the fanatics). The risk being of turning the simple and sincere ones all into fanatics as well.

Facebook is not without it's adversaries in the liberal world, mostly because of privacy concerns. Imagine what that can represent in "lesser developed" societies! But privacy is one subject, frontally attacking another's idol (Mohammed in this case), is another.

The Aquarian Age, supposedly promising "brotherhood, peace and understanding" to the many may have to face some moral issues of mutual tolerance which really, one might have thought, belong to the Dark Ages.