Arty Farty Friday ~ Venus With Her Clothes On

Before we move on from astrological Venus-ruled Taurus to Mercury-ruled Gemini, I fancied a look at some depictions of mythical Venus. Most people are very familiar with the armless Venus de Milo sculpture, and Botticelli's famous painting (right) of her "Birth", naked of course. In most famous paintings she's depicted "in the raw", the artists were probably celebrating the beauty of the classic female form. The same classic female form these days, in the USA, would amazingly be categorised as
"Plus-size". A clothes-horse, as required by today's fashion houses, has to be just one or two degrees away from anorexic.

I decided to try to find some depictions of Venus clothed.

By the by, images of Venus sometimes show her holding a golden apple in one hand. Venus won the golden apple from Paris, the story is HERE.

Please click on an image to see a larger version.

Venus et Un Marin - Venus and a Sailor by Salvador Dali (1925) (homage to Salvat-Papasseit, Catalan poet). There are three Dali paintings with this title - I like this one the best, others can be seen by typing the title into Google Image search box.

Venus and Sailor (Homage to Salvat-Papasseit), 1925, is dedicated to the poet who died in 1924.
This is the Papasseit who, in his first book, made perfectly clear the fascination he felt for Marinetti, the Italian futurists and, even more so, for Apollinaire (two other poets). (See HERE.)
Marin - sailor - is, perhaps, a reference to Marinetti; but why Apollo would translate to Venus I cannot fathom. But then...Dali was a law unto himself!



La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli

La Primavera (or the Allegory of Spring) is full of allegorical meanings, whose interpretation is difficult and still uncertain. Among the many theories proposed over the last decades, the one that seems to be the most corroborated is the interpretation of the painting as the realm of Venus, sung by the ancient poets and by Poliziano (famous scholar at the court of the Medici). On the right Zephyrus (the blue faced young man) chases Flora and fecundates her with a breath. Flora turns into Spring, the elegant woman scattering her flowers over the world. Venus, in the middle, represents the “Humanitas” (the benevolence), which protects men. On the left the three Graces dance and Mercury dissipates the clouds. (See HERE)



Schifanoia Triumph of Venus

The Triumph of Venus (1467-70) is also April from the Hall of the Months, by Francesco del Cossa, and is in the Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, Explanation HERE



Venus and Anchises by Sir William Blake Richmond (1842 - 1921)

The meeting at night, of Venus and her earthly lover, the Trojan shepherd Anchises, on Mount Ida. Venus, clothed in glowing pink and gold walks towards Anchises, who awaits her holding a lyre. Anchises, clad in a red shirt, appears to cower in the shadow of a tree. The usual penalty for mortals such as he for looking at a god or goddess was to be turned into stone.

The picture is not a simple illustration of a mythical event, but demonstrates the transforming power of love. Night has turned into day. In the bottom right of the picture there are the dead leaves of autumn, but wherever Venus walks she becomes surrounded by spring flowers and apple blossom. She is accompanied by lions and a flight of doves which disperse a group of sparrows. Although the event depicted is rooted in ancient Greek mythology, Richmond chooses to show the dramatic awakening of a northern landscape in an English spring. The offspring of the union between Venus and Anchises was Aeneas, the legendary ancestor of the Romans.
(See HERE)



Astarte Syriaca, originally entitled Venus Astarte (1875-7), by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Rossetti composed the painting on a six- foot canvas, so that it was long enough for a full-length portrait. The model was Jane Morris, muse of several of the Pre-Raphaelites, and wife of William Morris (my post on Wm. Morris is here).

The painting drew criticism when it was displayed, due to its erotic content. Victorian audiences were shocked by its overt sensuality. Venus' hands are positioned to draw attention to her fertility (use your imagination!), and are identical to the hand position of Botticelli's Venus. Furthermore, as Rossetti's poem (see link) indicates, her girdle also highlights her voluptuousness ("her twofold girdle clasps the infinite boon of bliss whereof the heaven and earth commune"). The girdle also functions in much the same way as the hair of Venus in Botticelli's version, but is a bit more subtle. (See HERE)
See also here.



The Mirror of Venus by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

"The scene is purely imaginary, and shows Venus and her maidens gazing at their reflections in a pool of water. The landscape is arid and rocky; these strangely lunar landscapes were to become a recurring feature of his art, widely imitated by his followers. The mood and the colour are Pre-Raphaelite, but the conscious sweetness and elegance of the figures recall the Italian Renaissance, and, in particular, Botticelli, an artist greatly admired by Burne-Jones, and later to become a cult among fashionable aesthetes. The conception is purely aesthetic — a ring of beautiful girls in lovely draperies, with a minimum of narrative of historical content. The draperies are pseudo-classical, and the title is Venus, but the picture could equally have been given a vague allegorical title. Through the faces of the girls and their wistful expressions Burne-Jones conveys that feeling of intense sadness and nostalgia for the past that pervades so many late Pre-Raphaelite pictures"
(See HERE)


Laus Veneris by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

Swinburne's poem Laus Veneris and Edward Burne-Jones's subsequent painting of the same title were created within 4 years of each other, the poem in 1866 and the painting between 1873 and 1878.

Swinburne's Laus Veneris = "the praise of Venus or love," is based on the theme of Tannhauser. In the legend, the young knight Tannhauser falls in love with Venus and lives with her in her subterranean home until he becomes filled with remorse. He escapes her snares and travels to Rome to ask Pope Urban if he could be absolved of his sins.
More HERE


I like this modern depiction of Venus:

Venus in silver on sale HERE

Turkish Mine Explosion

RIP

In April of 2010 a mining disaster occurred in West Virginia, at that time I posted a poem by Bill Richards dedicated to coal miners of Wales, UK, but the words will apply to miners everywhere. The poem is posted today with thoughts of the many miners killed and injured, and of bereaved families in this week's terrible mine explosion in Turkey. It's horrendous that such events can still happen in 2010 and 2014, in spite of improved conditions and new technology. So much depends on the integrity of mine owners,  and whether they fully uphold safety regulations. The poem came from a website here.

Without Choice

Child miners who worked and sometimes died in total darkness,
many never reaching their teenage years;

Small undernourished boys, some born with defects of the eyes,
limbs or spine, plucked from school at an early age, seeing
daylight on Sundays only;

Victims of major disasters by explosions and other causes, when
hundreds died at a stroke; often there were several deaths in the
same household;

The lone deaths that went almost unremarked, each no less a
disaster for the family, sometimes one left without a breadwinner;

Gaunt, hollow-eyed, spent men, inhabiting fragile, blue-scarred
shells of bodies, destined to die at an early age;

Survivors who lost limbs or faculties, or suffered disfigurement;

Those whose ordeals were prolonged in later years as bed or
chair-bound invalids gasping for breath, their life threads
maintained by boxes of tablets and oxygen cylinders;

Surface workers who lost life and limb as they worked in dusty
screens or unsheltered areas, often in excesses of rain, cold and
snow;

Those who lived to attain much anticipated retirement, yet only
briefly experienced it;

Wonderful ' Mams' who selflessly went without, giving priority to
the needs of children and husbands. In harsh environments many
aged before their time and prematurely slipped away;

Often their mantles would be assumed by teenaged daughters
who became women overnight, caring for fathers and becoming
mothers to siblings, sometimes at the cost of personal
happiness;

Unsuspecting, innocent babes and guardians, the most cruelly
punished of all, dying in the ' safety ' of schoolrooms.

THEIR SUFFERANCE WAS THE TRUE PRICE OF COAL, PAID
FOR IN THE CURRENCY OF LIVES.

Even today, the effects of some of these once common
occurrences are ongoing. In a world of comparative plenty and
justice, they apply proper perspectives and priorities to complaints
about current everyday life.

LEST WE FORGET.
by Bill Richards.
Cambrian Colliery, Rhondda.
(Thank you, once again, Mr. Richards.)

Ruling Principles

Why does planet Venus rule zodiac sign Taurus - and for that matter why does it rule Libra also? I asked myself this question, have asked similar ones many times before, worrying that the allocation of ancient gods to zodiac signs might have originally been a quite arbitrary exercise :-

Ancient astrologer to his apprentice: "Verily verily... The Sun must be ruler of the times when he's at his strongest, (Leo)...our other strong light, Moon must stay by his side(Cancer). So...what've we got left?
Apprentice: Erm...Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, sir.

Ancient astrologer: Oh, let's put 'em in order of their daily motion as we see it, two signs each, outward from Sun and Moon. Fastest mover Mercury must have governorship of signs nearest Sun's and Moon's, so he rules Gemini and Virgo. Next fastest mover, Venus must rule Taurus and Libra. Mars will govern Aries and Scorpio. Slowing down now....Jupiter will rule Sagittarius and Pisces. Now for the coldest and darkest months of the year, Saturn's slow motion leaves it to govern what remains: Aquarius and Capricorn. That'll all fit rather well!"

Ancient astrologers, who were also astronomers in those days, largely ignored an even more ancient allocation of certain gods to a zodiac circle of 12 moths, one month apiece.

There's more erudite and detailed information at Skyscript's article by Deborah Houlding, The Philosophy of Sign Rulership.

The best online article on this topic, best by far in my opinion, is from the late 1990s by Ken Gillman: Twelve Gods and Seven Planets. It's a long, but very good read.

SNIP

THE ALLOCATION of the Signs to the planets appears to have been an exercise in planetary symmetry, without regard for the corresponding natures of the planets or the Signs.

Readers may respond by saying: "OK, so perhaps the initial allocation of planet to Sign did not reflect life experience, but astrologers have been using the scheme for 2,000-years or so, and in the process have made it work."

Have they? Does this rulership scheme really work? Sign rulerships are an essential part of Horary astrology, for instance. Is this branch of astrology as effective as its practitioners claim? We hear of their successes, many of which are often due to planets in the Horary chart being close to angles or to the Moon's next aspects and so not requiring use of the ring-a-rosy rulership system of querent, dispositor, etc. But what of the many failures?

Nearly fifty years ago, a Mr. Ionides, the author of "One Day Telleth Another" (I don't have the author's first name or the book's publisher), suggested the 12-fold division of the ecliptic "was not natural at all, but had been imposed upon Nature by man's belief in them and have so acquired a certain validity." Discussing this, Charles E. O. Carter, an astrologer for whom I continue to have the utmost respect, commented:

In other words, let man believe a thing long enough and strongly enough and Nature, so to speak, accepts it from him. Thought, being essentially and always positive, can work upon the passive anima mundi and mould this to its will.

 If this notion has any basis in fact, then its practical (as well as theoretical) importance would be considerable. We should certainly, in that case, do well to foster in ourselves the highest possible conceptions of the planets....

We should have to distinguish, in the case of such a planet as Neptune, a natural quality and an impressed quality. The former might cover such Neptunian tendencies as poetic inspiration, interest in the occult, and the propensity to states of confusion and involvement, confinement and retirement, none of which appears to have any connection with the mythological Neptune, while the latter would include all relationships with the sea, which would be invested with validity because astrologers, learning that the planet was to be called Neptune, immediately combined to think of it in terms of that god.

The proof would be, what did Neptune Signify in the horoscopes of those who lived before it was discovered? Did only the 'natural' meaning appear, or did what I call the 'impressed' Significance also manifest itself? Because, according to the hypothesis I have, very tentatively, put forward, the latter Significance could not be there.

I know that Neptune was in transit upon King James's ascendant at the time of the Gunpowder Plot, exhibiting the 'treachery aspect' of Neptune, which is not, I think, at all mythological.

Uranus does not convey any distinct mythological conception to the average man, and perhaps that has allowed us to preserve in more or less pure form its natural qualities. But Pluto does most certainly mean something even to those whose studies in mythology have been strictly limited and it is true that most of us are, so to speak, hard at work trying to make him into a planet of death and darkness.

If man's belief makes something so, then surely it will be the belief of the majority of humankind that does. Believers in astrology have been relatively few since the days when a much larger proportion of the world's population believed, and had done so for hundreds of years, in the existence and natures of the Twelve Gods.

The proposal mentioned in that snip, made by C.E.O. Carter, still comes up from time to time in articles attempting to explain why astrology works. I've never quite been able to accept the theory myself, but thinking on it now, I'm wondering if it is actually a form of two-way brainwashing. We are told something is so. We test it, find that sometimes it is so. We start to believe it. We tell others about it. As word spreads, sometimes picking up all kinds of moss and fluff in the process, are we in the process actually forcing certain outcomes through sheer belief? I'm still not convinced that's possible to do, not with regard to astrology's basic principles anyway - perhaps it would work in regard to some of the additional bells and whistles added to the astrological basics at different stages by various schools of thought.

Speaking of other schools of thought relating to zodiac signs and planetary rulership, some believe there are links to Kabballah/Jewish mysticism, and/or to Biblical stories such as that about the 12 sons of Jacob. Indian astrologers have different methods and definitions of signs and rulers, coinciding somewhat, only broadly, with Western astrology. So there are really no hard and fast rules. If it works for you, it works, I guess.

My own miniscule of thought proposes that astrology isn't really about planets themselves at all, they serve only as markers on various sized waves of time/space/atmospheric changes which roll around the universe at different rates. Our zodiac signs are like months on a circular calendar or figures on the face of a watch, helping us to keep track of our human time-lines which will interact with these universal, maybe even inter-universal, rolling waves. At the moment we are born and take our first breath of the atmospheric wave then in session, our personal blueprint begins to form, eventually taking in considerations of distance from, and/or angles to, the rest of the rolling universal waves. There ya go - all sorted!

The Other Royalty

Conchita Wurst's Eurovision win at the weekend brought to mind two very entertaining movies about drag queens: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), and the later American version of a similar story, the oddly titled To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar(1995). Both films follow a group of drag queens, their disasters and triumphs, on cross country trips, in Australia and USA respectively. Great fun! La Cage Au Folles came along in the 1970s, on stage and in film, with a less mobile drag queen theme.

There are some interesting tidbits on the subject of drag generally at Wikipedia HERE.

In the UK we were quite used to being entertained on TV by artists in drag, not necessarily musically. Irish entertainer the late Danny La Rue OBE was a household name, and Paul O'Grady's Lily Savage with that inborn humour of Liverpool, was a regular on TV. He's now an engaging radio presenter, un-dragged. Australian Barry Humphries AO CBE with Dame Edna Everage was a well-known face on British TV and is known in the USA too, I think.

 Danny La Rue

Lily Savage (Paul O'Grady)

 Dame Edna (Barry Humphries)

I doubt that I've ever knowingly met a drag queen in person, though there was a brief period of my life in the early 1960s, when I might have done so unknowingly. Soon after my first marriage I took a job as cashier in a coffee bar/restaurant called "The Mogambo", in the centre of Manchester. It's long gone. I worked the day shift along with a few waiters, a barman and chef, we were a pretty ordinary lot, apart from one charismatic Irish lad who absconded with the week's takings and was never seen again. It was the customers who brought in the fascinating multi-cultural atmosphere. We daily served people of several nationalities, occupations and orientations who all seemed to find a comfortable spot in which to feel at home at The Mogambo. In particular, in the afternoons, a group of trans-gender young men were regular customers. They were super nice people, all of them. They'd occasionally ask my opinion on their outfits or makeup. I did my best to advise, but mostly their tastes and my own were far apart. In the attempt to emphasise femininity they felt the need to exaggerate everything: frills, nets, multi-colours, sequins, eyelashes, etc. I loved the way they unfailingly supported one another, always.

Out of curiosity, I entered Mogambo, Manchester into Google search and found a couple of references, one where commenters had mistaken the address, the other had it right:

"Does anyone remember the Mogambo? It was a weird restaurant cum cafe bar on Mosley Street; you hung out, smoked a weird woodbine or two and got invited to some great parties..."

(Blogger chuckles and exits left).

For the Nurses

Today is International Nurses Day - I know only because Wikipedia told me. The day ought to be better celebrated, nurses ought to be better thanked for their service regularly. The military are routinely thanked, ad nauseam, by all and sundry, why not nurses?



From Wikipedia:

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has celebrated this day since 1965. In 1953 Dorothy Sutherland, an official with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, proposed that President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaim a "Nurses' Day"; he did not approve it. In January 1974, 12 May was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who is widely considered the founder of modern nursing. ....................Each year a service is held in Westminster Abbey in London. During the Service, a symbolic lamp is taken from the Nurses' Chapel in the Abbey and handed from one nurse to another, thence to the Dean, who places it on the High Altar. This signifies the passing of knowledge from one nurse to another. At St Margaret's Church at East Wellow in Hampshire, where Florence Nightingale is buried, a service is also held on the Sunday after her birthday

As it's Music Monday I've sorted out a couple of songs for the guys and gals who take care of us when we're sick: Fix You by Coldplay, and Handle With Care by The Traveling Wilburys:

A Good Message from Austria at Eurovision

Tonight in Britain and Europe an annual event, The Eurovision Song Contest, reached its finale. It's an annual TV viewing marathon which draws yawns, sighs and sarcasm from the more "hip" community across the pond, but there's lots of opportunity for fun. I used to watch the Eurovision sometimes, it seemed to me to be one of those yearly markers that made one feel comfortable that all was right with the world and things were proceeding as they should.

I followed the last few minutes of this year's fling on Twitter, and was happy to note that Austria's drag queen Conchita Wurst won the night with Rise Like a Phoenix. Love it! Good and many-sided message there too. Conchita is Scorpio Sun by the way, born 6 Novemebr 1988.

I think Britain came 17th out of 26 and France brought up the rear.

This video of the song is from the second semi-final:

A Different Kind of Bean Counting & Related Unpleasantnesses

I knew there'd be another one along in short order! In ancient Rome, three alternate days of this month were known as Lemuralia (or Lemuria)-
9, 11 and 13 May. These days were dedicated to appeasing evil spirits of slain enemies, any malignant wandering spirits as well as those with no living relatives to ritually honour them. The fear was that such spirits, left unappeased, might possess (haunt, I guess), properties of the living - a kind of exorcism in advance.

During this season the temples of the gods were closed, and it was thought unlucky for women to marry on these dates, and in fact during the whole month of May; those who dared to marry were believed to die soon after.

Roman poet Ovid held that the name Lemuralia/Lemuria derived from Remuria and was established by Romulus, Rome's founder, to appease the spirit of the twin brother, Remus, he had murdered.

Traditionally what happened was this: the head of each household, at midnight, would rise from rest, wash his hands three times, then go barefooted around the house throwing black beans behind him, reciting nine times: “Haec ego mitto; his redimo meque meosque fabis” meaning “I send these; with these beans I redeem me and mine”. (In Japan there is a similar bean-throwing tradition during the Shinto lunar new year, Setsubun.) By the by, it appears that beans themselves, black or otherwise, hold certain mysteries, as outlined at the blog of Ayamanatara:
SNIPS-

Black beans: The number of traditions that consider some form of legume to be sacred, cleansing, or good luck is rather astounding. In Hoodoo, you eat black eyes peas on New Year’s Day to bring good luck; red beans are carried for good luck. Eating black eyed peas for good luck at Rosh Hashana, Jewish New Year, is recorded as far back as the Babylonian Talmud. In Italy, Catholics eat fava beans on St Joseph’s Day, and when the fava bean is dried, roasted and blessed, it is considered lucky; you will even find them altars in Sicily. Colorine beans are considered lucky in Mexico. Some varieties of red beans are used as psychedelics in Central and South American traditions. Legumes in general are considered a symbol of prosperity in Japan, Germany and Brazil. Bless with beans! (My own addition - carlin peas were/are traditionally eaten in North of England counties at New Year).

Repetitions of nine: Nine is three times three...Three is the first and primary number of the tangible Divine. A lot of banishments and invocations will use a repetition of nine. It’s powerful juju.
Read on, below, and find another multiple of 3 involved (paragraph after next: - 30 men over 60.)

With the coming of Christianity those Roman bean-throwing traditions at least were modified. The practice of purifying the house of souls with beans was transformed into ossa dei morti, cookies (sometimes called fave dolci) made with almond paste, shaped to look like finger bones - which seem to me to be far more gruesome than throwing a few black beans!

The Vestal Virgins had to be in on Lemuralia too. They prepared sacred mola salsa (salted flour) from the first of the season's wheat, sprinkled it on the altar, on animal victims prior to their sacrifice, and in the sacred fire throughout the year.

A second ritual, performed on the third day, May 13th, was to throw thirty Argei, which were effigies of old men made from rushes, and thought to absorb pollution within the area, into the Tiber river from the Pons Sublicius, Rome's oldest known bridge. This ritual is thought to be a later substitute for the original live human sacrifice of thirty older men (men over 60). Hmm. No wonder Romans were afraid of malignant spirits. No doubt legions of the spirits of over-60s, thrown into the Tiber in years past, couldn't wait to haunt the homes of those Romans still in the land of the living!

The sign of "le corna," - the first and fourth fingers extended, the others turned down and the thumb closed over them, - still used against the Evil Eye in Italy, and in other contexts elsewhere, was a mystic sign used by the Romans in the festival of Lemuralia.

Around 610, Pope Boniface IV designated May 13 as All Saints Day, in honor of all martyred. All Saints Day was later moved to November 1, coinciding with regional harvest festivals, and remembering spirits of the dead.

Also on 13 May in Rome, unconnected to Lemuralia, merchants would offer up incense, and sprinkle themselves and their goods with water from the well of Mercury at the Porta Capena, in hopes of making their businesses prosper; this day was the anniversary of dedication of the Temple of Mercury in the year 495B.C

Arty Farty Friday ~ Edwin Austin Abbey

Born in Philadelphia, USA on 1 April 1852, Edwin ("Ned") Austin Abbey began as a wood engraver for Harper's magazine. His drawing skills were to be quickly acknowledged. He progressed to become a prolific illustrator in pen and ink, and in water colours; later, in the 1890s, he worked in oils. He worked with Harper's in the USA for around seven years, was then sent to England to undertake research for an edition of Robert Herrick's poetry. Abbey apparently fell in love with England's historical background and literature. He returned to the USA from time to time, visiting only, to complete certain commissions, the rest of his life was spent in Europe, mainly in England. In 1888 he married Gertrude Mead, a New York socialite, daughter of a wealthy merchant. In 1898 Abbey was made a member of the crème de la crème of Britain's art world: The Royal Academy.

Abbey's illustrations of scenes from Shakespearean plays, for which he is probably best known these days, revealed his flair for, and knowledge of, costume illustration, along with innate theatrical insight leading to him choose scenes and subjects well, and to place and light them dramatically. Influence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's lush style is clear to see, endearing this artist to me on first sight of his work!

Abbey associated with several famous artists of his time, was a close friend of John Singer Sargent ( my blog post on Sargent is HERE). The two artists were commissioned to paint mural decoration for the Boston Public Library, they worked on these for some years in a large studio in England. In 1903 Abbey was invited to paint a scene from the coronation of King Edward VII - his painting now hangs in Buckingham Palace.

Edwin Austin Abbey died, aged 59, in 1911, leaving his last work incomplete - mural paintings for the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

A few examples of his paintings and drawings:

Please click on images for larger versions.

 Richard III Duke of Gloucester and the Lady Anne

 Detail from above painting

 King Lear - Cordelia's Farewell

 "Sir Galahad is now King of Sarras, and upon a hill he makes a Sacred Place and builds a Golden Tree."  From mural series, "The Quest and Achievement of The Holy Grail" (1895).

 The Penance of Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester

 

From Shakespeare's Henry VI: Part II, act 2, scene 4. Eleanor, having vainly urged her husband, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Protector, to usurp the throne of England, has committed the treasonable offense of consulting sorcerers about the length of the king's life. She has been sentenced to three days' public penance walking barefoot through the streets of London. (See here.)

 Harvest Home

 Coronation of King Edward VII

ASTROLOGY

Concentrating mainly on indications relating to his artistic talents. Although there's little information available to shed light on the artist's personality, a page on Abbey at the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame website begins:

Edwin Austin Abbey was that rare union of “fun and purpose.” He was cherished by the many organizations which called him “fellow.” Those who called him “friend” included the most renowned artists, sculptors and authors of his day. But his artwork was his purpose. He illustrated with crisp pen lines, painted with shadowy, mysterious tones and he designed decorative and architecturally sound murals. Every endeavor of his career was totally absorbing of his energy but was executed with grace and humor. Howard Pyle described his contemporary as a “chipper, jocund little fellow, with a merry twinkle of his eyes and a laugh that meant business.”

Born 1 April 1852 in Philadelphia, Penn, USA. (Chart set for 12 noon - Moon and ascendant not as shown.)

His 12* Aries Sun indicates a bright, enthusiastic personality; the planets in later Aries straddle the Aries/Taurus cusp drawing in Venus-ruled Taurus' link to the arts, with Venus itself at 23 Taurus. Jupiter at 22 Scorpio is opposing Venus, or maybe better put, Venus is balancing Jupiter. Jupiter's excesses, in the wrong artistic hands could lead to less delightful artistry than we see in Abbey's work. The innate good taste of Venus balances Jupiter's need for excess and reduces it to the lushness we perceive in his oil paintings. If a passing reader would care to follow the link above to my post on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherood , I recall that there was a Jupiter opposition in those charts too, Abbey's style does closely resemble theirs, as I've already noted.

Abbey's natal Moon could be in either late Leo or early Virgo....hands down I'd guess Leo. His gravitation to illustrating Shakespearean plays, and doing it so well indicates an inborn feel for drama = Leo. On the other hand.....Virgo Moon would represent the artist's obvious discipline and attention to detail.

The ("Red") State We're In

While I see the two-party corporate system's stranglehold on the USA as being at the root of many ills, things are as they are (for now). I've had it in mind for a while that something being overlooked, probably deliberately for dramatic effect, is that even though the populations of Oklahoma, Texas and other mid-American states labelled "the red states" are known as being conservative and Republican, in all those states there is a proportion, admittedly minor, but not that minor, who aren't registered Republican, but either Democrat or Independent. These minorities aren't anywhere near as dramatic as, say 90%/ 10% or even 80%/ 20%. From what I can discover the imbalance is more along, very roughly, 60%/40% lines. This being so, why on earth don't we hear more opposing views coming from these states? Why aren't the Republicans confronted more? Why was Oklahoma's current Governor, who makes Maggie Thatcher look positively benign by comparison (and I should know), allowed to get away with refusing the government's Medicaid contribution for her state? It has to be because the Democratic side of the duopoly here either is apathetic - don't care enough, or are too lily livered to speak up. Good grief!

As I live in Oklahoma I'll concentrate on the problems here, similar factors probably affect other "red states".

Wikipedia states that: As of January 15, 2013, there are 962,072 registered Democratic voters in Oklahoma. But, but, but Wikipedia also tells me:

The Oklahoma Democratic Party describes itself as neither liberal or conservative, but "squarely in the center of the political spectrum." The party mission statement goes on to say:

Unlike the far left, we know that less government is sometimes a better government, and that government cannot solve every difficulty faced by our society. But, unlike the far right, we understand there is a role for government to play in finding solutions to our country's problems.

The Oklahoma Democratic Party is made up of conservative, centrist and liberal members. Less than a third of registered Democratic voters in Oklahoma supported President Barack Obama in 2012, due to the larger proliferation of conservative and centrist members of the party.

Compared to other Democratic factions, Centrist members of the Oklahoma Democratic Party support the use of military force and the use of deadly force in self-defense. They are more willing to reduce government welfare. Many Oklahoma Democrats are socially conservative and support the United States pro-life movement. The Oklahoma Democratic Party tends to support moderate to conservative positions on gun control and open carry.

Oh, I see! Democrats here are really Republicans at heart. "A rose by any other name" etc. Well, that accounts for a lot! Obama lost all 77 counties in Oklahoma in the 2008 election, and many of them in 2012. Even in the most urban area of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma County, Obama took 42 percent of the vote - 42% isn't too far from half (50%), so not insignificant.

From a 2012 string of commentary under a Washington Post article I've gleaned from commenters who either live in, have lived in, or have close family ties to Oklahoma, that though there are a good number of registered Democrats in Oklahoma still, "many of them haven't voted for a Democratic president since Johnson. They just don't bother to change their party." (LoraJay)

And....

......every newspaper panders to the Repub party! Obama stickers have been clawed off my Jeep with fingernails in WalMart parking lots! Plus, with the vivisection of our educational system by the overwhelming Repub government, it's easier to keep 'em stupid and down on the farm! Most of all, and I was born and raised here, it's blatant RACISM! (geraldhwestby)

And...
.....I've gained a pretty solid background with/knowledge of this State. So it pains me to see the low level of base mentality it/its population have subsided to; as reflected in both this blind, mindless expression of hatred, combined with such easy manipulation by the hate mongers in this nation. It's truly pitiful.
I offer yet another, & far more over-riding, rationale: And this is born out in the (Washington Post's) article's reference to their disdain for the Obama Administration's tentative/delaying actions on the highly debatable merits of the proposed Keystone Pipeline project.

For, in point of fact, the will & spirit of OK - along with the lightweight Rick Perry's TX & supported to some degree by LA gov'ts - has simply been "bought out - lock, stock & barrel" by the Petroleum Industry!

This basis is further manifested in the blind refusal of virtually ALL of their elected officials - who's political campaigns are pretty much conducted on Petrol Co Credit Cards - to even consider, let alone accept, ANY element or measure of the possibility that the World Climate Change/Global Warning scientists & alert activists could be correct. These totally secular - & reactionary - positions are held by elected officials as tightly, firmly, adamantly as is the Biblical tenets of their largely fundamentalist Evangelical religious beliefs.

Thereby Logic; "Seeing is Believing"; Rational Discussion - ALL are totally useless & lost on this group: Because IF they were to deviate & admit to even a SCINTILLA of truth, to ANY aspect of climate dangers this nation/the world are now confronting, they would surely be seen as essentially UNDERMINING THE HARD LINE & POSITIONS OF THEIR SPONSORS!

Thus, in effect, OK (& this entire multi-state population) has been conditioned - in much the same way as "brain washing" was used by the North Koreans on my colleagues taken prisoner in the Korean Conflict - by these very special & "deep pocketed" interests: From Top to Bottom, in their educational, social, religious, commercial & even health institutions, the hard-held & counter-intuitive views of their long-seniority elected officials prevails over everything else.

Their towns thereby wind up with "Stepford Wives"-like citizens: Total "conformists", & not able to think (let alone ask/say) outside these very narrow "conformity" boxes. They've NO TRUE Reps, as those they constantly re-elect are only Puppets, thereby having NO real voice in gov't, beyond what their "Puppet Masters" want! (seamusboy)

Part of another comment from seamusboy-

.........Only waking up; & realizing that you & all Oklahomans are being used & manipulated for the good of people who regard you no more highly than yesterdays garbage. You are totally expendable; and they will expend as little as possible to educate & protect your health, safety & life; simply so that they can profit more, & live like royalty. OIL is their true God; and you folks aren't even considered their livestock: Cattle, Sheep, Pigs & Goats get better care, feeding & attention than do most of you! So they program you to hate & be against everything that counters their will &/or costs them another nickel of their vast wealth accumulations. ...................

Oh my! How to depress myself in one easy lesson! From my own knowledge, which is fairly scant even after almost ten years living here, I can find nothing in the above commentary with which to argue strongly. The racist accusations might apply in some areas of this state more than others. I haven't seen evidence of it in our south-western sector. We've had an African American town mayor for almost as long as I've been here - that has to say something. It's oil, money, greed, a steady diet of brainwash via bought-out media that's at the core of our state's redness nowadays, I've no argument on that whatsoever.

How could this situation ever be changed? Possibly by the awakening of the Okie masses by some major tragedy stemming from fracking/injection wells and consequent earthquakes; or severe water/food shortages and/or some kind of epidemic resulting from increasingly rapid climate change.

I've tried to see a positive side, but really and truly, for Oklahoma itself and its younger inhabitants, there isn't one. For myself, I'll probably have shuffled off the planet before the worst happens - and though that is not something to which I look forward, it's the most positive thing I can come up with.

Two American Inventors

Two facts (I have to trust they are facts) listed in Historical Events for 6 May inspired today's post:

On May 6, 1833 John Deere made the first steel plow (sources vary on the year).
On May 6, 1851 The Yale lock, invented by Linus Yale Jr was patented (sources vary on the year).

Both inventions are still in use today, I think, or at least variations on their basic forms.

I'll take a quick look at the two inventors, then their natal charts.

John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont,
on February 7, 1804. His name was to remain long in the public gaze in rural USA, adorning many ubiquitous bright green and yellow painted farm machinery, vehicles and implements, not to mention similarly coloured articles of clothing and accessories bearing the John Deere brand name.

John didn't have an easy start in life. His father was lost at sea on a voyage to England to collect an inheritance. John was raised by his mother and probably received only a very basic level of education. He was apprenticed to a blacksmith in his native Vermont. After marriage and trying to raise a young family in the then depressed business climate of Vermont, he moved to Illinois where he hoped his blacksmith skills would be more in demand.

On discovering that the soils of Illinois were heavy and sticky, too much so for the plows then available, which had been produced to deal with lighter, sandy soils, John Deere set about inventing an alternative. He visualised a highly polished, properly shaped blade, convinced that such a blade could scour itself as it cut furrows. He made a prototype from a broken piece of saw blade. It must have worked! By the 1840s the new plows were selling well In 1843, John Deere entered partnership with Leonard Andrus to produce more plows to meet increasing demand.

John Deere was active in public life throughout his career. He died on May 17, 1886, at his home in Moline.
The company he founded, Deere & Company is now a world leader in its field (no pun intended!)

(Information from the John Deere website)

Linus Yale Jr, inventor of the still popular Yale lock - a pin-tumbler cylinder design. He was born in Salisbury, New York, on April 4, 1821.

Young Linus, a lad with a variety of gifts, was a talented artist, studied portrait painting, but also possessed seemingly innate mechanical skills and ingenious insights. These talents could well have been inherited from his father, also an inventor with links to sawmill processing as well as lock designing.

Linus Jr decided against a career as an artist, a decision possibly occasioned by the death of his father. He opened his own lock business in Shelburne Falls, Mass. Among many other new lock designs, Yale's best-known invention was the now famous cylinder pin-tumbler lock.

The basic concept was used in ancient Egypt around 4,000 years ago, in locks that were very large (up to two feet long) and made out of wood. The design has a main barrel which is drilled so it has usually five or six cylindrical slots that are set close together in a line. A metal pin, or "tumbler," fits closely to the walls of each of the slots. A second metal pin, or "driver," sits above the tumbler and is pushed down on the tumbler by a very small coil spring, which is permanently compressed as it sits inside the lock's enclosed case. Though similar to the pin-tumbler lock his father had invented years earlier, Yale's lock used a smaller, flat key with serrated edges like the ones we still use today. When inserted into the lock, the key pushes the bottom pins into the right position, which allows the user to turn the key and unlock the lock. Yale patented his cylinder pin-tumbler lock in 1861

(Note: 1861 does not tally with the date given at "Historical Events" website - doesn't matter too much for my own purposes, information surrounding the invention is the important part.)

More information at Inventor of the Week, HERE.


ASTROLOGY

John Deere: born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 7, 1804. Chart set for 12 noon, time of birth unknown. Moon and ascendant not as shown.

Linus Yale Jr born in Salisbury, New York, on April 4, 1821. Chart set for 12 noon, time of birth unknown. Moon and ascendant will not be as shown.

John Deere's chart contains more of what I'd expect to see in the chart of an inventor: Aquarius - text books have long been telling us that Aquarius, and Uranus its modern ruler, have invention as part of their astro "toolbag". As well as Sun, Mercury Venus and Moon's North Node in Aquarius there are Saturn and Uranus (Aquarius' ancient and modern rulers) in Libra making harmonious trines (120*) to one or other of the Aquarius planets.

Linus Yale Jr's chart has a stellium (cluster of planets) in Aries (the initiator) and another next-door in Pisces (the creative dreamer). All personal planets are there apart from Moon which would have been in Taurus whatever his time of birth. Taurus Moon possibly reflects his early gravitation to art, maybe even in later life he still, deep down, embraced a love of drawing and painting. Uranus in this chart is tightly conjunct Neptune in Earthy Capricorn, again there's a blend of invention (Uranus) and artistic creativity (Neptune), and some Capricornian business savvy.

Yale's chart is especially tightly clustered. Neither chart is widely spread across the whole zodiac circle, indicating the owners' sharp focus on their interests and goals.

Going Plainly over the Plains of the Texas Panhandle

On this Music Monday, "Miles and Miles of Texas" , is an appropriate enough song. We returned on Sunday from our own mini "miles and miles of Texas" tour. Here the number is performed by Asleep at the Wheel, vocalist is Ray Benson.

We saw Asleep at the Wheel a couple of years ago at our local theatre - good show, one of the best ever. We still remember, and often repeat, a joke Ray Benson told the audience about a friend of his who was travelling in Texas. He had stopped in a small town, I don't remember the exact name of the town in the joke, but it was a foreign or perhaps Native American sounding name. In the story, Ray's friend went into the local Dairy Queen ordered a drink and asked the server, "How do you pronounce the name of this place?" The response, enunciated very slowly: "Dayr..ee....Kw..een". As we passed through tiny Quitaque, Texas on our way out we laughed that this could be a good town for the joke. I dared husband to try it, but we couldn't find a Dairy Queen in Quitaque, and in any case, the signpost had spoiled the joke by telling us the answer: "Kitty-kay".

We did spend a couple of nights in Clovis, New Mexico, which is just over the state border, and, to be honest isn't much different from Texas in flavour. The true New Mexico enchantment simply hasn't reached there.

Not much in the way of dramatic scenery to share this time. It was mostly very...erm....plain, as in the Amish version of plain, nothing too modern, fancy nor dramatic. It was just peaceful, green, calm and mostly plain flat, punctuated by tiny towns most of which had seen better days, days when the railway line came through, back in the early 1900s. Most towns then had built a hotel to house passing travellers - over-optimistically I thought, considering the surrounding areas were hardly going to be abuzz with action. They still aren't a century later! These hotels stand there now, skeleton-like, big, blocky, broken windows, boarded doors; rising to varying heights depending on size of town/county.

Weather was interesting. When we set out it was struggling to reach 60 degrees, definite long sleeve/jacket weather, same for the first two days, but on the way back it was at least 97 degrees in most places with a weirdly strong, hot wind blowing.

The inscription above the entrance to the Court House in Paducah, Tx tickled me. The same inscription should also be placed above entrances to the White House and the US Capitol!

It was plain - but it was fun!

Obnoxious Billboard

This huge billboard stands very close to the Texas-New Mexico border line - on the Texas side at Farwell Tx, First Baptist Church, and nextdoor to Clovis NM where we are at present. I see it as tantamount to hate speech and reckon those who are displaying it should be forced to take it down. There's something almost as obnoxious on the other side of the board - about Islam and Sharia Law. When we get home I'll consider writing to the New Mexico Governor or a Senator or Rep about it. It's on a busy road frequented by tourists from all over the country on the way to or from the many joys of New Mexico and/or Colorado.

Ye gods!!

Click on it if you can bear to see a bigger version.

"You say socialism like it's a bad thing!"

Today a post from the archives gets another airing:


Socialism. In the USA this word ranks alongside colonoscopy as something citizens would least like to experience. The fact is though, socialism is nothing more than an attempt to re-balance a system which has become too heavily weighted on one side - the side of the powerful and wealthy, against the interests of ordinary people. If a system remains in just balance there's never a need for socialism or any similar -isms. Just as colonoscopy can, in the right circumstances, be A Good Thing, so can socialism.

John Reed, Abbie Hoffman, Saul Alinsky, Emma Goldman have been featured in posts on this blog in the past, under a heading "US Radicals" who embraced socialism as an ideal. They, surely, were influenced by the writings of an earlier group of radicals originating in Germany: Moses Hess, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.The driving force behind all these radically minded individuals was a wish to correct imbalance and injustices heaped upon ordinary working people by the ruling and wealthy classes - whether these were in the form of royalty, dictators, land owners, wealthy capitalist employers or religious leaders.

In the 19th century, as the industrial revolution got underway, there was much injustice and imbalance around. But then, as far back as history can take us, the ordinary man in the street or man in the field has been treated badly by those who liked to assume they were "above him". Serfdom in mediaeval Britain and Europe was much the same as African-American slavery in effect. As centuries trundled on, philosophy and radical thought began to trickle down......




Moses Hess, the eldest of today's featured trio to some extent influenced both Engels and Marx. He was born in Bonn on 21 June 1812, to Jewish Orthodox parents, soon drawn to philosophy and particularly philosophical socialism. Hess played a prominent role in transforming Hegelian theory by conceiving of man as the initiator of history rather than as a mere observer. He was reluctant to base all human destiny on economic causes and class struggle, and he came to see the struggle of races, or nationalities, as the prime factor of past history. He was responsible for converting Engels to Communism, and he introduced Marx to social and economic problems.








Friedrich Engels was born on 28 November 1820 in Barmen (now Wuppertal), Germany. His father had interests in textile mills in England. Already active in radical causes when he met Karl Marx in 1842, Engels was soon influenced by this man who he saw as a more original thinker than himself.

During the 1840s Engels spent a period working as a manager at one of his father's mills in the north of England. Shocked by the conditions working people were forced to live in, he wrote his first prominent work, "The Condition of the Working Class in England" published in 1844. For anyone who has no knowledge of working class life in 19th century Britain, there's an extract from Engel's writing on the Dante-esque scenes of Old Manchester at this website. In 1847 Marx was asked to write a document proclaiming the principles of communism; Engels collaborated and helped write the now famous Communist Manifesto. In 1850 Engels returned to England to run the factory of which he was now part owner. During this time he also provided assistance to the then poverty stricken Karl Marx who had been driven from Brussels for his revolutionary activity.




Karl Marx was born to Jewish parents in Trier, Germany, on 5 May 1818. He studied law and at some point was introduced to the writings of G.W.F Hegel. Marx was especially impressed by Hegel's theory that a thing or thought could not be separated from its opposite. For example, the slave could not exist without the master, and vice versa. Hegel argued that unity would eventually be achieved by the equalizing of all opposites, by means of the dialectic (logical progression) of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. This was Hegel's theory of the evolving process of history.

Marx met Moses Hess, a radical who called himself a socialist, and began attending socialist meetings organized by Hess. Members of the group told Marx of the sufferings being endured by the German working-class and explained how they believed that only socialism could bring this to an end. Marx had become a close friend of Friedrich Engels, who had just finished writing a book about the lives of the industrial workers in England. Engels shared Marx's views on capitalism and after their first meeting Engels wrote that there was virtually "complete agreement in all theoretical fields". Marx and Engels decided to work together. It was a good partnership, whereas Marx was at his best when dealing with difficult abstract concepts, Engels had the ability to write for a mass audience.

A look at the natal charts of the three featured German radicals. Maybe there'll be an interesting link between them.

Marx is the only one for whom Astrodatabank offers a time of birth, so the other two charts are set for 12 noon.








The planet most astrologers would expect to see prominent in such charts as these is Uranus - the rebel, the avant garde, the anti-status quo planet. The two younger men were born with Uranus conjunct Neptune (illusion, delusion, creativity) in Sagittarius - the sign of the philosopher. In the case of Hess, Uranus was in Scorpio, but would have been conjunct his natal Moon (inner self), either tightly or loosely, whatever his time of birth.

In Engel's case, as well as being conjunct Neptune, Uranus is also conjunct Mercury (communication "to a mass audience") and Mars (drive & energy)and in the same expansive Sagittarian cluster as his natal Sun (self).

Part of the reason Engels and Marx got on so well has to be the placements of their natal Moons : somewhere in Virgo for Engels - more likely than not in trine with Marx's Moon/Sun in Taurus. Even if not in close trine, their common Earthy Moon would be a significantly compatible link.

If the time of birth for Karl Marx is accurate, it puts Uranus close to mid-heaven. Aquarius rising defines what we know of him, and the ascendant degree is in harmonious sextile to Uranus, Aquarius's modern ruler. Taurus Sun conjunct Moon is something of a surprise - but what it does signify is a determined and stubborn nature, though Mercury nextdoor in its home sign of Gemini could lighten and loosen this quite a lot - at least in his communication style, while still retaining an inner entrenched position.

Lots of other chart factors could be taken as significant individually, but Uranus does seem to be an obvious link here.