Arty Farty Friday ~ Ford Madox Brown - Aries x 6

 Self portrait

I've chosen to feature Victorian artist Ford Madox Brown as much for his unusually Aries-packed natal chart as for his paintings. More on the astrology later in this post.










His style has similarity with that of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (including Rossetti, Hunt and Millais), but he was some years older than the main group of Pre-Raphaelites, and in fact has been described as having pioneered the style of painting which which came to be known as Pre-Raphaelite before the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was actually founded in 1848.

Ford Madox Brown's paintings tended to be less "perfect", more down to earth, sympathetic to ordinary people, less in awe of the beautiful people, whether mythical or real. He was a longtime friend of my own hero, William Morris. In 1861 he was one of the founding members of William Morris' business, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company (later Morris and Company).

Brown was born, according to Astrodatabank on 16 April 1821 at 4.00 PM in Calais, France to English parents. He studied in Europe, remained in France for some years, married his first wife, Elizabeth. Their first child died in infancy in 1842, a second child was born in 1843. They moved to England in 1844. However Elizabeth contracted tuberculosis, and died aged 27 on the journey back to England from Rome where she had been staying. Brown married again, to a younger woman, Emma Hill, who had been his model, and live in lover for several years. He's said also to have had some "associations" with women outside his marriage, in particular with another artist, Marie Spartali Stillman and a writer, Mathilde Blind.

Detail of his biography is at Wikipedia.
Also, there's a good combinations of biographical facts and copious illustrations
at Hoocher.com HERE.

As for Brown's personality, I've gleaned little. At mentalfloss there's this note:

4. According to one source, Brown "threw brilliant parties, hosted animated debates and even fashionable seances." The article goes on to state that Brown's admirers considered him "the handsomest man in London" as well as "the best conversationalist." Apparently, he was referred to as a "King of Hearts."

Ford Madox Brown's best known paintings are The Last of England, Work, and the frescoes he painted for Manchester's Town Hall.


Click on image for a bigger version:

 The Last of England (1855)

The painting tells the story of the emigration of a young family from England to Australia; part of the emigrating movement of the 1850s, when people sought new lives around the British Empire.
See HERE.
Compelled to leave all they have known and loved, their grim stoicism testifies to their determination.

The Last of England also tells the story of the artist, Ford Madox Brown. In 1852, he was "intensely miserable, very hard up and not a little mad". The main figures are portraits of Brown and his beloved model, Emma Hill, whom he married in 1853. They form a solid unit, bound together in their love. It is a painting full of human emotion, incident and drama; from the vulnerability of their baby's tiny hand to the savage anger of the figures in the background.

His painting, Work, really needs to be seen in large format, this is better done by going to Wikipedia HERE and clicking on the image there.

From The Guardian:

Underpinning these two great paintings lay Brown's abiding interest in the underdog. Unlike his friend William Morris, he was never a systematic socialist, opting instead to make a series of pragmatic and personal interventions in the lives of the poor. He taught art at the Working's Mens' College and, later, set up the Labour Bureau in Manchester. In the same way, his art is one of engaged observation rather than noisy propaganda. Perhaps this was because, unlike the independently wealthy Morris, Brown understood poverty to be a complex, nuanced business. While never actually starving, he spent at least two decades of his working life harried by a lack of cash. The Last of England sold for less than it should, and Brown's hyper-sensitivity also meant that he tended to crash up against the institutions and people who would have done him most good.

Below is just one example of frescos in Manchester Town Hall (click on it for a bigger version)
- the rest can be seen at the BBC website HERE.

From the same Guardian piece:

Although he had no prior relationship with Manchester, its brisk, nonconformist atmosphere suited him particularly well. While reviewing the city's history to find subjects for his murals, he found an abundance of moments that chimed with his own subtle understanding of the human condition.

ASTROLOGY

What can I say? All personal planets are in Aries, apart from Moon in Libra - a predominantly Cardinal chart. Moon in Venus-ruled, arty Libra symbolically depicts a kind of funnel through which all Aries' pioneering, motivated and forceful attributes are directed. Moon lay in opposition to
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter, with Libra's best balancing act going on to calm down the worst of Aries' impetuosities and aggressive instincts.

Generational outer planets Uranus and Neptune were in exact conjunction in Capricorn when Ford Madox Brown was born.

From Gary Lorentzen's website:

Uranus/Neptune in the 19th Century—Economic Self-Interest vs Social Benefit ~
The old Sagittarius influence was gone and an entirely new, modern impulse was shaping the expression of Uranus/Neptune. Commercial capitalism was replaced by industrial capitalism and a growing state capitalism. Colonialism came into its own as states consolidated their holdings forming extended, global empires. Almost immediately, however, there was a reaction to this trend in the form of a growing socialist/communist movement that applied the lessons of the previous cycles to a new, scientific materialism and scientific state management. But the conjunction took place in Capricorn in the Capricorn decanate. The impulse to move away from the old Sagittarian idealism was strong, and a new, more practical, economic idealism was forming.

That does fit Brown's art, generational and astrological outlook well. The conjunction makes challenging square aspects to his natal Mercury and Mars in Aries - could be seen as challenging him to get with the new paradigm!

Last Night on American Idol - Harry v Quentin, the astrology.

A quick extra post brought on by an event from last night's live American Idol episode. You really had to be there (in front of the TV) and fairly familiar with the workings of Idol to properly appreciate what went on. Googling the names Quentin Alexander and Harry Connick Jnr along with American Idol will likely bring up more information on the event than any casual non-fan reader will wish to know.

Quentin, a creative and obviously emotional 20-year old, usually soft-spoken and kindly, honestly responded to a question by presenter Ryan Seacrest, was immediately misunderstood/misinterpreted by Harry Connick Jnr and scolded, in an unnecessarily harsh way (to my ear). Quentin responded, very politely and calmly, standing, by then near Harry at the side of the judges' desk. The awkwardness spread through the rest of the show, with a further explanation/apology from Quentin later, after his second song, and a bit more, quite unnecessary, softer scolding from Jennifer Lopez.

I was on Quentin's side beginning to end, husband wavered a bit, but came around later. Commentary online today has been divided, ranging from barely above racist, disgustingly thoughtless and ignorant, and highly supportive. The "drama", I should mention, stemmed from possible elimination of Quentin's friend, Joey Cook (a very creative, fun gal who I too was surprised to find in-line for elimination, due to public votes - and/or manipulation by whomever).

Gotta have a look at Harry's and Quentin's charts, thought I.

Here they are (click on image for larger version):

Both set for 12 noon.
Left is Harry's 11 September 1967, New Orleans.
Right: Quentin's 11 December 1994, New Orleans

I can see right away why I've been rooting for Quentin since episode one of this season! Never mind that.

Quentin's Sagittarius Sun/Mercury reflect a need for honesty and bluntness, and his Aries Moon (whatever his time of birth) could slam no brakes on that, in fact it acted as accelerator! I kept thinking, before seeing the natal chart that, in the unlikely event of me being in a similar situation I'd have had to act in much the same way...Aries Moon does tend towards that kind of thing.

Harry's musical technical talent isn't in question, and Quentin had always accepted his pointers with good grace and appreciation. Harry's nit-picking Virgo Sun, backed up by two outer planets in Virgo could try the patience of a saint though - especially in such an emotional and public setting.

Harry's natal Sagittarius Moon afflicts him with some of the same bluntness "enjoyed" by Quentin via his Sun/Mercury. Harry's natal Saturn is very likely conjunct Quentin's Moon, depending on times of birth - that'd be apt to put a damper on any back-slapping praise!

There's more, I'm sure.

WORD-QUIRK

I usually consider myself reasonably well-equipped to understand most non-technical reading matter, if written in English that is. There are, though, still a couple of words which regularly cause me to pause and ask myself, "now what does that really mean?" Both queries have been mentioned in posts in the past and relate to the words "postmodern" and "meta".
Snips and links

Postmodern:

What the heck is "postmodern" or "postmodernism"? I researched, read and continued to ponder. I've come to the conclusion that, in the main, it's used fairly indiscriminately by those who want to sound knowledgeable. It literally means something which occurs later than that which was thought to be modern : post = after. So really, postmodern is very modern, more modern than modern. But no - that's not it! Postmodern is a reaction to the modern - a going back to what was there before the modern happened. It's all very confusing! If post-modern means anything then, astrology is postmodern. We're in an era where the commonly held motto is "astrology is crap". Postmodern thinking dictates that we revert to eras of long ago when astrology was revered. Astrology is postmodern! Post is HERE.

Meta:

It appears writers who feel they are being "hip" or "cool" now use meta to refer to something that is self-referential. Sigh. I searched for enlightenment, found this piece by Ben Zimmer from last May in the Boston Globe He begins:

You know what? I’d love to write a column about the word meta. I could explain how meta started off as a prefix meaning “above or beyond” (the metaphysical realm is beyond the physical one) or “at a higher level of abstraction” (metalanguage is language used to describe other language). Then I could talk about how meta broke free as a standalone adjective to mean “consciously self-referential” and has become a perfect meta-commentary on the consciously self-referential age we live in. Maybe I could even start the column with an introduction about wanting to write about the word meta..........
Post and link are HERE, along with comment from mike.

I'll probably have to accept a personal mental blind-spot for those two words.

A couple of other word-quirks I've been noticing lately in TV conversations and interviews, serious or light-hearted -

1. Speaker begins his/her responses with "So......." when the word doesn't fit the context at all.

"So..." is being used in place of the old fashioned "Erm..." or "Hmm..." or just a pregnant pause to give the speaker a split-second's worth of time to think. What surprises me is how many otherwise brilliant individuals have picked up the "So..." habit - I heard Elizabeth Warren do it not long ago.


2. The other word-quirk is use of the word "hashtag" in conversation. Before I arrived in the USA I wasn't even aware of hashtags. Learned about them first as used before a numeral: #3, as, I guess, short form for "number 3". Then I came across a similar symbol depicted on the telephone receiver, experienced panic when told by some robot responder to "press 2 then the pound sign."
"Wha....?"
I risked pressing the hashtag-looking thing and all worked out well enough - as well as things can when speaking with a robot!

Hashtag, the word, has been creeping into conversation, I've noticed it in light-hearted TV conversations a few times. Someone will make a remark about a current topic, then add, for instance, "hashtag so topical" (but replacing "so topical" with more hip-sounding word(s) summing up the topic in question).

So...what can I say.... it's all meta and postmodern...hashtag don't understand!

Pregnant Cows or Pregnant Barley?

Hat-tip Wikipedia

Fordicidia, a Roman agricultural festival in honour of goddess Tellus, known as "Grain Goddess", regularly associated with Ceres in rituals pertaining to the earth and agricultural fertility was held in Ancient Rome every
April 15.

A pregnant cow (forda or horda) was sacrificed to Tellus in each of the 30 wards of Rome and one on the Capitoline Hill. The sacrifice was in hope of promoting fertility (presumably of cattle and crops in the fields). The unborn calves were cut away from the mother, burnt, and the ashes were used by the Vestal Virgins in a purification rite in the festival of Parilia on 21 April. (An archived post on Parilia is HERE)

That's one version of the tale, the most widely reported, and a pretty gruesome one at that! One website has a different take on the Fordicidia/Fordicalia. The writer at piereliogion.org suspects that something could have been lost in translation. The theory goes like this:

......the words forda and horda do mean ‘pregnant cows’, that is, ‘cows in calf.’ The two different forms forda- and horda- are dialect forms in which the h- and f- are allophonic (you say tomayto, I say tomahto). There is a similar situation with the words hordeum and fordeum which both mean ‘barley’ ......Furthermore, the name of the festival Fordicidea, the form usually used in classical Rome is questionable. The name in Ovid’s Fasti certainly ends in -cidea which has a meaning ‘slaughter’ (as in ‘suicide, genocide’), but both Hordicalia and Fordicalia are also attested various places as names of the festival and these have the more usual form of the name of a festival in Latin, with a typical -alia ending.....

The writer points out that wastefully slaughtering upwards of 30 pregnant cows was not in the best interests of farmers, and had no sympathetic magical resonance with prayers that there should be a good harvest of grain in the coming season - Tellus being Grain Goddess.

Regarding the alternative explanation, the writer goes on to explain:

How can barley be pregnant, one might well ask? Barley gets pregnant in the spring, when the over-wintered grain (which just looks like lawn grass all winter), shoots up and begins to form ears, inside the stalks. At first it isn’t noticeable, but eventually, a close look shows that the stalks between the nodes are getting “fat” because the ears are forming inside, while they are still covered by the sheaf of one of the blades of the barley. In English, the barley is said to be “in the blade” meaning that it is forming ears. This is a time of great anxiety for grain farmers since they are hoping that everything will turn out right and the ears will eventually shoot above the main part of the plant and then ripen properly. Very widely among the Indo-Europeans, there is a festival to encourage the grain growth at this time, which seems to be the main impetus for these Tellus Mater festivals.

It's hard to say which version is most likely correct, but I'm thinking that, if Roman high authorities had anything to do with it, then I doubt the sensibilities of the farmers for their cows would be taken into account. Slaughter of the pregnant cattle, if ordered from on high, would have to be carried out, regardless. Makes little sense to us, but then, so do many orders of our 21st century governments.

WINNING WAYS ~ ("Alice thought the whole thing very absurd" )

A rabbit-hole, of sorts. This one unintentionally stumbled down after reading some posts about a recent debacle among fans of science fiction and the Hugo Awards. It seems that there has been a disruptive faction afoot, criticising nominations and the modern sci-fi genre, mainly because of the allegorical nature (usually leaning leftward politically) of stories and embedded messages, and - rather silly this - book covers which do not truly represent the nature of the novel inside (it was ever thus, wasn't it?) See here, and at the links provided there.

After reading a couple of threads of comment on these matters, I came to the conclusion that it's pretty silly to designate what is good, better, best among any kind of writings, art, music, acting etc. Taste is always subjective. End of story. Or is it?

Competition in itself is a healthy part of human nature - heck, human nature is, I suppose, the product of competition: evolution. Competitive spirit, in different measure, in different spheres of life, lies within us all. Astrologers might put this down to a reflection of planet Mars in our nature. Ancient Greeks valued the competitive spirit, honoured it in their Olympic Games, a tradition to which we still cling. That kind of competition seems to me to be a more reasonable deal - there really are winners there - indisputable winners.

"Sport, a healthy body and the competitive spirit were a large part of Greek education and so it is hardly surprising that organised athletic competitions would at some point be created, as they had been in the earlier Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations." (See HERE)

The Greeks had a word for it (didn't they always?) Thumos.
Wikipedia -

Thumos (also commonly spelled "thymos"; Greek: θύμος) is a Greek word expressing the concept of "spiritedness" (as in "spirited stallion" or "spirited debate"). The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood. The word is also used to express the human desire for recognition.

(There's also a good piece on Thumos at Classical Wisdom )


"The human desire for recognition", is a driving force of the competitive urge. Now...dragging this back into the 20th and 21st centuries, returning to consider all those Awards ceremonies like the Hugo Awards, all literary prizes and awards in the world of the arts in general.

James English's book, The Economy of Prestige relates to this topic, and is described at Amazon:

"This is a book about one of the great untold stories of modern cultural life: the remarkable ascendancy of prizes in literature and the arts. Such prizes and the competitions they crown are almost as old as the arts themselves, but their number and power--and their consequences for society and culture at large--have expanded to an unprecedented degree in our day. In a wide-ranging overview of this phenomenon, James F. English documents the dramatic rise of the awards industry and its complex role within what he describes as an economy of cultural prestige................... In the wild proliferation of prizes, English finds a key to transformations in the cultural field as a whole. And in the specific workings of prizes, their elaborate mechanics of nomination and election, presentation and acceptance, sponsorship, publicity, and scandal, he uncovers evidence of the new arrangements and relationships that have refigured that field. "

One reviewer there observed:

He [James English] reminds us of the Dodo in Alice in Wonderland, who cries, 'Everybody has won, and all must have prizes'...English dissects the dishy politics and tawdry tricks, but the author is after much bigger intellectual game. He wants to understand how the awards-biz carries our cultural currency, creating our shared investments in what is art...The Economy of Prestige is rich fare for anybody who has ever been trapped at an awards banquet. It ought to win a prize. (Karen R. Long Cleveland Plain Dealer 2005-11-13)

For a reminder about Alice and the Dodo.

That brought me nicely back to the rabbit-hole entrance from which I set out, and the thought that often accompanies such investigations: instead of "cherchez la femme", in this case it's "cherchez le dosh!" Follow the money!

Loveless Favourites

So many songs are about love and romance, but once one begins to think along lyrically loveless lines, there are equally as many that are not. Three of my favourite loveless lyrics, plus three from Himself (aka anyjazz ):

Anyjazz chose:
Strange Fruit ~ Billie Holiday


Penny Lane ~ The Beatles


Mañana ~ Peggy Lee




From Yours Truly:

Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime ~ George Michael


Sailing to Philadephia ~ Mark Knopfler/James Taylor




Proud Mary ~ Tina Turner (You might need to fasten your seat belts for this one, it's a long rough ride - but fun!)




What are your "loveless" favourites?

Mars-related Murmurings

 From Astrological Oracle Cards by Antonella Castelli

Astrologers have various eloquent ways of describing how the position of Mars in a natal chart reflects back in the personality. Stripped down to its bare bones, I see astrological Mars as pure energy, a driving force to be used for good or ill. The "ill" half of that, in its worst form is, of course, violence and war. As Mars is with us always, war and other forms of violence are with us always. The seed is within us all.

Ancient Romans unashamedly celebrated Mars and all it stood for, including war. Some of us have moved on since then, but all of us still need the assertiveness, courage, urge to compete, and all-round physical energy traditionally associated with Mars. The trick,which we, as a species, have yet to learn, is how to properly harness our innate Mars energies.

Astrologer Liz Greene in her book Mythic Astrology wrote:

"In the myths of every ancient people, the gods of war have always occupied a prominent and honored place. War was personified by these fierce gods as the glorious expression of the human fighting spirit - not merely bloodthirsty and cruel, but also disciplined, courageous, honorable and directed towards a noble goal. The war gods of myth are almost always portrayed battling with a monster - an image not merely of the outer enemy, but also of the bestial dark force within human beings which must be conquered for the sake of humanity."

Astrology aside, the rotational period and seasonal cycles of planet Mars are similar to those of Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons, though Mars is smaller than Earth, the planet's diameter is around 4,200 miles, double the size of the Moon.

 Mars Overseeing Aries and Scorpio

It's probably pure whimsy on my part, but drawing the astrological and astronomical together, I have wondered whether those similarities between Mars and Earth have contributed to our species' easy and strong reflection of the attributes accorded to planet Mars from ancient times until today.
(Illustration, right is from Medizinisch-Astrologisches Hausbuch, 1429. Nuremburg. (Medical Astrology Housebook).

Mars was the planet most clearly represented in results of research by French scientist Michel Gauquelin (1928-1991), in his attempt to test what validity, if any, there is in astrology's basic claims. For a brief outline of Michel Gauquelin's "Mars Effect"
see Aquamoonlight's piece HERE.


Mars-driven wars have wreaked havoc on all parts of Earth over centuries, eras and aeons, but in some instances aggressors and their energies have left behind artifacts, ideas and plans which, in time, proved helpful to developing civilisations. The Roman Empire, for instance, gets deservedly bad press for its brutality and acquisitiveness, yet it did leave in its wake much that was helpful and inspirational to later civilisations.

“Mars tugs at the human imagination like no other planet. With a force mightier than gravity, it attracts the eye to the shimmering red presence in the clear night sky...”
― John Noble Wilford, Mars Beckons

The Red Planet Mars by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The star of the unconquered will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possessed.

And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art,
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.

Oh, fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know erelong,--
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.

Staying with the arts but returning to myth, a representation in classical art: this one by early American painter John Singleton Copley (1738 – 1815)

 Mars, Venus and Vulcan

Arty Farty Friday ~ Dale Messick and Brenda Starr

I'm not a fan of newspaper comic strips, so not surprised that I'd never heard of Dale Messick or Brenda Starr. Husband loves the "funnies" as he calls them and recalled Brenda Starr at once when I mentioned the name. "Brenda Starr, Reporter" was, apparently, a very popular comic strip, its heroine, born in 1940 from the pen of Dale Messick, and lived in comic strip land for some 43 years until Messick retired. Messick died, aged 98, in 2005. After 70 years on the funny pages, the strip was retired for good by its syndicate, Tribune Media Services, in 2011.

Dale Messick, born 11 April 1906 in South Bend, Indiana, was a pioneering newspaper cartoonist who had fought her way to the top of a predominantly male profession by creating a glamorous red-haired journalist who, like her creator had fought her way to the top, albeit in more fantastic and exciting ways.

Dale was a shortened version of Messick's birth name, Dalia, adjusted to counter the discrimination she had come up against in the cartooning biz. Messick had not been a whiz in academic subjects in school, but was always keen on drawing. Her talent was polished at The Art Institute of Chicago, followed by employment as a greetings card designer. She became her family's sole provider during the early years of the Great Depression.

"Though she had drawn comic strips during her school years, she began creating a comic strip with a woman as the lead in earnest. After learning from the New York Daily News ' award-winning cartoonist C.D. Batchelor that his newspaper was looking for a new comic strip, Messick sent in her comic strip about a female bandit for consideration. It was rejected by the publisher of the New York Daily News , Joseph M. Patterson, who was also the head of the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. He threw away her work, but his secretary, Mollie Slott, recovered it and encouraged Messick. She told Messick to make a few changes including changing the female bandit into a reporter, and also changing her name from Dalia to Dale. She took Slott's advice, and resubmitted her work to Patterson. He did not give her a daily slot, nor did he allow her strip space in the New York Daily News, but he did run the strip on Sunday in other newspapers. "Brenda Starr, Reporter" debuted in June of 1940."

Brenda Starr's face, figure, legs up to here, and and red hair were inspired by glamorous film star Rita Hayworth. Brenda's exotic exploits were no less fantasy-ridden - kidnapped and escaping, jumping out of planes, talking back to her boss, always the sassy, aggressive, crusading reporter who managed to end up in the middle of some outrageous news story.

"I used to get letters from girl reporters saying that their lives were nowhere near as exciting as Brenda's. I told them that if I made Brenda's life like theirs, nobody would read it."
(Dale Messick)

Messick sometimes hired other artists to draw cars and other mechanical items, or animals and nature scenes, but for decades, it was only she who drew Brenda Starr's face and body; later on when Messick retired other artists took over. Brenda Starr seems to have become more sexy and glamorous later on - possibly in the hands of younger artists with more modern sensibilities.

"Brenda Starr, Reporter," at its peak, was included in 250 newspapers and read by more than 60 million readers. When Starr and her long-time boyfriend, the mysterious Basil St. John, finally married after 36 years in 1976, President Gerald Ford sent a congratulatory telegram. "Brenda Starr" was twice adapted for the screen, first as a 1945 serial with Joan Woodbury, and later as a feature movie starring Brooke Shields. Shot in 1986, released in 1992, to dismal notices. Messick warned everyone she met not to see it.

In the 1990's, Messick developed a new comic character called "Granny Glamour," who appeared in a single-panel cartoon in a publication for the elderly in California. In her 80's, she boasted of juggling three boyfriends simultaneously. "All three wouldn't make one good man," she told an interviewer, "but at my age, you can't be too choosy."

(SOURCES: Notable Biographies; New York Times; dalemessick.com)

ASTROLOGY

Born in South Bend, Indiana on 11 April 1906. No time of birth known, chart is set for 12 noon.

Dale Messick was definitely a woman of her time - and for her time - born as Uranus and Neptune formed opposition and the world began to transition into 20th century patterns of invention, discovery and struggles related to a variety of social causes. Ms Messick's natal Mercury in Aries linked by square aspect to that Uranus-Neptune opposition in Cancer/Capricorn to form what astrologers call a "T-square". This is, one could say, symbolic of her constant effort to challenge a predominantly male environment in her own career and in the fantasy life of her creation, Brenda Starr. Jupiter in Gemini sextiles Mercury and could be said to indicate the reach and expansive nature of her creativity (250 newspapers, 60 million readers).

Ms Messick's natal Sun in Aries and natal Moon quite likely in Scorpio, both ruled by Mars reflect her pioneering aggressive "can-do" spirit. Mars and Venus both in Venus-ruled Taurus link by helpful sextile to Saturn (planet of work/career) in Pisces and add a certain Earthy stubborn streak to her nature, allied to a lively imagination.

Fixed Stars in Aries

I mentioned in February, in THIS POST, that it might be worthwhile to do a monthly post about Fixed Stars in each zodiac sign. That was back in Aquarius-time, and I forgot Fixed Stars in Pisces. Now's as good a time as any to start though, at the beginning of the zodiac with Aries.

There are various and variable lists of Fixed Stars in Aries around the internet, I'll show one here, it might not be exhaustive. Exact positions of Fixed Stars move very slowly. Most lists give positions for the year 2000, some give comparisons with 1900, or 2010. A good overall list, with ancient interpretation, is an updated one from Rob Tillett See HERE. A word of caution: ancient astrologers were either a tad gloomy or way over excitable about a person's prospects. Take the interpretations with a large pinch of salt!

Anyway, here's a compact list of stars in tropical zodiac sign Aries, extracted from THIS website

 Hat-tip HERE for illustration

Two stars stood out, for me, as deserving a little more scribbling: Alpheratz , the brightest star in the constellation of Andromeda, located northeast of the constellation of Pegasus; and Erakis also called Mu Cephei, known as Herschel's Garnet Star, a red supergiant star in the constellation Cepheus, and one of the largest and most luminous stars known in the Milky Way.

I don't have a planet close to Erakis (I think 1 or 2 degrees would be the widest to consider a conjunction for Fixed Stars), but my natal Saturn at 12.55 Aries could qualify as conjunct Alpheratz. Alpheratz was at 13.28 of tropical Aries when I was born (it's now around 14.26).

From HERE

Alpheratz is a purplish-white double star of the2nd magnitude located at 14 degrees Aries 26minutes. It is benevolent, with the overall nature of Venus. A part of two constellations, both Andromeda and Pegasus, Alpheratz has the added distinction of being among the fifty stars catalogued by the Elizabethan astrologer William Lilly in his book Christian Astrology. Alpheratz is also noted by the 1st-century astrologer Manilus in his work Astronomica where it appeared on the title page in a drawing of the constellation Andromeda..........
......When a fixed star conjoins a luminary or planet it will dominate the outcome of events or the path of an individual’s destiny. Consider only the conjunction when placing a fixed star in a birth chart, and the orb is just three degrees.

Some keywords showing the significance of Alpheratz’ influence in the
natal horoscope are listed (See site linked above). What relevance might be attached to my natal Saturn conjunct Alpheratz? -

With Saturn
Frugal, seeks popularity, domestic harmony, to health problems involving the head.

Hmmm! Well, I seek domestic harmony anyway! I did have a scalp problem last summer, during the Uranus/Pluto square times, but I also had a foot problem soon after too, so.... If throat counts as head my recent fall to Earth might count too.

The article linked above goes on to say:

Alpheratz will exert a great deal of influence during 2014–15. Uranus will be in orb of a conjunction with this fixed star most of the year. The aspect will be strongest when Uranus is at 14 degrees of Aries during April 30 – May 19, 2014; September 26 – October 20, 2014; and again February 20 – March 11, 2015. The total lunar eclipse on October 8, 2014, will also be in very close proximity to Alpheratz. At these times those practicing ritual magic can invoke the myth archetypes of the rescue of Andromeda by Perseus as well as the power of flight through calling upon Pegasus.
Magical workings to save those in distress, especially for the sake of love, and travels for the sake of pure and virtuous motives would be favored.
– Dikki-Jo Mulle.

There's mention of Alpheratz in natal charts in an archived post of mine about Shel Silverstein. (Scroll down to the astrology paragraphs there.)

Erakis called the Garnet Star & aka Mu Chephei, currently at around 9.50 tropical Aries.
Click on image for larger, clearer version.

 Hat-tip HERE for illustration

From HERE

Conjoining Algenib and marking mid-sidereal Pisces [tropical Aries] is the Supergiant Garnet Star, Erakis. Most people naturally tend to notice the bright stars of Cepheus when looking into the heavens, but the blood-red Garnet Star of Cepheus is often missed — a beauty, especially through binoculars. Similarly, we miss seeing the opportunity for attainment or solution when only watching the obvious around us.

The Garnet Star lies at the head of King Cepheus forming a triangle with Alderamin and Zeta Cepheus. Erakis imparts a quality of royalty, prominence, largeness, passion, prosperity, abundance and wealth; and the appreciation of such. North of and conjoining Algenib, Erakis exemplifies the role or crown of the King — to govern without being lost in the drama of that which he may need to govern. As a supergiant star (about 1420 times our Sun's radius), Erakis imparts a significant astrological influence along with fortuitous Algenib, especially regarding financial affairs and opportunities.

Astrological reflections of the constellation Cepheus, of which Erakis is a part, as given by Manilius are listed at Constellations of Words.


Sidelight: Frank Herbert, in his famous novel Dune used a similar-sounding name for planet Arrakis (see Wikipedia). Perhaps the author took inspiration from Fixed Star Erakis.

Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose noble family accepts the stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis. As this planet is the only source of the "spice" melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe, control of Arrakis is a coveted — and dangerous — undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the forces of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its "spice"

Woo-Wooing Hillary

The final paragraph of yesterday's post linked Hillary Clinton to the far-outness of UFO culture. If we have ahead of us some 18 months of presidential campaigning with Hillary Clinton heading the Democratic wing of the USA's duopoly, it's going to be a boring 18 months indeed. How can we withstand months on end of trouser suit jokes eh? A bit of woo-woo will be needed.

During the 2008 go-around I posted a bit of woo about Bible codes and Hillary Clinton's prospects, relevant post is HERE. That "prophecy" didn't turn out well! I wondered whether any bright spark had yet investigated the codes for news of 2016. There's THIS, as well as a few YouTube presentations of the same thing.

Daft or what?

Another of my old posts on Clinton was a tad more sensible (well, I thought so) - I spotted a few similarities between her natal chart and that of John Adams. See John Adams & Hillary Clinton.

Ms Clinton has not yet declared her intention to run, though most journalists seem to think it's a foregone conclusion - more's the pity! If she declares her intention to run, The Powers That Be, and their pet media pundits and writers will make certain she will be the party's nominee, crushing the hopes any populist upstarts early on. Any fun to be had will have to come from t'other side. I wonder if anyone has searched bible codes for Ted Cruz or Rand Paul yet?

FAR OUT!

A good proportion of our TV time lately has been taken up visiting
The X-Files, via Netflix, starting from the pilot episode of Season 1, first aired in 1993. It's surprising how fresh these old episodes still feel, in spite of the clunky looking computer monitors, cellphones, and some of the fashion styles of Dana Scully and other female cast members. None of that takes away from decent dialogue, engaging plots and fascinating subject matter. We're now into early episodes of season 2. Lots more still to enjoy! And, slipping back to yesterday's topic, there's that haunting theme music.

Maybe a steady diet of X-Files encouraged me, last week, to click on a heading which eventually led me to its source in The New Scientist -

Is this ET? Mystery of strange radio bursts from space (31 March 2015 by Sarah Scoles). "Mysterious radio wave flashes from far outside the galaxy are proving tough for astronomers to explain. Is it pulsars? A spy satellite? Or an alien message?"

"BURSTS of radio waves flashing across the sky seem to follow a mathematical pattern. If the pattern is real, either some strange celestial physics is going on, or the bursts are artificial, produced by human – or alien – technology.
Telescopes have been picking up so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs) since 2001. They last just a few milliseconds and erupt with about as much energy as the sun releases in a month. Ten have been detected so far, most recently in 2014, when the Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia, caught a burst in action for the first time. The others were found by sifting through data after the bursts had arrived at Earth. No one knows what causes them, but the brevity of the bursts means their source has to be small – hundreds of kilometres across at most – so they can't be from ordinary stars. And they seem to come from far outside the galaxy.
The weird part is that they all fit a pattern that doesn't match what we know about cosmic physics....................................
Michael Hippke of the Institute for Data Analysis in Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany, and John Learned at the University of Hawaii in Manoa found that all 10 bursts' dispersion measures are multiples of a single number: 187.5...................."

More in another article HERE.

Maybe, just maybe, those signals are echoes of messages sent by our far-future selves; or perhaps remains of messages bouncing back, sent long, long ago by far distant ancestors of ours, about whose civilisation we know absolutely nothing, yet. Is the truth really out there?

I spied a little more far-outness yesterday, this at Mother Jones website:
ETs for Hillary: Why UFO Activists Are Excited About Another Clinton Presidency

Memorable Musical Signatures from Radio & TV

So many! Too many! I asked the husband which ones flew straight into his mind - he came up with a rather obscure one first, from an old radio programme he used to hear in his home town, Salina, Kansas long ago: "Let's Dance" played by Benny Goodman, opening signature tune of a favourite music show. Urged to recall something more mainstream he chose TV's The Lone Ranger theme music, and that from MASH.









Too many vied for first place in my own memory - a couple from British radio in the 1940s and 50s came up, but not many will recall these so I'll link without embedding: Dick Barton, Special Agent (The Devil's Gallop"); and Paul Temple (Coronation Scot).

Theme from long-running (1960 to present) British TV soap opera Coronation Street has stayed in memory long after I last saw the show in 2003/4.




From this side of the Atlantic, though watched from the other side initially (and more times than I'd care to count) the beautiful theme from Lonesome Dove, composed by Basil Poledouris.
And another old American favourite, Dallas and its signature theme.





So... which themes from radio and TV shows stick in your memory?

The Week That Was

What has been exciting the nattering classes on Twitter and the net in general this week?

The "comedian" set to replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show had a set of Tweets from his Twitter feed emblazoned around the net, Tweets which indicate that either a) he is sexist; b) he is anti-Semitic; c) he is both and/or immature; or d) those by whom he was chosen to pick up JS's crown were seriously bad judges.

Most of today's comedians (and script writers) aren't witty enough or clever enough to be funny without being mean, cruel or outright gross, so Mr Noah's attitudes ought not to be surprising. What does puzzle me is why replacements for a couple of shows (The Daily Show and the Late Late Show on CBS vacated by Scot, Craig Ferguson) could not have been found among American comedians or presenters. Why go to English (James Corden) and South African (Trevor Noah) individuals?

The net was also excited by a legal matter - what I'm thinking of as "Son of Hobby Lobby" - for reminders about the parent see archived posts here, here and here.

This week's bout of chattering and nattering included Indiana's Religious Freedom Law

From link above:

If you’ve been following the controversy over Indiana’s new religious freedom law, you might be confused about what it really says and what it will actually do.

Some people describe the law as a “sword” that would allow discrimination against same-sex couples. Others say it’s a “shield” that would give people more freedom to follow the dictates of their faith.

Some say the law would give businesses more leeway to pick and choose which customers to serve. Others say it won’t make much difference -- that even with the law in place, virtually all businesses will end up behaving just as they would have before.

Some say the statute represents a significant change in the legal landscape, enacted at the behest of the Republican Party’s most conservative supporters. Others say it is strikingly similar to existing laws, including one that Congress passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities and that a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, happily signed more than two decades ago.
Which one of these statements is correct? All of them.

Here we go again then, on a slightly different track from Hobby Lobby, but heading in the same direction...trying to get rid of that pesky (to some) separation of church and state.

The most popular example of what Indiana's (and some other states') laws might bring about has been related to wedding arrangements for a same-sex marriage. For example, a business refusing to provide flower arrangements or wedding cake, etc. to a same sex couple on religious grounds would not be liable to legal proceedings brought on the basis of discrimination.

Never having been in the market for either wedding flowers or wedding cake, in spite of having been married twice (fluffy weddings are not my thing, marriage I can just about tackle), I can still see how insulting and hurtful it would be, at such a happy time in life, to be refused service on such grounds as sexual orientation. There'd be a rather odd, counter-productive business practice going on, on the part of the other party too! While same sex marriage pairs are free to vote with their feet and purses to go elsewhere with their business and obtain their wedding fineries from more enlightened retailers, a scar from that refusal will remain, and it'd be one that surely ought to be unthinkable to have been caused by any business person claiming to follow the paths laid out by Jesus Christ.

A comment under another Huffington Post piece struck me as worthwhile saving - it was by one Fran Moore:

These laws are clearly a promotion of religion. They provide those who profess a particular religious belief the privilege of being exempt from the law...a privilege not granted to those citizens who don't have that particular belief.

That would give ALL those found guilty of illegal discrimination either an appeal based on claiming a sincere religious belief or even the basis for claiming the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws violates their XIV amendment protections of equal protection!

It was interesting that in the Hobby Lobby case five members of the court that is supposed to determine the constitutionality of a law ignored the constitution and cited congressional legislation instead.

What is even more remarkable about that is the law they cited was held unconstitutional as applied to the states in the City of Boerne v. Flores decision in 1997, which ruled that the RFRA is not a proper exercise of Congress's enforcement power.

So why did those justices decide that their "interpretation" of that law and not the Constitution had jurisdiction in that case?

They not only avoided applying the Constitution to the Hobby Lobby case, they did so by ignoring the serious constitutional problems of the law they used to justify their ruling.

As Ginsberg implied...what now see what the obvious motivation behind using the RFRA was...the five conservative Justices wanted to grant states the precedent for establishing their own RFRAs...
These ideological justices feel they have now addressed the previous ruling against the federal RFRA in 1997 without addressing the underlying constitutionality of providing exemptions to constitutional law.

RFRAs clearly violate of the establishment clause and the XIV amendment...so all the SCOTUS did in the Hobby Lobby case was to delay the inevitable ruling on the constitutionality of the federal RFRA and subsequent state enacted religious "freedom" laws.

If that comment was a bit too sober and serious, and you have a spare few minutes still, do go take a look at what blogger Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station had to say about this topic in his post headed Dear Christians: A Modest Proposal.

And FINALLY...some good news!

Though the deal will not be sealed until later this year, a framework agreement, relating to Iran's nuclear program, was announced in Switzerland on Thursday. Agreement was reached between Iran and the P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the USA, plus Germany). It could be indication of better days ahead unless, of course, opponents manage to derail the agreement. Nothing is ever certain, but there is now at least room for hope. See HERE.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Monet in Spring

For this Arty Farty springtime Friday, rather than featuring an artist born around this time of year, I've chosen a famous painter - one of the most famous in fact - whose work does real justice to the best aspects of springtime: Claude Monet.

Spring is all about light, both light the opposite of darkness, and light the opposite of heavy.
Spring has a light touch, colours are light, feelings and hearts after a long winter are light, the sky is lighter for longer. I think Monet, founder of Impressionism, caught all of this lightness better than any other painter.

"Claude Monet (1840-1926) exemplified Impressionism more completely and pushed it further than any other painter. The style’s radicalism lay in the determination to paint not just reality but the seeing of reality, the act of perception itself, by showing how light, especially bright light, tended to dissolve the colors and forms of the world. The key to this effect lay in spontaneous, broken, skipping brushwork — preferably registered in paint applied in front of the subject, en plein air.

The images produced are so familiar now that it’s possible to forget that Impressionism created a newly complex awareness for its original viewers. The experience of light was enhanced, but so was the physical assertiveness of the painted surface. Paint and reality co-existed in heightened tension.

In terms of sheer physical gifts Monet was superbly skilled at maintaining this tension. Cézanne’s famous summing up is still the best: Monet, he said, “is only an eye, but good God, what an eye.” — From "Monet Arrives and Ripens," by Roberta Smith, The New York Times, May 4, 2007 "

In his later years Monet developed cataracts.

"As his lenses degraded, they blocked parts of the visible spectrum, and the colors he perceived grew muddy. Monet's cataracts left him struggling to paint; he complained to friends that he felt as if he saw everything in a fog. After years of failed treatments, he agreed at age 82 to have the lens of his left eye completely removed. Light could now stream through the opening unimpeded. Monet could now see familiar colors again. And he could also see colors he had never seen before. Monet began to see--and to paint--in ultraviolet." (See HERE)

“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.” ― Claude Monet

Rather than adding more dry facts this week (they can be read HERE; also at Wikipedia, and elsewhere, I'll post a handful of images of his springtime paintings, with a quick look at his natal chart. I shouldn't omit to mention, though, this artist's great love of gardens and gardening. Two good articles on this are at NPR, and at The Culture Concept Circle. His home and beautiful gardens in Giverny are open to visitors. It is said that these are absolutely breathtaking: "The moment you step into the garden you feel as though you have stepped into one of his paintings."

A few of his springtime impressions:

 Spring

 Springtime

In the painting above, Monet was less interested in capturing a likeness than in studying how unblended dabs of color could suggest the effect of brilliant sunlight filtered through leaves. (HERE)

 Spring at Giverny

 Spring

 An Orchard in Springtime

ASTROLOGY

Born on 14 November 1840, at 7:26 PM in Paris, France.
Natal chart has rectified time only...see astro.com

Monet has been described as strongly built, with handsome dark eyes, a fine voice, and a dominant personality, he stood about 5'5" according to Army records from his youth (cited by Charles F. Stuckey). It's said that he had had an "iron constitution", and that the calmness depicted in his paintings often belied the sort of chaos that Monet could stir up in his personal dealings. He married Camille in 1870, she died aged 32 in 1879; in 1892 he married long-time friend Alice Hoschedé, who had helped him raise his two children, along with her own.

If light was Monet's "driver" it'll show up in his natal chart. Light, surely, has to relate to the element of Fire. While Monet's Scorpio Sun was in Water sign Scorpio, there were three personal planets (Mercury/Venus/Saturn) forming a stellium in Fiery Sagittarius, next door. These linked by trine aspect to Pluto in Fiery Aries. If the rectified time of birth is near correct his natal Moon would have been in the other Fire sign, Leo.

A Yod links his Watery Sun and sextiled Earthy Mars to Pluto in Aries symbolically perhaps reconciling differences in sensitivities, and highlighting the difference mentioned in a quote earlier between the calm sweet depth of his paintings and his occasionally chaotic and dominant personality.