An uninspiring day? Not at all!

Casting around for inspiration this morning, in all the usual places: Favourites file, Wordpad, bookshelf, news on-line - I came up empty. Even the " Born on this day" pages seemed devoid of sparkling celebrity. Perhaps 28 February was always an unspiring day, I pondered. But then I noticed a name I recognised.

Linus Pauling. Chemist and humanitarian. An inspired man to whom we all must owe a debt of gratitude. Born 28 February 1901, in Portland, Oregon.

His natal Saturn in Capricorn is strong in its home sign, fitting for a man of science. Jupiter lies in Capricorn too. His natal Moon opposes Saturn from Cancer. I often notice an opposition between planets on the Cancer/Capricorn axis in charts of the famous.

Sun and Mercury in Pisces with Venus in Aquarius - a combination which could be tipped to produce "a humanitarian" . Linus Pauling was part of the Pluto in Gemini /Uranus in Sagittarius generation - a generation which gave us so many "greats".

"A couple of days after my talk, there was a man in my office from the FBI saying - Who told you how much plutonium there is in an atomic bomb? And I said - Nobody told me, I figured it out."
In the late 1940s, few Americans had any idea what the long-term effects of nuclear radiation might be, and their government wasn't telling them. Dr. Linus Pauling had already won renown for his application of modern physics to the problems of chemistry when he took on the unpopular task of informing the public about the dangers of nuclear weapons.
Pauling endured ostracism and ridicule for his uncompromising stand, but went on to win two Nobel Prizes: the 1954 award for Chemistry and the1962 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the open-air testing of nuclear weapons. To the end of his 93 years, Linus Pauling devoted himself to the cause of world peace, to the struggle against disease, and to educating the public about a multitude of health issues, from the hazards of smoking to the benefits of vitamin C. Pauling's work as a chemist would have been sufficient to earn him an honored place in the history of science, but his humanitarian efforts made him a beloved figure around the world.

Guy Fashion at the Oscars

A little more about the Oscars on Sunday night: I'm not going to chat about the women's frocks, they were "much of a muchness" as my Mum used to say. They were predictable. Predictably, horrendously and blingingly expensive. Wouldn't it be great, if for next year's ceremony everyone was required to arrive dressed in clothing purchased for less than $25 at charity stores ?

I enjoyed watching the guys and their fashion, or lack of it. On occasions like the Oscars, even now in these uninhibited times, few are brave enough to kick against the traces and show up in something a wee bit different from the usual penguin attire.

Anyway, my award for the best attempt to look different goes to Clive Owen, with Eddie Murphy and Peter O'Toole as runners up.



Clive Owen wore a Giorgio Armani tuxedo with black velvet lapels and a black shirt
Eddie Murphy sported a one-button grey Versace Couture tuxedo with back silk lapels
Peter O'Toole wore what looks like a brocade jacket in burgundy and black (I hope he didn't say "Tear down the curtains and make me a tux!") Full marks for originality though.





I suppose that in order to go against the grain on an occasion such as this, a good dose of Aquarius would help. Clive Owen and Peter O'Toole both have Saturn in Aquarius, Eddie Murphy has Jupiter in Aquarius.
I was disappointed in John Travolta, ( Aquarius Sun ) he wore the traditional male outfit. Next year John, please try something more adventurous, you're letting the side down!


Photographs and fashion information from
http://oscar.com/oscarnight/redcarpet/?pn=gallery&g=0&i=66

Al Gore at The Oscars

We watched Al Gore and the producers of "An Inconvenient Truth", along with Melissa Etheridge, receive their well deserved Oscars for the film and the song featured in the soundtrack. This is such GOOD NEWS !!

Al Gore reiterated his comment, from the film, that we have the resources to address the problems of global warming, all we lack is the political will, and "that is a renewable resource". At that point I yelled at the television, "It is, but only if YOU run for president !!!"

As I discovered in January (blog entry here) transiting Pluto significantly conjoins Al Gore's natal Jupiter at 28 Sagittarius now, and on a few other occasions later this year and next. There is still no indication that he is likely to run for Democratic nomination in the 2008 election. Some watchers and supporters consider that if this is to be, we shall not know about it for some months to come, perhaps as late as fall this year.

None of the current candidates who are thought of as front runners, Clinton, Obama and Edwards, has said much about climate change, other than mentioning it in passing. I'm wondering how Al Gore views this. I'd feel a lot better about the prospect of him not running if one of the other candidates had already shown a clear and passionate determination to follow in his footsteps on climate change. Iraq is top of everyone's agenda, with health care next. Both these issues are very important, of course, but neither should outweigh the overriding matter of safeguarding our planet. Al Gore is the only person with a chance of a "foot in the door" to the White House who has the priorities right.

I suspect that unless someone from the current list of contenders starts to push climate change as their prime concern, Al Gore might be tempted to come forward. If, however, a candidate does start giving priority to this issue, Al might decide to say out of politics proper and offer support to that candidate.

Since early last year, the former Vice President has said that he has no intention of running for the presidency again. At that time he was unaware just how much influence his film and book "An Inconvenient Truth" would carry, and how well it would be accepted by the public. Nobody could have foreseen what has happened. All Al Gore's efforts might well have disappeared into obscurity. Instead, we are now seeing his film win an Oscar, his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, and him receiving acclaim at home and abroad. He has a new book due to be published in May entitled "The Assault on Reason" (" a visionary analysis of how we can put the tenets of fact-based reasoning back into public discourse and politics at large.") Pluto will still be conjunct his natal Jupiter then - this might be a good time for an announcement. I shall continue to hope.

"The struggle to save the global environment is in one way much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler, for this time the war is with ourselves. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies. In a war such as this, then, what is victory and how will we recognize it?" (Al Gore)

Billy Collins and his Moons

Former Poet Laureate of the USA, Billy Collins, has written two different poems about the Moon. As eclipse time is coming up shortly, what better time to include them in a blog?
I love his poems. They are simple and direct, yet quirky enough to retain fascination.
He writes about everyday things to which we can all relate.

Billy Collins was born on 22 March 1941 in New York City. His birthday (not year) is the same as my husband's, who took the photographs included in this post.

Billy Collins' natal Moon could lie in either Capricorn or Aquarius depending on his time of birth. If he was born before 6am the Moon would be in Capricorn. I suspect he was born later, with Moon in Aquarius - just a feeling I get, using my own Aquarian antenna.

He does have quite an Earthy chart, with 5 planets in Earth signs. That didn't surprise me, it matches his down to earth style and choice of subjects. His Mercury and Venus lie in Pisces, I think this softens any inclination to be overly prosaic, and lends a touch of whimsicality to much of his work.

His Aries Sun conjoins the south node of the Moon. There was a lunar eclipse on 13 March and a solar eclipse on 27 March in 1941, so he was born between the two. His work is very popular, even among those people who don't usually like poetry. The Moon is said to represent the public or "common people" in mundane astrology, which might well be significant here.

I'm not confident about interpreting either the Moon's nodes or the effect of eclipses. Astrologers vary in their opinions on these matters, some go way beyond what I'm comfortable with. I'm pretty sure, though, from my own life experience, that the Moon's nodes are sensitive points in the chart, and that the cycle of the nodal axis can mark the turning of chapters in one's life, especially when a planet is conjunct a node natally.
In Billy Collins' case I'd hazard a guess that the Moon, its nodes, their cycles, and perhaps the eclipses have played a significant part in the way his life has unfolded.





Invention

Tonight the moon is a cracker,
with a bite out of it
floating in the night,

and in a week or so
according to the calendar
it will probably look

like a silver football,
and nine, maybe ten days ago
it reminded me of a thin bright claw.

But eventually --
by the end of the month,
I reckon --

it will waste away
to nothing,
nothing but stars in the sky,

and I will have a few nights
to myself,
a little time to rest my jittery pen.




Photograph, of "the silver football" taken by my husband outside Thunderbird Casino, Norman, Oklahoma, after a
concert. The "cracker with a bite out of it" was taken earlier this week, from our front yard.



The Man in the Moon

He used to frighten me in the nights of childhood,
the wide adult face, enormous, stern, aloft.
I could not imagine such loneliness, such coldness.

But tonight as I drive home over these hilly roads
I see him sinking behind stands of winter trees
and rising again to show his familiar face.

And when he comes into full view over open fields
he looks like a young man who has fallen in love
with the dark earth,

a pale bachelor, well-groomed and full of melancholy,
his round mouth open
as if he had just broken into song.

Astrology News

I am particularly grateful to Elsa from the Elsa Elsa Blog for including my blog in the Astrology News site which she now edits. Its widget now adorns my sidebar. I'm sure Astrology News will go on to be an even more valuable addition for bloggers and readers alike, with Elsa at its helm.

This came at a welcome time. I was feeling disappointed and not a little miffed that after waiting for over 14 days, it appears my blog may not have been accepted by Ageless Project for inclusion on their site. As I carry no advertisements, commercial offers, pop-ups, banner ads etc. ( part of their conditions for acceptance), I have to assume that my blog has been rejected on the ground of its content. This may have been judged to fulfil another cause for rejection - being "offensive or annoying to users"..... I'm an Aquarian - being annoying is part of the package! (wink)

Thank you again, Elsa!

The Founder of Halliburton, and his astrology.

What follows is the result of a walk in the park on the warm and sunny afternoon we enjoyed here yesterday. I stopped for a photograph by a statue, and thereby hangs a tale!

Halliburton is a dirty word these days. Not many can find a good thing to say about the company, perhaps for very good reason. It was not always so though, and nowhere is it more apparent than in this small Oklahoma town where Erle P. Halliburton established the headquarters of his first company in 1919.
One of the inscriptions on his statue (left) reads
"Erected 1993, in memory of a manwho left an indelible impression on Duncan and Stephens County. He touched the lives of many people, no only as the county’s largest employer, but as a perpetually inquisitive person whose technical inspirations became legends in the oil industry around the world. His deep and abiding concern for the welfare of the people of this area and is remembered fondly"

I found Mr Halliburton's birth date in the extract which follows below. He was born on
22 September 1892, near Memphis, Tennessee. (No time known).
He had Sun, Saturn and Moon in Libra at 00*, 2* and 18* respectively (12 noon chart). Mercury in Virgo, Venus at 14* Leo and Mars at 9* Aquarius. Jupiter at 22* Aries. Pluto and Neptune at 9* and 11* Gemini. Uranus 4* Scorpio.


Sun conjunct Saturn may account for many of the characteristics highlighted in the extract which follows. It's said that this aspect can indicate the "self-made man" who has succeeded through sheer hard work and determination. An abundance of Air and positive polarity in his chart would have endowed him with an agile mind - quick in thought and determined in action.


There is probably a"Mystic Rectangle" configuration in his chart (depending on birth time) consisting of two oppositions Mars/Venus and Moon/Jupiter with trines and sextiles joining these Air and Fire planets. Kevin B.Burk, astrologer, says this about mystic rectangle configurations:
"Once an individual has integrated a Mystic Rectangle, it represents a core of strength for them, and a solid foundation that can be a great gift in handling whatever else life throws at them."
The generational Pluto/Neptune in Gemini conjunction is trine Mars in inventive Aquarius. Neptune is thought to be connected to oil, so this fits well.

A short extract from Dan Briody's book
"The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money"
"Before there was a $13 billion company, before the World Wars and the Texas oil boom, before there were pet presidents and vice presidents, campaign contributions and gov ernment contracts, union busting and sanction dodging, there was simply a man, fiercely struggling to escape poverty, doggedly pursuing his piece of America's manifest destiny. At the time of his birth, September 22, 1892, in a small farming town on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, the name Erle Palmer Halliburton stirred no national emotion. It held no political intrigue. It had no impact on government or business. It was only the name of one of five sons of Edwin Gray Halliburton, an anonymous jack-of-all-trades, who would not live to see Erle's thirteenth birthday. Halliburton, as a name, meant virtually nothing to anyone outside of Henning, Tennessee. But Erle Halliburton was determined to change all of that.

As a young boy, Erle Halliburton showed a natural inclinaion toward mechanics, often dismantling and reassembling devices for pure recreation. While boys his age in Henning were playing with toy trucks in sand boxes, Erle was tinkering with gears and repairing simple machines. His curiosity drove him to understand how things worked. He was an excellent student, completing both elementary and high school courses over an eight-year span by age fourteen. Yet, even then, Erle Halliburton was uninterested in the idle trappings of youth. In what would become one of his trademark characteristics, he was intensely focused on higher aims.

After his father passed away in 1904, the Halliburton family was left with little money and even less opportunity. Two years later, hopelessly impoverished at age fourteen, Erle decided it was time he left home and pursued his fortunes elsewhere.

Diminutive in stature at just 5 foot 5 inches, the future of the Halliburton clan was resting on Erle's narrow shoulders, the new man of the house. But he brimmed with confidence, promising his family he would not return to Henning until he had pocketed a million dollars, a claim that no one could have taken seriously at the time. Underestimating Erle Halliburton would be a mistake that many of his contemporaries would repeat over the years, for as author and Texas historian J. Evetts Haley put it, Halliburton was "fired by the stern disciplines of hunger and want."


Alone, directionless, and penniless, Halliburton embarked on a worldwide journey that would take him from Brooklyn to Manila, working dozens of jobs as varied as driving a locomotive to selling automatic stokers. At age eighteen, he joined the U.S. Navy and received the first formal training of his young life, serving two tours and working engineering and hydraulics before leaving the service in 1915. The work suited Halliburton's mechanical mind, and he ultimately ended up in Los Angeles, running a pressure irrigation project for the Dominguez Irrigation Company, pulling down $100 a month.
After nine years of wanderlust and job-hopping, Erle Halliburton found the oil industry."...........................................

I'm tempted to add "the rest is history". I wonder whether Erle P. Halliburton would approve of what his company has become ?

Retrograditis

I may be showing symptoms of retrograditis. I spent hours glued to Ebay yesterday, chasing laptops. It's not a sport for the faint-hearted, that's for sure! I'm not widely experienced nor very skilled in the fine art of Ebaying, especially when bidding for much sought-after items. My previous purchases have been more in the category of "stuff nobody wants". This time, I ventured up-market.

In the midst of my E-bay frenzy the thought struck me that I shouldn't be playing around among laptops during Mercury retrograde. What was I thinking of? "Oh, don't worry", I told my already addicted self, " it's your mind, your flesh and blood that's affected by Mercury, not the components of a laptop (I hope!)"

He Who Knows would like to have a nice laptop for use on trips away from home, for uploading and viewing the contents of his camera. This can amount to lot, when his muse hits him. I would like to have one, a laptop and a muse - just because!

I had no idea how skilful the bidding game can be. After trying for 9 or 10 different laptops, and losing them I began to get the hang of it. You have to try to read the mind of the person or people bidding against you, especially during the last minutes of the auction. I was outbid in nearly all cases within the last 10 to 30 seconds.

I concentrated hard on what I promised would be my final attempt. I studied the list of bids carefully, made some hopefully shrewd, carefully placed bids, then hovered over the screen, without blinking, for the last 10 minutes of the auction. I set my mental antenna in what I hoped was the right direction, and I won! I will soon have a shiny new laptop which has cost me around half what its retail cost was a few months ago, and I got it for $100 less than the person who won its twin, from the same dealer half an hour earlier. After Pay-pal had ushered me back to reality, a niggling retrograde doubt crept in - again.

I was reassured by the letter appearing on Jonathan Cainer's website for today, Thursday. Someone asked him about buying a computer while Mercury is retrograde. His reply was that he considers it's not unwise at all. Phew!!

He Who Knows read this blog entry and said that he must be suffering retrograde effects too, because it has taken him four days to assemble his current blog page. Hmmmm. Take a peek (HERE) - 1001 photographs of Marilyn and her airy skirt. Regrograditis indeed! He just couldn't tear himself away!

Thinking about Thinking during Mercury Retrograde

I think Mercury retrograde has kicked in for me. I typed out a blog entry last night and saved it as a draft. When I re-read it this morning it seemed like total garbage! I deleted it, then started another post on a different topic, but was unable to make the point I was trying to make.....sigh, deleted that too.

So, heres a link to something I keep in my Favourites file and read regularly. It's especially apt for Mercury retrograde periods. It's called "Thinking about Thinking" by astrologer Jayj Jacobs.

A brief extract:

Bad thinking is bad for astrology. Bad thinking, or not thinking, is bad for everyone.

If one accepts anything without question s/he is not thinking.

If the premise is not grounded in factual or experiential reality the conclusions are meaningless. That's the classic GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. Jacobs' GOGI Corollary is: If Garbage came Out, then Garbage went In.

If the conclusions do not follow from the premises one is engaged in poor reasoning. I call that bad thinking.

If the precognitive mindset is impervious to contradictory input one is not thinking. That's prior opinions blinding one to reality.

If one thinks they know everything, and have nothing to learn, relearn or unlearn, then they have stopped thinking.

Knowledge can be divided into what you know, what you know you don't know, what you don't know you don't know, and what you know that just ain't so.

Will scientists ever say "Hmm... that's funny"?

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but...... "That's funny."

Isaac Asimov is credited with that quotation. I wonder, will there ever be a "Hmmmm.....that's funny" moment for scientists with regard to astrology?

A word which appears frequently in scientists' arguments about astrology is "artifacts". Artifacts, in the context of cognitive reasoning, are so-called fake effects (in this case astrological effects) which could have ordinary explanations. Whilst I can see how artifacts might account for some seemingly good results in pieces of astrological research, I fail to see how we can continue to be misled by them in astrology generally. Too many brilliant minds, and too many ordinary folk like me can see SOME of astrology working day by day. I check the status of my own beliefs regularly - there's a latent skeptical streak in my nature. Astrology would have been given the heave-ho by me long ago, had I sensed that there was nothing at all in it.

It seems to me that there's a parallel between what has happened regarding herbal medicine and what might happen in the future in relation to astrology. Herbs have been used as medicine, and for recreational purposes, as far back in history as it's possible to see, and almost certainly well beyond that. For example, cannabis is said to have been used in ancient middle-eastern countries, hemlock and belladonna were used as poisons in Greek and Roman times, and some believe that the holy drink of the ancient Aryans mentioned in the Vedas -- soma -- was a concoction involving ("magic"?) mushrooms. "A Brief History of Psychopharmacology"

The Foxglove plant had been used in folk medicines for centuries, some say as far back as the time of the Druids, before more recent pharmacists discovered that it contains digitalis, proven to be effective in treating some heart diseases. Similarly, the plant Feverfew, used in folk medicines, has been found to contain chemicals which do have ingredients which can produce effects observed by our ancestors, namely reducing fever or dealing with some kinds of headaches.

Whether our early ancestors came by their knowledge of the medcinal value of these plants by accident or by careful sampling, or whether specific knowledge had come to them from an unknown source, isn't recorded. We now know that there was validity in some of the ways they were using the plants. We are now able to understand the reasons why these plants proved effective, reasons which our ancestors would have been incapable of understanding or discovering.

A similar line of thought can be applied to astrology, its origins and its future. Scientists might, one day, discover an element as yet unknown, which we are as yet incapable of understanding, and this could validate at least some part of astrological discipline. Astrology continues, and will continue to be used because, as in ancient medicine, observation and experience has shown sufficient positive results to put an indelible mark upon our memory stating "it works!" And to us, it's not funny at all.

Jimmy LaFave, in concert and in his natal chart

We saw Jimmy LaFave and his band play at our local theatre at the weekend. (Photgraph above by my husband). I had never heard of this artist until recently, but he's well known in Texas and Oklahoma. Jimmy LaFave's style is known as "red dirt music" after the red soil of Oklahoma. He was born in Texas, but grew up in Okie-land and loves the state as his own.

Oklahoma has an excellent track record of producing musicians - Woody Guthrie, Leon Russell, JJ Cale, Chet Baker, Jimmy Webb, Jimmy Rushing, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Reba McEntyre, American Idol & Grammy winner Carrie Underwood, and there's a long list of others, past and present, too.

LaFave notes that Oklahoma possesses "a frontier spirit, with an Australian edge to it, you can hardly see a band in Austin without an Oklahoma musician. There's a vibe there that's not in Texas or anywhere else I've found. It's the desolation that makes Oklahoma beautiful, like the Delta before you get to New Orleans."
This and all quotes below are from an article by Dave Marsh in the Austin Chronicle

We enjoyed the concert. I commented during the interval that a lot of Jimmy's songs sound kind of sad and nostalgic, not at all the "shit-kickin'" stuff I'd expected. The musicians in his band were excellent and widely experienced. It was very good to note that Jimmy gave them all due credit, on several occasions throughout the show.

At the end of the show Jimmy sang Woody Guthrie's famous "This Land is YOUR Land, This Land is MY Land", and invited the audience to join in. I love this song - it was written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 as a protest at the state of his country at that time. One verse from the original lyrics goes:

"In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?"

Woody Guthrie was as annoyed as the Dixie Chicks are today in their song "I Ain't Ready to Make Nice". I'm not sure how many people nowadays, even in Oklahoma, realise that Woody was protesting in this song, but he was !

The first thing I did next morning was to search for Jimmy LaFave's birth data. I found it on-line - 12 July 1955, Wills Point, Texas, and quickly realised it wasn't surprising that much of his music held nostalgia and seemed a little sad and emotional.

Sun, Venus and Uranus in Cancer. Mercury in Gemini. Mars, Jupiter and Pluto in Leo. Moon probably in Aries, it was at 18* at 12 noon. Saturn in Scorpio, Neptune in Libra.

His three planets in Leo show clearly - he's at home on stage, born to be there. I was pleased to find some quotes in the Austin Chronicle article, linked above, which support the fact that he does, indeed, possess the emotional, sensitive and caring personality associated with the zodiac sign of Cancer :

"When a friend needs a boost, LaFave turns on his warmth, not necessarily charm, just plain and powerful empathy. All his friends say something similar to Bob Childers, LaFave's songwriting mentor: "Jimmy's a really sensitive guy, but he spends a whole lot of time making sure nobody knows it."

"Singing is very emotional," allows LaFave. "You get obsessed with a lot of stuff. There's a sense of loneliness you have as an artist. That's why I close my eyes when I sing, because I like to go somewhere and find that place in everybody."

"There was a haunting night at the Cactus Cafe a few years ago, when he dedicated a song to a close friend who had just suffered a genuinely tragic loss of a loved one. He sang "Emotionally Yours" as if it were his best friend who'd been killed, and he sang it not only without flaw but from deep, deep inside what the words mean. Sitting there in the dark, you could forgive yourself for thinking it was the first time anyone at all had sung those words to that melody."

It's satisfying to find that the astrology broadly fits the impression one gets of a person, even from a distance, and still better when someone else's impression can be found to support it too.

Aspects of Sunday

I'm looking for astrology in everything, including the two quite different views of Sunday, below. One is from poet Robert Hayden, the other from artist/illustrator Norman Rockwell. I see astrology in both these items. I see the aspect of opposition.

Norman Rockwell's illustration depicts opposite attitudes - Mom marches the kids off to church, they're all dressed in their best clothes, with good posture, bibles in hand. Easy-going Dad, meanwhile, still in his PJs, surrounded by the disembodied Sunday newspapers, is happy to stay home and slob around. The Aries/Libra axis or Virgo/Pisces, perhaps?

In Robert Hayden's poem I feel a Cancer/Capricorn axis. The author is feeling nostalgic, melancholy and a little regretful. His father, to me, represents clear Capricorn qualities - hard work and reliability in spite of difficulties.

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early
And put his clothes on in the blueback cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices? (by Robert Hayden)

Stereotypes and Archetypes

An article from the UK's Daily Telegraph this week raised my hackles. Under the heading "We're having a special relationship", the article purports to be about Anglo-American marriages. I have personal experience, and I propose that the way this article portrays the situation is nowhere near reality for the majority of people. It is filled with class-ridden, pretentious stereotypical nonsense. Of course, I do not live in New York, and have never lived in London. Some Americans and Britons need to be reminded that New York is not America, and London is not Britain. The writer of this article needs to be told that all, nay, hardly any Americans and Britons fit the patterns described in this misleading piece of writing. (Can you tell I didn't like it?)

The article which has irritated me so much relies heavily on stereotyping. This is common in newspapers and the media generally. Stereotyping on the basis of nationality, age, sex, class, ethnicity, and profession abounds. It's common in astrology, too, for those who haven't managed to escape from the Sun Sign mentality. A good example is the jokey list of "How many Librans, Leos, Virgos....etc. it takes to change a light bulb" - stereotyping par excellence! It's funny, as long as we keep in mind that it is a joke, not a fact.

Stereotyping provides a quick and easy thumbnail sketch of a type of person or situation - it's a kind of journalistic shorthand, which may contain a tiny grain of truth but almost always a lot of misconceptions and generalities. It saves the writer many extra words and much effort. In the process, stereotyping encourages readers and listeners to form opinions which can eventually develop into prejudice, and lead to discrimination. Stereotyping can therefore be dangerous, unless we remain aware of exactly what is going on.

In astrology proper, archetypes replace stereotypes. The existence of archetypes imprinted within the human psyche was proposed first by Carl Jung. There's a set of short pieces about Carl Jung's theories by the Zodiac Master . These are written in plain English in a style easy to understand.

The difference between archetypes and stereotypes is vast, but I believe that often they are confused. Archetypes represent the original, perfect example of any given aspect of human experience - the pattern, the template, inherently recognisable to all humans. The stereotype represents an opinion, often an over-simplification or caricature emphasising particular factors which support whatever prejudice the writer or speaker upholds.

In "Yahoo Answers" an enquirer was offered the opinion that, in a nutshell, it could be said that "An Archetype is Marilyn Monroe, a stereotype is the dumb blonde." I understand what was meant, yet it's not quite accurate, in my view. Marilyn Monroe is not the archetype, she is the icon of an archetype recognisable in the 20th century. Earlier icons could be Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, I guess. The true archetype of these women can be termed, I think, "The Temptress".

"The dumb blonde", as a stereotype was fuelled by an act Marilyn Monroe used to put on for the cameras. This stereotype has fuelled a plethora of "blonde jokes". It's fairly harmless, but if you happen to be a blonde beauty with a Ph.D in nuclear physics, you might well feel annoyed.

The image of a kind of family tree hovers in my mind now, the archetype at the top , icons through the ages on the next branches, spawning beneath them a variety of stereotypes, these in turn fuelling jokes, prejudices, bigotry etc.

It's a fascinating subject, more thoughts may follow !

Jan Morris, America, and Astrology

Jan Morris, a remarkable woman, British, historian, novelist, and traveller. She is the author of some 40 books, and has written a piece about America in The Guardian this week. A brief extract from the article is quoted below, but first a look at Jan Morris and her natal chart.

Born a male, "James", on 2 October 1926 in Clevedon, Somerset, England. In 1949 James Morris married and over the next years fathered five children. In 1972 he underwent a sex change operation in Casablanca and became Jan.

Jan Morris has led an amazingly eventful life, both before and after her transformation - see BBC profile

Her natal chart ( no time of birth available) shows a Grand Fixed Cross , involving Saturn/Mars in Scorpio/Taurus, and Jupiter/Moon in Aquarius/Leo. There's another opposition between Uranus in Pisces and Venus in Virgo. All these aspects point to challenge - fairly intense challenge too as it turned out! The chart does contain some good aspects for an author. Mercury(communication) in Libra is trine Jupiter(publishing planet) in Aquarius, and semisextile disciplined Saturn in Scorpio.

The period around her sex change operation, say between 1970 and 1974, must have been an extraordinarily difficult few years of radical transformation. Uranus conjoined her Sun, and Pluto conjoined her Venus in 1970. Pluto conjoined her Sun in 1974. It would be interesting to know her ascendant.

From her profile, it appears that Jan Morris has certainly lived a life eventful enough for two characters! On the subject of gender she has said:
"To me gender is not physical at all, but is altogether insubstantial. It is soul, perhaps, it is talent, it is taste, it is environment, it is how one feels, it is light and shade, it is inner music. . . "

This is a brief extract of her current article, which particularly appealed to me:

"The Great Republic(USA) is great still, full still of decent clever people trying to be good. Even now, it is as free as can be expected, and its democracy is fundamentally honest and robust. It laughs at itself, criticises itself and dislikes itself just as much as we do.

All it needs is someone with a key to unlock that Idea again, and I hope it will be that next president, whoever it is, even now gearing up for the election. Please God, may it be a poetic president. Inspiration has been the true engine of American success, and all its greatest presidents have been people with a divine spark. The dullards may have been efficient, respected or influential, but the Jeffersons and the Roosevelts, the Lincolns and the Kennedys have all been, in their different ways, artists.

So may it be a president with the key of original inspiration who can release the Idea from its occlusion. All the ingredients are still there, after all - the kindness, the imagination, the merriment, the will, the talent, the energy, the goddam orneriness, the plain goodness - all there waiting to burst out once more and bring us back our America, blessed and blessing too. "

Blog-slimming with Mercury Retro

Back to the subject of Mercury and communication. Mercury is now moving in what astrologers call retrograde motion. A period of review and revision is advocated during such times. Casting a critical eye over the current layout of my bloggy communication, I decided that a spot of revision could be beneficial.

Chewing over possible improvements, I undertook a little research, to discover what might be the optimum length for a line of text, if it is to be easily read and understood. After visiting lots of different blogs, assessing my own feeling on the matter, I looked for opinions from experts.

I had quickly realised that a wide column of text is difficult to read on-screen, no matter how big and clear the font. This is probably due to continuous head-swivel, needed to take in the whole screen, I found that it's irritating to swivel and land on the wrong line. A narrow format is much easier to read. Some people probably prefer to use this style in order to allow plenty of space for advertisements, but seems there's much more to it !

Expert opinion confirms my own findings, and advises that a line of text ought never to exceed 65 characters (including spaces), and that 38 to 50 characters is probably the best line length for easy reading on-screen.

A quick count across my blog lines revealed that some slimming down and toning up would be desirable. But is slim and toned always best? A little voluptuousness is often acceptable. My blog is in no way obese. Plump, chubby, well-fed, perhaps. Do I want a waifish Audrey Hepburn-type blog, or should I retain the Marilyn Monroe look? Perhaps the middle way would be best, if it can be achieved.

I managed, after much exercise, to slim down to a rather more structured look, as an alternative to a change of template. Does my blog look big in this, I wonder ?

It's THAT day again !

St.Valentine's Day is here again. It has become ever more commercialised over the years. Many consider it spoiled, or pointless. Yet it IS something which binds us together. People in many parts of the world understand the significance of a Valentine. However commercial and trite some aspects of this day might seem, it's basically all about love and good feelings....that can never be bad. So, although I won't join in the commercialism of the day, I'll offer the following song lyrics as my Valentine to all Astrologers, Astrology Bloggers, any stray reader(s) who happen by my blog today, and for Al Gore, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Maher. Y'all help to keep me sane in this mad, mad world!

"You Raise Me Up"

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

(lyrics by Brendan Graham)

How Mercury Shows !

Mercury is in the news this week, so I offer here my recent real-life experience of how Mercury in one's chart really does show, retrograde or not.

Chatting with He Who Knows last weekend about writing in general, and finding subjects to write about, he suddenly said "This window is dirty".

Somewhat taken aback by such sudden interest in household cleaning I gawped, jaw dropping.

"No", he grinned - "Write about it. Write about those four words".

"Write about a dirty window?"

"Yes, I did it once, a long time ago, to give myself a challenge. Just write whatever comes into your mind on the subject."

"Alright", I said, feeling uninspired, not to mention suspicious as to whether this was a subtle hint for me to get outside and swing the washleather over our windows.

Later, I did scribble down a few lines on the subject matter I'd been challenged with, then I demanded to see his efforts, composed some years earlier.

All of this IS leading to an astrological point. My effort, via my Mercury in Capricorn and his via Mercury in Pisces so typified those two signs that I had to laugh out loud.
To copy both pieces here would tax any passing reader's attention span to the limit. An extract from the lengthy sample written by He Who Knows will suffice, with my own, very brief, effort in full. The difference will be only too apparent! ( I had not seen his version until after I'd written my own, by the way.)

My version (Mercury in Capricorn- Economical, factual, practical, with an eye to work and business.)

"This window is dirty!"
"Of course it is. In Oklahoma there are no window cleaners, and I don't do windows! In England, window-cleaning is a profession. Many a would-be entrepreneur started out with just a ladder, a bucket, a cloth and a van. It's an enterprise I would commend to the young unemployed of Oklahoma. There are dirty windows galore, all over the state. Any likely lad, or lass, could be well on their way to their first million dollars within six months, with or without a ladder!"
***************************************

Extract from the longer version written by He Who Knows (Mercury in Pisces - What can I say? Imaginative, sensitive, understanding......Pisces! )

"This window is dirty," Chessie says out loud. It is just a diversion though, just a deliberate vacation from her usual mental employment. She had been thinking about other things.
On the other side of the smudgy glass, November is trying its best to perform a pretty sunset upstage from the colorless props on the residential back street. Orange rays strain through the bare gray limbs of the trees that edge a street of forty-year-old two story homes.
Chessie stands, arms tightly folded across her print dress, staring through the window at an empty spot at the curb. Morgan always parks his car in that spot.

She sighs and closes her eyes. When she opens them again she is looking down at the flowerbed in front of the window. "I think I’ll water the flowers," she says, knowing at once that she will not. The unusually mild November weather had encouraged the mums and pansies to bloom in abundance. But the watering thought was just another mental vacation from a habitual hard labor of thinking about Morgan.

She shivers a bit. It is warm in her room but looking out at the expiring November day gave her a chill. Her clear-nailed fingers flutter and drum-roll where they clutch her arms just below the short sleeve cuffs of her dress. She turns and walks to a chrome and vinyl chair, which was earlier turned out from the almost-matching dining table. She whirls and sits, knees and ankles together, arms still folded. Again a deep breath, again a long sigh. The ruffle-trimmed bodice of the dress tugs at the high neckline for more slack. Her thumbs flick in unison at the starch-white trim on the sleeves.

"He is an hour late," she says to the rose papered walls of the room, reflecting an exaggerated thought. Actually he is not late at all, she admits behind a pouting lip. "If he cared as much for me as he says, he would have been here long before this," she says, and that seems to make it all sensible. Actually she knows that if he arrived right now he would, in reality, be a bit early. And Morgan would never do that.

She might have felt some reassurance by reminding herself that he was always prompt, but then, he never was. He was always late. He was always really late. She scolds herself again for just accepting his poor punctuality after more than thirty dates, for just acclimating to his sliding schedule. His unfailing tardiness stole a bit of femininity from her. She couldn’t be late herself. No matter how slowly she prepared for one of their dates, she was always ready earlier than Morgan. "I don’t deserve this. I deserve better."

And with that quiet admission, that small thought, back in a corner studio in her mind a new version of her world begins to form. Like a drop of raw umber watercolor falling soundlessly on wet handmade paper, the thought spreads indiscriminately in all directions. Slowly, surely, softly the color spreads, claiming the gentle texture of the paper, integrating with the fibers, the earthy color blending with the white expanse" ( There's a lot more).

As for the astrology - I rest my case!

A Keyhole in the Door to the Future

Surveying a small collection of links gathered over the weekend, saved to a Favourites file, a common thread leapt out. This was blogging serendipity - a new post, there for the taking! Happy happenstance. Three quite unconnected pieces share a theme, all are looking through a keyhole in the door to the future.

Read HERE about a possible new wave of regional devolution, the creation of Nation States within what is now the USA. (I've been saying much the same thing to He Who Knows since I first arrived here. A person from Itzy Bitzy Britain can see a problem here at once!) (ASTROLOGY - Pluto in Capricorn transforming the status quo?)
Now read THIS ARTICLE about an Arctic "doomsday vault" being installed. Its aim is to provide mankind with food in case of a global catastrophe(ASTROLOGY: Saturn in Virgo - getting organised?)

Finally, share with Ed Weiland at WEGADS, his view of how the future could, and surely will, one day evolve. His Rhyme on Rhyme on Rhyme for 9 February is entitled
"TWINKLE, TWINKL...TWINK...TWIN...TWI...?????"
(ASTROLOGY: This looks far into the future (I hope!) Pluto in Pisces - end of the line, complete transformation and starting over?)

*************************************
On a rather different subject -I read that Jonathan Cainer has announced that his Psychic Museum will be closed for 2007, though the building will be used by a different company during the coming season. The museum has not been as successful as its founders had hoped. Predictably, newspaper reporters, and the usual suspects on-line, have jumped onto the same old bandwagon to ridicule Mr. Cainer's remark that he will not predict when the museum might re-open.

I'd like to say that we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the museum in 2004, and I find it sad that such a fresh and futuristic idea didn't attract more attention. We wish Mr Cainer better fortune with similar endeavours in the future.

Sunday's Song and Alternative Zodiac Definitions

I wonder what advice astrologers might give to a lad or lass singing the following heartfelt ditty?
Here's my advice: (wink)
"Stop all that partying on Saturday nights, study astrology instead - then you'll know what to look for. Alternatively, buy a dog!"

A SUNDAY KIND OF LOVE

I want a Sunday Kind of Love.

A love to last, past Saturday night.

I'd like to know that it's more than love at first sight.

I need a Sunday Kind of Love.

Oh yeah, I need a love that's on the square.

Can't seem to find that somebody, someone to care.

I'm on a lonely road that leads me nowhere.

I need a Sunday kind of love.

I do my Sunday dreaming, oh yeah all my Sunday scheming.

Every minute, every hour, every day

Oh I'm hoping to discover that certain kind of lover

Who will show me the way.

My arms need someone to enfold

Keeping me warm when Monday's and Tuesday's grow cold.

Love for all my life to have and to hold.

Oh I want a Sunday kind of love.

(Words & Music by Barbara Belle, Louis Prima, Anita Leonard & Stan Rhodes Recorded by Etta James, Jo Stafford and others in the past, by Reba McEntire, Renee Olstead, and Christina Aguilera more recently.)

*************************************************************

I chuckled over these alternative definitions of zodiac signs written by Dennis, The Rambling Man.

Here's a taster - for Capricorn and Aquarius

The old…
December 22 to January 20…Capricorn
The new…
December 22 to January 20…Lava Lamp…Those born under the sign of the Lava Lamp can be as mysterious as they are persnickety. They seldom understand simple instructions and will expend more energy to get out of doing something than it would have taken to do it in the first place. This is, of course, why most Lava Lamps work for the government.

The old…
January 21 to February 19…Aquarius
The new…
January 21 to February 19…Scissors…Those born under the sign of Scissors have an innate fear of rock, but are fearless and unbeatable in the presence of paper. Because of the obvious danger involved, experienced marathon participants are not foolish enough to run with Scissors. Even with all this going for them they are not particularly sharp and there is no point to their existence.

Blogging along the cycles of time

Time, age and astrology are closely linked , of course. We live our lives against the "wallpaper" of planetary cycles - Jupiter's of 12 years, Saturn's of 29, and that of Uranus, nearest of all to current average life expectancy, 84 years. As one who is well along the cycle of cycles, I've often wondered whether many others in my age group have stumbled into blogworld.

I recently found a blog called "Don to Earth" written by a gentleman who is aged 93. It's a really good read, I recommend it. I was pleased to find, via links on Don's blog, that there are more bloggers from the older generations than I had envisioned. "The Ageless Project" (button on right) lists some of the older, as well as many younger, personal blog owners .

While wandering among some of the elder bloggers' sites I was particularly impressed by headers on two of them. The blog owners had constructed banner type headers showing small photographs of themselves from childhood to maturity. It's a nice idea. I've tried, with the help of He Who Knows, to cobble together something along similar lines to display narcissistically below.

From left to right, top to bottom, dates of the smaller photos are: 1939, 1943, 1948, 1953, 1957, 1970, 1980, 1998, 2004. The bigger pic, right, was taken Christmas Day 2006, the photo in my profile at Thanksgiving 2006. So it's Uranus in Taurus to Uranus in Pisces, and dawn to Twilight - in one fell swoop!



Groucho Marx said, "Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough." He was right, but I do find it interesting to see how people develop. I found a fascinating site called "The Arrow of Time". On a certain date each year, from 1976 to 2006, this family made a point of taking and saving a photograph of each of them. The record is there to see. It's a great idea, and interesting to see how each has changed over the period of 30 years.

"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance."
(Yoko Ono, Season of Glass)

Very Short Stories

I happened upon a list of "Very Short Stories" ,science fiction style, in a past edition of a blog called "Wired" .
The blog entry opened thus: "We'll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves"

Here are a few examples from the long list on the 'Wired' site

Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.- Richard Powers

The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.- Orson Scott Card

TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!! … nobody there …- Harry Harrison

Tick tock tick tock tick tick.- Neal Stephenson

Easy. Just touch the match to- Ursula K. Le Guin

Heaven falls. Details at eleven.- Robert Jordan

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.- William Gibson

This idea reminded me of a magazine competiton my Dad used to enter regularly many years ago. The magazine would print a selection of phrases , competitors had to pick one (or more) and compose another phrase which expressed a clever definition or interpretation of the original phrase, ususally with double meaning.
One famous example, which has remained in my memory, was:
" For services rendered" (the phrase given). Winning entry was "King pinned on cross" (think about it!)

Both these endeavours required extreme economy of words with ingenuity of thought. Summed up astrologically could this be be expressed as
Saturn conjunct Mercury in Aquarius ?...... A 5-word story about a 6-word story!
(Had to get astrology in there somewhere!)

The Astronaut and Astrology's Red Flag

From Bloomberg.com

"Feb. 7 -- NASA announced plans to review how it evaluates astronauts' mental states, a day after one of its crew members was charged with trying to kill a romantic rival.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will review how it screens spaceflight candidates and examine whether crew members should be evaluated during their careers, Deputy Administrator Shana Dale said today at a press conference in Washington. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin ordered the change, Dale said.

Shuttle astronaut Lisa Nowak, 43, was charged yesterday in Florida with attempted murder. Police in Orlando say Nowak drove about 900 miles, wearing diapers to minimize bathroom breaks, to kidnap and kill a woman she thought was a rival for another astronaut's affection."

This story has elements ripe for comedians to pounce on, but Ms Nowak has ruined her career and reputation and probably her family too. She may be in need of psychiatric assistance, or maybe not. But either way, it's not very funny.

Lisa Nowak was born on 10 May 1963 in Washington DC. She is married with three children.

According to my software, her Sun at 19* Taurus is natally tightly squared by Mars at 19* Leo and by Saturn at 22* Aquarius. Transiting Saturn at 21* Leo is now close to her natal Mars and opposes her natal Saturn at 22* Aquarius. (Neptune at 14* Scorpio in her natal chart opposes the Sun, completing a Fixed Grand Cross . )

Transiting Pluto is currently conjunct her vertex.
A recipe for trouble if ever I saw one, and a big flag waving, alerting me that astrology is showing !

Translation of "The Vicar of Dibley"?

There is to be an American version of "The Vicar of Dibley".
Shock, horror!! How could they? How can they? Why need they?

Kirstie Alley will play Dawn French's part and will be Minister of Divine rather than Vicar of Dibley. "The Vicar of Dibley" is already shown on our cable network here in the US, at 11.30pm of a Sunday night - a time slot not for the faint-hearted. It'll be interesting to watch how the American version pans out. I wish they'd chosen Ellen DeGeneris for the part though, I can see how that might have succeeded.

The Vicar of Dibley relies on its cast of very typically English country folk for its humour as much as on the female vicar. I'm not sure that it'll be possible to portray a group of comparable characters who will appear funny to ALL Americans, beause America is so diverse. Perhaps Richard Curtis will be able to manage it.

In order to bring a whisper of astrology into my bloggy whinge I sought out birth data for Dawn French and Kirstie Alley. There's no reason why there should be any similarity between them, though.

Dawn French was born 11 October 1957, Holyhead, Anglesey, UK.
Kirstie Alley 12 January 1951, Wichita, Kansas, USA.

Dawn French has a stellium in Libra (Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Sun) which sextiles Uranus in Leo. Kirstie Alley's Jupiter in Pisces exactly trines her Uranus in Cancer

Those harmonious aspects Jupiter/Uranus are the only similarity I could spot without benefit of birth times. This minor similarity probably has to do with humour - Jupiter/Uranus - the jovial and the unexpected (or even shocking). I can well imagine that some of the affectionate irreverence of "The Vicar of Dibley" might appear shocking to many viewers in America's Bible Belt.

I wish they hadn't chosen this one to translate into American, but that's globalisation for ya !

Positive Thinking about The Future

I received Bill Herbst's February newsletter yesterday, I've found that his work is always very informative and well worth reading. By the time I reached the end of this one, however, I felt depressed. Even more so, because Mr Herbst's conclusions about the coming years match, broadly, those of other astrologers such as E. Alan Meece in his book "Horoscope for the New Millennium", which I mentioned in a blog dated 21 November 2006. In addition, I instinctively feel that Pluto's transit through Capricorn will be stressful for Earth and its inhabitants, and am guilty myself of having said as much.

Is there no alternative to the gloomy forecasts and feelings, though? Mr. Herbst points out that these coming times, before and after 2010, will offer a long-needed chance for us to right our wrongs and clean up our messes. But isn't there something even more hopeful ? Isn't there another view of the whole scenario? Could it be like one of those optical illusion illustrations(above) which contain two quite different pictures, if you adjust your mind sufficiently to see them both? (In the above example you can see either the head of an old woman or that of a young, elegant woman.)

Maybe there are alternative interpretations of coming planetary configurations. We can't be sure that because similar configurations in the past resulted in dark outcomes, that comparable scenarios will happen again. Other elements have changed in the intervening period, external elements, unconnected with astrology, but connected with the way man lives, thinks, and deals with events. Any time Uranus is involved in a configuration, as in this case, can any astrologer be sure of his forecast? The future could have in store something as yet indescribable, and impossible for us to understand, let alone to foresee.

In any case, a little positive thinking can't hurt! If we accept without question that the years around 2010 are going to be terribly difficult and calamitous, ecologically and economically, maybe that's what WILL happen. Some say that the communal mind is a powerful entity. Some say , as in cosmic ordering, or creative visualisation, that we can attract towards us what we hold in our mind's eye. If there is any chance at all that this is true, ought we not to be holding a brighter vision of the coming years in our minds? I'm addressing myself here, too, I hasten to add!

I'm not naive enough to think that the communal mind could hold back the power of nature and the elements. It might, though, have strength enough to ensure the move into key positions of those individuals who would deal with challenging situations in the best possible way. Individuals with the insight and compassion to rescue from disaster the seeds of a new and better world. With the wrong people in places of power, should the worst happen, I can well imagine that current gloomy forecasts of astrologers would seem very mild compared to the reality !

A lot of positive thinking could do a temendous amount of good.

The Prince of Wales and the British Throne

I've noticed a few predictions recently relating to the heir to the British throne.
The most recent, from astrologer Andrew J. Bevan states that it's likely Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, will shortly renounce his claim to the throne in favour of his elder son Prince William. The astrologer surmises that if this does not occur in the near future, then an announcement is still likely before the end of the year. I recall some discussion along similar lines in Noel Tyl's forum, and elsewhere, in recent months.

I recall that, way back in the 1950s and 60s when Prince Charles was young, astrologers or psychics were predicting that he "would never be king". Such predictions have surfaced from time to time, ever since. It'll be very interesting to see whether these long-standing predictions will come true. If they are ever to do so, then the next year or two is a likely time, bearing in mind the Queen's age, Prince Charles' marriage, and the fact that Prince William is approaching an age when it would be reasonable for him to take on the responsibility.

"Pleasant Valley Sunday"

Is it going to be a Sunday habit to feature a song with Sunday in the title? Probably not, but here's another one.

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" was sung by the Monkees on their album "Pisces Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd." - how could I not feature this one, but was it really as long ago as 1967 ? 'Fraid so.

The album title reflects the band members' Sun signs, and because Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones share the same birthday (not year), "Jones" was added to the title - both have Capricorn Suns. Micky Dolenz is the Pisces and Peter Tork the Aquarian Sun.

The song was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin (above right), both have Sun in Aquarius. Carol King born 9 February 1942, Gerry Goffin 11 February 1939, both in New York. They married as teenagers, but divorced after about 10 years. Sun and Mercury in Aquarius is their main similarity, but her Moon in Sagittarius is conjunct his Mars. Surprisingly, Carole King has no planets in Water signs, she has three planets each in Aquarius and Taurus, squaring each other. According to Astrotheme she has a Libra ascendant. Gerry Goffin supplies the Watery element with Scorpio Moon, Jupiter in Pisces and Pluto (just) in Cancer, this helps supply emotional pull in their songs, no doubt. Together, this couple wrote over 100 chart hits.

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" does have an Aquarian flavour. Dislike of status symbol mentality is typical of Water Bearers - I can vouch for that!

PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY

The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care

See Mrs. Gray she's proud today because her roses are in bloom
Mr. Green hes so serene, hes got a TV in every room

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just dont understand

Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another pleasant valley sunday
Here in status symbol land .

Blog Writing with Astrology and "He-Who-Knows"

I occasionally feel the need to stand back and wonder whether polluting cyber space with the assorted ramblings of a cross-section of humanity is a good thing. Is it cyber-graffiti ?
Perhaps it is, but some graffiti displays evidence of true talent, as does the work of many bloggers.

Astrology Bloggers, of course, work within a more defined ambit than the average writer of a journal-type blog. As well as aiming to write interestingly and regularly, Astrology Bloggers must search the skies, or history, or the current scene for items appropriate to astrological comment. Some might say that to have a specific focus is an advantage. The average blogger, with a plethora of material to choose from, has no "hook" upon which to hang it.

All good bloggers aim to write grammatically and develop a personal style. Some, less confident souls, can find hints and wrinkles from instructions to be found in blogs of "Those Who Know". Even someone who writes like an angel will still need basic computer skills to enter blogland - technophobes need not apply! So, all in all, bloggers are a talented, multi-tasking and courageous breed who lay bare their thoughts for the world to ignore, approve, or challenge.

Any hint of stylish writing I ever possessed was squeezed out by the need to write official legalese in the civil service for most of my career. When feeling doubtful about a piece, I'll have a trial run, reading it aloud to the husband. He will helpfully pretend to be one of "Those Who Know" and mischievously interrupt my reading with comments such as "That's a cliche - try to invent something new!"... "Too many words!" .... "You've said "I" again - you need to take yourself out of it", all the time positioning himself well out of range of my flying notebook.

I sigh, and respond with some petulance, "But this is MY blog, "I" have to be in it, and I LIKE cliches - they get right to the spleen of what I want to say!"

He, looking puzzled, "Don't you mean the heart of what you want to say?".

"No - it's a cliche!", I reply, sulking.

It's a good thing, in some ways, that "He Who Knows" doesn't know about astrology, otherwise my notebook would be in flight all the time.

Like graffiti, I suspect that blogging will be with us always. I'm glad.

Cheatin' Hearts Beware!

I found an interesting piece yesterday, called "A Genetic Test for the Likelihood of Cheating?" It's in a blog entitled "Love, Honor and Dismay"
here (dated 31 January 2007).
It's is not an astrology blog, the author has a background in psychology.

If the test results featured can be relied upon (some of those who left comments doubted this) how interesting it would be to check the birth charts of those tested ! Would a common astrological indicator show up in the charts of those people who carry the gene or configuration said to indicate a predisposition to cheat on their partner ?

Perhaps one day astrologers will be invited to take part in such investigations. (Well, I can dream can't I?)

Al Gore nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

I make no apology if this blog sometimes seems like "The Al Gore Show" - he deserves all the accolades and honours anyone can give him, humble bloggers included.

Is Pluto starting to have an effect? As I said in my blog post on 17 January:

"Perhaps I'm being optimistic and simplistic, but consider this -Al Gore's natal Jupiter is at 28 Sagittarius. Transiting Pluto will join it there between February and May this year and again in December, also from August to October '08, just before the election. It will still be within a degree of exact conjunction at the '08 election date. Transiting Jupiter will join transiting Pluto at Gore's natal Jupiter in mid-December 07 too. Quite a lot going on!"

LOOK!
Norwegian lawmakers have nominated Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize .
"A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference," Conservative Member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told The Associated Press.
Brende said he joined political opponent Heidi Soerensen, of the Socialist Left Party, to nominate Gore as well as Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier before the nomination deadline expired Thursday.
"Al Gore, like no other, has put climate change on the agenda. Gore uses his position to get politicians to understand, while Sheila (Watt-Cloutier) works from the ground up," Brende said.
During eight years as Bill Clinton's vice president, Gore pushed for climate measures, including for the Kyoto Treaty, and after leaving office in 2001 has campaigned worldwide, especially with his Oscar-nominated documentary on climate change called "An Inconvenient Truth.""
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/01/europe/EU-GEN-Norway-Nobel-Gore.php

PS - An excellent article on the astrology of global warming can be found at
Astrotabletalk , 2 February 07.