Born 5 Feb: Adlai Stevenson & William S Burroughs ~ Similarly Different

Two men born on this day, 5 February, early in the 20th century:
Adlai Stevenson (1900) and William S. Burroughs (1914). So different were this pair of Sun Aquarius-types, yet with a few similarities which must be acknowledged.

I'm not going to dive into full bios or extensive chart interpretation, just a few lines on each and my view on the astrology which painted these two men in such different shades of the same colour.

Adlai Ewing Stevenson, born 5 February, 1900 in Los Angeles, California. He was a member of a famous Illinois political family, became a political leader and diplomat who helped found the United Nations, where he served as chief U.S. delegate (1961–65); mainly remembered as the eloquent, witty, stylish but unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1952 and 1956. Noted for his intellectual demeanor, and promotion of liberal causes in the Democratic Party. Republicans and some working-class Democrats ridiculed what they perceived as his indecisive, aristocratic air. He died July 14, 1965.

Quotes of Adlai Stevenson

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.

William Seward Burroughs born on February 5, 1914 in St Louis, Missouri into a prominent and wealthy family. Burroughs was a novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and counterculture. He is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th century". After being turned down by the Office of Strategic Services and U.S. Navy in 1942 to serve in World War II, he picked up the drug addiction that affected him for the rest of his life.

Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as a heroin addict. Drugs, homosexuality and death are common ingredients in his novels and stories. Due to the repressive context where he grew up, and from which he fled, he kept his sexual orientation concealed well into adulthood. His novel Naked Lunch, published in 1959, brought him international notoriety. The novel was prosecuted as obscene in some American states.

Burroughs died on August 2, 1997.

A quote of W.S. Burroughs

I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.

Adlai Stevenson born on 5 February 1900 in Los Angeles, California at 11.55 AM (Astro.com)

William S. Burroughs born on February 5, 1914 in St Louis, Missouri at 7.40 AM (Astro.com)

Even standing far back, a passing glance at the shapes made by planetary positions in the two natal charts indicates that Burroughs will be a wee bit more...strange, a more out of the ordinary character than Stevenson. Inching a little closer, using astrological Elements (my favourite reliable "go -to") we see that while Stevenson has a nice mix: planets and ascendant spreading through Air, Earth, Water and Fire, Burroughs has planets and ascendant in Air and Water only - not "grounded" and tending towards a certain coldness of attitude.

Taking a few more steps forward, and there's no getting away from the fact that these two men were both seriously intellectually gifted - Aquarius Sun and planets working well! Both also had Gemini input. The owners of these charts would be highly likely to turn out as communicators, of one sort or another!

Look to their natal Sun's rulers, modern and traditional: Uranus and Saturn - Stevenson's Uranus sextiles his Aquarius stellium (cluster) from warm, philosophical Sagittarius; Saturn lay in its other sign of rulership, Capricorn, in trine to Stevenson's natal Taurus Moon - his Earthy grounding. In Burroughs' chart Uranus is hooked up within that Aquarius multi-cluster of personal planets, while Saturn conjoins his natal Moon in Gemini - Air and even more Air ...and yet more Air comes via his Aquarius ascendant!

Their similarities come from a common ability to communicate, albeit in wildly different flavours to a largely different audience. Both men, from their words quoted above, had similar feelings about being different and not universally popular - not one of the crowd.

Putting the charts under closer scrutiny, several other significant differences and similarities would become apparent.

There's a rather odd commonality too that's worth a mention, but it's of no astrological significance that I can see. I noticed this from their Wikipedia biographies: both men accidentally killed another person:

Stevenson, on December 30, 1912, at the age of twelve, accidentally killed Ruth Merwin, a 16-year-old friend, while demonstrating drill technique with a rifle, inadvertently left loaded, during a party at the Stevenson home. Stevenson was devastated by the accident and rarely referred to it as an adult.

Burroughs accidentally killed his second wife, Joan Vollmer, in 1951 in Mexico City, and was consequently convicted of manslaughter. In the introduction to Queer, a novel written in 1952 but not published until 1985, Burroughs states, "I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would have never become a writer but for Joan's death ... [S]o the death of Joan brought me into contact with the invader, the Ugly Spirit, and maneuvered me into a lifelong struggle, in which I had no choice except to write my way out".

AQUARIUS PRO & CON (Progressive & Conservative)

We don't have to look far to see how unwise it is to expect people born with Sun in the same sign to have similar natures and outlooks on life. Aquarius may well lead the field of 12 when it comes to such differences, though Libra and Gemini come close in my experience. Perhaps it's due to their Airy Suns. Air is never static, even in the case of Fixed Air Aquarius.

Aquarius is usually represented by a human figure pouring water from an urn - symbolic of the circulation of ideas, pouring knowledge into the world at large. (I am womanfully trying to stifle my cynicism here; I know what's coming next!)

What brought me to these thoughts was the realisation that Sarah Palin and Glen Beck, described by one wag as "lipstick and dipstick" both have natal Sun in Aquarius, born a day apart - 10 and 11 February 1964. They might well have similarities one to another, but there IS another Sun Aquarian type, exemplified by Franklin D. Roosevelt (30 Jan. 1882), Adlai Stevenson (5 Feb. 1900), or Abraham Lincoln (12 Feb 1809).









Those men represent the way Aquarius presented in past centuries, however. Question: Are Palin and Beck representative of today's version of Aquarius, due to different positions of outer planets decade to decade, century to century? Especially bearing in mind that outer planet Uranus is Aquarius' modern ruler? Not really. Keith Olbermann (27 Jan.1959) and Glen Beck, though in the same business, broadly same age group, doing essentially the same job are almost the direct opposites in attitude and demeanour.

Although astrology links Aquarius to social reform and humanitarianism, and one road to these is politics, not all Sun Aquarians think alike as to how to bring about reforms and improvements. Take Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney, US Chief Justice John Roberts - all VERY conservative in outlook - all would run screaming from the very idea of even the mildest, European form of democratic socialism, which I (also Sun Aquarius) see as being the best way to create a just and fair society and world.



Ayn Rand (2 Feb.1905) and Bertolt Brecht (10 Feb 1898), both writers, both politically inclined, one extreme right the other extreme left - opposite sides of the political divide.

Perhaps the best way to safely describe Aquarius Sun people is to say that many, or most have a inclination towards politics. My Pollyanna-ish idea, formed years ago, that Aquarius Sun people are always going to think as I do is wrong, wrong, wrong!

Another factor which could be in play here is that Aquarius has co-rulers: Saturn and Uranus. Saturn traditionally ruled the sign, before the discovery of Uranus. That these two planets stand for opposite ideas is significant. Saturn = conservative, status quo, authoritarianism, Uranus = forward thinking and change. Two other zodiac signs have co-rulers: Pisces has Jupiter/Neptune; Scorpio has Mars/Pluto. They do not suffer from the clash of opposites as does Aquarius. This could be a symbolic key to it all.....or not.

Dissecting natal charts of all those named in this post might present us with "evidence" for their variations in character and outlook, based on Moon sign, ascendant and other placements. But some fundamental differences lie not in the stars but in education, environment, experience and family background. Sun sign is just one component in a natal chart, astrology is just one component in the structure of character and personality.