The Eminently Quotable Alan Moore

During a search for something to post for Memorial Day later this weekend, I read again some quotes from Watchmen, Alan Moore's comic book, aka graphic novel - a term he dislikes. What an excellent writer Mr Moore is! He has a passionate intensity of style, at the same time he manages to be both poetic and mystical. The combination must spring from a certain mix of facets within his personality; Wikipedia tells that he is occultist, ceremonial magician, and anarchist.

Take these brief quotes, for instance:

“Born from oblivion; bear children, hell-bound as ourselves; go into oblivion. There is nothing else. Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It's us. Only us.”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen

“There is no future. There is no past. Do you see? Time is simultaneous, an intricately structured jewel that humans insist on viewing one edge at a time, when the whole design is visible in every facet.”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen.

I've never read a novel in comic book form, am not even sure I could, but I'd give a straightforward novel by Alan Moore a whirl without a second thought. Happily he's writing one, it's to be titled Jerusalem, and will be one of those huge doorstop-type books, maybe even longer than Dune or Les Miserables, it has taken him years to finish, according to one interview he began writing it in 2006.

Mr Moore has told interviewers that he eschews computers, all of their spawn, and most TV. He's something of a recluse, but does come out occasionally to share his thoughts. He is an interesting subject for astrological investigation. I've looked at his natal chart before, when writing about V for Vendetta, another of his creations. An article in The UK's Observer newspaper from 2009 by Vanessa Thorpe describes Alan Moore in this way:

Standing more than six feet tall, Moore has the flashing eyes and floating hair of the malign presence in Coleridge's Kubla Khan. An unsung British creative giant he looks more like a shadowy character from one of his own cult comics than a mighty creator of worlds. He wears silver, scorpion rings, has a penchant for magic, tarot cards and erotica and is rumoured to worship a Roman snake god.

Oh my!

He was born on 18 November 1953 in Northampton, England. Natal Sun was in the sign of Scorpio - sign of dark secrets, erotic yearnings, death, and things subversive. A 12 noon version of his chart is below. I can find no indication online of his time of birth. Ascendant and Moon degree will not be accurate, as shown. Moon would be somewhere between mid- and late-Aries.

Mr Moore has not only natal Sun in Scorpio, but also Mercury, Venus and Saturn... Scorpio x 4! Is he text-book Scorpio, through and through? He has no planet in an Earth sign, so there's not a lot to anchor him from his Scorpionic dark and passionate imaginings. Scorpio's modern ruler, Pluto, lies in Leo and in square (challenging) aspect to his Sun. This might indicate that though Pluto in Leo would, in most cases be happy to seek the spotlight and shine therein, Moore remains something of a recluse.

I notice a "chain" of related degrees here, degrees in the mid 20 degrees:
Sun 25 Scorpio ~ Neptune 24 Libra ~ Pluto 25 Leo ~ Uranus 22 Cancer ~ Jupiter 24 Gemini ~ and possibly Moon too in the mid-20 degrees of Aries. Links in the chain alternate between helpful and unhelpful - but all mesh and integrate, bringing a kind of balance - never a bad thing. Traits included: essence of self/creativity/darkness of style/things unexpected or futuristic/philosophy/publication/ inner dynamism and drive.

Alan Moore, author of V For Vendetta

Pondering upon the Occupy movement and the 99% led me to recall the movie V for Vendetta. We saw it at the time it was released several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

"In fact, let us not mince words… the management is terrible! We’ve had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars, and lunatics making a string of catastrophic decisions. This is plain fact. But who elected them? It was you! You who appointed these people! You who gave them the power to make decisions for you! While I’ll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go on making the same lethal errors century after century seems to me to be nothing short of deliberate. You have encouraged these malicious incompetents, who have made your working life a shambles. You have accepted without question their senseless orders. You have allowed them to fill your workplace with dangerous and unproven machines. All you had to say was “No.” You have no spine. You have no pride. You are no longer an asset to the company."

“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea... and ideas are bulletproof.” ― Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

Back then I was ignorant of the story's author, now I'm a little wiser.

The tale originated as a ten-issue comic book series writen by Englishman Alan Moore, with most illustrations by David Lloyd. Alan Moore has written many other graphic novels, including Watchmen (also made into a movie) and the mystical, magical, esoteric Promethea. The term graphic novel doesn't meet with Mr Moore's approval:

“That pompous phrase (graphic novel) was thought up by some idiot in the marketing department of DC. I prefer to call them Big Expensive Comics.”

As passing readers will possibly recall, V for Vendetta is set in London, England, in a dystopian future. The author didn't manage to set it quite far enough into the future - science fiction writers have seldom managed to clear this difficult hurdle, but it matters little to most audiences. In a nutshell (words of Wiki ) the story goes that a mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government, profoundly affecting the people he encounters.

“Since mankind's dawn, a handful of oppressors have accepted the responsibility over our lives that we should have accepted for ourselves. By doing so, they took our power. By doing nothing, we gave it away. We've seen where their way leads, through camps and wars, towards the slaughterhouse.”
― Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

Alan Moore's an interesting subject for astrological investigation. He was born on 18 November 1953 in Northampton, England. Before I even glance at his natal chart, I know that natal Sun was in the sign of Scorpio - sign of dark secrets, erotic yearnings, death, and things subversive. An article in The UK's Observer newspaper from 2009 an by Vanessa Thorpe describes Alan Moore in this way:

Standing more than six feet tall, Moore has the flashing eyes and floating hair of the malign presence in Coleridge's Kubla Khan. An unsung British creative giant he looks more like a shadowy character from one of his own cult comics than a mighty creator of worlds. He wears silver, scorpion rings, has a penchant for magic, tarot cards and erotica and is rumoured to worship a Roman snake god.

Oh my!

I'll take a look at a 12 noon version of his chart. I can find no indication online of his time of birth. Ascendant and Moon degree will not be accurate, as shown. Moon would be somewhere between mid- and late-Aries.







Mr Moore has not only natal Sun in Scorpio, but also Mercury, Venus and Saturn... Scorpio x 4! Is he text-book Scorpio, through and through? Well now - he has no planet in an Earth sign, so there's not a lot to anchor him from his Scorpionic dark and passionate imaginings. Scorpio's modern ruler, Pluto, lies in Leo and in square (challenging) aspect to his Sun. This might indicate that though Pluto in Leo would, in most cases be happy to seek the spotlight and shine therein, Moore remains something of a recluse.

I notice a "chain" of related degrees here, degrees in the mid 20 degrees:
Sun 25 Scorpio ~ Neptune 24 Libra ~ Pluto 25 Leo ~ Uranus 22 Cancer ~ Jupiter 24 Gemini ~ and possibly Moon too in the mid-20 degrees of Aries. Links in the chain alternate between helpful and unhelpful - but all mesh and integrate, bringing a kind of balance - never a bad thing. Traits included: essence of self/creativity/darkness of style/things unexpected or futuristic/philosophy/publication/ inner dynamism and drive.

“Life isn’t divided into genres. It’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky.” ― Alan Moore