WEEKEND GRAB BAG

Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher who is credited with founding (in Bavaria at least) The Order of Illuminati, had Sun, north node of Moon, Uranus, Mercury and Jupiter all in Aquarius between 3 and 17 degrees. Born 6 February 1748. His name comes up frequently in arguments about an alleged New World Order - which I guess is supposed to be brainchild of the successors of the Illuminati. Stated original aims of The Illuminati were to abolish monarchies and ordered governments, abolition of private property and inheritances, abolition of patriotism and nationalism, abolition of family life and the institution of marriage, and the establishment of communal education of children; abolition of all religion. Tall order! Quite Aquarian though! Weishaupt, it appears, was responsible for drawing the Freemasons into the Illuminati mix. These days, NWO seems to me to be more aligned with greed for wealth and power, things I'd not readily equate with the sign Aquarius, whatever its faults.

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.
~ Aristotle

Some years ago Jeffrey Kishner wrote about Jack Black in his (then) blog Astrology at the Movies. I posted about JB myself in 2007, quoting from Mr Kishner's piece. Black's birthdate was in question at that time. I came across my archived post and got to wondering whether the confusion over his date of birth had been cleared up in the intervening years. It seems not.

Internet sources give Jack Black's date of birth as either 28 August 1969 or 7 April 1969. Two dates not similar enough to have come about via a slip of someone's pen or typing fingers. The source for the 28 August 1969 date given by Wikipedia is a CBS news programme of 2003. They do not supply a source for their information. I can find no evidence at all from whence the 7 April date came.

Perhaps Jack Black at some point fed false information to the press? In interview he has said that he has no belief in astrology "and all that crap". One source states that Jack Black is a stage name, and he has "long refused to reveal his real name". I'm beginning to wonder whether either of the birth dates available are correct, if Mr Black is so keen to "keep himself to himself"! Who could blame him - really?

Every day we're told that we live in the greatest country on earth. And it's always stated as an undeniable fact: Leos are born between July 23 and August 22, fitted queen-size sheets measure sixty by eighty inches, and America is the greatest country on earth. Having grown up with this in our ears, it's startling to realize that other countries have nationalistic slogans of their own, none of which are 'We're number two!"
~ David Sedaris (from Me Talk Pretty One Day)

Dame Diana Rigg and Natalie Wood were both born on July 20, 1938.

As I may or may not say to the Lord on Judgment Day, "You ask a lot of questions for someone who has so much explaining to do."
~Robert Brault

Jack Black

After watching the movie "Tenacious D- The Pick of Destiny" on HBO recently I was curious about Jack Black's astrology. The first time I saw Jack in a movie was back in the UK, where we saw "School of Rock". Neither of us had even heard of Jack Black then, and we made a point of staying through the end credits to find the name of this actor whose performance we had so much enjoyed. Since then we've seen him in several other movies, but had missed "Tenacious D" until its TV showing.

Jeffrey Kishner, in his blog "Astrology at the Movies", wrote about Jack last year (see here), with comments by another astrologer/blogger Lynn Hayes. Apparently Jack's correct birthdate is in question. Various internet sources give it as either 28 August 1969 or 7 April 1969. Quite a difference! Too different to have come about via a slip of someone's pen. I've been wondering if perhaps Jack Black might have mischievously slipped wrong information to an interviewer at some stage. In an interview (here) he says that he doesn't believe in astrology "and all that crap".

Having looked at both charts, read some articles about the actor, and watched a few YouTube interviews with Jack Black, I'd guess that 28 August 1969 is most likely to be correct. What convinces me most is Mercury conjunct Uranus in the Air (mental) sign of Libra, in the August chart. In the April chart Uranus is conjunct Jupiter. Mercury is the communication planet, and Jack Black's communicated personality is definitely zany, erratic, eccentric - very Uranus. Of course, Jupiter is the publishing planet, and the planet of exaggeration, so one could argue that this is where Jack Black's zany persona comes from, were he born 7 April. I prefer Mercury conjunct Uranus. Mercury describes the way the mind works, and JB's mind definitely has a wild and zany side, in spite of his more sober Virgo Sun.

Out of curiosity I searched to discover whether any other well known person had been born on 7 April 1969, which might have caused this birth date confusion. Ricky Watters, American football star, a running back, is the only one I could find. Four Aries planets in the 7 April chart are more in keeping with the physical energy of a football star than a comedic actor, I guess, though it's true that Aries can tend towards a child-like sense of humour.

There's a slight possibility that Jack's natal Moon could lie in Aries, were he born late in the day (after 11pm, in fact.) That could produce the physical energy we are immediately aware of when he appears on screen.

Of the Jack Black films I've seen so far, "School of Rock" remains favourite. He has said in inteview that the role of Dewey Martin he played in that film is most like his own personality. I don't think we've yet seen the best that he's capable of, but one day in the future I suspect we'll be seeing him in a ring-ding blockbuster.