Saturday and Sundry Nostalgia

Remembering, with sadness, my favourite astrologer, whose birthday was this weekend. Jonathan Cainer tragically died, far too soon, at the beginning of May this year. His nephew, Oscar, has taken over his astrological website and follows, very well, in his uncle's footsteps.

This is a sweet little seasonal commerial for London's main airport. Sadly I won't be following the wee teddy bears, there's nobody left, back there, to wait for me with open arms. (Sniffle).

“The past is a candle at great distance: too close to let you quit, too far to comfort you.”
― Amy Bloom, Away.

I've wondered which famous painting best brings out nostalgia, in me - came up with this one. My grandmother had a framed print of it in her "front room", it always intrigued me. After she died I kept the print, but it was lost along with everything else in a fire in 1996.

I wasn't aware of it, those long years ago, but the painting is by Sir John Everett Millais, and titled The Boyhood of Raleigh. Odd, that I ended up over the sea, probably in the direction the character in the painting is pointing.

NOSTALGIA by Billy Collins

Remember the 1340s? We were doing a dance called the Catapult.
You always wore brown, the color craze of the decade,
and I was draped in one of those capes that were popular,
the ones with unicorns and pomegranates in needlework.
Everyone would pause for beer and onions in the afternoon,
and at night we would play a game called “Find the Cow.”
Everything was hand-lettered then, not like today.

Where has the summer of 1572 gone? Brocade and sonnet
marathons were the rage. We used to dress up in the flags
of rival baronies and conquer one another in cold rooms of stone.
Out on the dance floor we were all doing the Struggle
while your sister practiced the Daphne all alone in her room.
We borrowed the jargon of farriers for our slang.
These days language seems transparent, a badly broken code.

The 1790s will never come again. Childhood was big.
People would take walks to the very tops of hills
and write down what they saw in their journals without speaking.
Our collars were high and our hats were extremely soft.
We would surprise each other with alphabets made of twigs.
It was a wonderful time to be alive, or even dead.

I am very fond of the period between 1815 and 1821.
Europe trembled while we sat still for our portraits.
And I would love to return to 1901 if only for a moment,
time enough to wind up a music box and do a few dance steps,
or shoot me back to 1922 or 1941, or at least let me
recapture the serenity of last month when we picked
berries and glided through afternoons in a canoe.

Even this morning would be an improvement over the present.
I was in the garden then, surrounded by the hum of bees
and the Latin names of flowers, watching the early light
flash off the slanted windows of the greenhouse
and silver the limbs on the rows of dark hemlocks.

As usual, I was thinking about the moments of the past,
letting my memory rush over them like water
rushing over the stones on the bottom of a stream.
I was even thinking a little about the future, that place
where people are doing a dance we cannot imagine,
a dance whose name we can only guess.

In ancient Rome today began the long festival in honour of Saturn known, unsurprisingly, as Saturnalia - there are several posts in the archives on this, accessible via the Label Cloud in the sidebar. The festival morphed into a similar shindig in other countries, later on - in England it was known as Lord of Misrule

 Hat-tip HERE

Musical and Meandering Monday

We're back! Our trip led us to the south-eastern corner of beautiful Colorado. On the way we experienced bitter cold winds in Amarillo, just above freezing daytime, freezing at night - donned padded jacket there. Bright, cool and lovely in Walsenburg CO; temperatures heated up to high 80s by Garden City KS and southward, home, bringing attire down to short sleeve weather - still windy though.

For larger, clearer images please click on photographs.

Above: view from supermarket car park in Walsenburg, Colorado. Below: from another angle, without the incongruous inclusion!

We drove The Highway of Legends from Walsenburg - gorgeous weather, some amazing scenery. Also HERE.

Right by that amazing rock wall (which stretched further than we could see due to trees) was the entrance (below) to a World War II German Officers' prison camp. Dang - but they treated 'em well didn't they? At least it'd be difficult to escape though - unless they had a Steve McQueen type resident!

We opted to travel back east on a route we'd never taken before when in this part of the country. A long straight-ish road along the bottom of south-eastern Colorado - H'way 160. Considering there'd be little in the way of civilised pee-stops, we tried not to over-hydrate. It was with great relief that around half way along the seemingly never-ending highway we came upon the small outpost store below - complete with loo/restroom. Ah! Blessed relief!

Not long after a stop at the Kim Outpost we found a memorial, of sorts, to a former town/settlement: Andrix. On the wall of the one remaining building is scrawled "Andrix, gone but not forgotten"

Reflecting on the early settlers are photographer and yours truly:

We crossed into Kansas to stay overnight in Garden City (from the scent on the wind next morning, blowing off the several feed lots in the area, the name might rather be Garden Shitty (and I bet I'm not the first to have said this!)

Onward through south-west Kansas and eventually north-western Oklahoma. There was quite a lot of this - and, by now many bugs on windscreen and front bumper. The car looked as though we'd travelled through some far flung jungle by the time we reached home. We were well in front of a storm line forecast to hit our region on Sunday, which did in fact result in a tornado warning for our town and county, Sunday evening, but we missed all but the thunder.

John Denver sang us in, and sings us out. I miss John Denver, still. I shall miss Jonathan Cainer for ever - and only now do I allow myself to weep.

Jonathan Cainer - Rest In Peace

I'm more shocked and sad than I can say to read, this evening, that the guy who has been my favourite astrologer for so many years - almost from his first newspaper and magazine forecasts in fact, has died - and way, way, way too soon.

I'm still a bit shaky, but away from home and doing my best to sort out a post on this laptop.

My sincere condolences to Jonathan's wife and family.

Ophi-Curious?

Flamin' Nora (as we used to say in Yorkshire), not again! The Ophiuchus issue. What brought forth a re-play of this - it has whiskers on it? Slow news day ? That's hard to believe.

Seemingly something in a newspaper in the UK, or maybe the BBC - not certain, but something recently annoyed my favourite Sun sign astrologer sufficiently for him to get his Mars on and tell 'em what's what and what isn't.


Are you Ophi-curious? See Jonathan Cainer's piece HERE.

Unlike Fox News I shall attempt to really be fair and balanced and provide a slightly alternative view from UK astrology blog Astrotabletalk, HERE.

What I think, as if anybody cares, is that nobody, even the most erudite of astrologers, of any stripe, knows what astrology really is. How it's possible to feel certain about that, and all it entails, has to rest with what each individual finds most persuasive, relying on their own life experiences, and those of others. While this will not tell the hows and whys of it, it will give confidence that there is, for whatever mysterious reason, some validity in the most basic parts of astrology's claims.

As mentioned several times in these posts, my own interpretation/theory of astrology is that it's all about the cycles. Cycles of time in space. The planets and the 12 zodiac signs act as markers in time and space, separating possible "atmospheres" of different sorts, differences which affect us on earth, as we come into earth's atmosphere from the womb, continuing to affect us and our body/mind chemistry all through our lives, as we experience, to varying degrees, other atmospheres and mixes of atmospheres as they cycle along, mixing, colliding easily or with difficulty. Something like that, anyway.

The standard 12 sign zodiac, and its astrological elements (Earth/Air/Fire/Water) and modes (Cardinal/Fixed/Mutable) has worked for me, in my life and experiences - not always, and not always exactly, but pretty nearly so, enough that I retain belief that "something is going on". Therefore, I'd support the astrologers who do not wish to incorporate a 13th sign.

Barry Goddard's point, at Astrotabletalk, about using Ophiuchus in a divinatory sense, if that's what strikes an astrologer as being important, can hardly be argued against. Not being of a divinatory persuasion myself, I'm not qualified to say more.

I don't see any great objection to treating that part of the 12 sign zodiac which covers Ophi's realm as another questionable area such as, say, the Via Combusta (if an astrologer or astrology fan sincerely cannot bear to ignore Ophiuchus altogether).

PS - I scribbled a bit about this old issue in January 2011 when it had surfaced (again) - see
Sun signs, Ophiuchus and all that jazz

ASTROLOGER'S WORDS OF WISDOM ~ Jonathan Cainer

The following is a snippet from the section "Introducing the Moon" in The Psychic Explorer ("A down-to-earth guide to six magical arts: astrology, auras, the Tarot, dowsing, palmistry, ESP") by Jonathan Cainer & Carl Rider. (First published 1986). Astrological input from Mr. Cainer; Mr. Rider is a writer and philosopher who specialises in psychic and paranormal research.

Our modern world is very solar. Despite recent advances in the feminist cause, we still live in a society dominated by male energy - and perhaps that is one reason why masculine sun signs have become so popular! There is a strong tendency for most of us to accept glib, generalized information and simplified scientific truisms. The sun rules "simplicity", and it also speaks of "material growth and self-interest", two very characteristic 20th-century ideals. The lunar principles of compassion, sympathy and understanding do exist in our world, but most of us would agree that they normally play a muted second fiddle in the process of human motivation.

.......It is crucial to recognize that people of either sex have two sides to their personality. Inside every macho man is a soft, poetic, sensitive individual trying to get out. Inside every soft woman is a strong, capable and ambitious person waiting for an opportunity to express herself. However, most women, at least on a superficial level, find it easier to identify with the lunar side of their character, while most men have more affinity with solar energy. In other words, women are often more in touch with their moon signs and men with their sun signs.

If you can accept the notion that each individual is not just a one-dimensional personality with a cardboard cut-out facade but a complicated, sensitive mixture of differing (and sometimes opposing) inclinations, you are ready to enter the world of real astrology......

As we will soon enter the second decade of the 21st century, let's hope the influence of the second fiddler (the Moon) will come more to the fore in the world at large than it ever has done in the 20th century, and until now. A beautiful second-fiddle solo or two wouldn't go amiss!

Oddballs

In Friday's Sun sign forecast for Aquarius, Jonathan Cainer wrote "You know some very strange people. It is almost as if you are a magnet for oddballs and eccentrics. Somehow they know that you will accept them as they are. " I chuckled to myself. Nowadays I don't mix and mingle much, I'm in a bit of a 12th house situation here - and happy enough with that. As it happens my Aquarius Sun does fall in 12th house when relocated to Oklahoma. The natives here would not be particularly friendly anyway, at least not to an atheistic socialist like me. I have, myself, become the oddball, it seems. Sometimes we're the windscreen, sometimes the bug - as they say.

Mr. Cainer's words were true enough though, during my younger years in what I think of as "my hotel period", late 1950s early 1960s. I left home and a steady job in a local government department, to work in the office of a small hotel in a picturesque part of North Yorkshire. This was, I'd worked out, a way to achieve independence and freedom, but still be provided with a room and food plus wages. What else could a gal wish for? This experience of a few short months left me with a yen to do more of the same. There was for me, in those days, a kind of addiction attached to working in hotels. I can't adequately explain it now, but it existed. I met quite a few others with the same affliction in my stints of seasonal interludes (coast in summer, city in winter) in various English hostelries. These individuals, some fellow-hotel staff, some from outside were unusual characters, not truly eccentric, but to my young, small-town sensibilities they fell into that category. There were times when I used to ask myself, in those days, "Why don't I ever meet anybody ordinary - "normal?"

Let's see....among my special friends there was E., a dark willowy beauty from Dominique who had left her island homeland because she'd fallen in love with her priest - and that's not A Good Thing in a Roman Catholic community. And K. an Irish waiter, charismatic guy who one night broke in to the place where the safe was kept, and managed to extract and abscond with a goodly chunk of the hotel's dosh. There was O., charming young man with whom I instantly fell in love but after a few months he disappeared. I later discovered he had been a fugitive, AWOL from the army, got caught, did his time. Many years later, alerted by his sister, I saw him again in a military hospital, being treated for TB.

Can't forget Mr S., not a staff colleague, but hotel customer - a rather withdrawn and lonely, single peripatetic bank manager (very Woody Allen-ish) who took a shine to me, the hotel receptionist. He'd stop at the office window regularly and chat for ages. On the day he left I received a huge, huge bouquet of gorgeous bronze chrysanthemums, sent by him via the local flower store, just because I'd happened to say that I love the autumn. And there was H. the lion keeper from Longleat (a safari park) -I kid you not - he wrote to me for some months after I'd moved on, always with a little lion in his signature. There was the shoe salesman, a boyfriend I managed somehow to get involved with - perfectionist, prone to depression, who some years later commited suicide. A brighter spark was the young guy who believed he was the illegitimate son of local aristocracy, drove around in a beat-up old Bentley limousine, swore he'd be a millionaire by the time he was 30.

Ah, there were more - many more - and they remain oddly clear in memory. Eventually the haphazard hotel lifestyle lost its charm and it was back to a staid government office, regular hours, regular people, cooking own meals, living in own space. I'd had something of an oddball learning curve, but one I'm glad I didn't miss.

Horoscopes for Elders ?

On an internet wander the other day, I happened upon a blog called "Time Goes By". Among the comments following 28 October's post, "The Essence of Elders", was one which brought up a point I'd never even considered before.

The blog post itself had addressed the issue of advertising aimed at elders (those generally labelled "seniors") in a way which is quite often not appealing to them. Ronni Bennet, the blogger, points our that

"....... advertising aimed at elders almost always feels irrelevant to me – they are trying to appeal to old people with the memes of youth. This also applies to just about every aspect of the culture in relation to elders: television, movies, clothing, technology, vacations, etc., soaked with sexual innuendo and status seeking."

Commenter "Pete" had this to say:

"I always get such a laugh out of horoscopes. All they talk about is love life. Someone who wrote horoscopes for elders could do very well!"

Hmmm. You know, after I'd thought on this for a while I decided that the best Sun sign column writers do actually write in a non-age-specific style. Jonathan Cainer at Cainer.com and Rob Brezsny at Free Will Astrology are my own two favourites. I don't ever recall feeling alienated by their writings, as one of their readers who passed her first flush of youth when they, probably, were still in diapers.

The really bad Sun sign columns, such as appear in our local newspaper, syndicated stuff which the paper probably buys for a few dollars a week, are dreadful and ought to be outlawed. It could be such columns to which "Pete" referred, or perhaps he had been borrowing some women's magazines, or reading 'em in the dentist's waiting room. These do tend to carry content slanted for younger women, who make up their readership.

I've given the subject some more thought, and even chatted to my husband about it, wondering whether I could possibly stretch myself and write an Elder Horoscope as part of this blog. Unfortunately our conversation descended into some rather dark humour and giggling when considering the type of content I might include. I shall say no more! You know, I reckon we don't take our elder status seriously enough for me to to be of any real use in this context. Most of the time we're not even aware that we are indeed elders; if others find that a problem - then it's their problem.

We did go on to wonder at the amazing talent of daily and weekly Sun sign writers though - how they can come up with so much material day in, day out, week in, week out. It's a special and rare talent. I could probably write one day's worth of content, then I'd be done!

However, should a stray astrologer pass by here, read this post, and fancy the idea of writing an Elder Horoscope column, please leave your URL and I'll pass it on to "Pete" and others.

I'm going to think longer on this topic myself, perhaps I'm missing something!

How Did I Get Here?

That recent question at Plinky Prompts had me digging around in the archives. I'd written a post, some years ago, about what brought me to astrology blogging. I took the long way around - not always the pretty way - but it got me here in the end.

Some of what follows is a condensed post from 2006, my earliest blogging days, brightened with the addition of a few pics, edited and dusted down.

MY JOURNEY INTO ASTROLOGY (from 10 November 2006).

Astrology has played some part in my life for over 50 years. For the greater part of that time my knowledge was sketchy at best. I strained to understand a world beyond Sun signs, but had difficulty accessing information. In my younger years things were very different from now. The Astrology Bandwagon proper had not yet started to roll - no computers, no internet. I lived in England in a small town where the library and book shop carried no books on astrology.

As the 1950s moved into the 60s then the 70s, things began to look up. Hippies, their culture, New Age, and "Hair" the musical with the song "The Age of Aquarius" brought astrology into public focus. By now I'd moved from small town Yorkshire. I puzzled over the fact that my marriage to a Libra Sun person failed dismally, when Aquarius and Libra were thought to be such an excellent match. I started reading more books and any specialised magazines I could find. Nothing I read enabled me to get much beyond Sun sign astrology. I was hampered by my blind-spot in mathematics. Trying to calculate a natal chart from written instructions with nobody to ask for advice was too daunting a task.

In the early 70s, with a new relationship, a stable emotional background, home base in the northern city of Leeds, and a job in the civil service, a new era for me began. Amongst colleagues at work were 3 who shared my interest in astrology, and tarot. At last I had someone with whom to share ideas.

I bought my first astrology report in the early 1970s, from a an advert in an astrology magazine. The report was expensive, and took a long time to arrive. It was produced on a typewriter which had seen better days - uneven type and fading ink upon three foolscap sheets of good quality blue paper. I remember its appearance very clearly, but no longer have it - lost along with all of our possessions in an horrendous fire in 1996. That report gave me my very first information about the other planets in my natal chart. The astrologer estimated, from the vague information I'd provided, that Leo was rising at my birth. I laboured for years under the misapprehension that I had Leo rising.

Astrology content in newspapers had increased by this time in both quality and quantity. Russell Grant had a column in the Daily Mirror - a tabloid which my partner insisted on buying because it was the only British left-wing newspaper then, apart from the rather snooty Guardian. In those days Russell Grant was doing well as a leading newspaper astrologer, and I enjoyed his writing.






I don't remember exactly how or when I discovered Jonathan Cainer's column. Perhaps it was in a women's magazine, or a Sunday newspaper. I immediately felt that this was the astrologer to watch. When he took over from Russell Grant at the Daily Mirror I was overjoyed ! He later moved on to the Daily Mail, we moved to the Mail too.



Just why I was so keen on these Sun sign columns, I'm not sure. I knew that there was much more to astrology, yet the newspaper columns presented something to hold on to, something day by day helping to keep astrology alive for me. Perhaps I was holding on instinctively, until I reached the point of being able to discover more for myself.

That point of discovery came with my first home computer, purchased at the end of 2001, and later with the acquisition of astrology software. By then my life had changed. I'd married Himself and moved to live in the USA. Because of everything I'd absorbed, knowingly and unknowingly over 50 years, learning enough to fill the many gaps in my knowledge came with comparative ease, with the help of a brief course, and lots of secondhand astrology books.

That's how I got into astrology. Blogging followed. I'd grown bored of contributing to astrology message boards, and wanted to try my hand at a spot of writing, without expecting many - or any - readers to find my blog. Initially I simply wanted to practice writing about a subject which has always fascinated me, and wrote just to please myself. I still write, primarily, to please myself, but it's a very welcome bonus to know that somebody else reads what I've produced.

It was through the kindness of the (then) small band of existing astrology bloggers that I was gently shepherded in to the group. Jeffrey Kishner, Elsa, April and Barbara all generously welcomed me into the fold. And here I've stayed, aiming to write daily for exercise, experience and discipline. The discipline part must come from Mercury in Capricorn - Aquarius Sun enjoys freedom much too much to be disciplined!

I'll always feel grateful to my blogging colleagues for their early encouragement. Grateful too for readers who pass by, either regularly or accidentally, and find anything of interest here.

Of Delays, Teeth, Astrology and...... Delays

A snippet from the April forecast for Aquarians, from my Sun sign astrologer of choice Jonathan Cainer, went like this....

"....... For some while now you have had to wrestle with a series of awkward delays and impediments. Around the middle of this month, a conjunction of Mars and Uranus will change the tide of your fortune. You'll notice an almost immediate effect......"

Fits like a glove!


Delays and impediments in my own life have been of fairly minor importance, but have certainly been very noticeable for the past few weeks. Since my husband's birthday on 22 March we've intended taking a celebratory road trip.

The first delay was occasioned by a doctor's appointment for himself which unexpectedly needed a follow-up. That was dealt with. Then, as if on cue, I broke the crown on one of my front teeth. This necessitated three appointments with the dentist. The laboratory didn't make a good fit the first time around, it's still not dealt with and I still have a temporary crown and bi-color front teeth. Later today, with luck, this problem will be rectified.

We recently noticed that Easter falls just when we'd decided on a good re-arranged take-off date. Extra traffic and booked-up motel rooms don't appeal to us, so, a little more delay.

The day after Easter would be a good departure date, we thought. Then we discovered that my husband's son and family will be away that week. They usually collect our mail and newspapers when we're away; we reciprocate by keeping their family dog company for a while each day when they are away.

Another postponement.

Will the Mars/Uranus conjunction, as mentioned by Jonathan Cainer, release us to take that longed for road trip I wonder? Our current plan is to set off on Sunday 19 April. My ephemeris tells me that on 19 April Jupiter will be at 22 Aquarius, which is my re-located ascendant degree. As Jupiter rules travel, this is a good omen, along with Mr. Cainer's point regarding the Mars/Uranus conjunction. Mars and Uranus happen to be my husband's and my Sun's respective rulers too! This time we might actually take off on schedule....as long as I manage not to break more teeth before then....at $700+ a pop, it's a scary prospect!

Prophecy, Astrologers, Carmenta.

On the topic of prophecy British astrologer C.E.O. Carter had this to say in his Encyclopedia of Psychological Astrology (in print continually from 1924):

PROPHECY
It is probable that such prophecy as may truly be the result of inspiration or revelation from higher entities would be shown horoscopically by a strong 9th house, and by Jupiter and Neptune, as well as sometimes Uranus. Such cases, however, are rare, and their possibility is admitted by comparatively few at the present day. Natives of watery signs and also Sagittarius are prone to have presentiments, but it is probable that in most cases these are purely fanciful.

Astrological prophecy, properly so called, has nothing to do with such methods, but depends upon the interpretation of present and future influences mathematically obtained and intellectually apprehended. At the same time it is undeniable that many astrologers, and particularly those with strong Jupiter 9th house influences, develop an intuitive accuracy of judgment that may in time act so promptly and surely that it may appear to partake of the nature of inspiration.

On the other hand, those in whose horoscopes Mercury and Jupiter are afflicted should be cautious in making forecasts, especially when under bad directions to these planets.

I flicked very quickly through Astrotheme's lists of well-known people with Jupiter (and other planets) in 9th house, and found a few well-known astrologers:

Patrick Walker (Jupiter Neptune, Mercury in 9th)
Alan Oken (Jupiter and Pluto in 9th)
Julia Parker (Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune in 9th)
Jonathan Cainer (Jupiter in 9th + Sun in Sagittarius)

And I have a lonely Jupiter in 9th, as it happens!

Staying on the subject of prophecy, in Rome today, 15 January, marked the second day of a 2-day festival honoring the goddess of prophecy, Carmenta. The first day of Carmentalia was 11th January. Carmenta, as well as being a prophetess was goddess of childbirth and midwifery. There was originally one Carmenta who was worshipped by the "flamines," her priests. Later there were said to be many Carmentes, female deities who appeared to assist women in labor and to tell the fortune of the newborn child. Romans made offerings of rice to the goddess and feasted on cream-filled pastries shaped like male and female genitalia or triangle-shaped pastries filled with raspberry jam.(Link)

Carmenta (known as Nicostrata to the Greeks) was famous for chanting her prophecies in verse.She is also credited with naming the Palentine Hill and in a vision predicted it would be the future site of the Roman Empire. She laid the city's first stone, instituted a system of laws for the surrounding region, and invented the Latin alphabet and language. Quite a gal!

Illustration, right: ‘Typus Gramatica’ showing Carmenta/ Nicostrata holding a hornbook and key, introducing a child into a tower of learning with six storeys.


The arches to the right of the photograph form the remains of the ancient gateway Porta Carmentalis, close to the site of Carmenta's temple at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

Birthday Boys

18 December - Happy Birthday to British astrologer Jonathan Cainer, and pop/opera singer Mario Frangoulis - one a longtime favourite of mine, the other a newer voice to me, and one I very much appreciate.

I'll not be presumptuous enough to investigate Jonathan's natal chart, but I'll dare to take a peek at Mario's. There's a wee problem though. Some sources say he was born 1966, some 1967. Just a very brief look then, to see what a difference a year makes.

A recent interview available on YouTube, below, offers a chance to see and hear Mario speaking about his career, and a little about his charity work, but not a clear idea of who he is - other than that he appears unaffected, non-glitzy and charming, in a quiet way.

He is a tireless supporter of charities.

"The World Centers of Compassion for Children has a specially elected Ambassador of Peace. Mario Frangoulis is a world acclaimed Greek tenor. He has starred in numerous theater productions from London’s West End to New York City. From musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber to Rogers and Hammerstein, Mario Frangoulis has graced the stage of many top venues.

With a strong passion to help, Mario Frangoulis has always had a drive to engage with charitable organizations. He has sung in approximately forty charity galas, such as the Red Cross Annual Ball, held at the Grosvenor House, several galas organized by the Greek foundation Elpida -a charity dedicated to the cure of children who suffer from cancer- and many others. His commitment to making a difference was a perfect match with the World Centers of Compassion for Children." (Here)

INTERVIEW



As no time of birth is known, the 1966 and 1967 charts for Mario Frangoulis are set for 12 noon. He was born in Zimbabwe when it was known as Rhodesia, but moved to live in Greece at a young age. In the absence of an exact location, I've used the capital, Salisbury, which will suffice to indicate planetary positions.
(Click on image to enlarge).




Moon, Mars, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter all in different signs '66 to '67, leaving the only common ground as Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius, and the 3 outer planets in the same signs in both years.
Moon's Nodes move from Taurus/Scorpio in 66, to Aries/Libra in 67.

There's a case to be made for either chart, the Moon remains in a compassionate water sign, which could have been a give-away had it moved to a less sensitive placing. I quite like the Mars in Aquarius for him - it could link to his humanitarian drive towards helping charities, but that might come from philosophical Sagittarius too, or from his unknown ascendant. I like Venus in Scorpio, for the passion he displays in his songs, but again that could come from the ascendant. It's a mystery, but if pushed, and in the absence of a birth time, I'd choose the 1967 chart, on the right.

In an interview about his career for Hello Magazine, Mario said
"I'm not putting myself across as this major opera star, I'm just being Mario, a simple guy who does good music." The crossover pop/opera genre is becoming ever more popular. Il Divo, Amici Forever, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and others are all enjoying sucess just now. Along with that other crossover genre of standards/pop/jazz (e.g. Michael Buble, Nora Jones), such artists are filling gaps left in modern popular music, where novelty tends to usurp quality. A prediction: this trend will grow and grow over the next few years.

Mario Frangoulis with Justin Hayward: "Nights in White Satin"

Visions

I'm using two current forecasts for my own Sun sign, Aquarius, by my two favourite Sun Sign astrologers, Rob Brezsny and Jonathan Cainer, as template to do a little odd-blogging (a close cousin of odd-jobbing). Here are the two forecasts with links to the relevant websites.

"My favorite places on the Moon are the Sea of Clouds, Sea of Fertility, Sea of Ingenuity, and Sea of Nectar. They're not actual bodies of water. The old astronomers who named them didn't know they were actually dark plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. But the great thing about the moon is that it piques our imaginations and massages our dreams as much as it speaks to our rational minds. And I encourage you to take advantage of that power now. Here's one possible way: Daydream a story about a heroic quest in which you acquire four magical boons, one each at the Sea of Clouds, Sea of Fertility, Sea of Ingenuity, and Sea of Nectar."Free Will Astrology week of 14 August - Aquarius

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Have you heard of the legendary 'Problem Volcano'? It hides in some secret land, spewing forth endless new reasons to worry. Nor is it the only hidden geological mystery. We must not forget the infamous Fountains of Fear, or the mythical Marshes of Myopia. Are any of these places really located on Earth? Most definitely - for they are located within us and we are most certainly on this planet! To be sure of staying in safe territory now, exploit other aspects of the inner-landscape that you DO know. Head straight for the Rock of Realism and steer well clear of the Valley of Vulnerability."
Jonathan Cainer Monthly forecast for August - Aquarius

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It struck me as interesting that mythical-sounding locations were scattered about these current forecasts, I was reminded of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" and his Slough of Despond, Doubting Castle, etc.

If I were to take Mr. Brezsny's challenge I'd have to spend at least a month writing a proper story. I'm not a natural fiction writer (in spite of what an anti-astrology reader might think!) Instead of a story, I'll offer a brief outline of the stops on an heroic journey. What was found could hardly be termed what Mr. Brezsny called "boons", but I'm an obtuse Aquarian, such things are to be expected.

Setting out from the Sea of Clouds.....Here I stayed a while, gazed into the surface of the Sea of Clouds and saw, far away, a blue sphere - beautiful, spinning slowly, serenely among myriad stars.

When I reached the Sea of Fertility and gazed into its depths I saw, with magnification, life, teeming and multiplying on a beautiful blue planet. In seconds I saw a thousand generations of live creatures pass through, as the planet's surface changed, and changed again, and again.

Soon the Sea of Ingenuity lay in my path. Here I stared deep into it and saw, magnified again, the skills and talents of the creatures of the blue planet. I watched in awe, as time swiftly flashed past, and noted that they were soon able to perform the most wondrous tasks, transforming yet again a large part of the planet's surface.

At the Sea of Nectar I rested, gazed languidly into its calm surface and saw, in horror, the creatures of the blue planet fighting for sustenance. They must surely have drained all goodness from their once fertile habitat.

At this point I began the second part of my journey, approached the Problem Volcano, gingerly drew near to look into its inferno and saw the inhabitants of the far away blue planet becoming troubled, worried, many were fighting.

I hurried on to the Fountains of Fear, where I hoped for brighter visions, but none were to come. Through a silvery mist caused by the sparkling fountains I saw a vision of the blue planet's inhabitants dejected, careworn, now fearful of what the future might hold.

Not far from the Fountains lay the Valley of Vulnerability, and from my distant vantage point there, I understood how weak and fragile are the inhabitants of the blue planet, how little defence against dangers facing them.

Glancing back I noticed a side track leading to the Marshes of Myopia, travelled there and stared across the steaming, stinking marshes eventually realising how it was that those on the blue planet had become so vulnerable. In spite of their skills and talents they had failed to look ahead, far enough into the future, or at all.

I strode away sadly but with determination towards my last venue - the Rock of Realism. A hard place in the near distance, but the only one from which it was possible to obtain a clear view of the future. What did I see? A vision yet part-formed, its completion lies in the hands of the inhabitants of the blue planet.

Knock On Wood

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