Appearance ~ Planetary Types

I'm wary of theories about zodiac signs and planets having any influence on physical appearance. Heredity is such a huge factor in this, but there does seem to be some inherited astrological linkage in families too. I have noticed that there's a distinctive "look" among men with Capricorn (and sometimes Aquarius) prominent in their natal charts, Saturnine it's called, from the signs' ruler. Gemini-types - males mainly - tend to be gangling to wiry in build. Males and their likely planet/sign connection are always easier to spot, females like to adjust their appearance to taste, far more than males, in general, do.

Recognisably similar traits of appearance between astrologically similar individuals are likely to occur only when either the zodiac sign or a particular planet is heavily emphasised in the natal chart, sufficiently so to modify or cancel out other differing, inherited, traits.

Manly P. Hall, in his book Astrological Keywords, lists descriptions by "Planetary Type". It's interesting to check these against one's dominant planet.
Dominant planet can be ascertained at Astrodienst (astro.com). After inputting birth data, go to Extended Chart selection, check the Walter Pullen section (brief chart delineation). There's a huge amount of information there, it's necessary to scroll down a way to find lists of percentage strengths allocated to each planet in one's chart.

Manly P. Hall included hair colour and complexion type in his lists. I suspect these are not at all reliable indicators. When natural, those factors are more likely to be purely hereditary

Physical Appearance of the Nine Planetary Types (page 102)

Planetary types are always modified by the signs in which the planets are placed and pure types are seldom met with. When the ruler of a horoscope is placed in a sign of similar appearance, the types are accentuated, but when placed in signs of opposing elements, the contradictions which arise manifest as compound and often incongruous physical appearances.

MOON ~~ Body of middle structure inclined to heaviness; face round, complexion pale; eyes large and soft; hands and feet short but thick; usually small boned.

MERCURY~~ Body and face slender' forehead full, nose long, lips thin; fingers slender and handsvery expressive; hair dark, beard thin, complexion poor, eyes penetrating.

VENUS ~~ Body short but graceful, inclined to stoutness in advancing years; face round, hair dark, eyes large and wandering; voice soft and manner vivacious.

SUN ~~ Body powerful and well formed, but rather bony; face and forehead large, hair and complexion usually light, inclined to baldness; eyes commanding and complexion clear.

MARS ~~ Body strong and socky but not overly tall, deportment military; hair red or black, often curly or wiry; eyes quick and sharp; complexion often very ruddy, face livid when angry.

JUPITER ~~ Body large and well formed, inclined to become portly in advancing years; chest wide; forehead high; eyes widely spaced and kindly; hair dark and wavy; attitude paternal.

SATURN ~~ Body slender and angular with large bones - back bends with increasing years; features stern, eyes small and beady; hair dark and curly, complexion indifferent.

URANUS ~~ Body slender, but of pleasing appearance, features irregular but prepossessing; eyes large, brilliant and keen, usually light; some types very ascetic in appearance; this type often gives the impression of being effeminate.

NEPTUNE ~~ Body slender and very finely organized; head long, features sharp, expression often cruel, always mysterious; hair retreats from temples; eyes hypnotic.

I tried these descriptions, using my own chart and that of my husband: I am a blend of Moon and Uranus (those are fairly closely tied for dominance, but are not way out ahead of the other planets). I was definitely Moony as a child, but in maturity (pic at right: age around 42 I think) less so, maybe moving more towards a Uranus type. My father had Aquarius Sun, and we did look alike, so I guess that's inherited.


Husband is a blend of Sun and Mars, again closely tied, (with Venus a close 3rd.) Bony - yes, or used to be. Inclined to baldness, yes, not overly tall, ok. Face red when angry - yes (not often). From Venus: soft voice, eyes large and wandering.(Wandering eh? Hmmm........)







And....two bits of goods news this morning:

IT RAINED DURING THE NIGHT !!!! Ground still wet so must have been more than a skittering shower. And it feels actually cool outside, first time since May.
Maybe sometime early next week we can take off for a long-postponed trip.





And....Landau Eugene Murphy won America's Got Talent last night - the right result!
(See http://twilightstarsong.blogspot.com/2011/06/music-monday-untapped-talent-landau.html)

I'll definitely be buying his first album.

Grab Bag ~ " Madly off in all directions"...Astro and Other.

Madly off in all directions is from a line by famous Canadian writer and humourist Stephen Leacock in his story Gertrude the Governess. ("Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.")

Giddy-up then!

A friend and relative kindly passed on to me a link to a Mental Floss piece about Freddie Mercury, published on what would have been his 65th birthday - 5 September. The writer, Stacy Conradt lists 10 things we might not know about the iconic vocalist of the band Queen. This is #1:

He designed the Queen emblem (AKA the Queen Crest) himself, thanks to a degree in art and graphic design from Ealing Art College. The crest is made of the zodiac signs of the whole band – two Leo lions for John Deacon and Roger Taylor, a Cancer crab for Brian May and two fairies to represent Freddie’s Virgo sign. The “Q” and the crown represent the band name, of course, and a phoenix protects the whole thing.

Dharmaruci's 1st September post at Astrotabletalk titled Pluto in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces: the New Reformation? Is well worth a good long read, with plenty of food for thought.




From Thomas Paine's essay on The Origins of Free-Masonry published in New York, 1818:

Masonry (as I shall show from the customs, ceremonies, hieroglyphics, and chronology of Masonry) is derived and is the remains of the religion of the ancient Druids; who, like the Magi of Persia and the Priests of Heliopolis in Egypt, were Priests of the Sun. They paid worship to this great luminary, as the great visible agent of a great invisible first cause whom they styled " Time without limits."
.........In Masonry many of the ceremonies of the Druids are preserved in their original state, at least without any parody. With them the Sun is still the Sun; and his image, in the form of the sun is the great emblematical ornament of Masonic Lodges and Masonic dresses..............Free Masons Hall, in Great Queen-street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, is a magnificent building, and cost upwards of 12,000 pounds sterling. Smith, in speaking of this building, says (page 152,) "The roof of this magnificent Hall is in all probability the highest piece of finished architecture in Europe. In the center of this roof, a most resplendent Sun is represented in burnished gold, surrounded with the twelve signs of the Zodiac, with their respective characters........................ The Masons, in order to protect themselves from the persecution of the Christian church, have always spoken in a mystical manner of the figure of the Sun in their Lodges, or, like the astronomer Lalande, who is a Mason, been silent upon the subject.

A fascinating piece and super photographs by Michael Simpson, describes how Freemasonry and astrology were involved in the building of Washington DC. Their input can be traced, easily. : Esoteric & Masonic Symbolism In Washington D.C.




Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. is through to the Finale of America's Got Talent, to be held next Tuesday. See also my previous post about him.


He was one of the four finalists chosen by audience votes from this week's 8 semi-finalists. His version of the Rat-Pack favourite "Ain't that a Kick In the Head" was very well received by audience, judges, and us, parked on the sofa. We even agreed (for once) with Piers Morgan's comment - Landau is the only act, from the show, that we'd pay to watch for an hour and a half. He seems like such a lovely guy too. Still can't find his birth date. Anybody?








We watched a DVD of the movie Off the Map recently. Nice story, with the gorgeous Sam Elliot in a starring part.
The storyline features a family living off the grid - attempting to remain self-sufficient, as many people think we should all be aiming to do in coming years, if we and the planet are to survive. How and why this family decided to live as they do isn't touched on in the movie, which is adapted from a play by Joan Ackermann. Keys to the storyline are Sam Elliott's character's deep chronic depression and the arrival of an IRS (tax) auditor.

A storyline relating to a rural family and the arrival of a taxman reminded me, initially, of a beloved British TV series from the early 1990s,
The Darling Buds of May, with David Jason as Pop Larkin - but any similarity ended there. Pop Larkin was definitely not depressed!







Always on my own "learning curve", I try never to miss a chance to investigate stuff I'm hazy about. Like this: a reference to "sui generis" in a piece of writing relating to, would you believe, Sarah Palin?

From rusty memories of grammar school Latin I kind of got the writer's meaning, but to check myself consulted Merriam Webster

Definition of SUI GENERIS: constituting a class alone : unique, peculiar .
Example:
"Among history's greats Leonardo da Vinci is often considered sui generis—a man of such stupendous genius that the world may never see his like again."
Origin: Latin translated: of its own kind
First Known Use: 1754
Synonyms: alone, lone, one, one-off, singular, sole, solitary, special, only, unique

Sarah Palin, sui generis? I guess that works, but not in the way it works for Leonardo! She does have several planets in Aquarius, after all, Aquarius is, I'd propose, the "sui generis" sign.



(Rant warning)Rick Perry, Texas Governor, has been in the GOP nomination race for much shorter time than any of the other candidates, yet he gets publicity and poll numbers way out of proportion to his standing. My gut feeling: he has excessive support from behind-the-scenes people with purse strings and power strings. I understand that Perry is backed by the money men of the energy industry, while Mitt Romney who appears to be his nearest rival at present, is backed by the deep pockets of Wall Street. More reasonable candidates such as Jon Huntsman, though personally wealthy, don't have the necessary outside backing it takes to be properly noticed. It's becoming easier to see the game plan of The Powers That Be as the weeks pass.

Yuk-est moment of the week ocurred in the GOP debate on Wednesday evening when the audience gave a rousing ovation to Perry's stance on the death penalty, his record number of 234 executions, and his response that he "does not struggle" with the possibility of executing an innocent person. Ye gods!!!! Blood pressure rising......What is this, the New Old West or what? Don't these people evolve at all? They don't believe in evolution do they? That answers a lot.

Music Monday ~ Untapped Talent: Landau Eugene Murphy

As well as being an American Idol junkie I'm a sucker for any kind of talent show, more especially any musical input. Ever since old radio days of my childhood, when I loved to listen to The Carroll Levis Discovery Show, back in England I've been hooked. When TV came along it spawned a whole range of goodies for me: Opportunity Knocks; New Faces; Search for a Star; Stars in Their Eyes; Popstars/Pop Idol/The X Factor; Fame Academy to name a few.

Maybe a skilled astrologer could pinpoint the source of this enthusiasm in my natal chart - I suspect it's linked to Jupiter in Pisces semi-sextile my Sun in Aquarius. But that's getting away from the reason I started on this tack.

Over the years I've waxed cynical about the way audiences are increasingly manipulated by shows' producers, but even knowing this, when an unexpected, totally untapped singing talent suddenly hits the screen I'm gobsmacked and hooked all over again.

On Wednesday evening last week, on America's Got Talent we had one of those gobsmacking moments similar to the one British audiences experienced a couple of years ago when Susan Boyle sang.




A 36-year old from West Virginia, gum-chewing guy with dreadlocks and an engaging smile, who has been washing cars for the past 10 years, never auditioned before, or sung before an audience came on stage and sang. I guarantee that he'll never wash another car, unless its his own !

As a longtime Sinatra fan I was a pushover, of course. But it was more than his Sinatra-like voice that attracted me - it was his whole demeanour. I'll bet he's a great guy, that was the feeling I got. I wish I knew his date of birth. Maybe it'll surface. If a passing reader knows it, do, please comment.

The Voice, another musical talent show on American TV at present is proving to be entertaining - though the contestants' talents are not exactly "untapped". The four who have battled through to next week's final are on a different level, they have past experience under their belts, already in the semi-pro category, looking for a big break. It's all good, but we don't feel gobsmacked, just appreciative of hearing some seriously talented singers who are new to us.