Music Monday ~ Otherworldly

These first sounds are not exactly musical, but they are, literally, otherworldy because they came from Mars.
Scroll down to the sound clip in this interesting article:

Listen to the soothing sounds of Martian wind collected by NASA’s InSight lander

Now...here's one of my own favourite otherworldly musical pieces, this by Mike Oldfield. As we head towards Winter Solstice, the title is rather appropriate:

"Let There Be Light"

From Summer of Love to Mars (and back?)

Another 2017 anniversary has been noted by several writers and columnists this month: the so-called Summer of Love's 50th. Here's one writer's take on it - Todd Gitlin: Summer of Love and Rage.

Hippie-dom, and Summer of Love were something I only read about, back in England, and, otherwise engaged in my own throes of marriage, separation and frustratingly attempting divorce in an era when it was nowhere near as easy as it is today. I did fleetingly enjoy a few of the LSD-induced songs drifting through my transistor radio, but back then the other side of the Atlantic seemed as far away as Mars - and as alien.

Commenter "Rodmacd", in a thread below the linked piece had this to say:

The hippie era was pretty brief. The Summer of Love, followed 2 years later by Woodstock; thought, with breathless anticipation, to be an "OMG, What's Next?!" event -- and, as we all now know, "next" turned out to be a few years of a whole lot of not much until the hippies traded in their tie-dyes for tie clips and pasted over their "War is not healthy for Children and other living things" bumper stickers with ones that read "He who dies with the most toys wins". Mighty Mammon took a shot or two back then, but it rallied strong and remains the heavyweight champion of the American Dream.

Oh - and speaking of Mars... dragging myself back to 2017 again, here's an interesting piece by Tyler Losier:


The race to the red planet: How NASA, SpaceX are working to get to Mars.

Well then...speaking of space travel, and potential future ways to do it, or aid it: here's another interesting piece, this by Tom Spender:

Teleportation: Photon particles today, humans tomorrow?

As the always quotable and much lamented Sir Terry Pratchett once wrote:

“This is space. It's sometimes called the final frontier. (Except that of course you can't have a final frontier, because there'd be nothing for it to be a frontier to, but as frontiers go, it's pretty penultimate . . .)”
― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

Mars-related Murmurings

 From Astrological Oracle Cards by Antonella Castelli

Astrologers have various eloquent ways of describing how the position of Mars in a natal chart reflects back in the personality. Stripped down to its bare bones, I see astrological Mars as pure energy, a driving force to be used for good or ill. The "ill" half of that, in its worst form is, of course, violence and war. As Mars is with us always, war and other forms of violence are with us always. The seed is within us all.

Ancient Romans unashamedly celebrated Mars and all it stood for, including war. Some of us have moved on since then, but all of us still need the assertiveness, courage, urge to compete, and all-round physical energy traditionally associated with Mars. The trick,which we, as a species, have yet to learn, is how to properly harness our innate Mars energies.

Astrologer Liz Greene in her book Mythic Astrology wrote:

"In the myths of every ancient people, the gods of war have always occupied a prominent and honored place. War was personified by these fierce gods as the glorious expression of the human fighting spirit - not merely bloodthirsty and cruel, but also disciplined, courageous, honorable and directed towards a noble goal. The war gods of myth are almost always portrayed battling with a monster - an image not merely of the outer enemy, but also of the bestial dark force within human beings which must be conquered for the sake of humanity."

Astrology aside, the rotational period and seasonal cycles of planet Mars are similar to those of Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons, though Mars is smaller than Earth, the planet's diameter is around 4,200 miles, double the size of the Moon.

 Mars Overseeing Aries and Scorpio

It's probably pure whimsy on my part, but drawing the astrological and astronomical together, I have wondered whether those similarities between Mars and Earth have contributed to our species' easy and strong reflection of the attributes accorded to planet Mars from ancient times until today.
(Illustration, right is from Medizinisch-Astrologisches Hausbuch, 1429. Nuremburg. (Medical Astrology Housebook).

Mars was the planet most clearly represented in results of research by French scientist Michel Gauquelin (1928-1991), in his attempt to test what validity, if any, there is in astrology's basic claims. For a brief outline of Michel Gauquelin's "Mars Effect"
see Aquamoonlight's piece HERE.


Mars-driven wars have wreaked havoc on all parts of Earth over centuries, eras and aeons, but in some instances aggressors and their energies have left behind artifacts, ideas and plans which, in time, proved helpful to developing civilisations. The Roman Empire, for instance, gets deservedly bad press for its brutality and acquisitiveness, yet it did leave in its wake much that was helpful and inspirational to later civilisations.

“Mars tugs at the human imagination like no other planet. With a force mightier than gravity, it attracts the eye to the shimmering red presence in the clear night sky...”
― John Noble Wilford, Mars Beckons

The Red Planet Mars by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The star of the unconquered will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possessed.

And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art,
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.

Oh, fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know erelong,--
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.

Staying with the arts but returning to myth, a representation in classical art: this one by early American painter John Singleton Copley (1738 – 1815)

 Mars, Venus and Vulcan

Correlation does not always imply causation - sometimes it might...

Astrologers these days tend to reject the idea that the planets exert direct "energy" upon humans on Earth. Cause-and-effect astrology has become terribly unfashionable. In books written around a century ago though, it was common to see descriptions of "planetary rays" affecting life on Earth. I suppose vitriolic criticism from the skeptical brigade put paid to that. Modern astrologers use other explanations, less open to ridicule, to try to explain why astrology works. Resonance with, or reflection of planetary movements and cycles; synchronicity; or plain "don't know" are now the responses most astrologers favour. I retain, from personal experience, suspicion that movement of certain celestial bodies, or the area of celestial "atmosphere" they mark and travel in, might have some direct physical effect on humans - on this human anyway.

When Mars transits through Aquarius, and within around 5 or 6 degrees of my natal Sun, it has seemed to affect my sleeping pattern. I'll go to bed tired, fall asleep quickly but wake again after about 90 minutes, only to toss and turn, wide awake for most of the early hours. It's something for which I've found no other explanation. More than once I've noticed the pattern, looked up position of Mars and found it close to natal Sun. What happens, in my case, is not just a random bad night or two, the effect continues with peculiar regularity for at least a week, keeping the same pattern for several days, then gradually wears off. Hand on heart - I do not keep regular check on planetary positions in relation to my own chart, that's not my way of using astrology. I haven't ever been waiting for, or expecting this pattern to recur.

I've also noticed that when the Moon is full...yes, I can already hear husband chuckling, I have been known to become over-emotional. My natal ascendant is in Cancer, ruled by the Moon, which could be significant. I don't actually keep tabs on where the Moon is day by day, so this effect is no self-fulfilling prophecy. It's not noticeable at every single Full Moon, but enough times for me to suspect a pattern.

So, if these two instances mean anything, it could be indicating some kind of physical effect exerted upon humans, or on some of us, at certain times, related to movement/position of some celestial body. Note that I did write "could" and "some"!

Blinded by Starlight by Frank McGillion sits in a prominent place on my bookshelves. There's a post about the book from my early blogging days HERE.
From that post, an extract from Garry Phillipson's review:

"The book's central thesis is as follows -

The pineal gland is an important factor in the way we perceive the world and act in it; the pineal produces its effects by secreting melatonin; it has been demonstrated in laboratory conditions that magnetic fields and exposure to light affect the production of melatonin; therefore anything which affects light levels or changes magnetic fields on Earth (which of course includes some celestial phenomena) may be linked to human character and behaviour; if scientists were less blinkered they would pursue research into correlations between celestial and terrestrial influences; the pineal gland is a promising place to start such research, because by examining responses in the pineal to celestial phenomena we could, so to speak, cut out the middleman - avoiding the need to isolate significant behaviour patterns in large groups by going directly to (some of the) causes of that behaviour - light and magnetic fields, and their effects on the pineal..........................."

Using the book's index, searching under "Mars", a few interesting points emerge. In alchemy, Mars traditionally links to iron, silver to the Moon. In chemical experiments, when solutions of silver salts are mixed with solutions of iron salts, iron displaces the silver from solution because it is more active chemically. However, when Moon and Mars come into certain degrees of angular contact the reaction appears to slow down.......the author writes:

"...so what are we to make of this. If these experiments are accurate, and the planets are in some way altering the chemistry of metals in 'sympathetic' manner, it would quite literally transform our view of things.......Many have reported positive results that appear to justify the claim that there's some mechanism whereby planets can seemingly influence the chemical activity of metals in solution, be it subtle planetary rays, an unconventional, or hitherto unknown form of electromagnetism, some sort of symbolic correspondence, or wishful thinking."

So ... could there perhaps be some kind of knock-on effect on the pineal gland function, connected to the Mars/Moon position - a slight reduction in melatonin production for a time ?

Then.... from Wikipedia's page on the subject of melatonin, it appears that this is a significant ingredient in the regulation of sleep cycles.

Treatment of circadian rhythm disorders

Exogenous melatonin taken in the evening is, together with light therapy upon awakening, the standard treatment for delayed sleep phase syndrome and non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome. It appears to have some use against other circadian rhythm sleep disorders as well, such as jet lag and the problems of people who work rotating or night shifts.
Taken 30 to 90 minutes before bedtime, melatonin is put into the blood earlier than the brain's own production and acts as a mild hypnotic.
A very small dose taken several hours before bedtime in accordance with the phase response curve for melatonin in humans (PRC) doesn't cause sleepiness but, acting as a chronobiotic, does advance the phase slightly and is additive to the effect of using light therapy upon awakening."

There are diverse pieces of a puzzle here which could be capable of being put together in such a way as to give a reason for my wakefulness when Mars (or the area of atmosphere/time/space marked by planet Mars) is close to astrological position of my natal Sun. These thoughts would leave me open to ridicule among skeptics, I guess. Never mind. A bit of ridicule never did anyone any harm!

(Note: The above is an edited and re-hashed combination of two archived posts from 2009)

5 (+1) Young Males, Agents of Atrocity and Pain ~ Astrological Links.

Five names we wish we could wipe out of recent history: Cho Seung-Hui, James Holmes, Adam Lanza, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Agents of atrocity and pain.

Putting on my amateur astrologer's hat again, I thought it worthwhile to show natal charts of the five young males together in order to highlight any similarities. The simplest similarities, those I see as most significant are ringed in red.

Chart images follow a few notes:

In the natal charts of Cho Seung-Hui and James Holmes Mars and Pluto are conjoined in Scorpio. Mars and Pluto, two of astrology's potentially most malign and explosive factors in their ruling sign!

In the chart of Tamerlan Tsarnaev Sun is in loose out of sign conjunction with Pluto in Scorpio. So - Pluto and Scorpio featured prominently again, and in connection with Sun (the self). His natal Moon (though we don't know exact degree without a birth time) is likely to be in harmonious trine to natal Mars in Aquarius.

Adam Lanza and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev both have Uranus and Neptune conjoined in Capricorn, a generational aspect for those born in the early 1990s, but in these particular cases the conjunction links to personal planets. In Tsarnaev's case the Uranus/Neptune conjunction links to Mars in Virgo by trine aspect and in Lanzas's to Mars in Pisces by sextile aspect. That potent linkage to Mars again!

It seems significant that linkage of outer planets to Mars could, when other factors are in place, hold potential for.......well, we only have to look again at those five names. 20th century British astrologer C.E.O. Carter wrote that:
"Hate is one of the most extreme Martian vibrations, through Scorpio rather than Aries, and probable generally with an admixture of Saturn or Uranus. The last-named is often violent in its antipathies, and, like Scorpio, may remember slights and insults after long periods. In maps (natal charts) capable of nourishing hatred and revenge the benefics are usually obscurely placed."

I must add that dire outcomes such as those I'm highlighting here will not be the case in every instance where outer planets are linked to Mars. Additional factors such as environment, family background, adverse experiences, and general health, mental and physical, would need to be clearly and negatively involved in order to turn an astrological potential towards the worst possible manifestation. The "astrological atmosphere" of the times these individuals did their deeds will come into the equation too. In four of the five cases featured here, the events took place while Pluto is transiting Capricorn in square aspect to Uranus in Aries (one of the signs ruled by Mars).
Just on the face of it that sounds like a fertile atmosphere for trouble.

While preparing this post it struck me that the generation with a Uranus-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn in their natal charts could prove to be an interesting study in future years, as they continue to mature and come into their power. The eccentricity and unexpected change which connects to Uranus combined with the foggy delusion for which Neptune is famous, in the sign of Capricorn known for its ties to the establishment, status quo, business etc. could prove to be one of astrology's oddest and possibly "iffiest" combinations. The last time the two slow-moving outer planets conjoined in this sign was in the 1820s, so the generation born then would have seen, and been involved in, the mushrooming of the industrial revolution - arguably the biggest change humanity had experienced for centuries.

The five charts:
Birth data for Lanza, Holmes and Seung-Hui taken from Astrodatabank, for the two Tsarnaevs it was gleaned from available sources, so may not be 100% accurate. Charts set for 12 noon where birth times are not known.

 Cho Seung-Hui (Virginia Tech massacre 2007) born 18 January 1984, Seoul, S. Korea

 James Holmes (Aurora theater shooting 2012) born  13 December 1987, San Diego, Ca.

 Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Boston Marathon bombing 2013)  born 21 October 1986 in Kyrgyzstan

 Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook elementary School shooting 2012) born 22 April 1992, Kingston, NH.

 Showing link to Mars - sextile aspect

 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Boston Marathon bombing 2013) born born  22 July 1993  in Dagestan

 Showing link to Mars - trine aspect

Postscript: Yet another ill-famed young male had slipped my memory while preparing the above: Jared Lee Loughner, born September 10, 1988. (Shooting in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8, 2011, shot and severely injured U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, his target, and killed six people.)

Not as clear a similarity here, but there's still at least one Mars/Pluto link. From the small chart a Yod (Finger of Fate) can be seen with Pluto at its apex linked to Jupiter and Mars by two 150* aspects. Astrologers would interpret that as the "energies" of the two sextiled planets, Jupiter (in Gemini) and Mars (in its own sign Aries), being channeled through Pluto (in its own sign, Scorpio) at the apex.

Robigalia ~ Festival of An Unlikely God ?

In modern Rome today, 25 April is known as Liberation Day, a national holiday on which liberation from the Nazi occupation and fascist rule during World War 2 is remembered. This day of celebration comes close to a celebration of Rome's birthday (21 April) when it is believed to have been founded by twins Romulus and Remus in 753 BC. In ancient Rome, though, 25 April marked a festival to appease Robigus, god of wheat rust and mildew - Robigalia.

Something as lowly as mildew and wheat disease would seem hardly suitable oversight for a member of the celestial hierachy, yet in those days a crop blight could condemn a farmer and his family to starvation; also Roman economy relied greatly on agriculture, bad harvests were something to be dreaded. I guess, actually, that rather than seeing Robigus as a god he/it represented for the people a personification of the dreaded mildew, so sacrificing to that personification probably helped, psychologically.

Robigalia involved a public procession through Rome and around the fields to a shrine where a rust coloured dog and a sheep were sacrificed, with prayers, incense and wine. Why the dog? Why a rust coloured dog? The colour probably links to the reddish-brown wheat rust. Romans believed in sympathetic magic, meaning anything red, like blood, could also be connected with wheat rust. Mars, the red planet, in Roman mythology was the god of both war and agriculture.

By the year 600 a Christian procession had replaced the pagan one. Rogation Days are April 25 ( Major) and the three days before the Feast of the Ascension ( Minor). The Major Rogation replaced Robigalia, and was shrewdly timed, probably, to counteract the existing "heathen" event. Rogation Day (from Latin rogare = to ask or beseech) was instituted by Pope Gregory I to atone for a lack of sobriety and continence during Lent. Prayers at that time ask for blessings on the fields and agriculture. In colonial America, and even still in some places, Rogation Sunday (the Sunday prior to Ascension Day) was the day farmers and clergy would walk the newly planted fields, praying for healthy crops.

"A continual state of inelegance" & annoyance...

What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance. ~Jane Austen


Elegant cannot be said to accurately describe me at the best of times, dreadful hot weather tends to make me bad tempered and ultra-inelegant to boot. Thank goodness for air conditioning. Without it I'd have had to return to Blighty, for sure.

I notice that transiting Mars and transiting Saturn have both been making trine aspects from Gemini and Libra to my natal Sun in Aquarius during the past week or so. Mars, in this case, meaning ANNoyance and challenge, Saturn = putting the brake on plans, and need for persistence. (Caps seem appropriate because that's my name!)

ANNoyance #1

Oklahoma is no stranger to extremes where weather (and conservatism) are concerned. The heat this year, though, seems more continually excessive than during the previous 6 summers I've spent here. We had triple digit temperatures (around 40C for those across t'pond) for several continuous periods during June, and into July, no rain to speak of for at least 6 weeks, perhaps longer. Our county is dealing with extreme drought conditions. There have been only two days since November 2010 when rainfall amounted to more than half an inch. Having (fingers crossed) traversed the 2011 tornado season unscathed we now find wildfires to be a continual threat, and one about which we cannot afford to be blasé.

We'd been tentatively planning to get away from Oklahoma from next weekend, heading north and west - Wyoming in fact: higher ground with somewhat lower temperatures, just for a couple of weeks. But, all things considered, especially the fact that our house backs on to a pasture and woodland where any spark might set off a blaze that could engulf our home rapidly, we've decided to wait until a substantial downpour comes along to slake down the extreme dryness. before starting out. Who knows when that might happen? Not that we could do much about a wildfire if one started, but we'd have a chance to quickly pack valuables, documents, photographs etc. in the car trunk before moving out of danger, and be on hand to sort out the resulting mess - if any.

Katharine Whitehorn (superb 20th century British journalist) once wrote: of the weather:

People get a bad impression of it by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who ought to be on time on Tuesday next, instead of philosophically seeing it as a painter, who may do anything so long as you don't try to predict what.

ANNoyance #2
TRACFONE customer service! We've used a Tracfone prepaid cellphone for some 5 years without much hindrance. We hardly ever use the thing - it's an "emergency only" acquisition. We don't even use our landline much except for receiving calls from my husband's offspring, and the odd reminder about a dentist appointment. Our old cellphone model is defunct, wasn't holding a charge for long, so I decided to replace it with a refurbished newer type from Tracfone online - doing my bit for the environment - or so I thought.

In trying to get the replacement charged and activated via phone calls to Tracfone I've spent periods of one and a half, and two and a half hours on the phone (landline 800 number).

It takes around 30 minutes to get to speak to a human being to start with, then it's not always easy to understand the accent of the human being one hears. Call centers are located in Central and South America I think - and maybe in parts of Asia too. First time around was a frustrating disaster. I tried to make a nice, patient-sounding guy understand that the refurbished phone wasn't holding a charge and wouldn't switch on properly. Having been told this several times he still insisted on going ahead transferring our phone number and remaining units/minutes from our old phone to the second phone.....thus leaving me with two useless phones. DUH!!! I eventually made him understand I'd need to go out to buy a Tracfone from Wal-Mart, so that the stuff from my old phone could be transferred. He gave me an "interaction number" for use as and when, and said a fond "goodbye ma'am".

Two days later, with a new Tracfone from Wal-Mart charged up, I attempted to reach a human being at customer service again. First three tries brought forth the news that due to current volume of calls they couldn't take mine. Fourth try, several hours later, put me in a 30-minute waiting line of callers. This time I eventually got a female human, with accent easy to understand, she seemed to understand me too, was patient and helpful. But the action of inputting yards and yards and yards of code into the new phone still took well over an hour and a half, followed by more waiting to speak to yet another rep, in the returns department, to get a ticket number and address to which to return the faulty re-furbished phone for a refund.

And.... the new phone is still not active - it takes 2 business days to get the phone number transferred to a new network (or something).



ANNoyance #3
I bought a 4-DVD set of a TV series called Firefly from an ebay seller. Brand new, in wrapper. When we tried to watch at the weekend we found that apart from half of the first episode the rest of the recording was faulty - pixelating all the time, two of the four DVDs wouldn't even start. So they must now be returned.....

Thanks Mars and Saturn.....now b..... off please, and make your trines elsewhere.

MARS-driven: ARIES & SCORPIO

A look at Aries and Scorpio, as seen by 20th century American astrologer, Carl Payne Tobey in his book Astrology Primer for the Millions. His assessments show us some similarities and differences between two zodiac signs traditionally ruled by the same planet.

Most of what Mr Tobey has to say about the individual signs is much the same as other astrologers have said, many times. What I like about these comparisons is the way a fundmental similarity can be seen, shining through the differences - something I hadn't fully appreciated before.

Mr.Tobey's comments about Aries and Scorpio can be applied not only to Sun Aries or Sun Scorpio people, but to anyone with emphasis in these signs (e.g. a cluster of planets, or Moon, ascendant or ruler of natal Sun in one of the signs.) He considered that both signs have relationship with Mars and Pluto, but states in this book that Mars rules Scorpio while Pluto rules Aries - the reverse of what most astrologers suggest. Pluto ruling Aries doesn't sound quite right to me.

(For brevity I have not copied the author's exact words throughout, and have omitted remarks about personalities who are no longer in the public eye.)

Both signs are aggressive, impulsive, but executive. Alike, but different.

Scorpio tends towards family or group loyalty whilst Aries is more of an individualist, independent and daring.

Both have drive but Scorpio's is emotional in source, Aries drive is vital, from the spirit. Aries initiates, Scorpio reacts. Aries burns, Scorpio boils.

Aries is the natural pioneer, able to survive alone if necessary. Business pioneers are often found to have Aries strong in their charts, and many Taureans who are pioneers are often found to have a cluster of natal Aries planets. Scorpio believes in working as a team. Wary of the stranger considering him a potential enemy, suspicious and alert for possibility of betrayal.

Scorpio expects loyalty and is badly hurt if let down by others.

The ancients associated Scorpio with sex and it is a strong feature in the Scorpio individual, but can also be associated with a guilt complex (Scorpio ministers Billy Sunday and Billy Graham preaching against sin).

Scorpio produces excellent executives, loyal and inspiring loyalty, able to be secretive when secrecy is called for.

Both Scorpio and Aries are accident prone. Aries often sustains injuries to the head, Scorpio seems to undergo more surgery than average.

Will power is a strong feature of Aries people. They are capable of fighting off great physical pain, and even disease by strength of will.

Aries intends to be master of its own destiny. Unlike Taurus/Libra(Venus People) it does not wait for opportunity too come along, it goes after it.

Both these signs are always active, nothing lethargic about them. Aries tends to live in the present and future, Scorpio in the present and past, but both emphasise the NOW.

A characteristic difference between Aries and Scorpio is that Scorpio cannot hide its feelings, being too emotional for that. Aries can - completely - it is too proud to let others know it needs then and can always find a way of going it alone if necessary.

Aries strength comes from inside, Scorpio draws strength from others, in some cases to the extent of becoming a psychic vampire.

Aries finds it easy to break away from its heredity, Scorpio is the reverse. Aries is likely to marry into a different race or religion, Scorpio more likely to marry someone who resembles a member of their own family.

Illustration at beginning of post is taken from Medizinisch-Astrologisches Hausbuch, 1429. Nuremburg. (Medical Astrology Housebook). It shows Mars overseeing Aries and Scorpio.

Zodiac sign ARIES

Another extract from Astrology & Commonsense (1962) by 20th century British astrologer Ingrid Lind. In the first paragraph Ms Lind states very clearly one of my own favourite warnings, which ought to be repeated along with any and all interpretation of the characteristics of a given Sun sign. A little later in the extract I could not stop myself from commenting (in italics) politely I hope, on a couple of issues arising from social change over 5 decades: 1962 (when the book was published) to today in 2011.


Ingrid Lind wrote:

"ARIES I had better repeat here that no one is solely and wholly Arien, Libran, Taurean, or whatever sign it may be that corresponds to the birth-month. As I have insisted, the sun in a given Sign does not necessarily give the most prominent feature in the make-up. Indeed, if you read through the following Sign descriptions you may well recognise some friend whose Sun-sign is in fact nowhere near the Sign in question. For example, you may detect strong Arien qualities in six people of whom only one has Sun in Aries, for which the following is one explanation among others:(for Aries read any other Sign that may apply)

A has Sun in Aries.
B has Aries rising over the Eastern horizon at time of birth.
C has Mars or ruling planet in Aries.
D has no planet in Aries, but the planet Mars (ruler of Aries) exactly rising.
E has Moon in Aries (Moon affects manner).
F has a group of planets in Aries and strong aspects to Mars.

Quality: Cardinal. Element: Fire. Ruler: Mars. Positive.

If Aries figures prominently in the chart the native will be decisive, quick, self-assertive. There is something primitive and simple about the Arien, whose attitude is somewhat that of the "cave-man" who knows he depends on his own courage and initiative and does not disrelish the struggle for survival: such a man (note from me: or woman) as responds well in moments of crisis or danger and is at best in emergency. The Arien will cut his/her way through, often literally, for Ariens are at home with weapons, offensive or surgical, and if there is any red tape about, this too will give way to the shears. Deeds not words is the Arien's motto; but when he/she has done the heroic deed he/she is by no means shy of adulation. At home he needs (sorry - can't type this without another note : this next bit is sexist Ms Lind!) a wife who responds warmly to his endearments and appreciates him for his cleverness and resource; but she had better not be too much of a talker if she does not want to be silenced by a blow with the club. (Really, Ms Lind! I trust you were jesting!) Of course, there are Arien women. (You don't say?! How strange!) these will be frank, warm-hearted, decisive and capable of rising to the occasion. But what they really derive, so to speak, from Aries is their more masculine traits. If an Arien woman begin a sentence with "if you really want to know", you may be sure of a home truth.

(Note from me: I think I just proved my Arien credentials there!)

Ariens may in fact be brusque and aggressive; but they do not shrink from these qualities in others. A wire-haired terrier has a lot of Aries in his personality: he enjoys a good fight and bears no malice when it is over.

Arien Qualities Courage, initiative, decisiveness, frankness, quickness, warm-heartedness.

Arien Faults Aggressiveness, egoism, bullying, rudeness, violent temper, lust."

Your friendly neighbourhood blogger here: I have Moon and Saturn in Aries, Saturn being traditional ruler of my Sun sign (Aquarius). Mars, ruler of Aries is in Scorpio the twin rulership of Mars. So.....

My husband has Sun in Aries, Leo Moon, Leo rising, Mars in Sagittarius but in some ways he is less Arien than I am (I think). However, neither of us likes weapons, except (in my own case) to cut through red tape.

NOTE: My earlier, archived, posts on Aries can be easily accessed by clicking on "Aries" at the Label Cloud in the sidebar.

Music Monday ~ MARS & MUSIC

The qualities and characteristics symbolised by astrological Mars have positive and negative places in the human personality. Ingrid Lind in her book Astrology & Commonsense describes the role of Mars thus:

Mars governs the prime of physical life. Rules or has affinity with the signs Aries and Scorpio. Keywords: energy, heat, activation.

Martian qualities give the fighting spirit which surmounts the difficulties and crises life so abundantly produces. The power to translate courage into action is the Mars in a man working at its highest level, with brutal aggressiveness and uncontrolled passion at the low end of the scale. The amount of 'libido' or vitality in its various manifestations is indicated by the strength of Mars in the chart. In moments of emergency where quick action is needed it is easy to distinguish those who make good use of their Martian qualities. In the same way those with this planet weak by both Sign and aspect tend to crumple. Literally they have no fight in them.

The sex life and attitude to sexual relations as opposed to merely affectionate relationships is largely conditioned by Mars in the chart. Harmonious aspects between Mars and Venus indicate a happy blending of passion and love: inharmonious aspects suggest that the individual has something to learn in the handling of these two.

Mars in mythology is god of war. War has to be the cumulative result of goup negative Mars manifestation, though a single strong Martian personality could incite war, it takes the group/mass to be willing to undertake the waging of it.

In music, a composition immediately springing to mind whenever Mars is mentioned has to be Mars the Bringer of War from Gustav Holst's The Planets.

What, we wonder, was a classical composer doing writing music depicting the "flavours" of the planets?

It appears that Holst, in 1913, travelled to Spain with one Clifford Bax, an astrologer, who introduced the composer to the concepts of astrology, no doubt providing the vision and inspiration for Holst's Planet Suite. Alan Leo, astrologer and theosophist might also take credit for such inspiration. Holst had an interest in theosophy via Alan Leo's book The Art of Synthesis. The book has chapters based on each planet, and describes the astrological characteristics of them.

Gustav Holst seemed to consider The Planets a progression of life. Mars, coming first, presents a rocky and tormenting beginning. In fact, some have called this movement the most devastaing piece of music ever written.
(See here)

Above version of Mars, Bringer of War is from this album:





Where else can the attributes of Mars be found in music?

The positive, energetic side of Mars is to be found in all rock music, I guess. Its negative side surfaces in violent lyrics.

A study of US college students suggests that songs with violent lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and emotions. The study contradicts a popular suggestion that music loaded with violent imagery, such as some rap and heavy metal, are cathartic in venting aggression.

Craig Anderson at Iowa State University and colleagues found that students who listened to songs with violent lyrics were more likely to make aggressive associations in subsequent psychological tests.

Although, the effects were measured over a short time only, the team believes listening to violent lyrics could have a long-term effect - contributing to the development of a more aggressive and confrontational personality.
"Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, colouring them with an aggressive tint," said Anderson. "Listening to angry, violent music does not appear to provide the kind of cathartic release that the general public and some professional and pop psychologists believe."

(See here)



Can't finish without a mention of David Bowie's Is There Life on Mars? There's nothing about Mars itself in the song, whose title was probably inspired by a Brtitsh TV series called Life on Mars. Bowie's lyrics lend themselves to a variety of interpretations - like an abstract painting. Wikipedia explains it all.
(EDIT ~~~ Song inspired title of TV series, not t'other way around!)

MARS, for good & ill.

Astrologers have various eloquent ways of describing how the position of Mars in a natal chart reflects back in the personality. Stripped down to its bare bones, I see Mars as pure energy, a driving force that can be used for good or ill. The "ill" half of that, in its worst form is, of course, violence and war. As Mars is with us always, war and other forms of violence are with us always. The seed is within us all. Romans celebrated Mars and all it stood for, including war. We (or some of us) have moved on since then.

As it happens today, 19 October, was a day set aside in Rome to honor Mars:

The Armilustrium was a festival in honor of Mars, the god of war, celebrated on October 19. On this day the weapons of the soldiers were ritually purified and stored for winter. The army would be assembled and reviewed in the Circus Maximus, garlanded with flowers and the trumpets (tubae) would be played as part of the purification rites. The Romans gathered with their arms and armour on the Aventine Hill, and held a procession with torches and sacrificial animals. The dancing priests of Mars known as the Salii may also have taken part in the ceremony.

I guess we could all spare a thought today to honor the positive energy and drive that life bestows on us (aka Mars energy), while at the same time reminding ourselves that it has a dark, very dark, side which needs always to be kept in check.

Coincidentally, Michelle of the "Crows Feet" blog has just produced a lovely video which fits in well with my last point. With her permission, here it is. Thank you, Michelle for a beautiful piece of work:

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!