FIXED STAR ZOSMA ~ disgrace, egotism, melancholy....?

I'm inclined to ignore the fixed stars (as against wandering planets) in astrology, with the exception of Algol, traditionally thought to be "unfortunate". Algol has been known to live up to its reputation, and is worth noting if close to a personal planet or sensitive point in natal charts. There's one other fixed star that occasionally catches my eye in natal charts: Zosma. I have no clue as to why this one attracts my attention. It isn't close to anything in my own natal chart, but for some reason my eye is often drawn to its position.

The fixed star commonly known as Zosma (translates as "girdle" "loincloth" or "enzonement") is also known as Delta Leonis or Duhr. It is located in the constellation Leo, on the lion's rump, and lies about 58 light-years from Earth.

For our astrological purposes the position of Zosma is currently around 11.19 Virgo. In 1900 it was around 9 degrees of Virgo. Those positions fall roughly where I've managed to deposit red dot on the chart, see right.

Astrologically Zosma is said to be "of the nature of Saturn and Venus". Interpretations indicate a generally negative "vibe" - they range from: benefit by disgrace, selfishness, egotism, immorality, meanness, melancholy, fear of poison, a shameless and egotistical nature, to keen intellect, loss in childhood, and prophetic ability (the latter links also to another nearby star Coxa). Other interpretations indicate the concept of victim or saviour, stemming from the fact that Zosma lies on the lion's back - that part broken by Hercules in Greek mythology.





Ignoring all interpretation for the time being, I'll look at a few well-known people with Zosma linked closely to personal planets in their natal charts (not much more than a degree from exact conjunction).

During Pluto's transit through Virgo Zosma conjoined it at some points, in 1963 and 1964. There's whole age group born around that time with Pluto conjunct Zosma. I doubt it would have much astrological significance though, unless a personal planet or point links in by conjunction or close aspect in an individual natal chart.

In past investigations I've come across Zosma, conjoined with Pluto and Mars, in the chart of George Michael; and Zosma conjunct Pluto trine Mercury in the chart of Ralph Fiennes. (See HERE and HERE). A common factor of these two is their disgrace or embarrassment due to excessive indulgence of one sort or another. Interestingly Charlie Sheen, also known for his indulgences, has Sun conjunct Zosma (Sun @11.22 Virgo).






Piers Morgan, who has recently taken over a US TV chat show, has Mars and Uranus conjunct Zosma (see chart HERE.) I seem to remember there were hints of disgrace/embarrassment hanging around Mr. Morgan during his newspaper career in the UK (see Wikipedia). He was eventually fired from UK's Daily Mirror for publishing some faked photographs.


Well....so far it looks as though Zosma, linked into a natal chart, indicates a person to whom I'd personally like to give a dope slap up the side of the head for managing to blot their copybooks....especially George Michael who could have been one of the truly greats.

Jared Loughner, the man who ran amok with a firearm in Tuscon a few weeks ago, killing six and injuring many including Congresswoman Gabby Gifford could possibly have natal Moon conjunct Zosma. This isn't certain until his birth time is known, however. In a sunrise chart for his birth date (HERE) Moon was at 10.58 Virgo.

A rapid skim through data available at Astrotheme threw up a handful of others, well-known in the UK and USA who have Zosma attached to an important personal planet. There's no obvious commonality (from what we know of them), other than that they are or have been famous, and would therefore have had a goodly share of egotism - but that applies to just about anyone we could name who has become famous, Zosma or no Zosma. Shrinking violets seldom seek or achieve fame!

John Travolta (Moon 11.11 Virgo)
Madonna (Moon 11.33 Virgo)
Cass Elliot (Moon 11.56 Virgo)
Freddy Mercury Sun 11/55 Virgo
Astrologer Liz Greene Sun 11.33 Virgo (maybe here the "ability to prophesy" part of traditional interpretation kicks in ?)

I suspect that finding Zosma conjunct or closely aspecting a personal planet will not, alone, be a sufficient indicator for any of the traditional interpretations to "kick-in". There would need to be other supporting evidence in the chart. I'd guess that Zosma, properly positioned, might add weight to an otherwise uncertain potentiality. Planets at or close to 11 Virgo are worth noting!

Ralph Fiennes & "The Reader"

We saw "The Reader" last night, it wouldn't have been our first choice of movie, but it was the best of a bad lot on offer locally.

The acting was good-ish, though hardly as brilliant as the Awards would have one believe. The storyline just didn't gel for me. I didn't believe the characters, the way they reacted (or didn't). The female lead was supposed to be illiterate yet could appreciate Homer and "War and Peace" when it was read aloud to her. Heck - I'm literate (well - sometimes, with a following wind) and I wouldn't appreciate Homer, or "War and Peace"!

An uncomfortable feeling remains that this movie and another recent one set in Germany, "Valkyrie", encourages the audience to feel sympathy for some of the perpetrators, tries to soften the memories of atrocities commited in World War 2. Forgiveness may be possible, complete ignorance of the young is understandable, some people may choose to forget what went on between 1939 and 1945 - but dumbing down is not acceptable. We should not have history painted in paler colors for new generations. The colors need to remain vivid and harsh; even harsher as years pass, memories dim, and those who fought and suffered are no longer around.

To be fair, there was one scene where the young man walks through the remains of a prison camp, sees the horror of it, though not a word was said. I felt the need for him to have dialogue with someone, explain how he felt about it - but he said nothing....did he even realise what he had seen? We don't know. The book from which the movie is adapted might well present a clearer picture.

One throw-away line from the movie imprinted itself on my mind -a law professor said to the young male lead, "If people like you don't learn from what people like me did - what's the point of it all?" The movie skewed that point a little, I thought.

Ralph Fiennes isn't an actor whose movies I rush to see, but having said that, he's been consistently good whenever I have happened upon his work. The character he played in "The Reader" wasn't easy to understand, in addition and unfortunately, it was hard to connect him, looks-wise, to the actor who played his younger self.

Here's Ralph Fiennes' natal chart, set for 12 noon in the absence of a known birth time. His rising sign remains a mystery, but the Moon would have been in Scorpio whatever time of birth, degree unclear.

A few points of interest:



Sun and Mercury in Capricorn - a fundamentally serious character who possibly does best in quietly intellectual parts rather than knock-around comedy or wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am romances. But Uranus is opposing Jupiter - an indication of continuing need to balance Jupiter's potential for excess and the outlandishness of Uranus is indicated.

His private life actually seems to be more in the wham-bam-thank-you range, in contrast to the subtlety of his acting. At Wikipedia there's evidence of his (alleged) sexy pastimes :

Fiennes stirred controversy in February 2007 when staff aboard a Qantas airline flight from Australia to India caught the actor leaving the same airplane lavatory as 38-year-old female flight attendant Lisa Robertson. At first denying any allegations of a mid-air tryst, Robertson later confessed to having unprotected sex in the stall with Fiennes, whom she had met just hours before. Fiennes reportedly was enroute to Mumbai, India, as a participant in AIDS awareness efforts for UNICEF. The organization would retain Fiennes as an ambassador, but Qantas would ultimately relieve Robertson of her duties.[9]

One month after the airline incident, Fiennes again made headlines when he reportedly disturbed sleeping guests at Bruges, Belgium's posh Hotel Tuilerieen during a 5 a.m. naked pool romp with four women. The actor was a guest at the hotel while shooting the film. Insider sources say that the women were brought and their company was enjoyed by a different member of the crew, whose name attracts no press.

Fiennes has a cluster of three planets in sexy Scorpio - Moon/Neptune/Venus, three planets whose natures would easily take on Scorpio's eroticism - emotional Moon, artistic Venus and imaginative Neptune. In several of Fiennes' films he plays rather dark parts. There's an uneasy darkness about him which casting directors obviously sense, and this is likely to come courtesy of his Scorpio trio.

There's more: Pluto at 12 Virgo is conjunct Fixed Star Zosma. I've met this star before in the charts of George Michael, Ann Coulter and blues singer Seth Walker. Because Pluto is a very slow mover, millions of people could find it conjunct Zosma in their natal charts. Only when it's linked up to personal planets is it likely to make itself felt; it may then appear to bring "a certain something" into clearer focus. Fiennes Pluto/Zosma links by harmonious trine to his Mercury in Capricorn, and might also link by sextile to Moon in Scorpio, but we can't be sure without time of birth. In this case the Zosma focus seems to be on a similar syndrome to George Michael's: a strange need to be caught doing something "naughty". Interesting!