Renaissance Man ~ Renaissance Woman: Peter Weller, Barbra Streisand

Renaissance Man: a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.

Peter Weller, best known for his starring role in RoboCop, but has appeared in a gaggle of other sci-fi TV shows (Odyssey 5 - see yesterday's post - is one example), run of the mill movies, and some oddities such as Naked Lunch in which he played William S. Burroughs. He's recently joined the cast of Showtime's Dexter. But more than this, Weller has directed for TV, writes for travel magazines, hosted his own series, Engineering Empires, on the History Channel. He also holds a master’s degree in Italian Renaissance art history, is self taught on the history of late Republican-early Empire Ancient Rome, developed and teaches a course, ‘Hollywood and the Roman Empire’ at Syracuse University, and conducts field trips for Syracuse University in Florence. Weller, in 2007, was finishing a Ph.D. at UCLA, in the history of fifteenth-century Venetian art, with a minor in Ancient Greek and Roman art. All of that, as well as playing jazz trumpet in a bebop sextet in Los Angeles. (More here)

Renaissance man ? I guess!!

Peter Weller was born on 24 June 1947 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin at 4.47 AM (Astrodatabank).

Any indication of his multi-talented nature, draw towards sci-fi roles, art, ancient history, jazz?



Ascendant, Sun and Mercury in Cancer connect to Weller's love of history. I'm not clear exactly why Cancer connects to history. It's probably to do with roots. Cancer needs roots, home, family etc. and what is history but a deeper level of that same thing?

Futuristic Uranus in Gemini sits ten degrees from Sun in one direction and ten degrees from Venus in Gemini in the other. Ten degrees, though not representing a tight conjunction, in this case provides a kind of planetary sandwich linking a Cancerian love of history with a draw to comminication of all kinds (Gemini), art, music (Venus) and futuristic endeavours and jazz (Uranus).

Moon in Virgo indicates that he's meticulous as well as versatile - that's a fairly unusual, and valuable combination! Often versatility comes with a need to skim over a variety of interests, studies, hobbies, becoming competent enough to get by in each but without delving too deeply, just enough to satisfy a restless mind. Not so in Weller's case. His Virgo Moon will insist on going all the way in any and all endeavours. He must have felt particularly frustrated by the unplanned, sudden cut-off of showtime's Odyssey 5.



Barbra Streisand easily qualifies for the title Renaissance Woman. Singer, actress, writer, director, producer, with countless awards for her many albums and movie roles. Possibly the best known of all her film roles was Funny Girl, both the Broadway and film version for which she won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actress, the first of two Oscars. Her film hits continued with Hello Dolly, 1969, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, 1970 and The Way We Were, 1973. She starred in and produced A Star is Born in 1976. The Prince of Tides was the first motion picture directed by its female star ever to receive a Best Director nomination from the Directors Guild of America as well as seven Academy Award nominations. With Yentl, which took 14 years of development and persistence, she became the first woman ever to produce, direct, write and star in a major motion picture.

She hasn't plumbed the full depth of her talent yet though. Not content with such incredible success in multiple spheres, Ms Streisand has written and illustrated with her own photographs: My Passion for Design. In addition to her other talents she has become a connoisseur of Art Nouveau furniture and vintage clothing, and has designed and overseen the construction of a luxurious compound in Malibu. Her design notes are said to show that she brought to her design projects the same intense perfectionism that she brought to her movies, recordings and concerts. She has become an expert on the design periods that she’s passionate about, such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. (See here.)



Barbra Streisand was born in Brooklyn, New York on 24 April 1942 at 5:08 AM (Astrodatabank).



With four planets, including Sun in Taurus - the Earth sign ruled by Venus planet of music and the arts in general, her gravitation to, and talent for, singing is no surprise. These Taurus planets also reflect a love of art... and worldly security.
A quote credited to her: "I can't stand to see red in my profit-or-loss column. I'm Taurus the bull, so I react to red. If I see it, I sell my stocks quickly."

Midheaven point in Capricorn underlines a good business head - her need for, and talent in, obtaining financial security.

Moon in Leo and Aries rising - without these placements I guarantee the world wouldn't not be nearly as aware of Barbra Streisand as it is, and has been for decades. Leo and Aries add the fire essential for pushing the self into the spotlight and, at times, into areas where others have not yet trod. Saturn conjunct Uranus in Taurus adds a touch of the unexpected and daring to her undeniable Earthy work ethic. Moon in Leo conjunct Pluto puts power into her showmanship and glorying in her place in the limelight. Moon conjunct Pluto in Leo might also be translated as "Diva" - a term often applied to Ms Streisand.

Neptune (creativity) in (perfectionist) Virgo is in harmonious trine to the Saturn/Uranus conjunction describing well Ms Streisand's legendary demand for perfection in all her endeavours.


Similarities between the two charts which might relate to Renaissance-ness:

The Pluto conjunction with a personal planet: Saturn in Peter Weller's case and Moon in Barbra Streisand's. Saturn in Streisand's chart is conjunct an outer planet (Uranus). So as we are looking for similarities in career/work styles Saturn is the planet most related, and in both cases Saturn is conjunct an outer planet, adding significance and another layer of meaning. I don't know for sure, that's my own interpretation - but if I discover more well-known Renaissance people I'll check back!

Hmmm - didn't take long! When looking for something else in my archives I noticed a post from 2008 on Shel Silverstein, who I'd called a Renaissance Man-lite; John Lennon was also mentioned there. At that point I wondered whether Fixed Star Alpheratz/Sirrah conjunct a personal planet might have something to do with Renaissance man-ness. However, looking at the chart for Silverstein I see that he had Pluto conjunct Jupiter and Mars! another Renaissance man-type with personal planet conjunct an outer planet. Lennon had a looser conjunction of Uranus/Saturn/Jupiter in Taurus at 25, 13 and 13 degrees respectively. I don't see Lennon as clearly Renaissance-ish as the others mentioned here though - but he might well have evolved that that way.

Man & Star ~ Shel Silverstein & Alpheratz

Here's a fun poem, astrologically suspect, but never mind! It was written by multi-talented Shel Silverstein, about whom more follows.

The Man Who Got No Sign

Well, there was Gemini Jim and Scorpio Sal,
And they were living by the Golden Gate.
Freezing their nose
And wearing leather clothes
And dealing every way but straight.
They had a Leo dog and a Capricorn cat,
And everything was going fine.
Until, into their life,
On a moonless night,
Come the man
Who got no sign.


He roared right in
Like some evil wind
And he rolled himself a righteous smoke.
And as the thunder crashed,
And the lightning flashed
He took a toke
And spoke...
He said he was born in an astrological warp,
When the stars refused to shine.
On the cusp of nowhere and nevermore:
He's the man that got no sign.

So he told a story of an endless search
To find his missing part.
But Scorpio Sal, she just smiled at him, and
Tried to do his chart.
But Pisces Ben, who was Jim's best friend,
Said, "Man...you must be blind.
You better grab your knife,
And take the life
Of that man
What got no sign."

And so, it happened...
And his blood ran...
Soaked the ground...

The arrest was made by Sheriff Slade,
An Aquarius through and through.
But the jailer was a Sagittarius
And he beat Jim black and blue,
And as they dragged him up the courthouse stairs,
They said, "Jim, how do you plead?"
Jim said, "Man, the moon's in Virgo, so
Blame no fault on me!"

Well, the jury all was Libras,
So you know they were more than fair,
But his lawyer was Aries,
And an Aries just don't care.
And the judge, he was a Cancer,
And a Cancer's got no friends.
But the hangman
Was a Taurus,
And that's where
The circle
Ends...

A couple of commenters on my post about John Lennon (7 December) used the term "Renaissance Man" to describe John, due to his varied talents (see also last paragraph of this post).

While Renaissance Men in the true sense of the word (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci) don't exist anymore, some well known individuals exhibit characterisitics of what I'll call Renaissance Man-lite. Shel Silverstein was one of that ilk. Poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children's books (including "The Giving Tree", "A Light in the Attic", "Where the Sidewalk Ends"). I was surprised to learn that he wrote Johnny Cash's famous song "A Boy Named Sue", and many others recorded by country stars. "The Unicorn", which seems to have gathered the mistaken reputation of being an Irish song, is one of his, as is Marianne Faithfull's "Ballad of Lucy Jordan". His song "Sylvia's Mother" made Dr. Hook, and lead singer Dennis Locarriere internationally famous. There are numerous other examples. He wrote and drew cartoons regularly for Playboy Magazine, illustrated his own books, and other publications.



Shel Silverstein, born 25 September 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. Died in May 1999.



Extract from biography HERE

"A poet who crossed Ogden Nash's playfulness with Mad Magazine irreverence; a cartoonist who jacked up Dr. Seuss style fantasies with Jules Feiffer's neurotic social relevance; and a folk singer who wrote with the taboo-inducing bite of comic Lenny Bruce. Contradictory and difficult, he was a renowned children's author who was reportedly impatient with children, as well as a shy, private man whose work and image portrayed him as a bearded, shaved head attention-seeking extrovert. As a performer, the raspy, grating voice that so brilliantly underscored the nature of his spoken word pieces made him sound like an undisciplined madman when he sang. However, it was as a songwriter where he arguably made his biggest mark on pop culture. "

"Shy and private" connects to that stellium (cluster of 3 planets) in Cancer - it's a hefty dose of the tendency to shyness and need to withdraw which is often found in folks with this sign prominent in their charts. His Mercury in Virgo, one of its own signs, connects strongly to writing ability and a streak of perfectionism.

I'm not going to try to interpret the whole chart, I'm looking mainly for something special which might relate to his particular brand of versatility and Renaissance-lite.

I'm going for this: at the time he was born, Uranus lay conjunct Fixed Star Alpheratz, also known as Sirrah. This was true for anyone born between (approximately) May 1930 to March 1931. This star's ancient interpretation in general is

"Freedom, love of movement, speed, intellectual and can indicate riches and honors. Strong motivation, willfulness and the ability to take action. Well known, before the public and popularity with the masses; fame. Harmonius nature, good for relationships."

When conjunct Uranus, the inventor, technology, the rebel, the genius, change-bringer, catalyst for humour, the star's interpretation has to be blended with Uranian traits. In mid to late 1930 we can pinpoint some good examples of how the blend can manifest, when all other conditions are suitable:

Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins (Buzz Aldrin too, but born a little earlier in January)
Rebellious left-wing British author Harold Pinter
Genius financier Warren Buffet
Computer billionnaire and politician Ross Perot
Another Rennaissance-lite man, Clint Eastwood (actor, director, musician)
and our current subject, Shel Silverstein, quirky and irreverent, socially-relevant Rennaissance-lite man.
James Dean, born February 1931, a rebellious icon if ever there was one, comes into this group too.

I see Shel Silverstein's particular brand of Rennaissance-liteness rooted in the Uranus/Alpheratz conjunction. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Hey! Here's a thought - if John Lennon were to have been born a little earlier than 6.30 pm (which some say he must have been, because it was 6.30 when his aunt reported the event) birth time of 6.20pm would bring his ascendant conjunct Alpheratz at 14 Aries! Hmmm, that's.....spooky!