White Nationalism ~ "the primal fault"

A quote from one of the better diatribes I've read during the past few days, on the issue of racism, white supremacy etc. It comes from Stonewalling Washington: Trump pushes leftist view of US racism further than Obama or Clinton, by Ramin Mazaheri at
The Saker blog.

"For true leftists – I don’t see how Trump’s comments can’t be seen as a major positive! The idea that Trump is fomenting White Nationalism in America is like being worried about rain falling in the ocean."

Those words immediately brought to mind lines from a favourite poem by
A.E. Housman: Stars, I have seen them fall:

The toil of all that be
Helps not the primal fault;
It rains into the sea,
And still the sea is salt.

The piece by Ramin Mazaheri begins:

I feel sorry for Americans – they have such lousy leaders they feel compelled to defend.

I don’t mean Trump or Obama or Clinton or even JFK – I mean George Washington.

It’s really gotta be a blow to the national pride when Americans have to admit, if only to themselves: “Trump makes a fair point: the father of our country, George Washington, was a slave-owning bastard, just like Confederate leaders Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee.”

LOL, Trump deserves some sort of leftist medal: “Unwitting Service to the Advance of Leftism Despite Overwhelming Idiocy,” or something, because his recent statement has done more to push a truly leftist analysis of American history than anyone could have hoped.

Racist, imperialist, bourgeois, repressive, anti-worker, pre-modern…this describes all of the US leaders Trump mentioned. A true leftist must be a wall of stone on this point, so…kudos to Trump, no?

Please, do go read the full piece.

In July of 2012 I blogged about a little-known Canadian film, adaptation of a stage play by playwright David Gow : Steel Toes. I titled my post HATRED "the madness of the heart (words borrowed from Lord Byron). The film's content in August 2017, five years later, is relevant to current issues. I'd bought the DVD of Steel Toes during my search for films in which a favourite actor of mine, David Strathairn, had appeared.

In Steel Toes , set in Montreal, but would be equally relevant in any location, anywhere in the world, a liberal Jewish lawyer, Danny Dunckelman (David Strathairn) is appointed to represent a white supremacist, neo-nazi skinhead, Michael Downey (Andrew Walker). Downey is on trial for the racially motivated attack and murder of an East Indian immigrant.

There could be no clearer illustration of what hatreds can lead to than the first, barely watchable, scene of this film. Downey, crazed by hatred kicks to the edge of death - wearing steel-toed Doc Marten boots - an Indian cook, who has accidentally splashed Downey's clothing when throwing out some liquid.

90 minutes of dense and intense dialogue take viewers through opposing mindsets, beliefs and embedded hatreds of the skinhead and the lawyer. The lawyer, professionally bound to defend this man whose beliefs he finds alien and despicable, needs to delve deep into his own background and the teachings of his father, to face his own dormant hatred before he can begin to find a way to assist the neo-nazi to understand, and come to terms with, his own emotional excesses.

The lawyer understands, and tries continually to explain in some way to Downey, that the struggle against evil is primarily an internal one. Downey's failure and downfall was to externalize his struggle and inner fears by identifying specific scapegoats. Immigrants, for him, were The Enemy of "besieged" white men. Taking a broader view, outside of the film's scenario, instead of (or as well as) immigrants, targets could have been gays, any non-white people, or conversely from a "black" point of view any white people, muslims, the 1% (I must watch myself!), political right-wingers, left-wingers, women, men.....the beat of hatreds, both deep and shallow, goes on.

Strathairn and Walker give exemplary performances in what must have been seriously difficult roles for both: Strathairn isn't Jewish, and Walker, in real life, is worlds away from the skinhead neo-nazi mentality. The actors needed to acquire in depth insights into the beliefs of the film's two central characters. In interview at the end of the film David Strathairn explained that he, though not Jewish, had attended Temple and read parts of the Torah in preparation for the role.

Before the injured man died in hospital from internal bleeding he had made a statement, written for him by his wife, detailing his loss of sight, inability to walk or sit resulting form the brutal beating he received from Downey, but offering Downey compassion and forgiveness. Dunckelman repeatedly makes Downey read this document aloud until a change occurs and crazed hatred and anger begin to subside.

The film will long remain in my memory, especially lawyer Danny Dunckelman's words in the last scene of all as he examines his father's prayer shawl (Wiki has the proper term for this shawl = a tallit). I recalled a phrase used by the commenter I had quoted earlier in the post: "....our social fabric is frayed..." Danny Dunckelman says, echoing earlier meditations (and I admit to not really understanding the words, but still finding them beautiful) :

These seven threads comprise a cloth: spirit, light, time, space, birth, death, and the seventh thread, which is the mystery of the universe. This seventh thread is also the opposite of spirit, the opposite of light, the opposite of time, the opposite of space, the opposite of birth, the opposite of death. The seven threaded dimensional cloth, which is the very fabric of the unnameable. The fabric extending out from any point of our universe. This movement, this animation, this extension in the cloth is the divine dance of eternity.

US Presidents - Astrological Groupings

Information at the following link will not be new to most astrologically-literate people in the USA. As the 2016 presidential electoral go-around will still leave my general election experience here in single figures, I'm not familiar with data presented - or if I have read it in the past, I've promptly forgotten all about it.

Zodiac Sign Found Most Among U.S. Presidents, by Corrine Lane.


Graphs and observations on US Presidents to date (with 4 listed exceptions) are grouped into:

Mid-heaven by sign, element, quality

Rising signs

Sun/Moon signs.

Because there's no time of birth available, as yet, for Bernie Sanders it's not possible to compare his data as regards mid-heaven and rising signs. His Virgo Sun and Aries Moon are not especially favoured, but MC and rising could balance that. I'm hoping for Cancer inclusion at rising or MC!

Hillary Clinton has Scorpio rising which isn't beneficial at all, according to this study.

SNIP

Is Scorpio Rising So Scary?

Not even one U.S. president has had Scorpio rising. I have 3 theories about this. First, it may be that U.S.A. doesn’t want a sexy president. Second, Americans aren’t ready to trust a president that is so predisposed to extreme secrecy. Scorpio Rising people appear to be hiding something even when they are not. It’s been said that Scorpio Rising generates fear in others. (Scorpio’s secrecy is really just a protective instinct. It’s not anything to be afraid of.) Third, it may be that Scorpio Rising people are not at all interested in the office of U.S. President. In fact, they do not like to be put on display. They prefer to wield low-key, subliminal power. To see the zero-count for Scorpio rising, see the graph “Rising Signs of U.S. Presidents”, shown above.

Her Scorpio Sun is better placed in the graph, but Virgo mid-heaven isn't doing too well.

As for "The Donald" - his Leo ascendant (Fire) could be his undoing (one factor among many I dare say!) Final paragraph of the linked piece begins: "Earth, water, and air signs are pretty well represented in all three tallies. This favors a combination of dependable earth, compassionate water, and witty, airy intelligence. Fire signs ranked lowest among all three tallies."

First Female US Prez? & SCOTUS on Hobby Lobby

Something that brought on a mini-rant from me in 2007 is bubbling up once again, with 2016 in the far distance, but just about visible. Hillary Clinton. Yeah, yeah - she's female. Feminists with a capital "F" (which I'm not) keep on about how right and good it would be for the first woman president of the USA to follow the first African-American president of the USA. Tommyrot!!! Absolute wrong thinking, in my opinion. The USA's presidential position is not there to provide a platform for celebration of equality of the sexes (or races). It's the right person that's important, not that person's gender or ethnicity. Hillary Clinton is a "hawk" (“hawks” are those who advocate an aggressive foreign policy based on strong military power). How very feminine! She's also a corporatist, and scarcely more than a fraction of a degree left of conservative. How can this be thought desirable by anyone calling themselves Democrat or Liberal?

It's looking ominously as though Hillary Clinton will run in 2016. Most of those who seem to be in the know think that, if she runs, she'll be nominated, never mind who else dares to run against her from her own party. I use the word "dares" advisedly. It is, apparently, a done deal. Whether she could win in the General Election is another matter.

Snip from 2007 rant:

Leading off from this topic is something currently in spotlight in the USA - the possibility of a woman president.

If mainstream media and the corporations get their way, Hillary Clinton will be the next US Prez. Some people think that a woman president would be something to celebrate - just because she is a woman. Huh?? Why?

Yes, women have been held back for too many years, and still have a legendary glass ceiling to negotiate before they can get a look-in in many spheres. That does not automatically mean that a woman who manages to negotiate the glassware would make a good president or a good anything. There's as much chance of a woman being a good president as there is a man - good/bad = 50/50.

Let's not get all starry eyed about women in charge. They are no better and no worse than men - it's just that there are fewer of them in that position. My own life and work experience has led me to trust women in charge less than men - due purely to experience, not because I think they are less able or psychologically different. My own experience has taught me that the old myth that "if women were in charge this world would be a better place" is wishful thinking, at best.

A woman could make the best president ever seen in the history of the world - but equally, so could a man.

I still feel the same in 2014, only more so.

As mentioned in a post some days ago, the person I'd most like to see running in the presidential campaign 2016 would be Al Gore. I found an article from 2011 in which the author, someone who appeared fairly regularly on all the usual liberal-type websites, wrote that it'd be a good idea to begin a movement to draft Al Gore for 2016. The same author wrote a more recent article proposing that Hillary Clinton will be the likely 2016 nominee. He appears to be an avid fan of Clinton. As there was a contact e-mail address for the author (I'll not mention his name here), I dropped him a note reminding him of his earlier feelings. He kindly replied immediately, and twice, that he's pretty sure Clinton will run and be nominated (he seems to be "in the know") and that he has seen no evidence that Al Gore is interested in running...unless, perhaps Clinton decided for some reason to decline to run, but this is not expected. He said that in the absence of a run by Clinton "all bets are off". My fingers are crossed for one of those "all bets off" situations, unlikely as one such might seem to be right now.

When Al Gore was asked in a Politico interview recently about 2016 he responded only that he's "a recovering politician" ... he didn't say, "No way, no how."

AG: You say you can ask the question a million ways. I’m going to only answer it one way. With apologies, I’m sure you’ve heard this answer before. I am a recovering politician. And the longer I avoid a relapse the more confidence that I will not succumb to the temptation to run yet again. But I’m a recovering politician. I’ll just leave it at that.

I'd hate to knock a recovering alcoholic off the wagon, but this is different. If somebody doesn't do something pretty major soon there'll be no wagon, and no anything much, as climate change advances during the years to come.

Does anyone have any ideas? Writing to Al Gore, snail mail, via his Tennessee office is the only thing I can think of, but it'd be highly unlikely he'd ever even see the letter. Why aren't other people thinking along these same lines regarding a run by Gore? Am I right around the loony bend on this?

Yesterday's ruling by the Supreme Court in favour of Hobby Lobby (+ Another) probably came as no surprise to most people. My 2012 post about the issue is HERE. The ruling was limited though, and applies only to "closely held" corporations which, I think, means privately or family owned rather than publicly held corporations. That's some crumb of relief, I guess. It still opens the door for other creatively imagined religion-based claims though. Watch that space! And wonder at the blatant hypocrisy of it all.
From The Week.com

"We're Christians," Hobby Lobby's president Steve Green proclaims, "and we run our business on Christian principles."

That is music to the ears of many conservative Christians, who rallied around Hobby Lobby when the retail chain argued at the Supreme Court that ObamaCare's contraception mandate unlawfully burdened their religious beliefs. But a closer look at Hobby Lobby's actual business practices reveals this claim to be as hollow as a flute. Turn over just about any trinket in a Hobby Lobby store and you'll find a gold oval stamped with "Made in China," a country that is one of the worst offenders of human dignity, unborn infant life, and economic justice anywhere in the world.

As such, those shiny stickers littering every Hobby Lobby from sea to shining sea are more than a statement about a product's geographical origin; they are also a stinging indictment against the way the retailer has sought to label itself.

Imagine for a moment a nation with nightmarish labor conditions, inadequate workplace regulation, and rampant child labor. You've just imagined 21st century China. Seventy thousand Chinese employees die every year in workplace accidents — that's roughly 200 humans snuffed out of existence every day........................

If Hobby Lobby was concerned with religious freedoms — not just those of conservative American Christians — it would quit doing business in China.

We haven't entered Hobby Lobby since 2012, apart from once, when away from home, we were waiting for another nearby store to open and it began to rain heavily. We walked into Hobby Lobby to keep dry, wandered round the perimeter of the store's interior, and out again.

Astrologers Predict a Second Term for President Obama

This week at The United Astrology Conference in New Orleans a panel of astrologers agreed, having come to their conclusions using a variety of methods, that President Obama will win a second term. The conference meets every four years and is the largest gathering of astrologers from around the globe. Their prediction in 2008, that we'd have a President Obama, proved to be accurate.

The above news, rather surprisingly to me, was carried on at least one major TV channel, CNN, and in many newspapers - typing "astrologers predict Obama win" into Google's search box will bring up plenty of evidence that the astrologers are not being ignored.

The astrologers also said that the election will be close, which most non-astro pundits expect anyway. Astrologers suspect that the lengthy vote-counting and shenanigans which marred the 2000 election might be repeated this year; additionally they suspect that all might not be rosy for Obama for the first part of his second term. That's is a paraphrase, for a straight-from-the-astrologer's-blog report see The Political Astrology Blog.

It's brave of these astrologers to stick their necks out, and I think they must be very confident to have done so. Had there been another Democrat challenging the President I doubt they'd have been as confident. But that's fantasy. The powers that be would never have allowed a challenger to emerge.

Voters like me who are confident that neither Obama nor Romney will even attempt to address the many wrongs adrift in the USA at present, have nowhere to cast our votes. "Vote Green Party, or Justice Party, or socialist, or......" cry commenters on political forums when this is raised. Voters in some some lucky states have that option. For Oklahoma voters it's highly unlikely. There's a petition in court at present asking for ballot access here for the Green Party - result due next month. My fingers are crossed. If the opportunity arises, I'll vote Green and ignore anybody and everybody who tells me that it'll only help ensure a conservative win. I don't care. I'll vote my conscience, whatever the outcome, as everyone should. If I have no choice other than Democrat or Republican I'll either leave the space blank or do a "write-in".

I don't fear a President Romney. In fact a President Romney would enliven the Democrats in congress who have seemed to be sleeping for three and a half years, while their dear leader has done stuff which would have caused them to scream blue murder had G.W. Bush or any Republican done similar things.

The Rot at the Heart of US Politics & Elections

I wish I felt as engaged in US election politics as I did 4 years ago. What happened? The scales have fallen from my eyes. Now, I see it all for what it is: pantomime. Attitudes of TV pundits, on the few occasions I catch sight of them briefly, are completely predictable, whether on Fox or MSNBC or equivalent channels. Political bloggers are no different. Just as in those Christmas-time pantos back in Britain, I know exactly what every character is going to be saying - but in the case of the US election panto the element of fun and comedy is missing. And, adding to the bogus feel of it all, nobody ever dares to criticise or question actions or words of politicians supposedly on their own "side".

We never get to experience a genuine, unscripted TV debate involving politicians and real members of the public (not paid shills or stooges), talking about real issues. The words "genuine" and "US elections" are incompatible.

Astrology has little but confusion to offer in this situation. I've just read a very detailed article at The Political Astrology Blog where astrologers Patrick Watson, Chris Brennan and Nick Dagan Best have expertly delved into a highly complex method to predict the outcome of November's presidential election. It has to be added that other astrologers have come to a different conclusion, by different means, however. Variables, variables, decisions, decisions!

I don't give a hoot who wins, because, apart from one or two peripheral issues, resulting actions will be along similar lines - politicians and president doing the will of the fat cats who have bought them.

If the Republican candidate were to win, opposition by the Democrats in congress to any ultra-right wing propositions would outweigh any detriment, in my opinion. What we have now are mute Democrats in name only, never raising a squeakof oppopsition at stuff they'd scream blue murder about if a Republican had suggested the same thing.

Can astrology pinpoint the rot that must lie at the heart of the US political and electoral system? The US natal chart would be the source.....which itself is a matter of debate - once again variables abound. Most astrologers favour the chart for 4 July 1776. My favourite US chart has always been what's known as The Armistead Chart, set for noon on 2 July 1776, the actual date when "the die was cast". See a larger version at Astrodatabank

Julian Armistead quotes Allan Nevins and Henry Steel Commager, "A Pocket History of the United States." It reads, "Richard Henry Lee moved a resolution of independence ... which Congress adopted on July 2nd and proclaimed on July 4, 1776."

Mercury @ 25 Cancer is opposed by Moon and Pluto conjoined @ 25 & 27 Capricorn. Mercury represents communication of all kinds. Moon = The People, Pluto = secrecy, covert goings on. Neptune (delusion, illusion) at 22 Virgo trines Pluto/Moon adding delusion to secrecy. Somehow this all adds up - to me anyway!

As Peggy Lee sings, "Is that all there is?" The answer has to be - in relation to US politics - yes, that's all we have to look forward to, unless and until a new version of the USA is born, bearing a radically different natal chart.

Mitt Romney - What's Not to Like ?

Writers, TV pundits, bloggers and commenters around the net are trying to drum up interest, excitement, angst or disgust at the fact that Mitt Romney seems certain to be the Republican presidential candidate in November's General Election. Labels attached to Romney by most liberal-types so far have been: boring, stiff, a flip-flopper, a liar (goes with the territory and is not exclusive to Republicans), doesn't understand women, out of touch with the 99%, along with an assortment of other unfortunate real and imaginary traits. Republican-types, though possibly secretly seeing Romney as uninspiring, try to focus on his competency in business, which, they say is key to helping bail out the sinking ship we all inhabit at present.

Personally, I'm relieved that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee, bearing in mind the alternatives who've alternately entertained or scared the pants off us over recent months.

Looking at Romney's natal chart, and trusting my own astro-antenna, I cannot bring myself dislike the guy or see him as likely to be any worse a choice than for President Obama to win a second term. Yeah, yeah (to my husband) Supreme Court picks - I know! Dang! But it'll make not a shred of difference who you and I vote for in November, because Oklahoma, as a state, will vote strongly for any Republican candidate on two legs - it's the default position of everyone and his 4-legged dog in this nutty state.

A benefit of having Mitt Romney win in November would be that in 2016 the political pendulum would swing back, a Democrat would be a near certainty to win then, and by 2016 there's a chance that somebody with real left-wing tendencies, someone who would dare to break rank and remain unharnessed, not obligated to corporate masters, might come forward, in stark contrast to the center-right tendencies of our current so-called "Democratic" corporate-owned president. Or, even....a strongly backed by the public new third party could have arisen, perhaps a much-needed amalgamation of all the would-be third parties we have in the shadows at present. Whereas, if we were to see a second Obama term now, the Republicans would be lining up again in 2016, to catch the then almost inevitable political pendulum swing. At that point there may not be anyone as mild as Romney in the mix.

For any passing reader seeking a good astrological profile of Mitt Romney see Solaris Astrology's Mitt Romney Swimming with the Tide.

Rick Perry, Bilderberg, New Apostolic Reformation

In one way I'm hoping that Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has said that he is considering a presidential run in part out of a religious calling, decides not to enter the 2012 presidential campaign, but in another way I'm curious to watch the outcome if he joins the fray.

Let me first direct any astro-interested passing readers to two excellent views of his natal chart - then add just a couple of thoughts of my own. (1) Fellow astro-blogger Jude Cowell again comes up trumps with her piece: Rick Perry Prez Bid Awash with Controversy. (2) Michael Wolfstar: with Rick Perry's Mercury
Here's Perry's natal chart. He was born on 4 March 1950 in Paint Creek, Texas. No time of birth is available online, so 12 noon chart used here.



Salient points have been pointed out in the linked articles above, but two things stand out for me: the fact that his Mars and south node of Moon conjoin Fixed Star Vindemiatrix. From Skyscript:

Vindemiatrix, which Ptolemy defined as like Saturn and Mercury, and referred to as 'the bright star in the northern wing', is the third brightest star of the constellation, being less brilliant now than it was in Ptolemy's day. The name is a feminised Latin deviation of the original Greek name, Provindemiator, meaning 'the Grape Gatherer', since the heliacal rising of this star announced the time to pick the grapes.... Although symbolically associated with a time of harvest and thus, one would assume, associated with the rewards of previous efforts, it is generally accorded an unfortunate influence in keeping with its predominantly Saturnine nature. Robson claims that it gives falsity, disgrace, stealing, wanton folly.......

I'm generally wary of Fixed star interpretations, but do feel it's important to note them in cases such as this, where we might glean additional information as to their significance from watching how things unfold.



Secondly, a Yod (Finger of Fate) linking Neptune and Pluto in close sextile (a generational aspect between two slow moving planets) to his Sun via two quincunx (150*) aspects. His Baby-Boomer Leo Pluto links harmoniously to a crowd-pleasing but potentially delusional Neptune in Libra then both funnel into his natal Sun in religiously-oriented, but dreamer-like Pisces Sun.

His three Aquarius planets are quite surprising - though I should be used to finding Aquarius strong in some conservative charts by now - there's a lot of it about! It stems from Saturn, as Aquarius's traditional ruler. Perry was originally a Democrat though, but "changed horses" mid-stream. This is often the sign of an opportunist - and I suspect that is what we may have here.

Perry is no doubt a practiced crowd-pleaser when among "his own", in Texas, but if let loose upon a wildly diverse nation he might not find it as easy to peddle his dreams, as dictated by Bilderberg backroomers.

Bilderberg ??

Here's is what really cranks up my curiosity: Gov. Perry has links to both the New Apostolic Reformation movement of Dominionist Christians (NAR), and the Bilderberg Group. Many of the NAR's leading lights took part in Perry's prayer rally on 6 August in Houston ; and he has attended, and addressed, meetings of the Bilderberg Group.

NAR+ Bilderberg? That is not a combination I'd be happy to see embodied in the POTUS. One of those ingredients, the Bilderberg connection, probably what the US has been experiencing in its presidents for many years past, is much more than enough!

From Corbett Report

The annual meeting of royalty, politicians, business moguls and academics known as the Bilderberg Conference - a yearly get-together of 130 of the who’s who of Europe and North America, from David Rockefeller to Josef Ackermann to Queen Beatrix. The group, which takes its name from the name of the hotel where the first meeting was held, has traditionally convened under a media blackout, with those members of the press and media moguls in attendance agreeing to forego reporting on the proceedings.
Since the group’s founding in 1954, a handful of researchers and independent journalists have worked to expose the group and its activities, but it is only with the rise of the online alternative media that Bilderberg has come to mainstream attention.

The organization has had to become more open in recent years, and now operates an official website, BilderbergMeetings.org, which lists the group’s steering committee membership, agenda of past meetings, and press releases repeating the official justification for the group’s secrecy:
.............. As the annual meeting brings together heads of state, finance and defence ministers, state governors and other elected representatives with private business moguls, attendees are generally breaking the laws of their respective countries in engaging in the conference. Under the Logan Act, for instance, it is a crime for any US citizen to negotiate with a foreign nation on the USA’s behalf.
As a gathering of some of the richest and most influential people on the planet, the conference is a lightning rod for criticism and speculation about the group’s true purpose. This speculation is not unfounded, as investigative journalists like Jim Tucker and Daniel Estulin have been able to predict numerous world events from discussions that their sources were able to smuggle out of past conferences. Such instances include:

Jim Tucker’s successful 2002 prediction based on Bilderberg intel that the Iraq War would be launched in March of 2003.

Daniel Estulin’s on-camera revelation from the 2006 conference that the Bilderberg members were planning to pop the housing bubble later that year to precipitate a general banking crisis.

And Jim Tucker’s 2009 prediction that Bilderberg were going to use the financial crisis to work behind the scenes on the construction of a closer North American governmental integration, something that was once again confirmed by newly-revealed Canadian diplomatic cables detailing how lawmakers have been quietly working on just such an integration for years.

In 1991, a then-unknown governor of Arkansas (Bill Clinton) was invited to attend Bilderberg, the year before becoming President of the United States.

In 1993, Tony Blair attended the Bilderberg meeting in Athens, Greece. The next year, he was appointed leader of the Labour party.

On the campaign trail in 2008, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama disappeared for a secret meeting near Washington. Their private limos were seen entering the Chantilly, Virginia hotel where the Bilderberg meeting was taking place that same day.

Gov. Rick Perry attended the Bilderberg meeting in Istanbul in 2007, so he is not unknown to the Bilderbergs. However, that fact alone isn't proof that he could be their new "chosen one", as some surmise. We shall see.

Zodiac Sign Leo, President Obama & a Neptunian Fog.

No two people born with Sun in Leo are remotely alike - so why, even in books by some of the best astrologers, do the authors insist on referring to Leos, Aquarians, Taureans, Geminis....and the rest? They know well enough that there's no such thing as, say, "A Leo" but carry on promulgating the myth. No wonder astrology has become such an easy target for eager skeptics. I complain about this each month as I begin to write about the sign into which the Sun has just moved. Boring, I know, but someone has to do it. (wink)


The Sun has moved from Cancer into the sign of Leo now. Leo, Fixed Fire sign. Sign sandwiched between Cardinal Water Cancer and Mutable Earth Virgo, with very different attributes, atmosphere, characteristics from its neighbours. Being ruled by the lifegiving Sun itself gives Leo a kind of "king of the signs" subtitle, I guess. Some keywords for the sign of Leo's characteristics: vitality (from ruler the Sun), authority, generosity, loyalty (Fixed sign), leadership (Fire sign).
From Leo's darker side: arrogance, vanity, ostentatiousness. These characteristics, though, are subject to modification, blurring, and even being over-ruled completely by other strong factors in any natal chart.

A person born between (approximately) 22 July and 22 August when the Sun is in Leo will often display some of the traits associated with the sign. Some would say that this makes that person "A Leo". An astrologer (Jonathan Cainer, I think) once wrote that calling someone "A......." (fill in zodiac sign of choice) is akin to calling someone "An Italian" or "A German", "A Greek" etc. Pretty darned meaningless and sure to promote stereotyping of which we already have more than enough. Yes, I know JC's a Sun sign astrologer, but he does mention the truth of this point quite often. It's a kind of shorthand for writers and speakers, and as long as it's kept in mind that's what it is, all is well.

I've written about Leo in 7 different archived posts (and perhaps fallen into the shorthand trap myself occasionally). Those posts can be reached by clicking on "Leo" in the sidebar Label Cloud.

For today - another look at "A Leo" often in the news: President Barack Obama.

In several posts before the 2008 General election I mentioned a "Neptunian fog" surrounding Barack Obama which, in spite of his obviously Leo connected charisma and air of authority, was sensed by many people. This came via natal Neptune in Scorpio squaring his Leo Sun. (Chart available at Astrodatabank.) I'd forgotten just how "foggy" the now president and his aims had seemed to me. Extract from a 2008 post:

Barack Obama has fed on, and profits from, the despair of the ordinary people of the USA, that is clear, his motivation is not. There are several theories. Variations on:

a) that he is actually a rabid left-wing socialist/communist, biding his time before showing his true colours, or

b) he has been financed and pushed ahead by Republican manipulation, and will be their tool, changing nothing once in power, but bringing the nation ever nearer to being a fascist state.

Two extremes with variations of them taking in everything inbetween. How many times in the history of US presidential elections has it been possible to talk in such terms about the leading candidate? I don't know, being a newcomer, but I'd bet that this year's experience is pretty unique.

Two years on, it has become clearer that (b) was nearer to the truth, but with the word "Corporate" susbstituted for "Republican". Manipulation of public opinion by the use of corporate money, ensuring the corporate elite never loose the stranglehold they have achieved here in the US. It's scary to think that the public can be so easily deluded (Neptune), more easily now than in days gone by in fact, due to the internet's tentacles and expanded opportunities for subversive input.

Some would say that what has happened is part of a wider event involving some kind of "New World Order" conspiracy by a small bunch of Powerful Ones who aim to take over government of the whole planet. I do not subscribe to that belief, I see it as delusion of a different sort.

In February 2012 transiting Neptune will move from Aquarius (Obama's rising sign) into Pisces, its home sign, and in trine to Obama's natal Neptune in Scorpio. Whether this has any significance or not remains to be seen. So.....what can we expect next? Will Obama be voted in for a second term?

A scoot around the net threw up Astrology and Beyond - website of astrologer Cheryl Lee Terry and her Political Prognostications. I like her view that Obama has a "lucky aspect" (probably his natal Jupiter close to ascendant - powerful position for the planet of luck?) She sees his "lucky aspect" as indicating that...."it’s not that he wins his races — it’s that his opponents lose the race". Good point! My only quibble with Ms Terry's piece is that she refers to the current presidency as "revolutionary":

even as Revolutionary as President Obama’s presidency has been and continues to be....

The only revolutionary factor, as I see it, is that President Obama is the first non-white president of the USA. In all else - it's very much business as usual.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Winston Churchill & US Presidents

Before leaving the subset of celebrity artists, I can't ignore Sir Winston Churchill and his paintings, especially as it's close to the anniversary of D-Day. Also, a look across the Atlantic to discover what US presidents have to offer the art world.




Can Churchill's love of art be found in his natal chart? He has Mars and Jupiter in Libra (ruled by Venus, planet of the arts). His natal Moon (inner life & emotion) is in harmonious trine to Neptune (creativity), and completes a Grand Trine with Venus : Grand Trine linking Moon/Neptune/Venus sounds very arty to me!
I think I need look no further!

I don't see it as the chart of a born war leader - he didn't ask for that role, but thank goodness he was in the right place at the right time to take it on, and was able to adapt and inspire. In his own words: "I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion's roar". I dread to think what would have happened to Britain with a lesser man at the helm, 1939-1945. Revisionists may revile him for some of the decisions taken late in World War 2, but I shall never lose my utmost respect for the man.



He has written, with regard to his art:

Just to paint is great fun. The colours are lovely to look at and delicious to squeeze out. Matching them, however crudely, with what you see is fascinating and absolutely absorbing.

The painter wanders and loiters contentedly from place to place, always on the lookout for some brilliant butterfly of a picture which can be caught and carried safely home.

Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep painters company to the end of the day.

A few samples:









As a second part to this post, I've searched for a US president who paints/painted as a hobby, but so far I haven't identified any. What I did find though was a report about a San Francisco artist called Justine Lai who is in the midst of a project of painting herself having sex with every US president. She has named the project "Join or Die". I'll not post more than the thumbnail of her least revealing piece here, along with a link to her own website, which offers enlargeable thumbnails of her work on this project so far - up to Ulysses S. Grant, I think! justinelai.com

What an odd concept that is! I do wonder about Ms Lai's astrology - any advance on Scorpio stellium, Scorpio rising?

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I WON'T BE POSTING FURTHER UNTIL TUESDAY. Cabin-fever & stir-craziness has hit again, so we're wandering off for the weekend. We've been told that our power will be off on Monday for line improvements too....Have a good weekend y'all!

"COMETH THE HOUR............."

Today will change the view of America, in the hearts of its own citizens and in the eyes of the rest of the world. The long awaited Inauguration Ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama is about to change the lens.

As the Sun slides into Aquarius, just three degrees from benign Jupiter our new President will be sworn in. That sounds good! It sounds optimistic - if all of the American people will just go with the flow ! If the spirit and will of the people of America rises to the occasion, if they can bring themselves to put their trust in a guy who seems to me to want nothing but the best for the country - and all its inhabitants - then it ought to be a glorious day.

There's an excellent assessment of the full chart for the Inauguration written by Dharmaruci at Astrotabletalk.

Today, outside our home, the American Flag replaces the Earth Flag, just for today, in honor of President Obama. When we can work out how to keep it lit by night, as etiquette demands, it may fly there permanently.

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man!"

Pondering upon how to put a slightly different slant on this fabled Inauguration, that phrase kept returning to my thoughts: "Cometh the hour, cometh the man". I've used it quite often, for it does seem to have embedded truth. Sir Winston Churchill "cameth" when his country needed him most, as did Abraham Lincoln, George Washington - the right men for the jobs. Throughout history many such men and women can be identified as popping up at exactly the right time, with exactly the right combination of talent and character. They can, however, only be seen with hindsight. Whether our new President will be "the man" remains to be seen by historians in years to come. I suspect he will be seen in that way.

Some Google meanderings took me slightly off track, as far as the presidency goes, but led to a sideroad marked "astrology". I searched for provenance of that favourite phrase of mine. Others have searched, but in its entirety the phrase's source hasn't been identified. The nearest match comes from a novel by Sir Walter Scott, written in the early 19th century: "Guy Mannering". "Because the Hour's come, and the Man" appears in the first edition, and in the magnum opus edition that Scott supervised in his last years, the phrase is emphasized by putting it in italics. A similar phrase appears in another of Scott's novels.

"But what has this to do with astrology?" I hear them cry.

Guy Mannering was an astrologer. The secondary title of Scott's novel was "The Astrologer".

In Scott's novel, astrologer Guy Mannering predicts the future of Harry Bertram, newborn child of his friends. It appears that Sir Walter Scott based his novel upon an older story or legend recited to him by an old Highlander. Full text of that legend, and another tale, mentioned below, can be read HERE, as part of a kind of preamble or explanation of the author's method of writing his novels.

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man" - I realise now that the phrase could easily be linked to astrology - it yells it!

Anyway...."Guy Mannering" departs from the theme of the legend, and astrology, after a few chapters, because it seems Sir Walter Scott feared that astrology may not be acceptable subject matter to many of his readers ("astrological doctrines have fallen into general contempt" ). The linked narrative does continue though with another tidbit. The author tells of a late "professor of the art of legerdemain" (sleight of hand), who was also interested in astrology. He constructed his own natal chart and found that what it showed fitted well with his past experiences, but then he found an anomaly.

".....but in the important prospect of the future a singular difficulty occurred. There were two years, during the course of which he could by no means obtain any exact knowledge whether the subject of the scheme would be dead or alive. Anxious concerning so remarkable a circumstance, he gave the scheme to a brother Astrologer, who was also baffled in the same manner. At one period he found the native, or subject, was certainly alive—at another, that he was unquestionably dead; but a space of two years extended between these two terms, during which he could find no certainty as to his death or existence.

The Astrologer marked the remarkable circumstance in his Diary, and continued his exhibitions in various parts of the empire, until the period was about to expire, during which his existence had been warranted as actually ascertained. At last, while he was exhibiting to a numerous audience his usual tricks of legerdemain, the hands, whose activity had so often baffled the closest observer, suddenly lost their power, the cards dropped from them, and he sunk down a disabled paralytic. In this state the artist languished for two years, when he was at length removed by death. It is said that the Diary of this modern Astrologer will soon be given to the public."

And that's how I got sidetracked in Google.

Happy Birthday, USA!!

I'm just three weeks away from becoming a naturalised US citizen. I already love the land itself - it's hard not to. There's so much beauty, variety, and space, space, space. Space to breathe - at least here in the mid-section, in Oklahoma, and in neighbouring Texas, magical New Mexico, beautiful Colorado, down to Earth Kansas. Those who think the USA = New York, Washington, the East Coast and California just don't get it!

I do not love the land's government, but then I'm not required to, few natural born citizens do at this moment. A country isn't its government and the dreadful things they frequently impose upon their citizens, and citizens of other nations. A country is the land and its people. I find myself now, here in the midst of it all, able to say, hand on heart, that this land is truly grand, as are its people!

A handful of quotes from 4 famous US Presidents. They do (kind of) reflect their owner's astrology:

George Washington born 22 February 1732 (Sun+Venus Pisces, Moon Capricorn) called "Father of the Nation"

"Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's own mind, than on the externals in the world"


John Adams born 30 October 1735 (Sun+Mercury+Venus in Scorpio, Uranus in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Capricorn)

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for creeds, confessions, oaths, doctrines and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity".

(Wow! Well said Sir!!)


Thomas Jefferson born 13 April 1743 (Sun Aries, Moon Sagittarius)

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."



And, from a little nearer to our own time:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt born 30 January 1882 (Sun+Mercury+Venus in Aquarius. Moon in Cancer).

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs, who, however, has never learned to walk."

And speaking of good legs.....



Enjoy the day y'all!