An unfinished story...

Several years ago, on this blog, I wrote about the movie "Cloud Atlas" (it was in 2013 - link to relevant post and comments: https://twilightstarsong.blogspot.com/2013/05/cloud-atlas.html)


In a comment responding to "LB", I wrote:

I love the general idea of a soul or some manner of eternal personality travelling through time... Husband and I, back in 2003/4, in England, began trying to dream up (me) and write (him) a story along such lines, using around 3 or 4 sets of situations, spread from medieval times to the years of World War II. The link, through time, would be a piece of fabric. Husband wrote a super preface to the first chapter, I did keep it, but at the moment cannot lay hands on it. Other things, such as marriage and house selling and moving to the USA got in the way of continuing that venture. I often still ponder on how such a set of tales could unfold and link up though. :-) That was one reason I was so keen to see "Cloud Atlas".

Well, just today, while tidying some papers, I came across that preface, and more! Here it is - my husband aka "anyjazz" wrote it from an idea I put forward. He said that he felt a need to make some explanation as to why the piece of fabric was so cryptic, and powerful. He's a much better creative writer than me.  We  decided to share: ideas from me, writing from himself. I love this preface. There are also some outlines of rough ideas of how the tale should unfold, but I'll keep those for another day, if anyone is interested. For now.... the preface only:  are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Once upon a time....


"Preface:

A crescent moon and a single candle spread yellow light across a small room. An ancient woman works at a loom. She works slowly with great purpose, grand design. Her fingers pull the yarn tight, knot it here, counting the cross threads, another knot there. The woman pauses, wipes the corners of her eyes. A candle and a crescent moon are little help to her near blindness. She weaves and counts by touch. She creates to the image in her mind, an image formed of seasons of watching the stars, the changing patterns of her skies.


Over years she has collected life about her. Over these years she collected the sound of the squirrel in the fresh air from the forest, the scent of the wildflowers on their spread down the side of the hill and honeybees on the breeze from the valley, the touch of the rich earth and the polished stones on the path from the hills, the taste of the spring water and wild herb. All these pieces of life she knows. All these things are in the knots and the curious weave of the strip of fabric she is creating. And something else. She pauses and smiles at the crescent moon that is now only a glow in her dimming eyes. She smiles at the stars she can no longer see but knows in her heart are there. She is following their instructions. She and the stars are creative partners in this soft band of fabric.


The flax was gathered on a late summer day. It was years ago. The linen yarn was spun slowly on evenings after the children were bathed and sleeping. The skeins of yarn were dyed in iron cauldrons of color from the wild berries from the hills and from curious red-brown earth left when a fiery stone fell from the heavens. The woman ground these colors in stone cups, blending each with care. The wild bushes and sapling trees at the edge of the small forest held the drying loops of yarn. The sun contributed subtle changes to the colors here and there.


Now after years of preparation, the last thread, the last weave, the last knot was in place. It is a lovely band of textured fabric, a unique scarf fit for royalty. The labor of her life was complete. Complete that is, except for the delivery. The creation is not for her. It never has been. She has known for a long time where the small scarf will go. She has known the color of the container, the place in the stars, the position of the sun. Exactly. And it is tomorrow.


The sun now glows above the trees at the edge of the great lawn in the front of the estate. A pale green and gold trimmed carriage waits at steps. The driver sits atop, holding the reins of a patient horse. Last night’s sleep is still in his eyes. A footman stands ready at the top step of the front landing. Behind him the carriage door stands open.


A small figure emerges from the trimmed shrubbery, approaches the carriage quietly and places something on the seat just inside the open door. Then as quickly, the figure is gone."

E. M. Forster and The Machine Stops

Last week an anonymous reader left me a kind comment and a link to a short story/novella by E. M Forster, well-known British novelist of the early 20th century. I'm usually not keen to read long pieces on my computer monitor, but in this case I was so impressed by the story that I quickly became enthralled, made it all the way through easily. Title of the story: The Machine Stops. Wikipedia has a plot summary, but I'd recommend just diving in with no prior knowledge, as I did. Here's a link to the novella online - I zoomed in quite a lot to make reading more comfortable:
http://archive.ncsa.illinois.edu/prajlich/forster.html



A couple of taster quotes:

“Then she generated the light, and the sight of her room, flooded with radiance and studded with electric buttons, revived her. There were buttons and switches everywhere – buttons to call for food for music, for clothing. There was the hot-bath button, by pressure of which a basin of (imitation) marble rose out of the floor, filled to the brim with a warm deodorized liquid. There was the cold-bath button. There was the button that produced literature. And there were of course the buttons by which she communicated with her friends. The room, though it contained nothing, was in touch with all that she cared for in the world.”


“Cannot you see, cannot all you lecturers see, that it is we that are dying, and that down here the only thing that really lives is the Machine? We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now. It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense of touch, it has blurred every human relation and narrowed down love to a carnal act, it has paralyzed our bodies and our wills, and now it compels us to worship it. The Machine develops - but not on our lies. The Machine proceeds - but not to our goal. We only exist as the blood corpuscles that course through its arteries, and if it could work without us, it would let us die.”
From The Machine Stops by E.M Forster.

My next thought, after amazement at such a prophetic tale, written in 1909, was: what kind of natal chart did this author have? A brief look, only in connection with this novella.

Born on 1 January 1879 in London, UK. No time of birth is known, chart set for noon, so exact Moon position and rising sign are unreliable, though natal Moon would have been somewhere in Aries whatever the time of birth.

The Grand Trine (in green) a kind of harmonious circuit stands out. It links natal Sun and/or Mercury in Capricorn/Sagittarius with Uranus (planet of everything futuristic) in Virgo, and to Neptune in Taurus. Neptune is planet of creativity and imagination. This is a Grand Trine in Earth, and the particular work of Forster mentioned in this post is really a story of Earth itself! In addition, natal Jupiter in Aquarius (sign ruled by Uranus in modern astrology)is in semi-sextile to natal Sun in Capricorn. Aquarius and Capricorn do share their traditional ruler, Saturn. I see this as adding weight to futuristic mindset (and social conscience -as displayed in other of Forster's novels) - yet always bound to "Earthiness".

Year of the Sheep

We're entering
Year of the Sheep. There's plenty of information available about astrological matters related, I'll not add to the clutter. Instead, a couple of sheepish old photographs from husband's vintage stash, others from his camera; then a link and taster to a nice short story concerning a sheep herder's wondrous experience (no, not that famous biblical one).

Lucky Ewe

  2 from our collection of Artesania Rinconada animal sculptures

Short story. Are y'all siting comfortably? Then I'll begin....

"Lambing Season".

First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction,2002 (nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Short Story and a Nebula Award for Best Short Story), written by Molly Gloss (born November 20, 1944). Ms Gloss is an American writer currently best known for historical fiction and science fiction. The story is re-printed in Clarkesworld magazine, and available to read at the website HERE. There's an audio version available too.

SNIPS

.........She had about 800 ewes, as well as their lambs, many of them twins or triplets. The ferocity of the Churro ewes in defending their offspring was sometimes a problem for the dogs, but in the balance of things she knew it kept her losses small. Many coyotes lived on Joe-Johns, and sometimes a cougar or bear would come up from the salt-pan desert on the north side of the mountain, looking for better country to own. These animals considered the sheep to be fair game, which Delia understood to be their right; and also her right, hers and the dogs, to take the side of the sheep. Sheep were smarter than people commonly believed and the Churros smarter than other sheep she had tended, but by mid-summer the coyotes had passed the word among themselves, buen’ carne, and Delia and the dogs then had a job of work, keeping the sheep out of harm’s way......


..........When she had come about halfway down the hill she lost footing and slid down six or eight feet before she got her heels dug in and found a handful of willow scrub to hang onto. A glimpse of this movement—rocks sliding to the bottom, or the dust she raised—must have startled the dog, for it leaped backward suddenly and then reared up. They looked at each other in silence, Delia and the dog, Delia standing leaning into the steep slope a dozen yards above the bottom of the draw, and the dog standing next to the Sputnik, standing all the way up on its hind legs like a bear or a man and no longer seeming to be a dog but a person with a long narrow muzzle and a narrow chest, turned-out knees, delicate dog-like feet. Its genitals were more cat-like than dog, a male set but very small and neat and contained. Dog’s eyes, though, dark and small and shining below an anxious brow........

A Good Read

Flight MH370's disappearance, now not far short of a year ago, is still a worrying phenomenon. The careful search of the seabed of large areas of the Indian Ocean has so far revealed nothing. No debris with clear connection to MH370 has yet been found. The mystery persists. Longtime blog buddy, RJ Adams has written an engaging piece of fiction on this very topic - it's a good, if scary, read. Do go and give it a whirl, please. The post is dated 29 January. Take a look at the comment section too. Link:
MH370 – Flight To Armageddon

1) Gays' Hurrays.....2) Zodiac Types in Fiction

#1....Good news arrived for the LGBT front this week:

In a pair of major victories for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits and, by declining to decide a case from California, effectively allowed same-sex marriages there................(SEE HERE)

Lots of articles and commentary have flooded the net on this topic already, so I'm limiting my own contribution to links to previous postings touching on the Gay rights issue (most have some comments attached):

From March this year:
GAY MARRIAGE

from June 2011:
Homosexuality, Astrology, Prejudice

From June 2009:

Stonewall, Prejudice, Astrology.

#2..ZODIAC TYPES in FICTION (Gone With the Wind, Little Women, Ally McBeal.)

I wonder how often authors of novels, or screen writers for film and television consider astrology, or more likely, simplified Sun Sign astrology, when describing characteristics of the individuals who bring to life their books and dramas? I've thought about this several times in the past - there are posts on this very topic relating to Gone With the Wind (HERE) and Little Women (HERE) with suggestions in the posts and in several comments beneath them as to astrological matches to characters in the novels.

Another instance of what I'll call ZIF (Zodiac in Fiction) came up for me recently. We're years late catching up with what used to be a hugely popular TV series in the USA from 1997 to 2002: Ally McBeal.

My husband, out on some errand by himself spotted a garage sale in the neighbourhood and came home clutching a big white box, still cellophane wrapped. It was the entire 5-season series of Ally McBeal on DVD, and he paid only $3 for it plus another, single DVD (can't even recall the film). Such sets cost a lot more than $3 on the net. We suspect this set might have been produced for the Chinese market, a clue: choice of subtitles = Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin - and English. We're almost to the end of Season 2 now, and greatly enjoying the series.

Ally McBeal was created and mostly written by David E. Kelley whose series are always A-grade (LA Law, Boston Legal, The Practice, Picket Fences, Harry's Law to name the best known).
More on Kelley, and his natal chart in an archived post HERE.

The Ally McBeal series had a super cast, good musical interludes with vocalist Vonda Shepard, well-written characters, humour, romance, whimsy, fantasy and frequently interesting courtroom dramas.

Ally McBeal, played by Calista Flockhart, and one of the senior partners of the law firm for which she works, John Cage, played by Peter MacNicol, share a birthday we were told in the course of Season 2. This revelation immediately had me surmising on a Sun sign for them. It had already become obvious the two had similar characteristics: a definite quirkiness, romantic awkwardness, mild eccentricity and frequent dips into whimsy, while both remained talented in their professional life as courtroom lawyers. A quick Google search sent me to a site where commenters were betting on Scorpio as Ally's likely Sun sign - mainly because it's Calista Flockhart's, who plays Ally. That could not possibly be correct, here's why.

Each season devotes an episode to Thanksgiving and an episode to Christmas, presumably to be screened during November and December. Characters are always muffled in scarves, gloves and hats for outdoor scenes, it's often snowing in Boston,where the series was set, in these episodes. In season 2, in an episode following fairly quickly after the Christmas one, there was a combined birthday celebration for Ally and John - so it could not possibly have taken place in Scorpio time. More likely, and I had already suspected, Ally and John, and their shared whimsy, fantasy, and eccentricities alongside otherwise very astute legal minds, must surely have Neptune/Pisces and/or Aquarius/Neptune/Pisces prominent, with likely some Capricorn in there too, strong link to the law.

It's all just fiction, of course. I doubt that David E. Kelley gives two hoots about astrology, though perhaps one of his assistants might have offered hints.

If any passing reader has an instance of ZIF, a pet fictional character or situation, from well-known novels, TV or films, with likely matching Sun Sign - do let me know !

BOOKS - "a uniquely portable magic” (Stephen King).

My longtime blog buddy, Wisewebwoman, posted a list of 77 books she read during 2012. (See post dated 1 January 2013 at her blog HERE). Wow! I stood back in amazement. I've made a note of a few titles for my own future reference; passing readers, who are also book readers, might be interested in her recommendations too.

My own 2012 list of books read is dismally puny, and not very interesting, in comparison to WWW's, even after adding a couple read in 2011. Here it is:






General

The Summons - John Grisham: Good, quick read.

The King of Torts - John Grisham: Likewise.

The Bridges of Madison County- Robert James Waller : (a re-read) Likewise and Excellent!

A Thousand Country Roads (Sequel to above: by Waller:) : Very good!

Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend (yet another by Robert James Waller): Good - his novels are all quick, easy reads.

I also have yet another of Waller's: High Plains Tango, have started reading, but so far it hasn't grabbed me.


Dystopian/Sci-Fi

A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood: Excellent!

Dune - Frank Herbert : difficult, too long... still snacking at it piecemeal.

The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula Le Guin: Excellent!

Blackout - Connie Willis : Nope - not an enjoyable writing style for me couldn't get past first chapters, book gone to Goodwill.

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller Jr.: 1/3 Excellent 1/3 Poor 1/3 Good. Roman Catholic references became tiresome.

Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke : Very good indeed.

The Herald - Michael Shaara: Excellent read. Couldn't put it down! Finished it in 2 sittings, could've done it in one but dinner called. Husband read it after me, his verdict: "erm...just okay". (Note: He reads stuff I wouldn't touch with a barge pole!)

Conquest Over Time - Michael Shaara: a long short story/45-page novella, interesting for it's use of astrology in the storyline.

Waiting to be read:

Small Gods - Terry Pratchett

Route 66 ( non-fiction) - Billy Connolly. We saw 3 of the 4 episodes of the TV show on PBS, enjoyed them a lot.

The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers: Part of Christmas prez from husband. I have peeked inside and have grave doubts - but if I don't read it, he will - he is a very disciplined reader - even if he doesn't like a book he will soldier on and finish it. Not me - life's way too short!

On order
The Giver - Lois Lowry. It's mainly aimed at a young adult readership, but as there's a movie adaptation in the works starring Jeff Bridges I might, for once in my life, get to the book before the movie!

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo : The dreaded 1,400 page I have resolved to read in 2013 - no chickening out!

A story prominently, and surprisingly, features astrology. ~~

Having enjoyed Michael Shaara's novel The Herald (see HERE) I made a point of acquiring the only other of his sci-fi work I could find: a novella or long short story Conquest Over Time. It had first appeared in a magazine, Fantastic Universe in 1956, has been re-published by Aegypan Press in a very slim volume. I sent to the UK for my bound copy, but note now that the story can be downloaded free - just Google the title if interested.

The title, Conquest Over Time, had led me to expect a different kind of tale. If that title fits at all it's only very obliquely. I was surprised to find that this is a story in which astrology plays a major part in the plot!

Nutshell synopsis:
Set in the far distant future. Civilisations both humanoid and other have spread far and wide across the universe. Our hero, Pat Travis, is the future's version of a big-time travelling salesman - bidding for commercial contracts on far-flung worlds, his job known as Contact Man: "one of the most hazardous occupations in history. Each new planet was wholly and completely new, there were no rules, and what you learned on all the rest meant nothing. You went from a matriarchy which refused absolutely to deal with men (the tenth ship to arrive had a lady doctor and therefore got the contract), to a planet where the earth was sacred and you couldn't dig a hole in it so mining was out, to a planet which considered your visit the end of the world and promptly committed mass suicide." So the job of Contact Man required many skills and plenty of luck. Travis had the reputation of being lucky, until he arrived on Diomed III, peopled by humanoids.

The inhabitants of Diomed III called their planet Mert, and lived their lives by strict astrological guidelines, believed that a person is exactly what his horoscope (calculated using their own alien astrological data), says he/she is. These people consulted astrology for every major decision, and by ill chance Travis had arrived on their planet on one of the worst-aspected days in history. (That's as far as I'll go with the plot to avoid spoiling it for others)

Although at the time of writing this story Michael Shaara, hadn't honed his craft to the high level of his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels (1974) or the book I read recently The Herald (1981), he still had the knack of drawing in and holding on to the reader. He must have had some basic knowledge of astrology too - or more likely had consulted astrology text books - to have come up with this idea and developed it so well.

Snip:

"There are the seven planets" Navel was saying gravely, "and the two lights - that is, the sun and the moon. The first planet, that nearest the sun, is called Rym. Rym is the planet of intellect, of the ordinary mind. Second is Lyndal, the planet of love, beauty, parties marriage and things of a gentle nature. Third is Fors, planet of action, strife. Fourth is Bonken, planet of beneficence, of gain, money, health. Next comes Huck, orb of necessity, the Greater Infortune, which brings men most trouble of all. Then Weepen, planet of illusion, of dreamers and poets and, poorly aspected, liars and cheats. And finally there is Sharb, planet of genius, of sudden cataclysms."
"I see", Travis murmured.
"But it is not only these planets and their aspects which is important, it is also to be considered such houses and signs as through which these planets transit...." She went on, but Travis was having difficulty following her.

It's very clear that the author simply re-named our own planets - which was a bit of a cop-out. A writer with more in-depth knowledge and more confidence in their subject might have been able to invent a slightly different line-up of planetary "influences". Although, having said that, I'm not sure that a different set would have brought forth a race of humanoids. Hmmm. Tricky!

In case anyone is wondering, by the way, how the two could communicate in the same language, it was done via a device used by Travis, attached behind his ear.

PS:
Other novels with astrology prominent in their theme were listed in a post of January 2007: - see Novels Featuring Astrology.

Morning Exercise #2 : "Dubya & the Universal Astrologer"

I hadn't meant to post this today. As I played around with it yesterday I felt very pessimistic about Senator Clinton's chances in last night's primaries, but we saw what a real fighter can do. Well done Senator Clinton! Somehow I feel like posting this now!

My attempt at another writing exercise from Wake Up Writing , with a hint of astrology included. All the words in the list for this exercise start with W (in this part of the USA pronounced "dubya", and used as a nickname for you know who, so how could I resist?)

Using each of the following words - in any order - create a piece of fiction or non-fiction. Can you use all of the words?
Wallet
Water
Wayward
Whimsical
Wicked
Willowy
Witchcraft
Wreck
Writhe
Wry

DUBYA and the UNIVERSAL ASTROLOGER
(Specified words are highlighted bold)
Dubya approached the Gates of Heaven with a spring in his step, wry smile on his face. Happy to be free at last of the wreck his country had become under his watch. Shining gates now lay straight ahead. The gatekeeper beckoned to him to hurry along. Dubya felt for his wallet - stuffed with high value bills, fat enough to buy his way into anywhere, or so he thought.

The gatekeeper ushered Dubya into an area just inside the gates and pointed to a nearby doorway, indicating that he should enter. The door opened without pressure . A willowy figure, seated at a long silver table raised her head from a chart which lay there. "Please be seated. We must review your life sir."

"Who are you?" Dubya asked, feeling less confident now.

"I am The Universal Astrologer".

"Astrology - nothing but witchcraft!" Dubya sneered.

The figure turned her gaze directly to meet Dubya's eyes. "All things will soon be made clear".

She continued to study the chart. Two assistants now entered the room carrying between them a silver container filled with what appeared to Dubya to be water. They placed it before him.

The Universal Astrologer began to speak, her voice smooth, emotionless.

As Dubya listened, whimsical thoughts tumbled through his mind -
"What's all this crap? I must have wandered into fairyland instead of Heaven."

The narration continued, Dubya now recognised, in the words of the Universal Astrologer, the history of his life on Earth.

"Now, please look down into the liquid", she ordered.

Dubya looked, and saw reflected in the silvery surface scenes from his life, proceeding in slow succession from childhood to his wayward youth, on, and on....to his last days.

"You writhe in discomfort" said the Universal Astrologer, noting that Dubya's countenance had changed.

"Do you see how wicked was your life on Earth?"

"I do", shivering now.

"Your next incarnation will serve to pay recompense. I have drawn up a natal chart which will provide you with challenge such as the Earth has not yet seen. You have the option to meet the challenge, or sink into the depths of Hades, never to return here. Go now. Your task will be to rescue your world, prevent the seeds of chaos you left behind from blooming into total catastrophe".

Dubya found himself back, momentarily, outside the shining gates, then, in the next instant, a female child was born to an exhausted mother.

Morning Exercise #1: A Tale of Neptune

Fiction writing doesn't come naturally to me, probably due to natal Mercury in down to earth Capricorn, but I felt a need to get away from talk of elections and politics so decided to try something completely different: a little fiction writing practice. Some suggestions at Wake Up Writing got me started, what follows is my first attempt. (Warning: others may follow in due course). I've added an extra challenge: to include a little astrology.

Use all of the following 10 words in a piece of fiction or non-fiction:

Amicable
Bitten
Disgrace
Flavor
Hose
License
Neptune
Possibilities
Tangle
Vellum

THE RESULT: (specified words highlighted bold)

What was once a shrubbery was now a disgrace, an overgrown tangle of vegetation, grown to well over 6 feet tall, rotted and fresh mingling and meshing overhead, forming a multi-hued canopy.

Petra threw down the hose in disgust after watering a bed of squash, herbs and salad vegtables grown lovingly in the sun for flavor. She took a few steps into the shady tangled area, glad to move out of the scorching heat for a while, began pulling dead stalks and pushing slim branches aside. A sudden sharp pain to her ankle caused her to stop, wince and reach down thinking she'd been bitten. Instead she found her fingers wet with blood, and a sharp edge of metal protuding from the dense undergrowth.

On her knees she pushed aside the weeds to uncover what appeared to be a rusting metal cube. She lifted the object from its half buried resting place and returned through the sunlight, limping, back to the house.

Petra and her family had arrived here in the midst of an uncharacteristically severe winter, followed by a monsoon of a spring. Only now had the weather turned amicable enough for her to properly explore the rambling grounds of the historic house they had beggared themselves to own. It stood on the edge of rolling hills, far from urban sprawl and polluted air, probably the first structure to blot the virgin Texas landscape of two hundred years ago.

After attending to her damaged ankle, Petra wiped the rusty cube and investigated the possibility of a lid. If lid there was, it was either rusted shut or locked. With a nail file she prodded various ridges and indentations. After exhausting all possibilities, reaching to put the cube on a nearby table it slipped from her grasp to the floor and, magically, a lid flew open.

The contents fell, sliding a little way across the polished wood floor. A rolled piece of vellum, skidded across the oak boards, and what looked like a medallion or large coin spun, rattled and fell flat, disclosing a web of markings.

Petra retrieved the items. As she handled the cold metal and smooth parchment she shivered unaccountably. The vellum roll was secured by a piece of hempen cord which she carefully untied, wondering how long it was since hands had secured it. The vellum felt stiff, she unrolled it with care. Beautiful script covered the inner surface, with some glyphs and a few figures. The only word Petra could easily decipher was "Neptune" in illuminated letters center page. The circular metal object had been crudely engraved with glyphs, and again the word "Neptune".

From Petra's knowledge of astronomy she recalled that Neptune, the planet, was discovered in 1846, but these items and their container seemed older, by at least a hundred years, maybe more. She resolved to take the items to a local museum for advice, next time she visited the city.

Five years passed. Surveyors applied for a license to explore for oil on the land attached to Petra's house, and found evidence of large deposits.

Petra never did take the objects she had found to a museum, but she did go on to study astrology, discovering along the way that planet Neptune is said to rule oil.