Boxing the Crab

Natal charts of three famous boxers are shown below, all three were born when the Sun was in zodiac sign Cancer. The first two charts are set for 12 noon as no reliable times of birth are available, the third chart is set for a rectified time given at astro.com ('C' rating only).

How, one might wonder, do the commonly attributed Cancer keywords (for example: gentle, maternal, sensitive, nurturing, defensive, contemplative), manage to fit three guys who made their names professionally by trying to knock the living daylights out of an opponent?
Defensive - there's that! My late partner was as keen on boxing as husband Anyjazz is on jazz, and had had some involvement in the sport. He would always declare that boxing should properly be a sport of defence, not aggression. If that is so, then Cancer's symbol, the crab, is no slouch in defensive action, sporting a hard shell of protection, pincers that could hurt, scuttling away, albeit with peculiar gait, when trouble is sensed. But really, what I see as crystal clear from the experiment below is that Sun signs are always much-modified by the rest of the chart's components.

Jack Dempsey born in Manassa, Colorado on 24 June 1895.

Leon Spinks born in St. Louis, Missouri on 11 July 1953.

Mike Tyson born in Catskill, New York on 30 June 1966, time of birth rectified to 9.40 AM ('C' rated at astro.com).

Most Cancerian traits do seem quite unsuited to "the noble art" - how boxing earned that title is explained nicely in a blog called The Way of the Warrior HERE. In the three charts above I first noted the mix of Cancer with Leo and Gemini - and came closer to seeing rhyme and reason. Successful boxers need to have mental acuity (here supplied by Gemini) as well as as physical strength, and for a professional boxer some Leo flavour will propel him to enjoy the spotlight - if he's sufficiently skilled.

Dempsey's Cancer planets were flanked by a generational Pluto/Neptune conjunction in Gemini which linked via helpful sextile to natal Mars and Venus in Leo, assisting the blend. Uranus in harmonious trine to Jupiter, contributes elements of surprise - delivering the unexpectedly punch is essential for a successful boxer. Saturn trines his natal Sun, putting a sturdier "backbone" into Cancer's potential softness.

Spinks' Sun, Uranus and Mars in conjunction has to be a classic astrological signature for a boxer. Cancer's urge to protect itself, Uranus' unexpected punches, and Mars dynamic strength and energy. His Cancer planets are flanked by personal planets in Gemini and Leo...there's that blend again!

Tyson has a similar blend with personal planets in Cancer, Leo, Gemini. His generation has a Pluto/Uranus conjunction in Virgo - it links to his Cancer Sun/Jupiter conjunction by sextile, adding power and an element of surprise to aid the Cancerian urge to protect itself. Tyson's opponents usually felt that additional power in action, very early on!

These three boxers were able to call the full orchestra of their natal charts into harmony when at work in that square ring.

Music Monday ~ Sport & Music ?

Sports and the Olympic Games are on the minds of many at present. I'm not, nor ever have been even a tiny bit interested in sport; nationalism and team-ism (as in the Olympics) isn't my thing either. Whichever astrologer first proposed that Aquarius-types enjoy group-ism must have been mistaken, according to my own experience of Aquarius-types, anyway. I've never been clear on exactly what that particular proposition was based.

Trying to concoct a Music Monday post linking music to sport turned out to be an awkward, nigh impossible task. Songs linking to sport I could think of, or find with Google's help, were only obliquely related to sports, and not exclusively to sports - rather to winning: We are the Champions, Simply the Best and suchlike. Take Me Out to the Ballgame, is the only song with a direct link, I came up with, other than a few songs from movies about sport, though the songs themselves could equally relate to other aspects of life too.

Sport and the arts tend not to mix. Whereas there are many famous actors who are also good musicians or singers, painters or writers, and vice-versa, it's rare to come across a sports person who has also made a name somewhere in the arts world. Johnny Mathis shone in sports during his high school days, he was a high jumper and hurdler, and played on the basketball team. Other singers and musicians were, no doubt, similarly talented in school - but in professional life the two talents must surely consitute an impossible mix, at least if the individual wished to excel in both spheres.

In astrology Mars and Aries represent the competitive spirit necessary for a person to shine in the wide arena of sports. But there's more to it than that - there has to be. Both husband and I have a good helping of Aries in our natal charts: his Sun, my Moon and Saturn, but neither of us has any interest in sport, nor are we in the least competitive in nature. I suspect that placement of the Sun and/or Leo in the natal chart could be involved. Again though, husband has Leo rising and Moon in Leo, so that doesn't work for him either.

The urge to shine - stand out - personally, is a major part of the competitive urge. A strongly-placed Sun in the natal chart, in whatever sign it happens to be, is a likely ingredient of such an innate urge. Strongly-placed could = first house, exactly on the ascending degree would be even stronger; at mid-heaven would be good, or on the descendant angle - that, along with a prominent Mars and/or Aries could be an ideal mix to bring forth a strongly competitive sports person with drive enough to succeed. If I'm wrong in this I'll be more than happy to be corrected.

For a music video today, theme from a film about athletes - Chariots of Fire. The music was written and recorded by Vangelis for the soundtrack of the movie. Wikipedia describes the film:

Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Happy 91st to LeRoy Neiman!

LeRoy Neiman. Today is his 91st birthday - born 8 June 1921.

I was unfamiliar with this American artist, I suspect his work appeals more to male art fanciers than to females. A glance through a page of his work on Google Image indicated to me that he is a painter of similar type to last Friday's subject, Raoul Dufy: a happy artist. Neiman's art portrays more dynamic energy than the serene atmosphere which was Dufy's signature, but his colours are equally arresting, and Neiman has credited Dufy as having been an early influence.

There's no gloom in Neiman's paintings. His art speaks of action, good times, enjoyment, people at sport and at leisure; not forgetting several animal studies.





More examples below.

As in Dufy's case, art critics have not been kind to Neiman. I doubt that he cares -he's successful, with a long (50+ years) marriage, happy and wealthy. He and his wife live in New York. Their penthouse home overlooks Central Park. It was owned at one time by Norman Rockwell, at another by Rudolph Valentino. The penthouse has double-height ceilings with wonderful views of Central Park.

LeRoy Neiman was born in St Paul, Minnesota, into a working class family of Turkish/Swedish background; abandoned by his father early on he took the surname of a later stepfather. His natural artistic talent was honed at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago on the G.I. Bill after his military service in World War II. He then taught for 10 years while exhibiting his work.

A long-running asscoiation with Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine was what brought Neiman's talent to a much wider public. Hefner saw his paintings of people in pursuit of pleasure, sport, nightlife, gambling and was hooked.

From a 1995/6 article by Nancy Wolfson

...Thus began a personal and professional association with Hefner and his soon-to-be-empire. In 1958, Neiman began a monthly feature for Playboy called "Man At His Leisure." It would expose him to a style of living a world apart from the struggle-to-survive, street-gang life that he was raised in. For the next 15 years he globe-trotted, observing the rich at play in the world's most glamorous watering holes and sporting spots, delivering to Playboy his impressions of what he saw. Whether it was the Grand Prix auto race in Monaco, the Regatta of the Gondoliers in Venice, or the Super Bowl in Miami, Neiman was there. Gambling at Baden-Baden, sipping brandy at Claridge's and sketching at Fouquet's--always with a long cigar--Neiman not only painted the dream life; he began living it as well.

And the tide has never turned! He has become one of the 20th century's most successful illustrators. He has met and mingled with most sports luminaries of the 20th century, as well as celebrities in other spheres. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the world, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Hermitage in Leningrad.

A piece by Corey Kilgannon in the New York Times from July last year indicated that Neiman "still paints and draws daily in the same bright, bold style, and in the spacious studio in his longtime Central Park West apartment.......is finishing up his autobiography, which he promises is chock full of his personal encounters with athletes, and their reactions to him."


ASTROLOGY



I can find no time of birth, the chart above is set for 12 noon. Rising sign will not be as shown. Moon would be between middle and end degrees of Cancer whatever the time of birth.

Once again the key to this artist's style is easy to see: Sun conjunct Mars. Mars represents energy, dynamism.... and sport. Venus, planet of the arts is in its sign of rulership, Taurus: his natural talent for drawing and painting.

The other stand-out piece of this natal chart is what astrologers call a T-square. A 180* opposition (here it's from Jupiter in Virgo to Uranus in Pisces, both planets form 90* square angles to Sun in Gemini. This configuration is thought to represent an inner tension, not necessarily negative though, it can, and in Neiman's case I think does, represent the dynamic tension which manifests in his work. His T-square involves mutable signs: Gemini at the apex, with Virgo and Pisces in opposition. Virgo and Gemini are both ruled by communications planet Mercury, so are not as contradictary as might be expected, they can sometimes complement one another in fact, I think it is so in this case. Virgo's perfectionism and Gemini's quick mind combine, while Uranus adds an unexpected quirky edge. I can see his art style reflected here.

I'd suspected I might find his natal Moon to be in show-bizzy Leo, but it just doesn't make it into that sign. Instead Moon is in its own sign of rulership, Cancer: sensitive and intuitive. In researching this post I recall seeing a remark about Neiman's aim to always paint any portrait subject in the most flattering way he could, as opposed to 19th century impressionists who enjoyed painting women's portraits, especially, au naturel - without makeup or adornment. This kind of sensitivity from Neiman to the feelings of his subjects reflects his Moon in Cancer.


Gabriela Sabatini



The Catch



The Beatles



Frank Sinatra



Stud Poker



Belmont Stakes





LINK to The Official LeRoy Neiman Website

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