Bill Maher's Message to Astrologers

Bill Maher had a message for astrologers on Real Time (HBO), in his "New Rules" segment on Friday, 11 April.






The second "Rule" is the one - any takers?

His chart and some comments from 2005/6 can be viewed at Astrodatabank HERE

Some of those comments are hardly obsequious - Bill may never have read them!

I'm pretty sure that a predisposition towards sexism and misogyny will be hiding in his natal chart somewhere, probably involved with that Grand Cross involving Sun, Moon, Uranus and Neptune.

Bill's recent shows have disappointed me a lot, he seems to have joined the rest of mainstream media and is guilty being obsequious himself - in the direction of Barack Obama, whilst never failing to make overtly sexist remarks about Hillary Clinton. You've let yourself down badly, Bill, and I guess you've lost some fans recently - myself included.

Bad News # 1 and # 2

#1: I had an unexpected and unpleasant surprise in store yesterday which has left me deflated, fed up and downright angry! I hadn't looked carefully enough at my natal chart and transits for Friday otherwise this might not have come as such a shock.

I had noticed transiting Jupiter would be exactly conjunct natal Mercury at 21 Capricorn and thought, "What can go wrong ? This has to be a good omen for my citizenship interview!" (See previous post). I should have studied the transits further and noticed that transiting Uranus (planet of the unexpected), my Sun's ruler, at 20 Pisces - sextile Mercury and transiting Jupiter, also transiting Mars (the anger planet)sat exactly on my natal (not re-located), ascendant at 15 Cancer, not a very good omen! Transiting Saturn at 2 Virgo may have something to do with this upset as well. It's opposing natal Jupiter (6 Pisces) and quincunx natal Sun at 6.46 Aquarius. Two inharmonious aspects by
Saturn, a restrictive planet associated with law and government.

I'm not sure how all that astrology ties in, or if it does, but I strongly suspect that it does. In one way I'm glad I didn't notice those aspects, if I had, I'd have thought something even worse might occur!

This is what happened:

We arrived at the USCIS office in Oklahoma City, all geared up for my important citizenship interview scheduled 1.05pm (see Thursday's post), We waited in a room, where the temperature was fit only for chilling meat, for half an hour before, and half an hour after the scheduled time, only to be told that two interviewing officers, of the three available, had had to go home sick that morning and the remaining officer's list was full, she could take no more interviews.

They had telephoned our home earlier with no response. We'd have left early even had we not decided to stay over the previous night, so a morning call after 9am would have made no difference. The journey is around 80 miles, and the weather had been very iffy for a couple of days with floods, tornado watches and violent storms. We did not want to risk missing this appointment for which I'd been waiting since last July.

We saw another applicant, the only other one present, sent away earlier, and because we were not approached at that time, around ten minutes before my appointment, felt that I must be listed with the remaining interviewing officer. It was not until half an hour after my scheduled time that we were given the bad news - by that time we were chilled to the bone, the air copnditioning was running full tilt, yet outside the temperature was only 61*!

Even more deflated was I as we watched two people who arrived long after we did, accompanied by an attorney, ushered in for their interview. Worse, when I asked the bearer of bad tidings, who was very apologetic, when I could expect re-scheduling he said the rest of April and all of May has been scheduled already it will be June or July for me. I had to bite my tongue - very hard. Arguing with DHS officials gets one nowhere, and might well put a black mark on one's application.

I'd already been put to the inconvenience of a second visit and overnight stay for a re-take of fingerprints - probably due to the operative's incompetence the first time around - then there was the 17 week wait I had to even get a receipt for my $400 cheque and acknowledgement of my application. I applied on 26 July 2007.

I am royally p...ed off!! Yeah, I know, worse things happen at sea, but I'm still p...ed!

Thank you to the kind family and friends who left lovely comments on my previous post - I'm sorry not to have happier news to relate.

#2
Material from my blog is being ripped off in more than one place. I haven't worked out what is going on yet, but as well as the wholesale lifting of posts by one blog, without proper linkage back to mine, there are at least three other blogs carrying part of my posts, under fictitious authors' names, but which do actually link back to my blog when one clicks on the fictitious name. Peculiar! There's no indication on any of these rip-off blogs who they belong to, but they are all Wordpress blogs. All but the first mentioned carry Google Ads or some other adverts, so they are collecting money by using the work of other bloggers but not using the bloggers proper identities and using and no work of their own at all. I'm not the only blogger being ripped off.

Clicking on the Technorati logo at the foot of this page then on the "Authority" link on my Technorati rating, will bring up a list of places my material has been used. If anyone else involved knows the best way to tackle this I'd be glad to hear from them.

I'm not sure yet what to do about either Bad News #1 or #2 - but I'm working on it - and fuming!

UPDATE
After doing some research I have reported two of the sites to Google Adsense for violation. This seems the best way to tackle the problem. Will do more in due course if things don't improve.

Interview

Tomorrow I'm to be interviewed and tested by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), hoping to emerge eligible for US citizenship. I notice that transiting Jupiter, planet of luck, will be exactly conjunct my natal Mercury (mental abilities & communication) in my re-located 11th house of hopes and wishes - a nice omen. My own careful input will be needed before luck can materialise though - so there'll be no counting of chickens!

If I pass muster at the interview, answer at least 6 of their 10 civics and history questions correctly, prove that I can read and write English (ahem!) and have kept my nose clean whilst living in the United States, I'll be shunted forward in a few weeks/months to an Oath Ceremony where, along with other new citizens I shall put my hand on my heart, swear allegiance to the USA, and become a citizen. Citizenship means, among other things, that I'll be eligible to vote (very important), and hold a US passport.

Here's an odd thing: before the recent furore about Senator Obama's pastor, Rev.Jeremiah Wright and his anti-American rantings from the pulpit, I felt somewhat ambivalent about the wording of the Oath of Allegiance, and the tradition of overt patriotism in the USA. Rev. Jeremiah Wright did me a favour. Although I see many flaws in the way the current administration runs the country, and conducts itself overseas, and realise that the country's past history is far from blameless, peddling hatred and sowing its seeds in young minds has to be the wrong way to address problems. Meaningful change can only occur when people work together, in love for each other and for their country.

When the time comes I shall pledge the required Oath with pride, no more qualms. Thanks, Rev. Wright! As the old proverb goes: "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good"!

Before this can happen I must pass my tests tomorrow. I'm still practicing repeating the names of the 13 original states using my astro-mnemonic (see here). I hope I don't pop in a planet instead of a state...."Maryland, Massachusetts, Venus, Rhode Island, Neptune, North Carolina......Erm.... Sorry, can I try that again?!"

I'll be back on Saturday, all being well. In the meantime -

Paul Simon's "American Tune"
("We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hours
and sing an American tune")

Happy Birthday "Morning Joe"!

Today is the birthday of Joe Scarborough, host of the TV show "Morning Joe". In a previous incarnation he served in the US House of Representatives(1995 to 2001). He's a Republican - but hey, I've featured liberal talk show hosts already. They, by the way, are doing my favourite Democratic candidate no good at all just now. Joe has acquired a taste for Senator Clinton's tough approach, he has been giving a much fairer assessment of recent situations than his left-wing counterparts.

Happy Birthday, Joe - and thank you!

Joe Scarborough was born on 9 April 1963, Atlanta, Georgia. I can't find a time of birth so a 12noon chart will have to suffice.



He has a pretty well-balanced chart, with just a slight predominance of the Fire element. I warm to his three Aries placements, Sun, Mercury and Jupiter (probably because I have Moon and Saturn in Aries myself). At 12 noon his natal Moon would have been in Libra, but if born after 8pm his Moon would have moved into Scorpio. I wonder if he was born late in the day, that could be a clue to his apparent empathy with Senator Clinton.

Joe's natal Aries Sun is sextile Saturn in Aquarius. Saturn and Aquarius is a rather peculiar combination - Saturn was traditionally ruler of Aquarius, before the discovery of Uranus. Saturn now seems to stand for everything opposite to Aquarius's stengths - the old (Saturn) versus the new (Aquarius), status quo versus avant garde, maybe even Republican versus Democrat. Joe's Republican loyalties are not in question, but he does remain open-minded enough to see the value and strengths of a particular Democratic candidate. Perhaps Saturn in Uranus harmonious with his natal Sun is a reflection of this.

For those who wonder why some in the USA feel very strongly that Hillary Clinton is being treated unfairly by much of the media, left-wing media in particular, here's a video which might help to explain it, and show that sexism is alive and well in the USA these days. The video was made by two of Hillary Clinton's supporters, and originated at TaylorMarsh.com:.



And here's birthday boy Joe Scarborough in an interview with Senator Clinton yesterday:

Charlton Heston, Lew Wallace & "Ben Hur"

Charlton Heston died at the weekend. He was born 4 October 1923 (some sources say 1924). I'll not guess which is correct. I've recently read a few less than kind comments about this man. In real life he held some opinions which are opposite to my own, but this really is no time to throw stones. His name, back in the news, brought my favourite movie to mind.

"Ben Hur" originated as a novel by Lew Wallace, a military man born 10 April 1827 in Brookville Indiana. The novel has been adapted as a movie on several occasions, best known of these is the award winning 1959 version starring Charlton Heston. It seems appropriate to me that the tale's author was a Sun Aries. The epic movie's story is very Aries in flavour. It chronicles the adventures, trials and tribulations of Judah Ben Hur a prince of Judea at the time of Roman occupation and Jesus Christ's ministry. The movie concentrates more on the adventures of its hero than on the more religious aspects of the book, but it still tells how Ben Hur's life is mystically touched by that of his contemporary, Jesus.








There is Aries courage and resilience in the character of Judah Ben Hur. There's also a great driving hunger to revenge the wrong done to his family - a heaped spoonful of Scorpio! There's a love story too, secondary to all else. Yet though romance is missing in much of the film, the audience is always aware of an underlying longing, and rightly suspects there may be a happy ending. The love theme appealed to me a lot, so much so that when himself and I tied the knot, the Love Theme from Ben Hur was one of the two pieces of music played at our civil ceremony.

Charlton Heston's towering persona dominates the movie. I can think of no other actor who had persona huge enough to take on that character and carry the plot almost single-handed. It wasn't a case of his acting skills, which were not nearly as huge as the image he was able to portray, nor as well-honed as some of the character actors in the cast. We can't be sure of his birth year, so it's not useful to surmise, but I can't help wondering if Jupiter and/or Pluto are somehow prominent in his chart, perhaps near the ascendant, producing a larger than life, very powerful image, not only as Judah Ben Hur, but in starring roles in other epic movies.

RIP Charlton Heston, and thanks for "Ben Hur".

It's Rotten for Aries

Time for another dose (and I use the term advisedly because it's not easy to swallow) of "You Were Born on a Rotten Day" by Jim Critchfield and Jerry Hopkins, bravely published in 1969, surprisingly reprinted in a further four editions. As I remind myself when posting each monthly section, the book was probably one of the first ever attempts to spoof (or ridicule) astrology columns, its novelty may have accounted for its success. A good spoof works on two levels, it's superficially funny for an audience not well versed in the specific genre, and funny on a deeper level for the in-crowd who are able to pick up all the clever, and usually affectionate, references. This book doesn't really work on either level, but it is a little piece of astrological history. So - these are the authors' demented thoughts on Aries.


"If you are an Aries, you are probably lonely - and with your personality it's no surprise. Although the Aries-born do become attached to others, the others never become attached to the Aries-born. So it's best if you take up single games at an early age, like solitaire and mugging.

Aries men and women are adversely affected by the moon, often baying at it and searching for Grunion on the wrong night. And when people of other signs are making love under the harvest moon, some Aries nut will be out in the middle of the freeway trying to shuck wheat.

Aries people are also quick to grasp any opportunity and anything else that's lying around loose. Fortified with a keen memory and a cheap camera, many excel at blackmail. They also possess magnetic personalities which explains why they are often covered with small bits of tin and rusty nails.

These Ram-born people appreciate being looked up to and often saw the legs off other people's chairs. If this sign rules you, your lucky color is not as good as it used to be, your Lucky Day is Doris, your Lucky Star hasn't made a picture since 1917 and famous people born in this sign are not very famous."


"A Typical Miserable Aries Month" yielded up nothing that could bring the most wan of smiles to this disgruntled reader - the sorry spectacle ends with:

30th "If you think last Tuesday was a drag, wait 'til you see what happens tomorrow!"

I take that as a warning that the Taurus section will not improve any!

Astro-Political Predicting

Clinton, Obama. Obama, Clinton. Polls are up, polls are down, popular vote, electoral college, superdelegates, pledged delegates.... la-di-da-di-da! This way is madness found.

If the upcoming presidential election in the USA were not so very important, to the world at large, as well as the USA, I wouldn't be feeling so unsetled and uncomfortable. This election is important - much more important than I think we are able to fully appreciate at this point (that's gut-feeling from yours truly!)

[This blogpost is written by Twilight at Learning Curve on the Ecliptic. If reading it elsewhere, please link back by clicking on this message. Thank you.]
Astrology, one of the loves of my life, should at least be able to point a shadowy finger in the right direction to settle my mind. It doesn't. A crystal ball might well be a better bet in this instance!

Vedic astrologer Christopher Kevill here with further assessments here and tropical astrologer Jonathan Cainer (at Previous Thoughts for the Day, March 10 2008), amongst others are sticking to early predictions, despite some doubts, that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee and/or next President of the USA. Other astrologers favour Barack Obama, others John McCain.

Yesterday I set out seeking further astrological guidance, Googled "Barack Obama astrology". I chose one link I respect and trust - Astrodatabank. There's a discussion there, between astrologers, on Senator Obama's natal chart and his chances in the primaries and the general election.

I pondered over the wide variety of comments and approaches in the Astrodatabank discussion for a long time. Is it ever possible for an astrologer, however expert he/she may be, to be purely objective? Doesn't each astrologer's view rely upon their own astrological makeup? There could hardly ever be agreement, especially on predictions, because each astrologer is coming at the situation from a different place, their own astrological place, each guided by unique personal placements and aspects.

Some astrologers predict a Clinton victory, an Obama withdrawal in May/June, others say Obama will be victorious, and others are confident that McCain will beat the Democratic candidate, whoever it turns out to be. Different astrological reasons, (reasonable ones!) are found for each potential eventuality. So, astrology leaves me little nearer to a settled mind.

My American husband is pretty level headed and completely non-astrological about politics. His view:
"There's a long long way to go - every day a different page of the story is turned, new information emerges. You can't measure what will happen in November by what goes on in the present.....bottom line, most important of all, hold this thought.... we CANNOT have another Republican president - CAN NOT!!"

My response, because due to very strong gut-feeling I am unswervingly in favour of Senator Clinton's candidacy:
"Erm, but.. but......huh....okay."

Only time will solve this unsettled feeling of mine - a long time, many months. Until then I'll no doubt continue to search for astrological hints.

*********************************************************************************
(I have included the cryptic hyperlink message after paragraph 2 because somebody, or some mechanical device has been "borrowing" some of my posts, (and those of other astrology bloggers), for display on another website, without the courtesy of a request or a direct link back to my blog. While the site doesn't appear to be making money, nor am I and nor do I wish to, and while they also carry a linkable list of astrology sites (also "borrowed") which includes Learning Curve on the Ecliptic, there is nothing to link "Twilight" to my blog name. "Twilight" at the head of the posts is not linkable back to this blog. If the "borrowers" are reading this, please do the polite thing. Either desist from borrowing posts, send me a courteous request via comments here, or provide proper links back to this blog on every post you "borrow". Thank you.)

Randi Rhodes and Other Bitter Tastes

I glanced at an article about Air America broadcaster Randi Rhodes. This week she was suspended indefinitely for making inappropriate remarks, on stage, about two prominent females, Senator Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro, at an event sanctioned as a fundraiser for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign (see here). I found the information a bit of a yawn initially. After all, it's becoming de rigeur for so called "progressive liberals" to denigrate the two women in question. How "progressive" is it, though, to use gutter language? The group of political left-leaners in the USA who label themselves "progressives", to this onlooker seem like the exact opposite, it's a misnomer if ever I saw one!


I wasn't too intrigued by Ms Rhodes' lack of vocabulary and good taste until I saw her date of birth. 28 January 1959, Brooklyn, NY. She's younger than me, by a stretch, but her birthday is the day after my own. I had hoped that an intelligent Aquarius Sun might display rather more class and evidence of grey matter than this woman appears able to do.

I can immediately think of three other January Aquarians who are less than classy these days - Dick Cheney, Keith Olbermann and Bill Maher, but even they would, I think, stop short of calling Senator Clinton or Ms Ferraro "fucking whores" while on stage.

Aquarius does have the reputation of being a rebel, a radical, a maverick, of course. How this emerges in each individual varies a lot.

Here's a 12noon version of Randi Rhodes' natal chart, I wasn't able to find a time of birth for her.



The first thing I noticed was Saturn at 2 Capricorn. Transiting Pluto is currently one degree away from her natal Saturn at 1 Capricorn. (Saturn in Capricorn is classic hard-nosed Saturn in its own sign. Pluto a powerful and potentially nasty and transformational influence). Add to this the fact that Ms Rhodes' natal Pluto is at 3 Virgo and transiting Saturn is at 2 Virgo, and we have a double whammy of Saturn/Pluto clashes. Nasty, and it doubtless has something to do with current events.

Other notable aspects in this natal chart are an opposition (180*) between Aquarius Sun and ruler of Aquarius, Uranus, in Leo. It's a tense aspect and I'm not sure of its meaning when a sign and its ruler are involved. Even more significant, an out of sign fixed Grand Cross involving 24 Taurus/26 Aquarius/28 Scorpio and 3 Virgo - which is 4 degrees from 28 Leo) planets involved are Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Pluto (out of sign because Pluto is in early Virgo rather than late Leo). Even if the Grand Cross isn't tight enough square aspects (90*) remain between Jupiter, Venus and Mars - so there's plenty of aggravation and challenge here.

The term Grand Cross refers to "a chart where there are two sets of planets in opposition at right angles to each other." (When the aspects are drawn in the configuration looks like a square with a cross inside it.) "This is an aspect representing very difficult energy; it often denotes frustration, anger, stress, and intensity. However, this aspect also helps with self-growth and endurance."

Coincidentally ascerbic comedian and chat show host Bill Maher and TV talking head Keith Olbermann (both mentioned in the second paragraph, above) have Grand Crosses in their natal charts too - see Bill Maher's natal chart at Astrodatabank (here), and Keith Olbermann's is in an earlier blogpost of mine (here).

So - three January Aquarian Suns all with Grand Cross configurations in their natal charts, all given to ascerbic commentary, which, if unchecked can descend from ascerbic to downright offensive. Coincidence? I think not.

A Sample of Aries The Initiator

On this Aries date of 4th April, in several past years the zodiac sign lived up to its reputation as a cardinal initiator, bringing lots of "firsts" and new beginnings:



APRIL 4TH


1814 - Napoleon abdicates for the first time.



1818 - The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (then 20).


1841 - William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and the one with the shortest term served.



1850 - Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.





1887 - Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter, the first female mayor in the USA.



1949 - Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO.



1958 - The CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) Peace Symbol displayed in public for the first time in London, England.




1964 - The Beatles occupy the first five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.




1965 - The first model of the new Saab Viggen fighter aircraft plane is unveiled.


1969 - Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.






1973 - The World Trade Center in New York is officially dedicated.

John Adams & Hillary Clinton

We're watching the HBO series "John Adams". The subject matter didn't appeal initially, but as I need to learn a little American history for my upcoming citizenship interview and civics test I decided that watching this drama could be helpful. Amazingly I'm completely hooked, after three or four episodes. I'm not sure whether it's down to the excellent production, the feel of authenticity, brilliant portrayals by talented actors, or just the truly fascinating story of the birth of the USA.

John Adams was the second president of the USA, coming after George Washington.

After peeking at the natal charts of John Adams and his wife, Abigail. Something clicked! Surely Hillary Clinton's chart contains some similarities to one of these, I thought.



John Adams born 30 October 1735, Quincy, Massachusetts (12 noon -unknown birthtime)

Hillary Clinton born 26 October 1947, Chicago, Illinois (8.02 am)

Closer inspection reveals interesting similarities:

Hillary Clinton's natal Sun is at 2 Scorpio, John Adams' at 6 Scorpio
Venus is at 16 Scorpio in both cases
Hillary Clinton's Mercury is at 28 Scorpio, John Adams' at 21 Scorpio

Those positions, of three of the most personal of planets, Sun/Mercury/Venus are so similar ! I'm not suggesting that this is an omen - I wouldn't dare bring down the wrath of Obamaphiles upon my blog! (Wink) I do like finding stuff like this though, and these charts are 212 years apart ! It keeps on underlining the fact that "something is happening here, but I don't know what it is" (do I, Mr. Jones?)

There are clear differences too, of course. The Moon's position is an important one. John Adams' birth time isn't known. If here were born before 10pm his natal moon would have been in Aries, after 10pm, in Taurus. Hillary Clinton's Moon, if her time of birth is correct, is in Pisces. From the portrayal of John Adams on screen I'd find it difficult to choose between Aries and Taurus Moon. On balance Taurus well suits his dogged determination, and his down to earth-ness. Hillary Clinton's Pisces Moon remains fairly well hidden from her public, but the fact that it's there indicates a deep compassion and sensitivity, far removed from the hard-nosed image she has gained in some quarters.




John and Abigail Adams (Abigail born 11 November 1744, Weymouth Massachusetts) both had heavy Scorpio influence in their charts, but John's matches Hillary's more closely. Abigail's Scorpio Sun was exactly conjunct Scorpio's ruler, Pluto - no wonder she seemed to have such power, even in those days, long before female emancipation!

Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney play the parts of John and Abigail in the HBO series.


Trailer for the TV series:

Idol Suns

American Idol has winnowed its contestants to 9 already, the three I mentioned back in February (here) have all survived thus far. Last week the singers had to choose a song from the year of their birth so I now have a list of birthdays. I still haven't found all their places of birth, but a list of their Sun signs will tell a small amount. There are three with Sun in Capricorn, two in Virgo, an Aries Sun, a Sagittarius Sun, a Gemini Sun and a Libra Sun, as listed below.

Pluto has moved into Capricorn recently, it will retrograde back into late Sagittarius this summer - probably after the winner of American Idol has been decided. With three Sun Capricorns and a late Sagittarian here I wonder whether Pluto's transformational influence might help or hinder those singers. So far Pluto seems to be doing good, three of those four are doing very well indeed in the judges' estimation. Saturn is currently transiting Virgo, which may be significant for the 2 Virgoans, inclining them to make efforts above and beyond normal.

My own pick of the bunch is Michael Johns (the Libran), but the two Davids are close contenders too.

Jason Castro 25 March 1987 ~~~ ARIES

Brooke White 2 June 1983 ~~~GEMINI

Ramielle Mulabay 6 September 1987 ~ VIRGO

Carly Smithson `12 September 1983 ~~ VIRGO

Michael Johns 20 October 1978 ~~~LIBRA

David Cook 20 December 1982 ~~~ SAGITTARIUS

David Archuleta 28 December 1990 ~~ CAPRICORN

Syesha Mercado 2 January 1987 ~~~ CAPRICORN

Kristy Lee Cook 18 January 1984 ~~~ CAPRICORN



Left to right back: Ramielle, Jason, Brooke, Michael, Carly, Kristy
Left to right front: David A., David C., & Syesha. (The guy at front-center, Chikesie, was eliminated last week, another will be voted out tonight.)

Different Drummer

Purely on a whim I took a look at the natal charts of two of Hillary Clinton's best-known supporters, Maya Angelou (famous American poet) and Ed Rendell (Governor of Pennsylvania). I wondered whether they might reveal something in common with my own chart, and that of Hillary Clinton. Something which might account for our being drawn to Hillary Clinton's candidacy, against the tide of Obama-mania, some harmonious astrological connection.

Back in Britain I was a loyal supporter of the Labour Party (pre-Tony Blair). Labour used to be a long step to the left of USA's Democratic Party. The sad demise of candidacies I saw as being of the true left here in the USA, those of Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards, left a narrow choice between Obama and Clinton. Most acquaintances on-line and off, Brits and Americans, seem to prefer Barack Obama. Writers and commenters on websites and TV channels I used to frequent are no longer on my wavelength, and "in the tank" for Obama. This has been a disconcerting experience, I am badly out of step, for I much prefer Hillary Clinton's candidacy.

So - back to the astrology:

Maya Angelou (chart on left) was born in St Louis MO on 4 April 1928 at 2.10 PM
Ed Rendell was born on 5 January 1944 in New York City, NY. (12 noon chart below).
Click to enlarge.



Without even looking at the charts I'd know that these two individuals, though basically different, fueled by natal Suns in Cardinal signs, Aries and Capricorn, are likely to be initiators, enthusiastic and ambitious, but in vastly different ways. Maya Angelou has no planets in Earth signs, though her midheaven is in Taurus, Ed Rendell has none in Water signs. Maya's poetry needs little support from Earthy planets, Ed's political talents need little input from emotional Water.

There are similarities too. Ed Rendell's Jupiter is in exactly the same degree as Maya Angelou's Neptune, 26 Leo. Maya's Neptune is just 3 degrees from her ascendant. Jupiter is connected to law, Neptune to creativity and poetry, so inspiration could said to be sourced from the same degree of the zodiac in both cases - interesting! Going further with 26 Leo, Marc Edmund Jones' interpretation of this degree via his Sabian Symbols is "a rainbow".

Comparing these two charts, my own, and that of Hillary Clinton, I find that there are links around 21 Capricorn, Scorpio and Pisces:

Ed Rendell and myself share Mercury at 21 Capricorn, which is sextile to Hillary Clinton's Mercury at 21 Scorpio. Angelou's Mercury/Venus at 20/21 Pisces is close to Clinton's Moon at 22.51 Pisces and trine Clinton's Mercury at 21 Scorpio.

And:

Rendell's Sun at 14 Capricorn sextiles Clinton's Venus at 15 Scorpio.

My natal Saturn at 12.55 Aries, and Angelou's natal Sun at 14 Aries trine Clinton's Mars at 14 Leo.

My natal Jupiter at 6 Pisces trines Clinton's Sun at 2 Scorpio, and my natal Mars at 28 Scorpio is close to Clinton's Mercury at 21 Scorpio.

Are these aspects and common degrees some of the reasons I, along with Maya Angelou and Ed Rendell, are marching to a different drummer from all those wildly enthusiastic Obama supporters? Perhaps so. Or perhaps it's just that Hillary Clinton IS the better candidate!

Maya’s recent poem for Hillary:

Rise Hillary Rise.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

This is not the first time you have seen Hillary Clinton seemingly at her wits end, but she has always risen, always risen, much to the dismay of her adversaries and the delight of her friends.

Hillary Clinton will not give up on you and all she asks of you is that you do not give up on her.

There is a world of difference between being a woman and being an old female. If you’re born a girl, grow up, and live long enough, you can become an old female. But, to become a woman is a serious matter. A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies.

Hillary Clinton is a woman. She has been there and done that and has still risen. She is in this race for the long haul. She intends to make a difference in our country.

She is the prayer of every woman and man who long for fair play, healthy families, good schools, and a balanced economy.

She declares she wants to see more smiles in the families, more courtesies between men and women, more honesty in the marketplace. Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to what it can become.

She means to rise.

She means to help our country rise. Don’t give up on her, ever.

In fact, if you help her to rise, you will rise with her and help her make this country a wonderful, wonderful place where every man and every woman can live freely without sanctimonious piety, without crippling fear.

Rise Hillary.

Rise.
**********************************

...............or else (here)

Home Again

I'm back in the saddle again after a very pleasant trip to Taos, New Mexico. Astrologically, the only thing I have to report from the trip is that, sadly, we were there a few days too early for a workshop held by author of "Cosmos and Psyche", Richard Tarnas. The workshop, titled "Planets and the Birth Imprint", will take place on 6 April. It appears to be somewhat connected to "The Birth Imprint" theme for the 8th Annual HDP Symposium (Association of Human Design Practitioners), being held in Taos 3 to 6 April. The announcement says "He (Richard Tarnas) is an inspiring speaker and uses great music to experientially evoke the energies of planetary archetypes." Sounds interesting. Not for the first time I was in the right place at the wrong time - astrology-wise.

Even in the lovely town of Taos we couldn't escape politics:



And we walked around a lot leading to this:



Nice mural:



Around the galleries, both in Taos and in small outlying villages, the variety and volume of local creativity and talent is truly amazing. As I said to one artist/gallery owner, "I don't often wish to be rich - only when I see work like this." Some artwork is priced in tens of thousands of dollars. We did wonder just who buys at such prices, in the current financial climate. Luckily it's all free - as eye candy.

(Photos by the husband)

New Clothes

The people of the USA will, later this year, decide into whose safe keeping they will entrust the country, and possibly the world, for the next four years. Will it be a Sun Leo, Sun Scorpio or Sun Virgo?

In basic Sun sign terms, I guess the Scorpion could sting both Virgin and Lion to death, but that's not the whole story. In reality all three contenders have a dangerous side, and wear the non-existent clothes of tempting promises. It's all in the wonderful but often dirty game of politics, so it's wise to remember that we ought never to get too many stars in our eyes.





I'm leaving this homemade video compilation here, while we head off tomorrow morning to New Mexico for a few days, as a cure for cabin fever and a late celebration of my husband's birthday.

'Bye for now!

As the lyrics say, in a different context, but still apt enough here:

"We refused to admit that we wore this disguise
Every inch of us growing
Like Pinocchio's nose
As we walked around in the emperor's new clothes

We flew by our wits and by the seat of our pants
In the state of illusion
In the nation of chance"

(It's as non-partison as I could manage.)

Sign of a Quote

Hand-picked quotes which accidentally reflect, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, the flavor of each zodiac sign:


ARIES
What reason would grope for in vain, spontaneous impulse ofttimes achieves at a stroke, with light and pleasureful guidance.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

TAURUS
I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pig-headed fool.
--Katherine Whitehorn

GEMINI
Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh

CANCER
They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?
--Princess Diana

LEO
The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault.
-- Henry Kissinger

VIRGO
Anyone nit-picking enough to write a letter of correction to an editor doubtless deserves the error that provoked it.
--Alvin Toffler

LIBRA
Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.
-- Laurence J. Peter

SCORPIO
Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.
--D. H. Lawrence

SAGITTARIUS
A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.
-- Elbert Hubbard

CAPRICORN
The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling.
-- Ambrose Bierce

AQUARIUS
The difficult and risky task of meeting and mastering the new, whether it be the settlement of new lands or the initiation of new ways of life,is not undertaken by the vanguard of society but by its rear. It is the misfits, failures, fugitives, outcasts and their like who are among the first to grapple with the new.
--Eric Hoffer

PISCES
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
--Albert Einstein

Aries and Mars Dominant

Astrotheme's extensive lists of dominant Planets and dominant Signs in the natal charts of famous people offer some interesting insights. These lists are different from the usual "celebrities who are Librans, or Aquarians, or whatever" types of lists, based purely on birthdays and Sun signs.

The Sun has just moved into the zodiac sign of Aries, so I've compiled a list of the best-known names of folk with Aries or Mars (ruler of Aries) dominant in their natal charts. Those in the lists below have from 80% to 40% of the zodiac sign, or 30% to 20% of the planet in their personality, so potentially offer a clear representation of the Aries/Mars type.

Keywords are a good way to briefly describe the heavily Aries/Mars personality, the good, the bad and the ugly of this, the first sign of the zodiac. From Manly P. Hall's "Astrological Keywords": courageous, enthusiastic, energetic, proud, excitable, impulsive, hasty, quick tempered. Executive, enterprising, pioneering, confident, independent, aggressive, competitive, dictatorial. From me, married to an Aries Sun person, and myself with Moon and Saturn in Aries: spontaneous, humorous, not complicated or deeply mysterious - what you see is what you get.

In previous months I've used a video compilation with photographs of the individiuals listed, this time I decided to list the names and add a video from YouTube featuring two of the individuals named here.

Of the Aries dominant people, for me, Steve McQueen personified Aries in his role in "The Great Escape". His one-time wife, Ali MacGraw, is in the same list with Mars, Aries' ruling planet dominant in her chart. I loved watching Steve in any movie he made. In the Music section, Gordon Macrae was another, very early, heart-throb of mine. And in the Art section - William Morris is an all-time favourite artist/designer. I put it down to my Aries Moon!

ARIES and MARS Dominant


ACTORS
Aries Dominant
Anthony Perkins
John Gielgud
Chico Marx
Angelina Jolie
Ali MacGraw (+Mars dom)
Patricia Arquette
Omar Sharif
Max von Sydow
Steve McQueen
Jon Voight
James Woods
Gordon Macrae (+ Mars dom)

Mars Dominant
Heather Locklear
Richard Burton
Lloyd Bridges
Mia Farrow

MUSIC
Aries Dominant
Lene Lovich (+ Mars dom)
Carl Perkins
Tiny Tim
John D. Loudermilk(+ Mars Dom)
Celine Dion
Johannes Brahms
Loretta Lynn
Gordon Macrae (+ Mars dom)

Mars Dominant
David Crosby (Crosby Stills & Nash)
Helen Reddy
Barbra Streisand

WRITERS
Aries Dominant
Emile Zola
Algernon Swinburne

Mars Dominant
Alex Haley

ASTROLOGY
Aries Dominant
Adze Mixxe (+Mars dom)

Mars Dominant
Philip Sedgwick

ART
Aries Dominant
William Morris
Mars Dominant
Grandma Moses

MIXED BAG
Aries Dominant
Rolf Harris

Mars Dominant
Mike Todd
Albert Einstein
David Beckham
Billy Graham
Christian Dior

Here, in a video from YouTube, two for the price of one - Barbra Streisand (Mars dominant) and Celine Dion(Aries dominant) singing "Tell Him"