AQUARIUS STRIPPED

Around this time each year I start inwardly grumbling. And, no it's not courtesy of regular doses of huevos rancheros cooked up by Himself to ward off the cold weather! It's about Aquarius, and how the sign has come to be commonly perceived.

I had a wee grumble last year towards the end of January (here). I described a handful of Sun Aquarians I'd known and loved, and found little in them to match astrological interpretation of the sign.

What has gone awry? Is it me? I'm probably as guilty as anyone else of being drawn into the crowd's expectations - calling Aquarius quirky, avant garde, rebellious, unpredictable, cold and aloof....you know the rest. Humanitarian, another commonly stated characteristic of Aquarius is often apt, but it fits more nearly with Pisces in reality. Most people with Sun in Aquarius have a planet or two in Pisces. Intelligent? I'll go along with that one, it's the only description common to all Sun Aquarians I've ever met. Intelligent, mind you, not genius or even highly intelligent. They simply possess an innate cleverness irrespective of schooling or higher education, which, in some instances when applied can bring out inventive talent. Aquarius is Fixed Air. Air relates to mental processes, so it's reasonable to expect that all Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini and Libra) will share natural intelligence, honed to sophistication by education, or not, as the case may be.

I don't agree with the "love of groups" thing for Aquarius. Where did that come from? In any case it contradicts the "aloof, detached and cold" motif. I haven't ever met a Sun Aquarian who loves to join groups. I run away from them as fast as my little legs will carry me, so did my Dad, and my Aquarian friends. So perhaps we are a tad aloof and detached, but I prefer to think of it as independence.

I think the rest of the commonly used keywords, apart from humanitarian, belong more properly with planet Uranus, delegated to replace Saturn as ruler of Aquarius in modern astrology. I continue to suspect that Saturn was more appropriate as ruler of Aquarius; a Saturn in Airy mode, lighter and less tied down, whereas Capricorn hosts a heavier, Earthy Saturn.

Where does Uranus truly belong among the signs? Its accepted characteristics can infect and invade any of them with its presence, and with equal intensity. The rush to allocate the outer planets to rulerships was curious, I think. Why was it necessary ? Weren't things working satisfactorily in personal astrology beforehand? The outer planets seem to relate far more to mundane issues.

In my old copy of Llewellyn George's "Student Chart Reader" (1934), he says this about Sun in Aquarius:

"In Aquarius the Sun gives a quiet, patient, determined, unobtrisive and faithful nature, as a rule. The Aquarian is refined, pleasant, friendly, generous, charitable, dignified and humanitarian; fond of art, music, scenery and literature; cautious, steady, intelligent, intuitive, discriminitive, concentrative, studious, thoughtful and philopsophical. Good reasoner, practical as well as theoretical; strong likes and dislikes and often with very radical and advanced ideas; is cheerful, sincere and honest, easily influenced by kindness, slow to anger, but will not be driven; loves liberty and is fond of occult research."

I like that description, even though parts of it are too general to be identifiable as purely Aquarian - eg. pleasant, fond of art, music, scenery. I especially like the the last few phrases (easily influenced by kindness, slow to anger, but will not be driven; loves liberty). Interest in the occult applies to this particular Aquarian, but I haven't personally met any others with the same leaning. Perhaps this is another facet belonging more properly to Pisces, although there are two Fixed Stars in Aquarius with traditional connection to astrology.



So this is my own, stripped down, bunch of keywords for Aquarius:

freedom lover, independent, naturally intelligent, quietly determined, loyal, faithful, studious, practical but also theoretical, stubborn, slow to anger, will not be driven.

Radicalism, the avant garde, rebellion and quirkiness will, in my view, be a part of the Sun Aquarian, or any other sign's makeup only if Uranus is in close aspect, or on a sensitive point in the chart. Other characteristics occasionally found in Sun Aquarians come via emphasis on neighbouring sign Pisces. That's my story and I'm sticking to it -'cos I won't be driven !

"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.

George Michael

For some mysterious reason, Huffington Post last week featured a 3-year old article by Johann Hari: an interview with George Michael which had appeared originally in the UK's Independent newspaper. Old or not, it was an interesting read and got me itching to look at George's natal chart again.

Born 25 June 1963 in London, England at, according to Astrotheme, 6.00am.




In the interview covered by Hari's article George discusses the sensitivity and vulnerabilities he experienced, arising from realisation that he is gay. One of the commenters at HuffPo remarked that being gay never did Elton John any harm, even allowing for his peculiar wigs, specs and hair-dos. Astrology explains this difference. Elton John has Sun in Aries. Aries Suns don't give a flying wotnot what others think of them, their appearance or anything else about them. I can give personal testimony on this, for my husband has Sun in Aries. George Michael's natal Sun is in ultra-sensitive Cancer, and whilst I cannot give personal testimony to Sun in Cancer, I know only too well that my natal Cancer rising endowed me with a multitude of pesky and painful sensitivities. Some of George's self-penned songs are testament to his intense sensitivity: "Jesus To A Child" and "You Have Been Loved", for example ooze with pain and deep feeling.



George Michael's chart will have been chewed on many times by astrologers in the past. He has decorated news reports on several occasions following some less than salubrious incidents in public toilets. I wrote on the topic in 2007 - here.

I'll not do another boring old interpretation. I will though point out a couple or three things, expanding on what I wrote earlier.

The two Yod formations with Jupiter at one apex (right) and Neptune at the other(below). Both link directly or indirectly to Pluto which, at the time lay conjunct Fixed Star Zosma.








One Yod has Pluto as one half of the sextile, in the the other Yod Pluto links to the Mercury/Venus conjunction via square (90*) aspect.

I came across Zosma when looking into Ann Coulter's chart - here. This Fixed Star is said to have connections to victims or saviours. Neither of which type seemed relevant in Coulter's case, and nor do they here - well not exactly as usually understood.

Because Pluto is a very slow-mover it remains in the same area for a long period, so millions would have been born during the time Pluto and Zosma lay in close proximity. The conjunction becomes significant in a natal chart only when there's an aspect or connection from Pluto to a personal planet or sensitive point. In George Michael's case, Mars is conjunct Pluto/Zosma, also they form part of a Yod formation linking to Jupiter, as well as making square aspect to Mercury and Venus.


In George's chart I don't look in particular for his singing talent - he's good, very good, heck, he should have been one of the greatest! There are many other good vocalists in the crowd. He has a particular peculiarity - notoriety in the realm of public sexual activity. Pluto traditionally links to sexual issues, and Pluto's relatively rare but potent connections in this chart are likely to play a major part in George's past scenarios.

Regarding Zosma, I suspect that we should take the traditional interpretations of it, and of all Fixed Stars, with a good pinch of salt. I intend to assume that when one of them is closely involved in a natal chart, something extra special or extra unusual is likely to be found in the individual, depending on which planets and stars are involved. But that's just my personal view!

"Jesus to a Child" - George's song written in tribute to a lover who died:

.........So the words you could not say
I'll sing them for you
And the love we would have made
I'll make it for two

For every single memory
Has become a part of me
You will always be My love....

Tiddely-pom!

Today, 18th January would have been the birthday of A.A. Milne. He was born in London, England in 1882. His was a very Earthy natal chart: Sun, Moon and Venus in Capricorn. Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto in Taurus. Uranus in Virgo. Air enough to crank up his writing skills came from Mercury in Aquarius and Mars in Gemini. A Grand Trine in Earth links Uranus to Neptune & Jupiter to Venus, perhaps to Moon also. (Chart is set for 12 noon in absence of a known birth time.)






A.A. Milne's best known books were written for children. The adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their friends have delighted generations. They contain depths of wisdom we could all use these days. For instance, today's doom and gloom merchants and their victims could take note of these two:






'Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?'
'Supposing it didn't,' said Pooh.
After careful thought Piglet was comforted by this.







It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately.


And I find this one very true to life, very often, when writing the blog!


When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.



And the title...?

The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
On snowing. And nobody knows (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
Are growing.
A. A. Milne
The House at Pooh Corner

(Illustrations by E.H. Shepherd, whose lovely work adorned many of A.A.Milne's books.)

Saturday ~ Saturn's Day

In general Saturn gets a bad press. Just for a change, a post and a toast to the ringed planet.

Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,
And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road;
But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.
Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald v.31.

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,
Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star,
Sat gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone.
John Keats, poet.


But a good Saturn, or a good response to Saturn ... is one of the best features that map can display. So long as conscientious work, prudence, punctuality, common-sense, and temperate and well-controlled habits have any worth, so long will Saturn, rightly understood and interpreted in our lives, be a planet of the utmost value. It is when we wish to dictate to him and extort by violence or cunning what WE think will be good for us that he becomes, in our eyes, a tyrant.
C.E.O. Carter, astrologer.



The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
Mark Russell, political satirist & comedian.





Saturn's influence is only painful to the majority of people because they have not acquired perfect self-control and unselfishness, once these are learnt Saturn becomes the guide, philosopher and friend; the wise counsellor.
Major C.G.M. Adam, occultist & astrologer.

Finally, a re-airing of my video compilation showing three sides of Saturn: the father, the worker, and the stable, lasting relationship.

Arty-Farty Friday ~ Erté

Erté. Not a universally well-known artist, but once seen, his work is easily identifiable. I first became aware of him via, of all things, a Franklin Mint catalogue, back in the UK. We used to be inundated with those catalogues! At one point they offered a set of decorative plates featuring Erté's artwork. His is a distinctive style from the Art Deco years, 1920s to 30s. I see in it also a trace of the previous era's style - Art Nouveau. The sinuous delicacy employed by Erté isn't usually part of true Art Deco. He's a crossover! Oddly, I see a trace of Aubrey Beardsley's style too.


Erté was the pseudonym of Romain de Tirtoff (or Tyrtov), born in Russia in 1892, moved to Paris, France in 1912, and died at age 97 in 1990. His career as illustrator, theatrical stylist and fashion designer, spanned nearly all of those ninety-odd years. The name by which he became commonly known, " Erté", is the French pronunciation of the initials of his real name R and T (air-tay).





There's little detail on-line about Erté's personal life.An article in "TIME" from 1982 gives the most I've been able to discover, apart from the nuts and bolts of his career.

In 1926, when Erté made an electrifying appearance at the Paris Opera costume ball, he was dressed in a toreador outfit of varying shades of gold lame. "That night," he recalls, "the huge cape I designed was completely lined with fresh red roses which I tossed, one by one, at my audience as I descended the grand staircase."











"For all his theatrics, Erté has always been a prodigiously hardworking artist who, for nearly seven decades, has spent virtually every night, all night, at his desk. He habitually sketches and paints in a dark room under a single spotlight, listening to recordings of Beethoven and Schubert.




Since 1935 he has lived in an apartment in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, with a succession of cats as companions. "Being alone is vitally important for me and my work. I'm like a cat, solitary, independent and quiet by nature," he says. To keep in shape he works regularly with weights, even carrying a light set in his briefcase. Says he: "It's almost a duty to keep your body svelte—for other people's sake."

A blog called "Gay for Today" featured Erté in a piece last November, and notes that

"In 1975, he published a memoir, Things I Remember: An Autobiography. While discreet, the book is frank about the number and nature of his romantic liaisons, including descriptions of the homosexual demi-monde of 1920s Paris."

Unlike Tamara de Lempicka or Augustus and Gwen John who appeared in two previous Arty-Farty Friday posts, Erté managed to avoid scandal, as far as I can tell.

Born 23 November 1892 in St.Petersburg, Russia. No time of birth known, the 12 noon chart below will show an inaccurate ascendant and degree of the Moon, but Moon would remain in Capricorn whatever the time of birth.



Where is the "special" placement or aspect in this chart which could account for Erté's work standing out from that of the crowd?

Sagittarius Sun and Mercury link to his over-the-top love of excess, as described in the "Time" article already quoted. His artistic talent no doubt connects to Venus ruler of the arts in Libra, one of Venus's home signs. Saturn also in Libra emphasises that sign of beauty and balance. Moon in Capricorn brings in a more down to earth feel to things, and reflects his dedication to work and business also mentioned in the "Time" article.

Neptune and Pluto were conjoined in Gemini for quite a few years in the late 19th century (1885 to1897) including the year Erté came into the world. This period spawned several well known artists - Georgia O'Keefe, Norman Rockwell, Tamara de Lempicka, Joan Miro among them.

In Erté's natal chart it'd be a good bet that, even not knowing time of birth, the Moon in Capricorn and Uranus in Scorpio formed a Yod configuration with the Neptune/Pluto Gemini conjunction at the business end. Neptune, the planet of creativity blended with the transformative power of Pluto combined to make a force to be reckoned with, especially when linked to personal planets in a natal chart. In a Yod two quincunx (150*) aspects linked by a sextile (60*) form a sharp pointed triangle or arrow shape, the engergies of the two planets in sextile are said to be focused through the planet(s) at the Yod's apex. In this case "energies" of the Moon sextile Uranus (depending on birth time, but more likely than not) bringing about a sensitive but rather avant garde blend focused through the powerfully creative mix of Neptune/Pluto in communicative Gemini.



I feel pretty sure that this is what made Erté special. Pluto, at the time in question was also conjunct Aldebaran one of the "royal" fixed stars, which might also have significance.

Erte designed a set of zodiac sign motifs see all 12 of them here

This is Aries















One of his posters - this more typically Art Deco in style:



More at erte.com

Prophecy, Astrologers, Carmenta.

On the topic of prophecy British astrologer C.E.O. Carter had this to say in his Encyclopedia of Psychological Astrology (in print continually from 1924):

PROPHECY
It is probable that such prophecy as may truly be the result of inspiration or revelation from higher entities would be shown horoscopically by a strong 9th house, and by Jupiter and Neptune, as well as sometimes Uranus. Such cases, however, are rare, and their possibility is admitted by comparatively few at the present day. Natives of watery signs and also Sagittarius are prone to have presentiments, but it is probable that in most cases these are purely fanciful.

Astrological prophecy, properly so called, has nothing to do with such methods, but depends upon the interpretation of present and future influences mathematically obtained and intellectually apprehended. At the same time it is undeniable that many astrologers, and particularly those with strong Jupiter 9th house influences, develop an intuitive accuracy of judgment that may in time act so promptly and surely that it may appear to partake of the nature of inspiration.

On the other hand, those in whose horoscopes Mercury and Jupiter are afflicted should be cautious in making forecasts, especially when under bad directions to these planets.

I flicked very quickly through Astrotheme's lists of well-known people with Jupiter (and other planets) in 9th house, and found a few well-known astrologers:

Patrick Walker (Jupiter Neptune, Mercury in 9th)
Alan Oken (Jupiter and Pluto in 9th)
Julia Parker (Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune in 9th)
Jonathan Cainer (Jupiter in 9th + Sun in Sagittarius)

And I have a lonely Jupiter in 9th, as it happens!

Staying on the subject of prophecy, in Rome today, 15 January, marked the second day of a 2-day festival honoring the goddess of prophecy, Carmenta. The first day of Carmentalia was 11th January. Carmenta, as well as being a prophetess was goddess of childbirth and midwifery. There was originally one Carmenta who was worshipped by the "flamines," her priests. Later there were said to be many Carmentes, female deities who appeared to assist women in labor and to tell the fortune of the newborn child. Romans made offerings of rice to the goddess and feasted on cream-filled pastries shaped like male and female genitalia or triangle-shaped pastries filled with raspberry jam.(Link)

Carmenta (known as Nicostrata to the Greeks) was famous for chanting her prophecies in verse.She is also credited with naming the Palentine Hill and in a vision predicted it would be the future site of the Roman Empire. She laid the city's first stone, instituted a system of laws for the surrounding region, and invented the Latin alphabet and language. Quite a gal!

Illustration, right: ‘Typus Gramatica’ showing Carmenta/ Nicostrata holding a hornbook and key, introducing a child into a tower of learning with six storeys.


The arches to the right of the photograph form the remains of the ancient gateway Porta Carmentalis, close to the site of Carmenta's temple at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

Wednesday's "Why?" ~ The Glyphs

When I started to study astrology in earnest one of my first jobs was to commit to memory the glyphs used to represent the signs. To understand a natal chart the first essential is to recognise the glyphs. Sign glyphs are better known than planet glyphs, they often appear in newspaper and magazine Sun sign columns, because of their relative familiarity they are easy to memorise.


Planet glyphs are less familiar, but there are only seven major ones to remember, and Sun and Moon are easy-peasy. I used to draw the shapes continually until I had them locked in. It helps in memorising the planet glyphs to have some idea of why they are as they are. They're not simply shapes dreamed up at random, each part of the odd looking symbols has significance. Astrologer Alan Oken explained this in his book "Complete Astrology", from which I started to dutifully copy before discovering that the work has already been done by Carole Somerville at Suite 101- see Glyphs of the Planets .


In typical Aquarian fashion, I've wondered about the origin of the planet glyphs. Water Carriers accept very little at face value y' know! There's not a lot of information available though, other than that the glyphs seem to date back to at least mediaeval times. I found this interesting page at a site called Purple Hell: "Alchemical Symbols"


It would seem then that the link between astrology and alchemy can still be identified from the planet symbols we use. I found it interesting to look through the whole page at the large collection of alchemical symbols. Some of them are strangely beautiful.

Bob Dylan & "I'm Not There"

HBO threw up the movie "I'm Not There" the other night - we caught it. It's a peculiar brand of bio-pic on the life and times of Bob Dylan. People who like Fellini, surrealism, abstractions and suchlike, as well as knowing Bob Dylan's body of work and life story quite well, would probably enjoy the movie. It was directed by Todd Haynes. We struggled to keep up!

I was a fan of Dylan's lyrics back in the day, but was always uneasy about Dylan the man, he was a bit of a mystery. This movie partially solves it. If nothing else it goes some way to explaining his astrology.

For an article on Dylan by a professional astrologer I'd recommend
Neil Spencer's piece - see here.
I'm adding my own two penniworth in connection with the movie "I'm Not There" which hadn't been released at the time of Neil's article.

Bob Dylan born 24 May 1941 in Duluth MN, at, according to Astrotheme, 9.05 pm.



The movie depicts Dylan as a group of six different personas which develop throughout his life and career.



First he's a runaway black child with a guitar and the spirit of Woody Guthrie, I like this persona best of all, but it's not really his essence. In his natal chart the Woody-like persona is reflected most by the Taurus cluster - earthy, real, sincere. He evolves into a linked pair of facets - an evolved Taurus - the "real" man with his lovers, children, homes, and on the other side the musical phenomenon we knew best: awkward, uncommunicative, slippery, but with a certain genius - his Gemini side.

A fourth facet is explored briefly, his literary side, in tribute to his idol French poet and anarchist Arthur Rimbaud. This could be said to link to natal Neptune, which although a generational planet, in Dylan's chart is very close to North Node of the Moon, a sensitive chart point. It links to his ever fertile writing talent - imaginative, creative Neptune is in helpful trine to his four Taurus planets.

Two later facets of Dylan develop. He is depicted as a Born Again Christian, possibly reflected in his Sagittarius ascendant, Sagittarius links to religion. And finally as an ageing Billy the Kid. I found this to be the least convincing facet of all. It perhaps could be linked to his Mars in Pisces squaring Gemini Sun. Mars in Pisces seems to me to be the odd one out in his chart which consists mainly of a large Taurus/Gemini cluster, one sign blending into the otherwhen Jupiter @ 29 Taurus meets Sun @ 3 Gemini.

As in the chart of Tom Jones, shown in a recent post, most of Dylan's planets are clustered around the descendant on the right side of the chart - the side said to relate to others rather than self (self connects to the ascendant on the left side of the chart). In the case of musicians, the right side of the chart probably links to their ability to relate to their audience as well as to their success, or lack of it, in personal relationships.

The question I was left with, and which I'd never thought to ask before: was Bob Dylan sincere in his early protest songs, or were they cynical money-making opportunities? I regret to say that I suspect the latter is true. A line in the movie brought it home to me. A British reporter asks him if he really meant those protest songs, and he replies "What if I thought I could do them better than anyone else?" These were the movie-maker's words, not necessarily Dylan's, though they may have been culled from an old recording, I don't know this. But the words rang true enough for me. However, whether or not the words were sincerely felt by their author doesn't detract from their meaning to an audience. We attach our own emotions, at the time of listening or reading, to the words of poets and lyricists, irrespective of the writer's own motives.

A Rolling Stone review of the movie probably gets the point of it all far better than I did.

A lot of the credit for the movie's success must go to a surprising and inspired piece of casting which helped to hold our interest throughout - Cate Blanchett as the quintessential Bob Dylan, the musical phenomenon (she's at bottom right in the group of 6 photographs above).

The real Bob Dylan, then and later....











His "Masters of War" with appropriate images added - I hope, that in this song, he was sincere.

"VALKYRIE" & Claus von Stauffenberg

I can't say I enjoyed the movie "Valkyrie", and Himself, whose idea it was to go see it wasn't impressed either. Perhaps the subject matter doesn't lend itself to enjoyment, but is meant to inform rather than entertain.

The movie tells the true story of a plot by German officers to assassinate Hitler during the last year of World War 2. I was left with questions. Why did it take so long for Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his supporters to do something, if they felt so incensed by the direction in which Hitler had led their country? Stauffenberg had to sustain horrific injury himself, losing an eye, one hand and several fingers of the other hand before he galvanised into action against the Fuehrer. Having read a little background since seeing the movie, it does appear that Stauffenberg had been trying to persuade others to join him in his efforts for at least a year before the movie action begins. This might have been hinted in the dialogue, but if so, I failed to catch it.



It appears that the explosive devices used in the assassination attempt were far too weak to do the necessary damage. I'd have thought that high ranking officers would have had more know-how and better materials at their disposal. The plot to assassinate Hitler seemed terribly amateurish. Too late, too little. The Germans were already losing the war by 1944. Were these high ranking officers seeking to save face, rather than save humanity?

Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but these were my impressions. The temperature in the almost empty cinema was frigid, which added to my jaundiced view of the movie!

The acting was adequate, Tom Cruise in the lead, along with many familiar British faces in unfamiliar guises did as well as could be expected with the material. The movie could have benefited from a slight change of pace now and again. It was unrelenting in its gloom. The end titles told us that Stauffenberg's wife and children survived the war, she died only in 2006, presumably well into her 90s. A rather more uplifting ending would be to have been to include a scene showing his family at some later date, in peacetime. Walking out of the cinema with the executions and hangings still stinging our eyes wasn't pleasant.

Astrology: Claus von Stauffenberg's chart - born 15 November 1907 in Jettingen, Germany at 1.00 am according to Astrotheme.



Sun and Mercury in intense Scorpio, in challenging square to Mars in Aquarius. Moon conjunct Saturn in compassionate Pisces, with Virgo rising.


There's a Grand Trine in Water signs linking Sun/Mercury, Moon/Saturn and Neptune/North Node. This isn't the chart of a warrior, I'd expect it to belong to someone with artistic or spiritual leanings, but Stauffenberg was born into an aristocratic Roman Catholic family with very strong military ties. Astrology doesn't let us down though:

"After contemplating careers in music and architecture, von Stauffenberg finally opts for military service, entering the army as a cadet officer in his family's traditional regiment, the 17th Cavalry Regiment of Bamberg.
1930 - Graduating first in his class and receiving a special ceremonial sabre for "outstanding achievements", von Stauffenberg is commissioned as a lieutenant. His military superiors variously describe him as "highly intelligent and of above average ability, both tactically and technically", and "an expert at settling differences, acting as go-between and smoothing out quarrels."
One of his peers says, "I would say that he had an extraordinary gift for making others feel naturally and completely at ease. This was all the more remarkable seeing that he was generally recognised as being well above average intellectually." Another peer describes von Stauffenberg as "a man of extraordinary personal charm." " (Link)

Who can tell how individuals will react in extraordinary circumstances, when bound by family ties and tradition. Stauffenberg, like many men and women on both sides of all wars, should never have been in the military. Since circumstances sent him in that direction, he did act, as far as he was able, in all the circumstances, in accord with his astrological blueprint.