Terminus!

In days of yore, in the UK, when I travelled a lot by public transport, a cry of "Terminus!" by the 'bus driver, conductor or a railway employee would be directed to passengers, to alert any snoozers when the vehicle reached the end of the line. Little did I realise then that a kind of timewarp was occurring.

Terminus was the Roman god of boundaries. Once upon a time on this day, 23 February, a celebration in his honor was held: Terminalia.

As Terminus seems to have had some connection to Jupiter, it's appropriate that Terminalia was when the Sun was in zodiac sign Pisces, whose traditional ruler is Jupiter. I can't help wondering though, why Saturn isn't involved here somewhere. In astrology Saturn has more to do with limits than Jupiter. Jupiter is connected more to expansion than boundaries. Jupiter and Saturn could be said to be opposites.

A bit of mythology (from the website linked below):

Jupiter was the son of Ops, the earth mother and Saturn, the prevailing sky god who ruled over the rest of the Roman pantheon. Saturn had usurped his oppressive father Caelus in order to assume the position of supremacy; however he quickly became tyrannical himself, heeding a prophecy claiming that one of his own sons would overthrow him. In order to prevent this from occurring, Saturn devoured all of his children as soon as they were born. Realizing that her next child Jupiter would be susceptible to the same treatment, Ops hid him as soon as he was born and offered Saturn a large stone wrapped in swaddling clothes in his place. Saturn swallowed the stone, and was forced to disgorge Jupiter's siblings in the process of ridding it from his digestive system. Jupiter returned from hiding to overthrow Saturn, assuming leadership over the cosmos and forcing Saturn to flee to Italy.....

In Roman mythology, Terminus was the god who resided in and protected boundary markers, which were used to delineate the borders of properties and communities. This identification is so explicit that his name is, in fact, the Latin word for such a marker. As the installation of such stones was seen as a religiously significant act, the Romans would perform a sacrifice to memorialize and sanctify their placement.
Further, landowners celebrated an annual festival called the Terminalia in the god's honor each year on February 23. In addition to the importance of these markers in public space, a small shrine to Terminus was also found in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, as the temple was thought to have been built over a shrine to lesser god. Perhaps resulting from this, he was occasionally identified as an aspect of Jupiter under the name Jupiter Terminalis.
On occasion, Terminus' association with Jupiter extended to the assumption that Terminus was an aspect of that god ...........there is some evidence that Terminus' associations could extend from property boundaries to the general concept of limits (even temporal ones). Under the (Roman) Republican calendar, when the intercalary month Mercedonius was added to a year, it was placed after February 23 or February 24, and some ancient writers believed that the Terminalia on February 23 had once been the end of the year. Likewise, Diocletian's decision in 303 C.E. to initiate his persecution of Christians on February 23 has been seen as an attempt to enlist Terminus "to put a limit to the progress of Christianity."
(More at New World Encyclopedia)

And....we still honour Terminus:

Music Monday ~ George Thorogood, Sammy Kershaw, Paul Jones.

Three singer/musicians with birthdays on Wednesday, 24 February, three artists who had reasonable levels of success in the past, though never reached the level of celebrity that some of their contemporaries achieved. In the words of one of them, George Thorogood (here) :

“In any field, especially the arts, there are always two things—‘genius’ and ‘very clever.’ There’s no in-between. You’re either a genius or very clever. I’m going to throw out two names at you. John Lennon--genius, right? And Mick Jagger? Very clever. See what I’m saying? I’ll give you another example. Einstein--genius. And George Thorogood--very clever.”
Yet what about the people who think Thorogood is a genius in his own way? “OK, I’m a genius at being very clever,’’ he says with a hearty laugh. Thorogood loves quips almost as much as he loves the blues, so here’s another: “Let’s put it this way. Dylan has a Rolls-Royce dealership. I have a used Chevy dealership. But I’m in the business. You got it? That’s all I wanted from this thing. A gig, man. And I got a gig."

Thorogood and his band, The Destroyers play blues-rock, described as "simple and direct".

(No times of birth are available for any of the three, so 12 noon charts are shown. Ascendants and exact position of Moon will not be accurate).

Although George's natal Sun is in Watery Pisces, he's a very Airy guy - three planets in Aquarius and two in Libra, with a possible Moon in Gemini too, if he was born after noon. No wonder he describes himself as "clever" - the three Air signs are the naturally clever ones of the zodiac, mentally oriented, whether the native happens to be highly educated or not, there's innate intelligence.









Sammy Kershaw arrived in the music spotlight on the country music bandwagon of the early 1990s. He had a lot of competition, but his lovely, traditional sounding country voice, not unlike that of the legendary George Jones, gave him an advantage. He had started singing on stage decades earlier, in roadhouses and bars, aged 11 after his father died. His early plunge into such a lifestyle led to longterm drug and alcohol abuse, which he eventually overcame in 1988 by going "cold turkey" for the sake of his family. He says at his website

“It’s not a period of my life I’m proud of but I do talk about it to encourage kids not to follow in my footsteps.” Kershaw recently noted. Helping others is a subject close to the heart that beats within what might often appear to be a tough, macho exterior. Sammy Kershaw is, in fact, a softie when the subject turns to kids. If proof were needed it stands in his hometown of Kaplan, Louisiana. There, Sammy has established the Sammy Kershaw Foundation. Its outreach has extended through donations so far of more than 2 million dollars in aid to children and child related charities. With projects that extend from granting wishes through Make A Wish Foundation to establishing camps for crippled children, the foundation exists to fulfill Sammy’s simple goal of improving the lives of children.

Sammy's Pisces/Sun Mercury Aquarius conjunction reflects the humanitarian compassion represented by the two signs, manifesting in his charity work. Jupiter and Neptune (traditional and modern rulers of Pisces) are conjoined, and in a very sensitive spot: on the Moon's north node, in intense Scorpio. Jupiter's reputation for excess and Neptune's reputed relation to addictive traits might well be significant with regard to Sammy's early problems.







Paul Jones, born on the other side of the Atlantic, was, in the early 1960s resident singer with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated (alongside Long John Baldry and Michael 'Mick' Jagger). Jones then went on to be the vocalist and harmonica player of Manfred Mann, later going solo, but with less success. He has remained in the public eye in the UK as a radio and TV presenter, as well as appearing in movies and TV drama. A former atheist, Jones has converted to Christianity

Paul and Fiona's testimony is humorous, but compassionate. Paul came to faith from a background of intellectual arrogance; in 1968 he argued against Billy Graham with Cliff Richard on television, and he was convinced he had won the argument. Yet all his immense success in show business could not remedy the failure within himself. Fiona sought God from an early age, thinking that she was a Christian, but was surrounded by deception (including spiritualists and mediums); she too hoped that success in show business would bring her happiness. Their testimony tells how each of them found true happiness and real faith. As they bring their testimony, they sing songs from their album, and the Gospel message is clearly explained. (Link)

Paul has a Pisces/Aquarius combination from his Sun, Mercury, Venus; he also has Moon and Jupiter in Airy Gemini (whatever his time of birth), and a stellium (cluster of 3 planets) in Earthy Taurus, grounding and balancing his Airy mentality with a good dose of practicality. This is likely what has led him to diversify his career from music into other avenues. Without time of birth it's not possible to calculate the ascendant and exact Moon position, but I'd not be surprised to find a Moon/Jupiter conjunction in a strong position - close to one of the angles (ascendant, midheaven or their opposite points). Moon represents the inner self, Jupiter represents religion (among other things)- this now appears to play a prominent part in his life.


Paul Jones & Manfred Mann with The Mighty Quinn (1967)




Sammy Kershaw Better Than I Used to Be- seems autobiographical !




George Thorogood & The Destroyers with Bad To The Bone (Bad in a good way!)

Oddballs

In Friday's Sun sign forecast for Aquarius, Jonathan Cainer wrote "You know some very strange people. It is almost as if you are a magnet for oddballs and eccentrics. Somehow they know that you will accept them as they are. " I chuckled to myself. Nowadays I don't mix and mingle much, I'm in a bit of a 12th house situation here - and happy enough with that. As it happens my Aquarius Sun does fall in 12th house when relocated to Oklahoma. The natives here would not be particularly friendly anyway, at least not to an atheistic socialist like me. I have, myself, become the oddball, it seems. Sometimes we're the windscreen, sometimes the bug - as they say.

Mr. Cainer's words were true enough though, during my younger years in what I think of as "my hotel period", late 1950s early 1960s. I left home and a steady job in a local government department, to work in the office of a small hotel in a picturesque part of North Yorkshire. This was, I'd worked out, a way to achieve independence and freedom, but still be provided with a room and food plus wages. What else could a gal wish for? This experience of a few short months left me with a yen to do more of the same. There was for me, in those days, a kind of addiction attached to working in hotels. I can't adequately explain it now, but it existed. I met quite a few others with the same affliction in my stints of seasonal interludes (coast in summer, city in winter) in various English hostelries. These individuals, some fellow-hotel staff, some from outside were unusual characters, not truly eccentric, but to my young, small-town sensibilities they fell into that category. There were times when I used to ask myself, in those days, "Why don't I ever meet anybody ordinary - "normal?"

Let's see....among my special friends there was E., a dark willowy beauty from Dominique who had left her island homeland because she'd fallen in love with her priest - and that's not A Good Thing in a Roman Catholic community. And K. an Irish waiter, charismatic guy who one night broke in to the place where the safe was kept, and managed to extract and abscond with a goodly chunk of the hotel's dosh. There was O., charming young man with whom I instantly fell in love but after a few months he disappeared. I later discovered he had been a fugitive, AWOL from the army, got caught, did his time. Many years later, alerted by his sister, I saw him again in a military hospital, being treated for TB.

Can't forget Mr S., not a staff colleague, but hotel customer - a rather withdrawn and lonely, single peripatetic bank manager (very Woody Allen-ish) who took a shine to me, the hotel receptionist. He'd stop at the office window regularly and chat for ages. On the day he left I received a huge, huge bouquet of gorgeous bronze chrysanthemums, sent by him via the local flower store, just because I'd happened to say that I love the autumn. And there was H. the lion keeper from Longleat (a safari park) -I kid you not - he wrote to me for some months after I'd moved on, always with a little lion in his signature. There was the shoe salesman, a boyfriend I managed somehow to get involved with - perfectionist, prone to depression, who some years later commited suicide. A brighter spark was the young guy who believed he was the illegitimate son of local aristocracy, drove around in a beat-up old Bentley limousine, swore he'd be a millionaire by the time he was 30.

Ah, there were more - many more - and they remain oddly clear in memory. Eventually the haphazard hotel lifestyle lost its charm and it was back to a staid government office, regular hours, regular people, cooking own meals, living in own space. I'd had something of an oddball learning curve, but one I'm glad I didn't miss.

Zodiac Sign Pisces

The thing to do with zodiac signs, in my opinion, is become familiar with their keywords, then carry no expectations whatsoever when someone tells you their birth date.

I haven't knowingly known any Sun Pisceans, known them well, I mean. That doesn't matter, because a person with Sun in Pisces (or Sun in any other zodiac sign) will not necessarily embody all traits associated with that sign. Someone with, for instance, Sun in Aries and a cluster of planets in Pisces could be far more typically Piscean, as could someone with Pisces rising, or Moon and a couple of planets in Pisces.

The signs and their attributes are ingredients in a recipe, that's all. No single ingredient can adequately describe the dish. With that warning in mind, the attributes of zodiac sign Pisces are as follows, keyword-style:

Compassionate, intuitive, spiritual, sensitive, gentle, easily slips into melancholy or feels misunderstood, changeable, versatile, artistic, creative, forgetful, reclusive and/or introverted.

A few of those keywords could equally be applied to other Water signs, but Pisces, the sign of mutable Water is somewhat different from Cancer's clingy homeliness or Scorpio's intense near-paranoia. Pisces can seem softer, sweeter, kinder, more dreamy and possibly more vulnerable than its Watery cousins.

Jupiter is Pisces' traditional ruler. Neptune was discovered in 1846, and, for reasons which escape me, accorded modern rulership of Pisces. This is one part of astrology with which I'm uncomfortable. The following is an explanation of planetary rulerships given at astro.com.

The Sun has rulership over the sign of Leo, the hottest time of the year when the Sun is at the height of its strength. The Moon has rulership over the sign of Cancer, which begins with the Summer Solstice, marking the Sun's change of direction. Moving outwards in decreasing orbital speeds, Mercury comes next, and has rulership over both the signs of Gemini and Virgo. Then comes Venus, ruling both the signs of Taurus and Libra, then Mars which rules Aries and Scorpio, then Jupiter which rules Pisces and Sagittarius. Finally, at the coldest and darkest time of the year, Saturn as the slowest planet, has rulership over the signs of Aquarius and Capricorn. The outer planets are relatively recent newcomers and have been added to this model: Pluto as the modern ruler of Scorpio, Uranus as the modern ruler of Aquarius and Neptune as the modern ruler of Pisces.

I'd rather the orignal set-up hadn't been messed with......but that's just my personal view.

Romantic poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning is probably the nearest approach to someone who could be described "typically Piscean". She had Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pluto all in Pisces. If Astrodatabank's time of birth for this lady is reliable, her Moon as well as Saturn conjunct Uranus lay in Libra, with Virgo rising. What strikes me as also significant about her chart is that she had no planets or points in Fixed signs. With such emphasis on mutable Pisces/Virgo, as well as Libra, known for its indecision, Ms Barrett Browning must have seemed particularly ephemeral and volatile. She wrote some beautiful poetry though!

So, our mutable Water sign brings us to the end of another go-around of the zodiacal cycle. The world turns, quietly gets ready to spring back into new life with the Fire of cardinal Aries in a few weeks' time

Arty Farty Op Art Friday ~ Victor Vasarely & Bridget Riley

I'm comparing the natal charts of two leading proponents of Op Art: Victor Vasarely, its originator, and Bridget Riley. It'll be interesting to note whether there's any key ingredient that would lead artists towards this particular style. Image (left) is Bora iii a painting by Vasarely. To paraphrase a famous quote "It's art Jim, but not as we know it".




Explanation of Op Art

Op Art made its appearance in the United States and Europe in the late 1950s. Op Art, also called Optical Art, was popular along side Pop Art. Branching from the geometric abstraction movement, Op Art includes paintings concerned with surface kinetics. It was a movement which exploits the fallibility of the eye through the use of optical illusions. The viewer gets the impression of movement by flashing and vibration, or alternatively of swelling or warping. Two techniques used to achieve this effect are perspective illusion and chromatic tension. Artists used colors, lines and shapes repetitive and simple ways to create perceived movement and to trick the viewer's eye. Many of first, the better known pieces were made in only black and white.

Victor Vasarely was born in Pecs, Hungary on 9 April 1908 or 1906 (Wikipedia states 1906, but other websites, including Astrotheme say 1908 - both versions shown below.)
Vasarely later became a citizen of France, I'm wondering if the variation in his birth year stems from related official documents.

1906






1908







Bridget Riley born on 24 April 1931 in London, UK







12 noon charts are used for both - no times of birth are available.

I'm looking for something which would connect mathematics and structure (Saturn, Capricorn) and art (Venus and/or Neptune)

Without times of birth the rising sign and exact Moon degree remain unknown - which is a pity. However, there is a relevant similarity in the charts: Venus is sextile Saturn in both - art in harmony with structure and mathematics!

Vasarely's Sun and Saturn in Aries reflect the initiator he was, in introducing this art style to the world. Venus conjunct energetic Mars in communicative Gemini is an echo of that initiation. And Riley's Sun in arty Venus-ruled Taurus trines creative Neptune in detail-oriented Virgo.

A few samples of the work of each artist:

VICTOR VASARELY






BRIDGET RILEY

Another Radical ~ Abbie Hoffman

More coincidence/synchronicity emerges! First, I'm Alright Jack, next, Reds, then, on Tuesday evening HBO presented us with Steal This Movie. It's a biopic with another American rebel and political activist as its central character: Abbie Hoffman. My attention keeps being drawn to left-wing rebels! Hmmm - I shall not resist!

I'll have a peek at Abbie Hoffman's chart to discover whether there's anything in common with John Reed's which appeared in yesterday's post.

Described as flamboyant and colorful, Abbie Hoffman emerged from 1960s counterculture, prominent in demonstarations against the war in Vietnam, founded the "Yippies" (Youth International Party). His trademark sharp satirical humour and a flair for organisation was effectively used on behalf of many causes, including civil rights, anti-war and ecology.


See here

At the end of the 1960s Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman became an American celebrity and the wild-and-woolly face of youth activists protesting U.S. involvement in Vietnam. A graduate of Brandeis University with a Master's degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, Hoffman was a co-founder of New York's "Yippie" movement, a loosely-organized anti-war group called the Youth International Party. Their 1967 anti-establishment pranks included dumping dollar bills (mostly fake) onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and surrounding the Pentagon in an attempt to levitate it.

After a street fight with police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Hoffman and his cohorts were arrested and charged with conspiracy to incite a riot. The trial was a media sensation, and the so-called Chicago Seven (originally there were eight, including Black Panther Bobby Seale) spent more than a year mocking the court of Judge Julius J. Hoffman with shenanigans that resulted in more than 150 contempt citations. In the end it all amounted to acquittals and convictions overturned, and Hoffman became known more as the guy who wrote Steal This Book (1971) or the guy who was arrested for wearing a shirt that looked like the American flag (1968).

Hoffman was arrested in 1973 on drug charges, but he skipped bail and spent the next seven years on the lam, going by the name of Barry Freed. In the early 1980s he resurfaced and, after a little jail time, embarked on a career as an organizer, activist, author and lecturer. At the age of 52 he was found dead of what a Pennsylvania coroner called a "massive overdose" of phenobarbital. His books include Revolution for the Hell of It (1968), Woodstock Nation (1969), Soon to be a Major Motion Picture (1980) and Preserving Disorder: The Faking of the President (1988, with Jonathan Silvers).

The coroner ruled Hoffman's death a suicide, saying the amount of the overdose suggested that an accident was unlikely.

Abbie Hoffman was born in Worcester Massachusetts on 30 November 1936 at 1:30 AM (Astrodatabank).



Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Sagittarius (Jupiter's rulership). Jupiterian emphasis is a link between the charts of John Reed and Abbie Hoffman. Jupiter, planet of excess and philosophy - I guess one could say that political activism consists of expanding philosophical ideas to their limit - to excess.

Two tight oppositions: Jupiter/Moon and Saturn/Neptune reflect inner on-going conflict which may eventually have contributed to his bi-polar disorder.

Uranus, the rebel planet has a clearer part to play here than in John Reed's chart. There's a Yod (Finger of Fate) configuration linking the sextile between Sun and Mars (Mars in a strong position, close to the ascendant) via two quincunx aspects of 150 degrees to Uranus. Astrologers consider that the sextiled planets' attributes are channelled through the planet at the apex of the Yod - and in this case what could be more appropriate? Sun(self) & Mars(energy and aggression) chanelled through Uranus (rebellion/revolution).

The charts of Reed and Hoffman bring the realisation that Uranus is not necessarily the astrological key player in such activists' life stories, it can be...but Jupiter is one to watch!

I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they killed, there would be no more wars.
Abbie Hoffman

Reed, Reds & Radicals

In one of last week's posts I mentioned we'd watched the old British movie I'm Alright Jack, a satirically funny film about trades unions' power, a mild dose of comedic communism from Peter Sellers, and highlighting corruptness of the "boss" classes. Coincidentally, or synchronistically - on Saturday evening TCM, running a series of Oscar winning movies, showed one I'd never seen, or even heard of: Reds, co-written and directed by Warren Beatty in 1981. Beatty also plays the leading role of journalist, poet and radical John (Jack) Reed. It's the story of Reed, his wife Louise Bryant and their activities in radical left-wing politics and involvement in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. It's over 3 hours long. I thoroughly enjoyed it, felt quite amazed that back then there were people in the USA who dared to call themselves socialists, radicals and even - shock-horror - communists! All of these have since become dirty words, bandied about as insults. (Below: John Reed & Louise Bryant)




I was curious about Jack Reed's astrology. Warren Beatty's portrayal might owe a lot to his imagination, but the bare bones of the story are factual, so Reed had to have been an unusual character. He had a short life, but an exceptionally active and adventurous one, died of Typhus in Moscow- a few days before his 33rd birthday. He was buried, as a hero, beside the Kremlin wall - the only American ever to have been honored in this way.

The late Howard Zinn wrote about Reds and Jack Reed: - Discovering John Reed

It was bad enough that they (Reed & Bryant) and their remarkable friends-Max Eastman, Emma Goldman, Lincoln Steffens, Margaret Sanger- spoke out for sexual freedom in a country dominated by Christian righteousness, or opposed militarization in a time of jingoism and war, or advocated socialism when business and government were clubbing and shooting strikers, or welcomed what seemed to them the first proletarian revolution in history.

What was worse was that they refused to remain mere writers and intellectuals, assailing the system with words; they walked picket lines, loved freely, defied government committees, went to jail. They declared for revolution in their actions as well as their art, ignoring those cautions against commitment offered, in any generation, by the voyeurs of social movements.

John Reed could not be forgiven by the Establishment (nor even by some of its critics, like Walter Lippmann and Eugene O'Neill) for refusing to separate art and insurgency, for being not only rebellious in his prose but imaginative in his activism. He saw revolt as not mere fulmination, but fun, not just analysis but adventure. This caused some of his liberal friends to take him less seriously (Lippmann spoke of his "inordinate desire to be arrested"), not understanding that, to the power elite of the country, protest joined to imagination was dangerous, courage combined with wit was no joke. Grim rebels can be jailed, but the highest treason, for which there is no adequate punishment, is to make rebellion attractive.

Born in Portland, Oregon on 22 October 1887 (time of birth unknown so 12 noon chart is used.)

At first glance, it's not exactly what I expected to see. Sun in Libra, Moon in Capricorn (whatever the birth time) doesn't immediately seem like the kind of guy who'd want to put his life at risk in a bloody revolution on foreign soil. Sure, there's a challenging square aspect between natal Mars and Pluto, but this isn't nearly enough to translate into the kind of lifestyle Jack Reed led. Mercury and Jupiter in intense Scorpio fit the passionate and determined pursuit of his ideals - but still not enough to describe this extraordinary character. Uranus, the rebel planet, the planet I'd have expected to be prominent, lay in the same sign as his natal Sun, but not close enough to be considered conjoined - though it is in semi-sextile to Jupiter - more on Jupiter coming up......

Let's take a magnifying glass to his Sun and Jupiter. At 29 degrees of Libra, Sun is in the third decan, ruled by Mercury according to one method. That's appropriate for a journalist, one who has two personal planets in Virgo, also ruled by Mercury the writers' planet. By the Chaldean system, third decan of Libra is ruled by Jupiter, planet of excess, travel and expansion. Given his involvement in foreign affairs this also could be seen as appropriate. Natal Jupiter, in 1887, lay smack-dab on fixed star Zuben Elgenubi (Southern Scale or Southern Claw of the scorpion). This star had a bad press from ancient astrologers, considered unfortunate whatever planet it conjoined. However, I found one interpretation of Zuben Elgenubi which does fit the present case well(see here)

ZUBEN ELGENUB -- 15SCO03I -- #19975 -- mag2.9
The alpha star of Libra and the southern scale. Both stars of the scales of Libra can be considered twins and, therefore, represent the polarity of a concept. The concept is of social reform and this star, although traditionally seen as the shadowy, more difficult star, is actually the one linked to the positive side of social awareness. When this star is strongly emphasised, the individual has a desire to be constructively involved in social reform.
Influence: Positive social reform
Ptolemy - the Southern Scale Jupiter & Mercury Medically, this double star has Mars/Sat characteristics. If conj a malefic, it may present health problems.

I still feel this chart doesn't adequately describe its owner. Maybe I'm missing something.

Sun and Jupiter lay within the area of the zodiac known to ancient astrologers as Via Combusta (The Burning Road): mid-Libra to mid-Scorpio. Reasons for the name of this stretch of the zodiac have been put forward by modern astrologers. Some think it was so called because the Sun and Moon are at their weakest here, others assume it was the presence of "malefic" fixed stars in the area. Jack Reed's lifepath led to a "burning road", sure enough, terminating in an untimely death.

Why No Astrology ?

In the USA we're seeing a succession of TV drama series with themes based on the (mildly) paranormal: ghosts, regression, mediums, mentalists, peculiar happenings.

Medium - Lead character has dreams predicting crimes about to happen, or giving clues which help to solve crimes.

Mentalist - Guy who refuses to say he is psychic, but assists in solving crimes via skills which he says are purely due to observation and mental shenanigans.

Psychic - Similar to above, but lead character pretends to be psychic, though viewers are aware that he is using only observation skills.

Ghost Whisperer - Lead character sees ghosts, helps them to "go into the light" after dealing with unfinished business of one sort or another.

Fringe - Storylines focus on "stange" happenings, something akin to Twilight Zone (no relation), or The X-Files.


Past Lives - An expert in the study of regression, with an ex-cop as side-kick, helps people who have troubling regression episodes stemming from problems in past lives.

There might be more - those are series of which we've watched at least a couple of episodes.

It's good that these subjects are surfacing in a format accessible to the average person, who is otherwise uninterested in the genre. Even though, in Mentalist and Psychic, there is continual emphasis on "there's no such thing as a psychic", anyone with any insight at all realises that to have extraordinarily ultra-sharp observation skills is itself beyond normal: an extra-sensory excess.

Still no sign of any drama involving an astrologer, or astrology. I find this to be very odd. Astrology is probably more in the public eye daily, in newspapers and magazines, than any of the above topics, yet no writer seems to want to use it in a drama. I wonder why?

Music Monday ~ Smokey Robinson & Seal

Two singers of soul - and songwriters, both born 19 February on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces. Because they were born on opposite sides of the Atlantic ocean, without accurate times of birth it's not clear in which zodiac sign their natal Suns lay. Birth times are elusive, so 12 noon charts must suffice. Moon positions and rising signs will not be accurate as shown.

Both singers are known by names other than their actual given names, neither had an idyllic childhood. Smokey, or Smokey Joe, was a nickname of young William Robinson, given to him by an uncle - reportedly because young William was light-skinned and his uncle wanted him to remember that his roots are African. By age 10 he was an orphan, father had left when William was just 3, mother died, and he was brought up by an older sister and relatives.

Smokey Robinson born in Detroit, Michigan on 19 February 1940.



Smokey Robinson comes over to me as the gentlest of guys. After 7pm on his date of birth Sun would have moved into Pisces. I'd not be surprised if his Sun were (just) in Pisces, along with natal Mercury. His natal Moon lay in Cancer whatever time he was born, and Cancer is another sensitive and gentle, Watery sign. Venus (the arts) and Jupiter (publication) are conjoined in Aries, sign of the energetic go-getter. Saturn and Mars conjoined at the late degree of Aries/early degree of Venus-ruled Taurus signify a blend of energy, discipline and and business-savvy which has kept Smokey Robinson in the public eye for over 40 years, from early days with The Miracles, Tamla Records and association with close friend and mentor Berry Gordy, to a solo career with a variety of honors, national and international during the decades just past.











Seal's proper name is Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, born in the UK of Nigerian and Brazilian parents, later adopted. Seal had a difficult childhood, suffering abuse and illness. Scars left on his cheeks are a result of a skin ailment. He accepts these now as his "trademark" and feels glad of them.

Seal born in London, UK on 19 February 1963.




If born before 6am on 19th February Seal would have natal Sun in Aquarius's last degree with Saturn and Mercury also in that sign; born later, Sun in Pisces, along with Jupiter, in its own traditional home sign. He tells, in interview HERE, that he considers himself a "lucky" person - perhaps a reflection of a strong Jupiter placing :

"I had a really heavy duty car crash in California.... I nearly flew off a canyon on to a freeway a hundred feet below at peak hour. The car was completely written off and, miraculously, I walked away virtually unscathed. Then I got double pneumonia. The doctors said it was touch and go at one stage but I came out of that unscathed too, with no scarring on my lungs or anything. Then there was a shooting right in front of me on [Hollywood's] Sunset Boulevard."

His success, while not happening overnight has been comparatively rapid:

"Five years ago I would get annoyed when my dole [unemployment] check arrived a day late. The next thing I know, I'm getting pissed off if my limo didn't turn up."

Born before 9am his natal Moon would have been in late Sagittarius; otherwise, in common sense, business-minded Capricorn. So with Sun in either Aquarius or Pisces and Moon in either Sagittarius or Capricorn, with no knowledge of his rising sign, it's not easy to assess this guy's personality. He has to have been resilient to overcome the problems of his childhood, he mentions a trip to India :

After a jaunt with a Thailand blues group, he made his way to India and there had what he called "a few spiritual experiences." The happiness he felt there, he insisted, bestowed a calm and contentment about his future and allowed him to stop wanting a record deal so fervently. He believes this is why he soon got one.

I'd take a (risky) guess at Sun in Pisces, Moon in Sagittarius.



Don't Know Why - Smokey Robinson - a recent recording of a song better known for the rendition by Nora Jones - I love Smokey's version!




A Change is Gonna Come sung by Seal - a super version of a great song!

V-Day & Rod McKuen

(That's one of Rod McKuen's poems. Rod's website is HERE.)

Astrodatabank has his natal chart. Sun conjunct Venus in Taurus (Venus's home sign), in trine to Neptune in Virgo is a classic configuration for a writer/poet. There's a Yod formation in his chart too - a sextile between Mercury in Aries and Saturn in Aquarius which both link to Jupiter in Virgo by quincunx (150*), forming a sharply pointed triangle. Astrologers consider that the energies of the sextiled planets are blended and chanelled through the planet at the apex. In this case Mercury and Saturn (writing/communication and discipline/business) are chanelled through Jupiter, the planet which represents publication and expansion. According to Wikipedia, Rod has written/composed at least 1500 songs, accounting for over 100 million records... now there's expansive for ya! He may not be lauded by literature's elite - but that only serves to endear him more to yours truly.