Whitney Houston, Princess of Pop, dead at 48

JUPITER AS A RELEASE AT DEATH

We live in a world that tends to see death as a total negative, a wipe out. However, I need to say that I'm a passionate Nichiren Buddhist and embrace its tenets that (1) every person has an enlightened core or buddha nature, and (2) that life is eternal, and death is a part of life. It happens, we come back, it happens again, we come back again. How we come back and in what circumstances is determined by how we've lived.

I've often seen charts for the day of death where Jupiter, the planet of expansion, has been active. I would think for many elderly, for persons with terminal illnesses or, yes, in this case, where one is in the grip of addiction, that death is a release into the next path, if you will. In Whitney's chart, transiting Jupiter at 4* Taurus in exact trine to her natal Uranus expresses this sudden release into another sphere.

MINOR ASPECTS ARE OFTEN VERY IMPORTANT

Practically any astrologer can look at Whitney's big aspects, the awesome trines and conjunctions and see the successes in her life. But often the minor aspects are key to explaining the inexplicable, the mysteries, the confounding personality traits, the detours in one's life.

Natally her Ju/Ur is sesquiquadrate [135 degrees, a 'square-and-a-half,' a minor aspect indicating tension and challenge]. The very unique talents of Ju/Ur seem to have challenged her tremendously, considering the years [gaps] when she left show biz because of the pressure. Also this challenging minor aspect touches two important points in her natal chart.
One, Jupiter conjuncts her Moon, shown by her mother Cissy Houston's tremendous impact on her career and her family of songbirds [Dionne Warwick, a cousin].

Two, Ur/Me sits astride her 7th H. cusp, dealing with the public, marriage and open enemies in classical astrology terms. Certainly it describes her public career, her choice of marital partner and their public battles/reality show. Ju/Mo trines her Su/Ve which shows the beauty,the great fortune, the recognition. Su/Ve is also opposed by Saturn in the 12th H., where the unbidden blasts from the past reside in all of our charts. I watch Sun opp. Sat in natal charts closely, having read that this aspect is troublesome from mid life on. Seems to have been so here.

MANY PLANETS IN THE SECOND DECANATES OF SIGNS

Also, 12 of her natal placements, from the Sun through Lilith and MH, are in the second decanates. Other than prog. Sun at 3* Aries, which is formidable, she wasn't getting hit by the tr. Sa/Pl/Ur cardinal square. However, she was hit by it last year; perhaps her associations with drugs/dealers/unsavory influences deepened then and set the stage for now.

A TROUBLED NEPTUNE IS NOT A GOOD FRIEND

With a Pisces Ascendant or rising sign, her ruler is a troubled Neptune [music, drugs, fame, illusions] in Scorpio; it is the highest planet in the chart in the 8th h., and the focal point of a t-square with Saturn, troubling in the 12th, and Su/Ve in the 6th. Good sixth house influences produce the model employee. From her debut as a teen to the very last day of her life, she had a strong bond with mogul Clive Davis, her boss at Arista. She was such a good girl! She produced for him and everyone around her. But n. Nep. is disposited by Mars in Libra which is quincunx or 150* from the Asc and sextile Su/Ve.

QUINCUNXES: The illness aspect, yours or someone else's

Quincunxes mean illness/disease/discomfort, but one can subvert the meaning of a quincunx in one's chart by helping others with their illness. Hence we have the time honored tradition in courts of serving "time" by helping the less fortunate. I think the enormous pressure of being a superstar, and a fading one at that, sucked up too much energy for her to be more of a humanitarian. However, many other stars get it, i.e. volunteering their time in Haiti or Dar es Salaam or New Orleans is one way of countering the unhealthy effects of fame and its excesses.
During her final illness, my fellow Buddhist, Arline, happily told us as we chanted nam-myoho-renge-kyo, "See you next lifetime." With all due respect, see you next lifetime, Ms. Houston!

R.I.P. Vesta Williams, vocalist extraordinaire

One of my favorite singers Vesta died of a possible drug overdose Thursday, September 22, 2011. She was born December 1, 1957, in Coshocton, Ohio. I have used a noon chart since I don't have a birth time.
EXTRAORDINARILY GIFTED

Last night, Karel , my go-to weekend radio host on KGO talk radio out of San Francisco, gave Vesta a beautiful tribute. He was her publicist back in the day and a friend for life. Karel called Vesta an extraordinarily gifted singer and kind person who was also a good mother to her child. He said she worked constantly in the biz providing back-up, songwriting, doing commercials and jingles, and had just signed a new recording contract.

A HISTORY OF DRUG USAGE
Karel admitted they did serious drugs together, but said she had stopped as far as he knew. He also said she used prescription drugs like a typical 53-year old woman--Premarin, Ambien, etc.-and he knew because he saw them in her medicine cabinet. He hopes, he said, that it wasn't drugs but won't know until the toxicology reports come out. He said he was absolutely sure that it wasn't suicide, that she had much to live for, including the new contract. In any case, he asked, however she died, why should we look at her or anyone else as a lesser human being because of that? I think we forget that black entertainers, singers and artists serve as racial ambassadors, i.e. the Michael Jacksons, Duke Ellingtons, the Vestas of our world opened doors of goodwill for many black people whom people of other races didn't understand or had never met. No matter their flaws, I respect and thank them for giving their lives to their art and for us.

PERHAPS A GRAND TRINE [depending on her time of birth for the moon position]

Vesta possibly has a wonderful grand trine in her natal chart of Sun 9° Sag, Moon 5° Aries, and Uranus 11° Leo. This great fiery configuration brings great good fortune, vivacity and tons of energy, also probably a flashpoint temper. She had a string of hits in the 80s. However, her trine is tempered by Saturn conjunct the Sun at 15° Sag. Saturn puts the brakes on just when things are getting good.

100 LB. WEIGHT GAIN FOR A WOMAN WHO WAS 5'3"

Once she reached her first success pinnacle, she gained 100 lbs.; at 5'3" that was a major setback as a performer. She said in interviews, "After the shows, I was wearing the House of Waffles out." She has Venus square Jupiter, an indulgent and sweets-loving aspect that is responsible for weight gain; that Jupiter sq. in Libra can give kidney problems if there is imbalance. She said the weight gain stopped her career cold. She lost the weight but through admittedly unhealthy shortcuts, once losing 30 lbs. in three weeks. Excesses like this are the province of Jupiter which gives abundance, excess, good nature, good times, but too much is too much.

QUINCUNX BETWEEN TRANSITING JUPITER AND NATAL SUN

At her death, transiting Jupiter at 9° Taurus was exactly quincunx Vesta's natal Sun. Quincunxes are illness aspects. By helping others who are ill or doing charitable works for the less unfortunate, we can mitigate the effects of the aspect. The only problem is the outer planets-Jup, Sat, Ur, Ne & PL-are slow moving. It's hard to stay away from bad habits for long periods of time unless one has incredible discipline and motivation. Several people have commented that Vesta didn't look well on her last TV appearance on The Monique Show two months before she died. Vesta had the asteroid Vesta in Aries at 6° Aries, giving credence to her Moon being closeby. This is what neptunecafe.com says about Vesta in Aries:
Vesta in Aries gives a strong independence streak. One becomes self-motivated in work, and thrives when advancing one's own ideas or projects. Under stress, one can become too self-absorbed or fixated on personal goals to the detriment of maintaining intimacy with another. Supported by favorable aspects, Vesta here can be highly motivated to accomplish great deeds.

CHECK OUT VESTA SINGING "CONGRATULATIONS" ON YOUTUBE

Still Bill: a from-the-heart patriot, Bill Withers

Bill Withers, singer/songwriter, burst onto the pop music scene in 1971 with his No. 1 record "Ain't No Sunshine" - followed by "Grandma's Hands," "Lean on Me," "Use Me," and in 1979, "Just the Two of Us." All of these songs have become American classics and have been covered by many other singers and musicians. Bill had a very successful performing and recording career from 1970 to 1985, when he began a hiatus of sorts which has lasted to the present day, choosing to concentrate on family.

He recently released a film, Still Bill, in which he pointedly addresses his reasons for stepping out of the limelight [not only family, but also his lessened need to be affirmed as a performer and his disillusionment with the recording industry]. Royalties have made him comfortable, a euphemism used by his wife in the movie and, I've noticed, by people who are modest about their wealth. Much of the movie is filmed in his home and recording studio overlooking a panoramic Los Angeles. In the movie, he sends a son off to law school and watches his daughter record her work; he seems happy and grateful that his shot at the top had a memorable impact and gave him a nice life.

LOVE OF ALL KINDS

After watching Still Bill, I was compelled to cast Bill's chart. His songs/lyrics always impressed me as wonderful, plainspoken, vulnerable, idiomatic, metaphoric, homespun, and they stuck in my head. My son, whom I raised as a single parent, loved "Just the Two of Us," and once turned to me and said, "That's us, mom." Bill Withers' songs are not restricted to romantic love but encompass the tenderness of familial, companionate and patriotic love.
THE PATRIOT

I was not at all surprised when I saw his birthdate as July 4, 1938. More than a few patriots who have captured the hearts of the American public were born with their natal Sun conjunct America's natal Sun.

Anyone born July 2nd-6th has the potential to embody something uniquely American. George W. Bush [July 6], Sylvester Stallone [ July 6], Calvin Coolidge, movie mogul Louis B . Mayer, conductor Mitch Miller, Ann Landers and her twin Abigail Van Buren, Neil Simon, George Steinbrenner, Geraldo Rivera, financier Michael Milken, anti-war activist Ron Kovic, and First Daughter Malia Obama were born July 4th. Bill served nine years in the Navy, further marking his patriotism.

Stationed abroad, he developed his singing and songwriting. When he returned, he moved to LA to pursue music, making toilets for Boeing 747s while composing songs in his head. Mars rules mechanical ability, ego, aggression, sexual drive, individuality, survival, courage, competition, war, stamina, and vigor.

STELLIUM

Bill's Sun conjunct n. Mars, a marker of tremendous energy and self-assertion, is part of a stellium in sensitive, feeling Cancer: Sun, Mars, Mercury, Pluto and Chiron. This heightens the impact of whatever he initiates and the impact of events happening to him. Stelliums [I have five placements in my 5th house] get magnified impact from transits, either good or problematic. Chiron, the Wounded Healer, shows in the soothing wisdom in his lyrics.

FOCAL POINT

The Sun-Mars duo gets further dominance because it is the focal point of two geometric patterns. In the first, it forms a T-square with a Moon-Saturn opposition. This is an aspect of tremendous tension; involving the Moon, it points to a hardscrabble childhood. The youngest of 13 children in a coal-mining town, Bill was three when his parents separated and 13 when his father died. In Still Bill, he talks of being ridiculed as a child because he stuttered. Also, he was asthmatic. Yet he celebrates these roots in his lyrics and in interviews. A hearty survivor.

MINI-TRINE

In the second geometric pattern, the Sun-Mars also sextiles Uranus [innovation] which trines Neptune [creativity, illusion, sorrow, deception]. Sextiles relate to friends, neighbors, childhood activities, opportunities, as well as Mercurian matters like writing and hand dexterity. Mini-trines are helpful and often involve friends giving good advice or a leg up. Clarence Avant, a powerhouse for artists and black music, signed Bill in 1971, and appears in Still Bill talking positively about Bill.

THE HIATUS

What interests me most is the hiatus, his leaving show biz and the limelight, and his storied feuds with record industry execs trying to alter his music. He was quoted in The New Yorker of 3.8.10: "“You gonna tell me the history of the blues? I am the goddam blues. Look at me. Shit. I’m from West Virginia, I’m the first man in my family not to work in the coal mines, my mother scrubbed floors on her knees for a living, and you’re going to tell me about the goddam blues because you read some book written by John Hammond? Kiss my ass.”

Well said, Bill. Perfect manifestation of the Sun/Mars and his Mercury conj. Pluto in Cancer. Nobody's going to tell him.

HIS FIXED STARS

For the astrological indicators for the hiatus, I turn to his fixed stars.

Jackass star dies in fiery crash: Mars active, I would think.

R.I.P. Ryan Dunn, red-haired reality television personality and daredevil best known for being a member of The Jackass Crew (June 11, 1977 – June 20, 2011). Born in Medina, Ohio, he died in a fiery car crash, drunk, his speed around 130 mph.
His natal Mars/Uranus opposition in fixed signs, Taur/Scor, suggests wild but channelled behavior. He'd been friends since childhood with collaborator Bam Margera. a manifestation of his Sun conjunct Jupiter in Gemini, the sign of the 3rd house of siblings, early learning, short journeys, and the lower mind. Dunn was overweight, jovial, excessive, talkative and, above all, publicly daring.

His Pluto, retrograde at 11° Libra, received the nearly exact Saturn transit at his death. An astrologer might have told Dunn to lay low during this transit; it's a long transit-end of October 2010 until beginning of August 2011. But people have a hard time curtailing longstanding behaviors for months at a time unless they're in jail or a hospital bed. With his fixed sign emphasis [Saturn, Venus, Mars, Chiron and Uranus] came a hard head. Financial and professional success as a daredevil and a risk taker reinforced risky behaviors.

His success, financial fortune and appeal lay in his exact[partile]conjunction in Taurus of Mars, Chiron and Venus at 4°. But tr. Jupiter neared that conj. by 1°. Followers of comedians might remember Chris Farley's chart with Jupiter, that planet of often deadly excess, exactly on his Asc. at birth. Too much of a good thing...

Caught: James "Whitey" Bulger

James "Whitey" Bulger was arrested June 22, 2011, with his companion Catherine Greig, in Santa Monica, Ca, where he had been living quietly since at least 1995. His long submersion as a fugitive was made possible by Neptunian cash, complicity and companionship.

He was said to have "set up safe deposit boxes, containing cash, jewelry, and passports, in locations across North America and Europe including Florida, Oklahoma, Montreal, Dublin, London, Birmingham (UK) and Venice. In December 1994, Bulger was informed by retired FBI Agent John Connolly that sealed indictments had come from the Department of Justice and that the FBI was due to make arrests during the Christmas season. In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common law wife, Theresa Stanley." Thus began his flight from the underworld of organized crime in Boston into the netherworld of the fugitive.

Before even examining his chart, I'm expecting a strong Neptune because of his elusiveness and infamy, and all the duality in his life. He was elusive to his would-be captors for nearly 16 years, an informer for the FBI on the Mafia, head of his own Winter Hill Gang, a drug trafficker, bookmaker, and loan shark. Absent a birth time I've set up a noon chart. The U.S. FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS gives his birth date as Sept. 3, 1929, in Boston.

POW! There it is, Neptune at 1° Virgo, conjunct his Leo Midheaven at 29° Leo, both placements close to a New Moon Sun/Moon combo at 10°/13° Virgo. This busy combo in Virgo, a sign of efficiency and competence, inconjuncts his n. Uranus The Outcast, the rebel, at 10° Aries [partile=exact, giving it a strong position and influence in his life]. An inconjunct often points to incompatibility, something that is missing, absent. When his father lost an arm {Mercurial] in an industrial accident [Virgo rules the 6th house of work], Bulger, the oldest son, had to help with the daily bread.
Coulda been a contender Unlike his younger brother William who became a prominent politician and president of UMass, Whitey was the Southie gangsta early on. But his life had a strongly Neptunian caste: he became a mythic figure, ran a huge operation, stole millions, traveled abroad, had numerous glamorous companions-all part of the nebulous glamour of Neptune. The watery planet also dissolves partnerships, fortunes, whole towns [remember Katrina]. What comes in goes back out, like the tide. Now supposedly FBI and other corrupt officials and police are on tenterhooks: Will Whitey betray them and spill the beans? In mob mythology loyalty is key. But a Neptunian's loyalty can switch in a heartbeat.
Well-aspected Venus in Leo Handsome as a young man, Bulger has a Venus with no difficult aspects and sextile his Mars/Mercury conjunction in Libra [helpful, active friends and siblings], and trine his Uranus in Aries. This Venus gives him a taste for extremely attractive ladies, but they must travel well and fit in with his unusual lifestyle. Theresa Stanley, with whom he'd had a common law union beginning in 1969, fled with him. After three years she returned to Boston and her children. Greig, another girlfriend, replaced her.
He's a partnership person Having a partner was important to his criminal enterprises and equally important in his submerged life. Pictures of Greig show that she dumbed down her looks, stopped dyeing her blond hair and let it go white. Greig might have been a courier for Bulger, visiting and retrieving his money from some of the safe boxes. for which crimes she could be charged.

People with a pronounced or elevated Neptune require great sacrifices from those around them. The Mother Theresas and Martin Luther Kings and other gurus compel us to escape the boundaries of our quotidian lives and follow them to a greater place. Or, they lure us into drugs, crossing the line between legal and illegal, or sad love affairs. If he did strangle barehanded two girlfriends of henchmen as alleged, these men paid the Neptunian price: glamour, glitz, grief and sorrow.

Patrick Nee said after joining ranks with Whitey: "Whitey and I were now officially partners and nobody at that table could ever have possibly imagined how this treacherous fuck would treat his partners" [ A Criminal and an Irishman 132]. Treachery is Neptune's special gift.

Why was he caught from an astrological viewpoint? 1] his Saturn, at 23° Sag, is being punched in the groin by the transiting North Node. Time to pay up, Saturn says, whether we want to or not. Both of his oppositional axes are being hit. His very lively and outspoken Mars/Merc conjunction in Libra is opposed natally by Uranus at 10° Aries. Saturn moving through Libra is balancing the scales.

2] Saturn by transit on his 8° Libran Mars [drive, ambition, healthy aggression] opposes n. Uranus this week. Slow-moving Saturn, at 8°-11° Libra in October 2010, triggered the sensitive spots. I disbelieve news reports that the FBI got a tip recently from a woman abroad that led to the capture. More likely they've had him in their sights for some time and began pinning it down last October, probably closely watching Greig's movements to and from the cash.

Mars trine Jupiter is the great lucky aspect for gamblers and risk takers of all walks of life. When you've got this bad boy in your chart, you can go a long time on sheer luck. But Jupiter opposes Saturn in Bulger's natals. That's the societal aspect. When social norms change, the person with this aspect falls out of favor. Jup-Sat contacts are common in politicians' charts. When we look at his life, Bulger really was a politician-he bought influence and paid off cops. Infamously, he's said that Christmas is for cops and kids; he spread $$$ to both. I would think that when the South Node crosses Jupiter at 14° Gemini late Nov-early Dec., 2011, poetic justice will prevail. The form it takes with the Gemini-Sag axis of siblings, higher courts, religion is intriguing. Brother William might sacrifice again for his older brother. A deathbed confession to a priest could appease his victims' families. He's a New Moon person. They make 180° changes all their lives. He can make another one.

A psychopath is a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy. Bugler's actions, like many who kill indiscriminately, are psychopathic. Yet, something has to be righted as his violent chapter of wrong comes to its close. It's likely the court will decide, not Bugler.

What makes someone "Plutonian?"

"What are plutonic qualities and attributes ?

"I see Pluto symbolizing, amongst other things, the deeper genetic current of our nature; the vast intelligence and powerful influence of DNA. I think women who bear children automatically become more plutonic simply by having participated in the plutonic shock of childbirth. Pluto relates to Hades, Lord of Death and the Underworld. Those who have survived near-death experiences, I think, also become by default more plutonic.

"To become more plutonic means to have absorbed the shock of impermanence, that nothing lasts and nobody lives forever. To live with the constant awareness of impermanence is to live a transformative or plutonic life. As one becomes transformed, one also becomes the transformer; whoever becomes catalyzed, also becomes a catalyst. The plutonic shocks we absorb can either immobilze us or turn us into conduits for the transmission of these shocks to the world of others. We know who we are.

"Whatever does not kill us, makes us stronger and often, stranger. Anyone embodying plutonic qualities often appears as a stranger -- and sometimes, a threatening stranger -- to the greater populace still asleep inside the notion that they will live forever." - from tribes, July 6, 2008

Mel Gibson: What a Uranian!!

Mel has pushed the button of fame many times. Will he continue to be famous? Is there a difference between fame and infamy?
"The crowd is a living and complex entity, and it always appreciates truth and sincerity rather than calculation and total self-control." -Astrotheme

In certain combinations or aspects, Mars/Sun/Pluto/Saturn/Asc./North Node are no joke

Doris Greaves, in her book, “Regulus Ebertin Cosmobiology Beyond 2000,” (65) says “Although many traditional and horary astrologers still classify aspects as good or bad, the basic idea behind Cosmobiology still remains the same in that it is the planetary structure with the aspect that determines the outcome.”

Here are the aspects which, according to Ebertin’s “Combination of Stellar Influences,” exert a much more powerful effect than others:

• Mars/Pluto – superhuman effort, force or brutality. Sometimes known as the catastrophe aspect. In the natal chart can be a co-determination of fate.
• Mars/Saturn – Harmful energy, death, endurance.
• Sun/Saturn – Karma, separation, hereditary affliction.
• Sun/Pluto – craving for rulership, fanatical aspirations, physical suffering.
• Pluto/Node – common destiny of large mass of people.
• Pluto/Ascendant – injuries, violence, disputes, fascinating personality.
• Saturn/Ascendant – suffering through family (which I have) especially in Cancer.

Of course, we can look for them in the declinations as well. In the natal horoscope, they foreshadow situations or we attract people that bring out the effects. That's why we pray--to alter our destinies.

A tale of two sisters

Families have astrological similarities just like they have genetic likenesses. Family charts reveal amazing synchronicity.

Two sisters have Sun-Saturn aspects: big sis has the conjunction, little sis the opposition. Both are achievers with graduate degrees and professions, and responsibilities within the family hierarchy. Their mother, a Capricorn whose Sun is sesquiquadrate Saturn [its own ruler], has described the two as "my delayed twins" because of their similarities. Sun-Sat. natives are long haul people. They have common sense, bedrock values. They're the designated drivers of life.

Big sis' Sun conj. Saturn has Jupiter sq. the conj. Her sibling has Jupiter trine Saturn and sextile the Sun. Each has Mercury in the 3rd house.

Big sis has Mercury conj. Pluto.
Little sis has Mercury conj. Mars.
Both women are gabby, friendly, car-fixated; both are public speakers.
Mercury in its own house [3] gives natural ability and strengths in speaking, short journeys, siblings, neighbors, and manual dexterity.

Even more these strong Mercury placements tell the true story of how the sisters get along or rather how they don't. One relative called the two the worst case of sibling rivalry she'd ever seen.

With each sister having a conjunction of the planet of communication from a Scorpionic planet [Mars, the traditional ruler, and Pluto, the newer ruler], barbs fly back and forth.

Mercury is neutral and takes its cue from the planets aspecting it. Mars and Pluto rule aggression and dominance respectively. Like Israel and Palestine, the sisters have periodic fall-outs. As each fulfills familial duties, they have learned to keep their distance and watch their tongues to get along.

Emotionally, the diplomatic breakthrough often comes from their brother who also has Sun conj. Saturn. But here's the difference. He has an exact [partile] conjunction of Sun and Venus at 5.9 and 5.12 degrees Cancer. This is called combust when the planet is this close to the Sun. Its effect is to "combine the planet's influence more closely with that of the Sun, until it is no longer a physical emotion capable of independent control, but an integral part" of that consciousness that the Sun imparts; Venus combust the Sun is also reputed to give nymphomania [Astrology Encyclopedia]. Interestingly the brother has admitted to going through such a phase in his youth.

But since he has Sun conj. Saturn [0 degrees Cancer], over time he transmuted that quality to being the person who conciliates [Venus]--in his job and within his family. That's a nice way of saying he sublimated his excessive sexual energies.

His Mercury [29 degrees Gemini] is closely conjunct this Saturn: What a genetic pattern--Mercury again conj. an outer planet. This family has gabfests of the highest order, and they all have 3rd/9th house occupations [teaching, the law, driving]. But luckily for all, the brother's Sun/Venus/Sat/Merc. conjunction is a stellium or concentration of three+ planets in the seventh house.

The seventh house rules partners, enemies, contests, public battles, marriage. The brother, who has been married for 35+ years, is the calming force between the sisters.

Yakking about astrology on LA Talk Radio

I was featured on Spiritually Speaking LA Live Talk Radio on June 2, 2010. Here's the link. My part starts at about 5:55 and continues with hosts Stacey and Lynne until 33:00. http://www.latalkradio.com/images/Speaking-060210.mp3

June 5-June 10: critical turning points

Bernadette Brady, the UK astrologer and fixed stars authority, in her Visual Astrology newsletter, says, "[I]n the first 10 days of June, as Mars moves over the top of Regulus, opposing Neptune, it is in the phase of descending into the Underworld, so is more inclined towards anger and rash action. This by itself should not raise any concern, except that there are two others 'players' on the stage at the moment.

"On 3rd and 4th of June a bright moon moves into the stars of Aquarius just as a radiating Venus moves over Wasat, in Gemini, the star which is in itself a 'turning' star, a place where the world changes, a place of beginnings and ends....The Gulf oil spill and the Greece Bailout - are 'hot', so to speak, being reflected or reflections of the sky story.

"What is being suggested is that the first few weeks of June will see big developments in both these stories - things moving to a resolution or a point of no return. For those of us seeking a greater understanding of visual astrology it is a time to watch with 'sky awareness'.

"In your own life, at the moment, you may well find that things are happening in pairs which seem to be running parallel in their development. If you are struggling for the resolution of an issue, then it is highly likely that around the 5th to 10th June this issues will take a sudden turn which forces the issue one way or the other."

Nelson Mandela: aspects for long life, long exile, enduring legacy

Nelson Mandela's fixed stars explain the life he has lived in mythic terms. The fixed stars, as explained in Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, pinpoint vast influences at specific stages of a person's life: in childhood; in one's prime [around 25 to 65 years]; in the latter years; and at the base of one's life and as one's lasting legacy. Brady's handbook on fixed stars uses parans, i.e. the simultaneous angularity of the stars in the heavens during the 24 hour period of the day of birth with planets in our solar system. It is not necessary to have the time of birth, only the place and date of birth. However, knowing the time of birth reveals fixed stars on the angles, a particularly pronounced influence. Mandela has none on the angles at birth, but has parans of great emphasis in each stage - Facies from beginning to long after his life ends, Antares as a childhood influence, Bellatrix and Spica in his latter years.

In June 2003, I saw actor Barry Shabaka Henley in his own play, Jungle Bells, at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose. He portrayed a homeless man, Alexander Pushkin, Martin Luther King Jr., and a Klansman. In the last scene, Henley shed the identities and broke the fourth wall to talk about his first trip to Africa. Granted a visit with Mandela, Henley said on the way to see him a cabbie talked candidly. The cabbie said, among other things, that peace such as it was would shatter the instant Mandela passed, that insurgents were holding back for the great man and nothing else, not for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission nor for nonviolence. Which of his ideals will live on is not determined by the stars; astrology is not strictly predictive. It's like a ballpark figure or an educated guess. Mandela's influence [we all know] is profound. Five planets in fixed signs [not the same as fixed stars] give his ideals and causes longevity. Two personal planets, Merc. in Leo and Moon in Scor., plus three transpersonal planets, Saturn and Neptune in Leo and Uranus in Aqua, indicate tenacity.

Antares, one of the Four Royal Stars of Persia, symbolizes intense, probing obsession. Linked with his Mercury and accompanied by the charisma-givng Vega, from chldhood it has empowered his intellect and speaking voice. He developed these skills early.

Mandela's HELIACAL RISING STAR, Capella, shows his guiding influence to be one of freedom and fairness.

In position as the HELIACAL SETTING STAR is Facies, a star of pure combative energy. Facies in a chart foretells success accompanied by a tremendous struggle, the mythic journey come to life. In this position, it anticipates the shadow of war, the darkness of cruelty or aggression in his life from its inception; the ANC advocated armed struggle against the apartheid regime. This led him to prison for 27 years.

PARANS - BY ANGLE [Calculations from Starlight 1.0]
[Boldface = particularly pronounced conditions in his life]

RISING - The symbolism of these stars will appear in his childhood, adolescence and young adulthood and become a part of his make-up.
Zosma as Jupiter is Culminating - The Angel of Mercy; to have compassion
Vega as Mercury is Setting - A visionary with a very persuasive voice, or charismatic ideas
Antares as Mercury is Culminating - Mental obsession with a subject or a person

CULMINATING - The symbolism of these stars appears in the prime of his life and become an intricate part of his career or vocation and any causes he espouses.
Alhena as Mars is Rising - To fight for one’s ideas or beliefs
Toliman as Mercury is Setting - Dedicated to spreading information - Circumpolar
Mirach as Jupiter is Rising - An insatiable appetite for the physical world, money or people
Ras Alhague as Venus is On Nadir - A person who expands the collective's options by increasing the information available

SETTING - The symbolism of these stars manifests in old age, the latter part of life, or at the end of life as the sum total of his life.
Aculeus as Jupiter is Rising - The outsider; to take a different point of view
Bellatrix as Jupiter is Setting - The historian or priest, a person who is more interested in people than money
Spica as Sun is On Nadir - A talented person, to have a gift

ON NADIR - These stars are very close in meaning to the setting stars and relate to legacy and how he is remembered.
Mirfak as Moon is Culminating - Thrill seeker, the lover of a good fight or challenge
Diadem as Jupiter is Rising - A generous person, or one who uses others
Altair as Sun is Culminating - A bold and determined individual
Vega as Mars is Rising orb - An imaginative, inventive person; or too idealistic
Zuben Elgenubi as Sun is Rising - A person with a social conscience
Facies as Mars is Rising - Endurance, physical or mental, for good or for evil

While the parans above show his special calling, gifts and mission, parans for the larger, slow-moving planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto [below] are active for people born during this period for several months. Nelson Mandela was born in a tumultuous time period.

URANUS- Public opinion, Public expectations
Culminating when Phact is Rising - Seeking a new pathway, laws, or government
Setting when Aldebaran is Culminating - The population is asked to act with dignity and social awareness

NEPTUNE- The Hopes and Fears of the Nation
Culminating when Capella is Setting - Controversy over freedom and the rights of individuals

PLUTO- The Crises or the Changes that Occur
On Nadir when Canopus is On Nadir - Change of an establishment leader
Culminating when Canopus is Culminating - Change of an establishment leader
Setting when Betelgeuse is Setting - Benefits or breakthrough achieved in the wake of a disaster
Culminating when Denebola is Rising - A breakdown in the administration, or in the establishment's power
Setting when Rigel is Setting - The will of one person is imposed on society, a defiant act
On Nadir when Diadem is Setting - A lone sacrifice that can change a nation

b. 18 July 1918 2:54 PM, Umtata, South Africa
birth data from astrotheme.com

Lena Horne: A long fabled life comes to a close

Lena Horne passed Sunday night, May 9, in NYC, at 92 years of age. Bless her feisty heart and stubborn integrity. She was a role model for women and blacks because she fought to break down the barriers holding both down. Transiting Pluto [finality, transformation] was on her Midheaven at 5 Cancer, opposite her n. Pluto at 4 Cancer and n. Sun at 8 Cancer. This vertical axis, the IC/MC, is the ancestral line. She has returned to the original families who freely travel across time and space. Her n. Sun/Pluto at the IC shows she came here with a mission to transform, and that she did magnificently. She moved society, herself, her family, her race in new directions, often meeting strong resistance.

It wasn't easy. Erin Sullivan says: "When one is born with even one of the outer planets on the angles, or conjunct or in hard aspect to a personal planet, then one's task on earth is exceptional and difficult." This chart contains six such aspects: Sun/Pl/IC/NN; Ven/Sat/Nep; Mo/Ur; Su/Ur; Mo/Pl; and Pl/Asc.

Ms. Horne was a Plutonian person, her sun in Cancer conjunct Pluto and Moon in Scorpio, in mutual reception [in the other's sign]. Also her moon is in the eighth house, Pluto's house, and Pluto is in the fourth house, the natural house of both Cancer and the Moon. This lady was ready for the teddy from jump street. Legend has it that when champ Joe Louis was her beau, she gave him a run for his money-with her fist no less. On Donna Cunningham's How Strong is your Pluto? , Ms. Horne gets 39 points, a rating of "strong indeed."

To be a Plutonian means alternating between being isolated and being immersed in obsessive relationships; at worst, being controlling, mistrustful, emotionally intense, bitter, vengeful. She has written about marrying second husband Lennie Hayton: "It was cold-blooded and deliberate. I married him [Lennie] because he could get me into places a black man couldn't. But I really learned to love him. He was beautiful, just so damned good. I had never met a man like him." The interracial marriage was kept secret for three years.
http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/lenahorne.htm

At best, as her words, deeds and devotion showed, she dedicated her Plutonian energies to healing from the bitterness and loss in her life, and became a natural healer and catalyst in the lives of people around her.

Aries rising and Mars, her chart ruler, in Gemini along with Jupiter, strengthened her second house. These influences give one a strong voice, throat power, fierceness-and a good income. She spoke/fought against racism in her profession and during the civil rights struggles.

Chiron, The Wounded Healer, is at 29.56 Pisces in Ms. Horne's chart. This last degree of the zodiac, called the weeping degree in some texts, takes in everything for reprocessing, just before spring breaks through at the Aries Point[0 Aries].

Her NYTimes obit said she "might have become a major movie star, but she was born 50 years too early." Her passing accentuates her mission as a forerunner because, at death, t. Uranus was partile n. Chiron. A reminder to those who are young, black and fabulous in the profession that their successes grew out of the sacrifices, indignities and devotion of those who came before them.

b. June 30, 1917, 11:45 PM, Brooklyn Heights, NY. d. May 9, 2010, NYC
birth data from astrotheme.com

Bobby Brown: High peaks, even deeper valleys

I recently saw a 2009 VH-1 special on Bobby Brown, the provocative entertainer and ex-mate of Whitney Houston. He peaked early, an international pop star at 15. "I'm not that old that I can't reach for the top again," he says in the special. Can he? Where is he in the life cycle? Has Bobby passed into an obscure stage?

Like Gail Sheehy's Passages [1976], which delineated major stages in the life cycle, astrology gives many ways of looking at charts to predict peaks and valleys. One way is to track the outer planets from Jupiter through Pluto. While transiting the top half of the chart, these planets keep one out in the world where one's light can shine. In the bottom half of the chart, one goes through what Grant Lewi called a period of obscurity. Since they are slow moving, each impacts our lives for long periods of time--years, decades.

Saturn is transiting Bobby's 8th h. stellium. With Saturn being aboveground [top half] for the next nine years, his pain, passion and progress will play out in the public arena. Progress: Saturn's transit of his n. Pluto at 24 Virgo coincided with his reality show evolution into a country and western singer, a successful public transformation. Pain: a death rumor went viral so fast in April he had to refute it by speaking out.

Eighth house transits change us for good, leaving us bereft because we have to give up someone or something. In his case, his marriage ended, he was homeless and broke, and he gave up drugs. With four planets [Moon, Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter] in his 8th h., he has a smoldering, heartbreaking sensuality. The latter three planets trine his 1st h. Mercury in Aquarius, so he can speak, sing and write this sensuality in an utterly unique way.

If you look at the green lines in his chart, you can see something like a narrow pyramid. This is called a yod. A yod involves at least 3 planets (or angle: MC/IC or Asc/Desc). Two will be 60 degrees apart; each of them will be 150 degrees from the third. His Virgoan Moon and Scorpio Mars are sextile. The third planet in Bobby's chart is Saturn in Aries in the third house.

Gail Sandra Klein asserts that the yod typically leads to chronic (unfinishable) situations, like illness, neuroses, habit formations which, because the energy must find continual release, result in creativity. In other words, Mister Brown will have this energy percolating all his days, and music is the way he releases it.

Saturn is also the ruler of his chart since he has 16 Capricorn rising. What?! Bobby Brown, incorrigible, law-breaking, pelvis-twisting, drugging, wild wild Bobby Brown has strong Capricorn influences? Aren't those type of people conservative, stick-in-the-mud, law-and-order, upright citizens? Yes, they are, and now that he's given up drugs, he has a chance to let this side unfold. Drugs obscure the real person. People with strong Saturn influeces are hard workers. He was an international star in his teens because he started working and touring [and doing drugs] that early.

In the VH-1 special, Bobby said, "I'm gonna be the bad boy probably forever."
He's chosen, he said, to be the bad boy only in performing and to use his prerogative to live "without dope, without drugs."

b. February 5, 1969, 5:21 AM, Boston, MA
birth data from astrotheme.com

Star Jones: fading into oblivion?

In August 2003, Starlet Marie Jones had gastric bypass surgery, losing 160 lbs. Her lies of omission and commission to conceal the operation lost Star her spot on The View. She thus lost a high-profile job, a husband and 160 lbs. after the operation. But did she lose? Was her weight loss a gain?

Like snakeskin shed, the 160 lbs. came off over three years, as another person emerged. This is about the time of a Saturn transit through a zodiac sign. Which spot was Saturn transiting in Star's chart? Star has Cancer rising.

Wow! Saturn crossed her Cancer Asc., 6.18*, on July 23, 2003, and transited through her first house until June 26, 2005. Saturn touching the Asc. follows a 14 year cycle of tremendous development and outer progress. Its descent into the bottom half of the chart coincides with WEIGHT LOSS! She had the bypass on Aug. 19, 2003.

Annie Heese at CafeAstrology.com writes about this transit: "We concern ourselves with how we come across to others on a personal level with Saturn here. Our physical body becomes a focus as well... it is a time when we see our bodies quite clearly. This is an excellent time for beginning health regimens, diets, and the like, simply because it is a time when we look in the mirror and see ourselves clearly—not what we want to see. Our outlook on life changes to a more serious, responsible tone...this transit acts to transform your self-confidence in such a way that you question the source of your confidence to date, and discover a more solid base for pulling up inner strength. Saturn here acts to rip away the superficial. Illusions about the self, the body, and personal abilities will no longer be tolerated."

Star reached a point where she could no longer be fat. It wasn't healthy, she's said. Star's dramatic weight loss was blown up by her fame.

The aspects in her natus/transits should reflect Pluto [transformation], and Neptune [deception, concealment, confusion, scandal] also. Pluto's long transit of her sixth house of health and employment began Dec. 18, 1995; it will wind up on Jan. 30, 2011. In 1995, Star, working as Inside Edition's chief legal analyst, led that show's coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. That coverage led her to fame, wealth and an impressive TV career, quite a transformation from being an attorney/prosecutor. During this 15-year transit, her star [pardon the pun] has risen and dimmed, but she remains a public figure.

Bob Marks, at bobmarksastrologer.com says that "Pluto’s effect, as always, is to clean things out. Yes, things get reborn wherever Pluto goes, but they have to decay and die first."

As for Neptune, Star suffered through being publicly ridiculed-the downside of fame. She'd built her rep as a straightshooter, then got caught in a lie, a Neptunian situation. She concealed the gastric bypass until admitting it in the September 2007 GlAMOUR magazine: "How had I allowed myself to get to 307 pounds?" But many could not overlook her deception, including former boss Barbara Walters.

Where was Neptune transiting her chart? She announced she was leaving The View on June 27, 2006. Neptune had just begun transiting her 9th house. Thus, it had just finished her 8th house transit. Eighth house transits involve loss. Often it is only when a planet leaves the eighth that we are aware of what we have had to give up. Star lost weight.

But Neptune takes its sweet time. She will continue to integrate the new self and the loss of her old person, as she has called it. Neptune occupies her 9th house from Feb. 28, 2007, until Feb. 29, 2020, at which time it contacts her Midheaven.

Transiting Neptune over natal Jupiter, Chiron, Mars and Mercury during this 13-year period assures that her expertise, commentary and candor, fortified by stronger self-esteem, will bring even more controversy and sensationalism into her life, whether her own or legal affairs she covers.

Star isn't going off the public radar anytime soon.

b. March 24, 1962, 11:30 AM, Albemarle (NC)
birth data from astrotheme.com

Grand Trines, anyone?

This chart has been a great lesson for me. When I first started studying astrology, I glorified the grand trine. Oh, what I would have given for a grand trine. I watched my friends and associates who had them. I thought they had gold. Well, come nigh four decades, and I see that trines can be gold-plated. People with grand trines get in comfortable situations--housing, relationships, jobs--that can last for years. With this chart [of a female, P.] comfort and safety influence her more than ambition.

Although she is bright and capable, P. goes through long periods of unemployment-four, five years. Her Sun/Mercury combo in the 6th h. pulls in a complex set of aspects which are mostly problematic. Sixth house suns are work-oriented; they express themselves through work. When P. is working, usually in tax or accounting offices, she's punctual, pleasant and productive. Out of work, her 6th house influence shows in her spotless kitchen, routine cleaning, fussing over her two sons and a 12-year-old cat. A 6th house trait is a love of animals.

But look at the geometry of this chart; you can see a kite, i.e. a grand trine + a sextile. The grand trine is three planets or groupings 120 degrees[*] apart; the kite is formed with a sextile [planets 60* apart] forming the string. The tension comes from the opposition formed at the string; in P.'s chart, Uranus-Pluto are conjunct in the 12th h. [behind-the-scenes, isolation, confinement, solitude] opposing Mercury and, by translation of light, her Sun in Pisces.

Noel Tyl sees the grand trine as "self sufficiency, self-containment...the separation from relationship because of the self-containment" (Synthesis and Counseling 285). He sees this self-sufficiency as a defense mechanism.

P. expresses a desire to work, almost a guilt at not having to work for years at a time. She works periodically, relying on a rent subsidy and public assistance, part of the 6th/12th house polarity: work/welfare; independence/dependence. Tyl atttributes this "defense mechanism" to a tough childhood, where one had to protect against a hostile or unstable environment. P.'s parents were drug addicts; she was rescued at age seven and raised by loving grandparents.

Floridian astrologer Hiroki Niizato says the "defense mechanism is necessary even in adulthood, if one is destined to face tough opposition from others in the course of his/her journey for fulfillment." P.'s life choices have dismayed her family. Yet she is a leader among her friends who've made similar choices.

Her Mercury/Pluto opposition shows her obstinance. P. made up her mind that she was different from the relatives who raised her. They were readers, so she decided to hate reading. They went to college; she went twice but left each time after a year. Kites want to fly high even if early on they meet resistance.

Pluto and Uranus conjunct in the 12th house, a generational aspect since the two planets are slow-moving, is the apex or string of P.'s kite. I'm waiting and watching this generation. What are they going to do with this powerhouse of a conjunction? Robert Hand's take on it: "They will be very eager and restless for change, but at the same time patient enough to learn how to really bring it about. They will undoubtedly have a very powerful impact on everyone in society."

Already, this generation has endured a powerful recession, 9/ll, crack, herpes, AIDS, two Gulf wars-and this in just four decades of living. Baby boomers got through rock n roll, R & B, the British invasion, the cold war, the sixties, Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the assassinations of the sixties, before mellowing out at the end of the century. How will P. and her peers, born in the late sixties in a period of intense social upheaval, endure?

In many European countries, unemployment compensation is much higher than in the U.S. and lasts for several years longer, and workers have health care in flush and not-so-flush times. Who knows? Perhaps P. is a forerunner of a populace which has to learn how to live with permanent unemployment. Perhaps her kite is flying high.

Do you believe in astrology?

Grant Lewi said, "Astrology is not something to believe in; it's something to know about."

Some basics for chart delineation

THE PLANETS

The Sun and the Moon - Basic central core of the personality. These two bodies represent how we make decisions, how we act, and what we value.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars- The personal planets. These planets indicate our everyday concerns, our interaction with others, and our immediate environment.

Jupiter and Saturn - The planets of the culture. These planets represent our ability to interact with our society and its laws and values.

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - The planets of our higher evolution. These planets show our ability to focus on issues that transcend our immediate life and culture.

THE SIGNS

Fire Signs - Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius
Earth Signs - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Air Signs - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Water Signs - Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Cardinal Signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn
Fixed Signs - Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius
Mutable Signs - Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces

THE HOUSES

1st - Your personal appearance and your immediate environment
2nd - Your self worth and your orientation toward the material world
3rd - Your integration of basic experience and ability to learn
4th - Your home and family
5th - Children, romance and creative expression
6th - Work, health and your facility with detail
7th - One on one relationships. Marriage and partnerships
8th - Community resources, sex, ultimate issues, financial institutions
9th - Foreign travel, higher education, ethics and legal principles, insurance, publishing
10th - Career and social standing
11th - Friends and higher aims in life
12th - The unconscious and social institutions
The Ascendant - The beginning of the first house
The Midheaven - The beginning of the tenth house

THE ASPECTS


***Basic types of aspects***

Hard or difficult aspects - Semi-square, Square, Sesquiquadrate, and Opposition. These are the aspects that help us recognize the ingredients in our personality that need changing.

Easy or soft aspects - Trines and Sextiles. These are the aspects that express our talents and skills.

Growth aspects - Semi-sextiles and quincunx. These are aspects that give us opportunity to grow. They indicate long term development of some key aspect of your personality and behavior for this life time.

Power aspects - Conjunctions, Parallels, and Contra-parallels. These are the aspects that show energy, force, reorganization and transformational ability.


***Condition of your planets by aspect***

Afflicted - A planet is called afflicted when it has only hard (difficult) aspects. These planets represent our greatest challenges and our more promising areas of growth.

Unafflicted - A planet is unafflicted when it is not limited to only hard aspects. This can mean that the planet has no aspects, has only easy aspects, or has both hard and soft aspects.

Well Aspected - A planet is called well aspected when it has no hard aspects. This shows ease of expression and a certain ability to bring the ingredients symbolized forward into life with little or no conflict.

***Special points in your chart***

Ascendant - This is the same as the cusp of the first house. The Ascendant refers to your physical body and how you meet the world, how you present yourself.

Midheaven - This is the same as the cusp of your tenth house. The Midheaven refers to how we rise and fall in life, our social position and our orientation to our family, culture and history.

Moon's North Node - Our direction in life. How we form relationship bonds with the environment as well as people.

Vertex - A point in our chart were we tend to feel out of control. It is a place where we easily give ourselves over to something beyond the scope of our own life.

East Point - A place of idealism and perfection in your chart. It functions as another way of contacting people.

Part of Fortune - A point where we put many parts of our motivation together in a personal way. It shows personal joy and fulfillment.

Alison Des Forges' fixed stars show her life of activism

Alison Liebhafsky Des Forges (20 August 1942 – 12 February 2009), an American historian and human rights activist, specialized in the African Great Lakes region and studied the Rwandan Genocide. She was killed on flight 3407 near Buffalo, NY.

The presence of Fomalhaut, Algol and Facies prominent in parans [angular when a planet was angular throughout her day of birth] is reflected in her life of activism and fighting for victims of genocide. Algol and Facies involve violence against which she dedicatedly fought. Fomalhaut is one of the four great mythical stars of Persia; Bernadette Brady says its presence in the chart will give one's life a pronounced mythical quality. It's interesting that the first names of note on the manifest of the Buffalo plane crash were Des Forges and the 9/11 widow-activist.

Brady also says that a planet culminating in paran is particularly strong. Des Forges has Sadalmelek as Moon was culminating, indicating that maternal/childhood influences enhanced her creative work and associations.
Capella angular as her Moon was culminating gives the freedom seeking for others that she displayed in her fight for genocide victims.
Fomalhaut as both Mercury and Mars culminated in her foundation show what she will be remembered for as well as the basic principles that underlay her lifework.

HELIACAL RISING STAR
Phact - Rising - To seek that which is just out of reach, to plunge into the unknown

HELIACAL RISING STAR
Acubens - Believing in the sacredness of life and seeking to be a Giver of Life

HELIACAL SETTING STAR
Altair - To use boldness and bravery as the guiding principles of her life

PARANS - BY ANGLE
RISING - Stars of her youth
Alnilam as Jupiter is Rising: Success in bridging the gap from one social status to another
Bellatrix as Mercury is On Nadir - The craftsman and a person with alternative interests
El Nath as Saturn is Rising- Prepared to battle the establishment, a hard life
Sadalmelek as Moon is Culminating - Good, or fortunate, associations; one's creative work is well received

CULMINATING - Stars of her Prime
Fomalhaut as Mars is On Nadir - An idealistic warrior, mystical hero, or blind fanatic
Alkes as Moon is Rising - A person with a love of, and empathy for, life and nature
Algol as Sun is Rising - Passion that can inspire or destroy
Mirach as ¨ Venus is Rising- Beauty in body, soul or art

SETTING - Stars of her Latter Years
Sualocin as Moon is On Nadir- Good networker, helpful friends, and a popular person
Acubens as Venus is Setting- Happy relationship and to be blessed with good friends
Pollux as Venus is Setting - The artisan, or living an alternative lifestyle
Facies as Mars is On Nadir - Endurance, physical or mental, for good or evil
Sadalsuud as Sun is Rising - Fortune from difficulties
Acumen as Moon is Setting- hardships
Facies as Mercury is On Nadir - One who is judged harshly
Capella as Moon is Culminating- Seeking freedom for oneself and/or others

ON NADIR - Stars at the Foundation of her life
Fomalhaut as Mercury is Culminating -
To have an idealistic vision
Alkes as Mercury is On Nadir -
To undertake detailed and precise work
Fomalhaut as Mars is Culminating -
Am idealistic warrior, mystical hero, or blind fanatic
Diadem as Venus is Rising -
Appeasement - a person who can make compromises
El Nath as Mars is Setting-
To take physical action even in the face of strong opposition
Calculations from Starlight 1.0

Mercury Goes Retrograde [9.24-10.15]

Some people get spooked by Mercury Retrograde. I don't. It's snafu time, not life or death time. Because today, Sept. 24, it starts going backwards [not really, it just looks that way in the heavens above] at 21* Libra, the sign of partnerships, agreements, the public, it affects our relationships with others.

Here are some general dos and don'ts for the three week periods that occur three times a year:

Don't buy, sign for or sell key merchandise.
Try not to start a new job or project. [This is the general recommendation I've read for years. However, you can't stop breathing. I've started jobs, bought items, etc. Yes, sometimes, I have to go back and redo the buy. That's life.]

Don't expect resolutions made during this period to stick. They will probably need redoing or redrafting after October 15.
[Uh oh, whazzup with the $700 Billion bailout??!!]
If you can, postpone any kind of negotiations.

Don't indulge in heated debate--tempers flare, miscommunication is heightened.
Try not to get married.

Watch out for your electronics. They may need repairs or get misplaced.
When making travel plans watch out for last minute changes.
Don't ask for a raise or quit your job.

Make sure you have emergency numbers programmed into your cell phone, and a paper backup in your purse, the car, in your office desk.

What does work when Mercury goes retrograde? Which tasks should we tackle?

Tie up loose ends.
Re-do, re-check, go over details.
Stall on negotiations.
Get second opinions.
Be thorough in your affairs.
Finish up projects [This is music to a writer's ears. We get to work on that story, poem, essay, project that we shoved to the back burner weeks or months ago].
Repair and maintain anything.
Clean out the basement, closets, yard, garage.
Give clothes to charity.
Get rid of books you know you'll never read or books you won't re-read. They're old ideas hanging around. Let them go into the universe where someone else can use them.
Back up all your files, paperwork and put in a safe place.
Place all valuables in a secure place.
Get a safe deposit box.
Read a favorite book, poem, short story or view a movie again.

LISTEN and PAUSE before reacting or responding.
Saying these phrases may be helpful:
"Can I get back to you?"
"Let's come back to this after we've both calmed down."
"I need some time to think about this before I give you an answer."

Ballad for sarah palin's babymommadrama

Before anybody
politically right of center
says one word of defense
for this sweet young pale
pretty girl, can we hear
a disclaimer? Goes like this:

We regret demonizing whole
generations of young black
unwed females [not pale nor
considered pretty by white
ethnocentric persons]. We
regret stereotyping them
as immoral dregs on public
welfare rolls. We apologize
for not recognizing that
sexuality is a human trait
not a racial trait
and that teen pregnancy
happened in the "best of
homes" back in the day as well
before we did away with welfare
& forced these mothers into
mininum wage jobs two and three
bus rides away from their little
not-pale children [I believe you
called them bastards but we
invented better terms-
babymomma, babydaddy- that I know
all about because I'm not just
a grandma,I'm a babydaddymomma].
The kids were left all day
to watch tv and play video
games unsupervised. That's
what we call the bootiful
Clinton legacy. That's why
some very stoopid people
mistook Bill for a black prez.

But that's so 80s/90s.
Let us return to late 2008
when fair virgins of the
almost-no-longer-majority
race get impregnated mysteriously
and became upright political footballs.

Let's let bygones be bygones and
remember the golden-white rule-
when people of color do it, it's evil
when whites do it, it's a badge of honor.

Sarah Palin has some hellifying transits right now!

Sarah Palin has several classic torture transits: she's getting outer planet transits from Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. When these transits occur, they can take one's mind, body, and public persona through a torture chamber in the form of illness, legal problems, forced resignation or firing, family dilemmas-think of life crises and you've got the picture.

A whole generation born in 1965-68 is experiencing Saturn transiting the natal Uranus/Pluto conj. in Virgo. That's a hellbender, causing health and vocational rethinking on a massive societal level.

The problem with outer planet transits is that they last so long. The four outer planets beyond Jupiter transit the signs slowly-Saturn takes 2-1/2 years. So people with a normal life span will receive a Saturn transit to each planet twice, three times if they live to their 80s, including the vaulted Saturn returns at 26-30 years and 56-60 years of age.

Uranus revolves around the Sun once every 84 years, while Neptune takes about twice as long at 165 years and Pluto takes three times as long at 248 years. So not everyone gets a Uranus, Neptune or Pluto hit to their natal Sun or key planet/angle in one lifetime. When people do get it, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Palin's generation is feeling the brunt of downsizing in many industries, experiencing the outsourcing of jobs for which they had trained in their 20s.

It's the fast food generation coming to grips with trans fats and meeting the consequences of health policies or indiscretions created nationwide.

It's the ecstasy/rave & wave generation coming to grips with nervous systems finally blowing a gasket after so much misuse.

Palin's daughter getting pregnant at 17 could be seen as the result of the previous generation's abstinence preaching that sought to bypass birth control methods.

Palin has Neptune exactly conjuncting her Sun this month, a once-in a-lifetime conj. to her natal Sun, threatening to uncover and bring to light all that has been hidden for decades, not just years. It's brought her into the spotlight but the cost is exposure of all her biz.

I went through two recent outer planet transits, Sat. on my Pluto in Leo, and Pluto quincunxing [150* from] my Sat. at 28* Cancer [still there but the storm, my Gustav, has blown over]. These are just not pleasant interludes for anyone. But for a politician like Palin, everything that can be dredged up will be dredged up and reviewed before offical boards of inquiry. I had several such procedures to go through-medical, legal, academic-and they were exhausting, painstaking, costly and worrisome. All has ended well but the toll is no laughing matter.

My heart goes out to her and especially her family, even though her politics are diametrically opposite mine. She will come through it wiser--but at a cost.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Repubs. throw her back in the water if her Neptunian tide keeps washing ashore detritus. They're keeping a stiff upper lip now. But an onslaught would have to be addressed. That's what a political campaign is about. Think Thomas Eagleton with his electroshock treatments. The Dems had to get him off the ticket to salvage it, even though they lost by a landslide.

Scenario - how the Palin pick might play out

Brilliant idea from "gorefan" on the First Look posts at MSNBC:
Some are describing her as Dan Quayle in a dress (because of her lack of experience), others as a female Alberto Gonzales (because of the hiring and firing scandal), but I see her as the female TOM EAGLETON.
I see it playing out like this: After the convention, the press will descend on her and McCain with questions about the firing of state employee for personal reasons, and then they will ask about the budget deficit she left as mayor of Wasilla. It will be a constant barrage and distraction from the message of the campaign. Next the National Enquirer will run stories about her not be the mother of the infant baby. Finally, after several weeks of agony for the Republicans, Gov. Palin will announce that she is withdrawing her name from the Republican ticket. The McCain campaign will accept the resignation, and McCain will hold a press conference to denounce the media as "agents of titillation" only concerned with scandals which increase their ratings. He will blame the democrats and entrenched political establishment for practicing the "politics of destruction" for driving a "good decent woman, mother of five, and mother of soldier currently in Iraq, from public service." but he will save his sharpest criticism for his own Republican party and the social conservatives who use "narrowly defined litmus tests" to eliminate perfectly qualified candidates who fail those tests. He will say that the only litmus test that he will apply is whether the candidate is ready to be President of the United States. Several days later, no longer under the constraints of a nominating convention, he will pick his real choice, his friend, his soul mate Joe Lieberman to be his running mate. He will also announce that like his hero Teddy Roosevelt, if elected he will not seek a second term. Gorefan
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/30/1310137.aspx

Sarah Palin and the maternity of her Downs Syndrome baby-her daughter's?

This site has brought up the spectre of Palin's Downs' Syndrome baby being her teenage daughter's baby: http://themoderatevoice.com/

Palin's Sun/Saturn/Mars conjunction in Aquarius is quite a forceful configuration, in Aq., signature of trailblazers, stubborn, unusual even eccentric personalities. The squares to it can mean lying, deception, hidden problems, whereas the opposition [in Richard Nixon's chart] points to betrayal from others.

Donna Cunningham says Outer Planet Person aspects-Uranus, Neptune and/or Pluto strongly aspected or angular in the natal chart-give checkerboard lives, make for the kind of people who do many different things until they find their way in their forties. I'm a Uranian, so I know the drill.

Her Neptune is aspected abundantly, as it also is sesqui. Venus. The sesquiquadrate, 135 *, is interpreted as providing an irritation or agitation on the planets involved, thus its reputation for being an aspect of stress. Obviously having five children, a husband, a political career, and being an athletic outdoorswoman, Ms. Palin knows how to handle stress.

Sarah Palin an interesting v.p. choice - Klondike Barbie?

McCain's v.p. pick, Sarah Palin, was born Feb. 11, 1964, in Sandpoint, Idaho. I felt a strong revulsion this morning at the announcement of the pick at seeing Palin's daughter holding the newborn baby. It just looked wrong, like the young daughter is doing the parental job. I wondered, what is Palin doing--about to commit so much time to campaigning when she has a special needs infant to take care of and another who is four? Perhaps my Obama bias is kicking in.

Nevertheless, Palin's Sun/Saturn/Mars conjunction in Aquarius is a doozy of a configuration, in Aq., signature of trailblazers, stubborn, unusual even eccentric personalities. The sq. from Neptune says she blazes the trail, holds the stubbornness in an inspired, if sometimes misguided way.

I hope Palin's TOB surfaces soon.

Her Neptune is fully aspected, sq. n. Sun, sesqui. Venus, sq. Mars and Saturn, rather frightening contacts with the planet of delusion and oil. It quintiles Mercury and possibly her Moon for sure.

The sesquiquadrate, planets 135 degrees apart, provides irritation or agitation to the planets involved, thus its reputation for being an aspect of stress. Obbviously having five children, a husband, a political career, and being an athletic outdoorswoman, Ms. Palin knows how to handle stress.

This campaign is so interesting. Each of the four candidates on the tickets has a compelling tragedy/circumstance--death and being widowed [Biden], abandonment [Obama], captivity [McCain], Downs' syndrome [Palin].

Palin has three biquintiles, special talents and abilities, to Uranus from her Moon, Mercury and Jupiter. So her personal planets, thus her personal life, is very Uranian. The hunting, fishing, snowboarding show that.

McCain has Uranian biquintiles also, from n. Mercury and Jupiter, and with his Moon/Chiron. Lots of special talents on this ticket which will unfold in the next 66 days.

Someone on Huffington's post called Palin Klondike Barbie. Her Venus might be angular and taking even more stress than indicated by two natal sextiles to personal planets and a sesquis. to Neptune.

Obama has biquintiles too, one from Jupiter to Pluto, both outer planets, thus the societal impact and grandness of his vision, and another from Mars to his rising sign, showing that he is indefatigueable.