Descartes denied that animals had reason or intelligence. He argued that animals did not lack sensations or perceptions, but these could be explained mechanistically. Whereas humans had a soul, or mind, and were able to feel pain and anxiety, animals by virtue of not having a soul could not feel pain or anxiety. If animals showed signs of distress then this was to protect the body from damage, but the innate state needed for them to suffer was absent. Although Descartes’ views were not universally accepted they became prominent in Europe and North America, allowing humans to treat animals with impunity. The view that animals were quite separate from humanity and merely machines allowed for the maltreatment of animals, and was sanctioned in law and societal norms. [Wikipedia]
Such cold, clinical mindset (which ignores the fact that we are animals and we feel) still pervades today, because progress depends on it, not because there is any truth to it.
Uranus was discovered in the 18th c, and along with the many scientific breakthroughs and discoveries, the shadow side was this overly-clinical, detached way of relating to other living ‘things’. Nature was no longer sacred, only the human soul was. Everything else was formula, which could be measured, dissected, categorized. Astrology was kicked of of astronomy, alchemy out of chemistry, and myth would become synonymous with ‘lie’. Doctors took over from midwives, magic became a sideshow act, as did people with physical deformities.
It’s no wonder there was a huge, spiritualist movement at the end of the 19th century. Perhaps this was indicative of another side of Uranus coming into play – the free thinker, telepath, prophet or astrologer who seeks to unify everything and who can ‘see the world in a grain of sand.’ The fin-de-ciecle of the 19th c also gave us Frankenstein and Dracula, metaphors for mad science/creation envy and inherent, human cannibalism (according to Guillermo del Toro).
The overwhelmingly positive response to the Queen’s simple and predictable address today, as Black Moon Lilith conjuncts the Sun, shows that many people are starved for the slightest bit of the sacred in their lives. Popular religion is often too abstracted, no longer bearing any resemblance to the natural cycles and phenomena it was originally inspired by.
I’m reminded of when Diana died in a car crash. People were weeping in part for the princess, but more deeply, I think, for the Goddess. Lilith’s destructiveness stems from the lunar Goddess’ rejection and the stripping of her ‘corona’ – the severing of her head/mental power source. This is more obvious in the myth of Medusa, whose head writhes with primordial serpent wisdom.
Looking at this corona virus (even the name) as a symbolic phenomenon, it is a symptom of our dislocation from the sacred, within and without. The lungs are where grief manifests, around the heart (Aquarius/Leo). Viruses are now thought to play role in our evolution, in changing our DNA. So this is also part of our birthing process.
Restoration of the sacred is something we can all take part in. We simply need to listen, become humble in the presence of nature, life, death and learn to live with reverence again – easy! – we are all indigenous to planet earth and this infinite universe.
The number 20 illustrates an ear and open orifice. Yes it is the Judgement calling card, but it is also through the ear (sound, vibration, frequency) that the holy spirit – the shape-making essence – is conceived.
Medical Definition of conception 1a : the process of becoming pregnant involving fertilization or implantation or both. b : embryo, fetus. 2a : the capacity, function, or process of forming or understanding ideas or abstractions or their symbols. b : a general idea. [Merriam Webster]
Mr. Peter Cushing (May 26), Mr. Vincent Price (May 27) and Sir Christopher Lee (May 27)
Explain that, you astrology skeptics!
Three actors whose suns are conjunct one another, and who became best known for their horror film personas. And yet, they were all such sweet fellows, true Gemini gems, in reality – and good friends, as well.
Admittedly, I did not follow the career of Peter Cushing as closely as the other two – I’ve had a mad crush on Sir Christopher since childhood and Vincent Price was absolutely everywhere when we were growing up, you couldn’t turn on the TV or listen to a record or open a magazine without him making an appearance. He was a ‘household name’, never one to turn down a gig. I was fortunate enough to have seen his one man play, Diversions and Delights, before he died, in which he played an aged Oscar Wilde. Appropriately, he got his start in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre.
The birth time for Cushing might be derived, not exact (it’s not from the astro data bank), however, it does make sense that he’d be a Cancer rising.
Cushing’s mother had wanted a girl (maybe that Venus in Aries sq the ascendant?), so early on, she dressed him as one, letting his hair grow in long curls. While he joked that psychiatrists would have something to say about that, to him it was merely his first role. Unlike his two horror bros, he had always known he wanted to act, from day one.
By all accounts Cushing was a gentle soul, artistic, thoughtful of others (including animals, he was vegetarian), self-effacing with a quick sense of humour, loved a practical joke. That all sounds very Cancerian, as well as Chiron in Pisces, who feels the pain of others. Aquarius Moon also tends toward kindness, humanitarianism, friendliness. Also just look at him, he’s the soft romantic, slightly hurt looking, very much the gentleman. Here he is with Carole Lombard, early in his career.
And here he is with his wife, Helen, who he was devoted to as only a Cancerian husband can be. When she died, he didn’t want to go on living, tried to induce a heart attack by running up and down the stairs, but then realized she wouldn’t have wanted him to kill himself. He said he looked forward to their reunion in the afterlife. His Juno in Pisces, conjunct Chiron and Lilith and sextile Rx Jupiter in his 7th, suggests they were definitely soul mates of some kind. His North Node in Aries indicates that his evolutionary lesson was to learn to go it alone, which proved difficult.
Both Cushing and Price have their Part of Fortune in Pisces, signifying their happiness and likely wealth is found in Piscean pursuits, namely arts/film. Cushing did not like doing plays, repeating the same lines over and over, he preferred movies. He played down the camp, not wanting to ‘insult’ his audience (thinking of others, again). His style was perhaps more natural. With Moon and Uranus in Aquarius, he’d likely be the type of actor who ‘channels’ their character, morphing into them, rather than attempting to create them. He often played the straight man – Sherlock Holmes or Van Helsing, in Dracula, for example (though he was just as comfortable in a monster role), because he understood that was how people preferred to see him. Here he is as Sherlock.
And here playing the villain in the Star Wars prequel…Carrie Fisher said he always smelled like linen and lavender. Out of consideration for his co-stars, he was fastidious about being clean and brushing his teeth. She had to pretend he was someone else in order for her character to hate him.
All three men have prominent Saturn, which accounts for their goth sensibility. Cushing and Price were of the Pluto in Gemini generation, while Lee, being younger, was of the Pluto Cancer generation. Their unconscious ‘evolutionary’ urges would be different, Gemini driven to ‘know’ as much as possible on an intellectual level, while Cancer is more about vulnerability and insecurity issues, needs. More on that later.
If it isn’t obvious without even looking at his chart, Price was the sensualist of the three. Besides being a prolific actor, he was an art collector (had a degree in art history) and, together with his second wife, Mary, a published, gourmet cook. Just look at all that earthy Taurus, plus Jupiter in Scorpio (big desire factor), Pisces ascendant, Mars in Pisces trine Neptune and Venus in Cancer. Other than his dual Gemini and Libra, all his planets are in feminine signs. Price was also a loving man, a ‘lover’ in the universal sense of the word, which is what made him the perfect Oscar Wilde. Lilith in Sagittarius does not like her freedom confined in any way, ‘don’t fence me in’. Price’s daughter is almost certain he was bisexual, but the point is that his Pluto Gemini ‘need to know’ everything was expressed through the physical senses. He looks very Taurus-y in this photo…that neck!
Although Venus can be tasteful in fashion, it depends where she’s situated. In fun Cancer, inconjunct Lilith, camp and kitsch might well be her weapon of choice against the status quo (Saturn also inconjunct Lilith).
Mars in Pisces and Jupiter in Scorpio probably made him more convincing as the kind of movie villain who plots and poisons while trying not to look guilty, as opposed to the sort who just shoots people. My generation knows him well as the evil Egghead, in the ultra-camp, ultra fun, Batman TV series.
Jupiter in Scorpio conjunct the South node might also have to do with him being a descendant of one of the first white settlers born in Massachusetts, on the Mayflower, since Jupiter is often the planet associated with the US and to some extent, ancestry. His father owned a candy company, and grandfather had made a fortune in cream-of-tartar based baking powder, so there’s that Taurus Moon foodie lineage (and probably inheritance).
Price was married three times, his third wife was also bisexual, apparently, which is just interesting because he has Juno in Libra. His daughter is gay and he was totally supportive of her coming out. He was one of the first people to speak out on AIDS. He was also outspoken on racism, was a commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and an art populist who believed and saw to it that everyone should have access to fine art. His Scorpio-Taurus polarity planets/nodes would bestow a fixity that was expressed in his legacies, of which there were many (Gemini). True to Jupiter, he scattered his seeds far and wide, true to Taurus, he nurtured them all.
Ok….I’ve saved the most compelling for last, Sir Christopher Lee, the “man of Many Faces”, with Sun, Moon and Mercury all in Gemini, in the 9th house. He spoke about eight languages and could talk your ear off, ’tis said. Add the Super Galactic Center to that 0 Libra ascendant. “If you want a long and interesting life, pursue something that has no end.” (Arty Shaw). He had an insatiable, inquisitive mind.
It has also been said that, in his most famous role, Count Dracula, Christopher Lee introduced a ‘dark, brooding sexuality’ to the character, and that “Lee’s sensuality was subversive in that it hinted that women might quite like having their neck chewed on by a stud.” [Tim Stanley]
…Am I right, ladies? His Lilith in Pisces is ‘vamped up’ by a trine to his Pluto/Venus.
Maybe an acting out of that shadow Pluto in Cancer need to suck, but who cares, just bite me.
But seriously, this does happen a lot in real life, and who better to play Death to the Maiden than an actor with Pluto conjunct Venus on the midheaven? It’s the stuff of myth. And Saturn on the ascendant gives him that dark, slightly malevolent look – Saturn is the Devil, and the Devil is sexy.
Side note: was he aware of his Saturn position or was the titling of his autobiography just unconscious?
Though he had acted in plays in school, Lee had wanted to be an opera singer (all that Libra), like his great-grandmother, but after his parents separation and divorce (young Christopher aged 4 and 6 respectively) – there’s that Pluto in Cancer sense of not being nurtured – and his mother remarried, his step-father didn’t want to pay for him to go to opera school, so that was that. His mother and stepfather later separated when he was 17 and he would have to work.
At this point, war was breaking out and to make a long chapter short, Mars in Sagittarius kicks in: the knight. He joined the air force at first, but ended up in special forces. Let’s just say he saw the un-seeable, in those years, including the death camps, and it becomes clear that playing the ‘shadow’ was probably therapeutic for him, as well as for the rest of us. While Lee may not have been the most flexible, natural actor (unlike a Brando, for example), he was the kind of ancient school, Mercurial thespian who was able to take on an archetype without being consumed by it. In true, knight tradition, by his portrayal and embodiment of our demons, he ensnares them. By saying “look, this can’t happen, or it shouldn’t happen” (his own words), he was effectively slaying dragons. Ironically, he was knighted for his ‘service to drama and charity’, not for his military service.
Here he is being knighted, looking more regal than the somewhat sheepish Prince of Wales.
He’s like the old, White Knight who slew the Jabberwock, in his youth. And of course, he recorded Lewis Carroll’s poem.
I love seeing where lineage shows up in a person’s chart. Sir Lee’s is well-known, he is a direct descendant, through the matrilineal line, of Charlemagne (‘Charles the Great’), first Emperor of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Indeed, his ‘crowning glory’ was to finally sing opera on his ‘metal concept album’ about his ancestor…Saturn’s long-awaited, earned rewards.
Charlemagne, a conquering, warrior king, who converted Saxonia to Christianity by force, was thought to have been born on April 2, making him an Aries, and Lee’s South Node is in Aries, opposite his regal Jupiter and Saturn, in the first house – which alone is a high falutin placement for these two. (Saturn and Jupiter come together once every 20 years in what’s called a ‘Grand Conjunction’, which can herald births or leaders of importance – supposedly what the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ actually was).
Albrecht Dürer painted this portrait of Charlemagne, six centuries after his reign, and about five centuries prior to Lee’s. Dürer must have been psychic channeling.
Dante includes Charlemagne in his sphere of Mars, home of the Warriors of the Faith, who ‘gave their lives to God, thereby displaying the virtue of Fortitude.’ Later, the Waite-Smith Tarot immortalizes him yet again as the Aries Emperor. Lee may not be into the occult, but the occult is certainly into him.
More fun Saturn facts: Lee and his distant ancestor were both big on books and education (though the Emperor could not himself read), measured over 6 feet tall and walked with a limp due to battle injury, albeit Lee’s was sustained during a Three Musketeers film sword fight. Oh yes, he did his own swashbuckling scenes and had many of them, Mars in Sagittarius, again.
Lee’s beloved wife and soul mate, Birgit, who had her own career as a model and actress, is also an Aries, and we can see he has Juno conjunct Chiron, conjunct the S. node, in that sign. As is suited to a triple Gemini, both his wife and daughter were born on cusps. Geminis will settle for nothing less that a ‘yin for their yang’ (or vice versa). They were a very Euro couple, very cosmopolitan, always getting on ‘best dressed’ lists. Here they are in different phases of life. I’m not jealous.
If you can’t take the heat, don’t tickle the dragon. ~ Scott Fahlman
January 23rd begins the Lunar Year of the Dragon (Lung). Chinese/Lunar astrology is doesn’t integrate religious or karmic concepts the way Western or Vedic astrology does. It is more about achieving balance within the present context of one’s life, and is based on the Moon, rather than the Sun.
There are five elements in Lunar astrology: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. This year, Water is the ruling element. Most eastern Dragons live in or near water and are responsible for rain, so hopefully a fortuitous beginning for the Aquarian Age.
The Dragon is the only celestial creature in the Lunar Zodiac and considered most lucky. It is the embodiment of creative energy without form (a composite being), often depicted coveting the Pearl of Wisdom. The realm of the Dragon is not one of physical matter, but of subtle essences, spirit/chi and infinite possibility.
2012 is sure to be a year of unpredictability, churning emotions and unbridled creative forces. If you are a Dragon (see dates below), this is a maximum power year for you, especially 1952 Water Dragons !
Dragon people are often admired, but not easily understood. They are called ‘eccentric’, because they insist on being entirely self-created and self-defined, but also because of the way they see/sense things – in essence. They can have strong, sometimes domineering personalities, but are very sensitive and loving underneath and are not out to harm anyone. (It would be beneath a celestial being to do so).
Dragons often make great artists, due to the enormously vivid vision they have. But the list of Dragons who have achieved super-stardom seems to be predominated by men. This may be because the Dragon is a yang creature (in ancient times, it was considered a fortunate sign for sons), so the male ego is more suited to it, but also perhaps society has traditionally been more enamored of eccentricity and individuality in men than women. Maybe the water element will favor female Dragons, water being yin.
Some wonderfully whacky Dragons:
Lewis Carroll (1832)
Sigmund Freud (1856)
Dr. Seuss (1904)
Salvador Dali (1904)
Joseph Campbell (1904)
Shirley Temple (1928)
Stanley Kubrick (1928)
Ennio Morricone (1928)
Jeanne Moreau (1928, New Year’s day)
Raquel Welch (1940)
Bruce Lee (1940)
Vitorio Storaro (1940)
John Lennon (1940)
Ringo Starr (1940)
Nancy Sinatra (1940)
Terry Gilliam (1940)
Frank Zappa (1940)
Roberto Benigni (1952)
Roseanne Barr (1952)
Isabella Rossellini (1952)
Paul Reubens aka ‘Pee Wee Herman’ (1952)
Juliette Binoche (1964)
Guillermo del Toro (1964)
Stephen Colbert (1964)
A person who has been hypnotised by a dragon should be made
to do a large number of complicated mathematical sums.
~ Dragonology
A Few Dragon Facts…
Dragon mythology appears in just about every culture. In Europe, the Dragon was a symbol of evil, an embodiment of the Devil, to be slain by righteous heroes like Perseus, St. George or St. Michael. These legends can all be traced back to the Babylonian creation epic, wherein the hero Marduk chops the primordial Goddess, Tiamat, in two, forming Heaven and Earth.
In 1498 Emperor Sigmundson of Hungary founded the ‘Order of the Dragon,’ a monarchical, chivalric order to fight the enemies of Christianity. Vlad the Impaler’s father was a member of this order, which made him a ‘son of a dragon/dracul,’ or ‘Dracula,’ and the inspiration for Bram Stocker’s famous vampyre.
No doubt but there is none other beeste comparable to the mightie dragon in awesome power and majestie, and few so worthie of the diligent studies of wise men.
~ Gildas Magus, Ars Draconis, 1465
In astrology, the ‘axis’ of one’s birth chart flows between two opposite points where the Moon crosses the path of the Sun’s course, called ‘Lunar Nodes’. This concept comes from Vedic astrology, although Western astrology has changed the meaning.
In simplest terms, the ‘South Node’ is called the Dragon’s Tail and in western astro, it represents past, accumulated experience, while the ‘North’ Node or Dragon’s Head represents new territory, evolution. Vedic does not see them as past and future, but rather, south node (Ketu) as feminine/receptive/spiritual and the north node (Rahu) as masculine/active/material. They must always be kept in balance or they can become malefic.
The Dragon’s head is said to be exalted in Gemini, the tail in Sagittarius.
Currently, the Lunar Nodes, which move backwards through the zodiac, are transiting Gemini and Sagittarius (tail is in Gemini and Head in Sagittarius, opposite to their exaltation).
The Milky Way is, of course, the original, celestial Dragon. Sagittarius and Gemini are the two areas where the Milky Way and the ecliptic cross – the beginning and end of the universe, as seen from Earth. The Ancient Chinese lived by the concept of ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’ or ‘As above, so below,’ especially when it came to building structures. It’s now known that the Great Wall of China below was actually built as an earthly replication of the celestial Dragon, not for defensive purposes (though it may have served so later), but as a safe passage for travelers/traders.
The wall’s two ends are aligned with Sagittarius and Gemini.
England will be celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee this year, as well as hosting the Olympics and World Shakespeare Festival. St. George, the Dragon-slayer, is their patron saint. Curiously, ‘Dracula’ was published the last time England had a Diamond Jubilee, in 1897.
Just some celestial food for thought.
The Lunar year starts at different times each year. Here are the actual Dragon Year dates. (Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama, for example, though born in 1964, are Rabbits).
DRAGON YEARS:
02/19/1904 to 02/03/1905 (Wood), 02/03/1916 to 01/22/1917 (Fire), 01/23/1928 to 02/09/1929 (Earth), 02/08/1940 to 01/26/1941 (Metal), 01/27/1952 to 02/13/1953 (Water), 02/13/1964 to 02/01/1965 (Wood), 01/31/1976 to 02/17/1977 (Fire), 02/17/1988 to 02/05/1989 (Earth), 02/05/2000 to 01/23/2001 (Metal), 01/23/2012 to 02/09/2013 (Water), 02/10/24 to 01/28/25 (Wood).
Ah, Sex and War, Love and Death – the essential elements of any lasting narrative. In the western hemisphere, the sacred co-mingling of Mars, all sweaty from battle, and Venus, full of oysters, injects red life force into earthly vegetation each Spring (Aries and Taurus, but also planet Venus in Aries). In Autumn (Libra and Scorpio, but also planet Venus in Scorpio), they unite again in death, Venus committing sati on the bonfire and lonely Mars turning into a wolf that will eat the sick and weak who can’t survive the winter. Adieu, until next time around. The cycle begins, ends and begins again with this union of opposites. Or, as the tantric, Indian Goddess, Lalita puts it, “Like the Sun and Moon coming together in an eclipse, consciousness comes into being via orgasm.” (Funny how the first and last letters of that word spell OM).
Two versions of Indian Goddess Lalita, Babylonian ‘Queen of the Night’
Lalita means ‘she who plays.’ Her many incarnations include Lilith, Lilitu, Lili, Layla, Lola, Lulu, Lolita, etc, all having nocturnal, sexual or demonic connotations. As Hebrew Lilith, she is Adam’s first wife, the serpent in the Tree of Life who teaches him (or Eve, depending which version) “carnal” self-knowledge, i.e. the mysteries of sex, life and death. She is not made from his rib, either, but from earthly muck. When God expels her for her independent spirit (refusing to lie beneath her husband in missionary position), she flies away to where the wild things are, and, finding it preferable to subservience, becomes the prototype for sexual demoness, vamp and devil-humping witch, eating babies and seducing holy men in their sleep. Independent yes, but also deranged. Her name means ‘screech owl’ or ‘ghost.’
The cycle of existence is hard-wired by desire, Scorpio’s raison d’etre. During the Sun’s passage through Scorpio/the 8th house (sex, death, regeneration, energy, healing, shared resources, financial obligations and the occult), from Oct. 23 – Nov. 22, we honour the Sacred Dead and all taboos associated with them. During the few days of Samhain, All Soul’s Eve, Hallowe’en and Dia de Los Muertos, the veil between worlds is as thin as a spider’s web, allowing spirits to attend graveyard picnics and inhabit jack-o-lanterns. On Armistice/Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, we pause to honour those who, in the spirit of Mars (traditional ruler of Scorpio), sacrificed their lives in battle. This year, it will fall on 11-11-11, a date many are getting excited or apprehensive about, considering the power of master numbers 11 and 33.
The word ‘taboo’ originally meant sacred, and indeed, sacred things were kept under veils (where we get the word secret). It later came to mean something forbidden by society. Incest, cannibalism, bestiality and patricide are examples of common taboos. Then there are cultural variants, like the untouchability of the bereaved or of menstruating women, both considered ‘unclean.’ Even today, a woman may refer to her period as ‘the curse’ and drugs are routinely prescribed for blocking messy menstruation altogether. The very essence of sex and death, menstrual blood is even more powerful than blood spilled in battle, therefor extremely taboo.
Teenage menstruation fears gone haywire in Carrie, Bleeding Goddess at Kamakhya Temple, Assam
While the mysteries of womb and grave may be a secret, they are not the property of anyone. They are universally inherent in our DNA and as individually expressed as the infinite forms of nature. Yet, those who govern societies do not want people to be in charge of their own sex, death and regeneration. Whoever owns the rights/rites to these forces has all the power. Therefor, strict rules and guidelines for birth, sexual practices, soul redemption and corpse management are imposed on the populace (while those at the top often practice the complete opposite). Some of these are necessary for health reasons, or simply to protect people – it’s probably not a great idea to eat the deceased, for example, and forced sex with anyone is a violation of natural law – but mostly it’s an 8th house issue of controlling other peoples’ resources. It’s all energy, just like money or food.
Plutonians harnessing Venusian power in Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut
Another attribute of Scorpio is that of the collective nemesis or shadow. Since Scorpio is a feminine sign, this usually means feminine shadow – the harlot, devouring mother or hag – witches who channel the untamed forces of nature. And so we are divided, according to what’s deemed permissible. It is not just women who are affected by the censorship of essential parts of our being, either, since we are all composed of both masculine and feminine, feminine being the soul. Dreams, theatre and film portray our disconnected parts as characters in conflict and resolution. Ancient Greek drama was, essentially, group therapy. In the theatrical tradition of Hallowe’en, it’s socially acceptable (and fun) to dress up as our shadows or alter-egos and parade them proudly, witches being by far the most common. In recent years, Zombie Walks have become hugely popular, with thousands of participants of all ages. (I guess eating braaaaiiins must be therapeutic for a populace so dependent on artificial intelligence).
Beauty’s compassion breaks the Beast’s spell of duality, and Scorpio Winona feels Dracula’s pathos.
In Tarot, the Devil is shadow or dark twin to our solar self, banished to the underworld of our unconscious. Our repressed impulses live there, like creatures of the night, creating disquieting thoughts, illusions and dreams. Traditionally the shadowy, lunar feminine presides over these, but with Pluto and Neptune now on the scene, we can’t be blaming the Moon for everything. (Plus we’ve now an astrological, Dark Moon Lilith).
The chained doppelgangers in card 15 represent our dual nature, which must ultimately be reconciled. This is really the theme of Tarot’s visual narrative, with the climax – a complete breakdown of the ego, followed by a period of grace, darkness and rebirth or ‘dark night of the soul’ – occurring between these two cards, mirroring conception. In ancient astrology, the sign of Gemini was ruled by the Sun.
In extreme cases, the doppelganger can take on a life of its own and prey on the energies of its other. Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, which came to Robert Lewis Stevenson in a dream, is one such cautionary tale. Another is, of course, Dracula, the promiscuous, cannibalistic, murdering necrophile and most beloved Hallowe’en persona. Babylonian lilitu and medieval succubi were early inspiration for vampire lore, but it was Phillip Burne-Jones’ painting of a female vampire, inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, that started the whole ‘vamp’ thing in popular culture. After viewing the painting, Burne-Jones’ cousin, Rudyard Kipling wrote his poem, The Vampire, which later became the script for A Fool There Was, the silent film that gave Hollywood’s myth-making industry it’s own Lilith, Theda Bara. Even her name – an anagram for Arab Death – relates back to the Babylonian demoness. (Venus in Scorpio until November 1 is the Vamp).
Man-made vamps: Burne-Jones’ gothic and Fox’s lady, Theda Bara
Some Scorpios have been accused of vampirish tendencies, thriving on the life energy of others. Though Scorpio expresses the urge to dominate/have power over life, it’s higher resonance is redemption through love, so it has multiple symbols: Scorpion – basic instincts are fear and desire. It amasses power for it’s own gain and stings itself when cornered. Eagle – sees from the heavens, rather than the ground and amasses power in order to redistribute to the whole. Phoenix – rises from it’s own ashes, symbol of self-regeneration par excellence. Dove – redeemer or Christ figure of eternal, pure love/light.
Most Scorpios are a mix of scorpion and eagle, some are phoenixes, few are doves – but all are redeemers in one way or another, for better or worse.
Thoth Tarot Death card, devouring Mother Kali
Indian Vedic astrology has not rushed to adopt Uranus, Neptune and Pluto as the new rulers of Aquarius, Pisces and Scorpio. It also still uses the sidereal system (tropical is commonly used in the west, relying on seasonal equinoxes rather than constellations) and the traditional calendar combines both solar and lunar cycles. Between mid-October and mid-November, it’s Libra season there and Hindus world-wide celebrate Diwali, a five day ‘festival of lights’ celebrating the triumph of good over evil, during which moral order or karma is restored. There are more variations than I’m qualified to write about, but the worship of Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth, wisdom and happiness is the main event. Lakshmi’s four arms represent the four principals of Hinduism – Dharma (duties/philosophy), Samsara (cycle of rebirth), Karma (right action/cause and effect) and Moksha (liberation from Samsara). She also wears red and sometimes rides an owl.
