gemini Archives - ROXANNA BIKADOROFF

May 27, 2025May 28, 2025

Uranus in Gemini – Trickster from Another Dimension?

On July 7, 2025, the planet Uranus will enter Gemini for approximately 7 years. Since Gemini is an air sign, this will be a noticeably different Uranian energy than has been expressed in Taurus. Although Uranus, the ‘higher octave’ of Mercury is said to be the planet of change, rebellion, discovery and so on, in Taurus, this was often felt more as rumbling urges and irritation. (We did see a significant amount of volcanic activity and earthquakes). Think of how mutable earth sign Virgo experiences ruler Mercury’s flighty, buzzing frequency in her earth body as stress. Now imagine Mercury on steroids (Uranus) stuck in in fixed earth (Taurus). So it’s going to be quite a release for Uranus in the Mercury-ruled, intellect-driven, mutable air sign of Gemini.

Traditionally, Saturn – who, like Mercury is a god of alchemy – rules the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius*, and sits in opposition to Cancer (Moon/Silver) and Leo (Sun/gold). The most dense and toxic on one side, the most pure and luminous on the other.

In medieval medical manuscripts, Capricorn was sometimes depicted as a unicorn. The unicorn’s horn was thought to purify any body of water it touched. Powdered, it was a supposed cure-all. Vikings would sell narwhal horns to Europeans, who valued them more than gold for their mythical properties.
A spiralling, calcified growth emerging from the third eye – what a very Saturnine embodiment of awareness, spiritual awakening …. or upgrade/refinement of the caduceus. Commerce and fast talking Vikings.

“We caught the beast called the Unicorn
That knows and loves a maiden best
And falls asleep upon her breast:
We took from underneath it’s horn
The splendid male carbuncle stone
Sparkling against the white skull bone.”

The unicorn is a beloved mythical beast, but it’s also a monster, in the literal sense. And Uranus can, with its touch, create monsters – bombs, deformities, disasters, etc. Astrologers have been pointing out that the US, with its Uranus and Mars in Gemini, was involved in major wars (WW2 and Civil) during the last two Uranus returns. (Mind you, when has it not been at war, directly or by proxy?). ’47’ has Uranus in Gemini conjunct his Sun and North Node, conjunct the US’s Mars. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Uranus and Mars in Gemini were conjunct the midheaven (MC).

Uranus can be the ‘terror of the scientific sun’ but it can also be freaks, weirdoes, and, in Gemini, a very odd twin. Alice Cooper has Uranus in Gemini sextile Pluto/Saturn and opposite Jupiter/Moon (47 also Uranus opp Moon). He was able to profit from his goth, nightmarish ‘other self’, but like Jekyll and Hyde, he said it began to destroy him, requiring drugs and booze to keep the stage persona alive.

In a radio interview, Alice Cooper told of how, at the premier performance of “Welcome To My Nightmare”, he was greeted backstage by Groucho Marx, who shook his hand and congratulated him for bringing back Vaudeville. “He got it. He knew what we were up to,” said Cooper.

Happy Birthday Vincent Price! Watch the two Vincents (Price and Fournier) perform ‘The Black Widow’ here.

Mercury and Gemini have a special relationship with theatre and acting (taking on personas/fakery/camp, etc). So with higher-tech Uranus here, the whole issue of AI in the film industry will likely be amped up. Aquarius and Gemini have to do with ‘friends’ and already we see there’s a whole new trend of inventing chatbot AI friends and other relationships. But we could be talking something more along the lines of alternate/mirror universe, with Gemini being doubles. Or a hidden universe that is like a ‘vanishing twin‘ to ours.

Twin flames? Aurora consurgens, St. Gallen 15th century

Uranus in Gemini will make a trine to Pluto in Aquarius and sextile to Neptune and Saturn in Aries. So two air and two fire planets all in cahoots. This is a completely new, volatile, un-formed energy which these planets will now be giving form to or being formed by (or de-formed by, as the case may be). Major ‘upping of frequencies’ going on. Some will find it difficult to handle the new air/fire vibration, and we are already seeing evidence of this, with things like plane crashes (Pluto in Aquarius, but also a metaphor for how our brains are having to cope with increased ‘air traffic’), and this disturbing new trend of cars being driven into crowds of people. Yes, the transit hadn’t officially started, but the apprehension felt at the last critical degrees of the previous sign is enough. There will be adaption, eventually.

Another already visible manifestation of Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini is of course crypt-o currency. Pluto is god of the dead and of riches beneath the earth. The amount of minerals/mining required for bitcoin is monstrous and it is why 47 is so keen to have Greenland and Canada. 47’s pimply-faced bazillionare crypto-bromancing dinner (yes, the Banana Duct Tape kid was there) was a prelude. His Gemini stellium slid right into the crypto like well-fitting shoes. Leo is polarity of Aquarius, though, so I don’t imagine gold will lose its value, no matter how many kitschy objets were made from melted down Fort Knox bull-lion. [Look to Ancient Egypt, in the Age of Taurus, as an example of how strongly the polarity sign comes into play (Scorpio). Now we’re at the beginning of the Aquarian Age, which squares Taurus-Scorpio, the two signs governing ‘resources.’]

The Uranus/Gemini combination is very intellect-driven and can even be ‘out-of-body’. In fact, we can expect angels and aliens, ‘friends’ from other realms. There is already much more opening of awareness and communication to the spirit realm, judging by all the YouTube videos. Mediums abound. Gemini, when not grounded (and Uranus is anything but grounded, rotating on its side like a wheel), can also attract unwelcome entities.

So look to where Gemini is in your own chart, this area is going to become lit up and Uranus will demand you up the frequency, upgrade the equipment, open your mind, think different, sky’s the limit. ~rb

*Personally I’m not completely convinced we should be handing off Uranus, Neptune and Pluto [‘the alchemists’] to individual signs, since they have such long transits and powerful, generational effects. Astrological Uranus is by definition less like the sky god and more like Prometheus, who stole fire and gave it to humans, causing Jupiter to chain him to a rock with an eagle pecking out his (continually regrown) liver every day. Stealing fire to give to humans sounds like something Aries would do! So I do acknowledge the ‘modern’ rulership, but am still informed by the ‘traditional’. (There’s my Uranus/Saturn opposition talking, heh).

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May 13, 2023April 25, 2024

Mercury – I Come in Three!

We are in Mercury retrograde at the moment, so what better time for a blogpost about everybody’s favourite psychopomp and magic number?

Early on, Hermes’ sacred number was 4, being god of the crossroads, which was where his herma were placed. These were originally piles of stones, to indicate the border of someone’s tribal land. Gradually they became erect stones, often with a cross shape (probably for hanging garlands), and a head and apotropaic phallus was added. No matter who travelled there, friend or foe, offerings were made to ensure safe passage of the foreign turf. Perhaps it is related to the practice of marking graves with stones, too, since the dead were buried outside the boundary, for safety reasons. “And stay out!”
Herma for other gods existed, but the name of course relates to Hermes himself. Bust sculptures are probably a continuation of this tradition.

But when we are speaking of Hermes-Mercury as a planetary/astrological god, 3 is the number by which he operates. Think of retrogradation – common to all planets, but ultimately under his jurisdiction. It’s a triple, illusory move (forward-backward-forward) and, in Mercury’s case, occurs 3 times per year, for about 3 weeks, 3 times in the same element. Even in the most astrologically uninformed circles and media, the ‘Mercury Retrograde’ is reknown, if for all the wrong reasons.

How most people view Mercury retrogrades

Since Mercury can never be more than 28 degrees from the Sun, there are but three Mercury placements a Sun sign can have; in the preceding sign, in the same sign, or in one the proceeding it. For example, Taurus can only have Mercury in Aries, Taurus or Gemini. The Mercury placement will inform the Sun native’s expression and how they process information. Is it possible Mercury in these 3, consecutive signs might have a resonance with the phases of retrogradation? Might Mercury preside over midpoints, as well (particularly, one would assume, the Sun-Moon midpoint)? Questions to ponder during retrograde.

When it comes to uniting solar and lunar opposite natures, the realms of living and dead, awakeness and dreaming, the above and below, the within and without, Mercury is the cosmic connector. We see this in traditional Tarot de Marseille, a ‘Hermetic’ Tarot wherein duality and the balance of opposites is a running theme, as is triplicity and quadruplicity.
In alchemy there are three forms of Mercury; vulgar, volatile and philosophical.

Doubles in Noblet Tarot Pape, Pendu, Soleil ca 1650

Mercury’s sigil also has three parts: the cross of matter (or crossroads) surmounted by a solar circle and lunar crescent. And of course, he rules Gemini, sign of the Twins. Perhaps the Virgo rulership might be better understood if we remember the dual nature of the Goddess – those two serpents originally belonged to her, after all. Where Gemini is happy to be two people, Virgo works tirelessly to create wholeness. She is very much like the angel of Temperance, is she not? This card from the Vieville deck could be Virgo with the Mercurial caduceus.

Might we also find a connection between the 6th house (Virgo’s traditional lodgings) and TdM 6th arcanum, wherein a young man stands between two women? It’s interpreted as having to decide between vice and virtue, like Hercules at the crossroads, but I think ‘crossroads’ might be the key word here. That 7th house cusp is the dividing line, after all. Some other blogpost!

Osiris attended by sisters Nephthys (death) and Isis (life), Conver TdM Lover, 18th c

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December 17, 2022October 26, 2023

Mars Retrogradation of Irritation

In ye olde times, astronomers noted that the sky/stars moved one direction, while the planets moved against this backdrop, in the opposite direction. (They were called ‘wanderers’). Thus, symbolically, planets came to represent individual will/drives.
So when they go into apparent, backward motion – aka retrograde – they are in effect being forced back into the collective flow of the universe. Something to keep in mind during Mars’ retrograde (since Oct 30/22, until Jan 12/23 + shadow period for another 2 months) as this planet epitomizes personal will/drive.

If you are born with any planets retrograde (most people are), you may find those planets are not as co-operative when ‘forced’ to conform, yet they do hold a special wisdom that seems to operate at a more natural pace than direct planets.

Mercury is the “god of retrogradation”, back and forth three times a year, for about three weeks+, and Pluto spends about half the year in reverse. Venus makes a star with her precise retrogrades…i.e, most of the planets are on a schedule. But Mars’ cycle, like the planet-god, can be a bit rough and unpredictable. And because Mars thrives on being adversarial, he’s especially effective when direct, i.e., going solo, against the grain, doing his own, ego independent thing and doing it fast.
In retrograde, not only is he being asked to slow down and march to a beat not emanating from his own drum, but…ever see a scorpion get ready to strike? Or a ram get ready to butt? They back up first – a sign you should get out of the way unless you are up for a battle to the death or at least a bad headache.

I think of Mercurial trickster Bugs Bunny as embodying the flow, the Wu Wei, while his continually confounded adversaries – Yosemite Sam (in particular), Marvin Martian or Elmer Fudd – as embodiments of frustrated Mars. Single-minded, angry child-men just can’t stop seeking his medicine.* (Is that why he says,”Nyeh, what’s up, Doc?”)
Backfiring is such a great, Mars retrograde word.

In Gemini (Mercury’s sign), we may feel Mars’ frustration in all areas of communication. It can feel like Mercury Rx on steroids, when things go awry. Personal will and drive aren’t able to function as we’d like and patience must be exercised. If you have a strong, natal Mars, it can be especially frustrating, like driving with the breaks on or getting red lights at every intersection.

However, Mars requires this training in order to be a good samurai, in any area of life, it is actually good for his focusing ability. (Sagittarius Mars understands this, those with this placement will often be into Martial arts or some kind of channeled discipline for their inner warrior).
Who could forget this scene from Kurosawa’s epic film, The Seven Samurai? (Both Kurosawa and Mifune were Aries, btw). Which swordsman has mastered Mars retrograde?

*Astrologer Caroline Casey said that ‘the oppressor seeks the medicine of those they oppress’, am not sure whether she was quoting another.

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February 26, 2021April 10, 2024

Moon Sign Musings

It’s a Full Moon in Virgo, trining Uranus in Taurus. The Moon holds memories and Uranus can bring up very distant ones, from past lifetimes, but also future or parallel lives, since Uranus is not bound by Saturn timelines. Taurus is romantic, loves ancestry and Virgo loves to record and categorize. So let’s gaze into the crystal, Full Moon ball for clues to each sign’s lunar history…

Moon in Aries

Moon of mythic heroes and epic, battle sagas.
Yours is an ancient soul lineage of indigenous warriors or Amazons, thus combat is in your blood and likely your mother’s.
Patrick Henry’s immortal slogan, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was first uttered on March 23, 1775, Aries season.
In Valhalla (Old Norse: Valhöll – “hall of the slain”), the Moon is always in Aries. Valkyries are your guardian angels.
You are nurtured by taking initiative, protecting life and being honored for your deeds.

Moon in Taurus

Crescent Moon, crescent horns of an Egyptian Bull

The Hathor Moon of milk and honey, that which the sacred cow jumped over. When people say ‘as old as the Moon’ they are talking about the Taurus Moon.
When the sensual, hoofed beauties of the first lunar calendars were painted in caves, to when the first Goddess temples were built, to the Golden Age of Egypt, you were there, worshiping and being worshiped. But your one, constant temple is nature itself.
You are nurtured by gentle breezes carrying the scent of Spring green, good food and sound sleeps.

Moon in Gemini

The Bardic Moon, the inconstant Moon of Romeo and Juliet and Courtly Love. By listening intently to the chattering of birds, you developed language, and later, writing, in order to describe the complexities of human emotion.
Like Cyrano, your words were often commissioned by enamored knights, to whom you generously offered delivery service. Your (in)famous dexterity was honed picking chastity belt locks by candlelight.
You are nurtured by your other half and by imagining things into being.

Moon in Cancer

The Moon of the Great Mother Ocean, conductor of tidal movements and the cycles of rebirth.
Also the keeper of memories, hence Mnemosyne, mother of the 9 Muses.
Yours is a matriarchal cult that precedes temples, when Lucy walked the shores of Africa, nursing Monkey Jesus. You’ve never forgotten a single one of your infinite children (or loves) and hug them all to your breast, when full.
You are nurtured when cooking soul food for your tribe and by being in sync with the colour of your moods.

Moon in Leo

The Dramatic Moon, Cybele’s Moon.
In the Mountain Lion Mother’s temple, you took part in orgiastic rituals, as her half-wild attendants beat drums and danced, while ecstatic devotees offered their self-severed testicles.
You have never forgotten such scenes of devotion, and, while you don’t expect blood offerings these days, you’d still appreciate the occasional drum roll, upon entering a room, thank you very much.
You are nurtured by the self-confidence you feel when giving and receiving creative encouragement.

Moon in Virgo

The Isis or Holy Mother Moon, Moon of witches, healers and midwives.
In the distant past, some of you were responsible for keeping records, including the cycles, names and many uses of plants, others, for libations and purification rituals. Later, in the age of ‘enlightenment’, the first group went on to study medicine, while the others chose a life of the cloth, continuing to serve the Holy Mother, under a different guise.
You still like pure food and being on both first and Latin name terms with the plants in your garden, where you are nurtured and grounded by making improvements…so your cats say.

Moon in Libra

The Manna Moon, and Moon of Temperance.
Your lineage introduced the concept of ‘fairness’ as well as the legalities around trade, marriage and other civilities, based on what was later understood as karma, or, in olde Egypt, the Weighing of Hearts.
Ever since your Greek days, you have been dividing the Gods and Goddesses of your psyche, assigning to each a chord or rhythm and trying different combinations, listening carefully for harmony and discord. You are nurtured by finding the harmonic ones, in all areas of life.

Moon in Scorpio

Hekate’s Moon, Moon of sorcery and shamanic healing.
The casting and removal of hexes is in your soul lineage.
In your own illness, you flew to the land of the dead and back, thus were selected to preside over this transition – be it by returning there, entranced, to retrieve lost souls, preparing the dead, or guiding the deceased towards rebirth.
The elite of your tribe wrote the manuals (The Tibetan and Egyptian Books, for example), while those on the ground practiced midwifery or donned the anonymous, black hood. Residual, last words of the condemned still echo, occasionally, so these days you try to focus on the rebirth part.
Nocturnal animals are your familiars and deep, healing love, your nurturing tonic.

Moon in Sagittarius

The Artemis-Diana Moon, former gypsy, nomad, traveler, with lifetimes of stories to draw from.
You are a semi-retired Sindbad who continues armchair time-traveling to communicate with yourself, in long ago and far away places.
Like Chiron, you are nurtured by nature, freedom and independence, as well as learning and seeking. “Don’t fence me in” is your motto, yet you ultimately seek that place to call home.
You forgive but you don’t forget, because why would you leave out any part your life’s novel ?

[My own lineage, Moon of my mother, both maternal grandparents, aunt and some of my cousins on her side, as well as my paternal grandfather and aunt!]

Moon in Capricorn

The Druid Moon or Pan Moon, the old, wise one, behind the scenes power mover, shaker, money maker, who knows the inner workings of the outer world and how to keep persona and personal separate.
Like your Stonehenge ancestors, you rarely, if ever, divulge your secrets, and distrust all sycophants or anyone offering a free lunch, for that matter.
Somewhere in your past, you were the scapegoat, and that fear still haunts your memory.
You are nurtured by the finer things in life and may have a dark or gallows sense of humour.

Moon in Aquarius

The cosmic crystal (frozen fire) Moon, holding all the resonance codes of creation.
In your telepathic lineage, communication is equal between all lifeforms. You may be/have been one of the extra-terrestrials advancing our technology in preparation for the Aquarian Age.
You have emotions, it’s just that you find them too heavy for communicating through time and space and one can’t bend spoons with them. Also, because electricity travels faster and is more deadly in water, you are wary of electrocuting others should your emotions get the better of you.
You are nurtured by freeing minds.

Moon in Pisces

The Mystic Moon, where imposed, grid time and other boundaries seem like drag nets.
Long ago, when the water dried up and left you in the middle of a desert, you began walking (or dancing) the mystical path, in bare feet and have never stopped.
Nurtured by that which glimmers, you understand we are living in an illusion, but most people don’t know how to and you can’t bear to watch them suffer. You are frequently late, since your clock is melting and crawling with ants, but the love you give more than makes up for it.

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January 11, 2021May 24, 2024

Election Vivisection Redux

And when he came to the place where the wild things are
they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth
and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws
till Max said “BE STILL!”
and tamed them with a magic trick
of staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once
and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all
and made him king of all wild things
“And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”

~ from ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak

Below are excerpts from two articles from my old blog archives. I was not going to include them – or any political posts – in this new site, but under the circumstances, it’s kind of interesting now, to see the writing on the wall. The summation for me was Patti Smith singing ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at the Nobels, after the dictator won the election in 2016. The sinking feeling we’d all had foreshadowed so much that has befallen us since, but the song is hopeful at the end.
(Photos of the subject have been removed, as well as his full name, because we’ve seen quite enough).

Monday, March 14, 2016 – Triumph of the Donald

Why do I get the feeling, when I witness DT, that he is a man in great pain, begging to be put out of his misery ?

Geminis often make great actors, because of their channeling abilities, as long as they can consciously take the persona off at the end of the day. Gemini Marilyn Monroe was an example of one who could not. Having ‘no there, there’ can be scary, feel empty.
One of the more serious conditions a non-conscious or un-grounded Gemini can suffer from is demon or spirit possession, because, being mutable air they are often not quite in their bodies, and being Mercurial, even the less shadowy twins can sometimes attract invisible friends, conjuring unawares. Demons eat negativity and when they find a host, they encourage more and more of it in them, to feast on, as was the case with Gemini Rob Ford, former mayor of Toronto.

Similarly, DT is getting more bloated and insane and less in control of his words and actions. He is not on crack, though I am not sure about pharmaceuticals. At the same time, because of the path he’s taken, he has no choice but to see it through, high stakes, winner take all. Speculative Sagittarius Moon opposite his Gemini Sun. DT has Uranus (higher octave of Mercury) conjunct Sun and opposite Moon. Uranus here bestows an obstinate self-centeredness, extreme unpredictability and the courage of one’s own convictions, no matter how crazy. Monotony is anathema, therefore the pot must always be stirred. With Moon opp Uranus, the soul is never at rest and the person cannot be happy living in the present. The need for intensity eventually can wear them out. I think he is worn out, but his demons are keeping him hopped up and he likes the mojo. And Mercury square Neptune can be delusional.

America loves Uranus, because it’s the planet of Aquarius, society at large, freedom, revolution, the rebel without a cause, wild at heart, as well as science and technology, discovery. But it’s unpredictability has a dark side, too – energetic forces that we don’t know how to control, nukes, big pharma, genetic engineering, and internet disinformation that flows like spilled water. Any planets close to the Sun want their place in the Sun, they’re ‘hot’, so I think his Uranus (insert Uranus joke here) is what people notice first and foremost…certainly that ‘shock’ of hair. His followers feel oppressed by ‘political correctness’ and see him as their liberator.

It’s funny, because mythological Uranus was no liberator. And we now know Uranus, like Saturn, has rings, so even though it marches to a different drummer, it is not entirely unconstrained by limitations. In any case, DT’s North Node lies right smack between his Sun and Uranus, so there’s a destiny to fulfill, for better or worse, and it’s tied in with his aggressive, lonely, Leo Mars ego in the 12th house of karmic debt and self-undoing. The 12th house is where one seeks to dissolve ‘me’ and devote to higher ideals, to transcend ego and free oneself from residue of past deeds. Pluto is also in Leo, there (if his birth time is correct), at 10 degrees. The Pluto-Leo generation have issues and past guilt around things like privilege and wealth, lording it over others. It’s the rock star/super star Baby Boomer bunch. Many of them worked through their karma on stage, through performance. Well, America has had an actor for president before…

Giansar is the fixed star conjunct DT’s Pluto, in the tail of Draco. It indicates having many friends and an analytical mind, but also the name means ‘the punished enemy’ as well as ‘the poison place’, because it is similar in nature to the south node (Dragon’s tail). He may very well be re-living a past life of being a punished dictator. Royal star Regulus, Heart of the Lion aka ‘Little King’, is right smack on his ascendant, conjunct Mars by a few degrees, meaning he sees himself – and others may see him – as a ruthless king. Well, he certainly does live like royalty.
The fixed stars around his Sun have to do with high position, quick mind, quick temper, luck, brief fame, scandal, quarrels, weapons of war, point of attack and the Death card in Tarot. (I think of stars as being indicative of the past, because their light has come from there, reaching us in the present and lighting particular points of the chart).

Mussolini was Leo Sun w Gemini Pluto, in mutual reception to DT’s Gemini Sun and Leo Pluto.

Thursday, October 27, 2016
Election Vivisection

Watching parts of the last presidential debate made me physically nauseous for about three days. Both candidates are frightening, but I think DT is actually, literally toxic, a product of all the psychological hazardous waste in the US, having taken on a life form.

It’s hard to say who was doing exactly what last time around, but 1938 keeps coming up again and again. The players have changed, but the cycle has come back to the same spot. Fun fact – H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds was first broadcast Oct 30, 1938, causing widespread panic, because Orson Welles made it sound so realistic. The first large scale example, perhaps, of how collective fear could be manipulated by media. (Aptly, it was a Mercury Theatre production). We are seeing that every day now, but nobody is coming on air after the fact to tell us that it’s not real !

I’m not the only one who thinks there will be a plot twist to this election. Some think there will be an assassination or attempt on either candidate, most predict some kind of voting fraud or mishap. I think it will come after the election, whether it be assassination, health-related or some criminal allegation. Not sure, just know that the actual election is not going to be the end of this madness, just a point of release.

Looking to 1938 again, there were a few very false starts, like when Hitler was named TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year. That’s right, Hitler, Man of the Year. Meanwhile, concentration camps were opening up in Germany, the passports of Jews were being confiscated and their businesses being looted, the Holocaust had begun. The Munich Agreement saw Germany, Italy, France and Britain agree to the annexation of the Sudetenland/Czechoslovakia by Germany, without any say from the Czechs, thinking this would avert war. Neville Chamberlain arrived home, waving the signed papers, proclaiming, “Peace in our time !” Yeah, that didn’t happen. Instead, Mussolini began demanding France cede various ‘colonies’ to Italy, the Middle east was also being carved up, and the atomic age officially started when nuclear fission, using Uranium was first discovered that year.
Seeing any parallels yet ? Now we have refugee camps, passports being confiscated, new dictators, Ukraine, Syria, use of depleted uranium, the threat of nukes and world war for real, rearing it’s ugly head… Not making predictions, just noting that unfinished business has returned to collect and the tension is thick as black, Russian rye.

Comparing their charts, Putin trumps DT, and his crafty, Gemini Moon must give a sense of security or recognition to DT’s ‘no there there’ Sun. I’d have to agree that Trump makes a very excellent, Putinesque puppet. It’s a mutual, buddy-buddy relationship, sure, except that one of the buddies is not playing with a full deck, the other is a major, world player. A narcissist like DT with Mars and Pluto in the 12th is attracted to power like a fly to excrement and is therefore malleable. At the same time, he has a lot of power residue, left over from the past, and is an excellent manipulator himself, but he does not use it responsibly, he throws it about, inciting people to be their worst and attracting entities. The man is akin to a walking ear worm of your most hated song.

Well, less than 3 weeks to go…

Btw, Nov 9 in 1938 was ‘Kristallnacht’, the ‘night of broken glass’, in Germany, when Nazi activists and sympathizers spent the night on a rampage, burning and looting Jewish businesses and synagogues. We can likely expect some violence around this election – if he loses, there will be anger, rioting by those believing the results fixed… if he wins, there will be idiots who see it as permission to go on a racist rampage.

And now, back to the present…

Attack on US Congress, Jan 6, 2021 – either that upholstery goes or we do.

This just in…
A friend posted to FB this morning. Old footage of a Nazi rally at Madison Square Gardens, 1939, pieced together and cleaned up by director Marshall Curry. It seems hard to believe (although I’d heard of this event, before), but then, considering Hitler was TIME’s Man of the Year, just the year before, and the world had not yet seen the concentration camps, maybe not so hard. Please watch this 6 minutes of horror.

May 26, 2019April 5, 2024

Terrifying Trio Astrology – The Charts of Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Sir Christopher Lee

Something fun to kick off Gemini Season with…

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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TERRIFYING TRIO!!!

All written content (except where quoted) and charts herein are copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff 2019. Written content may not be reproduced without permission, but you may share via link. Thank you!

January 9, 2012April 5, 2024

Enter the Dragon 2012

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.

Read about the Milky Way/Great Wall discovery here.

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).

All written content except for quotations and Dragon year list is ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be re-used without permission. (Please note I am a Dragon). Feel free to share via link, however. Thank you.