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
Triumph of Mars
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.
Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Satan, 16th c
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.
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.
Man’s heart, away from Nature becomes cold. ~ Standing Bear
Uranus entered Taurus on May 15, 2018, for a 7 year stint. With Taurus being the sign of our planet, Uranus being the ruler of the Aquarian Age and the creation myth of Ouranos (sky) and Gaia (earth) being symbolically reenacted, the stage is set for a highly significant transit.
There are many possible interpretations, but I see the combination of fixed earth and Mercury’s higher octave as nothing less than ‘the Great Work’ of our collective alchemy, wherein we are able to rediscover (and perhaps quantify) the living spirit in matter.
Francisco de Holanda, ‘De aetatibus mundi’ (c. 1545)
The Mythology and the Mechanics
In astrology, Uranus is said to have a ‘Promethean’ quality. This was especially true during it’s Aries transit, when we saw individual, young hero-rebels at the forefront, stealing fire and giving it to mankind (think Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden). By the time Uranus had come to the late degrees of Aries, it was not just one or two brave truth tellers, sticking their necks out, but large numbers of ‘underdogs’ marching in the streets – a virtual children’s crusade against the gun lobby and a #metoo movement against sexual harassment. True to “I Am” Aries, these were initiatory expressions of anger, the demand to be seen and heard. Mercurius in his volatile, firey form.
Erté, Fire
Often, in myth and legend, a Hero must obtain or is given a ring, key, password or other such symbolic, magically imbued accessory, with which to unlock secrets or treasures, hidden within the Earth or some forbidden place (ie, the feminine). The individual must be pure of heart, of course. Only a ‘true sovereign’ like Arthur could obtain the sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Only the compassionate, simple brother who shares his loaf with a stranger will win the princess. Musical keys also unlock certain mysteries, in that they open different channels to our emotions and memories. Uranus’ symbol, like Chiron’s, resembles a key.
Because Aquarius’ natural ruler is Saturn, who’s metal is lead, and it’s polar opposite, Leo’s ruler is the Sun, whose metal is gold, we can see how the addition of the ‘key’ of Uranus – the higher octave of Mercury (who indeed heralded the transition into Taurus, by conjunction) – is essential to the alchemical process of turning lead to gold. In the realm of fairy tales, frogs are transformed into princes, pumpkins into coaches, and so on – all metaphors for the transmutation of the self. In evolutionary astrology, Uranus is also said to represent long term memory, that of past lives. Remember sitting on a lily pad, catching flies ?
The Frog Prince illustrated by P.J. Lynch
So, collectively, we could see it as the first ‘task’ (1st house/Aries) now being complete, and the next one (2nd house/Taurus) beginning. Uranus is future-oriented, unattached and changing, while Taurus is ancient, material and constant. Our mission now is to unlock something hidden (Scorpio) and sacred in us that is our birthright, but that we will have to be pure-hearted enough to do. Uranus is mental intellect, so in our collective myth, the hero must now be initiated into heart (Leo) wisdom, via Venus/Eros (Taurus). The 0 degree of each fixed sign is being activated or awoken by Uranus as it unlocks the gate to Taurus, waking the Phoenix (Scorpio) from it’s ashes.
The Lover: Spock’s initiation into heart wisdom.
True, not everyone will have successfully completed the 1st task, and the ‘children’s crusade’ continues with Chiron’s move into Aries (tragically, there have been two more high school shootings, as I edit this). But only a certain percentage of the population need obtain the fire or key required for the evolution of the collective consciousness, ’tis said.
We’ve seen many brilliant, scientific and technological breakthroughs at the onset of the Aquarian Age, as well as the dangers, like the risk of becoming too clinical and detached, toxic pollutants and the capability for total annihilation. At the same time, many are becoming highly sensitized to the suffering of others, of animals especially, as we realize we are not separate from anything else in the universe, that spirit isn’t just something personal, but lives in and connects all things.
Fiat Firmamentum, by Francisco de Holanda, from’ De Aetatibus Mundi Imagines’, circa 1545
Fun Fact: Uranus, ruler of the Aquarian Age, is also the planet of astrology. Viewed from space, everything on Earth would appear to be happening simultaneously, which is kind of how we view the snapshot of a moment in time, drawn as a chart.
Aquarius can be a telepathic sign, and with the key of Uranus, we are being presented with a golden opportunity to communicate telepathically with all lifeforms, via spirit, once again. As mentioned, Uranus rules long-term memory, which includes traumatic resonance. Our collective, Uranus in Taurus trauma must have something to do with our separation from nature, both within and without.
The field has eyes, the wood has ears; I will look, be silent and listen. ~ Heironymus Bosch
Buddhist meditation instruction illustration, Rubin Museum
Buddha was also said to have been a Taurus. He ‘unlocked’ the mysteries of the nature of mind by simply sitting under a Banyen tree and observing his. He saw that all suffering comes from attachment to that which is impermanent. One of the key teachings of Uranus in Taurus is freedom from attachment – to old ways, traditions, things…anything that is overdue for renewal. Freedom in any way necessary. Un-attachment to outcome and transient forms is not the same thing as emotional detachment, which kills compassion and creates sociopaths.
So, how does a Uranus transit differ from a Pluto transit ? Uranus feels more like a rumbling or irritation that one can’t ignore, shackles that must be thrown off. There is an urgent, awakened quality to it. It may bring sudden clarity or quantum leaps. The Pluto transit is more like a death (albeit with the promise of rebirth), as the transformation goes on at a deep, subconscious level. It can manifest in outward projections, like scary situations/people and obsessions. Both planets are powerful, impersonal, and can be destructive if we try to cling to the old. Best to come quietly.
Where did we come from, what are we, where are we going ? ~ Paul Gauguin
Taurus is one of the – if not the – oldest constellations in the zodiac. This is thought to be a depiction of it at Lascaux.
Aquarius has an affinity for archeology as well as astronomy and astrology, because in the ‘Age of Man’, what does it actually mean to be human ? The more we discover about the past and the future, we begin to realize that we are the so-called ‘missing link’, not only do we embody the living potential of spirit, but we are the living potential. We were given the blueprints, in the form of teachings we didn’t fully understand at the time (another magic key), and our consciousness has since been evolving, but we are not yet there. The sense that it’s all our own responsibility is existentially terrifying to us, so we amass information as fast as we can, providing our rational minds with some sense of security. But this only provides partial understanding, because information, being windy-Mercurial, is ever changing.
How do we know what way is the right one ? How does the hero know which path to choose ? What is constant and real, not bullshit ? Taurus is accused of fixity, but the lesson of this sign, and for those born under it, is to instinctively understand the transmutation of elements (Scorpio), at a base level and know that in nature, nothing remains the same – though it is constant. Perhaps Taurean melancholy comes from gut feeling this impermanence, just like Scorpio power comes from knowing nature’s consistency (Taurus).
Hildegarde Von Bingen, The Egg of the Universe
Out of this World
When Venus (Taurus) and Uranus come together, it can create the environment for creative genius. Of course there have to be other contributing factors in the chart for any of these manifestations to occur, but the number of mystics, occultists, astrologers, philosophical thinkers or spiritual and social scientists with Uranus in Taurus is staggering. Among them are Hildegard of Bingen, Marcilio Ficino (humanist philosopher who translated Plato’s works), Nicola Tesla, Mademoiselle Lenormand, Sigmund Freud, Max Planck (founder of quantum theory), Fritjof Capra, Stephen Hawking and Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space).
Perhaps the greatest musical genius of all time, Ludwig Van Beethoven
The musical list is a blog post in itself, but Beethoven, JS Bach, Handel, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Nico, Charlie Watts, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Tina Turner, Roy Orbison, Brian Epstein (Beatles discoverer and mgr) and Phil Spector are just a small handful. The list seems disproportionately male, which is partly due to the nature of the biz, but also because the men seek their lost muse or ‘anima’. Think of Bob Dylan’s ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’, Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus in Furs’ or pick any Leonard Cohen song – they are not really about an individual woman, but rather a hymn to the Goddess, in some form or other. (Many of the 60s bunch are also Neptune/Virgo natives = Music + Goddess).
“It don’t matter how you worship, as long as you’re down on your knees,” sang poet-prophet Cohen, adhering to ancient tradition.
Western women with Uranus in the feminine house of Venus, discovered and owned their body politic, en masse for the first time. This generation gave us ‘ground-breaking’ feminist writers like Germaine Greer, Erica Jong and Margaret Atwood, actor-activists like Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson and the screen Goddesses had a formidable, self-possessed sexuality – Sophia Loren, Tura Satana, Anita Pallenberg, Ann-Margret, Raquel Welch, Brigitte Bardot, Karen Black, Elke Somer, Diana Rigg, just off the top.
Tura Satana and Diana Rigg
The polarity of Taurus/Venus and Scorpio/Mars/Pluto is intense, can be obsessive, perverted or sexually deviant, if unbalanced and there do seem to be a lot of sexual-serial killers born with Uranus Taurus. It has to do with not just sexual but also creative repression, which rejects the Goddess and kills the soul. On the other hand, writers with Uranus Taurus like Dante Alighieri and Joseph Conrad stared into the mouth of Hell and revealed to us what damnation was like for tortured souls. Vincent van Gogh was the quintessential, tortured artist and misunderstood genius. True to Uranus, his artistic vision would be appreciated in the future, not in his own time. True to Venus, his paintings – bursting with the living, volatile spirit – are now some of the most valued and sought-after on Earth. Were the MOMA to sell ‘Starry Night’ it would cost about a billion dollars. So keep in mind that what whatever we create now will be long-lasting and may not come to fruition within our own lifetime.
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
The previous Uranus/Taurus transit also overlapped Pluto/Leo, so many came into the world with their personal, creative expression fully-honed. We aren’t likely to see the same plethora of ‘super-stars’ with Pluto in Capricorn, but it will be in Aquarius, near the end of the Uranus-Taurus transit, which will again bring the Leo polarity into play. Uranus-Taurus is ushering in the first ‘official’ Pluto-Aquarius cycle of the Aquarian Age !
A note about Capricorn…
Capricorn rules class systems, money/power structures and other orders of society. But we often forget that Capricorn is not just a Scrooge-y, social climbing mountain goat. It’s also a fantastical mer-goat, as well as Unicorn, which it was depicted as, once, in old, medical astrology texts. The pure, white, “calcified” unicorn horn was thought to be a cure for anything, since the Unicorn is incorruptible and equated with the Christ or the incorruptible part of ourselves. Pluto in Capricorn is helping us get there, by any means necessary.
15th and 14th c zodiacs with Capricorn as Unicorn
The magical, Mercurial (or Uranian) unicorn horn is essential for transformation. And doesn’t Scrooge himself undergo a transformation after a series of dreams (aka visions), at Winter solstice? Capricorn rules the skeletal system and teeth, and it’s ruler, Saturn, old age and death – the bleached bones being all that remains long after the spirit and the flesh have left. Saturn is also the traditional ruler of Aquarius.
“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.”
It’s no wonder Unicorns seem to be popping up everywhere, lately. The horn also symbolizes the opening of the third eye, it’s vision transcending the mundane. (Indeed, many Capis are visionaries). It’s important not to lose our sense of wonder, as we try to rationalize what we can’t control or foresee. Uranus is all about tricksterism and expecting the unexpected.
David Bowie: Capricorn Unicorn, Mercurial poster child
Meanwhile, in the lower realms…
Environmentally, Uranus is a hot, explosive, planet of surprises and it’s moving into fixed earth. We are already seeing increased volcanic activity, but things are likely just getting warmed up. Environmental changes (and possible, other natural catastrophes) under this transit will be a factor in the coming economic changes. We will again be reminded, in no uncertain terms, that we must get back in tune with nature, as our imposed, false grid is no longer secure or sustainable. Remember, Uranus is Mercury on steroids, and Mercury can be ‘an infernal fire, the spirit of truth hidden in the earth’, sulphur.
Some astrologers have noted cyclic returns and conjunctions to the last time(s) Kilauea blew, and are predicting another big one, based on this. Volcanic explosions of the big, sudden kind can affect earth’s atmosphere and weather for years. They can actually cool the planet, but also darken it, as the ash blocks the sun. Or, if the particulates are large, the opposite effect happens, wherein there is an acceleration of global warming. They say that active volcanoes have actually prevented us from getting as warm as predicted. (Considering the latest policy of the US admin under Trump, it might be best for the planet if Pele blows her top). Interestingly, Hawaii is the highest place (above bottom sea level) on earth – literally where the earth meets the sky. Expect comets and other phenomena.
Athanasius Kircher, The Interior of the Earth, 1665
In 1815, the Indonesian volcano Tambora propelled more ash and volcanic gases into the atmosphere than any other eruption in history and resulted in significant atmospheric cooling on a global scale, much like Krakatau a few decades later. New England and Europe were particularly hard hit, with snowfalls as late as August and massive crop failures. The cold, wet, and unpleasant climatic effects of the eruption led 1816 to be known as “the year without a summer,” and inspired Lord Byron to write:
“The bright Sun was extinguishd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went and came, And brought no day”
–Lord Byron, “Darkness”
There is a story that Byron invited some of his friends to his home in Switzerland that summer to relax by the shores of Lake Geneva. The lack of sun and warm summer weather led the group to hold a competition writing ghost stories to keep themselves entertained. One of the guests, Mary Shelley, wrote the famous novel Frankenstein for this contest, revealing that in addition to major climatic effects, volcanic eruptions can have some unexpectedly far-reaching results. (from Scientific American)
Shelly’s book was first published in 1818 – exactly 200 years ago this year, and was originally titled Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. It has been called the ‘birth of science fiction’. (Frankenstein was the doctor’s name, the monster was not referred to by name). Here we have an example of the Leo-Aquarius polarity in action, a classic work of artistic genius, about the madness of a scientist playing God and mucking about with the natural order without taking spirit into account. Sound familiar ? Though some insist it was written by her husband, one look at Mary Shelley’s chart shows otherwise, but I won’t digress here (perhaps another article). In any case, a good book to re-read, about now. There will be more goth days to come…
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster
Speaking of man-made monsters, there will be a temptation to invest in Uranium mining during this transit. While we bitch about bitumen in Canada, uranium mining here is a much more lucrative and shady business. It is used solely for nuclear energy and its bi-product, depleted uranium, for weapons. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, and once it enters the body (via inhalation of dust, ingestion, through soil, etc), it mutates the chromosomes and causes all manner of cancers and birth defects, literally creating monsters. (The higher octave of Mercury poisoning). Since Iraq has an old affinity with Taurus and surviving babies exposed to depleted uranium during the Gulf war are now teenagers (Chiron in Aries matter), we might see them coming up in the news. If so, I hope you all have strong stomachs. Google ‘Iraq depleted uranium’, if you don’t believe me, but you have been warned.
The possibility of nukes of some kind going off in Mesopotamia (Iran is a Taurus affiliated land – could be a matter of underground testing), the ‘cradle of civilization’, is also very real, and the Capricorn Pluto power players are invested up to their goat horns in the arms trade. Guess they didn’t read Dante.
The famed poet, Dante Alighieri
Findings of plastic, and other toxins in milk (human and animal) are sure to increase, and if we don’t find a natural way to transform plastic and start putting to use the existing ones, we may literally start turning into Barbie and Ken, as our DNA changes to absorb the new information. Well, maybe we have become too attached to all the beautiful forms of the present ‘maya’ (illusion) we are in. Taurus finds the destruction of the garden very hard to take, but there is nothing here that didn’t always exist in our cozy, alembic vessel. What does the spirit in plastic have to teach us ?
The wave of discoveries regarding how information is recorded in and changes our DNA is going to get tidal. Minds will be blown. The fact that our destiny is in our own hands will become ever more apparent, some will see this as a precious thing, others will go power-mad.
‘Henry’ – Get up, get on up/like a ‘Sex Machine’ [photo Wired Magazine]In Conclusion
Uranus in Taurus, in Greek myth, is the union of Titan Gods Ouranus (sky God) and Gaia (earth Goddess), but take your pick of Sky + Earth creation myths. Since we are all children of this union, the duality of spirit and matter exists within each of us, but man and woman are not true opposites. Rather we are of one ‘gender’, with various levels of the same hormones. We all start out, in utero, as a Mercurial, ‘feminine’ androgyne. (Men have nipples, and the penis is just a little clitoris that grew). The battle of the sexes becomes ridiculous when you understand the biology. But biology alone is alchemy minus the philosopher’s stone; a study of material building blocks, of product, which does not take it’s inherent, living spirit into account. Dr. Frankenstein stuff. Maybe the fact we are drowning in ‘product’ is a testament to this.
‘Pink Optimism’ [photo Roxanna Bikadoroff]In alchemy (the ‘below’ in ‘as above, so below’), Mercury is ‘the working force in the Great Work’, ‘the spirit of truth hidden in earth.’ S/he is the volatility and fluidity in every form, embodying every duality. In astrology (the ‘above’), Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury. In the Aquarian Age, the Mercurial becomes Uranian, the inherent spirit in matter goes up an octave in frequency. This acceleration can make fixed Taurus/matter extremely volatile, which is why we are seeing more volcanic activity. Taurus is about manifestation, show me the goods.
I doubt we will all awaken to the inherent, transmuting power of our Mercurial/Uranian spirit-nature en masse (unless aliens land and set off millions of visionary gas bombs – it could happen), but I do believe it has something to do with secret we are supposed to unlock, and that we are going to see some very interesting meta-physical developments, over the next 7 years, which will bear exotic fruits for years to come.
Philosophical Mercury, c 1400
When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter the Kingdom.
William Lilly (infamous 17th c astrologer and occultist)
Fomalhaut (19th c French astrologer, Sun exact conjunct Uranus)
Thomas Burgoyne (American occultist, mystic, astrologer, clairvoyant)
Mademoiselle Lenormand (sybil of Napoleon’s court)
Noel Tyl (famous contemporary astrologer)
Anne Toth (Canadian astrologer) Hildegarde of Bingen (abbess, doctor, composer, artist, mystic)
Marsilio Ficino (humanist philosopher, astrologer, reviver of Neoplatonism and translator of Plato’s works)
Charles Fourier (French utopian socialist/philosopher, credited with originating the word ‘Féminisme’)
Thomas Moore (spiritual writer and Jungian therapist)
Emile Durkheim (helped establish sociology as an accepted science)
Emanuel Swedenborg (inventor, scientist, mystic)
Nicola Tesla
George Eastman (founder of Eastman Kodak company, invented roll film)
André-Marie Ampere (one of the discoverers of electro-magnetism)
Daniel Gabriel Farenheit (self explanatory)
Charles Kowal (discovered Chiron)
Catherine Kraft (French volcanologist who died with her husband in pyroclastic flow on Mt. Unzen)
Sigmund Freud (father of modern psychoanalysis)
Kenneth Ring (co-founder of Intl Association for Near-death Studies)
Max Planck (founder of quantum theory) Fritjof Capra (The Tao of Physics, quantum physicist and ecologist)
Stephen Hawking
Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space)
