Malcolm Gladwell

God is in the Details -- the Virgo's Fight Song. Virgo is the sign of the perfectionist and the analyst. They excel at creation and management of details. Virgo follows the sign of Leo which sees the big idea. And so Virgo must take Leo's big ideas and make them work. When Virgos work on something usually every part of the thing will be perfectly crafted. Their sign is ruled by Mercury and is a mental, thinker's sign. Often they notice the little things in life that have so much meaning.

The Writer, Malcolm Gladwell, is a Virgo born Sept. 1, 1963 in England (I don't know what town so I used London as place in his chart). Sun at 7 Virgo, Moon probably in Aquarius. He was born at the beginning of Uranus and Pluto's pass through Virgo and his Sun is conjunct these signs. Venus is also included in this conjunction and Chiron opposes it from Pisces. His writings follow what one would expect from this combination. Actually, I was expecting Mercury, Virgo's ruler, to be in this sign too but it is in Libra quindecile Saturn in Aquarius in his chart which explains the popularity of his writing. Often a problem Virgo faces is that it can bog other less precise folks down with too many details. Libra is the sign that follows and so is concerned with graceful communication and social skills, easier for public comprehension.

Gladwell's two best selling books so far are The Tipping Point and Blink. From his website www.gladwell.com you can see the keywords from the Uranus-Pluto-Virgo combination all over the descriptions for his books.

The Tipping Point: "an examination of social (Uranus) epidemics (Virgo/Pluto) that surround us." "Quick" (Uranus), "Unexpected" (Uranus) "Change" (Pluto).

Blink: "Rapid Cognition" (Uranus in Virgo) The Kind of Thinking (Mercury) that happens in the Blink of an Eye (Uranus). Instant conclusions. Intuition as a thinking process rather than emotional state. Well, this I would attribute to Moon in Aquarius. Saturn, a slow planet, is placed in Aquarius, a quick sign. The tension created by this contrast has produced a creative (quindecile) way of looking at thoughts, in particular instant (Aquarius) thoughts.

Many people from this Virgo generation have gone either into computer programming and nanotechnology (working on a very miniature scale).

Gladwell also has an opposition of Jupiter to Mars in his chart which squares the Nodes. Jupiter and Mars together are often associated with speed, they happen in racehorses. Gladwell's work so far centers around observing really fast changes and quick thought processes. This activates his spiritual South Node in Capricorn to drum up great knowledge about anything having to do with timing, fast v. slow and eventually he may project this in a Cancerian way which deals more with space and environment.

Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart recently gave an Interview on TV and I was once again amazed by the story of how his career in comedy just seemed to take off with very little preparation or experience when he was in his early 30s. I was wondering what to look for for extreme Good Luck (well, and talent).

Bob Newhart b. Sept. 5, 1929 9h10m Oak Park, IL
Sun in Virgo, Libra Ascendant, Libra Moon, Cancer MC

Like Ted Hughes, the poet I just looked at, at the opposite end of the scale here, Bob Newhart has a Bucket Shaped Chart with Saturn as the handle which really emphasizes Saturn's role in his life. It's in Sagittarius in the 3d House. Saturn can indicate fears, insecurities and delays in life. His successes came right after his 1st Saturn Return. The extra ambition and decision making power of the Saturn Return really kicked in here. Most astrologers read this house placement of Saturn as showing slow mental processes or inferiority complexes due to sibling rivalry. 3d House makes sense for communications, also indicates humor especially in connection with Sagittarius. Saturn indicates dry, understated humor, sometimes cutting. Neptune is also unaspected in Newhart's chart giving it extra power and Neptune rules work in Film and TV.

The Fun Part is watching the t-square in Newhart's chart in action. Pluto conjunct Cancer MC (career) is at the apex. Pluto can bring great crisis but sometimes great fame. Cancer MC can indicate a career in Cancer type activities like cooking or real estate but here it's ruler, the Moon, is conjunct the Ascendant, giving Public Appeal (Moon) to his personality (ASC). Cancer rules families, children, a sense of play and playfulness and often comes up in Comics' charts especially in aspect to Uranus and Mercury as it is here. It is squaring his Libra Ascendant opposite Uranus (sudden events and changes). Jupiter also trines Newhart's Ascendant which brings luck. It's in the house it rules, the 9th, which emphasizes humor and abstract thought. There's a conjunction of Mercury-Mars-Moon with Newhart's Ascendant from the 12th house. 12th house is good for actors, it describes people who like to escape behind a character role.

In 1960, his album, "The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart" became an instant hit, beat out Elvis and/or Sinatra (I'm not sure which) in the Charts, and won an Emmy. His progressed Sun (ego projection) had just passed over his Mercury-Mars-Moon over the last 3 years and was approaching conjunction with his Ascendant so it would have been squaring his Pluto-MC (fame-career) and trining his Jupiter (Luck). At the same time, Saturn was passing over his IC filling out the empty leg of his t-square. This is considered a great time to start building a new life, usually it is thought to bring a bout of poverty or restriction. In a tension aspect with progressed Sun, Uranus, and Pluto it is explosive. Although they would never admit it, most astrologers would look at this combination plopping on the angles as they are and think that the client should just bend over and kiss his ass good-bye. In Newhart's case, this brought an explosion of the good kind, sky rocketing fame. His chart was also receiving beneficial trine and sextile aspects. Jupiter was trining his Progressed Sun. In addition to filling out the empty leg of the t-square, Saturn was also filling out a Grand Trine formation with Newhart's Sun trine Chiron-NN in Taurus. So, Success is stressful, boo hoo. It's just so cool that it brought such fulfillment to his ambitions rather than aching poverty the way I personally would have read it. Just a great example of the powers of an unaspected
Saturn. Well, transiting Jupiter (luck) was also passing over Newhart's Saturn that year too, bringing more protection.

The success in show business makes sense although I wouldn't have guessed it. His North Node is in Taurus, ruled by Venus. That shows a life purpose connected with the arts and money. Venus (Art, Love) is in Leo (Drama) in his 10th House. Venus also rules his Chart and his Moon. The Moon is conjunct his Ascendant (public personality) and rules his Midheaven (career). All this Venus accounts for his easy-going personality. The Virgo Sun in the 11th house is an easy going personality.

His skits often revolve around humorous phone conversations that he has with an imaginary person on the other end. Libra doesn't like to work alone, after all, and with those 12th house planets Newhart could probably imagine himself to be just about anywhere at any time. Mercury rules telephones and radio and it is conjunct his Ascendant. To repeat: His progressed Sun was just passing over this when he found success.

Looking back, it makes so much sense that the act that catapulted him to fame was through telephone conversations, although, but who would be able to read it to begin with through that Buttoned Down Mind (Gawd, that's just so Saturn in H3!)?

Assia and Shura Wevill

This is a separate post for Ted Hughes' mistress, Assia Wevill and their daughter Shura. Their charts are exceptional from an astological perspective.

Assia Wevill b. May 15, 1927 Berlin, Germany
Shura Wevill b. Mar. 3, 1965 London, England
both died Mar. 23, 1969 London, England

Hughes left his wife Sylvia Plath for Assia. Sylvia Plath subsequently committed suicide when Assia became pregnant. In 1969 she gave her daughter sleeping pills, tucked her into bed, took pills herself, and then gassed both of them, going the same way as Sylvia Plath, sort of "ghosting" her behavior perhaps due to guilt.

Assia had Sun in Taurus square Neptune in her natal chart. This is someone who has to learn how to deal with deception and unrealistic maybe manipulative behaviors. Ted Hughes's Sun is conjunct her natal Neptune so she probably had no ability to see him or the relationship with anything but super Idealized Rosy Colored Glasses. During the time that they were together her Progressed Ascendant was moving in and out of a square with this natal Neptune as well. It's unfortunate that she had a Pisces daughter who she probably couldn't distinguish from her own problems.

I'm mentioning this because I noticed in her biographies that everything seemed to happen to her in March, which is Pisces' month. Sylvia Plath committed suicide in February and Wevill had an abortion for Hughes' and her 1st child in March. Then their daughter Assia was born in March. And then they died in March. These events seem to bring strong reactions from transits to her natal Jupiter in Pisces-Uranus in Aries conjunction. These are squaring her natal North Node in Gemini-Venus in Cancer conjunction. Perhaps the cross sign conjunctions in combination with the square create double the tension for a person, they combine the Victim role of Pisces with the Self-Assertion role of Aries.

When she committed the suicide-murder, Assia's progressed Sun was conjunct her natal Venus. Her progressed Sun had been aspecting this square during her whole relationshp with Hughes. I've seen this Sun-Venus progression aspect more than once in suicides. It's supposed to be an aspect for marriage and supposedly is, especially in a woman's chart. Perhaps for women who attract unhealthy relationships it brings a do-or-die feeling. Sylvia Plath's chart is interesting also in that her progressed Venus was approaching conjunction by a few degrees with her natal Sun.

Assia's Karmic connection with her daughter, Shura, is almost unreal. Assia's natal chart shows Venus in Cancer and also a conjunction of Mars and Pluto in Cancer. Cancer being the sign of motherhood, one can only wonder. Pluto and Mars of course are a violent combination and very difficult combined with Cancer. Assia would have been very competitive for her child to receive attention. Supposedly, Hughes almost completely ignored their daughter in favor of Plath's children. Both mother and daughter shared a Gemini North Node, Shura was probably conceived on Assia's Nodal Return so the mother maybe didn't see her daughter as a separate human being in quite the way she should have.

Shura's chart definitely shows this with a huge Pisces stellium opposite a huge Virgo stellium. Can't know her moon sign but in the noontime chart She has Venus-Saturn-Sun-Moon-Chiron-Mercury all piled up in Pisces opposite Uranus-Pluto-Mars in Virgo. This opposition is squared by her Node and stretched into a Mystic Rectangle with sextile-trines to a Jupiter-Neptune opposition. This is a beautiful chart but also the chart of a total martyr.

Ted Hughes' 5th House of Romance

The Poet Ted Hughes was one of England's greatest poets. I'll have to take that for granted because I've never read any of his poems. I can believe it though because with a Leo Sun, a packed 5th house and Rising and Moon in Gemini he had a great chart for a poet. What I, as an illiterate American have read and am fascinated by is the sensational, tabloid stuff about Ted Hughes. He was married to Sylvia Plath, another great poet, who committed suicide because he had left her for his pregnant girlfriend, Assia Wevill. Six years later Assia Wevill also committed suicide taking their 4 year old daughter, Shura along with her. (Side note: Ted Hughes' chart has some similarities with Marie Antoinette's chart, a busy 5th house (romance, love) and a Capricorn influenced 8th house of death (Saturn both occupies and rules this house).)

Saturn is at the handle end of a Bucket Chart in Hughes' chart which attracts a whole lot of energy from the rest of his chart. Saturn equals Life Lessons, Hughes' Lessons were of a Monumental Scale. Some people can fudge with Life's Rules of right and wrong. Saturn people can't, it comes right back to them. As with Marie Antoinnette's chart looked at earlier this Saturn/8th house connection can indicate much concern over sexuality and compensation for feelings of inadequacy, or just plain old selfish and abuse of authoritarian principles through selfish ambitions. This is also great for a poet because it can show insights into the very deep parts of natural processes. In both Marie Antoinette and Ted Hughes' cases it brought catastrophie. Saturn can also bring great achievement and reknown as is obvious here. Saturn is conjunct Hughes' Sun right now so it seems a good time to discuss it's influences on his life.

Here are the charts:

Ted Hughes b. Aug. 17, 1930 23 h. 55 Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, England
18 Gemini Rising, Sun 25 Leo (H4), Moon 1 Gemini (H12)

Sylvia Plath b. Oct. 27, 1932 14 h. 10 Boston, MA, USA
30 Aquarius rising, Sun 5 Scorpio (H8), Moon 9 Libra (H7)
died: Feb. 11, 1963

Assia Wevill b. May 15, 1927 (no time) Berlin, Germany
Sun 24 Taurus, Moon either Later Libra or early Scorpio
died: Mar. 23, 1969

Shura Wevill (Assia and Ted's daughter) b. Mar. 3, 1965 London, England
died: Mar. 23, 1969

Mostly I wonder about Ted Hughes' relationships. Why did he end up in such awful relationships with women?

First of all, he was a Double Gemini. They have short attention spans in their relationships, especially considering Hughes' Mars (male libido) was in his 1st house in Gemini. He pretty much did as he wanted in relationships. Fueling this, he had a great Romantic energy. 3 planets natally in the 5th house with many of the slow moving planets passing through along with his progressed Sun during this entire time. Plus 12th house Moon in Gemini, not real grounded emotionally but quite an imagination. Great for Romance and making babies and writing poetry and creating all kinds of flamboyant drama in one's life.

At the time of Sylvia's death, his progressed ASC and progressed Mars were conjunct and passing over his natal Jupiter. Jupiter is conjunct Pluto natally and involved in a wide Grand square with 5th House Venus (women in one's life romance), Saturn (8th house, sex), and Uranus in Aries in 11th house (friends, wishes, need for freedom, sudden events). Jupiter also rules his 7th house of marriage. He had left Sylvia destitute with 2 kids for Assia and Assia had found out that she was pregnant. She aborted this child a few weeks later.

At the time of Assia's death, his progressed ASC and prog. Mars were still in conjunction but slightly separated and now conjunct his natal Pluto. Transiting Pluto was at the spot in the 5th house where his Progressed Sun had been at the time of Sylvia's death which is coincidentally semi-sextile to his natal Sun. Saturn was conjunct his Natal North Node in Aries. Transiting Jupiter, Uranus and South Node were conjunct his Prog. Sun which had just passed into Libra (still in 5th house). Libra is the sign of marriage. It's also the sign that his natal South Node is in and reflects the spiritual struggle from one's subconscious or past life tendencies. With North Node in Aries he had gone ahead and done what he had wanted with regards to his relationships and this had brought monumental tragedy in his life, especially with regards to marriage and children.

More Favorite TV Moms

Continuing with the list... Lots of Leo Moons...

Esther Rolle b. Nov. 8, 1920 Pompano Beach, Fla.
role: Florida Evans on Good Times

Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Leo

Donna Reed b. January 27, 1921 Denison, Crawford County, Iowa
role: Donna Stone on The Donna Reed Show

Sun in Aquarius, Moon in either Virgo or Libra

Harriet Nelson b. July 18, 1909 Des Moines, Iowa
role: Harriet on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Sun in Cancer, Moon in Leo

Jean Stapleton b. Jan. 19, 1923 (unknown) New York, NY
role: Edith Bunker on All In The Family

Sun in Capricorn, Moon in Leo

Roseanne Barr b. Nov. 3, 1952 1:21pm Salt Lake City, UT
role: Roseanne Conner on The Roseanne Show

Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Gemini, Aquarius Asc, MC Scorpio opposite Moon

Phylicia Rashad b. June 19, 1948 12:08am Houston Heights, TX
role: Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show

Sun in Gemini (c. Uranus), Moon in Sagittarius, Pisces ASC, Sagittarius MC

Katey Sagal b. Jan. 19, 1954 (Unknown time) Hollywood, CA
role: Peg Bundy on Married with Children

Sun in Capricorn, Moon in Leo

Patricia Heaton b. March 4, 1958 (unknown time) Bay Village, OH
role: Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond

Sun in Pisces, Moon in Leo

Favorite TV Moms

Jane Wyatt passed away yesterday so thought I'd take a look at the charts for all the Favorite TV Moms.

I expected a strong emphasis on the Moon in the Actresses' charts which shows a nurturing personality but found that in only one chart, that of June Lockhart. As the Midheaven shows what a person is known for I expected strong Lunar influence there but was also surprised by its absence. I at least expected the actresses' MC's to be aspected by the Moon but was also surprised to see that lacking in the charts for which I could find a time.

Neptune seems to be strong in their charts as one would expect from an Actress. And Mars always seems strong. Jane Wyatt is the only one who didn't have Pluto in Cancer. Her Pluto was at the last degree of Gemini which is close enough to be considered on the Aries Point for Cancer. Pluto's sign may be the key. It seems there have been very few TV Moms from the Pluto in Leo and Pluto in Virgo generations.

Here's a list of Names, Roles, and Birth Information for the Stand-Outs in my memory.

Jane Wyatt b. Aug. 12, 1911 (time unknown) Campgaw, NJ
role: Margaret Anderson in Father Knows Best

Sun in Leo, Moon in Pisces

Barbara Billingsley b. Dec. 22, 1915 Los Angeles, CA
role: June Cleaver in Leave It To Beaver

Sun in Capricorn Moon in Aquarius (maybe Pisces)
Sun opposite Pluto in Cancer, Grand Trine Uranus-Mars trine Jupiter in Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer.

June Lockhart b. June 25, 1925 New York City, NY
role: Dr. Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space

Sun in Cancer, Moon in Leo
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Pluto in Cancer mostly opposite Jupiter in Capricorn

Shirley Jones b. Mar. 31, 1934 5:30am Charleroi, PA
role: Shirley Partridge in The Partridge Family

Sun in Aries conjunct Mars!, Moon in Libra
Pisces Rising, Sagittarius MC
Pluto in Cancer at apex of t-square to Uranus opposite Moon

Florence Henderson b. Feb. 14, 1934 5:00am Dale, IN
role: Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch.

Sun in Aquarius, Moon in Pisces
Capricon Rising, Scorpio MC

The Queen's Neck

Necks are ruled by Taurus. Necks and Shoulders. "Plato" was reportedly a Taurus. "Plato" itself means "Broad Shouldered." Often you will notice something exceptional about a person's neck who has Taurus strong in their charts either in their appearance or in health weaknesses.

I mention this because I just saw the movie "The Queen" about the life of Queen Elizabeth during the week after Princess Diana's death. It's an amazing character study, highly recommended.

I read an interview with Helen Mirren who copped an incredible likeness of the Queen as Star of the Movie. She said that only her lips and eyebrows were changed with make-up, the rest was all in how she held her head on her shoulders. Everything's in the neck. If you go to the movie with this in mind you will notice how all the actors pay particular attention to this body part in their portrayals of their characters. The actress who plays Tony Blair's wife wiggles a very loose neck which represents her modern, easy going mannerisms and attitudes, for example.

So, I looked at the Queen's chart to see if Taurus were prominent. Was hoping for a Taurus Rising but no such luck. And actually found what I was looking for in HRH's Moon which is in Taurus. This is actually more appropriate as the Ascendant represents only a person's physical appearance whereas the Moon represents one's Character. Obviously this helps to give a richer, deeper portrayal. Moon in Taurus is conservative, stubborn, friendly and easy-going. These qualities through the whole film stike the viewer as defects until the very end when their strength and wisdom become apparent. Also, Taurus rules money and one's values. The movie is basically about the Queen's coming to terms with changing values of both herself and her subjects. Such an insightful and intuitive portrayal of her Moon Sign!

Mistaken Identity - Whitney Cerak / Laura Van Ryn

On April 26, 2006 on a highway near Auburn, Indiana a Van and a Truck collided. Five people were killed; others seriously hurt. The coroner declared Whitney Cerak, 19, dead. Laura Van Ryn, 22, was taken to the hospital where she lay in a coma for almost a month before her family realized that this girl wasn't Laura, she was a girl from the other vehicle, Whitney Cerak. On May 29, a nurse asked her to write down her name and she wrote "Whitney Cerak." Would anything in the birthcharts indicate such a bizarre mix-up of identities? I don't have the birth towns or times for the girls so I used the towns in Michigan where they lived.

Whitney Cerak b. April 29, 1987 (used Gaylord, MI for place)

Laura Van Ryn b. February 13, 1984 (used Caledonia, MI for place)
passed away on April 26, 2006.


Almost 19, Whitney Cerak would have recently had a Nodal Return and I was hoping to find that this would figure prominently in this bizarre event since it seems so fated. I also figured that Aries should be prominent in her chart. If I had her birthtime I would expect something really wild going on in her First House of Identity but figured that perhaps its sign equivalent, Aries, might be prominent. I was really shocked to find that not only was she having a Nodal Return but her North Node is in Aries conjunct Venus and Jupiter! This stellium is squared by Neptune (confusion, illusion) in Capricorn. Although I never could have predicted the event the chart is certainly set-up for something like Mistaken Identity. Aries rules the face and both girls suffered so much damage to their faces that they were unrecognizable.

In addition she has Sun exactly opposite Pluto natally. This outright declares power struggles, in this case with the Coroner (who could have predicted that?). At the time of the crash Saturn was squaring this opposition compounding the idea of crisis tenfold. Pluto also inconjuncts Whitney's Venus (to the degree) bringing together self-identity as a female in some sort of crisis or deeply transformative way. On the day of the crash, Mars, ruler of Aries and also prominent in car crashes, was squaring her Venus-NN-Jupiter stellium and opposing her Neptune. Jupiter was just past conjunction with Pluto so obviously giving her great luck in crisis. Jupiter and Pluto together sort of create an Inspector Clousseau type of character, one who gets into big ordeals and always manages to walk away either through dumb luck, optimism, or a hardy constitution.

Whitney was going through multiple other transits which would explain something intense and violent like a car crash (t.Pluto conjunct n. Uranus in Sagittarius, just past n. Saturn opposite Mars-Chiron in Gemini - transportation) and also great good fortune arising from a crisis (t. Jupiter c. n. Pluto inconjunct n. Venus). She was the one who survived after all. Her chart shape is a locomotor chart bounded by Mars and Pluto showing that she has strong willpower but needs to be careful around large machinery or violent people. She may have to work through rage issues due to a changed hormonal system caused by the crash.

Her Moon is either in Taurus or Gemini. The noontime chart shows 28 Taurus Moon. If her birthtime were close to this placement, her progressed Sun would be close to conjunct her natal Moon (but that's probably not the case). In addition, she celebrated her 19th Birthday in the Hospital in a coma surrounded by somebody else's family while her own family attended her funeral. Her Solar Return chart has a new Moon in Taurus as well as a Grand Square.

Laura Van Ryn's chart shows that Jupiter was conjunct a Mars-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio. This conjunction is prominent because it is otherwise unaspected. Mars-Saturn is a difficult combination which I've actually heard described as "driving with the breaks on." Without connection to the other planets in the chart there would be nowhere for the expansive energy of Jupiter to flow to.

In addition, Mars was opposing her natal Neptune-Jupiter conjunction and trining her natal Pluto in Scorpio. Saturn was squaring her Pluto. The Mars aspects could account for being in a car crash but she was going through a couple of very nice trines and sextiles at the time of her death. Perhaps this made it easier for her to slip away. Pluto was within 4 degrees of conjunction with her Neptune and possibly opposite her natal Moon. Her chart is a bucket shape with Moon either in Gemini or Cancer as the Handle through which a lot of her energy would have flowed. If Mars had been conjunct this Moon at the time of the crash perhaps this was too much for her system.

Tim Berners-Lee

No matter what Al Gore thinks, Tim Berners-Lee is the guy who invented the Internet. They both share a Capricorn Moon but pretty much nothing else.

Tim Berners-Lee
b. June 8, 1955 (no time) London, England

Like Craig Newmark, Berners-Lee isn't greedy. He created the Web and asked for no Royalties, no Patents, and hopefully, no Regrets. He thought the Web must be an open place for sharing information that is available to all. Must be the Neptune in Libra square to Uranus people. Hippies!

Berners-Lee is a Gemini with Mercury also in Gemini. How great is this for someone who used a concept called "hypertext" to something called the "World Wide Web" in order to build and create the first web browser? In Berners-Lee's chart, Mercury is retrograde and conjunct his South Node. This emphasizes its importance in his chart and shows a spiritual history from previous lives to develop communications and information systems. "I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the TCP and DNS ideas and -- ta da! -- the World Wide Web." If you've ever known a Gemini, you know that this is how their brains work. No big deal, no messing around, whether it's finding all their friends dates to the prom or linking Beijing to Amsterdam, no big deal. The Sagittarius North Node shows how this internal talent should be manifested and projected out to the whole world. Sagittarius rules higher education, philosophy, religion, publishing and international affairs.

Berners-Lee first wrote the initial proposal for developing his concept in March, 1989. Uranus, Saturn and Neptune were all in conjunction in Capricorn at that point. Since I don't have his time of birth I can't say whether or not this was close to his Moon or not, only to say that wouldn't it be wonderful in astrological terms if it were? This creates a Yod, "Finger of God," in his chart with Sun as apex inconjunct Moon in Capricorn on one leg and Saturn in Scorpio on the other side. Pluto was conjunct his natal Saturn in Scorpio and remained close by due to retrogrades until the World Wide Web was officially born on August 6, 1991. During this whole time both legs were receiving conjunctions from all the outer planets. At that point, transiting Jupiter was also conjunct his natal Pluto. This brought in an extra dose of luck, fame, and also connects the ruler of his North Node with a very powerful, karmic spot in his chart.

And They're Off and Running...

Here are some birthdates for Famous RaceHorses. Hopefully no typos. Racehorses are only mated for about 6 months out of the year so there are some Signs which aren't represented. Maybe that's a mistake?

Man O'War (m) 29 Mar 1917 23:45 Lexington, KY USA

Secretariat (m) 30 Mar 1970 00:15 Doswell, VA USA

Phar Lap (m) 4 Oct 1926 unknown time Timaru, New Zealand

Seabisquit (m) 23 May 1934 unknown time Louisville, KY USA

Smarty Jones (m) 28 Feb 2001 unknown time West Chester, PA USA

Makybe Diva (f) 21 Mar 1999 unknown time Somerset, Eng

Truman Capote Parties from the Grave

Two movies have come out about Truman Capote in one year. I was wondering if something in his chart would indicate this upsurge in popularity.

Truman Capote
b. Sept. 30, 1924 15:00 New Orleans, LA

Sun in Libra, Moon in Scorpio, Aquarius Rising

1) Neptune rules movies and it's in his 1st House. That's a no-brainer.

2) He's having or will shortly have 3 Returns this year: Progressed Moon (Public); Uranus in House 1 (How you appear to the world); Jupiter in H10 (How the World Sees You).

3) His Nodes are very prominent in his natal Chart. They are angular and are aspecting many planets. Venus-Neptune conjunct NN in H7 in Leo. Mars conjunct SN in H1 in Aquarius. The North Node in Leo projects out to others well through others. It disposits to the Sun which is in the 8th house of being able to project out from beyond one's Death.

4) Both His prog. Sun and prog. Venus are about to change signs, Sun on the last degree of Sagittarius and Venus on the last degree of Scorpio. Don't know if this is relevant but if he were alive I would tell him that his self expression is changing to a much more sombre Saturnian tone.

5) His Progressed ASC is conjunct his Taurus IC at the very bottom of the chart. Ruler of this House is Venus. Progressed Venus is exactly opposite on his MC. This shows a shift of the energies of the angles to the following angle. The IC rules end of life and one's inner most self. The MC rules the outer most self. They are now being aspected by elements from the 1st House and 7th House angles. Both of these films deal with the same subject matter, Capote's writing of "In Cold Blood" and talk about the struggles he went through researching and representing murderers. I haven't seen the 2d movie yet but the first showed the contrast between Capote's frivolous social life and the subject matter which he was writing about and also the deceptive relationship he kept with the murderer in order to get needed information from him. Supposedly he was never able to write another book. The public is now able to see the struggle presented by his 1st-7th house relationships as a struggle between interior and exterior elements of himself.

Clyde Tombaugh

Clyde Tombaugh b. February 4, 1906 Streator, La Salle County, Illinois

Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. He was looking for a mysterious Planet X that others had suspected was hiding behind Neptune. Amazingly, his natal chart mirrors this same story when the transit of Pluto is added into the mix! His natal planets are aligned in a bowl shape pattern bordered by Uranus (in Capricorn) on one side and opposite Neptune (in Cancer) on the other. When Tombaugh discovered Pluto it had just passed over his own Neptune and was past by about 5 degrees. To intensify this picture, Saturn was passing over his natal Uranus while, on the other side, Jupiter would conjunct first Neptune and then Pluto within that year. (This, of course, was the Saturn-Pluto opposition of the first year of the Great Depression.) Someday, I'll add images so that the visual aspect of what I'm trying to say will make sense (to all my many readers).

Tombaugh passed away in 1997 and now Pluto has been demoted to "Dwarf Planet" at the conference of the General Assembly of the International Astromical Union in Prague this past August. There's a photo of the Seven people of the "Planet Definition Committee" in the November 2006 issue of Discover Magazine. I've drawn mustaches on all their faces. I was hoping that I could find their names and birthdates to figure out where Pluto was in their own charts. Actually they were only trying to redefine the definitions but I certainly think that they could have made sure that Pluto was well taken care of. Only 424 of the 2,412 astronomers who belong to the Assembly actually voted.

By the way, Clyde Tombaugh's noontime chart shows a conjunction of Pluto to the Moon in Gemini to the degree. Guess he was the right man for his job.

Marie Antoinette's Sex Life

Books' published, PBS show, Movie coming out, Camille Paglia writing up an article for the Sunday Paper. Thought I'd take a look to see what Marie Antoinette's Sex Life really was in Astro terms.

Here's a link to her chart:
http://www.astrotheme.fr/en/portrait.php?info=1&clef=8RA5c64N88wR

Sex is ruled mostly by the 8th House, Scorpio's House. This is also the House that rules Death. Sort of an Astrological Joke that says "As Ye have Sex in Life, So Shall Ye Die..." 8th House also rules Taxes and Insurance. So, "As You Have Sex in Life, So Shall Ye Owe the Government and Mutual of Omaha." Well, 8th House Affairs are complicated.

To be expected, Marie's 8th House aspects weren't all that great. Her natal chart shows Capricorn on the cusp, ruling the 8th House. Capricorn rules Government, Duties, Ambitions, Repressed Emotional Needs, Long Waits and Delays. This would explain an arranged marriage of Royalty and delayed sex within Marriage (8 years for Louis to get it up). This is markedly pronounced in Marie's chart because Capricorn's ruler, Saturn, is in her 8th House along with Chiron (the Wounded Healer). Saturn brings things on slowly, so it is amazing that she died by guillotine, which is a quick death, but could be explained that she died due to her snobbishness and selfish neglect for her job and duties. Saturn is involved within a t-square opposite Mars in Cancer in the First House and the Moon in her 5th House. This is an emotionally volatile combination (maybe she suffered from Depression or Bipolar illness) which would look to the affairs of the 11th House to find resolve for the tensions within herself. 11th House rules friends, groups, wishes, dreams, rebellious behaviors.

One must also look at Scorpio's placement within the Natal Chart for matters of the ... Heart. This shows quite another story. Scorpio is intercepted within the 5th House of Fun, Parties, Creativity and Children so it's expression is completely contained within this House. It also doesn't rule a House on its own which could bring the matters it rules forth in a tense, extreme sort of way. Marie A. had 4 planets in her 5th House showing that this House was where she put most of her energies: girls just want to have fun. Sex would have been an outcrop of fun that she feared the consequences of.

5th House also rules Royalty so she was a natural Queen, probably felt more like she was acting the part, but she definitely would have had fun with it. In this House her Sun is conjunct Venus which compounds the Fun, Creative, Party Girl theme tenfold. She was vain, maybe a bit spoiled and attracted resentment as a result. In addition, this conjunction is involved in a Water Grand Trine with really fun party planets: Uranus in Pisces in H10 and Mars in H1 in Cancer. This combination could really give a sexual vibe, she was a real tease and she would have been open-minded about all kinds of dalliances. Some girls just wanna have fun. She could have out-partied Paris Hilton. Unfortunately with that heavy 8th house she's the type who would have gotten caught as there is a heavy karmic vibe of payback associated with Capricorn. I also wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't been raped. Mars in Cancer can have a very volatile side and in the First House could be very in your face. She may not always have been discreet about her dalliances either, kind of switching back and forth between Scorpio secrecy and Leo showiness. Her Libra Moon was quite social but shows a strong attachment to her mother.

It's interesting that all this attention is now coming to her during her Uranus Return. 10th House shows how one is perceived. With Pisces on her MC, Marie Antoinette would have seemed very glamorous but nebulous, maybe lost, not much of a leader unless given to a Monk. I do remember reading that she loved to play like a poor peasant out in her country cottage, this was her way of expressing the Pisces compassion. With Uranus in her 10th House she came across as distant and uncaring, maybe downright weird and shocking.

Astrology

Patricia Dunn

Patricia Dunn was one of the head haunchos at Hewlett Packard who is caught in the middle of a Corporate Scandal regarding spying on Media and leaking information to the Press. She recently left H-P- because of the scandal but probably also due to her struggle with Ovarian Cancer.

Her birth information according to Wikipedia and BusinessWeek:

Patricia Dunn
March 27, 1953 Las Vegas, NV

Her Sun is in Aries, maybe unaspected. This could make a lady very aggressive. Very direct and forthright but, if unaspected, there will be some insecurity underneath that drives this aggression and may cause a person to act rashly and offend people. The sign of the Ram so she will just charge in and take over. Her Sun Sign is ruled by Mars which disposits to and is conjunct Venus in Taurus. This is the only aspect that her Mars makes to any other planets in her chart so it continues to show an aggressive streak at a deeper level especially in regards to Taurus types of activities like handling resources, especially money. This would be very good for business, especially as it's so difficult for a woman (Venus) to make it ahead in the corporate world which is predominately male (Mars). It also gives her great charm. She definitely is a person who goes after what she wants.

Her Pluto in Leo which shows how much power she actually has. It disposits to her Sun which is very powerful and it is involved in two geometric configurations. One of these is as apex of a Yod. It is inconjunct Chiron (wounding) in Capricorn (business) and Mercury (communication) in Pisces (psychic abilities). The Yod is called the Finger of God. It can show a complicated inheritance (through family lines as Karen Hamaker-Zondag describes) of problems. In this case Pluto's meaning is clear because she's been named among the most powerful women in business. Chiron shows some kind of wound which she can't heal and Mercury in Pisces shows a tendency to "miscommunicate." The Second configuration involving Pluto includes the inconjunct. It is a Trapezoid shape involving two squares (Pluto to Jupiter and Neptune-Saturn to Chiron) with Pluto sextiling Neptune-Saturn in Libra and Jupiter trining Chiron. Mercury is sextiling these last two to visually create a sort of Chinese Take-Out box. I don't have a clue how to interpret this configuation except that it involves all the business planets and probably indicates a great ability to draw from many different sources at the same time. Hewlett Packard's business has completely turned around under her leadership. (Strikingly spooky is that the "empty Leg" so to speak across from this Mercury at 21 Pisces is Fiorina's Sun at 14 Virgo. Her Sun is also squaring Fiorina's Mars, a very competitive aspect)

Right now, in addition to this Corporate Scandal and Criminal Charges, she is about to undergo treatment for Ovarian Cancer from which she has suffered for a number of years. Saturn and maybe her Progressed Moon are passing over her Pluto while transiting Pluto trines from Sagittarius. This natal Pluto, of course, is also being hit by the t-square opposite Neptune and squaring Jupiter. Her Mercury and maybe even her Moon (in Virgo?) were aspected as well by the recent Eclipse in September. Jupiter will move into Sagittarius at the beginning of the year and trine her natal Sun which she greatly needs. Depending on its true placement, her progressed Moon will be making a return to her natal Moon which should bring up some emotional problems. May she focus all this incredible energy and have a successful treatment for her health and a full recovery.

Astrology