Scholarly Love - Abelard & Heloise

For years I've been running across the correspondence of Abelard and Heloise in bookstores and never knew much about them except that they are held up as examples of True Love. Now, of course, I am drawn to them. I have a dark sense of humor and I'm a bruised "Child of Divorce" so I know I'm looking through a darker lense than most with this True Love stuff, but, man, it can be a real drag. And, I assure you, Abelard if not Heloise would agree with me.

Instantly Enlightened by the Wikipedia article on this couple and a few other Internet snippets, and, well, actually, Abelard wrote about his misfortune in Historia Calamitatum which is available on the Internet, my idiot's version of the story goes like this.

Abelard was a prodigy. The premier philospher of his day, interested in the Sciences and logic, a poet, a composer, success came very early in life for him. Back in his day, a philosophy student learned by arguing with his teachers. With almost no training Abelard managed to knock down his teachers one by one, giving lectures that surpassed their skills. He started his own school at Age 22 and drew all kinds of crowds. He peaked out around Age 36 which is around the time that he was hired to teach Heloise, a young girl with an incredible mind for ... learning. Abelard admits to seducing Heloise and she became pregnant. Abelard sent Heloise to live with his Sister in order to hide his misdeed from the public so his career wouldn't go down the tubes. While living with Sis, Heloise gave birth to a son who she called, get this, Astrolabe. The instrument that had just been brought over from Islam. Remember this is Scholarly Love and Scholars have no obligation to show good taste in choosing baby names. Astrolabe was born around 1118 from what I can gather, Heloise was maybe Age 17? Abelard maybe Age 38? Sis adopted the baby and Abelard managed to have Heloise placed in a Monastery where she was very successful as an Intellectual in her own right and as a, I forget what it's called, Abbess? At any rate, she was very smart and very competent and thrived no matter what happened to her. Abelard also went to a Monastery but somewhere in there Heloise's relatives sought revenge, dragged him by the you-know-what's and castrated him. That's right. They were pissed. So, Abelard who was a very independent soul and it seems quite "cocky" struggled forever after with the oppressive environment of the Monasteries. His Freedom and his Sex Life -- gone. He continued to be a productive Genius but was miserable ever after. And He and Heloise continued to write to each other and related on a Mental Level, which in their case existed way up high probably in the Ether.

No birth dates or even solid years for either so this is really conjectural b.s., but, just suppose...

Peter Abelard b. 1079 in Palets, 10 miles south of Brittany, France

Jupiter: VIR to LIB; Saturn CAP to AQU; Uranus AQU; Neptune GEM; Pluto PIS; NN CAP; Chiron AQU

Heloise b. 1101 in Paris (near Notre Dame), France

Jupiter: CAN to LEO; Saturn SCO; Uranus TAU; Neptune LEO; Pluto ARIES; NN SCO; Chiron Taurus

Hair-brained Observations:

• 1st: Abelard's got Uranus in it's own sign of Aquarius and this seems to be a strong influence. The Uranus square happens when one is around 21 and that's the age that Abelard first shocked everyone by opening his own school at such a young age. He was also 22 years older than Heloise so there seems to be some kind of Uranian connection with regards to that cycle. Plus, their Romance is considered Modern which seems Uranian. The May-December element seems more Saturnian. His Saturn could be in either Capricorn or Aquarius depending on when he was born. Chiron would have been in Aquarius as well.
  

• 2d: There's a chance that both of our Lovers had a conjunction of Saturn to their North Nodes. Abelard's in Capricorn and Heloise's in Scorpio. That sure would explain the collision with Fate; Saturn is Karma and the Nodes are Spiritual Destiny, imagine what a joy people with this conjunction have on their Nodal and Saturn Returns. The whole affair started when Abelard was around 36 and Astrolabe was born when he was around 38. This would have been a Nodal Return for Abelard. Just a thought. He is said to have reached the peak of his Fame around 1115, Age 36. Does sound Capricornian Mountain Climby. Once you get to the top, what do you do?
  

• 1st Redux. The 22 year time span thing is just interesting. It's associated with a special Venus cycle by the Mayans. It is also associated with a Sunspot Cycle (11 years, 22 years) and a Magnetic Oscillation of the Sun (22 years). But, this just sounds so Venusian. There's also a Progressed Tertiary Venus Return around this age.
  

I found a really great article by Nancy R. Fenn called "Venus Transits & Powerful Women" at www. skyscript.co.uk/venustransit.html. Ms. Fenn discusses the Love Affair of Abelard and Heloise but mostly the power of Heloise as a woman during one of these Cycles where Venus passes in front of the Sun in stead of behind it. I've discussed them briefly at "You've got it. Yeah Baby You've Got it" where I linked to another great article (nobody give a rat's ass about the link, do they?). We're in the middle of one these 8 year periods right now. Venus likes to, get this: work in pairs. The conjunctions come together, but 8 years apart. In the U.S. we are definitely enjoying an upswing of leadership by women in our otherwise cruddy Government. Bad cycle for going to War apparently.

Ms. Fenn in her article relates Heloise to the Nov. 23, 1153 conjunction as a sign of Women's empowerment through these cycles. I think there's a nasty Saturn-Pluto square that was aspecting it. Abelard was dead by then but Heloise was alive. There was a pair of Sun-Venus conjunctions in 1032 and 1040 and then the cycle missed a transit in 1145. Abelard wrote his Historia Calamitatum in 1136 in between the first and died before the "missed transit" cycle but I can't find any other correspondences between the relationship and these cycles.