J. Craig Venter - Prog. Mercury & Venus Rx's

J. Craig Venter is sort of the reason why I started writing this blog. He's the guy who got frustrated with the National Institutes of Health for doodling around while sequencing the Genome and decided to open his own company and do it himself, only quicker. He succeeded by a few years but wasn't well liked by most of the Science community.

A while back I read a very entertaining book about famous geneticists. The characters of the Scientists described were so well drawn out I figured it would be fun to compare the charts of different personalities who were following the same path in life careerwise. They were so different personality-wise. Then I couldn't find some of the birth dates and I realized that I know nothing about Science and I got distracted by something else. And now I can't even remember the name of the book or the author. The Title was very long, that's all I can say.

Venter was described as the aggressive, pushy maverick in the book. He needed to do things his own way. Big ego. In short, he was called "The Devil."

Meanwhile, another guy whose name I forget was sort considered the Angel of the Genetics community. He also stood up to the Science Community because he insisted that Geneticists follow ethical guidelines regarding the work. Ethics and Financial Reward don't always go hand in hand. When I looked at both scientists' charts I noticed that both had strong Saturn-Pluto ties in their charts and realized this could be one indicator that they would push against the grain. Venter has the conjunction and the other guy had the Trine. I thought of doing an Angel/Devil comparison but in the end realized that's stupid as both these men have done equal amounts of good for the world.

So, the Saturn-Pluto combo has its rep and its personality, not always considered airy fairy. I know, I've got one myself. I'm also amazed by the reactions I hear from Astrologers about Hillary Clinton and Al Gore concerning their conjunctions. No matter what these two do in life, they are still considered evil at the core. Also, I had an evil step-mother with the t-square from Hell that included these two planets and the personality and misdeeds to match so I know that Saturn-Pluto people can be a little overbearing and selfish. But, now that I'm studying the Progressions more closely I can find better reasons for why Venter would be considered a Devil. Oops, did I use that label? I said it was stupid.

J. Craig Venter
b. Oct. 14, 1946 Salt Lake City, UT

Sun 21 Libra; Moon Gemini; NN 13 Gemini

Ah, look at that weetol cute chart. All Air. Air Signs aren't Devils, they're sweet little munchkins with social skills. Thing is, Air Signs progress, the mental gets initiated into the emotional water signs. You can't stick your toe into the same river twice in life, we've got to learn life's lessons, we're all progressing (or spiraling) whether we like it or not.

Venter's Sun progressed into Scorpio. And natally he has Mercury, Mars and Venus in Scorpio which were illuminated by his p. Sun early on in life so everyone immediately knew what a brilliant Medical Researcher/Scientist he was. His book describes how his life was sort of just carried along by his natural abilities.

Venter's got Mercury, Mars and Venus in Scorpio squaring his natal Saturn-Pluto conjunction. This indicates that he's got plenty of confidence and is a risk taker. Although this seems like a bit too creative of a combination for a stodgy science laboratory, one can see the affinity for scientific research, the confidence, ambition & showmanship.

But, his Venus went Retro by Progression when he was in his teens and then his Mercury went Retro by progression just before he received his Doctorate. And they did this after just barely passing over in to Sagittarius so they knew how much lighter things get once you reach the other side and don't have to deal with all that deep churning Scorpio stuff. That can be frustrating.

A while back I heard Adrian Duncan Ross give a whole lecture on how progressions act when they go retrograde back over cusps. If I'm remembering correctly I think he said that by that time you already know the lessons given by the end degrees of the signs, you're really sick of the energy and just want to move on to something new. In this case, life makes you go back and learn more of what you're tired of. And nobody really wants to learn more Scorpio. Venter describes in his recent autobiography how naturally all things Scorpionic came to him at work. He was intelligent, confident, driven, he was creative in his observations, he could manage large groups of people.

First to mention the progressed Sun. Venter's Sun progressed into Scorpio in 1956 when he was around 10 years old. His Sun progressed into Sagittarius around 1985 when he started working at the National Institutes of Health. Between that time it passed over and highlighted his Mars, Mercury, and Venus and squared his Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Leo. After the p.Sun passed into Sagittarius he really does seem to have become known for Sagittarius traits. Highly opinionated, independent, and impatient with bureaucracy, along with high intelligence.

Now to move on to Venter's Venus. Natally it is at 30 Scorpio. It's influence is strong in his chart because it is unaspected and it disposes his Sun. His Prog. Venus went Rx at 3 Sagittarius in 1960. Noel Tyl has described Venus Rx "issues" as having to deal with "love ability."

Things here get really interesting. Venter went to Vietnam right after this time and was so full of despair he attempted suicide. He literally titles the Chapter describing this time in his life as "University of Death." Sagittarius rules universities, Scorpio rules Death and Venus rules self worth. Pretty interesting. Venter was also in a foreign land. He swam out into the water where he knew poisonous sea snakes were with the idea that he would be bitten. Snakes are just so Scorpio, this seems like some kind of weird Odyssyean imagery (I don't know how to spell that and neither does spell check). Venter's Venus passed back into Scorpio and stayed Retrograde in that sign until 2000-2001 when he was awarded for sequencing the Genome. Because of this Retrograde his Self worth was truly honed to what Sagittarius would truly want it to be. Venter was married twice during this time and divorced twice. He's now in a new relationship. Hope she's a free spirit.

Venus Retrograde, in the Libra sense, could bring social difficulties, lack of diplomacy. Could explain why Venter didn't feel comfortable around his peers and finally just decided to buck against them. As he's a Libra Sun this would have affected his ego expression more strongly than other signs. Could also explain the Devil label, especially coming from Scorpio.

According to Venter's biography he had multiple talents for working in the medical field, both through people skills, intelligence and management skills. He went to school after serving in Vietnam and finished his Ph.d early. Lots of Scorpio drive. Mercury, like Venus, is strong in Venter's chart because it disposes both his Moon and his North Node. This one I can't quite figure out. I need a good keyword for what a Mercury Rx means. Mercury Rx in transit of course brings all kinds of snafus which would make all the details of medical research ten times more difficult. Natally it can make a person feel out of place and misunderstood, just because communications are so important in the world. I read only part of his autobiography and skipped this entire part of the book. Maybe that's part of the thing. I can't imagine trying to do Medical Research under a long Mercury Retrograde progression, ew.

In Venter's case, his Mercury went Rx by Progression in 1973-74 at 8 Sagittarius just before Venter received his Ph.d (1975). Mercury in Sagittarius is very fitting for achievement in the academic world. Then it went Rx and he started working out in the world.

Venter's progressed Mercury seems to correspond pretty closely with his relationship problems. He got his first Divorce as Mercury passed back into Scorpio. At the same time, Mercury was conjunct prog. Sun. He got involved with and married one of his students, very Mercury. His Mercury stationed direct in 1993-94 while conjunct his prog. Venus. Something significant probably happened that year. Mercury passed into Sagittarius in 2006.

Venter claims he will be able to use Genomic science as sort of an Alchemical process. I don't know if he can spin straw into Gold but he says he will be able to turn human urine into drinking water. I've heard that there's a video of Venter on the Colbert Show telling this to Stephen Colbert and that it's the only time you'll ever see Stephen Colbert speechless and bowing in reverence to one of his guests.

Venter's natal Mars is also in Scorpio in his natal chart. It has never gone retrograde. He's very athletic and has a special interest in sailing.