Man on a Wire - Philippe Petit

Someone requested that I take a look at the chart of Philippe Petit, the French American high wire artist who walked on a cable that was linked the Twin Towers in New York in 1974. This turns out to be quite a great story to look at just before a Leo Eclipse in order to get an idea of the positive influence that this energy can vibrate.

Petit performed his act on Aug. 7, 1974. That's a Leo Act. He is a Leo himself who was about to celebrate his 25th Birthday. He literally danced on top of the wire and at one point was lying down on it talking to a seagull. The economy right now has descended into a Recession same as it was back in 1974. Petit's daring seems to have distracted people's attention. It is interesting to see how this Leo energy brings Lyricism to Darkness and Loss. We need to remember the free spirit that can soar from our culture as well as the selfishness and greed. You just lost your house? Go dance in the sky.

The following quote describes this better than I can:

"New York was, is, unique, and at the time had the chemistry to receive the walk fully," Mr. Petit said, pointing to the "strike of garbage" and the crime level that could make a wire walk a welcome distraction. Nationally, of course, a besieged President Nixon would announce his resignation the next night. On the other hand, surely only in the 1970s could someone infiltrating the then-new World Trade Center have had help on the inside (care of an extravagantly mustachioed office worker on the 82nd floor).

--from www.nysun.com/arts/up-there-i-have-no-fear-philippe-petit-on-man/82261/

The Dance:

p. Aug. 7, 1974 slightly after 7:15 am for 45 minutes New York City, NY
Sun 15 Leo; ASC 29 Leo; Moon 3 Aries; MC 23 Taurus; NN 18 Sagittarius

The
Performer:

b. Aug. 13, 1949 somewhere in France
Sun 21 Leo; Moon Aries; NN 19 Aries

Right off we see that both Performer and Event shared the same fire Sun and Moons. They both also share a firey trine between their Suns and North Nodes.

Rex Bills doesn't give a rulership for Tightrope Walkers. Mars is given rulership for Wire. It also rules Daredevils. And it's interesting that Mars was in Virgo in the 1st House for the length of Petit's walk. Mars is very prominently placed in the chart otherwise. Its only aspect is an almost exact square to Neptune (H4, Sagittarius). Petit has the square between these two planets in his natal chart as well. Mars here is a singleton in Earth, which is kind of an odd placement considering the nature of the event which takes place completely off the earth. Mars was just crossing the Ascendant around 8 am when Petit was forced to dance off the wire by the police. Mars and Virgo represent Police, probably a good detail to know about for the
next event.

Back on July 11, 2007 I wrote a blog post about Larry Walters who rode a lawn chair tied to a bunch of balloons over Los Angeles back in 1982. He was an Aries born in 1949, same year as Philippe Petit. (Blog called "Up Up and Away"). Those Aries North Node people are some crazy amazing folks keeping the rest of us alive.

It's also interesting that Petit has a Fire Sun in Leo and Moon in Aries. You'd need that level of enthusiasm and risk taking in order to walk out onto a wire above the street in the kind of gusts that up at an elevation that high. I remember how windy it is up at the top of the Empire State Building. I had to go back inside. I have a very strong Saturn and don't handle scary challenges very well.

I had to see what Saturn was doing in the event chart for this walk. Saturn was in Libra tucked away from the angles in the 11th House (ruler of Skyscrapers). At 7:15 am, the beginning time o the walk, Saturn's sign, Capricorn, was intercepted in the 5th House of Risk. So Saturn didn't legitimately rule any of the Houses. Caution was thrown to the winds, so to
speak. It also sounds like the event was very well planned which is actually a Saturnian gift. Natally Petit has Mercury conjunct Saturn to the degree in Virgo which is sextiling Uranus. So he definitely has the precision of mind to engineer a feat like this. Don't do this on your own at home.

As a side note I'm going to point out an interesting coincidence. My first writing teacher was an Aries Sun with Leo Moon. She actually taught the class while sitting next to a collage she had made of a tight rope walker. She said this image most explained how she viewed her life. The only rule in the class was that we couldn't comment on or edit each other's work, we could only thank each other for creating it. I'm finding that Aries & Leo know how to face fear in the most realistic manner. They see it as just part of the process of committing an act rather than something that should just be ignored or overcome.

I was going to look at 25 year cycles as this was Petit's 25th Solar Return but the only thing I've found so far is something about Sardines and Anchovies and ocean temperatures. Petit would have been between his Second Jupiter Return at the end of Capricorn and his first Chiron opposition. That's pretty interesting imagery for Chiron since Chiron is considered a "Bridge" between Saturn and Uranus energies. But, the actually transits look way off from these Returns. Chiron was conjunct his North node and Neptune was conjunct his natal Chiron.

In the article linked to above someone asked Petit about why he went ahead and walked the Towers illegally. He said that he loved the "Joy of Trespassing." Trespassing is ruled by Uranus. Interesting that Uranus actually rules all thing Wireless (along with Mercury, Jupiter).

A new documentary has come out which is about Petit called Man on Wire. Here's a review from NPR. What a cool guy. Thanks to the person who suggested this subject.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92882451

Note: This post was mangled when I tried to delete a mistake I had made. (Eclipse on 3d house cusp?) There are some details, like the bolding, that I can't figure out how to erase. Hey, you need more boldness in your life on a Leo Eclipse, just as long as you don't get arrested.