E. Fay Jones

The New Yorker recently published an article by Malcolm Gladwell about Late Bloomers. That reminded me of an architect who I heard speak a long time ago. He was E. Fay Jones. Jones was doing okay. He worked for Frank Lloyd Wright as an apprentice but never achieved anything on his own creativity-wise. Then suddenly late in life something clicked with his design. In 1980 he was commissioned to build the Thorncrown Chapel in his native Arkansas. This was right at the time of his 2d Saturn return, Age 59. This makes sense as Saturn is related to old age and is known for blossoming slowly.

Fay Jones' chart is extra interesting in that he had a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Virgo. The 2d Saturn Return apparently comes close to the same time as a Jupiter Return and so people like Jones who have a conjunction of Jupiter to Saturn go through the Returns to the same spot at that age. This might provide a special opportunity for them in particular at that age that's connected with the outer social world. These planets are related to career, after all. Up to that time, Jones was so heavily influenced by his mentor (Jupiter-Saturn influence) that he had never really developed his own voice.

In Jones' case this was connected with building an extremely beautiful Chapel for worship that was set out in Nature. Sorry I still don't know how to add pictures, the Chapel is breath-taking, you can really see the Aquarius Sun-Neptune in Leo expression. Natally he has an opposition between Sun (Aquarius) and Neptune (Leo). The transiting Nodes were passing over this opposition in 1980 as well. And, Jones' progressed Venus went Retrograde that year at 11 Taurus which squares the Sun-Neptune opposition. And progressed Mars followed soon after. This is an interesting case of progressed Venus ramping up one's creativity through the Retrograde. I've only heard of the Rx being associated with psychological unhappiness and feelings of not being loveable. Maybe p.Mars helps out. Natally, Venus and Mars are in conjunction in Jones' chart and opposing the Jupiter-Saturn conjuction so the connections are really pretty interesting.

E. Fay Jones
b. Jan. 31, 1921 Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Sun 11 Aquarius; Moon Scorpio or Sagittarius; NN 2 Scorpio