Brooksley Born

Back in 1996 President Clinton did a very great thing. The President appointed a lawyer named Brooksley Born to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Problem is, he didn't listen to what Ms. Born was warning against which was all the financial bubbles which we have since popped. Born has strong earth content in her chart so she's a good one to give a reality check. I suppose one would want to be in the mood for a reality check, though, in order to take advantage of the situation.

Brooksley Born.
b. Aug. 27, 1940

Sun 5 Virgo; Moon Gemini or Cancer; NN 13 Libra Rx

There are a whole bunch of reasons why nobody took Born's warnings seriously. For one she's a native Californian and I figure that always knocks one's believability down a notch on the East Coast. Her name is also kind of fun, so maybe they thought she was a Disney cartoon. Also, and oops about this but Brooksley Born is a woman.

Seriously on an Astrological scale: Born has no oppositions in her chart. This is often thought to indicate that an individual doesn't have the inner sense of how to engage others in confrontation.

Brooksley Born is a Virgo and they're also not necessarily confrontational. They just say things straight from the hip and let the chips fall where they may. The Sun-Mars conjunction in Virgo in Born's chart shows a person with great analytical abilities but perhaps which comes across as impulsive or pre-what, what's the word I'm looking for, nobody's ready to hear it. Born has Mercury in Leo, which can come across as too much bravado especially in a woman and Mercury here is squaring Uranus which explains more mental acuity and intuition. The Sun-Mars conjunction, except for the out of sign connection with Mercury is unaspected to other planets. This gives the sense that the energy has trouble hooking up other energies in the chart and comes across as out of sync. Perhaps she came off as being too alarming at the time.

Born also has a tight one degree conjunction of Saturn 15 Taurus Rx to Jupiter 16 Taurus. Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions represent one of the most studied planetary cycles especially in connection with politics. They are in conjunction with each other every 20 years. Taurus is the sign of money and banking and Jupiter-Saturn aspects can show where social awareness occurs within each generation.

It just so happens that there was another Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Taurus in 1999-2000 which sort of marked the peak of the first of the financial bubbles. So she and people born within a few months of her would have been hooked into this year very strongly on a psychic level (and material as well apparently).

Born also has Uranus at 27 Taurus so 3 of her outer planets are in that sign. Her generation was meant to go through something connected with Taurus' rulerships, of money, banking, possessions, self worth, material world. Uranus represents rebellions and shocks and surprises.

Looking at Saturn in this chart one sees why (now that it's afterthefact, of course) Born would be the one to give off the warning for her generation. Saturn rules caution and all warnings. Saturn also rules an excellent sense of timing. Saturn in this chart is heavily emphasized because it was Stationing Retrograde in Taurus on the day she was born.

Saturn is also the Lead Planet of the bowl shaped chart. Bowl shaped charts have all planets on one side. Spiritually this is supposed to mean that the person is aware of the fact that they are missing their other half. In this case it could account for Born's hyper awareness, especially of her generation's faults.

Or because of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction she was speaking out on behalf of her entire generation. The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in this chart is unaspected by major aspect to other planets which means that it stands out in some way. That could be why no one paid attention, not the pessimists (Saturn). Not the optimists (Jupiter). Not the Democrats (Saturn). Not the Republicans (Jupiter). (I may have the parties turned around, whatever at this point).

A person with a Sun-Mercury-Mars conjunction is also going to be the type who will give off an alarm as they will want to communicate. Sun-Mars will be the first to enter the room. This impulsiveness is perhaps the problem. Perhaps Born needed to prepare and plan for her announcement so that it would be believable, as stupid as that sounds.

So, Born's chart contains many indicators for why no one would have listened to her at the time. No oppositions (show relationship, harmony, balance). Bowl shaped chart. Lots of Islands. Saturn Rx. Low key earth personality, especially with Virgo Sun.

I was curious to see what Chiron is doing in Born's chart as Chiron is known as the wounded healer. It usually shows where we can't seem to fix a problem. Chiron is at 28 Cancer and in conjunction with Pluto 4 Leo. The connection over the Cancer-Leo cusp could perhaps just show that she represented a bridge between one way of thinking and another. Pluto brings Fame. It also brings Crises and, of course, is connected with Financial Crises as it rules all dealings with other peoples' money. Cancer represents emotional security. Leo represents risk taking and fun. They thought she was just being a spoilsport. She also has Lilith in conjunction with her South Node in Aries which shows some sort of rejection coming into her destiny from a spiritual element. She was appointed to her post during a Nodal Return(18.9 year cycle) in Libra. Libra NN has lessons to learn about diplomacy and how frustrating people are to deal with.

Born's progressed Sun was squaring this conjunction during her appointment at the Federal Trade Commission so it was really coming out. It was at 4 Scorpio squaring natal Pluto within a degree in 2001 so her Warnings came true at that time.

It's important to realize that in 1996 when Born gave her warning Pluto had just moved into Sagittarius, Saturn had just moved into Aries. That's a lot of Fire and fire represents enthusiasm. There was a Jupiter-Neptune conjunction at the end of Capricorn so Clinton was being torn apart by the Republicans for all kinds of bull shit reasons. This would have been a huge opposition for Born because it was still within conjunction with Uranus at the beginning of Aquarius and this would have opposed her natal Pluto-Chiron.

I.M.Pei / Architect of the Adams Mark/Sheraton

I have ariven in the land of Sunshine on Your Shoulder and Rocky Mountain Highs and Golden Boy Rednecks and boy some of them are looking good but I'm on my Venus-Pluto line and am going to drewl no matter what. Am going to go to 2 Days full of Non-stop Astroblab. Even I burn out after one day so we'll have to see how it goes. The problem right now is that it's frustrating deciding who not to go see there are so many great names and great subjects. I just checked in on Eric Francis' blog and he's doing a really awesome, thoughtful job of covering the event. Check it out: http://planetwaves.net/pagetwo/.

The UAC Conference is being held in a Hotel that was designed by the great Chinese American Modernist Architect I.M. Pei.

I.M. Pei
b. Apr. 26, 1917 Guangzhou, China

Sun 6 Taurus; Moon in Gemini or Cancer; NN 14 Capricorn

I've read that the Sheraton has bought the Hotel and is remodeling it. Only hope that they are respecting the Architect's original idea as Remodels often bastardize originals rather than playing off of the ideas. At any rate, Pei had a natal conjunction of Sun to Venus at 6 Taurus and the Sun and Venus are now also in Taurus although later on in the sign, conjunct his natal Mercury. Perhaps he's hanging out in the Air Ducts trying to understand how 1,000+ Astrologers respond to the Spaces he created.

Pei's chart is a bowl shape bounded by Neptune in in Leo and Uranus in Aquarius so one can see the Outer Planet creativity at work, the need to venture off into the Outer Boundaries, looking for new realities. Well, Pei had lots of Taurus, Sun, Mercury, Venus & Jupiter, so he did have his grounded earthly side that just wanted to create comfortable surroundings. (I haven't even seen the building yet but I just drank a German beer so I can imagine it in my mind -- and from off the Internet).

The current transits are hitting the outer edges of Pei's chart. Mars is conjunct his Neptune and the Neptune-NN-Chiron conjunction is right on top of his Uranus. Better not screw up that remodel, Mr. Sheraton/Hilton. Corporate Nouveau Riche isn't the way to go here. Experiment, baby, experiment. And fix those Air Ducts, they're probably full of Asbestos.

E. (Edward) Lorenz, Father of the Butterfly Effect

Edward Lorenz was the Mathematician/Meteorologist known as the Father of the Chaos theory and the Discoverer of the Butterfly effect theory. He recently passed away on April 16, 2008 at the age of 90.

He is of particular interest to me as he worked with the ideas of Prediction. He said that the Weather can't be predicted more than about 3 weeks in advance. Having no scientific leanings I can't pretend to understand his theories. But, I think I now understand why people become so much more famous after their deaths. It's because only Obituary Writers can finally reduce a person's life's work down into a readable, understandable summary so the more humbly endowed can try to understand.

From the San Jose Mercury News' obituary: "Edward N. Lorenz, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology meteorologist whose efforts to use computers to increase the precision of weather forecasts inadvertently led to the discovery of chaos theory and demonstrated that precise long-range forecasts are impossible, died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, Mass."

Lorenz's chart is very similar to the Cyclone which just hit Burma, at least the Uranus & Neptune parts of it so I suppose those planets might really have a strong influence on Weather. Obviously they are strong rulers for chaos, prediction techniques and progressive, abstract thinking.

Edward N. Lorenz
b. May 23, 1917 West Harford, Connecticut

Sun 2 Gemini; Moon Gemini or Cancer; NN 12 Capricorn

Although he didn't have stelliums in Aquarius or Pisces like I expected to find (Uranus in Aquarius, Chiron in Pisces), Lorenz' chart brings the Uranus-Neptune influence straight into focus. His chart is a bowl shape bounded by those two planets, Uranus very strong in its own sign of Aquarius is the boundary planet on one side and Neptune in Leo is on the other. They aren't in opposition to each other. Neptune is conjunct Saturn as well over the Cancer-Leo cusp so there is a strong outer planet boundary on this Bowl Shape.

Most of Lorenz's planets are clumped between Mars in Taurus and Neptune in Leo with Uranus hanging outside of the configuration sort of acting as a funnel for the energy. Makes sense for a pioneer in the maths and sciences and innovation.

According to Rex Bills, Atmospheric conditions are ruled by (H3). Interesting that Lorenz' Sun is in the sign that rules the 3d house. Gemini is an Air Sign. Lorenz made a "mathematical model of the way air moves around in the atmosphere." Also interesting, Lorenz was born with Gemini's ruler, Mercury in Rx at 22 Taurus. Mercury is conjunct Jupiter to the degree and is squaring Uranus. Mercury stationed direct out of Retrograde when Lorenz would have been around 5 or 6 years old. This held it in the conjunction with Jupiter and Mars throughout his Childhood which must have had some sort of really strong effect on the development of his thinking processes. Mars and Jupiter and Uranus (which held with the square) are all planets which I associate with speed and performance, tools necessary for becoming a forecastor. Taurus is sometimes considered to slow the communications processes down but it also may have been responsible for his early interest in the Natural world.

In 1960 when Lorenz figured out his Butterfly effect, p. Mercury had moved into conjunction with p.Sun and Pluto in Cancer. These ideas became what is known as the Butterfly effect where even small actions such as the flap of a Seagull's wing can have an effect on someting completely different on the other side of the earth. He eventually presented a paper in 1972 called "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" (Bills give rulership of Butterflies to Mercury, Gemini (Neptune)) There are different stories about who actually came up with the naming of the Butterfly effect.

During this time, the progressed Sun was passing over Lorenz's natal South Node-Pluto conjunction (which also maybe includes Moon in Cancer). Certainly he was meeting with his destiny at a very deep, profound level of existence. Emotionally, I wonder what state he was in though.

Also interesting, Lorenz's progressed Venus was exactly conjunct his natal Neptune in Leo and was about to pass out into the empty half of his chart. I think this is a great astrological metaphor for understanding the nature of chaos and unpredicability that would later be known as "the Butterfly effect." Both Neptune and Venus understand the importance of each small thing and the interrelatedness of all things.

Lorenz found that predications can't be made through linear thinking (like astrology). He initially created a model with 12 variables (like astrology, just a coincidence, I'm going overboard here) and eventually reduced them down to 3 variables.

Lorenz first developed a simple nonlinear model of the atmosphere that considered only 12 variables and tuned it to display nonperiodic behaviour. He then showed that the linear method did not yield perfect predictions of this behaviour and since perfect predictions could be made by forecasting with the exact equations, he had demonstrated that the linear method could be beaten. (from www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries...)

According to one obituary, Lorenz's office was a chaotic mess.
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1895916/Professor-Edward-Lorenz.html

Pat Steir

Pat Steir is an Abstract artist in New York who is known for her huge canvases of dripped paint. Her paintings evoke imagery of Water and Land. So, I was sort of surprised to see that she's an Aries Sun which is in conjunction to the degree of her South Node and Jupiter in Aries. I suppose you could say that Steir's paintings are "Ariesian" in that they are so direct. There's absolutely no distinction between the content, the paint, the philosophy, and the technique. Somehow Steir can drip paint on to a canvas and create exceptional beauty.

My introduction to Steir was through a video about artists. The video was filmed some time in the 90s and Steir was bemoaning the fact that clients were at that time paying more for labor than for inspiration so I guess her works weren't as marketable at that point. I wanted to look at her chart for indicators of ease and not wanting to labor over something just because I was so taken aback by her frankness and lack of ego. For this I would expect a strong Venusian contact and that's definitely here. Steir's Venus is in Gemini conjunct Mars (creativity) to the degree. It's also relating to Pluto in multiple ways. Venus here is out-of-bounds. And it's squaring and is parallel to Pluto which is also out-of-bounds. An extremely artistic, emotionally intimate nature. Her Taurus Moon also disposes to Venus. All this indicates a very tactile nature. You can tell she must really enjoy watching the flow of that paint.

Steir's Venus went Retrograde by Progression around 1997. I wonder if this is about the time that she made the video that I saw.

The Mars and Venus conjunction is also remarkable because these planets together rule both her Nodal Axis and her Aries Sun and Taurus Moon! This perhaps shows how Steir works from such an intuitive and well synthesized vision.

As one would expect Steir's Neptune is strong. It's opposition to Mercury in Pisces forms the Boundary Opposition to a Bowl Shaped Chart. Mercury, as a matter of fact, is a singleton in Water. Pretty interesting because, as I said before, Water and Wateriness is such a strong subject matter in Steir's paintings. Mercury and Neptune have many connections with each other in the same way that Venus and Pluto do in Steir's chart. Mercury disposes to Neptune as it's in Pisces. Also, the two are in Mutual Reception.

Pretty interesting is the Saturn-Pluto square. This can show more of a need for control than I would expect from Steir. Maybe there is a lot of control necessary to create these paintings, I don't know. Making things look easy is the signature of great artists. This pair together certainly gives a lot of drive to work and to have a career. It can also give a great sense of scale and mass which Steir's work certainly has.

Maybe this is too much infomation, but I will also note that Steir was born while Uranus was in Taurus trining Neptune in Virgo. A great signature for Abstraction. Uranus may be in conjunction with Steir's Moon.