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.

Child Molestation

This blog is about Lawrence Lessig, one of the Guardian's Top 100 Intellectuals of the World. Lessig is a world famous lawyer and professor known for his work in Copyright Law on the Internet. He has now announced his intention to unearth corruption in Politics. This is a Quality Guy. Lessig is also a Victim of Child Molestation. He was victimized at Age 14 (not sure about how long this continued as he went to a normal High School) while attending a Boy's Choir School in New Jersey. His story is extremely interesting because he actually confronted his abuser, sued the school, and then prosecuted the school later on behalf of other victims. He only opened up about his own story later on. I found an article that gives a lot of dates so I'd like to take a look at his chart:

The story is here in New York Magazine in an Article called "The Choirboy" by John Heilemann, May 21, 2005: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/12061/. This article also tells the story of the man who Lessig represented who has suffered long term because of the abuse. I can't find his birth date.

Although he was groped beforehand, Lessig says he was actually raped on his 14th Birthday. This was meant to be a "Birthday Present" from his molester, the Choir Director, and continued pretty much until he left the school in order to attend regular High School. This, of course, was a Solar Return for Lessig so potent for the entire year.

The 14th year is associated astrologically with the first Saturn opposition. Sometimes this transit comes earlier, in Lessie's case it was just approaching and was promising to be significant in some way as Lessie has a wide conjunction of Saturn to Jupiter. Saturn's influence is reflected in Lessie's own words about the molestation. He said he had a "14-year olds exaggerated sense of his own maturity. "I felt I could handle it," he says. "That everything was under control." So he stayed silent, managed (Saturn keyword), and was actually promoted in stature to head choir boy.

Also from the article: "Now, in his ninth-grade year, Lessig was named head boy, which made him “in charge of taking care of the kids,” he says. “There was no proctor when I was head boy; I was discipline. And there were kids who were real shits—it was a Lord of the Flies–like experience.” I've listed some of the more major aspects below for the Solar Return chart and you can the Lord of the Flies influences big time.

Lessig's natal chart has Saturn in Capricorn conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius. Saturn here is in its own sign which emphasizes an extra feeling of maturity. Jupiter, of course, exaggerates everything it touches, and in Aquarius, well, anything goes, the more shocking the better. The two working together are thought to bring social prominence of some kind. (Barack Obama was born a couple of months after Lessig.) When transiting Jupiter and Saturn come together in the sky every 20 years, they are thought to bring about big changes in social, legal, political arenas and this is the emphasis on which Lessig has based his life, not his molestation which is a personal, intimate activity.

Lawrence Lessig
b. June 3, 1961 Rapid City, South Dakota

Sun 13 Gemini; Moon Aquarius; NN 1 Virgo

Selected to attend the exclusive school at Age 10, Lessig has a natal Venus in Aries. As Venus rules the voice and Aries rules boys it seems that this is perfect for showing talent as a Soprano lead in a Boys' Choir. A leading voice, whether through music or through law.

Significant in a different way, Progressed Mercury (Thinking, Communication, Early Education) went Rx around 10 Cancer within a year after starting at the school, 1971-72. Mercury is prominent in Lessig's natal chart as it is Out-of-bounds at 7 Cancer and is involved in a Grand Trine with Neptune in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces. He developed a natural ability to escape and go elsewhere when stressed out. That's also a really interesting combination considering his areas of Law are involved with Intellectual Theft and Political Corruption.

With his Gemini Sun and Aquarius Moon Lessig would have been able to view what was happening from a more mental standpoint. If the two are trining (not known due to lack of birth time) this perhaps explains Lessig's strength to overcome the abuse. Internally his Ego and Unconscious work in harmony, good basic internal structure to protect against negative outside influences. Their Air influence maybe channel the emotional feelings into talents and good fortune through his Grand Water Trine. Talking about what happened to him would not have been easy, however. Lessig still hadn't told his parents what had happened even while he was working as a Lawyer on the case. This really illustrates Noel Tyl's interpretation of Grand Trines well, where the figure sort of shows energies that the person hold within himself, maybe becomes problematic if he bottles them up.

Lessig's first Molestation occurred in the Fall of 8th Grade. He was groped while watching TV 3 years after beginning at the school. He had been told by other boys about the Choir Master's behaviors shortly after attending the school.

Lessig was first raped on his 14th Birthday, June 3, 1975, Princeton, NJ.

This is shown perfectly by the astrology.

• The Moon was conjunct Mars at 10 Aries opposite Pluto in Libra. Violence, Force.

• There was a transiting T-square of Uranus opposite Saturn squaring Venus with apex Venus 28 Cancer. This layers over his natal Venus-Saturn square and creates a Grand Square figure (n.Venus 29 Aries square n. Saturn 30 Capricorn). So there's some connection to ambition here. He perhaps did feel "chosen." The transiting Venus-Saturn Square echoes the natal one. This would have been such a confusing aspect for anyone to go through let alone an adoloscent boy being stalked by a predator who was encouraging success.

• In addition, t.Neptune was opposing Lessig's natal Sun from 11 Sagittarius. Confusion to Ego, Victimization, Not knowing, unfortunately in this case emphasizes one's artistic and musical talents and vulnerabilities.

• And also, there was a Nodal Square (one degree orb). Lessig's Natal Node is conjunct n. Pluto in Virgo and natal Uranus in Leo so Nodal transits would really be charged for him. Natal conjunction of Mars to Uranus has progressed at time of first rape so that Mars is conjunct Uranus within a degree. Aggression plus Shock and Excitement.
  

• Finally, Saturn approaching 1st opposition to natal Saturn. This next year Lessig was made Head Boy of the School and was in charge of the other boys. He also lived in the room next to the Choir Master and sort of became his Live-in lover. A lot of prestige as Saturn opposes natal Saturn-Jupiter conjunction.

I was interested in trying to understand the transits of when Lessig was "available" astrologically to speak out. Since he's a Lawyer, speaking out ought to come naturally to him. But in his chart it's involved in a Grand Water Trine with Neptune. He wouldn't speak if things were not safe, especially as Mercury is in security conscious Cancer.

Lessig left the school and graduated from a normal High School. At Age 17 he joined the Board for the School. He was first approached in Fall of 1981 when he was 20 by other victims and didn't want to speak out. There was a conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn in Libra which reflects his natal Jupiter-Saturn conjunction (widely trining natal position). This shows an ambitious time. Also, Jupiter & Saturn were conjunct Pluto. Certainly a time to remain silent. This was probably the last thing he would have been able to do at this point. At this point Jupiter, Saturn & Pluto were all in a stellium in Libra together. This reflects the natal Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in his natal chart. His life was full of success and he probably didn't want to allow, probably didn't even feel the hurt from the past. He did later sue the school and receive a settlement, but the records were kept sealed. He maybe had a subconscious desire to go into Law because of the crime committed but, perhaps back in those days it wasn't even considered that much of a crime.

He was next approached I believe in 2001 when he was 43. The transits here are interesting. This is again after the next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that occurred in Taurus in 2000. Transiting Pluto was opposing his natal Sun and was about to going through the Saturn-Pluto opposition starting in that year, right on his natal Sun. He was past his transiting Pluto square which would have included his Nodal Axis and Uranus.

When the Law Suit began at the end of November in 2004, Lessig was well past his Pluto square and was experiencing his Neptune square and Uranus opposition. These hit hard spots on his natal chart. What an excellent time to speak out on behalf of Humanity and Victims. These are the generational planets. The whole rest of the world was willing to deal with the issues involved (finally). Transiting Neptune was conjunct natal Jupiter. Jupiter is connected to the Law and Lessig was working on the case in Defense of the other victims while still not telling the outside world, even his parents about what had happened to him. Very Neptunian, Water.

Also, the School had won the original argument based on a Law called the Charitable (Neptune) Immunity (Uranus) Act!! This claimed that the school claimed it wasn't responsible for the behavior of its employees towards the children in attendance!! The New Jersey Supreme Court decided to override the earlier decision on. Aug. 8, 2006. The Sun and Saturn were in conjunction and opposing a conjunction of Neptune-Moon in Aquarius. This all happened on top of Lessig's natal Mars in Leo. His progressed Venus was conjunct natal Sun in Gemini. I suppose Venus' relation to Law and Justice really rings true here. Also, t.Jupiter (Law) conjunct natal Neptune (this was a big Victory for Lessig, but also triggered that Grand Trine. He had literally been outed publicly in the Supreme Court in the middle of the trial).

The Governor had signed a Law into effect already in January of that same year stating that Charitable Institutions can be sued by victims of gross misconduct. New Jersey was the 48th State to sign this into effect. Pluto, of course, was nearing its last degrees of Sagittarius and had almost completed its "transformation" of Schools and Religious Institutions.

Mercury's progression is very interesting in this regard. As I said before it had gone into Retrograde the year after he had gone to the school and it moved backward through Cancer until it stationed direct sometime 1996-97. P.Mercury then was within 2 degrees conjunction of his natal Mercury when he finally opened up about his own situation. As he's said to be very shy I'm going to remove his name from this blog. The article will link to him but there's no reason for his name to come up. I don't think there are enough studies of Child Molestation in Astrology so I am going to go ahead and hit the publish button.