Antony Gormley's Ubiquitous Naked Body

British Sculptor Antony Gormley has a new work, called Event Horizon in which statues of his naked body will appear in many locations throughout London between 17th May and 19th August. Each statue is strategically positioned on buildings and rooftops to encourage Londoners and tourists to look up to the horizon.

Photo Jim Dyson/Getty Images on Guardian Unlimited website
Gormley is famous for his works which almost always feature his own naked body. I was curious to see his chart ( 30.8.1950, London). Although there is no time of birth available and the chart is set up for noon, I was fascinated to see this yields an unaspected Saturn in Virgo. It is possible, with a correct time of birth, that the Moon might have moved into aspect with Saturn, but it’s Gormley’s Saturn that I want to focus on in this brief look at his chart.

His motivation is to be flexible and dynamic, able to move on and adapt. His colour balance shows an excess of red aspects, indicating an over-riding emphasis on activity and action. Saturn in an individual’s chart can represent a variety of different things, from fears to an overemphasised adherence to rules, a retentive memory, sound organisation, structure, physical aspects of manifestation and the actual physical body itself. In Gormley’s case, his body is an integral part of his work as an artist and if, in his chart, Saturn is unaspected, then this presents a very interesting theme.

Unaspected planets, which are not linked into the main aspect structure, rely on the environment to give the person a sense of what that particular part of their personality is about. Unaspected planets charge off into the world and eagerly absorb what they find and experience there. The environment stimulates the unaspected planet; the person relies on the feedback it gets in order to get more of a handle on the qualities and energies of the planet for themselves. How appropriate this is for Gormley’s Saturn!



A quote on his work says “25 years work ..... has revitalised the human image through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation”. In 1994, when he was 44 and approaching the Low Point of the 8th House (often a significant turning point) he won the Turner Prize for art. He became well-known in 1998 for his “Angel of the North” statue in Gateshead. This is a large and impressive work to view and sits unmissably on a small hill beside a busy main road. (Image from Gateshead gov.website)


His other famous work is “Another Place” on Crosby Beach near Liverpool. This consists of 100 figures of himself stretching out into the sea. At high tide many of them are covered by the sea; at low tide it’s possible to see most of them and to walk amongst them. I’ve done this twice and on each occasion the experience was different because of weather variations and changes in light and visibility.

Photos of Another Place by Barry Hopewell

A final comment on Gormley’s (probably) unaspected Saturn. I heard him interviewed on radio several years ago and he talked about how the casts of his body were made. His wife assists in covering his body with cling film, then plaster is applied and is left to set. During this time he has to remain completely still and breathes through straws inserted in his nostrils. He said that this was the most challenging part of the process, and I can’t imagine a more intense way of living and expressing an unaspected Saturn in perfectionist Virgo than this.

You can find out more about Gormley’s work at www.antonygormley.com and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Gormley

Aries and me..me.. or is it meme?

I've been away for a week in France, and during that time several of the charts of people or events that I've written about in previous postings have been in the news.

Here they are:

• Nicolas Sarkozy (posted May 2007) was inaugurated as France's new President. I watched this event on French TV and had it explained to me by our French family hosts. Interesting to see it from the point of view of the French media.
• It was announced that Prince Harry (posted May 2007) would not be going to serve in Iraq (but he subsequently did).
• Gordon Brown (posted February 2007) will become Prime Minister, unopposed by any challengers to the leadership of the Labour party.
• Tony Blair (posted March 2006) came under attack during his final visit to Iraq as Prime Minister.
• Life on Mars (posted April 2007) the quirky and innovative TV series, won accolades at the TV Bafta Awards ceremony.

And did I mention that whilst in France, I was staying in Picardie where the Battle of the Somme (posted July 2006) took place?

On my return, I also discovered I'd been "memed" by GreenAbby and asked to recall a pop song or two from the year I was 18 and to write about why it influenced me. I cringe at the memory of "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" and "Dominique" by the Singing Nun ( yes, I kid you not! - her name was Soeur Sourire and as I was learning French at school it was fun to learn the words and sing along - those were very innocent days back in 1963...). The melodies were good even if the words weren't up to much.

And if, like me, you're not sure what a meme is, here is the dictionary definition:

"a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behaviour) that is passed from one generation to another by nongenetic means (as by imitation)"
Somehow, a meme sounds very like Aries as in "me...me!" and I guess I prefer to focus on the charts of others and discover a theme - a sort of thee...me. Thee, not me.

Prince Harry - will he stay or will he go?

The media have laid off Harry for the past week now because a) there’s no news on whether or not he’ll be going, and b) there's currently more attention being paid to the Irish agreement on unity and Tony Blair’s announcement about his departure from office on 27th June.

The latest on Harry’s possible deployment to Iraq was that he is going….but that the army has the situation under constant review. No news there then. A look at Harry’s chart (15.9.1984, 16.20, Paddington, London - data from official Royal website) offers an image which is rather like a trumpet or megaphone; it’s not difficult to imagine a mouthpiece at the bottom, formed by the conjunction between the Moon and the North Node, with the wide open mouth of the megaphone at the top. Does Harry need to say “Here I am! Notice me!” in a big way? He seemed to be doing this big style late in 2004 when he was in a punch up with the paparazzi, and in February 2005, when he was caught in the headlines wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party. Of late he appears to have had his partying guns spiked somewhat by his army training.

His chart has a strong vertical movement which suggests a need to be noticed, to assert his individuality. This may be really important for him - he’s the spare, not the heir - so he’ll need to gain recognition in his own right.

He has an excess of green aspects indicating considerable sensitivity, maybe touchiness, perhaps making him a little thin-skinned and possibly someone who changes his mind quite often. This is reflected in the overall Dynamic/Mutable shaping of his chart. Saturn close to the MC could endow him with an air of authority and possibly leadership potential; he’s known as Cornet Wales in the army because of his rank in his regiment, the Blues and Royals. If he goes to Iraq, he will be in command of 10 –12 soldiers and it is these men, as well as Harry himself, who are going to be in additional danger as they will be serving alongside a potential prime target.

Harry has stated (but note, only via his friends) that he wants to go to Iraq. His Age Point is currently conjunct the North Node in his chart, which is itself conjunct the Moon in the 4th House, and will shortly change Signs and enter Gemini. Age Point conjunct a planet or the Node and about to change Sign is significant. He will be psychologically moving away from the home/family scene (although how anyone in the Royal family can get away from being in the “family firm” is a mystery…!) and ready to make his own impressions on the world around him. The influences of family will be weaker, but for Harry, with Moon in 4th House, the pull from this direction is always going to be pretty strong.

Age Point on the Node is interesting. The Node is a part of one of the Dominant Learning triangles in his chart, and is at the apex of one of the Projection figures. It is part of the conjunction which pins him to the collective yet it can also act as a point of growth and personal development for the individual. The task of the 4th House Node is associated with becoming more humble, more “ordinary”, and of getting down from any pedestal where the person might feel special or significant, taking their place alongside others without recourse to pulling rank.

If Harry does eventually go to Iraq, this kind of experience could be a very significant for him, and one which he may not understand or appreciate until much later on. As it is, he’s a young man who is probably scared stiff at the thought of going to Iraq but is still prepared to go. For that, all we can do is wish him well.

I put it down to the Full Moon.....!

We've just had the Taurus Full Moon. It was full at 10.10 on 2nd May, and it has been shining quite beautifully in the clear night skies here. The Taurus esoteric Seed Thought is "I see, and when the eye is opened, all is illumined" . The Taurus Full Moon marks the Wesak Festival in Buddhism and is a time when the qualities of wisdom, intelligence and right conduct are transmitted to humanity.

In my tiny niche within the the world of blogs, there have been some interesting expressions of right conduct and goodwill taking place at this Full Moon. Yesterday, blogger Barbara nominated my daughter GreenAbby (see previous post "People of Goodwill") for the "Thinking Blogger Award". Now both she and my belle-fille Maylis nominated me for this award! ME?! I'm honoured - thank you both so much for this. I'll have to make sure I live up to being a Thinking Blogger....!

Now that I've been tagged, I'm permitted to tag 5 other blogs with the Thinking Blogger Award. Here are the rules of this simple, potentially effective award system:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

I've walked the dog and had a long hard think (as the award is about thinking it seemed the right course to take before any action) and decided that I would relate my 5 nominees to specific features in my own chart, shown here, which are stimulated by these blogs. So here goes:

1) Dermod Moore. He's an astrologer, an author, a journalist, a qualified Psychosynthesis Counsellor, he's Irish, he's an OK person (I've only met him once but we emailed many shared similar supportive views on a specific situation) he's gay and proud of it, and he writes a thought-provoking blog. He stimulates Uranus ( the astrology) and Mars ( he stands up for what he believes in; he's male) in my chart.

2) GreenAbby. Not because she's my daughter, nor because she's nominated me, but because she's getting down to the roots of what living as a green, aware, eco-friendly human being is all about and is doing plenty research into this. She's writing about this honestly and is using her blog as a means of getting her passionately held views out into the world. She stimulates Mercury (all those facts and interesting bits of information) and Moon opposite Pluto (you have to stand up for what you feel passionately about and transform and change yourself first and foremost).

3) My belle-fille Maylis. Her blog is a photo blog, and she fills it with thought-provoking images which she captures on her camera. These images are a rich source of inspiration and nourishment for the eyes (my Jupiter/Neptune conjunction is fed by them!) and her photos are laced with astrological symbolism if you allow your eyes to see it!

4) Barbara. She started the whole thing rolling towards my little nook in cyberspace, and I enjoy reading her views, thoughts and observations on life as an American living in France. She has a warmth which comes through her words; she's a participator in life who cares about humanity. There are warm earthy qualities to her blog and she nourishes my Virgo Sun and my Moon in 7th House.

5) Elsa. She writes an astrology blog and answers questions posed by her readers in an open forum. She also edits the astrology section of the "Top Ten Sources". When she contacted me to say she'd added me to the "Top Ten" list, she told me that she aims to include all branches of astrology in her editor's list. As a supporter of "astrodiversity" I applaud what she does. This stimulates Uranus...which links with Mercury....and with Moon in my chart.

As far as I have been able to discover from my web research, there is no-one else who writes a blog specifically using Astrological Psychology and the Huber Method. It's a unique rather than lonely furrow to plough and I do it willingly to share this 21st century approach to astrology. So thank you to my nominees. I'll do my best to live up to this award!

People of Goodwill - GreenAbby

Occasionally I will feature the chart of someone NOT in the news. This will be a person who’s getting on with their life and is not hitting the headlines at all. But they may be doing something of goodwill, or making a contribution to life which will benefit others, or living bravely and fearlessly. The charts of real people can offer as much as those of people in the news, so as a counter balance to the headline-hitters, I’ll be including charts of People of Goodwill.



I make no apologies for introducing GreenAbby as the first Person of Goodwill. She’s my daughter (born 11.8.1976, 21.40, Crewe) and I happen to be very proud of her because she’s running in her third sponsored charity run. On May 6th, she’ll be taking part in the Great Edinburgh Run in to raise money for Climb, the charity which supports children with inherited metabolic conditions. Abby has such a condition; running helps improve her fitness and health, and the density of her bones. She’s aiming to raise £300 and if you’d like to sponsor her you can do so by clicking here.

Where might this urge to do something to help and benefit others come from? She wants to give something back to the charity which has helped her. Is it possible to see this in her chart? I’m going to select a few features which just might have some bearing on this.

• She has a very “You” sided chart, indicating that she’s strongly motivated to make contact with and work with others. She has 4 planets in the 6th House of work and service, including the Sun.

• Mars is stressed before the DC. It’s the first planet or quality you might encounter if you met her, and it’s the only planet aspecting her Sun, making it instrumental in helping her express the 6th House Sun qualities.

• Her Age Point is currently approaching an exact conjunction with the Sun in 6th, emphasising a growing recognition of her own Leo sense of self as well as the area of life where this can be most effectively expressed.

• Her Moon in Pisces is the tension ruler of the whole chart. It sits alone in the 12th House but is linked to most planets on the “You” side. It acts as a sensitive receptor for what is picked up and experienced in her interactions with others, but this may be filtered, felt and understood in the privacy of the “I” side of the chart and the 12th House.

The spiritual path of the individual is indicated by the Sign on the Ascendant. The esoteric Seed Thought for each Sign describes how we might develop the spiritual quality of the AC Sign. The Seed Thought for Pisces, her Moon and AC Sign, is “I leave the Father’s Home and turning back I save”.

News Update, 2nd May: She has just been nominated for a "Thinking Blogger Award" by Barbara, who is herself a holder of this award. A real accolade as her Age Point moves on to her Sun!