What makes you smile?

I've been tagged by blogger friend Barbara, a fellow Virgo, who has nominated me for the "You make me smile" award. Without a doubt, Barbara's warm, friendly and informative blog often makes me smile.

Smiling, laughter and humour in general are something I ponder on from time to time, wondering just where they might be pinpointed in a birth chart. Would it be possible to know if someone had a sense of humour and, if so, what kind, just from looking at their chart? I guess maybe not, although there would be clues to suggest this, especially if you already knew the person, or knew something about them.


I'd veer towards Jupiter in my chart as the planet most likely to be associated with humour and laughter. Its qualities of being larger than life, of being associated with expansion, perception and experience fit in with this, and it's the planet that Holst, composer of The Planet's Suite, called "the bringer of jollity". Mercury could also be associated with humour with it's capacity to be quick thinking and quick witted; quick, clever and witty humour is something I appreciate and enjoy. Then there is Uranus, which I associate with off-beat, quirky humour (and I like that too!).

Here are a few other bloggers who I'd like to pass this award on to as they feed and nurture different aspects of my sense of humour:
Lobo makes me laugh and appeals to my Uranian sense of humour. His blog has Mercurial wit too, and warns people that it contains adult content. Go and see....!

Rivkaz, based in Singapore, writes a blog called Water Learner and she makes me smile gently as she goes with the flow of life and shares her learning and experience along the way.
Jennifer writes a beautiful and thoughtful blog called Goodness Graciousness which appeals to my Jupiter conjunct Neptune.

Ewan McGregor

I wanted to look at actor Ewan McGregor’s chart after recently watching the entire series of “Long Way Round” on CD. For those who’ve not heard of this, in 2004 McGregor, along with actor friend Charley Boorman, rode 20,000 miles on motorbikes from London to New York via the long route across Europe, into Russia, through Kazakhstan and Mongolia, flying to Alaska and then through Canada and the US to New York. It was an epic and hazardous journey and the series makes for compulsive viewing. The men undertook the journey as a personal challenge and as UNICEF ambassadors.

Ewan McGregor was born on 31.3.1971 at 20.10 in Perth, Scotland (thanks Caroline, my Scottish Data Queen). What I noticed when first looking at it was the all-red Efficiency Triangle pinned by his Aries Sun, Mars and Uranus. Watching the series it was evident that Ewan was often in urgent need to take action, to do something and get things moving. His strongly placed Sun at 10 degrees Aries feeds into this, together with the excess red/Cardinal motivation in the colour balance in his chart ( 5 red: 3 green: 4 blue).

All 3 planets in the Efficiency Triangle are either on or close to 11 degrees, the strongest placement within a Sign than a planet can have. Whilst Sun opposite Uranus on the 6th/12th House axis of Existence will also feed into his motivation to be up and doing something, Mars at the apex of this triangle is intercepted in cautious Capricorn, bringing a steadying influence to what might otherwise be headstrong and erratic behaviour. McGregor was usally the one who lost his cool and occasionally erupted, or who wanted to get moving when the bikes were stuck, yet he also demonstrated sound common sense, self-preservation and bonhomie towards the people he met on the journey, especially when their host in Russia appeared waving a Kalashnikov at a party he’d invited them to!

McGregor has several strongly placed and cuspal planets. Any planet placed just before a House cusp will be urgently seeking recognition; those on the cusp or just after it will be very strongly expressed out in the world. Moon, Venus, Saturn and Pluto all fall into these categories, making McGregor a person it would be hard to ignore. His stardom and reputation as an actor bear this out, and although I’ve seen him on the screen, just being himself on this journey with Boorman he comes across as a thoroughly nice guy (if at times a bit impatient!).

The “Long Way Round” journey was undertaken in 2004 when McGregor’s Age Point was appropriately conjunct his Aries Sun. The two men have this year taken another trip (“Long Way Down”) travelling from John o’Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa, this as McGregor’s Age Point at age 36 crosses the DC and brings him even more closely into contact with the “You” - those we meet out in the world. The account of their journey through Africa will be screened by the BBC this autumn.

Watching the series, I observed the way both men coped with the situations, challenges, and with meeting other people along the way. My feeling was that Ewan was a Sun Aries and Charley was a Sun Libra (opposite Signs) as they complemented each other so well, yet were entirely different. But as I watched this whilst away on holiday I wasn’t able to check out their data until I was back. Charley turns out to be not a Libran but a Leo - another Fire Sign - so I was wrong with Charley but right with Ewan. I will take a look at Charley’s chart soon, but haven’t been able to find his time of birth - does anyone out there have it?

Earthy Pleasures with the Sun in Virgo

Virgo, from the Zodiac Window in Chartes Cathedral

Question: What do farmers in northern France do when the Sun is in Virgo and the harvest is in?

Answer: Hold a local agricultural fair to show off the fruits of their labours and the produce of the land, demonstrate their skills and celebrate the bounty of the earth.

I spent the Virgo month of September in France, beginning with a visit to belle-fille's (daughter-in-law's) family in Picardy, and went along to the local agricultural fair where her farming brother was taking part in a ploughing competition. The whole event was very earthy, reflecting the earth element of Virgo, itself a practical Sign of precision, nurturing and attention to detail. With my Sun also in Virgo (and yes, a birthday coming up), I went along to this event and viewed it through an astrological lens.

Arriving by car at the venue (a very large field in the middle of nowhere), we were directed to another large field nearby to park. This was ploughed neatly and precisely into sets of long earthy furrows, with enough space between each to park 2 rows of cars. It was around then that my astrological eyes clicked open! We headed off towards the ploughing match area. Way in the distance the tractors on their allocated plots could be seen ploughing and turning up and down as they created precise furrows.


Belle-fille's brother had already spoken of how difficult it was to meet the exact requirements in this competition - each furrow has to be of a certain depth and width, each competitor has a judge watching and checking every furrow ploughed.

The contrast between modern farm machinery and traditional methods was marked. Belle-fille's brother was driving a large tractor and ploughing 6 furrows at a time. A demonstration of old style ploughing with 2 horses attracted a lot of attention.........

.......as did the sheepdog rounding up the flock in a Virgoan way, keeping things nice and tidy!

There were produce stalls of all kinds, with tasting and sampling included. And just to show that there's more to French bread than baguettes, here's a line up of organic flour and the many varieties and flavours of bread that was made from it.

There were farm animals on show too, and although I didn't see a Capricornian goat, I did touch Taurus when I stroked a beautiful creamy-white Charolais bull named Velours (Velvet). Astrology is vibrant, living and all around if we know where and how to look for it!

Fate and Free Will

  
One Monday morning in October 2007, I did a short live telephone interview on BBC local radio on the subject of "Fate". 

I'd given this a bit of thought in advance, but nothing had prepared me for the shock of hearing of the death of my friend Neill that morning, an hour before going on air. Was I "fated" to be saddened that very morning? I can't say, but I do know that after a few tears and a short walk to clear my head, I switched on the radio to hear the start of the programme and danced around to the music being played to release some more energy ease myself into the right mood for the interview.

Fate versus Free Will is something which is often discussed in the context of astrology. Is our life already mapped out for us in the natal chart? Or are we able to steer our own course through life and assert our free will and our ability to choose and make decisions in the real life situations we experience? My take on this is the latter. Of course we can utilise our own free will and make choices in our lives - that's what living is about. And if we get to know ourselves well we are able to approach life's experiences with confidence and the ability to roll with the changes and challenges that come along. That's where astrological psychology comes in.

The birth chart doesn't tell us what is going to happen to us. It provides us with the equivalent of a "Rough Guide" to life, complete with plenty of signposts showing how we can cope with the challenges that come our way as well as the best places to hang out and express our innate energies.

If we feel that fate has dealt us a blow, we may spend a lot of time railing against the unfairness of our situation and focus all our energy on this, forgetting that we have the ability, using our free will, to reclaim our power, make some choices and take responsibility for ourselves. Sometimes what seems like fate can be the start of the making of us, and astrological psychology is an invaluable tool to have when we are developing the use of the will, the use of the mind in making decisions, and when we are nurturing our ability to make choices and create our own lives as we want them to be.

A Tribute to Neill

My friend Neill died this morning. He was 37.

As a tribute to his life I want to say a few things about him, alongside his chart. It's not the first time I've looked at his chart because between us we've looked at it several times over the years, the first time being when he was 18 or 19, when I first got to know him.


Neill was born on 12.6.1970 at 21.00 in Beaconsfield, UK. His chart resembles a 4-sided box kite, held by 2 strings attached to the Moon's Node in the 2nd House. The Node is not a planet and has no energy or drive of its own; it can only indicate the way forward by the House and Sign it's positioned in. Remove it from the aspect pattern and the kite flies free; hear its call and the message is "develop your sensitivity, acknowledge and nurture your talents and abilities".

Neill did that. He trained at Goldsmith's College in London as an artist; he took a further degree in landscaping and architecture, he trained in T'ai Chi and became a teacher of this martial art, and he was a Buddhist. He was an accomplished gardener and his garden has numerous bonsai trees in different ceramic containers. The trees are exquisitely sculpted and positioned for maximum "chi" energy.

With Sun in Gemini, you might expect someone who talked a lot and always had plenty to say. Not Neill. His interests were diverse but he wasn't a talkative person. Often he didn't want or need to talk, but when he did it was on depth subjects where we shared common interests, sometimes laced with a very zen-type of humour!

Neill was something of a loner. His Moon, high in the 9th House of the chart and sandwiched between Uranus and Pluto may be an indication of this, together with his very definite air of being "different" and not a run-of-the- mill person by any means. The Buddhist principles that he aimed to live by were very important to his lifestyle, and his favourite picture of White Tara, one of the feminine Buddhist deities, reminded him of the qualities of compassion and the ability to self-heal as he coped with the rare form of cancer that he had.

The last time I saw him, we talked about White Tara and shared a meditation, using her mantra. This was quality time and I feel priviledged to have had this as our "goodbye".

May you be full of bliss Neill, and may your kite fly high and free.