6 years on and going strong

Today - 4th March - marks the 6th "birthday" of this blog. I started writing about astrological psychology together with astrological chart interpretations on 4th March 2006. The chart is set for 16.14, the time the first posting was published back in 2006.

The chart for the start has a mixture of Triangular and Linear aspects. The linear, disconnected aspect lines give a restless, tangential approach and motivation (yes - I only write when there is something or someone of interest to me) alongside a more flexible, fluid and changeable approach which is part and parcel of the triangular aspect patterns.

There are two complete aspect patterns in the chart: an Ambivalence figure and an Efficicency/Performance figure. Both are triangular. Both include the red opposition between Jupiter and Moon on the IC/MC axis of Individuality.

Moon is high in the chart - the highest planet - so I really do like and appreciate any comments I receive from readers. Moon opposite Jupiter speaks of my enthusiasm for astrological psychology as a method of self-understanding and growth in self-awareness and ultimately getting a whole lot more out of life. In the Ambivalence figure, the planets at the all-blue corner are Sun/Uranus - pleasingly appropriate for an astrological blog written by an enthusiast with 26 years experience of using this approach, and placed in 7th house, where contact can be made with others.

The Efficiency/Performance figure, which the Moon/Jupiter opposition is also a part of, has Neptune at the apex. This means that Neptune is the outlet and conduit for what is written - and it's given out freely, via the 6th house of service. Note that Neptune is also appropriately placed in Aquarius.

A quick look at the blog's Age Progression shows that the hand of the LifeClock has just entered the 2nd house where a sense of preserving what has been established so far is important. This coincides with transiting Jupiter being in opposition to natal Jupiter (Jupiter is currently in Taurus). And the hand of the LifeClock is opposite Mercury in 8th house. If I needed any further encouragement to continue with this blog, there it is!

Some readers may have spotted that this chart for the blog's start has only blue and red aspects - it has no green aspects at all - and this suggests a tendency for an either/or, "on/off" approach. Yes, that's right - I only blog when I want to and when I feel I have something to write about.

Adele

Gutsy singer-songwriter Adele has recently received a whole raft of awards for her music. Born on 5th May 1988 in London, there is no reliable time of birth available so her chart is set for noon.

The focus here will be on her inner motivation, as shown by the aspect colours and patterns in her chart. It's possible to work with a chart in this way if there is no time of birth available, but bear in mind that the orientation of the chart will not be accurate. With a mixture of triangular and linear aspects, Adele will be motivated to be flexible and changeable in her approach to life. With a large number of red aspects and very few blue aspects, we can expect her to be a "doer" who doesn't find it easy to rest and relax. The chart image supports this too - to me it looks like a diabolo toy, something which is balanced on a rope and has to be in constant movement to maintain that balance.

A very Taurean lady, Adele has her Taurean Sun closely conjunct Jupiter, emphasising Taurean traits of earthy practicality and creativity. Taurus also rules the throat and is the sign associated with singers. Sun and Jupiter together suggest expansion, a larger than life approach, the ability to seize opportunities and take risks. They will also support dogged determination and a lot of staying power and physically, a solid frame. Adele is a curvy lady with a big powerful voice, and this makes a refreshing move away from the "expected" norm of pop singers being stick-like thin.


Opposite Sun/Jupiter is Pluto in Scorpio, adding underlying strength to her Taurean determination, and keeping the red energy of this aspect in a state of tension. In the Ambivalence figure, the opposition is where work and activity take place. The planet at the blue corner - for Adele this is Neptune - is where she will go to escape the "doing" to find refuge in "being", and it's possible that this is where her creativity comes into play.

Rumours are flying that Adele is engaged, after the flashing of what looked like an engagement ring at the recent Brit awards. If it was an engagement ring, and a big one, that sounds just what a Taurean would want. But that is rumour. What is fact is that Adele's Age Point is approaching the 5th house cusp, and when an individual enters the 5th house at age 24, psychologically they are geared up for relationships.

Charles Dickens

7th February 2012 marks the bicentenary of British author Charles Dickens, who was born on 7.2.1812 at 19.50 in Portsmouth, UK. Various celebratory events will take place throughout the year to mark his bicentennial anniversary so it's appropriate to look at the chart of the man who was a journalist, author and social reformer. His writing is known throughout the world, and even if you've never read a Dickens novel it's more than likely you'll know of at least two of his works - for example A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist.

Dickens chart shows an adaptable, fluid inner motivation, with triangular and linear aspect patterns. The aspect structure is focussed, via the pinning planets, on the lower hemisphere of the chart, the area of the collective. This is the field of life that Dickens was inspired by and involved in, as a writer and social reformer. His works were a commentary on the Victorian times he was living in, and he criticised the social division between those who had more than they needed and those who were living in poverty. Were Dickens to revisit Britain now, would he find that much has changed?

The chart has three Learning triangles, all with red/green/blue aspects which offer a wide range of learning potential. Moon/Neptune, right on the IC of the chart, connects into two of the three triangles, and suggests the ability to empathise on a collective level with his fellow humans.

Dickens was first a freelance journalist, becoming a parliamentary commentator in 1833. He wrote serialised sketches in periodicals which were published under the title Sketches by Boz in 1836. The year 1836 was a significant one for Dickens. He married Caroline, daughter of George Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle, and publisher of Sketches by Boz, and his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, was published. In this same year he also became editor of another periodical. How does this flurry of literary activity and recognition show up in his chart?

For a start, Dickens' Age Point was conjunct Mercury in 1836, when his career as a writer took off with the publication of The Pickwick Papers. In addition to this, Mercury, the planet associated with the drive to communicate - in Dickens through his writing - is very strongly placed in his chart. Just past the 5th cusp, it's in an excellent position to be heard, recognised and to have its say in the area of life associated with creativity, recreation and social awareness. In Victorian times, reading novels, periodicals and serialised stories (the "penny dreadfuls") was something of a leisure activity.

Mercury is part of the linear zig-zagging aspect configuration in the chart - this planet connects by sextile to Uranus (inventive, creative, forward-looking), which squares Dickens' Sun (use of the will, mind, creative thought/ideas), itself part of the small Learning triangle pinned by strongly placed Venus/Pluto and Moon/Neptune. Quite a powerful combination. And if this were not enough, Uranus is quincunx Jupiter, this aspect reaching right to the top of the chart with Jupiter looking like a hand held up high for all to see. Here in this configuration, and without too much stretching of the imagination, it's possible to see Dickens' skill as a writer about social inequality alongside with his work as a campaigner against the slave trade, which took him to America and Canada.

He was also a philanthropist, raising funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital and setting up a home for "fallen" women, backed by money from Angela Coutts, heiress of the Coutts banking fortune. Dickens, perhaps with some astrological knowledge, named this house "Urania Cottage". The women who lived there learned how to read and write and were rehabilitated into society. But they had to emigrate, making a fresh start in life when they graduated from the programme at Urania House.

Although Dickens may have named the house Urania after the muse for astronomy rather than astrology, it's a very appropriate name for a place where lives were changed and turned around, and a graphic expression and manifestation of Mercury, Uranus and Jupiter in Dickens' chart.

Mitt Romney

Writing in January 2012 I said: Mitt Romney is fast emerging as the favourite nominee for Republican candidate in the 2012 Presidential election. Born in 12.3.1947 at 09.51 in Detroit, MI, his chart shows a lot of red and blue aspects, with just about enough green to deter him from veering into a very on/off, either/or motivation towards life.

The chart image, which can give insights into the person's inner life and motivation, is reminiscent of scaffolding poles around a building and brings to mind ideas of construction, or work in progress as the disconnected aspects seek to complete something and make it whole.

The direction the aspects move in indicates which areas of life the person is motivated tomove towards - upwardly vertical suggests someone who wants to be noticed and recognised as an individual; horizontal aspects show more emphasis is placed on making contact. Romney has both. No less than 4 planets ride high in the chart, with Venus very strong on the MC right at the top. The horizontal reaching out comes via the close Moon/Jupiter conjunction almost on the DC, the point where the person meets the "You" (others) eyeball to eyeball. This is a very useful place for a politician to have pleasant, warm, open and generally friendly planets (pyschological drives) such as Moon (the sense of self gained through emotions) and Jupiter (the drive to genial, open to gaining knowledge and first hand experience). Note, though, that Romney's Moon/Jupiter is opposite his North Node in 1st house, suggesting that his task is to balance out his own needs against those of others, and to not neglect himself along the way. Of interest here, with the Moon's North node in 1st, is that people with this nodal placement can wilfully ignore themselves, especially when there may be things which are too uncomfortable for them to look at and acknowledge, or perhaps which they would rather were kept quiet.

The chart has only 2 complete aspect patterns: an Ambivalence figure and a Projection figure. The former has his high-up Venus opposite Pluto - is he someone who likes to be liked, to be seen to be friendly and to be recognised for this? With Pluto involved, is there an element of power play at work, maybe at an unconscious level? People with this aspect pattern tend to work hard in the red part of the figure and escape and enjoy in the area where the all-blue planet is - in his case Neptune in 5th. Are there elements of real escapism for him? Time with friends and family and in leisure pursuits - games, sport, art, film, socialising?

And what about the Projection figure? These figures are about putting out into the world what is important to the indivual and they work a bit like a projection screen. The planet at the green apex seeks to project what it wants to achieve on to the blue "screen". So in Romney's chart, Mercury up at the top of the chart and strongly placed on 11th cusp is needing to get its message across to the screen which spans 4th/5th houses and is pinned by Pluto and Neptune. Something of a theme starts to emerge here as both these planets are involved in the Ambivalence figure, suggesting both interact and feed into one another.

Romney is nearly 65. His natal chart Age Point is aspecting both Mercury and Uranus and the Age Point in his Moon Node chart is aspecting Neptune and Pluto, both major players in both aspect patterns in his chart. In anyone's chart, this would be of great interest and potential significance; in the chart of a prospective US Presidential candidate, this is certainly so. Watch this space!

Addendum 8th Feb: I said to watch this space and here's a brief update. Romney, I gather, has lost some support over the story of his mistreatment of the family's dog Seamus in 1983. This passed me by in the UK so thanks to a friend in AZ who passed this snippet on to me. He confined his Irish Setter (quite a large dog) to an airtight container and strapped it on the roof of his car, driving for 12 hours with it there - and thought it was OK to do this. Of course, he may have changed since then.....

But today's news is that he's lost to Rick Santorum in the states of Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri (in a beauty contest?!? - the subtleties of American politics are beyond me here), but the question is, how will Romney feel about this defeat? He's also said, reportedly, that he doesn't care about the poor, which won't help his campaign at all, apart from with those who also don't care about the poor. Let's go back to how he might feel, bearing in mind that feelings could be something he brushes aside. His Moon/Jupiter on the DC will have taken a knock, but it's a Scorpio Moon so don't underestimate this guy - he could get nasty. And I wonder if saying that he doesn't care about the poor could be something to do with his Age Point currently aspecting both Mercury and Uranus, so words start coming out inappropriately?

Addendum 24th September: Romney has recently had a week of opening his mouth and putting his foot right in it. The UK press have focussed on his dismissive comments made about those on benefits and lower incomes, and the video of him saying this. He's doing himself no favours and many Republicans must be squirming with embarrassment at his current performance. Things could get very interesting when he and Obama meet for the public debates. Will Romney have got his Mercury under control by then...?

That may be an interesting one to watch as Romney's Age Point is in Aries, not a sign known for restraint. Aries energy often acts/speaks first and considers later, which is not to knock it as it's also a great source of impetus for initiating and getting things done. As well as being in Aries, Romney's Age Point is in the stress zone before the 12th cusp. This is again an area where impulsive, anxious and pushy behaviour may be in evidence, and the individual concerned will be more interested in the qualities and themes of the upcoming house, and not the one the Age Point is in. Does Romney have an eye on 12th house matters? That I wouldn't like to say, but it appears that his current comments and performance do correlate with Aries-like behaviour from the stress zone.

Stephen Hawking

Scientist Stephen Hawking has turned 70. Born on 8th January 1942 in Oxford, his chart set for noon as his time of birth is not known.

Hawking is highly respected and known for his work as a theoretical physicist and cosmologist. His best-selling book A Brief History of Time is widely known but maybe not so widely read to the end; apparently many people can't understand it. But he is perhaps known equally well for suffering with motor-neurone disease, and for surviving this debilitating disease against the odds for the past 50 years.

Hawking's chart appears as a mass of triangular aspect patterns, dominated by the blue Large Talent triangles. Two conjunctions pin these: Moon/Neptune in Virgo, and Saturn/Uranus in Taurus. Moon/Neptune speaks of sensitivity and the capacity to embrace wider issues, to be open to the unknown, whereas Saturn/Uranus reflect his scientific path and life's work. The triangles are pinned on the third corner by Sun (the creative mind and will) and Mercury (ever-eager to learn and teach and research).

The Talent triangles themselves indicate an inherent talent and ability, which, when developed and used can benefit more than just the individual whose chart they are found in. The Sign the pinning planets are found in suggests the underlying essence of the talent. In Hawking's case, with all pinning planets in earth Signs, the application of the talent will be grounded and practical.

Interwoven with the Talent triangles are Dominant Learning triangles, composed of red, green and blue aspects. These will be active throughout the life of the individual who has them in their chart.

Hawking is a remarkable human being, with a remarkable brain, but what is even more impressive is the use of his will (Sun) which has enabled him to continue with his life's work in spite of the many physical challenges he has.