Jason Bateman – Corporate Guy

Posted on February 18, 2013 by ohioastrology

Jason Bateman is an actor whose movies I see simply because I like looking at him. Although I hope for a good plot, if the script is just so-so, I’m not bothered because I still get to look at Bateman. Other actors who have graced my like-to-look-at list include George Clooney (could use a fix) and Ewan McGregor (who also does nudity, not that I’m tracking this).

The last two movies I saw Bateman in were “Horrible Bosses” and “The Change Up.” His new movie, “Identity Thief” has Bateman in a similar role to those other two movies. There seems to be a little type-casting going on here in these recent movies, but I’m not Bateman’s agent, so I’ll let it go.

And I don’t mind cause he’s nice to look at.

The type Bateman is cast in is the honest Corporate Guy, the one who plays by the rules, the one is is also a good family man and is cautious and diligent. Unfortunately, as the song goes, nice guys who follow the rules of corporate life often finish last. Corporate Guy gets passed over for a raise and publicly humiliated but manages to maintain his steady-guy composure and keeps trying.

Enter some unusual situation that forces Corporate Guy to take a walk on the wild side where he learns to experience life a little more spontaneously, all the while keeping the love of his good wife and children while sticking it to the Evil Boss or Obnoxious Authority Figure.

Maybe I like the plots too. They seem familiar in some way . . .

What sign of the zodiac is representative of Corporate Guy?

Capricorn.

Capricorn follows the rules until it gets to make the rules itself. Cautious, practical, shrewd, ambitious – these are all words associated with Capricorn and are qualities found inside the structure of corporations.

And what sign is Bateman?

Hey, he’s a Capricorn sun. What a coincidence!

Astrotheme places Bateman’s moon in the sign of Sagittarius. I now lovingly call Sagittarius moon the Charlie Sheen moon due to the impulse toward wild behavior that comes with this placement.

A little Wikipedia reading on Bateman reveals that he stays away from drugs and alcohol, both having caused him trouble in the past. Looks like this Capricorn has that moon in control.

Sagittarius has trouble saying no to indulgence. Bateman’s cautious Capricorn sun is at odds with his uncontrolled Sagittarius moon. Interesting that Bateman should play these cautious Capricorn types who get swept up not by drugs and alcohol, but by some crazy situation that throws him into the arms of risk.

As Pluto transits Capricorn, all Capricorn suns will go through periods of intense transformation. Bateman is no exception. It will take a few more years (like five to seven) for Pluto to transit his sun. Pluto transits are much like “The Change Up” in that one day we find ourselves inside of another body and the world looks at us differently.

Unlike “The Change Up,” the body is the same, but we inside are different.

What’s changing for Bateman?

If the Astrotheme chart is correct, Saturn in the 9th house is going to be a major focus due to the square with Pluto and conjunction of transiting Uranus.

Saturn in the 9th represents one who grew up with a lot of rules and shoulds and oughts and lots of fingers pointing at his nose telling him what to do. When Uranus hits (the fan), a few rules are going to get broken in Bateman’s world. That Saturn says there is a holding back of one’s true beliefs. While following the rules there’s a voice inside that says, “That’s not how I want to do it. This is how I truly want to do it.”

Breaking the rules doesn’t mean running traffic lights. For a person who feels they have to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every day, breaking the rules can be having a candy bar and coffee for breakfast. Or noodles with paprika. Or a leftover hot dog. Or something else that is not bacon and eggs.

Bateman probably fears breaking the rules because his Sagittarius moon threatens to go overboard with any breaking of rules. It’s okay to eat a candy bar and coffee for breakfast once in a while; just not every day or then it becomes not a spontaneous expression but another tired habit in a world glued together by tired habits. Or an addiction.

Neptune is will transit Bateman’s dreamy Venus in Pisces in the next couple years. That’s always a fun thing, good for a romantic evening that lasts a couple years. For those that like to look at Bateman on the big screen, this should keep him nice-to-look-at.

I’ll have to check out Bateman’s non Corporate Guy movies and see what else in his horoscope is being channeled through his characters.

Maybe a little expression of that Mars in Scorpio is in order??

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Libra: The Key to the Horoscope

Posted on February 17, 2013 by ohioastrology

In “Red,” the play about painter Mark Rothko by John Logan, Libra Rothko and his assistant have this discussion:

KEN [Assistant]: They [Dionysus and Apollo] need each other. Dionysus’ passion is focused –– is made bearable –– by Apollo’s will to form. In fact the only way we can endure that sheer ferocity of Dionysus’ emotion is because have the control and intelligence of Apollo, otherwise the emotion would overwhelm us … So back and forth we go, myth to myth, pulsating.

ROTHKO: And the perfect life would be perfectly balanced between the two, everlastingly on the fulcrum. But our tragedy is that we can never achieve that balance. We exist –– all of us, for all time –– in a state of perpetual dissonance … We long for the raw truth of emotion, but can only endure it with the cool lie of reason … We seek to capture the ephemeral, the miraculous, and put it onto canvas, stopping time but, like an entomologist pinning a butterfly, it dies when we try … We’re foolish that way, we human beings … We try to make the red black.”

Libra’s key phrase is “I balance.”

Is it true that we can never achieve balance? Is tragedy, one’s downfall through a flaw in the personality, the result of imbalance?

If we had balance, would our flaws be kept in check? Isn’t it when we pick at that loose string that the shirt becomes unraveled?

Polarity and Balance

Each sign of the zodiac, including Libra, is in opposition to another sign which is a complementary element (fire/air or earth/water). Libra is the sign of the other opposing Aries as the sign of the self.

Is it only Libras that seek balance?

Balance is in the entire horoscope, not just the Aries-Libra axis.

In her book “Initiation,” Elisabeth Haich has a chapter entitled, “The Twelve Sets of Twin Characteristics. Some examples are: keeping silent/talking, receptivity/resistance to influence, and obeying/ruling.

The individual explaining these twelve sets of twin characteristics explains, “Mastering these attributes means that you use them at the right time and in the right place. The same attribute that is divine at the right time and in the right place is satanically evil at the wrong time and in the wrong place.”

It’s about balance, not the characteristic itself.

I wish someone had explained this to me as a child as I was confused by teachers saying we should have pride in our work yet hearing adults criticize others for being proud.

I was confused for years.

It does seem our tragedy as humans that we don’t seek balance. The ancient Chinese seemed to seek it as the “middle way.” American culture seems dedicated to creating and maintaining a state of duality rather than encouraging a state of balance.

What’s to be gained by encouraging duality?

Like nuclear fission, out of balance states create large amounts of energy which feeds others.

The US is a consumer culture and if we weren’t out of balance with our spending habits, our economy wouldn’t function in its current state. Excess, abundance and largeness seems a cultural characteristic of the US. Balance and moderation are viewed as weakness.

The US has a Jupiter/Sagittarius imbalance.

The Aries side of the Aries/Libra polarity is about self-identity. Promoting “me” often is promoting the imbalances of our personalities. The more extreme the out-of-balance, the more defining.

It’s no wonder that the stereotypical artist temperament seems out of balance. The out-of-balance state is what creates the attention. The excess energy in creative expression throws the scales off balance.

Personal consciousness/social consciousness

The Aries-Libra axis is the horizon in the horoscope, the line that separates below (Aries through Virgo) from the above (Libra through Pisces).

The houses below the line deal with personal consciousness types of things – “me,” my stuff, things I do to keep from being bored, family, home, the kitchen, romance, creativity, food, work and health.

The houses above the line deal with social consciousness types of things – “you,” our stuff, recognition, sex, family money, philosophy, shared world views, career, corporation, shared ideals, volunteering, community organizations, homeless shelters, hospitals and organized religion.

The bottom portion of the horoscope, the areas of personal consciousness, are often in associated with females and these stereotypical things: shopping (2nd house), concerns with details in the environment (3rd house), cooking and home (4th house), romance and children (5th house) and daily work and health (6th house).

The upper portion of the horoscope, the areas of social consciousness, are often associated with males and these stereotypical things: sex consensual and non-consensual (8th house), philosophy and religion (9th house), career and political life (10th house), community organizations (11th house) and prisons (12th house).

Victoria Woodhull: Balancing Personal and Social Consciousness

Libra and Ohio-born Victoria Woodhull, you may recall, was the first woman to operate a brokerage on Wall Street (circa 1870), the first woman to run a newspaper (circa 1870) and the first woman to run for president of the United States (in 1872).

Don’t forget, women couldn’t even vote in the US in 1872.

Trying to accomplish these three feats as a woman or man today, in any nation, is quite challenging. Imaging trying it in the 19th century, in a female body!

These three acts all indicate that Libra Woodhull wanted to be a participant in social consciousness, not just personal consciousness.

After another run for the presidency, persecution for seeking women’s suffrage and a divorce (her second), Woodhull immigrated to England where she spent the rest of her life.

Woodhull’s thoughts on love are still radical in today’s US (quote from Wikipedia):

“Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere.”

Woodhull forced her way into the male domain and social consciousness. You might call that success but she eventually left the country which she tried to change. In the US today, over 100 years after Woodhull ran for president, we still argue about gender roles.

I suppose every Woodhull moves the glacier of human consciousness a centimeter only.

Because Woodhull ran for president doesn’t suggest that women need to do exactly what men do. It merely says that women should not be socially sanctioned in the personal consciousness domain if that doesn’t suit them individually.

Likewise, men shouldn’t be stuck in the social consciousness domain if that doesn’t suit them individually. Often single parenting focuses around the female portion of the “single” parent. The world is changing for men as the other half of single parenting.

I’m surprised that the single-male parents have not been more outspoken about their rights as fathers and their rights in the domain of personal consciousness. Maybe that’s on the horizon.

Balance and Moderation

In nutrition class I learned the key to good eating habits is balance and moderation.

Are good horoscope habits achieved through balance and moderation? Would this be a more peaceful planet if we sought balance through our own personalities?

Rather than hoping and praying for peace in the external world, we could just have peace. Peace wouldn’t be something we wait for from the outside, like waiting for someone to turn on the lights in a dark room.

The tai chi symbol indicates that when qualities are in excess, they become the opposite. Your horoscope is comprised of six tai chi symbols joined in a circle. We all have some imbalance in our horoscope and some spiritualists suggest that is why we are here.

A fun exercise is to read about your opposite sign and know that others see these as the qualities you lack (assuming you don’t have a lot of other planets in that sign).

Maybe to get “Earth in the Balance,” we need to get the inside of people on the earth in the balance first. A road map to balance is the horoscope.

Posted in Famous people, Planets and signs, Politicians - Ohio | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sergei Udaltsov: Astrological Thoughts for a Revolutionary

Posted on February 10, 2013 by ohioastrology

“In every revolution, there is one man with a vision.” James T. Kirk to the brutal negative-universe Lieutenant Spock

Every now and again while catching up on Star Trek the original TV series, I get this subtle feeling that maybe, just maybe, this TV show is offering commentary on our way of life on earth.

In “Mirror, Mirror,” for example, Kirk and three others, while beaming up from a very peaceful planet, are caught in a transformer tremor and accidentally beamed to a negative universe, a shadow-side universe in which the Federation (Kirk and company’s origin) is not peaceful but an evil empire.

In this universe Kirk, instead of achieving honor through good, old-fashioned virtues, has achieved his very-same position through brutality, through offing everyone who gets in his way.

Hey, isn’t that how it happens here on earth?

Didn’t kings become kings through the brutal overthrow of those in power?

Hasn’t it always been this way for our known recorded history? Isn’t that simply life as we know it?

Yeah, I really think Star Trek was trying to say something. I’m sure of it.

In the brutal universe in which he finds himself, our Good Kirk has the integrity and discipline to navigate shark-filled waters to return to his positive universe and swap with the negative Kirk who landed on the positive side.

Unlike his peers, the brutal-universe Spock has the seeds of his positive-universe self, or, as Kirk says it, Spock has integrity in both worlds. And why does Spock have integrity?

Because he is logical.

Even in the brutal universe, Spock simply wants to be a scientist. Brutal-universal Spock makes clear he just wants to do his job, not engage in power machinations.

As Kirk leaves the negative universe, he entreats Spock to do good with the message that “In every revolution, there is one man with a vision.”

Vision

What sign rules “vision?”

I think the last quadrant of the zodiac rules vision – Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Sagittarius is personal, spiritual vision.

Capricorn is practical, societal organization vision.

Aquarius is intellectual, societal organization vision.

Pisces is pure spiritual vision.

Sagittarius says we all deserve the freedom to drive. Capricorn builds the roads and stop signs. Aquarius says that a perfect road way has four-way stops and three colors for lights. Pisces says that we are all one so you should simply know we all have the right to drive (even dreamy Pisces) and should know to stop at four-way intersections and yield for others.

In fact, Pisces might suggest car pooling.

Star Trek seems to embody the Aquarian vision most. The Sagittarius vision has the Enterprise (Kirk’s spaceship) seeking out new forms of life in the universe, the Capricorn vision follows a strict code of honor and the Pisces vision allows the members to do what’s best for humanity (although they are not supposed to interfere).

Star Trek’s Federation is Aquarian in that it is based on intellect. Emotions occur, but are viewed as personal and not conducive to the mission. Regardless of what the members of the crew experience on alien planets, they always are open to the experience, try to understand rather than judge, rationalize or explain within an existing dogma.

For example, if you were standing at the clearance price shoe rack and the shoes you were observing simply disappeared, how would you react?

You’d wonder if you’d gone mad; you’d search for someone behind the rack playing a trick; you’d think your mind had wandered; you might think a god or devil had moved them.

If the same thing happened to the members of the Enterprise, they would simply observe the shoes had disappeared and try to understand why. They may have some preconceived notions, but rarely stick to those if the facts prove otherwise.

The detachment of Aquarius allows it to view any world without emotional reaction which can cloud full understanding of ideas we might not have current capacity to integrate.

Aquarius Vision

When we say “Visionary” or “Revolutionary” with Capital Letters, I believe we talk of Aquarius energy.

What Aquarius doesn’t always understand is that bringing a new idea to the world can be very threatening to our emotional and physical selves. Like animals, we react from those levels and get reactive and defensive which can manifest as brutality.

We are not part of the Enterprise.

The other itty-bitty problem is that we experience life through our personalities. Understanding what’s good for the whole by filtering through the personality, our cultures and our times can cause a little trouble.

Every culture has a “cure” for the common cold, the magical blend of food, herbs and spices. Each blend, of course, is what is found locally. Likewise, filtering what’s good for others through our personalities often leans toward what we need personally.

The other teeny-tiny problem is that we tend to define the future by the terms of the present. In Star Trek, for example, a pair of disappearing shoes doesn’t have a label. Later, Spock will try to explain for posterity. But until the situation is fully understood, judgment is withheld.

In real life, we usually try to understand by defining in an existing structure (such as astrology or religion).

Sergei Udaltsov – Too Much Aquarius

OHA has three blogs on individuals with too much Aquarius (sun and moon in the sign or lots of other planets): artist Henry Rollins, politician Sarah Palin and musician Axl Rose.

Sergei Udaltsov, Russian political activist, also has sun and moon in Aquarius, although moon may be in Capricorn (need time of birth).

The one thing these three may have in common is that they are all considered a little “different,” maybe weird, maybe even rebel.

Aquarius is like that. In this interview with Udaltsov (www.opendemocracy.net), he explains his wedding photo, which has him and his betrothed in front of a picture of Stalin holding signs with political statements.

“‘It was just an adolescent desire to shock people’, he says about the photo. ‘It was like ‘you’re all afraid of Stalin, but I’m wearing a picture of him on my tee shirt.’ Obviously my views have evolved in the ten years since then.'”

This is very Aquarius – creating shock. Shock creates a crack that allows water (ideas and emotions) to seep through.

Shocking a world filled with rules isn’t really that difficult. What’s difficult is to explain why a shock is needed to stir energy into action.

Aquarius Evolution

If the lowest level of Aquarius is rebellion for its own sake and useless ploys for shock value, then the next level is understanding one’s influence when breaking with the rules or tradition. If you shock others to create a crack, what are you asking them to absorb?

Udaltsov has just been placed under house arrest. Udaltsov has passed the first gate of Aquarius. He’s created enough shock in the system to be threatening.

Now what?

In the aforementioned interview, the author concludes with:

“Unfortunately Sergey doesn’t know how to do anything differently. He knows how to conduct a hunger strike and a protest march; he knows how to get himself arrested. Life would of course be impossible without such people; they are a kind of lynchpin, a kind of necessary madness. A charismatic fanatic is a good thing, but not an effective instrument of change. And as Vladimir Tor, one of the leaders of Russia’s nationalists says, you need the right instrument for the job.”

Isabel Hickey writes this about Aquarius in “Astrology: A Cosmic Science.”

“Aquarius has two rulers: Saturn and Uranus. They must work together or chaos will be the result. Uranus is the shattering force that breaks up old forms. Saturn is the agent which crystallizes forms or structures and establishes them in an ego complex. Saturn is the oldest of the gods and represents the first law of manifestation: the law of limitation. Without the concentration of energy within a defined field of activity there would be no power or focus. Uranus represents the power or life force; Saturn represents the confining form that makes it useable on the earth plane.”

Will Udaltsov choose to be just another shattering force or the force that makes new energy usable on the earth plane?

Hickey goes on to write:

“If we can understand these two energies we will understand what is happening in the world today. Without the responsibility inherent in Saturn the force of Uranus can cause destruction and chaos. Without discipline (Saturn) there can be no real freedom. Freedom without responsibility is license and not liberty.”

I also like this Evolutionary Astrology message board post by a person named Rad:

“One of the core archetypes of the 11th House, Aquarius, and Uranus is one of objectification. To objectify the nature of anything independent of any subjective state of consciousness that can then project upon the objective nature of anything: to understand and see something for what it actually is independent of subjective interpretation of that which is of itself. As a result of this archetype the entire dimension of what we call ‘science’ is a reflection of this archetype. Astrology is nothing more than a natural science where any natural science is rooted in correlation and observation: like Darwin.”

The personal Aquarius in Udaltsov is probably happy to have attention and to be perceived as a threat (as his recent house arrest indicates).

If Udaltsov can’t rise above personal Aquarius he will land in Pisces – scapegoat and martyr.

To stay in Aquarius, the next plane for Udaltsov is to understand, with detachment, why he is a “charismatic fanatic.” It’s the “charisma” part he needs to understand – what is it that others are seeing in him that is inspiring?

Is it the raw energy? Is the politics? Is it the challenging of a Byzantine ruler?

That’s the next level of a conduit of any energy – what is the source you are tapping into?

What’s Next for Udaltsov?

Saturn is transiting Scorpio creating a grand square with Udaltsov’s Saturn (in Leo), Uranus (in Scorpio) Jupiter (in Taurus) and moon/Mars/Mercury (in Aquarius).

This is a fixed-sign square. Fixed indicates focus, purpose, steadfastness which can be perceived as stubbornness. Leaders across the globe are born of fixed signs. You need that kind of focus and stubbornness to challenge those with unlimited power.

While the more placid and routine of us hate a squares, especially a grand square, as it causes great tension, a tense person such as Aquarius sun/moon Udaltsov (or Aquarius sun/Capricorn moon tension) enjoys having a release of tension through external stimulus.

All the while Uranus in Aries is transiting Udaltsov’s Venus. Is the wife getting bored of the impulsive, headstrong behavior?

In other words, Udaltsov is up for the fight but the fight will probably exhaust him physically, financially, emotionally and spiritually. If his Aquarian rebellion is strictly personal, he may lose the fight.

If his rebellion truly includes the needs of others, he may have a chance to share the energetic burden and collectively regain energy. If he truly cares about people and not simply about ideas that create attention, then he may have a chance.

Taking on a culture like Russia and a man like Putin is completely dangerous. If we were on Star Trek’s Enterprise, Red Alert signs would be flashing.

Sacrifice is in the realm of Pisces, not Aquarius. Aquarius, like Virgo, serves humanity. To serve others you must move through your own personal ego. If you don’t, you are simply imposing ideas on others.

The choices may be tough, but Udaltsov stepped into the ring. Now’s he’s under house arrest which is Saturn crashing down on him. The rope is being tightened on a freedom-loving Aquarius.

Will Udaltsov be strangled into submission or chiseled into a mature leader? It’ll probably take another two years to know.

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Chuck Hagel for SOD

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ohioastrology

The most crucial question to ask Chuck Hagel as he interviews for Secretary of Defense (SOD), in my mind, is whether or not he’s ever been seen in a room with Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (pictures from Wikipedia).

Chuck Hagel (left) and Jamie Dimon (right)

220px-Chuck_Hagel_official_photo

Jamie_Dimon,_CEO_of_JPMorgan_Chase

This is when I’d really, really love to have time of birth on each man to know the rising sign and speculate on why the two men appear to be twins separated at birth.

But they aren’t twins, for sure, as Hagel was born ten years before Dimon (Mr. Dimon, you need to take care of yourself).

Authority

Hagel is also way unlike Dimon in that he has very little emotion (Dimon is a combination of emotional Pisces and neurotic Aries). Hagel’s perfect, really, for the SOD with sun in Libra and moon in Capricorn.

I was just telling someone last weekend how Capricorn moon makes for an excellent military commander. Someone with a Cancer moon, for example, might have difficulty explaining to a group of young men why they should risk their lives in a jungle in a faraway place for the sake of some political ideal which will pass like cigarette smoke in a hot, summer night.

To do that sort of thing, guide people into suicide and homicide through sense of mission, takes a very firm belief in authority. One must also be viewed as authority.

By the way, how does one become authority?

Authority is the by-product of government, religion, corporation and university. Anywhere you find hierarchy you find rules and authority. Unlike parallel lines that appear converge in the distance, going back far enough in history will unite these various hierarchies into a common point.

OHA Endorses Chuck Hagel for SOD

OHA endorses Libra sun, Capricorn moon Hegel for SOD. Libra is about justice and fairness (if not totally consumed with partnership) and Capricorn is about structure and authority.

The combination can provide diplomatic skills coupled with an extremely strong sense of duty. It provides practical intellect coupled with emotional detachment. It provides a strong sense of judgment and discernment. Libra can be confused through weighing of options, but Capricorn is decisive.

What more could you want in a SOD?

Moreover, the nice tight square of Jupiter/Mars (in Scorpio) with Pluto/Saturn (in Leo) makes him almost vicious. Scorpio is a detective and can sniff out your motives before you even think them.

Isn’t this important for someone defending a nation?

Neptune conjunct Hagel’s sun will not make him nicer, I believe, but simply make him believe he’s nice. Like the deluded narrator in a novel, Hagel might talk about the lovely party he held with imported caviar on fine, ancient British china.

The party goers, you learn in the next chapter, stopped at the bar on the way home complaining that all they got were some little fish eggs and worried eyes that they might break the precious plates. They will also tell some Hagel backstory, over beer, about his petty meanness. They will describe how they were served cheap wine while Hagel slipped himself some expensive vintage from the cellar.

What does “nice” help in a SOD anyway? Nice can be a weakness, right?

Libra does want to be liked but the Capricorn moon is interested in respect. Hagel probably prefers respect to popularity.

Libra does have its charm so Hagel can be very charismatic, especially with Neptune hanging about the sun in that sign. While some may hate and revile this man (the Scorpio stuff), he will also have those that love him and follow him through the jungle on a mission to kill those nasty enemies.

That’s important in a SOD, isn’t it?

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Is Your Valentine a Friend or Lover?

Posted on February 2, 2013 by ohioastrology

Ohio Astrology (OHA) pointed out last year the great error of Valentine’s Day: this holiday representing romantic love occurs in February in the sign of Aquarius which represents friendship. There is a holiday called Friendship Day which, hang onto your seat, occurs in August in the sign of Leo, the sign of romantic love.

Aquarius and Leo are opposite signs. Both deal with creative interaction with others. Leo is personal and Aquarius is impersonal.

Whoever assigned the days for Valentine’s and Friendship Day was clearly standing on his/her head.

Who gets to make these decisions anyway? Why aren’t astrologers on the Holiday Assignment Committee?

Or could it be that the Western world confuses friendship and romantic love?

Types of Love

I’ve heard from Spanish speakers how English has one word for love while the Spanish language has many words for love. This one-word-for-love thing caused great difficulty for Leonard in the Big Bang Theory when he told Penny he loved her and she could not reply but later claimed to “love” cheesy fries.

The Ancient Greeks described many types of love, I hear. According to this Wikipedia article these types of love are:

  1. Eros – passionate love
  2. Philia – love in friendship
  3. Storge – affection, used mostly to describe family love
  4. Agape “unconditional love” or “true love,” but not of the passionate kind

If I were to assign signs, I’d say passionate love is Leo, friendship love is Aquarius (the opposite of Leo), affection is Cancer and true love is Pisces.

What’s interesting in this is that Leo-Aquarius is the fire-air fixed axis. Cancer and Pisces are water signs. Water is associated with feeling and makes sense when talking about love, a feeling.

That an air sign (Aquarius) rules friendship makes sense because friendship is non-physical (as opposed to romantic love) and arises through a shared consciousness of experience or interest. I’m not saying you don’t hold hands with friends or have friends with benefits, but sexual relations are what defines romantic love.

Maybe Eros is actually the third water sign – Scorpio, also known for passionate intensity, the kind which leads to obsession and often makes the receiver of this “love” a little less than comfortable. Scorpio love-gone-bad leads to restraining orders.

So if Cancer is affection, Scorpio passion and Pisces universal love, then friendship is hanging out on a limb. In C. S. Lewis’ “The Four Loves,” Lewis, according to this Wikipedia page:

“… describes Friendship as, ‘the least biological, organic, instinctive, gregarious and necessary of our Loves’ – our species does not need Friendship in order to reproduce. He uses this point to explain that Friendship is exceedingly profound because it is freely chosen.”

Friendship is “freely chosen,” an Aquarian concept. Both freedom and friendship are scary, by the way. Your family is always your family because of the fact of birth. But friends can choose to come and go. Freedom is not always comforting.

So maybe love is watery in nature with airy friendship as the snorkeling equipment that allows us to breathe from the watery depths. “Love” can be to some (like Penny in the Big Bang Theory), a little suffocating.

Friendship Love – February 14

Friendship love seems clearly and cleanly placed in the sign of Aquarius (which will please Aquarius since it doesn’t like a mess). Let’s take a look at a person born on February 14.

Simon Pegg

You might better know Pegg as Shaun in the movie “Shaun of the Dead.” If you haven’t seen this movie, put down your phone and find the nearest Red Box or go order from NetFlix. I’ll wait.

Back yet?

Shaun is just your average bloke, hard working (although not the hardest) who, at the end of the day, spends his time with friends, including his best buddy, down at the pub (The Winchester).

Shaun also has a girlfriend who is miffed that Shaun isn’t doing well with boyfriend duties like taking her to nice restaurants. Shaun has difficulty with the rules of dating and botches the simple dinner reservations thereby losing his girlfriend.

How can he get her back?

Shaun tries the usual ineffective flowers and apologies.

Unfortunately for the world and fortunately for Shaun, a zombie takeover is occurring which will provide the lackluster Shaun and way to prove his heroic, manly abilities.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is Shaun running through backyards with his posse and escaping to the pub to avoid the zombies. His posse includes his girlfriend, girlfriend’s best friend and boyfriend, his best friend and his mother.

As Shaun’s posse is running to their pub, they pass another posse running to their own pub. Like Shaun’s posse, the other posse also has man, girlfriend, girlfriend’s best friend and boyfriend, his best friend and his mother.

Shaun is carrying all his loves with him – Eros (girlfriend), Philia (best friend), Storge (mother) and Agape (people associated with his girlfriend).

Another major character in “Shaun of the Dead” is Shaun’s best friend Ed, played by Nick Frost. Pegg and Frost play best buddies in Hot Fuzz as well. When the rest of the world is angry with you, you can always count on your bestie. If I recall, the best buddy causes Shaun’s girlfriend some irritation in “Shaun of the Dead.” Shaun does much better in friendship than in romance.

Pegg and Frost, according to IMDB, are close friends off screen as well.

Shaun (of the Dead) has each of the four types of love in his life but struggles mostly with his romantic love (and, if I recall, some fatherly love as his stepdad was a little weird even before turning into a zombie).

Aquarius Pegg has moon in Gemini and a nice little grand air trine with Mercury (in Aquarius), Uranus (in Libra) and moon (in Gemini). Air signs definitely need snorkeling gear when dealing with watery types and watery love.

Interestingly, in “Shaun of the Dead” the refuge from zombies is the pub! Pubs, you know, serve watery substances that make us feel silly (as we do in love).

Passionate Love – August 14

The sign associated with “romance” is Leo. Leo, you know, rules the heart. Let’s look at someone born on August 14.

Danielle Steel

Who personifies romance like author Danielle Steel? While her books may not be 100 percent about romance, her dramatic Leo style could be labeled “romanticism.”

Romanticism, my 10th grade English teacher told me, is not “moon and June” but strong emotion, which can be terrifying emotion as well as passionate emotion.

What is Eros if not passionate? Is Eros simply about physical love or is Eros truly about the feeling of being alive?

Reading the Wikipedia article about her, Steel writes about more than Eros:

“Despite a reputation among critics for writing ‘fluff,’ Steel often delves into the less savory aspects of human nature, including incest, suicide, divorce, war, and even the Holocaust.”

According to this same Wikipedia site, Steel is the best selling author alive. (Checking out the Stephen King Wikipedia entry, he’s sold about half of what Steel has sold).

Clearly Steel is not about “fluff” but about the stuff of life.

Steel has sun and Mars in Leo and moon in Capricorn. It is no wonder that she writes about strong women – she is a very, very strong personality. If she were a character in a book, the last name “Steel” would be meaningful.

Moon in Capricorn has a comfort zone involving control.

Leo and Capricorn are both commanding but Leo is more open hearted. Steel may be extremely loving to those that follow her rules and extremely punishing to those that don’t.

Steel has clearly commanded a reading generation through the passion of living. That passion manifests as romance but includes the reality that comes with knowing others.

Obsessive Love – November 14

Since we’re on the subject of love, why not throw in some obsessive love, compliments of Scorpio. Obsessive has a negative connotation so maybe I should call it “intense” love or excessively consistent love.

How many people complain that the person they dated changed right after marriage? Loved baseball games, now hates them. Loved sex, now watches TV.

Although some want the intensity of the dating experience throughout the marriage, can we really handle it?

Let’s look at someone born on November 14.

Prince Charles

According to this Astrotheme chart, Prince Charles has moon at the very beginning of Taurus. Taurus is the opposite sign of Scorpio. The Taurus-Scorpio axis involves money, property, sharing and sex. Taurus is sensual and Scorpio sexual.

Prince Charles’ Neptune is conjunct Venus in Libra which creates and very idealistic sense of partnership.

That Charles waited so long to marry the true love of his life, Camilla Parker Bowles, attests to the staying power of his love. This article written in 2005 by Michael Kinsley on the Charles-Camilla marriage has always stuck with me.

Kinsley writes:

“Now, what about a prince who marries a young beauty out of his sense of duty, who waits for decades until a car crash frees him and then marries the woman he really loves — a woman whom almost everyone else in the world finds remarkably unattractive; a woman he didn’t need to marry in order to enjoy her companionship as he had for decades; a woman his family and the world didn’t want him to marry. And what about a woman who watched her longtime lover marry a much younger beauty; who married someone else herself out of some kind of bitter realism; who fell in love with a young future king but is marrying an old weirdo who very likely won’t ever occupy the throne; a woman who is inviting a lifetime of public mockery for every aspect of her public appearance. . . . Now that is a love story.”

Other Loves

Ok, so Spanish has more names for love than we do in English. Well, amigos, there are still some kinds of love Español does not cover:

  • Pet love
  • Sports team love
  • Political Party/Candidate love

Writing about politics on OHA, I think Political Candidate Love is greatly underrated. It’s amazing how angry people can be over writings about men and women who are far away in the machine of government and probably do not care one whit about us as individuals.

Love Day

OHA proposes once again that Valentine’s Day be moved to the sign of Leo in August, to be swapped with Friendship Day.

If we can’t switch days, we can at least make sure we don’t confuse friendship with romantic love.

If this holiday swap is too radical a suggestion, we can create a Omni-Love Day which celebrates all forms of love. During that day, all rules of friendship, dating, marriage and divorce are rendered null and void. You can celebrate in Vegas if that makes it easier.

OHA proposes that day occur in Pisces, which has a deep love of humanity if it can avoid being abused by humanity. The day will, of course, be accompanied by intoxicating beverages, ruled by Neptune (which rules Pisces), which greatly aid in the feeling of love for humanity.

How about March 14? Everyone in?

Posted in Holidays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

If You Were a Coupon, What Would You Offer?

Posted on January 27, 2013 by ohioastrology

It’s quite common to hear people at the checkout with their coupons ask, “I wonder what sign of the zodiac rules coupons?” With coupon redemption in the billions annually in the US, the very nature of the coupons is a mystery waiting to be revealed.

It’s a question of the Ages.

First, what is a coupon?

According to Dictionary.com, a coupon is “a portion of a certificate, ticket, label, advertisement, or the like, set off from the main body by dotted lines or the like to emphasize its separability, entitling the holder to something, as a gift or discount, or for use as an order blank, a contest entry form, etc.”

The word “coupon” has its origin in an old French word for “cut.”

So a coupon was something to “cut,” not something of value. A coupon could be a mere ticket or entry form rather than a marketing offer.

Oh, by the way, coupons are marketing.

Although the definition for coupon is broad, a Google search on the first coupon brings up a brand that sells 1.6 billion drinks of brown, carbonated sugar water (and other products) each day: Coca Cola.

Somewhere in 1887 or 1888, the new owner of Coca Cola, Asa Candler, decided to offer a “free sample ticket” for a glass of Coca Cola. Candler’s methods of distribution were magazines and mailings (very clever). According to Happy Money Saver, Coca Cola distributed 8.5 million tickets.

So let’s do the math. If I give away 8.5 million glasses of Coca Cola in the late 1800’s, at say, a cost of three cents a glass, I’ve spent $255,000.

Today, a century later, folks across the globe are drinking 1.6 billion glasses a day at the price of, say, $1 a glass. That’s 584 billion drinks a year for $584 billion in revenue.

That $255,000 was money well spent.

Candler was definitely shrewd, as the Happy Money Saver site describes.

Asa Candler

Shrewd is a very accurate word to describe the sign of Capricorn, Candler’s natal sun sign. Moreover, Candler probably had his moon in the very competitive, driven sign of Aries. American’s Top Bankers have a strong Aries streak, which may help you visualize what this moon placement does for a businessman.

By today’s standards, you might call Candler’s chart the chart of a control freak. But control freaks are the ones with the drive and ambition to see a project from vision to implementation as evidenced from Candler’s extreme success.

While Candler was considered successful during his lifetime (1851-1929), think about what this man accomplished beyond the grave – he changed the drinking habits of an entire globe. That’s astounding.

He changed the world by offering a taste through a coupon.

What sign of the zodiac rules coupons?

The idea that coupons “save money” has always been suspect to me. Sure, if I planned to buy garbage bags for $7.00 and find a coupon to save a $1, I am spending less than I planned. In this case, I agree that I “saved” money.

The issue I’ve always encountered is that coupons are for items I don’t normally use, which is exactly what Candler and coupons are trying to achieve – a product stretch.

Coupons appear a generous reduction of your checkout amount, but are truly a shrewd mechanism to affect your buying habits. Coupons are trying to change you.

When I think of coupons, I think of Virgo, the most detailed of the penny-pinching earth signs (the other two earth signs being Taurus and Capricorn). Virgo also likes dotted lines and is the sign that produces carefully-clipped coupons to the cashier, not coupons torn from ads in the car right before walking into the store.

Virgo is also the sign, to me, most likely to have a shopping list and a spreadsheet which analyzes the annual household spend.

Virgo loves coupons.

But are coupons, in their essence, Virgo?

Virgo may suggest a thousand ways that you could improve whatever it is you are doing right now, Virgo isn’t forceful.

In honor of Candler’s super-human achievement, I think I’m going to stick with his sign – Capricorn – as the ruler of coupons.

Why?

Coupons are a way to control buying behavior and Capricorn, not Virgo, is about control. A coupon throws a wrench into your buying behavior – should I buy product A that I want or product B with coupon?

Coupons create guilt – if I don’t use a coupon, I’m wasting money.

Coupons create an extra variable in your shopping experience.

Coupons create cognitive dissonance.

Coupons are your Depression-era grandmother standing over your shoulder wondering why you would pay an extra dollar for Pop Tarts when the generic brand is perfectly fine.

Coupons ask “Are you really sure you should buy a $1 bag of rice when you can buy a box of Rice a Roni for 50 cents off?”

Coupons aren’t just Capricorn, they are Mars in Capricorn – Mars inserting Capricorn into your interaction with the row of pickle jars in front of you.

You can no longer simply buy what you want. You have to understand if you are paying too much, if you have a coupon, if you have a rebate, if you have a reward.

The interaction between you and the jar of mayonnaise is no longer about you and the mayonnaise – there is now a Greek chorus of coupons singing a hymn to your interaction.

It’s the coupon devil on your left shoulder (buy the brand you like without the coupon) and the coupon angel on your right shoulder (use the coupon, save money, who would spend so much on tea?).

If you were a coupon, what would you offer?

While a coupon may be a Capricorn, each and every coupon can provide a different sign-of-the-zodiac offer.

See how this works? The zodiac provides a spinning, interacting, multi-dimensional view of core energies. A coupon may be Capricorn, in that it’s trying to change your behavior, but the coupon could be any sign in HOW it tries to change your behavior.

There is a coupon inside of each of us.

Fire sign coupons

Fire sign coupons (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) are not shrewd coupons. These coupons make an effort to generate excitement and in that excitement may give away too much in reduction. Fire sign coupons offer way more than they deliver (a non-stick pan forever!).

Fire sign coupons are bold and colorful, the ads in the Sunday paper (“Sun” day, ruled by the sun, by Leo). Fire sign coupons can be framed and hung on the wall.

Fire sign coupons have a sense of urgency – run to the store NOW or it will all be gone. Fire sign coupons rule Black Friday.

Water sign coupons

Water sign coupons (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces) appeal to the emotions and might not have a clear benefit to the user. Water sign coupons donate a certain percent of your purchase to charity.

Water sign coupons remind you that you are buying local, buying organic. Your water sign coupon appeals to your sense of doing good rather than your sense of saving money (instead you are saving humanity).

Air sign coupons

Air sign coupons (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) have multiple offers as most of the air signs have a dual nature. Air sign coupons appeal to intellect – either 15 percent off one item or 20 percent off two items.

Air sign coupons make you think and provide a choice, which is great fun for Gemini and Libra. If there is no choice, there is no fun. If you see a person standing in the aisle deciding whether to buy shaved coconut or shredded coconut, you’re watching an air sign with choices.

Air sign coupons often have scratch off components to add to the sense of possibility.

Earth sign coupons

Earth sign coupons (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn) are the shrewdest of the coupons. They appear to give away a lot but there is a hidden component, or the beginning of an addiction (free cigarettes, anyone?).

Earth sign coupons give you free Internet service for a month but the small print indicates you must pay switching costs.

Earth sign coupons get you to buy a time share, a coffee club, something that binds you beyond the coupon.

Earth sign coupons, for example, might give away a free social networking service, collect all your information and then make money on your data (which earth sign would do that??).

Better use of coupons

Before using your next coupon, you might want to ask, “What sign in this coupon?” Understand your coupon as your coupon understands you!

Posted in Nations / States / Institutions | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Boredom and Confusion – Part of the Same Continuum?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by ohioastrology

Are we there yet?

Boredom has been a topic on my mind for years. It’s something I rarely feel but hear that others experience quite often.

I’ve been suspecting that what’s called “loneliness” is often boredom and tight-knit groups over-concerned with the actions of its members are also, to me, experiencing boredom.

The gossip of families and the workplace, for me, stem from the boredom of knowing everyone’s habits. Before your Thanksgiving dinner with the family you know who will be late, who will complain about the gravy and who will be first to take a nap. You know it before it happens (oh psychic you) so there is a sense of boredom (or frustration) when it occurs.

Did you hear that Uncle Bob is having an affair?

Boredom doesn’t seem to be about being with others or being alone. Extroverts seem bored when alone and introverts seem bored when in a group where no common interests are shared.

Confusion is less confusing. Many, many moons back I created my own diagnostic label of “chronic confusion” for those that can’t make choices in life. Having confusion about marriage partners or home purchases makes sense – those are big decisions. But whether to have steak or chicken at the restaurant shouldn’t consume one’s life energy.

Tangled Christmas tree lights.

Today there are many more mental health labels, which I find confusing. Any illness relating to mental processing speed is under the label “attention deficit disorder.” We in the West have so many choices for the simplest of decisions – buying paper towels, for example, so that those plagued with chronic confusion are faced with circumstances that aggravate that illness.

Who can live in the West and not have attention deficit disorder?

Paper towels, again, come in packs of one, two, six or even more. Today there are paper towels with designs, some white. To enhance the product, some paper towels are a big square and others are smaller rectangles that can be torn to make smaller paper towels or not torn to make a regular size paper towel.

Then there are brand names and generic.

Recycled and not recycled.

Wow, so many choices! How much time in a precious day of minutes should I spend on this decision? Interestingly, men seem to spend less time thinking about these things than women, but that’s another subject.

The Wellspring of Boredom and Confusion

As a meditator, it is very difficult to explain to folks in the West why one would choose not to “do” stuff and sit quietly, reducing the reaction to external stimuli. Thirty minutes of silence taxes the Western mind and some meditators choose to do this for days or weeks at a time!

Life is about reacting to the environment, right? What else is there?

The Wikipedia entry describes “boredom” as:

“. . . an emotional state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, and not interested in their surroundings.”

The entry goes on to say that the first recorded use of the term boredom occurs in the novel “Bleak House” written by Charles Dickens in 1852.

Is it possible that this feeling called boredom was not experienced until the 1800s? Hey, didn’t life get easier in the 1800s? Hey, wasn’t that the start of the industrial revolution?

Are (were) hunter-gatherers ever bored?

Confusion, on the other hand, according to Dictionary.com, is “lack of clearness or distinctness.” Another definition is “disorder, upheaval, tumult.”

Can thoughts cause disorder, upheaval and tumult? Are thoughts that powerful?

Boredom seems a lack of reaction to the environment and confusion about excessive reaction to the environment.

Boredom looks at the menu and says all Chinese food is the same at every restaurant.

Confusion looks at the menu and wonders why General Tso named an entrée (Or was it named after him for some reason?), if General Tso’s Chicken is different from Empress Chicken (Which empress?) and if the white or brown rice is better for you (What’s the difference anyway?).

There’s one menu. Boredom and Confusion see it differently.

The Astrology

Being an astrology blog, we’ll move on to that symbolism. We don’t need it, of course, but why not have some external environment labeling fun? This additional labeling, of course, might cause confusion in some and is not recommended for all.

The third house of the horoscope and its ruler Gemini (the third sign) are viewed as the energy of the infant turned toddler who now understands that mommy and I are separate beings (first sign Aries sense of self), there are objects in the world (second sign Taurus sense of material reality) and that interacting with the external world is fun (third sign Gemini sense of stimulation).

Gemini is the mobile over the crib, turning and clicking to create stimulation to help the infant develop. No stimulation, no development.

The sign after Gemini is Cancer, the sign of mothering, milk and things oral (if you ask me). That a toddler’s first response is to put something in its mouth is very telling about how we experience reality. Gemini rules the hands and the hands feed the mouth.

Mercury is the planet that rules Gemini so the sign, placement (a house in the horoscope) and aspects (geometric relation to other planets) can describe our boredom-confusion continuum.

Mercury by sign from Café Astrology.

Mercury is the messenger god. In our psyche, who/what is the deliverer and whom/what is the recipient?

Meditation Boredom, Meditation Confusion

Those beginning meditation seem to experience the boredom – confusion continuum at one of the extremes.

Why are you sitting and doing nothing when your friends invited you to the movies?

As a meditation teacher once explained, once you sit and remove yourself from talking to the external world (in a silent retreat), the internal voice can get much louder. Confusion.

I wonder what we’re having for lunch.

Others, when they sit still for thirty minutes, wonder what they will “do” during that time.

Boredom

In daily life, boredom and confusion seem unpleasant extremes on the continuum of observing and responding to the environment.

In meditation, boredom and confusion are doors into the server room of the mind, the place where we see how the the master computer and network settings create the images on our personal computer.

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Oprah the Confessor, Lance the Martyr?

Posted on January 12, 2013 by ohioastrology

Is it true that Lance Armstrong is going to confess to doping during an interview with Oprah?

Is Oprah our National Confessor? Can she bestow absolution on us all?

If so, line me up.

The Confessor

According to Dictionary.com, while a confessor can hear confessions and act as a spiritual counselor, the title of Confessor (as in St. Edward the Confessor) represents “one who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution but does not suffer martyrdom.”

Well, Oprah is more of the colloquial confessor who is well rehearsed in performing the sacred act of absolution to authors (Franzen and James), but now has moved into the world of sports.

I wonder how long it will take for Oprah to be the confessor for politicians?

The Martyr

While I don’t know if the Armstrong confession story is true, the counterpart to a confessor (the one who confesses faith) is the martyr.

Will Armstrong play a religious drama by playing the martyr?

Lance and Oprah

When blogging on Armstrong I focused on his sun/moon in Virgo which is a way lot more than hypochondriac. Again, hypochondriacs get ill just like anyone else so this doesn’t diminish or deny one’s fight with illness.

I wonder if this is where the confession will begin for Armstrong – I have this, that and the other illness and/or allergy and I began taking this stuff which led to more stuff.

Neptune transiting Pisces is opposing Armstrong’s Mercury in Virgo so I expect a little of “I didn’t know what was in it,” if there is a confession. Virgo, by the way, is the sign of discrimination and is the picky eater in the family (everyone has one).

If Armstrong claims he didn’t know the details of something, it is difficult to believe astrologically. Virgo is a perfectionist.

Jupiter transiting Gemini is making a T-square with Armstrong’s natal Mercury/moon/sun/Pluto (in Virgo), Neptune/Jupiter (in Sagittarius) and Saturn (in Gemini).

Armstrong is nervous and worried, for sure, because worry is the food and vitamin of the Virgo mind. Worry and anxiety, I believe, are what leads to Virgo’s hypochondria.

Transiting Mars is conjunct Armstrong’s natal Mars in Aquarius. Oprah has sun and Mercury in Aquarius so these two should get along, although an Aquarius-on-Aquarius conversation might be difficult for the rest of us to understand. It’s like hearing two people talk in a foreign tongue. It may also seem disjointed.

Armstrong’s natal Jupiter/Neptune in Sagittarius is conjunct Oprah’s moon. She probably feels a strong attraction and sense of inspiration from Armstrong.

Will she absolve him?

I think she might.

What Oprah might consider, in her role as confessor, is that there was a time when indulgences (a remission of the temporal punishment for sin after its guilt has been forgiven) were, what shall we call it, a revenue generating practice.

We’ll see how it all plays out this Thursday (January 17).

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Che Guevara: Model of the Revolution

Posted on January 8, 2013 by ohioastrology

If Ernesto Guevara, Cuban revolutionary, were alive today, he could be a millionaire. That is if he had embraced the 21st century concept of personal brand identity and charged royalties for all the places where his famous revolutionary silhoutette resides.

In addition to the usual places you’d expect to see the face of a revolutionary – flags, banners, posters, postage stamps, pins and T-shirts, I’ve also seen Guevara on such items as underwear and beads.

I’d like to insert a free image of Guevara here, but I’m a little unclear how that works. Instead I’ll link to this page that describes the iconic photo.

I’ve had a little conspiracy theory about Guevara since I’ve been a teenager (which is even before the prevalence of conspiracy theories). I’m convinced that Fidel (as in Fidel Castro) sent his stunningly handsome right-hand man into harm’s way (Bolivia) to make sure he (Fidel the Leo sun) could enjoy the limelight without a much sexier man (one girl’s opinion) taking the attention.

While in harm’s way trying to ignite revolution in Bolivia in October 1967, Guevara died an untimely death at the age of 39.

And Fidel had a life-long marketing campaign. Guevara is a Revolutionary Marketing Campaign Model. His look defined “revolution.”

Do you know what it normally costs to get a celebrity endorsement?

Fidel stayed at home and is still alive today, thumbing his 86-year-old nose at the US. Fidel has now been in power 54 years.

El Che

Although he fought for Cuban independence, Guevara was from Argentina and had a nickname that referred to the land of his birth – El Che.

Until now, I thought El Che was a Gemini sun. But in searching for his horoscope on Astrotheme, I learned his mother supposedly changed his birthday to hide the fact that he was conceived before his parents were married.

If this is true, Guevara is a Taurus sun / Pisces moon. The original June birthday would be Gemini sun / Taurus moon.

In these types of cases, I assume the birth date and time are approximate. But it’s fun to look and quell some curiosity about a man who left both his country and medical profession to fight “revolutions” in both South America and Africa.

The cigar-smoking Guevara was actually an asthmatic – which is why sun in Gemini, which rules the lungs, was believable. In the Taurus sun chart, Mercury is in Gemini and widely opposing Saturn in Sagittarius.

Beret wearing and cigar smoking evoked images of revolution (beret – France, cigar – Cuba) which led me to believe that Guevara was caught up in ideas and images, as air signs (like Gemini) are wont to do.

If the Astrotheme chart is correct, moon and Mars in Pisces is an impressionable idealist although sun in Taurus is a fixed, steady earth sign. Pisces provides more feeling and compassion than does earth sign Taurus which wants you to clean up your own mess.

Pisces, however, also has this terrible reputation for sacrifice. I’m wondering if El Che believed in the revolution more than its leader, Castro.

We’ll never know, as El Che died suddenly without so much as a blog or memoir or goodbye.

Revolution and Death

As long as we know the approximately month of birth, we can look at some trans-earth planets that would have been in the same sign during the May-June time period in 1928.

In this case, Mars and Jupiter had changed signs but Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto would have remained in the same sign during those periods.

Maybe that’s telling about El Che’s life – we know him only through the outer planets, planets that define generations. We’ll never really know about his Mercury (true thoughts), Venus (true loves) and Mars (true motivations).

The date of the Cuban revolution is January 1, 1959. At that time Guevara was experiencing the passing of his Saturn return.

Saturn takes about 29 years to orbit the sun and its cycle is associated with the maturation process, the overcoming of our own personal Achilles heel. In the sign of Sagittarius, Guevara lacked meaning in his early upbringing.

This is where the moon makes a difference. In Pisces square Saturn, I could see martyr images being appealing – which is funny because martyrdom stems from religious sentiment. Glancing at Wikipedia it appears Guevara grew up in a “left leaning” household.

I’m not sure what “left leaning” meant to 1928 Argentina, but I’m suspecting that Guevara had religious urges that were suppressed.

When Guevara died in October 1967, the US west coast had completed a “Summer of Love” with Saturn in Pisces opposite Uranus/Pluto conjunct in Virgo. North Americans were sticking it to the man by dropping acid and making love in a park. There was also a Civil Rights Movement in progress.

South Americans were sticking it to the man by wearing camouflage and playing guerrilla warfare.

This “anti establishment” aspect would have created a strong T-square to Guevara’s natal Saturn in Sagittarius. If his birthday was May, Mercury in Gemini would have created a grand cross.

Mercury – that rules communication. Was El Che assassinated because of his revolution-making ways or because he could reveal something confidential?

Just after El Che’s death the US lost some revolutionary leaders – Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Here’s an interesting, but not morbid, blog on assassinations in 1968.

Was it an age of killing the messengers?

Wikipedia lists several reasons why Guevara’s Bolivian mission wasn’t successful:

“He had expected to remain in radio contact with Havana. The two shortwave transmitters provided to him by Cuba were faulty; thus the guerrillas were unable to communicate and be resupplied, leaving them isolated and stranded.”

Marketing Model or Revolutionary Model?

According to Wikipedia, Castro ended his eulogy of Guevara with:

“If we wish to express what we want the men of future generations to be, we must say: Let them be like Che! If we wish to say how we want our children to be educated, we must say without hesitation: We want them to be educated in Che’s spirit! If we want the model of a man, who does not belong to our times but to the future, I say from the depths of my heart that such a model, without a single stain on his conduct, without a single stain on his action, is Che!”

Posted in Famous people, Politicians - Not Ohio | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Gérard Depardieu, Ce que vous pensez?

Posted on January 6, 2013 by ohioastrology

Is it true that French film actor Gérard Depardieu is moving from France to Russia to avoid a 75 percent tax rate?

Ce que vous pensez, Gérard Depardieu?

Or, in English, WTF?

Very ironically I’m currently reading a biography of Ivan the Terrible (1530 – 1584), who was truly terrible in a way almost inconceivable. Not only did Ivan the Terrible torture and kill his enemies, he killed his trusted advisors, war heroes and his own son in a fit of rage.

Yeah, yeah, this is common in royalty you say (as my brother did). But in politics, royal or secular, there is usually a reason for killing. Not with Ivan – he killed simply to watch person after person experience the pain and humiliation of a tortuous death.

Right now I fear Novgorod, the metropolis of one of Ivan’s massacres, the way a local community fears the “haunted house” where a man murdered his wife.

While discussing Ivan the Terrible with my brother, he made an interesting point about how the trends of the past can be seen in current politics. “History repeats itself” is something we hear that supports this idea but why is this so? Have we not truly progressed as humans? Are we 16th century creatures with iPhones?

Why Russia?

As you may have sensed, I’m a little afraid for Depardieu. When I think of fleeing to Russia, I think of spymasters, such as Kim Philby, the Cold War British Intelligence officer who was a double agent before fleeing to Russia (then the USSR) where he resided until his death.

What makes a man go to Russia as a double agent or to avoid taxes?

While Philby needed to go to the USSR due to his double-agent hood, Depardieu could have gone to a number of other countries across the globe. He could have made the same statement by moving to the United States (Ohio maybe?) or Brazil or Uruguay or Angola or Nepal or Vanuatu.

Why Russia?

Is it possible that Depardieu is avoiding more than taxes? Why does he need to make such a grand statement in choosing Russia? Aren’t there dozens of silent methods for avoiding taxes?

Gérard Depardieu

Depardieu, according to this Astrotheme chart, is a Capricorn sun and Scorpio moon. Depardieu additionally has Jupiter, Mercury and Mars in Capricorn. As you are aware, Pluto is currently transiting Capricorn and is currently conjunct Depardieu’s sun and Jupiter.

Capricorn and Scorpio certainly keep both money and emotions close to the chest, regardless of tax rate.

Saturn in Virgo also adds earth to the chart and may indicate penny pinching but normally has a deep insecurity about not being perfect which manifests as anxiety and health problems.

There’s a nifty Neptune in Libra square to Capricorn which creates some delusions that one is being diplomatic when really one is being selfish and self-centered (I bought the power drill for you, sweetheart).

Venus in Sagittarius suggests Depardieu’s love of things (especially women) foreign, but the preponderance of earth signs tells me that Depardieu will feel more than a little homesick. Capricorn, being an earth sign, loves its habits.

Depardieu would do best living near mountains (earth) and water (Scorpio). But from the stories, I’m not sure he will truly live in Russia, just pay his taxes there.

My first sense of his motivation in ostentatiously leaving his country is that he’s demanding a respect he doesn’t feel he’s getting. Capricorn is definitely about respect and control and Depardieu’s “tax” problem is really a problem about feeling out of control – he’s going to be the “boss” of his taxes, not you.

The Pluto transit is the power-struggle exploded. I’m guessing Depardieu is fighting with other authority figures, males and institutions besides France.

Depardieu might want to understand that if what he’s truly doing is fighting external authority, he’s gone to the right place to CONTINUE that struggle. When Pluto finishes its transit of Depardieu’s Capricorn planets, he may have a new idea about money and wealth. The worst will come in about 7-8 years when Pluto transits Depardieu’s natal Mars.

In other words, the fights we have with others are often the fights we have with ourselves. Depardieu might be fighting “taxes” but may have brought on a bigger fight about “who’s in charge here.”

Depardieu might do well to in his studies of Russian history to understand the political machinations that a man like Vladimir Putin has survived versus his own problems with taxes.

Kim Philby

Philby’s Astrotheme chart shows sun in Capricorn with Saturn, moon and Mars in Taurus. Taurus is opposite Scorpio, where Depardieu’s moon resides. Philby’s sun, according to this chart, is in the 8th house, which is ruled by Scorpio.

Again we have issues of control and respect which probably is the motivation that led Philby to double agency in the first place. He could have simply been an anonymous man in the roster of British intelligence but now he is infamous.

Philby’s three planets in Taurus also suggest he simply liked physical wealth. Saturn in Taurus has the feeling of material insecurity – there is never enough. Whether or not there is true material poverty, there is a spirit of poverty with this placement.

With his Neptune in Cancer opposite Uranus in Capricorn and Saturn/moon in the same sign of Taurus, I get the sense that Philby was not nostalgic about early home life. His early home environment seems to have left him feeling he didn’t have enough which is possibly why he could leave that environment for good.

He simply didn’t like England and could have wealth and prestige in Russia.

I’ll have to add Philby’s autobiography to my reading list to understand a little better his motivations.

Is Brigette Bardot Next?

French colleague Brigette Bardot has threatened to follow Depardieu to Russia, for reasons of animal cruelty rather than taxes.

Brigette, I believe, is just blowing smoke. The woman has a lot of air in her chart (sun in Libra, moon in Gemini according to Astrotheme) and is simply coming to the dinner table and jumping into the conversation without really knowing that the table is talking about “Youth in Asia,” not “euthanasia.”

Libra sun Brigette will really dig Libra Putin, if she does pick up her pets and flee to Moscow. Capricorn sun Depardieu will find, if he really gets to know Putin, that Libra squares Capricorn.

Good luck to Gérard and Brigette .

Or as they say it in Russian – Удачи.

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