Paul Revere (January 1, 1735 – May 10, 1818)

In his book, The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell uses Paul Revere‘s Midnight Ride to illustrate how one person can create a social movement by their actions. Let’s look at Revere, first.

There is only one astrology site that has a birth chart for this man. The classification is C: Accuracy in Question. That’s my usual comment when someone’s birth time is unknown, or I’ve randomized their chart. However, I’m going to stick with it, since it might be chosen for chart rectification purposes.

I like the fact that Neptune is @ 22° Gemini in the 11th House of Groups and Associations. That seems to be appropriate, somehow. It is also the pivotal planet for four aspects that define his personality. There are no hidden agendas.

Here, then, is the explanation for why Paul Revere’s midnight ride started a word-of-mouth epidemic and William Dawes’s ride did not[…] He was a Connector. He was, for example, gregarious and intensely social. When he died, his funeral was attended, in the words of one contemporary newspaper account, by ‘troops of people.’ He was a fisherman and a hunter, a card player and a theater-lover, a frequenter of pubs and a successful businessman. He was active in the local Masonic Lodge and was a member of several select social clubs. He was also a doer, a man blessed — as David Hackett Fischer recounts in his brilliant book Paul Revere’s Ride — with an ‘uncanny genius for being at the center of events.’

The Tipping Point: The Law of the Few (page 16)

Yes, that sounds just like a Mason in the 18th Century.

The Famous Midnight Ride

I think the accuracy of this time is fairly exact, even if I say so myself. There are two inconjuncts.

Mars Inconjunct Pluto

You have a strong will and always want to have your own way. But very often it seems as if tremendous forces are working to prevent you from getting what you want. If you have this problem, it is because of the way you go about trying to achieve your goals. If you put too much force into your desire to get something, you may unknowingly alienate people because your aggressive manner shows that you will let nothing stop you from getting what you want. Even if that isn’t the way you really feel about it, you should recognize that your forcefulness creates this impression.

On the other hand, this aspect sometimes means that you are the victim of such energies in someone else, that you always seem to attract forceful persons who give you a hard time. Either they never let you have your own way, or they may be rather brutal, physically and psychologically. Learn to recognize such persona in advance and avoid them. Also think about why you are attracted to them, since in fact you may be quite fascinated by their forcefulness.

At certain times in your life, when there are great changes taking place within you and in your environment, you will have to work very hard to make your affairs turn out right. There is nothing to be done at those times except do the work that must be done. Fortunately you have plenty of energy and enough endurance to pull through anything that you will encounter in life. You are basically tough and persistent. These changes are an integral part of your growth, and even if everything seems to go wrong they are necessary to your full development.

Jupiter Inconjunct Ascendant

With this aspect, you may discover that in order to grow and get ahead in life, you will have to put aside your own needs and do whatever the situation or other people require. At times you will go through tremendous and possibly painful creative changes in your life, in which everything that you are is replaced by a new order. Your environment may change radically, or you may lose all your old friends and find a whole set of new ones. During these times you will arrive at new understandings and realizations that make it impossible for you to continue as before. You must always be open to new ideas and be willing to change your outlook on life.

Probably you will accomplish the most if you direct your energies to tasks that benefit others as well as yourself. It may be that much of your work will not benefit you directly, but in the long run you will gain from it. Even while you are young you need to make a useful contribution to society, and is doing this you will learn and grow as an individual. This is not merely a plea for you to be unselfish, but an assertion that you will achieve your goals most quickly by doing work that helps others.

On the other hand, if you try to get what you want for yourself alone, especially at other people’s expense, you will find it hard to get anywhere. Also you will have difficulty maintaining your friendships and other relationships. With this aspect, being selfish could have very negative results for your eventual happiness. Do not try to selfishly hold on to what you have. If you give of yourself freely, you will have more.

Obviously, Paul Revere was the man for the job…