Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926)

We watched the last episode of Houdini, last night. It was interesting that I knew (or remembered) so many of the details of his life and death. Harry Houdini was a conflicted man: he wanted to believe that there was life after death, especially where his beloved mother was concerned, but he kept coming up against shoddy séance mediums.

Houdini’s training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None were able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a “medium-buster” grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and a police officer. Possibly the most famous medium who he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as “Margery”

Debunking Spiritualists (Wikipedia)

Before his untimely death, Houdini promised his wife Bess that he would attempt to contact her from the Other Side. Every year on the anniversary of his death (Hallowe’en), she held a séance to get in touch with him, but nothing came through. After ten years, she stopped.

This birth time seems to be everywhere, including on my astrology program, so I will go with it. That debunking energy looks to come from the Moon in Scorpio being in opposition to Mars (9° wide) and Pluto (1° close) in Taurus. In other words, he wants to believe, but he’s too practical to be fooled. There is a Yod pointing at Jupiter, formed by inconjuncts to Venus and the Ascendant.

Venus Inconjunct Jupiter

On the plus side, you need love and affection, and you can usually be very warm and affectionate as well. However, it is very important that you choose your close friends carefully, because you may attract people who are difficult to get along with, who order you around or act as if they are better than you. Avoid such people, for they will do you no good.

Jupiter Inconjunct Ascendant

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.

“The obstacle is death…”

James Randi (August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020)

Maybe it was the “i” at the end of his stage name that made me think of James Randi as a potential reincarnation of Houdini. They’re backgrounds are similar, and the greatest link is their investigations of the occult.

Here’s Randi’s birth chart:

Although often referred to as a “debunker”, Randi said he disliked the term’s connotations and preferred to describe himself as an “investigator”. He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, famously exposing fraudulent faith healerPeter Popoff, and was occasionally featured on the television program Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Wikipedia

I looked at that North/South Node connection to the opposition between the Ascendant (in Gemini) and Saturn (in Sagittarius) and went, “Really?” I had just done Houdini’s death chart and a similar aspect was evident there, too. But it was reversed and opposed to Pluto. But don’t take my word for it…

Once a Psychic Investigator, Always a Psychic Investigator!