When His Need for Speed Turned Deadly, Too

Posted on June 30, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Paul Walker (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013)

Do you think James Dean and Paul Walker are connected? Besides them both dying in a Porsche, that is.

Let’s look at Paul, first:

The timing is supposedly from Paul’s birth records. I’m not entirely sure that it’s right, but the Yod (Finger of God) and a lone inconjunct are not dependent on a correct birth time.

Moon Inconjunct Uranus

With this aspect you must learn to control sudden outbursts of emotion that occur at difficult times when you least expect it. Also your present home life may not be a stable situation in which you can grow up emotionally secure and confident. A particular incident when you were very young may have given you the feeling that you can’t count on anything or anyone for support. Later in life, you may try very hard to get away from anything that reminds you of your earliest childhood, even if your childhood has not been difficult. You just feel that you have to get away and go somewhere else.

Jupiter Inconjunct Saturn

This aspect may signify great restlessness and unease, so that it is difficult for you to achieve a state of balance or feel calm and at ease. Often you have contradictory impulses; you want to plunge ahead into some relatively risky activity, but you are held back by feelings of caution or inhibition. It is often difficult to decide whether you want to act on your own or in a situation that is very structured and regulated. If your situation is too structured, you will feel closed in and repressed; you will want to break free and go off by yourself and do things your way. But when you get that freedom, you feel rather lost and at loose ends, and you find it difficult to set your own pace.

You may have mixed feelings about authority as well. On one hand you respect and admire your parents, teachers and other adults who guide your growth, but at the same time you resist their teachings. At times you resent these people very much, because they seem to limit you so.

Saturn Inconjunct Neptune

This aspect is strongest when either of these planets is also conjunct or opposition the Ascendant or Midheaven. It can have a variety of effects, one of which may be difficulty in relating fantasy and imagination, on one hand, to reality, duty, obligation and work, on the other. Usually the reality, duty and work aspect of the combination is dominant, at least at first. Your imaginative side tends to be transformed into nervousness, fear and irrational anxieties. The most negative manifestation of this aspect is a feeling that you have to keep a tight lid on yourself and that if you look inside yourself too closely, you will find only emptiness and disintegration. It is difficult for you to realize that this is not the truth about your inner self.

Does this not sound like James Dean? And yet, these inconjuncts are not the same ones he has in his birth chart. Hmm.

The Accident

The news reports said he left a meeting @ 3:30 pm. So I went with that time for the event chart, since it was the last time anyone saw Paul alive.

There is one inconjunct, which was also in his birth chart: Moon Inconjunct Uranus. Interesting. But I want you to look at this image and compare it to Dean’s crash photo…

There are visual echoes here. So, I decided to put their birth and death charts together in one image.

That’s a pretty impressive set of aspects between them. So, in a word, I think Paul is the reincarnation of James, and the only difference is that James Dean died behind the wheel, and Paul Walker was a passenger. Imagine how that would play out for their joint soul in their life reviews. Yes, that’s both sides of the equation: the Driver and the Driven. Rest in Peace, fellas.

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Connecting the Dots of this Pivotal WWII Moment

Posted on June 29, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Battle of Stalingrad (August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943)

The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later renamed to Volgograd) in Southern Russia. The battle was marked by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, with the battle being the epitome of urban warfare. The Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest battle to take place during the Second World War and is one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with an estimated 2 million total casualties. Today, the Battle of Stalingrad is universally regarded as the turning point in the European Theatre of war, as it forced the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command) to withdraw considerable military forces from other areas in occupied Europe to replace German losses on the Eastern Front. The victory at Stalingrad energized the Red Army and shifted the balance of power in the favour of the Soviets.

Wikipedia

I’ve written about this event before, here. The timing of the opening reign of bombardment is not exactly known, so I have set the clock for noon, to see what the energies were for the day.

As it happens there is only one inconjunct, between Uranus and the Ascendant. Isn’t it strange that the Soviets named one of their counter-offensives, Operation Uranus?

Uranus Inconjunct Ascendant

Your need to be free and do what you want is often in conflict with what others require of you and even with what you feel you ought to do. Sometimes this conflict can cause considerable physical and emotional tension. The task you face is to organize your life in a disciplined way that will enable you to satisfy your need for freedom through your everyday activities. One way to accomplish this is by figuring out your own methods for doing your work. Or you may choose to do the most interesting and exciting tasks, which are often the most difficult, so that others shy away from them.

The End of the Battle

The only time that was noted in the Wikipedia post was 4:00 am on the day the battle ended. But that only stated that someone from the German ranks went to the Soviets to negotiate a surrender. So I randomized the time, instead, and got a huge surprise.

There’s a triple! Yod pointing at the Moon, Mars and the Midheaven. Close enough for jazz, eh? And then I remembered my post about X marking the spot. A solar eclipse happened only three days later, triggering the Angel point @ 15° Aquarius, So it seems that Hitler and the Nazis forgot to check for significant astrological signs in the heavens.

(And, it seems that Putin has made a similar mistake in deciding to fight a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. He may meet the same surprising result.)

Looks familiar…

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Homelessness: an Incentive to Succeed?

Posted on June 27, 2022 by cdsmiller17

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

For some reason, I avoided watching this film until last weekend. I always wondered why. I suspect it was the basis of the storyline: a man and his five-year-old son trying to succeed in a world where they have no home of their own.

In 1981, San Francisco salesman Chris Gardner invests his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy improvement over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in Chris’s life. While he is able to sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrage his already bitter and alienated wife, Linda, who works as a hotel maid. The economic instability increasingly erodes their marriage, despite caring for Christopher Jr., their soon-to-be five-year-old son.

While Gardner is trying to sell one of the scanners, he meets Jay Twistle, a lead manager and partner for Dean Witter Reynolds, and impresses him by solving a Rubik’s Cube during a taxi ride. After Jay leaves, Gardner lacks the money to pay the fare and chooses to run instead, causing the driver to angrily chase him into a BART station. Gardner boards a train but loses one of his scanners in the process. His new relationship with Jay earns him the chance to become an intern stockbroker. The day before the interview, Gardner grudgingly agrees to paint his apartment to postpone being evicted due to his difficulty in paying the rent. While painting, Gardner is greeted by two policemen at his doorstep, who take him to the station, stating he has to pay for the numerous parking tickets he has accumulated. As part of the sanction, Gardner is ordered to spend the night in jail instead, complicating his schedule for the interview the following day. Gardner arrives at Dean Witter’s office on time, albeit still in his shabby clothes. Despite his appearance, he impresses the interviewers and lands a six-month unpaid internship. He would be amongst 20 interns competing for a paid position as a stockbroker.

Gardner’s unpaid internship does not please Linda, who eventually leaves for New York, because she might get a job at her sister’s boyfriend’s new restaurant. After Gardner bluntly tells her that she is incapable of being a single parent, she agrees that Christopher will remain with Chris. Gardner is further set back when the IRS garnishes his bank account for unpaid income taxes, and he and Christopher are evicted. He ends up with less than $22, resulting in them being homeless, and they are forced at one point to stay in a restroom at a BART station. Other days, he and Christopher spend nights at a homeless shelter, in BART, or, if he manages to procure sufficient cash, at a hotel. Later, Gardner finds the bone scanner that he lost in the BART station earlier and, after repairing it, sells it to a physician, thus completing all sales of his scanners.

Disadvantaged by his limited work hours and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the broker position, Gardner develops several ways to make phone sales calls more efficiently, including reaching out to potential high-value customers and defying protocol. One sympathetic prospect, Walter Ribbon, a top-level pension fund manager, even takes Gardner and his son to a San Francisco 49ers game where he befriends some of Walter’s friends who are also potential clients. Regardless of his challenges, he never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, even going so far as to lend one of his bosses, Mr. Frohm, five dollars for cab fare, a sum he cannot afford. Gardner also studies for and aces the stockbroker license exam.

As he concludes his last day of internship, he is summoned to a meeting with the partners. Mr. Frohm notes he is wearing a new shirt, to which Gardner explains he thought it appropriate to dress for the occasion on his last day. Mr. Frohm smiles and says he should wear another one tomorrow, letting him know he has won the coveted full-time position and reimburses him for the previous cab ride. Fighting back tears, Gardner shakes hands with the partners, then rushes to his son’s daycare to embrace Christopher. They walk down the street, joking with each other (and are passed by the real Chris Gardner, in a business suit). The epilogue reveals that Gardner went on to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm.

Wikipedia

Meet Chris Gardner (February 9, 1954)

I guess it’s his winning smile and his gracious and grateful way of speaking. Will Smith captured the essence of the man in his portrayal of him. But what is he ‘really’ like? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Because his birth time is unknown, I have totally randomized it: that (accidental) Pluto conjunct his Leo Ascendant seems to answer my unspoken question. “Something” made him persevere when things got tough. Most people give up, but not Chris Gardner. It spurred him on to greater things. One inconjunct:

Sun Inconjunct Uranus

There is a side of your personality that is very restless and impatient with rules, even when you know they are for your own good. You want very much to go your own way and do your own thing, even when you aren’t entirely sure that it is the right direction for you. So you rebel in subtle ways by having sudden fits of obstinacy and moods of feeling very contrary, especially to your parents or other authority figures.

Sometimes the energy of this aspect comes out in other ways as well. At times sudden upsets may occur in your life that totally alter your plans, so that you have to change course entirely. When this happens, you must learn to yield to the pressure and flow with the change. It may be difficult for you to realize it, but such an upset occurs because you have blocked much-needed changes in your life, or they have been denied you. However upsetting these changes are at first, they will give you the freedom you need to grow as an individual. Unfortunately, if you always wait for changes to come in this manner, they are likely to be very startling and unsettling. If you learn to assert your individuality more directly, the changes will not seem so upsetting.

(This also answers the question…)

If you want the true story, read the book:

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Yesterday in History XVI

Posted on June 24, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Nik Wallenda Crosses the Grand Canyon (June 23, 2013)

On this day in 2013: Nik Wallenda becomes the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope.

The previous June, I had watched Nik Wallenda cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. But he had a harness on, just in case… This time, he did the Grand Canyon crossing without one. That takes real guts (and faith).

Meet Nikolas Wallenda (January 24, 1979)

The timing of this chart is 100% randomized. The Pluto position relates to his attempts to be the first to do these tightrope walks at about age 33. So, I’m not going to further rectify the chart. There’s one inconjunct (but it’s dependent on an accurate time, so it might not apply, except I think it does).

Jupiter Inconjunct Midheaven

The problem with this aspect is to find a balance between, on the one hand, expressing yourself creatively, perhaps artistically, and having a good time and, on the other hand, getting ahead in life, learning the ways of the world and finding an acceptable role in society. You know you will have to make sacrifices in order to accomplish anything of value.

The Event

(Really absorb this image: the man is dwarfed by nature’s majesty…)

I wanted to capture the moment when Nik was (potentially) in jeopardy. Notice that this chart features a Grand Trine linking a Sun/Jupiter conjunction with Saturn and Neptune. Talk about being in the Hands of God! Mars is on the Descendant (the potential accident, just waiting to happen). An almost exact conjunction between the Moon and Pluto, opposite the Sun, may have kept him in balance.

The timing of this feat may have been divinely inspired.

There is one more image I want you to see: this one is the view that Nik had, looking down into the canyon.

That’s enough excitement for today.

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The Day Elvis Met Col. Tom Parker

Posted on June 22, 2022 by cdsmiller17

February 6, 1955

As I’m sure you are all aware, there’s a new Elvis biopic coming out tomorrow in most theatres.

First of all, let’s meet the Colonel:

Tom Parker (June 26, 1909 – January 21, 1997)

This birth time was found in a biography about the Colonel. As a result, that is one spectacular locomotive starting with the North Node in Gemini (3rd House) through to Venus in Cancer (5th House). But it makes me suspicious that this timing may be later than it truly was, because Neptune (in my estimation) should have shown up in the middle of his 6th House, due to the fact that at age 20, Tom Parker illegally entered the USA and changed his name. But, I’m not going to ‘fix’ it for him.

There are three inconjuncts.

Moon Inconjunct Mars

Until you learn to handle your feelings, you are likely to get angry easily, have temper tantrums and be touchy about what is yours and what is not. You may feel you have to defend yourself against imagined threats. The problem here is that you are likely to become too emotionally involved with ideas, opinions or even objects without knowing it until someone threatens them. Then you react as if you were being personally threatened or attacked. You have to realize that it is possible to change your opinions and attitudes without damaging your worth as a person.

Mercury Inconjunct Uranus

Your mind moves quickly from topic to topic, often without pausing long enough for you to understand what you have learned. And if there is a lot of excitement or activity around you, your mind may race so fast to keep up with it all that you work yourself into a state of nervous frenzy. Under these circumstances it is almost impossible for you to concentrate or do any useful mental work.

Venus Inconjunct Midheaven

You have a strong need to be loved and to love others as well, but this may create some problems in your life. You are afraid that if you appear to others as you really are, they won’t accept you. This problem can be corrected only by the most careful upbringing, such that your parents correct your behavior in ways that help you feel self-confident rather than undeserving and unworthy.

When Tom Met Elvis

As luck would have it, there are two inconjuncts.

Mars Inconjunct Midheaven

This aspect can mean that you have mixed feelings about all authority figures, including your parents. You may feel that you have to violate the rules laid down by your parents in order to get your way. This is a significant problem, because if it continues into adulthood, you will have great difficulties with employers.

Pluto Inconjunct Ascendant

This can be an indication that through experiences with others, you will be forced to undergo many significant changes in life. At times the crises may be quite unpleasant, but for the most part the results will be very positive, although for some people, they may be less constructive. But you must be very careful about the kind of people you get involved with.

(I sense these descriptions apply to Elvis Presley, alone.)

Here’s the Intersection of These Three Events

Hmm.

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I Finally Followed the Clues:

Posted on June 21, 2022 by cdsmiller17

This Mourning Dove is Widowed

There usually is a pair of mourning doves who inhabit our environment. (This shot from early 2019 is of the female, as she watches her mate search for seeds on the deck, below)

The other morning, when I took the dogs out individually for a walk, they each veered to the left to check out ‘something’ that was there (but hidden from my sight). I noted their reactions and walked on.

Then, yesterday morning, while walking BeBe, I saw a lonesome mourning dove on the hydro line that spans the road in front of our house. That’s funny, I thought, where’s her mate? And then let it go.

Later, I went to cut the grass in the back garden, and just at the side gate, I saw a flurry of feathers scattered there. Oh-ho, says I, that’s what happened to him. He’s obviously been taken out of circulation by a hawk. (It wasn’t the first time that’s happened, and it won’t be the last.)

But now the mystery has been solved.

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It’s Taken More than Sixty-Five Years to Get Over It

Posted on June 20, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Raven and Me

In late summer, 1956, I was bitten by a German Shepherd. I was six years of age. It was traumatic to me, especially since I had been farmed out to the Duff family in New Lowell, while Mom was confined to her bed in Toronto, to avoid any problems giving birth to my sister, Anne.

Their dog was chained up near the front door of the Duff’s house. The kids were teasing it, by putting a hat on his head. He was good natured with them, but he objected to my joining in. When I picked up the hat, he bit my hand, breaking through the skin and leaving teeth marks. (And, if you’ve been following my posts for a while, you would have read about this incident here.)

Anyway, fast forward to today: I walk Raven at least twice a day. She is a bit skitter-skat-ish, so it takes a lot of physical strength to hold her back if she gets spooked, or another dog is around. She mostly does what she’s told, however, because all you have to do is say her name, and she’ll stop in her tracks.

She thinks that she can scare me, especially when I’m locking the front door just before we go to bed. But then she sees it’s me, and she knows better than to bark twice. She is also deathly afraid of thunder storms. We persuaded her humans to buy her a thunder coat, to reduce the fear.

She’s only going to be with us for this week, as one of her humans is moving permanently to their bunkee near the French River, just south of Sudbury. I think I’ll miss her, but not the dog hair she sheds.

Still, I now have a better relationship with German Shepherds because of her. Thank you, Raven.

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How Appropriate for Father’s Day…

Posted on June 19, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Our Dad Shows Up in My Dream Last Night

Photo of Rus courtesy of Anne Hayward via ancestry.ca

Having had a very busy day, yesterday, attending a family wedding (which was surprisingly emotional for me), I resolved to have a good night’s sleep, but also to remember whatever my dreams were about.

In the first one (that I can recall), our home had a visitor: Rus. He liked the accommodation but he had a slight issue with there being a shower in a bath. What he preferred was a shower in his room, even if it straddled two rooms. So we set about to change things. I think he was pleased.

Now, by itself, this dream has some contradictions to reality (“alternative truth”). For example, our shower is in the main bathroom of our house. Years ago, it was converted from an old bath to a shower stall. And the extra bedroom downstairs has access to a separate water closet (WC), but there is no room for a shower. In fact, in my dream, the guest bedroom is in the upper area of the house, not lower. Hmm.

Later portions of my dream reverted to a discussion with David Letterman, whose beard these days looks like it has a life of its own. Recent images of him are reminiscent of Rus.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

I suspect the switch to Letterman was due in part to watching his Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction“. I had selected the one with Ryan Reynolds. (Reynolds is the maiden name of my cousin Doug’s wife, Margot) Do you see a trend here? The Miller side got a look-in during my dream.

That means I got a Father’s Day gift from both fathers. How lovely!

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The Stars “Fell” on That Fateful Morning

Posted on June 17, 2022 by cdsmiller17

November 12, 1833

We know now that it was a meteor shower, but at the time they presumed it was the end of the world.

The time was ‘just before dawn’. So, I have chosen 6:30 am local time in Pittsburgh because the Gazette wrote about it. The Mars conjunct Scorpio Rising seems appropriate, doesn’t it? There are two inconjuncts.

Moon Inconjunct Jupiter

You like to think big, and you have great ambitions, but you don’t always make sure that your thinking is clear or careful. When you make any kind of plan, be careful. Don’t try to take on more than you can handle and make sure not to overlook details, for that could hurt what you are trying to do. Careful planning will help you develop disciplined habits in other areas as well. This aspect can mean that you are sloppy in your personal appearance and in your work habits.

Neptune Inconjunct Midheaven

You are very impressionable, in that you pick up the energies around you very quickly. Therefore it is very important that you are surrounded by wholesome influences in your early years, because negative influences will weaken your self-esteem and make it much more difficult to accomplish anything when you are older. On the other hand, your impressionableness may give rise to some psychic ability, or at least a very sharp intuition when you are older.

We are so easily led astray.

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It’s Time to Reassess His Role as Trump’s VP

Posted on June 17, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Michael Pence (June 7, 1959)

I always presumed Mike Pence was Donald Trump’s yes-man. After yesterday’s January 6 Select Committee hearing, aired live on CNN for three hours, I have come to appreciate the man himself.

The timing of this chart is totally randomized. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but then that Venus/Mars conjunction in the early degrees of Leo (and possibly conjunct a late degrees Cancer Ascendant) reminded me that this man is capable of a love/hate relationship with the world.

Mars Inconjunct Saturn

This can be a difficult aspect because it signifies a conflict between your sense of responsibility and your desire to fulfill your own needs and do what you want. This leads to a struggle within you that may keep you from acting decisively. Instead of deciding what you will do, you feel caught between these two forces, wondering whether you have the right to do what you want. You may feel that others are trying to frustrate you, but it is only your own indecisiveness that is causing the trouble. Sometimes this conflict makes you very irritable and resentful about nothing in particular. Then, when someone happens to act in a way that is obviously annoying, you focus all your built-up anger on that person.

Sometimes with this aspect there really is someone in your life who discourages you and makes you feel that your efforts are futile. You must learn to avoid negative people who make you feel bad about yourself.

On the positive side, this aspect can mean that you control your aggressions and energies so that they work out constructively. But make sure that you do work our your aggression instead of keeping it hidden, because that can result in sudden bursts of temper, which may work against you. Also, if you repress these energies, they may turn against you and be expressed as illness or accidents.

What About THAT Phone Call on the Morning of January 6th, 2021?

It would have been interesting to be the one whose job was listening in on this call (but didn’t). The Trump family members witnessed his side of the discussion, but no one got to hear what Pence said to his President. Did his temper finally flare? Ivanka said that her father was speaking to Pence in tones and terms that Trump had never used before with Pence. My guess is that Trump miscalculated the effectiveness of pushing Pence a bit too much. And that is why the additions (and ad-libs) to his Ellipse speech in the afternoon were directed at his (up-until-then) compliant vice-president.

Maybe the chart comparison between Trump and Pence will help some of us make sense of their relationship. I now see why Trump chose him as his running-mate: he ‘ticked’ all the right boxes. But Pence’s Saturn @ 5° Capricorn was the final brake (break) to the group combination of energies.

Hmm.

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