Luke Aaron sent me a response to an email I wrote to him, about each being allowed to have their personal opinions, but being civil about it. It took him about a month to reply, and his words contained a zinger: “You are being held to a higher standard than you hold for yourself.” (This is paraphrased slightly, since I’ve already deleted the message, and cannot exactly recall the text.)
Then, yesterday, a WordPress reader, signed in as “Naulice” took exception to my post about being “woke”. I got taken to task for my use of the term ‘great awakening’. The comment “Naulice” wrote was about a book chapter in length and focused on the COVID-19 debacle, especially the ‘forced’ inoculation of the population. OK, that’s enough, I thought. If you have something to say, do it on your own page, not on mine. Needless to say, the comment was deleted, almost immediately.
The other week, I was lamenting with my daughter, Rosanna, that hardly anyone engages me about my posts. Around the same time, I’d mentioned the same lament to my son, Derek. Well, I guess I asked for it, didn’t I?
There’s a new Sky film out. It’s frankly an unglamourized look at the work of a model-turned-photojournalist during World War II. Having Kate Winslet play the lead role is probably an inspired choice, as she has a beautiful strength to her own persona. Here’s a preview:
Here’s the Real Lee Miller
The story behind the story is just as complicated as it can be, due to the fact that her father initiated her into being a photography model at a young age. Will it show up in her birth chart? I wonder.
That’s a pretty strong Cosmic Cross in her chart. The Mars/Uranus connection happens between the ages of 4 and 5. Hmm. The position of the Sun at age 40 seems significant, since the war would have been over by then, and her photos from Germany would have become world famous on the pages of Vogue.
Her modelling career probably came to an end at age 25 (where Mercury sits in her chart). She became a photographer instead. Both of those are involved with inconjuncts.
Sun Inconjunct Ascendant
Your relationships with other people can be very intense. While you are young, they may be quite difficult, because you feel that others will accept you only if you deny yourself in some way. Or you may constantly feel you should put off doing what you want in order to do what you have to do. Usually your ideas about what you have to do come from the people around you. Also, contacts with other people will frequently force you to make serious, major psychological changes. Difficulties in your relationships with friends and family are signs of profound internal changes.
Planets in Youth (page 97) by Robert Hand (1977)
Moon Inconjunct Mercury
It may be hard for you to put your feelings into words, because your emotions are so different from your intellect. Of course, there is nothing really strange about your feelings, but that part of your mind is quite different from the reasoning part. In fact it would be very unfortunate if you decided to listen only to your reason, because your intuition and imagination, both of which are more related to the Moon, can be of great assistance to you. They can tell you much about the world that your reasoning mind cannot.
We think “woke” is something recent, but it’s not. There have been events from the past which help explain why we seem to wake up and then fall asleep again, only to repeat the cycle again and again.
Religious revivals have been with us for almost 300 years. The first one on record started in England in 1731. It emphasized a more personal approach to God, rather than one through the church and priests.
Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion more personal by fostering a sense of spiritual conviction of personal sin and need for redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to personal morality. It incited rancor and division between traditionalists, who insisted on the continuing importance of ritual and doctrine, and revivalists who encouraged emotional involvement and personal commitment. It had a major impact in reshaping the Congregational church, the Presbyterian church, the Dutch Reformed Church, and the German Reformed denomination, and strengthened the small Baptist and Methodist denominations. It had less impact on Anglicans and Quakers. Unlike the Second Great Awakening, which began about 1800 and reached out to the unchurched, the First Great Awakening focused on those who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety, and their self-awareness.
Wikipedia
I have erected a chart for the beginning of 1731 (NS), just to see what was happening behind the scenes.
Even as a snapshot of the planets for that year, there were four inconjuncts in operations: Sun/Mercury inconjunct Neptune; Venus inconjunct Jupiter; and Saturn inconjunct Pluto. Those are powerful aspects.
I suspect that these six Methodists had a lot to do with the changes to religious practices, on both sides of the Atlantic. Even the American Founding Fathers were influenced by them, although the Masons may have given the Constitution its final meet and potatoes recipe.
But like all things human and temporal, what begins so hopefully, ends in…
When William Miller predicted that Jesus would return on this date in 1844, people sold their belongings and waiting with bated breath to be transported to Heaven in the Rapture. Oops.
This time there was only one inconjunct connecting the Sun and Uranus. Could that be the Universe’s way of taking away ‘false prophecy’? I think it is even more apparent when you combine ‘the first and the last’ charts.
The connections may seem accidental, but is anything truly accidental? Disappointment’s Pluto transiting the Awakening’s Ascendant is a story in itself. At the same time, Disappointment’s Mercury is transiting Awakening’s Pluto. This is a wake-up call. But, as we so well know, we will be fooled again.
So, here we are again, almost 300 years later. Anyone for a religious revival?
When Celine Dion sang this song during the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics this year, an old favourite of the French was resurrected. Today, Susan watched a YouTube video of the original song and that’s inspired me to look at her life, astrologically,
This timing is considered excellent (and it was already on my computer program). The Moon in the 7th House (gee, where have I heard that before?) shows how popular she was. But it is inconjunct to Mercury, which spells some problems. There is also a Yod (Finger of God) pointing at Uranus, formed by inconjuncts to Saturn and the Midheaven. Hmm.
Moon Inconjunct Mercury
As you grow older, you will have to learn to make your feelings and your reason work together. The problem is not so much that they come into conflict with each other, but that your reason and feelings represent two very different sides of your personality. When you are calm and collected and able to reflect carefully, you make decisions in one way. But when you are emotionally involved in a situation, you are likely to make up your mind very differently, which could cause you to seem inconsistent to others and make it difficult for them to understand you.
Planets in Youth (page 116) by Robert Hand (1977)
Saturn Inconjunct Uranus
This aspect indicates a serious tension in your life between freedom and restriction. Many people have this conflict, but in your case the tensions may be so severe that you express them physically as muscle tension and possibly nervousness. You feel that somehow you must keep everything in your life under tight control, that if you let go, the whole structure will fall apart. In a very real and direct sense, you must learn to relax.
Ibid (294)
Uranus Inconjunct Midheaven
You need to express your thoughts and feelings, but you often upset the people around you with your words. You seem to enjoy creating a stir every time you say something, but this can get you into quite a bit of trouble with authority figures. The underlying principle of this aspect is the need to balance your individual self-expression and manner of communicating with your need to learn and grow under the guidance of older people.
Ibid (page 325)
(The subtitles weren’t exactly accurate, with ‘too’ being used when the intention was ‘to’.)
So, are these aspects accurate about Edith Piaf? Judge for yourself…
As far as namesakes go, you couldn’t ask for or get a more famous preacher energy. His Millerism was 150 years too early, but that turned into Millennialism in our present time. He predicted Christ’s return, but that didn’t work out well for him or his followers. By definition, he’s be considered a ‘false profit’.
This timing is randomized. There is but one inconjunct, but it’s very telling of his story.
Mercury Inconjunct Neptune
The challenge of this aspect is to make your thinking and communication with others more clear. Your rational mind is strongly influenced by your sensitivity, imagination and ideals, although you aren’t always sure how this happens. You tend to spend too much time in your own imaginary world that no one else can share, and this confuses your dealings with others. You will have to learn to face reality, so that you can at least communicate with people. Otherwise you will have a very lonely life.
Planets in Youth (page 169) by Robert Hand (1977)
I was going to share the chart for the Great Disappointment, as it has been called. Instead, I will share with you Cash Peters’ YouTube video about Miller’s transition from this world, and the epiphany he (and Peters) experienced.
Don’t laugh. I owned a copy of this album, before it became fashionable to do so. In fact, I have a photo of a friend looking at it, in my presence. As far as debut albums are concerned, this one was considered a flop, but little did Polydor Records know that they would join Fleetwood Mac within two years, to greater success.
Those with long memories will recognize that the original of the Fleetwood Mac song, “Crystal” is here.
Since I’m looking at songs (and albums) from my recent past. I thought it might be ‘fun’ to see how (and why) it failed. I’ve chosen noon of the release date to erect the chart.
There is one Yod (Finger of God), active for the entire day, pointing at Saturn, formed from inconjuncts to Jupiter and Neptune. (And, as a hint, this may have been the Universe’s way to ensure their eventual success. Saturn has a way of creating difficulties for people to overcome.)
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.
Planets in Youth (page 263) by Robert Hand (1977)
Saturn Inconjunct Neptune
This aspect 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.
Ibid (page 297)
The first aspect seems like Lindsey Buckingham, the second like Stevie Nicks. Funny, that.
Oh, and here’s the way Stevie wanted to be seen on the cover…
And for those that think this album was never on a CD, I have a copy in my possession, from Australia.
Strange as it may seem, this is my favourite Bob Dylan song. And because it hit No. 1 in Canada, that may be the reason. At any rate, it’s a snarky comeback on something someone said or did.
It has been speculated that the reason for the song’s creation was that it was 4 days after the Newport Folk Festival where Bob Dylan decided to perform with an electric guitar for the first time. He took a lot of criticism for that. The liner notes state that it was recorded under the working title, “Black Dally Rue”.
(Who says that you can’t get an astrological snapshot for any event? This one proves the point, entirely.) Moon conjunct Mercury, Jupiter opposite Midheaven, Uranus conjunct Pluto (amongst other aspects).
Mars Inconjunct Saturn
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 out 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.
Planets in Youth (page 231) by Robert Hand (1977)
Mars Inconjunct Ascendant
The difficulty with this aspect is to find a balance between getting what you want in life and getting along with others. More than most people, you will have to learn the necessity of compromising to get along with people, especially because you often seem more aggressive than you are.
One of the more difficult sides pf this aspect is that you must learn to understand whether or not someone has violated your rights. You may think that this is the case even when it isn’t. Learn to discriminate.
cdsmiller17 