Category: America

Astrology Musings: The Third House

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Sometimes it’s good to get back to basics. Actually it’s fundamental, if you don’t have a base, there’s nothing to build on.

So as the sun is in Gemini at the moment, I thought I’d have a quick look at its mundane house equivalent, the third house.

Gemini is of course the first of the air signs, and is mutable or changeable in quality. It’s ruled by Mercury.

Big Subject

The third house, therefore, is to do with communication – but that’s a big subject, right?

Communication can cover all of this: speaking, writing, office work, learning, education, reporting, walking, riding a bike or motorcycle, driving a car, delivering, local business, visiting…

But it’s also to do with our nearest relations and neighbours; brothers, sisters, cousins etc. and our local community in general.

Phew! It covers quite a lot, which we perhaps might suspect with the airy and mutability associations.

An Example

So what might it mean in practical astrological terms?

One example from the past that I can recall was this lovely lady, sadly long gone now. She had the Sun in Libra conjunct Venus and Mercury in the third house.

I didn’t know her until she was well into her sixties, but she retained a youthful air; quite tall, fast walking and nimble, always smiling, courteous, never having a bad word to say about anyone.

And she could never do enough for her neighbours, simply visiting, chatting, getting groceries, perhaps driving them to the shops.

Embedded in the Community

She was a retired teacher, though still ran evening classes where she lived. She was a big organiser of local events, often for charity. And she had never married – she’d simply been too busy!

She had dedicated her life to the local school for thirty five years, then fully engaged with her community in other ways when she retired.

As you can see, that Sun, Venus, Mercury conjunction in Libra, in the third house, pretty much encapsulates a large part of her life.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

 

*If you would like a personal astrology report, please contact me at: leoftanner@gmail.com for details.

Haiku: Impermanence

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Flotsam and jetsam,
none of us are hostages –
only to fortune

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

 

*If you would like a personal astrology report, please contact me at: leoftanner@gmail.com for details.

Astrology Musings: JFK born 102 years ago

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Many articles, volumes, films and TV series have been written about the life, and death, of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy.

So what, in astrological terms, might be deduced from his birth chart – why is he such an icon, even now?

Potential or fate?

I believe astrology is largely about potential, not necessarily fate. There is freedom of choice. But choices have consequences.

When he was born, Libra was on the ascendant. His ruler, Venus, is in Gemini in the 9th house, along with his Gemini Sun nearby.

So in basic terms, this pretty much describes the man and the President we know. The easy charm, the affability. He is intelligent, sociable, diplomatic, approachable, highly inquisitive and able to relate to a wide range of people. Not bad qualities for America’s first TV President.

Diplomacy

This also correlates with his successes in diplomacy, his liking for peace. Examples of this are the creation of the Peace Corps, his seeking of detente with the Soviet Union following the Cuban Missile Crisis, his willingness to try to accommodate all sides most of the time.

And his Sun and Venus in the 9th house indicates the importance of foreign matters and the world at large to him, as a man and a President.

But of course, he was also known as a great speech maker, a prerequisite for any politician who want to go places.

Great Speech Maker

If we look to his Mercury (speaking/communication) it is conjunct Mars in Taurus (the Bull rules the throat) in the 8th house. Jupiter is nearby too and is ruler of his third house of communication.

Here are the strong, optimistic, expansive, yet ultimately practical mental qualities he was noted for, like, for instance, setting America on course for the Moon.

Here also is the powerful, ‘bullish’ voice we have all heard, one of the most distinctive political voices of the last century.

Few Presidents made as many famous speeches in three short years, such as the one in Berlin in 1963. Here too, is his bravery and generosity; from the 8th house he was willing to speak up about difficult policy decisions that might change the security status quo.

Grasp of Detail

This conjunction is trine the Moon in Virgo in the 12th house. This hints at an inner fastidiousness to the nature, that could be put to good use mentally; a great need for, and grasp of, detail. Again, a perfect quality for a successful politician.

So, we can see that underneath the easy charm, there is a practicality and courage too. He wanted to get things done.

Some have said that if he hadn’t gone into politics, he might have become a famous writer. Well, he did write some books, but had he chosen this other career path, I think one can see he might well have been famous for that too.

Saturn is fairly close to the midheaven (career) in Cancer.

Saturn Weighs Heavy

Saturn is not ‘happy’ in Cancer, hinting at potential for emotional struggles, especially positioned quite prominently high up in the chart. This would tend to bring very hard, demanding difficulties and responsibilities that could expose the individual at times.

This is a difficult position for any well known individual, but here we’re looking at the most powerful man in the world.

Had he lived, assuming he would have gone onto a second term, my bet would be that he would have dedicated himself to writing – quite possibly his first love.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

*If you would like a personal astrological report, please contact me at: leoftanner@gmail.com for details.

Astrology Musings: The Conservative Minority Government, June 9, 2017 – Always Going Nowhere?

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Astrological charts can be cast for events as well as people, otherwise called Mundane astrology.

Having failed to win an overall majority to the surprise of many, PM May went to Buckingham Palace to form a minority government at 12:30 PM on June 9 2017.

I cast this chart at the time and it was pretty obvious that the making of clear cut decisions was going to be difficult, if not impossible. Minority governments always have to tread carefully anyway.

Mutable Angles

For a start, the chart has the angles, that is the rising sign and midheaven, in mutable signs. Change, uncertainty, constant flux – these are all the qualities of this present administration. Not good if you want to finalise decisions, come to agreements in regard to Brexit.

Also, at almost the exact time the government was formed, there was a full moon in mutable signs once more, the Sun opposing from Gemini. Again, mutable means constant movement, fluidity.

This full moon seems to symbolise the ongoing, constantly changing, yet ultimately intransigent relations between the government and the opposition, and the establishment against the people, as it has come to be seen.

Impressionable Relations

What is more, we have Neptune in Pisces (mutable) very close to the descendant, which is all about how the government relates to the outside world. Neptune has been negatively associated with impressionability, confusion, perhaps even deceit with this placing; think of a thick sea mist preventing you being able to see where you are going in a boat.

I think this pretty much describes the events over the passed two years. The endless confusion, rumours of behind the scene deals, the complete lack of clear progress – in anything. It might be argued that we also see here the befuddled nature of the ‘deal or no deal’ Brexit negotiations, which, at times have descended into complete farce at Westminster, with the UK and EU literally talking a different language.

The Good News?

On a more positive note, Jupiter is in the second house of financial affairs, in a wide trine aspect to the Sun. To me this shows that despite the political chaos, UK PLC has continued to do financially well, relatively better than most other European countries, at any rate, despite warnings of Brexit.

There is also a nicely positive aspect between Venus in Taurus 9th house, and Mars in Cancer in the 11th. There may well have been financial opportunities, helping hands from abroad, like that free trade deal with the USA, which has never materialised – at least not yet.

On the whole though, I think we can see that this was not a good time to form a government, to put it mildly.

Favourite Album Reviews: ‘Aja’ by Steely Dan (Part 2, Side 2)

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The continuing story of what I consider to be one of the greatest albums ever, Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’ (MCA) from 1977. If you haven’t seen part 1, check in my blog first.

If side 1 was a tour de force, then side 2 continues slightly differently, with four songs which are in their own way, equally impressive.

‘Peg’ gets going with a much lighter disco feel, compared to side one. It’s fairly typical of the time but done in Steely Dan’s own inimitable way, with attention to detail. It turns out the guitar solo which made it onto the album took some time to finalise, with numerous guitarists auditioning for the ‘role’. Listening to it, I think they made the right choice. This is probably the most ‘commercial’ track on the album.

Classical References

With Track 2, ‘Home At Last’, we’re suddenly, though not surprisingly, in the realms of Homer (the ancient Greek writer, not the cartoon character) and Ulysses (Odysseus), with references to danger on the rocks and being tied to a mast over a bluesy jive that gets your foot a-tapping nicely. Once again the instrumentation, particularly the use of brass, I feel, is second to none. Very much of its time, almost ‘Starsky and Hutch’ in feel.

‘I Got The News’, the second to last track is an ‘angular’ sounding disco number, with those enigmatic, yet fitting lyrics full of innuendo and direct references which are so much a feature of the Dan’s music. There’s a great guitar break too, which belies the track’s disco setting, a feature first perfected I think on their previous album, ‘The Royal Scam’. It’s like they’re letting you know how sophisticated they are – and why not?

Hell Raiser

And so to the last, and certainly not least track on this classic album. ‘Josie’ is one of Steely Dan’s most celebrated songs, a fine R&B number, about a girl the guys simply can’t do without, it would seem, a bit of a hell raiser by the sound of it, who evidently could’ve been present when Nero set fire to Rome in AD 64. This has all the feel of LA and sophistication, the place Becker and Fagen made their home for some time.

Once again though, it’s the jazz inspired elements, like the rather haunting, minimalistic guitar riff/section sandwiching the main part of the track, which sets it apart from what anyone else was doing before or since.

‘Aja’ will always be a classic. Was it the peak of their success? Most definitely, which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to ‘Gaucho’, or ‘Two Against Nature’, nor indeed the older back catalogue. It’s just that if I was to recommend one album of this band, it would have to be ‘Aja’. It gets an A+++.

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