I was astonished when I first saw T. S. Eliot’s birth chart, one of the leading modernist poets of the 20th century.
When he was born, the Sun, Mercury and Venus were all in his Libra first house along with Uranus. In fact, the Mercury Venus conjunction closely straddles the ascending degree.
A Lover of words
With all this activity in air, here is a natural thinker, communicator, writer, a lover of the beauty of language and literature, words in all their forms. Here too is natural charm and easy, and probably quite lengthy, conversation.
His Libran Sun forms easy trines to both Neptune and Pluto in Gemini in house 9 of the higher mind and a nice sextile to Jupiter in house 3. He clearly was a very deep thinker with an expansive mind, a lover of spiritual, hidden matters, of foreign culture and philosophy; he did go to great lengths to learn Sanskrit as an aid to his development as a poet and writer, always encouraged by his mentor, Ezra Pound.
Outside of the box
The Gemini Moon in house 9 is trine his first house Uranus. He is quick witted too, with an unusual manner and ability to think outside the box, a prerequisite for a modernist writer.
If we look to his third and ninth houses, indicators of his mental functions more fully, we see that Jupiter not only rules house 3 but is present in it along with Mars. He has a naturally open, well developed and forceful everyday mentality.
However, I also notice that Jupiter forms a close opposition to Neptune in house 9. This difficult aspect, though bringing a certain confusion, possibly between the everyday functioning as a writer and his passion for expansive thinking, was probably actually a spur to greater achievement in the end, being a source of imagination and inspiration, especially as it is part of the configuration with the Sun mentioned above.
James Joyce is the Irish colossus of English literature.
Novelist, short story writer, poet, teacher, critic, linguist, singer… he was a man of many parts.
Brought up in a traditionally Catholic household, he rejected much of what that tradition stood for, becoming a leading member of the writing Avant-Garde, yet he never left the old Catholic world completely.
Widely travelled
He spent most of later years abroad, travelling to Italy, France and finally dying Switzerland; he may have left his native Dublin but it continued to dominate his thoughts, strongly influence his writing.
According to the birth data, he had Capricorn rising, an indication of a hard working approach to life. His ruler, Saturn, is in Taurus in house 5 of creativity, which is ruled by and making a difficult square to Venus in Aquarius in house 2 of personal security. He clearly put a lot of effort in to his creative art but it was always, especially early on, a financial struggle.
The Aquarian paradox
James Joyce was a Sun Aquarian, natives who typically have a certain rebellious or unusual streak about them, though who also, paradoxically, often adhere to certain aspects of conservatism all their life.
This may be due to the attribution of the traditional ruling planet of Aquarius, Saturn, in his more positive aspect. Uranus too has become associated with the fixed air sign.
Joyce had Venus conjunct his Sun in house 2. Here is his attraction to the artistic process and beauty in an Aquarian forward thinking manner.
Neptune inspires
His Sun is also closely square Neptune in Taurus, along with Jupiter in house 5. Joyce had a very fine tenor voice, and Neptune’s strong link to the Sun from Taurus, a sign which rules the throat, may be indicative of this, plus his abilities at creative writing and poetry.
His Mercury just into Pisces in house 3 hints at a fine imagination, especially as the ruler of house 3, Jupiter, is in conjunction with Neptune and trine Uranus from house 9.
Here is the extraordinary writing potential, which is at once imaginative, inspirational but also off beat.
Works like ‘Portrait’, ‘Ulysses’ and ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ are testimony to this. Mercury is also the ruler of house 9 of the higher mind, where Uranus is found. He was something of a linguist too.
However, this Mercury is also trine Mars in Gemini. Here is the sharp intellect too, which gave him the ability to be a fine critic.
The 5th house in astrology is the mundane equivalent of the sign of Leo.
It’s all about creativity, games, sports, children, and art.
The highly regarded French post impressionist painter, Paul Cezanne, had an interesting 5th house.
He has a Moon Uranus conjunction in Pisces, semi sextile (30 degree aspect) Neptune.
First Post Impressionist
Cezanne today is regarded by many as the first post impressionist. He struggled to find a new style and is thought to have inspired Picasso’s cubism.
I have had a life long love of Cezanne, his endless series of paintings featuring the bathers in geometric patterns, the equally endless series on the subject of Mont Sainte-Victoire in his home patch of Provence.
Breaking the Rules
Cezanne, though he did find it a struggle, developed a totally unique, inspired style of painting, breaking the rules.
To me, all this is very indicative of his dreamy, inspired and sensitive Piscean Moon conjunct rule breaking Uranus in the 5th house of creativity. I think he was compelled subconsciously (Pisces) to do it.
The presence of the Moon’s north node in this house too, suggests that he did follow the right course in his life, that of creativity, as opposed to heeding his father’s wishes to follow him in to the tedious world of finance and its social milieu.
July 4 is rapidly approaching and as mundane astrology is one of my most favourite fields within the discipline, I thought it about time to take a look at the ‘birth chart’ of the most powerful country on the planet – The United States of America.
Now in any birth chart the exact time is critical and the timing of this event is disputed. Independence was formally declared on July 2 1776.
So which chart?
What did occur two days later on July 4 was that Congress finally approved the declaration’s wording, possibly around 5:10 PM in Philadelphia. This is the information often used to calculate the USA chart. However, it would appear that the actual signing took place on August 2 1776. So what do we use?
I’m going for the one that I’ve seen most commonly used and am most comfortable with, July 4 5:20 PM in Philadelphia.
On this chart, the mutable fire sign Sagittarius is rising.
Go West
I think this is quite fitting, Sagittarius likes to push boundaries, always moving on and exploring.
It also suits many of the national myths, the Louisiana purchase, the pushing westward, the continual expansion of states, plus America’s strong interest in the world – and beyond. It also suits the nation as a whole, being a ‘nation of immigrants’ so to speak, with a vast mix of cultures and peoples. Very Sagittarian.
Family Values
Nevertheless, the ruler of the chart, Jupiter, is in Cancer in a very full 8th house. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and is also conjunct Venus, bringing images of happy, emotive and serious patriotism, and a love of home and family – and Mom’s Apple Pie.
This could explain the enduring sense of pride most American’s have in their homeland, despite more modern trends.
Investment of Sentiment
The full 8th house also includes the Sun and Mercury in Cancer. This indicates just how deep these patriotic sensibilities go, that much time has been invested in this over two and a half centuries. American identity is very much wrapped up in this.
Interestingly too, the strong 8th house emphasis in a wider sense is indicative of America’s strong involvement in international finance and multi-national corporations.
Jupiter also rules the 4th house of this chart, showing that in areas like the rural and agricultural communities, there will always likely be a strong investment in the patriotic cause and the promotion of home and family values.
With all the Cancerian influence in this chart, a look at the Moon is essential. It’s in Aquarius in the 3rd house, which shows the ‘humanitarian’ ideals brought to bear in education, in local communities and the systematic promotion of the family and home.
The Patriot against Hard Business
However, there is a challenging square aspect between the Sun and Saturn in the 11th house. The overall course of the nation, this strong sense of patriotism, often clashes with more hard headed, conservative or otherwise, trends in the elected assemblies and legislature.
Neptune in the 10th house reveals the strong idealism of national aspirations, though it is in difficult aspect to Mars in Gemini in the 7th house. In diplomatic matters there often a tendency to high verbosity, which may not smooth the course of negotiations to say the least, and this would tend to clash with the higher ideals governmental institutions effuse. The latter also symbolises the kind of conversation going on at the time of the agreement of the Declaration text.
Intriguing future
Looking to the near future, transiting Pluto will soon complete its 248 year cycle in the 2nd house in Capricorn. In other words, it will be reaching the point it was when the Declaration was being created. Maybe it could symbolise the slow, albeit painful, rebirth of the nation?
It is quite clear that the next few years will be fundamentally difficult in governmental, financial and security issues and will mark a major turning point for the nation, with many changes, much intrigue and political skullduggery.
Even before then, sometime around January 2020, when Saturn and Pluto conjoin in Capricorn, it’s also likely to culminate in some major event or decision affecting these areas.
Today marks the meeting of Mercury and Mars in Cancer: Communication and energy combine in an emotive, sensitive way.
Mercury in Cancer in itself may tend to favour, or promote, more emotional thought, less emphasis on rationality. The poets among us might be just that bit more inspired right now, perhaps by family, nostalgic or patriotic concerns.
Combining with the Martian energy, this may be a time when issues to do with the home, family, our countries, become that bit more inflamed and vocalised, such as the long running Brexit situation, for instance. So we might expect to see more emotive output in the media right now.
The conjunction also occurs almost exactly opposite Pluto in Capricorn, so this probably only increases the tendency for political stirrings, speculations and perhaps secrets to be exposed in quite sensational ways. The Moon’s presence in Capricorn right now also brings emphasis on political and business issues.
Short distance travelling, or commuting, and our neighbourhoods too, are likely to become more active than normal, even aggravating, which may make us more prone to loss of temper due to the emotive influence of the Crab.
And as Cancer is a water sign, maybe travel by that mode, either by river or ocean, could be that bit more of an issue.
It might be a good idea for all us to exercise a little bit of caution in such circumstances.
Ciscography 