The Chronicles of Narnia and Astrology

Long before the Harry Potter books captured people’s imagination, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis was a beloved and treasured series of many young children. I came late to the series myself, but was surprised recently when I came across a book by noted C.S. Lewis scholar, Michael Ward, in which he claimed to find the “key” to the seven book series. And that key was astrology.

In two books, “The Narnia Code” and “Planet Narnia, Ward makes his case that each of the seven books is linked to one of the traditional planets: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Keep in mind, that for most of human history – and certainly for most of astrology’s history – these seven planets formed the basis of chart interpretation. And Ward makes it clear that C.S. Lewis was very aware of this history: “The characters of the planets,” wrote Lewis, “as conceived by medieval astrology, seems to me to have a permanent value as spiritual symbols.”

According to Ward, the Narnia books breakdown as follows:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Jupiter

Prince Caspian – Mars

Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Sun

The Silver Chair – Moon

The Horse and His Boy – Mercury

The Magician’s Nephew – Venus

The Last Battle – Saturn

Of the two book’s Ward has written on this, “The Narnia Code” is easily the more accessible. It provides a fascinating overview of Lewis and Narnia, as well as plenty to think about in terms of the uses of astrology, in the past and the present. Highly recommended for Narnia fans!

Quote of the Week

One lie will keep out 40 truths.

– from The Dermis Probe, by Idries Shah

Donna Summer

With the untimely passing of Donna Summer, I thought it would be interesting to bring up her chart and take a quick look at what we could find in this talented artist. And it jumps very quickly: hard work.

When you examine the chart, the first thing that jumps out is FIVE planets – Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars & Jupiter – in the 5th house of creativity. So it’s a given that there’s going to be an abundance of creativity, but how will it manifest? With Capricorn, an earth sign, on the 5th house, we can expect that this will be an individual who is tireless is their work and their focus. Mercury, which rules both the Ascendant and the Midheaven (career) is strong-voiced in Capricorn, and well supported by all those planets around it.

In addition, both the Sun and Jupiter form strong supportive aspects to the Ascendant, and to Saturn, which is placed there. Once again, we see an enormous amount of concentration and power. Finally, as if the chart is not loaded enough, we find both the Moon and Mercury to be in extreme declination. When we see such personal planets “out-of-bounds” we can expect a high degree of expression, a yearning to break barriers or to reach extremes.

But what about the deep element of fantasy that pervaded her onstage persona? In the chart, we find the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter all connected to Neptune, planet of illusion. With Neptune at the midpoint between Sun and Mercury as well as Mercury and Jupiter, we get keyword pictures such as beguiling fantasy, illusion, and imagination.

What’s interesting about Summer is that while she could not maintain the huge degree of popularity that she achieved in the 70’s, she never stopped working, which is not surprising given her strong Capricorn placements. And while she worked, there was a sense of humility and common sense – both very earthy qualities – that never deserted her. As she said at one time, “I don’t keep a press agent because I think people need to have a break from me.”

Quote of the Week

“People are too complicated to take seriously.”

~ Overheard

(photo from the insanely entertaining site: awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

Horary: What are my boyfriend and best friend up to?

For several months, the client had been fighting suspicions of a mutual attraction between her boyfriend and her best friend. Not an easy position, to be sure, and since there were no incriminating emails, texts, phone messages or lipstick marks on his collar, she wasn’t sure if she was being crazy or that they were being incredibly secretive. So she asked the question, and as always, the chart and answer are below.

The client is symbolized by Jupiter (ruler of the Sagittarius ascendant). Her boyfriend is symbolized by Mercury (ruler of the Gemini descendant). Finally, the friend is symbolized by Mars (ruler of the Scorpio 11^th house of friends). Both Mercury (boyfriend) and Mars (friend) have just moved into Taurus, ruled by Venus – LOVE! Or at least, strong attraction. The fact that they are moving away from Jupiter (client) is cause for alarm. In addition, both have moved into the 5^th house – PLEASURE.

What’s interesting about the chart is that it’s basically dominated by two planets – Venus and Mars, which have the overt symbolism of man and woman. Whether anything has happened yet between the two is hard to say, but probably not as Mercury has not quite caught up with Mars. Does the client have an option? Confrontation is the obvious one, but the Moon in Scorpio, which also represents the client, has already moved past the opposition to both Mars and Mercury, suggesting that a showdown may be too late. But, as she wrote to me, I can’t not do anything, even if it is too late.

The outcome? My client only said that it was “very painful for them – literally”. Hmmm. Apparently the dark side of Moon in Scorpio – domineering, reckless and unforgiving – made itself felt in the most physical of ways.

Ambition: A Quick Look at Brad Pitt

In previous newsletters, we’ve used the chart of Angelina Jolie to illustrate a number of techniques that an astrologer uses when looking at a chart. Jolie’s chart is a good one because it contains a bunch of high-profile planetary placements that make it useful for our purposes. But, as most of you know, Jolie has a rather well-known partner. And having just seen him in a movie recently, I thought it would be fun to look at his chart, and at some point down the road, look at the relationship through the charts and see what we find.

In Terence Malick’s flawed but beautiful film, “The Tree of Life,” Brad Pitt plays a proud, earthy husband and father of three. It’s a strong performance, and as I have looked at the chart of his partner, Angelina Jolie, a number of times, I found myself curious what Pitt’s would be like. Interestingly, earth is a quality that runs deeply through his chart.

To say that the chart strongly emphasizes force and ambition would be an understatement. Take a look at the 2^nd house (lower left of the chart) and we find four planets tightly grouped in earthy Capricorn. The second house represents value, money, material things, worth. With Capricorn placed on the cusp we can guess that Mr. Pitt takes these things very seriously. With Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars placed there, we can venture that a great deal of his expenditure of energy will go into money and material things.

Look at the chart some more and we see Sagittarius rising and the Sun placed within that first house. Pitt was born in a small town in Oklahoma but with Sag rising and Sun in Sag it’s not surprising he left. Sagittarius leads us to freedom, exploration, adventurous and with his Sun square to the midheaven, we can expect this will get worked out through his career.

Looking more deeply, we see Jupiter, ruler of the Sag ascendant in fiery Aries. Once again, there’s a strong quality of aggression, and with that Jupiter tightly squared to Mars, the aggression moves to a higher pitch, to fighting, for instance, which is not surprising from an actor who was the star of a movie called “The Fight Club”. That Mars squaring Jupiter also has some strong sexual undertones. There’s probably going to be some fooling around. But underneath that, this is somebody who is also going to be very grounded – think back to those 2^nd house placements.

Finally, going back to ambition, consider this: the chart is almost entirely made up of earth and fire. There’s no water and only a single planet in an air sign. Quite simply, the chart says: I’m going out into the world to take what I want and make it mine. So far, it seems to be working. 

Horary: What are they saying about me?

Relationship questions are not always about the significant other. Often they are about significant ‘others’, meaning friends. Or former friends as the case may be. Here a long-time client had the sneaking suspicion that her friends were possible turning against her. What lead her to this conclusion, I asked. Just a hunch, was her reply. 

The chart for the question gives us Scorpio rising, thus Mars symbolizes my client. A question about a friend is an 11^th house issue, so with Libra on the cusp of the 11^th, Venus will symbolize the friend in question. Interestingly, both Mars (client) and Venus (friend) are in Scorpio (both are circled). But what a difference: Mars is actually in the 1^st house, while Venus is in the 12^th house, retrograde, or in other words, moving backwards. The symbolism is fairy clear: the friends are moving away from each other.

So how is the friend behaving? Badly. Venus is in its fall in Scorpio and is further damaged by being retrograde. Placed in the 12^th house, it gives suggestions of a hidden enemy. And here’s where the chart becomes even more interesting, as the Sun, Mercury and Saturn are all placed in the 11^th house (of friends). Who do these friends like? They like Venus, ruler of Libra. In other words, the friends are in synch with, are ruled by the woman who is working against the client. What kinds of things is this woman saying? Probably unpleasant, Venus in Scorpio types of things, meaning manipulative or cruel or of a sexual nature.

Now, as for how harmful the situation might be, there is a ray of hope: Mars (the client) is strong in Scorpio, thus we can expect she will be able to defend herself more than adequately against the attacks of her former friend. And, from what the client later told me, this turned out to be exactly the case, with the group of friends eventually changing sides again against my client’s tormentor.

Quote of the Week

“Words, they say, are the food of minds. But, like other foods, they can do little by themselves.”

Idries Shah, from “Observations”

 

Vocational Guidance

Imagine for a moment that you’re a young high school student living in some charming little midwest town, for instance, Toledo, Ohio. One day, you’re called to the office of the vocational guidance counselor. You sit down at his cluttered desk as he picks up a sheaf of papers, clears his throat and says, “Well, April, I see by your name and by your admission papers that you were actually born in the month of April. Have you ever thought of pursuing a career as a dictator?”

So, is April’s vocational guidance counselor:

1. Completely insane?
2. A zany prankster?
3. Using a 2011 British research report to give vocational guidance?

If you chose “c” you win a free subscription to my weekly newsletter. Here’s the back story: Using data from the latest census report, a team of British researchers from the Office for National Statistics analyzed the birth months of people in 19 different occupational categories using data from the British census. Lo and behold, they found a statistical correlation between career choice and birth month. They even linked birth month to length of life, health conditions and intelligence. Apparently, the study provoked a bit of controversy because it can no longer be found on their website, otherwise I would provide a link.

But here is a sampling of careers and tendencies:

January: physicians and debt collectors

February: artists, traffic wardens, prone to narcolepsy

March: pilots and musicians

April: fairly even spread of professions, dictators

May: politicians

June: chief executives, Nobel peace prize winners

July: bricklayers, train drivers and artists

August: bricklayers and U.S. presidents

September: pro athletes, physicists

October: fairly even spread of professions, good longevity

November: fairly even spread of professions, as well as serial killers and schizophrenics

December: dentists and messiahs

Being born in April myself, I’m not sure how I feel about a career as a dictator. So far at least, I don’t think I’m well suited to the job, although I have frequently noticed that people don’t actually like me as much as I think they like me, which is probably a standard to a dictator. Of course, the people I really feel sorry for are born in July: bricklayer or president Or worse yet how about November: schizophrenic or serial killer? Yikes!

Now, in a sane world nobody would have done this kind of research and if they had, nobody would care. But that’s not what happened. Jumping quickly into this extremely weird fray, Oxford University neuroscientist Russell Foster responded, “I am not giving voice to astrology – it’s nonsense – but we are not immune to seasonal interference.”

Which at least proves that just because you’re an Oxford University neuroscientist doesn’t mean you’re smart. To me, what’s odd is that after first establishing to his fellow scientists that he’s not soft on astrology (you can almost hear them cheering, ‘Well played!’), he goes on to say: “These are small effects, but they are very, very clear. It seems absurd that the month in which you are born can affect life changes, but how long you live, how tall you are, how well you do at school, your body mass index as an adult, your morning-versus-evening preference and how likely you are to develop a range of diseases are all correlated to some extent with the time of year in which you emerge from the womb.”

So … if the month you’re born in has this powerful of an impact, could it be possible that drilling down into the actual time and place of birth have some potential value? Nonsense, he says!

My own perspective is that this kind of “research” does nobody any good. Not only could I not find the sampling size, but the spread of occupations seems downright bizarre. And once again it demonstrates that scientists like Foster are engaging in the kind of bad thinking that scientists are supposed to avoid. So let’s be clear at this point: this study says nothing about astrology. Nothing. (Though in the weeks to come, I’ll highlight some astrological research with dogs that is pretty amazing.) However, it does say something about how hard it is to make objective statements about human beings. And the danger of bad research. Bricklayer, president, serial killer, dictator are not occupations and they certainly cannot be categorized in any credible way. Which is good because it means our imaginary Toledo, Ohio high school student, April, will never have that awkward conversation with her vocational guidance counselor. Though I have no doubt she would make an awesome dictator!

Moments of Happiness – Your Strongest Planet

A handful of readers sent me comments concerning last week’s quote: “There is no happiness. There are moments of happiness.”

“Isn’t that a little harsh? asked one long-time client, while another told me “very cool saying”.

From my side, I’ve always found that quote to be intriguing, as it raises the question of what it means to be happy and whether happiness is something that should or even can be ‘pursued,’ (as it is stated in the Declaration of Independence). A  more reasonable concept of happiness is the one put forth by William S. Burroughs, who said: “Happiness is a byproduct of function, purpose and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war.”

In astrology, there is no single planet that can be consistently identified with “happiness”. However, I think a case can be made that if you find the strongest planet in your chart and work with it, you’ll begin to experience happiness in the way that Burroughs describes it, as a byproduct – of knowing and following your power, which is what the strongest planet in a chart indicates.

In readings, this can occasionally be a straightforward task, as simple as suggesting to a person: live in your Sun, not in your Moon, which can loosely translate to “you’re letting your emotional reactions (Moon) color or taint all your experiences of who you are and what you do. The person can’t shine (Sun) or is unable to have very many “moments of happiness” because they are clouded with emotional baggage (Moon in a bad state).

But that’s just a fast, simple example and by using it I’m not in any way seeking to diminish people’s struggles to figure themselves out. To be honest, in some charts finding the strongest planet can be a challenge. Doing so, however, can be a helpful endeavor along the road of increasing the of your “moments of happiness”.

If we continue our use of Lady Gaga’s chart, we can get an idea of how the strongest planet can be found and used. Here the identification is not immediate. We have the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Scorpio. Both are linked by the planet, Mars (circled). Why? Because Mars rules both Aries and Scorpio. Here Mars is placed in Capricorn where it is what we call “exalted” – in other words, it is very powerful. It becomes the planet that both the Sun and Moon can potentially channel their energies through. In addition, Mars has power over both Jupiter (ruler of the Ascendant) and Mercury (ruler of the Midheaven). In other words, Mars is involved with almost every planet in the chart.

As we know few personal details about Lady Gaga (Moon in Scorpio!), we do know that she extremely aggressive in promoting herself. (“I kill to get what I need,” is a quote ascribed to her.)  And here’s what important to remember: while she changes the projection of her image to the public, what does not change is the force of her projection. Mars – force – is what she does best and appears to be happiest when she’s doing it.  Not surprising from a woman who has states: “Don’t ever let a soul in the world tell you can’t be exactly who you are.”