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Lady Gaga and Saturn

Radio City Music Hall continues selling tickets to Lady Gaga in concert with old-time crooner Tony Bennett. Their album of jazz standards, Cheek to Cheek was released in September of 2014, and quickly rose to #1 on the Billboard charts. This is Gaga’s third consecutive #1 album, and at 88, Bennett maintains his distinction of being the oldest singer with a #1 hit. But aside from their NY Italian-American roots, what are these two doing together? If you consider Saturn, it’s obvious.

Gaga has the Moon at 11 Scorpio 27. She underwent hip surgery as Saturn stationed exactly on her Moon in February of 2013, perhaps forcing her to consider simpler, more basic music for a time. Bennett has Saturn at 19 Scorpio 29 and becomes for her the personification of Saturn – quite literally in the form of an old man (he experienced his third Saturn return this year). His Saturn conjoins her Moon, making long-term collaboration between them a very real possibility. And Gaga’s Saturn also trines Bennett’s Leo Sun within about a degree. If Saturn provides the glue that makes relationships stick, this commitment goes both ways.

And fascinatingly, they both make each other sound better! Lady Gaga is known as more of a Uranian type of performer – it’s often more about theatrics and technology than her vocals. While she actually has a beautiful, strong voice, you almost need to see her at the piano or raised on some contraption over the floor – there’s something missing from her solos. And Tony Bennett used to be able to sing, but that was decades ago. (A PBS broadcast of the duo’s concert showed audiences giving him a standing ovation for a solo – they’re just glad he’s still alive.) However something wonderful happens when they’re together and they seem to compensate for any liabilities in each other’s performances. Such an emphasis on Saturn in their relationship suggests that they’ve worked on it.

As Saturn passes into Sagittarius in 2015-2016, Gaga will experience her first Saturn return. With so much success behind her, it’s hard to remember that she’s still only 28. It’ll be interesting to see what her next act will be.

Lady Gaga was born on March 28, 1986 at 9:53 AM in Manhattan (rated “B” on Astrodatabank; the source is her Twitter page. Tony Bennett was born on August 3, 1926 in Long Island City, NY, with no time available.

I Can’t Breathe

Protesters chanting “I can’t breathe” took to the streets in New York City last night, blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, the West Side Highway and the Lincoln Tunnel. They expressed their anger after a grand jury failed to indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died of a chokehold on 7/14/14. The “I can’t breathe” cry for help reflects Garner’s repeated words during his fateful arrest. Why has this catch-phrase caught on in New York?

Breathing and respiration are ruled by the mutable signs, especially Gemini, ruler of the lungs, and Sagittarius, which rules exhalation. Eric Garner suffered from asthma. According to medical astrologer Diane Cramer in How to Give an Astrological Health Reading, this may relate to afflictions in Gemini, Saturn in Gemini or Sagittarius, Saturn afflicted in the 3rd house and an angular Moon. The horoscope for New York City (1/1/1898 at 12:01 AM) has these placements.

The City’s Neptune-Pluto conjunction in Gemini in the 9th house along with Saturn, Venus and Mars in Sagittarius in the 3rd house cover these mutable signs. Eric Garner was born on 9/15/70, and has the Sun, Mercury and Pluto all conjunct in Virgo along with Mars in Virgo and a probable Moon in Pisces. By quadruplicity rulership, all of the mutable signs may affect respiration. Garner’s placements also activate the City’s horoscope, creating a grand cross. His Mars in Virgo exactly squares the City’s Saturn, showing his conflict with authority. His natal Pluto also squares the City’s Venus and Mars, bringing up a conflict of wills and inappropriate force.

Why are these issues being expressed right now? Transiting Neptune in Pisces stationed exactly square the City’s Saturn in June of 2014, shortly before Eric Garner’s death. Neptune again stationed in November, when the officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri was also released by a grand jury, sparking protests in New York and elsewhere in the country last week.

Transiting Neptune will square NYC’s Saturn throughout 2015. As Mayor DeBlasio stated, this is “not the end of the story, only the end of a chapter.” Astrologically, it seems to me that protests will continue. The Mayor and Police Commissioner Bratton have promised an internal affairs investigation into police actions surrounding the incident. And Daniel Pantaleo also faces Federal civil rights charges. Hopefully the continuing aspects from Neptune will help address “the larger issues” that President Obama sees as necessary.

Bill Cosby, Uranus and Pluto

Over a dozen allegations of drugging and sexual assault are aimed at Bill Cosby. The comedian was born July 12, 1937 at 12:30 AM in Philadelphia (data rated “A” on Astrodatabank). His Midheaven is 11 Capricorn 56. The Midheaven of course represents the career, public reputation and status.

With transiting Pluto conjoining his Midheaven exactly next week, Cosby’s reputation as a warm and caring father figure is falling apart. He has already had contracts and bookings cancelled. Pluto tends to unearth the past and bring secrets to light. It can represent complexity and power struggles. Cosby has resolved similar allegations out of court in the past, avoiding public scrutiny. However Pluto is now bringing things out into the open.

Transiting Uranus through Cosby’s 12th house will station at less than a half a degree from squaring his MC in December, suggesting additional revelations or dramatic developments.

If the furor dies down in early 2015 as these aspects wane, I suspect that it will heat up again as Uranus and Pluto close in on Cosby’s Ascendant-Sun-Jupiter T-square. Uranus will activate the T-square as it conjoins his Ascendant from June 2015 through March 2017. Pluto will do the same from the 10th house from late 2018 to late 2020.

USA Horoscopes

Robert Carl Jansky in his 1979 book Interpreting the Eclipses discusses the chart for the United States (page 75). He says that the U.S. horoscope with 7-1/2 Gemini rising closely conjunct Uranus (approximately 2:15 AM on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia) is the chart “that a majority of astrologers have come to recognize as the correct one.” In his analysis he also considers a Libra rising as well as a Sagittarius rising chart that he credits to Dane Rudhyar.

Donna Cunningham similarly states in her 1982 book, Being a Lunar type in a Solar World that, “Most astrologers use the traditional chart calculated for July 4, 1776 at 2:13:32 AM in Philadelphia” (page 29), virtually the same chart Jansky referred to. Barbara Watters in her book Horary Astrology and the Judgment of Events (1973) also cites a US. Gemini rising chart with Uranus rising drawn for 2:17 AM.

How things have changed! In the years subsequent to 9/11, many more astrologers have accepted a Sagittarius rising horoscope due to the fact that transiting Pluto was conjoining this chart’s Ascendant at the time of the attacks. It seems to me that this event has changed our thinking radically. A major event, surely, but still only one.

And while many astrologers have presented documentary evidence for one chart or another, basically none of them are dispositive.

I use Evangeline Adams’ 3:03 AM Gemini rising chart for 7/4/1776 which has Mars rising and the Moon in the 9th house. Jupiter rules the 7th and is placed in the 1st house. This is strong symbolism for being a nation of immigrants who come from afar. But I can’t support it further except to say that it seems to work for me. And while Astrodatabank gives a source for her data, this does not seem to be based on any documentary evidence that is available.

Aspects in Astrology

The horoscope chart is like a roadmap. It very succinctly shows us the things we can take for granted as well as the areas of life that we’ll need to work on. Astrological aspects give us one way to analyze the map’s potential.

“Soft” or flowing aspects indicate things that are easy for us. With sextiles and trines, only a little effort is necessary to maximize what’s promised by the linked planets. With the Moon sextile Venus, for example, one easily finds opportunities to develop relationships with women and can have an intuitive connection with them. However this aspect does not push one toward any kind of spectacular achievement. If things become difficult, other relationships generally come along to release the pressure.

“Hard” or challenging aspects are motivators that force us to do more. These planetary patterns are not easily ignored and will be activated periodically throughout life. The Sun square or opposite Saturn demands hard work in order to succeed. Those with hard aspects may also experience more disruptive changes or set-backs from time to time than a person with the Sun trine Saturn. People with challenging aspects might crave a comfortable rut, but the Universe will not let them rest in it for very long. These aspects create those determined to achieve, who can learn to make the most of what they’ve been given.

Of course, the ideal is to have both hard and soft aspects in the natal chart, which most people do. While we’re given challenges to motivate us, there are also opportunities to embrace. We’re pushed to solve problems but also have enough support and opportunity to help us do so.

The Pope, Uranus and Pluto

Pope Francis has called an “extraordinary synod” of bishops who have traveled to the Vatican from around the globe to discuss church policies from October 5 to 19, 2014. Mercury retrograde should be helpful to them as they review surveys of family religious attitudes and rehash the church’s stance on divorce, contraception and homosexuality. Uranus square Pluto is obviously at work here, as the bishops are analyzing parishioners’ contemporary behavior (Uranus) in the light of Church dogma (Pluto). Given this astrological signature, there’s a good chance for innovation.

Francis was born on December 17, 1936 at 9:00 PM in Buenos Aires, according to Astrodatabank. With an out-of-sign Uranus square Pluto in his own birth chart, he’s been called a “herald of change” by commentators. And in the Jesuit manner, the Pope’s thinking has inspired open discussions at the synod.

In addition, his Mercury at 11 Capricorn 49 is conjoined by transiting Pluto as the synod progresses. The Uranus-Pluto square already activated Francis’ Mercury in 2013 when he requested that every diocese around the world survey its families.

The Catholic Church doesn’t often hold this type of unusual meet-up. The previous one, known as Vatican II, was held from 1962 to 1965. Uranus was exactly conjunct Pluto in October of 1965 when the talks ended. After that time, mass began to be celebrated in local languages and priests turned to face the congregation. These were noticeable, if not monumental reforms, and we can expect similar developments when the bishops formulate new guidelines next year as the Uranus-Pluto square winds down. But given Catholic lifestyles in communities around the world as well as the Pope’s compassionate attitude, there’s hope that the new policies will be more inclusive and better reflect our changing times.

Evangeline’s Autumn Forecast

While Evangeline Adams never wrote the typical 12-sign horoscope column we know today, she did write other kinds of weekly columns that were syndicated in many papers around the country. In these, she often described the characteristics of the signs and tried to offer a transit forecast for the coming year for people born within 10 days of a certain date. In addition, she used other cookbook-like approaches to give some idea of the upcoming astrological weather. Consider the following, which was printed in 1922, but can apply to the fall of 2014 (I’ve updated the periods it refers to):

The fact that the Sun and Venus travel side by side from mid-September through November indicates more harmony may exist in the world and more will be accomplished along constructive lines. In fact, everything should be done to establish confidence and optimism.

We can immediately see that she associates the Sun with confidence and optimism and Venus with harmony. But cookbooks have obvious limitations. The Sun and Venus in Libra in October may strengthen the need for harmony, since Venus is accentuated in one of its own signs. Yet they’ll both become part of a T-square with the Uranus-Pluto square mid-month. Is this peaceful? Or not? Any sense of harmony in the world will be challenged and we’ll need to find new and unique ways of expressing it.

Scotland Independence

Scotland went to the polls on September 18, 2014 at 7:00 AM to decide its future. Would it split from the UK and become independent? Based on the horoscope for the event, it’s clear why the answer was No!

The Sun rises in Virgo, giving Scotland, the initiator, a strong self-identity. Yet it’s in a mutable sign and no aspects to the Sun reflect autonomy. It conjoins Venus in the 12th house, showing peacefulness and a passive bent. The Sun also sextiles Saturn in Scorpio in the 3rd house, putting Scotland in close and agreeable contact with the authorities.

Perhaps more importantly, the Moon in Cancer in the 10th house also indicates the authorities, and there appears to be a significant sense of security coming from the Queen and her kingdom – another angular placement which is possibly as strong as the Sun rising. And finally, the Moon approaches a sextile to the Sun, so Scotland retains its relationship and the stability of the past flows smoothly into the future.

Of course, there are signs of a need to break away as well, otherwise there wouldn’t have been a vote at all. The transiting square of Uranus and Pluto created a T-square with the Moon in Cancer, but at the time the polls opened, the Moon had already passed its aspects to these two disruptive planets and was approaching its sextile to the Sun. Pluto was in the angular 4th house of the homeland, but its interception in the sign of Capricorn also weakened its influence.

In addition, Jupiter in the 11th house in Leo is a strong influence for the values of the authorities (as the 11th house is the 2nd from the 10th), and Jupiter trined Uranus, showing once again the ability to work things out. Jupiter will also square Saturn, perhaps indicating future frustrations, but taken together, the aspects for the status quo do outweigh those for independence. Although the final vote was only 54% for remaining part of the United Kingdom, the astrology is much clearer than the actual votes, as often happens.

Joan Rivers – Astro Obvious

Celebrity horoscopes are often complicated, hard to analyze and understand. Joan Rivers’ chart is not one of them! It’s refreshing to consider a horoscope that almost interprets itself.

Aries rising: candid, courageous, vital, endless energy.

Uranus in Aries rising: vivacious, outrageous, frenetic, irrepressible, strong personal identity, original, trailblazer, remained relevant for over 50 years.

Sun in Gemini in 3rd house: fast-talker, ideas and communications central to her self-expression, youthful.

Uranus sextile Mercury and Venus in Gemini conjunct IC: ease of expression, attractive, quirky interest in home and family, beauty and fashion.

Uranus square Pluto in the 5th: unusual, intense personality, broke from conventions of her generation; extremes of comedy vs. tragedy in life, associated with daughter.

Moon in Sagittarius in the 9th house: funny, spirited, brash, generous, adventuresome, world-traveler, potty-mouth, top college grad.

Full Moon: dramatic events in life.

Mars conjunct Jupiter in Virgo in 6th house: outspoken critic, edgy, self-deprecating, workaholic, excessive plastic surgery (Jupiter also conjoins Neptune in Virgo in 6).

T-square in mutable signs (Sun-Moon-Mars-Jupiter): constantly active, keeps up with people and the times; extremely motivated.

Saturn in Aquarius in 11th closely trine Sun and sextile Moon (dignified by sign and outlet for T-square’s energies): consistent pursuit of goals, long career, hard-worker, overcomes adversity.

Capricorn on the Midheaven: consistent pursuit of goals, long career, hard-worker.

Moon Out of Bounds in Declination: anomalous female, unusual lifestyle, focus on women’s issues, vacillating/intense connection with daughter; pushes the limits of acceptability.

Mercury exactly conjunct Venus with both Out of Bounds: goes beyond the norm in use of mind, personal relationships; successful author of many books.

At Death:
Transiting Uranus returns to the 1st house and sextiles natal Sun and Saturn; trines the Moon: abrupt flight, did not suffer.

Transiting Pluto through the 10th trine Jupiter-Neptune midpoint in the 6th: change in health status, career celebrated.

Transiting Saturn in Scorpio in the 8th trine natal Pluto: transcending physical plane.

Transiting Mars in Scorpio through the 8th inconjunct 1st house Uranus (trigger): sudden change.

Joan Rivers was born on June 8, 1933 at 2:00 AM a.m. in Brooklyn, New York, rated “A” by Astrodatabank.

Qualities of the Signs

The cardinal, fixed and mutable qualities in astrology describe various personal characteristics. Most of us have some of each quality, but many horoscopes show a preponderance of one or another.

The fixed signs give commitment and follow-through. They’re helpful in overcoming adversity, maintaining long-term relationships, pursuing a lawsuit or achieving definite goals. People with strong fixed signs in their horoscopes know how to focus on one thing and see it through to its completion. However they may find it hard to change. They tend to be insensitive to the signals for change outside of themselves and can become stuck in habitual ways of doing things.

Those with strong mutable signs are just the opposite. They easily adapt to people, circumstances and situations and can juggle many things at once. Al H. Morrison felt that mutable energy aids all personal and professional relationships, as it provides the give and take necessary for all interactions. However mutable people often have difficulty with situations that demand persistence and follow-through.

Those with an emphasis on cardinal signs in their horoscopes are not as obvious or simple to understand. Cardinal people provide the forces for change in the world. A strongly cardinal person will feel impatient, annoyed, frustrated or anxious if they feel thwarted in their goals and ambitions. They’ll address obstacles from different directions until they overcome them.

Cardinals spearhead developments, while fixed signs may find it hard to begin projects. Once started, though, fixed people move forward steadily, but it may be difficult for them to stop. Mutables easily start something new but there are always other things that attract their attention.

Aries, which is cardinal and fire, can be seen as the most cardinal sign, since it effectively harnesses the fiery energy to move ahead with initiative. Taurus, which is fixed earth, may be the most fixed sign since it’s heavy and bound in matter. Gemini, representing mutable air, could be the most mutable as it’s light and responsive. It’s interesting that these are the first three signs of the zodiac.

A strong Mercury and Jupiter may compensate for a lack of mutable signs in a chart. A strong Pluto might provide the stick-to-it-iveness that someone lacking fixed signs needs. And a strong Mars or Saturn could make up for a deficiency in cardinal signs in a horoscope. There are so many elements to astrology that whatever the tendencies of the signs, there’s a wealth of other energies to draw upon.