Soul Connections IAM#21 Sept/Oct 2018

 I've been a contributor to Smiljana Gavrancic's Infinity Astrological Magazine (IAM) since the first issue and now write a regular movie column.

The online mag has grown from strength to strength, featuring articles from every branch of astrology, written by astrologers - many of them very well known - from every corner of the globe.

Now, 21 Issues in, it's reached a major landmark - its first print issue.

Here's the link should you wish to order a print or online copy.

And here's an extract from my movie column in this issue, where I unearth the astrology of horror director George A. Romero and his iconic zombie movies....

The dead have risen from their graves. But these are not seductive, hyperaware vampires, nor are they incorporeal spirits of dejected souls hopelessly seeking restitution for wrongs done unto them in lives long past.  These are the zombies – repulsive and rotten, shrouded in the dirt of their burial place and wearing the un-healed wounds of forgotten lives. Devoid of human emotion, save for the irresistible and insatiable urge to consume flesh, theirs is a slow death march, mindlessly relieving humanity of its soul and consciousness one bite at a time.

Welcome to the world of George A. Romero, king of the zombie movie. See beyond the shocking violence and gore and Romero’s series of ‘Dead’ movies reveal a satire for the times.

The social comment in Romero’s work is reflected in Sun Conjunct Mercury in Aquarius*, a combination also suggesting an active imagination. A fixed Square from Uranus in Taurus brings tension and shock (Uranus) from the Zombie’s slow (Taurus), relentless (fixed Square) pursuit of the living. Uranus also represents what we find revolting and repulsive on a collective level and in earthy Taurus it’s unsurprising that the social comment is about mindless (Mercury) materialism and that the mindless consumers are flesh eaters that rise from the ground.  Sun-Mercury Square Uranus is also about going against convention and unlike other popular supernatural monsters in the horror genre, for zombies and their victims there is no redemption – a decapitation or a stoved-in head is the only way out. Jupiter in Aries Trine Pluto in Leo also fits with the dramatic and overblown gory visual of how the dead meet their finality of death – first they lose their minds and then they lose their heads.

And heads brings us to Aries (which rules the head). Romero has the two traditional malefics, Mars and Saturn, and also the South Node in Aries. Whenever a chart is strong in Aries we look for ways in which the individual expresses a pioneering instinct. Indeed, Romero’s Wikipedia page notes he was an “influential pioneer of the horror-film genre”¹ and also held the status of “father of the zombie film,”² reflecting his prominent Saturn in Aries which is the dispositer of his Sun and Mercury in Aquarius and possibly his Moon in Capricorn (unfortunately we don’t have a birth time).

Mars Conjunct Saturn is heavy enough, but they also make an out of sign Square with Pluto. A grim combination, suggesting deeply buried rage clawing towards manifestation. The South Node joining this mix means the energy needs to find a release. Sun and Mercury in Aquarius (social comment) Quintile the Aries stellium encourages release through creativity and what’s more creative than the imaginary world of a movie? In fact, a number of Quintiles in Romero’s chart (Neptune to Chiron and Uranus to Pluto) suggest a generational urge to find creative expression through dark themes.

Venus in Pisces is both a creative and an idealistic placement, evoking pretty images of peace and love, rainbows and unicorns and Venus’ exaltation in Pisces suggests the potential for Venus’ energy to rise to its highest expression. Venus in Pisces also bestows empathy with the underdog and compassion for the suffering of others, which can draw the native into experiencing the uglier side of life and this comes out in the imagery and subject matter of Romero’s movies.

Venus’ opposition to Neptune in Virgo, the sign of Venus’ fall, brings a fear of loss and chaos, perceived in an overactive imagination and in the case of his movies, the loss and chaos is imagined through the zombie apocalypse. It brings tension to the yearning for perfection, promising perpetual disappointment of Venus’ high ideals. More mundanely it’s about learning that other people will always let you down when you set your expectations too high. Even as we are asked to root for Romero’s ‘human’ characters, he expresses his disappointment in their ability to cooperate and get along peacefully in the movies. It is human error and aggression which allows the zombies to breach their protective boundaries, spelling humanity’s doom. Venus in Pisces Opposite Neptune of course has issues with maintaining boundaries and Mars Conjunct Saturn speaks of the massive effort of trying to maintain literal – and emotional – boundaries against the relentless and bloody assault of the dead risen from Pluto’s underworld. Chiron in Cancer - Trine Venus and Quintile Neptune - describes the wounds that never heal, illustrated in the zombies, who wear their festering injuries and deformities like badges. Those bitten are robbed of their individuality, reducing them to their most unconscionable baseline - animated meat, with no purpose but to consume living flesh.

Here's the link should you wish to order a print or online copy of IAM 21.

IAM #21 Contents

When Sun-Uranus meets Sun-Uranus

The article below first appeared in the July/August edition of Infinity Astrological Magazine 

You can also read my articles on Astro.com:
How Can Saturn Help Us Live from the Heart?
After the Transit - Neptune
Whistleblowers at the Galactic Centre
And you can find me on Facebook and YouTube

When Sun-Uranus meets Sun-Uranus

Sun Conjunct Venus in Aquarius Trine Pluto in Libra and Square Uranus in Scorpio, aptly describes  Amal Clooney’s profession as a barrister and activist specialising in human rights law. It also describes the non-conformist, the reformer and the need to live a just and honest life.

Amal’s husband, actor/producer/director George Clooney, also has Sun Square Uranus; Sun in Taurus Conjunct Mercury and Uranus in Leo.

For both of them, Sun Square Uranus highlights the need for freedom to pursue their personal goals. It’s probably as well that they married later in life, when Clooney was 53 and Amal 37. Those with strong Uranus aspects to their personal planets often find that long lasting partnerships arrive later in life, when they can better understand and assert their uniqueness and have developed a lifestyle to suit their need for independence.

It was her first marriage, but George had a short first marriage in the late 1980s. It’s a classic commitment phobe aspect and Clooney’s bachelor status became iconic when he made bets that he wouldn’t marry again. It’s not known whether he coughed up the $100,000 he allegedly owed to the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman when he married Amal, losing his bet.

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Because Amal has all the beauty and glamour of a Hollywood starlet, it’s easy to forget that this is an unconventional pairing. Oxford educated barristers don’t tend to marry triple A list celebrities and big name movie stars mostly pair with others within their Hollywood clique. However, for this Sun-Uranus pair, coming from different worlds may have been part of the attraction. She’s British-born of Lebanese descent and has been tipped for a future seat in the British House of Lords and he’s carved his career in the escapist world of the silver screen.

And what was also refreshingly unconventional (and a lovely reflection of Amal’s Sun-Venus Square Uranus) was that on social media people were not asking how Amal managed to bag Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor, but how Clooney managed to convince this independent, educated, accomplished woman to be his wife.

Like Amal, Clooney is also known for his humanitarian work and political activism - he has Jupiter (his MC ruler) in early Aquarius Conjunct Moon and Saturn in late Capricorn across the 11^th and 12^th Houses. These are Conjunct Amal’s Mercury at 28 Capricorn, denoting a strong urge to connect and share a common sense of purpose, to deal with serious issues.

George’s chart dominance in Earth (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Saturn, Pluto, North Node) with a decent blast of Fire, brings spirited and optimistic pragmatism to Amal’s idealistic chart, dominated by planets in Air (Sun, Venus, Jupiter, Pluto, North Node) and Moon in Sagittarius, likely Conjunct her Neptune and George’s MC in justice-oriented Sagittarius. After they married, they set up The Clooney Foundation for Justice, “fighting for the rights of individuals unfairly targeted by oppressive governments.”¹  Their Foundation, supporting the civil rights of the underdog, is also an apt expression of Sun Square Uranus.

As a couple, it seems the Sun shines out of them. Indeed, see how they shone recently at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with George’s megawatt smile (still deserving of the nickname ‘Gorgeous George’) and Amal’s dress and hat the colour of high summer sunshine. As well as the attraction of Sun Square Sun by synastry, Amal’s Neptune (and Moon in a noon chart – we don’t have a birth time) on George’s MC, adds to the idea of the glamorous fairy tale romance for a public hungry for idealised happy endings. 

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Together, their charts form a powerful Fixed Grand Cross consisting of George’s Sun and Mercury in Taurus and Uranus in Leo and Amal’s Uranus in Scorpio and Sun and Venus in Aquarius.

The four fixed signs are about attachment and desire, loyalty, commitment and resistance to change. Where Taurus is about physical security and sensuality, Scorpio is about deeper emotional bonds and desires. When fixed signs are dominant, secure relationships are valued, but with Uranus in the mix, it’s possible that during the lifetime rejection has been suffered and/or that the native has been the one doing the rejecting. Leo is about the development of the ego through putting oneself at the centre of things, through exuding, (at best) warmth and generosity. However, the Leo dynamic often comes with excessive pride. Its Opposite sign, Aquarius, teaches detachment from the ego to allow service to humanity, but there can be a stubborn belief that one’s ideas and values are the only way and a perverse attitude of superiority, even as it proclaims equality for all.

Double Uranus in this Cross potentially brings contrariness and lack of willingness to cooperate. If they’re a true team, on the same side, however, this couple can be a force to be reckoned with, with an energising belief that it’s us against the world or perhaps more likely, because of the power bestowed by their fame and wealth, the belief that it’s up to us to change the world.

This strong fixity invites them to direct their energy into causes and projects with real conviction. It promises that, with sustained effort, ideals and ideas can be converted into tangible action which can make a real difference in the world. Something they can take pride in.

This Fixed Grand Cross is bound to be a strong signature for their private relationship. It provides structure, support, stability and a desire to work at the relationship, to hold it all together. This aspect pattern in synastry can also denote a couple stuck in their problems, recycling the same issues again and again, persistently. And if they do get stuck in a Fixed Cross rut, with Uranus so prominent, it will at least be an unconventional rut.

With security likely to be important to the couple, their choice of UK home on an island in the river Thames feels like a perfect retreat for the Pisces Rising actor and his Mars in Cancer wife.

We would hope that their relationship allows them to fulfil the needs of their Moons. Clooney’s Moon in Capricorn suggests he takes his emotional life seriously and needs to be respected by those he loves and love only those he respects, particularly as it’s Conjunct Saturn. For all his charm, his love is not a love given easily or flippantly. Amal’s Moon in Sagittarius is more adventurous, supporting her Sun-Venus Square Uranus and well suited to her career as an international lawyer as well as to the jet-setting lifestyle that goes hand in hand with marriage to ‘Gorgeous George’.

© Mandi Lockley

¹ https://cfj.org/about/

 

The Sept/Oct Edition of Infinity Astrological Magazine

The Sept/Oct Edition of Infinity Astrological Magazine is out now and is packed with articles from top astrologers from around the globe, covering a variety of topics and techniques, including modern and traditional, chart analyses, mundane, vedic, esoteric, philosophy, ethics and much more.


Click here to read (free): Infinity Sept/Oct 2016

The Astrological Journal

I'm proud to say that my article Whistleblowers at The Galactic Centre features in the Mar/Apr 2016 issue of the Journal of the Astrological Association of Great Britain. The cover, I'm sure you'll agree, is nothing short of beautiful and I'm thrilled to get a name check on it.

The article came out of research into the Galactic Centre done in collaboration with astrologers Rod Chang and Mechthild 'Nusse' Belton, over many fun and inspiring meetings that saw us finish off several bottles of wine and countless frothy coffees.

It postulates that the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, the Galactic Centre - a super-massive black hole (or a 'giant cosmic broom') positioned in late Sagittarius - plays a key role in chart signatures of people who spill the beans on organisations and governments, as the many famous cases in my article attests.

In this issue I find myself in very good company:

Priscilla Costello (Shakespeare 's hidden astro keys); Brian Clark (the 'night' approach); Sue Joseph Kientz ('new' Pluto); Frank C Clifford (durable couples); Marjorie Orr (Angela Merkel); Marcos Patchett (Rejection and other Reception variants); Sharon Knight (Astrologers' Feast of the Astrological Lodge of London and Astrologer of the Year at Gopal Bhattacharjee's fabulous conference in Kolkata [not forgetting Robert Currey's lifetime achievement award]); Smiljana Gavrancic (Paris atrocities and 21° Aquarius in France's chart); Christina Rodenbeck (David Bowie); Nicholas Kollerstrom (debunking French debunkers of Gauguelin's Mars Effect); Lucy Zolonga (Jup in Virgo solarscope); Pam Crane (astro crossword and the Dwad); Marion Williamson (Jo Logan remembered); Alex Trenoweth (Kolkata diary) ; Anne Whitaker (Age of Aquarius?); Roy Gillett (the enlightenment) and Sarah Cochrane (transits).

Thanks to Editor Victor Olliver for his fine work in putting together and publicising it.

The AA Journal, published bi-monthly, is free to members of the Astrological Association of Great Britain, or single copies can be purchased for £5.95. For a trial period this issue will be available for sale in digital format.

For full details of how to get your hands on the Journal (including downloading a free copy of the equally fabulous Sept/Oct 2015 edition), see the Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/AstrologicalJournal/?fref=ts 

For more on the output of our research on the Galactic Centre, see Where God Divided by Zero: New Thoughts on the Galactic Centre, co-authored with Rod Chang, in issue 2 of Infinity Astrological Magazine, which can be downloaded free (you just need to register) from: http://infinityastrologicalmagazine.com/

Rod also has an article on the Galactic Centre in the current (Mar/Apr 2016) edition of Infinity (available from the same link as above) linking planetary transits to the Galactic Centre (GC) to the banking crisis of 2008, 9/11, the end of the Cold War and more.

What is also startling, is that like myself when I was researching the GC and whistleblowers, he has discovered that Mars seems to be an important factor in activating the energy of the GC and I suspect that exploring the significance of this observation will mean a few more vino and caffeine-fuelled meetings. Watch this space!

With love,
Mandi xxx