“To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.” Samuel Beckett
The panicky uncertainty of this time of celestial transition was in place before recent US election results with many/most stumbling through a fog of unknowing with rising levels of anxiety. How to cope when it is not clear what the future holds is often more difficult that facing up to reality-based hardship.
“Where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Samuel Beckett.
Irish playwright Beckett’s tragi-comic, bleak view of life has a resonance for this time.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett
As does Austrian psychologist/philosopher Viktor Frankl’s search for meaning after the Holocaust.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.” Viktor Frankl.
It was always said that those who survived the concentration camps best were the ones with a strong belief system. The content did not matter – marxist, religious or whatever. A belief in a meaning beyond themselves gave them an inner resilience that others lacked.
Therapists working with trauma survivors echo Frankl’s thinking and say one key response to ‘the shattered self’ of a personality fragmented by destructive life experiences is a determined search for meaning.
Astrology does not necessarily point to a meaning in terms of a belief system, since it has no moral content or political or philosophical bias. But what it does offer is a context of sorts, some reassurance that life is not just random chaos.
Both nihilist/minimalist Beckett and Frankl have relatively similar charts. Both are Sun Aries with Moon in Sagittarius. Both have a prominent Uranus opposition Neptune. And both have Jupiter in the 8th.
Beckett, 13 April 1906 8.14pm Dublin, Ireland, had a hard working 6th house Aries Sun trine his Moon and sextile an influential, deep-thinking Pluto in his 8th. His inspired Neptune in his 9th house of meaning opposition Uranus formed a Half Grand Sextile linking Saturn in regretful Pisces and a seductively charming Venus in Taurus on his Descendant. Neptune opposition Uranus also squared closely onto his Mercury in Aries. He had another two Half Grand Sextiles from the North/South Node opposition to Sun and Pluto; and Moon opposition Pluto to IC and Sun. Multi-talented and complex.
He fought for the French Resistance during WW11 and appeared to have conducted a parallel affair alongside a long marriage.
Frankl, 26 March 1905 5.46pm Vienna, Austria, practised as a neurologist/psychologist before being sent in 1942 to a concentration camp, where his father died of starvation and pneumonia. In 1944, his mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers and his wife died of typhus. He spent three years in four concentration camps. After the war he worked with patients until his retirement in 1970.
His Neptune in Cancer on his Midheaven, indicated a healing career and it opposed an unsettled Uranus in his domestic/family 4th house square an Aries Sun. He also had a Half Grand Sextile from Moon opposition an opinionated 9th house Pluto linked to Mercury in Aries and Saturn in scientific Aquarius on the cusp of his 6th house of health.
Similar elements, different inclination.
The Uranus opposition Neptune of the early 20th Century is interesting since it is partly echoed in the 1990s generation with their Uranus Neptune conjunction. It can be inspired, intuitive and insightful, though also escapist, neurotic and prone to fanatical beliefs.
Jupiter in the 8th which both Beckett and Frankl had can also point to a compulsive search for understanding in the realms beyond the real world. As did their Sagittarius Moon.
Both in different ways stressed the need to go on in the face of suffering, uncertainty and the unknown.
To add anther layer of complexity to the paradoxes of coping with uncertainty are two thoughts from psychoanalyst Erich Fromm.
“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.” Erich Fromm
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” Erich Fromm.
In biology there is a vital balance to be struck between structure and change. For stability, same must follow same to build up a viable species. But when outer circumstances change, there must be a ‘creative’ adjustment to allow the species to survive in the new climate. Too much sameness leads ultimately stagnation and extinction.
Erich Fromm, 23 March 1900 7.30pm Frankfurt um Main, Germany, was another Sun Mercury in Aries with a Sagittarius Moon. His chart is dominated by Uranus opposition Pluto which is essentially revolutionary. Uranus Pluto’s instinct is to upend the status quo and force through change. But too much constant turbulence and turmoil with no stabilizing end-game can be damaging and destructive.
No solid answers but straws to hang onto in troubled times. Who would have thought Aries was such a philosophical sign?
Another thought before I finish. Life goes in pendulum swings – sometimes it has to get much worse before it triggers an equal and opposite reaction. (Not always mind you viz Tibet etc). One small example was the determined push in the 1990s to bury allegations of child abuse which provoked a flurry of research from the therapy world which up till then had largely ignored the subject. Good came out of bad, which might not have happened without the outrage that the denial lobby created. Sometimes the imperfect status quo needs an almighty dunt in the ribs before it wakens up.
A point Americans might wish to consider vis a vis their political system.
“The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh.” Samuel Beckett
“You’re on earth. There’s no cure for that”. Samuel Beckett
“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves”. Viktor E. Frankl
“Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. Viktor E. Frankl
I think there is an important key in the Half Grand Sextiles. I’d never probed into this aspect pattern and, from the limited info online, this grouping of an opposition, 2 trines and 3 sextiles offers an interesting combination of challenge, insight, creativity and resilience… a kind of buffer.. and perspective…. to the deeper traumas of life.
Marjorie.. way back in our dive into Pluto, you asked me what I thought helped me navigate the trauma stories in my and my parents lives (Pluto in 8th for me). I actually have a tight half grand sextile (cradle they call it)….and I think it’s key to how I’ve approached life!
My sister has said that “you are the lucky one”, which I balked at!!…
turns out I might just be!
If you have any more insight on this configuration to share, please do!
thanks for this nugget… and also for this particular post.
Finding Viktor Frankl’’s book, A Search for Meaning, in my early 20’s, had a profound and healing impact on me. If he could do it… so could I.
Marjorie, cheers to your inspiration and insight here! Appreciated reviewing these thought leaders and their motivating (fired-up!) Aries Sun-Sagittarius Moon blends.
Marjorie, no one is worried about the unknown because Trump is a known quantity and he was president before so that is what we are concerned and we don’t understand how someone could vote for him given his agenda.
Yes the economy sucks but the economy is cyclical and the majority of the experts are in agreement that Trump’s economic policies will make things worse not better.
Thank you Marjorie!
I talk to my sister who lives in Japan and is a Buddhist along with some friends here in the US. Life is change. It’s staying centered in the midst of it all that is a challenge. We are more useful when we can act from a place of calm. “Be in it, not of it” I was once told.
I remember Frankl describing looking at a sunset—there are still sunsets & sunrises & kindness and beauty—even if it doesn’t seem enough.
I have to say that for me, recognizing my naïveté about human nature has brought sadness & disappointment but I will will go on—what else is there to do?
I often remind myself that my grandparents lived through WW1, the Spanish Flu pandemic, the Great Depression, the rise of Hitler, WW2 and years of rationing. If nothing else, it kind of calms me, knowing that they survived all of that upheaval of the 20th century.
VF, the difference is that Trump has been president before and he failed on all levels and proved his incompetence during COVID and yet people completely dismissed his past performance due to the economy.
Trump lost 3 million jobs during his first term and added $8 trillion to the national debt but he’s supposed to have some wand that he is going to wave to get mortgage rates back to 3% and the price of groceries are going to magically fall according to the people who voted for him.
The difference this time is the destruction of nature which Trump will greatly accelerate, as well as the increasing possibility of simultaneous world and civil war. I expect tanks in American streets before the midterms of 2026. The Sun-Pluto conjunction in the Inaugural chart may refer to the use of nuclear weapons. The Mars opposition is a classic signature of a major military conflict. The astrological information is crystal-clear.
I strongly believe that astrology has moral content. So does the Dalai Lama, who has an Institute of Tibetan astrology next to him in northern India. There is such a thing as Buddhist astrology. The moral content of astrology varies for each person and in each life situation.
Thank you, Marjorie, for the great Beckett quotes. I knew about Frankl, and fear he will again become a lot more relevant. The first American concentration camps will be called refugee resettlement centers. That is where they will once again separate children from their mothers. A cruel psychopath now rules much of the world. He will by no means stop there.
Kamala Harris did say magnificently that darkness on earth makes us see the stars. We will see them much better soon. They will always provide hope and inspiration.
Virgoflake—during Covid I had those exact same thoughts! My grandparents were kids during the pandemic of the early 1900s.
We are here now after all!
Survival is possible.
Change is inevitable.
Best to you!
“Who would have thought Aries was such a philosophical sign?”
It might not be the Aries in the charts. The other side of Taurus’ materialism and venality is famously a deeply philosophical side and an ability to be in tune with the earth’s rhythms and wisdom. Even when unconcerned with the pursuit of wealth, Taurus is a materialist sign, so it seeks to put philosophy to USE.
Beckett: Angular Venus in domicile in 7 Tau conj. DESC, angular Mars 19 Tau.
Venus’ antiscion falls on 22 Leo, which is Beckett’s MC. This means that Venus in Tau has sway over both angles axes in his chart. Venus in Tau also squares the nodal axis, and Venus trines Uranus, and semisextiles Jupiter. Jupiter conjuncts the midpoint between Venus and Neptune (in the 9th of writing for a wide public, & search for meaning). Venus semisextiles Mercury, the midpoint between Venus and Saturn. Venus square Chiron.
Frankl: Venus conj Jupiter in Tau in the 8th, Tau rules the 9th of publishing. The Moon in Sag rules the MC, Jupiter disposits the Moon, co-rules the MC due to exaltation, and when it acts it activates the Venus. Venus rules Frankl’s ASC. The midpoint between Jupiter and Venus in Tau is 8 Tau 16, which trines the NN and sextiles the SN. This means that Venus in Domicile in Tau influences both angles’s axes and the Nodal axis.
Fromm: Depends on the chart. Astrodienst has a different date and time of birth: 23 March 1900, 7.30 PM in Frankfurt Am Maim. Rodden Rating AA.
In the Astro chart Fromm’s Venus is powerfully placed, for a psychologist and sociologist, in 15 Tau, an avatar degree, in the 8th (investigation in depth) on one leg of a Yod, Venus sextile the MC/Sirius, with the finger being the NN at 14 Sag, which is conjunct Uranus and Jupiter also in Sag. Venus also rules the Libra ASC. So as with the charts of rank, and Beckett, Venus in Tau has sway over angles and Nodes. It is further highlighted by the close conjunction of Venus at 15 Tau and Makemake at 18 Tau.
Makemake: out of left-field, extreme, original creative thinking that changes societies (Thomas Alva Edison). Also, strange creativity (Salvador Dali)
I think the Aries just lights the fuse that turns ambition into accomplishment, and gives these writers the energy necessary for action, without which, lazy, dreamy, Taurus often lets talents go undeveloped.
My mother-in-law is an Aries Sun, Capricorn Moon, much underlying Pisces. She is a notorious worrier – definitely her Capricorn Moon’s doing. However, she did her MA thesis in English philology on Beckett’s work. Her story has always been she needed the MA to get her teaching certificate. She had been teaching for years at that point, with her BA, but couldn’t get a permanent position and salary that came with it. But there must have been something in subject matter that motivated her, because she finally got the degree, while working and being mother to two preteens.
That’s the Moon in Capricorn at its best: ambition, tenacity and great effort to get into a better position professionally and financially for the sake of her family, where part of the difficulty stems from the obligations of motherhood. For many of us advanced college degrees are a real battle. Glad she made it.
For ideas as to why the subject of Beckett, which is an original choice, you might want to start by looking in your mom’s chart for asteroids that are equivalents or phonetic equivalents to Samuel and Beckett, theatre, absurd, minimalism, comedy, and the names of the works, especially those that interested your mom: Murphy, Watt, etc. Hard aspects are especially telling.
However there is always more than meets the eye. Saturn disposits the Moon (affinity). Where is it in your mother’s chart? in light of Saturn’s rulership of the Moon, and given Saturn’s significations, you may find interesting the section of the Wikipedia article on Beckett that ascribes how he realized that he would “remain forever in the shadow of Joyce, certain to never beat him at his own game.” According to Wiki, this insight “prompted him to change direction and acknowledge both his own stupidity and his interest in ignorance and impotence.” Here’s Beckett:
“I realised that Joyce had gone as far as one could in the direction of knowing more, [being] in control of one’s material. He was always adding to it; you only have to look at his proofs to see that. I realised that my own way was in impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, in subtracting rather than in adding.”[28]
Knowlson argues that “Beckett was rejecting the Joycean principle that knowing more was a way of creatively understanding the world and controlling it … In future, his work would focus on poverty, failure, exile and loss – as he put it, on man as a ‘non-knower’ and as a ‘non-can-er.'”
Consider these concepts again: impoverishment, lack of knowledge, taking away, subtracting, poverty, failure, exile and loss –and man as a ‘non-knower’ and as a ‘non-can-er.’ All these things are aspects of Saturn, ruler and organizing principle of your mom’s emotional life. You got to wonder why your mother strikes this MA thesis-long (6 months to 1 year) relationship with this writer. What he gave her.
Hi Lucy. What is meant by an avatar degree? My Asc is 15 Tau. Trine moon at 18 Virgo. Thanks.
Hi Aim:
This is a concept that has been making the rounds. I ignored for years until lately, when two astrologers I admire used it and I thought I’d look into it.
The 15º of any fixed sign (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) is known as an “Avatar degree”, because it makes a 45º aspect (semi-square) to 0º of each cardinal sign (0º Aries, 0º Cancer, 0º Libra, 0º Capricorn), which are points of initiation. Avatar degrees are supposed to be very challenging and “sensitive” degrees in the Zodiac. Things like lucky breaks and coincidences supposedly happen to people who have placements in the 15º of fid signs more often than to those who do not, and there is the belief that they have the power to act as leaders in their circles because they make things happen.
The word Avatar comes from Sanskrit avatāra ‘descent’, from ava ‘down’ + tar- ‘to cross’. So perhaps you can think of Avatar degrees as more direct conduits of what you might call the will, or expression, of the Universe, a kind of portal.
Here’s a more detailed explanation, with examples.
https://paulsaundersastrology.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-15th-degree-of-fixed-signs-avatar.html
Maybe it means Sabian symbol—-
SS for 15 Taurus—-Head covered with a rakish silk hat, muffled against the cold, a man braves the storm
SS for 18 Virgo—–Trust in self’s best intentions
@Aim Avatar degrees are 15 degrees of the fixed signs, supposedly gates for coincidences, etc.
I’ve been freaking out and wondering why nobody has waived a magic wand and made it all better.
But it is a better approach to be rational about it. This too shall pass.
Wonderful post, Marjorie! I would never have thought of connecting these thinkers.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states…”The more accurate one property is known, the less accurately the second property can be known.”
Heisenberg a devout Christian wrote: “We can console ourselves that
the good Lord God would know the position of (subatomic particles), thus
He would let the causallty principle continue to have validity.”
Below is Heisenberg’s natal chart, Neptune in 1st, quidecile Uranus,
and Jupiter in his 9th of religion plus a Sagittarian conjunction.
His 13th Harmonic is strong joining together Uranus-Neptune opp
Pluto, ruler of his 9th House. 13th Harmonic is associated with genius,
exploration, and breaking with the orthodox.
https://ibb.co/pWKWmd1
@Virgoflake, I have been listening to a podcast on “Empire City” on origins of NYPD, and how it was built on people who were professional bounty hunters capturing enslaved people who’d run away. They’d also capture free people of color just to make their quota. It makes it incredibly clear how brave people helping enslaved people were. As late as 1863, while Civil War was raging, there were draft riots that turned into race riots.
And actually, of all Trump plans, the one I’m most concerned are deportations. I see these are the plans the Black voters too seem the most concerned about – more so than Latinos, Middle eastern, or even more recent African immigrants. So many people with this background have come to land of “hope and free”, have experienced casual racism, but not the full blown systematic racism.
Hi. For you and Virgoflake: if you do not mind, I would like your insight into the price of eggs. My MAGA mother has been ranting (sometimes quite agitatedly) about the price of eggs since about 2021. I pay $4.89 a dozen for local pasture raised which is about .40 cents per egg. So, my daily breakfast essentially costs .80 cents. The stores I frequent have cheaper prices for the regular eggs, naturally. One dozen eggs is, however, cheaper than one cup of coffee at Starbucks. And the drive through lanes at all of my local Starbucks are always packed every day. What am I not understanding about the focus on eggs, in particular? It’s so hard for me to understand. I’m a child of the 70s and remember 20% inflation and gas lines. Any insight appreciated. Thanks.
I could be way off base but I’d think eggs are fairly beholden to inflation. With other foodstuffs; they mask it with shrinkflation i.e. the size gets smaller for the same price and skimpflation reducing the quality of ingredients.
Maybe you can buy cheaper chicken feed or packaging but generally speaking there isn’t much a farmer can do to maintain their egg profits. So I’d guess it is a very clear indicator of inflation to people who buy eggs.
Perhaps also on some level people recognise Starbucks is a ‘luxury’ purchase to treat themselves so they can justify the price whereas eggs are a necessity to your mother and therefore she feels she has no choice but to pay it. Same as when gas prices rise people complain.
@Aim, I wish I knew. One of the last things keeping me on X was dunking on the “Trad Living” people. I am personally one generation from sustenance farming. My maternal grandmother continued to be an agricultural worker – person farmers could hire to tend their cattle while taking a break – and a small strawberry farmer herself. This, and my very practical Virgo Asc/Mercury – Capricorn Moon have make me very conscious about food production and security. Being a farmer myself is a distant option (I’m allergic to just about every domestic animal AND hey), but I pay attention.
I think part of the issue is that people don’t understand what goes into producing the food. Also, understanding of how much of the disposable income should go to groceries. My Scorpio stellium dad has found a true archivist streak after retiring, and went through his mother’s store accounts from the 1960’s some time ago. Despite my grandmother being farm raised, working as a cook and doing much of the cooking from the scratch from fish, meat, and milk that was donated, she still spent about 40 % of the house income on food. And this was usual at the time in Finland. From what I’ve read, it wasn’t different in the US some decades prior – for the working class people, food was the main cost.
So, my answer here is that people simply have lost the sight on how cheap the food has been for the last couple of decades, as opposed to housing, where most of the income now goes. This is true even for the boomers, who got their houses cheap decades ago. The keeping is expensive, labor they likely hire (core Trump voters) is even more so.
How will Trump select those who are identified as being 1) illegal immigrants and 2) simply an immigrant?
To one extreme, we’re all immigrants, since the 1500’s. Even offspring from Viking raids along Nova Scotia. Yeah, I know, stretching that one a bit…
Must I now carry “papers” certifying my citizenship? Will bounty hunters drive about after dark, snatching up eveyone just to make a buck? Midnite drive-bys and headlights, demanding “Papers? Where are your papers?”
Scary thoughts.
It’s murky. I remember sometime around 2017-2018, I saw a woman being interviewed who voted for Trump and then she was deported. She did everything by the book, was married and had kids. She of course, was shocked. The people who traversed and made it here (in large part) are brave, determined and courageous, fleeing for their lives. I’m no longer referring to them as migrants and immigrants which now has negative connotations. I’ll use the terms refugees or Catholic refugees instead. From my understanding, most of those fleeing are Catholic. Please -anyone- correct me if I’m incorrect about religious identity demographics. In any event, T had four years to fix the issue, said that a wall was built and that Mexico paid for it. I guess that wall wasn’t long enough. Or something.
How will Trump select those who are identified as being 1) illegal immigrants and 2) simply an immigrant?
That’s the crux of the problem
It will probably be a dragnet approach of stop and frisking all Latinos or people who look Latinos.
Of course Florida passed a really stringent law allowing for the prosecution of anyone transporting illegals so even if the driver is a legal citizen if any of his passengers are not documented they all go to jail.
Given the number of Latinos who voted for Trump all I have to say is too bad so sad. LOL
I hope everyone who voted for Trump to reap what they have sown.
I read Frankl’s book many years ago. I recall that he said that part of how he got through the hardships was focusing on how he needed to survive for his family when he got out. Also of how he would use the knowledge of these experiences to teach student or inform patients.
To me that is all summed up by Pluto in 9th opposite Sag moon which are both about finding purpose and the preponderance of planets in the the 7th-8th relating houses.
Thanks so much for this. There’s already so many people standing together and taking about individuals willing to help pay for health insurance costs if the ACA is repealed. And there’s so much chatter about the 4B movement! I wonder if the astrology shows that that will succeed. I think there will be a vast underground network for helping women with reproductive health needs vis a vis a national abortion ban. There have been many posts about stockpiling contraceptives if those are soon banned a la the Dobbs S CT ruling. And just a lot of advice about women’s health needs, in general. And also to delete period tracking apps, have men pay for pregnancy tests using cash (since many R’s stated their goal is to track periods and pregnancies), that men getting vasectomies probably won’t be tracked by the government (and that that might be the best route for couples now). But I haven’t seen anything about how to prepare for the mass deportations and lack of workers picking fruits and vegetables. I assume most, if not all, fruit and veg will have to come from overseas. I’m filling my freezer with frozen fruits and veg for the time being. If RFK Jr. has a health role, I would suggest getting any needed vaccines immediately. Maybe Pluto in Aq is about underground networks of people helping one another and us surviving in that way.
Its interesting that you mention the possibility of underground networks under Trump, since the Underground Railroad movement in America begain in the 1780s when Neptune in Libra was approaching its trine with Pluto in Aquarius. In 1786, George Washington complained that one of his escaped slaves was aided in this by “a society of Quakers, formed for such purposes.” Quakers were among the earliest abolition groups.
Very interesting! I wish I could offer advice regarding Project 2025. One tenet is to abolish the Dept of Education. Even though I read large swaths of it, I missed page 103 which states that students enrolled in public school will have to take a military entrance exam. Not sure at all how parents should best deal with this one.
I am trying to buy hardcopy books at the moment. Just in case –
Easier to burn in the public center.
I am no Trump advocate. I look at Astrology as it just is. Looking at the Americas Chart and Trumps Chart, this outcome was what the stars/planets aligned to be at that time – on that day. We cannot pick and chose Astrology. Or for that matter fate. Trump was elected because the others were not either good enough, maybe did not give a credible alternative or may not have listened to the people. Their politics, not the people’s? Trump got to the White House via the voters, not himself. My take is that it is Western Democracy at peril, primarily because of what is not on offer. Britain’s election had Algol in a strong position. This appears to be bearing out as well. People in America not accepting the College vote of 86 points ahead of Harris. Are either not accepting Trump won, which is what he was accused of going to do; or not accepting Democracy, which means America is in trouble. Starmer won in Britain on just 20% of the entire vote and 34% on the night via the electorate vote. Labour then set about changing or incorporating additions to their Manifesto. Perhaps both America and Britain, have reached a point of change. Both have two party politics, although Britain has numerous parties, without considering a percentage vote – proportional representation. Both are caught in either/or. Many in both countries appear unhappy with the outcome. If this is the case, then perhaps it is time for change – real change. Adult conversations about acceptance and non acceptance. As this is where we appear to be.
You are a therapist as well as an astrologer, Marjorie – thank you.