‘The medium is the message’ or ‘massage’ as Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, the father of media studies, used to joke. While the internet and before that television is blamed for negative social trends, there have often been periods of less than desirable effects from earlier mass communication, which has been around since the invention of the printing press in the mid 15th Century.
‘Sensationalism’ was the order of the day when Joseph Pulitzer purchased the New York World in 1883 and told his editors to use crusades against corruption, and lavish use of illustrations to boost readership. William Randolph Hearst retaliated with his rival New York Journal in 1895 resulting in an intense circulation war amongst the ’yellow press’.
John Logie Baird’s first television in 1926 took till after WW11 to become accessible to the public bringing drama and news into sitting rooms. Another phase started in the mid 1990s with the advent of cable and rolling 24 hour news. The 1990s also saw the worldwideweb kick off in 1991.
The 1990s saw the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn – and the combination of those two planets does seem to be a thread in the evolution of mass communication. There was a Uranus Neptune conjunction in 1650 around the time newspapers started to appear. One conjunction before in 1478 printing presses were underway producing books and pamphlets. There was another conjunction in 1821 when the Manchester Guardian was founded. Marshall McLuhan was born with the Uranus opposition Neptune. The first public television demonstration by John Logie Baird on January 26, 1926 had a yod of Uranus sextile Mercury and South Node inconjunct Neptune.
The ‘yellow press’ wars of the 1890s seems to have been more a Neptune Pluto in Gemini outcome.
Uranus Neptune combines inventiveness and fantasy, insight and delusion. It can be creative, tinged with genius or off-the-wall. At a negative end it is associated with psychic confusion and neurosis, can be wilful and nervy, prone to intrigues and conspiracies, extremism, unreasonable attitudes even when faced with evidence to the contrary, scandal-prone.
William Randolph Hearst Sr, April 29, 1863 5.58am San Francisco, who developed America’s largest newspaper chain and media company. ‘His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism in violation of ethics and standards influenced the nation’s popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human-interest stories.’ He was a controlling Sun Pluto in Taurus in his 12th with an emphasized Neptune opposition Saturn in a publicity-attracting square to Mars.
His Uranus/Neptune midpoint intriguingly was conjunct his 12th house Pluto – and that is exactly the same as Trump with his Uranus/Neptune midpoint conjunct his 12th house Pluto. Pluto in the 12th gives inner power as well as an inner raging storm, a tendency to wield power in secretive/devious ways – and all channelled into their Uranus Neptune tendencies.
Marshall McLuhan, 21 July 1911 Edmonton, Canada, was a Sun Neptune in Cancer opposition Uranus so tuned into the trends of the moment.
What follows is a psychological ramble. What strikes me as odd, and I am unsure whether it is a modern phenomenon, probably not, is the inability of people to manage complex thinking. In very early baby psychological development (go read Melanie Klein) people are split into good and bad. Along the way of maturity, the penny drops that mom or dad are not perfect and have flaws, i.e. contain both good and bad, which causes temporary depression but later produces a realistic mindset.
Political polarization makes life easier – I like the GOP or the Democrats and everything they do and will treat with hostility the smallest criticism of them. There is a hint of Pluto in the do-or-die desperation to block out the alternative view. As if admitting a flaw in the politician of your choice would —– what? Dent your over-idealized image? Or give hostages to fortune and hand ammunition to your enemies?
It is in part what Rahm Emmanuel referred to when he said the Democrats had been talking to themselves and not listening to the electorate.
For example: The Joe Biden camp (and centrist/left wing media) were wrong not to admit his mental deterioration much earlier. His subsequent anointment of Kamala Harris, whom no one thought much of before, was an act of petty spite. Trump is a deranged narcissist who will do damage but he has earned the startled respect of women alarmed by the inroads the trans-mania was making into their safety and status. Is it so hard?
“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” Winston S. Churchill. And equally even the brightest make mistakes.
That is a gross oversimplification of the most recent US election cycle speaking of complex thought. There is no alarm over inroads by “. Trans-mania”; the 46 % of white women that voted for Trump did so for a variety of reasons but not for fear of trans individuals.
Thanks Marjorie. A very interesting and perceptive analysis.
I wonder about, when times get tough and threats are on the rise – whether people just get more tribal, whether it is logical or not. Tribalism encourages a lack of nuance, a tendency to duality and lack of connection with the ‘other’.
Tribalism – as a very human trait – is being played hugely by malevolent forces right now, who have whipped up and created problems all of their own.
In 1486, when Saturn and Neptune were in Sagittarius, with Neptune making a sextile with Pluto in mid Libra and Uranus just ingressed into Capricorn along with Jupiter, Heinrich Kramer published his most famous work, ‘Maleus Maleficarum’ (hammer of witches) in Speyer, Germany which would become a huge best seller, coming second only to the Bible in popularity.
Witches had always existed in popular imagination, but prosecutions were rare before 1400 and when they were implemented, the punishment would be relatively light – a day in the stocks for instance. However, following the publication of Malleus Maleficarum, punishment became much more brutal, since that was the recommendation of Heinrich Kramer who saw witchcraft and sorcery as heresy, a crime so heinous and vile that torture must be used to extract confessions and that those found guilty should be burned alive. The book was to go on to become the manual of subsequent persecutions, by the time of the 16th and 17th centuries.
But the fact was that Kramer had deceptively presented his extreme views and recommendations on stamping out witchcraft as those of the official Roman Catholic Church. They were not. The book was condemned by the top theologians at the Faculty of Cologne for being inconsistent with Roman Catholic doctrine. No matter – Kramer was not expelled or dealt with by the official church, but instead gained popular prestige. Kramer had amplified the fear of witchcraft to such dramatic levels that his readership were receptive and willing believers.
Because he was obsessed with witches and had attempted to prosecute a alleged group from the Tyrol without success, some scholars have argued that Maleus Maleficarum was an act of revenge for this failure. Kramer said the existence of witches was real, that they were out there worshipping Satan, that they should be feared and that women are most likely to be witches. The legacy of promoting these conspiracies was that hundreds of innocent people were wrongly accused, brutally tortured and persecuted over a period of 200 or more years throughout Europe.
Such is the power of fantasy and our willingness to fear another. We may live in slightly more enlightened and less brutal times, but it’s a truth that our willingness to be persuaded that we should fear and mistrust one another seeems to be one of our fatal flaws.
Back to ‘The Madness of Crowds’ VF? Also I’m curious about the Saturn and Neptune in Sagittarius and Pluto in Libra you mention for 1486. Marjorie writes:
“There was a Uranus Neptune conjunction in 1650 around the time newspapers started to appear.”
Five years before that, in 1645, the notorious Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, began his deadly search for witches in East Anglia. He was paid for his arrests and convictions, which will have encouraged him I imagine. In 1645 Neptune was in Sagittarius opposing Pluto in Gemini. Saturn in Aries, Nodes in Leo/Aquarius, and Uranus in Scorpio. Uranus would oppose Jupiter in Taurus that year.
Earlier, James VI of Scotland and I of England was similarly obsessed with witches and witchcraft. He wrote a book called ‘Demonology’, published in 1597. This turned out to be very influential, and his obsession appears to have infected numerous citizens. That year Uranus in Aries was conjunct Pluto in Aries, trine Neptune in Leo. The Nodes were 28 Pisces in January, while Mars turned retrograde in Cancer that November, similar to current patterns.
The appearance of outer planets in fire and air is interesting, since we’re poised on the brink of another fiery and airy period in our history. I very much hope we, collectively, can find ways to handle this volatile energy.
“In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.”
‘Memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds’ by Charles Mackay, 1842
The madness of crowds, indeed Jane. There’s a darker side to bright, expansive, fiery Sagittarius it appears, as the presence of Neptune in the sign coincides with periods of religiously inspired persecutions, conspiracy, fanaticism and mass fear and paranoia. When Pluto was in the sign in more recent times, we saw the rise of extreme Islamist ideology – to be fair, no religion is immune from such madness.
James I was quite obsessed with witches. Interesting then that his natal astrology has Neptune in Gemini in the 20th opposition Uranus in Sagittarius and that he has Mars conjunct Saturn in Leo in his 12th. If you cannot recognise and own your shadow, the darker, shiftier sides of your personality, then how easy it is to see it in another?
Yes, Neptune was in Sagittarius and in opposition to Pluto in Gemini during the English civil war along with the Witch Hunter Matthew Hopkins and his assistant, John Sterne as they marched across the East Anglian countryside in all their righteous puritanical glory. Perhaps such a bright light as Sagittarius casts the darkest shadows?
Curiously, Neptune in the sign in the early 70s saw the rise of a relatively new film genre, Satanic-based horror such as The Exorcist, The Omen, etc. Apparently, following the release of The Exorcist, church attendance increased quite significantly as the old fears were watered and fed by the movie’s premise.
It’s also significant that a Uranus/Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius occurred in 1480, the year the Spanish Inquisition began under Ferdinand and Isabella.
*Neptune in Sag in the 10th
Interesting about the early 70’s and Satanic themes VF. Occult and paranormal themes in general in popular culture were very much around then, rooted in the late 60’s I think when Neptune was in Scorpio. And these appear to be on the rise now – from Uncanny on the BBC radio and tv, to an exhibition of Tarot cards in London. I noticed that the Wicker Man 1973, a masterpiece of the pagan horror genre, has Pluto in Libra sextile Neptune in Sagittarius. Uranus in Libra, and Nodes 29 Sagittarius, with Chiron in Aries, and a Rx Mars in Aries opposing Uranus in December, when the film was released.
Fire and Air enables swiftness and the fast spread of ideas and Gemini/Sagittarius are the signs of writing, ideas and publishing. As Marjorie points out, Uranus and Neptune are prone to irrational or fanatical ideas, ideologies and notions. When the outer planets come into play in these signs, these ideas spread quickly. Take that pernicious document, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was first published in 1903. It emerged under a Pluto in Gemini, Uranus in Sagittarius opposition. Not only was it the basis of the conspiracy against Jews which eventually ended in the Holocaust, elements of it appear to this day in the more recent QAnon conspiracies.
We are entering the biggest jump in human history, the new Aquarian epoch together with all the major outer planets entering fire and air signs at 0′. We are going to be living through the most amazing times, they will be different hopefully more humanitarian with countries living peacefully.
Perhaps we are entering a time when we will use mental Telepathy so no need for mobile phones, food for thought ET is
around the corner!
Already are…mobile phones today r able to read thoughts and thus show ads of the same kind or videos on same topic but the trouble is that is censored heavily too as technology allows govts to code things that r against them as words and hence ,one may not get comment box or the video one was searching for ,if it had something criticism of govt
I have observed this not only when I use internet but also in comment boxes of other counties where people comment that somehow they weren’t able to get the typing board.
On individual level the problem with telepathy is sight…thought may not coincide with sight for example, we maybe be thinking of something but suddenly our eyes land on an ice cream ad on billboard hence telepathically the other person is still stuck on the thought for he can’t see the Billboard due to not being in same place.
Hence, unless all sense organs r together, all else doesn’t get optimum results and conflicts arise simply due to difference of thought and sight
Let’s not forget radio. The first commercial broadcasts happened in 1920 just after Uranus entered Pisces. Most of the modern social media giants came into existence just after Uranus re entered Pisces in 2003
@Hugh Fowler, and behold, while the original is still popular, some of the content it was rebranded as podcasting and now the most popular podcasts have 20 million subscribers and likely many fold as many listeners for the most popular episodes. I think the rise in popularity of podcasts also coincides with Neptune in Pisces entrance.
Also—perhaps you might add smart phones. I think smart phones + social media are real turning points that affect all of our behavior.
Marjorie, a point of info: I was online in the late 80s (maybe mid 80s) had a dial up provider called EarthLink. There were no graphics, no videos or sounds.
Just thought I’d give you that info. At that stage the internet was primarily used by research centers and schools.
It’s not inability to manage complex thinking. It is very Pluto, as you say (though I would ramp that up from a “hint” to full-blown explosion). It is the grab (Pluto) for power (Pluto) via subterfuge (Pluto, but also Neptune). It is not that Jane or Mark are humanist, philanthropist lovebirds (some are genuinely working for humanity) – it is that she wants it her way and no other way, and she wants it (the power and her crew in charge). As you say, do-or-die is, again, Pluto. There is also a lot of hypocrisy unbrought to the surface, unadmitted, but at the same time I think very much known innerly in a person in this whole thing that somehow either started the fire in the first place or fanned it. Or both.
Also check that article in The Daily Mail in which a Davos escort says her clients, some of them, think the world has gone awry and is not coming back, that there is nothing that can be done about it, so they might just as well enjoy it for the rest of the time they have been given.
Hm the two are not mutually exclusive. Babies are control freaks and singleminded.
Social media has transformed from a tool for connection into a machine for division, conditioning people to react rather than think. It traps users in echo chambers where being right matters more than being thoughtful, fueling outrage and intolerance. At the same time, it’s eroding cognitive function. Attention spans have dropped from 12 seconds in 2012 to just 8 seconds a decade later. If this decline continues, we risk losing not just focus, but the ability to process complex ideas. A society that can’t think critically, but only react emotionally, is one that’s easily manipulated and controlled.
Physiologically that is the case. The constant bombardment of the human brain with awful NOVEL info such as during covid keeps people in the amygdala space-fight or flight-of the brain. Reasoning atrophies.You can see this in discussions with people ( if you are lucky enough to find people with more than a few seconds attention span).They have no bandwidth.Add scrolling to the mix…yikes…zombies.
I had the same words….constant hammering by one side which political parties cunningly use during elections to such an extent that even if it’s illogical and someone disagrees ,entire troll clout starts its hammering on that id….thus, in the end…my way or no other way…either one agrees to all illogical or one is labelled and targeted as enemy to be extinguished so no more vote loss for the party…funny , since we have a generation that doesn’t use social media as addicts like gen z or millenials but nobody thinks about that votebank
Attention span was terrible…I wondered how people could sleep when mind began habituated to constant 30sec changing reels but then inflation happened and many were forced to cut down on expenses where 1st one to go was internet data charges and sense returned ..:-)