Category Archives: Media

From the Movies, With Love

13 Sunday Feb 2022

Posted by in astrology, Media, The Social System, Valentine Thoughts, Venus

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Here we see a pair of lovers respecting the old Hayes Code, which required one foot on the floor if a movie showed two people in bed. ‘The Lovers’ By Giulio Romano c1525 {{PD}}

Tongue-in-cheek suggestions for Valentine viewing, offered with potential after-viewing coping remedies, from an article in ECLIPSE, with editing and additions. Seems appropriate, as we have Venus and Mars together in Capricorn (looking at the nitty-gritty of relationships, wanting to know the limits, the boundaries, and to feel secure), the Moon in Cancer stepping hard on our feelings as of this writing, and Luna opposing Pluto and a 29 degree Mercury, suggesting we’re desperate to get our heads straight about how we feel. It may seem we’re both required to celebrate relationships and given no way to express any feelings that aren’t 100% positive–and that’s not healthy. I think it helps to inspect others’ relationships, and movies let us do just that–here are some of my favorites. Happy Valentine’s Day!

                Blue Valentine  (2010) Saturn, in the person of Ryan Gosling, is happy with his life–he goes to work, is a husband and father, and has no aspirations, wanting only to continue the status quo; Venus, played by Michelle Williams, is into pleasure, but also a bit of a seeker, in worldly terms, and what ultimately leads to the painful disintegration of their marriage is the way in which he fails to suffer from the same gnawing discontent she does. At one point they go away to a theme motel; their choices are ‘Cupid’s Cove’ or the ‘Future Room’–I can’t help but think things would’ve gone better if they’d opted out of spending time in the cold, tinny blue light that exposed the future they would never have. Watch something like The Proposal (2009), to revive your faith in relationships, ’cause Ryan Reynolds can fix anything, or get outside in the sunshine or use your SAD light. And maybe some cookies.

                Stealing Heaven  (1988) It’s been years since I saw this movie, but it’s a hard core love story–who else but those irrevocably drawn together would defy the system (one where an academic was expected to be celibate, and where females weren’t supposed to be educated) and end up beaten, bruised, and in a nunnery? The movie details the story of real-life Medieval lovers Héloïse and Abélard, as they struggle with questions and conventions of the day, including whether it’s more noble to serve God with chastity, or to celebrate God with earthly pleasures (Jupiter wants it all, doesn’t he?) Two aspirin, washed down with a martini in celebration of the fact that human castration isn’t part of the college curriculum nowadays.

                The Wings of the Dove (1997) A true love triangle where no one gets what they want. We see a pair of lovers (Helena Bonham Carter and Linus Roache) who are stymied by a mutual lack of money in their desire to be together and yet not incur the wrath of her well-to-do aunt (the icy Charlotte Rampling). Enter “the wealthiest orphan in the world” (Alison Elliot) who immediately befriends the pair and persuades them to come to Venice–and a plan, misshapen and virtually unspoken until late in the game, materializes, since the orphan *cough* *cough* is on her way out. Staged with some of the most sumptuous Nouveau costuming I’ve ever seen, and then there’s Venice–what more could you want? Only 1 glass of wine, lingered over while gazing sadly at the sunset. With a special thought given for all those for whom love (Venus) is, one way or another, spoiled by the subject of money (Venus). From the novel by Henry James.

The House of Mirth  (2000) Ladies! There comes a point when pride must go by the wayside, and we must settle–but that couldn’t be what Edith Wharton meant, could it? The story of Lily Bart is one that emphasizes how important it is to understand the social milieu in which you move and, most especially, your place in it. Lily doesn’t; one seemingly small disaster after another ensues, creating a slow motion fiasco. Jupiter, then, in the form of society, is the villain here. Lily, sure she’s a never-fading Venus, shows in her own soft way many of the goddess’s worst qualities, incarnate. With Gillian Anderson excellent in the title role. What would Lily do, in the present day? With any luck, she might not take herself so seriously. This story is a lesson in not seeing one’s physical Beingness as a commodity, given in exchange for the social position and monetary sustenance we think we deserve–invariably, we’ll get the measure wrong. With a suggestion to sort one’s Love inclinations from one’s material needs, for our own safety. Three Motrin, two glasses of wine, and a search on Facebook for old boyfriends

Melancholia (2011) Much of the movie centers on a wedding, and it’s difficult to understand why the bride (Kirsten Dunst) is so on-again, off-again in her attitude–until the bigger picture comes into focus. Relationship dynamics are all-consuming for the short-sighted and the blithely ignorant, and the viewer comes to see that the bride’s melancholy springs from her canary-in-the-coal-mine sensibilities: she knows what’s coming, even as she doesn’t know what’s coming, and acts accordingly. Sumptuously shot, with some amazing sequences, from the ever-upsetting Lars Von Trier. If you’d like to see more of his takes on relationships, may I recommend the harrowing AntiChrist, and the thoroughly dispiriting Breaking the Waves, or the amazing Midsommar (2019) by another upbeat guy, Ari Aster. Post-viewing for any of these movies: sort through your affairs, get right with your God, and then take a long nap.

The Heat (2013) Not a romance but a babemance, and an example of how even women who are nothing alike will have more in common with each other than with any man, if they can only see it. An argument for being Self-possessed and supportive, even as you refuse to wait for a sense of completion through a romantic partner. You’re all right just as you are, ladies (and gents). Recommended: Girls’ Night Out, or order a pizza, to share or just for you, or do whatever you want–it’s your life.

Willful Words, Willful Wants: Mercury and Venus in Aries

11 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by in Aspect Delineation, astrology, Media, Mercury retrograde

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Oh, the lives of the gods! Jean-Honoré Fragonard ‘The Fountain of Love’ c1785 {{PD}}

Looking ahead a bit, there are two days coming up I wanted to discuss; I would describe them as ‘potent’, and so important to be aware of, if only for the potentials they might bring, and the assists they might offer. This first is March 18th: Mercury will still be direct in Aries, but moving very slowly, with less than a single degree to travel before turnaround. It’s also still within orb of a conjunction to Venus, and both are conjoined that day by the transiting Moon, just coming off the New Moon conjunction to the Sun in Pisces. We also see Merc and Venus (and briefly, the Moon) making semi-sextile to Neptune, a square to Black Moon Lilith, and a trine to the North Node point. What strikes me about this is not just the unusual length of time Mercury and Venus have been together (this happens, once in a while, so isn’t that extraordinary), but that they are at this point together in aspect to two energy ‘points’ and the most nebulous influence we find in the chart. That suggests, very generally, that we won’t have a handle on what Mercury and Venus together in Aries means to us. Willful words and willful wants, the ‘I Am’ controls communications and relationships–and if we consider how uncomfortable Venus is in Aries, almost making for a ‘Me vs. My relationship’ scenario–then we can see any number of ways that we may express out of irritation or discomfort or the need to be heard that could greatly affect our connections and even our income. Add to this that what has been ignored or denied or that enrages is causing friction (Black Moon Lilith by square), and we see how easily this will impact life direction (NN by trine)–and yet it may take some time before we’re completely aware of the way what happens in this window changes our relationships, and our personal trajectory. The 18th does offer a glimpse of what has been impacted, through the emotions or the intuition, but that glimpse is withdrawn almost as quickly as it appears–so pay attention when it comes.

Also notable on that day is the Sun-Earth axis at 28 degrees across Pisces-Virgo, with the Sun closely conjoined Chiron. This suggests the obscuring of our wounds, in spite of the attention we may give them–and leads us into the second day of interest, the 19th. The Sun-Earth axis will have moved into the ‘stress’ degree of 29, and the Moon will make final contact to Uranus in Aries and then move into Void status at around 11:30 AM Pacific time. This promises a period of distress, accompanied by a feeling of ineffectiveness should we try to address our upset–and we may not know what to do until the 22nd-23rd, when the Sun-Earth perfects a T-square to Mars, and we finally see where the problem is (or perhaps, what about our actions has caused the problems we face)–strange, considering this is the day when Mercury finally goes retrograde, perhaps withdrawing the ego’s mental barriers that kept us from understanding, allowing us to review, ‘What should I do?’ (Merc retro in Fire). With Mars having entered Capricorn on the 17th, we’ll likely be oriented toward practical, real-world, modest solutions, ones that will take care of problems once and for all, and this period shows us, if we’re willing to see, just how we’ve contributed to issues, and just what we can do to fix them.

And if you haven’t seen it, I recommend Darren Aronovsky’s ‘Mother!’, a story of the eternal cycle helmed by a Zeusian-Plutonic figure and Ceres-Gaia, with man’s religious follies and god-worship and the destructive consequences of these. It suggests an endless interaction between Nature and her tranquility and fecundity, on one side, and man’s insatiable need for god, and god’s insatiable need to be worshiped, and the destructiveness of these needs, on the other. Approach it all as symbolic, with an acceptance of the characters as fluid in terms of identity and labels, and you’ll have fun picking out their roles from myth, religion, and the Collective psyche.