Mika - The boy who knew too much (about fun)

Mika is back with a new album entitled "The boy who knew too much". I think he is one of the most interesting - to say the least - young artists of today. The much-maligned pop music has found a new icon who is not a ready-made X-factor or American Idol finalist, who writes his own songs and has a personal style. What more can anyone ask? Already the accusations have started, that he rips off other artists shamelessly. Which can only mean one thing. That he is a true artist.

Who doesn't rip off others anyway? Everybody has been influenced by somebody else. Actually, that was always the magic of pop. Pop is the place where all the other music genres can meet and come up with songs that everybody wants to sing. And that's what Mika does and he does it beautifully.

What first strikes you about Mika and his music is that he knows very well that pop music, above everything else, is about fun. The astrological element that is connected with a true sense of fun is the element of fire. Some of you may disagree, but, in my opinion, it is only the fire signs that carry this childlike enthusiasm into adulthood. We can therefore expect to see fire in Mika's chart. Oh, dear me, yes.



Sun in Leo, Mars in Leo, Jupiter in Sag, Uranus in Sag, Neptune in Sag and possibly Moon in Sag as well. I say "possibly" because we don't have his birth time and this is a noon chart. Nonetheless, that's still a lot of fire. Mars trines the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction and the Sun trines Neptune. Really impressive, and this may explain how easily he became successful. The Sun and Jupiter are in rulership, Mercury in Virgo, in the sign of its rulership and exaltation and Saturn is in Libra, the sign of its exaltation. People would kill for a chart like this.

Two planets can potentially cause problems for him. The Moon, only if it is in Capricorn, the sign of its detriment (provided he was born after 4 pm approximately) and Venus, which is retrograde and in the sign of its fall. We don't know which houses Venus rules, but if we only consider her as the natural ruler of love matters, his love life may present him with problems. What's more it squares the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction and the square with Uranus is partile, that is, within the same degree. According to Bernadette Brady, a modern interpretation of a planet in detriment or fall would be that this planet has a tendency to act in a way different from the norm, which would be disastrous in the more black and white societies of the past. Nowadays, however, this is not such a tragedy, considering that we have supposedly grown to be more tolerant to all sorts of deviations. Mika is very secretive about his love life and rumour has it he is gay. According to a recent interview, he came out as bisexual. Quoted form wikipedia : "I've never ever labeled myself. But having said that, I've never limited my life, I've never limited who I sleep with. (…) Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me." Leaving the question open ended with, "you should be as free as you want". Who cares, anyway?

We may attribute his sexual behaviour but especially the above statement to the aspects Uranus makes to both Mars and Venus, with Venus being in fall and retrograde. The Sun/Neptune trine is also averse to saturnian labels. However, Saturn, being in Libra, is strong in his chart. We don't know his Ascendant sign, but in the few interviews that I've seen, I've noticed that he is quite reserved, very well-behaved and quite possibly a bit shy, a complete contrast to his stage persona. In a nutshell, he seems to be good-mannered, which indicates Saturn is also functioning well in his chart. Not surprisingly, since it is in Libra. Could it be that his Moon is also in Capricorn? Perhaps.

*Mika's photo was taken from here

US Open ladies final - contest horary

This is the horary chart that I cast for the US Open Ladies final that takes place today. The opponents are: Kim Clijsters, a former World No 1, who has recently made a very successful comeback, and World No 8, Caroline Wozniacki, in her first Gran Slam final.

Following the John Frawley method, Clijsters gets the first house, since she is the player I support and Wozniacki the 7th. Let's begin.

Planets in the above houses: None.

Essential dignity (although much less important than accidental dignity in this sort of questions): Mars (Clijsters) is in Cancer, the sign of its' fall, but also it's own triplicity. Not good, but could be worse. Venus (Wozniacki) in Leo, peregrine. Not good.

Receptions: This can help us decide who has power over whom. Mars is in no dignities of Venus and Venus is only in the face of Mars. Mars seems to have a very slight advantage over Venus, but nothing as important as to determine the winner.

Accidental dignity: Wow! Venus (Wozniacki) is conjunct the MC! Mars (Clijsters) is in the 9th house. A definite, very clear advantage for Wozniacki!

Aspects: Mars makes no significant aspects, just a trine to the Ascendant. Does this strengthen him? Hardly. He would have fared much better had he been in an angular house. Venus makes an opposition to the triple Jupiter/Chiron/Neptune conjunction in Aquarius. If we decide to use the outer planets, this could be somewhat weakening. If not, the only opposition that counts is the one with Jupiter, who is retrograde, but not completely averse to Venus, since he is in her terms and therefore not much debilitating to her.

Antiscia: Mars' antiscion is in Gemini, trine Jupiter. However, we do not use aspects to antiscia and contrantiscia, only conjunctions. Venus' antiscion is right on the cusp of the 7th house, her house. Another point for Wozniacki.

Conclusion: Even though I didn't think it was likely before casting this chart (Clijsters, after all, ousted Serena Williams in the semis), Wozniacki should win, judging by her significator's placement on the MC. Any testimonies in favour of Clijsters pale in comparison.

Let's see how this turns out.

The trouble with Chiron

One of the most annoying planetary energies is that of Chiron. The annoying part is that astrologers talk about a wound that can't be healed. In a world full of self-help books, where we are told that "Anything is possible" if we just turn a switch in our heads and change our mentalities, the meaning of Chiron seems completely outdated. We don't want to be told that all that psychotherapy, all that astrology, all those metaphysical studies actually amount to nothing. What's more, what is the nature of that wound? Astrologers talk about a collective wound, but since Chiron is supposed to be a mediator between Saturn and Uranus and Saturn is not an outer planet, how does this wound become personal?
I think the term "collective" really means that we are born in a world that it's just the way it is. It may be that, at a deeper level, we are all responsible for everything that's going on in the world, but from a personal viewpoint it's not our fault that evil, misery and sadness exist. Yet, we are thrown into a world where what other people think or do has a profound effect on us. And because of this interaction we become the people we are with all our strengths and weaknesses. Chiron is interested in exactly these weaknesses. And what he's telling us is that these weaknesses never actually go away. We are stuck with them and there is nothing we can do to change that.
What can we do? We can become conscious of them. We can shed light to them (Uranus) and try to keep them in check (Saturn). But they don't disappear. If we are proud and arrogant, we will always be proud and arrogant. We will always be susceptible, that is, to our personal "sins". But if we realize what we are doing (Uranus), then our weaknesses cease to have such an enormous power over us and we can stop them from harming us and other people. But this is an ongoing struggle (Saturn) and we can never claim that we are cured. The moment we become too sure of ourselves, this is the time that they take over our personalities and cause havoc. Our personal demons cannot be vanquished. They can simply be controlled.
This becomes clearer when we think about alcoholics or drug users or smokers even. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. You may give up drinking completely, but in moments of crisis, when you desperately want something to cheer you up, you will always feel the urge to reach for the closest bottle. You can never become a social drinker or the sort of person who just drinks a glass of wine during meals. That's not your reality. Even if you do manage to become a social drinker, you know instinctively that you always stand in great danger of relapsing, unlike other people. Drink is always going to be your weakness, even if you never have another drink for the rest of your life.
The benefit of all this is knowledge and consciousness. It's infinitely better to know where your weaknesses lie than to remain ignorant of them throughout your life. You learn to avoid whatever threatens your well-being. You learn humility. You learn to forgive yourself and others, because everybody's going through a similar hell. You become a healer, not by waving a magic wand, but by understanding and showing empathy. You can't truly heal them after all, since you can't heal yourself. But you can be there for them and share their pain. Most of the time, that's enough.

Swine flu case - Horary astrology

This is the horary chart I cast about the first serious case of swine flu in Greece. It's the case of a 33-year-old man who contacted the H1N1 virus, it developed into pneumonia and according to the doctors his condition was stable but critical. The question - however morbid - was: Will he die?
Since he is "any other person" he gets the 7th house. The 7th house ruler is the Moon, a cold and moist planet in a hot and dry sign. Yes, he is sick. According to John Frawley, in a medical question the whole chart is about the illness and therefore we don't use the 6th house ruler to signify it. We use the ruler of the person's planet or the planet that our significator is just separating from. In this case, our prime suspect is the Sun. It rules the Moon, it's in the 7th house, it's conjunct the malefic South Node and the Moon is separating from it. The Moon's most recent aspect was the sextile with Mars, who doesn't seem to be the culprit here, although, being a natural malefic, this would explain the patient's condition which had recently taken a turn for the worse. Since the Moon is leaving combustion and increasing in light, the situation looks promising. However, the Moon's next aspect is with the radical 8th house ruler, Mercury. John Frawley says that both the radical and the turned 8th house ruler can kill. Mercury in this chart rules both Saturn, the 1st house ruler ( the patient's doctor - 7th from the 7th) and Venus, the 4th house ruler (the patient's treatment - 10th from the 7th), which means that Mercury (death) has power both over the doctor (Saturn) and the treatment (Venus). As a result, I predicted death.
It turns out I was wrong. He survived and approximately two weeks later he showed definite signs of recovery and he must have left the hospital by now. What went wrong with my judgement? Is the fact that the Moon is gaining strength and leaving combustion enough? Should I not have used the radical 8th house ruler but the turned 8th house ruler, Jupiter? Jupiter is in Aquarius and therefore is ruled by Saturn, the doctor. In this case, the doctor has power over death. Since Frawley says that both can kill, what happens if one ruler gives a positive testimony and the other ruler a negative one? Who wins?
What's also interesting in this chart is that although the Moon is going to oppose Jupiter eventually, which would also be and indication of death, this aspect is prohibited by the sextile to Venus (treatment) which will occur before the opposition to Jupiter. Does this mean that the patient will start to respond to the treatment? Whatever the case, it seems we must forget the Moon's conjunction to Mercury or, at least, it's not enough of a testimony. Unless we consider him to be weak and therefore not able to cause death, because when the Moon conjuncts him, he will still be under the sun beams.
I would very much welcome any thoughts or remarks you might have on this chart.

The Leo parent - A contradiction in terms?

In modern astrology the 5th house of children may be considered to be the natural house of Leo, but in hellenistic and medieval astrology Leo is one of the barren signs. Even though numerous factors need to be taken into account before you can even suggest sterility, still, Leo is not a fruitful sign by itself. If we don't take this literally, because, as Lilly mentions, even Jupiter in Cancer (albeit retrograde) in the 5th doesn't guarantee children, what can be the meaning of Leo's barrenness, viewed from a modern perspective?
In defense of modern astrology, Leos seem to get on very well with children. Sometimes, it appears as if they draw children like a magnet. They just know instinctively how to treat them. All fire signs share a childlike enthusiasm that children can naturally relate to, but Leos especially tend to create more significant bonds with them. I think this is because the other two fire signs can behave like children, both for good or for ill, but Leos ARE children at heart. And unlike Aries, who very often fails to mentally reach adulthood, Leos can successfully integrate their childlike qualities into their adult personality.
We must also keep in mind that it's not easy being a child. We may reminisce about our happy and carefree days, but it seems that we forget how irritating it is to be brought into a world where you know nothing and are surrounded by tall and grown up people who seem to know everything and have all the answers. And not only that, but grown up people tend to get annoyed by you, bored with you, find it difficult to pay attention to what you say and generally find you a nuisance, no matter how much they love you, because you are not their equal. And then a Leo comes along and everything changes. There is at least one person in this world of hostile adults who actually understands, who actually treats you as if you are someone that matters.
But, alas, this happens only with other people's children. As we all know, there is a huge difference between liking children and actually raising them. Bringing up children involves a lot of hard and dirty work that Leos just aren't willing to do. Being a parent demands, at least for a certain period of time, that you put another person's interests first. Leo, however, being the divine child, doesn't want to share his/her divinity. In a sense, Leo is the archetypal father. The person who will show the world to his child, but not the person who will provide the necessary nurturing. That is, I think, what's really hiding behind Leo's barrenness. Leos like children but don't really want to have them. Especially for a woman, if she has planets in Leo, this may prove difficult, as she may have a natural aversion to motherhood, contrasting, therefore, with the stereotypes of her gender.
Since the sign of Leo comes immediately after Cancer, then at this stage the person must break free from all family chains. Liz Greene says that Apollon, the God connected with the astrological Sun, is also the breaker of family curses. This is more true in Leo, the sign the Sun rules, than in any other sign. We all carry our family sins and curses and, unfortunately, in most cases, we simply pass them on to the next generation. Eventually, however, a child gets born that has the role of the redeemer. The journey of the curse ends here. And sometimes, the only safe way to break a family curse is to not reproduce yourself.
In modern psychological terms, Leo is the sign of self-consciousness par excellence and that is his prime objective in life. So, if I am here so that I can know myself, I must make sure that there are no distractions. I have to completely devote my time to ME and I don't want other people's paths crossing my own. Or, if they cross it, I must gain more self-knowledge from this encounter. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.

Saturn and Uranus in aspect with the Lights - The prize of consciousness

Both these planets are associated with the sign Aquarius, no matter how valid this association is. However, they seem to represent two conflicting energies, as Saturn is constantly trying to silence Uranus and Uranus is constantly trying to overthrow Saturn. So, what happens when they both aspect the Lights and, in particular, when each one aspects a different Light?
If - perhaps simplistically - we view the Moon as the conditions that make us feel at ease and at home, our personal way of relating to other people and our connection to the world of instincts, and the Sun as that voice that keeps calling us from afar and never stops calling us until we decide to follow his path, we can attempt to delineate these aspects. With the Moon in aspect to Uranus, the world of instincts is foreign to you. You just can't understand emotional behaviour. You watch other people crave for simple things like security, tenderness and stability, but you can't relate to that. You feel like an outcast and you prefer hanging around with people who, for some reason, display "abnormal" behaviour. Relationships become difficult because other people soon realize that you do not connect to them like you are "supposed" to, but instead you keep them at a distance. The word "empathy" is not included in your vocabulary. You may be able to offer sound advice to your friends, but when they simply want a shoulder to cry on, they go to someone else. You feel that all this disgusting emotionality and clinginess is what keeps humanity from truly progressing. If, however, you also have the Sun in aspect to Saturn, things can get a lot worse. You may be an outcast, but you hate yourself for it. You don't want to be different, you just want to fit in, even if you are temperamentally unsuited to it. You try to do the done thing, what you think is expected of you, but you do it awkwardly and other people see right through you. Very often you go against your own nature, trying to satisfy social demands. You may dislike the idea of marriage, for example, but you end up getting married nonetheless. You don't like children, but feel you have to have them. This is a very tricky combination and you may spend your whole life trying to find the right balance.
On the other hand, with the Moon in aspect to Saturn, it is very hard for you to step outside the boundaries of normality. You feel that the whole world consists of autocratic parents whose sole purpose in life is to teach you the virtue of discipline. You mistrust eccentricity and believe it's just an excuse for those who refuse to face the hard facts of life. You feel at ease around people who know what they want out of life, you respect authority, you are good-mannered and you can't stand cheeky and impudent people, especially those who have ideas quite above their station. However, if you also have the Sun in aspect to Uranus, every once in a while a little bell rings in your head telling you to break free from all chains. You don't want to listen to it, because you fear what's going to happen if you say goodbye to the solid ground you walk on. Life, however, has a way of messing with us, the moment we least want it to. One day you realize that there is a part of you that is not universally acceptable. It dawns on you that you have more in common with the people you pretend to hate than you originally thought. You realize that even though you sought the friendship of normal people, they actually bore you. But you don't want to go over completely to the other side, because you dread social exclusion. You can't fully embrace the uranian spirit because it clashes with your saturnian predisposition. Tricky, indeed.
Can something be done to solve this dilemma? A modern astrologer would urge you to integrate both these aspects of your personality, but is that truly possible? What you seem to gain from this dichotomy, however, is consciousness. By being unable to completely identify with either of these two warring functions, you cannot lose yourself in the oblivion of ignorance. You cannot pretend to be just one thing and the hell with everything else that doesn't agree with you. But when you sit alone in a dark room at night with no one around to distract you, you hit upon an absolute truth about life: That consciousness and happiness are incompatible.

Jupiter and Saturn transits - Who's the benefic and who's the malefic?

We always dread an upcoming Saturn transit but look forward to a Jupiter one. They are the great benefic and the great malefic, after all. However, in many cases, things don't turn out like they are supposed to. In fact, sometimes it's exactly the other way round. We have a hard time during a Jupiter transit and a good time during a Saturn one. Very often, nothing of any significance happens and things run smoothly or rather, there are no evident changes in our lives. Why is that? Are transits an important predictive tool or aren't they?
John Frawley in one of his books on traditional astrology states that William Lilly devotes only three paragraphs on transits and that's two and a half paragraphs more than he should have. Perhaps this is an exaggeration or an over-simplification. Still, he has a point when he says that the life of an average person doesn't involve one tragedy after another and that most of our days pass by harmlessly. Of course, in Lilly's day, there were no outer planets whose transits are long-lasting and traditonal astrology had to invent other more reliable predictive methods. It seems though, that modern astrology, at least in certain circles, overemphasizes transits and tries to expalin everything that happens in our lives with a particular transit which, of course, is interpreted accordingly. We hear statements like: "Of course you are having a hard time, transiting Chiron forms an exact sesquiquadrate with your Lilith!" I would have to agree with Frawley on this, who says that a transit is simply a trigger. No transit can bring anything that it is not written in your natal chart. Just because Jupiter is transiting your second house, you can't expect tons of money to fall on your lap if such a thing is not promised in your natal chart. Yet, when different factors are added together, a transit can become pretty important. Let's say transiting Pluto is about to oppose your Sun. If that's all he's doing, you need not panic. But if you have a natal Sun/Pluto square and your progressed Ascendant is conjunct natal Pluto, then you should really stand up and take notice.
Having said that, let's go back to Jupiter and Saturn transits. If we want to keep attributing importance to transits, I feel we have to combine modern and traditional astrology. What do Jupiter and Saturn signify in our birth charts? Do they rule "malefic" or "fortunate" houses? Are they dignified? If Jupiter in the nativity is retrograde, in Capricorn and rules the 12th house, then I cannot expect him to bring me any luck. On the other hand, if I have a well-dignified Saturn, I need not fear. Saturn is never pleasant, that's not his nature, but when he is in form, he's extremely just and fair.
Then, we should take into account the sign the two transiting planets happen to be in and how that sign resonates with our chart. If, for example, the signs Virgo or Capricorn dominate in our chart or if Saturn is particularly strong, it is inevitable that we dislike Jupiter. Jupiter doesn't just shower us with gifts, but requires something in return. And that is FAITH. Which is something the two aforementioned signs lack. You have to believe that you deserve good things to happen to you, that life can and should be easy from time to time. I'm afraid that Virgos and Capricorns (I'm not talking about individuals here, but about the energy of these two signs) generally mistrust anything that isn't a direct result of hard effort. They tend to be suspicious of anything that comes easy to them and they are always looking for faults. From Jupiter's point of view however, that's ingratitude. So, why should he bother? The fire signs, on the other hand, appreciate whatever Jupiter offers them. They have a natural enthusiasm, they willingly embrace life and hate difficulties even to the point of laziness. When Jupiter comes along therefore, they are thrilled.
By contrast, if you have many planets in Cancer or in Leo, then in all likelihood you are going to hate Saturn. Even if nothing significant happens during a Saturn transit, it's still safe to say that you are not going to jump up and down with joy. You may read in the astrological predictions for your sign that this is a good time to lose weight, for example. No, it isn't. Some of you may feel so depressed that you rush to the fridge and devour everything in it. Your friend the Capricorn, however, will manage to lose 40 pounds when Saturn conjuncts his Sun.
So, only if we take these factors into account can we make a more or less accurate prediction of how difficult or beneficial a particular transit will be. All our potential is included in our natal chart and transits and progressions will help unfold it. It is each individual chart therefore, that will tell us which planets are friends and which are enemies.