More Inconvenient Truths

Simone Butler looks at Gore's transits, and suggests how you can save the planet!

More Celeb Astroblogy -- Suri Cruise and Reese Witherspoon

KittyTaurus has written two interesting articles this week, one on Suri Cruise's (if she exists) Neptune conjunct Ascendant, and a possible 12pm chart for Reese Witherspoon that helps explain her fierce commitment to work and family.

John Lasseter, Capricorn and Creative Head of Pixar

With Disney's acquisition of Pixar -- the best animation studio in the U.S. -- John Lasseter is now both creative head of Pixar as well as Disney animation. Lasseter is the director of the Toy Story movies, as well as A Bug's Life and Cars.

Born January 12, 1957 in Hollywood (imdb.com), Lasseter is a Capricorn, a natural leader. His Sun conjoins Mercury, making communication key to his identity. Placed in Capricorn, the messenger planet needs to express itself in a concrete, measurable manner. This pragmatic focus is beneficial to an animation studio -- Capricorn is focused on the bottom line, and no doubt Pixar's great financial success is due not only to the brilliance of their movies but also to Lasseter's organizational abilities.

Lasseter's Sun and Mars make a stressful square to Mars in Aries. There is an impulsive side to John -- part of him probably wants to just go ahead and implement (Mars) his ideas (Mercury). However, the Capricorn part of him tells him to hold his horses, to stand at the mountaintop to get a more practical overview as to how to initiate his studio's projects.

John has mentioned that great animation is not enough to make a movie to be proud of -- it needs to capture the audience emotionally, there has to be a quality story in which the viewer cares about the characters. Where is this focus on emotions found in his chart? He has no personal planets in water, and without an exact birthtime we do not know if any of his angles are in water signs. His Moon is most likely in Gemini, opposite Saturn in Sagittarius, square Pluto in Virgo, trine Jupiter in Libra, and sextile Uranus in Leo. It may even be inconjunct Neptune in Scorpio. So his emotional center is heavily inundated with outer planet energies!

The Moon in Gemini symbolizes the child (Moon) who loves the fast-paced, Bugs-Bunny-as-trickster cartoons where many things are happening at once (Gemini). However, in a possible T-square with Pluto and Saturn, this is a heavy Moon. These are planets of danger (Pluto) and abandonment/separation (Saturn) -- in fact, Steven Spielberg has a similar configuration. In Toy Story, Woody is endangered by the evil boy-next-door who likes to torture his toys. In A Bug's Life, Dot finds herself in a very dangerous scenario (with a bird? -- it's hard to remember). Additionally, the ants are threatened by the grasshoppers. In Toy Story 2, Woody is reunited with his family (Moon) but encounters manipulation (Pluto) by his father (Saturn).

In Cars -- Gemini rules transportation -- the protagonist, Lightning McQueen, is separated (Saturn) from his truck on his trek to California and ends up unintentionally destroying the main street in Radiator Springs, a small town off Route 66. The town elder sentences him (Saturn) to community service, in which he must re-pave (Pluto) the street he had destroyed. He transforms (Pluto) from the self-absorbed (Mars in Aries) race-car, and as a result transforms the town itself, bringing new life into a place that had been abandoned -- left for dead (Saturn) -- by the drivers along the interstate. One can also see the conflict between hot-in-the-pants Lightning McQueen (Aries) and the older, wiser Doc Hudson (Capricorn).

Cars incorporates some of Miyazaki's influence. Lasseter intentionally created a sense of slowness -- of "nothing going on" -- and depicted beautiful nature scenery. These qualities are staples of the Japanese animator's films. Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, has this slow quality -- it takes its time -- and is also an earth sign.

Whoa! All this Capricorn energy, plus the Moon opposite Saturn (and square Pluto) ... there's quite an emotional depth -- a weightiness -- that John Lasseter brings to his films. This is probably what differentiates Pixar from the other studios that focus on pop-culture references and poop jokes at the expense of a riveting story with characters we care about. I do hope that this brilliant animator turns Disney upside down!

Tags: John Lasseter - astrology - movies - Pixar - Disney - Cars - Toy Story

Jack Black tells Lemony Snicket that he doesn't "believe in any of that astrology crap"

Featured in The Believer. Thanks to Caaien for the heads up!

That's too bad, because I really wanted to give him a reading :(

Will Jack Black's Real Birthdate Please Stand Up?

There are two birthdates for Jack Black circulating on the internet: August 28, 1969 -- which seems more "respectable" sinced it is posted on imdb and wikipedia -- and April 7, 1969, which is listed on yahoo and many other film sites.

The veritable astrodatabank does not weigh in with accurate birth information, so which sources do we trust?

Let's look at Jack's personal and social (Jupiter and Saturn) planets for each of these birthdates:

Planet	Virgo Jack Black August 28, 1969 chart	Aries Jack Black April 7, 1969 chart
Sun	Virgo	Aries
Moon	Pisces	Sagittarius
Mercury	Libra	Aries
Venus	Cancer	Aries
Mars	Sagittarius	Sagittarius
Jupiter	Libra	Virgo
Saturn	Taurus	Aries

Hmm.... The Aries Jack Black has all his personal planets in fire signs, which tend to be inspiring, exuberant, energetic. The Virgo Jack Black ... well, first of all, a Virgo Jack Black would be subservient and behind-the-scenes, not an in-your-face frontman for Tenacious D and all around crazy man. With Mercury in Libra, Virgo Jack Black would communicate in a graceful, people-pleasing manner, as opposed to Aries Jack Black, whose Mercury in Aries would speak impulsively and forcefully without a care for the feelings of others. (Think School of Rock.) I could go on....

However, there is a sensitive musician side to Jack, which is expressed by Virgo Jack's Moon in Pisces. Depending on the time of day Virgo Jack might have been born, his Moon could have been in a Grand Water Trine with Venus in late Cancer and Neptune in late Scorpio. Venus-Neptune aspects are famous for musicians, who express the ineffable (Neptune) through art (Venus). Additionally, an opposition from Pluto to his intuitive Pisces Moon would provide Virgo Jack the intensity and the drive to tap into the depths of the collective soul to ROCK OUT. On the other hand, the Aries Jack could have Pluto squaring his Sagittarius Moon, but would not have any significant Neptune aspects to his personal planets. (And unfortunately, without an exact birthtime we cannot know if any of these planets sit on one of his angles.)

I'm leaning towards Aries Jack, despite Virgo Jack's beautiful kite formation (Pisces Moon opposite Pluto, and trine Venus in Cancer and Neptune in Scorpio). I just don't see how Virgo Jack could channel the tremendous amount of energy that Aries Jack -- with all of his personal planets plus Saturn in fire signs -- conveys on screen and on stage.

Technorati tags: Jack Black - astrology - movies - Virgo

Related link: Caustic Truths (Tenacious D)

Keri Russell

The following essay was previously featured in the Aries issue of Constellation. Although M:I:3 has come and gone, Felicity fans should groove on this article.

Perhaps only fans of the TV series Felicity will be familiar with Keri Russell, but soon more than those who watched her WB character navigate the waters of college life in NYC will know her by name. Russell will be starring opposite Tom Cruise as an agent-in-training in Mission Impossible 3, coming to theaters on May 5. A reader may not necessarily get excited about a Tom Cruise franchise. However, this film is directed by JJ Abrams, the mastermind behind Felicity, Alias and Lost.

So no doubt MI3 will be good, and Keri Russell's connection to Abrams from their TV series obviously influenced her being cast for her role. In Felicity, Russell's character was emotionally intense and very relationship-oriented, wanting to go deep or not at all. A tad obsessive one might say, since the reason she chose to enroll at University of New York was to follow Ben (Scott Speedman), her high school crush, across the country from California. Actors often express the dynamics of their horoscope in the roles they play. We can see how Russell's chart shows up in Felicity's fictional life. Venus, Russell's love planet, is in fantasy-prone Pisces, making several stressful aspects to powerful outer planets. Squaring Neptune, the planet of fantasy and the ruler of her Venus' sign, Russell is in love with love, likely to fall head-over-heels, seeing her lover through a veil of delusion. After all, the boy Felicity followed turned out not to be able to handle her intensity -- Felicity saw what she wanted to see. This intensity is governed by obsessive Pluto, the planet that wants to get to the bottom of things, to figure out what's going on beneath the surface. Venus is exactly 150 degrees away from Pluto (an inconjunct), her Capricorn Moon is square Pluto, and her Aries Sun is opposite Pluto. When the Sun is influenced by an outer planet, one's whole personality acts as a channel to express that archetype -- in this case, the principle of power, intensity and regeneration. In particular, the 180 degree opposition is a relationship aspect, so Russell is either attracted to powerful, intense or secretive men -- since the Sun in a woman's chart relates to important men in her life -- or she herself integrates this power in her own approach to relationships. In aspect to the Moon, Pluto intensifies her emotions and suggests wounds from childhood. In addition to the influence of Neptune and Pluto, Russell's Venus is in a stressful angle called a sesquisquare to Saturn, planet of hardship. She may feel blocked from having a successful relationship, or at least she must put in conscious effort to make one work.

Russell's Saturn is in the family-oriented sign of Cancer, ruled by the Moon. Conversely, her Moon is in melancholy Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn. Hence, they are in mutual reception, meaning that Saturn and the Moon are in each other's signs. Although these two planets mutually reinforce each other, they have the disadvantage of being in signs that don't suit them. The Moon wants comfort, family and nurturing -- Cancer -- and is instead in Cancer's opposite Capricorn, which is restrictive, hard-working and depressive. Saturn wants success, structure and discipline, and is instead in Capricorn's opposite sign Cancer, which is just too soft for Saturn's tastes. These signs concern the apparently opposing needs for the comfort of family and the need to achieve in the work world. Both signs are somewhat conservative and concerned with the past. There is some element of this conflict in Felicity's initial struggle between studying to be a doctor -- which would lead to material success and her father's approval -- and studying to be an artist -- which is a much more intuitive Cancerian pursuit.

Russell is a very initiating person as both her Sun and Moon are in cardinal signs. An Aries knows what she wants, and goes for it regardless of how her actions will impact others. What's more impulsive than following a man across the country? Russell's Aries Sun is also tightly square -- ninety degrees away from -- Mars, the ruler of Aries, which makes her all the more focused on acting to meet her desires, preferably as soon as possible. With her Sun, the locus of her personality, in tense relationship with two very aggressive planets -- Mars and Pluto -- Russell has a lot of drive. Let's hope she succeeds.

Keri Russell: Born March 23, 1976 in Fountain Valley, CA. Source: imdb.com

Technorati tags: Keri Russell - Felicity - astrology - movies - Aries

Brett Ratner: Does He Have the Mojo?

Brett Ratner, despite critics' assertions that he is merely a competent director, is doing rather well. X-Men: The Last Stand broke box office records. Is there more to him than meets the eye?

Born March 28, 1969, Ratner has a fairly tight Jupiter-Uranus conjunction opposite his Sun, Chiron and Mercury. Jupiter lends fortune, optimism and confidence; Uranus lends innovation and brilliance, as well as a desire to disrupt the status quo. Paired together, Jupiter expands the Uranian penchant for technology and revolution, while Uranus lends a level of excitement and breakthrough to the Jupiterian need to be larger-than-life, to be successful.

Bill Streett gives a succinct summary of this pairing:

Within film, the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction is the archetypal combination representing the timeless icon, the legend, the classic, the highest achievement of cinematic arts. Approximately every fourteen years, Jupiter and Uranus form a brief conjunction which ushers forth the greatest potentials of cultural achievement which can easily be witnessed in film. If we look at these planets individually, we see that Uranus is the planetary archetype associated with ingenuity, novelty, humanitarianism, transcendence of limitations, and rebellion. Jupiter grants both success and lofty elevation to Uranus's penchant for innovation and uniqueness.

What both of these planets share in common is a capacity to transcend the mundane. In Uranus, we witness this thirst for transcendence through the breakthrough of previous limitations and in Jupiter through the support of the high arts and championing the greatest achievements of society. Jupiter and Uranus is arguably the most Apollonian combination, the most lofty, and the most transcendant of the mundane—and film is its most favored expression.

He also notes that during the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in the late sixties, breakthrough films like 2001 and Easy Rider were released. In addition, influencial directors like Woody Allen, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg started to make their mark. Since Ratner was born during this period -- both Jupiter and Uranus were retrograde at the time, so this conjunction was still strongly in effect -- the archetypal power of this conjunction is channeled through his imaginative Mercury in Pisces and his me-first Sun in Aries.

Ratner also has a Grand Fire Trine, which means that three of his planets make approximately 120-degree angles to each other. He has his Sun in Aries, Moon in Leo and Mars in Sagittarius. This director is easily inspired, naturally enthusiastic, and has more than enough energy to initiate (Aries) his projects, stay with them through the end (Leo), and sell others on his ideas (Sagittarius).

Technorati tags: astrology - movies - Brett Ratner - X-Men - Jupiter - Uranus

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Who Needs Film Critics?

This year's Cannes Film Festival has sparked some debate about the necessity of film critics. The Da Vinci Code was not made available to film critics until the day before wide release. Despite near-univeral panning, the movie did extremely well among the common folk. In addition, Salon.com independent film critic Andrew O'Hehir bemoaned the Cannes jury's award of the Palm D'Or to The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which O'Hehir did not feel was a particularly innovative film. Despite the fact that the jury was populated by Wong Kar-Wai, Samuel Jackson, Tim Roth and others, O'Hehir believes that these film professionals have similar tastes to those of the general public, because -- unlike film critics -- they are too busy making movies to watch 200 films a year. Mr. O'Hehir argues that watching this many films cannot but impact a person's taste in film, lending them a certain refinement or an "eye" for what's good cinema.

Film criticism is an Air venture, whereas film itself is more Water. Air is the element of thought and detachment, whereas Water is the element of emotions and fantasy. The famous film critic Pauline Kael had her Sun in Gemini -- an Air sign, particularly appropriate for writing and journalism. Roger Ebert is also a Gemini.

In mundane or political astrology, the Moon symbolizes the general public. The Moon, which rules Cancer -- a Water sign -- is an emotional planet. In our charts, the Moon habitually reacts to situations based on unconscious factors. Hence, the movie-going public is more lunar, more emotional than analytical.

The power of film lies in its ability to be larger-than-life, to make us feel things on a scale that makes our ordinary lives seem pale. Surely, film critics get swept away by films. But Air people are able to step back with some distance and judge a work of art without being beholden entirely to their emotional reactions. Water types -- and we can generalize by putting "the movie-going public" into this category for argument's sake -- get caught up in the fantasy, the illusion, and don't think all that critically. In fact, they don't think at all ... they get swept up and away.

I wonder if the mutual reception between Uranus in Pisces and Neptune in Aquarius relates to the role of film critics. Pisces and its ruler Neptune rule film; Aquarius and its modern ruler Uranus relate to the detachment required to see things objectively. These outer planet placements also correspond with the ability of technology to connect people instantaneously. When teenagers can see a movie at opening night and immediately text-message their friends, and when adults can quickly look up movie times and audience reviews on the internet, who needs film critics? David Carr of the NYTimes notes that this ability to get the word out quickly can help movie sales over a single weekend. Hence, the film industry is less dependent on film critics to make or break a movie.

In fact, it seems the public's tastes in movies greatly diverge from those of critics. I myself will admit to having middle-brow tastes in film. I even own a copy of Daredevil! Nonetheless, I think critics are important because they help us learn to watch movies differently. I religiously read Salon.com movie reviews -- even those on films I know I won't see -- because (1) critics tend to be excellent writers and (2) good critics know how to watch a movie within the context of film history. They are able to compare the work of directors, screenwriters, cinematographers and the like to help me notice aspects of cinema I would not have otherwise. Granted, many people just want to know if a movie is worth ten bucks, and are happy if they are wowed by special effects and pretty faces. Although movies just last a few hours, they can have a great impact on society ... and like the ability of leaders to sway the masses with appeals to emotion and fantasy, it is important to have thinkers to draw the distinction between art and tripe.

Technorati tags: cannes - astrology - movies - the da vinci code - david carr