Neptune square Sun

The astrology of Brett Kavanaugh

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Brett Kavanaugh, the Trump pick for the US Supreme Court, has been under a lot of fire for sexual assault allegations.  The vote to confirm his nomination was delayed by a week so that the FBI could investigate these charges.  I did my own investigation into his astrological chart to determine his underlying motivations and characteristics.  Please note that in these profiles I attempt to put my own views aside and to be as neutral as possible in examining the astrological characteristics rather than making judgments about an individual.  

Kavanaugh (February 12, 1965, Washington DC, time unknown) was born under the sign of Aquarius – the sign of rational thinking and authentic behavior.  Kavanaugh has three planets in Aquarius:  the Sun, Mercury and Venus.  Aquarius can be somewhat detached – its traditional ruler is Saturn which can be somewhat cold and disconnected.  It’s the modern influence of Uranus that gives Aquarius its tendency towards radical views that depart from the status quo and seeks to break up old paradigms.

The chart I used is for noon the day of birth since no birth time is available; we therefore don’t know the ascendant or midheaven placements. Kavanaugh’s Aquarius planets are squared by Neptune, the planet that inspires us to transcend the material world in one way or another: sometimes through higher pursuits such as art and music and spirituality, sometimes by drinking to excess or taking drugs.   Because Neptune tends to blur the distinctions that reality imposes, Neptune squaring the Sun can make it difficult to determine one’s identity.  It can also somtimes show someone who is misunderstood by others and not seen as he really is (President Obama has a Sun/Neptune square also).

1965 was a difficult year in which to be born.  Uranus (disruption) […]

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By |2018-10-08T09:12:23-04:00September 29th, 2018|People, Politics|25 Comments

Sunday inspiration: Father’s day musings

father's day astrologyFather’s Day (like Mother’s Day) can be very difficult for those of us who have lost a father through death or estrangement.

It’s interesting that the astrological Sun represents the father, and it also represents the Self.  While the mother has traditionally been the source of nurturing and emotional containment and therefore symbolized by the Moon, the father has traditionally been the figure of power in the household and the giver of name and identity.  In monotheistic society, the one god is seen as male, symbolizing that power.

In our modern world these roles are changing, such as when a father stays home to care for the children while the mother goes out to the workplace, and it is always interesting to see how this is reflected in the birthcharts of the children in these families.

Traditionally, though, challenging aspects to the Sun suggest a difficult relationship with the father.  We see this in the chart of Barack Obama, with Neptune in a square aspect to the Sun, who later wrote a book called “Dreams (Neptune) of my father (Sun)” about his struggle to understand himself (Sun) through the legacy of the father.  In my own chart Saturn and Neptune flank my Sun in a triple conjunction and Uranus squares the trio.  I had a very difficult relationship with my own father and we have been estranged for about 20 years.

The role of the father is to help to define the Self, and without a father in one’s life that job becomes more difficult.  Many of us search for years for father figures who will help us to find our Selves when they have become lost.  In modern society, only 16% of custodial parents in single parent […]

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By |2011-06-19T08:26:26-04:00June 19th, 2011|Inspiration|1 Comment

The astrology of Carl Jung and his Red Book

A secret book written by Carl Jung nearly one hundred years ago will be released next month according to the New York Times.  Known as the “Red Book,” it was jealously guarded by Jung’s descendants until it was recently found in a bank vault and negotiations with the Jung family ultimately permitted its publication.

The work of Carl Jung transformed the field of modern psychology by incorporating the concept of archetypes and synchronicity into the mystery of the workings of the psyche.  The Jungian process involves delving into our dreams and the symbols that weave a web linking the conscious and the subconscious.  In doing so, we are able to venture on a path of self-discovery and facilitate the process of what Jung called “individuation” in which lost parts of ourselves are recaptured.

Jung’s awareness of the synchronicities in life incorporated the use of dreams, ancient symbols and archetypes, alchemical symbolism, and astrology.  He wrote:

“The collective unconscious appears to consist of mythological motifs or primordial images, for which reason the myths of all nations are its real exponents. In fact the whole of mythology could be taken as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious. We can see this most clearly if we look at the heavenly constellations, whose originally chaotic forms are organized through the projection of images. This explains the influence of the stars as asserted by astrologers. These influences are nothing but unconscious instrospective perceptions of the collective unconscious.”

from Jung’s lecture “The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious,” Collected Works.

In 1913 Jung “found his psyche starting to teeter and slide, until finally he was dumped into what would become a life-altering crisis.”  He began experiencing visions and hearing voices, and in what he later called a […]

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By |2022-10-15T13:32:03-04:00September 21st, 2009|Consciousness, Favorite posts, Longreads|Comments Off on The astrology of Carl Jung and his Red Book

Obama, Neptune and Me

Barack Obama has a square from Neptune to the Sun in his chart.

Neptune, the planet that is shrouded in mists and mystery, is a difficult planet to have in challenging aspect to one’s Sun, the essential Self. I know this for a fact, because Neptune sits right on my own Sun in Libra. The challenging aspect from Neptune to the Sun makes it difficult for others to see you as you are; those Neptune mists obscure the rays of the Sun/Self and create a situation where others can easily create fantasies and ilusions (Neptune) about who they think you are. Later they may decide that the Neptune/Sun person was false, rather than admit to their own misconceptions and failure to see clearly what was there all along.

There is no better example of this than a man I knew quite a few years ago when I was single. I knew him for about five years before he asked me out. We dated for a couple of months, and then, in a fury, he said to me, “For five years I’ve had a fantasy about you, and you’re nothing like I imagined.”

Many of us have done the same thing with Barack Obama. Despite the fact that Obama’s positions were clear in position papers on his website, we fell in love with his beautiful voice and the inspiration of coming together for change. It never occurred to us that in uniting the country compromises would have to be made to our cherished principles.

Gail Collins had a great column in the New York Times last weekend called “The Audacity of Listening.” She writes,

I know, I know. You’re upset. You think the guy you fell in love with last spring is spending the summer flip-flopping his way to the right. […]

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By |2008-07-16T10:28:00-04:00July 16th, 2008|Astrology, Politics|Comments Off on Obama, Neptune and Me