May 2012 – Hexagon Astrology (Matthew David Savinar)

Month: May, 2012

Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon: The Scorpion King and the Public Enemy, the Black Swan and the Solar Eclipse ("Now the story I’m kickin’ is gory . . . ")

(Image: Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” music video)

Combine the stage presence of a Leo Sun with the psychological depth of a Scorpio Moon and the result is a Sun/Moon pairing that is magnetic yet defiant, deeply principled yet incredibly determined, and capable of leading others through even the most soul-crushing of environments. Astrologer Jefferson Anderson writes of this pairing, “purposeful and bold, you usually have a master plan for living and you follow it carefully. You enjoy the battlefield of life.” (Source) Astrologer Jeremy Neal makes a similar point, that at its finest the Leo/Scorpio square produces the “Scorpion King” who stands his or her ground as effectively as Leonidas at Thermopylae. (Source) Rapper Chuck D, head of the pioneering rap group Public Enemy, is a Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon and probably about as close to a modern day version of Leonidas at Thermopylae as you’re going to find. (Chart)

Astrologer Sue Tompkins observes that historically, the Leo/Scorpio square has been associated with success in opera:

The classic zodiac combination associated with opera is Leo and Scorpio. Most people with an emphasis in these two signs really love opera if they are exposed to it. Leo suggests drama and color, and Scorpio indicates passion, tragedy, and revenge — favorite storylines of many operatic scores.

Chuck D is a rapper, not an opera singer, but a huge proportion of his work is characterized by drama, color, passion, tragedy, and revenge every bit as much as the most compelling classical operas. In fact, some have been so compelling that they were banned from the airwaves. The same goes for a good deal of his political and social commentary, which is often as creatively forthright (Leo Sun) and psychologically intense (Scorpio Moon) as any Public Enemy album.

Carolyn Reynolds says this is the Sun/Moon pairing of “The Ruthless Animal” whose intense energies must be channeled into something creative and productive. (Source) If not he or she could very well turn into something akin to a werewolf. I don’t know if Chuck D has any werewolf tendencies but there’s no doubt you need at least a little bit of a “ruthless animal” in you to survive in the increasingly corporate dominated world of music. This is doubly the case when you’re unwilling to compromise your truth for the all-mighty dollar.

The line about one-third of the way through the above song, “Now the story I’m kickin’ is gory . . .” could be a motto for this Sun/Moon pairing. Leo Sun loves to tell stories while Scorpio Moon has an instinctual understanding of the most gory aspects of the human experience. Author Alex Haley is also a Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon. (Chart) You could make a case that he did with his book Roots: The Saga of an American Family what Chuck D has done with his music: tell the gory truth, the whole gory truth, and nothing but the gory truth. Alfred Hitchcock, world famous for his capacity to kick stories that are gory, is also a Leo/Scorpio. (Chart)

Due to the fixed (stubborn) nature of both signs, this pairing has a tendency to go to extremes. Actress Mila Kunis, best known for her role as a ballerina who takes a number of things to extremes in the 2010 films Black Swan, is a Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon. (Chart) Kunis is also quite capable of going “Scorpion Queen” on an adversary as this video of her confrontation with a Russian reporter demonstrates.

This combination’s tendency to go to extremes also endows it with the capacity to take an unflinchingly honest look at psychopathic behavior, including those forms of psychopathic behavior that a society comes to accept as normal. Director Stanley Kubrick is a Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon. (Chart) He is best known for films such as Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket, each of which takes a disturbingly lucid look at the psychopathic criminality of the military-industrial complex. Something similar can be said of Public Enemy’s portrayal of the psychopathic criminality that is slavery, both the brand that existed during the days of the plantation-agricultural complex and the brand that exists currently under the prison-industrial complex.

This is probably the most street-smart of all Leo pairings. Being secretive and strategic is a survival skill for Leo/Scorpio as its capacity to produce unflinchingly honest art inevitably gets them in battles with the censors. This includes corp-gov censors and people’s internalized censors, both of which prefer keeping the most horrible truths hidden from conscious awareness. Chuck D’s battles with corp-gov censors are well documented enough that they need not be rehashed here other than to say his career could be an astrology textbook’s case-study in the Leo/Scorpio square.

Lee/Scorpio natives often possess star power but it’s not the type of star power associated with the red carpet of a big movie premier. It’s more akin to the star power of a solar eclipse than the star power of the academy awards. Astrologer Suzanne Miller describes the powerful if potentially disturbing effects of a solar eclipse as follows:

They are almost always positive, although their effects can be jarring and difficult. They shake us up so that we can move from one level of maturity to another, very rapidly. If we have become complacent or took someone or something for granted, chances are that we won’t after an eclipse has delivered its message. (Source)

The same can be said for the effects of and the messages delivered by Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon natives such as Chuck D, Alex Haley, and Stanley Kubrick. At its most effective this pairing will shock or shake people’s consciousness by wielding their capacity for creative self-expression (Leo Sun) regarding subject matter of a dangerous, taboo nature (Scorpio).

About the Author: Matt Savinar is a California licensed attorney, voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached via email at editor (at sign) hexagonastrology.com

Sun in Gemini, Moon in Sagittarius: The Golden Gate Bridge

Today is the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) so it’s good time to take a look at its Sun/Moon pairing. The opening celebration for the bridge commenced on May 27th, 1937 but it was opened for traffic the day before. The GGB was thus “born” on May 26th, 1937 making it a Gemini Sun, Sagittarius Moon. (Chart)

Gemini is symbolized by two twins facing each other in much the same the twin pylons of the GGB face each other. Sagittarius is symbolized by a centaur (half-man, half-horse) and considered the sign most likely to take long distance trips. The GGB looks like the Twins (Gemini) and was the longest distance (Sagittarius) suspension bridge ever built at the time. It has twin sets of lanes that go in two directions at once (Gemini) and is traversed primarily by people inside vehicles measured in horsepower (Sagittarius).

GoldenGatBridge — Sun in Gemini, Moon in Sagittarius: The Golden Gate Bridge (Photo Source: Rich Niewiroski Jr.)

Gemini is the sign of Bike Messenger and the Cab Driver, the Blogger and the Bookseller, the Writer and the Journalist. It’s also the sign most likely to look for shortcuts or, as in the case of the GGB, actually engineer them. People with their Sun (identity) in this quick moving sign eventually come to be identified with their aptitude for quick communication and ability to cross-pollinate between different areas of life. In the case of the GGB, it’s now identified primarily as an avenue for quick-commuting and cross-pollination across different parts of the Bay Area.

Sagittarius, the sign opposite to Gemini, is the Traveler, the Student, the Scholar, the Gypsy, the Professor of High Adventure and the Super Crusader of Quests and Faith. For people with their Moon (emotional needs) in Sagittarius, travel is a form of emotional nourishment. With its Moon (needs) in Sagittarius (travel) it’s not a coincidence the GGB is funded (nourished) by the money (emotional support?) that people pay to travel across it. The GGB needs paying drivers to travel across it in order to be physically sustained in much the same way a person with their Moon in Sagittarius needs travel in order to be emotionally sustained.

Astrologer Jefferson Anderson emphasizes pairing’s love of freedom, writing that “The open road is a lot more tempting to you than the drudgery of a routine job . . .” He also provides an eerie warning given the location of the GGB atop two active fault lines, “You have a tendency to dispatch past catastrophes from your short memory.” (Source)” In light of Anderson’s warning it should be mentioned that, according to FactMonster.com:

While engineers did find a way to secure the bridge’s towers in the heavy ocean currents, accommodating earthquakes was not part of their original design. (Source)

The GGB has its Moon right on its North Node, the point of destiny. This is considered an indicator of coming before the public in a big way according to astrologer Celeste Teal. (Source) Placed in Sagittarius, the sign of long distance travel and expansion into new frontiers, the nature of the GGB’s public notoriety was destined to involve travel in some way. Russian Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, also has a Moon/North Node conjunction in Sagittarius in her chart. (Chart)

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Astrological Analysis of a Near-Death Accident: BASE-Jumper Jeb Corliss' Crash Into Table Mountain

Sky-diver, BASE-jumper, and professional daredevil Jeb Corliss is an Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon, the same Sun/Moon pairing as Steve McQueen. (Source) On January 16th, 2012 Corliss almost died during a wing suit demonstration gone horribly wrong over South Africa’s Table Mountain. The video of the accident is gruesome but if you want a very clear example of somebody crashing head on with the current square (collision) between Uranus (sudden shocks) in Aries (the Risk Taker) and Pluto (terror/extremes) in Capricorn (structures, including geologic ones), this is sure as heck it:

Amazingly, Corliss survived the collision and subsequent crash. On March 1st, 2012 he appeared on the Conan O’brien show where he recounted the incident, including an out-of-body experience he had upon realizing he was tumbling towards his death:

Corliss’s accident occurred when transiting Pluto (terror, extremes) in Capricorn (geologic structures) was squaring (colliding with) his natal Sun (identity) in Aries (the Risk-Taker). According to astrologer Steven Forest, transiting Pluto squaring a person’s Sun is associated with a number of unpleasantries including the potential for death:

. . . these transits tend to press Plutonian issues to the forefront. They are impossible to ignore . . . Here we often find forced contact with life’s darker side: a child is discovered with a drug problem, crime occurs, disease makes itself felt, an intimate death may take place. (Source)

Robert Hand warns that a square from transiting Pluto to a person’s Sun will “test your strength and the energy with which you have established yourself in the world.” (Source) In Corliss’s case the risk-taking Aries energies that have fueled his identity (Sun) are now being tested as he rehabs from his injuries.

Transiting Uranus (sudden shocks) was also squaring Corliss’s natal Mars (physical assertion) when the accident occurred. Astrologer Robert Hand warns that this transit is a really, really bad time to take unnecessary risks to life and limb:

Watch out for impulsive actions, rash decisions, and other actions that may have sudden, unexpected consequences and undesirable results in the future. You may feel that your ego is at stake in some way and you have to assert yourself now regardless of the risk of getting involved in an accident. Do what you must, but act with a little discretion.

. . . unconscious eruptions of these energies can be quite disruptive. Accidents that you have not apparently caused but have somehow made more likely are one outcome of this transit. (Source)

Of course Corliss is a professional daredevil so it’s next to impossible for him to go very long without taking risks. His final jump off Table Mountain, however, was extremely dangerous even by his standards. In previous jumps he had come within six feet of the cliff that he later collided with. In the jump that almost killed him he cut the margin down from six feet to only six inches, thus exponentially raising the risk of an accident. HBO sports was there to film him so, as Robert Hand warns, Corliss may have been feeling pressure to take risks above and beyond what he could responsibly manage.

To Corliss’s credit he seems to have learned his lesson. During his interview with Conan O’Brien he stated, “I lost respect for the mountain. I was pushing way too hard and it spanked me. I’m very thankful I made a mistake so massive and still be able to recover from it.”

It should be noted that Corliss’s North Node, the point of destiny should one choose to accept it, is in Scorpio. It thus makes sense he is best known for flying around in an all black “wing suit” that bears more than a few resemblances to the wing suit worn by Batman, a character that most astrologers agree is Scorpionic in nature.

Contact Matt Savinar for a Consultation

I recommend the following books:

Cancer Sun, Aries Moon, Part I: The Crab of War

Make sure to also check out:

Cancer Sun, Aries Moon Part II: The Stay at Home Force

Both Cancer and Aries are “cardinal” signs which means they each like to initiate things albeit in very different ways. Cancer Sun likes to initiate when it comes to feeding the emotions, Aries Moon like to initiate when it comes to starting the fights. With the masculine side of the psyche (the Sun) in the most feminine sign (Cancer) and feminine side of the psyche (the Moon) in the most masculine sign (Aries), this pairing can have trouble deciding if its theme song is “Dear Mama” by Tupac Shakur or “Raising Hell” by Run DMC. Cancer is the most maternal sign but also the most moody. Aries is the most enthusiastic but also the most combative. Pair the two together and you get a very combustible emotional ecosystem, one that alternates between scalding hot and soothingly warm.

When it gets firing on all cylinders Cancer Sun, Aries Moon can be a very potent combination. Fill a cast iron pot with the feminine emotionality of Cancerian water, heat it with the masculine bravado of Aries fire and the result can be likened to a steam powered locomotive barreling down the tracks at full speed, whistles and horns blasting all the way:

At its best the Cancer Sun, Aries Moon individual will be caring yet courageous, emotionally sensitive yet extremely enterprising, with a shy disposition that belies near superhuman levels of energy. Astrologer Sue Tompkins says this combination is excellent for fighting on behalf of children or housing issues. (Source) Imagine Superman bottle feeding a baby or Wonder Woman running an orphanage and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how this combination’s modus operandi once it reconciles the feminine (Cancer) and masculine (Aries) sides of its psyche.

Mixed Martial Arts superstar Bobby Lashley is a Cancer Sun, Aries Moon and about as close a real life example of “Superman bottle feeding a baby” as you’re likely to find. (Chart) A collegiate wrestling champion in the mid-1990s, Lashley spent a few years as a professional (choreographed) wrestler before moving into the world of professional cage fighting. He now runs a Denver Colorado gym where he trains children in the martial arts. Fast forward to :49 for a great example of somebody whose combined a Cancer Sun’s nurturing capabilities with an Aries Moon’s instincts for competition:

According to astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey, one of two metaphoric images for the highest expression of the Cancer Sun, Aries Moon pairing is “A suffragette takes to the barricades in aid of her cause”. (Source) Lashley’s not a “suffragette taking to the barricades in aid of her cause” to quote the Harveys’ metaphoric image for this pairing but he is a fighter whose taken to the martial arts ages in aid of those kids. The second metaphoric image for Cancer/Aries according to the Harveys is “A quiet homebody becomes a sports champion.” (Source) That too is an excellent approximation of Lashley as he is a sports champion whose love of home and family comes through quite clearly in the above video.

Cancer Sun, Aries Moon: A Superman Complex, Sense of Defensiveness

At its highest expression, Cancer Sun, Aries Moon is the pairing of “the heroic spirit” who “goes to the mat” for a cause. There are, however, downsides to being so heroic all the time. Astrologer Jefferson Anderson warns of the Cancer Sun, Aries Moon individual’s propensity for burnout and breakdown:

It’s not easy to live up to that Superman or Wonder Woman self-image of yours. Self acceptance is the key to many of the problems you encounter. It’s nearly impossible to meet all the goals you will set for yourself, so stop racing around risking heart attack and nervous breakdown . . . (Source)

Lashley has never had a heart attack or nervous breakdown but his single loss as a professional fighter came during a bout with mononucleosis, most likely brought on by over-training himself to the point of collapse. (Source) Following that loss he was ordered by doctors to take four months off from physical activity. Those months must have felt like near-death as Cancer Sun, Aries Moon is one of the most impatient of the 144 Sun/Moon pairings.

The other big challenge for this pairing is taking things too personally. The Harveys warn that this pairing “can easily develop a chip on the shoulder”. (Source) In each of the above videos, Lashley mentions “the critics”. What he’s referring to is the peanut gallery of cyber-haters who give him static via the internet for having spent a few years as a WWE performer in between his collegiate wrestling and professional fighting careers.

Objectively the guy shouldn’t be the least bit concerned about what a bunch of losers on the inter-tubes have to say as he’s got money in the bank, almost reached the Olympics as an amateur wrestler, has a burgeoning career as a professional fighter, and is clearly doing the right thing by the kids who train at his gym. But neither Cancer or Aries are known for their objectivity.

Cancer Sun, Aries Moon Astro-Twins: Half Crab, Half Ram, All Hero

Lashley has several astro-twins worth mentioning. The first is cult film RoboCop starring Peter Sellers as a deceased Detroit cop reborn as a cybernetic bad-ass. The film was released (born) July 17th, 1987 making it a Cancer Sun, Aries Moon just like Lashley. (Chart) Astro-twins often bear an impossible to ignore resemblance to each other even if not related by blood. In the case of Bobby Lashley and Robocop, it’s hard not to notice some similarities between the two at least in terms of physical build and basic modus operandi:

In the film’s concluding scene Robocop arrests the corrupt CEO of Omni Consumer Products, the mega-corporation that has been plotting to destroy Detroit and replace it with a corporate paradise called “Delta City”. The film thus centers around a bad-ass (Aries) who goes to the mat for home and family (Cancer).

Stunt pilot Melisa Pemberton, recently featured alongside her husband Rex Pemberton in an Outside Magazine article entitled “As Long as They Both Shall Live” is also a Cancer Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) Like most natives of this pairing, she combines the feminine sensibilities of a Cancer Sun with the risk-taking instincts of an Aries Moon:

At first glance you might not think she and Bobby Lashley would have much in common as she’s a cute white chick and he’s a ginormous bald headed black man. If, however, you look beyond their immediate appearances they actually do have similar career arcs. Lashley makes his living by taking to the mixed martial arts cages to do heart pounding battle with foes. Pemberton makes her living by taking to the skies to do heart pounding stunts with her plane. Like Lashley, she is a sports champion whose love of home and family comes through quite clearly in the above video.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mt. Everest, is a Cancer Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) When not prepping for one of his many adventures, Hilary spent most of his time in the privacy of his home in New Zealand.

Hillary didn’t “take to the barricades in aid of a cause” but he did take to the mountain tops from where he provided much needed aid for the Nepalese people by way of non-profit trust he created.

Make sure to also check out:

Cancer Sun, Aries Moon Part II: The Stay at Home Force

I recommend the following books:

Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon: The BASE-Jumper and the Rule Breaker, the Old School Rebel and the New Age Outlaw, On a Lightning Bolt Down the Road Less Traveled

Combine the fighting spirit of an Aries Sun with the wildly unconventional instincts of an Aquarius Moon and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that will be fiercely independent, wildly free-spirited, and an anarchist in spirit if not in practice. Astrologer Jefferson Anderson refers to the Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon individual as “The Pioneer” who is motivated to go faster, higher, and further out than just about any of the other Sun/Moon pairings:

High-strung, temperamental, and extremely independent, you are usually ten steps ahead of everyone else, and you spend a lot of time trying to figure out why they all can’t keep up with you. (Source)

Actor Steve McQueen is an Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon who represented well the non-conformist spirit of this Sun/Moon pairing. (Chart) A professional motorcycle racer before becoming an actor, McQueen became one of Hollywood’s leading men by effectively projecting onto screen the high-risk, high-reward, devil-may-care attitude typically found in the Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon individual. McQueen’s most memorable role came in 1963 when he portrayed Captain Hicks, a World War II prisoner of war who escapes a Nazi labor camp on a stolen motorcycle:

Sky-diver, BASE-jumper, and professional daredevil Jeb Corliss, who bears a striking resemblance to Steve McQueen in both appearance and attitude, is also an Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon. (Chart). His high-risk exploits, many of which make McQueen’s stunts look tame, were documented for a 2008 ESPN film entitled Jeb Corliss: On a Wing and Prayer.

Corliss hosted a show for the Discovery Channel called Stunt Junkies but was fired after being arrested for BASE-jumping off the Empire State Building. That’s probably just as well since the textbook Aries/Aquarius tends to do better being self-employed than attempting to conform to the rule that go with most corporate gigs.

An analysis of Corliss’ recent near-death accident is posted here.

Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon: The Old School Rebel and the New Age Outlaw

Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon is certainly a risk-taker but there is much more to this Sun/Moon pairing than just motorcycle stunts, BASE-jumps, and pants-crappingly high health insurance premiums. At its best it combines the pioneering spirit of an Aries Sun with the humanitarian instincts of an Aquarius Moon to fight (Aries) for the good of the many (Aquarius). According to astrologers Suzie and Charles Harvey, a metaphoric image for the highest expression of this pairing is, “A gallant crusader turns his sword into computer chip and broadcasts New Age philosophy.” (Source) That just so happens to be excellent approximation of professional wrestler turned yoga instructor Diamond Dallas Page who, like Steven McQueen and Jeb Corliss, is an Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon. (Chart)

Page doesn’t broadcast “New Age” philosophy but he is teaching an ancient practice that many mistakenly think of as “New Age”. He didn’t “turn his sword into a computer chip” but he did turn his wrestling boots in for a yoga mat and now broadcasts his practice across the internet. As Page put it himself, “I now prefer putting my foot over my head to putting it up someone’s ass”. (Source)

Page’s yoga community recently came to to the attention of the wider yoga world when one of his students, a severely disabled veteran of the first Gulf War, made an amazing transformation after adhering to Page’s brand of yoga for ten months:

Page now counts several dozen current and former professional wrestlers as his students, many of whom have bodies and spirits that are in desperate need of the benefits a good yoga practice can bring. He’s also done extensive work with soldiers stationed in or back from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom are recovering from experiences that can be as crushing to the spirit as they are to the body.

AriesSunAquariusMoonLiberator — Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon: The Liberator, the Innovator, and the Maverick (Photo by Spc. George Welcome, USA)

That an Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon like Diamond Dallas Page would be involved in assisting injured soldiers and near-crippled wrestlers gain freedom from their physical and emotional restrictions makes perfect sense. At its highest expression Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon is the pairing of “The Liberator” who uses their charisma, enthusiasm, and innovative spirit to assist their community in breaking free from their limitations.

If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy:

Scorpio Sun, Libra Moon: The Mad and the Bad, the Matrimonial and the Magnetic

Aries Sun, Capricorn Moon: The Warrior-General and the Locker Room Leader

Contact Matt Savinar for a consultation

I recommend the following books: