Some Scorpio/Virgos will apply their intense (Scorpio) astuteness (Virgo) to cracking the code of physical wholeness. Fitness guru Vince Gironda is a Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) If Jack Lalanne was the movie star celebrity of the 20th century health & fitness industry Gironda was its maverick technician. Astrologer Carolyn Reynolds says of the Scorpio/Virgo male, “He will tell you when your dieting has gone to far, and puts his foot down that you have forgotten your vitamins again”. (Source) That’s definitely a good description of Gironda. He was advocating organic foods, raw vegetables, digestive enzymes, and his own line of natural supplements at a time when people were still decades away from questioning the chemical based theocracy of industrial food conglomerates. His philosophy of functional “Stone Age Fitness” predated the current “Paleo” and “Cross Fit” crazes by a good 60 years.

Scorpio/Virgos are passionate helping others but they have next to no patience for overgrown egotistical bullshit from those who seek their help. For instance, when a young Arnold Schwarzenegger walked into Gironda’s gym around around 1979 Gironda asked him who he was. Schwarzenegger announced that he was “Mr. Universe”. Gironda replied “Well you look like a fat f*** to me” and then booted him out of his gym. Arnold was at the peak of his bodybuilding career and possessed no shortage of ego so Gironda’s frank evaluation of his status likely came as quite a shock. Fortunately for the future “governator”, he was later allowed back where he flourished under Gironda’s tutelage.

Strange coincidence #1: actress Jenny McCarthy is a Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) She’s best known for hosting MTV’s mid-1990s dating show “Singled Out” but more recently has made a radical break with what’s “socially sanctioned” by the pharmacological-financial complex. McCarthy, whose son was diagnosed with autism in 2005, has been very vocal about her belief that mercury in vaccines is the true cause of the condition. According to McCarthy, holistic modalities such as chelation therapy have helped her son recover from the condition far more so than protocols put forth by the corporate medical establishment. Whether one agrees with her beliefs or not, she is certainly taking a Gironda-like approach to health-and-wellness that fits the intensely (Scorpio) health conscious (Virgo Moon) nature of her astrological pedigree:

wiss herbalist Alfred Vogel, sometimes referred to as the “Father of Natural Healing”, is also a Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) You may not have heard of Vogel but you quite likely have ingested a herbal remedy he helped bring to the western masses. The plant Echinacea was brought to his attention by a medicine man while traveling among the Sioux Indians. He took some seeds with him and begun cultivating the planet upon his return to Switzerland. The herb can now be found on the shelves of pretty much every health food store on the planet. So next time you feel a cold coming on and you pop some store bought Echinacea just remember that you have a Scorpio/Virgo to thank for that.

Editor’s Note: I’ve uploaded an audio/video version of this article to YouTube and to Soundcloud. -Matt

Pair the intuitive abilities of a Pisces Sun with the pioneering instincts of an Aries Moon and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that is equal parts sensitive poet (Pisces) and ass-kicking crusader (Aries). According to astrologer Jefferson Anderson this pairing will leverage its access to ethereal realms (Pisces) in order to ram its way through to the finish line (Aries):

In the Medieval days the textbook Pisces/Aries might have been found putting their “remarkable sixth sense” to use in service of the King or Queen, advising them on “whom to trust and whom to avoid” as well who to single out for further surveillance, blackmail, or even who to eliminate. Today this pairing’s cunning intelligence and capacity for subtle persuasion are more likely be expressed via technological means or applied to innovative engineering projects. To illustrate: using the date of its establishment as its date of birth, the ECHELON network is a Pisces Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) If you’re not familiar with ECHELON it’s the worldwide satellite surveillance and communications intercept network jointly operated by the United states, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. (Source) An engineering project of colossal scale, its official role is to inform signatories to the “Five Eyes” agreement “whom to trust and whom to avoid.” In effect, ECHELON’s intercept abilities gives these signatories the technological equivalent of an “uncanny sixth sense.”

According to astrologer Linda Goodman the Pisces/Aries pairing will “spend much time discussing secrets . . . including all matters of the occult, the esoteric or the metaphysical, such as astrology, hypnotism, astral travel, telepathy and the like”. (Source) ECHELON does not literally make use of astral travel, telepathy, or other occult methodologies but its surveillance and intercept capacities are so advanced they may as well be from the other realms. The people who operate the network do indeed “spend much of their time discussing secrets”, both political secrets and industrial ones. For example, former NSA analyst Wayne Madsen believes ECHELON has been used to conduct financial espionage on behalf of U.S. automobile companies. (Source) A number of high-ranking legislators have voiced similar concerns, mainly that the system has been used to steal secrets from uncooperative companies and provide them to companies willing to play ball with the “Five Eyes” organization. (Source)

The textbook Pisces/Aries can be incredibly imaginative in coming up with ways to absorb impressions while hidden away in their own private sanctuary. The ECHELON system, for instance, makes use of a phenomenon called “Moon Bounce” which according to author Trevor Paglen involves “capturing communications and telemetry signals from around the world as they escape into space, hit the moon, and are reflected back towards Earth.” (Source) In 2010 Paglen used advanced “limit” tele-photography techniques to capture this image of an Echelon listening post designed to make use of “Moon Bounce”:

Using its establishment date as its date of birth, the search engine “Shodan” is also a Pisces/Aries. (Chart) A recent CNN article referred to Shodan as the “scariest search engine on the planet”, describing it as “a kind of dark Google, looking for the servers, webcams, printers, routers and all the other stuff that is connected to and makes up the Internet.” (Source) What’s really scary is that Shodan also provides access to countless industrial control computers which run the world’s power grids, water plants, traffic systems, chemical factories, water treatment facilities, data centers, and at least one nuclear particle accelerator. (Source) In short, Shodan is to home based hackers what ECHELON has been to high level spooks:

Strange Coincidence #2: ECHELON and Shodan aren’t the only Pisces/Aries who’ve attained mythic status for the ability to intercept communications and/or hack into the grid. Steve Jobs is also a Pisces/Aries. (Chart) In the mid 1970s Jobs earned seed money for Apple Computer by selling what were known as “blue boxes”, small devices designed to make free phone calls by hacking into the phone system. The methodologies Jobs used were known as “phone phreaking” and were as imaginative and innovative as the intercept methodologies upon which ECHELON and Shodan are built. (Source) They were also totally illegal.

The flip side to being so vividly imaginative is that this pairing is often “led into situations so mysterious, so intertwined with intrigue and half-truths that even a Ouija board couldn’t get to the bottom of the whole mess” according to Mrs. Goodman (Source) A case could be made that Jobs’ original ‘blue boxes’ were, in effect, the technological equivalent of Ouija Boards: primitive motherboards designed to conjure free phone calls from Ma-Bell, the vast copper-wired, analog-era, super-entity that was to denizens of 1970s corporate telephone systems what communications deity Papa Legba was to practitioners of Haitian Vodou. In a 1994 interview Jobs described the process of using the primitive blue boxes to control hundreds of millions of dollars of telephone infrastructure as being akin to a “powerful form of magic”:

Using the date of its establishment as its date of birth, the “President’s Working Group on Financial Markets” aka the “Plunge Protection Team” (PPT) is another Pisces/Aries associated with forms of conjuring. (Chart) Created in 1988 by President Reagan, the PPT is officially tasked with “maintaining investor confidence”. (Source) How the PPT accomplishes this is as “intertwined with intrigue and half-truths” as the inner workings of ECHELON. For example, while the PPT is thought to have played as direct a role in managing (manipulating?) the 2008 financial collapse as Steve Jobs played at Apple you’d probably need a Ouija board, tarot cards, a few “blue boxes”, and the modern day equivalent of a witchdoctor or two to discern the specifics of the group’s interventions:

Astrologer David Wells says this pairing’s “strength lies your magic, an intuition that knows how to drive through life.” (Source) Astronaut Gordon Cooper is a Pisces/Aries whose intuitive ability to manually drive the Faith 7 spacecraft saved both his own life and, quite possibly, that of the U.S. Space program. (Chart) Unlike later missions the Faith 7 was designed for fully automatic control with no input from the occupant. In other words, there were no instruments on board which would have allowed Cooper to take control of the craft even if he had wanted to. This became a major problem when the capsule experienced a near total power failure during its 19th orbit around the Earth. By the 20th orbit all readings of altitude and orientation were lost. By the 21st orbit the capsule’s automatic stabilization and control systems had failed completely. At that point Cooper was, for all intents and purposes, a dead man careening through space.

Cooper, tapping into that Pisces/Aries capacity for innovation, literally “hacked” into capsule’s engines and took control of them manually. Using his understanding of star patterns, his wristwatch, and calculations he wrote out on the capsule’s window with a number two pencil he successfully estimated the correct pitch for re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. According to NASA, “Cooper’s cool-headed performance and piloting skills led to a basic rethinking of design philosophy for later space missions”. (Source) Following his retirement from NASA, Cooper attempted to expose the truth about UFOs. He also contributed to the book In the Shadow of the Moon, an appropriately titled work for a Sun/Moon pairing as willing to adventure through the ethereal realms of the unknown as Pisces/Aries.

About the Author: Matthew David Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or astrological consults via Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud, LibSyn or this site’s contact page.

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One of my favorite books is I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon’s Black World by geographer Trevor Paglen. (Source) The book is a concise but very thought provoking compendium of occult symbols used within the world of classified military projects and recently received a very favorable review from the New York Times:

Being an astrologer I decided to look up the charts for the organizations and units thought to be associated with some of the patches.

Virgo Sun, Libra Moon: “The Reconnaiter”

These patches are all from operations carried out by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Using its establishment date as its date of birth, the NRO is a Virgo Sun, Libra Moon. (Chart) Located in Virginia, the NRO “designs, builds, and operates the spy satellites of the United States government.” (Source)

According to astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey the Virgo/Libra pairing has “great powers of observation . . . but finds the whole sphere of relating to warm blooded humans a bit messy.” (Source) In each of the NRO patches, for instance, it’s hard to imagine the cold blooded snakes or scaly dragons doing much normal relating to warm blooded humans. From their vantage points high up above the earth they will, however, be able to make wonderfully accurate observations.

Virgo/Libras are typically very courteous to others. To illustrate: the satellites symbolized in the NRO patches are courteous enough not to intrude upon the day-to-day activities of earthlings even as they catalog our every move with total precision.

Some individuals of more conspiratorial persuasions have speculated that it’s the NRO who monitors UFOs as they enter and leave Earth’s atmosphere. (Source) If true that’s an awful strange coincidence because based on its premier date Fox’s bizarre yet strangely entertaining 1995 Alien Autopsy special is also a Virgo Sun, Libra Moon. (Chart) According to the Harveys, the Virgo/Libra combination is sometimes a bit of snob who “can forget simply how to be human”. (Source) Yeah, I’d say so:

Virgo/Libra excels at accurate analysis (Virgo) of “the other” (Libra), whether that “other” is a geopolitical rival from across the globe, a romantic partner from across the dinner table, or a space alien from across the galaxy. Reverend Jeremiah Wright, for instance, is a Virgo Sun, Libra Moon. (Chart) His analysis of Bill Clinton’s time in office (“he did us just like he did Monica Lewinsky, he was ridin’ dirty”) is as dead on accurate as the high resolution surveillance photos the NRO might be taking of you at this very moment.

Scorpio Sun, Pisces Moon: “That Which Casts No Shadows”

This patch comes from the “Advanced Technology Observatory Platform” or “ATOP” for short. The latin phrase at the bottom of the patch translates as “Vigilance Through Stealth”. Not much else is known about the project other than the date of its first flight which is enough to let us know it most likely it’s a Scorpio Sun, Pisces Moon. (Chart) Combine the secretive nature of a Scorpio Sun with the mystical instincts of a Pisces Moon and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that is imaginative, mysterious and deeply in tune with all that is hidden. Since we’re dealing with a Scorpio/Pisces we know that what’s not shown in the patch is going to be more important than what is shown:

Jefferson Anderson calls Scorpio/Pisces the Sun/Moon pairing “The Sponge” whose ability to absorb energy from the environment “allows it take on the color of its surroundings like a chameleon”. (Source) According to Linda Goodman this combination of signs is associated with deeply subtle, very covert forms of movement. When paired together they take on “an other-worldly ability to navigate the invisible realms that connect people on psychic levels” she writes in her book Love Signs. (Source)

It’s unlikely that ATOP has anything to do with the invisible realms of the psychic world, at least not on the literal level. It may, however, have something to do with technology that absorbs light from the surrounding environment in order to produce optical invisibility, not unlike what a chameleon does. In other words, a cloaking device. At least that’s what some informed observers such as Mark Pilkington, author of Mirage Men: An Adventure into Paranoia, Espionage, Psychological Warfare, and UFOs seem to think it might be. As Pilkington explains in his 2010 article on the mystery of ATOP patch, “today’s radar-evading drones are carefully optimised to blend in with the sky and to avoid casting shadows.” (Source)

Strange coincidence: Marie Curie is a Scorpio Sun, Pisces Moon. (Chart) She won a Nobel prize for her pioneering work with radiation, an “entity” which also casts no shadows.

Gemini Sun, Capricorn Moon: “The Cold Hearted Mathematicians”

This patch is from the 4451st Test Squadron, a highly classified unit originally known as “the Grim Reapers.” (Source) When existence of the unit was publicly acknowledged in the late 1980s they became know as the more family friendly sounding “Ghost Riders.” The imagery on the patch, while loaded with occult symbolism, doesn’t leave too much to the imagination about the nature of the unit’s work:

The Grim Reapers were the first unit to test the F-117 Nighthawk, the triangularly shaped stealth fighter that Americans became familiar with via CNN’s coverage of Operation Desert Storm. Using the date of the F-117’s first flight as its date of birth it’s a Gemini Sun, Capricorn Moon. (Source) Gemini is the fast moving, highly flexible, fiber optic wired communicator of the zodiac. Capricorn is the hard-assed, hard-working, hoof-busting strategist of the zodiac. Pair the mental agility of a Gemini Sun with the strategic instincts of a Capricorn Moon and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that sees the entire world as a chess board.

If you can imagine a butterfly (Gemini) genetically engineered to have both the backbone and the ruthlessness of a Mountain Goat (Capricorn) you’ll have a sense for this pairing’s basic modus operandi.

You’ll often find this pairing working in experimental physics, engineering, or other technologically advanced fields which require equal parts mental dexterity (Gemini) and back breaking hours of hard work (Capricorn). Astrologer Linda Goodman says that when Gemini and Capricorn meet up it’s usually for “. . . a reason relating to mystery, sex, death, hypnosis, psychiatry or some bending of the mind.” (Source) The F-117 of course doesn’t bend minds, hypnotize people, or mysteriously alter the laws of physics. Its stealth technology does, however, bend radar signatures thereby (metaphorically) hypnotizing its opponents’ computer tracking systems. And it does so using methods so mysteriously advanced they would seem like magic to previous generations.

Of course what keeps the F-117 aloft isn’t magic but cold hearted math.

Strange coincidence: Using its release date as its date of birth the 1987 film Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Gemini Sun, Capricorn Moon. (Chart)

In the film a special forces unit led by Arnold is oblivious to the fact they’re being tracked by a technologically advanced extraterrestrial who can follow them while remaining invisible. In other words, the creature uses stealth technology to stalk and kill its prey in much the same way the F-117 uses stealth technology to stalk and kill its prey.

Scorpio Sun, Gemini Moon: “The Men in Black”

This patch comes from the Air Force “Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities” (TENCAP) which appears to be a unit inside what used to be known as the “Space Warfare Center” (SWC). (Source) The exact activation date for TENCAP is unavailable but the SWC was activated November 1st, 1993. (Source) This makes it a Scorpio Sun, Gemini Moon. (Chart) Scorpio is the covert operative who knows where the bodies are buried, Gemini is quick thinking communicator who knows where the phone lines are buried. Combine the Sun in the sign of keeping secrets with the Moon in the sign of mental agility and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that excels at figuring out ingenius ways to both find and hide information. Astrologer Carolyn Reynolds says this pairing “will know all the neighbors’ business . . . even though they will have little knowledge about yours”. (Source) No joke about the “neighbors” thing:

The Harveys call this the pairing of “the village gossip who takes their secrets to the grave”. (Source) What if the “village” in question includes neighborhoods above and beyond those down here on terra firma? It’s an apt question because if there was ever a Sun/Moon pairing that would excel at hiding their “neighbors” in plain sight ala Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the film Men in Black it’s Scorpio/Gemini.

Strange Coincidence: Levi Coffin, a 19th century businessman whose Ohio home was considered the “Grand Central Station” of the Underground Railroad, is a Scorpio Sun, Gemini Moon. (Chart)

It’s estimated that Coffin and his wife Catherine assisted 2,000 fugitive slaves over the course of 30 years, often employing incredibly innovative methods that were the 19th century equivalent of technology from the future. You could say they were the original “Men in Black”.

Cancer Sun, Virgo Moon: “The Excellence of Experimentation”

These patches all come from projects or units associated with Area 51. The on patch upper left comes from “The Ghost Squadron”, a unit who (supposedly) fix the actual “black helicopters” we’ve heard so much about. The latin on the patch translates as “A Secret Squadron . . . From Deep in the Night . . . Don’t Ask Any Questions.” The patch on the upper right comes “a test squadron for classified prototype aircraft and advanced concept technology demonstrators” according to Paglen. (Source) Nobody’s been able to figure what the bottom two patches pertain to exactly although there’s been wild speculation on the net that the “Green Door” one has something to do with rooms in which “trans-dimensional portals” are kept locked away. More likely it’s related to military intelligence:

The establishment date for Area 51 is a bit hard to pin down but after doing a good deal of research my best guess is it was “open for business” on July 22nd, 1955. This makes it a Cancer Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) Cancer is the homebody of the zodiac who likes to stay fortified from the outside world while Virgo is the precision oriented analyst known for being obsessive about their work. According to astrologer Bill Tierney the textbook Cancer/Virgo is “keenly attentive to details” and excels at “keeping everything well-maintained”. (Source) Area 51 was originally established by the CIA as a fortified base (Cancer) to perform detailed maintenance (Virgo) on its U-2 spy plane.

Author and productivity guru Tim Ferriss is a Cancer/Virgo. (Chart) Ferriss has built up a huge cult following by performing medical experiments on himself as futuristic, freaky, and in some cases as frightening as anything that goes on at Area 51. Stem cell injections, blood letting, brain wave analysis, “polyphasic” sleep experiments, exotic smart drugs imported from European pharmacies, etc. it’s all in day’s work for Ferriss. A 2010 article in Wired Magazine referred to him as a “self-made lab rat”. (Source) Here, for instance, is a talk he gave at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival on what he calls “Hacking the Human Body”:

If you’ve ever listened to late night talk radio you know that Area 51 is considered home (Cancer Sun) to medical and technical experiments (Virgo Moon). Something similar can probably said about what happens at Tim Ferriss’ place.

Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon: “The United Federation of Superfreaks”

This patch comes from Air Force Space Command (AFSC). Using AFSC’s activation date as its date of birth it’s a Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon. (Chart) This is the zodiac’s far-out and far-reaching, kinky freak-show combination albeit one that really excels at technologically advanced forms of forensic research. Cancer/Virgo may enjoy strange health experiments but with Virgo/Aquarius you never know just what (or who) they’re going to bring to the party. For starters they’ll often have friends or colleagues from social backgrounds radically different than their own. In the AFSC patch, for instance, you Star Trek fans will notice that the emblem in the center bears a striking resemblance to the emblem for the United Federation of Planets:

As far as Star Trek type technology goes, if anybody ever invents a zero-point powered orgasmatron that allows you to anonymously exchange genetic databases with residents of Zeta Reticuli it will probably be a Virgo/Aquarius, or whatever the equivalent of a Virgo/Aquarius is in different galaxies where they use different astrological symbols. It’s doubtful AFSC is researching anything quite that exotic but if their Wikipedia entry is any indicator they are involved in developing extremely advanced technology. (Source) Astrologer Carolyn Reynolds says this pairing makes for an “innovative, imaginative, and unpredictable individual” who can develop a near psychic level of rapport with computer hardware. (Source) Who knows, maybe AFSC is working on brain/computer interface technology that allows people to navigate satellites or spacecraft with nothing more than their thoughts. DARPA is already working on similar technology so it’s not totally inconceivable. (Source)

Wild Speculation: They could be working to thwart (or manage?) an alien invasion, to make time travel possible, or maybe on sh-t so disturbingly freaky that words simply won’t do it justice. H.G. Wells, the science fiction author who wrote The War of the Worlds (about an alien invasion), The Time Machine (about time travel), and The Island of Dr. Moreau (about disturbingly freaky stuff) is a Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon. (Chart)

Strange Coincidence #1 John McAfee, the creator of the anti-virus software that bears his name, is a Virgo/Aquarius. (Chart) His anti-virus software may not be as advanced as whatever’s going on at AFSC but it was decades ahead of its time when originally released. He sold his company in the 1980s and moved to the jungles of Belize where he’s poured much of his fortune into finding a herbal medicines. (Source) According to a 2012 Huffington Post article, McAffe claims he’s also been involved in a massive spying operation the last few years while on the run from the South American authorities. (Source) Whether that’s true or not, what is obvious is that for McAfee — like many Virgo/Aquarians — all the money in the world isn’t worth much compared to a life of constant experimentation and excitement.

Strange Coincidence #2: Using the date the first “Burning Man” was held in Black Rock City as the annual event’s date of birth, it too is a Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon. (Chart) For those who aren’t familiar with Burning Man it’s a free-expression free-for-all festa-palooza held every year in the desert of Nevada where people shed their normal identities for experimental realities more in tune with their unicorn like true selves.

According to the Harveys, a metaphoric image for Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon is “Aliens land and embark on building a new and improved world order”. (Source) That happens to be a great approximation of the AFSC as it seems they utilize assets in outer space to conduct missions down here on earth which ultimately aim to maintain the “world order”. It’s also a pretty good approximation of “Burning Man” participants. After all, if a caravan of “Burners” ever passed you on the highway you might wonder if space aliens in a UFO just did a flyby, albeit ones more likely to be equipped with wildly decorative boas and avant garde ideas than armed with mind controlled death rays and bad intentions.

Aries Sun, Scorpio Moon: “The Lord of Darkness”

This patch is from the 22nd Military Airlift Squadron. According to Paglen, “part of their mission was to conduct late night operations picking up classified aircraft from aerospace plants in Southern California and delivering them to classified locations.” (Source) Using the 22nd’s establishment date as its date of birth it is an Aries Sun, Scorpio Moon. (Chart) This is one of the darkest, most dangerous, most intensely private Sun/Moon pairings. Astrologer Carolyn Reynolds writes of the Aries/Scopio pairing, “You will never guess what is going on inside this person” while Jefferson Anderson says the textbook Aries/Scorpio is a “very aggressive, extremely independent individual” who struggles to “hold back their belligerence”. (Source) The letters at the bottom 22d’s patch stand for “None of Your Fucking Business”, denoting a belligerent, intensely private life philosophy that will resonate with many Aries/Scorpios.

Strange Coincidence #1: Using its premier date as its date of birth, the 1992 crime thriller Deep Cover is an Aries Sun, Scorpio Moon. (Chart) The film includes an array of themes close to the heart of any Aries Sun, Scorpio Moon native: shadowy underworlds, double crossing double agents, an atmosphere equal parts paranoia and primordial belligerence, all mixed in with loads of aggressive physical action. The film received mixed reviews but is widely remembered for its distinctive theme song “187 on an Undercover Cop”, which was rapper Snoop Dog’s first big break:

Strange coincidence #2: Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is an Aries/Scorpio. (Chart) It’s highly unlikely she got that high up in the viper’s pit that is Washington D.C. without “doing some shit deep cover on the incognito tip” to quote a line from the Deep Cover theme.

In the above video, for instance, Pelosi tells a reporter she “knows something” about Newt Gingrich that makes it impossible for him to ever be president. She won’t say what it is she knows because, as her demeanor makes clear, what she knows is none of our business.

Sagittarius Sun, Capricorn Moon: “Sir Jest-A-Lot”

This patch comes from the 509th Operations Group, a unit that services B-2 stealth bombers. Back in 1947 the 509th was responsible for cleaning up the “weather balloon” that famously crashed outside Roswell, New Mexico. Using its activation date as its date of birth the 509th is a Sagittarius Sun, Capricorn Moon. (Chart) Sagittarius is the most wildly spirited sign of the zodiac while Capricorn is the sign most realistic about the harsh nature of life on the earthly plain. Pair the boisterousness of a Sagittarius Sun with the instincts for organization of a Capricorn Moon and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that will sing songs, tell stories, and crack jokes (Sagittarius) all while keeping its feet on the ground and nose to the grindstone (Capricorn).

Capricorn/Sagittarius is renown for its sense of humor. Jefferson Anderson calls this pairing of “the Comic” whose “incisive remarks always hit home, though they usually emphasize the darker side of life.” (Source) Of all the patches in Paglen’s book, the 509 patch is definitely the funniest. For starters the presence of the grey alien munching on the stealth bomber is a nod to the lore surrounding the unit as the guys who cleaned up the most famous UFO incident in history. The phrase “To Serve Man” is a reference to a classic Twilight Zone episode where aliens have come to Earth to serve man . . . as tasty dinnertime treats. The latin phrase at the bottom of the patch translates as “Tastes Like Chicken”.

Strange Coincidence #1: science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke is a Sagittarius/Capricorn. (Chart) Like the 509th, his public persona is associated with space aliens. Describing his work Clarke once said, “My main themes are exploration of the position of Man in the hierarchy of the universe, and the effect of contact with other intelligences.”

Strange Coincidence #2: Ozzie Osbourne is a Sagittarius Sun, Capricorn Moon. (Chart) So far as we know he’s never munched on a grey alien or stealth bomber but he did once eat a live bat on stage.

Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon: “The Private Eyes”

This patch comes from the 23rd Space Operations Squadron (“23rd SOPS”). Using its activation date as its date of birth the 23rd SOPS is a Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) Scorpio is the deep cover agent while Virgo is the anonymous analyst of the zodiac. Scorpio excels at all matters of a clandestine nature while Virgo excels at mentally intense forms forensic research. Pair the two together and you get a Sun/Moon pairing that possesses tremendous powers of discernment, with darn near X-Ray vision. Bill Tierney writes, “. . . this combo is unbeatable at detective work, whether in trying to solve a crime, uncover a mystery of science, or probe deeply into a troubled psyche”. (Chart) It also tends to have a darkly ironic, often disturbing, sense of humor as the patch for 23rd SOPS demonstrates. Paglen writes, “If you look closely at the contour of the black face, you’ll see another face, with pointy nose and pointy ears, looking left. Who is this creepier dude within an already creepy dude? And what’s up with all the layers of creepy?” (Source)

As far as what the 23rd SOPS does, it has something to do with operating a “a Defense Satellite Communications System Heavy Earth Terminal, Source-B antenna . . .” according to the unit’s official fact sheet. I’m not sure what that means in plain English and given the uber-creepy nature of the unit’s patch maybe I don’t want to know. Whatever it means, I’m sure “They” definitely don’t want people asking too many questions. As astrologer Grant Lewi writes of the typical Scorpio/Virgo, “You hate to have people prying into your affairs and resist any attempt to ferret out your private life . . . you love to listen to gossip and even pass it on – not always with kindly intent”. (Source)

Strange Coincidence #1: Using its premier date as its date of birth, John Carpenter’s 1987 cult film They Live is a Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) The film stars Rowdy Rowdy Piper as a displaced construction worker who discovers a pair of black sunglasses that allow him to see the world as it truly is. What he finds out is that, much like the face hidden within the face in the 23rd SOPS patch, there are multiple, unseen layers of reality to the everyday world around him (us?). If you’ve never seen the film you owe it to yourself to watch this clip. It’s clearly fiction but feels too close to real for comfort:

Jefferson Anderson writes of Scorpio/Virgo investigative prowess, “Your sensitivity enables you to perceive things that others won’t or can’t. You form conclusions about life that are startlingly accurate.” (Source) Fortunately They Live is just a film so there’s no need to wonder if there might be some accuracy to its startling conclusions about how life in the 21st century really works.

Strange Coincidence #2: Nobel prize winning physicist Patrick Blackett is a Scorpio Sun, Virgo Moon. (Chart) His work on radar defense systems in the lead up to World War II enabled the Royal Air Force to identify bombers from the Nazi Luftwaffe in much the same way Piper’s mysterious black sunglasses enable him to identify extraterrestrial fascists in They Live.

About the Author: Matt Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or astrological consults via Twitter, his first YouTube channel, his second YouTube channel, SoundCloud, LibSyn or this site’s contact page.

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Aries is symbolized by the ram, an aggressive beast who confronts rivals by charging at them directly. Sagittarius, sitting 120 degrees away from Aries, is symbolized by the wild haired centaur-archer armed with a quiver full of flaming arrows ready to be fired off at distant targets. Combine the Sun (identity) in the sign of courage (Aries) with the Moon (emotional needs) in the sign of wide ranging crusades (Sagittarius) and the result is going to feel like a high-speed trip down some highly dangerous roads. Competitive and combative, enterprising and entrepreneurial, this pairing is the daredevil visionary of the zodiac who isn’t going to wait around for anybody or anything before setting off on an adventure. Linda Goodman hints at just how dangerous an Aries/Sagittarius adventure can be, “When these two signs join the trip may be noisy but never dull. They’ll energetically defend against any baddies who threaten them.” (Source)

Battles with baddies, bullies, and bad intentioned people whether on the streets, in business, or from the government are a life long theme for many Aries/Sagittarius individuals. Of the 144 Sun/Moon pairings this is one of the most likely to go against, over, or above the law in order to speak its truth. Wilhelm Reich, the controversial psychoanalyst whose publications were burned by the U.S. government, is an Aries/Sagittarius. (Chart) So too is Bob Woodward, the journalist who blew the doors off the Watergate scandal. (Chart) Woodward’s crusade against the mafioso tactics of the Nixon administration was the subject of the 1976 film All the President’s Men in which he was portrayed by actor Robert Redford:

As far as “blowing the doors off things”, well sometimes it’s the Aries/Sag who is defending against the bad guys while acting like one himself. You see, astrology is a study of oppositions and paradoxes. The paradox for Aries/Sagittarius is that its enormous courage can be matched by its tendency for violence, its aptitude for free enterprise by its propensity for fanaticism. To illustrate: Monticello based tobacco mogul Thomas Jefferson is an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon. (Chart) So too is Compton, California based rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight. (Chart) Jefferson, as you probably know, is the big scary red headed white man who founded the United States. Knight is the big scary bald headed black man who founded Death Row Records, a company that was to the world of 1990s music what the United States was to the world of 1790s politics. Both enterprises were conceived as pioneering, entrepreneurial adventures involving free expression (high Aries/Sadge), both enterprises were fueled by violence, exploitation, and fanaticism (low Aries/Sadge).

Thomas Jefferson is a white member of the founding generation respected by many while Suge Knight is a black member of the gangster rap generation feared by many but the two men have more in common than their demographic profiles might suggest. Jefferson, for instance, is known for the quote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with blood . . .” – a philosophy that bears more than a few resemblances to the blood soaked approach upon which Death Row was founded. Astrologer Jefferson Anderson describes the Aries/Sagittarius high-impact modus operandi as follows:

Jefferson’s unwavering dedication and brilliant leadership in declaring independence from British domination is one of the most well documented chapters in history. Obviously, Knight’s professional and social ecosystems were very different than Jefferson’s but if starting a black-owned label that would make hundreds of millions of dollars from music so profoundly unsettling to the white power establishment it would draw heat from Bob Dole, Bill Bennett, Dan Quayle, Joe Biden, and multiple federal agencies doesn’t count as “leadership in the execution of an original idea” I’m not sure what does.

Grant Lewi writes of the Aries/Sagittarius leadership style:

Jefferson didn’t write songs or editorials but he was the primary architect of the declaration of independence, a document that served as a defacto anthem for a nation built on a set of radically pioneering political doctrines. In its own way, Death Row Records did something similar. However unconventional the company’s tactics, it did manage to provide a platform for a radically pioneering type of music that voiced (pleaded?) the experiences of persons whose cause(s) are so close to invisible they’re assumed to be lost. Reviewing the company’s iconic debut album The Chronic, Jordan Richardrson writes “More than just the introduction of classic beats, the album summarizes a way of life that is all too real for many young men and women on our streets.” (Source)

Suzi and Charles Harvey tell us that at its best this pairing excels at “motivating others to action [and] arousing public interest in moral and social causes.” (Source) At its worst, however, this pairing will live out its life as a “war of all against all”, a phrase originally coined by 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes himself an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon. (Chart) Hobbes is best known for the book Leviathan in which he argued the only way to prevent perpetual war is for people to submit to an all powerful sovereign who will enforce order by any means necessary, including war. Between the philosophy he advocates and the violent art he commissioned for the book’s cover you could make a case that Thomas Hobbes was as much a “gangster rapper” as anybody signed to the Death Row label back in the 1990s:

According to Xenon Pictures’ 2001 documentary Welcome to Death Row, the workplace environment at Death Row was about as Leviathan-esque as can be imagined. Music journalist Chris Campion writes, “The rise and fall of Death Row and its CEO, Marion “Suge” Knight, makes The Godfather look like a bedtime story.” (Source) One former employee recalls a Hobbesian office culture where “brothers were coming through windows, coming through doors, you never knew what to expect” while a PBS Frontline article on Death Row lists “pistol whippings, ass-kickings, and beatdowns” as the primary tools used to manage human resource issues during Knight’s tenure as CEO. (Source) Astrologer Grant Lewi does warn the Aries/Sagittarius individual, “You have terrific force of expression, maybe too forceful.” (Source) Rapper Rob Van Winkle, best known as “Vanilla Ice”, recalls an early run-in with the Aries/Sag capacity for “terrific force of expression” at 12:00 of this interview:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE5sRXF34b4&w=420&h=236]

Keep in mind that the use of such “terrifically forceful” practices is not exactly unheard of in the music business. In the documentary The Secret History of Rock and Roll, rapper Coolio points out that “record companies used to hire hit men and put them on the payroll”. (Source) If you think about it from that perspective, a Sun/Moon pairing as openly aggressive as Aries/Sadge is probably well suited for executive work in an arena as ruthless as the recording industry.

Speaking of Leviathan-esque environments, Godfather tactics and the use of excessive force, Thomas Jefferson wasn’t exactly an angel himself. According to a 2003 NY Times article “The Monster at Monticello” and a 2010 Smithsonian Magazine article “The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson”, it seems he conducted himself more like a brutal gangster than the benevolent patriarch portrayed in history books. Among other things, Jefferson advocated the forceful assimilation and/or extermination of Native American tribes, a genocidal stance that makes the Godfather tactics at Death Row seem tame by comparison. Of course Jefferson is one of the founding fathers so we give him a pass for matters as ethically problematic as anything articulated on a gangster rap album.

According to the PBS article, “Death Row came into being under cloudy circumstances that may have included $1.5 million in seed money from the flamboyant drug-dealer Michael Harris . . .” (Source) Without dismissing the seriousness of those allegations, we all know Thomas Jefferson’s free market brainchild the United States was underwritten by methods of capital accumulation vastly more sinister than the distribution of illegal drugs.

Interesting side note: it was Michael Harris who also put up almost $500,000 to finance the 1988 Broadway play Checkmates that was a young Denzel Washington’s first big break:

The biographies of both Knight and Jefferson bear more than a passing resemblance to that of Caracalla, one of the most notorious Roman emperors and himself an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon. (Chart) On the upside Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all freemen throughout the Roman Empire, commissioned massive public works projects, and dramatically raised the pay and treatment of Rome’s citizen-soldiers. On the downside his attitude towards Germanic tribes neighboring Rome was as homicidal as Thomas Jefferson’s was to Native American tribes neighboring the American colonies. He also managed to get caught up in a blood soaked feud with his brother that divided along East/West lines in a manner more than bit reminiscent of the violent East Coast/West Coast feud that plagued gangster rap during the 1990s.

Suge Knight isn’t the only Aries/Sag music mogul while Thomas Jefferson isn’t the only Aries/Sag who founded a nation. Afrika Bambaataa (born Kevin Sullivan) is an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon whose done both. (Chart) A legendary DJ who founded the music-and-culture oriented Universal Zulu Nation in the 1970s, Bambaataa is member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a visiting scholar at Cornell. (Source)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaAH8iODex8&w=420&h=236]

Bambaataa has traveled far and ride to spread the gospel of hip hop but even his legendary career seems almost pedestrian when compared to the travels of Robert Smalls, a Civil War era escaped slave who is also an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon. (Chart) If the rise and fall of Death Row reads like a chapter out of The Godfather, Smalls’ biography reads like a combination of the Tupacalypse Now album, Django Unchained, and The Hunt for Red October all rolled into one. On May 13th, 1862 Smalls commandeered a cargo ship full of slaves and ran it through a blockade of Confederate Navy ships to freedom. The ship also contained Confederate code books holding the 1860s equivalent of top secret computer files which Smalls managed to decipher on his own. (Source) When Smalls’ wife asked him what would happen if he was captured he replied, “I’ll be shot.” In other words, he was prepared to end up on the Civil War version of “death row” if it meant a chance at freedom. Following the war he would become one of the most influential politicians in the South. He also ended up wealthy enough that he eventually purchased the home of his former master.

Bob Woodward’s crusade on behalf of the rule of law took down Richard Nixon, the most criminal-minded of the U.S. presidents. Smalls’ crusade on behalf of emancipation earned him a one-on-one meeting with Abraham Lincoln, the most justice-minded of the U.S. presidents. That Aries/Sagittarians like Woodward and Smalls would succeed at such daring operations makes perfect sense. Whether in the 1860s or the 1970s, in Washington D.C. or South Central Los Angeles, for Aries/Sadge, life simply isn’t worth living unless it’s a death-defying trip down the road less traveled.

About the Author: Matthew David Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or astrological consults via Twitter, his first YouTube channel, his second YouTube channel, SoundCloud, LibSyn or this site’s contact page.

The premier issue of Hexagon, now shipping: