Hexagon Astrology (Matthew David Savinar)

Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon: The Outlaw Philosopher and the Renegade Funkateer, the Above the Law Playwright and the Take No Prisoners Street Preacher, the High Seas Freedom Rider and the Soulsonic Super Soulja

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:

An Aries/Sagittarius who has found his or mission can be a model of unwavering dedication. Courage, persona magnetism, and high intelligence combine to make you a brilliant leader when it comes to the management and execution of original ideas. (Source)

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:

Your are in many ways a pioneer, a fighter, a doer, a pleader of new doctrines and lost causes . . . You might be the man who said “Let me write the songs (or the editorials) of the nations, and I care not who makes its laws (or leads its armies)”. (Source)

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:

Thomas Hobbes is an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon

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.

Roman Emperor Caracalla is an Aries/Sagittarius — Roman Emperor Caracalla is an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon

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.

Escaped slave turned U.S. Congressman Robert Smalls is an Aries/Sagittarius — Escaped slave turned ship’s captain turned U.S. Congressman Robert Smalls is an Aries Sun, Sagittarius Moon

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:

Matt Savinar, Novalee Truesdell, and Carrie Davoli on the premier issue of Hexagon

Virgo Sun, Scorpio Moon: The Preying Mantis and the Mission Impossible, the Artisan Assassin and the Craftsperson of Covert Operations

Image: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, available via Amazon.

Editor’s Note: the majority of this article is excerpted from “Astrology of the Central Intelligence Agency”, one of four features originally published in the Spring 2016 print edition of Hexagon. -Matt

The Sun symbolizes the conscious identity, and the Moon symbolizes deeper, more unconscious emotional needs. These are the two sources of light (energy) in a chart, and together they describe the basic psychological architecture of a person, project, organization, or company. The CIA has its Sun in Virgo (sign of competency) and its Moon in Scorpio (sign of covert operations). Both signs are associated with investigative work albeit in slightly different ways. Virgo is the CSI officer assigned to examine a crime scene, Scorpio is the deep cover agent assigned to infiltrate a crime syndicate. Virgo’s eye for detail makes it great at forgery, sabotage, and cyber-warfare — either committing it or spotting it. Scorpio’s sense for the hidden makes it great at blackmail, coercion, and espionage — either plotting it or untangling it. Virgo’s discreet nature means it excels at being seen without being noticed, similar to a company’s janitorial staff. Scorpio’s secretive nature means it excels at being neither seen nor noticed, similar to a company’s internal affairs department. For example, the 1975 film Three Days of the Condor is a surprisingly accurate portrayal of the Agency’s methodically (Virgo) investigative (Scorpio Moon) modus operandi. It stars Robert Redford as Joe Turner, a bookish CIA analyst (Virgo) working under the secret guise (Scorpio Moon) of the “American Literary Historical Society”, a CIA funded arts-and-literature organization:

Combine a Virgo Sun’s capacity for quiet anonymity with a Scorpio Moon’s need for secrecy and the result is a Sun/Moon combination uniquely suited for the world of high-stakes spy-craft. Astrologer Jefferson Anderson calls this the combination of “The Sly Fox” whose “intellectual bearing masks a deeply secretive inner nature.” (Source) Astrologer Raven Kaldera associates the Virgo/Scorpio Sun/Moon paring with the “Blood Moon” that “senses the call of the Underworld and feels instinctively that Power lies there.” (Source) On the Blood Moon “we study darkness,” according to Kaldera. Along these lines, most of what the CIA does involves intellectual analysis (Virgo) of a deeply secretive nature (Scorpio), almost all of which takes place on the sly, in the dark, and within the context of enormous amounts of power and more than a bit of blood. Looking through business documents, sifting through medical files, and pouring over satellite photos to find minor anomalies that may lead to larger conspiracies are the types of intensely intellectual (Virgo) deep cover work (Scorpio) that comprise the agency’s bread-and-butter competency.

For instance, analyzing stacks and stacks of insurance files may not seem terribly exciting but, in the capable hands of a Virgo/Scorpio, those files can be turned into a highly effective tool (Virgo) for espionage (Scorpio), one that can quickly discern a target’s most sensitive vulnerabilities. It’s not known by the general public but the CIA actually evolved out of the “Office of Strategic Services” (OSS), a World War II organization whose ultra-secret “Insurance Intelligence Unit” utilized mundane details found within insurance filings to determine who would live and who would die, which towns would be fiercely protected and which would be fire-bombed out of existence. According to a year 2000 Los Angeles Times article “The Secret Agent Insurance Men”, the agency’s insurance specialists:

. . . mined standard insurance records for blueprints of bomb plants, timetables of tide changes and thousands of other details about targets . . . That insurance information was critical to Allied strategists, who were seeking to cripple the enemy’s industrial base and batter morale by burning cities.

Linda Goodman says the Virgo/Scorpio pairing excels at “understanding their individual assets versus their liabilities.” There is little-to-no publicly available information regarding the CIA’s use of insurance files in the modern day. However, given how effectively they were used to secretly discern targets’ assets versus their liabilities during World War II, it seems entirely reasonable to suspect “Secret (Insurance) Agent Men” are still operational in some capacity to this day. This is doubly the case since the CIA operates so many front companies, including proprietary airlines that wouldn’t be able to conduct their operations if they couldn’t get insurance.

It’s not unreasonable to suspect that the CIA has equally accurate intelligence on the status of U.S. industries, including the multi-billion dollar industry that is US electoral politics. For example, there’s a fascinating interview with Jesse Ventura circulating on the internet in which he recounts the time his presence was “requested” in the basement of the capital building shortly after he was elected governor of Minnesota. Once there he was interrogated by 23 members of the agency. He found the episode entirely baffling until he realized that all the questions they asked him were about how he got elected. He surmised that the intent of the meeting was to gather intelligence on trends in U.S. electoral politics, possibly to ensure that no similarly independent candidate manage to ascend to significant office in the future. According to astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey, a metaphoric image for the Virgo/Scorpio pairing is “A zealous insect lover stands quietly in the bushes observing the mating habits of the praying mantis.” If Governor Ventura’s story is any indicator, it would seem the CIA monitors the voting habits of the American citizenry in a similarly zealous—and quiet—fashion.

[large snip]

The image you’re looking at is a photocopy of a driver’s license issued to CIA agent tried (in absentia) for conducting an illegal abduction in Milan. It was released by Italian prosecutors in 2005 and brought to wider public attention by author/artist Trevor Paglen through a series of art exhibits and his 2010 book Invisible: Classified Landscapes and Covert Operations. The agent’s real name is not James Thomas Harbison, that’s the name of the cover identity for whom the license was issued.

Photocopy of driver's license issued to a CIA agent for a black bag job — Photocopy of driver’s license issued to a CIA agent for a black bag job

Virgo is the Sun sign most likely to prefer working in quiet anonymity while secrecy is a deep seated emotional need for any person, organization, or “entity” with their Moon in Scorpio. Mr. Harbison is not an actual “man in black”, the license looks the way it does because it was photocopied. However, metaphorically an image of an anonymous (Virgo) man in black (Scorpio) is an excellent approximation of the CIA’s Sun/Moon pairing. Furthermore, Virgo/Scorpios tend to be very smart dressers even when they’re involved in very dirty work. In the above image, for instance, you might have noticed how neatly the agent’s tie is tied.

Both Virgo and Scorpio are associated with health, with Virgo clocking in as the zodiac’s resident homeopath and Scorpio doing time as the zodiac’s resident psychologist. The Harveys tell us that this combination makes for something of a health fanatic. Along these lines, the CIA is considered the world’s premier intelligence agency when it comes to gathering “medical intelligence.” (Source) For instance, during the 1950s, as part of Operation Artichoke, the Agency collected information on medical issues such as hypnosis, morphine addiction, and LSD. (Source) The operation that located Osama Bin Laden in the lead up to his (alleged) assassination in 2011 was hidden within a vaccination drive organized by the Agency. (Source) According to a recent Mother Jones article, the Agency has detailed files on the health (Virgo) secrets (Scorpio) of numerous world leaders. (Source) Similarly, many of the agency’s proprietary weapons have been designed to effect precise (Virgo) forms of death (Scorpio) by attacking the target’s health. During the 1970s, a Congressional investigation revealed that the Agency had developed a “heart attack gun”, numerous videos of which are now circulating on the internet.

The Virgo/Scorpio pairing is “unbeatable at detective work, whether in trying to solve a crime, uncover a mystery of science, or probe deeply into a troubled psyche”, according to astrologer Bil Tierney. (Source) In true Virgo/Scorpio fashion, the CIA has proven to be largely unbeatable at probing people’s minds—both the minds of regular citizens and the deeply troubled psyches running many of the world’s largest governments and most powerful corporations. Its most well-known program for probing minds was “MK-ULTRA,” a Cold War-era program staffed in part by former Nazi scientists who were recruited during the waning days of World War II. According to a recent summary of the program published in Wired magazine, “the CIA’s Technical Services Staff launched the highly classified project to study the mind-control effects of LSD and other psychedelic drugs, using unwitting US and Canadian citizens as lab mice.” (Source) The program’s most ambitious goal was the development of a “Manchurian Candidate,” a mind-controlled automaton-servant (Virgo) who would kill on command (Scorpio). It’s unknown if the agency succeeded in developing such a soldier, but we do know that one of the 20th century’s most notorious murderers was the subject of MK-ULTRA experiments. During his time as a Harvard undergraduate, a then 17-year-old Ted Kaczynski was subjected to experiments by Dr. Henry Murray that involved severe verbal and psychological abuse. (Source)

Discreet Virgo, the craftsperson and artisan of the zodiac, micro-manages projects down to their smallest details and precise, split-second timing. Astrologer Stella Hyde says Scorpio’s ideal job is a ‘professional assassin’ who ‘spurns the bread-and-butter gangland contracts for the edgy intrigue, secrecy, and destabilizing political fallout that comes with top-class, globally significant, grassy-knoll-style eliminations.” (Source) The CIA has a long history of conducting precision (Virgo) eliminations (Scorpio). It masterminded the elimination of Mohammad Mosaddegh, president of Iran, in 1953, and the coup that ousted President Allende of Chile on September 11, 1973. It famously spent over 50 years trying to assassinate Fidel Castro in Cuba. The Agency is considered by many to be the prime suspect in the artisan-crafted, precisely administered (Virgo) grassy-knoll assassination (Scorpio) of President John F. Kennedy in retaliation for his attempts to limit the power of the military-industrial complex.

The CIA’s arguably craftiest (Virgo) covert operation (Scorpio) of all begun to take shape in the mid-1970s. It was at this time that the agency’s affiliates in Latin American law enforcement agencies begun relaying back intelligence gathered on a disturbing new drug trend: Peruvian and Bolivian psychiatrists were being inundated with zombie like patients addicted to smoking “basuco”, a coca derived paste with pharmacological effects identical to what would later come to be known as “crack” cocaine. (Source) hat the profits from cocaine importation were used to fund the CIA’s allies in Central America a decade later has since been exhaustively documented in books such as Gary Webb’s Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion (1998), Alexander Cockburn’s Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press, and highly regarded documentaries such as American Drug War: The Last White Hope (2007) and Freeway: A Crack in the System (2014). The Agency even defacto admitted it had been involved in these matters in its own 1998 Inspector General’s report while Colonel Oliver North’s diary included ledgers documenting import of large sums of cocaine. Rob Bonner, a federal judge and former head of the Drug enforcement Agency, went on the 60 Minutes television news show in 1996 and said in no uncertain terms that his agency had caught the CIA involved with the importation of massive amounts of cocaine.

Virgo is the sign most likely to work as a clean-up person or in a corporation’s customer service department while Scorpio Moons often reside in underworlds, be they emotional underworlds like those found throughout the halls of psychiatric hospitals or political underworlds like those found throughout the corridors of global finance. Not only did the agency’s foray into cocaine importation generate money for covert operations in Nicaragua, it also delivered profits for the CIA’s real customer: Wall Street investment consortiums and other underworld entities who snapped up inner city real estate for pennies on the dollar once the crack epidemic had cleansed the targeted neighborhoods of their residents. (Source)

Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the planetary patron saint of journalists, while Scorpio is co-ruled by Pluto, the Lord of hades whose cap of invisibility allows him to operate undetected. The combination is thus excellent for journalism (Virgo/Mercury) conducted in secret or under a cap of invisibility (Scorpio/ Pluto). The CIA has a long history of working with journalists (Virgo) under the cover of darkness (Scorpio). Michael Ruppert writes in his 2004 book Crossing the Rubicon:

In 1977 Rolling Stone published a watershed article by Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein titled, “The CIA and the Media.” In that story Bernstein dissected the documentary evidence showing that more than 400 US journalists in the preceding 25 years had carried out assignments for the CIA…the CIA’s primary and most important relationships had been with the new York Times, CBS, and Time magazine… Other publications that played ball with the Agency included the Los Angeles Times, the Columbia Journalism review, Newsweek, the Washington Star, the Miami news, the new York herald Tribune, the Saturday evening Post, Scripps-Howard Newspapers, Hearst Newspapers, Copley Press, the Associated Press, United Press International, NBC, and ABC. One US senator who had been the target of CIA lobbying and smear campaign told Bernstein, “From the CIA point of view this was the highest, most sensitive covert program of all…It was a much larger part of the operational system than has been indicated.” (Source)

Despite official denials, there is little reason to doubt that the Agency still plays a role in shaping what does and does not get published in newspapers and/or broadcast on the airwaves. For instance, a 1987 article published in LA Weekly magazine posits that the American Broadcast Company (ABC) may have been indirectly seized by the CIA when Capital Cities Communications purchased it in March 1985. (Source) According to the Weekly piece, Capital Cities had deep ties to the intelligence community while the CIA’s challenge of ABC’s broadcast license lowered its stock value—just in time for Capital Cities to purchase the network at a bargain rate. Soon thereafter, the network’s programming was taken in a conservative direction that was “subtle but apparent”.

More recently, documents obtained by The Intercept in 2014 revealed that Ken Dilanian, a prominent national security reporter for the Los Angeles Times, had “routinely submitted drafts and detailed summaries of his stories to CIA press handlers prior to publication.” (Source) Around the same time, German editor Udo Ulfkotte admitted having published articles written by CIA operatives working as journalists (Virgo) under what’s called “non-official cover” (Scorpio), not unlike what we see depicted in Three Days of the Condor.

Virgo Sun, Scorpio Moon: The Scholarly Super Fox and the Smartly Dressed Detective

Fortunately, not all Virgo/Scorpios will apply this pairing’s intellectual acumen (Virgo) and psychological prowess (Scorpio) to inciting mayhem, manipulating the media, or conducting wide-ranging international murder-for-hire schemes. Pulitzer prize-winning UCLA professor Jared Diamond is a Virgo/Scorpio. He’s best known for applying his intellect (Virgo) to solving mysteries (Scorpio) such as what causes once-great human societies to collapse into chaos, an issue he explores masterfully in his 2005 book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Educator Maria Montessori is another Virgo/Scorpio. While the CIA was applying its intelligence (Virgo) and psychological savvy (Scorpio) to developing programs of mind control, Montessori was applying hers to the field of child development. Using its debut date as its date of birth, the 1960s hit show Mission Impossible is also a Virgo/Scorpio. The show was based on a CIA-esque outfit called the “Impossible Mission Force”. It was known for its smartly dressed cast and tightly written scripts (Virgo), all set amid an atmosphere of espionage (Scorpio). Like their real life Virgo/Scorpio counterparts at the CIA, the members of the “Impossible Mission Force” accomplish their objectives through the use of subtlely effective (Virgo) yet totally secret (Scorpio) methods. Each week their methods of choice would be previewed in the show’s famously compelling opening montage.

Reading through the Mission Impossible plot summaries it’s clear the show’s writers were inspired by some of the CIA’s most clandestine operations of that era. The 1969 episode “The Brothers”, for instance, was clearly based on the CIA’s 1956 overthrow of Iranian president Mohammed Mossadegh. The series also included an episode entitled “The Astrologer” where the Impossible Mission Force manipulates a target’s fascination with astrology in order to track him down. I seriously doubt the CIA or any other intelligence agency is using astrology in such a fashion these days but astrology was the basis of some bizarre psychological operations during World War II. (Source)

Using its premier date as its date of birth, the 1997 film Gattaca is a Virgo Sun, Scorpio Moon. (Chart) The film takes place in a futuristic society whose genetic based caste system is enforced by way of advanced surveillance technologies, some of which appear not all together different than what the CIA is rumored to have in its arsenal.

The film’s protagonist, a member of the lowest genetic “caste”, adopts a clandestinely obtained identity not to conduct an overseas abduction operation but to go on a mission to space. Given the ubiquitous nature of genetic surveillance in his society his goal is essentially an “impossible mission” – the exact sort of thing that a Virgo/Scorpio is capable of accomplishing quietly (Virgo) while hidden in the shadows (Scorpio).

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 consults at his contact page.

Hexagon #3 now shipping: — Photo: Hexagon #3, front and back covers

Austin Coppock on the Astrology of 2013

This week’s guest was Austin Coppock of Austin Coppock Esoteric to discuss the astrology of 2013:

Parts one and two of the show, which aired earlier in the year can be viewed via YouTube here and here.

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Jupiter in Gemini: The Laptop that Saved the World and the Fax Machines that Tore Down a Wall

Jupiter is the planet of expansion, blessings, philosophy, and good fortune. It’s the closest thing to a “cosmic benefactor” that we have, both in our own natal charts and by transit. It turns out there’s something about Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun that actually diverts meteors from hitting planet earth, making it a “guardian angel” in both astrology and astronomy.

Gemini is the sign of communication, connectivity, and cross-pollination. It’s symbolized as two twins talking to each other and is the sign of the Messenger and the Trickster, the Blogger and the Bookseller, the Writer and the Journalist, the Sales Rep and the Spin Doctor, the Numbers Runner and the Negotiator, the Quick Thinker and the Quick Change Artist. Astrologer Michael Lutin has analogized Gemini to the “human equivalent of a fiber optic cable”.

When Jupiter moves through Gemini we get a large shot of good fortune (Jupiter) flowing from Geminian type people/objects/institutions/endeavors such as cell phones, laptops, online forums, social networking sites, local meet ups, quick calls and short trips, bloggers and computer hackers, etc. To illustrate: Jupiter was in Gemini during the summer of 1989 when Atari released its Portfolio model “palmtop” computer. (Source) If you don’t remember the Portfolio its claim to fame is being the nifty laptop type device that Edward Furlong’s character carried around in Terminator 2. There’s a great scene early in the film where he uses his Portfolio to get an ATM machine to spit out money so he and a friend can go play video games. The scene is viewable in Spanish at YouTube here and and would likely find an even more enthusiastic reception among audiences here in the age of bank bailouts and mass foreclosures then it did 20 plus years ago.

Near the end of the film Furlong’s character uses the Portfolio to disable the security system at the Cyberdyne company, a defense contractor that is the fictional equivalent of Monsanto, IBM, and Blackwater all rolled into one. Once the system is disabled Furlong and friends are able to destroy the futuristic microchip that will otherwise lead to the extermination of the human race. That’s about as extreme an example of the planet of good fortune (Jupiter) in the sign of trickery (Gemini) that I can think of, right up there with Jupiter itself using some type of orbital quick-trickery to divert a meteor from exterminating all life on planet earth.

Furlong’s use of the Portfolio in the film is fictional but back here in the real world something similar was going on at the same time the product was released. Over in the Soviet Union, what was known as the “Samizdat Press” had really kicked into high gear. Samizdat translates as “self-published” and was then used to refer to dissident publications that circulated in Soviet controlled countries. Very few if any Samizdat publishers had access to devices like the Atari Portfolio but by the summer of 1989 a significant number had managed to acquire fax machines. Blessed (Jupiter) with access to new forms of communications technology (Gemini), the Samizdat press was able to greatly accelerate the rate at which they circulated censored information throughout the population, thereby hastening the collapse of that empire’s oppressive power structure.

Jupiter is currently at 6 degrees Gemini. Check your chart to see what house 6 degrees Gemini is in as that’s where you can disproportionately benefit from all things Geminian for the next 6 months, whether they be fax machines and laptops or quick phone calls and short trips.

Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon: The Barbarian Queen and the Business Woman, the Bulldozer and the Battering Ram, the Steam Engine and the Steamroller, the Overlord and the Overachiever, the Rebel with a Cause and the Anarchist with an MBA ("With weapon in hand and arse in saddle I go")

Capricorn is the sign of the Prime Minister, the Authority Figure, the Administrator, the Strategist, the Business Man, the CEO, the General, the Admiral, and the Tycoon. When a person’s Sun (identity) is in Capricorn (strategy) they will come to be identified with their capacity for organization, management, and long term planning. Benjamin Franklin is a Capricorn. In addition to being a great inventor, Franklin organized a number of large scale civic institutions including several universities and even the U.S. Postal Service. Capricorn is the sign of hard won material success so Franklin would probably be pleased to know his face now graces the front of the $100 dollar bill:

Aries, sitting 90 degrees away from Capricorn, is a radically different sign. Capricorn respects the rules while Aries breaks them, particularly those they see as unjust. This is the sign of the Trail Blazer and the Troublemaker, the Firestarter and the Firefighter, the Lone Explorer and the Last Man Standing, the Daredevil and the Disruptor, the Survivor and the Superhero, the Amazon Warrior Princess and the Ass-Kicker in Chief. When a person’s Moon (emotional needs) is in Aries (ass-kicking) they’re nourished by anything that involves going “head-to-head” against an overwhelming challenge. Civil rights leader Malcolm X, famous for his philosophy of “by any means necessary”, is an Aries Moon:

Combining the highly organized, hard working, rule-making nature of a Capricorn Sun with the aggressive, risk-taking instincts of an Aries Moon, this pairing wants to climb to the top of life’s mountain’s like the Mountain Goat (Capricorn Sun) while simultaneously being the first one to scale them like the Ram (Aries Moon). This pairing will set seemingly insurmountable goals and then pursue them with determination of a bulldozer, a battering ram, and a B-52 bomber all rolled into one. Astrologer Hazel Dixon Cooper says “nothing short of a nuclear bomb” can stop this pairing once it puts its mind to something. (Source) To illustrate: King Henry IV of France is a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) Arguably the most revered monarch in French history, Henry once explained that he ruled France with “weapon in hand and arse in saddle”, a line which could double as this pairing’s life motto.

CapricornAriesWar — Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon rules “with weapon in hand and arse in saddle” (Pictured: Henry IV)

True to his Capricorn/Aries pedigree, Henry set and accomplished extraordinarily ambitious goals during his reign. These included “the promotion of agriculture, and the construction of a new system of tree-lined highways, and the renewal of Paris as a great city.” (Source) He reduced France’s national debt by 90% while financing several expeditions to the new world, including one by Samuel de Champlain that laid claim to the entirety of North America.

Tenacious, tireless, forceful and focused, this is the Sun/Moon pairing of the “well heeled member of the business world” who is simultaneously a “wild-haired leader of the revolution”. Henry IV, for instance, ultimately became the King of France but as a young man he was imprisoned by the Catholic Church for for being a Hugenot. For those may not be read up on the history of religious warfare, the Hugenots were to the Catholic Church of the 16th century what anarchist computer hackers are to Wall Street banks here in the 21st. A Hugenot like Henry becoming King of France can thus be likened to a modern day young person who works for Wikileaks becoming president of the United States in 30 years.

Speaking of computer hackers who later ascend to great worldly success . . . using its launch date of 1/2/93 as its date of birth, the magazine Wired is a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) Take a look at this photo from the magazine’s initial issue as it offers an uncannily accurate approximation of the Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon combination:

CapricornAries — Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon is both the Tribal Chief and the Tribal Outlaw

These days can find the magazine on the desks of executives throughout Silicon Valley, making it very much a “well heeled member of the business world”. Yet in its 20 year history it has routinely pushed the limits of what status-quo interests find acceptable. Take a look at the cover of the magazine’s second issue back in February 1993 as it bears more than a striking resemblance to imagery associated with the Zeitgeist, Occupy, and Anonymous movements of nearly 20 years later:

CapricornAriesTwo — Second Issue of Wired Magazine, Copyright Conde Nast

More recently, the magazine’s March 2012 cover story on a new, terrifyingly vast NSA surveillance system created a shit-storm of Defcon One proportions while the Pentagon has admitted to keeping close tabs on its controversial “Danger Room” blog. This willingness to throw blows at the establishment has generated for the magazine a tremendous degree street credibility among wild-haired leaders of the revolution (Aries) even as it continues to rake in the big bucks from the business world (Capricorn).

According to astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey one of two metaphoric images for the Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon combination is “An impetuous entrepreneur persuades a conservative banker to back an ambitious project.” (Source) That’s an excellent approximation of Wired as it was founded by former anarchist Louis Rosetto who received initial backing for the magazine from a wealthy Dutch investor. (Source)

Even the most successful of Capricorn/Aries individuals will typically retain sympathy for the upstarts and the outlaws of society. Henry IV, for instance, converted to Calvinism (the dominant religious force of his time) yet passed a series of edicts that guaranteed fair treatment to long oppressed Protestants. (Source) Wired is now owned by Conde Nast, a major Wall Street company (the dominant financial force of our time), yet has continued to publish surprisingly fair articles about Occupy Wall Street and other techno-cultural minority groups.

Of the 144 Sun/Moon pairings this is one of the best for the capacity to organize large scale, long-term projects, involving lots of people, large sums of money, and even larger obstacles. Astrologer Carolyn Reynolds tells us that Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon individuals often plan their lives at least 20-30 years in advance. (Source) King Henry, for instance, approved the construction of the Pont Neuf in 1577. It took 30 years to build and, amazingly enough, is still standing today 450 years later.

CapricornAriesPort — Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon excels at organizing ambitious, large scale projects. Pictured Above: Painting of Pont Neuf in France

On a similar note, Wired’s initial issues back in 1993 included articles on cyber-warfare, cell phone hacking, nano-technology, artificial intelligence, global warming, and even online dating a good 10 years before the general public knew such things even existed. Capricorn/Aries is a major money-maker combination that gets down to brass tacks from the word “go”. It’s thus no surprise Wired’s debut issue sold 100,000 copies, a huge number of sales for a project as radically ambitious for the world of early 1990s technology publishing as the Pont Neuf was for the world of of 1570s construction technology.

Speaking of radically ambitious projects involving technology, construction, and publishing: James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, is a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) His engine is the foundation upon which all of industrial civilization is built while his name is now used to measure “watts” of electricity, the very commodity that fuels the information superhighway we all now live on to some extent. That a Capricorn/Aries is directly responsible for both the industrial revolution and information revolution should give you some idea of just how much material success this combination is capable of achieving.

Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon: Gangster Wars and Zombie Apocalypses

The level of tension inside a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon person puts them at a very high risk for breakdown, burnout, and ballistic level emotional apocalypses. It also has a tendency to bulldoze over more timid souls and to take a “my way or the highway” approach to life. Gangster Al Capone, for instance, is a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) His philosophy of ruthlessness, aggression, self-interest, and excessive ego was immortalized in the 1987 film The Untouchables where he was portrayed by actor Robert Deniro:

In addition to excelling at running (or fighting) crime syndicates, Capricorn/Aries individuals are also psychologically positioned to do well once the Zombie Apocalypse occurs. This is because, according to astrologer Austin Coppock, Aries is the sign most associated with the Apocalypse while Capricorn is the sign most associated with Zombies. (Source) To illustrate: Astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey tell us that one of the two symbolic images for the combination of Capricorn Sun with Aries Moon is, “A Roman city state is attacked by barbarians but its solid walls keep the marauding bandits at bay.” (Source) Is it just me or does that sound a lot like the Roman Empire’s version of the Zombie Apocalypse?

RomeCollapse — Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon: Bloodthirsty barbarian vandals sacking Rome or radically ambitious journalists sacking corporate media?

The Harveys’ intended that image as a metaphor but a number of prominent Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon natives do seem to get involved in endeavors that bear a striking resemblance to the Zombie Apocalypse. Using its premier date as its date of birth, the 1927 film Metropolis, is a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Natal Chart) Set inside a dystopic mega-city, the film concludes with the dispossessed members of society storming the gates of the city’s power generator in a manner eeriely similar to actual Zombies:

The astrological chart of a film will describe both its plot and its role in or effect upon the film industry itself. Metropolis is considered the first “modern” science fiction film as it made use of special effects techniques radically more advanced that other films of the same era. You could even go so far as to say Metropolis was to the 1920s film industry what Wired was to the 1990s magazine industry. In true Capricorn/Aries style, both endeavors were radically ambitious, way ahead of their time, and totally laid waste to the stagnant Zombie-like conformity of their contemporaries.

Metropolis isn’t the only Capricorn/Aries who accurately predicted the dystopia that is a technological civilization run totally amok. Author E.M. Forster was also a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Source) In 1909 he penned “The Machine Stops”, a terrifyingly prescient novel about the collapse of a futuristic society that has developed a Zombie-like dependency on advanced machines. The novel even includes the presence of an all-knowing information search engine that allows people to talk with each other via tele-screens. (No joke.) Wired predicted the internet would take over our lives when most people were still sending letters via snail mail, Forster managed to foresee the same development when most people were still commuting to work via horses. Capricorn/Aries is often way ahead of its time.

In 1966, the BBC television series Out of the Unknown used The Machine Stops as the basis for a 50-minute episode that will leave you with an icy feeling of terror as chilling as Forster’s original literary articulation:

Astrologer Steven Forrest, whose writings are as coherent as E.M. Forster’s are chilling, is also a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon. (Chart) Although he shares the same Sun/Moon pairing of the Zombie Apocalypse, Forrest is definitely neither a zombie or an advocate for the apocalypse. He is, however, one the world’s foremost experts on the “Cardinal Cross”, a series of astrological transits that symbolize structural changes in society so deep that anybody clinging to the status quo will likely perceive them as something akin to a Zombie Apocalypse:

Astrologer Sue Tompkins says the Capricorn/Aries square excels at endeavors “which require true grit such as rock climbing, mountaineering and others that necessitate battling the elements.” (Source) Medical missionary Albert Schweitzer is a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon who battled the elements in sub-Saharan Africa back at turn of the 20th century in order to deliver much needed medical care to isolated peoples. (Chart) Schweitzer didn’t believe in Zombies but he did start off as a theologian who believed Jesus Christ came to Earth to save it from a series of fiery catastrophes not totally unlike those depicted in modern day Apocalypse films. Inspired to spread the gospel via medical work, in 1912 he raised enough money to equip a modern hospital in Gabon where patients flocked to see him. None of his patients were at risk of having their brains eaten by actual zombies but a good number did come to him suffering from Syphilis, a disease which ultimately destroys the brain. In 1952 he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. In 2009 his life was the subject of a docudrama:

Schweitzer spent the final years of life working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, which most definitely are a tool of persons possessed by a Zombie like disregard for people and planet.

Paul Revere, best known for warning the colonists “The Zombies are coming, the Zombies are coming!” during his midnight ride through Boston was a Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon.(Chart) Along with being the “messenger” of the American Revolution, Revere was instrumental in organizing the 18th century version of a high tech counterintelligence system that would impress even the tech-nerds who started Wired. (Source)

Revere4 — Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon native Paul Revere: “The Zombies are coming! The Zombies are coming!

That Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon natives would resonate with Zombie Apocalypse makes sense as this is the Sun/Moon pairing most likely to take a battering ram to outdated, outworn, and oppressive social structures. Zombies don’t last long when society is functioning in a way that serves people’s interests. Only when institutions have become riddled with decay, corruption, and severe levels of criminality do large numbers of people start thinking “Gee maybe organized Zombiedom is the answer.” The good news is that newer, healthier, and more functional structures can be built up once the Zombie Apocalypse has run its course. When that day comes you can bet there will be some extremely enterprising Capricorn Sun, Aries Moon individual right there in the middle of everything with “weapon in hand and arse in saddle” to organize all of us slackers into something resembling a functioning society.

Neptune in Pisces: Mind Blowing Imagery Brought Back from Multiple Dimensions

Neptune is, at its best, the planet of imagery, dreams, mysticism, the supernatural, and connection to all that is yet is not. Pisces, at its best, is the sign of imagery, dreams, mysticism, the supernatural, and connection to collective consciousness. Earlier this year Neptune left Aquarius (the sign of technology) and entered Pisces where it will be staying for a good long 14 year transit. Neptune was last in Pisces from 1847 to 1861 when photography was invented. It’s thus reasonable for us to expect some pretty mind blowing advances in imagery technologies to be developed over the next 14 years. Here, for instance, is a mind blowing photography project entitled Within Two Worlds produced just as Neptune moved into Pisces earlier this year that must be seen to be believed:

The creator of Within Two Worlds describes the project in distinctly Neptunian terms, “Within Two Worlds depicts an alternate perspective by giving us the illusion of times movement, signifying a beginning and end within a world of constant contradiction. It appears you are traveling in the midst of a dream, half-sleeping, half-waking, and touching the arch connecting heaven and earth.” (Source)

Pisces is symbolized as two fish while Neptune is associated with the ocean, both the actual ocean and oceanic realms of emotions. Here’s another recent project that also captures the vibe of Neptune in Pisces:

Neptune is also the planet of glamour. From 1998 to 2012 when Neptune was in Aquarius (technology) it was gadgetry like cell phones and websites that society glamourized. Over the next 14 years one can only hope that people become as interested in the health of the oceans as they have been in the speed of their smart phones.

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Nick Dagan on Uranus and the American Revolution

This week’s guest was Nick Dagan who discussed his research into Uranus and the American Revolution:

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New Moon in Sagittarius: The World’s Most Dangerous Hike

We’re on the cusp of a New Moon in Sagittarius, the sign of the long distance quests, overseas crusades, and super-high adventure. Not coincidentally, Grind TV is running an article full of unbelievable photos about the hike up to Hua Shan, considered one of China’s most sacred holy sites. Here’s one photo of the trek up the mountain originally taken by hiker/photographer Aaron Feen, other (equally stunning) photos are available at the Grind TV article.

Travel, freedom, and adventure are incredibly important to Sagittarius Sun, Sagittarius Moon people (and projects) but as astrologer Jefferson Anderson warns this pairing, “You should consider controlling some of your wilder impulses.” (Source) I’d say so, one wrong step on the above pictured trail and it’s a mile drop to the bottom of the canyon.

The New Moon peaks tomorrow (December 13th) in the early morning at 21 degrees Sagittarius. Check your chart for where 21 degrees Sagittarius is as that’s where you’d want to plant a seed for some spiritually minded super-crusade of your own. Just make sure to eat your Wheaties and bring some chalk for the sweaty palms before setting off on it. And watch out for those cliffs.

Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Sagittarius: Astrological Analysis of a Radio Station (KOWS 107.3 FM in Occidental, California)

As many of you know I host a radio show on KOWS 107.3 FM, a local station here in Northern California. I was recently invited to do an analysis of the station’s chart for our monthly newsletter and figured may as well re-post it here now that the newsletter is out circulating:

The neat thing about astrology is you can run a chart for pretty much anything, including a radio station such as KOWS. To illustrate: using the date the FCC approved its “license to cover” of December 2nd, 2005 as its date of birth, KOWS has both its Sun (identity) and Moon (emotional needs) in the sign Sagittarius.

Sagittarius is the sign of the Traveler, the Truth Seeker, the Scholar-Lecturer, the Philosopher-Prophet, the Professor of High Adventure, and the Super-Crusader of Quests and Faith. When a person or, in this case, radio station has both its Sun (identity) and Moon (emotional needs) in Sagittarius they’re endowed with an overflow of all things Sagittarius: gregarious enthusiasm, physical restlessness, and most notably a desire to explore wide-ranging religious, spiritual, and philosophical geographies. This is the Sun/Moon combination of the spellbinding speaker, the outrageous orator, and the crazy boisterous college professor. In their book Sun Sign, Moon Sign astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey observe that this is the Sun/Moon pairing of both “the wise cracking comedian full of provocative witticisms” and “earnest preacher full of moral certainty and determined to put the world right.”

There is a curious astrological phenomenon often witnessed in people who have both their Sun and Moon in the same sign. They often end up expressing as the opposite sign! What happens is there’s so much of one sign’s energy circulating in the person’s emotional ecosystem that their system attempts to balance things out by “unloading” the excess over to the opposite part of their chart, not unlike what happens when a dam overflows to the bursting point. A similar mechanism is seen in Chinese medicine where one meridian gets so overloaded with energy that the person hyper-expresses the characteristics of the opposite meridian. A chart like the one for KOWS that has so much energy in Sagittarius will thus often end up expressing as a Gemini, the sign opposite to Sagittarius known for quick communications, cross-pollination, and chatting late into the night.

KOWS’s North Node (point of destiny) is in Aries, the sign of courage and confrontation, self-starting and self-preservation. Its North Node ruler is Mars (fighting) in Taurus, the sign most oriented towards securing territory. KOWS is a radio station so I’d hazard to guess its destiny will end up revolving around securing and/or protecting access to bandwidth on the airwaves, the radio world’s version of physical territory.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy:

Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Sagittarius: Astrological Analysis of the Mars Rover

Contact Matt Savinar for a consultation

I recommend the following books:

Contact Matt Savinar for a Consultation

I recommend the following books:

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Willow on Saturn in Scorpio and Genetically Modified Organisms, Violent Trauma as Entertainment

This week’s guest was the internet’s premier plutonic punk astrologer Willow of WillowsWeb. Please note that due to technical difficulties there are a few audio hiccups in the recordings.

The rest of the show can be viewed via YouTube here and here.

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Disclosure as per FTC rules for bloggers: If you purchase anything through the links to Amazon or other third party vendors on this page I stand to earn a commission in the range of 5-10%.