Dear Friend and Reader,

Paul Newman, the beloved actor-philanthropist, died Saturday at the age of 83. The cause of death was cancer. Newman will be remembered as one of the most generous, humanitarian and talented people to grace the American arts in recent history, extending to all of us a model of values and an example that life can be lived well.

Paul Newman (1925-2008).

He was born Jan. 26, 1925, which places his Sun in Aquarius and his Moon in Pisces. This combination of the two latest signs, combined with Capricorn rising, is a fitting image of one who could succeed personally and make one of the most significant contributions to society, never sacrificing one for the other.

Aquarius is the sign of humankind or more exactly, community. The word ‘community’ suggests a level of cohesion and compassion within a group. For example, consider the difference between those attending Burning Man and a group of consumers in the aisles of Target during holiday shopping season. Hollywood usually acts more like the second than the first, and for this reason we know that Paul Newman was truly an original, expressing his love for humanity above all else.

One thing almost always bound to enhance originality is a strong Chiron placement. One is not only inclined to be original, but to allow that quality to guide one’s life. Newman had Chiron in Aries, in a close conjunction to Mars. This combination is the very emblem of the spiritual warrior. In Aries, it is the essence of self-awareness and relentless curiosity about himself, which he explored in his more than fifty Hollywood roles.

Newman was one of those people who was lucky enough to have a leaden humility that fame and fortune could not tarnish. He pursued his passions in an elegant manner that was not flashy. His house of ambition and success has steadfast Scorpio on the cusp, and is occupied by Saturn in that sign. He put tenacity over talent, and refused to take roles in violent or sexually graphic films. This reveals a slow-burning kind of passion that was more about substance than it was about appearances.

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Note to Readers: Usually we publish the Q & A feature Wednesdays, but just as we were getting going we started playing around with the charts for this brand spankin’ new atom smasher and got obsessed. Look for the Q & A on Thursday. Second Note to Readers: The LHC written about below appears to have been started one hour late. We are verifying the time and will make some revised comments about the chart in later blogs and the Friday edition. The chart below is for the stated, planned time of the event, which in most historical events is always a meaningful chart. Third Note to Readers: New Scientist magazine is reporting that the collider did indeed start at 9:30 am, so at this point, our chart remains accurate with the Sombrero Galaxy in the ascendant. There is a really cool video at the New Scientist link.

Dear Friend and Reader:

What the heck is the Large Hadron Collider? And why has Steve Hawking bet $100 that it’s not going to work, even though it cost between $6 billion and $8 billion dollars? (Oh, if you think that’s a lot, it cost less than one month of the United States’ war in Iraq.)

The large machine at the CERN lab in Switzerland will be switched on at 9:30 am local time. Photo from Times of London.

The Large Hadron Collider is this 17-mile tunnel located near Geneva, Switzerland 568 feet under the ground. It’s a very fancy atom smasher, four times more powerful than most other atom smashers. These are used to make new compounds, discover different kinds of subatomic particles and are places where scientists have a heck of a lot of very fun.

Scientists are looking for the Higgs boson, or the “God particle,” which we prefer to think of as the Goddess particle. Why would that be? Because (though it has not been discovered yet) it’s believed to give mass to every other kind of atomic particle, including itself. It’s kind of the Missing Mother of Matter; the cosmic Alma Mater. From what I am reading, the science guys are trying to recreate the Big Bang in a 17-mile very dangerous metal test tube. The machine will have to run for a while before they know if they will see God or maybe Goddess, so we won’t know tomorrow. It takes a while for the thing to speed up. It will eat a lot of power. The electric bill won’t be in for a while.

It’s being described as “the most complex scientific experiment ever undertaken,” and it started at 9:30 am local time. It has a chart. That chart (cast for the stated, planned time of the startup, 9:30 am local time) has a Venus, Mercury and Mars conjunction rising in Libra. One funny thing that jumps right out is how the ascendant of this chart is one degree away from the degree rising in the chart for the Sept. 11, 2001 false flag attacks. (Mercury is rising in this chart, and was also rising in the Sept. 11 chart). The Mercury-Mars conjunction (which feels a little like a particle collision) is in the exact degree of the Sept. 11 ascendant; one of those odd, meaningless, synchronicities. This all has a violent feeling and for sure it is violent; it’s a particle smasher. Continue Reading »

Good Morning World,
I’m off to a slightly late start today after the Long More East Coast conference this past weekend. If you’re curious about that conference, there are three posts below. Today’s aspects were written with Genevieve Salerno, and calculated by Tracy Delaney at Serennu.com.

8 Monday: Moon enters Capricorn at 3:45 am EDT. Jupiter stations direct in Capricorn, so we have a Moon-Jupiter conjunction just as Jupiter is stationing. Mercury conjoins Mars and squares Jupiter, granting an atmosphere of exaggeration, passion, drive and ambition to the day.Then Jupiter trines Saturn. This is the perfect mix of push power and ease. It’s a great day to look forward to the stuff you work so hard on finally paying off.

9 Tuesday: Venus squares Jupiter. If you look this aspect up in astrology books, you will get advice about not eating too much sugar or other rich food. These are two planets of abundance, meeting in a tense angle. The thing about squares is that they often compel us to make a choice that turns out to be a false one. With Venus and Jupiter there is not really a conflict, but the feeling of emotional tension, and this can be pleasant and useful…it’s one of those days to have too much fun.

Pluto stations direct in Sagittarius, it’s final station direct at 28+ Sagittarius for this 250 year cycle. It is now on a direct course for Capricorn, where it will stay until 2023-2024.

Mercury sextiles the Great Attractor. Eros is conjunct Logos, trine Sedna.

10 Wednesday: Vesta stations retrograde in Taurus. The past few months have had that feeling of Vesta’s potency, and she may have special dignity in this sign. The nature of Taurus is an interesting mix of asceticism and extreme comfort. Taurus likes it rich, and can do without. Vesta grants the attribute of awareness, humility and willingness to give up what you don’t want so that you can have some of what is necessary. Psyche squares Neptune. The most tenacious wounds we carry within us are the ones that we perceive as necessary for survival, but we might want to ask whether our sense of injury is real.

Genevieve adds, “It’s true that the little quirks and characteristics we have make us individuals, but if those things keep us from changing, they may be worth examining further to determine whether or not they are worth keeping.”

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