Night Sky Strategies
Issue 1, Cancer 2008:
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Table of Contents The Temple of Summer by Austin Coppock……………………………3 Cancer and Planets in Cancer by Jocelyn Marquis....………………4 The Decans by Austin Coppock……………………………………………….8 June 22nd-July 1st: Cancer Decan I by Austin Coppock……………..9 July 2nd-July 11th: Cancer Decan II by Austin Coppock……………10 July 12th-22nd: Cancer Decan III by Austin Coppock ………………12 Shooting Messengers by Ryan Valentine……………………………..14 The Devil and Daniel Plainview by Nick Civitello………………….16 About the Authors……………………………………………………………….21
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The Temple of Summer By Austin Coppock The Sun returns to Cancer every year at the Solstice, when the Sun reaches its zenith and the days their utmost length in the Northern hemisphere. After its steep ascent, the Sun begins an easy roll down the celestial hill until it comes to rest, in 3 months time, at the crossroads of the Equinox. The first leg of this journey is signified by Cancer, the Crab. Cancer is the Cardinal Water Sign. It signifies the creative source of emotional vitality. Many of us experience this in the summer ritual of picnics and barbeques, day at the beach. Times spent gathered in places and around objects that have no other purpose than to hold us there, together. It is here, in the spaces generated between people that we hear the trickle of the waters of life emerging from the long hidden depths, the invisible aquifers of the psyche. It is in these moments of unblemished connection that bonds are renewed and the small atrocities which strain our connections are washed away. This year, the transit of planets through the tropical sign of Cancer comes on the heels of a difficult period. It is as if a poisoner had set venom loose in the well. Though the culprit has been caught and hanged to death in the square, the village still shies from the aqua vitae. The transit of the Sun, Venus, and Mercury through Cancer this year will help to the clear the congestion from interpersonal pathways. Like running water through rusty pipes for the first time in years, you’ll smell blood for the first few minutes. But in time, it runs clean once more. On that note, I welcome you to the first issue of Night Sky Strategies.
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Cancer and Planets in Cancer by Jocelyn Marquis Cancer embodies the concepts of home, shelter, domestic life and the internal nature. It relates to yin or feminine energy and is symbolized by the Crab, whose hard shell protects it's soft and vulnerable insides. The nature of Cancerian energy is protective and nurturing, it cares for those close to it while defending against those who would try to cause harm. Cancer rules the fourth house, the arena or phase of life that relates to the early conditioning of the family and in particular relates to the mother, or maternal individuals close to the person such as an aunt or grandparent who may have taken the responsibility to raise the child. Lunar or fourth house conditioning is ingrained deeply within the psyche and can be among the most difficult kind of pattern to break. Therefore planets within the sign Cancer or the fourth house suggest whether the conditioning strengthened or harmed the individual. Because Cancer is a guarded energy, planets through this sign tend to be blocked or brought in. It is important to remember that Cancer is a cardinal sign, however, and will take the lead domestically or professionally where the native feels that it will bring them in to an elevated state of feeling or emotion. Cancers can appear demure on the outside, but as you get closer to them and they find they can trust or confide in you will discover the more torrential and passionate nature that lies beneath. Unlike Scorpio, which is secretive rather deliberately, Cancer folks are seeking out deeper channels of intimacy where they can express themselves safely. When they find a comfort zone of people who they can turn to and trust, a tribe, so to speak, they will adhere to the group dogmatically, defending, again, where necessary, but rarely moving out into new social spheres unless there is complete stagnation emotionally. For this reason they can come across as conservative, "family values" types who fear adventure or variety. To some extent it might be true but depends on the placements of the over all chart. To understand why Cancer behaves this way it is important to denote the incredible sensitivity of the sign within the context of the outside world. People with placements in the sign tend to have had challenging or even shaming experiences in early life, usually associated with women or the mother and therefore shelter themselves in order to prevent further interrogation or emotionally damaging experiences.
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Personal Planets in Cancer: Sun This is a naturally maternal placement which suggests the individual demonstrates it's creative and personal self most authentically within the home environment. More outgoing types, (those with placements in fire or air, dynamic aspects) do require a strong and supportive home base from which to operate, nonetheless, but can have significant professions so long as the inner needs are met in the domestic realm. Naturally sensitive, these people’s moods fluctuate where any sense of discord is intuited. There is an innate understanding of how to care for one’s self, at least in the most fundamental ways, usually the result of a strong maternal figure in the early life who established the habits of the native properly. If the Sun is distressed by aspect, the opposite is usually true. Erratic care of the person in early life leaves scars that make it challenging to confront the outside world and establish themselves comfortably.
Moon This intrinsically natural combination imbues sensitivity and an inner desire for cooperation with people close to the native, thought the emotions may be closely guarded. The sensitivity factor goes both ways, both inwards and outwards and while at times the individual is a victim to their own emotions they are also so attuned to the moods of others, they can easily get absorbed by negative energies that surround them. The home and family are of great importance to the Crab. It builds a protective and impenetrable shell around itself, and takes great pride in the homestead which it protects like a mother wolf. These people are generally most comfortable in traditional gender roles. The home life is significant with this placement and you will feel best when at your house and doing things within it. There is a strong connection to domestic activities and with this placement you derive your greatest pleasure and harmony from looking after the people in your life.
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Mercury Memory and connections to the past or one's heritage are marked with this position. There are incredible faculties for intuitive revelations but at times dogmatic conditioning acts as a filter or block to the learning abilities of the native. There is a heightened imagination and this person can give them the capacity to spend time wrapped up in introspection, either positively or negatively. A need to make peace with the negative attitudes taught by the parents or close relatives can be indicated if the planet is aspected negatively, (especially by Saturn or Pluto). Sharing emotions or satisfying a need for a deeper level of communication is necessary for the person to really connect within the discussion at hand. The faculties do not expend energy on trivial thinking but are rather deeply connected to the most personal issues and subject matter.
Venus The love nature can be concealed with this position: there is great sensitivity in regard to the object of one's affections and a deep familial bond must be shared before the native truly shares their heart with another. The individual needs nurturing from a closely involved partner, but mutually provides a sensitive and compassionate environment within the home in which their mate can be comfortable. Negative aspects to Venus from Saturn, Neptune or Pluto especially exacerbates the natural tendency to withdraw and close ones self off from developing enduring bonds. Usually such patterning comes from domestic problems within the early life and likely there were issues that existed between the parents to the extent that the individual is afraid to open it's heart for fear of having such patterns repeated. In this instance, the individual engages in superficial relationships that it subconsciously realizes will not succeed in order to prevent from being emotionally involved and thus hurt. Healing is possible when the person finally realizes that this pattern is unfulfilling and decides objectively to let themselves out of the box a little, or take a chance on love, in other words.
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Mars This is not a particularly positive position for Mars, but individuals willing to make the best of it will find enormous satisfaction in the realm of a stable and emotionally fulfilling domestic life or within a profession that allows them to express themselves through domestic skills including child care, the culinary arts, interior decoration, gardening, et. cet. Mars's combat trigger is diffused and the native can have difficulty expressing emotions like anger or upset directly and outwardly, thus building up like a volcano inside and exploding all at once so far after the triggering event occurred, even the people close to it can't understand why. These individuals are passionate and even zealous where the care of their loved ones is concerned, and they will do battle to protect the homestead. There is a need for deep sexual connection in the relationship. These aren't the kind of folks who sleep around.
All Rights Reserved, Jocelyn Marquis, 2008 www.astrologywhiz.com
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The Decans By Austin Coppock Night Sky Strategies presents each Zodiacal month in 3 separate sections. These divisions of each Sign are called decanates, from the Latin “deca”, meaning “10,” because each decanate is 10 degrees of the complete, 360 degree circle of the Zodiac. Since each Sign is a 30 degree wedge of the pie, there are 3 decanates in each Sign. The decanates are as old as Horoscopic Astrology itself, and can be found in the Greek and Latin writings that are the swaddling clothes of the newborn system in the first few centuries B.C. The decanates serve to divide each Sign into 3 further subdivisions, each with its own particular energy, represented by the Ruling Planet of the decanate. This further division sharpens the astrologer’s ability to assess the quality of time, as well as the character of those born to that time. The decans are also called the “Faces” and in them we see the character that this word suggests. The decans provide us with the Faces that the Signs of the Zodiac wear. But the history of the decanates goes beyond the passive assessment of qualities of time. As much or more than any other element of Astrology, the decanates, or decans are tied into a magical tradition that stretches back into antiquity, disappearing into the harsh sands of Egypt’s mystery traditions before Astrology as we know it was created by the Hellenistic Greeks. Since that time, the decans have been associated with deities, angels, and daemons. In Muslim Empire, Gayat Al Hakim detailed their usage in the Picatrix, The Goal of the Wise. In Renaissance Europe, Kabbalists assigned the angels and daemons of the Shemhamephoresh to the 36 decanates. Years later, the grandfather of the modern Western Occultism, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, described the decanic images, their qualities and uses, in his famous 3 Books of Occult Philosophy. The 36 decanic images also form the basis of the modern Tarot’s Minor Arcana. They are vertebrae in the backbone of the mystery traditions. For reasons unknown to me, modern astrologers have favored the Signs, but neglected the decanates. In some places, the decan system is used, but without the traditional planetary Rulers, which provide the essential character that each Face wears. The decanates are important tools and carry with them a rich legacy. For these reasons I have chosen to re-introduce the practical use of the decanates in this publication. Enjoy.
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First Decan of Cancer: June 22nd-July 1st The first decanate of Cancer is represented in the Tarot by the 2 of Cups, often called “Love.” This card, and decanate represents the sweet, cohering influence of Venus in Cancer. Here the contents of 2 cups pour into one another, their liquids mingling sweetly. The parallels to the experience of romantic and physical love need not be illustrated further to make the point. The Sun enters this decanate on the Solstice, and this year is accompanied by the ruler of the decanate, Venus. This positive, connective combination rides over emotionally raw terrain, bringing balm to the emotional trials experienced during the Fall of 2007 and Winter of 2008, when Mars went retrograde through this area of our personal cosmos, causing conflict to come boiling into what should be safe places. Venus and the Sun’s healing pass through this area of the inner sky follows Mercury’s Station Direct, after long weeks retrograde in Gemini. The intense period of confusion and reconfiguration sets the stage for movement forward. The movement will be first be slow, and internal. There are subtle connections and alliances that must take place before strides forward can be discerned. All the while, Mercury lags behind, occupied in the middle degrees of Gemini. While technically no longer retrograde, Mercury is still in the “shadow” of its retrograde until July 5th. In other words, our thoughts and communications will be moving in the right direction, but there are still understandings aplenty that must become clear before we’re set on the right course again.
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Second Decan of Cancer: July 2nd-11th The second decanate of Cancer is given to the 3 of Cups, often called “Abundance.” The image in the Ryder-Waite deck is of 3 women toasting, with 3 cups upraised. The decanate and card represent the power of Mercury in Cancer. The first decanate provides an intimate scene, with two polarized partners exchanging the contents of their cups. As its rulership by the less serious and more talkative Mercury suggests, this decanate refers to conversation that takes place when one is in their cups. The comfortable outpour of the hearts contents to a sympathetic listener. Referred to in some circles as “drunk talk,” or “pillow talk.” Just as the Sun slips from the first decanate into the Second, Mars changes Signs, marching out of loud Leo into task oriented Virgo on the 1st of July. The charge across the border of Leo and Virgo is a drastic one. The bold and vital energies of Mars cease to lend their force to the cause of solar self expression, instead focusing on the details of the task at hand. While Mars in Leo may not be all talk, talk is certainly a key component. Mars in Virgo focuses the vital energies exclusively on the work ahead. Mars in Leo promises and advertises one’s potency while Mars in Virgo accomplishes works to validate those very promises. Early in Mars’ march through Virgo, he encounters Saturn, who has been in Virgo since September of 2007, and will endure in the worker’s sign until early 2010. Saturn in Virgo places a heavy yoke on physical and financial matters, limiting options and outlining necessity. Mars’ journey through Saturn’s current county of residence will be accordingly difficult. The legendary beast Mars is set to slay in this particular myth is a mountain of work. The cruel mountain sends forth its demon army of bills, overdraft charges and grueling assignments to dispatch the hapless hero. Here we must find the courage to face the reality of physical situation or find ourselves entombed in matter’s dark prison.
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The Sun’s Journey through the 2nd decanate of Cancer sees the Moon return to the Sun once again. The Lunar cycle begins again on Thursday, the 3rd of July. The New Moon in Cancer coincides closely with Venus in Cancer’s opposition to Jupiter in Capricorn. The influence of the two benefics in opposition highlights the tension and connection between personal comfort and the satisfaction yielded by larger ambitions realized. This theme will play throughout the month, with the climax coming with the Full Moon in Capricorn on the 19th. Mercury also makes his way into Cancer during the Sun’s stay in the second decanate of Cancer. This marks the end of Mercury’s extended stay in Gemini this year. Just before Mercury leaves Gemini, however, he comes into opposition with Pluto, now back in Sagittarius. Topics and conversations that have bounced back and forth for months end on a intense note, with secrets coming out of the woodwork and an air of finality hovering around communications. It is the last act of Mercury as Trickster that we will see for awhile. As Mercury passes the border from Gemini into Cancer, the ethers lose their sharp mental edge. The intellect’s blade is replaced with the simple mirror of a reflecting pool. We sit by the pool with grandpa and a fishing pole, pulling tasty insights out of our subconscious. It is a good time for quiet, intimate conversations and reflection on events past. The action packs itself around the 8th, 9th, and 10th as the Sun opposes Jupiter, Mercury opposes Pluto, and Mars conjoins Saturn.
Agrippa's Depiction of the 2nd Decan of Cancer
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Third Decan of Cancer: July 12th-22nd The 3rd decanate of Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and depicted in the Tarot by the 4 of Cups, often called Luxury. Being the final decanate of Cancer, it suggests the completion of the process begun via the Sun’s transit through Cancer. The process of internal integration, the filling of cups and the re-establishment of personal foundations sees its inevitable end in the 3rd decanate. Here is pictured a man, having drunk of several cups, now refusing a 4th. Here “luxury” is defined by having more than one needs. Ideally, when we complete this final phase of Cancer, foundations have been renewed and we can confidently enter the Leo, where the process shifts towards externalizing ourselves. Conversely, we can understand image of the man refusing the 4th Cup as one entirely hungover and fed up with all this touchy-feely business. Early in the Sun’s stay in the third decanate, Venus bids adieu to careful Cancer and plunges headlong into the wild sunflower fields of Leo. It was here, last summer, that the goddess shed her sun dress to explore the hot and dark tunnels beneath Leo’s sunlit plane. The Venus’ unseen transformation from sun flower into solar power in the last months of 2007’s summer has seen mutations in the shared experience of the female archetype since, with lioness Hilary Clinton providing the public focal point for these changes. As Venus crosses this archetypal terrain once more, we will see ourselves returning to this archetype and finding that a year’s perspective is wiser than we may think. The New Moon in the 3rd seeded the lunar month with possibilities, which were then emphasized and challenged by the events of the 8th-10th. These plans and processes climax on the Full Moon in Capricorn on the 17th. Ideal internal arrangements come face to face with external factors limiting
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them. The light the Moon reflects on the boundaries of comfortable arrangements giving meaning to the “safe space” we work to create while the Sun is in Cancer. The Full Moon in Capricorn galvanizes the forces of necessity which define the boundaries of the spaces within our life sectioned off for rest and recuperation. Here the compromise between internal and external integrity is made most clear. The entire month’s question is summed in the Full Moon. That question is, most fundamentally, can we provide ourselves with the right foundations to take advantage of opportunities despite setbacks and personal pains?
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Agrippa’s Depiction of The 3 Decanate of Cancer
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Shooting Messengers: Notes From A Retrograde By Ryan Valentine I am here in the shadow of an exhausted Mercury run home to Gemini, and I am expecting big things. I searched for a way to describe the energy I anticipated and I couldn’t until I received an email from a friend of mine traveling Asia. He is traveling with his partner, and she got sick in Dalat. Really sick. More accurately, she began dying in Dalat. She is a medical researcher. They took her to Saigon and rushed her into surgery. In his email he talks about what it was like to not know for sure whether or not they understood that her appendix had already been removed. When I read that I thought, Mercury retrograde in Gemini is two doctors screaming in a language neither understands. It is a time of spontaneous surgeries, exorcisms done amidst our furious moments. A clinical testing of our last resorts and oracles speaking with tongues of fire in mouths like ashtrays. All of our exchanges will become intensely personal. We will collectively focus on the semiotic, emotional roots of communication. For a total of 9 weeks Mercury will stay ‘in house,’ in his sign of Rulership. A significant amount of time made possible by its retrograde. This is a time wherein the Trickster is at his impossible best. All by itself that is a daunting prospect, but made that much more so when we examine the key aspects which mark this period. The Trickster’s time in Gemini will be bookended by an equally significant opposition to Pluto in Sagittarius as he transits the final degrees of his house (July 10.) Here though, I think the term ‘opposition’ though technically accurate, carries with it all the wrong connotations. Its the part of the story where we find out that the Trickster has been working for Hades all along, that in fact, like Hades the Trickster is a veritable Lord of the Underworld. It is at this point we realize that all prize fights have their pay-outs, and Mercury gets his when he sits across the table from Pluto. It will really be there, in the final degrees of Gemini where we can finally take stock of what we have gained and what we have lost in this exchange. Pluto will lend a distinctively material and practical perspective on this period, and will spice our self-examinations liberally with selfishness and superiority which will make our moving past those bruises and heart-aches which accompanied it that much easier. I would recommend that those of you most battered by this furious contest focus yourselves on this time, and that you pay your respects to Mercury in your own ways during his opposition to Pluto.
A Call To The Trickster The Enochian Calls are a system of astrological devotions developed by the noted English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, occultist, and secret agent to Queen Elizabeth I during the 1600's. The call of the 4th Aethyr is said to conjure an attuned awareness of the interaction between Chaos and the Cosmos. The strange tongue of Enochian may be the most appropriate language to approach the contradictions Mercury as Trickster has wrought.
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The Call of the Fourth Aethyr in the Enochian Language, Crowley's Phonetic, and Dee's English. To be used as a key for a ritualized change of consciousness, as a mantra or otherwise.
Guide to the Pronunciation of the Enochian Keys (Phonetic) All letters are sounded as in English with these exceptions: A C E I O Q U
ah k eh ee long o k long u
as in "fAther" as in "Cake" as in "grEy" as in "fEEt" as in "smOke" as in "Qabalah" as in "fOOl"
The Fourth Key -- Dee's English I haue set my fete in the sowth and haue loked abowt me, saying, are not the Thunders of encrease numbred 33 which raigne in the Second Angle? vnder whome I haue placed 9639 whome none hath yet numbred but one, in whome the second beginning of things are and wax strong, which allso successively are the number of time: and their powres are as the first 456. Arrise, you Sonns of pleasure, and viset the earth: for I am the Lord your God which is, and liueth. In the name of the Creator, Move and shew yourselues as pleasant deliuerers, That you may praise him amongst the sonnes of men.
The Fourth Key -- Enochian Othil lasdi babge od dorpha Gohol G chis ge auauago cormp pd dsonf vi v-di-v Casarmi oali Map m Sobam ag cormpo c-rp-l Casarmg cro od zi chis od vgeg dst ca pi mali chis ca pi ma on Ionshin chis ta lo Cla Torgu Nor quasahi od F caosaga Bagle zi re nai ad Dsi od Apila Do o a ip Q-a-al ZACAR od ZAMRAN Obelisong rest-el aaf Nor-mo-lap.
The Fourth Key -- Phonetic Otahil elasadi babaje, od dorepaha gohol: gi-cahisaje auauago coremepe peda, dasonuf vi-vau-di-vau? Casaremi oeli MEAPEME sobame agi coremepo carep-el: casaremeji caro-o-dazodi cahisa od vaugeji; dasata ca-pi-mali cahisa ca-pi-ma-on: od elonusahinu cahisa ta el-o CALAA. Torezodu nor-quasahi od fecaosaga: Bagile zodir e-na-IAD: das iod apila! Do-o-a-ipe quo-A-AL, zodacare! Zodameranu obelisonugi resat-el aaf nor-mo-lapi!
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Jupiter in Capricorn: The Devil & Daniel Plainview By Nick Civitello It's rare when an astrologer has unkind word to say about Jupiter. After all, the largest planet in our solar system, the great gas giant beyond the asteroids, has long been known as “the great benefic,” a force which provides gifts and favor. In an individual's natal chart, it represents talent and identity within the collective, as well as a lesson that one can offer to the community Jupiter is named after the chief of the Roman gods; likewise, in Babylon (where Western astrology found its origins,) this celestial body was known as Marduk, named for the god of their own pantheon. Hindu astrologers named the planet after Brihaspati, the religious teacher of the gods, and the East Asian astrologers have named it “the wood star,” wood being the Chinese element that is associated with growth, as well as pure, intangible spirit. In the final analysis, we can conclude that this is a character who does not have many enemies (whether this is due to admiration of the character or fear of his wrath,) who is a guiding light for society, and who is viewed as a font of sagacity. Then we get to Capricorn. Capricorn is the sea-goat, the sign of Cardinal Earth. Like Taurus and Virgo, its earthen comrades, it is primarily concerned with the necessities of life, routine, and tactile sensation. However, where Fixed Taurus is content to graze along until something good floats its way, and where Mutable Virgo comes across things to tinker with as a matter of course, Capricorn's Cardinal energy injects a burst of vivacity that causes it to seek out the comforts, the sensations, the riches. It is primarily concerned with acquisitions, and the hierarchical position that an acquisition might afford. Thus, it is apt wavelength to ride upon when the conversation of economy and Capitalism arises. So, if Jupiter's the guy at the top of the structure, someone really powerful...and Capricorn is all about acquiring wealth..then the two should make for an excellent team. Right? Right...? Wrongo, kiddos. Capricorn is the Fall of Jupiter. Why? Because Capricorn's obsession with the material, and ineptitude with the concept of “nurture” makes it the worst possible place Uncle Jupiter to
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set up camp (sorry, 1984 babies.) It understands how to buy people presents, but it doesn't know how to bestow a gift (kind of funny that December 25th is smack-dab in the middle of the Sun's time in Capricorn.) The best thing Jupiter in Capricorn can do for you is get you a decent job – if it thinks you are a good investment. A quick look at the Tarot's Major Arcana provides further insight. Here, Capricorn is represented by The Devil. Oh, he's on top of a certain pantheon. Or at the ass-bottom, depending on how you look at things. In any case, this Devil has a number of slaves chained to his big, black platform, a simple representation of the material world. Above his head hangs an upside-down pentacle, a symbol of spirit being unable to conquer material. A spiritually-enlightened guru it is not. All the same, this guy doesn't have time to waste on fire and brimstone and eternal torture. He's too busy making deals. The slaves chained up to his platform are there because they made a pact with The Devil. They wanted something, and he provided it, but now they owe him servitude. They are acquisitions in and of themselves. He is not on top of Hell's pantheon because the infernal denizens respected him or elected him. He's there because he buys and sells their asses.
Fortune's Bastard Speaking of rich, powerful men... Speaking of the horrors of enterprise... January 11th saw the release of what is now a critically-acclaimed film, There Will Be Blood, which went on to win two Oscars. Jupiter had moved into Capricorn just a month prior to the release, in the middle of last December. The film is a chronicle of Daniel Plainview (portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis, whose performance won him the Oscar for Best Actor,) a man who rises from a position as a hard-working prospector to that of a ruthless oil magnate, an eventually to effortless super-wealth.
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Plainview is an excellent study in Fallen Jupiter. At a glance, he is a man at the top of the heap, easily one step ahead of all of his competitors, an emperor whose empire grows larger by the day. With vitality and charisma, he travels around the southwest with his son, contracting oil drilling with prospective clients in person. He is a man that provides fuel for a country, jobs for its workers, and progress to backwater settlements. In the town of Little Boston, the film's primary setting, the soil was not even healthy enough to provide crops of wheat until Plainview dug wells and gave irrigation to the lands. However, it is not in the nature of enterprise to show compassion or give gifts. Not unless the man of enterprise expects a grand return on his investment. So it is with Mr. Plainview. The concern that he shows over the death of a worker during a rigging accident is not the compassion of a shepherd who has lost one of his flock, but the annoyance of a machinist who must replace a broken part. If men die, it causes concern among the other workers and lowers morale. That hurts his wallet. His lack of feeling toward anyone other than himself is a card that is played many times as the plot unfolds. In fact, the only two people he seems able to care about at all are his son, H.W., and Henry, a man who comes to him claiming to be his half-brother. Even in this case, one can sense that Plainview only cares about them as a loose extension of himself – his blood is their blood, so they must feel what he feels. Over strong whiskey, Plainview sits and talks with Henry about his lack of affinity for all other human beings in the world, and the spirit of competition inside of him which seeks to dominate all others. He is revolted by anyone that thinks any differently. Plainview's world-view is a demonstration of Fallen Jupiter's deficit of spiritual development and altruism. Skipping back to the Major Arcana, we see Jupiter is represented by The Wheel of Fortune. We like to think of the lovely prizes that Fortuna sees fit to bestow as we spin the wheel, but sometimes Pat Sajak isn't in such a generous mood. He might not feel like letting you buy a vowel. He might not even give you your money, no matter how many puzzles you solve. Sometimes in life, we don't get any help, nor due we get what is owed to us. We just have to suck it up and deal. This is the darker aspect of Fortuna, the Evil Succubus-version of Vanna White. This is the stuff that makes you throw up your hands and go, “Well, that's life!” or “Shit happens!” or whatever other bitter pills we've been made to swallow by a bumper sticker or t-shirt slogan. This is also the stuff of Darwinism and even worse, Social Darwinism, which dictates that the fittest survive, and those that die are not fit to live. This mirthless sentiment is one that a healthy Jupiter would be likely transcend with relative ease, whether or not an element of veracity was noted. In Plainview's
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case, however, transcendence is not even considered. The only consideration is that which allows for more enterprise, more acquisitions. The heart-breaking thing about Daniel Plainview is not that he is unable to feel for others, but that he is anguished by this inability. He is able to love his son and Henry because he believes them to be parts of his whole. When he finally comes to the realization that they are separate entities, he is troubled and enraged, and he takes it out on them both. As stated earlier, Jupiter is associated with the “wood” element of the Chinese Five-Element Theory. Healthy “wood” is associated with the positive emotion of benevolence, but also with the negative emotion of anger. When he is eventually disappointed by his two closest confidants, he lashes out with an unthinking anger that crushes them to the core. Likewise, when a business associate casually touches on the subject of Plainview's family during a business meeting, Plainview derails the partnership by threatening to cut his throat. His greatest insecurity is that he is unable to care about anything but money, an insecurity which also drives him to success.
Milkshake of The Damned Our protagonist isn't a very nice man. Our antagonist styles himself as a nice man, and even as a saintly man, but he is also a great example of Jupiter in Capricorn. This man is Eli Sunday. Plainview comes to the town of Little Boston off of a tip from Paul Sunday, a young man who says that there is oil on his family's ranch. This proves to be true. But in his effort to take the land cheaply and take control of rest of the town's property, he is challenged by Paul's twin brother, Eli. Eli is the preacher at the Church of The Third Revelation, where he performs histrionic faith healings of questionable benefit. Being a man of faith, one would expect that Eli is more of what we'd come to expect from a wellfunctioning, spiritually-conscious Jupiter. But through Plainview's eyes, we see Eli's position for what it is: a position. Being the leader of a church means that the community regards one as an important person. And though Eli seems passionate about his faith, his shrewd and cold-blooded negotiations with Plainview seem to suggest a lack of depth beyond the posturing of the cloth. Plainview clashes with Eli because he is an obstacle to his dominance. His men attend church when they should be resting, which causes them to be sluggish and inattentive on the derrick. He also seems to see through Eli's pretension and spiritual fakery, and is resentful that a man who is no more altruistic than he is seen as a moral center for the community. Eli, alternately, seems to take issue with Plainview's apparent indifference to religion, mainly because it means that he will not be beholden to the community's religious leader. Throughout the events of the drilling, and the eventual prosperity of Little Boston, these two men continue to poison and undermine each other's influence within the public
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eye. This is an apt battleground; Jupiter, after all, is identity within the group, and they each have an image to maintain. Eventually, with the promise of affluence, Plainview is able to trick Eli into exposing himself as a charlatan. But although he stands atop a defeated nemesis and a prosperous oil market, although he is able to retire early into luxury, although he if left to want for nothing material, the film still ends with a cruel and miserable vision of our protagonist, who has grown even more jaded in the lap of luxury. He lives in a mansion with a private bowling alley, he has a butler who takes care of his every need, and he has all the whiskey a man could hope for. But none of it brings him any joy, nor does he have anyone to enjoy it with. An adjectival derivative of Jupiter is the word, “jovial,” a word that has come to mean "happy" or "merry," moods ascribed to Jupiter's astrological influence. In the film's conclusion, we see that the end result of Fallen Jupiter is decidedly less than jovial, leaving only anger and frustration in place of benevolence. The guru in swaddling is replaced by the beggar in a three-piece tailored suit. Jupiter remains in Cappy until early January '09. Plenty of time to go “meditate” at the mall.
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About The Authors: Austin R. Coppock(alypse) Austin Coppock is an author, astrologer and occultist living in the Northwestern United States. He graduated with a double Major from Antioch College in Philosophy and Psychology, but was soon seduced away from ivory-tower approved reading lists by the insistent allure of arts and sciences forbidden and forgotten by our modern era. After a few years immersed in the study of an obscure style of kungfu, the fates pulled him to his current work as an astrology instructor and consultant. He is reportedly the depraved mind behind the weekly astrology column “Abyssal Epistles,” and has several more literary projects in the works. You can contact Austin for private consultations at xroadsconsultations@gmail.com and find “Abyssal Epistles” at http://www.myspace.com/baronsamadhi.
Nick Civitello Nick Civitello is a playwright and astrologer based out of Orlando, FL. His work has been featured in Sydney’s Short and Sweet New Play Festival as well as Playwrights’ Rountable ’08 Launch. He maintains a blog which matches up pop-culture mythos with astrological archetypes: Nerdcore Astrotypes. For more information, please visit the following url: http://nerdcoreastro.blogspot.com/
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Jocelyn Marquis My name is Jocelyn Marquis and I was introduced to the world of astrology by my father, John Marquis, who was an avid astrologer and visionary painter. I seriously began to study at the age of sixteen and over the years developed different skills, moving from natal astrology to synastric and composite analysis. I feel astrology is a great tool for understanding personal motivation and overcoming the more challenging elements that might otherwise hold us back. After sixteen years of research I have only come to realize that I still have a lot to learn, proving to me that astrology is truly an art form. Among my most significant influences are include Robert Robe Hand, Stephen Arroyo, and Erin Sullivan, and of course, my dad! http://www.astrologywhiz.com www.astrologywhiz.com
Ryan Valentine Ryan Valentine lives quietly in Canada where he tends to his immense garden of marijuana, and performs gay marriages when he isn't fervently campaigning the American Govern Government ment to relax its censorship of the pornography industry. He is also the editor of the Sutra of the Poison Buddha. http://www.myspace.com/poisonbuddha
Have something of quality to contribute? If you would like to like to write for Night Sky Strategies, please contact Austin Coppock at xroadsconsultations@gmail.com. xroadsconsultations@gmail.com
Dig our woodcut stylings? Find mugs, t-shirts, hoodies and nd more with an ancient flair at http://www.cafepress.com/hermeticbazaar
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Beginner and Intermediate termediate online classes on
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