Creativity and Aesthetics

For many years now -testing my own measurement management technique and gathering research- I have made a decision during my horoscope preparation time about a client’s profession and jotted that profile down in abbreviated form on the horoscope paper. As an initial conversation start-up, I have usually asked the client what he or she does for a living. Of course, I am seeking to match their reality with my ‘prediction.’

If the client states what I have indeed written on the horoscope paper, I point this out, and much authority is gained immediately for the astrological consultation process. When what the client does for a living is divergent from what I have suggested, I have to understand why: where did I misread, perhaps? Or why is the client on the wrong track? — I’ve learned a great deal in this simple process, now repeated thousands of times.

Last week: a Taurus lady with a Taurus Ascendant had her all-important Venus peregrine in Gemini. That Venus was quintile Pluto.

Neptune was quindecile the Ascendant, and Neptune was squaring Uranus, ruler of the Midheaven.

A nice tie within all this was shown by Venus sesquiquadrate Neptune.

Over and over again, the arts, aesthetics are indicated. -Additionally her Moon was in Gemini, trining the Midheaven (facility with expression etc.) AND trining Neptune!

The conversation went like this: “What do you do for a living?”

“I’ve been a stock broker for 20 some years, and I hate it!” [tr Uranus conjunct the Midheaven at consultation time. Why was she coming to see me?]

“But the horoscope suggests tremendous aesthetics, artistic ability!”

“You’re right. I am an artist in several things, but I’ve never….”

It was just that clear and simple: my client had somehow been on the wrong track for years and years. Her unhappiness about it had manifested in many different ways during that time; had fractured many relationships; and had built up a nervous crisis, a wasting of emotions, and a tremendous store of self-doubt. -The consultation worked (in league with the transit of Uranus over her Midheaven) to convince her to follow opportunities just opened up to her finally to become an artist, a lecturer in the arts, a teacher, and more.

Another lady (one of my clients just this morning) has the charismatic Neptune-Mars conjunction square the Aquarian Midheaven, sextile Uranus. Venus is trine Jupiter, ruler of the 7th.

Mercury, ruler of the Ascendant and dispositor of the Moon there, conjoins Uranus (ruler of the Midheaven) and is sextile Neptune.

“What do you do for a living?”

“Well, I recently changed [tr Saturn conjunct Saturn]: I was in finance for lots of years, but I have just turned into acting and modeling.”

“And you feel now that finally you’re on the right track?”

“Yes.”

A woman [my second client this morning] has a Libra Sun-Mercury-Neptune triple conjunction quindecile the Midheaven; she also has a Leo Ascendant (ruled by the Sun, of course), and the Moon in the 7th in Aquarius, quindecile the Ascendant. Mars is conjunct Venus.

“By any chance are you in some kind of theatrical work that helps others [Sun-Moon blend in Air, Moon in Aquarius; Leo Ascendant etc.]? Are you a social worker with some special flair? How are you helping others with some kind of twist?” [These were my words; I couldn’t put my finger on it specifically, so I just assembled the symbolisms in a way with which she could perhaps identify.]

“You’re right! I used to be an actress and now I organize a psychic hotline, really good psychics, helping people. It’s been very successful!”

And yet another: A woman’s horoscope reads Venus semisquare Sun, semisquare Moon (therefore: Venus=Sun/Moon, a very powerful, dominating position for Venus); Venus quindecile Uranus; Venus quintile Neptune, and Neptune, in turn, square to Uranus. This is a tremendous emphasis of aesthetics, the arts; the lady is an opera singer.

The “missing tie-in here” is with the Midheaven (Capricorn): Saturn is square the Sun and conjunct the Moon; Pluto opposes the Sun and squares Saturn. -Yes, her ambitions, her drive, were like a hand grenade under a blanket; the lack of encouragement in the home was problematic and led to a pattern of underachievement very difficult to break.

–I find all this fascinating: just look in these case-vignettes at the dramatic influence of Neptune, Venus, Midheaven contacts, and the unrelenting nature of the quindecile. Remarkably, this kind of profile shows up so very often in people living a life of aesthetic, artistic expression.

Here are four random selections I just made within the AstroDatabank, looking for an echo of this aesthetics/arts pattern

· Symphony/Opera conductor Zubin Mehta has a Pisces Ascendant, Neptune square the Midheaven, Mercury in Taurus quindecile the Midheaven, AND the Moon in Leo! THIS could not possibly be an accountant!

· Actor/Director Clint Eastwood has Neptune conjunct the Midheaven.

· Actress Demi Moore has a Pisces Ascendant with Venus-Neptune in contact with the Sun, Moon, and Mercury!

· Singer Tom Jones has Neptune square the Sun and Moon; Jupiter, ruling the 10th, is squared by Pluto!

· Actress/singer Shirley Jones has a Pisces Ascendant, Venus quindecile Neptune, Neptune opposed Mercury; and Jupiter, ruling the Midheaven, conjunct the Moon in Libra in the 7th.

And for painters!!!? The pervasiveness of the patterns is extraordinary.

Now, this short discussion is not meant to present a smattering of evidence for a definitive astro-profile for the arts. Rather, it is aimed to help us with confidence in vocational analysis, working with what we already know about signatures like this.

Here is a way to approach what, on the surface, might seem to be far, far afield from the client’s reality, hidden away, pressing for expression but never encouraged, etc. When we see these interactions of Venus, Neptune, the Midheaven, Leo … we must begin to think with security about aesthetics, about the arts, theatricality playing a role in the life of our client. -And don’t overlook the creative outlets in designing websites, for example -creativity is not confined to a stage! [The artist who designed this website just happens to have Neptune conjunct her Sun and square her Ascendant, and Venus in Libra (final dispositor of the horoscope, of course) quintile Pluto, ruler of her Midheaven!