P.T. Barnum: The Greatest Show(man) on Earth

Most of us think of PT Barnum as a showman. And in that, we would all of us be so very  correct. What he may also be is the grandfather of all advertising, great uncle of  propaganda and great grandfather of spin.

PT's first big act of promotion was to buy a disabled and blind African-American slave in 1835, claiming she was nurse to none other than George Washington, a claim which would have made her about 160 years old.

But apparently a lot of people were interested enough that he made back his money with a 50% profit in something just under a week, proving that old adage about 'a sucker being born every day' which there's some question about Barnum actually having said.

On the other hand, apparently he didn't argue with it, either. 

Other Barnum-isms: 'Money is a terrible master but a wonderful servant'.....'Without promotion, something terrible happens - Nothing!' and that saying we all know so very exotically well, 'every cloud has a silver lining.'

One supposes in PT's case, that silver was coinage.

Interesting in a man who founded his fortune on being able to buy another human being, Barnum spoke eloquently and publicly about the evils of slavery in a day when not everyone was willing to do so. But then, the modern-day quip 'any PR is good PR' would pretty much fit under PT Barnum's big top, so having people talk nasty about him might have well suited him just fine.

Some of his 'exhibitions' were pure hoaxes like the 'Fejee Mermaid,' the body of a dead monkey with a fish tail sewn on. Others, like Siamese twins, were indeed oddities which fascinated people then and which still fascinate us today.

So why do we care about PT just now? First of all because July 5th is his birthday. And I'm sure PT would be happy to know he's 200 years old today!

Maybe he can be his own exhibition?

Actually, that's very much part of my point - but first a few PT pointers, so we get just a taste of why he is who he is to us, even two centuries later.

With Scheherazade the tale-spinner and 'ease of access' Betelgeuse just at Barnum's critical degree Ascendant, we know he was fast on his feet and more than swiftly quick of tongue. And that he needed to be; any time we see any axis at 29 anything circumstances will change and we must change with them. (The same goes for planets and other symbols at 29 degrees but less globally.)

At the other end of the horizontal axis we have MakeMake just above (and thus in Capricorn) with Typhon positioned below at the tail end of Sagittarius in prime position to make a statement, as all objects placed just before an angle will. Typhon being our 'primal urge' and MakeMake a fertile creator of mankind, this pictures Barnum as a guy who put himself out there as the one who 'knew more' and 'knew better' - who could invent a world and life for people they could feel enhanced by.

Or to put it another way...he had the ability to in many ways make us what we, and he not only knew it, he took pleasure in learning how to do it better as he went along.

With Virgo at the foundational IC point of his chart, Barnum was both crafty and willing to work at his craft. Sphinx there spoke of his patience and Thuban his belief in and his possession of a treasure which was his to exploit. With fixed star Fomalhaut joined by Huya and Bali at his Midheaven he had dreams, and wonders he did sell.

Not that all was so pleasant. Even without the history books the presence of ingratitude, distrust and betrayal (Ixion) vie with issues of passion (Eros), morality (Deucalion), not being believed (Kassandra), having to placate (Panacea), disapproval and rejection (Scheat), immaturity/entitlement (Sedna) and karmic transformation (Pluto) in his public 10th house. 

But in the end, none of that really counted. And that we see because Typhon is at his Descendant, position of legacy. He got us where we live - in our desire to experience the unknown (part of Sagittarius' legendary potency), servicing our need to dream which in turn served his (Huya/Fomalhaut/Bali). 

He really showed us how its done - how it's the harnessing of our whole selves which sells us, and which rewards us in kind.

So above is PT's natal chart. And here below is his solar return (birthday chart) for 2010:

See those zeros on all four axis points? Zero being the first degree of a sign, they always signal beginnings. So whether we see them on a cusp or with regards to a planetary position, we say that's the sign of 'something new,' a 'new start' or the point when something comes into focus...or gets noticed.

The axis points being what we are all best 'seen as,' to have zeros on all four structural points of one's solar return is rather a public thing. So don't be surprised if you hear ol' PT (or his activities) getting talked about this year. It would be a good year for a movie, or a book about his life.

Yes, charts live on when we're long gone...an idea which I'm sure Barnum himself would approve of.

One thing he apparently didn't approve of (or wouldn't admit to publicly) was a publicity photo apparently taken of him which he later disavowed. Considering the time and how hard it would have been to fake such a thing in PT's day, it seems more likely that the image is real...which would make PT Barnum also the great-great granddaddy of those photos which just somehow go viral.

He's so still a modern guy.

A Very Jazzy Happy Birthday to Bob Fosse

Yesterday was one of those days which while not awful was just nothing to be impressed by. Everyone I connected to seemed cheerful enough...but not exactly full of buoyant joie de vivre.

Well, today we have something to celebrate - the birthday of Bob Fosse, dancer, writer, actor - and maybe most of all choreographer and director of stage and film at a level which was truly extraordinaire. 

There are two charts for Bob Fosse - same day, different time - giving us a difference in the position of his Moon.  Here's one of the charts in '0 Aries' formats to let you know its not 'time correct.'

  Bob Fosse (June 23, 1927 - Chicago, IL/ 22:29 CDT +5)

My point here is not really astrological - though charts do keep working even when we're gone. Considering where planets and eclipses are currently, I wouldn't be surprised to hear something 'Fosse' going on this year - and that's not all bad either! 

It not having been a sterling day as I say, I admit that as I came to my desk to consider Fosse's chart I was not much enthused. But when you do a story on Bob Fosse you really can't do it without brushing up on who he was and how he completely changed the landscape of dance-as-performance infusing it with a jazzy human genius which is as miraculous to witness as expressive in its demonstrative gestures. 

Anyway...my 'homework' on this article was greatly composed of watching a couple of hours of Bob Fosse dance numbers on Youtube (I know...tough duty, but someone has to do it!). And since in the end, there's nothing I can say which would equal the joy of his work, I here give you a list of links to some of some of the fun things I found.

From 'Kiss Me, Kate' ...a real Hollywood musical number the likes of which we (sniff!) seldom see nowadays (link to youtube)

From 'The Affairs of Dobie Gillis'....( and like, coooool, daddy-o!)   (link to youtube)

From 'Damn Yankees' ...(and no, the devil didn't make me do it, I volunteered!) (link to youtube)

“Fools we may all be, so we may as well dance”….this is some intercuts of Michael Jackson and Bob Fosse which is uplifting simply because the joy of dance art is so effortless in both men. And the music isn’t bad neither! (I dare you not to feel this!) (link to youtube)

A rather fun clip of Bob Fosse getting his Oscar for 'Cabaret'....being presented by other real Hollywood legends (link to youtube)

…Lastly, a little ‘old time’ TV segment from George Burns’ show (remind me to tell you a charming story about George sometime…) (link to youtube)

So that’s Bob Fosse. At least an eight-count of him.

And for those who want to do some more thorough gawking, here’s the link to a page full of credits at IMDB  (the Internet Movie Data Base) (IMDB link) I’d type it all out but my fingers would truly be too, too exhausted by the time I could get through the credits of a man so vastly talented.

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Alas, he’s gone. But the world which misses Bob Fosse so much surely dances joyously in his honor.

And now that you’ve seen all that…don't you feel better? Who cares about yesterday!

Think I’ll go look for my tap shoes now….you’ll excuse me?

"Live like you'll die tomorrow, work 

like you don't need the money,  

and dance like nobody's watching." 

- Bob Fosse

                                                         June 23, 1927 - September 23, 1987

Natalee Holloway: Speaking from the Grave

A nineteen year old named Natalee Holloway disappeared on May 30, 2005 while on spring break in Aruba. The prime suspect in her disappearance was Joran van der Sloot, an eighteen year old native of the Netherlands.  Due to a lack of hard evidence, Joran was never charged.

Five years passes….

In Peru, on May 30, 2010, a young woman named Stephany Flores Ramirez disappears.

On June 2nd, she’s found stabbed to death in the room of one Joran van der Sloot. Joran has fled to Chile but is apprehended there on the 3rd and sent back to Peru where on June 7, he confesses to his crime.

It’s to be vividly stressed that we have no birth times for any of the parties involved in this story. But even without that, given location and date of birth, plenty of things simply scream to be said.

Among all, the most touching is how clearly Natalee’s chart ‘reacts’ to van der Sloot’s doings. It started long ago but continues on, starting with… as he confesses in Peru and that news hits the airwaves, Sedna opposes Natalee’s natal Mercury.

Named for an Inuit goddess, Sedna represents our struggles to escape, hold on to or finally let go of our dreamy childish dependence. The myth (and the dwarf planet named for same) speaks in our chart of the trials we experience as we move from standard childhood ‘longings to be an adult’ into the somewhat chilling realization that with adult freedom and independence inevitably comes some measure of loneliness.

Or…an ‘alone-ness’ which, in isolating us, allows us to (hopefully) know ourselves better and thus move towards realizing our personal potential, providing ourselves with fulfillment instead of having to rely on someone else - replete with whatever they ‘require’ in return for that we think we can’t live without.   

In Natalee’s natal chart, Sedna sits conjunct asteroids Hel (terrible choices) and Phaethon (too headstrong for one’s own good). Obviously going off on her own for spring break brought these images out in a heartbreaking manner.

With an orbital period of 10,500 years, Sedna moves very slowly. But as Natalee arrived in Aruba, it opposed her Scorpio Venus, the first of three conjunct symbols. Seeking self worth from others, Venus in Scorpio tends to be too desirous, too controlling or too vulnerable – and often an uncomfortable mix of all three, particularly prior to when we get settled in our adult (individuated) mentality.

The second symbol is Ixion, a symbol all about entitlement and lack of gratitude which is a problem (though not impossible to manage) in everyone’s chart. Conjunct Natalee’s Scorpio Venus, this would have been her attraction to sensual vibes of the darker kind and probably the ‘bad boys’ among us. 

It’s also one form of description for a sexual predator.

Unfortunately for 19-year old Natalee, Sedna opposing her Venus set everything off. Natalee vanished. And as Sedna inched on to oppose Natalee’s Ixion, Joran van der Sloot, privileged son of a well-to-do judge….Joran walked away. Which is strikingly reminiscent of the mythic Ixion.

The third symbol in Natalee’s Scorpio triad is Mercury a symbol which by turns can manifest as  dedication and loyalty, an alluring quality and the ability to be lured, insight against blindness, denial against manipulation/coercion and honest polarized by total deception. Conjunct Ixion, to whatever degree she was ‘so very good’ she would have attracted the polarity. Even – unfortunately – been fascinated by it; that we do not own we become fixated by in someone else (projection).   

As Sedna finally confronted Natalee’s Mercury five years after Natalee’s disappearance, van der Sloot’s predatory instinct acted out again. And again as in the Ixion myth, then circumstances changed: the entitled son of privileged heritage committed his crime under circumstances which, far from making him nearly immune to punishment (as he seems to have been in Aruba)…now he was in a place where the people were immune to what would seem to be Joran’s ruinously self-entitled behavior.

Time will tell…and we may never know for sure…but astrologically, the clarity of the timing on Natalee’s chart with regards to this second murder of Stephany Ramirez suggests van der Sloot was well aware of the ‘anniversary’ of Natalee’s disappearance. The reasoning is this: if it was random, her chart wouldn’t reflect it with a series of transits as exact as we have seen.

For those of us bearing witness, possibly even worse is the idea that Joran van der Sloot has no strong signals on his chart for any of the dates involved - at least not using a chart without accurate time of birth. All we have is Vesta opposing his natal Juno as he was returned to Peru, where he confessed.

And yes, this may signal Joran feeling it time to own up. Some have suggested his confession is a ploy – a way to avoid the death penalty and get sent off to Peruvian prison where perhaps he could bribe someone and affect an escape before prison conditions (or another convict) gets to him.

Then again, given Vesta as an image of sacred service and Joran’s natal Juno (female integrity) conjunct  Kalypso (altruistic love) conjunct Medea (self-destructive love) is simply telling us that Joran van der Sloot takes a great pleasure in, even worships his own his ability to take a human life.    

One bright note in the morass - one we can only hope is felt by friends, family and victim spirits. As Sedna opposed Natalee’s Mercury and van der Sloot was apprehended, Sedna was also coming into unification with the position of Natalee’s Panacea – holistic inner healing.

And the truth will set you free.  

We hope Natalee and Stephany will now truly rest in peace. 


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