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On Culture

Art, music, books, poetry, fashion, dance, television… the products of our imaginations and the people who make them. The Oxford Astrologer’s blogs on astrology and culture.

Thoughts on Transitory Mercury

Mercury, messenger of the gods, will be crossing the face of the Sun in a few hours. You’ll be able to see this from Earth — with the right equipment. This particular event is not rare — but it is unusual. It happens about 14 times per century — and it’s always in Taurus or Scorpio — […]

Venus in Taurus: Brooding Passion

When we talk about Venus, we talk about allure. When Venus, the planet of beauty and attraction, is in Taurus, she is in her own sign. Fixed Earth: the sign of full-busting spring in the north, when thoughts turn to what the birds and the bees do. Venus is, of course, the planet of love and [...]

Neptune in Pisces: Fairytale TV, the Mystic North

“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.” Willa Cather I can add “failure to hire leather-trousered pirate as childminder” to my Mother’s List of Shame. My kids are a tad irritated that Captain Hook is not [...]

RIP Victoria Wood

Just gutted. She was only 62. A comic genius.

What Aries Has To Teach Us: Erich Fromm and René Descartes

Aries is not a sign associated with philosophy — that is Sagittarian territory according to tradition. However, the Ram knows how to get to the essence of things. In fact, the father of modern western philosophy himself, René Descartes is an Aries Sun. His Sun conjuncts Uranus, the planet of [...]

Zombie Johnny Depp and the Doggie Debacle

A spongey, grey-faced Johnny Depp and his beautiful wife Amber Heard read an apology to the State from an autocue, staring sullenly into a camera set at a strangely low angle. No, the State is not North Korea, but Australia. If you wondered whether Johnny Depp’s birth time deserved the AA [...]

The Lost Library of John Dee

John Dee — astrologer, alchemist and magus, one of the great characters of Tudor England — had the greatest private library in the western world. But when he was off on a European tour, it was pillaged by “friends” and the contents were lost. Some turned up in other collections over the [...]

Astrology of Now: Looking Deeper

One of the pleasures of this retrograde period… Saturn Rx in Sagittarius, the sign of higher learning, the exotic and libraries Mars station (Rx on April 17) also in Sagittarius Mercury in shadow (Rx on April 28) in Taurus, ruled by Venus the goddess of beauty and art Jupiter Rx in Virgo, the [...]

Astrology of Now: Castrating Mars

This extraordinary gory painting, possibly by Caravaggio, was found in an attic in the French city of Toulouse a couple of years ago, but not presented to the public until yesterday. It’s fascinating that it should be revealed at just this time of retrogrades, a time of retrieval — perhaps [...]

In the Key of Pisces: Elizabeth Maconchy

Dame Elizabeth Machonchy was hailed as a girl-wonder at the age of 23 and then told she had only a few years to live. However, she beat TB and went on to live a long and full life. I don’t have the time of birth, but I note the conjunction of Chiron and Venus. Her […]

In the Key of Pisces: Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole… perfect phrasing, casual grace, immortal. Cole was an outstanding jazz pianist who just happened to be able to sing — to start with. Of course, it’s his gorgeous voice for which he’ll be remembered — and indeed he has a packed second house, which we might associate with voice, [...]

In the Key of Pisces: Astor Piazzolla

Thanks to Rachel for suggesting Astor Piazzolla, the late great Argentinian maestro of tango. Loss, plangent longing, melancholy love — so romantic — that’s one side of Piazolla’s work. Uncompromisingly avant-garde, experimental and cutting edge — there’s an utterly different side too. [...]

In the Key of Pisces: James Taylor

James Taylor’s soft, reedy baritone is so sweet and his melody-weaving so certain, his lyrics so perfectly distilled and his phrasing so effortless — he truly was blessed by the gods of music and song. Indeed, his first album, which included classics like Carolina in My Mind and Rainy Day [...]

Kesha’s Saturn Return

Los Angeles will eat you. The LA music biz specialises in packaging young girls into pop stars — Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Nicky Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears. The singer-songwriter Kesha is one of those. Spotted by producer Dr Luke at the age of 17, she was [...]

In The Key Of Pisces: Answers To Pavane

Sviatoslav Richter is the Pisces at the slowest tempo. Richter has Mercury, Mars and Jupiter in a tight stellium in Pisces. Taurus Moon. Samson Francois has a Taurus Sun with Venus-Pluto conjunction in Cancer training his Scorpio Moon which opposes the Sun — emotionally intense and rather [...]

In The Key Of Pisces: Maurice Ravel & An Astro-Musical Quiz

The composer, Maurice Ravel, was born on March 7, 1875 into a musical family in the town of Ciboure, where the River Nivelle meets the Atlantic Ocean in the Basque country. (We are catching up with some missed dates for In The Key Of Pisces…) He was an innovator and a rebel. Rejected by the [...]

I woke up this morning feeling violently happy, which made me think of Icelandic songstress and musical genius, Björk. I wondered if she was born on an eclipse. So I checked: she was born the day before one in November 1965. If you want to know about the surge of emotions of an eclipse, I [...]

In the Key of Pisces: Kiri Te Kanawa Sings Villa-Lobos, Segovia Plays & A Bonus

I think we’re beginning to get a feeling for the weaving, watery, complex Piscean sound. The work of Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5), probably Latin America’s most famous 20th century composer, exemplifies this in many works. Many of his compositions are so woven into the soundtracks of our lives [...]

In the Key of Pisces: Tre Italiani

Thanks to my friend and reader, Sabrina, for pointing out that the late-lamented Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla was born on March 4, 1943. He has a solo Sun in Pisces with other planets extraordinarily evenly spread through his chart. Sun does make a lovely trine to Jupiter in [...]

In the Key of Pisces: Miriam Makeba

Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba. Born on March 4, 1932. Makeba, along with her husband Hugh Masakela, was one of the most prominent artistic exiles from South Africa during the apartheid era. Although South Africa revoked her passport, 10 other countries stepped in to offer her citizenship. So she [...]

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