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The Stars of an Empress still shine
Chrysanthemum Throne - a brief update
Bernadette Brady M.A.
 In the February, 2006 issue of this newsletter we talked of the challenge
facing the 21st century Japanese society with no male heirs being born to
the Chrysanthemum Throne. Until now it was believed that the Chrysanthemum
Throne (emblem shown left) consisted of an unbroken line of male
descendants since 660 B.C.E. but as the Japanese imperial
family had not given birth to a male heir in over forty years - the
only child of the Crown Prince is the little princess Aiko - it has been
in “crisis”.
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Princess Aiko, the stars of an
Empress.
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However, on the 6 September, 2006, a son
was born into the royal family (to the family of the Crown Prince's
brother). Technically this male child will now become the heir to the
Chrysanthemum Throne. However, the little princess has, at the tender age
of four years, awoken the Japanese to the inequality of women in
their society. Before the birth of her male cousin, opinion polls showed
overwhelming support for the idea that the little princess might inherit
the throne from her father and now, to the surprise of the traditionalist
hardliners, it would seem that the Japanese people do not want her to be
disregarded as the heir simply because of her gender [1].
Starlight
links Regulus via the mundane parans with the Princess Aiko's Venus
and delineations this as:
The role of the king, or
leader, becomes of prime importance.
Regulus is also in paran with her Saturn which
simply means -
To play the king.
It may be
many years before we know the final outcome of this story but my money is
on the little princess to become the first woman in modern times to sit on the
Japanese throne.
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[1] Japan
rejoices as male heir to the throne is born.
The Daily Telegraph, London:UK. September 7, 2006 p.16 |
Zosma – the Broken Back of the Lion,
a lever for change
Darrelyn Gunzburg
The
constellation Leo currently occupies our pre-dawn skies and can be seen
rising magnificently before the sun during October. Usually when one
discusses Leo, the star which takes our focus is the Royal Star Regulus
(see VAN February 2006). However, there is a little-known, little-loved,
unglamorous star who carries a myth linked to our everyday lives. Its name
is Zosma and it is the star on the back of the Lion in the constellation
Leo.
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Learning to see Leo
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During this
month the constellation Leo is rising just before the sun. If you are
up early around 6 am for most of us, look
due east and if the sky is clear you
will see Saturn just below the head of the lion. Once you spot that
then look down the lion's back (as shown in the right hand image) and
the next bight star (not as bight as Saturn) you will see is Zosma.
Use the two identical sky views above to help you learn to see Leo.
For those of you in southern latitudes Leo will be tilted to the left,
lying on its back but still rising before the sun (Images from
Starlight). |
Brady [1]
writes:
Zosma is the place on the back of the Nemean Lion where Hercules crushed
it. This myth is a symbol of the point in Greek and Roman mythology
where the feminine, or rather, where non-establishment concepts or
beliefs were extinguished. Zosma itself is not feminine but rather it
belongs to those whom the establishment, either directly or indirectly,
makes powerless. Generally it does not belong in the charts of the rich
and famous, unless they become such a victim. However, it is present in
the charts of victims, of people who are abused by the system. It is not
an evil star but its presence means that the particular planet with
which it is connected will potentially be abused in some way. The planet
in your chart that is involved with Zosma
[by paran]
will potentially suffer. It may be through naivety, allowing you to be
led into a victimising situation, or you may work with these issues as a
social worker or care-giver in some way. This is not a star of glory and
fame but rather of the invisible work of dealing with the victim, either
in oneself or in one's work.
When we
combine this with last month’s eclipse on 22nd September, Saros Series 8
South at 29 degrees Virgo, which was concerned with completion, separation
and letting go, [2] we start to understand why for some of us this time
period has felt like a heavy burden weighing upon our shoulders.
Whilst
such attributes in western society are often experienced as difficult,
they can, of course, have their positive expressions. If you were a
student completing a course of study, or were moving home, getting
married, or taking on a new position in life, then the eclipse may well
have helped you to complete some business at this time in order to begin
afresh. Even the pain and confusion of an overwhelming loss such as the
death of a loved one may well have been bathed with privileged insights by
this eclipse, offering you clarity regarding the process of endings. [3]
This
month’s Visual Astrology Newsletter is thus focused on three charts al of
which have Zosma in paran to their natal Venus. Traditionally Zosma
can be difficult but these charts show that such difficulties can be a
lever for change in a person’s life.
Zosma in paran with Venus
Depression, a difficulty with self-esteem
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s natal Venus is in Aries in his 2nd house and trines his Saturn
conjunct Neptune in the 10th house (see chart
below):
Lincoln’s
tremendous tenacity (Venus-Saturn) to his vision (Venus-Neptune) was
fuelled by inspiration (fire trine) - his dedication to restoring and
preserving the Union and putting an end slavery – but he had to
dislodge certain established structures in society (Saturn-Neptune) in
order to implement this vision. As well, Venus in
Aries in his chart is in detriment,
so his was the way of the extraordinary, the non-traditional.
This natal configuration of Venus when also linked
to Zosma gives us insights into his desire
to end the suffering of others and being prepared to take the
unpopular non-establishment line to achieve this.
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Thus it is fair to say that as President Lincoln’s Zosma-Venus
did not affect his personal self-esteem but was reflected in the
social networks of the people of the country he was elected to lead.
His policy of reconciliation with the South, and the changes to laws
relating to the people who were abused by
the system, the enslaved nation within a nation, transformed
the country forever. Zosma may have been a
burden to him in his grinding fight to maintain the
Union but
it also became his flagship.
Unfortunately
Zosma's suffering also affected him
personally
when he fell victim to the bullet of assassin John Wilkes Booth on
Good Friday, April 14, 1865, yet this very act also assured
Lincoln’s
continuing immortality. |
Another Venus with Zosma – Charlie Chaplin
Actor, mimic, comedian, composer
Chaplin’s
Venus, unlike Lincoln's, is in rulership in
Taurus and forms part of a T-Square with Mars in
Taurus in the 7th house opposite the Moon in Scorpio in the 1st house
conjunct the Ascendant and Saturn in Leo at its apex in the 9th house
conjunct the MC. (see chart below)
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This
T-Square describes someone who resolves difficult issues of
relationship (passion, possession and trust versus rigidity,
inflexibility and betrayal) with authority, isolation, separation and
control. Beneath it all sits Zosma connected with Chaplin’s Venus –
being a victim of relationship in some way.
This was expressed in his early years by a mother with
acute
mental instability who was eventually confined in mental institutions.
Chaplin along with his older half-brother, experienced acute privation
and were often hungry. Eventually he was taken into public care.
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Four
months short of his tenth birthday, Chaplin's life changed dramatically
and thanks to his father's professional connections, he became a
professional stage artist. By the time he was seventeen Chaplin was
already being given top comedy roles.
So how was Zosma-Venus expressing itself in his life?
Chapin’s personal life was often stormy. He was married four times
and his divorces were sensationalized in the media. But he
had a genius for comic creations but the ones we remember most are the
ones which portray the
victims of society, in
particular The Tramp - who can be seen almost as a
personification of a face of Zosma.
A final Venus with Zosma - Paul McCartney – former Beatle and
singer/composer
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McCartney’s
Venus is
also in Taurus but he has it in the 9th
house square his Moon in Leo in the 11th house. Early imprinting from
his mother taught McCartney to fill his emotional appetites with love
and praise from the masses (Moon in Leo in the 11th house).
One would think, astrologically, that this is an
indication of fulfilled personal relationships but Zosma, in paran to
his Venus brings into this mix a sense of victimisation.
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An early expression of this Venus-Zosma-Moon aspect came in
McCartney’s fifteenth year when his mother died from breast cancer. Venus-Zosma-Moon
aspect does not mean the early death of mother for everyone but it was how
McCartney experienced it. The fixed square forces him, through slow-paced
action (fixed square) to express his feelings as a victim of early loss
and to become an emotional relater (Moon-Venus). When Lennon’s mother died
a few years later, their common bond of grief gave McCartney’s Zosma-Venus
the platform it required. We hear that voice of loss and depression in his
early song lyrics with Lennon:
Yesterday
(“Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away/ Now it looks as though
they’re here to stay…”),
You've got to hide your love away
(“Here I stand head in hand /Turn my face to the wall / If she's
gone I can't go on / Feelin' two-foot small /Hey you've got to hide your
love away…”),
Misery
(“I'm the kind of guy / Who never used to cry / The world is
treatin' me bad... Misery!”),
Nowhere Man
(“He's a real nowhere Man / Sitting in his Nowhere Land / Making
all his nowhere plans / for nobody.”)
“To
allow someone in grief to give voice to their experience is not just being
kind. It is saving their life” (Gunzburg, 2004, p. 135). This Zosmic voice
(Zosma in paran with Venus) strengthened McCartney’s understanding of
steady and loyal relationships (Venus in Taurus). At
the same time he gave the world some of its most
memorable musical experiences.
In
conclusion…
This
Visual Astrology Newsletter has considered the fixed star Zosma in paran
with Venus in the charts of prominent people as a way of untangling what
we mean by the word "burden". For it is easy to
fall prey to the notion that sacrifice and burden
must cause devastation. Indeed from the above examples we can see
that burden – the letting go of something which
we hold dear - is often the grit in the oyster that produces the pearl of
wisdom and insight. If you have Zosma in your
chart, have a look at the planet with which it is
in paran and ask yourself what
burdens you may have been asked to
carry in your life.
_____________________________
Sources:
[1] Brady, Bernadette.
(1998). Brady’s Book of Fixed Stars. Maine, USA:Samuel Weiser, pp. 267-268.
[2] Brady, Bernadette.(1992). Predictive Astrology, the
Eagle and the Lark. Samuel Weisers: York Beach, Maine.
[3] See Gunzburg, Darrelyn. (2004)
Life After Grief: An Astrological Guide to Dealing with Loss,
Bournemouth: Wessex Astrologer.
Notes:
I.T. -
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