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Christina's Blog
The Oxford Astrologer
Culture, Sociey and Astrology
from Mythopia
I don't subscribe to any particular school of astrology, but I do make a point of keeping up to date. I choose the ideas that work when I apply them to a real chart and real life and throw out the ones that turn out to be, well, wishful.
... NeptuneCafe presents ...
Christina Rodenbeck, based in the ancient centre of learning, Oxford, examines living mythology through the lens of astrology. She likes to challenge prevailing orthodoxy, champion
originality and enchant with a good story. She is available for personal consultation. Read more of what she has to say at The Oxford Astrologer.
Mars In Libra
In His Own Words
Woody Allen's UR-PL transits - A look at his horoscope and what it indicates about Dylan Farrow. Plus Mia Farrow and Woody's composite chart
Ukraine - History as Process - Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, but is currently being torn by riots, Here's what its horoscope tells us.
Nelson Mandela's Chiron Return - The famous South African leader gave his most celebrated speech one Chiron cycle before his death.
Doctor Who's Chiron Return - The fabulous sci-fi series first aired in 1963. How does the show’s story lines reflect the British psyche?
The US Fiscal Deficit - is the mother of all debts. Mercury and Saturn combine to stall discussions along with the UR-PL square and eclipses
The Dwarf Planet Ceres - is profoundly connected to nurturing, parenting, fertility: the cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth
UK Nixes Syrian Invasion - PM Cameron Page's intention to join the U.S. is thwarted by Parliament. Here's how the UK chart is shaping up
Prince George - his Cancer Sun, chart with Scorpio Ascendant and 8th house planets explained. Plus the royal pattern of 10th house planets.-
Turkey's Identity Crisis: As Saturn crosses Turkey's Scorpio Sun, the nation and its neighbors wonder if it's a secular or Islamic state...
Water Grand Trine - This isn't just any old Grand Trine: it's between three heavy-duty planets, Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in its own sign Pisces.
Oxford Archives
War (1924) by Otto Dix, who had Mars in Libra
and turned his experience of battle into art
Planets traditionally have signs which they love or hate, where they are comfortable or uncomfortable. The assignment of these rulerships happened a long time ago though -- in another time and place, a culture quite different from ours where conforming and being part of the establishment was essential. If you didn't do that, you might well find yourself in the pond on a ducking stool.
For example, Mars, the god of war is said to be in rulership in Aries and in Scorpio (supposedly good placements), in detriment in Libra and in Taurus (supposedly bad placements). He is exalted in Capricorn and in fall in Cancer.
However, the more I study planets in detriment and in fall, the more I think we need to see them simply as special. Currently, Mars is spending a long time in Libra. Mars is aggression, courage, force, battle, libido. Libra seeks harmony in our social interactions. Libra is often about an unspoken connection between individuals or between one person and wider society. Libra also creates harmony by turning war into art.
All of these people have Mars in Libra in their natal charts. As you will read, there's potential for good and bad in this placement.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"
-- Abraham Lincoln
"In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell
"Love is the answer."
-- John Lennon
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
-- Anais Nin
"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
-- Margaret Thatcher
"We all have the chance to create a world where extreme poverty is the exception rather than the rule, and where all children have the same chance to thrive, no matter where they’re born. For those of us who believe in the value of every human life, there isn’t any more inspiring work under way in the world today."
--- Bill Gates, who with his wife Melinda is become the world's greatest philanthropist
"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."
---JK Rowling (in the mouth of Dumbledore), whose creation Harry Potter exemplifies bravery in the face of tyranny
"My religion is kindness."
-- the 14th Dalai Lama
A scene from Platoon, directed by Oliver Stone (Mars in Libra), whose experience of the Vietnam War informed this movie
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
-- Nelson Mandela
"Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others."
-- Pope Francis
"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
-- Winston Churchill
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
-- Winston Churchill, Britain's war time Prime Minister, seemed to have particularly loud Mars in Libra (conjunct Jupiter)
"Adultery breathes new life into marriages that have been left for dead."
-- Marcel Proust
"Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little."
-- Gore Vidal
and just to really cheer you up, this charming little gem from Georges Bataille:
“Beauty is desired in order that it may be befouled; not for its own sake, but for the joy brought by the certainty of profaining it.” You can see Mars in his worst aspect stomping into poor Libra there.
