Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
Was just looking at the chart of James Joyce. He has a Jupiter/Chiron conjunction in the 18th degree of Taurus. Whenever you see a conjunction within a couple of degrees — especially when the two planets are in the same degree, its always important. This conjunction is in Joyce’s third house of communication. No surprise there! The Omega Symbol for 18 Taurus is “Gently a man caresses a thorn tree.” Joyce was very aware of the harsh side of life, its negativity and sharpness, but his ultimately message is that this harshness needs to be dealt with sensitively and gently.
This theme of needing to deal with the harsh realities of life in a loving and sensitive way is also mirrored in the Chandra Symbol for his Venus: “Violets blooming by the barred windows of a dungeon.”i Life confines us, the just outside the limits of this confinement we find those beautiful violets, so soothing and gentle as the beckon to us beyond those bars.
Chiron is about the ability to access all times and places — even the future, and even parallel realities. His novel “Ulysses” takes place over a period of 24 hours — and yet alludes to the whole of human history. From one day, all time is accessed. In his novel “Finnegans Wake” time fades away into timelessness and words become fluid — merging freely into each other to create new and unfamiliar words. Jupiter always offers us HOPE, and here HOPE is ultimately HEALING (Chiron).
Joyce has 4 planets in Taurus — the sign that is indicative of eccentricity, and there is no writing in the English language that can equal his for strangeness. His Mars opposes the galactic center, so his assertiveness aligns itself with the angelic realms of wisdom — he wants to DO (Mars)whatever he can to actively and constructively use these energies.
He has 7 PLANETS IN FIXED SIGNS, showing that he lives primarily in a world of concepts and ideas and has the Taurean stamina to doggedly plod on as he stubbornly works to bring his concepts into manifest form. Fixed signs always have strong principles, are uncompromising, and very goal oriented.
Saturn and Vesta are within two degrees of each other, so his spiritual challenge (Saturn) is to hold fast to the spiritual light (Vesta), and not become frustrated and/or weighed down (Saturn) by details. His work is extremely detailed, but there is always an attempt to link details (Vesta) to profound truth (Saturn).
The space ruler of his chart is Uranus in the 8th house. (The space ruler is the most isolated planet in one’s chart and signifies the most predominant theme in a person’s life). Joyce took a unique (Uranus) approach to spiritual self-discovery (8th house) and was highly original (Uranus) in the way he used the energies of others — in his own writings he drew on the words and ideas of many different authors.
The Omega Symbol for his 18 Virgo Uranus is “Eyeglasses which cause one to see rainbows.” This degree is about seeing EVERYTHING as magical. Note how this 18 Virgo Uranus closely trines the Jupiter/Chiron conjunction, giving magical MOMENTUM (Jones’ keyword for the trine) to his healing (Chiron) through seeing all life as a learning and growing (Jupiter) experience.
His Mercury is in the 1st degree of Pisces, the Chandra Symbol for this degree being “A field of dandelions in bloom.” Dandelions are a common flower, and Joyce rejoiced in the common events and happenings of everyday life, filling his works with literally thousands of them — like a field of dandelions. The Omega Symbol for this same degree is “At sunset a petrified forest glows with iridescence.” Here we find the ancient, dead and petrified trees (trees are a symbol of knowledge) taking on new and subtle colors as day ends and night comes on — night, the time of dreams and the subconscious self.
I find it highly interesting that the Azoth Symbol for his Saturn in 7 Taurus is “Research leads a man from one book to another.” In any chart, theineividual’s most profound and deep self will be reflected in the placement of Saturn, and here we see that what is most profound about Joyce is his continual search for more and more meaning, and his ability to incorporate what he finds in the books of others into his own highly unique world view.
I could go on — but I need some sleep! It is wonderful the way this chart reflects the individuality and work of this amazing author!