The Astrology of Lobsters – the State of Maine

Still in Maine- smelling the ocean air as I write this. Just had the best lobster spring rolls at the Kennebunkport Inn but that is not the purpose of this blog. Maine became a state on March 15, 1820 as a part of the Henry Clay orchestrated Missouri Compromise. This allowed Missouri to come into the Union as a slave state and Maine, a former arm of the Massachusetts Colony, as a free state. Maine also became the first state to provide freedom and voting rights to all men regardless of color…yes, darn it, only men.

I ran a chart for Maine on their Statehood date – and used the city of Portland as “birth place” because it was the capitol of the State until the 1840’s. Wow – does it surprise me that everyone here is so friendly and it is State where people come to the aid of their neighbors?  People come up to you on the street if you look the least little bit lost and go out of their way to give your car the right away. Look at that 11th house! A Stellium is when there are five or more planets in one house. Maine has seven planets, asteroids and stars in the 11th. This is the house of social, group interaction.

The Sun is conjunct Pluto in the 11th so the life force of the State undergoes change and transformation – it came in as a tail end of Massachusetts, a northern wasteland many thought a throw away used only to get Missouri into the Nation with as minimal amount of bloodshed as possible. Now it is one of America’s premier vacation lands and our chief supplier of lobster and blueberries. 

Interestingly enough Maine’s North Node is in Aries in the 11th so as a State it will realize its full potential as a leader in group humanitarian activities. Hmmm, what did I say about Maine being the first state to provide freedom and voting rights to men of all races? I think it got off to a good start and it has been making up to women every since.  Currently, both Maine Senators are female and Margaret Chase Smith served as Senator from 1949 – 1973 and was the first woman to have her name entered as a presidential candidate by a major political party in 1964.

With the Moon and Mercury also in Aries in 11th it is easy to see how the image of the no-nonsense, straight shooting New Englander came about. They say what they mean and they don’t ramble on about it.

Maine always suffers from the “red headed step sister” image to its sexier New England states. While it did have the Bush’s of Kennebunkport (too bad it is such a pretty little town), it couldn’t compete with the Kennedy’s of Cape Cod. Think of New England sports and skiing in Vermont and New Hampshire come to mind. It takes a few minutes to think of the summer sports on the miles of beaches and the skiing in winter of Maine. The cause for this? I believe it is in the 8th house -the house of personal power. Maine has Neptune there – the planet that deals with spirituality – and Uranus – the quirky quick change artist in conjunction with one another in the 8th. Neptune is great in the spiritual realm and there believe me if you can’t meditate and zone out while looking out from the craggy beaches into the blue clear ocean you will never be able to do so anywhere else. On the physical plain, however, Neptune causes illusion and confusion. People don’t have a clear image of Maine except for lobsters.

Neptune and Uranus together “dooms” Maine to a fuzzy existence without a clear and easy definition. However, I think they wouldn’t want it any other way. It is as though Mainers are saying if you are lucky enough to find us we will be your friends forever.  I am so glad I found you Maine – and hope to be your friend for a long time.

Sorry, have to go – I see a long walk on the beach in my near future. Did I say this place is amazingly spiritual?

Ted Kennedy – Capricorn Tenacity

When I heard of the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy I did what I always do – I ran to my computer and looked up his chart. While it may seem odd to some, death times in karmic astrology are as important as birth times. (More on that issue later, I promise.)

What struck me so much about Sen. Kennedy’s chart was the high concentration of Saturn in his first house (the house which dictates how we present ourselves to the world.) The ancient Sumerians, who are credited with being the first known astrologers, didn’t deal much with a Sun sign because when the Sun was up they couldn’t see the rest of the stars. It was your first house – your ascendant – that was key to them.

Sen. Kennedy had Capricorn on the cusp of his first house and its ruler, Saturn, in the first house. That is a lot of Capricorn! At first it seemed bizarre. Capricorn is known to giving form and structure and being very much “within the lines” while Senator Kennedy had been known for – how shall I say this – living outside the lines for a long period of his life. I “credit “that to his heavy Piscean influence – the escapist. However, it was that strong Capricorn which gave him the courage to go on when things felt hopeless and which allowed him to prevail even over his fatal illness when he mustered the strength to speak at the 2008 Democratic Convention.

If it weren’t for that Capricornian tenacity (symbolized by the sure-footed mountain goat) he never would have been able to face and ultimately triumph over life’s traumas and his own self inflicted wounds.