Robert Smalls from Slave to Member of Congress

In reading my “American History Magazine,” I came across the name of a man I am ashamed to say I never heard of before. Robert Smalls was born a slave on April 5, 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, although his father was likely the owner of the plantation. While we do not have his birth time, it is a small miracle that we even have the correct date and location, as such things were not bothered with much when dealing with a slave birth.

In May of 1862, Smalls commandeered the CSS Planter when the white crew went on shore. Using his skills as a seaman, he steered the boat past Confederate guards and toward the Union ships blockading Charleston harbor to freedom. He would be the first African American appointed captain of a military ship and would go on to lobby President Lincoln to allow black soldiers into the army.
With the Civil War over, Smalls served first in the South Carolina legislature where he was instrumental in establishing the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States in South Carolina and help found the Republican Party of South Carolina. In 1874, South Carolina elected him to the United States House of Representatives.  (Note that was when the Republican Party was for universal suffrage and freedom.)

A personal moment of great satisfaction came in 1863 he purchased the home of his former owner and father Henry McKee for his mother. Members of the Smalls family would live there for 90 years and the house is now part of the National Historic Trust.


Even without his birth time there is a lot we can learn astrologically about Robert Smalls. He was born with the Sun in Aries, of course; however, his Sun also makes a strong conjunction to Pluto. Pluto Sun conjunctions in birth charts are indicators that person must undergo change in their lifetime. This doesn’t mean everyone will – we have to take into account that pesky idea of free will – however, if one is attuned to that energy the possibilities for growth and change are endless.

I find his retrograded Mars in Virgo very interesting. Mars does not enjoy being in Virgo. It is after all the warrior, the fighter and Virgo is far too reticent for battling Mars. Add to that a retrograde, an inward motion and a karmic pause that often makes people unable to channel their anger. He could have seethed under slavery and given up but he use his Aries Sun and heeded the call of Pluto to make great changes for himself and his society.
This is an important point about retrogrades. Too often people use them as excuses. They take on an attitude of I cannot do anything about this situation because I have a retrograde and well it stops me. No! Retrogrades are meant to be overcome. Smalls’ master and father hired him out in Charleston when Robert was just 12 years old. Over the years, became a lamplighter on Charleston’s streets and then became a stevedore and a wheelman. There is something very “Shawshank Redemption” in him using his Aries spark and that Mars in retrograde to control his emotions, learn the trades and build the knowledge he needed to utilize when the moment for freedom presented itself.
With a South Node in Virgo, Smalls had experienced service before. Not necessarily a slave in prior lives, he was someone who was honed skills of hard work and common sense. Someone with a South Node in Virgo is moving toward a Pisces North Node – going from service to a particular person or career to large, worldly and other worldly issues. It is moving from life of control over a small portion of Earth to letting go and taking a risk – reaching out and trusting the universe will protect you. He did that on that night in Charleston and his continued work on behalf of newly freed slaves showed his continued dedication to powerful issues of the time.
Robert Smalls died in Beaufort at the age of 75 in 1915.

May Newsletter! Journaling, History and Mother’s Day


GIVE THE MOST UNIQUE MOTHER’S DAY GIFT UNDER THE SUN!

My astrological cookbook, “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook,” makes a unique and fun gift. If you want me to sign it for Mom, order a copy at www.signsofthetines.com – and shoot me an email telling me how you want it signed. joansastrology@gmail.com. It is also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com.

If you want an Astrological Gift Basket for Mom visit http://www.candcgiftbaskets.com/category_23.asp.

DO SOMETHING WONDERFUL IN MAY- AND DINE OUT FOR HEALWELL!

I am on the Board of wonderful nonprofit, Integrative Health Therapies, Healwell, www.healwell, org. Healwell combines education, research, and service to improve quality of life for people living with acute, chronic, and terminal illness.  We touch humans to reduce their pain, ease their anxiety, and introduce comfort into the experience of illness. If you are in the Washington, D.C. area come to the Curious Grape during the month of May, tell them you are eating for Healwell and they will donate 15 percent of the check to Healwell. The Curious Grape is at 2900 S Quincy Street, Arlington in Shirlington

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW with Meredith McDonough,hypnotist and past life regressionist, owner of Operation Higher Vibrations ! Subscribe to my free podcasts and don’t miss any!

http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2014/04/28/astrological-cook-access-the-portal-to-the-past-and-your-subconscious-through-the-12th-house-with-meredith-mcdonough/

 


Are you a History freak like me? Then check out my blog entries on two historical figures who had May birthdays. President John Kennedy is featured here:
https://joanporte.com/president-kennedy/

If you are an admirer of Dolley Madison see why I call her a total Taurus. https://joanporte.com/dolley-madison-a-total-taurus/
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Journaling Your Past Lives Awake


We made it through the Cardinal Grand Cross of April. I know it was a rough time for many – and while I never bought into the doom and gloom that some astrologers predicted for this time, we did see the most mysterious loss of an airplane. I also believe Russia or North Korea are simmering something they will reveal later. People who are negative energetic creatures react unfavorably to that kind of difficult cosmic energy and there was just enough to kick them into high gear.

On the positive side, many of my clients reported a feeling of being reborn. They used that vibrating energy to make massive changes in their lives and outlooks. I have the perfect way for you to continue your growth. As an evolutionary astrologer, I work as a cosmic GPS system reading where my clients’ souls are coming from karmically and what lessons are in store for them this time around. However, I recently learned how much more powerful this tool can be when coupled with journaling, especially when at the hands of the “master” Mari L. McCarthy. http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog.

Once you have digested the information from my evolutionary reading of your birth chart, take the opportunity to work with Mari, Examine the past life blockages that are still make your path rocky and learn how journaling can bring forth a better understanding of their roots and impact. Conversely, you will also be able to learn how to utilize the karmic benefits granted this time around.

It is May! The time of growth – take advantage of these journaling “seeds.”

You can order your evolutionary birth chart at https://joanporte.com/p/get-your-chart.html.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

Happy Birthday America. What? You thought a country can’t have a birth chart? Well, I have to admit some of them are hard to find. Some countries that have been around since before dust was invented have no real known birth time. I mean, when did Egypt become Egypt for goodness sakes? However, our chart – that of the USA – is easy because we had a defined time when people signed a document saying – we are now a nation. Those founding fathers were so organized.

The ascendant, rising sign, of America – our outward personality feature – is Sagittarius. Makes sense – Sag. is the explorer and expansionist sign. It is the sign that keeps reaching and growing. The downside of Sagittarius is not knowing when to stop speculating or taking risks that are too large and cannot be sustained. We have seen this in economics as well as warfare.

Sagittarius is the sign of spirituality – and we are often called a religious nation. It also makes us prone to the shadow element and that is the dances we do periodically with religious fundamentalists. Does it surprise anyone that when Pluto was in Sagittarius for the last 15 years we saw the rise of the religious right and the president who was wedded to them?

The ruler of our Ascendant, Jupiter, is the 7th house – the house of “the other” and is in conjunction with the Sun and Venus. So we expand to the other and make ourselves known in the world. Venus helps us spread our art and music….our greatest export are movies. Mars is also in the 7th house – and so our warrior strength is also spread around – remember the 7th house deals with other people on rather intimate levels.

Uranus, the quirky changeable guy, is also in our 7th house. We are the nation that comes to the aid of others, yet dropped the atomic bomb – twice. We are based on the great ideas of the Constitution but do things like Iraq and Vietnam. Get the picture?

It always cracks me up that we have Virgo on the Midheaven (career and social status) and Vesta, the burning heart’s desire and ruler of Virgo in Virgo’s 6th house – the house of work and health. Think of it – Virgo vibrates to the 6th house, and is ruled by Vesta. We have Virgo in the house of career – Virgo is all about precise work – being the worker bee – getting the job done. Vesta is in the 6th house – so our burning heart’s desire is to work! Gee, have we been the country of the worker? Are we known to be workaholics-italics? Did we invent the phrase “work ethic”? Too bad this astrology stuff is all hokum.

Neptune is also on the Mid Heaven. Neptune gives a person their spirituality but when it comes to the physical side of things Neptune creates illusion and delusion. So again, we have that very prominent spiritual aspect that we present to the world. However, how many times do we perceive ourselves in a totally different way than others do? To many Americans we are always the good guys with the white hats. We are shocked when we realize that in many parts of the world we are considered aggressors. We just can’t see it. Growing up in North Jersey, the NY Yankees were gods to me. When I go back there I always laugh at the level of Yankee mania. It was stunned when I left the area to learn that the Yankees are hated by the other teams. Remember the play, “Damn Yankees?” Well it is a bit like that – we can’t believe others see is in a different light than we perceive ourselves.

Now I am not really sure if a country can have a “past life” but take a look at our South Node. It is in Aquarius in the 2nd house – the house of self worth. Our North Node is in Leo the nightly lion in the house of power in the 8th house. I am not sure the purists would like this but I think a case could be made that this shows the change in the land that became America from a more Aquarian Native American society to the world dominating Lion American Nation. I am not one to buy into the idyllic concept that Native American society was utopia but you have to admit that they existed in a more laid back – less driven society than the white men who destroyed them. Their idea of what made a person worthy and ours is vastly different and while there were many inter-tribal wars, the concept of being a world military leader was not in their modes of operation.

Our Moon is in Aquarius – ruled by Uranus – the quirky guy. So we are rather touchy people. With the Moon conjunct Athena, the goddess of war AND healing (versatile lass) so again we are emotionally attached to this warrior and good guy image. Our Moon is also attached to Ceres, the ancient symbol of Mother Earth. Mother Earth – abundance – the breadbasket of the world — get it? These images are at our emotional core.

It is funny, our Chronic wound issue, is in Aries in the 5th house – the house of creativity. We are known for work and growth and movement. Do we give a lot of credence to creativity? Not so much – we fear we are not powerfully creative people – we are the worker bees. 🙂

Of course, my buddy Pluto was in Capricorn at the time of our birth – and because it is so slow moving it is just NOW returning to Capricorn again. Reread my entry on Pluto being the changer and Capricorn being the ruler of authority figures. Sadly, we also saw the French Revolution at this time and it was an example of changing authority run amuck.

So there you go America – this is who we are – one big confusing mass of work, growth, meddlesomeness and change that you just have to love. I know I do. Happy Birthday to us all!