In the past I?ve mulled over the problem of finding an appropriate profession, and about the only thing I?ve learned is that sticking with Lord MC isn?t too productive most of the time. Norman Mailer has Jupiter in Scorpio in 8 with no tight aspects. It is disposed by Mars in Aries and none of this says: ?writer.? In addition, hindsight astrology doesn?t seem to work either. Mercury, the planet of writing, is retrograde and combust ? hardly an auspicious beginning.

Abu Ali Al-Khayyat (c 770 ? c 835) had this to say, among other things, about determining the profession.

?Know therefore, that significator of the profession is that planet which is in the ASC or MC, oriental from the Sun and occidental from the Moon. Also, in diurnal nativities, the one to which the Moon [first] applies after the New Moon of Full Moon preceding the nativity, and the planet to which the Moon applies in the hour of the nativity.? - The Judgments of Nativities translated by James Holden, page 55, AFA 1988

1) Venus is in the MC and oriental of the Sun and occidental of the Moon. Mars is in the ASC, but in a different sign and is occidental of the Sun and oriental of the Moon.

2) The previous lunation was a new Moon at 25 Capricorn 58 (2:41 GMT). The planet to which the Moon first applied was Mars, then in Pisces.

3) The Moon in the nativity is void of course, but her next aspect after she leaves Cancer is to Mercury to whom she mutually applies by opposition.

Venus, Mars and Mercury are the planets we get to play with. Venus is the planet of aesthetics, and writing is certainly part of that. Mailer was initially a novelist. The non fiction came later and Venus is square an exalted Saturn the planet of cold reality. Mercury is the planet of articulation and writing is part of that, and Mars is masculine, aggressive, and pioneering. Mailer?s first major work, and the one that perhaps was given the most critical acclaim, was: The Naked and the Dead, a book about experiences in WWII. His obituaries refer to him as ?macho,? and it is no secret and no surprise that the novelist who influenced him most was Earnest Hemingway.

But of the three planets in question, Venus is the most dominant. She is in the MC, in aspect to the ASC, oriental of the Sun, occidental of the Moon, elevated. We would then expect a Venus type profession influenced by Mercury and Mars. Mercury is obvious: he wrote. Mars is what he wrote about. Note Mars? influence in some of the titles and subject matter of his books:

The Naked and the Dead (novel based on military experiences)
Why Are We in Viet Nam (Wikipedia listed this book among his fiction works).
Tough Guys Don?t Dance
Armies of the Night
Executioner?s Song

Mailer was also said to have something of a misogynistic streak. He was married six times and once stabbed his then wife at a party. She refused to press charges at the time, but finally revealed in the 1990s that she came close to death. His book An American Dream antagonized feminists; something he would do again and again. Regardless of what we may think of the works, this is not an attempt at literary criticism, the effects of Mars in Aries in the first on his profession are pretty obvious, and in this chart at least, we can score one for Abu Ali Al-Khayyat.

Tom

That mars/jupiter sextile insures he'll be published, no matter what swill he writes ... though I've liked Mailer off and on since my early 20's, his essays "advertisements for myself" the oeuvre that stuck in my gray matter -- i lived in new york city during the days of rage when mailer and breslin ran for -- what mayor? -- with a platform New York the 51st state, he take on politics was constantly interesting. I was glad he went out with a comet.

Sonja Foxe

i lived in new york city during the days of rage when mailer and breslin ran for -- what mayor?

He ran for mayor twice. You're referring to the second time. His running mate, running for President of the City Council, was newspaper writer Jimmy Breslin. And yes he and Breslin determined that NYC was ungovernable therefore it had to be a state. Why the state would be governable when the city wasn't didn't come up in discussion. Interestingly, if it were to become a state, a near impossibility, it would have been 12th in size out of 50.

That mars/jupiter sextile insures he'll be published, no matter what swill he writes

His contemporary political rival and some time friend, William F. Buckley jr once said Mailer wrote the most beautiful metaphors in the English language. That he chose to write the way he did might be considered a waste of talent. From the little I know of his work, I get the impression he was a highly skilled craftsman, not a great writer. Great writers don't need profanity. Mailer wallowed in it. But that opinion might be worth exactly what you paid for it.

Tom