Skyscript Astrology Forum

CAVEAT: If you do not wish to know the identity of Mystery Chart No. 2, do not ready any further.

Kirk wrote:

I don?t like this chart. I don?t like it because I can?t get a hold of it. It?s a slippery one.

Actually you did pretty good.

?If a strong planet has no aspect with another planet it is said to be feral and will act simply in accordance with its own nature, especially if located in its domicile. Every feral planet indicates something unusual ? good or ill ? depending on the nature of the planet...? ? Morin

The way I see it, Libra will do what it takes to get things done (A Cardinal sign and the exaltation of Saturn). Libra can seem cold and aloof, but not necessarily heartless. The Virgo Ascendant fits in well with this, as does the Virgo Venus as dispositor of the Sun and Mercury: Efficient separation of what works from what doesn?t using shrewd calculation. Morin?s ?something unusual? about this Mercury could be a pronounced careful and controlled manner of expression for the native, a manner that aids the doings of the Venus Saturn sextile. - Kirk

I think this is excellent, and it captures the individual quite well.

Kirk writes:

The 12th house Venus rules the 2nd house and Saturn is placed in the 2nd. Financial fraud? An embezzler? A corporate financial wizard?

How about a pauper? A debilitated Venus rules the 2nd and Saturn is in the 2nd. Our native died broke. In fact at the time of his death he was living off the charity of a friend and literally all his worldly belongings could be placed in a single battered suitcase.

Mark writes:

Overall this is a very dark chart. With Saturn and Mars a presence behind the scenes so much and with a melancholic temperament, this is a pretty dark personality.

It is dark, but the kind of darkness is more one of sadness and pathos than evil. Our native, at the end of his life worked in the shadowy world of pornography, and he wrote cheap porn in order so survive financially. He also wrote captions for silent ?loops? or old black and white pornographic films, just so he could eat. Or so he could drink. He died an alcoholic.

Mark writes:

In this current chart, Mercury rules the 1st and 10th and is in mutual reception with Venus who is the exaltation ruler of the 7th. Either way you slice it, this guy?s work would show that combination. But I?d see the person?s career as more Venereal than Mercurial.

And he was. He made ?B? horror movies and all horror movies have sexual overtones, he was a transvestite, he wrote pornographic novels and captions for pornographic movies. He loved horror movies, comic books ? anything of that genre, and he wanted to make a career in that field.

Tony Louis wrote:

Assuming the birth time is correct, the closest aspect in the chart is an almost exact semi-sextile of Neptune with the ASC. Hence, Neptune would strongly color his personality; or as Bonatti would say, his ?corpus, vita et ingenium? fall under the influence of Neptune. The modern planet Neptune is also closely sextile the MC and trine the Part of Fortune, so it also colors his profession and worldly achievements.

The modern would grant rulership of motion pictures to Neptune, but the Moon is the traditional ruler of ?images.? Both figure into his career.

Our native is Ed Wood Jr. He was designated, two years after his death as the worst Hollywood director of all time, and his signature film, Plan 9 From Outer Space is often called the worst motion picture of all time. It isn?t. In fact some of Wood?s other films are worse. And like any subjective decision it wil lcause arguments. What makes Paln 9 worse than Terror in Tiny Town, a western spouting every kids movie clich? whose cast is 100% midgets? Why is Plan 9 worse than Arizona Bushwhackers, or the immortal Jesse James Meets Frankenstein?s Daughter? In fact if you take away the big budget, and other amenities Wood could only dream about, why are any of these movies worse than the recent motion picture Sideways? I found that as hokey and contrived as anything Wood did and never got the end despite three courageous efforts. It is unwatchable.

But there is no question, Wood lacked artistic talent, as his Venus (the aesthetic sense) in the sign of her fall demonstrates. But his Mercury ruling his ASC and MC, tying him to his career more so than most, is in mutual reception with this awful Venus. Venus is further debilitated by her sextile to Saturn in Scorpio (her detriment). Read CA?s definition of Saturn and Scorpio; words like ?putrid,? ?slithering,? ?slimy,? and ?stinking? are the definitions of choice of Lilly and they perfectly describe Wood?s movies. Even graveyards are mentioned.

But Venus in the 12th is also secret desires. Wood was a transvestite and even claimed to have worn women?s underwear in combat in the Pacific during WWII. His desires weren?t al that secret as he admitted them to Hollywood friends and even fellow soldiers. He told a soldier he was more worried about getting wounded on Guadalcanal than killed. IF he was wounded they would discover his secret and possibly have him jailed. If he were killed, the knowledge would have been buried with him.

But despite his choice of foundation garments, no one questioned Wood?s masculinity. He joined the Marines in Feb 1942, two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He supposedly lost his teeth and was scarred in hand-to-hand combat. After his death is wife claimed he had been awarded a silver star, bronze star and other commendations, but to my knowledge, this has never been verified.

I believe he was married once, but he had many, many romantic entanglements, and some claim he was married more than once. He had no children. I found nothing of his early very life save a couple of claims made by others. Some say his mother used to dress him up in girl?s clothing until he was 12; others say until he was 6. His wife was quoted as saying that his mother did it as punishment; it was a means of discipline by humiliation, but this revelation came long after his death in 1978.

He made friends with many Hollywood notables, Tony Curtis and Danny Kaye to name two. Both were suspected transvestites. He even hired his hero, Bela Lugosi to star in a couple of his movies. Lugosi in fact, ?starred? in Plan 9 From Outer Space (Originally titled Grave Robbers From Outer Space) despite the inconvenient fact that he was died before filming began. No problem for our ?never say die? native. He used stock footage of Lugosi and hired his wife?s chiropractor to play Lugosi?s part and filmed him with his cape around his head at all times.

He suffered a bitter end. He was hired to write scripts for a fraction of what others would have been paid because Hollywood knew he was desperate for money. He wrote porn, usually centered on transvestites and supposedly containing some autobiographical material.

For all the ridicule, and despite the lack of funds, Ed Wood did mange to get his films released. There are many directors who cannot say the same. Wood is portrayed as a sympathetic character by Rudolph Grey who wrote, edited really, an oral biography of Wood, titled Nightmare of Ecstasy. Grey sees Wood as a man who genuinely loved what he did. He may have done it badly, but there wasn?t an insincere bone in the man?s body. He probably deserved better than what the ridicule, alcoholism, and poverty gave him. He hurt no one but himself. He served bravely in the South Pacific Theater, as bloody a series of battles as any in human history. He never let any obstacle overcome his ?never say die? attitude, even if his improvisations weren?t too good. Now others make money from his name. A fallen angel indeed.

Tom

I didn't participate on this, but unlike the previous mystery chart, this one belongs to a character who is familiar to me. I only wanted to note the situation of fallen Venus in comparison to the previous chart: in the mystery chart #1, Venus was received, here she's not. What a difference!

These mystery charts have been fun. Would it be ok Tom, if I include one of my own in these discussions?

I made the error of completely handing the native?s Descendant over to another person. The Moon?Uranus conjunction at the Descendant is still descriptive of the native. The fact that the Moon is the sect light maybe indicates that we should look at the native himself rather than at a spouse, partner or opponent. The Moon is square Jupiter (its dispositor), with Jupiter below the horizon and conjunct the very private and personal IC. It looks like the strongly dignified Jupiter produces the vision (a tense and unusual Uranian vision), but Jupiter beneath the horizon may have trouble bringing the vision into the clarity of daylight. Modern psychological astrology can be of help here: The 4th house is considered an inner haven, a space of personal images and personal myths. I remember reading years ago, maybe in a Steven Forrest book, that the 4th is the most private and hidden place that can never be completely shared with others. Maybe he saw plenty inwardly that just couldn?t be made clear to others.

Films have been given to Neptune in modern astrology, and Neptune to Pisces. Pisces is the nocturnal home of Jupiter. It may be that films belong to both the Moon ? as images, and Jupiter ? as visions and dreams. They are angular, prominent and connected in this chart, linked to the strange left turns of Uranus. (If you are left-handed, the strange Uranian turns are to the right [audience laughter].)

To return to the Descendant ? perhaps the Piscean Moon conjunct the Descendant indicates ?the other? as some sort of vague reflective vision.

These mystery charts have been fun. Would it be ok Tom, if I include one of my own in these discussions?

This forum is open, so I don't see why not. I'm travelling all week and I don't have access to chart data, so feel free to put one up now or whenever.

Tom

Kirk Wrote:

I made the error of completely handing the native?s Descendant over to another person. The Moon?Uranus conjunction at the Descendant is still descriptive of the native. The fact that the Moon is the sect light maybe indicates that we should look at the native himself rather than at a spouse, partner or opponent.

This is one area where I throw up my hands in confusion. Morinus would likely give this to spouse or partner and Wood's wife was as alcoholic as he was and the Moon is the traditional ruler of drugs and alcohol. And he would have argued that since the Moon has a natural affinity for the female spouse, that this Moon strongly represents the spouse. However, other times in other charts this sort of thing fits the native. I think moderns tend to see the native everywhere, but even that is not a hard and fast rule. For what it's worth I would look for the 7th to show us the spouse and 7th house things, but I would never rule out the possiblity that there are other valid ways to look at this.

What is especially interesting to me in this chart is the reaction to Uranus. I had never heard of Ed Wood until I read a delineation of this chart in The Moutain Astrologer Magazine about 3 years ago. What got to me was that the author of the article concentrated on Uranus and eccentricity to the point of ignoring almost everything else. If I recall correctly he never once mentioned Mercury, Lord ASC, or the Venus Mercury mutual reception. It was all centered around the idea that Wood was eccentric and there is Uranus on an angle so there was little else worth mentioning. I took the three outers off my computer screen and when I looked at the chart prior to posting the data, I didn't have a thought about Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto. Lots of people mentioned it on this thread however, and since Uranus is on an angle, it must have some notable effect.

But was he a mere eccentric? I think there is so much more to this man, and admitedly not all of it is good. On the plus side we have a man who followed his dreams regardless of obstacle and that speaks well of some part of his character. On the other hand despite his enthusiasm for motion pictures, he had no real talent for that field, and he followed that dream into alcoholism, poverty, and death. I suppose we could call that eccentric, but to me he seemed more out of touch - more pathetic than odd. The fact that he was a tranvestite could be considered eccentric, but what then is the difference between eccentricity and madness? Do people have to do harm to others for behavior to be considered a symptom of mental illness, or are we just skirting the issue in the case of Wood and people likehim because there are far greater problems in the world than men dressing up in women's clothes and acting silly?

The man had problems, but because he was essentially harmless and he could be taken advantage of rather easily (as he was accused of taking advantage of the down and out Bela Lugosi), no one bothered to help. Maybe there is no help. I don't pretend to be expert in this field, but what about the chart showing the maternal influence. I doubt he learned to dress up like a woman and have an angora fetish because of his father. The point is that this is a complex man, but because he was "of no particular importance," he didn't get the scholarly analytical treatment of say a George Patton, another complex man.

Speaking of his mother: she is represented by Mercury, the same planet that represents him so she too is wrapped up in the fallen Venus in the 12th. There is a powerful interaction here, or so it seems. I seriously doubt he understood how little talent he had, or how his movies were received. He was hurt by the ridicule, and now, the ultimate humiliation, after his death, people make money from his work, and he never did.

Ed Wood died of a heart attack on December 10, 1978 at about 11:00 am in North Hollywood, he was 54. He had been evicted from his apartment three days earlier and moved in with a friend, Peter Coe. Coe later said Wood's body was removed from the apartment in a garbage bag.

Tom

?If a strong planet has no aspect with another planet it is said to be feral and will act simply in accordance with its own nature, especially if located in its domicile. Every feral planet indicates something unusual ? good or ill ? depending on the nature of the planet...?

I agree with Tom that I don?t look at the modern planets at all or only till the very end of reading a chart.

So instead of Uranus being the indicator of his sexual ambivalence, it?s Mercury, that switch-hitting gender-neutral planet. Mercury alone has no specific gender. As Ed Wood?s ASC ruler, mixed with Venus points to a man with some blurring of gender towards the female side.

I?m also with Tom about not using the whole chart to see the native. But that?s a matter of style and preference.

I wish I had looked into the health problems that we all saw in this chart.

For what it's worth I would look for the 7th to show us the spouse and 7th house things, but I would never rule out the possiblity that there are other valid ways to look at this.

The mutable Descendant might be telling us that there was another spouse, and that spouse was a slippery, enchanting and deceptive Piscean mirror or reflecting pool.



I also don?t rely on the outer planets. I have Solar Fire set to display only the traditional planets. If I want to take a look at the outers I need to go through the extra steps to bring them on screen. It has become very easy to put that off for quite a long time when working with a chart ? the basis and structure offered by the traditional planets is plenty to work with.

That?s how I started with this chart, but once I caught sight of Uranus I knew I couldn?t ignore it. A common and easy approach is to find descriptive labels to tag the person with, such as ?eccentric? when Uranus is prominent. Rather than apply the outer planets to the person in a broad way, I apply them to the individual characteristics, actions and aims of the person as indicated by the planets. Certain characteristics, actions and aims of the person may be eccentric, but that isn?t the same as calling the person eccentric. Rather than just eccentric, I see Uranus as an intensifier, disrupter and unpredictable high-speed bulldozer.

I think I just gave this guy a reflecting pool with a super-charged piece of heavy equipment that periodically emerges from it. Anyone familiar with the traditional design of ?The Moon? Tarot card may find that amusing. Possibly not.

The mutable Descendant might be telling us that there was another spouse,

I used the web and Nightmare of Ecstasy, The Life and Art of Ed Wood, Jr, as my sources. Nightmare is an oral history gathered by Rudolph Grey. One of the sources in that book said Wood had several wives. He was a real ladies man, but this was the only place that indicated more than one marriage. His one known spouse just passed away in the spring of 2006. She never remarried.

Tom

Kirk wrote:

Modern psychological astrology can be of help here: The 4th house is considered an inner haven, a space of personal images and personal myths. I remember reading years ago, maybe in a Steven Forrest book, that the 4th is the most private and hidden place that can never be completely shared with others. Maybe he saw plenty inwardly that just couldn?t be made clear to others.

This might be one thing where moderns could be right. Ed Wood had this dignified Jupiter, but it remained in his private world. Tom wrote that Wood, despite his strange habits and image, was a real ladies man and dignified Jupiter receives the descendant Moon in his domicile. Maybe he was able to let his romantic partners to enter into the hidden, dignified side of his world (though there must have been difficulties too, because the aspect between Jupiter and Moon is square).

Maybe he was able to let his romantic partners to enter into the hidden, dignified side of his world (though there must have been difficulties too, because the aspect between Jupiter and Moon is square).

He did. Some of his partners couldn't handle it and broke off the relationship; others, including his wife, took it in stride. I don't know how diginfied his secret activities were, though.

Tom

I?m not sure my metaphorical flight was understood. I was thinking of an inner and illusory spouse, a reflection of the Ascendant. Jupiter is square the Asc.-Desc. axis: that imaginal spouse is connected to the inner Jupiterian vision of the private 4th house. The outer world fades into the background when a magic mirror beckons and bewitches.

In other words, this could be a strong indication of an impractical personal inner world replacing the solidity of grounded contact with the outer world.