Creativity in Sex
Zip Dobyns
As was pointed out in the article on fire and water, fire is the element especially associated with creativity. Astrology’s “letter five,” one of the fire sides of life, is especially associated with sex, so naturally there are many possible variations in attitudes, techniques, choice of partners, etc. The two individuals discussed in this article could not be more different in most respects, but both illustrate uncommon approaches to sex. I thought readers might like to have their charts. Every chart is unique, but some lives are more unusual, and comparing the lives and charts of such individuals helps us to broaden our understanding of astrology.
The FBI has been much in the news recently. A number of its top officials have been featured on TV as they described their work in tracing the men responsible for the bomb under the New York World Trade Center. They have also been sharing in the ATF’s efforts at Waco, TX to handle the stand-off between U.S. officials and the religious cult, the Branch Davidians. They have also been concerned by serious allegations against their current Director, William Sessions, who is accused of the improper handling of government funds. Now that Janet Reno has just been confirmed as our next U.S. Attorney General, she will have to share in the decision on whether or not to keep Sessions in his job. And finally, some of the older FBI members must be reading the recent book on J Edgar Hoover who was the head of the Bureau for a great many years up to his death on May 2, 1972.
The book offers a scathing expose of Hoover. In addition to the current prominence of the FBI, the book is timely in view of the current controversy over allowing gays in the military to be open about their sexual preferences. Clinton, and a majority of the citizens of the U.S. according to polls, think that actions rather than basic nature should be the test of an individual’s capacity to be an effective member of the military. However, polls of servicemen find a majority of them against admitting individuals who are openly gay. Everyone knows that there have always been gays in military service but they hid their feelings. England is the only other country in the world which does not allow them to serve if they are open about their sexual preference.
In general, homosexuals have been increasingly open in recent years, but in Hoover’s day most still felt they had to hide their attraction to their own sex. Up until quite recently, gays could be blackmailed since they could lose their jobs (as they still could in the military prior to Clinton’s election) if their secret was revealed. England’s Secret Service (similar to our CIA) suffered a major scandal some years ago which involved such blackmail.
The current biography of Hoover by an English writer offers solid evidence that Hoover was not only gay; he was a cross-dresser. One woman interviewed in France by the writer described seeing Hoover at a New York hotel party wearing a wig and women’s clothing. She was present during the time that he lay on a bed and was fondled by young men. At the time, the witness was married to a businessman who was connected to the Mafia. Members of the Mafia were present at the party and they were obviously well aware of Hoover’s activities. The troubling consequences of the latter were that Hoover denied that the Mafia even existed and he prevented the FBI from being mobilized against them. Bobby Kennedy, as Attorney General for John F. Kennedy, did go after the Mafia who were furious since they had helped to elect JFK. There is an expanding amount of evidence that the Mafia were involved in the assassinations of both JFK and Bobby. There is also evidence that Hoover helped to protect the Mafia in both cases. With apparent complicity from a few members of the police of both Dallas and Los Angeles, “loners” were tried and convicted of both crimes and U.S. officials destroyed much of the evidence.
The primary theme which stands out when you look at Hoover’s chart is the intense ambition and need to be in control. Mercury, Ascendant, Sun, Venus and the East Point are all in Capricorn while Saturn, ruler of the Ascendant, and Uranus, ruling the first house Aquarius, are in the Capricorn house in Scorpio. The fixed emphasis in the chart is further supported by Pallas which is also in Scorpio, Mars in Taurus, the Antivertex in Aquarius, and the Moon, its nodes, Pallas, Ceres, Pluto and Neptune which are all in fixed houses. Hoover was not a man who could be easily pushed around, yet apparently the Mafia were successful in keeping him on a short leash.
Hoover’s strong identification with his career could have led to a workaholic life with few personal relationships. But the fixed emphasis is usually associated with strong sensuality. Hoover is said to have had one very close, long-term male companion but he also had several other relationships for varying amounts of time. The presence of the lunar nodes in the second- eighth house axis indicates a “lesson” of some kind in the handling of pleasure, possessions, and/or power. There may be issues around money or sensuality with personal or business partners or there may be issues around self-indulgence versus self-mastery. Jupiter just retrograding back into Gemini at birth and Juno conjunct Vesta in Sagittarius complete a mutable grand cross with the nodes. The combination could have indicated problems involving Hoover’s job and finances or his relationships since the nodes and Juno are involved. In this case, it was both. Because of the social disapproval of his relationships, they endangered the effectiveness of his work.
Since Hoover was born before 1900, I don’t have asteroids for him other than the first four and Chiron. Hoover is said to have died in his sleep. There were many appropriate aspects at his death. P Mars was progressing over Pluto and square the Moon. P MC was quincunx P south lunar node in the eighth house and opposite the Part of Death at 21 Cancer 27. P Sun was square Jupiter and P Part of Death had just finished a conjunction with P Sun. P Ascendant had just finished an opposition to P Saturn. In view of those two aspects, I suspect that Hoover might have been born just a minute earlier. P Vesta, which is often connected to health, was square Saturn. P Juno, like Pluto often associated with endings, was on P Moon and natal Venus as well as sextile Uranus. P Uranus had just retrograded back into the square to natal Antivertex. P Venus on P East Point was quincunx the south lunar node.
After covering cult leader David Koresh in the last Asteroid-World, with his sexual power trip which included sexual relationships with at least 19 cult women including children as young as 12; after an explanation of sex as one potential expression of fire, astrology’s element of the life force in another article in this issue of The Mutable Dilemma; after discussing Hoover with his sexual problems, we might end this article with an interesting chart of a person with a very rare sexual condition. Lois Rodden is the source of the chart of Lynn Harris who was born a hermaphrodite. He was born with a fully functional vagina and penis, capable of being either male or female. His mother raised him as a girl and he was a dancer and childhood actress in a few films. Once grown, Harris opted to be a male. He is gay, slender, with a mustache, has a Ph.D., and is a writer working on his own autobiography. He recently went public on TV.
It is immediately obvious in Harris’ chart that relationships are his major issue. The Sun and four planets in Virgo plus the Moon and one planet in Libra are all in the seventh house. Juno is just inside the eighth house and Mars and Pallas are conjunct in Scorpio in the ninth house. The focus on partnership, which includes both letters seven and eight, is almost overwhelming. Often, an overload like this is an indication of a very difficult area of life for the individual. There may simultaneously be an intense need for close relationships and a strong fear of being “taken over” precisely because the need is so great that it creates intense vulnerability. The presence of the two lesson factors, Saturn and the south lunar node, in the seventh house repeat the same message. Usually, the best way to handle an overload in one part of life is to do many different activities which are appropriate for that area. In this case, this could include one close, lasting personal committed partner plus many good friends plus working with others in some kind of teamwork.
Virgo and Saturn in the seventh house call for attention since they show the danger of the critical work attitude being displaced into relationships, whether Harris is critical or is attracted to others who are critical. Alternately, the individual may feel pulled between a job and relationships, feeling that it is difficult to do justice to both. Of course, he could also be attracted to others who experienced that struggle. These issues are obviously solved by keeping the critical attitude directed into the job and choosing a partner who also wants and enjoys both love and partnership.
Idealism is another strong theme in the chart, shown by the Pisces identification and by Jupiter on the Ascendant and Mars in the ninth house. High values are connected to the career with Ceres and Chiron in Sagittarius on the MC. Neptune in Libra and in the seventh house as well as Scorpio in the ninth house connect the ideals to partnership. This might add to the challenges in that area if Harris looks forever for the “perfect mate” or if he makes other people so important in his life that he can’t be happy on his own. Idealism is also connected repeatedly to the mother of Harris. Ceres is in the sign and house of Sagittarius while the Moon is on Neptune and Jupiter, ruling the tenth house, is in the sign and house of Pisces. The combination might point to a religious mother, or an artistic one, or one with high expectations for herself or others (especially for Harris). Jupiter’s placement on the Ascendant shows that the mother was a personal role model for Harris but remember that role models may be positive or negative. We may want to be like the parent or the opposite. Mother is also a role model for mates with the Moon in the seventh house and in Libra. I am assuming a tenth house mother because Ceres is on the MC and Mercury, ruler of the other parental house, the fourth, is on Saturn.
The chart shows high level intelligence and the probability of considerable writing talent. Uranus in the fifth house can add to the creativity, and Vesta in Taurus suggests artistic talent while its position in the third house fits work which uses his mind. Harris might also have skills in handicrafts with the strong Virgo and Vesta in the Gemini house. I interpret Chiron as another Jupiter so its placement in the tenth house in its own sign is another support for a writing career though Sagittarius can teach or travel or sell among many possibilities. Pluto in Leo in the sixth house trines MC and Chiron, a very favorable combination for a successful career. A theatrical career is appropriate for the Leo and for the seventh house Sun as well as the Sun conjunct Saturn, a major key to one’s career. Vesta’s close trine to the Sun and Saturn are also indications of probable success in the work.
I have never seen any theory of male homosexuality which stood up to testing. Different formulas have been found in limited samples but have not appeared in other samples. But Francoise Gauquelin did find a significant pattern in the charts of over 1000 lesbians. They had Venus and Jupiter in the Gauquelin “power zones,” that is in the area from 10 degrees below the Ascendant through the twelfth house and from 10 degrees before the MC through the ninth house. Francoise theorizes that Venus is these zones is the primary key and that the Jupiter inclusion was connected to the fact that most of the sample were “active” lesbians in the sense of somewhat politically involved in the movement for women’s rights. The Gauquelins found Jupiter in their power zones for actors and politicians. Harris has been an actor and could well become involved politically.
The presence of a physical abnormality at birth would fit the first house Pisces for a mysterious condition and sometimes questions involving personal identity. Am I a male or a female? The huge focus in Virgo, including the south lunar node and Saturn, could point to problems involving either work or health. An emphasis on Virgo can also indicate someone who goes to work while still quite young, as Harris did. Hestia, the Greek name for Vesta, and Psyche were on the IC at birth, another possible clue to a health issue at the beginning of life. Harris had two middle names; Edward and Elizabeth, one for each of his possible sexes. Asteroid Eduarda was on Chiron just past his MC, and Elizabeth trined his Ascendant from early Cancer. In general, there are many positive features in the chart. Despite the primary challenge around relationships, the chart suggests a talented person who is likely to be successful in life.
Readers can credit the sexual emphasis in this issue of The Mutable Dilemma to transiting Pluto spending this year on my Descendant.