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Planetary Cycles and Cinema Trends is Volume 1 in a series of astrological essays from some of astrology's leading lights. In this essay, mundane astrologer Wendy Stacey considers some of the key moments in the development of cinema, and also analyses the horoscopes for the premieres of films such as Gone with the Wind and the Harry Potter series.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
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Contents
PLANETARY CYCLES & CINEMA TRENDS
WENDY STACEY
With Neptune now in the sign of Pisces, it should be an exciting time for film. Not forgetting a touch of Leo for drama, costume and casting, cinema is essentially a Neptunian/Piscean phenomenon, inviting the audience to escape and immerse themselves into an illusory, fantasy experience. Movies evoke emotion; they stretch our imagination, take us on narrative journeys and entertain us. As Alexander Walker puts it, ‘Movies give us the myths we worship and the metaphors that simplify our existence’1 Although the previous ingress of Neptune into Pisces coincided with the development of photography, which paved the way for cinematography, the recent ingress of Neptune into Pisces offers us the first chance to watch movies made in this new Neptunian era. As Neptune travels through its own sign we can be sure that we are in for a treat with the development of all things cinema.
Cinema can be analysed from various perspectives, from cinematic genres to eras such as the ‘Chaplin Years’, the ‘Marilyn’ period, the ‘Disney Age’ or Spielberg’s blockbusters of the 1980s; from films that have won Oscars to those that have been mauled by critics but fared well at the box office. We can also look at technology, the introduction and use of colour, sound, music or costume in film. What makes cinema so interesting is that is represents a medium for the masses. Hollywood is one of the largest industries in the world and provides for one of the biggest economies ever known. Hollywood is power and money, and it is difficult for young innovators to get their work ‘out there’. The relatively few movies that reach the box office are the ones that have the chance to shape a generation; these are the films with the power to influence people of that particular time. Subsequently, astrology offers a fascinating inside track into the various meanings of these times.
This essay will take a look at some pivotal dates in cinema and examine how these are reflected in astrological placements in actors’ charts and in major planetary ingresses of the time. It will also focus on key outer-planet aspects and cycles and link these to the times of movie releases. There will also be correspondences made between film titles/plots and the signs/planets involved at the time of their release. For example, to the astrologer it is not surprising to see a movie about a man who is born elderly only to get younger as time passes – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) – released as Saturn opposed Uranus, a planetary combination that suggests a reversal of time. It is amusing to see movies with titles such as The Headless Horseman (1922) hit the screens as Jupiter and Saturn in Libra opposed Chiron in Aries. (Some fifty years later, when Chiron returned to Aries, the memorable scene involving a decapitated horse was featured in The Godfather, which we’ll look at later.)
The first cinema to open was in Frankfurt am Main in Germany on 21 February 1906. On that date, there was a T-square: Neptune in Cancer was exactly opposite Uranus, and both were square to Mars in Aries. There was a tight stellium of the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Saturn in Neptune-ruled Pisces – befitting the occasion.
The first projection room was opened by William Fox in New York City on 1 May 1907 (no time known; the chart below is set for noon) and here we have the two rulers of Pisces in aspect: Jupiter at 7° conjunct Neptune at 10° Cancer, accentuating the illusion, the projection, the imagery and mammoth scope of ‘something magical’. These planets oppose an exact conjunction of Mars and Uranus at 12° Capricorn, which suggests the pioneering, technical quality of this moment. The opposition forms a T-square to Venus at 4° Aries, again emphasising the pioneering characteristics of this day, and perhaps Aries indicates the flickering of images merged into one.
The First Projection Room
A monumental moment would have to be the first onscreen kiss. This was filmed early in the day on 15 June 1896 in West Orange, New Jersey. At the time, public kissing was frowned upon, so this was controversial; it was considered loathsome and created a major scandal. In the chart for the day of filming, there’s a stellium in Gemini of Pluto, Mercury, Neptune, Venus and the Sun. The Moon and Jupiter were in Leo that day, and Saturn was widely conjunct Uranus in Scorpio. Rampant Mars in Aries was opposing Chiron in Libra. This is a ‘daredevil’ horoscope and the event itself broke ground in the area of onscreen intimacy. One would normally expect to see more Libra, but Venus is locked in a romantic interlude with Neptune, along with the several other planets in Gemini (duality). While saucy Scorpio describes the intimacy and ‘greediness’ of the kiss,2 Leo suggests the exhibitionism and – along with Mars in brazen Aries – the audacity in filming it.
The Filming of the First Onscreen Kiss (chart set for 9am)
During a series of Saturn in Pisces oppositions to Neptune in Virgo in 1936, movies of a Neptunian nature were released, such as Mutiny on the Bounty (the sea), The Invisible Man (the elusive and unseen), and Bette Davis won an Oscar playing an alcoholic (drink, escapism) in Dangerous.
