LIFE IS A JOURNEY, a work in progress, whose unfolding can be likened to the unwrapping of a gift. This gift, resides within us and will reveal itself only in time. What is of value, and what we seek are one and the same thing and lie within. And so, it should not be surprizing that what is of value to some, is of small matter to another. Yet what is important,” is that which we seek is an honest reflection of who we are.” This is no small ask, living as we do in a mass culture. A mass culture where values are set outside ourselves; and so to express, or to seek what is for us, authentic is indeed a hero’s quest. In a world where conformity is the norm, even in some circles, nonconformity is the norm. And so, with this in mind I intend to explore the lives of people who did just that. Those profiled here, beginning with people whose lives have been chronicled either through memoir or biography,and have revealed themselves to be heroic travellers on the great highway of life.
The subjects chosen are from diverse backgrounds and times with a variety of gifts and life stories. However, what they have in common is a gift of authenticity, a true self that shines through in the noisy conformity of modern life. So here be people as different as Pop stars, Philosophers, Poets, artists and world leaders whose lives have the unmistakable stamp of Originality.
To facilitate this exploration I’m using a mytho/poetic lens, a powerful symbolic language of Archetypal Astrology. This mytho/poetic language is Archetypal Astrology. This mytho/poetic language is universal and can be found in all mythic systems across the globe it is a universal language that has the same energy and meaning universally. For example the energy of Mars as a warrior is recognisable across cultures even though the name may change. The same can be said of Venus too, as the energy of love, beauty and relationship is universal. In short this language when applied to any one life, gives it a mythic structure, the co-ordinates, as it were of soul/space. So as not to over complicate, I will be using only a small part of the individuals natal chart, (the natal chart is like a snap shot of the heavens at the moment of birth) so as to hone in on unique personal qualities and how these qualties were lived and brought to the fore. I don’t wish to argue the case for astrology, as this will become abundantly clear in the process. As for using a small fragment of the birth chart, we can look at it as if it were a hologram; in that the smallest part contains the whole. What is interesting, even though this is a symbolic language, you may be surprised to see, how some people make this literal and this will be made clear in the following stories.
Rod Stewart and The Quest for a LOVE that lasts
Rod Stewart has had a very long career in an industry that churns through it’s players swiftly. That career has lasted over 40 years and has taken him on a journey from singer with the band through to the unique and powerful voice we know today. The man with the big voice has had an equally big life, my intention here though, is to look at one aspect of that big life. Using the mytho poetic language and method of Astrology I will hone in on just one aspect of that life, a life revealed by his Astrology. By casting a spotlight on one small part of his birth chart and what it reveals we may gain some insight as to what is of value to him and therefore what it is, that he sought. That small part is Venus and it’s placement in Pisces. Venus in Pisces is said to be exalted that is, it functions at it's highest level; one could say she stars here. And it would be hard to argue, that in Rod’s case, she has had a staring role. Astrology is a very straight forward language yet it’s terminology can be daunting at first. So to begin with let’s just look at Venus and her staring role in the sign of Pisces.
We, in the west, if we know anything about ancient mythology tend to know what Venus means, or represents. Images of her both ancient and modern are strewn across the culture in both space and time. Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, the dove of peace and harmony. When we look at Venus in Rod Stewart’s chart we see that the planet Venus takes up the qualities of the sign Pisces. Pisces the last sign of the zodiac is symbolic of love and compassion, in short a love that knows no boundaries. However, like life this is a process that unfolds in time, and life itself, gives us that time.
Rod Stewart began life in London, the shattered London among the debris of the Second World War. The German bombs were still falling on his families North London a working class suburb. The bombing left craters in the streets and rubble where houses once stood. And into this, Rod Stewart was born. The air raid shelter for the Stewart family was a make shift structure with a corrugated roof dug into the backyard. He was the youngest of the family who were close and supportive. He says he was spoilt yet was quick to add there was not much to spoil a child with in a partially destroyed city. Yet like the city of his birth the family stuck together. The family was not only large and loving it was also musical and on their love of music, they did not stint. In short, Rod was the cherished member of a loving clan.
The love of music within the family would put Rod on his life path, and so he made his way from singer with the band to unique stardom. It was early days when he met his first love Sue Boffey. He and his mates and guitar in hand often made their way to Brighton Beach on weekends. His first child is likely to have been conceived on that beach and was unfortunetly unplanned. Sue Boffey, he describes as an extremely pretty girl who he charmed into his arms. She fell for him but neither expected parenthood. Sue Boffey became the mother of his first child the child later surrendered for adoption. Brighton Beach, the scene of the loss was returned to in a song written much later and simply titled Brighton Beach which is full of sadness and regret. One could say that this meeting with Venus on a beach was less than ideal and ended in tears, a major theme of Pisces, which even though it exemplifies love and compassion these are often experienced through love and loss. And so his first love was lost together with their child, who, in later life found her way back to his door.
Available young women were, well, available and Rod, once a star, did what most young men would do in his situation he took his fill. Dee Harington though, was different, she didn’t throw herself at him and even more intriguing was his perception that she was unaware of her own beauty. He met her in 1971 in L.A. at a party for his band The Faces. And once again, “beside the foaming sea”, his words. She was a lovely girl from England and within six months they had moved in together. Rod, by this time was flying high and earning significantly. Much of his earnings were liquid and so he was paying a lot of tax. To staunch the flow he brought a mansion in London, Cranborn Court and he and Dee moved in. The next two and a half years they worked together to transform it via there own taste and style. They went hunting for antiques and installed a chandelier“the size of a Morris Minor” in the hall. The love of art and beauty however was not enough and Rod began to stray. He says of Dee that she “ was cute wholesome and not destined to last”. What Miss Harington’s thinks of this description is not recorded. However what brought their relationship to an end was Britt Ekland.
If interest in art and design were fostered by Dee Harington it became very serious indeed with Britt Ekland. Britt was the Swedish beauty who had come to the fore in the latest Bond movie. She was not only beautiful she had a good head on her shoulders. She also knew a thing or two about Art and the value of Antiques, so much so that she could name and date them. They both took a liking, in particular to Art Neavou and the Pre Raphaelites. Both styles are, to say the least, highly idealised, one could say closer to heaven than to earth, yet for Venus the closer to heaven the better.
Britt Ekland though, was a bit closer to earth and was capable of working and cooking, in short, a woman with her feet on the ground even though she looked heavenly. Sadly the relationship founded once again on the rock of his philandering. Rod admits to being flummoxed by his own behaviour and ponders why it was so that he could be with one of the most beautiful women in the world and still,in his words, “ behave like an arse?” And so it ended.
He went on dating and partying even at one time two timing one Playboy beauty with another when along came Alana. Alana Hamilton the beauty from Texas a forthright woman who had a place in the A list of Hollywood. He was smitten instantly and she became his wife. Married they now had a wonderful life in Hollywood even counting the likes of Gregory Peck as a neighbour. Alana had two children in quick succession and they loved family life together. They bought a house on the beach at Malibu with a wide and long beach frontage. The house itself was designed to look like a large Conch shell, ( I’m not making this up). He said it looked like a mini Sydney Opera House. Here they relaxed with the children on the sand beside the sea. Alana was exhausted by the quick birth of the two babies and he was full speed ahead. And sadly the two speeds lead to a drift which through slow painful stages saw the marriage dissolve.
The marriage that might have been to the beautiful Kelly Emberg ended in tears and deep regret, although he became a father again to a daughter Ruby. The unhappiness that resulted from his ongoing philandering, in fact he himself calls himself, “ the last of the great philanders”. The shame of this he says,” still haunts’ him so much so that he felt ashamed to write about it. The end came when Kelly left and took Ruby with her. He, himself called a halt to this behaviour when casting an objective eye over his affairs and he didn’t like what he saw. In his own words, in the midst of women coming and going he found himself thinking, “ you’re a forty five year old man and you’re flying in shags. Is this what you now amount to?” Enter Rachel Hunter young beautiful and the soul of innocence.
Rachel Hunter, the girl from New Zealand had captured the world in her iconic add for Pantene shampoo an add easily recognised today. There she was, a bubbly wide eyed beauty, he saw her and knew she was the one and persued her. His plans, though, were set arwy when his father died unexpectedly. He was then blown open by grief, and fate had bequeathed this lovely girl to console him. For she was not only beautiful she also had a compassionate heart. The openness between them sped things up, Rachel moved in with him and within three months they were married.
In their eight years of marriage he remained true to his conviction that she was the one; the one and only one. Ironically the opening via grief had closed the boundaries that had always been porous and he remained faithful to the marriage, into which were born two beautiful children. And so it came as a blow, that Rachel herself saw the partnership was over. When he realised the reality of this he said it “ was like being hit over the back of the head with a cricket bat”. He was left shipwrecked an inconsolable a darkness emerged from within him so deep, that he felt stranded in a very dark place. He lay around on the sofa with a blanket and a hot water bottle his only consolation. He tried to pull himself out of this desolation with self help books and yoga. He went into counselling once even being propositioned by his counsellor.He became disillusioned and thought he would never marry again. However he was wrong but between this time and his meeting with Penny Lancaster he came in for another rough ride via his health.
His throat had been giving him trouble for sometime. Yet he paid it no mind as he tied to keep the show on the road. As his voice started to show strain he used steroids to override the symptoms. This sometimes failed leaving him having to have to cancel large concerts which, in turn, meant that insurance companies refused to cover him. The situation worsened when what had been throat trouble morphed into cancer. The cancer was picked up in a routine medical check. The cancer was seen off unfortunately so too was his voice. The doctors had assured him it would return, however as time passed he began to have serious doubts, that it would. During this time he wondered what the future held for him and even began to think of an alternative career, including one as a landscape gardener. But then help came from an unexpected quarter.
The natal chart can show us, not only what is happening, but where it's happening. This part of the natal chart is called the House system. In Rod's case Venus is in Pisces is in the 9th house which is the place in our lives where we seek meaning. The 9th house is therefore, often expressed as religion. And so it came to pass that help came from a Jewish cantor at a nearby synagogue. The cantor is the singer of sacred songs or liturgy in the synagogue. Simply put,the cantor sings the sacred and the rabbi teaches the sacred. The cantor who came to Rod's aid was Cantor Nate Lamb. Cantor Lamb was said to know everything there is to know about voices and he and Rod worked together till that unique voice was returned.
Yet now, the journey through illness, depression and the loss of Rachel had cut deep. So much so he was in no hurry to engage in another relationship. He did date at the time but none of these relationships became committed; that was until he met Penny Lancaster. She was beautiful, yes, she was young, yes but she was also a creative photographer. So Rod invited her to take shoots of his show which she did. As Rod tells it he not only saw her obvious beauty but also the warmth and kindness she exuded.
The courting was slow. For to begin with they both had misgivings about the possibility of a committed relationship. Also Penny's family were concerned about Rod's rock star reputation. As well as this Penny herself wanted children something Rod was not planning on. In his autobiography he relays a scene that is emblematic of Venus in Pisces. As one day, he tells us, Penny crying and confused went and sat by herself beside the peacefulness of a lake. While sitting there, lost in her concerns, about the future, a swan suddenly rose up out of the water and as it did so a white feather floated down and came to rest beside her. At that moment she knew it was time to commit and move on. As her and Rod moved closer together the spiritual side of the relationship revealed itself as they could not go by a church without going in to pray. And yet, unbeknown to each other they both prayed for a lasting, healing relationship.
There first child was born in 2005 and they were married in 2007. The marriage has been very successful perhaps made in heaven. The blessing didn't end there for Rod's creativity returned and he began once more to write songs, something he felt had gone forever. In 2011, he says a song, as he put it, " came out of the blue", or perhaps just floated down. The song, Brighton Beach relays the heartache of lost love and separation. In short a lifetime of reaching for a love that would last. The song set on Brighton beach is a reflection of his first love Sue Boffey. Sue Boffey, herself was discomforted by the song and who could blame her? The song however, was a creative breakthrough and many more followed. He says it was like a rebirth, and many more followed released in his 2013 album.
The exultation of Venus in Pisces is an expression of compassion and kindness. Also the recognition of human frailty in our awareness of our shared humanity. In short, the quality of LOVE, of a non personal kind. Rod Stewart and his wife Penny have shown these qualities in full. So if you will allow me, here is a short list which is only part of a much longer one. They have gotten behind a group of disabled people wanting to support others in the U.S. who are protesting President Trump's cuts to the disabled. Rod saw the plight of the disabled as" heartbreaking". He said he wanted to support people facing more than their fair share of life's challenges. And so, here's a list; Education for children at risk, Childhood diabetes, Breast cancer care, AIDS, The Red Cross, victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the list goes on and on.
Finally, back to Venus exalted in Pisces; if we ever left it, I'll have him speak in his own words from the lyrics of his song Love Is, " Love is life, love is yearning, it does not boast but speaks the truth. Love is fair and knows no boundaries " And in the foregoing it is obvious that it can take a lifetime to unfold. And may I add, in this perilous age one can only hope that many more will hang onto their hat and take the trip.