Weekend Entertainment Guide 6/28/24
New USA solar return, new AP Stylebook, new Qveen Herby album
Jupiter continues its journey through Gemini, bringing an exhausting amount of activity. On one level, this can come out in very literal manifestations like a significant revision of The Associated Press Stylebook. On another, we might be seeing more subtle situations where opposites attract.
Hermann Hesse’s novel Narcissus and Goldmund, discussed in Hot on Substack, is a classic story of friendship between opposites. According to Wikipedia, it was originally published in German in 1930; Jupiter was in Gemini for roughly the first half of 1930, so that could be the book’s natal placement. Time for a revisit!
Solar return of the United States reinforces natal conflicts
The United States will celebrate its birthday in the coming week. The 2024 solar return of the Sibly chart for the signing of the Declaration of Independence is shown below.
Mars conjunct the Descendant is a little ominous, perhaps representing the possibility of conflict. This chart has a broad Mars-Uranus conjunction in the 7th house. Natally, the Sibly chart has an even broader Mars-Uranus conjunction straddling the Descendant, with Uranus on the 6th house side and Mars on the 7th house side.
The solar return chart also has a Pluto-Mercury opposition at the beginning of Aquarius and Leo. This is similar to the Sibly chart’s natal opposition between Pluto at the end of Capricorn and Mercury at the end of Cancer. In other words, many of the problems the United States will face this year are the problems it incarnated with. It won’t be totally new stuff that we don’t have experience dealing with — we will just be a more extreme version of ourselves.
The solar return chart also has a tight square between the Moon at 29° Gemini and Neptune at 29° Pisces. Political campaigns could play on our emotions and not necessarily be totally truthful. A prominent Neptune can also be involved in problems with immunity and the spread of disease.
On the positive side, the solar return chart has both the Sun and Venus in Cancer forming a trine to stabilizing Saturn in Pisces. I am reminded of a saying commonly but erroneously attributed to Winston Churchill: “Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else.”
Jupiter in Gemini brings significant AP Stylebook revision
Poynter reported that The Associated Press released the 57th edition of its AP Stylebook on May 29, 2024. For astrologers, that’s shortly after Jupiter entered Gemini on May 25, 2024. Gemini, of course, is the sign of language, and the AP Stylebook ensures a standardized use of language throughout the journalism industry.
A significant change in this edition is that AP style will now use the Merriam-Webster dictionary instead of Webster’s New World Dictionary. This brings AP style into alignment with the Chicago Manual of Style, which also uses the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
I didn’t know AP wasn’t using Merriam-Webster. I learned AP style writing for the Oregon Daily Emerald at the University of Oregon in 2004-2005 and then used that as a freelance journalist until 2008, when the Great Recession shook me out of that line of work. When I returned to freelance writing during the pandemic in 2020, I bought the current edition of the AP Stylebook and used it along with the Merriam-Webster website without thinking about it any further.
According to Wikipedia, the first internal edition of the AP Stylebook came out in 1909. Meanwhile, The Chicago Manual of Style’s first edition was published in 1906. Both of these events happened while Pluto was transiting Gemini, which makes sense for language being examined more deeply than usual. Also, 1906 had Jupiter in Gemini for part of the year. 1909 had the North Node in Gemini all year and Jupiter in Virgo (the other Mercury-ruled sign besides Gemini) for part of the year.
Poynter and Wikipedia agree that the first public edition of the AP Stylebook was released in 1953. To pin that down a little tighter, Editor & Publisher, in a 2003 retrospective, said they announced in their June 6, 1953, issue that the release was expected to happen around June 15, 1953. Over the course of June 1953, Jupiter moved from 5° Gemini to 11° Gemini.
Editor & Publisher elaborated that the current alphabetized format of the AP Stylebook came with the 1977 revision, and Wikipedia narrowed that publication date to August 1977. Jupiter was also in Gemini for a chunk of 1977, early April through mid-August, so this could potentially take in the 1977 revision of the AP Stylebook.
Point being, the current Jupiter in Gemini transit is a great time to get picky about your use of language!
Hot on Substack
, Two Old White Men Debate 6/27/24Oja predicted in advance of the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, “So, there will be some seriously confusing, distorted moments as well as some that potentially inspire and speak directly to our soul and vision. The Moon is leaving its exact joining with Saturn in the chart and heading toward an exact joining with Neptune. There may be comportment initially, but it tends to unravel as the debate progresses.”
I came home late the night of the debate and only saw the end of it, but it did indeed look pretty unraveled by that point.
, Hermann Hesse Through the Lens of Evolutionary AstrologyI read Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund in my early twenties, while I was underemployed during the Great Recession. Even now, 14 years later, it’s hard to say whether the primary cause of my underemployment was my own desire to chase a dream of becoming a fiction writer, or if it had more to do with family and collective circumstances beyond my control. A lot of things simply conspired to create an outcome that could best be described as Pluto transiting my 4th house — a period focused on internal personal growth rather than on the type of achievement lauded by the outside world.
Narcissus and Goldmund tells the story of the friendship between the monk Narcissus and the wandering artist Goldmund. What I got out of Narcissus and Goldmund at that time was validation that it is normal for people to have different paths in life. Of course, I compared myself (and also felt that others were comparing me) to my more conventionally successful peers. Those sorts of anxieties are still a sore spot for me, even though I know rationally that I’m just the Narcissus to someone else’s Goldmund.
Hesse has Mercury in Gemini conjunct the Descendant, which makes sense for him being the author of a book focused on characters who embody diametric opposites. Anderson elaborates that Mercury is the ruler of Hesse’s South Node in Virgo, suggesting “a past life where learning through partnerships and intellectual exchange might have been essential.”
Free online event
Cindy McKean and Tamira McGillivray will present a webinar through Kepler College on Astro*Carto*Graphy on Saturday, June 29, 2024, at 11 am PDT. Register here.
New Qveen Herby album
I am continuing to explore the discography of Qveen Herby, who grew up in the same town as my parents as discussed last post. She actually released a new album, The Alchemist, on June 21, 2024. Of The Alchemist’s tracks, “MAGIC” and “MY SZN” may be especially relatable to those in the alternative spirituality community.
Anyway, I am impressed with her range over the course of her career. “Black Sheep” is really sweet and sensitive.
This off-color Instagram reel just made me laugh and laugh.
The larger context of the sampled song “F Myself” sounds like she might be responding to a critic who told her to go F herself, so it’s not quite as crazy as it looks from the snippet, but just the way she is cavorting around cracks me up — I don’t get to use the word “cavorting” very often.
First, thank you for including my Hermann Hesse article in "Hot on Substack." I enjoyed reading your introduction to Narcissus and Goldmund, a good complement to my article which fails to explain what the books is about. My bad :-) I also found it interesting that Jupiter was in Gemini when it was first published. I must have picked up on that vibe somehow. Thanks again
"The solar return chart also has a tight square between the Moon at 29° Gemini and Neptune at 29° Pisces. Political campaigns could play on our emotions and not necessarily be totally truthful. " - last night comes to mind in so many ways.
I also took great interest in your comments about the style manuals. In a few months, Chicago will publish a new edition with a section on gender-identity pronouns! First time for catching up with the culture now. Chicago is also going to expand the guidelines for editing fiction, which has always been lacking. It seem like this time, Chicago is making major changes. Great for Uranian aspects and Jupiter in Gemini?