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Showing posts with label Common Sense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Common Sense. Show all posts

May 23, 2021

On his Quest and the Relocation of Thomas Paine

The political champion turned resurrection man: Out of thy own mouth I will condemn thee; artist Robert Cruikshank (1789-1856); British political cartoon satirizing Cobbett's retrival from America of Tom Paine's bones as "Napoleon watches from St. Helena and Britain erupts in revolution"; Bodleian Libraries {public domain Wikimedia Commons}; PD-1996

May 23, 2021: A few Astro-Notes concerning the indespensible Thomas Paine

by Jude Cowell

While some confusion has existed over the correct birthdate (OS vs NS) and hour for Revolutionary author and Founder Thomas Paine, for my purposes I tend to use his January 29, 1737 11:30 am GMT Thetford, England chart with Ascendant 3Gemini48 rising along with karmic planet of restriction and authority, Saturn Rx 4Gem48. Of course, that's Mercury-ruled Gemini, sign of The Writer, Messenger, Communicator, and Orator (who used to read his works aloud to the public). Of interest is that an earlier version of my SolarFire software gave 2Gem46 which rounded up = "3 Gemini": "A Garden of the Tuilleries" which resonates with Paine's French Revolution involvement and his imprisonment in France.

Meanwhile, perhaps you, dear reader, are familiar with an old SO'W post of April 30, 2006 concerning Mr. Paine and a curious double transit in May 2006 to both his natal Sun and Chiron: Sun to Chiron and Chiron to Sun, a doubly emphasized, simultaneously occurring 'cosmic link' cross the centuries suggesting hints about The Chirotic Quest of Thomas Paine and perhaps activating his spiritual and/or ideological descendants. As you know, a conjunction of Sun and Chiron has to do with self-transformation but one doesn't have to be conscious of it for this to occur - which is a good thing since Mr. Paine definitely was unconscious at his eternal rest in 2006. Yet in life, idealism was prominent via his inspirational Neptune in Mercury-ruled Gemini posited in the 2nd house of Values (money was something of an issue; he's known for donating all profits from his writings to The Cause of liberty and independence, assuming that Congress would pay him later for his efforts but we know how that turned out).

As for the double transits of 2006, it's doubtful that such a noble quest by a Founding Father who promoted the era's noble Enlightenment principles (his Uranus-Neptune opposition!) could have been fulfilled from beyond the grave under the auspices of warmongering profiteers such as Bush-and-Cheney in 2006. For tragically, as you know, any noble course America once promoted, even honored, was cruelly diverted toward 'the dark side' decades ago, not to mention our nation's original stain of slavery from 1619 onward.

Now if you're curious about William Corbett's famous disinterment in New Rochelle, NY of the body of deist Mr. Paine and the subsequent return of Paine's bones to Britain on November 21, 1819, check out The Adventures of Thomas Paine's Bones by Moncure Conway if you dare.

Meanwhile, for your consideration below is a bi-wheel of Thomas Paine's natal chart, center, with an outer horoscope of that very event, set for "just before daybreak" on September 25, 1819 New Rochelle, NY (source: Thomas Paine, by Craig Nelson, 2006), the reputed date and approximate time (using 5:00 am LMT) that Mr. Corbett, his son, and a hired hand, dug up the 'disrespected' remains of one of America's Founding Fathers, Tom Paine, who was denied burial in the Quaker cemetery due to his deism (and criticisms of his former colleagues) which had made him extremely unpopular in America (curiously, his natal Sun at "10AQ" = "A Popularity That Proves Ephemeral" - Jones):

Of course, it's possible that the unholy deed was begun earlier or later than the speculative hour of 5:00 am LMT shown here, but a change won't affect the fact that the 1819 South Node of the Moon @11Lib12 (in his natal 6th house), a Saturnian point of separation, sat squarely upon Paine's Prenatal Solar Eclipse (11Lib42) degree in the 9 New North Saros Series with its themes of 'great physical effort, and a potential for 'violence' (Brady's Predictive Astrology #ad) which suggests the hired hand's toil that morning. Digging a grave whether empty or inhabited involves great physical effort along with the upheaval of disruptive Uranus (20Sag47) at the 5:00 am IC (Ending; Roots) so this also describes the desecrating, even shocking, event as an 'uprooting' took place.

Plus, the 1819 Moon (11Sag41) of physical body was hiding mysteries of her own in the darker light of her Crescent phase (70:12) after floating beyond her opposition to Paine's natal Saturn rising (note that Paine's reputation and authority had suffered in England, too). Meanwhile, transit Jupiter Rx @7AQ28 was in process of conjoining Paine's natal Aquarian Sun (someone famous got 'carried away'!) while a triple line-up of planets all @27Pisces ("A Harvest Moon" - that's some 'harvesting', Mr. Cobbett) had moved beyond Tom's natal Venus-South-Node conjunction (separation from females; isolation) and are opposed by 1819 Venus @27vir40, venal planet of jealousy, envy, and vanity.

Additionally, Tom's natal North Node of meetings and destiny was rising at 5:00 am, and the Sun @1Lib28 was conjunct Nemesis (the unbeatable foe). Well, Cobbett was certainly that, for Old Tom had had no say in the matter of his relocation whatsoever. At least Mr. Cobbett eventually thought better of his controversial actions on that morning and he did stop his criticism of Mr. Paine at some point. Still, that's a mighty harsh, cruel Saturn-Pluto duo surrounding wounded Chiron there, isn't it? And all in Pisces, sign of the victim - and with 1819 Neptune, planet of erosion, undermining, mourning, and loss, conjunct what may just be Tom Paine's natal 8th cusp of Death and the Occult. To me it seems that Mr. Cobbett probably had some measure of exploitation in mind.

Then a wider view reveals that 1819 Neptune in Sagittarius was opposing Tom's natal Neptune in Gemini (sign of the pampheteer) which denotes that, yes, Thomas Paine was a victim of persecution during his lifetime and even, as we witness here via the lens of Astrology, in death.

Now naturally, several other chart factors are noteworthy so I shall trust you, dear reader, to locate them if you're curious.

In closing, here are details concerning the life and career of William Cobbett (b. March 9, 1763 Farnham, Surrey; d. June 18, 1835 Normandy, Surrey) provided by his Wikipedia bio page where you'll find that Cobbett's last years unfortunately were marked by a case of paranoia.

Recommendations: In case you've missed it so far, astrologer Mark Philips has written very interesting observations concerning Thomas Paine's natal Mercury in Aquarius.

And if you have 58 minutes to spare, don't miss Kenneth Griffith's theatrical documentary Thomas Paine The most valuable Englishman ever!