Aspects for the week beginning 31 March 2019

Scott Walker (1943 – 2019)

Scott Walker, frontman in the Walker Brothers in the 1960s and later hailed as a creative genius in a solo career, passed away on 22nd March, from cancer.  He was charismatic, but fought shy of fame, and his musical career went through distinctly marked phases.

Birth Chart

Scott Walker had the Sun in Capricorn opposite closely with Jupiter, lending a contrast of light and shade to his nature.  The Sun’s exact sextile to his Midheaven (Careerpoint) and Jupiter’s trine to the Midheaven gave him easy opportunities in his career, but Mars was closely square to his Midheaven, so there were disruptions in the trajectory of that career too.

Sun in Capricorn, the Moon in Pisces and  Ascendant in Cancer all paint a picture of introversion and shyness, a trait which led him to break away from the limelight from time to time.  He also fought depression quite often, as seen in the Moon in his 8th House square exactly Saturn in 11th.  Although he was very creative in nature (triple conjunction of North Node/Chiron/Part of Fortune in Leo in 2nd House), his emotions could be easily flattened by the square of Saturn to his Moon.

Mercury was conjunct Venus in Aquarius in his 7th House, and this was the songwriter in him.  The early songs and successes of the Walker Brothers were penned by other songwriters, but he wrote in an avant garde way in later years more successfully.  He had a Grand Trine in Air, composed of Venus, Saturn/Uranus and Neptune, and that was another factor in his genius.  Uranus (group consciousness) and Saturn (loneliness) were both in his 11th House of bands and friendship, so there was some tension between expression with others (sometimes for commercial reasons) and the need to be alone (the latter becoming ever more dominant).  In an interview with Sean O’Hagan in the Observer in 2008 he said “I have long since stopped worrying about fitting in.  I’m an outsider for sure.  That suits me fine.  Solitude is like a drug for me.  I crave it.”

Career

Scott was born in Canada, then lived in California with his mother.  He teamed up with John Maus in 1961 and Gary Leeds in 1964, and they began to acquire a following as the Walker Brothers (they were not brothers, and their names were not Walker originally).  Their stunning vocals and harmonies marked them out, and if Scott had not got together with John and Gary, he may not have had the artistic and creative opportunities he explored later in his life.  The astrological harmonies were exceptional between the three of them, but it was a suggestion by Gary that they come over to the England of the “swinging sixties” (and the financing of the trip by Gary’s father) which brought them success (Jupiter trine closely Midheaven in Scott’s chart, a change of country, bringing luck in career).

Some of the highlights of their synastry were:

Scott and John’s Suns exactly trine; John’s Sun exactly trine Scott Midheaven (enhancing his career); John’s Mercury exactly trine Scott’s Jupiter; their Venuses exactly trine.

Gary’s Sun in Pisces also sextile exactly Scott’s Sun in Capricorn, which meant that Gary and John’s Suns were exactly trine with each other.  Gary’s Sun conjunct exactly Scott’s Midheaven  (again, supportive to Scott’s career).

For Gary and John, the third side of the triangle, apart from their Suns being exactly trine, Gary’s Mercury was trine John’s Mars.

Within a short time of their move to England in February 1965, they had their first No. 1 hit “Make it Easy on Yourself” (written by Burt Bacharach) in August of that year.  This was followed by the wonderful “My Ship is Coming In” (written by Joey Brooks).

As a teenager in those years, I can vouch for the fact that they were definitely swoonable, and the impact of initially hearing their ballads was heady.  My best friend at school went on to marry a Scott Walker lookey likey!  My teenage diary records, on 25th February 1966, liking their hit “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”, which reached No. 1 in the charts in March (written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio).

Scott’s own baritone voice was deep and affecting.  Later, Midge Ure was to give it the definitive description: “the man with the mahogany voice”.

After the highs of this first phase of Scott Walker’s musical career, and with at one point their fan club membership exceeding that of the Beatles, the group’s success began to dwindle, Scott became dissatisfied with the demands of his role (“I was having to find songs and getting the sessions together. Everyone relied on me, and it just got on top of me”). Eventually in 1968 they disbanded, and Scott pursued a solo career.

In the late 1960s, he continued to release albums in a baroque pop style, which sold with varying success. He had  found a new creative path in the inspiration of the steamy music of  Belgian singer Jacques Brel (composer of “Ne Me Quitte Pas”/”If You Go Away”).  That he found musical identity through Jacques Brel is very interesting astrologically.  Brel’s Mars was exactly conjunct Scott’s Ascendant, and Scott’s own Mars was unaspected (except for its square to the Midheaven) so its energetic expression may have been helped by this.  Brel also shared the sensitive Moon placing in Pisces with Scott.  Their Mercuries were exactly sextile, providing a mental link.  Brel’s Neptune was also conjunct Scott’s Chiron, which may have been a balm to Scott’s self-healing.

After his 1969 album failed to sell, he lost inspiration for a few years, while trying to fulfil contracts.  He also drank heavily.  The decline was halted in 1975 when the Walker Brothers reunited temporarily.  Their hit “No Regrets” (written by Tom Rush), very much in the musical vein of their heyday, reached No. 7 in the U.K. singles chart.  Their comeback only lasted three years, and Scott found himself again in a wilderness.

His career subsequent to that time (i.e. from the early 1980s) was led by a more purely authentic creativity, as distinct from the artistic compromises he felt he had to participate in earlier in his career.  His career was still patchy, but he was more able to express his unique path.  In his chart, Uranus (independence) squares his triple conjunction in Leo, and it seems that had to be expressed, even if it was not always appreciated commercially, or appeared bizarre (Uranus in square).  He freed himself to become the avant-garde composer he needed to be.

His controversial album of 2006, “The Drift”, was an example of this.  His transits at the time, Saturn sextile his Saturn and Pluto trine his North Node, attest to his seriousness about this new body of work. The subject matter was strange (e.g. Mussolini, and 9/11) and its execution even stranger (e.g. at one point incorporating the sound of raw meat being punched).  The New York Times described the style he had evolved: “he barely needs melody anymore. Instead, there are whirring synthesizers, great orchestral blocks of sound, noises of unknown provenance.”

He continued to work along the path he had set for himself, earning a solid reputation in modern composition, and increasing more comfortable in interviews.  scoring a notable success with the theme to “Vox Lux”, a film starring Natalie Portman in 2018.

Along the way, he married, had a daughter (Lee) and a granddaughter (Emmi-Lee), divorced, and leaves a partner, Beverley.

Death

His transits at his death include a sobering Saturn on his Sun in Capricorn, and Saturn sextile his Midheaven in Pisces, drawing a line on his creative life.

He was emulated and admired by many other artists, including Marc Almond, who paid this tribute:

“He was enigmatic, mysterious and with some of his latter recrodings, to me, infuriating.  An absolute musical genius”.

And a final tribute from his current record label 4AD:

“Scott Walker has been a unique and challenging titan at the forefront of British music…Audacious and questioning, he has produced works that dare to explore human vulnerability and the godless darkness encircling it”.

Aspects

Happy Mother’s Day!  Mars enters Gemini today, an invigorating, high-energy influence, good for exploring mental pursuits or analysing active pursuits.  It is stimulating for hobbies and highlights some sports, such as running and cycling.  There is a strong urge to get things done, but if you are served breakfast in bed at the start of the day, enjoy.

Tuesday (2nd April) brings back the conjunction of Mercury and Neptune which we saw last Sunday, as Mercury turned Direct in the meantime.  As I wrote last week:

“Mercury conjoins Neptune at 16 degrees Pisces.  Journeys could be complicated, but information could be inspiring.  Dreams, meditations and channelling may provide uplift by and large, though there is the possibility of some dubious sources providing confusion and misleading information.  You may need to sort the wheat from the chaff in this respect.”

Mars will be sextile Chiron on Wednesday (3rd), which may see you on a healing mission of some sort.  Compassionate action may be the tone of the day, a day where physicality combines dynamically with healing.

There is a sense of an ending on Thursday (4th) with a rare conjunction of Pluto and the True South Node at 23 degrees Capricorn.  There is a line drawn with the past, whether for this lifetime or previous lives, as the South Node represents the past, and Pluto represents endings.  Whether this will impact on the Brexit process in the U.K. parliament is anybody’s guess.  In your own life, you may decide on “No Regrets” or to “Make it Easy on Yourself”.  It is an appropriate time for soul searching and letting go, coming as it does the day before a New Moon, and the Aries New Moon at that, the first of the Astrological New Year.

Having taken stock on Thursday, you can look to the future, or at least the present, on Friday’s New Moon at 15 degrees Aries.  This may bring a constructive new beginning, unhampered by the past.  It is time for positive action (very much a theme of the aspects and astrological features of this week), and go-getting.  Set your intentions, wishes, creative visualizations and affirmations accordingly.

The week in bullet points:

• Today – activity
• Tuesday – mental inspiration
• Wednesday – healing with action
• Thursday – taking karmic stock
• Friday – new beginning