……and in support of Scorpio and Pluto energy.

Robin Williams came to my attention recently via the new HBO documentary, ‘Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind‘. (It is through biographies that natal astrologers learn.) Alongside the birth chart of Esther Hicks the chart of Robin Williams is a useful comparison.

At first I wondered where the fast mind and easy thought-process was indicated expecting the usual positive aspect between Uranus and Mercury – but there was none. Instead Pluto and Mars are the two chart rulers and there is a conjunction of Mercury with Pluto a rather dark combination which if not balanced by other chart factors gives a ponderous thinking mechanism – G.W. Bush had this pair near the ascendant. Certainly this interpretation was in Robin’s character, he was quieter off-stage and at home and was said to frequently lose himself in his thoughts. However, the Robin Williams stage-act had to be there in the chart somewhere. A closer look revealed Jupiter tying Mercury with Uranus by forming a trine with the Mercury-Pluto conjunction and a square with the Mars-Uranus conjunction. This Jupiter in Aries in the 6^th house is the person who loves to work a lot.

The sweetness we see in the man is reflected in both the trine from the Moon in Pisces to the Mars/Uranus conjunction and the opposition to Venus. This Moon in Pisces is important as it rules both the sun and the 9^th house. His mother was extremely important in forming his character. He was a very sensitive and caring man. The powerful Jupiter in the 6^th house is opposite Neptune in the 12^th same placement as Esther. The planets in Leo in the 10^th show the need both Robin and Esther have for attention and the limelight – the powerful positive reaction from an audience.

It could therefore be said that Robin was channelling from Source energy. He was it seems in tune with spirit – although the documentary did not say he used this association as a defining part of his character. He was certainly interested in the mysterious way the mind works and in where these mysteries originate as shown in some of the movies he made where he plays doctor or therapist, loner or crazy person.

The rush that Esther has said that she feels after she has been speaking for Abraham on stage is very similar to the way the documentary presented Robin’s reaction indicating that perhaps it is as much to do with the feeling of positive appreciation from a happy and appreciative audience than anything else. Leo in the 10^th loves to perform and to be appreciated. Everything is expanded in this way. It is a lifelong compulsion. Take that away and there is a very large gaping hole left for the personality to fill in some other way.

Esther did not find her way to this highly visible method of receiving satisfaction till she was in her early thirties and she has said she was reluctant at first, that she asked Jerry not to tell anyone what she could do. This was perhaps about her natural affinity with a more conventional role in society (moon in Capricorn). She is a person who needs friends and who needs approval – this is predominant – so she was worried she might lose these at first. I imagine it was not long before she found she was appreciated in her new role and held in admiration. So, like Robin Williams, she kept going: tuned in, tapped in and turned on.

The indicators in the two charts for both people having a great ‘sense of humour’ are different. Esther’s is the most traditional in terms of astro-indicators as her Jupiter is in its own sign of Sagittarius. In Robin’s chart, while sun in Cancer has a certain reputation for comedy it is not a standard, so elsewhere in the chart we see a combination at work: Jupiter in Aries (fire) as well as the 9^th house planets – Ninth house belongs to Jupiter. Humour is a result of some kind of juxtaposition or incongruity where something is taken out of normal context. Robin’s chart has very joyful characteristics alongside equally heavy and dark energies. The humour may come from this basic imbalance.

“Humour requires the ability to think outside the box or see unusual connections where others don’t,” says Victoria Ando of Oxford’s department of experimental psychology. “This divergent and over-inclusive way of thinking reflects many of the thought processes and patterns seen in psychosis. But while in psychotic patients these traits are too pathological to allow creativity, in a healthy individual they can contribute towards brilliance and inspiration.

“…..Comedians often display depressive traits such as emotional flatness and detachment from others. The good news is that this seems to be related to the stress of the job, rather than an underlying disorder: there is little evidence that many suffer from clinical depression in the way that Robin Williams did. What’s clear is that once they step off stage, comedians often stop being the life and soul of the party. Most combine two conflicting personality traits – they are both highly introverted and highly extroverted. A surprising number admit to becoming increasingly “socially uncomfortable” off stage as their career progresses.”

* * *

The term, ‘contrast’, is used by Esther. Bear in mind the Scorpios of this world and those like Robin Williams with Scorpio rising. One little word like contrast does not truly describe the extremes of experience and emotion born in different people. Roughly half the world will have a birth chart showing an assembly of darker colours, a tendency towards introspection or introversion and less rather than more physical and/or positive energy. Depending on the bias of the chart, these ‘colours’ will find expression in different areas of life as it progresses. Everything has its opposite, and every marker used in the life-chart is on a scale of light to dark or high to low.

Everyone has Scorpio somewhere in their chart, which holds a resonance with Pluto (and to a lesser degree Mars). Wherever it is this will be one of the 12 areas of life where they will experience the most major change through life, the degeneration and regeneration that imitates the seasons.

When a planet in its orbit moves against the background of a constellation we say it brings with it the energy of that sign. Esther, by my reckoning, has the symbol for, Chiron in Scorpio in the first house of her chart. Chiron serves as the archetype for the wounded healer. The first house carries the energy of the first sign which is Aries, the first sign of regeneration, the ‘I am’. This placement is very visible, yet Scorpio is by nature hidden from view as the process of changing decaying matter into life happens in the dark, in secret. Chiron in our chart tells us about a very early wound in our life which will not go away but which offers a way to set about healing. The healing and the wound is a lifelong process. For Esther her wounding occurred in a deeply personal way but it is something that is as apparent to her as the healing that resonates with it.

Also resonating with the Scorpio energy in Esther’s chart is the conjunction of Pluto (with Mars and Saturn) in the 10^th house, also highly visible because it is at the top of the chart and reflects career or occupation, what we do in the world. Planets in this house say something on this subject. Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio, they carry the same vibrational resonance. The essence of this energy is transformational – Esther’s work is to turn dark to light, problems to solutions. Yet, as Leonard Cohen says: ‘You want it darker‘. Because by saying ‘I am the healer’. You are asking, ‘do you need my healing?’.

When I first saw the book ‘Ask and it is Given‘ in the nineties in the New Age section of the book shop I did not take a look because the title sounded religious: it is taken from the new testament: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it … , Matthew 7:7. Later when I was researching channellers and saw the name ‘Abraham’, I failed to read further as I had already set Christianity to one side in favour of Buddhism. Esther (an Old Testament name) tells us that her mother was Mormon.

The birth chart tells us about the influence of our parents by looking at the 4^th and 10^th houses. Esther’s mother had a very strong influence on her – full of loving energy – Leo – but heavy-duty, fundamentalist in its approach perhaps, as seen in the conjunction of Pluto with Saturn and Mars. Although there was a strong loving energy between Esther and her mother it was in some way damaging to her – Chiron is in Scorpio, first house also says something about the mother. Her mother may have offered the idea of God by distinction from its opposite idea of the ‘devil’ giving Esther the notion of contrast on a wider scale. She did not want to let go of the love and of tapping into the source of the love as shown by her mother, but perhaps she could not let herself believe completely in her mother’s religion. But what else was there? From what she has said, she stopped thinking about it – till Abraham became accessible. The need for the Leo love and attention bequeathed by her mother is playing out in her life as she moves along.

In 2013/14 two oppositions of planets in cardinal signs were playing out and hitting Robin’s chart/life. It shows his diagnosis of diffuse Lewy body dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) a debilitating brain disease. Susan Williams, Robin’s wife said that he was well aware he was losing his mind. This is clearly shown in the transits and progressions of the time. This sad and frightening situation is the darkest sort of ‘contrast’ I can imagine, the exact opposite to the sort of flood of appreciation which both Robin and Esther receive when they are on stage.

Happily for Esther her life missed the impact of the cardinal squares. Had it not, her interpretation of contrast would have been impossible for her to articulate having taken on new definitions of darkness showing her a place where speaking and understanding were no longer possible.

From April 2019 – onwards to January 2020 a conjunction of Saturn and Pluto will be addressing Esther’s moon while Neptune continues to conjunct her sun as it has been since March 2018. Pluto and Saturn are big indicators for change.

In conclusion (hoping to post this on Robin’s birthday but missing it a little…) the way Robin channelled was to translate Source energy into cartoons reflecting the way he saw life. When we see life in terms of ready-made images the words fall from our lips in abundance. Esther has a ready-made recipe which she calls ‘universal law’ and which she divides into categories like, the law of attraction and ‘Ask and it is Given‘. It is as strong and loving and important to her as anything her mother offered and as any religion offers to its followers. Astrologers also have ready-made pictures providing the means for guidance around any life obstacle – whole books are written about every symbol and archetype. When we are in the zone, the Word streams forth.

Esther feels that she becomes high after speaking for Abraham to an audience. Robin also had that feeling. The high comes from the energy offered by the audience. If it were just Abraham, Esther need no longer travel the country each year, private consultations at home would suffice. I would like to believe that Esther’s happiness is not conditional upon the audience.

In support of the above and linking Robin with Esther with the hope of blending both ends of the scale, the following 2 movies are selected from the many works of Robin Williams:

What Dreams May Come (1998)

“After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert’s warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he’d imagined.

“Robin Williams is masterful and Annie perfectly mirrors her soul mate (Williams). Their performances encapsulate all the joy and abject sorrow human life entails. It’s a movie that wants you to find real love, see beyond cynicism and grasp the idea of soul mate. And it’s all presented in a stunningly gorgeous montage of exquisite colour and symmetry. From the opening shot to the closing frame, it is magnificent. The story is enveloping, encompassing nearly every asset of human emotion. It’s a roller-coaster ride but rewarding. Comedy, hope, sadness, joy, elation, despair… all displayed perfectly.”

This short scene depicts hell – very ‘Scorpio/Pluto (ruler of the underworld)’ in its inception:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwrmILnrzbk

The opposite sign is Taurus ruled by Venus, much lighter – but more grounded than the other Venus- ruled sign of Libra which is the predominant vibration of Esther Hicks and which explains her drive towards freedom, growth and joy and why she attracts audiences of the same vibration. Freedom growth and joy depend upon the opposite principles for their existence. The Scorpios of this world also seek freedom, growth and joy, but often find it on the lower end of the scale, and in the darker hues of the palette.

And: The Fisher King (1991)

A former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.

“The Fisher King” is hailed in Arthurian legend as being a keeper in a long line of keepers charged with protecting the Holy Grail. Shot in his manhood (hence “the wounded king”), he is rendered sterile and unable to procreate, which prevents him from keeping the line going. Little is left for him to do but fish (hence, “the fisher king”) in a nearby river and wait for someone to heal him.

The Holy Grail is traditionally thought to be the cup that Jesus Christ drank from at the Last Supper and that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect Jesus’s blood at his crucifixion. From ancient legends to contemporary movies, the Holy Grail has been an object of mystery and fascination for centuries.

Perhaps it is ‘grace’.

Here is Robin Williams on Oprah in 1991. At 2.40 minutes he answers a question on ‘channelling’.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQHV3i-D804