In praise of: David Bowie

Alien pattern power

David Bowie’s passing affected me much more deeply than I would have expected. If you had asked me in December to list my 10 favorite bands of all time, I don’t think I would have even considered putting Bowie on the list.

Yet, for some odd reason, his death on January 10 hit me hard, harder than just about any celebrity I can remember. I was still a brainwashed fundamentalist Christian kid in 1980 when John Lennon was shot. I probably still thought the Beatles’ music was ‘satanic’. When Jerry Garcia died, it felt more like a relief than a loss in some ways. The last Dead show I saw, at the Palace outside of Detroit, you could almost feel Jerry’s suffering ripple up from the stage.

The more I explored my feelings about Bowie, the curiouser I became. And in talking with other diehard music fans (not all of them diehard Bowie fanatics), I realized Bowie had affected us much more powerfully than I had ever acknowledged. And that is probably exactly how he planned it.

Bowie had two of what are called “alien patterns” in his natal horoscope. These energies affect the native – and those the native relates to – in very distinct ways. Which I explore in Episode 4 of the Naked Songwriter pod.

The Ultimate Freelance Writing Gig

Taking Poetry to the People

afrose fatima ahmed poetry busking

afrose poetry busking. Photo (c) James Curtis 2015

In Episode 2 of the Naked Songwriter, DK interviews poet afrose fatima ahmed on taking the plunge and doing what you love, writing intimate poetry for strangers on the street, love, loss, and giving yourself permission to just be you.

“I find that every time I take the risk and I put out the thing that feels too edgy, people respond really well to it. They’re really grateful that I chose not to just wrap it up in puppies and rainbows. They want that rawness. They’re hungry for it. Because we’re all experiencing it every single day but we often don’t find spaces in which we can acknowledge it openly…”

T-square alert: Venus triggers Uranus-Pluto-Lilith today through Sunday

Psychological Release from Bondage

Venus conjunct Pluto Capricorn chart

The Moon in Capricorn joins Venus and Pluto at the apex of the Uranus-Pluto-Black Moon Lilith T-square this evening, with the “exact hit” period stretching from around 8 pm to midnight EST. I didn’t mention this in the David Bowie pod, but the Sabian symbol for the degree of this conjunction (17 Capricorn – same as Bowie’s Mars) is:  A repressed woman finds a psychological release in nudism. Continue reading