Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful course on Saturday. I’ve been reflecting on Brando’s chart reading from the class this past weekend. So many insights. Two classic Brando roles came to my mind from his career: On The Waterfront (1954) and Last Tango in Paris (1972).
On The Waterfront featured the famous line “I coulda been a contender”. In the film, he was betrayed by his own brother (Pl/CAN/8H = family betrayal?). This plot point popped into my head when Rad was discussing Brando’s real-life backstory, and how a knee injury had prevented him from pursuing a career in sports. In his chart, might we see this as Brando’s Chiron/Aries/5H (sports injury?) broadly squaring his Pluto/Cancer/8H (soul path?), fating him to pursue a different path. Hmmm.
When the film was released in 1954, Brando had transiting South Node (and a massive Cancer stellium) conjunct his natal Pl/CAN/8H and square his stellium in Aries. He won his first Academy Award for Best Actor that year. Interesting!
Last Tango in Paris featured an infamous rape scene with butter (mother’s milk?) being used as a lubricant. The film was scandalous and taboo-breaking, seemingly in alignment with Brando’s natal Pl/CAN/8H. It also came up on the call that Jeffrey had once referred to the Pluto/Mars opposition as a potential “rape signature.” When the film debuted in 1972, Brando once again had transiting South Node conjunct his natal Pl. It had been 18 years since On The Waterfront.
Thought others might find that interesting.
Sat Nam,
Daljeet
Thanks for the reply and great insights, Rav. My 8th house Venus just loves your notion of “EA detective work!”
This Mars/Pluto opposition offers a fascinating case study, likely allowing for such a soul to gain conscious awareness of the desire of the Pluto polarity point, which can often be rather nebulous and unconscious for many of us. And the SN ruler of Neptune/Leo/9H connected to film/fantasy makes so much sense. Brilliant!
I’m also glad you mentioned the EA Stages. It was actually something I was hoping to bring up at the next mentorship class. I’ve always been curious to know what the source of this concept was, if any. I always presumed it might be of a Vedic/Hindu origin (given Jeffrey’s affinity with Sri Yukteswar), but I’ve never been able to confirm a source in any of the EA literature or lectures.
Are you aware of how/where Jeff came up with this concept and its subsequent incorporation into EA? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
Sat Nam,
Daljeet