Astrology and NASCAR: What the Hell.

As many of you know, I’m a Neo-Pagan, which means I’m quietly into some stuff that may seem odd to the more mainstream reading audience. Truthfully, as Neo-Pagans go, I’m rather dull. I don’t dance around the woods naked under the moonlight (it’s bloody cold!) and as I explained before I don’t believe in Atlantis, Lemuria or that aliens built the Pyramids.

However, I do dig astrology. Not the horoscopes that much, I think the universe a little too vast for us to be interpreting signals that detailed, meaning "Yes, they are so vague they could mean anything". *chuckle* However, I have seen even the most skeptical people start squirming when they read detailed descriptions of their charts and I do feel it has helped me understand some of the people in my life who otherwise seemed incomprehensible…like my brother. *chuckle*

So I'm hanging out this evening, waiting for an applicant to wrap up their interview and got to typing. Now, I’m not an expert. I know my planets and signs, but not my houses and nodes and such, so this is just a very casual overview from a layman. I’ll only be discussing three planetary placements: Sun - ego or self, Moon - emotions and Mars - aggression and action. Take it as serious and as silly as you like. Whatever. I'm having fun, you have fun too.

Interestingly (to me anyway), I got in a discussion couple months back about Tony Stewart, an extremely talented driver originally from open wheel who is well known for his temper outbursts. Tony is a Taurus. Tuarus the big, settled, homebody Bull. A Taurus with his Moon in Aries and his Mars in Aquarius. Run for the hills!

Aries is the fieriest of fire signs (Leo and Sagittarius are the other two). Biggest temper, most self oriented, most active and action driven. “I must win and I will no matter what it takes! I am #1! Get outta my way!” While Leo will worry about what others think of his conduct in a competition which will limit the lengths he will go to, the Aries have no such compunctions. Basically, what drives Tony is winning, nothing more than winning, being the first one there, "You all suck, I win!". Winning is the goal in and of itself, not for ego, not for a step or benchmark in one’s career, they just have to win.

They also have tempers. BIG ONES. Let's put it this way: Russell Crowe is an Aries. People with Moon in Aires tend to be emotionally turbulent and demanding, easily angered principally by simply not getting their way. What has made this an extra challenge in Tony's chart is his Mars, remember planet of aggression and action, is in the unusual and unpredictable Aquarius.

I have Mars in Aquarius, this means my temper is unpredictable and hard to control. Appearing like lightening (even to me), frying someone and then vanishing just as fast.

*“fzzzk-KaPOW!”*

Aquarius is also the rebel, which means that when we’re mad, we simply do not care what society thinks. In fact, in that moment instinctually we delight in pushing it as far as we can as a simple “Fuck you” to the world at large, though we may really, really wish life had a "rewind" button later.

Kip sheepishly, “Oops sorry.”

From what I understand, Tony is similar. He has deep regrets about his more violent temper outbursts within hours and what sets him off today will having him laughing tomorrow.

At least though his Moon is in demanding Aries, he has a decent chance predicting what will set him off and so prep himself not to get mad. Mine is in Pisces which means it’s the instinctual mysterious inner workings of my psyche that may manifest itself as that lightening bolt. Meaning it’s *really* unpredictable and so trickier to tame. Though with time I have had some success as it appears this year that Tony has as well.

I also find I have something in common with Kurt Busch.

Kurt is an interesting character. Roush bypassed the usual step of the Bush series bringing Kurt straight in from the Craftsman Truck. By his own admission, he was too young (the guy is only 27 now) and not prepared for the fishbowl that is Winston/Nextel Cup racing. Even his most determined detractors cannot deny his talent and skill, but his arrogance cost him a lot of fans early on in his Cup career. He also has a bad tendency to mix his words up. The guy had completed I think a year in a half or so of a Pharmaceutical degree in college before he dedicated himself full time to racing, so he’s not stupid. But his language is a little high flown for the traditional NASCAR fans and when he flubs (which after hard driving in a 140 degree cockpit for 4 hours is understandable), they delight in jumping all over him for it. From what I have seen, Kurt is not actually a bad guy, he just doesn’t fit into the Jock/Good ol’ Boy stereotype preferred by the fan base. He’s also seems like a nerd grown up. Social awkwardness masked by ego. The ego is the Leo part.

I don’t know if it’s because I am a Leo that I can see and relate to it on other Leos like Kurt (who is actually a double whammy: Sun and Moon both in Leo) but a Lion’s first defense is a strong offence. A Leo’s first reaction to criticism is ego. “You shouldn’t have done that…” “*ROAR!*” It’s instinctual, our first gut reaction. If someone gets in our face, whether deserved or no, our visceral instinct is to get in their face. We have to learn, train ourselves, to accept criticism objectively. There is always that first reaction though. “You shouldn’t have done that…” “*RO-..O.k. you have a point.” This has been Kurt biggest problem in the past; getting in faces and copping attitude with older drivers well established among the traditional fan set, something he is still making up for now.

Dale also has a Leo moon with his Sun in Libra. Leo as the heart and Libra as the head make for a great combination, blending very well in a strong driven warm personality that is tempered with thoughtful, objective mind and personal charm, important qualities of leadership. But each sign does have it’s issues.

Most people read the part about Libras being beauty loving, peace loving and indecisive and assume that they are these mellow, gentle characters who dither a lot.

Na-uh.

For one thing, Libras can be moody as hell. When the scales are in balance, it’s wine and roses time but a lot of the time the scales are swinging back and forth as little things cause Libra’s mood to rise and fall faster then the Dow. But Libra is an air sign (like Gemini and Aquarius), a thinker. Those scales also make him consider and weigh in balance all the issues that he faces and help him make the best decisions. It may take him a while to come to those decisions, but you can be guaranteed that the decision that is finally made has been thought through thoroughly.

Now, if you watch Dale Jr.’s DVD, you see the Leo “problem”. ;) This strawberry blonde bouncing around, teasing and getting on everyone nerves, calling attention to himself like a youngest sibling at a family gathering. This is the Star, “Look at ME!”, the egotistical Lion of his Moon sign popping out the balanced, charming, suave Libra of his Sun. Yet no one teases him. He’s never made to look silly as he makes others. He’s “Joe Cool”. With the moon in Leo he is probably more sensitive to slights and criticism than he lets on (to his fan base anyway or at least when he was younger and less mature) and his friends have probably picked up on that and so let him dish out without dishing back. However, it’s also where much of his competitive nature and drive to achieve comes from. “I’m Leo, I have to be on top because I’m the best there is! I’m the star!” This is what pushes the peace-loving, conflict avoidant Libra into trading paint at 180 mph. (Probably also that fiery temper that has popped up in the past because his Mars is in Libra like his Sun which reads: Conflict Avoidant or Resentful Snapping.)

But for the most part, these two signs blend very well. Leo pushes forward while Libra sorts out the details and smoothes the way. By nature both signs interested in defending the underdog and both signs are postive and upbeat. The Leo moon provides a stability to the ever-swinging scales of the Libra Sun. And both signs are also very appearance conscious, Libras for simply sake of good aesthetic taste and Leo’s for “lookin’ gooood”, so yes this is a man who likes to shop. But the danger of these two appearance conscious signs is that Dale may be perhaps overly conscious about how he comes across to people, perhaps to the point of masking who he really is with who he feels he should be, that people expect him to be.

As I observed earlier in the Year, Elliott’s birthday is on Beltane: April 30th, which would make him very popular at Pagan parties. :) (I’ll explain that one later) Now, Elliott isn’t as out there in public the way Dale Jr. is, so I am not as familiar with his personality so this is just what I have gathered from his Chart and what little I have seen. Taurus’s are an earth sign like Capricorn and Virgo, very concerned with material things like home, family and career/money. With Taurus, “Home” is at the top of that list. Taurus’s have a rep for being stubborn to the point of being the immovable object, what they don’t talk about in the books as much is the “Ferdinand the Bull” aspect of Taurus’s: the “Leave me to my peaceful field, I am happy.” gentle part of them. Taurus delight in their homes, their creature comforts and their routines. Taurus's are very easy to get along with, until you run into the one issue they will not budge on and then they will not budge. Period. They are slow to get moving and difficult to stop once they do. So how the heck do you get a race car driver out of that?

His Moon. His moon is in Capricorn, which is the very career oriented, success driven sign. Material success is what drives him from within. I’m not saying that people with this placement are materially greedy, but that they are goal oriented. There are measurable goals that they push themselves towards. Sports provides very clear career benchmarks: Being the strongest, being the fastest, beating that guy, getting on a team, winning a game or a race, a playoff, a championship, so on. Not for a glory or ego purposes, it just satisfies them, provides a structure they are comfortable with that encourages them forward in their lives to the next mark, goal or level. Remember if Elliott hadn't blown out his knee he might be in the NBA. His favored recreation is to go out of play golf a couple times a week. Sports was his chosen profession, period.

Being both earth signs, these two also blend well giving Elliott a grounded, down to earth nature that really works. The Taurus side keeping the career driven Capricorn anchored in what is really important while the Capricorn keeps the Taurus from stagnating. However, every sign has it's downside. Niether sign is famous for coping well with major changes in their lives. The Taurus part is espcially prone to getting into a rut and while the Capricorn does move forward on their chosen path, they do not handle the curve balls life may throw at them well. Taurus's are family oriented and usually warm and affectionate (in my experience, Taurus's are big on physical affection, very touchy people), but Capricorns are usually not being more concerned with career and success, so having his emotional center this sign could be problematic for Elliott and those close to him.

Elliott’s Mars is in Pieces, which is a very odd placement even more so that Dale’s Libra. Pisces are sensitive daydreamers, which blunts the Taurus’s difficult to rouse but volcanic temper by raising the sensitivity but mitigating (damn MSWord autocorrect) the anger. So a temper that is not so bad, but more easily set off by more emotional triggers. If allowed to simply react, both guys have tempers not to be trifled with, but if allowed to time they will usually talk themselves out of it, Dale by thinking, looking at it objectively, and Elliott by emotions, feeling his way through it or worse, burying it where it can fester.

I think, this is what their charts say. I could totally be off.

:D What the hell. *shrug*

P.S. Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of Neo-Pagan NASCAR fans (The standard joke being that we "could never sponsor a car. Ya'll race Widdershins.") we've just been very, very quiet in the Religious environment of the tradtional NASCAR fanbase. ie. "Jesus-land". ;)