Thursday, June 25, 2009

A Tribute to Michael Jackson, World’s Most Radical Virgo






© 2009 by Joyce Mason

Michael Dies Near Chiron Return
His struggle to make peace with his own inner opposites, as described in
Wholeness and the Inner Marriage, were painful to watch. A talented yet tormented soul, Michael Jackson has died at a most dramatic time, close to his Chiron Return.

As he was featured in the article
The Radical Virgo, the ultimate launching point for this blog and the concepts behind it, I feel a strong need to comment on his passing.

Holes in His Wholeness
Although I am unaware of an accurate public record of his birth time, Michael died just beyond his Chiron Return. Based on a noon chart of his August 29, 1958 birth date (Gary, Indiana) Michael’s most exact Chiron Return period spanned roughly from March 2008 through January 2009. The 50-year-mark (plus or minus a little), when Chiron returns to its natal position, is often a time of taking stock. Where do we have “holes” in our wholeness? People who are “missing something” often seek it. A confirmed bachelor may up and marry. Someone with financial struggles may seek expert advice, turn it around, and make his or her fortune later in life. A highly spiritual person like Michael Jackson (Pisces Moon) who has struggled his entire life with incarnation and being in a body may just disincarnate--cross the Rainbow Bridge to the Great Beyond.

The Chiron Return begs us to heal our deepest wounds and get on with it, whatever form that may take. Michael’s Pisces Moon cries out as someone with deep emotional needs for merger. I am still haunted his quote I cited in the original “Radical Virgo” article, “My dating and relationships with girls have not had the happy ending I’ve been looking for … They want to rescue me from loneliness, but they do it in such a way that they give me the impression they want to share my loneliness, which I wouldn’t wish on anybody, because I believe I’m one of the loneliest people in the world.” He had personal adulation and love from afar like all stars bask in, but that one-on-one intimacy remained illusive.




Did Michael’s relationship, financial, and public image
losses become too much for him to bear? Did he die not just of cardiac arrest, but also of a broken heart?

Comeback Kid or Moving On?
Michael was preparing to patch some of the holes in his wholeness. Michael’s death came on the brink of a huge UK comeback tour. My take is that he wasn’t ready to come back to the reality of the music business and all its tedious work, public exposure, or to risk another failure. I think Michael at some level decided on the ultimate comeback--to go back to the stars.

Michael’s Mercury, his Sun Ruler, was closely opposite transiting Chiron and its currently close traveling companions, Jupiter and Neptune. (See chart.) Healing, past pain, and spirituality were on his mind, perhaps both the conscious and subconscious parts of it. Jupiter is prevalent in death and divorce, expansion by “moving on.” This incarnation was tough on Michael Jackson. I suspect he wanted a do-over. He had entered a time-space continuum where it may have been easier than usual to go through the door to the other dimension.

Also causing mental unrest: Uranus inconjunct Mercury sent jolts of shockwaves demanding drastic readjustment, which going back on stage with its intense public exposure demanded. I wonder if he was really psyched up for it. With transiting Pluto in trine to natal Pluto and his nearby Sun, death could come easily to a person who never felt any demotion of Pluto’s power during his entire life.


The Photo
I pondered what photo to use to accompany this tribute. Since I’m a stickler for not pilfering photos I have no legal right to post (it’s a form of theft and bad karma), I was happy to find this image on my tried-and-true source, Dreamstime. Even the name of the site itself seems fitting now that Michael has gone into the dreamtime himself.

The photos of Michael’s disintegrating face and painful-to-watch transformation from a young, hip, and good-looking man into an androgynous bad ad for plastic surgery have always offended my very Venus-ruled sensibilities. Worse than that, his “evolution” always struck me as a man who hated himself enough to hack away at his literal interface with the world that might have loved him as-is or as-was. (Shades of Billy Joel, “
I Love You Just the Way You Are”). I felt he had disfigured himself in a very public way, cut away at the Michael I wanted to love and did in spite of it.

I felt the photo on this
NY Daily News article was a good one for latter day Michael, but I barely considered his mugshot from his child molestation arrest, where his facial deconstruction is very pronounced along with his distress. Ultimately, this is not how I want to remember Michael. I want to remember him as a musician in full, flashy stage regalia who touched me with his music and triple-jointed dancing. Most of all, he touched me by his poignant vulnerability. I see the photo I chose as a person tipping his hat at me in rainbow lights on the Rainbow Bridge in his last performance. I tip mine back.

I love you, Michael Jackson—warts and all, even the ones you had removed. May you Moonwalk for real and finally feel with great intimacy the love all around you that you sometimes could not see past the bright lights. I got that gift, once, during my own brush with the Beyond.

Meantime, peace--and please channel any newfound wisdom to those of us who resonate to the unique soul you are. You are my charter member in the Radical Virgo Hall of Fame.

~~~



Photo Credit: MJ DANCE ©
Thefinalmi... Dreamstime.com

Postscript: My deep condolences to Michael’s family, especially his children, and to all those who loved him.





9 comments:

Dominick Carlucci said...

Joyce,

That photo you used for your blog is also poignant for another reason - it's a Fred Astaire pose, a literal tip-of-the-hat to the man Michael himself once said was his idol and inspiration in dance. And no wonder - both Fred and Michael had those extra-long legs for their over-all body size.


Bests,
Dominick

PopArtDiva said...

I really liked the photo you chose. I too will remember him before his descent into Neverland strangeness.

I think your observation regarding the cutting away of his image was very interesting - he was a tortured soul and at the end it showed. So sad when you think of the talent and genius that was his true identity.

Joyce Mason said...

Thanks, PopArt. Michael was very compassionate and sensitive--symbolized by his Pisces Moon. That quality can be very hard to live with unless or until a person learns good boundaries--where others end and he begins. Unfortunately, people with that kind of hypersensitivity are prone to drugs and alcohol to dull the emotional pain. Add if they have any physical problems requiring pain control, and it's easy to abuse drugs. It'll be interesting to hear the final autopsy results.

I think Michael showed us that even the brightest star has a shadow. Life works when we are willing to deal with our "shadow material." When we don't, unfortunately, it can gobble us up.

Anonymous said...

Hi Joyce - MJ was born at 11:53 pm. I just found your blog. I'm Sag, born in 8th house, Virgo moon in 5th house, Venus and Chiron in Aquarius in 11th house, Aires rising. Also have N. Node in Scorpio. I thank you for your essays on Rad Virgo and on changes, I resonate very much with what you are saying and feel my moon is essential to who I am. When you spoke of Inner Marriage I felt MJ represented that in my psyche in a way I can't explain. I miss him so much, but am feeling lots of transformation and healing right now.
If you want to see him at his planetary best, go to youtube and search under his name, live at Wembley Stadium Another Part of Me. Thanks for all you do and write more about transformation, esp. inner! :) the soul journeys we all go through are so hard and your guidance is much appreciated.

Joyce Mason said...

Hi, Anonymous--Thanks for commenting. I've read 3 different birth times for Michael, all coming from "authority" of relatives. Although I do remember in his bio a note that it was close to midnight. Where's my pendulum so I can ask which one to believe, LOL!

I really appreciate knowing that my essays are helpful to you. If you haven't yet, read "The Depths of Change" posted in July, if you haven't already.

Visit often, and I always appreciate interaction in the Comments. I'll check out that YouTube.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Joyce. I have read the Change essay. I believe MJ was on the cusp of great change in his life. He had finally beaten the accusations (the court transcripts are published in a book by Aphrodite Jones if anyone cares to know the truth) - his children had grown up, he was a committed parent, he was buying a new house, was going to produce an indie film, and was working on the new tour. Accd. to Rolling Stone, all who worked with him testify to his commitment and ability to see it through. Then, he suddenly died. I do not believe he took himself out, he had too much to live for and was on the cusp of change. I think he died because of an overdose of the drugs prescribed to him for insomnia, much like Heath Ledger, another great artist gone too soon. I take comfort in knowing that MJ's message and legacy will be carried on by his children and his fans, and that he is held in the arms of the love that can never die.

TheFinalMiracle said...

I see many of my images being used around on the net. But this blog really made me happy, considering the way you decribed why you used this image of Michael Jackson from Dreamstime. Actually this image of Michael Jackson is ME in a performance and I kind of edited it using colors for a concept I had in head. But the best part is the article is good. I run the OFFICIAL INDIAN MICHAEL JACKSON FANCLUB and also happen to be a spiritual healer. God BLess!

Joyce Mason said...

The Final Miracle: Thank you so much for sharing the background about your wonderful image of you, MJ style. I truly love what you've done and am so grateful you make this image available on Dreamstime. I feel it fits to a "T" Michael's final farewell to us. As you can see by the other comments, your work is really appreciated on The Radical Virgo. Blessings back, and I am glad our creative spirits merged in cyberspace.

TheFinalMiracle said...

Thank you for your kind words Joyce. I am sure there is a reason for spirits to meet. Keep in touch and take time to go through my blogs. I am starting a new website called - thefinalmiracle which will be doing a lot of stuff.