B E A T

Jack Kerouac

Lost Kerouac book, The Sea Is My Brother, based on his years as a merchant seaman, to be
published. It features correspondence with best friend Sebastian Sampas and recalls his "life
and experiences" at sea, says editor Dawn Ward. The manuscript was discovered in the writer's
archive by his brother-in-law. Kerouac first tried his hand as a sports reporter, then went to
construction, followed by the Navy - twice. Luna conjunct his Virgo asc favors a detailed journal.

 

Neal Cassady

 

DOB: February 8, 1926 at 2:05 AM - Salt Lake City, Utah
Sun 18° Aquarius 52' - Moon 18° Sagittarius 55'
Ascendant 26° Scorpio 42' - Midheaven 10° Virgo 35'
Mercury 13° Aquarius 09' conjunct but outside combust aspect to Sol
Venus 17° Aquarius 38' Rx
Mars 29° Sagittarius 27'
Business planets: Jupiter 7° Aquarius 51' and Saturn 25° Scorpio 31'
Clairvoyance: Uranus 23° Pisces 26' quincunx Neptune 23° Leo32' Rx
Pluto 13° Moonchild 00' Rx
Part of Fortune 26° Capricorn 39' conjunct Juno 29° Capricorn 09' [go 29° Capricorn]
Dominant signs Aquarius, Scorpio, and Sagittarius
Dominant houses [dept. of life] the Third and First [Ascendant]
Neal's Seven Names @ The Bus - San Francisco Mystic Triangle, pt 2
Destiny Path 1

 

Jack Kerouac

DOB March 12, 1922 at 5:00 PM - Lowell MA
Sun 21° Pisces 33' - Moon 13° Virgo 43'
Mercury 24° Aquarius 02'
Venus 29° Pisces 18'
Mars 10° Sagittarius 35'
Jupiter 16° Libra 45' Rx
Saturn 5° Libra 14' Rx
Uranus 10° Pisces 16'
Neptune 13° Leo 39' Rx
Pluto 7° Moonchild 57' Rx
Part of Fortune 5° Pisces 24'
Ascendant 13° Virgo 14' - Midheaven 10° Gemini 05'
Dominant houses - the Seventh and First [Ascendant]
Destiny Path 11

 

ON THE ROAD - The Movie
Check The Beat Museum for insider updates about cast, crew, and location!
ON THE ROAD movie update!

 

Ken Kesey

DOB September 17, 1935 at 4:24 PM - La Junta Gardens, CO
Sun 24° Virgo 07' - Moon 4° Gemini 19'
Ascendant 18° Aquarius 42' with Pisces intercepted
Midheaven 5° Sagittarius 20'
Saturn intercepted 5° Pisces 31' rx, opposite Venus in Virgo, intercepted in the Seventh House of marriage
Saturn also in a square aspect with Luna, and with Mars
Saturn exactly sextile Uranus, within 1/2 degree of perfect
Saturn in a wide opposition to Neptune

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey's most popular story, was written during the early days of transition from the Beat Generation to the Psychedelic 60s. Kesey said, "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a hippie." But he fit neatly into both camps. His Mercury in Libra may have been his key to success as a writer, but his dedicated Saturn kept him working on his manuscript constantly - day and night.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is powerful enough to be a best selling novel, a long run play starring Kirk Douglas, and an academy award winner with Jack Nicholson, produced by Michael Douglas. It doesn't get any better than that!
Destiny Path 8

 

Jack Nicholson

DOB April 22, 1937, 11:00 AM
Neptune City, New Jersey
Sun 2° Taurus 06' - Moon 29° Virgo 03'
Ascendant 1° Leo 43' - Midheaven 17° Aries 39'
Mars 5° Sagittarius 08' rx, in the Fifth House of Pleasure, search for the heart's desire, romance, amusement, acting, the stage, children, and early education. Nicholson has a powerful Mars trine Saturn, and Mars sextile Moon, reinforcing his skill, stamina, and positive attitude at work. The Tenth House of fame and glory, the public reputation and image, accents his love of the unique or unusual. He is drawn to a curious line between the status quo and what is taking shape. He is eccentric but people can accept his contrariness as intellectually challenging. He knows how to walk just within the bounds of an established archetype. The Bohemian planet Uranus 9° Taurus 08' always catches an opportunity to update and modernize that which is becoming too predictable, fading into the 'invisible'. Right place, right time. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Easy Rider established Jack Nicholson as a brilliant American actor early in his career.
Destiny Path 1

 

Steve Allen
DOB December 26, 1921 at 7:00 AM - New York, NY
Sun 4° Capricorn 12' - Moon 2° Sagittarius 09'
Ascendant 28° Sagittarius 39' - Midheaven 22° Libra 06'
Destiny Path 33

Jack Kerouac interviewed on Steve Allen show, 1959
You Tube video Time 5:44

 

Jackson Pollock
DOB January 28, 1912 (solar star chart - time unknown) - Cody Wyoming
Sun 7° Aquarius 31' - Moon [noon] 25° Taurus 30'
Sun sextile Jupiter 9° Sagittarius 40'
Mars 29° Taurus 21' trine ruling planet Uranus 29° Capricorn 52' [go Capricorn 29°]
Destiny Path Birthpath 33

Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) is an influential American painter and major force in the abstract expressionist movement.

In November 2006 Pollock's "No. 5, 1948" became the world's most expensive painting, when it was auctioned to an undisclosed bidder for the sum of $140,000,000. The previous owner was film and music-producer David Geffen. It is rumored that the current owner is a German businessman and art collector.

Edward Allen Harris
DOB November 28, 1950 5:32 AM in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Sun 5° Sagittarius 38' - Moon 17° Moonchild 08'
Ascendant 17° Scorpio 47' - Midheaven 28° Leo 40'
Dominant aspects to Pluto, Jupiter, and the Moon
Destiny Path 9

 

Ed Harris in Pollock [Ed Harris 2000]
Marcia Gay Harden [Lee Krasner] won
the Oscar - Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Jackson Pollock: About his critics - If people would just look at the paintings, I don't think they would have any trouble enjoying them. It's like looking at a bed of flowers, you don't tear your hair out over what it means.

Pollock is on display at The Metropolitan Museum in New York

 

Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956)
Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950

In 1947–48 he devised a radically new innovation: using pour and drip techniques that rely on a linear structure, he created canvases and works on paper that redefined the categories of painting and drawing. Referring to his 1951 exhibition at the Betty Parsons Gallery, fellow Abstract Expressionist painter Lee Krasner, who was Pollock's wife, noted that his work "seemed like monumental drawing, or maybe painting with the immediacy of drawing — some new category."

 

Shimmering Substance, by Jackson Pollock

 

 

The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul.

Isadora Duncan

 

Isadora Duncan

DOB May 26, 1877 at 2:20 AM in San Francisco CA
Sun 5° Gemini 14' - Moon 26° Scorpio 24'
Ascendant 14° Aries 57' - Midheaven 8° Capricorn 26'
Destiny Path 9

Isadora Duncan was born with Neptune 6° Taurus 08' in her first house, over the Gemini stellium in Martha Graham's ascendant that includes Neptune. Duncan's Pluto 24° Taurus 19', in her second house refers to her bohemian style that began a western transformation in the creative arts. These two planets clearly refer to ancient mysteries as once presented to the masses in the temples. Numerous friction with Pluto: Moon opposite Pluto, Mars square Pluto exact, Uranus square Pluto, were countered by her Saturn sextile Pluto that would not prove sufficient to cancel short circuits and delicate sensibilities regarding the status quo. Her father walked out on his family, giving them all a reason to convert from Roman Catholicism to strict atheism. Montparnasse's developing Bohemian environment did not suit her. In 1909, she moved to two large apartments where she had a residence and dance school. She created a primitivist style of improvisational dance to counter the rigid styles of the time.

Isadora Karel Reisz 1968 - IMDb
A biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan, the 1920s dancer who
forever changed people's ideas of ballet.
Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, James Fox, and Jason Robards as Singer

 

Martha Graham

DOB May 11, 1894 at 6:00 AM - Pittsburgh PA
Sun 20° Taurus 42' - Moon 10° Leo 08
Ascendant 5° Gemini 29' - Midheaven 11° Aquarius 46'
Destiny Path 11

Martha Graham worked with eastern artist, sculptor, and furniture maker, Isamu Noguchi. Theirs was a collaboration, an exchange of ideas and impulses. Just as many who slipstreamed the psychic revolution at the turn of the century, Graham easily assimilated eastern discipline and incorporated it via her signature grace of line.
Her Gemini stellium in the first house, consisting of an exact Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, with Neptune close by, set an atmosphere of awe and mystery consistent with her style.
Graham's Moon sextile Jupiter [orb +1°49'] and Venus sextile Jupiter [orb +3°09'] elevated her choreography to a level of illumination for her audience. She expanded boundaries of the stage to what seemed unlimited space and her fans bought the ticket and took the ride.

 

BLACKLISTS

The following introduction to an article on the Blacklist helps fill in gaps and details that pertain to American history and the atmosphere during the dark times after WWII. The Beats felt compelled to defend the First Amendment, true patriots when others were afraid to speak out against the Blacklist. Check webpage about some events that took place during the era of blacklisting: It's All In The Sauce

They protested the core assault against the intellectual, innovative, and entertainment community. The official approach was an argument that is not unknown today. If people are different they are suspicious. Buddhists were especially targeted in the Beat community, thought to be "fair game." At any time anyone could experience surgical separation from an established, productive life.

SAG AND THE MOTION PICTURE BLACKLIST
by Larry Ceplair

From 1947 to 1961, your ability to work in Hollywood's motion picture industry strictly depended on whether or not your name appeared on a list of suspected Communist activists or sympathizers. The blacklist. Based on the growing threat of Communism at that time, real or perceived, the era was a full-scale assault on individuals and groups who had promoted political change and social reform in America since the start of the Great Depression in 1929. This attack on personal freedom was led by the Congress of the United States. It was strongly supported by an alarmingly diverse band of helpers ranging from our government's executive branch to the AFL-CIO to church groups, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and employers in America's media, information, and educational industries.

Dozens of citizens were jailed, hundreds moved to other countries, and thousands lost their jobs. Several of the accused died from the stress and strain of having their personal beliefs and opinions ominously questioned by their own government and the labor unions to which they belonged. Those who were not personally or professionally persecuted became self-censoring and timid in order to keep their paychecks and avoid being publicly condemned and denounced. As a result, a pall of mediocrity settled over cultural and artistic production in America.

The blacklist was not a new witches' brew concocted by the Association of Motion Picture Producers (AMPP) to protect the movie industry from a new threat, "Communist infiltration." Blacklists had been routinely used by employers in other industries against union organizers for over a century, and frightening attacks on freedom of expression, both political and artistic, have occurred in the United States ever since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Our own government and assorted "defenders of American ideals" have periodically shelved our First Amendment rights whenever it has conveniently suited their cause to do so. Do you remember reading about the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the government seizure of abolitionist literature in the 1830s or the ruthless actions taken against railroad strikers in the 1890s in your high school history classes?

The motion picture blacklist era was simply the calculated product of movie studio executives acting from primal economic fear. They believed the film industry would lose vast portions of its audience if they didn't cooperate with Congressional investigating committees. Just like today, the primary concern of studio executives during the blacklist was not politics or art, but the bottom line. As a result, several hundred performers whose only "crime" was belonging to or supporting organizations or causes deemed "subversive," were sacrificed by the film industry to a manufactured and manipulated national hysteria over the threat of Communist world domination.

Sadly, the Screen Actors Guild, the Screen Writers Guild (SWG) and the Screen Directors Guild (SDG) made virtually no effort to challenge the sacrifice of their members to the blacklist. Unbelievably, the Guilds knowingly cooperated with the blacklist process, helping to strengthen and perpetuate it.

see below for film references on the Blacklist
and Mercury in Aquarius
go to Mars in Aquarius @ Champions, Fighters, Gladiators
see Kirk Douglas [interviews, stars] with Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius; star of three champions on everyone's list - Champion, Spartacus, and Ulysses.

 

Movers and Shakers with Mars in Sagittarius

a short list of well known people with Mars in Sagittarius who helped transform the 50s into the 60s includes
Joan Baez, Neal Cassady, John Densmore [The Doors], Blake Edwards, Richie Havens, Dustin Hoffman, "Lady Bird" Johnson, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Jerry Lee Lewis, LuLu [Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie], Raymond Manzarek [The Doors], Johnny Mathis, Mike Nichols, Jack Nicholson, Elvis Presley, Jason of The Temptations, and Charles Mingus

MEN WITH MARS IN SAGITTARIUS

Sagittarius is the ninth sign of the zodiac, Jupiter’s sign, and specifically refers to the seeker in search of self-realization. The word sagax of 'sagax ictus' belongs to the constellations of Sagitta [the arrow] and Sagittarius, the Archer, from Latin sagire, to seek, 'seek to know'. The keyword for Sagittarius is 'I seek', Latin sagax, or 'I see,' 'of keen perception.'

Mars in Sagittarius, for men, is often linked to the Knight of Wands in the Minor Arcana, ruling the 21st degree of Scorpio to the 20th degree of Sagittarius. His steed is a black stallion leaping. The moral qualities appropriate to this figure are activity, generosity, fierceness, impetuosity, pride, impulsiveness, swiftness in unpredictable actions. [see Liev Schreiber and Meg Ryan, both with Mars in Sagittarius, who are brother and sister in Kate & Leopold - 2001]. The Sagittarian male will have long legs made for walking and allowing for that gazelle-like stride [see Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed / Sabertooth, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine -2009]. Mars in Sagittarius is great for competitive outdoor sports, especially jogging [see Joe DiMaggio, 'The Yankee Clipper'].

Anything physical that will keep this man trim is O.K. He’s got good muscles and square shoulders; to keep such a build requires a great deal of exercise. You never can judge a Sagittarian’s weight. They generally look lighter than they actually are. Those extra pounds are hard muscle. [see Cinderella Man: director Ron Howard, Max "Madcap Maxie" Baer, and Renée Zellweger all have Mars in Sagittarius]. Well known men with Mars in Sagittarius who have a boxing and/or bodybuilder history include Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Ken Kesey [Olympic class wrestler], Lorenzo Lamas, Rey Mysterio [Oscar Gutierrez world championship wrestling], Oscar De La Hoya, Christopher Reeve, Steve Reeves, and Micky Rourke.

If he’s a businessman with limited time, he’ll still find an hour for a workout at the gym [see Bruce Willis - Mars in Sagittarius - in Unbreakable, as Officer John McClane in Die Hard series, and as Tom Greer in Surrogates]. Has mastery of culinary art, loves exotic repasts such as duck flambe and lobster thermidor, and likes to experiment with the unknown. Still enjoys the simplicity of fresh fruit and NY deli, but just as likely to whip up something in his own kitchen. Usually knows something about the history of the prepared food in the meal, where the ingredients are grown, how they are manufactured, demographics of people who feast, and so forth [see Alice in Wonderland by Mars in Sagittarius author Lewis 'Who Are You' Carroll].

Men with Mars in Sagittarius are miserable if they do not have control over their own agenda. They do not work and play well with others when they have a supervisor. If that is the way things begin, things will change. The inevitable result will [eventually] be a man in business for himself, or invested in work on his own terms. He may work independently in a large company... self-propelled, spontaneous, with no time clocks in a 50 mile radius of his locale. [see Neal Cassady, Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens], and Jules Verne, all men with Mars is Sagittarius].

Women with Mars in Sagittarius and extended list of Men and Women with Mars in Sagittarius

Films with or about famous people with Mars in Sagittarius include: The Doors [about The Doors rock group members with Mars in Sagittarius, directed by Oliver Stone], Easy Rider ['coming of age' film stars Jack Nicholson who has Mars in Sagittarius], Great Balls of Fire [about Jerry Lee Lewis who has Mars in Sagittarius, played by Dennis Quaid, with his Mars in Sagittarius], and Woodstock [starring a long list of psychedelic rock and folk performers who have Mars in Sagittarius, including Richie Havens]

MARS in SAGITTARIUS - MOVIES

Blake Edwards director, Mars in Sagittarius

Bonnie and Clyde
Warren Beaty and Faye Dunaway have Mars in Sagittarius, and Gene Hackman has 9 Sag Midheaven
Breakfast at Tiffany's 1961
Patricia Neal has Mars in Sagittarius, Audrey Hepburn's Midheaven 16°Sag57' with Saturn 0Cap 003 RX House X, and George Peppard with Saturn 14°Sag in House VI
Days of Wine and Roses 1962 - Jack Klugman Mars in Sagittarius, and Lee Remick [Sun 21 Sag 47, Mercury 24 Sag 14, Jupiter 7 Sag 55, – note birth time unknown, Mars 5 Aquarius 51]

Mike Nichols director [see also Mike Nichols and Elaine May], Mars in Sagittarius

The Graduate 1967
Dustin Hoffman has Mars in Sagittarius [track star]
note: Mike Nichols contributed to The Magic School Bus TV series [animation]

 

Kerouac, the Movie Narrated by Peter Coyote - John Antonelli 1985

Excerpt of Kerouac's work, recited by Johnny Depp

The Need For Beauty, lecture by Rudolf Schaeffer

for context

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK George Clooney 2005 * George Clooney * Edward R. Murrow

also: THE FRONT Martin Ritt 1976 and GUILTY BY SUSPICION Irwin Winkler 1991

go to Allen Cohen, Editor of The Oracle and San Francisco Haight-Ashbury

 

 

the beat goes on

 

Neal Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was an icon of the Beat Generation of the 1940s and 1950s, and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. Cassady was a multi-tasker, known for his comment, "The right hand should never know what the left hand is doing." His philosophy was based on a picture of Tibetan Buddhism exhibited in an impeccable New Age frame.

He is perhaps best known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's classic, On the Road and several other beat sagas.

On the Road - Dean Moriarty [in the fiftieth anniversary edition of the book,
he is referred to by his own name]
Visions of Cody - Cody Pomeray"
The Dharma Bums - Cody Pomeray
The Subterraneans - Leroy
Desolation Angels - Cody Pomeray
Big Sur - Cody Pomeray
Book of Dreams - Cody Pomeray

Jack Kerouac appeared as:

Town and City - Peter Martin et al
Vanity of Duluoz - Jack Duluoz
On the Road - Sal Paradise
The Subterraneans - Leo Percepied
Satori in Paris - Jack Duluoz
The Town and the City - Peter Martin
The Dharma Bums - Ray Smith
Desolation Angels - Jack Duluoz
Big Sur - Jack Duluoz
Book of Dreams - Jack Duluoz

The first installment of Neal Cassady's autobiography was published post mortem as, The First Third. Several books composed of Cassady's letters, collected over the course of his life, can be ordered from City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.

The film, The Last Time I Committed Suicide, released in 1997, is based on the "Joan Anderson letter" written by Cassady to Jack Kerouac in December, 1950. Although much of this letter had been lost, a surviving remnant was originally published in an early 1964 edition of John Bryan's magazine, "Notes From Underground".

 

James Brown
One of Neal's favourite performers

DOB May 3, 1933 - Barnwell, South Carolina
Sun 12° Taurus 48' conjunct Venus 15° Taurus 57' - Moon 21° Leo 38'
[noon, birthtime unknown]


Mars 3° Virgo 27' [title: "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business"]
Destiny Path 6

James Brown bio note from Wikipedia

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century popular music. He was renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style.

As a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer, Brown was a pivotal force in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, disco, dance and electronic music, reggae and hip hop. Brown's music also left its mark on the rhythms of African popular music, such as afrobeat, jùjú and mbalax, and provided a template for go-go music.

Brown began his professional music career in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame during the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and string of smash hits.