| An Eastern Perspective Part 2 |
| THE BANDS |
| R.E.M |
| Nirvana |
| The Beach Boys |
| Cream |
| Led Zeppelin |
| R.E.M |
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| Mike Bill Michael Peter |
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| Paint me the places you have seen |
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| REM introduce us to a new element in our 6 bands so far...Earth,which can only occur through the year of birth in this particular tradition of the Elements Theory.Were we to follow the ancient custom of taking the last sign in the 3 animal elements sequence and ascribing that to earth,then of course we would already have met the earth element. Much as I admire and indeed use the Tzu Wei Dou Shu divinational astrology,in this particular study,I am following the more common practice of giving no animal the earth element.A future project may include the Tzu wei itself but that would require knowledge of birthtimes,already an obstacle in this study, as will also be seen in the section on western astrology. |
| As well as having a good proportion of earth elements,REM are the first band met so far to be missing the wood element and to have just one fire.Naturally there exists the possibility of some coming into events , by way of the 4 missing elements of the birth hours.However we nevertheless,as in the other cases,get an overall picture of the band. It can reasonably be said that earth( the Diplomat) water(the Thinker) and metal(the Catalyst) are well expressed in tthe band. With respect to Earth,one of its qualities is its lasting effect and REM have achieved that more than most.A love of humanity and the need to be of service,too,are other earth attributes.Such types are objective,responsible people who believe in planning and the best ultilization of their resources.Ideal for running an organization efficiently. REM are in good hands! With the determined , focused precision of metal and the intellectuality of water,as well as its communicative skills and intuition,REM should stay around for a while yet. No fiery comet crashing or burning out here.No danger of wood's over-reaching to breaking point or drifting away. The adventurer and explorer are not needed for their progressive music..they have enough to pursue within the boundaries they themselves have set. Interesting to note that earth's only real adversary is missing from the band[birth-hours aside]..wood! One wonders how REM might have accomodated Brian Jones and his wood/fire values. |
| Within each member,we see the usual variety of control and generating situations. Michael Stipe's earth has control over his water elements,so stability and dependability are maintained,although there will be times when water feels a need to propel itself away from the rather suffocating earth and to really express itself freely.Bill Berry too has earth involved with just one element...metal...but for him its a condusive relationship not one of control because metal is extracted from earth...more an earth parent to metal than a foe.His partner in the rhythm section,Mike Mills has one each of Stipes' and Berry's elements so he will naturally relate to their ideals.He has the generating sequence where earth gives life to metal and metal provides a container for water..trapped yes but a channel to express itself too.The control issue for him is the one within facing Stypes,his water controlled by earth,therefore all the more seeking metal to carry him away from earth's sometimes unimaginative realm.The thinker needs to express himself and metal,as a catalyst,can do this for water.Of course if fire were to appear and to melt metal,in search of adventures,water would pour out and seek to put out the fire or at least think about what it might be getting into. |
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| Which brings us nicely to Mr water/fire/metal himself...Peter Buck.If,as in the case of Ringo Starr and Mick Jagger,he has wood as his 4th element then he has the 5-card trick and becomes a most significant member of this band.Guitarists do have a habit of being just that.However,as things stand,he already is the one who catches the astrological eye.He is the only member without earth but also the only one with fire! As his year element,it is the one carrying most weight and whatever the result of his internal controlling cycle conflicts,here is the key factor.Within himself , it is water and metal who have the special conducive relationship,fire plays its part in the control cycle,shaking that relationship up inside when necessary.However within the band itself,Peter's fire really comes into its own.Fire feeds Earth! It generates ashes and renews the earth...it is earth's favourite element.The other 3 REMS would look to Peter for that sustenance and inspiration when its all become too earthy,too stagnent.His guitar has a more than usual role to play,not to mention he as a person.When there comes that moment for risk-taking,impulsion,decisiveness,change,even leadership, perhaps Peter is the one.Albeit with the measure of caution that earth would need.If the fire gets out of control,always plenty of water(good sense) in the band to regulate things[with the help of metal and earth]..and Peter has his own measure of water too.Well its all just surmise...... |
| Of the animals themselves,we see 2 dogs and a pig plus Peter's monkey(incidently the king of the animals,in the same way that Leo is, in the western zodiac) Despite their different approaches to life,dogs and pigs get on surprisingly well...neither treads on the other's toes.Good,mutual respect.Monkey too finds dog a reasonable sort and can cope with its strong but just principles.Dog might occasionally think monkey is going too far but there is an irresistable quality in monkey that even the resolute dog can be captivated by.Pig,a water element creature,is less inclined to monkey's electric ways but no major problems.So Michael Stipe should cope with his guitarist's extremes.His foresight,a true quality of earth/water,will see the value of having a fire-monkey around.The dogs certainly will. So a favourable combination of animal signs working together in the band. |
| Narcissus-wise, we see Bill Berry "destined" towards Peter(he is sure having an influence here) and vice-versa.Drums well aligned to the guitar.Theirs is the special relationship by way of Bill's Leo seeing much of the Sun in Peter's monkey(See Table 1) and when monkey feels his light dimming,run to a leo! Absolutely no east-west correlating conficts either,internally or externally. |
| Michael Stipe is the Yin of the band,the others being Yang. All in all , REM have an excellent set of eastern animals and elements serving them well. |
| Nirvana |
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| I miss the comfort of being sad |
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| A band with all 5 elements present in the 9 but with fire significantly to the fore.Fire , the risk-taking adventurer, ruling in two of the members,accompanied by wood with Dave Gruhl missing both elements but adding 3 different ones to the band. An interesting situation indeed.The drummer , part of an adventurous,expansive , inspirational band,yet on the face of it , having none of these ingredients himself.What shall we make of this ? First we see the two k's experiencing the wood --generating -- fire scenario, Brian Jones-style but with more emphasis on the fire.In Krist's case,wood being more important,as his year element.The sense of excitement and impulsion fuelled by wood's confidence and expansiveness.Fire hates to be bored,wood hates to lose.By knowing that Kurt also had metal suggests that there would have been some order and focus in it all but fire can burn too brightly and destroy metal's world.Metal , itself can destroy wood's dreams. Whether this birth-hour element helped or hindered Kurt is for those who really knew him to judge.But it wouldnt have been easy for him. |
| As the drummer,at the heart of the band,Dave had to contend with elements burning brightly which he didnt himself possess. One would think his presence would have stabilised things.Certainly,he added the missing components to the band and therefore made it complete in one sense but that would depend on what integrating influence he had.Within his own psyche,he starts the generating process, earth~~metal~~water , which works well as a unit but it would have needed to have connected to wood and fire (in that order) within the band as a unit.Personally, he would find his water[the thinker/communicator] drained by his earth at times,needing the catalystic metal to channel him out of earth's rut...maybe rejoicing in the guitars' freedom and expression. But then,again,his earth was his ruling factor and maybe at times,things stayed static. One of earth's major attributes is diplomacy and in any band that can be a prized asset. Mike Mills of REM also had these 3 elements , as you will recall. However Mike was an earth dog as opposed to Dave's earth monkey with a different month sign too. |
| This brings us nicely to the animal signs of Nirvana. Three different signs with three different accompanying western suns. Here,taking the chinese animal sign compatability first, is a noticeable hurdle to overcome.Whilst there are no polarity effects,which would be rare to find in bands , where age-gaps tend to be small, there are no particular compatabilities.At best,status quo maintained , at worst some antagonism.But basically snake, sheep and monkey have little common ground , and with the band also having different year elements too , no comfortable bonds here. Some empathy,of course,between Kurt and Krist because they are fire/wood people. |
| On the East--West level,one narcissus factor but within rather than without.Krist Novoselic is both snake and taurus , therefore giving him an extra snake dimension (or an extra taurus) the snake's attributes of intuition,extravagance,seduction , self-delusion but most of all,perhaps wisdom will be doubly so with the presence of taurus. A snake to be reckoned with,especially with the addition of fire,admired yet to be wary of. The danger is to be overly concerned with one's own affars rather than those of others.One of my favourite actresses incidently is a taurus snake Audrey Hepburn.Her singing of moon river much underrated. One more narcissus factor here,concerning Dave's capricorn which might well have problems with Kurt's sheep..... capricorn = ox with ox being polarity to sheep.But then as in western astrology,such opposites can in fact attract and bring positivity,becoming the making of a person[or relationship] rather than the breaking of it. |
| I991 was the year of the sheep,significant changes or events in kurt's life might be expected, especially as his fire year controls metal, the element of that year. "Nevermind" was certainly that. Smells like these signs actually work. |
| The Beach Boys |
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| I wish they all could be California Girls |
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| Yet another band with their own distinct characteristics. Apart from Brian Wilson, each member has at least 3 different elements.Indeed Brian has 3 , too,when we bring in his hour element,which we can only do, in his case.Therefore the controlling and generating sequences are flourishing in each band member.A fairly equal spread of the elements also,with no one element dominating.This comes through in their well balanced music.The harmony in their vocals being reflected in the harmony of their elements.Only Dennis is without fire(unless his hour sign gives him it) but the others more than compensate for that. Because five members have the range of 3 elements,it is more than likely that some of them would collect a 4th element(and with it the default earth) so giving them the complete set(and balance) All pointing to a very positive situation within the band. As they themselves sung "Good Vibrations". |
| Brian Wilson,where else could we start,has the same elements as Paul McCartney(only the hour elements differ) see The Beatles .To find out why their paths should become so different , would require an examination of other astrological ,than just those here, see A western perspective---The Beach Boys but the wood factor in Brian's case would have meant the danger of that wood feeding the 2 fires,with water trying hard to prevent fire from getting out of control. A struggle with the elements which many of us face but which may have been too much for Brian.Did impulsiveness and impatience,fuelled by the need to expand and explore frontiers in his life,prove too much for his intellectual and communicative skills.His music owed much to subtlety and timing(water at its best) but was the wood/fire combination just too much in the end,causing a vulnerability and inability to go out there and do it. A backlash from water,his strongest individual element,which eventually may have said no to the other side and found itself in a dilemna. After all, it was his intellect which gave rise to ideas and expansion and ultimately to fire itself.Of course an over ambitous,unsympathetic father,managing the band's affairs wouldnt have helped at all ! Something had to give and as History knows,it did,sadly.But free to express itself,away from all the outer excitement,his intellect,with fire now working in a differentway, was able to produce some of his finest works,using fire as an inspirational force rather than one to be controlled and checked. |
| The other members,given their rounded personalities , would probably have been supportive and empathetic to his cause.Each of them having at least two of his attributes.Positive interaction being the characteristic of the band. |
| Cream |
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| Jack Ginger Eric |
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| Strange Brew . . . . Killing what's inside of you. |
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rat year/earth year/monkey month ~~~> elements = water/earth/metal |
sheep year/wood year/ox month ~~~> elements = fire/wood/water |
rooster year/fire year/ox month ~~~> elements = metal/fire/water |
rat year/earth year/horse month ~~~> elements = water/earth/fire |
