Wednesday Journal Entry, Week 8
Karina Lafayette – June 1st 2022
Is trading places with each other something that people have been thinking about, or is it just a coincidence that a brief moment in Stranger Things just so happens to describe a feeling most of us have been trying to make sense of these past two years? I’m sure the answer is obvious, but that’s not what matters. What matters is the scene where the characters are scrambling to play their friend’s favorite song just to save her life, in that moment, almost everyone watching remembered what it was like to fight for someone you love. Even if you’ve never been at risk of losing someone, you’ve at least experienced one moment where the only salvation available was music. There’s a reason why nostalgia sometimes brings contempt, but it can also be a reminder of what’s possible, because good things have happened. And guess what? Good things can happen again.
Mercury retrograde has become synonymous with dread, as much in the astrology community as in pop culture, but very rarely do those two areas collide. And rarely is Mercury retrograde appreciated for the nostalgic time period that it is. However, with “Running Up That Hill” climbing back up the charts thanks to Stranger Things, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of discussion around this transit is not only highly exaggerated, but completely misunderstood. What does Mercury represent? Communications, writing, and media. Since many artists, particularly musicians and writers, tend to have a prominent Mercury, something like this is to be expected. Even the fact that the latest season of Stranger Things was released during a retrograde, after initially being put off due to the pandemic, is already a bit interesting.
All a retrograde really is, is a time of reassessment and going over details that might have been missed the first time around, which isn’t bad at all. And for Mercury, it happens thrice a year. Sure, there’s the occasional tech hiccups and misunderstandings, but if you think about it, that can happen anytime. It’s just now we’re more likely to notice.
As for Kate Bush, I looked at her chart, and I don’t think fans have to worry about “Running Up That Hill” being the only song of hers that younger people will become familiar with. If the birth time in this chart is the right one, then that means at the moment Kate has a lot more focus on her interactions with people, because as a Scorpio rising, this would put the transiting Taurus North Node in her seventh house. Hence a reason for the extra attention she’s getting from others. In Kate’s transits, it’s tricky because Astrotheme doesn’t have her confirmed birth time, but going off the chart alone, around the day that Stranger Things 4 came out, Venus had just entered Taurus, which is making a conjunction to her natal Mars as we speak.
While Venus transits are brief, on her Mars, this can reflect the royalties garnered since “Running Up That Hill” went number one on iTunes, more than three decades after its release. When the song first came out, it peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Kate was already an icon. With Venus being the planet of love, beauty and finances, and in Taurus, it’s an excellent period for success related to the arts. And since this is happening during Mercury retrograde, it definitely shows accolades for projects that have already been released. Beyond that, there’s also slow-moving Pluto that’s been squaring Kate’s Jupiter-North Node conjunction for the past year or so, which suggests a desire to focus more on one’s goals and ambitions, and because the North Node relates to our path in life, this can definitely have something to do with her music.
Regardless of transits, she’s also a Leo sun, and no matter how long Leo celebrities are out of the spotlight, they’re simply unforgettable, because Leo literally rules showbusiness. Her sun is also conjunct Uranus, which explains her eccentricities, and how she’s able to pop in and out of the collective hivemind without ever leading us astray. Not only that, but Kate’s Mercury is exalted in the sign of Virgo. And let me tell you, not only does Mercury absolutely love being in Virgo, a good number of singers such as Pink, Madonna, Barry White, Whitney Houston, and Freddie Mercury (get it?), all have this placement. Even when you’re not a fan of theirs, something about their voice, the way they project themselves, and particularly their words, just catches you off guard.
Listening to Mercury in Virgo sing is literally a spiritual experience. Because these people know what they want, they can come across as control freaks, but that’s mostly because they have a particular vision for themseves. We see this throughout Kate’s career, because not only is she a singer, she also acts and directs most of her music videos, and her stage performances are like musical theatre. The fact that Kate Bush’s Mercury is also conjunct magnetic Pluto, makes this even more true for her. Pluto gives a strong need, almost to the point of obsession, to get things just right. Not to mention, if the birth time is correct, this would put Mercury-Pluto near her Midheaven, the area of our chart which shows our legacy and reputation.
As if that isn’t enough, we even have Matt and Ross Duffer, the twin creators behind Stranger Things, who were born under the sign of Aquarius, which means that with Saturn currently transiting their natal sun, their reputation in show business is being solidified. Before being greenlit by Netflix, their idea for the series was initially rejected by at least fifteen studios. Luckily Saturn is the planet of hard work and longevity, which means that even once the final season of Stranger Things is over, its fan-base will remain loyal, the same way we’ve seen with fans of Star Wars and other pop culture favorites. Maybe because in a way, similar to Kate Bush’s music, the show manages to reflect something we don’t see often. Most of the characters are outcasts, but through the drama they find a sense of purpose and community.
And really, I could go on and discuss all of the actors’ charts individually, like how Joseph Quinn, who plays newcomer Eddie, is also getting plenty of luck as a Taurus while the North Node is in his sign, but really, I’d be writing here forever. Besides, I wouldn’t be a very good artist [and astrologer] myself unless I was able to leave the people wanting more, right? 😉
Astrology aside, probably the biggest lesson in Kate’s “Running Up That Hill” being popularized again, is that real artists can never be forgotten, whatever your chart looks like. As long as you’re able to put together something magical- something that touches people deep within their psyche where they can feel validation, then you’ve found it. You’ve found the secret to success.
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