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| There is something very cool about Agatha Christie even as a child. Could it be Virgo Sun, Virgo Rsing and Saturn in Virgo |
And the birthdays fitted the Zodiac types. There are a lot of Geminis in journalism; and a lot of Virgos in the world of books (although generally trampled over to the top jobs).
Both signs are ruled by Mercury, of course, the planet of communications in all forms – writing, talking, letters, telephones. Both signs are storytellers. But the planet's energy is that of the craftsman in Virgo, and of the messenger in Gemini. One of Virgos greatest skills is the ability to be self-critical, which is absolutely key to writing.
Since those days I have always thought of (roughly) of Virgo as the author's sign and Gemini as the journalist's, so I thought I'd look at the charts of the best-selling authors of all time and see how much Virgo there really was. Here is the list from Wikipedia (which seems a little out of date to me) with my additions of chart data from various sources.
- Shakespeare is number one all time best-selling author, but (apparently) his birthday is probably made up.
Simenon: Moon in Virgo
- Agatha Christie - Asc, Saturn in Virgo - Virgo Sun - murder mysteries
- Barbara Cartland - Mars in Virgo - Cancer Sun - romance
- Harold Robbins - Mercury and Ceres in Gemini, time unknown - Gemini Sun - thrillers
- Georges Simenon - Moon in Virgo - Aquarius Sun - murder mysteries
- Sidney Sheldon - Ceres in Virgo, time unknown - Aquarius Sun - anything for a buck
- Enid Blyton - Mars, Jupiter, Mercury in Virgo - Leo Sun - children's books
- Danielle Steel - Uranus in Gemini, time unknown - Leo Sun - romance
- Dr Seuss - Moon in Virgo - Pisces Sun - children's books
- Gilbert Patten - nada in Gemini or Virgo except Juno, time unknown - maybe his wife wrote these westerns
- JK Rowling - Venus, Uranus, Pluto, Moon in Virgo - Leo Sun - children's fantasy
Hmm, well it helps to have planets in Virgo, but it also helps to have a Leo or Aquarius Sun. That's interesting. Oh and it helps to write genre fiction – quality…well…
Other authors just below the top ten
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| Tolstoy photographed by Prokudin-Gorsky, courtesy Wikimedia commons |
- Leo Tolstoy - Moon, Mercury in Virgo - Virgo Sun - life
- Jackie Collins - Mercury, Neptune, Venus in Virgo - Libra Sun - romance
- Corin Tellado - Venus in Gemini - Taurus Sun - romance
- RL Stine - Venus, Chiron, Mercury in Virgo; Uranus, Mars, Saturn in Gemini - Libra Sun - children's horror
- Stephen King - Uranus in Gemini - Virgo Sun - horror
- Erle Stanley Gardner - Asc Virgo Rising, Venus in Virgo - Cancer Sun - murder mysteries
Others who ought to there but aren't for some reason
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| Charlotte Bronte |
- Charles Dickens - Asc, NN in Virgo, Jupiter in Gemini - Aquarius Sun
- Jane Austen - Asc, Neptune in Virgo, Jupiter in Gemini - Sagittarius Sun
- Alexandre Dumas - Venus, Jupiter, Saturn in Virgo - Leo Sun
- Charlotte Bronte - Asc in Virgo, Mars and NN in Gemini - Taurus Sun
- Emily Bronte - Venus, Mars, MC in Virgo (not kidding) - Sun in Leo
- JRR Tolkien - Asc in Virgo, Neptune and Pluto in Gemini - Capricorn Sun
- Stephenie Meyer - nada in either Virgo or Gemini, time unknown - but she was born on an eclipse!
- Dan Brown - Uranus, Pluto in Virgo: Mars, Venus, Mercury in Gemini - Cancer Sun
OK, out of 25 authors I have seven Virgo Suns, six Virgo Rising, three Moons. Quite a few have unknown birth times which means there could be more Virgo Ascendants.
That is a lot of Virgo - but there is hope for the rest of us, especially Leo Suns and after all, Stephenie Meyer may not be the world's greatest prose stylist but she has sold a gazillion books.
Interesting, particularly on the differences between Gemini and Virgo. Many moons ago when I was headhunting creative teams in advertising, I was struck by the huge preponderance of Geminis - both copywriters and art directors. Makes sense, I guess, with the need for short snappy spots with a fast turnaround.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! The editor of a newspaper I used to work for was a Gemini... I'm a Libra with a Virgo moon and was involved in journalism for many years - fashion, lifestyle and most recently news!
ReplyDelete@Opal No kidding!
ReplyDelete@Librastellium - sounds like your job was a perfect fit with all that elegant Libra/Virgo stuff
I so relate to the points made today. My natal Sun is in Gemini in the 9th house. Also in Gemini in the 9th, Mercury is conjunct Uranus and both are conjunct my Gemini MC. My ascendant is Virgo with Moon in Virgo in the 12th. I am an antenna for all sorts of information and frequencies. The Virgo aspect analyses the information received and the Gemini messenger moves it along.
ReplyDelete@Anon You are lucky to have both air and earth working together.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, if you have Virgo rising, you probably have Gemini on the MC (career angle). Very clear writers' signature. But if you have Gemini Rising, Virgo's on the IC (home angle), making for a neat house, I should think. But Pisces is on the MC - hmmmm
Interesting! I have Sun, Mercury, Venus, Pallas and Pluto in Virgo (the last 4 conjunct) and I've always made my living writing. It's always been in training and marketing, now medical writing the past 5 years, which is ungodly detail oriented and demands accuracy. I'm pretty good at it, but I think my Venus, and Neptune/Jupiter (3rd house) sextile to that stellium, would like to crack open that detail and inject more creativity into the mix! My North Node is also in the 3rd house. No Gemini (and no air, save No Node)!
ReplyDeleteSurely with that Neptune/Jupiter combo you must have a vast imagination. I hope you're working on the novel.
ReplyDeleteAlas, no imagination for fiction. Dabble in poetry, especially haiku and the like. Tiny crafted things. :-)
ReplyDelete@leslee - perfect jewels then!
ReplyDeleteMy online writers group just had a batch of 5 or 6 Virgo birthdays out of 16 active members - and that's just Virgo Sun signs! We have 2 Geminis and 3 or 4 Pisces. That's a lot of mutables! I don't have birth data on everyone. Our fearless leader who started the group is a Cancer with Mercury in Gemini and a bunch of Aries. :-)
ReplyDeleteI shared your post w/a friend of mine whose favorite author is Agatha Christie. My friend has Sun/Moon/Pluto in Virgo & she loves mysteries, even names her pets after favorite mystery personas. Not surprisingly, Agatha Christie's Virgo planets sandwich right down in the middle of her own. Too funny! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post ~
i find your website very interesting. been making a living as a copywriter for years but had no formal training. makes me feel inadequate and a bit of a fraud sometimes but it kept me afloat financially. i have sun & venus in virgo/ cancer asc/ mercury, uranus, pluto & mars in libra. i share the same bday as stephen king and hg wells. one day i want to be like them =)
ReplyDelete