Olympics: Happy Shiny Pluto and Dippy Dotty Uranus

OK - I'm on holiday, but I was just popping by to update the horoscopes so I thought I'd briefly post on the Olympic Opening Ceremony - what a hoot!

Have you ever wondered what the shiny, happy face of Pluto might be? If so, you might want to watch the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

Giant chimneys: it was all a bit blokeish.

I have been pondering the Olympic chart for a while, dominated as it is by Pluto, god of the Underworld.

Well, by the time the blazing Olympic rings were floating above the stadium on the night of the 27th, I could see the Pluto was working. We had just watched a crazy, chaotic, marvellous, fun (yes fun) 21st century re-enactment of the rape of Persephone. In case you didn't see it, the show started with the stadium transformed into a bucolic version of merry England filled with cavorting peasants in green fields dotted with wild flowers. Then came the Industrial Revolution in the shape of giant chimneys (!) thrusting through the sward. Freudians rejoice.

My colleague Mme Arcati has timed the actual start
for either 00.18 or 00.35 on the 28 July but the opening
ceremony began at 9pm so this is for  mid-show.

As you doubtless know, in the myth Hades (Pluto) rises up from his kingdom in the Underworld and snatches Persephone, daughter of the earth goddess, as she picks flowers in a meadow. Ken Branagh (Moon-Pluto-NN in Virgo trine Jupiter in Capricorn) was having a blast as Hades, sorry, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

This part of the ceremony was driven by the driving, demonic drumming of the fabulous Evelyn Glennie (Uranus-Pluto opposite Saturn in Pisces/sextile-trine Neptune in Scorpio), and her hundreds of bin-bashing volunteers.

Here in brief are some more Plutonic moments.

We had a homage to British children's literature (and the NHS) set in hospital. But it turned out to be more about children's nightmares  – what with Voldemort, the terrifying Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cruella DeVille, Captain Hook, and a peculiar giant baby taking centre stage.

Then there was a beautiful dance sequence in memory of the dead set to the hymn Abide With Me. That was preceded by a "wall" of memorial.

If that's how pretty Charon is,
we can all die happy.

David Beckham, looking quite astonishingly handsome, played Charon – the boatman of the River Styx that runs between the living and the dead. (Perhaps I'm taking it a bit far here, but it's kind of spooky, nicht?)

As you may recall. Pluto crossed the MC during the ceremony and Uranus crossed the Ascendant, so there was a big Uranian moment too, with a celebration of Sir Tim Berners-Lee and his invention of the internet. (Oh and the music for this sequence was put together by Underworld.)  The rapper Dizzee Rascall: "People say I'm bonkers but I'm just free..." - that was Uranus talk.

And a funny, eccentric Uranian moment – Mr Bean (Uranus-Jup opposite Sun) fantasising and playing the synthesiser.

Finally, there was Sir Paul raised from the dead to sing Hey Jude – just kidding – but Geminis be warned, that's what you look like if you don't choose to age gracefully.

It all goes to show that when art takes powerful planetary energy and rides it, you get something marvellous. Through imagination, you can make magic out of energies that are potentially poisonous.

Here are the previous pieces on the Olympics:
Looking Backwards to See Forwards
Vesta and the Olympic Flame