Thread by @mercuriusgeorge

“CATS: The Saturn-Pluto Content We Deserve”

A collaborative thread by @chthonicbacchae and @mercuriusgeorge

#caturnpluto (1/X)

Recently, @chthonicbacchae contacted me, seeking my assistance in an investigation of profound importance. This thread is the result of a 2-week investigation into the intersection of two seemingly disparate phenomena: CATS the musical, and the Saturn-Pluto cycle. (2/X)

It started with a simple observation: the recent release of the widely panned film adaptation of CATS coincided with the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in the sky, a relatively rare occurrence. The preceding conjunction was in 1982 - the same year CATS opened on Broadway. (3/X)

It could have stopped there; a mere coincidence, a strange anecdote. But @chthonicbacchae was intrepid, fearless. Where most explorers would have turned back, cowed by the horror of the unknown, Alex trod boldly into the Lovecraftian landscape, seeking truth at all costs. (4/X)

To begin, let's review the history of CATS. The stage musical originally began as a song-cycle by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who took on the creative challenge of setting a collection of T.S. Eliot poems to music. (Yes, the same T.S. Eliot who won the Nobel Prize.) (5/X)

This little book of silly poems, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," was a childhood favorite of ALW's. They were originally written in letters to Eliot's godchildren, and the tone of the book is childish and somewhat nonsensical, albeit with a striking lyrical rhythm. (6/X)

Eliot's book was published in 1939. At the time, Saturn and Pluto were in a square alignment (~90°). Though it was a cross-sign aspect, please note that months earlier, the square had reached a 1° orb in Taurus and Leo, and in the following months, the square perfected. (7/X)

Also, note the Libra stellium in Eliot’s own birth chart, which is mirrored quite closely in the publication chart. This is a recurrent theme. As for Saturn-Pluto alignments, Eliot's natal chart has a loose sextile. Not too big of a deal, right? But wait, there's more. (8/X)

"The Waste Land," widely regarded as Eliot's masterpiece, was published in 1922, the year of a Saturn-Pluto square. And Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948, the year of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction. This archetypal complex was clearly prominent in his life and career. (9/X)

Speaking of 1948, that happens to be the year that brought us our protagonist, Andrew Lloyd Webber. ALW's chart has Saturn and Pluto in a strong 4° conjunction. What's more, both planets are located in the 1st whole sign house, if this A-rated birth time is to be believed. (10/X)

A few things to emphasize.

1. Of course the creator of CATS has a goddamn ***Leo stellium***

2. Like Eliot, the stellium is in the 1st house (though Webber's is much more malefic).

3. Both have Venus in rulership (Eliot's on the ascendant, and Webber's on the MC).

(11/X)

As the eminent historian and astrologer Richard Tarnas illustrated in his seminal work Cosmos & Psyche, alignments of Saturn and Pluto throughout history have coincided with the cultural elevation of figures with Saturn-Pluto natal configurations. (12/X)

Cosmos & Psyche's exhaustive treatment of Saturn-Pluto themes revealed striking patterns: crisis and contraction, mass death, the rise of authoritarian/reactionary forces. In cultural expression, we see epic power struggles and psychological confrontations with the Shadow. (13/X)

A quick survey of Very Important Figures with Saturn-Pluto natal aspects who rose to prominence or else created their most impactful work under later Saturn-Pluto alignments: Karl Marx, Kafka, Stravinsky, Herman Melville, John Calvin, Carl Jung...and Andrew Lloyd Webber. (14/X)

After the success of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita, CATS was a huge financial and reputational risk. Under the Saturn-Pluto conjunction, CATS swept the Tonys and the Laurence Olivier awards, changing musical theatre forever. (15/X)

But...huh? CATS? What does this incredibly campy and silly show have to do with Saturn-Pluto themes? Where is the gravitas? The severity? This is the cycle that brought us both world wars, Vietnam, 9/11, and all the financial crises of the past century, damn it! (16/X)

What is CATS even about? Famed theatre director Hal Prince once recounted a conversation with ALW. After probing for some deeper meaning to the show - an allegory, some historical frame of reference - Webber replied, unamused: "Hal, it's about cats." (17/X)

It sure is. But not just any cats: they're JELLICLE CATS, as they make a point of introducing themselves. Webber later clarified that, according to Eliot, ALL cats are Jellicle Cats. I suppose we should support cats in their quest to reclaim their identity narrative. (18/X)

Throughout the show, these Jellicle Cats mostly just introduce each other one-by-one, reciting whimsical facts in a whimsical tone. Remember that the lyrics were adapted from Eliot's poems, which were not exactly load-bearing in a narrative sense. (19/X)

As for any larger through-line of plot or story, the closest we get is Grizabella the Glamour Cat. Grizabella is an aging and weathered performer, once a star, now inexplicably shunned by the other Jellicles. Her burning desire is to ascend to "the Heaviside Layer." (20/X)

In reality, the Heaviside layer is a layer of gas in Earth's ionosphere. But in the show, it's some kind of Cat Heaven. Each year at the Jellicle Ball, the wise patriarch Old Deuteronomy chooses a cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn into a new cat life. (21/X)

So basically the show is about a miserable old cat who begs for the sweet release of death; and the joyous, rollicking musical theatre finale occurs when the arbitrary leader of the Jellicle death cult chooses her as a ritual sacrifice. Some Saturn-Pluto themes after all! (22/X)

But how significant are these Saturn-Pluto alignments, anyway? Let's look a little deeper. Here's the chart of the Broadway opening (not an exact time). Saturn and Pluto are conjunct with a 2.5° orb, nearly exact. (And there's that Libra stellium again!) (23/X)

The show originally opened in London in 1981, when Saturn and Pluto were co-present in Libra but the orb was still wide (19°). Note that Venus is again in rulership, mirroring Webber's natal Venus in Taurus (whereas the Broadway opening mirrored Eliot's natal Venus). (24/X)

The big song from CATS that every earthling knows is “Memory,” the (totally out of place) showstopper sung by Grizabella. The first person to play this role and record this song was Elaine Paige, who was born in the same Saturn-Pluto conjunction as ALW. (25/X)

Nearly 40 years later, Jennifer Hudson revived the role of Grizabella and was widely mocked on the internet for looking SUPER weird as a cat person. Hudson was born during the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of CATS's creation. What's more, another Libra stellium. (26/X)

As for the 2019 movie, the uncanny valley monstrosity, the absolute cinematic clusterfuck of our time, it was born into a cruel alignment of planets in Capricorn, including Saturn and Pluto in a 2° conjunction. The same astrological recipe that gave us a pandemic. Yum! (27/X)

Film director Tom Hooper doesn't have any particularly noteworthy Saturn-Pluto aspects in his chart (it would be a reach). But look at that Libra stellium! (Sadly ruled by a Venus in fall - I feel you bro.) (28/X)

Okay, now look at his Libra stellium next to the other relevant Libra stellia. What the hell is that about? All I can venture is that CATS is about a group of friends hanging out, being frivolous and attractive (if that's your thing) and complimenting each other. (29/X)

Speaking of which, in a postmodern twist, you know who else has a Libra stellium? @chthonicbacchae! And guess what's there in a pretty strong conjunction - SATURN AND PLUTO. As for me, I'm a Libra Sun and Moon, and I have a Saturn-Pluto co-presence! 🙀🙀🙀 (30/X)

So what does all of this mean? What is the significance of the #caturnpluto phenomenon? Why are these malevolent energies periodically channeled through this singularly bizarre and inexplicably hyper-successful intellectual property? (Well, hyper-successful until...this.) (31/X)

Here's one possible angle among many. From wikipedia: "CATS started the megamusical phenomenon, establishing a global market for musical theatre and directing the industry's focus to big-budget blockbusters, as well as family- and tourist-friendly shows." (32/X)

One Saturn-Pluto cycle later, in 2020, Broadway has SHUT DOWN. In a time of unprecedented events, this is a particularly symbolic fact. The epicenter of "the show must go on" has finally met its match, and the institution of the megamusical is facing an uncertain future. (33/X)

The film industry is going through a similar dark night of the soul. Giant productions have been ground to a halt. Celebrities twiddle their thumbs in their mansions, mocked by the audiences who revered them just months ago. Was the CATS movie fallout actually an omen? (34/X)

Perhaps this was always the true destiny of CATS - a campy, arguably pointless musical revue that nonetheless drove a massive concretization of commercial forces and reshaped an industry - only to one day expose the naked horror of the Broadway-Hollywood corporate machine. (35/X)

Tarnas: “The Pluto archetype gives intensity and depth to Saturn’s judgment, profundity to its moral assessment. It empowers the impulse to penetrate to an underlying, foundational hard truth, a moral confrontation with the self or other, sometimes on a mass scale.” (36/X)

Does this not describe the revulsion we felt when we saw the CATS movie trailer? The sickening awareness that one asshole with power and influence could single-handedly drive the studio machine to such ludicrous depths of insanity, dragging down so many stars with him? (37/X)

Meanwhile, watching the news in 2020, you'll hear arbitrary patriarchs with unearned power demanding ritual sacrifice. Some of us may need to die to revive the economy; the phrase "death cult" has even been thrown around. Death and glorious rebirth - how very CATS! (38/X)

As we navigate the explicitly Saturn-Pluto hellscape of our present, will we clamor to ascend and escape our broken world, like destitute Grizabella? Whom will we send to the Heaviside Layer? And what new world awaits us...at next year's Jellicle Ball? (39/X)

Follow #caturnpluto for outtakes and addenda (believe it or not, there's more where this came from). And feel free to use this hashtag and contribute your own insights and reflections relating to this Very Important Research.

😻,
@mercuriusgeorge & @chthonicbacchae

(40/40)