{"id":4176,"date":"2019-12-27T21:41:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T02:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/?p=4176"},"modified":"2019-12-27T21:41:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T02:41:53","slug":"alexander-mcqueen-lenfant-terrible-of-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/?p=4176","title":{"rendered":"Alexander McQueen: l\u00e2\u0080\u0099enfant terrible of fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A\nfashion show by Alexander McQueen was never anything less than a spectacle<\/em>. Whether it was just his\ninnate sense of drama, or the perverse delight he took in shocking his audience\nof fashionistas<\/em>, he pulled out all\nthe stops. His half-naked models, their scarcely-concealed buttocks or breasts\nleaving little to the imagination, would stride or stagger up and down the\nrunway, their make-up lending them the look of feral animals, aliens or\nescapees from a lunatic asylum. In the days and weeks that followed a show, the\nbuzz became a roar. Little wonder that the great houses of couture<\/em> wooed him to lend a frisson<\/em>\nto their lines, while movie stars and royalty commissioned bespoke designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On\nfirst glance, his chart doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t appear that remarkable. Lagnesh<\/em> Venus joins Saturn (lord of 4th and 5th) in the 7th house\nto form two Dharma Karma Adhipati<\/em>\nyogas. Venus is ordinary and Saturn is mixed, being debilitated with dig bala<\/em>. But they are the only two planets\nin kendras<\/em>, so they wield an\nappropriate influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Although Saturn is debilitated, it enjoys partial relief by two out of the four possible means: (1) Venus, lord of Libra in which Saturn would be exalted, is in a kendra<\/em>, and (2) Mars, Saturn\u00e2\u0080\u0099s dispositor, is strong in a kendra<\/em> from the Moon. Thus, Neecha Bhanga Raja<\/em> yoga is formed, albeit with moderate power. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In\nthis context, we should be reminded that a crippled limb stabilized by a\nprosthetic device is still a crippled limb, and will therefore hamper the native.\nPartnerships, whether personal or professional, were bound to suffer. McQueen\nwas sexually abused in his youth by his elder sister\u00e2\u0080\u0099s husband. Elder siblings\nare seen through the 11th house, their partners through the 5th. Thus, the\nperpetrator in this case is debilitated Saturn imposing himself upon Venus, the\nascendant lord of victim McQueen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nDharma Karma Adhipati<\/em> yoga is formed\nby 9th lord Mercury with 10th lord Moon in the 5th. With a pair of vaishya<\/em> planets working in concert, this\nalludes to McQueen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s successful application of his creativity to commercial\nenterprises, as seen via his prominent roles at both Givenchy and Gucci, the\nfamous fashion houses of France and Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nchart reveals a Papakartari<\/em> yoga\nformed by malefics flanking the lagna<\/em>\n\u00e2\u0080\u0093 a powerful Mars in the 2nd, and Ketu in the 12th. Substance abuse became a\nproblem in his later years, contributing to deterioration of his primary\nrelationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shakata<\/em> yoga, formed when Moon and Jupiter are in a 6\/8 relationship, evokes\nirregularities in life, sometimes financial, social or emotional, the latter of\nwhich seemed to be McQueen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

The indications for a career in fashion are two-fold: the Raja<\/em> yoga with Venus and Saturn in the 7th whereby Venus aspects back into the lagna<\/em>, and a powerful Mars in the 2nd house that rules fashion, clothing, accessories, etc. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If\nwe regard his chart from the perspective of Chandralagna<\/em>,\nwe get similar indications. Ascendant lord Saturn would occupy the 3rd house of\nskills with artistic Venus, forming two Raja<\/em>\nyogas. Mars would form Ruchaka<\/em> yoga\nin the 10th house, reflecting his role as creative director in his field. Jupiter\nwould aspect its own 2nd house, its close alignment with the Rahu\/Ketu axis\nsuggesting his inventiveness, rule-breaking tendencies, and substance abuse. And\non a personal level, 7th lord Sun on the Rahu\/Ketu axis would imply\nunconventional relationships, which played out in his openly gay lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In\nboth the rashi<\/em> and chandralagna<\/em> charts, the 7th lord is\neight houses away \u00e2\u0080\u0093 Mars in the first instance, the Sun in the second \u00e2\u0080\u0093 which\nis some indication of turbulent relationships. In his natal chart he had two\ndistinct passion combinations \u00e2\u0080\u0093 a strong Mars aspecting the 5th house Moon, and\na debilitated Saturn conjoined Venus in the 7th house. These patterns, wherein\nthe \u00e2\u0080\u009cgood girl\u00e2\u0080\u009d planets Moon and Venus are afflicted by the \u00e2\u0080\u009cbad boy\u00e2\u0080\u009d planets\nMars and Saturn, are further evidence of an active sex life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost\nthe entirety of McQueen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s professional life was contained within his Mercury dasha<\/em>, which ran from 1992 to 2009.\nMercury is in Shatabhisha<\/em> nakshatra\nwhose lord Rahu occupies his 6th house of competitive endeavors along with the\n11th lord Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

\n\nHe received his master\u00e2\u0080\u0099s degree in fashion design in 1992, and his graduation collection was bought in its entirety by influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow, who subsequently became his mentor, using her fashion sense and industry contacts to help him advance his career.\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

McQueen\nused new technology and innovation to add a different twist to his shows. His\nearly runway collections developed his reputation for controversy and shock\ntactics (earning the title \u00e2\u0080\u009cl\u00e2\u0080\u0099enfant\nterrible<\/em>\u00e2\u0080\u009d and \u00e2\u0080\u009cthe hooligan of English fashion.\u00e2\u0080\u009d He designed the wardrobe\nfor David Bowie\u00e2\u0080\u0099s tours in 1996-1997, and lent his style to Icelandic singer\nBj\u00c3\u00b6rk for the cover of an album and two of her music videos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n1997 he was hired by Givenchy where he indulged his rebellious streak. A show\nin 1998 included a double amputee model striding down the catwalk on wooden\nlegs. Another show featured a model whose strapless white dress was spray-painted\nas she stood between two robotic paint guns on the catwalk. Yet another show\nfeatured an enormous glass box filled with moths, inside of which was a naked\nmodel wearing only a gas mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McQueen\nwon the British Designer of the Year four times in 1996-2003. In late 2000, the\nItalian fashion house Gucci took a 51% stake in his company, leaving him with\ncomplete creative control. By the end of 2007, he had boutiques in London, New\nYork, Los Angeles, Milan, and Las Vegas. Celebrity patrons included Nicole\nKidman, Penelope Cruz, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Rihanna. Lady Gaga often\nincorporated McQueen pieces in her music videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

\n\nIn 2007 McQueen was devastated by the suicide of his long-time mentor Isabella Blow. This ushered in a very difficult three-year period for him during which, despite seeking psychiatric help for anxiety and depressive disorder, he twice took drug overdoses as \u00e2\u0080\u009ccries for help.\u00e2\u0080\u009d\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe spring of 2009 he entered the dasha<\/em>\nof his 12th house Ketu. When his mother died in February of 2010, it was\napparently too much for him to bear. Little more than a week later, on the eve\nof her funeral, he took his own life by hanging. A subsequent coroner\u00e2\u0080\u0099s report\nindicated that his blood contained a \u00e2\u0080\u009csignificant level\u00e2\u0080\u009d of cocaine, sleeping\npills and tranquilizers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note\nthat bhukti<\/em> lord Venus gives results\nfor its star-lord Ketu in the 12th house of self-undoing. And although he didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t\ndie during a Mars period, Mars is a triple maraka<\/em>,\nbeing both occupant and lord of the 2nd, as well as lord of the 7th. Aside from\nits obvious connection with substance abuse, as a strong malefic in the 2nd,\nMars also occupies the middle drekkana<\/em>\nof Scorpio. This is a pasha drekkana<\/em>,\nwherein \u00e2\u0080\u009cpasha\u00e2\u0080\u009d means noose. This could be taken literally, as the physical\nmeans by which death is embraced, or from the viewpoint of karma-inducing behavior,\nby which substance abuse was the noose that bound him to his fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York hosted a posthumous exhibition of McQueen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s work in 2011 titled Savage Beauty<\/em>, and in its three-month run became one of the most popular exhibitions in the museum\u00e2\u0080\u0099s history. A subsequent 2015 exhibition at London\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Victoria & Albert Museum sold almost half a million tickets, making it the most popular show ever staged at that museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Annand<\/strong> studied with Hart de Fouw, and is a graduate of the American College of Vedic Astrology. He’s also a former tutor for the British Faculty of Astrological Studies, and the author of several books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
KALA SARPA<\/em> by Alan Annand<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Kala Sarpa<\/em> is a first-of-its-kind reference book on a unique pattern in jyotish<\/em> that is not discussed in shastra<\/em> yet is part of India’s rich oral tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stellar Astrology, Volumes 1 & 2,<\/em> offer a wealth of time-tested techniques in the form of biographical profiles, analyses of world events, and technical essays. Parivartana Yoga<\/em> is a reference text for one of the most common yet powerful planetary combinations in jyotish<\/em>. His Mutual Reception<\/em> is an expanded companion volume written for western practitioners, covering the same subject of planetary exchange through the lens of traditional astrology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His New Age Noir<\/em> crime novels (Scorpio Rising<\/em>, Felonious Monk<\/em>, Soma County<\/em>) feature astrologer and palmist Axel Crowe, whom one reviewer has dubbed \u00e2\u0080\u009cSherlock Holmes with a horoscope.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Websites: www.navamsa.com, www.sextile.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find his books on Amazon<\/a>, Apple<\/a>, Barnes&Noble<\/a>, Kobo<\/a> and Smashwords<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fashion show by Alexander McQueen was never anything less than a spectacle. Whether it was just his innate sense of drama, or the perverse delight he took in shocking his audience of fashionistas, he pulled out all the stops. His half-naked models, their scarcely-concealed buttocks or breasts leaving little to the imagination, would stride […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,18,26],"tags":[546,545,498,547,548],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4176"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4201,"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176\/revisions\/4201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navamsa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}