Tags
astrology, Cancer, Capricorn, life, Scorpio, Sun- Neptune aspects, The Great Gatsby, Venus- Neptune aspects
This is one of my all-time favourite films based on one of my all-time favourite novels, as I’m sure it is for many people. The glitz and glamour of the roaring ’20’s captured in one of the most tragic romances in the literary canon.
Perhaps the saddest part of this literary masterpiece is all the years Jay Gatsby spends yearning for a woman who was never worthy of his love in the first place. And then I got to thinking: “What kind of aspects or placements would you have to have in your chart to indulge in years or even decades-long Gatsby-esqe pining for another person?”
Now, I know we’ve probably all done this at some stage in our lives- wasted time wondering what if we had ended up with ‘the one who got away’ or the one who was never ours to begin with, but I’m talking serious yearning that goes on long after there is any chance of a relationship with said idol.
I guess one of the obvious answers would be hard aspects to Neptune, and Neptune-Venus aspects in particular. People with a strong Neptunian signature in their chart are likely to be fairly dreamy, romantic sorts anyway, and can often build fantasies and daydreams around their partner or current crush which have little bearing on the reality of their actual relationship with this person.
A person with Sun- Neptune aspects may be so sensitive and idealistic when it comes to choosing a partner that the fear of rejection-or the fear of mundane, every day life creeping into their relationship- may lead them to fantasize about the perfect love affair instead of taking the plunge and becoming involved in one.
Venus- Neptune people I have found can do some serious pining, often putting would-be lovers on a pedestal, and then becoming disillusioned when they turn out to be ordinary people with ordinary faults. The fact is that with people whose expectations regarding romance and love are so high, no lover- however kind, good looking, sexually competent etc.- is ever going to match the ideal the Venus- Neptune person has of them in their head.
Planets in the water signs- Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces may also play a part here. And also Capricorn, which may seem like an unlikely player at first glance but which makes sense when you think about it, as I’ll explain in a minute.
The three water signs are known for being romantic, sentimental and idealistic, with long memories, deep emotions, vivid imaginations and a loathing for giving up anyone they love. Thus they can easily get into a rut where they find it hard to move on because they are not ready to let go of past attachments- however long ago it was.
But it has also occured to me that in order to achieve this level of Gatsby-esque pining one needs faithfulness and persistence in holding on to a dream for that long, and I believe this is where Capricorn comes in. You may think Capricorns are all business suits and stock market shares, but the truth is that many of them are hopelessly romantic. However, because they find it hard to express their emotions, particularly if they have the Moon or Venus in Capricorn, these feelings can become repressed and buried deep down inside them. They may be shy about telling the object of their affection how much they love them, and so the relationship never has the chance to become anything but a one-sided fantasy.
But perhaps romantic yearning has gone out of fashion in this unromantic age we now live in. Some of the greatest literature ever produced has themes of intense longing or being reunited with a long-lost love, however impossible it may seem, but they are mainly set in an earlier age when things like differences in age, social status, social mores and marriage to someone else were considered more serious road blocks on the path to finding true love than they would be now.
If you would like to indulge in a little vicarious pining, here are some more of my favourites:
Persuasion- Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall- Anne Bronte
Far from the Madding Crowd- Thomas Hardy
The Forsyte Saga- John Galsworthy
Atonement- Ian McEwan
Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy
Great Expectations- Charles Dickens