The English attitude to criminals has always been a bit ambivalent, particularly during the 1960s. Even the condemnation of serious Scorpio type villains like the Kray brothers still contained a fair bit of boys will be boys – see The Kray Twins, Smashing Blokes, they Loved Their Mum.
There is the lovable cockney rogue / villain who gets by with a bit of ducking and diving. This type of character has always seemed to me a bit Piscean. Not a real hardened criminal but someone who is definitely a bit slippery, who is difficult for the cops to finger and who gets away with, if not actual murder some fairly dodgy stuff.
Their capacity to get away with their ill-gotten gains seems to gain some kind of support from the public at large, not least because it’s usually helped on by the incompetence of the local plod.
A little bit of research has shown that Pisces does indeed figure quite strongly in a number of these scenarios and this is no doubt down to the opposition to the Uranus / Pluto conjunction in Virgo that ran through much of the 1960s.
It does have a ring of criminal underworld to it.
Part of the appeal of these characters derives from the fact that so many films have been made of them.
Although fictional, one of Capricorn Research’s favourites was The Italian Job. The chart for the release of this film has the Sun in Gemini opposite Mars in Sagittarius, which beautifully points to those 3 Minis speeding through the backstreets of Turin.
But of course the chief character was Michael Caine.
Caine is a Sun Pisces with a delightful opposition to a shifty Jupiter in Virgo. His Moon is in lovable Libra but forming a T Square with the sinister Uranus and Pluto.
As such, he seems to have everything going to help create this cockney villain.
And when Pluto came to oppose his Sun by transit in 1969 he came up with the all time British cinema favourite one liner ” You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off !”.
Earlier on in the decade, an 11 year old Capricorn Research clearly remembers the awe which was held for the Great Train Robbers.
This was a truly audacious crime for 1963 involving incredible sums of money as signified by the Sun in Leo in the 2nd house opposite Saturn and forming a T square with an apex Neptune.
But there was still this element of cheeky lovable rogues shown by the Moon in Pisces at the top of the chart in opposition to Pluto at the IC. Cockney underworld ?
One crime that achieved as much global publicity but was characterised more by the incompetence of the authorities rather than the audacity of the criminals was the theft of the 1966 World Cup. This occurred 50 years ago today.
Capricorn Research often has to resort to using noon charts but they have proved to be very helpful over the years. This time it is accurate too. The theft was discovered at 12.10 pm but had occurred only minutes beforehand.
Both the Sun and Moon are in Pisces, making wide conjunctions to Saturn. The Moon and Saturn are opposite the Uranus / Pluto conjunction in the 4th house.
This utterly bizarre story reflects the chart so well.
First of all lets not forget that this is a trophy for a game where people use their feet ( Pisces ). This might seem a bit of a silly connection to make, but the sign figures strongly in many of the inaugural charts for the sport, including that of the English national team.
The FA were keeping the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy in readiness for the competition in England during the summer. They allowed it to be exhibited as part of a stamp collecting exhibition ( surely a Piscean event if ever there was one ) in Westminster Central Hall.
On Sundays Central Hall was used for Methodist services ( again Pisces with perhaps a touch of Virgo ).
The thieves cunningly used this distraction to gain entry as noone could hear the noise they made breaking in ( more Pisces ).
The security guards who were deputised to look after the trophy were all at the time in another room drinking tea ( even more Pisces ).
None of the guards had seen or heard anything suspicious, though one of them reported that he had seen a strange man ( surely a Piscean ) by the public telephone when he had visited the lavatory ( Pisces ? ) on the first floor.
In a scenario that fits so well with the films of the time, Scotland Yard immediately took over the case. They interviewed some of the churchgoers who gave them a description of two men, one tall and the other short.
The description that the police sent to the newspapers however was of a composite of the two men ( utterly Piscean and shades of the Keystone Kops ).
Its a well known fact that in the run up to a World Cup, the whole of the world’s media is focused on the host country, desperately looking for some kind of story that exposes incompetence or wrong doing. These things usually focus on concerns about stadiums not being built on time or local work forces being exploited or backhanders being made and in the case of Qatar all three.
This whole story was broadcast around the world much to the embarrassment of the FA who were made to appear as an incompetent bunch of stiff upper lipped blazers who couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery ( a bit more Pisces ). This neatly conformed to the English stereotype most widely held by the rest of the world anyway.
But the big question on everyone’s lips at the time was what will happen to the World Cup ? Will we get it back in time for the tournament ?
And the remarkable thing about this chart is it can be used as a horary to answer exactly that question.
The Sun in the chart is right at the end of Pisces suggesting that the Cup has disappeared but it will not be for long. And the Sun will soon move into Aries where a powerful Mercury / Mars conjunction ( surely the tournament itself ) awaits.
Cancer is rising so the Moon is the ruler of the trophy itself. Its position right on the Midheaven shows the global importance of the World Cup and again its sign position in Pisces indicates its mysterious disappearance. The Moon is applying to a conjunction with Saturn which shows the genuine fears for the loss of the trophy.
However there is something that intervenes before the Moon reaches Saturn.
The Moon makes an opposition with the Uranus / Pluto conjunction in 7 degrees time. So something utterly bizarre and unexpected would happen in a week ( a degree per day ).
On 27th March, David Corbett and his dog, Pickles, left their house for a walk, when Pickles begun to sniff at a parcel that was lying under the hedge of Corbett’s house. It was wrapped in an old newspaper, tied with string. When he opened the parcel, he recognized the trophy when he noticed the winner’s names on the bottom.
Dave and Pickles would be signified by Uranus and Pluto and Virgo rules household pets. The fact that this conjunction is at the base of the chart right near the 4th house cusp ( of home and family ) shows that the trophy would be found at the bottom of something, near to someone’s house.
But the chart has even more to tell.
The Moon goes on to conjunct Saturn. Dave handed the parcel to the police at Gypsy Hill police station. The response of the desk sergeant was ” that doesn’t look very world cuppy to me, son “.
In defence of the duty plod, the Jules Rimet trophy was only 12 inches tall, quite small by football standards.
Also once it had been confirmed that it was the real deal, Corbett was detained and questioned for several hours, no doubt under suspicion of stealing the thing in the first place
The whole police response just smacks of Saturn in Pisces.
But the remarkable story ends well. The Moon goes on to square Jupiter and England win the World Cup.
Pickles becomes a hero and appeared on TV and was invited to the post match players dinner. And Pickles celebrated by doing his business over a plant in the corner of the room.
So the greatest English achievement in the history of the game and still our governing body comes out of it looking like a bunch of embarrassed amateurs. But thats the FA for you.