Justin Bieber – Accused of fathering illegitimate child after a backstage fling.

This is an interesting one. The teenage pop star Justin Beiber has been accused by a woman, 20 year old Mariah Yeater of fathering her child after an alleged fling backstage at one of his Los Angeles concerts, and now her lawyers are insisting on him taking a paternity test. This story could get rather messy, as lawyers for Beiber say that if he does take a test and the results come out negative, then the pop star could sue her for defaming his name.

Ok what have we got. Well the big ones for me here are transiting Mars and Neptune. Transiting Mars is opposing natal Mars and Mercury. Mars is operating out of the ninth house, so this is a story about actions taken abroad and of legal affairs surrounding them. Natal Mars and Mercury are in the 3rd house of information, so the press are heavily involved in the story. Mars also squares Bieber’s 12th house Pluto as well as the Nodal axis, the maternal axis.

From the other side of the chart in the 3rd house we have transiting Neptune making the same square aspects as Mars. Look at the signs rules by the planets. Mars (Aries) rules the 5th house of affairs and also of children. Mercury through Virgo rules Justin’s Midheaven, his public profile and also through Gemini affects the 7th house of permanent partnerships. Gemini is intercepted in the 7th. Pluto sits in the 12th house of things behind the scenes, and Scorpio not only rules his 12th house of suffering and service but also his ascendant. Pluto and Scorpio of course are associated with sexual activity and secret acts. How appropriate is this showing a backstage affair?? Neptune is always the planet involved when a swirl of uncertainty comes over an issue, and rules the 4th house where women’s issues can be found.

If this wasn’t enough we find transiting Saturn hitting Beiber’s Moon, so emotional difficulties with women, Cancer is on the cusp of the 8th house of sexual relations and Saturn’s sign Capricorn sits on the cusp of Beiber’s 2nd house of money. Saturn is also square to Uranus and Neptune also sitting in this second house, causing confusion and unexpected problems coming to the surface.

Finally to top all these nasty transits off, transiting Venus and Mercury are currently moving through his 1st house of personal affairs square to Beiber’s Saturn which shows difficulty over affairs of the heart and accusations against him, probably these influences began the whole situation and set things rolling. The minor planets as they whizz around the chart in most cases do seem to start things off, and then the outer planets take up the strain.

There is enough astrological evidence here to certainly highlight everything that this case is showing in the press. The burning question is, did he do it? Obviously, one would have to look at the transits on the night in question, information I do not have to hand right now, however the Mercury connection interests me especially as Mercury does rule Beiber’s Midheaven and affects his 7th house. Surely the permanent partner aspect of this 7th house, and the fact that the two planets setting off this all, Venus and Mercury both affect this house through Gemini and Taurus. This double connection does lead me to suspect that there may be some credibility to this girl’s claims. As they say, no smoke without fire… 

If you want to see more on Justin Beiber, please follow this link where I did a full analysis on his natal chart.

Astrology of Justin Beiber - Discovered on YouTube

Prince William and Kate Middleton – An astrological study of the royal couple in waiting.

Here in the UK, we seem to have a very relaxed attitude this time around to the wedding of William and Kate Middleton in a couple of weeks time. Maybe the current mood in the UK reflects the relationship of the happy couple to be? What do the stars have in store for them? Let’s take a look…

Although we only have a confirmed birth time for William and not Kate, luckily after looking at the potential time that Kate could have been born at on 9th January 1982, it does not make too much of a difference to the synastry and combined charts for them both.

Prince William is only 5 months younger than Kate so the compared charts for the two are very similar in respect of the outer planets. Looking at the faster moving planets from the Sun through to Saturn, the relationship between the two is rather lovely. William is a New Moon Cancerian, so very emotional and security conscious and his Sun and Moon are complemented nicely by Kate’s serious Capricorn Sun and her Moon also in Cancer. Emotionally they are in tune and when William does worry as Cancerians invariably do, then Kate will keep his feet on the ground. William has a very chatty, on the go Mercury in Gemini. He will always want to keep up with the latest news and his brain is very restless, flitting from one subject to the next. Kate’s Mercury in cool technical Aquarius is in trine aspect. Both Mercurys are in air signs, so this couple will forever be chatting, picking each other’s brains for ideas; with Kate’s Mars trine William’s Mercury there will plenty of lively debate between the two. In relationships, communication is key to long term success and William and Kate will never have problems in this side of things.

Kate’s Mercury and Venus sit together in Aquarius. Venus in Aquarius often conveys film star looks especially to women and Kate certainly has star quality fizzing out of her, a sort of cool unapproachable yet hugely kind and sympathetic appeal. Her Venus is in trine aspect to William’s Mars, the classic Venus/Mars combination of the star struck lovers. This is an easy going romantic love between them and they will be very comfortable in each other’s company. With Mars conjunct Mars with one degree of each other, they will push each other forward in their respective goals and projects. The only slight problem on the synastry chart is a “potential” square between Kate’s Moon and William’s Saturn. His duties will put a dampener on her emotional state. If Kate was born between around 10.00 and 14.00, then her Moon conjuncts William’s north node, a sort of fated connection – almost like that they were always meant to be together. All in all, the match between them is remarkably relaxed and easy going, and the mood of the British public can be seen in the relaxed vibe they send out.

Looking more long term, I move to the composite chart. Here the lack of a birth time does not affect the overall look of the chart radically – I have looked the the possibilities of Kate being born from early morning to late at night. Over time couples change, their priorities differ as they get older and the composite chart can show how any tensions may play themselves out over the course of the relationship. This composite chart is very interesting.

The thing I notice immediately is a powerful t-square between Sun Mercury opposite Mars squaring onto the Moon at the point of the t-square. The Sun Mercury reflects the synastry chart in that there will always be good communication between William and Kate and there is love and friendship with Sun Mercury in conjunction to Venus. The square to the Moon and more pointedly the opposition to Mars indicate plenty of energy that will drive on the relationship. The Sun Moon square can be tricky and troublesome and is often seen in the chart of people infatuated with each. The addition of Mars in the mix will mean that when there is a disagreement there will be a full on shouting match, however the resentment will not last. Mars is able to forgive and forget quite easily.

Composite Mars is conjunct Saturn which is at the best frustrating. It’s almost like when one is hot, the other is cold. When one wants to act, the other doesn’t. Kate and William over time may work at cross purposes to each other and this is something they will have to adjust to, giving each other enough space to compensate for their differing moods and desires. One other problem on the horizon is the quindecile between Pluto and Sun/Mercury. This indicates a power struggle behind the scenes. Remember one day William will be King, however the one with her feet firmly on the ground will be Kate. Capricorns by their very nature being ruled by Saturn like to have authority and to run things. Will serious Kate try to run things from behind the scenes? Taken to extremes, an opposition between Pluto and the Sun can lead to all out warfare if a relationship does break up. Now I am not saying that this will happen for sure, however the possibility of an intense power struggle over time does exist. Pluto widely conjuncts Jupiter which suggests growth. The longer they can stay together, the more they will benefit from the union, in understanding and wisdom. The composite chart also does show an electric attraction between the two with Venus in trine aspect to Uranus. This is the spark that brought them together, the moment when Kate walking down the catwalk at a fashion show caught William’s eye, and forever that attraction will remain between them.

All synastry and composite charts have good and bad points and the essence of a marriage is to adapt, to change and grow with your partner. What I can say is that there is great communication, attraction and love between them and if they can resist the temptation to step on each others shoes in their very public roles in the future, then this marriage to be has a very real chance of being a successful one.

When the marriage does take place and we have an official time, I will add to this post by looking at the marriage chart.

Prince William – born 21st June 1982 in London at 21.03

Kate Middleton – born 9th January 1982 in Reading, Berkshire – as yet no birth time.

 

********   Click this link to see the Royal Wedding Chart   **********

Is technology killing social capital?

Joe,

I have found myself recently chatting with several people who seem to be making the argument that social networks, text/instant messaging, and the internet in general are diminishing the relationships between people. To be fair, the people making the argument are generally Gen X or older and are people who pride themselves in networking the old-fashioned way, face to face and eyeball to eyeball. So, they could just be resisting change or maybe they are on to something.

While I think it's very short-sighted to suggest that technology is ruining relationships, I do think it's an interesting topic to consider how it is changing the relationships and connectedness between people. So, I'd like to propose that we discuss this issue in our next several posts. Here are some of the questions that I'm interested in discussing:

• How has the advent of social networks, email, and texting changed the way we connect and interact with others?
• What are the differences between being connected and having a relationship?
• How is technology impacting the way children and young adults are connecting to one another and what is the long term impact of that?
• How does the difference between connection and relationship play into the creation of social capital?

Clearly, a major shift is underway in how we interact with one another. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on exactly what's going on and how we can both make sense of it and embrace it.

-Jason

Get out of your office.

Yo VIP lets kick it.

Jason-

In your last post you mention a lot of good stuff, and one of the things that caught my attention was that you touched on the importance of building internal relationships a couple of times, and I think that this is sometimes overlooked. How HR is viewed within the organization has a great deal to do with the nature of the relationship that HR has with the organization…as a function and as individuals.

I think that we can look to some ancient wisdom for guidance on this one.

The poet-philosopher Vanilla Ice encouraged us to “Stop. Collaborate and listen.” Powerful stuff. Powerful stuff indeed, and I do not claim to entirely understand what the prophet had in mind with this line, but it might be advice worth considering.

Part of what makes HR work hard is what everyone else thinks they know about HR.

The less the rest of the organization knows about you (as an individual and as a function) the more they are going to make up their own story, based on what they think they know about HR and the most recent episode of The Office.

I think that it is vitally important for HR professionals to be students of the organization, to be students of the people within the organization and to be always on the look out for an opportunity to add value.

Get out of your office. (now)

Ask questions and listen.

Know the business.

Know the people.

Find a way to add value.

Be in partnership.

We all want to rock the mic like a vandal…and the lack of internal relationships or the wrong kind of internal relationships can easily stand in our way.

Hey HR...got any friends?

Jason

I agree with your post and think this is very relevant to the message we will be sharing with the ND SHRM Conference on Thursday…especially your comments on the importance of relationships.

I cannot emphasize the importance of relationships enough, and not the cheesy, shmoozy, “I want everyone to like me” kind of relationships, but real relationships; with some trust and some candor and some common ground. I think that one of the key challenges facing HR professionals is the nature of their relationships with those outside of HR.

HR professionals and HR teams need to become part of the business, and in too many organizations they are something apart from the business. They are the “touchy-feely” people, or the compliance cops, and not a part of the everyday business of the business. I think that this disconnect is as much about personal relationships as it is about organizational charts or seating arrangements.

HR needs to become more relational in nature. Screw the tired lamentations (that is my fancy word for the day) about how to get the “seat at the table” and becoming more “strategic” and invest aggressively in building your social capital. Meet people. Ask good questions. Listen. Really listen. Take notes. Follow-up with people. Stay in touch. Find ways to help. Find more ways to help. Repeat. Forever.

None of this is about being popular. All of this is about being valuable. If you are an HR professional or leader, go meet people.

-joe

Coffee's for Closers (HR as Sales Professional)

Joe,

As we prepare to invade the North Dakota State SHRM Conference this week, I thought maybe I'd share some of my philosophy regarding why I think all Human Resources professionals should think of themselves as being in sales.

People are often surprised to find that while I now spend my days leading an HR department for an organization of about 800 employees, I have no formal education in Human Resources. As you know, my career started with a job selling copiers in small town rural America. I literally spent my days walking up and down main street of small towns, making cold calls hoping to find someone who might give me a few minutes to talk about copiers or fax machines. I ultimately found my way to HR by way of executive recruitment (another sales job that happens to do with connecting people and jobs). So, when I finally landed as a professional in HR, I viewed it through a sales perspective. Fortunately for me, I think this perspective has played a major role in my success in HR. Here's a few of my thoughts on why.

Sales is about relationships. Sales people spend a lot of time trying to connect to people and get to know them. We were trained in sales to build and leverage relationships to help us make sales. It's easier to buy from someone you know. In HR, most of the really important work we do involves convincing leaders and employees to do something different than what they have in the past, to buy a new way of doing things. We want them to adopt a new performance appraisal or participate in a new wellness program. Whether or not the "buy" into this new program has a lot to do with their relationship with HR. Do they know you? Do they trust you? If the answer to both questions is yes, your new program has a significantly higher probability of success.

Sales is strategic. Sales people know that in order to make a big sale, several people have to say yes and only one person has to say no to stop it. If the sale is big enough, people from several departments and levels of responsibility will have to sign off on it. A sales professional knows this and maps out this process in advance. The sales pro knows who has to say yes, who has the power to say no, and what each person will want to know to make the "buy" decision. HR is no different. Let's use a new HR software purchase as an example. To make the purchase, you may need the approval of your head of HR (if that's not you), the CFO, the IT department, purchasing, legal, etc. A savvy HR pro will lay all of these approvals out on paper and outline what each approver is likely to be looking for. If this HR pro is really good, she probably has established relationships with each of the approvers so she can go to them early in the process to find out what questions each might have. By knowing ahead of time who needs what information to say yes, it's much more likely to get the approval when it's crunch time.

The list goes on. These are two of the biggest reasons I've found how HR pros with sales skills get ahead. You started off in sales like I did, have you found the same to be true?

Jason