The photo of Nick Vujicic is by Gage Skidmore and was taken in Arizona.
We all at times are concerned about our cares, vexations, and worries perhaps overly so. We take for granted things others can only wish for—sight, use of our limbs, a birth without defects. Without further ado let’s meet some remarkable people who have overcome severe handicaps.
Louis Braille (January 4, 1809) was blinded in one eye by a stitching awl at age 3. An infection set in, spread to both eyes, and complete blindness resulted. Louis did not give up; rather he excelled in his studies and received a scholarship to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth There he developed a tactile code that permitted the sightless to read and write quickly and efficiently. That system today bears his name. (Wikipedia)
Louis was a Capricorn with the Moon in Leo and a Scorpio Ascendant. Saturn, the planet of restriction, is in the house of self and bound with Neptune. Both are in Sagittarius. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction gave Braille the ability to make concrete his ideas and lent him artistic ability. He was an accomplished musician.
Pluto,the ruler of Braille’s Ascendant, is in the 4th House of beginnings and endings. It signifies growth and regeneration in that department of life. It is in conjunction with the planet of good fortune, Jupiter. This accounted in no small part for his visionary inspiration (system).
Kim Peek (November 11, 1951- 2009) was the real life person who served as a model for the Dustin Hoffman character in the film Rain Man. “Peek walk[ed] with a sidelong gait, could not button his clothes [or] manage the chores of daily life and had great difficulties with abstractions.” (“Inside the Mind of a Savant,” by Darold A. Treffert and Daniel D. Christensen, Scientific American, June 1, 2006) Kim was missing the bundles of nerves which connect the two hemispheres of our brains. This gave him “the ability to read two pages of a book simultaneously—left page with the left eye and right page with the right eye.” Also endowed with a phenomenal memory, Peek could recall both pages in eight seconds. He memorized over 12,000 books in his lifetime and was an expert in fifteen subjects. (“17 Famous People with Disabilities in the World,” Samuel Lalit, November 13, 2020, Wecapable.com).
Kim is a Scorpio with the Moon either in Aries or Taurus. The time of birth is not known.
Esther Vergeer (July 18, 1981) had unbeknownst even to her doctors vascular myelopathy, an irregular blood supply to the spinal cord. This was only discovered after a brain hemorrhage and stroke at the age of 6. She had a nine hour operation in 1990, but this left her legs paralyzed. (Wikipedia)
Vergeer has been called the most dominant player in professional sports, for as a wheelchair tennis player she compiled a record of 700-25 and won 48 major titles.
Esther is a Cancer with an Aquarius Moon. Her Mars at 29 d Gemini is together with her Mercury at 5 d Cancer. This gave her mental energy and made her mind lively. Mars is also square both Jupiter and Saturn which are themselves together almost exactly at 4 d Libra. The Jupiter/Saturn conjunction gave Vergeer “considerable ability to achieve her objectives by hard work.” “There is great potential coupled with single-mindedness and physical endurance.” (Parker, The Compleat Astrologer, p. 145) Mars square Jupiter provided her with stamina and physical energy. The conjunction and square apparently largely nullified the negative Mars/Saturn aspect.
Nick Vujicic (December 4, 1982) was born bereft of arms and legs (tetra-amelia syndrome). Refusing to give up, he overcame great odds and graduated from Griffith University at age 21. Nick married at 30 and has four children. He is a famous motivational speaker and Christian evangelist. Vujicic uses the toes of one foot like fingers. At one time they were fused, but an operation undid them. He calls his foot his chicken drumstick. (Wikipedia and “17 Famous People with Disabilities.”)
Nick, an optimistic Sagittarian, has five planets in that sign. [Uranus 5 d, Sun 11, Venus 18, Mercury 19, and Neptune 26] His Moon is in the tenacious, home loving sign of Cancer. It is in the 8th House of procreation, growth and regeneration. The Moon is opposed by Mars in Capricorn. This would endow him with a fighting spirit. Sagittarius rises. Sagittarius is the sign most associated with religion.
A Sun Uranus conjunction can give an intellectual bent. This notion is buttressed by these facts: Sagittarians can develop formidable intellects, and Vugicic’s Mercury is conjoined with Venus, Neptune, and the Sun. 5 planets including the Ascendant ruler are in the 12th House of service to others.
John Nash (June 13, 1928-2015) was portrayed in the movie “A Brilliant Mind” by Russell Crowe. Nash was a mathematical genius who along with two others was awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics. Many of his papers are considered landmarks. He made contributions to game theory*, real algebraic** and differential geometry***, and partial differential equations. (Wikipedia)
Nash began to experience paranoia—he thought all men who wore red ties were communists and were against him—and was admitted to McClean Hospital in 1959. Because he also experienced hallucinations and had become asocial, John was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Over the next nine years he spent time in different mental institutions. Nash received antipsychotic medications and insulin shock therapy. (Ibid)
John recovered gradually over time because he led a quiet life and had social support. Nash felt he never realized his full potential because of 30 years of mental illness. (Ibid)
Nash, a Gemini, has an Aries Moon and a Cancer Ascendant. His Sun, Mercury, Venus and Pluto are all in the 12th House. This house is concerned with the subconscious, the shadow, and is affiliated with mental institutions. Interestingly enough, John has the social combination of Sun conjunct Venus. Mercury and Pluto both fall in the sensitive, emotional sign of Cancer.
A real key to Nash’s nativity seems to be the Sixth House placement of Saturn. The planet of restriction is located in a house of health and work. Saturn is opposed by the Sun and Venus. On the other hand, Chronos is trine Moon and Mars both of which are located in the House of Career. The placement of the Moon is a good indicator of public recognition for his work. Overall, Saturn is a singleton and the chart shape a bucket.
The Moon square the Ascendant signifies emotional discord. Mars square indicates stress on the Martian traits. (Parker, p. 144)
Though our five examples we see just how indomitable the human spirit can be. A lot can be said for hanging in there no matter how bad the hand we have been dealt, developing one’s gifts, or in some way compensating for deficits.
__________________________________
*“Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. A rational agent can be anything that makes decisions—person, machine, software, or firm.” ( Wikipedia)
**Real algebraic geometry studies solutions to algebriac equations with mappings between them. (Ibid)
***Differential geometry is the study of the geometry of smooth shapes and places. (Ibid)
Author’s Note: Dave Lemire, my close friend, was a Gemini with the Moon in Aries. I found him to be quite intelligent, restless, and fond of his own ideas. He told me his limit for social interactions was about two hours. Dave could be impatient and did not suffer faulty relationships. He moved on. Dave externalized (blamed others) under stress while Nash may well have blamed himself (internalized) and become lost in his own entangled emotions.