The
Portuguese are content with their discontentment, and, in an odd but
enlightening way, actually enjoy it. As an American, I’ve been inculcated with
the importance of being happy – or at least pretending to be happy – at all
costs. It’s an ethos epitomized by the smiley face emoji, which is said to have
been invented in the US in 1963, and empty expressions like “have a nice day”.
Portugal’s
culture of melancholy is hard to miss. You see it etched on people’s sombre
expressions – this is no Thailand, known as the Land of Smiles – and even in
the statues that occupy prime real estate in Lisbon’s public squares. In most
countries, the men (and it’s almost always men) honoured in such places are
macho generals. In Portugal, it’s moody poets.
Nov.29
The mundane horoscope of Portugal is based on the Proclamation of the Republic [1]. Notice that
in this chart the Moon is opposite Neptune. In a mundane horoscope of a
nation “the Moon signifies the people, the masses, commoners and the population
as a whole” [2]. Neptune is linked to a kind of soul-sickness and existential
sadness so that its opposition to the Moon tells us why the Portuguese suffer from a kind
of disillusionment. And since balm for
Neptunian disillusionment can often be found in the realm of the imagination,
it is no surprise that the sadness finds vehicles such as poetry and music.
The article was published on November 29, the very day a New
Moon fell on the MC at Lisbon. The New Moon was conjunct Saturn and square
Neptune in the 1st house. In addition to the Moon the “ 1st House - Corresponds to the nation and
its people, first impressions, the image of the nation and outer persona of
it's people” [2]. Once again Neptune is highlighted and its square to Saturn
tells us about the sadness and resignation that the people feel.
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