Hudson Valley Astrologer

Working through Kobe Bryant’s astrology was a labor of love and a privilege in many ways. The immersion into his chart and life turned into a deep learning experience.

One of the things that impressed me about his journey was how he seemed to rise to the occasion under extreme duress. Solar Arcs and Transits that correspond with difficult circumstances and often project failure were overcome with hard work and focused concentration. His aim was to be better and get better. He worked tirelessly toward perfection of his game but his game had flaws. He had flaws. He was human. And yet he maintained his aim and took his shots. I was surprised to learn that Kobe “missed” more shots than anyone in the NBA. He missed over 14,000 shots in his career and critics point to this fact as some sort of blemish on his record. Teammates and opposing players referred to him as a ball hog. And at some level they’re right, but at the same time we can be inspired by the conviction of his courage. He took a shot at life. He knew what he wanted. He aimed properly and moved toward his goal.

The depiction of Kobe in his Olympic uniform captures his defiant warrior’s pose. This was the attitude he encompassed as the Black Mamba, a creature with deadly precision approaching 98%. He knew he wasn’t even close to that level of precision, but that wasn’t the point. The snake became his stock and trade, a veritable mascot and symbol, a representation of his aspiration. The goal was simple. Be the best version of yourself you can be.

In the subsequent post, my investigation of Kobe’s chart leads to some amazing insights and correspondences. As mentioned, he excelled under the most ominous progressions and transits known to astrologers. The very same signs and symbols exploited by some astrologers to incite fear and loathing in readers. I suppose this age old practice aligns with the goal of increasing subscribership, but it is my observation that too much of astrology speaks to the Labrador brain inside of us, that most ancient and primitive part that responds to fear. The current health pandemic is a case in point. There are real issues to be concerned about but what is needed is focused concentration not panic. As I type this NYC is about to be overwhelmed by patients needing intubation but lacking the necessary tools and tubes to perform the procedure, not to mention too few beds. Projections suggest we are already at capacity in smaller hospitals, and the big hospitals will be over capacity within 10 days. The epidemic isn’t expected to peak until 22 days from now or April 14th give or take a couple of days. The failure isn’t really related to the disease per se. It’s not Covid-19 that people should fear. The failure is related to a lack of preparedness and the utter denial of the likelihood for contending with such a disease. And contrary to an abundance of evidence we chose to mis-allocate resources. Perhaps I can return to this topic with comments once the storm has passed. Here, I am simply humbled and reminded of what concentrated focus is capable of and what preparedness looks like. And although this is no “game” we are playing, we may be helped by looking at it as if it were. That we are playing for the championship and that “how we play” matters.

It may seem trite to pay attention to the life of a basketball all-star and celebrity at a time like this. The world is in chaos outside even though everything appears fine and calm where I sit. The level of uncertainty is reflected in financial markets and authorities closing businesses, exploding unemployment in the labor markets and runs on supermarkets depleting supplies of necessities and staples. Canned goods and paper products have vanished. But it isn’t trite at all. Kobe played as though his life was on the line. And I suppose that is how we are to face the current crisis: Like our lives are on the line. And our lives may very well be on the line. “How we play” matters.

Kobe had just gone through some difficult progressions and transits and he had some ominous measurements up ahead. But I was eerily surprised that those measurements weren’t up front and center on the day of the helicopter crash. Gigi’s chart made up for that… my goodness. The Saturn-Pluto conjunction was exact to her natal Mercury. What’s the message here? There’s something to be said for sure! And I definitely will come back to revisit this question. But here I just want to close by saying it was a deeply profound and enriching experience to immerse myself into the astrology of Kobe and Gigi Bryant. There are astrological lessons worth their weight in gold, but also life lessons that I think are invaluable. Borrowing from the example of the celebrated among us, since their lives are so public, can be useful if we appropriate their hard won lessons in our own lives. If we learn to put in the hard work and strive to be the best version of ourselves we can be.

In a footnote in my last post I wrote “The life expectancy of an unrated pilot flying under conditions requiring the use of instruments (darkness, clouds, or fog) is 178 seconds. 15% of all aircraft accidents are attributable to these causes of which 90% are fatal. The condition pilots succumb to is known as Spatial Distortion or SD, formerly known as Pilot Vertigo. Pilots lose a sense of speed, altitude and attitude to the horizon. They lose their orientation so that they no longer know which way is up and which way is down. Maybe we suffer similar illusions in our everyday lives. Researchers point to the vestibular part of our brain that is responsible for creating these illusions, including the “false horizon” effect. The metaphorical antidote to this phenomena for each of us I would like to humbly suggests is to take proper aim at our horizon. Ultimately, I think this is what Kobe was able to do and was what he wanted his kids to know too. Aiming for perfection and going for it is what is important. Forget about the outcome. Get busy and take your shots.