Clive James: Astrological Article and Chart

Horoscope and chart of Clive James

^* A planet less than 1° from the next House cusp is considered to be posited in the said House. 2° when the AS and the MC are involved

Astrological portrait of Clive James (excerpt)

Disclaimer: these short excerpts of astrological charts are computer processed. They are, by no means, of a personal nature. This principle is valid for the celebrities included in our database. These texts provide the meanings of planets, or combination of planets, in signs and in houses, as well as the interpretations of planetary dominants in line with modern Western astrology rules. Moreover, since Astrotheme is not a polemic website, no negative aspect which may damage the good reputation of a celebrity is posted here, unlike in the comprehensive astrological portrait.

Introduction

Here are some character traits from Clive James's birth chart. This description is far from being comprehensive but it can shed light on his/her personality, which is still interesting for professional astrologers or astrology lovers.

The dominant planets of Clive James

When interpreting a natal chart, the best method is to start gradually from general features to specific ones. Thus, there is usually a plan to be followed, from the overall analysis of the chart and its structure, to the description of its different character traits.

In the first part, an overall analysis of the chart enables us to figure out the personality's main features and to emphasize several points that are confirmed or not in the detailed analysis: in any case, those general traits are taken into account. Human personality is an infinitely intricate entity and describing it is a complex task. Claiming to rapidly summarize it is illusory, although it does not mean that it is an impossible challenge. It is essential to read a natal chart several times in order to absorb all its different meanings and to grasp all this complexity. But the exercise is worthwhile.

In brief, a natal chart is composed of ten planets: two luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, three fast-moving or individual planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars, two slow-moving planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and three very slow-moving planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Additional secondary elements are: the Lunar Nodes, the Dark Moon or Lilith, Chiron and other minor objects. They are all posited on the Zodiac wheel consisting of twelve signs, from Aries to Pisces, and divided into twelve astrological houses.

The first step is to evaluate the importance of each planet. This is what we call identifying the dominant planets. This process obeys rules that depend on the astrologer's sensitivity and experience but it also has precise and steady bases: thus, we can take into account the parameters of a planet's activity (the number of active aspects a planet forms, the importance of each aspect according to its nature and its exactness), angularity parameters; (proximity to the four angles, Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant and Imum Coeli or Nadir, all of them being evaluated numerically, according to the kind of angle and the planet-angle distance) and quality parameters (rulership, exaltation, exile and fall). Finally, other criteria such as the rulership of the Ascendant and the Midheaven etc. are important.

These different criteria allow a planet to be highlighted and lead to useful conclusions when interpreting the chart.

The overall chart analysis begins with the observation of three sorts of planetary distributions in the chart: Eastern or Western hemisphere, Northern or Southern hemisphere, and quadrants (North-eastern, North-western, South-eastern and South-western). These three distributions give a general tone in terms of introversion and extraversion, willpower, sociability, and behavioural predispositions.

Then, there are three additional distributions: elements (called triplicity since there are three groups of signs for each one) - Fire, Air, Earth and Water - corresponding to a character typology, modality (or quadruplicity with four groups of signs for each one) - Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable - and polarity (Yin and Yang).

There are three types of dominants: dominant planets, dominant signs and dominant houses. The novice thinks astrology means only "to be Aries" or sometimes, for example, "to be Aries Ascendant Virgo". It is actually far more complex. Although the Sun and the Ascendant alone may reveal a large part of the character - approximately a third or a half of your psychological signature, a person is neither "just the Sun" (called the sign) nor just "the first house" (the Ascendant). Thus, a particular planet's influence may be significantly increased; a particular sign or house may contain a group of planets that will bring nuances and sometimes weaken the role of the Ascendant, of the Sun sign etc.

Lastly, there are two other criteria: accentuations (angular, succedent and cadent) which are a classification of astrological houses and types of decanates that are occupied (each sign is divided into three decanates of ten degrees each). They provide some additional informations.

These general character traits must not be taken literally; they are, somehow, preparing for the chart reading. They allow to understand the second part of the analysis, which is more detailed and precise. It focuses on every area of the personality and provides a synthesis of all the above-mentioned parameters according to sound hierarchical rules.

Astrological Quadrants for Clive James

Each quadrant is a combination of the four hemispheres of your birth chart and relates to a character typology. The Southern hemisphere – the top of your chart, around the Midheaven – is associated with extraversion, action, and public life, whereas the Northern hemisphere prompts to introversion, reflexion, and private life. The Eastern hemisphere – the left part, around the Ascendant – is linked to your ego and your willpower, whereas the Western hemisphere indicates how other people influence you, and how flexible you are when you make a decision.

Clive James, the nocturnal North-eastern quadrant, consisting of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd houses, prevails in your chart: this sector favours self-assertion and material security to the detriment of your perception of others. You consider self-transformation to be a hazardous adventure. You are inclined to seek stability and you tend to protect yourself with your actions. Possession, acquisition but also communication, without opening up too much, are part of your deep motivations. You are rather autonomous and constant, however it is important that you pay more attention to others, so that you can improve your outcomes.

Elements, Modes and House Accentuations for Clive James

Clive James, here are the graphs of your Elements and Modes, based on planets' position and angles in the twelve signs:

Cheers for communication and mobility, Clive James! The predominance of Air signs in your chart favours and amplifies your taste for relations and for all kinds of short trips, whether real (travels) or symbolic (new ideas, mind speculations). You gain in flexibility and adaptability what you lose in self-assertion or in pragmatism.

Like the majority of Earth signs, Clive James, you are efficient, concrete and not too emotional. What matters to you is what you see: you judge the tree by its fruits. Your ideas keep changing, words disappear, but actions and their consequences are visible and remain. Express your sensitivity, even if it means revealing your vulnerability. Emotions, energy and communication must not be neglected; concrete action is meaningless if it is not justified by your heart, your intellect or your enthusiasm.

The twelve zodiacal signs are split up into three groups or modes, called quadruplicities, a learned word meaning only that these three groups include four signs. The Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable modes are more or less represented in your natal chart, depending on planets' positions and importance, and on angles in the twelve signs.

Clive James, the Cardinal mode is dominant here and indicates a predisposition to action, and more exactly, to impulsion and to undertake: you are very keen to implement the plans you have in mind, to get things going and to create them. This is the most important aspect that inspires enthusiasm and adrenalin in you, without which you can grow weary rapidly. You are individualistic (maybe too much?) and assertive. You let others strengthen and improve the constructions which you built with fervour.

Houses are split up into three groups: angular, succedent and cadent.

The first ones are the most important ones, the most "noticeable" and energetic houses. They are the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses. Their cuspides correspond to four famous angles: Ascendant for the 1st house, Imum Coeli for the 4th house, Descendant, opposite the Ascendant, for the 7th house and Midheaven for the 10th house, opposite the Imum Coeli.

Planets are evaluated according to a whole set of criteria that includes comprehensive Western astrology rules. At their turn, planets emphasize specific types of houses, signs, repartitions etc., as previously explained.

The emphasis is on succedent houses in your chart, namely, the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th houses, Clive James: this configuration usually endows a personality with affective and sensitive qualities. Obviously, to the detriment of self-confidence or self-assertion, but your heart qualities may be very important. These houses also favour realization. Time and patience are part of their characteristics. However, they are only indications and you must include them in the rest of your chart in order to see whether they are validated or not!

N.B.: this dominant is a minor one.

Dominants: Planets, Signs and Houses for Clive James

The issue of dominant planets has existed since the mists of time in astrology: how nice it would be if a person could be described with a few words and one or several planets that would represent their character, without having to analyse such elements as rulerships, angularities, houses, etc!

The ten planets - the Sun throughout Pluto - are a bit like ten characters in a role-play, each one has its own personality, its own way of acting, its own strengths and weaknesses. They actually represent a classification into ten distinct personalities, and astrologers have always tried to associate one or several dominant planets to a natal chart as well as dominant signs and houses.

Indeed, it is quite the same situation with signs and houses. If planets symbolize characters, signs represent hues - the mental, emotional and physical structures of an individual. The sign in which a planet is posited is like a character whose features are modified according to the place where he lives. In a chart, there are usually one, two or three highlighted signs that allow to rapidly describe its owner.

Regarding astrological houses, the principle is even simpler: the twelve houses correspond to twelve fields of life, and planets tenanting any given house increase that house's importance and highlight all relevant life departments: it may be marriage, work, friendship etc.

In your natal chart, Clive James, the ten main planets are distributed as follows:

The three most important planets in your chart are Uranus, Venus and the Moon.

Uranus is among your dominant planets: just like Neptune and Pluto, Uranian typology is less clearly defined than the so-called classical seven planets that are visible to the naked eye, from the Sun to Saturn. However, it is possible to associate your Uranian nature with a few clear characteristics: Uranus rhymes with independence, freedom, originality, or even rebelliousness and marginality, when things go wrong...

Uranus is Mercury's higher octave and as such, he borrows some of its traits of character; namely, a tendency to intellectualize situations and emotions with affective detachment, or at least jagged affectivity.

Therefore, you are certainly a passionate man who is on the lookout for any kind of action or revolutionary idea, and you are keen on new things. Uranians are never predictable, and it is especially when they are believed to be stable and well settled that... they change everything - their life, partner, and job! In fact, you are allergic to any kind of routine, although avoiding it must give way to many risks.

With Venus among your dominant planets, one of your first reflexes is... to please! Your look, your charm, and your seduction are omnipresent elements in your behaviour.

Your approach to things is connected to your heart, and for you, no real communication can flow if your interlocutors exude no sympathy or warmth. Cold and logical reasoning, clear thoughts and good sense are not important to you: if there is no affective bond with your environment, no connection can be established with the Venusian that you are, and nothing happens.

You have a strong artistic side, and you never neglect subjective but clear concepts such as pleasure, beauty, and also sensuality. However, sometimes to the detriment of efficiency, durability, logic, and... detachment.

The Moon is one of the most important planets in your chart and endows you with a receptive, emotive, and imaginative nature. You have an innate ability to instinctively absorb atmospheres and impressions that nurture you, and as a result, you are often dreaming your life away rather than actually living it.

One of the consequences of your spontaneity may turn into popularity, or even fame: the crowd is a living and complex entity, and it always appreciates truth and sincerity rather than calculation and total self-control.

As a Lunar character, you find it difficult to control yourself, you have to deal with your moods, and you must be careful not to stay passive in front of events: nothing is handed on a plate, and although your sensitivity is rich, even richer than most people's, you must make a move and spare some of your energy for... action!

In your natal chart, the three most important signs - according to criteria mentioned above - are in decreasing order of strength Libra, Taurus and Cancer. In general, these signs are important because your Ascendant or your Sun is located there. But this is not always the case: there may be a cluster of planets, or a planet may be near an angle other than the Midheaven or Ascendant. It may also be because two or three planets are considered to be very active because they form numerous aspects from these signs.

Thus, you display some of the three signs' characteristics, a bit like a superposition of features on the rest of your chart, and it is all the more so if the sign is emphasized.

With Libra as a dominant sign in your natal chart, you love to please, to charm, and to be likeable. Moreover, you are naturally inclined towards tolerance and moderation, as well as elegance and tact, as if you were meant to please! Of course, you always find malcontents who criticize your lack of authenticity or of courage and your half-heartedness, but your aim is to be liked, and in this field, you are an unrivalled champion!

With the Taurus sign so important in your chart, you are constructive, stable, and sensual. Good taste, sense of beauty, manners, and unfailing good sense - all these qualities contribute to your charm and seductive power. Furthermore, if some people criticize your slow pace and your stubbornness, you rightly reply that this is the price for your security, and that you like the way it is - slow and steady....

Cancer is one of your dominant signs and endows you with imagination and exceptionally shrewd sensitivity. Although suspicious at first sight - and even at second...- as soon as you get familiar with people and let them win your confidence, your golden heart eventually shows up, despite your discretion and your desire for security that make you return into your shell at the slightest alert! Actually, you are a poet and if you are sometimes blamed for your nostalgia and your laziness, it is because your intense inner life is at full throttle...

The 5th, 3rd and 1st houses are the most prominent ones in your birth chart. From the analysis of the most tenanted houses, the astrologer identifies your most significant fields or spheres of activity. They deal with what you are experiencing - or what you will be brought to experience one day - or they deal with your inner motivations.

The 5th house is one of your dominant houses: hobbies, love life, sports, and games, including speculation and all kinds of entertainment, are fields that you actually take seriously! On a more subtle level, artistic creation as well as other forms of creation - including begetting children - could be one of your assets. You gain from taking part in leisure associations and various activity clubs in which a catchword resounds more than for most people: pleasure.

As the 3rd house is one of the most important houses in your chart, communication plays a major role in your life or in your deep motivations: frequent short trips, open-mindedness - which may offset a lack of mutable signs for instance - listening, discussion, interest in learning, knowledge accumulation or long-term studies, etc., are all areas that greatly appeal to you and are part of your daily life.

With a dominant 1st house, your magnetism is powerful, and your individuality as well as your willpower are out of the ordinary. You are a determined, strong-willed, and assertive person, with this relative criterion at least.

It is likely that you never go unnoticed when you are in a crowd or a in reunion: an important 1st house suggests that you are a charismatic person with above average vital energy, especially if the Sun is present in this sector.

Your personal interests are always important and you never forget them, which doesn't mean that you are self-centered, but only that you behave according to what is in harmony with your deep nature!

After this paragraph about dominant planets, of Clive James, here are the character traits that you must read more carefully than the previous texts since they are very specific: the texts about dominant planets only give background information about the personality and remain quite general: they emphasize or, on the contrary, mitigate different particularities or facets of a personality. A human being is a complex whole and only bodies of texts can attempt to successfully figure out all the finer points.

The Moon in Cancer and in House 3: his sensitivity

Affectivité et intuition étant chez vous très développées, vous êtes Clive James, très sensible à votre environnement. Vous "ressentez" les ambiances, les humeurs et les sentiments d'autrui et lorsque vous captez des influences négatives vous en éprouvez une sorte de malaise qui affecte immédiatement tout votre être, d'autant plus facilement que votre vive imagination risque de vous déstabiliser encore plus en amplifiant votre réceptivité. De nature anxieuse, vous vous inquiétez facilement pour votre entourage et vous efforcez de créer pour eux une atmosphère familiale rassurante, une sorte de bulle où vous trouverez aussi le réconfort chaleureux qui vous est si nécessaire et où vous pourrez paresser à loisir. Mais à trop vous préoccuper du bien-être de vos proches, il se peut que l'on vous reproche d'être trop envahissant et de tenter parfois, par un subtil chantage affectif, de régenter leur vie. Faites-leur confiance... et apprenez vous aussi à vous faire davantage confiance !

Vif, parfois même agité, Clive James, vos pensées sont vagabondes, fluctuantes et fécondes : vous vous intéressez à beaucoup de choses, et cet aspect touche-à-tout fait sans doute partie de votre charme naturel, même s'il peut être au détriment d'une certaine capacité à vous concentrer longtemps et... (excerpt)

Mercury in Libra and in House 5: his intellect and social life

Votre mode de pensée Clive James est plutôt lent car vous avez besoin de temps et de tranquillité afin de tenir compte des idées et opinions de chacun, peser le pour et le contre et parvenir enfin à prendre la décision qui vous semble être la plus équitable, la plus juste et la plus équilibrée. En effet, refusant tout comportement fanatique et extrémiste, vous êtes toujours à la recherche du juste milieu. Mais, même si l'on s'accorde à reconnaître votre tolérance, votre sens de la logique et votre don pour la conciliation, on vous reprochera souvent une trop grande indécision et une nette tendance à toujours reporter vos choix à plus tard. Vous aurez alors parfois besoin que l'on vous encourage et que l'on vous pousse à agir pour pouvoir lutter contre cette attitude quelque peu fataliste que l'on pourrait assimiler à de la paresse. N'attendez donc pas tant l'approbation d'autrui, exprimez-vous davantage et agissez...

Vos pensées, Clive James, sont irrésistiblement attirées vers le domaine des loisirs et distractions ou parfois si vous êtes d'une nature particulièrement active vers la création, pour peu qu'elle aussi ait trait à quelque chose qui vous amuse. Votre façon de communiquer est souvent agréable, charmante, vous êtes... (excerpt)

Venus in Libra and in House 5, and the Sun in Libra: his affectivity and seductiveness

Dans votre thème, le Soleil et Vénus sont tous deux en Balance. La tradition souligne la sociabilité de votre Signe et une faculté d'adaptation hors pair. Sensible au regard de l'autre, il vous faut le plus souvent séduire sans heurter, vous faire remarquer sans vous marginaliser. Enthousiaste et ouvert à priori aux sollicitations du milieu dans lequel vous évoluez, vous résistez peu aux courants ambiants. Mieux vaut pour vous choisir d'emblée l'alliance des points de vue opposés. Vous ne serez que rarement sur la défensive, particulièrement sur le plan affectif. Et ce n'est que lorsque vos consentements vous auront conduit à d'inextricables contradictions que vous opterez pour une solution radicale. Ainsi, vos comportements peuvent dérouter votre entourage : les adhésions inconditionnelles d'hier deviennent refus systématique. Ce peut être une relation de couple sur laquelle repose totalement votre existence. Et qui soudain devient invivable tant se sont accumulés les compromis. Il vous faudra sans doute, en maintes circonstances, lutter contre un indéniable penchant pour les accommodements intenables à long terme. Les qualités de votre Signe solaire et vénusien s'exprimeront alors pleinement : apte à comprendre, voire intégrer, les raisons de vivre de l'autre, vous saurez adapter vos attitudes aux impératifs d'une vie commune dans laquelle s'expriment des valeurs divergentes. Un tableau idyllique, pour peu qu'on ne cesse jamais de vous montrer l'estime dont vous avez besoin.

Clive James, vous ne pouvez le cacher à personne : aimer, être aimé, plaire, tout cela est le centre de votre vie. Vous êtes toujours à la recherche de compagnie, et si possible d'une compagnie amoureuse car la solitude est une situation dont vous avez vraiment horreur. Ce n'est pas pour autant que la passion vous envahit à tout bout de champ : vous êtes plutôt tout en raffinement, en délicatesse et en charme, et vous savez fort bien utiliser les usages et les coutumes avec mesure et équilibre, ne perdant jamais de vue votre intérêt personnel, prêt en toute circonstance à vous adapter et à faire des concessions. Aimer tout en vivant parfaitement intégré dans la société : l'amour passe en quelque sorte après la bienséance qui est fondamentale pour vous. Vous êtes particulièrement doué pour tout ce jeu de courtoisie et de politesse raffinée où l'apparence compte au moins autant que le contenu ; c'est d'ailleurs l'un de vos grands atouts de savoir montrer ce que vous avez envie de montrer et d'arriver à vos fins avec élégance, douceur et bonté.

Clive James, avec une affinité certaine entre maison et planète, votre Vénus se trouve ici très à l'aise pour donner le meilleur d'elle-même en terme de puissance des sentiments, création artistique, goût pour les loisirs, activités récréatives, dons pour les arts plastiques ou la musique et même... (excerpt)

The Ascendant is in Taurus and the ruler of the Ascendant is Venus, in Libra: his behaviour

The ruler of the Ascendant, also referred to as the chart ruler, brings a few interesting nuances to the meanings provided by the Sun and the Ascendant. The sign in which the ruler of the Ascendant is posited fine-tunes the style of personality described by the Sun and the Ascendant. It may strengthen it if the sign is identical to either of them.

The ruler of your Ascendant is in the same sign as your Sun. This specific feature means that the Sun's characteristics in sign previously delineated are strengthened.

The Sun in Libra and in House 5: his will and inner motivations

Clive James, votre motivation essentielle et votre volonté vous orientent vers les activités de création ou de projection de vous-même vers l'extérieur. Cela peut prendre la forme d'une mobilisation de votre énergie pour créer une œuvre artistique littéraire ou technique etc. , élaborer des projets innovants, ou... (excerpt)

Mars in Aquarius and in House 9: his ability to take action

Clive James, votre façon d'agir est plutôt paradoxale : vous exercez à merveille vos activités lorsque vous travaillez entouré d'une équipe dans un but collectif, mais vous le faites à votre manière d'une façon originale et individualiste : c'est là votre particularité principale, vous avez le souci de marquer et d'exprimer votre originalité et votre spécificité tout en étant bien immergé dans une communauté humaine. Plutôt sec et peu souple, vous êtes inventif et combattez facilement l'autorité pour la simple raison que son existence même va à l'encontre de ces valeurs sacrées que représentent pour vous la liberté, l'indépendance et surtout l'absence de contrainte. L'esprit de compétition vous est totalement étranger, vous préférez nettement être utile et conquérir de nouveaux territoires en général d'ordre humanitaire ou intellectuel. Sur le plan sexuel, vous êtes également souvent original et surprenant, que ce soit sur le plan de vos fantasmes ou celui de vos goûts.

Vous pouvez vous donner de toutes vos forces pour votre idéal, Clive James, qu'il soit de nature politique, religieux, éthique, moral, ou bien de la forme la plus élevée c'est-à-dire spirituel. Et souvent dans plusieurs de ces domaines. Se donner de toutes vos forces signifiera souvent un goût... (excerpt)

Conclusion

This text is only an excerpt from the portrait of of Clive James, which we hope will inspire you to deepen your knowledge of astrology.

Regarding the sources of the birth data in our possession, kindly note that the pages we publish constitute a starting point for more detailed research, even though they seem useful to us. When the sources are contradictory, which occurs rarely, after having analysed them, we choose the most reliable one. Sometimes, we publish a birth date just because it is made available, but we do not claim that is it the best one, by no means.