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| Come Sail Away Wednesday January 25, 2023 |
| Black Sam Bellamy's Astro: A Golden Age of Piracy Life Story Told Through Astrology, Part 1
Hello, this post combines the Golden Age of Piracy and astrology, so if you love one and not the other, consider yourself warned ??????
Evan Milton was smoldering as Captain Bellamy in Netflix's The Lost Pirate Kingdom, I must say.
Black Sam Bellamy: Prince of Pirates, Robin Hood of the Sea. Lovelorn 18th century English sailor, naval veteran, would be treasure hunter- turned pirate. His quest was to be a free prince and live by his own rules, and become very wealthy in the process, and it was all for the love of a woman? and hatred of the ruling class that abused and exploited the rest of society.
I Am Just A Poor Boy, Though My Story's Seldom Told Without Lots of Ambiguity
Just Give Me the Astro
Are you sure? He has a really interesting backstory that rivals any of your fictional heroes.
Samuel Bellamy was born on February 23, 1689 (a Wednesday) in the village of Hittisleigh, Devon, UK. He is probably the youngest of six children to Stephen and Elizabeth Bellamy. His mother died at his birth or soon after. It has been put forth that her surname was Pain, and it is said his family may have moved to Plymouth, UK.
When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy
He was sailing for the British Navy by the time he was a teenager. There's not much information about his early life aside from that. Different sources claim other things, but this is about astrology. For the record, I am neither a professional astrologer nor an historian. Also, his date of birth says circa, but I'm sticking with it.
Asking only workman's wages, I come looking for a job
He ended up in Boston, Massachusetts, maybe stranded, possibly without much pay? or any at all. English sailors were treated as disposable and ripped off all the time by the British government?given IOUs that weren't honored?
By and by, he wound up in Eastham, on Cape Cod, where he met the love of his life, the beautiful, blonde haired Mary/Maria Hallet, yet for some reason, she is also called Goody, which isn't a name, it's short for Goodwife. Was she in fact Mrs. Hallet?
That tale comes from a book called The Narrow Land: Folk Chronicles of Old Cape Cod by Elizabeth Reynard. This site gives more details.
She may have even been someone known as Mehitable Brown which to be honest sounds a lot more correct than Maria for an English Protestant woman in the early 18th century, who most likely would have been given an Old Testament name, but I'm not an expert. Just a curious person!
circumstantial evidence indicates that she may have already been married, confirming some stories that it was Bellamy's intent to seek his fortune and then return, not to marry her, but to take her away.
The above quote is from Sam's Wikipedia page, and yes there's a record out there of a Mehitable getting married to someone named John Hallett from Barnstable, in March 1715. That would explain the Goody part. Really makes me wonder if he was gonna swoop in & grab her, and then head to Maine to meet up with Pauls.
What was he doing in Eastham in the first place? It has been said he might have been going to find relatives. Pains and Paines (does an ?e? make a big difference?) had settled in Boston and on the Cape, but I am not sure if this is who they could be talking about. Not a genealogist, either, I only know my own family's name went through a few iterations since the 1600s.
The story goes that her father, a wealthy farmer, did not approve of Sam, a broke self-confident sailor, so Sam promised her he would return a wealthy man, worthy of her father's respect.
In Boston, Sam had become fast friends with Paulsgrave (sometimes Palsgrave) Williams, where Pauls lived with his wife and children. Pauls was the son of the former Rhode Island Attorney General, already a wealthy goldsmith, and allegedly a descendant of the Plantagenets. The two decided to try their luck as treasure hunters in Florida, where the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet had spilled its cargo in a hurricane.
Unfortunately for Sam and Pauls, others seeking their fortune from the wreck's spoils had beat them to the picked over loot, meaning privateer Henry Jennings, who had established himself there and claimed it for himself. After this, Sam and Pauls knew the next logical step was to go into piracy. That's how you go from Pauls to Pals with a capital P, and friends 'til the end they were. More on that later.
Sam and Pauls joined forces with Benjamin Hornigo'd's crew on the Marianne. This lasted until the men grew impatient with Benjamin's reluctance to attack English ships. In the summer of 1716, Black Sam was unanimously voted captain of the Marianne, Pauls became quartermaster, and Benjamin and Ed ?soon to be known as Blackbeard? Thatche/Teach sailed away on another captured sloop.
As part of the Flying Gang based out of Nassau, New Providence in the Bahamas, Sam and company raised hell all over the Caribbean and beyond. He sailed alongside French pirate Olivier ?La Buse (Buzzard)? Levasseur (or La Bouche=the Mouth) for a while. Olivier was an architect!
I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record
Captain Bellamy and his crew captured around fifty-three ships during their time pirating, but his most famous conquest was when he captured the Whydah Gally in the spring of 1717. Underwater archaeological explorer Barry Clifford found the wreck in 1984 using cartographer Cyprian Southack's map.
image courtesy of south-wellfleet.com
Give it up for Cyprian, who endured a lot of crap in his effort to recover the wreck of the Whydah and give us the map and a first hand account.
The discovery was confirmed when Barry Clifford's dive team found the ship's bell inscribed WHYDAH GALLY 1716. It is amazing to see in person.
More than 200,000 artifacts have been found by Barry's team. These incredible treasures can be seen at the Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, including child pirate John King's shoe, leg bone, and French silk stocking. There's a second Whydah museum in Salem, Massachusetts.
Oh, you didn't know there was a kid pirate on the account? Was he kidnapped, dragooned, held for ransom?
No.
John absolutely insisted on joining Sam's crew when they boarded the Bonetta, the passenger ship he was sailing on with his mother. According to the Bonetta captain Abijah Savage's deposition, John watched the pirates loot the ship and on around day 10, approached Sam and asked to join. Sam said no. John asked again and eventually, a dramatic scene unfolded.
John threatened to kill his mother and himself if he was not allowed to leave with the pirates, and that his father didn't like him anyway. Apparently he attacked her and threatened to throw himself overboard ? ?
And Sam let him join! It's quite a story that social workers and child psychologists would love to pick apart. As someone who was once taught at a behavioral school, I've thought about it a bit.
Sam and company headed back up towards Cape Cod, possibly to pick up Maid Mary/Maria/Mehitable and introduce her to his adopted son John King ? Pauls wished to visit his family in Rhode Island, so they parted ways but agreed to meet up later in Maine. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Since it's three hundred years too late for spoilers, their adventures together came to an end on April 26, 1717, when the Whydah got caught in a violent Nor'easter off the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, one of the worst in recorded Cape Cod history. The gally, overloaded with today's equivalent of $151 million worth of treasure, was driven against a sandbar as the pirates fought for control against thirty foot waves and seventy mile per hour winds.
All souls on board the Whydah perished except Thomas Davis, the conscripted ship's carpenter, and teenager Miskito native John Julian, the ship's navigator. Thomas was imprisoned and then released after trial when he convinced the court he had been forced to join until Sam could secure another shipwright. Thanks to his deposition, we have an account of what happened that night. John was not given a trial, but likely sold into slavery to John Quincy, none other than John Quincy Adams' grandfather.
Another ship they had taken, the Mary Anne, was wrecked as well, and her seven survivors of Sam's crew were put on trial and executed by hanging in Boston. Their names are Simon VanVoorst, John Brown, Thomas Baker, Hendrick Quintor, Peter Cornelius Hoof, John Shaun, and Thomas South.
FINALLY, THE ASTRO, of which I only do some placements for Part 1. The charts are Placidus. Perhaps I should have used Traditional (he is VERY AQUARIUS under Traditional and it FITS and explains so much). It makes him the ultimate visionary at a very strange time in history. But what time in history isn't? The world is a strange place?
Hoist the black flag!
Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of 4 Loco, or Some Random, Weird Observations About This Random, Weird Project, Because This Lunacy Deserves an Introduction.
When I started this project, Neptune happened to be in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus, and they both still currently are. Because of their size and how far away they are, outer planets move more slowly through the signs of the zodiac wheel than personal planets, so they're considered generational. This means their effect is felt across entire generations of people. It's a societal change. But that's beyond the scope of this article.
Well, guess who ELSE happened to have Neptune in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus?
please note the hypothetical birth time which defaults to 12:00 on Astrodienst
Imagine my surprise when I pulled up the chart and saw his placements. Yup, there's Neptune in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus. But this crazy train is just getting started, so to speak.
His chart looks like a wonky house with one wall missing. If you really want to go with the symbology contained in this?considering his mother died when he was a baby, that is one whole structure of support gone from your life. But it also looks like a boat tipped on its side?which is laden with meaning and foreshadowing as well.
Sam's chart pattern is a locomotive. Cue the Thomas the Tank Engine theme! Sam would be rolling on through, fighting against the tyranny of the Sir Topham Hatts of his day by plundering their merchant vessels and then taking their ships too, and trading them, or occasionally sinking them?
I think I can I think I can?image from Astrodienst
Going off the rails on a crazy train
In a locomotive chart, there is a lead planet. The lead planet is the rising planet after the first empty house, so it's taskmaster Saturn in Scorpio (circled in red) wearing the conductor hat, pulling the rest of his personality along.
Saturn, Lord of Karma, forms many beautiful, harmonious aspects in his chart. Pluto, planet of transformation, is the caboose, but last certainly does not mean least. Remember that Pluto wears his cold, icy heart on his sleeve. I say that with love. Uncle Pluto is my chart ruler.
The late American astrologer Dr. Marc Edmund Jones identified seven natal chart patterns. One of them is the locomotive. Locomotive charts fill this criteria, according to Astrodienst: the planets are arrayed within a span of 240 degrees, and those planets usually occur across contiguous signs or houses, but there's wiggle room for a skipped house/sign or two. The patterns themselves are just overall trends.
Individuals with a locomotive pattern tend to know what they want and have relentless drive, so to speak. They may even be overbearing. Or feel like something is missing from their lives. With Saturn pulling the rest of Sam's planetary train, it must have given him tons of motivation, the ability to stick with things, and an astonishing work ethic. He is estimated to have captured around 53 ships, and Forbes lists him as the top earning pirate in history.
Scroll back up and look at those enviable Saturn trines to his Sun, Mercury, and Neptune, as well as that sextile to Mars. They helped him I'm pretty sure. Trines are an easy, supportive aspect that also run the risk of being lazy or complacent. Was he someone who needed a jump start early in life, but once the wheels got rolling? Yeah he's got that Jupiter square but we all have challenges, this is themes of limits & restrictions with wealth and luck. Also karma but hey, it's about life's trying times while trying to have the time of your life.
Astrodienst says that the lead planet significantly influences the life of the person, and it does not matter what sun sign they are. With the stern father here, who just wants you to be responsible and follow the rules, Samuel, and build yourself a strong foundation, through sweat, toil, and drudgery, limits and restrictions?
Skip the Next Few Paragraphs if You Don't Like Guesstrology
Without an exact birth time, we cannot know the Ascendant, or Rising sign or the houses. That didn't stop me from trying to figure it out. It's just for fun.
There are certain qualities about Black Sam that have followed him three hundred years after his death, regarding his reputation, appearance, and character. But until someone finds a scrap of paper stuffed into the walls of his childhood home noting his exact birth time, we will I will have to make do with other peoples' lasting impressions of him.
For example:
looted from the New England Historical Society
did someone say neatly?
pillaged from Wikipedia
We Have Gone From Neatly To Very Tidy
also pillaged from Pedia of Wiki
But what does it mean? I see, with my astro spyglass, a man who seems like a Virgo Rising, or Ascendant, and that is my head-canon. The Ascendant is the first house of the zodiac wheel: your outward appearance, identity, physical body, how others perceive you.
Consider how his contemporaries describe him, and they weren't astrologers. No wig? They were often filthy and infested with parasites. He would prefer natural hair with a simple style. Virgo is ruled by Mercury and they've got swag as in stylish confidence, but swag also means booty, plunder, loot. He's the total package.
But we just don't know, no matter how tidy, distinguished, well-mannered, or finely tailored his deep-cuffed black jackets were. Probably perfectly.
What We Do Know
His Pisces Sun is in a stellium (stelliYUM?) with Mercury and Neptune. Really wish I knew what house.
It would be the seventh house (relationships, balance, justice) if I were to be correct about the Virgo Ascendant. But I have to pretend otherwise.
A stellium is a conjunction of three or more planets in a house or sign. He has his Sun (self/ego), Mercury (studious/intellectual), and Neptune (rescue/escape) in this configuration in compassionate, imaginative, sensitive Pisces. This guy is so seductive he's got me doing this analysis 300 years after his death. Asteroid Eros is conjunct his Sun as well but you'll have to wait for a future post for the asteroid madness.
See the sails? Is he a sailor, a merman, or sea mage? All three, as it turns out.
Sam's Pisces Sun sits at 5 degrees. The Sabian symbol for this degree point is ?A parade of army officers in full dress.? Self-exaltation through consecration to the task of defending collective values. Self-testing. Perception of high goals. That is the description given by Dr. Jones in his book The Sabian Symbols in Astrology.
Sabian symbols are metaphoric interpretations corresponding to each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac. They were channeled by a medium/clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler in 1925. Dr. Jones interpreted them. Since zero is not counted for the symbols, they begin at 1 degree Aries. Degree points move up one from where they are in the natal chart. So Pisces 5 becomes Pisces 6. If you had a zero, it would become one.
So let's see: Uniforms, Royal Navy, superior officers, working together on a ship, fighting in battles, defending Crown and Country. Then, going pirate while giving riveting speeches about defending their collective values. It tracks with who he is as we know him. Or partly, at least from what can be ascertained from the historical record concerning his words, character, and deeds.
Pisces Sun individuals have a peaceful intensity. They are cliche-level dreamy until the tidal wave hits. They are ruled by Neptune, planet of empathy, illusion, imagination, psychic experiences, idealism, delusions, addictions.
His Pisces sun would have made him compassionate, and inside every Fish is a savior or a martyr, sorry Pisceans. I love you. I suspect this is why he relented and allowed John King to join his band of Robin Hood's men. Perhaps he may have seen a bit of himself in the child. John acted, even if out of ignorance and immaturity, braver than some of the adults that were conscripted (not that I blame them).
Sam may have wanted to stop John's histrionics and violence, but also may have admired John's pluck at wanting to be a part of it, seemingly at all costs. Who knows how long that lasted though. Hopefully he wasn't overly incorrigible to Sam and the rest of the Merry Men. I wonder if or how badly they roasted Little John ??
Elsie and Marc weren't the only ones channeling degree symbolism. This is another interpretation for that Sun 5 degree point, by the astrologer Janduz, who was from Lyon, France.
I had to LOL at the bit about the 7th house. The symbols are not meant to be literal and YET
The screenshots are taken from Astrotheme. This system uses the zeroes, so 5 is 5. The symbolism of the shipwreck is obvious if not literal. If this were to tell the story of a newborn who lost his mother at birth, a family of modest means, when half of England was living hand to mouth, and a family needing to carry on because that was what one did. What kind of character would this present in a child? A serious, quiet one who needed to work his ass off? One who knew that finding something enjoyable in life would be hard gotten?
Maybe. However, ?the stars impel, they don't compel.?
Mercury in Pisces at 11 degrees gives emotion to the way the individual communicates, the way they teach, learn, and think. Delusional thinking and impracticality can cause problems. A sponge for everyone's moods and vibes. They might feel like their brains are like receivers, their thoughts flowing in from somewhere else. Creativity, brilliance, and imagination come naturally to them. Highly intuitive. Mercury-Pisces people are very sensitive and don't like upsetting, disruptive situations or anything that ruins the vibe. They want to go with the flow but can't with too much interference. They tell us that they do care and we believe it, because they are charming and compassionate. We hang onto their words because they move us.
In fact, let's read him in his own words. Here's his speech to a Captain Beer who refused Sam's offer to let him join when they hijacked his sloop. Captain Beer jumped right into self-righteous mode, and Sam's crew voted to sink the ship rather than return it to Captain Beer.
I bolded the quick-witted insults, which is pretty much the entire passage. They're a nice mix of ?I feel bad this is happening to you; if only you weren't such a wimp?. Please note that some people don't even think he said this, but Jacobite dramatist Thomas Otway (so Neptunian, the confusion) but the speech stays, I will have my fun.
Damn my Bastard, I am sorry they won't let you have your Sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a Mischief, when it is not for my Advantage; damn the Sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of Use to you. Tho', damn ye, you are a sneaking Puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by Laws which rich Men have made for their own Security, for the cowardly Whelps have not the Courage otherwise to defend what they get by their Knavery; but damn ye altogether: Damn them for a Pack of crafty Rascals, and you, who serve them, for a Parcel of hen-hearted Numskulls. They vilify us, the Scoundrels do, when there is only this Difference, they rob the Poor under the Cover of Law, forsooth, and we plunder the Rich under the Protection of our own Courage; had you not better make One of us, than sneak after the Asses of these Villains for Employment?
(Capt. Beer told him, that his Conscience would not allow him to break thro' the Laws of God and Man.)
You are a devilish Conscience Rascal, damn ye, I am a free Prince, and I have as much Authority to make War on the whole World, as he who has a hundred Sail of Ships at Sea, and an Army of 100,000 Men in the Field; and this my Conscience tells me; but there is no arguing with such sniveling Puppies, who allow Superiors to kick them about Deck at Pleasure; and pin their Faith upon a Pimp of a Parson; a Squab, who neither practices nor believes what he puts upon the chuckle-headed Fools he preaches to.
Mic drop.
Neptune at 10 degrees in Pisces, its own sign, would give qualities of compassion, idealism, generosity, faith, maybe even a mystical air. They are connected to the Source. The invisible world guides and influences them. People say there are old souls in the world? and then there are Neptune-Pisceans who seem to come from before time knew it existed. They imagine, they manifest. Neptune in these divine waters gives endless compassion and deep, unbreakable connection to their mystic self. Neptune-Pisces people need to be careful how they wield their great powers.
Astrotheme's interpretation sounds like a recipe for trouble in paradise. Neptune is here swaddling you in the veil of gluttonous desires. Also, we assume the man and the woman are nobility, or wealthy. But they might be slaves and it could be Saturnalia and they're switching roles only for the feast days. Just to throw in a little more Neptunian confusion.
The Sabian symbol for 11º Pisces: Men travelling a narrow path, seeking illumination.Introduction of conscious mind to the intuitive soul-realms. Self dedication. Self-awakening; or surrender to inner fears.
Seems like the perfect interpretation for the degree point of a most mystical aspect. Will Neptune bestow blessings or lead you down the primrose path? Maybe they weren't rose petals, but tiny red flags.
Aries Moon at 16 degrees (with no known birth time)
I like to think that Sam's Aries moon powered him. Just as the wind blew the sails of the ships, they fanned the flames of his moon. This placement can make a person hotheaded, quick to anger, then forgetting it just as easily. Their hearts burn so brightly. They love a chance to demonstrate their heroism and leadership. They're impulsive and can act like kids, yeah kind of like baby goats kicking and bleating as they stomp around if they did not get their way, or got in their way, or ANY OLD REASON FIGHT ME. Then they're climbing up on your shoulder because they're so playful, and you just have to take a picture for social media because they are so adorable!
His Moon is conjunct Venus (balanced emotions, friendly demeanor) and square Pluto (deep intensity, overwhelming to others at times). Did this temper him? He and M. Hallet seemed to fall for each other at the speed of light. As a note, I will now refer to her as M. Hallet since to me it seems like a happy medium between Mary, Maria, and Mehitable.
The Sabian symbol for 17º Aries: Two prim spinsters sitting together in silence.Poised and dispassionate outlook, involving either great dignity and integrity of self, or inability to live life fully.
It is said that M. Hallet lived the rest of her life alone on the dunes of Wellfleet.
We can only wonder how closely this aligns with the emotional center of Sam's life. But we can also observe his behaviors (puts on British documentarian voice ?we can see the common scallywag in his natural habitat?) and draw conclusions that his somewhat extreme actions were driven by that windy, fiery moon. Those action were taken to preserve his dignity, and in order to live his life freely.
remember the degree points by Janduz are exact
Venus in Aries at 15 degrees. The Sabian symbol for this degree point is ?Brownies dancing in the setting sun. ?Relationship between conscious and unconscious sides of life. Invisible assistance often entailing obligation to outer forces.
The images of brownies makes me think of what the Devonshire countryside looked like then, how wild and gorgeous it must have been, like out of a fairy tale. But real life for most was far removed from the magic of such. So you must create your own magic, or find it someplace.
Astro-seek describes Venus-Aries people as imps, and that is a great word. To be an imp is to be devilish, shameless, and wild in a way that could never be suppressed. That is the energy of Venus through this sign? passionate, assertive, impulsive, demanding when it comes to affairs of the heart, so to speak, despite whatever the rest of the personality is like.
To be honest a large part of their description says these people in love are pretty much doomed to have relationships burn out, might spend too much money, be the source of family misfortune, and compares them to Romeo and Juliet. ? Does that sound familiar?
The 15 degree point lies within the realm of Gemini. Degree points were also studied in depth by the late Serbian astrologer Nikola Stojanovic. His work is incredible. RIP Mr. Stojanovic, who passed in 2021. So this would give a spritz of Gemini, which can be playful and mischievous, like imps and spirits of the invisible realm!
That concludes Part 1. Sam has really interesting astro! He was probably so done being disrespected by superiors and whoever else, having to bust his ass to secure his future, because nobody was going to just hand it to him (until they had to) because they, the powers-that-be, made it impossible for him and his fellow sailors to do much else, that he had to do something. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more astro-madness!
PS if anyone would like me to remove the links back to their site please let me know, I understand this is a weird page. Except you Wikipedia, who I gave 5 bucks to. |
| Come Sail Away: Black Sam Bellamy's Astro: A Golden Age of Piracy Life Story Told Through Astrology, Part 1 Wednesday January 25, 2023 |
| Hello, this post combines the Golden Age of Piracy and astrology, so if you love one and not the other, consider yourself warned ??????
Evan Milton was smoldering as Captain Bellamy in Netflix's The Lost Pirate Kingdom, I must say.
Black Sam Bellamy: Prince of Pirates, Robin Hood of the Sea. Lovelorn 18th century English sailor, naval veteran, would be treasure hunter- turned pirate. His quest was to be a free prince and live by his own rules, and become very wealthy in the process, and it was all for the love of a woman? and hatred of the ruling class that abused and exploited the rest of society.
I Am Just A Poor Boy, Though My Story's Seldom Told Without Lots of Ambiguity
Just Give Me the Astro
Are you sure? He has a really interesting backstory that rivals any of your fictional heroes.
Samuel Bellamy was born on February 23, 1689 (a Wednesday) in the village of Hittisleigh, Devon, UK. He is probably the youngest of six children to Stephen and Elizabeth Bellamy. His mother died at his birth or soon after. It has been put forth that her surname was Pain, and it is said his family may have moved to Plymouth, UK.
When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy
He was sailing for the British Navy by the time he was a teenager. There's not much information about his early life aside from that. Different sources claim other things, but this is about astrology. For the record, I am neither a professional astrologer nor an historian. Also, his date of birth says circa, but I'm sticking with it.
Asking only workman's wages, I come looking for a job
He ended up in Boston, Massachusetts, maybe stranded, possibly without much pay? or any at all. English sailors were treated as disposable and ripped off all the time by the British government?given IOUs that weren't honored?
By and by, he wound up in Eastham, on Cape Cod, where he met the love of his life, the beautiful, blonde haired Mary/Maria Hallet, yet for some reason, she is also called Goody, which isn't a name, it's short for Goodwife. Was she in fact Mrs. Hallet?
That tale comes from a book called The Narrow Land: Folk Chronicles of Old Cape Cod by Elizabeth Reynard. This site gives more details.
She may have even been someone known as Mehitable Brown which to be honest sounds a lot more correct than Maria for an English Protestant woman in the early 18th century, who most likely would have been given an Old Testament name, but I'm not an expert. Just a curious person!
circumstantial evidence indicates that she may have already been married, confirming some stories that it was Bellamy's intent to seek his fortune and then return, not to marry her, but to take her away.
The above quote is from Sam's Wikipedia page, and yes there's a record out there of a Mehitable getting married to someone named John Hallett from Barnstable, in March 1715. That would explain the Goody part. Really makes me wonder if he was gonna swoop in & grab her, and then head to Maine to meet up with Pauls.
What was he doing in Eastham in the first place? It has been said he might have been going to find relatives. Pains and Paines (does an ?e? make a big difference?) had settled in Boston and on the Cape, but I am not sure if this is who they could be talking about. Not a genealogist, either, I only know my own family's name went through a few iterations since the 1600s.
The story goes that her father, a wealthy farmer, did not approve of Sam, a broke self-confident sailor, so Sam promised her he would return a wealthy man, worthy of her father's respect.
In Boston, Sam had become fast friends with Paulsgrave (sometimes Palsgrave) Williams, where Pauls lived with his wife and children. Pauls was the son of the former Rhode Island Attorney General, already a wealthy goldsmith, and allegedly a descendant of the Plantagenets. The two decided to try their luck as treasure hunters in Florida, where the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet had spilled its cargo in a hurricane.
Unfortunately for Sam and Pauls, others seeking their fortune from the wreck's spoils had beat them to the picked over loot, meaning privateer Henry Jennings, who had established himself there and claimed it for himself. After this, Sam and Pauls knew the next logical step was to go into piracy. That's how you go from Pauls to Pals with a capital P, and friends 'til the end they were. More on that later.
Sam and Pauls joined forces with Benjamin Hornigo'd's crew on the Marianne. This lasted until the men grew impatient with Benjamin's reluctance to attack English ships. In the summer of 1716, Black Sam was unanimously voted captain of the Marianne, Pauls became quartermaster, and Benjamin and Ed ?soon to be known as Blackbeard? Thatche/Teach sailed away on another captured sloop.
As part of the Flying Gang based out of Nassau, New Providence in the Bahamas, Sam and company raised hell all over the Caribbean and beyond. He sailed alongside French pirate Olivier ?La Buse (Buzzard)? Levasseur (or La Bouche=the Mouth) for a while. Olivier was an architect!
I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record
Captain Bellamy and his crew captured around fifty-three ships during their time pirating, but his most famous conquest was when he captured the Whydah Gally in the spring of 1717. Underwater archaeological explorer Barry Clifford found the wreck in 1984 using cartographer Cyprian Southack's map.
image courtesy of south-wellfleet.com
Give it up for Cyprian, who endured a lot of crap in his effort to recover the wreck of the Whydah and give us the map and a first hand account.
The discovery was confirmed when Barry Clifford's dive team found the ship's bell inscribed WHYDAH GALLY 1716. It is amazing to see in person.
More than 200,000 artifacts have been found by Barry's team. These incredible treasures can be seen at the Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, including child pirate John King's shoe, leg bone, and French silk stocking. There's a second Whydah museum in Salem, Massachusetts.
Oh, you didn't know there was a kid pirate on the account? Was he kidnapped, dragooned, held for ransom?
No.
John absolutely insisted on joining Sam's crew when they boarded the Bonetta, the passenger ship he was sailing on with his mother. According to the Bonetta captain Abijah Savage's deposition, John watched the pirates loot the ship and on around day 10, approached Sam and asked to join. Sam said no. John asked again and eventually, a dramatic scene unfolded.
John threatened to kill his mother and himself if he was not allowed to leave with the pirates, and that his father didn't like him anyway. Apparently he attacked her and threatened to throw himself overboard ? ?
And Sam let him join! It's quite a story that social workers and child psychologists would love to pick apart. As someone who was once taught at a behavioral school, I've thought about it a bit.
Sam and company headed back up towards Cape Cod, possibly to pick up Maid Mary/Maria/Mehitable and introduce her to his adopted son John King ? Pauls wished to visit his family in Rhode Island, so they parted ways but agreed to meet up later in Maine. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Since it's three hundred years too late for spoilers, their adventures together came to an end on April 26, 1717, when the Whydah got caught in a violent Nor'easter off the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, one of the worst in recorded Cape Cod history. The gally, overloaded with today's equivalent of $151 million worth of treasure, was driven against a sandbar as the pirates fought for control against thirty foot waves and seventy mile per hour winds.
All souls on board the Whydah perished except Thomas Davis, the conscripted ship's carpenter, and teenager Miskito native John Julian, the ship's navigator. Thomas was imprisoned and then released after trial when he convinced the court he had been forced to join until Sam could secure another shipwright. Thanks to his deposition, we have an account of what happened that night. John was not given a trial, but likely sold into slavery to John Quincy, none other than John Quincy Adams' grandfather.
Another ship they had taken, the Mary Anne, was wrecked as well, and her seven survivors of Sam's crew were put on trial and executed by hanging in Boston. Their names are Simon VanVoorst, John Brown, Thomas Baker, Hendrick Quintor, Peter Cornelius Hoof, John Shaun, and Thomas South.
FINALLY, THE ASTRO, of which I only do some placements for Part 1. The charts are Placidus. Perhaps I should have used Traditional (he is VERY AQUARIUS under Traditional and it FITS and explains so much). It makes him the ultimate visionary at a very strange time in history. But what time in history isn't? The world is a strange place?
Hoist the black flag!
Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of 4 Loco, or Some Random, Weird Observations About This Random, Weird Project, Because This Lunacy Deserves an Introduction.
When I started this project, Neptune happened to be in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus, and they both still currently are. Because of their size and how far away they are, outer planets move more slowly through the signs of the zodiac wheel than personal planets, so they're considered generational. This means their effect is felt across entire generations of people. It's a societal change. But that's beyond the scope of this article.
Well, guess who ELSE happened to have Neptune in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus?
please note the hypothetical birth time which defaults to 12:00 on Astrodienst
Imagine my surprise when I pulled up the chart and saw his placements. Yup, there's Neptune in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus. But this crazy train is just getting started, so to speak.
His chart looks like a wonky house with one wall missing. If you really want to go with the symbology contained in this?considering his mother died when he was a baby, that is one whole structure of support gone from your life. But it also looks like a boat tipped on its side?which is laden with meaning and foreshadowing as well.
Sam's chart pattern is a locomotive. Cue the Thomas the Tank Engine theme! Sam would be rolling on through, fighting against the tyranny of the Sir Topham Hatts of his day by plundering their merchant vessels and then taking their ships too, and trading them, or occasionally sinking them?
I think I can I think I can?image from Astrodienst
Going off the rails on a crazy train
In a locomotive chart, there is a lead planet. The lead planet is the rising planet after the first empty house, so it's taskmaster Saturn in Scorpio (circled in red) wearing the conductor hat, pulling the rest of his personality along.
Saturn, Lord of Karma, forms many beautiful, harmonious aspects in his chart. Pluto, planet of transformation, is the caboose, but last certainly does not mean least. Remember that Pluto wears his cold, icy heart on his sleeve. I say that with love. Uncle Pluto is my chart ruler.
The late American astrologer Dr. Marc Edmund Jones identified seven natal chart patterns. One of them is the locomotive. Locomotive charts fill this criteria, according to Astrodienst: the planets are arrayed within a span of 240 degrees, and those planets usually occur across contiguous signs or houses, but there's wiggle room for a skipped house/sign or two. The patterns themselves are just overall trends.
Individuals with a locomotive pattern tend to know what they want and have relentless drive, so to speak. They may even be overbearing. Or feel like something is missing from their lives. With Saturn pulling the rest of Sam's planetary train, it must have given him tons of motivation, the ability to stick with things, and an astonishing work ethic. He is estimated to have captured around 53 ships, and Forbes lists him as the top earning pirate in history.
Scroll back up and look at those enviable Saturn trines to his Sun, Mercury, and Neptune, as well as that sextile to Mars. They helped him I'm pretty sure. Trines are an easy, supportive aspect that also run the risk of being lazy or complacent. Was he someone who needed a jump start early in life, but once the wheels got rolling? Yeah he's got that Jupiter square but we all have challenges, this is themes of limits & restrictions with wealth and luck. Also karma but hey, it's about life's trying times while trying to have the time of your life.
Astrodienst says that the lead planet significantly influences the life of the person, and it does not matter what sun sign they are. With the stern father here, who just wants you to be responsible and follow the rules, Samuel, and build yourself a strong foundation, through sweat, toil, and drudgery, limits and restrictions?
Skip the Next Few Paragraphs if You Don't Like Guesstrology
Without an exact birth time, we cannot know the Ascendant, or Rising sign or the houses. That didn't stop me from trying to figure it out. It's just for fun.
There are certain qualities about Black Sam that have followed him three hundred years after his death, regarding his reputation, appearance, and character. But until someone finds a scrap of paper stuffed into the walls of his childhood home noting his exact birth time, we will I will have to make do with other peoples' lasting impressions of him.
For example:
looted from the New England Historical Society
did someone say neatly?
pillaged from Wikipedia
We Have Gone From Neatly To Very Tidy
also pillaged from Pedia of Wiki
But what does it mean? I see, with my astro spyglass, a man who seems like a Virgo Rising, or Ascendant, and that is my head-canon. The Ascendant is the first house of the zodiac wheel: your outward appearance, identity, physical body, how others perceive you.
Consider how his contemporaries describe him, and they weren't astrologers. No wig? They were often filthy and infested with parasites. He would prefer natural hair with a simple style. Virgo is ruled by Mercury and they've got swag as in stylish confidence, but swag also means booty, plunder, loot. He's the total package.
But we just don't know, no matter how tidy, distinguished, well-mannered, or finely tailored his deep-cuffed black jackets were. Probably perfectly.
What We Do Know
His Pisces Sun is in a stellium (stelliYUM?) with Mercury and Neptune. Really wish I knew what house.
It would be the seventh house (relationships, balance, justice) if I were to be correct about the Virgo Ascendant. But I have to pretend otherwise.
A stellium is a conjunction of three or more planets in a house or sign. He has his Sun (self/ego), Mercury (studious/intellectual), and Neptune (rescue/escape) in this configuration in compassionate, imaginative, sensitive Pisces. This guy is so seductive he's got me doing this analysis 300 years after his death. Asteroid Eros is conjunct his Sun as well but you'll have to wait for a future post for the asteroid madness.
See the sails? Is he a sailor, a merman, or sea mage? All three, as it turns out.
Sam's Pisces Sun sits at 5 degrees. The Sabian symbol for this degree point is ?A parade of army officers in full dress.? Self-exaltation through consecration to the task of defending collective values. Self-testing. Perception of high goals. That is the description given by Dr. Jones in his book The Sabian Symbols in Astrology.
Sabian symbols are metaphoric interpretations corresponding to each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac. They were channeled by a medium/clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler in 1925. Dr. Jones interpreted them. Since zero is not counted for the symbols, they begin at 1 degree Aries. Degree points move up one from where they are in the natal chart. So Pisces 5 becomes Pisces 6. If you had a zero, it would become one.
So let's see: Uniforms, Royal Navy, superior officers, working together on a ship, fighting in battles, defending Crown and Country. Then, going pirate while giving riveting speeches about defending their collective values. It tracks with who he is as we know him. Or partly, at least from what can be ascertained from the historical record concerning his words, character, and deeds.
Pisces Sun individuals have a peaceful intensity. They are cliche-level dreamy until the tidal wave hits. They are ruled by Neptune, planet of empathy, illusion, imagination, psychic experiences, idealism, delusions, addictions.
His Pisces sun would have made him compassionate, and inside every Fish is a savior or a martyr, sorry Pisceans. I love you. I suspect this is why he relented and allowed John King to join his band of Robin Hood's men. Perhaps he may have seen a bit of himself in the child. John acted, even if out of ignorance and immaturity, braver than some of the adults that were conscripted (not that I blame them).
Sam may have wanted to stop John's histrionics and violence, but also may have admired John's pluck at wanting to be a part of it, seemingly at all costs. Who knows how long that lasted though. Hopefully he wasn't overly incorrigible to Sam and the rest of the Merry Men. I wonder if or how badly they roasted Little John ??
Elsie and Marc weren't the only ones channeling degree symbolism. This is another interpretation for that Sun 5 degree point, by the astrologer Janduz, who was from Lyon, France.
I had to LOL at the bit about the 7th house. The symbols are not meant to be literal and YET
The screenshots are taken from Astrotheme. This system uses the zeroes, so 5 is 5. The symbolism of the shipwreck is obvious if not literal. If this were to tell the story of a newborn who lost his mother at birth, a family of modest means, when half of England was living hand to mouth, and a family needing to carry on because that was what one did. What kind of character would this present in a child? A serious, quiet one who needed to work his ass off? One who knew that finding something enjoyable in life would be hard gotten?
Maybe. However, ?the stars impel, they don't compel.?
Mercury in Pisces at 11 degrees gives emotion to the way the individual communicates, the way they teach, learn, and think. Delusional thinking and impracticality can cause problems. A sponge for everyone's moods and vibes. They might feel like their brains are like receivers, their thoughts flowing in from somewhere else. Creativity, brilliance, and imagination come naturally to them. Highly intuitive. Mercury-Pisces people are very sensitive and don't like upsetting, disruptive situations or anything that ruins the vibe. They want to go with the flow but can't with too much interference. They tell us that they do care and we believe it, because they are charming and compassionate. We hang onto their words because they move us.
In fact, let's read him in his own words. Here's his speech to a Captain Beer who refused Sam's offer to let him join when they hijacked his sloop. Captain Beer jumped right into self-righteous mode, and Sam's crew voted to sink the ship rather than return it to Captain Beer.
I bolded the quick-witted insults, which is pretty much the entire passage. They're a nice mix of ?I feel bad this is happening to you; if only you weren't such a wimp?. Please note that some people don't even think he said this, but Jacobite dramatist Thomas Otway (so Neptunian, the confusion) but the speech stays, I will have my fun.
Damn my Bastard, I am sorry they won't let you have your Sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a Mischief, when it is not for my Advantage; damn the Sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of Use to you. Tho', damn ye, you are a sneaking Puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by Laws which rich Men have made for their own Security, for the cowardly Whelps have not the Courage otherwise to defend what they get by their Knavery; but damn ye altogether: Damn them for a Pack of crafty Rascals, and you, who serve them, for a Parcel of hen-hearted Numskulls. They vilify us, the Scoundrels do, when there is only this Difference, they rob the Poor under the Cover of Law, forsooth, and we plunder the Rich under the Protection of our own Courage; had you not better make One of us, than sneak after the Asses of these Villains for Employment?
(Capt. Beer told him, that his Conscience would not allow him to break thro' the Laws of God and Man.)
You are a devilish Conscience Rascal, damn ye, I am a free Prince, and I have as much Authority to make War on the whole World, as he who has a hundred Sail of Ships at Sea, and an Army of 100,000 Men in the Field; and this my Conscience tells me; but there is no arguing with such sniveling Puppies, who allow Superiors to kick them about Deck at Pleasure; and pin their Faith upon a Pimp of a Parson; a Squab, who neither practices nor believes what he puts upon the chuckle-headed Fools he preaches to.
Mic drop.
Neptune at 10 degrees in Pisces, its own sign, would give qualities of compassion, idealism, generosity, faith, maybe even a mystical air. They are connected to the Source. The invisible world guides and influences them. People say there are old souls in the world? and then there are Neptune-Pisceans who seem to come from before time knew it existed. They imagine, they manifest. Neptune in these divine waters gives endless compassion and deep, unbreakable connection to their mystic self. Neptune-Pisces people need to be careful how they wield their great powers.
Astrotheme's interpretation sounds like a recipe for trouble in paradise. Neptune is here swaddling you in the veil of gluttonous desires. Also, we assume the man and the woman are nobility, or wealthy. But they might be slaves and it could be Saturnalia and they're switching roles only for the feast days. Just to throw in a little more Neptunian confusion.
The Sabian symbol for 11º Pisces: Men travelling a narrow path, seeking illumination.Introduction of conscious mind to the intuitive soul-realms. Self dedication. Self-awakening; or surrender to inner fears.
Seems like the perfect interpretation for the degree point of a most mystical aspect. Will Neptune bestow blessings or lead you down the primrose path? Maybe they weren't rose petals, but tiny red flags.
Aries Moon at 16 degrees (with no known birth time)
I like to think that Sam's Aries moon powered him. Just as the wind blew the sails of the ships, they fanned the flames of his moon. This placement can make a person hotheaded, quick to anger, then forgetting it just as easily. Their hearts burn so brightly. They love a chance to demonstrate their heroism and leadership. They're impulsive and can act like kids, yeah kind of like baby goats kicking and bleating as they stomp around if they did not get their way, or got in their way, or ANY OLD REASON FIGHT ME. Then they're climbing up on your shoulder because they're so playful, and you just have to take a picture for social media because they are so adorable!
His Moon is conjunct Venus (balanced emotions, friendly demeanor) and square Pluto (deep intensity, overwhelming to others at times). Did this temper him? He and M. Hallet seemed to fall for each other at the speed of light. As a note, I will now refer to her as M. Hallet since to me it seems like a happy medium between Mary, Maria, and Mehitable.
The Sabian symbol for 17º Aries: Two prim spinsters sitting together in silence.Poised and dispassionate outlook, involving either great dignity and integrity of self, or inability to live life fully.
It is said that M. Hallet lived the rest of her life alone on the dunes of Wellfleet.
We can only wonder how closely this aligns with the emotional center of Sam's life. But we can also observe his behaviors (puts on British documentarian voice ?we can see the common scallywag in his natural habitat?) and draw conclusions that his somewhat extreme actions were driven by that windy, fiery moon. Those action were taken to preserve his dignity, and in order to live his life freely.
remember the degree points by Janduz are exact
Venus in Aries at 15 degrees. The Sabian symbol for this degree point is ?Brownies dancing in the setting sun. ?Relationship between conscious and unconscious sides of life. Invisible assistance often entailing obligation to outer forces.
The images of brownies makes me think of what the Devonshire countryside looked like then, how wild and gorgeous it must have been, like out of a fairy tale. But real life for most was far removed from the magic of such. So you must create your own magic, or find it someplace.
Astro-seek describes Venus-Aries people as imps, and that is a great word. To be an imp is to be devilish, shameless, and wild in a way that could never be suppressed. That is the energy of Venus through this sign? passionate, assertive, impulsive, demanding when it comes to affairs of the heart, so to speak, despite whatever the rest of the personality is like.
To be honest a large part of their description says these people in love are pretty much doomed to have relationships burn out, might spend too much money, be the source of family misfortune, and compares them to Romeo and Juliet. ? Does that sound familiar?
The 15 degree point lies within the realm of Gemini. Degree points were also studied in depth by the late Serbian astrologer Nikola Stojanovic. His work is incredible. RIP Mr. Stojanovic, who passed in 2021. So this would give a spritz of Gemini, which can be playful and mischievous, like imps and spirits of the invisible realm!
That concludes Part 1. Sam has really interesting astro! He was probably so done being disrespected by superiors and whoever else, having to bust his ass to secure his future, because nobody was going to just hand it to him (until they had to) because they, the powers-that-be, made it impossible for him and his fellow sailors to do much else, that he had to do something. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more astro-madness!
PS if anyone would like me to remove the links back to their site please let me know, I understand this is a weird page. Except you Wikipedia, who I gave 5 bucks to. |
Next Eastham Cape News Update at 14:30 PM EST
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