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Writing, Reporting, Storytelling the Taboo Redux
Astrology in Real Life…
This is from early 2007. In between the AMF and getting together with the soldier, I had a couple “dates” with a man I called, “Coffee Date”. They were not really dates because when he asked me to go out with him I told him that I was fresh from a break-up and didn’t think I could manage.
He told me he understood that and we could just go have some coffee. I liked him so I agreed. I mean, I liked his look and I liked his manner. I liked that his mother was a psychologist and that he (like me) had no reputation in the gym. In other words, he was not a flirt. He was a writer, though.
We met for coffee that first time and we decided to meet a second time, for dinner. It was still very casual though. We planned to meet for an informal dinner, each bringing samples of our writing. I decided to bring him, “Little Mike”.
That story is not available online anymore but it is about the man who broke into my house one night. He took off his clothes, got in my bed and I did not wake up until he had his hands on me.
The story was full of sexual energy and you can suspect whatever you want regarding my motives; the fact is I chose it because I thought it was very good (sophisticated) writing. I didn’t want to show up with something crappy if his work turned out to be good or even great.
I also chose it because it was “stand alone”. I felt that most of my other stories would provoke questions. Last, I just thought he was a grown-up. I felt him capable of reading something creative with the ability to appreciate the craft and not take the content personally and as it turns out this judgment was correct.
He read the thing with his eyes wide and then we discussed it (below). What struck me when I re-read this yesterday is it’s tie to events in 2009 so I will update below:
From February, 2007
Conversation from my coffee date, except this time we’d met for dinner:
“So in that story, (Little Mike) I was trying to convey something,” I said. “Um… well when you hear on the news about a story like this. A man breaks into a woman’s house and gets in her bed. You have no idea what goes on in that bed. You just assume certain things, I guess. Really, I don’t think most people think about it at all. They don’t consider it because it’s something never told,” I said. “Reading about something like this in the paper, people think, oh. That happened. And the next question is, did they catch the guy or not?”
He agreed.
“Right. Nothing else is said What happens in the middle of that is very mysterious. The whole thing is secret. Whatever went on, or goes on during something like this.. no one eve reports it.”
“That’s true.”
“Yep. nd since this happened to me, I wanted to see if I could transfer my exact experience of that to the paper. I decided to write down the exact truth of what happened without regard to politics… or anything at all. If people think I’m stupid, then let them judge. Let them judge my reaction. It was a challenge at the time, I wanted to see if I could do it, and I did. So people can read that now, if they want to know about something that’s mysterious. There it is! One person’s experience anyway. I like to know things that are mysterious. I mean, why not? I can’t think of anything better to do then know things I’m not supposed to know.”
~~
The first thing I thought when I read this is I am a hell of a casual date but right behind that, I realized how eerily similar this is to this: My Criminal Mind Figures Out His.
I have such a strong drive to discovering certain things, and also to reporting them. The thing is, the stuff I find out needs about a dozen years to cool off and I think the reason is because Jupiter is involved with my 8th house. In other words the stuff I find out now is seed for what I will publish in 12 years…
And what is your Pluto / 8th house / Scorpio situation? Any ties to Mercury?
31 Responses to “Writing, Reporting, Storytelling the Taboo Redux”
I voted, “It depends on my mood.” What better response could there be for an 8th House moon? 
I’m usually interested in the pathology behind the whole thing, though. The response of the “normal” person, while interesting, isn’t as fascinating as the dysfunctionality of the “perp.”
So, yeah, moon in 8th trine a Mars/Venus/Pluto conjunction in 4th. Pluto is also square my ascendant, sextile Neptune, and semi-square Mercury.
I know crap-all about semi-squares - I haven’t found a lot about them whilst poking around.
Pluto in the 9th, squared my Moon (1st).
As for my 8th house, it’s empty, although Saturn is sometimes calculated in there (usually found in the 7th).
I have Scorpio on my MC, opposed Mercury (4th).
I voted too sensitive. Though this could be because I have a whopping case of hormones happening right now.
There is a high-profile trial happening in my neck of the woods these days with a lot of horrific evidence.
I made it through day one’s details in the paper. It made me so unbearably sad, I realized I was going to process my feelings about it much more efficiently (and thoroughly) by sending conscious thoughts of love and peace to the people who need it–the murdered women and their families and friends.
I hope I am right, but there are some forms of suffering I literally cannot process. I take on too much and there’s not much I can do about that at this point in my life.
scorp sun, pluto in virgo and cancer in 8th.
I love the mysterious.
I Like to see “behind scenes” I really enjoy it. Mercury at house 12 almost Scorpio (29:39Libra). I prefer the naked truth, that could be a sadge passion. However I filter for my self the excess of sadness and cruelty, directly don’t watching TV. (a Scorpio Neptune 12 sextiled Pluto, and 7th moon squared Pluto)
I am heavily Scorp (loaded 8th house, etc.) and in a sense, part of me wants to know everything about everything. Lift the mystery off of everything, taboo or not.
That being said, there are only so many hours in a day.
Hence, I consciously *choose* what goes into me — what information I am gonna give some of my precious waking (and semi-conscious sleep) moments to. (Wherever I actually have control over such input, which is not always feasible.)
For example, kashmiri, if you’re Canadian, I know the trial you are talking about. Knowing all the gruesome and gory details of that case, and what went on in anybody’s head/heart/soul (perp or victim) would not serve the journey I personally am on at the moment.
Meanwhile however, serendipity is putting 100 other sources of information (people, events, books, whatnot) on my path that are more in line with what ~I~ need to grow into the ever more loving and at peace person that I am striving to be.
Yes, ultimately, ~everything~ can serve our growth.
But, info is like food. I can eat junk food, I can eat fast food, I can eat lots of fat and sugar. All of those will provide me with learning experiences. But myself? I don’t need those particular lessons (health issues, self-respect, etc.).
The same goes with the stories (and general info) I allow into my head, my heart, my soul.
That does not mean I never eat junk food. Or only read lived-happily-ever-after stories. Not at all.
All I’m saying is: I like to exercise alert and conscious choice, ~most of the time~.
Back to the question: my answer: yes, I want to know the unknown, the mysterious, the taboo, the unspoken, the dark side — but I ~choose~ what specifically I want to spend time and energy on, among the overwhelming quantity of bytes floating out there.
The specifics of my criteria for choosing change as ~I~ grow and change, over the years. But bottomline, it’s always: how will this serve me?
I have an unusually large capacity for absorbing LOTS. But still, no matter my huge absorption and processing capacity, there are still only 24 hours in a day (we still process in our sleep).
That all being said… there is TONS of room for serendipity in my life. It’s not like I ~plan~ all my choices. But once serendipity puts something in front of me, it is my *responsibility* to accept or decline any ‘offering’.
OK. Off my horse!! 
Guess I should go vote now!!
Uh… can’t vote. None of the options fit.
I voted “depends on my mood”. 8th house pluto trine mercury. scorpio on the mc, with uranus there, rulling the chart.
That along with my sag moon makes me someone that likes the truth no matter what, and i find the brutal truth very helpful in my learning about what the world is about and it helps my intuition, finding patterns, etc.
But sometimes i’m not in the mood for it, especially if the subjects don’t concern me personally or aren’t surprising/have nothing to teach.
So i’d be somewhere between choice one and “depends on the mood”.
The truth is always the truth. Words mean things. Blanks leave an opening for interpretation based on the human basement tapes known as the subconscience. I don’t need the nasty nitty gritty crime scene tape with photos… I want the who? what? where? when? and WHY?
Nothin in 8th house, nothing in scorpio. Pluto in Libra with no contacts to mercury. I voted to hear it all and bring it on. But only once. If it’s something gruesome, sick, twisted and I’ve heard it before I’m not interested. I’m quite bored, saddened, sickened, etc.the second, fourth or more time around…
I think it’s a lot of 12th house I have… mercury there.
A note about trials. I have a girlfriend that interned at a local public prosecutor’s office years ago. This is in a city of a few million or so. She got to deal with a nasty nasty case involving a baby. She ended up in counseling after that and decided not to work in criminal law. Alcoholism is common among attorneys that deal with that stuff. I think people having to face those things on a daily basis must struggle with it and their view of the world after some time…
Like Strawberry Fields said.. junk food. Except these people are trying to do a public service and being forced to eat junk food. Hmmm…
Depends on my mood … Scorpio AC, Gemini 8th house, Pluto conjunct Mercury in Virgo in MC. I’ve learned to be less curious about others dirt and to worry more about my own 
I think you’re right, C.
Also, I’m interested in the true essence of empathy, and this interest has me stumped as to how to behave (and serve one’s society) in a way that reflects that empathy.
It’s funny how I can only hear it (the hidden and presumed unsavory details) once and then my response is set. I’m going to be sad. Not just sad, but literally bawling and be kept up at night sad! But I want to break out of this response. I’ve carried it my whole life.
Part of me worries about the nature of this emotional pattern I am so loyal to.
Maybe it’s part of the quest of trying to find a new mode of emotionally communicating?
How about all the non-verbal modes of communicating empathy? How does one up their empathy quotient in a non-verbal way? That interests me greatly, as talking and reading about the details doesn’t inspire me enough that I’m able to access my desire to serve society.
Yes, with an obsession. Pluto Libra 1st House opp Mercury Aries 7th House. Taurus Sun conjunct Chiron in the 8th.
Pluto and moon in the 7th. I voted for everything out, thankyou very much. I went on student exchange when I was 17, to a country in Central America and my first host father tried to moleste me. The way I was treated afterwards, as if it was my fault, as if I would be seriously in the shit if I told anyone what actually happened- there is no other way to deal with that. If the victims of sexual assault want to talk, it should be out and loud. No matter how uncomfortable it makes everyone else feel.
Scorpio Rising. I prefer the dirt.
I have a little too much interest in this kind of thing.
I voted it depends on my mood, but actually for me it’s more about the motives of the writer. There is so much shitty sensationalist publishing especially on the internet, but also in the newspapers, and I just DO NOT WANT TO KNOW. Leave people alone!!! On the other hand, if there is a genuine interest, and it’s not about getting off on other people’s misery, I am very interested.
I voted “bring it on”. Sun and Merc. in 4th house Scorpio, Pluto in 1st house Leo.
I forgot I voted on this before…voted ‘depends on my mood’ this time. (Also I use equal houses now, and Saturn is in my 8th this way).
That trial? Not long after that the papers stopped publishing details of the evidence. Apparently I wasn’t the only reader who felt overwhelmed. That guy was found guilty (and it was the trial strawberry fields suspected).
I voted “Sometimes but there is such a thing as TMI.” I mean, sometimes there’s reportings of child molestors or dudes with tons of kiddie porn. I really don’t want to know the missing parts of those stories. But say…the other day I found a story about a female hiker that was kidnapped and bludgeoned to death. There was a statement by the murderer about how this woman fought him the entire time. I HAD to know the details!
Libra Pluto 6th, 8th house cusp Sag w/ Neptune in it, Mars in Scorpio in 7th, Jupiter in Scorpio in 7th opp Ascendant. My 6th house Libran Pluto is in a stellium with Saturn and Mercury - I LOVE details, especially ones most people are terrified to see.
My mother loves reading and watching tv shows that are about the dirt. I refer to visiting as “doop and gloop 24/7″. She’ll watch those crime shows and docs all day long. She has north node in gemini in the 12th and a scorpio mars and venus squaring pluto and saturn in leo. Her drama and fear can be heavy.
sorry i meant “doom and gloom 24/7″ lol
I must have missed this before. I find this stuff fascinating. Scorp moon and ascendant, 8th house Venus in Cancer.
GOD YES, I’m interested. Mercury in the 8th.
merc in aquarius, too
Yep. Bring it.
Scorp Sun, Aries Moon, Scorp Rising.
yes, i want the information. but i have to be careful with pictures. some i can never wash them out of my head. those three contractors dragged through the streets of fallujah, burned, and hung up? that image is stuck in my head forever… and i knew it as soon as i saw it.
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I voted yes, although I do get too over-saturated as well (sensitivity).