zach matthews ~ a tribute
His third Saturn Return was in progress, in solemn partnership with Pluto transiting his Ascendant; and the New Moon the day before his birthday also put Pluto on the horizon, twice - the second time being at his birth-time that day, in the Quotidian or ‘Q’ chart. His spirit would burst its chains.
Ours was a long, quirky and very Capricornian friendship! You may remember that Zach often wrote his pieces under the soubriquet of ‘Sagicorn’, and here was the key to all the years from 1975 onward when, already a regular contributor, I worked on the AA Journal as Zach’s Assistant Editor. Strong Capricorn-Cancer axes and Mercury-Saturn trines drew our two picky, independent and often dogmatic minds together - but it was Sagittarius and Aquarius that whisked us off on many an astrological adventure. I remember with particular pleasure and gratitude Zach’s and Liz’s invitation to visit them in Dorset (Langton Matravers! ... where friends and I spent a night in the Church hall in 1961 when the Youth Hostel was closed!) and we spent many happy hours driving around glorious countryside arguing like mad about religion and this upstart notion of Draconic Astrology. This was Zach’s gift: he was characteristically unwilling to budge from his own view-point, his own philosophical framework, because for him they were so familiar, so right, that they had to be right; yet this saturnine conservatism was wonderfully offset by a restless curiosity, a deeply enquiring mind, a profound and refreshing humour that made any conceptual challenge welcome. Thus he filled the pages of each quarterly Journal with the quality and range of adventurous thinking that ensured the world-wide reputation it still enjoys today; and thus he won the undying affection of all of us who shared our thoughts with him. Dear Zach - dear Uranian soul! Perhaps now, from your altered perspective, your Saturn boundaries shed, you may acknowledge the Draconic Aquarius Sun/Jupiter with which you were born and its visionary conjunction with Tropical Uranus! Perhaps now you may recognise the high ideals and standards set by that full Draconic Leo Moon with Neptune? Perhaps now you accept the driving power of the Galaxy’s heart in everything you stood for, everything you professionally undertook, where it touched your Helio Mercury, Draconic Ascendant and Sidereal Sun in 25, 26 and 27 Sagittarius? With all these energies, and that feisty Mercury/Mars stirring Tropical Jupiter from the Draconic, what else could you have been but a committed ambassador for the Ancient Wisdom?.. and the most generous friend. Pam Crane |