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vice meets

Susan Miller

World-renowned astrologer Susan Miller hangs out with VICE's Thalia Mavros and invites us into her Astrology Zone (.com). If you watch it to the very end, she'll tell you exactly how and when you will die.

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VICE'S BIRTHDAY

AND WHAT ITS NATAL CHART SAYS ABOUT THE COMPANY

By Susan Miller

Companies and nations have birthdays and natal charts, just like people do. The date VICE was launched—“born”—was a very positive day in the heavens. I am anxious to relay to you the details of VICE’s chart, but first, a few preliminary points are in order.

VICE was founded on Tuesday, October 11, 1994, making the company a Libra. I’ve defaulted to sunrise as the time of birth, as this is the correct fallback method to use when the precise hour and minute are in question or unknown. The algorithm I used is the equal house system, Tropical, with zero degrees all the way around the horoscope wheel. I cannot calculate a rising time for the company without an exact time of birth, but I can nevertheless discern a great deal of information about the company and its future.

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As you will soon see, there are two main themes that will clearly emerge in the examination of this company’s chart: 1) enormous financial savvy, and 2) an enduring and endearing celebration of art and culture.  Few charts are this loud and clear, but VICE’s is so, and is helpful, for following too many paths will not distract the organization—this is the chart of a company with a mission.

Trustworthy and Prudent Financial Management

Let’s first look at the powerful emphasis on financial expertise and proficiency inherent in the management as reflected in the VICE natal chart. The company’s natal moon is in the wise and financially conservative Capricorn. This shows fiscal prudence and forbearance in appropriating and managing large sums of money. (Capricorn is associated with the trustworthy management of global companies of behemoth stature, the stock market, and large capital investments.) According to its chart, VICE’s management is able to remain practical and realistic.

Neptune and Uranus are conjunct (standing shoulder to shoulder) within two degrees, and these are two planets involved with creativity. Both are found in Capricorn, and aside from Capricorn’s natural talent for being entrusted with monetary functions, this sign is also associated with tradition and history. This is a wonderful place for Uranus and Neptune (as well as its natal moon) to be, for it reveals a company interested in all art that is new, innovative, and even quirky but also shows that editors will examine art in such a way to put the work in a cultural and historical context. It also suggests that the editors may eventually decide to go one step further by writing pieces that will entice readers who are interested in art as investment.

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More financial smarts come from the four (count ’em—four!) natal planets of VICE in street-smart, intuitive, and financially savvy Scorpio. Remarkably, Jupiter (good fortune, abundance) is found precisely conjunct with Venus (which represents beauty, art, and culture)—both were at exactly 17 degrees Scorpio at the time VICE was conceived. In astrology, Venus and Jupiter are planets associated with abundance and profit and are found in the other big-money sign: Scorpio, a sign that is best known to multiply profits while they sleep, through investment. This all portends extremely well for the future profits of the company.

Every sign has a ruling planet, and it’s important to note it and to examine how it is aspected in the natal chart. As I mentioned above, VICE is a Libra, and Venus is the ruling planet of Libra. To have Venus, the ruler of Libra, so ideally placed and holding hands tightly with good-fortune Jupiter is simply remarkable. But wait—there is more! I have saved the best and luckiest aspect for last.

In the fall of 1994, when VICE was formed, Jupiter was orbiting in deep space very close to Pluto, both of which were in Scorpio. Whenever Jupiter is close to Pluto, an exceedingly rare event, it is considered a signature of success in the chart of any person or firm. Jupiter is at 17 degrees of Scorpio, and Pluto is at 26 degrees of Scorpio—a span of only nine degrees. This is considered to be close enough to be a mathematically significant conjunction, and as with all cases, a conjunction is considered the strongest possible aspect that can manifest in a chart.

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To give another example of how rare and special it is to have Jupiter in such close proximity to Pluto, it’s helpful to know that this occurs only every 13 years, and this orbital anomaly ends within a matter of weeks. This explains why so few natal charts contain this aspect. A baby—or in this case a company—has to be born within a tiny, very specific sliver of time, and VICE was established in precisely this 13-year window.

I have not studied enough corporate charts to list any that share this distinction with VICE, but I do know certain extraordinary individuals—both living today and from throughout history—who were born under this conjunction, and all are or were big thinkers of their generations; examples include Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mick Jagger, Robert DeNiro, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Obviously, VICE is in good company, astrologically speaking.

As I briefly touched on earlier, the placement of Venus and Jupiter at the time of VICE’s birth is extremely exact to a specific degree, another remarkable gift given at the birth of this company. All three financial planets—Venus, Jupiter, and Pluto—are found together in Scorpio, practically on the head of a pin, forming what is called a stellium or crown of stars in the VICE natal chart, bringing prominence and extraordinary success. The Pluto and Jupiter closeness tells me the company’s management thinks big and, in turn, will have the potential to influence many on a massive scale.

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A Huge Emphasis on Art, Beauty, Society, and Culture

Libra, the sun sign of this company, is known to be the zodiac’s arbiter of taste. It is an air sign (which are all highly communicative) that supports the analysis and disbursement of information. Many fashion designers, editors, artists, and museum curators are born under Libra, or are born under its rising, for Libra is ruled by Venus, the planet of grace and beauty. Libra is also the sign of the scales, giving individuals (and companies) born under it a yearning for heavenly proportion and harmony among all things; it’s an ideal sign for a magazine dealing in artistic and humanistic expressions in culture, society, and current events.

VICE’s natal Mars in Leo further emphasizes the theme of art, with Leo having a long-standing association with sophisticated design, rich color, and a blending of many elements and materials to produce striking, unique work. Leo is also the sign of royalty, and astrology texts have long extolled its association with expensive luxury goods and services.

Finally, in VICE’s natal chart, Saturn is in Pisces, the sign most closely associated with the endless well of creativity, stemming from deep within the subconscious. Saturn, being the taskmaster planet, would impart disciplined creativity to the staff’s efforts. I can think of no better place for Saturn to be for this company.

The Coming Three Years for VICE

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Something we all know about life is that many things will not transpire easily. As a Libra, VICE recently hosted Saturn on their sun, a once-in-29-years event that began October 29, 2009, and will end October 4, 2012. For most Libras, when Saturn comes knocking he almost always requires a stern and practical reassessment of current conditions, and a reconfiguration of the old to create a new way is always required to forge stronger and more competitive structures for the future. It is a process that requires patience. Although Saturn lingered for three years, last year, 2011, was showtime—the period when VICE experienced the most pressure to change, and change it did, in what its staff tells me were all the right ways.

That period is over, but a new process will begin this fall, because VICE will have four planets in Scorpio. Saturn will travel over all of them from October 4, 2012, to September 17, 2015. Once this period is over, there will be no more tests for many decades.

Saturn has developed a bad name among those who have only a limited knowledge of astrology. In truth, Saturn demands that we stretch beyond our self-imposed limits to maximize our potential and meet what at first seem like impossible standards. Saturn shows us we are stronger than we know, and are in a constant process of evolving into something better. These periods are often major turning points, although we rarely know just how important they truly are until later on, when we see what we’ve built.

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When I had Saturn on my sun (my sun is in my house of career achievement), nearly 17 years ago, I created and launched my website Astrology Zone, which has provided me with bountiful rewards ever since. When Saturn comes to the sun of an individual or a company, it’s time to learn, work hard, and meet new challenges head-on as they arrive—especially because, eventually, we all experience a Saturn transit over our sun.

If we choose to work with Saturn in earnest, we can grasp the golden ring and achieve our greatest dreams, and I have no doubt that VICE will devise new ways to become even more relevant to its readers. In all, the company was initiated under wonderful aspects, and it’s all the more remarkable because the founders chose this day of their own volition, without an astrologer. This suggests to me that true dedication and passion was in the hearts of VICE’s founders, as well as a clear vision of what they wanted to do with their creation.

Happy birthday, dear VICE. Here’s to the coming years of ever-bigger achievements and victories. At age 18 now, you have reached your first stage of maturity, and we, as readers, have so much to look forward to from you in the future!

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