Dylan Douglas' Dyslexia

In an interview with the UK Guardian, Michael Douglas revealed that his 10 year old son, Dylan, has dyslexia and that it "runs in the family" (Michael's brother has it). Michael and his family recently relocated to New York so Dylan could attend a special school to assist him.

Dyslexia can produce any number of challenges that are mostly focused around reading, writing, and speaking, so it tends to be Mercury's terrain. The condition of Mercury in a natal chart indicates how we'll think and process information, communicate, and the way our mind works in general, both symbolically and literally to some extent.

Dylan's Mercury is in Leo in the 7th house of his chart, not necessarily indicative of any learning disabilities. Any planet in a sign or house alone can manifest a number of ways. Aspects between planets typically show more of the action and dynamic qualities of a chart, so any tension or difficulty a planet is under is often more easily seen in its connections to other planets.

In Dylan's case, his Mercury is conjunct Mars, indicating that a lot of passion, fire, and energy is running through his mental circuits. He may find himself wanting to respond quickly or off the cuff, almost as if his mind and mouth are running faster than he is. Someone with this configuration might simply talk very quickly, so we wouldn't see dyslexia in even the majority of the cases, but where we know it's present, we might suspect that the nature of the Mercurial challenge in Dylan's case is an issue of speed, as in, too much of it. Mars can also illustrate where people hold their stress and anxiety in general, where burnout or overwhelm can happen if stress levels get too high, and it's said that both stress and anxiety can exacerbate dyslexia symptoms (although there's precious little in this world that stress and anxiety don't worsen!)

Dylan also has Neptune in Aquarius opposed his Mercury and Mars. Dyslexia has no bearing on intelligence or vice versa: it is simply a matter of how information is processed and communicated, not whether it's understood on a conceptual level. Neptune has an 'other-worldly' quality to it; it represents the part of us that is least attached to the logical, 3-dimensional, shared 'reality' world and more connected to things like the dream world (waking or sleeping), intuition, imagination, and the part of us that understands symbols and metaphors. Neptune is often thought to have a 'foggy' influence on life, but that is only when we are trying to rigidly define our world. In our imagination or our dream world, we would have no problem saying 2+2=22 if it made a kind of creative sense to us, for instance. With Neptune in a difficult relationship to Mercury, he processes messages in a way that is outside the rigid rules of '2+2=4 and nothing else' thinking. His mind is free, for better and worse, to process information outside of typical constraints.

Something that can help him master and manage symptoms of dyslexia is his Saturn in Taurus, in a sextile relationship to Mercury, indicating that Saturn and Mercury can work well together. Slowing it down (Taurus) and steady practice (Saturn) are his best tools, but he'll also benefit from finding ways to incorporate the imagination and symbolism of his Neptune into his mental processes in a way that doesn't just lead to confusion, but a new way of looking at things entirely! Inventive and imaginative greats such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, and Mozart were all said to have some form of dyslexia.

It's Off to School for Finn and Hazel!

Phinnaeus and Hazel, the 5-1/2 year old twins of Julia Roberts and Danny Moder, are getting ready to head off to school this fall. Mom Julia calls it "bittersweet" and thinks that her youngest, 3-year-old Henry, is more excited than they are! So how are they likely to fair in school?

Hazel's chart is shown here, born at 1:21 am, but Finn's chart is basically identical at 1:22 am.

From an academic standpoint, Finn and Hazel have Virgo Rising, so they approach the world with a desire to do their best and may, on one hand, enjoy the checks and measures of their progress that a structured school environment can offer. Someone with significant Virgo energy feels most comfortable when they know what's expected of them so they have a better chance at meeting those expectations and feeling like they've done something 'right'.

They also will have a natural ability to apply themselves deeply to whatever they are working on, as long as it engages their interest. This comes primarily from the three planets (including the south node) in Scorpio in the 2nd house. Scorpio sees things through, almost to a point of obsession, and the 2nd house is all about applying oneself and seeing results. Confidence could be an issue, but with Jupiter in their 1st house they are likely to have a positive outlook to sustain them.

Their teachers may find them quite controversial and outspoken in their opinions. With a Gemini Moon in the 9th house, they are broad thinkers and like to ask questions, not just go with the program entirely. They also have their Sagittarius Sun in the 3rd house, so they love to experiment with their thinking and they have a very expansive point of view. They may experience personal clashes between their desire to think for themselves and think bigger (Sagittarius/Gemini, 3rd/9th house), yet produce school assignments that earn good grades and meet expectations set for them (Virgo).

Mercury conjunct Pluto (also in Sagittarius, 3rd house) will reveal their intelligence and their ability for deep understanding of a variety of topics, but also a tendency to cling hard to their own opinions. They'll really love teachers that allow them the freedom to use their minds but has something to teach them. Teachers with no imagination or flexibility may find Hazel and Finn trying to take over!!

Parenting with Astrology: Managing Learning Issues

Amy Herring has been a professional astrologer for 15 years and a proud mother for 5 of those years. She has joyfully accepted Mlle. Kiddie’s gracious offer to share her thoughts once a month here at Kiddie Star Signs. To find out more about Amy and her personal readings for parents and children, visit her website at http://heavenlytruth.com.

Money and fame don’t solve every problem. Celebrity moms have their hopes and worries for their children too. However, I’d like to offer ‘everyday’ moms a chance to see astrology put into action to answer their parenting questions. After all, famous or not, you’re the world to your kids! If you’ve got a question about your child that you’d like Amy to answer, send your questions to amy@heavenlytruth.com.

Jenna writes:

My 8-year-old son is a very unique child. I say this with some experience as he is the 5th of five others. He has poor social skills and is a late reader. He does seem to struggle in school, yet his imagination is vivid. He often states, "I'm going to make an amazing invention when I grow up." Any insights you can provide will be much appreciated.

With questions regarding learning and communication, we typically begin with Mercury, the planet of the mind, learning, and communication and in this case, Mercury is conjunct his Sun in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is the sign of the philosopher and part of that is because Sagittarius takes what it knows and has experienced and puts it together. It's opposite sign, Gemini, disseminates information, takes it apart and looks at all the pieces, but Sagittarius is about pattern recognition and seeing things holistically. It connects the dots, not typically in an A to B to C fashion, but in bigger and simultaneous leaps. 

It's doubtful that there's going to be any issue with his intelligence. The struggle he may have is going to be more along the lines of getting everything he's absorbing in some kind of order. In grade school, we're learning the ABCs--literally of course, but also in terms of method. We crawl before we walk. We learn the alphabet before we read. We need to understand each dot before we connect them, but it's quite possible that he's almost too impatient to do that easily. So some of the challenge may be getting him to slow down, not just in attitude about learning, but in the way his mind works and processes information. He may just need some specific tools in order to help him do that, whether it's an issue of extra tutoring or learning exercises and tools that fit certain learning disabilities. It's important that I be clear: he may not necessarily have a learning disability - that's not what I specifically see in the chart; you'll want to have him evaluated if you think he has enough struggle to determine that. All I am doing is taking your cues in already knowing there may be an issue and looking at the way he learns and what that issue might be.

He also has Saturn in Gemini. While there are many positive aspects of Saturn, it can often represent some aspect of our lives that is difficult. It is through continued effort, discipline, and practice that we are able to acquire the skills we need to succeed wherever Saturn lies. Saturn is Time itself--nothing happens quickly where Saturn is concerned. I mentioned a little of what Gemini represents above - learning to take ideas apart and see the facts, the building blocks, the components of how something works. Saturn in Gemini and also retrograde, simply means that it will take more effort for him than for some to master Gemini: learning, communication, and the ability to manipulate information and data. This is fully within his ability but it will not come quickly, another reason why giving him tools to help the process as I mentioned in the above paragraph will help him get a leg up. Saturn likes tools!

I think he's right about making that amazing invention. Mars is in an exceptionally tight conjunction with Uranus, so his motivation, passion, and will (Mars) is irrevocably tied to his desire to pursue his individuality and investigate the unusual (Uranus). Uranus is the planet of invention because it is everything opposite of convention so it thinks outside of the norm.

Thanks for your question!