By Shelley Jordan
Along with the election of Barack Obama, another victory for progress occurred during last month’s dramatic Saturn-Uranus opposition. You may have heard news reports about the November 14th legal trouncing of the Imperial Klans of America, a white supremacist hate group that models itself after the Ku Klux Klan. That battle was fought by invincible civil rights attorney Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center. A crushing $2.5 million verdict was won against Klan leaders for the brutal beating of a Kentucky teenager, an American citizen of Panamanian descent.
I contacted the SPLC asking for Mr. Dees’ birth information, which they kindly and promptly supplied: December 16, 1936; 9:30 PM; Shorter, Alabama. When asked about the source, his executive assistant said that she believed that the information provided by Mr. Dees himself came from his birth certificate.
What are the characteristics we’d expect to see in the charts of successful trial attorneys? For one thing, they have to be confident and entertaining, with a gift for the theatrical. It’s no easy task to keep the judge and jury engaged and focused. Morris Dees has Leo rising, with the Sun in principled Sagittarius. The Sun’s radiance is amplified by its conjunction to Jupiter in Capricorn in the 5th, and is further strengthened by its conjunction with the North Node and a trine to the Ascendant. This is a lionhearted personality, larger than life.
This emphasis on the Sun and Jupiter immediately limns an expansive solar hero with an epic mission – a fiery leader, with self confidence, warmth, an outgoing personality and the heart to back it up. Sagittarius seeks meaning in a life often defined by a quest or calling. The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded by Morris Dees, has had numerous victories over the Klan and other hate groups, obtaining huge money judgments for their clients, consequently bankrupting these festering malignancies. Using the law as his weapon, Morris Dees has the grit and resolve to obtain money for his clients, fighting for equality armed with his 2nd house Mars in Libra.
Charismatic Neptune in Virgo is in his 1st house in a service oriented dynamic with Saturn in Pisces in the 7th. The Saturn-Uranus opposition of his recent November victory fell right across this configuration. Transiting Jupiter in Capricorn was trining his Neptune at that time, helping to fatten up the enormous judgment he won for the Kentucky teen, whose unfortunate injuries will follow him throughout his life.
A great trial lawyer has to have verbal and intellectual gifts, so it’s not surprising to see the element air and Uranus in high profile. Along with Mars in Libra , the Moon, Venus and the Descendent are in Aquarius, with Uranus square Moon-Venus. This square is characteristic of intellectual gifts matched by profound, individualistic personal will and a dogged stubbornness.
Law school is challenging enough, but that’s only the beginning of an attorney’s grind. An effective lawyer has to be quick, analytical, disciplined and able to retain enormous quantities of data. Morris Dees has Mercury in structured, determined Capricorn in a conjunction to Jupiter – here is loquacious brainpower that grasps the big picture; Mercury is also in an electric trine to Uranus in Taurus in the 9th house. Innate business acumen contributes to the success of the SPLC.
With his Mercury-Jupiter conjunction in the 5th house, Morris Dees is an engaging story teller and moving orator. Boyishly handsome, he emanates intelligence, his soft spoken southern drawl and modest, gentle demeanor invoke instant likability, giving the impression of great inner strength, and a casual, perceptive wit.
Where would we see the humanitarian, populist tendencies that drive Morris Dees to run his non-profit civil rights law firm? Look to the potent configuration involving his Aquarius Moon conjunct Venus in the 6th house of service – evidence of tolerance, fairness and sympathy to the human condition. This benevolent, folksy Moon–Venus forms a defiant T-square involving Uranus in the idealistic 9th house (a belief in freedom). A fearless opposition to Pluto in the collective 11th completes the configuration.
This combination underscores the intellect. It also describes a philanthropic, emotionally powerful and independent but kind nature with a strong drive for reform and a natural attraction to power struggles. The Uranian personality, especially in combination with Sagittarius, can lean towards outrageous behavior, and a personal fondness for shocking people. No one can tell them what to do.
Moon-Venus in Aquarius in the 6th must find heartfelt emotional satisfaction from his work and the rewarding relationships and social networks he forms through his dedicated service. Home and family are intimately connected with his work; coworkers may enjoy a familial bond with him and he may virtually live at work, which could be his second home.
Punctuating the altruism of Morris Dees’ Aquarian Moon-Venus, compassionate Neptune in Virgo is in his 1st house opposite Saturn in Pisces in the 7th. The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded on the dream of equality championed by Dr. Martin Luther King. Mr. Dees was already independently wealthy at an early age from his publishing company when he started the SPLC.
Morris Dees, who can be moved to tears by the plight of his clients, has made many sacrifices in his fight for the underdog. Constant threats are made on his life by the hate mongers that he relentlessly pursues. His office was firebombed in July, 1983. A wall of body guards surrounds him and his home. His Aquarius planets may help him emotionally detach from the ongoing threats and hostility that spew from threatened racist scum.
Neptune is square his Sun, an aspect frequently seen in the charts of gifted and inspired individuals. Saturn and the Sun both represent the father. Their conditions in this birth chart indicate some influence from the father on his humanitarian work. Mr. Dees grew up on a modest farm in the deep south. His father whooped him when he was 6 years old for making a racist remark about a field hand. His father also supported the efforts of black farmers while the Jim Crow era of flagrant racial hate and segregation raged in the South. Neptune opposite Saturn in Pisces and square the Sun in Sagittarius describe a sensitive, idealistic, possibly vulnerable father image. His father encouraged him to study law, and he himself is an educator. He runs a national program that teaches tolerance to school children.
Morris Dees is one of the great heroes of the American Civil Rights Movement. This Sagittarian crusader is clearly a person operating on a higher plane, fighting for human rights, fairness and the greater good. He fearlessly puts his life on the line so others can have their rights.
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Morris Dees at CSU Sonoma State University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3T7mtQhUw
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