Terre des Hommes - The Land of Men by Saint Exupéry
While reading Saint-Exupéry's book "Wind, Sand and Stars," I couldn't help but look at his astrological chart.
There, I discovered: a Sun-Neptune conjunction—admittedly in different signs, but the book's tone is so Neptunian that it's hard to ignore.
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books. Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he confronts obstacles."
Excerpt from Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
And so I embarked on an exploration I hadn't anticipated… The first question arose: Why is he a traveler of heart, body, mind, and soul?
My initial impulse was to look at Jupiter, but Jupiter is in the 4th house, at the bottom of the sky, opposing Mars on the Midheaven. Jupiter is in its own sign, thus reinforcing its position. It brings this tendency to seek new horizons, but in the 4th house, this speaks more to the horizons of home than to horizons elsewhere.
Another chart led me to reconsider my perspective, that of a woman, who also turns out to be an exceptional woman. And there, to my astonishment, I find this conjunction between Neptune and the Sun.
These two people are similar. Both are travellers of inner and outer space, one bordering on addiction to medication, and perhaps the other too —the question arises…
Both travel to lands unusual for the time. The danger, highlighted in Saint-Exupéry's chart by Mars in the Midheaven, is echoed in this woman's chart with Mars/Pluto/Moon conjunct in Cancer. She recounts that death has accompanied her life since her earliest childhood, when at age two she discovered a dead baby in its bath. Every journey for her carries this tinge of death… accidents on the road, other incidents, all closely linked to this Mars/Pluto/Moon conjunction… death is always lurking by the roadside…
In Saint-Exupéry's books, we find this same dimension of brushing with death, like an intoxication that opens the mind, that makes one attentive to perceptions and the unseen.
Both have this conjunction in the
11th house, which brings a desire for encounters and for the other. This same fragrance of freedom combined with encounter… a completely different colouring than Jupiter, which can be curious, inquisitive, dominant, and wilful. Neptunian “will” is more subtle, gentler, but also deeper… its the word of the stars, of infinite space, a questioning of personal and universal boundaries...
The woman speaks all languages, "How do you make yourself understood?" "Oh, so simple," she replies, "when I want strawberries, I draw a picture." Very much in the spirit of the 11th house, communicating beyond material limits.
This same characteristic is found in Saint-Exupéry during his confrontation with the "stationary" men who don't ask questions and who are already dead before they've lived. It is this same specific space that is explored. For her, communication is through being, through her presence, while for Saint-Exupéry it is through writing. But both people speak of the earth of humankind, humanity in all its fullness. The Southern Hemisphere—M10-11-12—predominant in both charts, speaks of a charismatic and public life mission.
There is another intersection between the two charts:
For the woman, the Moon is in Cancer; for the man, the Moon is in Leo.
It is through his Moon that Saint-Exupéry seeks to shine, through the creation of intense emotional bonds. He will find this path in his Moon/Mercury conjunction.
It is through her Moon that this woman conveys her humanist vision; through her radiance and presence, she traces an ancestral path.
It is as if she grasps the symbol, while he transmits it.
Life's wounds—and abuses—are also present in both charts: Saturn, Pluto, and Chiron play the background orchestra, with a powerful timpani.
For the woman, it was a long journey of reconnecting with herself, with a significant turning point at 50 upon her Chiron return, an age when she spreads her wings, discards her medication, and embarks on a journey. She discovered Tunisia and Morocco with the Berbers in the 1970s as a solo traveler and was warmly welcomed, she discovered Italy by truck, with a friend.
Unfortunately, Saint-Exupéry did not live to see Chiron's return, but he had traveled Chiron's path much earlier.
I also used these themes to delve deeper into the Sun/Neptune conjunction we will encounter on March 21, 2026 (29° Pisces – 1° Aries). This Sun/Neptune conjunction will be imbued with myths and revelations, and will give rise to individuals with a profound sense of meaning and intrinsic understanding of life.
Milja Willems
Astrologue - Médiatrice dans les conflits sociaux – Coach de vie
+33 6 83 81 94 27
https://federation-astrologues.com/2023/10/05/milja-willems/