The agreed upon lie: Sarawak (in Borneo) was part of the British Empire by TOM WILLIAMS

 

In the National Maritime Museum in London, there is a map of the world which shows all the countries that were once part of the British Empire. Over there, on the right, a little blob of red marks Sarawak. This reflects the widespread belief that Sarawak, ruled by an Englishman and later to become part of the British Commonwealth, was one of the myriad countries that made up the "Empire on which the sun never set".

 

Sarawak was never part of the British Empire. In fact there was a formal enquiry to establish the relationship of Sarawak to the Crown and the conclusion was that it was a not a British possession.

 

Sarawak's peculiar status reflected way in which it was acquired by its first European ruler, James Brooke. It is easy to present Brooke as an adventurer who seized control of the country by force. Indeed, nowadays the Brooke Rajahs are often referred to officially as "pirates". It's far from the truth, though.

 

James Brooke was, indeed, an adventurer. His principal goal when he arrived in Sarawak was to improve relations between the British and the local rulers, which he hoped would bring him benefits as a trader. His ship, the Royalist, carried six small cannon and he had less than thirty crewmen with him. He was in no position to take the country by force. However, he arrived in the middle of a civil war. It had been going on for a long time, with no sign of resolution. Sarawak was governed from Brunei, where a faction in the Sultan's court had whipped up a revolt in that distant province in order to advance their own political position. The politics was Byzantine and the Sultan was increasingly frustrated as faction balanced against faction and the war dragged on and on. He saw the arrival of Brooke as offering a way out of the impasse. The Royalist's guns, if brought into action against the enemy, could be decisive.

 

This proved to be the case. The cannon and the crew broke the deadlock and brought victory to the Sultan's forces. For his help, Brooke was offered the rule of Sarawak.

 

Sarawak remained a province of the Brunei Sultanate. It wasn't very important province and the Sultan hardly missed it. For him, the benefit of having James Brooke ruling there was that his enemies could not stir up trouble that could be used against him in Brunei. However, for much the same reason, it was essential that he could say that he still had control of his whole realm. So Brooke acknowledged the Sultan as his overlord and claimed that his authority came from Brunei.

Brooke was proudly British and saw his rule in Sarawak as strengthening the position of the British in the South China seas. At the time, the Dutch dominated trade in the area and this British foothold in Borneo was politically and militarily significant. Burke wanted to have strong ties with Singapore, the main British possession in the region, and he wanted to benefit from the protection of the Royal Navy. The obvious solution was for him to rule the territory as governor, but for it to be officially part of the British Empire with his loyalty pledged to the Queen. However, he felt unable to do this. He argued that his personal loyalty, as a British citizen, was to Queen Victoria, but as ruler of Sarawak, he had pledged his loyalty to the Sultan in Brunei. The British government was very uncomfortable with the situation, believing that they had been manoeuvred into a position where they were responsible for Sarawak but did not actually have any control of it. However, the practical reality of the politics of the region prevailed, and Sarawak never did become formally part of the British Empire.

 

Sarawak continued to be ruled by three generations of Brooke Rajahs until the Second World War, when it was invaded by the Japanese. The third Rajah, Anthony Brooke, claimed that he did not have the resources to make good the damage that had occurred before the Japanese were defeated. Controversially, he agreed to hand his country over to the British. The age of Empire was over when Sarawak finally became, briefly, a British colony. It was a British possession from 1946 until it was officially granted independence in July, 1963. Later that year, it was incorporated into Malaysia. Sarawak's days as a separate nation were over.

Bio

Tom used to write books for business, covering everything from the gambling industry to new developments in printing technology. Now he writes about love and adventure in the 19th century, which is not nearly as well paid, but much more fun. It also allows him to pretend that travelling in the Far East and South America is research.

Tom is the author of 'The White Rajah' and 'Cawnpore' and is working on a series about a spy in the Napoleonic wars. When he's not writing or travelling, Tom likes to skate on the streets of London or dance tango almost anywhere.

Forgotten Women of History – Hetty Green By JOAN PORTE

“The Witch of Wall Street,” Henrietta Howland Robinson Green was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on November 21, 1834.  By the age of six, she was reading the daily financial newspapers with her father and by thirteen, she was managing the families’ vast accounts.

When her father died in 1864 Hetty inherited an estate that in today’s money would be well over $100 million dollars. Shocking the male dominated financial world, Hetty parlayed that fortune into (again in today’s terms) what was estimated to be between $2 -$3 billion dollars. Her plan was precise. She always made conservative investments, which she backed up with endless cash reserves. Blessed with nerves of steel, Hetty withstood the many “panics” of the Guilded Age. In fact, in the Panic of 1907 she kept the city of New York afloat!

What marked Hetty almost as much as her financial prowess was her amazing stinginess. While some could be apocryphal, stories abounded that made her sound like a real life Ebenezer Scrooge. Laundresses told of how she demanded they wash only the dirtiest parts of her clothes to save on soap and she rarely if ever turned on the heat or hot water. Her wardrobe never varied from one black dress – hence giving her the witchy nickname–and it was said that she spent half a night searching her carriage for a lost two-cent stamp. When her son broke his leg, she tried to have him admitted to a hospital for the poor. Hetty never worked in an office because she refused to pay rent.

What astrological phenomena would account for a woman of such vast wealth and incredible stinginess? As I said in previous posts, we do not have birth times for these women, something that hinders our interpretations. However, the chart always reveals its secrets when studied.

At the time of her birth, Venus was in Capricorn and more importantly, it was unaspected by any other planet. Planetary energy runs amuck in our charts when there is no interaction with others. It has no controls, no boundaries. Venus, is the ancient god of love and beauty, however, she also controls the purse strings. We often forget that behind her beguiling smile is a woman with her hand in your pocket. Capricorn is the stern taskmaster who demands organization, structure, and frugality. With this energy rampant in her chart, the seeds for miserliness are clear.

What if we moved her chart time to place Venus in the 2nd house, the house to witch it naturally vibrates? The second house is the house of money and resources. With an unaspected Capricorn in Venus in the house of money, we can easily see how her stinginess got out of control.

Notice that this puts her South Node in Sagittarius in the second house as well. Karmically Sagittarius comes from a position of having studied much in previous lives.* No wonder she had an innate sense of money!

What would I serve Hetty for dinner? Beats me! I think I would go with a meal I put in the Scorpio section of my book, “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.”  Pasta Puttanesca is a spicy dish said to have come from the women of the night in Rome. It is fast, hot like them, and easy to make so they can get on with business. It looks simple enough not to scare off the stingy Hetty but just may have shown her that you can eat cheaply but flavorfully. 

*For more explanation on the North and South Nodes in a chart, please see my article on Ida Wells written earlier this week.

Joan Porte is the author of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.”

It is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and www.signsofthetines.com. 

 

For karmic soul chart readings contact Joan at Joansastrology@gmail.com  or visit her blog at www.joansastrology.blogspot.com 

Download her podcast Astrological Cooking at http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/astrological-cook/

 

Forgotten Women of History - Frances "Fannie" Benjamin Johnston by Joan Porte

I do like this forgotten woman! I have a lot of respect for the other women we have studied astrologically this week but Fannie seems like a real hoot. Frances "Fannie" Benjamin Johnston was born January 15, 1864 in Grafton, West Virginia to a very wealthy family. Her creativity became evident while studying at some the best schools in Washington, D.C. and Paris and she received a gift of a camera from none other than George Eastman, founder of what would become Eastman Kodak Company.

Thanks to her well-connected family, Fannie soon found herself taking pictures of everyone in Washington society from Booker T. Washington to Mark Twain. ” Being the only female photographer in Washington provided no hindrance to her ambition and in 1894 she opened her own studio. After photographing the 1906 wedding of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, she received the moniker, “Photographer of the American Court.” 

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been reading this week’s entries that Fannie had her South Node, or past life indicator, in the creative sign of Taurus.* Someone talented in any artistic expression would likely to have spent a few at least a few recent lives honing their skills under Taurus’ ruler, the creative, lovely Venus.

What makes this chart more interesting is that Pluto, the sign of change and transformation, and Vesta, an asteroid named after the dedicated Vestal Virgins which in Astrology indicates where our passions lie, are both sitting next to the South Node. Not only did she come from creative lives but also she was born determined to bring change.

In 1896, Fannie scandalized Washington society by appearing in a photo with a cigarette in one hand and a beer stein in the other. Oh yes, and that hand holding the beer was hiking her skirt up to her knee. It did not matter that she was wearing the thick black stockings of the day – she was showing off the whole lower portion of her leg. How did they survive?

Six years earlier, she started tongues wagging by doing a self-portrait dressed as a man with a fake moustache and holding onto a bicycle. I told you she was a hoot.

Like all of the women I have written about this week, she too used her South Node in service to her North. Its opposite sign, Scorpio, balances a Taurus South node. Scorpio, ruled by Pluto, demands that we go deep within ourselves to find bring change. Beauty is fine – depth is sacred. Fannie Johnson did more than just break the social restrictions of the day. Her photographs of mineworkers, factory women and the poor and disenfranchised kept the forgotten in the forefront of political thought then and serve today as poignant reminders of all of the lives History forgets.

Had I been fortunate enough to have Ms. Johnston for dinner I would have been more worried about setting a table pleasing to her photographic eye. I would defiantly go for a pretty dish fit for a Taurus, probably my Scallops With Mushrooms.

 

*For more explanation on the North and South Nodes in a chart, please see my article on Ida Wells written earlier this week.

Joan Porte is the author of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.”

It is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and www.signsofthetines.com

 For karmic soul chart readings contact Joan at Joansastrology@gmail.com or visit her blog at www.joansastrology.blogspot.com

Download her podcast Astrological Cooking at

http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/astrological-cook/

 

 

 

Forgotten Women of History - Angelina Grimke by Joan Porte

This week we are using astrological tools to remember women mainly lost to history. I hate to admit it but before starting this, but I never heard of Angelina Grimke or her sister, Sarah, who were tireless agents for the anti-slavery movement. However, that proves the need for this series, sadly.

Angelina Grimke Weld was born into Charleston society on February 20, 1805. Her South Node* or past life personality indicator was in Cancer, the sign of the caring nurturer. However, her Mars in the fiery, stubborn fixed sign of Leo was conjunct (or within 10 degrees) of the South Node. The aspects one planet makes off another help “flavor” our astrological readings. Mars, the warrior sign, with the South Node tells us that she had many lives in which she fought for things that mattered to her.

While the Moon rules Cancer, a sign associated with mothers, home and hearth, we have to remember that it is a cardinal sign, one characterized by determination and leadership qualities. She did not come from a past as some dainty shrinking violet. She knew what she wanted and went for it.

Mars, named for the god of war, is the epitome of raw masculine power. She combined Mars’ energy with the caring of Cancer and became an amazing force in the anti-slavery and pro women’s rights movements.

A 1967 biography of Grimke by Gerda Lerner entitled, The Grimke Sisters From South Carolina had a wonderful description of Angelina who even as a child knew her own mind and paved her own path.  “It never occurred to [Angelina] that she should abide by the superior judgment of her male relatives or that anyone might consider her inferior, simply for being a girl.” Cancerians want to help people but they do so in their own way.

The opposite sign to Cancer, and the sign of her soul’s path, was Capricorn, which rules the area of societal structures such as the government. It is not surprising then that her caring and nurturing qualities expressed as her insistence that society care for everyone regardless of race or sex.

Like the other remarkable women we have met this week, she used her South Node qualities in service to the North Node.

Angelina spent her adulthood speaking on the Abolitionist circuit throughout New England and the Mid Atlantic. In February 1838, she become the first woman to address a legislative body when she delivered an anti-slavery speech to the Massachusetts State Legislature. Her book An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South is the only known example of a Southern woman appealing to her fellow Southern women to renounce slavery.

After the civil war, her attention turned to woman’s suffrage and she spent her last years as an active member of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association.

If tasked with cooking for Ms. Grimke I would definitely go with a Capricorn recipe from my book, “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological cookbook.  I think she would enjoy my sturdy, no nonsense, but delicious Yankee Pot Roast.

 

*For more information on the role of the North and South Nodes in astrological interpretation, please see my first blog this week on Ida Wells.

 

Forgotten Women of History by Joan Porte ~ * ~ Harriett Ann Jacobs ~ * ~

Today we turn our astrological radar on another largely forgotten African American hero, Harriett Ann Jacobs. She was born into slavery in Edentown, North Carolina on Feb 11, 1813 to an owner who sexually abused her for years. When she turned fourteen, he built her a cabin away from the main house so that his wife would not learn of his abuse. In a desperate attempt at freedom, she took a white lover, Samuel Sawyer, who despite being a lawyer was unable to free her from the abusive Dr. James Norcom. Norcom created a convoluted “ownership” contract that kept Harriett and the two children she had with Sawyer his property.

In 1835, unable to stand the abuse any longer, she escaped and for seven years lived in a nine by seven foot, rodent infested crawl space in her grandmother’s shack where she was able to only catch glimpses of and hear her children occasionally. This is a horrible situation for any mother and made doubly so for Jacobs born with her Moon in Cancer, the sign of the mother nurturer.  (Sawyer eventually bought his own children from Norcom but never freed them.)

When she finally made her way to freedom and Philadelphia, she became involved in the Anti-Slavery Reading Room and other abolitionist programs. However, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, Harriett shuttled between Boston and New York, often in hiding, until a friend officially bought her freedom for $300.

That demand for freedom despite all odds and at all costs is a quality of Ms. Jacobs’ South Node in Aquarius. (For a full explanation of the North and South Node, roles in an astrological chart see my previous entry on Ida Wells.) Coming from past lives as a freedom loving Aquarian the horrors of slavery were exceptional hard for her to bear. Freedom for Aquarians is as precious as air.

Upon learning that Harriet Beecher Stowe might use her story in a book Harriet’s Aquarius energy again demanded freedom. This time it was the freedom to write her own book. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl opened the eyes of many of Northern churchwoman to the ravages of slavery on a “woman’s chastity” and made the world aware of what few spoke about for generations – slave rape. During and after the Civil War she aided the adoption of children orphaned by slavery and worked with slave–refugee groups using her celebrity to raise money.

By writing her own book and telling her own story, Ms. Jacobs was using the talents of her South Node – her relentless quest for freedom – in service to her North Node – the sign opposite Aquarius, Leo. Leo demands attention. She had the inner strength to know that no one could tell her story as well as she, not even the revered Ms. Stowe

As a slave and then a run-away Ms. Jacobs never had a meal fit for a Leo, the King of the Zodiac. Had I the chance to cook for her from my book, ‘Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook” I would chose a dish a designated for Leo, my Lobster Ravioli with Mushrooms and Sage Cream Sauce.” I only hope that somewhere in her later years she tasted something that luxurious. It would have suited her well.

Tomorrow we will look at the life of the abolitionist Angelina Emily Grimké Weld.

 

Joan Porte is the author of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.” It is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and www.signsofthetines.com.  For karmic soul chart readings contact Joan at Joansastrology@gmail.com or visit her blog at www.joansastrology.blogspot.com.

 

Download her podcast Astrological Cooking at http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/astrological-cook/.

Forgotten Women of History ~ Rosie The Riveters by Joan Porte

The past two days I have spoken about the importance of the South Node when reading an astrological chart. Today we switch gears to another valuable karmic marker, Pluto. I know that he is now a dwarf planet, but that little; distant ice ball still packs quite a punch. Because it is so far from the Sun, and moves so slowly, it takes centuries to make a full revolution around the Sun’s ecliptic. By contrast, Mercury makes the journey in 88 days.

Because of its lack of speed, Pluto stays in each constellation for years, often decades.  (By contrast, the Moon moves through each one in two and one-half days.)  Therefore, Pluto is a generational planet meaning that people within the same 10-25 year cycle are all born while Pluto is in the same constellation. That Plutonian energy sets the “tone” or vibe for the generation and shows us their prominent values and concerns.

For instance, those of us of the Baby Boom Generation were all born when Pluto was in Leo (1939-1957.) Leo, ruled by the Sun, is a very self-centric, self-loving sign. Like the Sun, Leo expects people to bask in his light. Perhaps that is why we are the Me Generation and raised quite the raucous when we were in our youth in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.  There is nothing shy about Leo.

From 1913- 1939 Pluto was in Cancer. That is a very long time in any constellation even for Pluto and it bred almost two generations of people concerned with Cancerian issues – preservation of the home and homeland, reverence for the family, patriotism and an emotional attachment to woman as mother-nurturer. These were the people who came of age in a time of a civilization-threatening war, who had to fight to preserve their country. It was a time of patriotic duty.

Ironically, that need to preserve the country took women out of the home and into the factories. The Pluto in Cancer generation was that of Rosie the Riveter. Thousands of women, most lost to history, went to work to replace the men who went off to war. They donned pants and hairnets, took off their jewelry and frills and like the iconic poster of the time stated, they shouted, “We can do it!” And they did.

Cancer, ruled by the Moon and tied closely to emotions, is a Cardinal sign. In Astrology, there are cardinal signs, the leaders, the doers; fixed signs, the tenacious ones; and the mutable signs, the peacemakers who go along to get along. “We can do it” is a motto of a cardinal sign. The times demanded toughness and the Rosie’s answered the call.  Many were surprised at just how strong women can be – the underestimate the cardinal quality of Cancer.

With the war won, society expected women to go back to the more traditional Cancer roles of mother and helpmate. Most did quietly but many simmered only to erupt in the 1960’s when their Pluto Leo children began to agitate the world.

In my cookbook, “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook” I offer my recipe for Comfort Polenta in the Cancer section. Like these woman it is warm and comforting but has at its core, the hearty, all-American grain, corn.

Joan Porte is the author of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.” It is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and www.signsofthetines.com.  For karmic soul chart readings contact Joan at Joansastrology@gmail.com or visit her blog at www.joansastrology.blogspot.com.

 

Download her podcast Astrological Cooking at http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/astrological-cook/.

 

 

 

 

Forgotten Women of History ~ Martha Johnson Patterson by Joan Porte

 

Today we continue our astrological look at forgotten women of history with Martha Johnson Patterson, daughter of the 17^th President, Andrew Johnson. One of the quickest ways to disappear into the mists of the past is to be a relative of an unpopular politician. Your personal accomplishments never outweigh the memory of the person the country would like to erase. This was the case with Ms. Patterson, eldest daughter of a highly unlikeable and eventually impeached president.

Born October 25, 1828 in Greenville, Tennessee, family records indicate that her birth-time was around 2:00 AM. As I mentioned yesterday, as a karmic astrologer who tracks the soul’s progression from life to life, I pay very close attention to the South Node, the marker of our past life personality. Because we remember that life subconsciously, we look to it again for our personality traits.

Ms. Patterson’s South Node was in Aries, the sign of pure drive. Ruled by the planet Mars named for the god of war, Aries are determined achievers who refuse to quit. If the time of birth is correct, her Aries South Node was in the eighth house, the house of death, rebirth, and regeneration. It was her rebirth and regeneration of the White House that should have earned her historical prominence.

Although Johnson’s wife, Eliza, was alive during his turbulent presidency, she was an invalid. The duties of White House hostess fell to her daughter Martha who was the wife of Senator David Patterson.

The Civil War years had ravaged the building. Troops slept in the East Room marking their paths with the dirt and horse manure that clung to their heavy boots. During the six weeks after the Lincoln assassination, with Mary refusing to leave the White House, souvenir hunters rampaged through the house taking everything including snippets from curtains.

With very little Congressional money to refurbish the Mansion, Martha worked tirelessly along with the staff, to pull up the rugs wash, dry and recut them to look presentable. She mended curtains and scoured the tobacco-stained floors with lye.

She supervised the building of a colonnade off the East Entrance, marking the beginning of what we know as the “East Wing.” She installed water closets for staff and ordered the destruction of old and dangerous stables.

Ms. Patterson instituted several changes still in place to this day, such as having a permanent steward with an office located on the first floor of the mansion. She also started the first White House tours and ordered the rugs protected with oilcloth when people came through. She created a political stir when she had guards stop someone snipping off a piece of an East Room curtain and forever forbade that practice. Although office seekers strolled freely through for a few more generations, she was the first to limit their effects on the building. Finding forgotten pictures of past presidents in the attic, she had them hung around the State Floor, starting the tradition of presidential portraits in the White House.

It is no surprise that her North Node*, her soul’s desire, was in Libra, in the second house. Both Libra and that house vibrate to Venus, the goddess of beauty and creativity. The second house is that of safety and security. She used her Aries drive to bring beauty, to the Nation’s home after years of war and death. Thus, she fulfilled her “goal” of using the South Node attributes in service to embody the North.

Had she a chance to see my cookbook, “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook” I would have referred Ms. Patterson to the section on Libra. My Duo of Roasted Butter Nut Squash and Apple Soups would make a lovely addition to the many casual Johnson White House luncheons.

Tomorrow we will pay homage to the Rosie the Riveter generation.

 *For more information on the North and South Node visit my website, www.joansastrology.blogspot.com.

Joan Porte is the author of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.” It is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and www.signsofthetines.com.  For karmic soul chart readings contact Joan at Joansastrology@gmail.com or visit her blog at www.joansastrology.blogspot.com.
Download her podcast Astrological Cooking at http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/astrological-cook/.