A lot of people have compared PSYCHO with THE SHINING, but few have realized they are virtually the same movie. One is about a schizophrenic, knife-wielding nutcase manager of a remote motel and the other is about a psychotic ax-wielding caretaker of a remote hotel. Both of them assault the women they find themselves with in the building and both of them have a character who comes to save the day, who is summarily murdered by the deranged madman who kills or is trying to kill the woman. But what is even more compelling is that they are also virtually the same film astrologically and a great example of cinematic astrology.
Both of the women in both of these films are CANCERS — Janet Leigh from PSYCHO was born on July 6th, and Shelly Duvall from THE SHINING was born on July 7th.
Both of the killers are heavily influenced by ARIES — Anthony Perkins was born in ARIES on April 4th and Jack Nicholson (born on April 22nd) is not ARIES, but was born not only right on the CUSP of ARIES, but also has his MIDHEAVEN (How the world sees someone) and his VENUS (how someone deals with partnerships, love and aesthetics) are also in ARIES. Both actors were born on 4s.
Both directors are LEOS — Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13th and Stanley Kubrick was was born on July 26th which puts him on the CUSP OF CANCER, which plays out here, but we will talk about that in a minute.
Another similarity of the two films is that the most important and memorable scene takes place in the bathroom — the shower scene scene from PSYCHO, which is undoubtedly the most famous shower scene in history, and the nearly as famous ax scene in THE SHINING. Both of these are the culmination of a conflict, that starts very early on in these films and that is conflict of the MASCULINE and the FEMININE. Here, we find the classic conflicting SQAURE between the most MASCULINE sign — WARRING CARDINAL SIGN ARIES (Anthony Perkins/Nicholson) and its SQAURE or conflict with the most feminine sign CARDINAL sign CANCER (Leigh, Duvall). It is the war of the FATHER and the MOTHER or the Yin and the Yang. Certainly, LEO that is ruled by the SUN is most often associated with the father, but ARIES is the PROGENITOR, IMPREGNATOR of SPRING as ARIES begins the zodiac, which results in BIRTHS of the IMPREGNATED many times in nature in SUMMER or CANCER. These two opposing energies come to into conflict in the BATHROOM that is the domain of CANCER, with its MOON-COLORED WHITE WALLS and WATER. It contains BOWLS, TUBS AND ORIFICES, all of which are symbols of WATER SIGNS and where the REFLECTIVE ELEMENT OF WATER DWELLS. Bathrooms are also a place of NURTURING ONSELF or others. Even the sink hardware and shower heads are SILVER which is also associated with the MOON. The term WATER CLOSEST is a homage to the WATER CAVE that CANCER loves to dwell in. It is a place where she feels safe. But in these films that safety is breeched by the cold steel of MARS and ARIES, as IRON rules that aggressive planet, which it employs as WEAPONS as they are nearly all made of IRON or it’s refined metal that we know as STEEL.
In PSYCHO, Bates (which is nearly an anagram for STABS), wields a knife that exemplifies the phallic qualities of the ARIES glyph symbol, and in THE SHINING, Nicholson PUNCTURES the door with an ax, creating a visually symbolic rape as he invades her safe space, by puncturing the door. This is why these images are so shocking, they imply attacks of pure unbridled aggression, as the images are SQUARED or opposed to each other.
A knife has no place in the bathroom. But the bathroom and even the colors of the killing (if there were colors in PSYCHO) represent the struggle between the BLOOD RED of MARS and the FEMININE WHITE of the MOON. They are the truest opposites of color and that is why most emergency signs use these colors instead of black and white. They are truly polarized, and RED being the color of ARIES and blood is prominent in both films, even if it’s only eluded to in PSYCHO in black and white.
Both films also have additional ARIES characters that INITIATE the plot. Firstly it is ARIES/John Gavin in PSYCHO that encourages Leigh to steal money from the company she works for in the first place, because he can’t afford to marry her, and ARIES Barry Nelson in THE SHINING gives Jack the job, and then Grady played ARIES/Philip Stone, becomes Nicholson’s symbolic alter ego whom sets him into motion and encourages him to kill his wife and son. And let us not forget that Norman Bates’s mother killed her husband with a knife, once again suggesting an ARIES or MARS influence on his character. Also in both films there is an ARIES type character who can’t make it in the outside world. Nicholson can’t really hold a job and Gavin can’t make enough money to get married. The novel PSYCHO was written by ARIES/Robert Bloch, while THE SHINING was written by OPPOSITE CUSP VIRGO/LIBRA/Stephen King. We’ll see how that pays off later.
We also find the OPPOSITE WATER symbolism in both films, for it is the heavy RAIN in PSYCHO that causes CANCER/Leigh to seek the shelter of the CAVE in a desolate motel, and the SNOW that keeps CANCER/Duval and Nicholson sequestered within the CAVE of a desolate hotel.
In both films the killer has a sense of duality between the MASCULINE and the FEMININE, just as the outer conflict does. In PSYCHO Perkins is a male WARRIOR who dresses as his MOTHER when he KILLS. This an attempt to reconcile the polar opposites of ARIES and CANCER, thus creating the hybrid prototype and inner conflict that he experiences, just as Nicholson does in THE SHINING. In it, we find Nicholson as a writer which is generally a passive occupation, then turning into a crazed would-be killer as he crosses the CUSP from the nice guy artist of TAURUS into the aggression of ARIES.
Both films start with a journey fleeing the city. In Leigh’s case it’s certainly more desperate, as she has stolen $40,000 from her boss. When she is stopped by a policeman (a MARTIAL symbol) she realizes that she needs to to conceal herself, so she buys an new car. CANCER is clandestine. But unbeknownst to the audience or perhaps even writer and director, buying that new hunk of STEEL is replacing IRON, the METAL of MARS and ARIES with another hunk of STEEL. It is a symbol for trading in one ARIES for another, John Gavin for Anthony Perkins, and her fate is sealed. After she is killed, Perkins wraps our vanquished CANCER heroine in a COCOON, in form of a shower curtain. then places her into the trunk of the car, and thus entombs her in STEAL, which is both a CANCER tomb and cave and an ARIES symbol as it is IRON. It is the union of CANCER and ARIES, or the MASCULINE AND FEMININE, and that was what Bates was seeking all along. He then submerges in a bog, thus another WATER symbol. She is entombed not only in IRON, but also in WATER. But in the end it is just the subterfuge of WATER, an ILLUSION that is only able to cover up her disappearance for a short while as the WATER becomes see-through.
The outcomes for the CANCER characters, and the success of failure of the assailants is where these two films diverge. The main difference between the writers, directors and actors in THE SHINING as opposed to those in PSHCHO is that the villain and the director are both on the CUSP in THE SHINING as is the writer. Nicholson is TAURUS/ARIES and so even though he half heartedly wants to kill his family, he doesn’t have the full weight and directness of a true predator like ARIES does. ARIES, as it rules the EYES keeps them on the MARK. It is out to win and usually does, whereas TAURUS ultimately just want to be left alone, in this case to write, even if it is just typing practice. Certainly, there are a few examples of TAURUS killers on screen, but not many. TAURUS seeks peace and harmony. Secondly Kubrick (LEO/CANCER) and Stephen King (VIRGO/LIBRA) have constructed and orchestrated a story about transitions which is what CUSPS are all about. Nicholson changes and becomes someone else, where Perkins stays the same. He is an ARIES at the beginning and at the end, as is novelist ARIES/Bloch as is Hitchcock a LEO all the way through. And so each director is working with and relating to those who are more like them. Hitchcock created a horror film, where Kubrick created a character transition disguised as a horror film. Both LEO directors had a cat playing with mice reputations in regard to their actors and their cruelty toward them, and both of them see their films as comedies. Which is why Nicholson is so over the top with his LEO RISING. He can makes thing very big.
Kubrick being on the CUSP of CANCER saw both the FIRE and WATER simultaneously. He saw the big picture and the inherent strength of CANCER in Duvall, even though it isn’t overtly obvious to most. He understood the beauty of how in this film WATER can OVERCOME STEEL. Sure, Duvall is SWEET, CARING, LOVING, and very much of a girly girl… But let us not forget she is a CANCER and the sign that symbolizes the MOTHER. A mother is going to win at all costs. It is in the bathroom that we see the first glimpse that CANCER and the FEMININE will win, It is also here where we see the bravado of the would-be ARIES crushed. Once Nicholson has crossed into ARIES, he thinks he’s the big bad wolf, but next thing you know, he’s crying like a little pig when she cuts his hand with a KITCHEN knife. This is typical of ARIES as it will cry harder than anyone when it gets hurt, because it has never entertained the possibility. At the end of the film, a crazed looking Nicholson is frozen in the snow like Hachet Jack from the film JEREMIAH JOHNSON. This is the final symbol, and one that graphically shows just how lethal WATER can be when it FREEZES, and clearly shows the audience how WATER can overcome THE SWORD and FIRE when it becomes cold and becomes a weapon.
As I’ve said many times in my book, great movies have great astrology.
© Ian Boyd 2021 (All Rights Reserved)