One Small Step-Confluence and the Moon Mission and Neil Armstrong

These titles are getting longer, but that's the way it is when you have a couple of different points to make. Neil Armstrong's recent death brought the world's focus back to the first steps taken by one man, and by logical extension all of mankind, outside of our planet on July 20th, 1969. This is forever enshrined in our history. Now what does it possibly have to do with the theme of this Lesson of posts, known as 'Confluence'? Well this serves as an ideal opportunity for me to look at the next aspect of 'Confluence' and that is having shared time with others in projects, adventures and the like. However long their duration, you are closely relating to usually a small group, for sometimes a very important purpose. There is no doubt that the Moon Mission qualifies as 'a very important purpose'. Once again, as with romance, it's not essential, in and of itself, that you be 'Confluent'; rather it is a desirable extra, that can lead to greater empathy and bonding in times of challenge or crisis.

So, this being the case let's do a little analysis of the Moon Mission team, shall we? Neil Armstrong was born August 5th, 1930 and Buzz Aldrin was born January 20th, 1930 and Michael Collins was born October 31st, 1930. What does this tell you? Yes, they were all 'Confluent' with each other for every 'significant year' in their combined lives. This would make an ideal combination for a small 'hand-picked' team. You all know how much drama they had to face, when during the landing Neil Armstrong had to take over manual control of the Lunar Module, to find a suitable place to land and they almost ran out of fuel. What you probably don't know, is that when they climbed back into the Module for their lift off, they accidentally broke the ignition switch for the ascent engine with their bulky spacesuits, and had to use part of a pen to activate the launch sequence.

Now let's go a bit further shall we? Let's set up a hypothesis for testing. You see this Moon landing did not happen when all three astronauts were in their central, mid-life, age 36 'Year of Revolution'. So what did happen, that could be considered a reasonable turning point in their careers? Well on January 27th, 1967 Apollo 1, designed to be the first lunar spaceship, caught fire on the launch pad, killing astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee. After the inquest on April 5th, a group of 17, including obviously Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, were told:- "The guys who are going to fly the first lunar missions are the guys in this room." This was to be the new age/directions for the eventual team. However, it is arguably a little outside Aldrin's 36th year (which ended on Jan. 20th, 1967), but in terms of other aspects of 'Life Cycles' theory, it's a complete match.

However, I'm an obsessive researcher. I'm not going to just sit back and let matters be with Buzz Aldrin. The record shows that Aldrin was confirmed as a pilot on the Gemini 12 Mission (11th to 15th November, 1966). This was the last Gemini mission and his last chance to prove himself. He set a record, showing how astronauts could work outside spacecraft. The story gets more valid, because Gemini 9A (3rd to 6th June, 1966) saw Aldrin improvise an effective docking technique, when the rendezvous with the target vehicle failed. He only got this chance because, once again in a disaster: the original pilots of Gemini 9 this time, were killed when their plane crashed into the McDonnell building in St. Louis, Missouri on Feb. 28th, 1966. This was Aldrin's story and all within his age 36 'Year of Revolution'. This is now a 100%. match with the theory.

Finally let's reflect on Neil Armstrong's earlier life. At his age 24 'Year of Revolution' (Aug. 5th, 1954 to Aug. 5th, 1955), he had just graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering and decided he wanted to become an experimental research test pilot. He applied to Edwards Air Force base, but they had no open positions, so he went to Lewis Field. However, in July, Edwards made him an offer and his new career and thus his new age/direction was commenced. Finally let's try Neil's age 31, 'Year of Broken Pathways' (Aug. 5th, 1961 to Aug. 5th, 1962). Were there any obvious challenges and direction changes? On 15th March, 1962 he was named as one of six pilot-engineers, who would fly the Boeing X-20 space plane, when it got off the design board. In the months that followed he then became more and more excited about joining the NASA Apollo program. He applied in June and although a week late, his friend from Edwards slipped it into the pile without anyone noticing. He was eventually selected and thus his challenge and direction-change was begun in earnest.

Check any biographic sources you wish, but these were undoubtedly Armstrong's highlight years for change. Oh, and please tell me if you think all my carefully complied evidence is just pure luck. Because, so far, no one has and in all probability, it will remain this way. Why? Because I deal in facts and thus it has the ring of truth about it, that's why! Till next month:- "may the cycles always bring you good fortune".

Hollywood's Golden Couples Part 3-Taylor and Burton and Confluence

I'm going to take you further on your journey into 'Confluence'. You've already learned that it is not essential for a successful relationship, but rather a desirable extra that can add another layer of empathy, during your sometimes drama-filled 'Years of Revolution' (24,36,48 etc.) or 'Years of Broken Pathway' (19.31.43 etc.). We've also learned that 'Confluence' can be applied to close friendships as well, and may help you to understand why you have a natural bond with some people and not others. I am 'Confluent' with my two closest male friends, for example. I know I've touched upon this briefly before, but today I also want to point out that 'Confluence' can mean "too much of a good thing" and that it can increase the degree of antipathy, if the relationship gets rocky. In the hands of two volatile people, it can make for fireworks and can mean "a short ride and a merry one".

Liz Taylor is the star of this show and I'm sure she'd approve me giving her top billing. Let's take a look at some of her marriages. Now, leading the pack and her greatest relationship,was Richard Burton. Liz was born on Feb. 27th, 1932 and Richard was born Richard Walter Jenkins on Nov. 10th, 1925. This means they shared 'Confluence' between Nov. 10th and Feb. 27th (3.5 mths) for every second 'significant year'. So when Richard was aged 19/31/43, Liz was aged 12/24/36. I quote from an excellent article on the Burton/Taylor relationship in the Daily Mail :- "Into this cauldron of powerful emotions stepped Burton, then aged 36 ('Year of Revolution'), when they were both cast in the epic film Cleopatra". He was the great seducer and she enjoyed getting a rise out of all her partners and getting them to show they were real men. They shared an animal magnetism, yet had tempestuous fights and are still referred to in marriage guidance books, as an example of how a marriage can go wrong, no matter how much two people love each other.

This, of course, is what an intense version of 'Confluence' can create. Not only the positively shared empathy of others, but with their shared alcohol addiction and volatile natures, it became out of control and led to frequent temper tantrums. By the time Burton was in his 48th 'Year of Revolution' in 1974, they divorced for the first time and their second marriage was brief. So no happy ever afters here. I'm now going to surprise you by telling you that Liz was, in fact, also 'Confluent' with other of her husbands, but also without success.

In her second marriage to Michael Wilding (born Jul. 23rd, 1912), she shared 'Confluence' between Feb. 27th and July 23rd for every second 'significant year' (5 months). She in fact married Michael when she was in her age 19 'Year of Broken Pathways' and they went on to have two sons and by all accounts led a comfortable, if somewhat too quiet, an existence for Liz's liking. If his career in the US had taken off things might have gone differently, but as her career soared his waned and he wanted to go back to England. In her age 24 'Year of Revolution' and when Wilding was in his age 43 'Year of Broken Pathways' she was swept off her feet by the very macho Mike Todd (with whom she was not 'Confluent'). She actually remianed good friends with Wilding after the divorce and he even worked for her and Richard Burton in the 60's. This is a good demonstration of the friendship side of 'Confluence'. Oh, and for the record Liz's age 12 'Year of Revolution' coincided with 'National Velvet', which made her a star; and at age 24 she starred in the epic film 'Giant' and began a four year year run of nominations for Best Actress Oscar; and finally at 36 it was a movie called 'Secret Ceremony' and was referred to as 'her best acting role ever'. That year also coincided with the famous Burton/Taylor diamond, but that is another story and I'll leave it to another time.

So 'Confluence' is easy to measure and can apply to both primary relationships and friendship. With two strong-willed, volatile people like Burton and Taylor it can also burn itself out in a "short ride (or shorter ride) and a merry one". With their extravagant lifestyle it is estimated Liz and Dick went through around $350 million. The lower-profile Wilding, however, shared a comfortable marriage two sons and a lifetime friendship with Liz. Have I got any of you starting to look at your own lives and the lives of others differently? Keep reading because you will soon enough. Till next month :- "May the cycles always bring you good fortune".

Confluence in Romance and Friendship-Hollywood's Golden Couples Part 2/Tracy and Hepburn and Bogie and Bacall

What a mouthful that title is! However in this post I want to show you that the brand new concept from 'Life Cycles' known as 'Confluence' is designed to be applied to relationships generally and this can include both romance and friendship. In fact once you get the hang of it, you can start to apply it in all areas of your life. The essence is that if you share time with others in your respective 'significant years' (i.e. 7/12/19/24/31/36 etc.) then you are going through your mutual dramas together. This can produce heightened empathy, or even in some cases magnify the degree of dislike, but in most cases it is a bonding experience. Let's go back to Hollywood's golden couples and see how it worked for another very famous duo :- Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.


Spencer Tracy was born 5th. April, 1900 and was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. Oh yes, I couldn't help myself and when I checked out his most important, mid-life, age 36 'Year of Revolution', I once again noted :- that it corresponded with the making of the movie 'Fury', which was his first major success. It was written that :- "audiences, who just a year ago had no clear handle on him, were suddenly turning out to see him. It was a transition that was nothing short of miraculous...". Of course I would say, that 'Life Cycles' evidence is nothing short of miraculous (I often study just this one year in a person's whole life) and that one day people will turn out in droves to discover it for themselves. In terms of his personal life however, his marriage to actress Louise Treadwell was troubled, including separations and affairs with leading ladies. This all changed when he met Katherine Hepburn and they began a relationship that lasted till his death 26 years later. Katherine was born 12th May, 1907, so this means that she and Tracy were 'Confluent' for every one of his 'Years of Broken Pathways' and her 'Years of Revolution' (i.e.when he was aged 7/19/31/43/55/death at 67; she was aged birth/12/24/36/48/60). Almost all of the year included the joint period of 12th, May (her birthday) to 5th, April (his birthday) in the next year. This saw him facing a challenge and direction change, while she faced an upheaval and new direction. No more poignant illustration of this, is that in the final short period of 'Confluence' at 60/67, she did not attend his funeral out of respect for his family, as he had never divorced and tried to keep their relationship secret. She drove behind his hearse however, but once it reached it's destination, she pulled away.

Much more could be said about their relationship and I will say it in a future book devoted just to 'Confluence', but now I want to turn to the second aspect of the term. You see it applies equally to relationships in general. So you can go and check out if your best friend's 'Confluent' with you (or write to me if you can't work it out). Well let me provide the 'seamless link' to last month's post and talk about Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. Bogart was born 25th. December, 1899, so that means that he and Spencer were 'Confluent' for every combined 'significant year' from 5th, April to 25th, December. They were thrown together in the earliest stages of their Hollywood careers with the making of the movie 'Up The River' in 1930. Bogart liked and admired Tracy and they became good friends and drinking buddies. It was Tracy who gave him the nickname of 'Bogie'. It was in their combined age 36 'Years of Revolution' that they first made their names in the 'big league'. In fact, if they were alive today, it would have been called a 'bromance'. Now let's not stop there for all four of the two couples were 'Confluent' i.e. Bogie and Bacall and Tracy and Hepburn. Did they 'hit it off'? The answer is 'definitely yes'. Bogie and Hepburn made the movie 'The African Queen' together in 1951 and the two couples were also great friends and shared a similarity in their clandestine relationships (at least in the early days of Bogart and Bacall).

I'll leave you to contemplate all this at your leisure as you've never read anything like this before. I hope you are enjoying 'a walk down memory lane' as I am too and we'll tackle another one of the most famous Hollywood couples in the next post. Till then :- "may the cycles always bring you good fortune".

Hollywood's Golden Copules-Part One/Bogie and Bacall and Confluence

If you had to compile a list of Hollywood's greatest couples then surely Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall would be at the top or very close to it. They embody the glamour and the romance of the era, as well as being a very successful partnership. I'm going to explore this highly public union in terms of my newly introduced concept of 'Confluence'. If you remember from last month it is, on the surface, a simple notion of sharing time in people's respective 'significant years' (ie. 19/24/31/36 etc. ) together. It is said to have the possibllity of creating greater empathy, because both partners are going through their mutual dramas together. This is most easily evidenced by people born within 12 months of each other, or some multiple of 12 years. In the case of Bogart and Bacall it was within 24 years of each other. Bogie was born Dec. 25th, 1899 and Lauren was born Betty Joan Perske on Sept. 16th, 1924. This means the period of Sept.16th to Dec.25th (around 3.5 months) of every 'significant year' they were both alive for, was shared as 'Confluence'.

Bogart began his career on the stage in Broadway. His personal life included three early and unhappy marriages and many brief affairs, mostly with actresses. One biography claimed he slept with around 1,000 women including Bette Davis, Jean Harlow, Marlene Deitrich and Ingrid Bergman. This was until he met the love of his life:- the 19 year old inexperienced actress, Lauren Bacall, whom he met when she was auditioning for a part in the movie 'To Have and To Have Not'. They would have first met also when Bogart was 43, so both were experiencing the direction-altering events that typically come along during a 'Year of Broken Pathways':- only this time it was magnified, because they were undergoing them together.



Let's take the then, Betty Bacall, first. When she was 19, the wife of independent film director Howard Hawks (whose nickname was 'Slim':- the name of Bacall's character in the movie) noticed her on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. She showed the photo to her husband, who soon signed her for the role. He changed her name to Lauren Bacall and changed her style and voice:- adopting a lower, sexier tone, that made it one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood. During screen tests to minimise her nervousness, she pressed her chin against her chest and tilted her eyes upward. This created "The Look", which became Bacall's trademark. On it's own this is highly relevant evidence for fateful direction-change in her 'Year of Broken Pathways' (no different to the making of Edith Piaf, or the making of Lady Gaga at exactly the same age).

However Humphrey Bogart had his own dramas during his 'Year of Broken Pathways' at 43. His third marriage to Mayo Methot had been a disaster, while their alcoholism and fighting, including gunplay, were legendary. They were known as the "battling Bogarts", she was called "Sluggy" and their home (the scene of much of their fighting, including stabbing Bogart in the shoulder) was known as "Sluggy Hollow". He was ready for a change and wanted peace, not war. This was fertile ground to be introduced to a nice Jewish girl, 24 years his junior, and not a big drinker. It was said that Bogart fell in love with the role of "Slim" played by Bacall and that he wanted her to always play this role for him. But whatever the ideosyncracies were, their relationship worked until his death in 1957.

Oh yes, and just by the way, at 36, when Bogart was in his most important mid-life 'Year of Revolution' he had his acknowledged major film breakthrough role in 'The Petrified Forest' with his acting being called "brilliant", "compelling" and "superb". Just another 'Life Cycles' recitation of:- 'The Truth and The Evidence'. Remember you don't have to believe in it, you just have to read it. The facts are the facts. Till next month, when I go further into Hollywood in Part 2 :- "may the cycles always bring you good fortune".

Introducing Confluence-Let's Start With Brad and Angie

We're going to introduce the new cycle of twelve posts with a brand new term:-'Confluence'. Now this is not a brand new word and it usually refers to when two bodies of water (often rivers) join together to form one larger and stronger body of water. The new current will increase as the water volume increases. In the same way when 'Confluence' is used in 'Life Cycles' terms it refers to two or more people whose lives are conjoined and who are sharing time in their 'significant years' together. This is most easily displayed in primary relationships. So, if you and your partner were born within twelve months of each other or a multiple of twelve or seven then you share some 'Confluence'. For example if you were born twelve years apart then part of every 'significant year' (ie. 12/19/24/31/36 etc.) would see you sharing dramas and challenges. If I was born in say Jan.1980 and you were born in Jan.1987, then in every second 'significant year' we would be 'Confluent'. Don't worry I'll explain more of this later. It can potentially mean greater empathy and understanding of what each other is experiencing.

Let's start with one of the world's most high-profile couples:- Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Brad was born 18th.Dec.1963 and is 48 (in a 'Year of Revolution') right now. Angie was born 4th.Jun.1975 and is 36 and in her important mid-life 'Year of Revolution' as we speak. What is unfolding? Firstly Angie has had a big year already with her directorial debut with 'In The Land of Blood and Honey', along with being named a Special Envoy for the UN on refugees. She has just been made an Honorary citizen of Sarajevo. But together they have the biggest announcement of all:- they are engaged to be married. This was in spite of Brad's support of Gay marriage rights before his own wedding. It has also been noted that because of Angie he has gotten a lot more involved with hunanitarian work.

It should also be noted that Brad was 'Confluent' with Jennifer Aniston but only for every second 'significant year'. The whole 'Mr.& Mrs. Smith' break up happened when Jen was 36 and now that she is 43 and in her next 'significant year' there has been an announcement of a marriage to be held in Greece. So it seems more 'Confluence' is better in this case, although I should point out that you do not need it for a successful relationship, but it does add an extra element.

I will be exploring more of the world's greatest couples and this unique phenomenon, so keep tuned. Until then:- "may the cycles always bring you good fortune".