Jerry Garcia had already begun his long, strange road in the role of Classic
American Hero when he took his first breath as Jerome John Garcia, struggling
and beating the odds at life’s doorway. He was considered lucky to be in the
incubation ward, during his first weeks, surviving a birth so precarious, his
father empowered the attending physician to make the decision to save either
mother or child. Jerry Garcia lived to watch his father drown in the American
River at the age of five; following these deep emotional wounds, Jerry and his
older brother Tiff, went to live with his maternal grandparents in "Old San
Francisco’s Excelsior District"
Garcia is a legend for fans from the 60s through the 90s. His sincere and
uncompromising personality and reluctance as a role model is Leo, The Lion at
his best. Garcia never sought the high profile spotlight, but he never shrank
from it either. His ability to accept his role in the world of mortals without
grimace or grin (well, he smiled some) is astrologically illustrated by this
characteristic Sun in Leo attitude~~the chief, patriarchal role model for family
and community.
A positive Leo type with characteristics of both Apollo (cerebral power) and
Hercules (physical power) he crossed all the lines that society uses to separate
and compartmentalize people in the way the Sun shines brightly over the boarders
of different countries. Garcia was a consistently loyal friend, good listener
and impartial judge of characters. DJ Musician Greg Kihn observed: "Who else
could pick up a guitar and jam with Ornette Coleman? What I respected was that
he could play anything. He could play skiffle, blues, rock, bluegrass, jazz. In
today's specialized world, that is rare. He was the kind of person who threaded
the music business together."
His tireless routine and capacity for self-sacrifice extends well past The
Grateful Dead’s support for groups like SEVA and THE REX FOUNDATION. With
Mercury near his Sun, the ageless spirit took on the rhythm and lifestyle
pattern of a teenager, remaining at that tempo throughout his life. People with
Mercury this close to Sun or Moon always think like somebody who is at least 10
years younger than their chronological age. One look at Garcia and you could see
he went with The Grateful Dead because his love of amusement and theatre was
free to indulge itself in the best creative channel possible. A man worthy of
the title, "Eternal Optimist", Jerry Garcia devoted his creativity and love of
an artful production more to the community than he did for himself. If Garcia’s
unique music (enduring gifts of empowerment) were lifted out of the historical
backdrop into which he was deposited, any review of Garcia would lack the thrust
he contributed. He and his musical art forms are central to the alternative
lifestyle concept that blossomed during the 60s~~when people realized what it
meant to re-invent themselves as free-thinking Americans.
Garcia’s Sun/Mercury combo in Leo gave his versatility and quickness the
character of an aesthetic in the process of discovery, ever simple and yet
profound. His good humor and steady wit accented that saving grace
(selflessness) gently so we were all spared yet another crashing bore guru
toting yet another tome of rules to remember. His Sun/Mercury/Pluto conjunction
kept him stripped down and ready for action on the spiritual plane. But, if
Garcia ever gave such a speech or sermon I would like to know about it; thus far
my research has uncovered nothing in the ‘Holier Than Thou’ Dept. The
reformer-social-activist soapbox inherited from his ancestors (he would never
cross a picket line) renovated the halls of music as opposed to revolutionizing
the halls of any labor union. Beyond that, from the community there is no end in
sight to the testimonials, heartwarming sentiment, and genuine sense of loss
people experience at his departure for higher dimensions ~ yet more than
"enjoying the ride", Garcia is probably, right now, teaching St. Peter how to
tune the banjo.
In her intro to HARRINGTON STREET, penned by Garcia* personally, Deborah
Koons Garcia sums up the big picture overview, "The child who had his family
split apart grew into the man who for thirty years created a happy family for
millions of people, something they could belong to for the price of a ticket."
Garcia had the most delightful collection of old 8 MM cartoons he would screen
for children of all ages in mini-production format. His cartoon fests were
headliners with the little people because you just couldn’t find such rare
features as, "The Pin Cushion Man", anyplace else. Garcia would cart boxes of
cartoon reels from his private stash, along with his own portable screen and
projector, set up everything and run films by the hour. The Inner Child
(Sol/Mercury in Leo) enjoyed this perfect outlet, shining through even when
still in Mother McCree’s Uptown Jugband Champions during the early 60s. Garcia’s
map reveals the ‘combust’, or explosive Sun/Mercury/Pluto unison energies, so
close together that his cognitive flashes (viewed through both inner and outer
eyes) are brief moments of brilliance and then vap - gone.
Harnessing his intellectual ability to regenerate, transform, or materialize invisible landscapes became a clear need for Garcia early on. The messages he sends out to his audience even now on tapes and film, testify to his acquisition of an ancient key we all seek, consciously or unconsciously. The tremendous power suggested by Garcia’s ease in these transcendental realms, the profound path of open heart and service, has been sought by Ancient Oriental Astrologers since the dawn of time… the attempts to coordinate the birth of the Emperor so to coincide with these great heavenly auguries have been observed for centuries without much appreciation in Western schools. Yet when someone like Garcia does appear on the scene, it is interesting to note that many with an education and intellectual range to appreciate his import do not, and those ‘on the street’ have no difficulty. I’ve noted that those with lots of letters after their names have only one redundant thing to say about Garcia while the community as a whole seems much wiser and accurate about Garcia’s life, his perfect art from his soul, and his long term contributions. Funny isn’t it - how much time and money people spend for an education that gives permission to ignore the bulk of an artist’s work and point a finger to the vulnerability that verifies the artist as a caring and overly generous human being. There are bumper stickers and seals printed with emblems, "Grateful Dead University Graduate" - think I’ll get one for my car.
Garcia’s Sun/Mercury in Leo, melded with the transformational planet of
veils, invisibility and mystery, Pluto, probably dictated his fashion tastes
more than any other consideration. I mention this only because of #31 on the
list of "You Know You’re A Deadhead When…": ‘31. Your stock portfolio includes
50 shares of the HANES BLACK T-shirt division’. These three heavenly bodies tend
to provide a cover of camouflage similar to the kind authored by Mother Nature
in some of Her finest art forms. In his trademark black T-shirt Garcia masked an
incredible light so he could move among the masses with ease at a natural
shoulder to shoulder level.
The fine art of invisibility is often misunderstood by the neophyte - it is
simply the ability to move within a crowd (space) unseen. There are several
references to this skill in the New Testament, the most profound recorded re
Palm Sunday, and the manner in which Christ evaded the mob trying to crown Him
King. Since invisibility is an acquired status (see the Germanic Hiding Cape,
The Helmet of Minerva, and code books of the CIA) there have been some
murmurings about Garcia’s interest in the paranormal (haunted house, etc.).
Actually there are only thin lines, in some places, between reality and illusion
- from the subjective point of view, naturally. The three types of
psycho-kinetic energies combined to form an effective illusion in Garcia’s map
are more the showman, healthy skeptic, and astute observer. Garcia could never
settle on an answer in cement and be content to "leave it at that". He loved
asking questions too much. And his left brain could never be gentled into
submission, (there was no "off switch" to it) a basic requirement for serious
pursuit in the mystic arts. His guitar was his trusty "magic wand", not to part
the waters, rather as apt representation of ‘the walking staff’ and standard we
all wish for, ideally to steady us as we advance en route to our goals.
Circumspection and care to stay to one’s own true path in life (‘rta’, Sanskrit,
‘the right way’) are only an effective tracking key delivered compliments of
Oversoul (echoes of Ken Kesey: "Stay In Your Own Movie" and Joseph Campbell:
"Follow Your Bliss!:").
With all his egoless offering of time and talent, Garcia was not without
those telltale traces of the great storyteller (Leo, the stage) bonded with his
dedicated audience. Even before the curtain went up, Garcia would hold court in
The Green Room backstage, surrounded by his inner circle and scores of adoring
fans. He was truly a throw back to the ancient hierophants who interpreted the
mystery drama for the multitude. This Leo tendency to assume the position of
authority, dignity, and vibrant popularity is so repetitious in Garcia’s
lifestyle, it is frequently difficult to draw a line between reality and the
drama of being a player of one of the most successful live performance bands of
all time. Garcia turns it around by saying,
"Actually, I’ve always thought that we were like a public works, really a
utility as much as anything else. That’s the way it feels, and for a lot of
people, it’s therapeutic to have a real good time once in a while. I know it is
for me, definitely, and that’s what we do as far as I’m concerned, really, and
being able to direct that in some way or another is awfully nice. I remember one
time a long time ago - Ken Kesey and Wavy Gravy were involved with it too, I
guess not coincidentally - we played someplace funny, like Cincinnati, at a
university there, and they had Kesey speaking there, and the Hog Farm was there
also, and this was in ’69 , maybe ’68. We went there and played and the people
got off on it, just enormously, and we left town, but the Hog Farmers stayed
behind, and the day after the concert they got on the local FM radio station –
back in those days, they had loose, free-form radio – and they said, there’s
this vacant lot—there was this lot in the black section of town that had old
tires and bedsprings and junk and garbage and all kinds of shit—and they said,
"Let’s clean up this lot." And they got people to stop there, sort of steaming
on the energy of the concert from the night before, kind of continuing that
feeling."
"At the end of the day, when those ladies came home from their jobs over on
the white side of town there was a park there. It’s like taking the energy of
that high—Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farmers have such grace in doing things like
that – and to me, that’s always been a great service model, you know, how can
you turn this into something, how can you take it another step, without it
turning into some kind of willful mind manipulation? And that was one of the
times that happened, really spontaneously. It was just great, and we got such
lovely feedback from it. But for me, its always been this model of, if you get
the right elements going there and people who are clear about that good energy,
there’s definitely stuff that you can make happen that turns out good, and
everybody feels good about it."
With the Solar to Mercury/Pluto power to reverse one’s fate and fortune
comes the responsibility to invest the energy as a viable component from within
the tool chest - the physical power reserves themselves. To accomplish this a
Heart of Gold is required. This is one of those secrets Garcia kept locked and
hidden from view. Until people really uncover the hidden itinerary he traveled
through life, its quite impossible to gauge the importance of his presence or
any program he supported.
The pioneering history of his family gave him zeal and imagination that
developed into his ‘new era’ psychedelic consciousness. This is illustrated by
the sextile between his Saturn, found in its best possible sign Gemini, to his
Moon. Garcia calls his 15th birthday the ‘historic date’ when he got his first
electric guitar; he left the ‘straight’ world treadmill, entered the Army two
years later and switched to acoustic. Guitar Player Magazine (9/91) refers to
this new phase in musical development. "Most of his nine-month enlistment was
spent woodshedding the fingerstyles of Mississippi John Hurt and Elizabeth
Cotten. After his discharge, he played a few acoustic gigs with Robert Hunter
and then fell hard for the 5-string banjo, developing serious frailing and
Scruggs-style chops over the next four years while passing through a series of
folk and bluegrass bands. And though he flirted briefly with the acoustic with
Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions in 1964, Garcia considered himself a banjo
player until he started playing a Guild Starfire when the Warlocks were formed
in early ’65. By year’s end….following the Acid Test as the Grateful Dead,
Garcia’s electrically charged psychedelic wanderings had become part of an era’s
soundtrack."
At this juncture, progressed Venus closed on her sojourn through the sign of
clan and nest of origin (Moonchild, or Cancer). She advanced into the first
decan of Leo, the constellation CRATER, a furnace or cup of fire pouring out
over the Earth ~~ images clearly laced with alchemical double entendre. Garcia's
Social Urge (Venus) animated from this zodiacal degree, drew pleasure in
performing to an extended rock an roll family partaking at a larger table,
sharing within social communities structured with love as the foundation of all
achievement. This is the decanate of Rulership and it catches on like the
wildfire of the Ancient Greeks' 'agape' (love feast). America's youth were
awakening to civil rights issues, the peace movement, women's lib, black power,
and freedom of speech (as an endangered species). Garcia shed his early 60s role
as teacher/music man of the San Francisco Bay Area. With this new Leo Stellium
configuration, his relationship template absorbed the desire to shoulder
Herculean labors and fostered the widening responsibility base paced at round
the clock rock and roll performances.
In 1966 The Grateful Dead performed at the 3 day Trips Festival to 10,000
people. Leo brother Ken Kesey, Aquarian Wizard Neal Cassady and The Merry
Pranksters were testing their resources. The event opened up new horizons for
Garcia, introducing him to the world at large. His Moon was influenced by
Aquarius then, keying in perfect timing and reactions that are neither too swift
nor too slow. This sign balances out the Leo attitude so Garcia was
unconventional yet compelling. Allen Ginsberg, Big Brother and The Holding
Company and a mass of local talent helped set the stage for the Human-Be-In,
held a year later in Golden Gate Park. The foundation was laid for the
extraordinary Summer of Love.
At the same time, during 1966, The Grateful Dead jammed in LA recording
sessions to produce, 'Anthem of the Sun'. Constanten contributed piano and
electronics work. His inside track from these collaborations:
"… simply a case of musicians of like mind pursuing paths of interest to
them. Back up on the street level after some sessions at Columbus Recorders in
San Francisco, Jerry turned to me and said, 'I think we can use you.' Jerry
Garcia is one of the remarkable men of our times. So inventive, so assured, so
alert, so amazingly aware in and out of musical contexts. He takes the
responsibility personally, that the music should unfold interestingly." (Tom
Constanten, BETWEEN ROCK & HARD PLACES, A Musical Autobiodyssey). Personal
reflections and musings about back pages, including The Monterey Pop Festival,
The Tribal Stomp and especially The Summer of Love, are available from
publications like RELIX, THE GOLDEN ROAD, and 'The Oracle', Haight-Ashbury's
evolution in print.
He is [was] my maternal great-grandfather and to me a shadowy, romantic figure. He was a 19th century sea captain
sailing into perilous seas from Sweden to San Francisco from the treacherous North Atlantic around the Cape of St
Storms. My fantasy is he jumps ship at San Francisco and joins the hordes of fortune seekers..."The Barbary Coast"...
The "early Embarcadero"....the waterfront, Russian Hill. -Jerry Garcia
Garcia Part 2
