Appropriate Handling

Over at Beliefnet, Stephen Hawking's latest shocking claims are discussed:

Stephen Hawking has created a firestorm in his new book, The Grand Design, in which he declares that an intelligent creator was not necessary for the creation of the Universe. This is nothing new - Hawking has long argued against the need for a supernatural being to create the Universe, but in this new book he speaks out with particular clarity, saying that the laws of physics can create the universe out of nothing, it doesn't require God.

Okay, that's a somewhat plodding summary, do go - oh, you ARE going on:

Though not a scientist, I will argue that the creation of the Universe and the planet is a separate issue entirely from the creation of consciousness. Human beings are conscious creatures, and there is growing evidence to suggest that most animals and birds possess a level of consciousness as well. I am certainly not arguing for the Genesis-tale of creation, where a god variously termed Jehovah, Yahweh, and the Elohim (Plural) created the heavens and the earth. But it is difficult to imagine a scenario where conscious beings formed without a conscious intention of some kind.

All right, you're branching out into the ether there and I -

Hawking's Sun is in achievement-oriented Capricorn, and he has a Grand Trine of planets in earth that includes Mercury, Uranus and Neptune. Uranus opens his mind (Mercury) to fresh new insights, and Neptune adds a creative note which helps to raise his mental abilities. Hawking was an underachiever in college until ALS began to rob his physical body of its abilities, after which time he began to work hard and focus all of his energies through the mind. He is now thought by some to be the smartest man in the world.

Uranus in Hawkins chart conjoins Saturn, a combination that requires a balance of one's radical and individualistic (Uranus) nature with the more structured rules of Saturn. Often individuals with this combination of planets tend to embrace one over the other and a war between the two impulses can result. Hawkings was first diagnosed when he was 21 years old - an age at which transiting Saturn forms a square to Saturn in the birthchart at the same time that Uranus squares the natal Uranus. This is a big time of change for every human being, but with Saturn and Uranus conjoined in the birthchart it took on greater force and likely drove all of his focus towards the aspect of his personality which worked well, which is the Grand Trine involving Mercury.