WINTERSUN IS COMINIG - part I

The Finnish epic heavy metal band Wintersun is touring across Europe right now and they are also planing to visit Australia, New Zealand and Japan this autumn. On September 11th, I saw them live in Warsaw and I must admit it was a fantastic experience. As an astrologer I couldn't help myself analysing the birth charts of the band members during the concert. It was amazing to see how the behaviour of each of them was reflected in their natal charts. In this article I would like to present my observations from the concert but also to analyse the synastry between the members of the band and write about the interesting (from the astrological point of view) story of Wintersun's leader, Jari Mäenpää.

I gave a lecture about the influence of Neptune in the charts of artists at the 9th conference of Polish Astrological Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Astrologiczne) taking place in Warsaw in March 2017 which also included Jari. Usually when Neptune is strong in the birth charts of artists (it is placed on the angles or is forming aspects to personal planets) it is the source of strong inspiration enabling them to create amazing art works which seem to be out of this world. Unfortunately, Neptune is not only the planet of artistic inspiration but also of addictions. Many artists with strong Neptune in their birth charts create amazing works but they may become addicts at the same time. Drugs or/and alcohol have already destroyed the careers of many very talented artist. Luckily this is not the case of Jari Mäenpää. The manifestation of Neptune in Jari's life is very unique and makes his story so interesting. Let's take a look at Jari's natal chart. 

He's a Capricorn with Venus, Mercury and Neptune in Sagittarius and Mars in Leo. As we can see Neptune forms important aspects to his personal planets, a conjunction with Venus and a trine with Mars, so Jari is a Neptunian artist. His music is not just an ordinary heavy metal. The music he creates (he writes lyrics, composes and produces his songs) comes from a different dimension. It sounds a bit like a soundtrack for a fairy-tale and it awakens the imagination which is so typical for Neptune. In general, the individuals with strong Neptune can't bear the reality which seems so boring, superficial and meaningless to them, making them suffer and feeling like they want to escape from this world in some way. They have a great imagination so they create their own, fantasy world where they feel like at home. Dealing with everyday tasks like shopping, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, earning money is not their thing. This is too ordinary for them. This is why they are searching for a deeper meaning in life and they try to bring their fantasy world to the reality. The best way to do this is through artistic work. 

photo by Jari Mäenpää                                                                          www.facebook.com/jariwintersun   

 Jari's problems started with signing a tricky contract with his record label. According to this contract, Jari doesn't earn much money on what he creates which must be very frustrating for an ambitious and hard working Capricorn. Actually, it's quite strange that a wise Capricorn signed such a bad contract, but Mercury, the planet of communication, is in a very difficult position in Jari's chart. His Mercury is in Sagittarius (in detriment) and it's retrograde. The natives with such Mercury placement don't pay attention to details because they don't seem important for them. What really matters to them is the bigger picture. On the other hand, they are overwise and think that they know everything better than others. The individuals with Mercury retrograde aren't less intelligent than others, they only need more time to learn and understand something properly. It's quite probable that Jari Mäenpää was so happy that a big, international record label wanted to sign a contract with him, that he didn't pay attention to details. Having Mercury in Sagittarius, he probably was thinking about the possible growth and expansion of his music careerer and he didn't bother with the details concerning money. 

The record company advised Jari to create a band, so he found very talented musicians who were willing to play with him. Jari named his band Wintersun. It also became the title of his first album which was released in 2004. It's worth mentioning that Jari was born on December 23rd, one day after the winter solstice, so intuitively he chose a very good name. In October 2012, Jari released his second album called "Time I". He had a very clear and specific vision of how the songs on this album should sound like. Unfortunately, producing the album according to his ideas was quite expensive and he couldn't afford it as he was not earning much on his music. Usually the record companies invest in the production of their artists' albums, but in this case the record label wasn't willing to pay so much money for Jari's true visions. Jari had to compromise and released an album he wasn't completely satisfied from. He was (and probably still is) very angry about this situation. He decided not to release the second part of "Time" until he was able to produce it the way he wanted to. According to the record company, Jari was exaggerating and his stubbornness was completely ridiculous. They respected his great talent, professionalism and high standards of making music, but in their opinion even the demo recordings of Jari's songs were good enough to publish, so spending money on making his visions was unnecessary. Jari Mäenpää is a Capricorn which is why he is such a stubborn perfectionist who is never completely satisfied with his work. He always thinks that he can do something better, so recording albums take him a very long time. As the record company didn't want to pay for the proper production of "Time", Jari tried to make this album on his own. He spent years on mixing the tracks until he got to the point that he wasn't able to do it any more because he didn't have a good equipment. He realised that he needed his own studio to achieve that, but obviously he had no money to build it. He was trapped by his ambition and perfectionism. He wanted to make an album which would fulfil his true vision but he couldn't due to the lack of money which must have been very frustrating for Capricorn. In this case perfectionism paralysed Jari. The individuals with strong Neptune always want to make their vision true, but they often forget that it requires proper resources. Jari had no money and no possibility to produce an album that he wanted to. He decided not to release "Time II" if couldn't do it his way. He wasn't satisfied with "Time I" and he didn't want to make the same mistake with "Time II". Capricorns hate compromises, so no wonder that Jari doesn't want to release an album that would not be done according to his true vision. 

screen shot from Jari's fan page on Facebook

The individuals born under the sign of Capricorn quite often have to struggle with many obstacles especially when they are young. They know that they must work very hard and patiently wait for success. They take life very seriously and they are very proud, so they don't want to get anything for free. They are not afraid of hard work and they are famous for obsessive perfectionism. The sign of Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the planet which is related to time, wisdom, annoying delays, struggling with obstacles, criticism, limitations, sadness, seriousness, loneliness and frustration.

Saturn is a very important planet in Jari's chart as it forms square to his Moon in Gemini and trine to his Sun in Capricorn. Interestingly, the album of Wintersun is called "Time" and this is also the title of one of the songs included in this record. Producing this album took 6 years. The lyrics of Jari's songs have a deep, philosophical meaning (which is typical for Mercury in Sagittarius) and are related to loneliness, frustration, evanescence, death and endless waiting for a brighter future. The lyrics of "Time" are the perfect definition of the planet Saturn.

Darkness and frost are starting to reach
The heart of this land with a cold disease
Sleep now for a while before the storm awakes
And one day it will reward you for the burden of wait
The roots go deep into the frozen dead ground
Listen to the land of snow, it makes no sound
For ages searching the warmth of the sun
If it never finds me, I can die as one
Time will go on and we are drifting away in the night
I´ve been searching so long,
But I will find you even if it takes my whole life
But tonight I feel so alone
And I know that you are forever gone
Oh time, don´t fade away when I need you here,
Oh please don´t leave me now

Time!
Time!
Fades away!
When time fades away!
And I´ll never be the same

Time! Time! Time! Time!

You want so much from me
I feel nothing but grief and despair
How can I make you feel again
All my dreams are just visions I can't bear
You want something that I can't give
I cannot keep living in this bitter dream
And I don't care anymore
It feels like my life is ending

Oh, another year gone by
But nothing has changed in my life
And time goes on forever and ever
And it waits for no one

Time fades away
And I fade away
And I´ll never be the same
Time! Fades away!
When time fades away!
And I´ll never feel the same
And I fade away!
When time fades away!
And I´ll never feel the same

A coincidence? Probably yes, as I don't think Jari is interested in astrology nor has he any knowledge of this discipline. Nevertheless, there is lot of other astrological references in his lyrics, e.g. the titles of some of his songs like "Death and the Healing" (an obvious Pluto theme), "Sons of Winter and Stars", "Beyond the Dark Sun", "Battle Against Time" (Saturn again), "Sleeping Stars", "Starchild" (Uranus) and "Awaken From The Dark Slumber" (Neptune).

It's obvious that the strong influence of Saturn in Jari's natal chart has a huge impact on his artistic work and on his life. The Saturnian people are very serious, responsible, hard working and patient. They must work harder than everybody else to achieve success and they always have to struggle with some obstacles. The most frustrating is the endless waiting for... everything. This is very annoying when they are young, before their first Saturn return which takes place at the age of 29 - 30. Other people (non-Saturnians) achieve their goals very quickly. They create good relationships, find a nice job and gain financial stability quite quickly. The Saturnians have to wait for it, therefore they feel very lonely and frustrated. The strong influence of Saturn makes them very serious and responsible, so when they are young they are not spontaneous and it's very difficult for them to relate to other people. The Saturnians are searching for a deeper meaning in life so young people who are having fun and make a lot of stupid things are silly, boring and superficial in their eyes. They don't relate to them and feel very lonely. Quite often young Saturnians are rejected and even bullied by peers who laugh at their seriousness. Saturnians are very sensitive so when someone criticizes or makes fun of them, they suffer. They want to disappear from this cruel and superficial world. Quite often they suffer from depression and sometimes have suicidal thoughts. After turning 30, marking their first Saturn return, their life situation changes. The frustrating limitations are gone so they can finally achieve their goals, fall in love, create good relationships and gain financial stability. Nevertheless, in some cases (when the influence of Saturn is very strong, like in the case of Jari Mäenpää) it may take more time and these Saturnians break free from their limitations when they are over 40 years old. Jari is nearly 40 now, so his time has finally come and from now on, everything will come easier to him. He will probably have to face some obstacles during the transit of Saturn to his Venus, Mercury and the Sun (which will take place by the end of October, in November, December 2017 and January 2018), but after this transit he will achieve his goals easily. He may expect success in October, November and December 2019 during the transit of Jupiter to Venus, Mercury and the Sun. It will be a very good time for him.

It's worth mentioning that Jari has 4 planets retrograde in his chart which also causes annoying delays. The individuals with planets retrograde cannot achieve their goals quickly although they work very hard on it. They think that they go straight to the point, but they are not aware that instead of going forwards, they go backwards. They feel like they got stuck in a wrong place and they don't know how to get out of it. They need more time than other people to learn how to act properly. When the retrograde planets turn direct in the progressed chart, these individuals finally notice a positive change in their lives. 

photo by Jari Mäenpää                                                                          www.facebook.com/jariwintersun

Fortunately, Jari has not only a strong influence of Neptune and Saturn in his natal chart. In some way he is also a Jupiterian type as he has Venus and Mercury in Sagittarius (sign ruled by Jupiter) and a Jupiter - Sun opposition. Jupiter in astrology is related to good luck, expansion, growth, broadening horizons, international recognition, higher knowledge, universe and philosophy. Thanks to Jupiter, Jari can overcome many obstacles as he's a lucky man (which he would probably deny as Capricorns don't believe in such things as luck. They believe in hard work). The Sun - Jupiter opposition means that other people are always ready to help Jari. He can achieve success thanks to the support of others. In some way this must be frustrating to him, as he prefers to do everything on his own, which is very typical for Capricorns. They always want to control everything and think that no one could it better than them and Jari is no exception. He composes his music, writes lyrics and produces it by himself. He had to learn the whole process of mixing and mastering music, but he succeeded. He could also become a producer although working with him could be difficult as he is perfectionist who is never satisfied with his work. As he had no money to produce "Time" the way he wanted to and the record company didn't want to pay for his Neptunian visions, Jari was caught in a situation with no way out. Having a talkative Moon in Gemini, he wanted to explain his position on his Facebook profile, which caused even more problems as he gained a lot of haters and got in trouble with his record company. Fortunately, he has a very devoted and loyal fan base who love his music, appreciate his amazing talent and accept his obsessive perfectionism and the need for realising his true vision in music. The fans suggested Jari to organise a crowdfunding campaign in which they would give the money he needed for his own studio. They were ready to do this because they wanted to hear more Wintersun music. At the beginning Jari rejected this idea as it was not serious enough. Most bands who organised such campaigns gave their fans semi used underwear or similar items which in Jari's opinion were ridiculous. He definitely didn't want to go this way. Besides a proud Capricorn would have never accept anything for free. Nevertheless, the fans insisted, so Jari had to think what he could give them in return. While walking in a forest close to his home, he got the inspiration for a new album, which was completely different from still unreleased "Time II". He was inspired by the way how the forest was changing during the seasons of the year. He wrote 4 songs that were reflecting the seasons in the forest and called this album "The Forest Seasons". Now he had something good to give to his fans in the crowdfunding campaign. The concept of this album is totally different than of 'Time I" and "Time II" and most of all it is not expensive to make. Capricrons are famous for doing something extraordinary having little resources. Jari recorded and produced the entire album by himself. He even learnt photography and prepared the 5k booklet for the album (except for the cover). It turned out that he is a very talented photographer. It's very interesting to see how the energy of Neptune manifests in Jari's photos. Although the photos he takes are very beautiful, he uses a programme for editing photos to make them even more magical, unreal and like out of this world. He prefers making photos of lonely landscapes. He even sells his images (https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jariwintersun), which is very good for him, because it means that he finally learnt an important lesson of earning money on his talents and understood that accomplishing his true vision requires proper resources. 

photo by Jari Mäenpää                                              www.facebook.com/jariwintersun

The crowdfunding campaign took place in March and April 2017 and it became a huge success. Wintersun gained almost half of the amount of money that they need for their own studio. In the future, they plan more crowdfunding campaigns which will allow them to collect all the money they need. The album "The Forest Seasons" was released in July 2017, almost 7 years after their last record "Time I". The fans who participated in the campaign received the links to the material of "The Forest Package" which included not only the new album but also remastered version of "Time I", the debut album "Wintersun", the isolated tracks of all the songs from "The Forest Seasons" and many more. The amount of items featured in the package also shows the Jupiterian nature of Jari who is generous to his fans. The new album went to the first place of the Finnish charts and became very successful. However, perhaps the most important thing is that Wintersun finally has new material and can go touring to earn more money. After years of struggling against many obstacles, Jari has finally started to build the solid foundation for his careerer. Interestingly, the crowdfunding campaign took place during the transit of Saturn to his Venus and Mercury. It was quite possible that it would be a total failure as Saturn brings limitations and Venus represents financial matters, so at that time Jari might have lost money instead of gaining it. Fortunately everything went even better than expected. Saturn may bring a reward to people who work very hard for their success. Saturn seldom offers gifts but when it does, it is very special and long-lasting. In this case Saturn gave money to Jari who was struggling with financial issues for many ears. The money he gained in this crowdfunding campaign is the first firm step for building his studio and accomplishing his Neptunian true vision. 

The Sun - Jupiter opposition and also the north Lunar Node in Libra show that relationships of all kind and collaborating with others are very beneficial for Jari. The best example of it is the huge support of the members of his band. They are very talented and high skilled musicians who are able to play Jari's sophisticated and complex songs. The band didn't split up despite the fact that for many years there was nothing going on with Wintersun.

 

I will dedicate the next part of this article to the members of the band and I will analyse the relationships between them. I will also share my impressions from their concert in Warsaw.

Special thanks to Anna Blanka Solun from Wintersun UK y España, Wintersun Fans, Wintersun Madness and Wintersun South Africa for providing very detailed information about the band and co-writing this article with me.

"Time" from "Time I" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alo7A0NLmxU 

"Loneliness" (Winter) from "The Forest Seasons"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIiZFpOQnd8