Doyle's Paradox

The newly-released film Mr. Holmes brings back of one of the public’s favorite fictional detectives. The film takes place in 1947. Sherlock Holmes has retired to a seaside home to tend his garden and keep bees. He reflects on an unsolved case that prompted his retirement. This isn’t the typical Baker Street action film. It’s a retrospective of a complicated life by a man whose mind is losing its razor edge.

Sherlock Holmes was created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (pictured above). The first Holmes story was sold in November 1886. Doyle was a medical doctor and ophthalmologist who had worked on board ships and for the army during the Boer War. His literary skills prevailed when the Holmes stories got good reviews and were accepted for publication in the prestigious in the 1890s. Doyle quickly tired of writing Holmes stories. He tried charging outrageous sums for the stories, but the publishers paid him! In “The Final Problem,” written in 1893, Holmes and Moriarty tumble into Reichenbach Falls. Public outcry compelled Doyle to bring Holmes back to life in 1901 with “The Hounds of the Baskervilles”. He wrote fifty-six Holmes stories; the final story was published in 1927.

Doyle was ambivalent about Sherlock Holmes. The character was based on one of his university professors. Holmes did not have a pleasant personality! While he was the master of keen observation, tiny clues, and meticulous logic, he was also scornful of other people’s intelligence and displayed rude and bizarre behaviors.

Doyle became an agnostic while in college studying medicine. He had a legalistic and scientific side to his character. Paradoxically, Doyle had a deeply mystical side, too. He was a member of the Society for Psychical Research and ardently pursued spiritualism after the death of his son Kingsley and other family members during World War I. He wrote books about the existence of spirits and fairies. He sought proof of existence after death, perhaps as a form of consolation after the painful loss of so many family members. This pursuit led to public clashes with debunkers of fraudulent mediums, most famously by Harry Houdini. Doyle could not be convinced that the illusions were not tricks.

It makes some sense that a man of both science and mysticism was born under the sign of Gemini. Doyle was born just after sunrise with his Sun close to Uranus in the sign of the Twins and trine his Aquarius Moon. Gemini is the sign that rules facts and figures. The lunar trine adds mystery and a wild imagination. The odd paradox of science and occultism is shown by Gemini’s ruler Mercury conjunct Pluto in Taurus, a planet associated with dark mysteries. Contacting the dead qualifies as a Mercury-Pluto type of activity! His refusal to accept the fraudulent performances of Boston medium Miriam Craddock and others may have something to do with Mercury and Pluto’s square with Saturn in Leo. If he couldn’t see the trick or illusion, he refused to believe that there was one. He ascribed super-natural abilities to Houdini even when the great escape artist insisted that his escapes were, in fact, tricks!

Sir Ian McKellan plays the aging Sherlock Holmes in the new film. Like Doyle, McKellan also has an early degree Gemini Sun, but was born just after sundown. His birth chart features a Mercury-Uranus conjunction in Taurus. Where Doyle pursued the spirits of the dead, McKellan has portrayed dead kings and princes during his remarkably long and prolific career. After many years of acclaimed Shakespearian stage performances, he was offered the role of Magneto in X-Men (2000). He gained international fame in a string of blockbusters, including more X-Men films and in the iconic role of the wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films by Peter Jackson.

Doyle and McKellan share other chart features. Doyle’s Gemini Ascendant is conjunct Jupiter; McKellan’s Sagittarius Ascendant is trine Jupiter in Aries. Jupiter brings public visibility and fame. Both men have Saturn in fire signs. Saturn relates to old age and the end of life. Both men have Saturn square Pluto and both had a surge of international fame in their later years. In Doyle’s case, he fought for justice for wrongfully accused men and for the validation of spiritualism. In McKellan’s case, his illustrious stage career opened the door to starring roles in billion-dollar film franchises.

Doyle’s chart is dominated by Mercury and Saturn, planets well suited to a doctor and writer. McKellan’s chart is tuned to Jupiter and Venus, planets better suited to an artist and actor.

The strange paradox is that both Doyle and McKellan became invested in causes outside of their careers that posed a strange contrast and some risks to their chosen professions. Doyle the doctor and scientist chose to chase the spirits of the dead. McKellan publicly announced his homosexuality in 1988. It was a bold move at the time. He has campaigned for gay rights in the United States and Britain, and is a regular participant in parades and other events. Things have changed enough since 1988 that it’s hard to recall the bitter prejudice of thirty years ago. He is a member and sponsor of various gay activist groups including Stonewall (UK). McKellan was on the Top Ten World Pride Power list in 2014.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Ian McKellan built lofty careers and will be long remembered for their contributions to the arts. Their shared Saturn-Pluto squares relate to their unconventional extra-curricular pursuits that may leave some people with mixed feelings. Pluto is the planet connected with taboos and things far outside of mainstream thought that may arouse anger in others.

Some individuals have highly paradoxical traits and beliefs. It makes them harder to define and label. Some people find this quite irritating! For example, it’s hard to comprehend the beauty of Wagner’s operas in the context of his disgusting personal traits and his rabid anti-Semitism. Love him or hate him? It isn’t that easy.

Famous individuals like Wagner, Doyle, and McKellan force people to stretch beyond easy labels and simple identifications. We all have a friend or two with a trait that makes us nuts, but that isn’t enough to end the friendship. Life challenges us to accept that sometimes people have both good and irritating qualities in a single package. We can choose what we want for ourselves but not what we want for others. We can choose our own standards but can’t impose them on others.

If you can accept your own internal paradoxes, your own mix of admirable and difficult traits or contradictory beliefs, it becomes much easier to accept them in others.