THERE IS AN ANCIENT FABLE concerning a farmer who found that he had to work very hard in order to make a living. One day he had a conversation with God and complained about a situation, suggesting to God that if only the elements were not so harsh he would not have to struggle so much.

In that year, the weather was perfect. Blue skies and bright sunshine with hardly a breath of wind came day after day. The farmer's crops grew beautifully, the corn stalks grew straight and tall. As the harvest time approached the farmer went out to inspect the fields, and to his horror found that the corn had no ears, no fruits. Bitterly he complained to God. And God reminded him that in this life, if there is no struggle there is no possibility of any real growth. Corn will grow straight and tall but if it does not have to flex under the wind and the rain and the storms, it will have no strength, and if it has no strength it will bare no fruit.

And so it is with us. Our birth into the world is the first of many struggles that confront us throughout our whole lifetime. We either accept our challenges and deal with them according to our abilities and accepting the assistance of others, or we can justify our avoidance in dealing with difficulties, cry “shame”, and lay blame elsewhere. Since being born on earth involves the opportunity to make conscious choices, it is best that we take responsibility for learning from everything that confronts us, reminding ourselves that the mindset which caused the problems is not necessarily the mindset that's going to find a solution for those problems.

Bucky
One of the most remarkable figures to have lived in recent times was Richard Buckminster Fuller, known to everyone, at his own insistence, as "Bucky." In this article we look at the Design chart of Bucky to draw parallels between the chart and a very free spirited genius. It is said of Bucky, that among other tribulations, like twice being expelled from Harvard and being destitute with a wife and new baby to support, he also endured his beloved daughter’s death. She died in his arms on her fourth birthday and with her last words had asked Bucky if he had brought something which he had agreed to get for her, and which he had forgotten. The last words she heard before she died were : “No, I forgot.” He went into a space of deep depression and had arrived at a place of considering suicide, when something very dramatically shifted in him and he realized that this life was not really his own to take, but it was his to offer to Existence to work through him.

The Incarnation of Cycles
Bucky was born on July, 12th 1895 in Milton Massachusetts. He was born into the Incarnation of "Cycles" in which he was called on to be an example to, and a champion for mankind through his unique personal response to every conceivable situation in a changing world. Inevitably with this incarnation, Bucky went through many cycles in his personal development and also in the activities with which he involved himself. His great challenge with this particular incarnation was to recognize the timing of completion of one cycle and the commencement of another, and to allow himself to finish with one and be ready to start into the next cycle. He was fascinated by the planet Earth, coining the phrase "Spaceship Earth" to describe our planet and her own cycles within her own nature and within the universe.

In Design terms, Bucky has an unusual chart in that he is both an Emotional Manifestor and also a Splenic Generator, two highly energized design forms in their own right. Since the Splenic Generator part of Bucky's design relates most closely to his incarnation theme we shall look there first.

In the Spleen Center, on the left of the chart, Bucky had Saturn activating the gate 50, relating to human values, and in the fifth line that constrains one to constantly align one's actions to what will best serve humanity. The planet Saturn points us to our lifelong meditation, our self-discipline and what we must fulfill for ourselves in order to meet our personal challenges in life and within society.

In the Root Center at the bottom of the chart, Bucky had his Earth activating gate 54, relating to ambitions, in the fifth line of magnanimity. Bucky was most grounded and connected to this world when he could associate with as many people as possible and display for them his multifaceted gifts. His Mercury activated gate 52, giving him the potential for a profound inner stillness and calm, in the second line, stressing the importance that he first matched his words with his own clarity and then followed through in his deeds. His Sun aligned with Jupiter in the gate 53, relating to "new beginnings," with Jupiter in the fourth line indicating an underlying sense of assuredness, and his Sun in the fifth line relating to the need to assert oneself. Both of these lines are prone to a certain measure of self-doubt. The combination of the Sun and Jupiter together would have made Bucky very susceptible to throwing himself into projects that could at times be apparently unrealistic but rich in the rewards of experiences. For him, there would always be a moment in any project when its feasibility became evident and an expansion could take place. Often that expansion would would be the catalyst that brought quick completion so that another project could be started.

Anyone who has a defined Sacral Center (the red square towards the bottom of the chart), is dsigned to respond to the world from their gut. Bucky had a profoundly transformative instinct that once it recognized that some concept was worth pursuing would make him very dogged in seeing it through. In the Sacral Center, Bucky had Venus, the planet associated with whom we draw to us and how we relate with them, in gate 59, and in the sixth line. Gate 59 is the gate of our most intimate contacts and the nature of the sixth line is that of being very, very particular in one's close associations and relationships. It is said of Bucky that even though his work took him on extensive travels he kept a deep communion with his adored wife, Anne. In 1983, when Anne slipped into an unconscious state in hospital, Bucky stayed at her bedside holding her hand, upset because they couldn't communicate. Suddenly, Bucky exclaimed that she was squeezing his hand and almost immediately, he suffered a heart attack and died. Anne died a day and a half later.

The emotional manifestor with a defined mind.
The other part of Bucky's Design is that of an Emotional Manifestor coupled with a powerfully defined mind. Anyone who has a defined mind in their design chart is constrained to be constantly thinking. For each of us, between the ages of 38 and 44, there is a shift in our destiny. The planet Uranus, the ruler of the Aquarian age, orbits around the sun once in every 84 years. When it reaches the midpoint, there is a shift in our makeup from the South node phase (the firsthalf of the life), into the North node phase (the second half of the life). In Bucky's Design, he has the phenomenon of living out the first 40 years of his life with an abstract mindset (Channel 64 - 47), and then at the age of 40 switching to and engaging a more logical mindset (63 - 4). Although his achievements are extraordinary and many, in his late thirties, he envisioned, designed and produced three dymaxion (dynamic-maximum) three-wheeler cars, that could turn on a dime and provide great comfort, transporting up to twelve people to a top speed of around 120 mph. No one has ever made any car like it before or since. Shortly after wrapping up this particular project, Bucky's life shifted into an entirely new set of orbits.

In Design, the channel 43-23, relates to a very particular mental pattern that receives insights and renders them into language. For such a powerful individual as Bucky, he often would have found himself open to insights that took a great deal of explaining before others could grasp them. Inevitably, he would have found that it was easier to demonstrate something rather than try to explain it. Of the four Gates that are activated in his Throat Center, three of them are unconscious, implying that many times Bucky would surprise himself with what he heard himself saying. It would take a lifetime of clear attention for him to become at ease with his own expressions and many times he would have found himself having to say things in more than one way for his audience to grasp the genius of his visions. The gate 35, activated by Neptune and Pluto in his Throat Center, relates to the sense of progress that can be made in our life through the experiences we have. The presence of Neptune and Pluto in this gate implies that Bucky not only attuned personally to his ability to grow in life but insisted that humanity could expand way beyond the apparent limits it had given itself.

The channel 12-22, is the channel called Openness, and it defines the quality of an active, feeling individual. In itself it is a manifesting channel, and people who have it defined in their Design chart tend to write their own rules for life according to their moods. This channel can give an individual the potential of being quite unpredictable to the point where many of their actions are beyond the scope of comprehension for most people. In Bucky's design, the gate 12, relating to a cautious approach to life, is in the second line of allowing oneself the benefit to make mistakes (because they are human), forgive oneself for them, learn from them and move on. The gate 22, on the other end of the defined channel, is called Grace. This Grace can be witnessed as both a physical Grace and also the gift to bring unseen Grace to earth. Bucky had the 22 activated by his conscious moon in the first line that gave him an imperative that he must recognize and rely on his own worth throughout his life. When he reached the age of 40, and had his mid-life destiny change, his unconscious destiny moved from gate 47, in the line called the Savior, (an activation that gave him an ability to resolve issues for almost anyone in any circumstance), to gate 22, in the fifth line of outrageousness. I use the word of outrageousness to intimate a confidence and expansiveness to go far beyond the normal bounds of accepted human limits.

Undefined and open centers
Bucky had an undefined self Center which allowed him an enormous flexibility to play many different roles in life. He was all things to all people, and it would be true to say that if all his friends had gathered together in one place they would all have been wondering what the associations were between the other people present. Any undefined center mirrors the World back to itself, so that the world can see itself from a place of potential wisdom. The reflection that most people would get from Bucky would be the nature of sustained creative innocence at play, involving as many people as possible, as an everyday affair.

In his Design chart, Bucky has an open Heart Center with no activations in any of the Gates.... Bucky was very open hearted. Being open hearted also implies that in terms of interacting with the world, it would have been difficult for Bucky to place a value on things. Also, he would never have been completely aware of the value of his own time and efforts. Those who have open Heart Centers are very difficult to impress unless they are offered something substantial and very interesting. They simply are not in any form of competition in this world.

In conclusion
Bucky has affected the lives of millions of people on this planet. He died with hundreds of degrees and doctorates bestowed on him by grateful universities that acknowledged his bright, creative and forthright nature. He spoke before hundreds of different audiences all over the world, captivating them with his insights and vision. He dared to explore the uniqueness of Earth as part of the universe. He brought a whole new meaning to the concepts of problem and solution : "When I'm working on a problem," said Bucky, "I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

He is a man who in the moment of his deepest trials had the courage to face himself, forgive himself and surrender himself to the will of Existence...... and what an extraordinary life flowered from that moment. He is truly an inspiration for all of us to recognize that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves and that if only we can trust enough to let go of our fears and concerns, Existence is waiting to carry us into mysteries and wonders we cannot imagine.