Anthony Louis's Blog, page 13

Lilly: Shall I Obtain the Office I am Seeking?

This chart is from Chapter 86 (page 457) of Christian Astrology. On Saturday, 28 March 1643 (NS) at 6:05 PM LMT, during a Venus hour, the 12th hour of the day, a gentleman asked whether he would obtain the Office he was looking for. Here is the horary chart.

With Libra rising, the querent is signified by Venus as domicile ruler and Saturn as exalted ruler and almuten of the Ascendant. The North Lunar Node conjunct the Asc is a favorable indicator for the querent obtaining his desire. Venus in the 5th, the house of her joy, is also favorable.

With Cancer ruling the 10th cusp, the Office sought after is signified by the Moon as domicile ruler and Jupiter as exalted ruler and almuten of the 10th. Because the Moon lies in Cancer, she is her own dispositor, and the fact that she is heading north, ascending in latitude, is an argument in favor of the querent obtaining the advancement.

The Moon’s placement in the 10th house is an argument in favor of the querent obtaining the office. However, the Moon’s next aspect is a quincunx to Asc-ruler Venus, suggesting some type of difficulty and readjustment of circumstance will be required to effect the desired outcome. We can see the potential difficulty in the presence of 12th-lord Mercury Rx (secret enemies) occupying the 7th house and mutually applying to conjoin the Sun, which is exalted in Aries in the 7th. Mercury is combust the Sun and therefore invisible to the querent. The Sun rules the 11th and likely signifies a friend who is really a hidden enemy (11th ruler Mercury conjunct Sun, with Sun opposing the Asc and conjunct the South Lunar Node). Being exalted in Aries, the querent’s friend probably feels superior and is envious of his wish for advancement. Lilly warns the querent about this fake friend and the querent makes the necessary readjustments to obtain the position within the following 3 weeks.

After quincunxing Venus, the Moon will trine Saturn (almuten of the Asc and dispositor of Venus) and then enter Leo, where she will trine Jupiter (almuten of the 10th) and then sextile the Asc and the North Lunar Node. Warned of his false friend, the querent finally gets the job.

William Lilly: Is Your Dispositor Headed South?

In American English we often use the expression “headed south” or “to go south” to mean to deteriorate or move toward failure or demise. There are many conjectures about where this idiomatic phrase comes from. An article in Harper’s Magazine in 1894 commented that “to go south,” among the Sioux Native Americans, is a euphemism for the soul’s journey to the underworld after death. Another American source makes reference to the mid-19th century use of “to go south” meaning to disappear or abscond by traveling south from the USA to Mexico to evade the law or other responsibilities.

The negative connotations of the direction South appear repeatedly in astrology. The South Node of the Moon is considered malefic. The planet Saturn, the great malefic, has his home in the cold and dry sign of Capricorn where the Sun has its greatest southern declination below the equator. In the northern hemisphere, where horoscopic astrology originated, the Sun’s position at the Tropic of Capricorn in the south corresponds to the start of winter and the darkest day of the year. In contrast, the Sun at the Tropic of Cancer, its northernmost point above the equator, corresponds to the start of summer and the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Sunlight is considered life-giving, and the absence of the light and warmth of the Sun is a metaphor for death and dying.

In his 1832 book on horary astrology, Rupertus Stella writes the following about finding lost objects (emphasis mine):

“Query 5. Where, or which way, and how far off?”
Wherever the significator is, there is the thing. The house where he is posited sheweth the quarter of heaven, or point of the compass, which way the thing (whatsoever it may be) is.
If both the house and sign agree, this judgment is more firm ; if they disagree, consider the position of the Moon, and with what she most agrees, give judgment accordingly.
If the Moon agrees neither with the sign or house in which the significator is located, then consider the Part of Fortune in the same manner as you considered the Moon, and judge accordingly.
The distance is discovered from the proximity of the significators to body or aspect, considered as they may be either angular, succeedent, or cadent; respect being had to their latitude, whether little or great, north or south.
Great latitude shews obscurity, and great difficulty in finding what is sought for; if it be north latitude, difliculty only, not impossibility; but if south, then all the labour of seeking is in vain, unless the significators be angular, and near in aspect.
Angles signify nearness; Succeedent Houses, further off; Cadent Houses, beyond all imagination. The significator Angular, and without latitude, shews some paces; if north latitude, some furlongs; if south, some miles distant.
The significator Succeedent, and without latitude, shews some furlongs, if it hath north latitude, some miles; if south latitude, some leagues.
The significator Cadent, and without latitude, shews some miles; north latitude, some leagues; south, some degrees.
These rules however are to be considered chiefly with respect to things which have life.” [End of quote from Rupertus Stella]

Image from https://serc.carleton.edu/mel/teaching_resources/moon_mel.html
The line through the centers of the Earth and the Sun corresponds to the plane to the ecliptic. The Moon travels in its orbit to about 5 degrees of latitude to the north or south of the ecliptic. The various planets travel in their orbits within about 8 degrees of latitude above or below the ecliptic. In this diagram the Moon lies NORTH of the ecliptic. The Moon’s Nodes are the points of zero latitude, where the orbit of the Moon crosses the ecliptic.

William Lilly, in his discussion about bringing water onto one’s land or into one’s house in Chapter XXXVI of Christian Astrology, tells us to study Saturn (plumbing) and the Moon (water-bearing). If these two planets are well disposed, not connected to Mars, and free of affliction, and the Moon lies in Houses 3, 5 or 11, the work undertaken to bring water onto one’s property should go well. This will be especially so if the Moon applies to her dispositor, and if the Moon’s dispositor be a fortune which receives Luna in any of its dignities, and the dispositor lies in a fixed sign and is “ascending in his latitude” [headed in a northerly direction].

Planets that occupy signs which they do not rule must act in concert with their dispositor. Lilly is saying that the outcome will be more positive if the dispositor of the significator is headed north in latitude. In other words, the latitude of the dispositor will be to the north of its radical position when measured a day later. By implication, if the Moon’s dispositor were headed south in latitude in Lilly’s water-bearing example, then the whole plumbing project would also be headed south, so to speak.

She ignored the Moon’s dispositor heading south at the start of her plumbing project.
(Image from https://a1clean.net/cleaning-up-leak/)

Lilly on a Gentleman born in 1585

Recently, astrologer Tanja Ristovky retyped William Lilly’s analysis of the chart of a gentleman born in 1585 and posted it on her website. Lilly gives a brief delineation of the houses of the natal chart and then examines some important primary directions during the native’s life. He explains that he asked the man for some “accidents” in order to rectify the chart. Then, having adjusted the birth time accordingly, Lilly sent the man a detailed report. Lilly’s chart contains some inaccuracies which may be typos or simply due to imprecise values in his ephemeris.

Here is a close approximation to the chart which Lilly used for his client.

This is a close approximation to the rectified chart of a gentleman which Lilly published in England’s Prophetical Merline in 1644. The positions of the planets differ slightly from those used by Lilly with the exception of Mercury, which Lilly’s chart has at 10 Cancer (possibly a typo by the printer or by Lilly himself). Lilly’s chart has the MC at 27 Gemini and the Asc and 27 Virgo 22′.

It is definitely worth reading Lilly’s lengthy original text, posted on Tanja Ristovky’s site. Here I would like to present just a brief summary. Lilly begins with a delineation of the non-malefic houses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11. In doing so, he comments on the gentleman’s stature, personality, worldly estate, kindred, parents, inheritance, sex life, potential for children, possible illnesses, prospects for marriage, travel, career matters and friendships.

Lilly makes a somewhat odd comment when discussing children. He notes that the man never married but that with natal Venus in Leo in the 11th house square the Moon in Taurus in the 8th, the gentleman is sexually potent and would have had ready access to attractive women to “experiment upon” (Lilly’s words) yet with “Saturn in the 8th, few would have lived.”

Lilly next proceeds to look at this gentleman’s primary directions at length, using the Regiomontanus circle of position method rather than the Ptolemaic method of proportional semi-arc.

Noting that Mars is close to the Ascendant, Lilly says that early in life this gentleman must have been subject to childhood illnesses, such as measles. By primary motion, Mars would have crossed the eastern horizon when this man was 3 to 4 years old. The client confirms the he had measles as a young child but does not recall the exact age.

Next Lilly notices that the South Lunar Node in Taurus in the 8th house will conjoin the position of the natal Moon by primary motion in about 8 degrees in the bestial sign of Taurus the Bull. Doing the math, he notes that by Regiomontanus circles of position, the primary direction will perfect in 1596. Lilly delineates this direction as suggesting a sudden accident in which the native was harmed on the head, arms, neck or shoulders, perhaps involving a violent four-footed beast, or a fall. He then states that the sextile from Asc-ruler Mercury to this direction would have been protective, perhaps signifying the helpful intervention of a mechanic. The client confirms that in 1596 a cartwheel almost fell on him but the wheelwright (Mercury) saved the day. Modern calculations show the South Node to Moon direction perfected on 15 Nov 1596, and the Mercury sextile South Node direction perfected on 11 December 1596.

Lilly continues that at age 16 the client must have come to London to work as a servant because by primary direction Mercury arrived at the upper meridian at that time, with the MC in the terms of Saturn (servile work). Here Lilly is in error because he mistakenly believed that Mercury was at 10 Cancer, when in reality it was at 20 Cancer in the nativity. The Right Ascension of natal Mercury is 111d 36m, and the R.A. of the natal MC (modern chart) is 85d 55m, so that the difference between them is 25d 41m, which would correspond to about age 26 rather than age 16. Later Lilly reports that age 26 was a turbulent and unquiet year with aspersions cast on the native’s reputation. Perhaps this misfortune is related to directed Mercury at the MC in the terms of Saturn, activating the natal Mercury-Saturn square, with Saturn conjunct the 8th Regiomontanus cusp.

Because Lilly used the incorrect position of Mercury, he would not have noticed the direction of the natal sextile of Jupiter (cast into 4 Leo) being carried to Asc-ruler Mercury in the 10th by primary motion and perfecting in October of 1600 (in the modern chart), which would have been in 1601 in Lilly’s chart with an MC at 27 Gemini). Most likely natal Jupiter in the 9th aspecting Asc-ruler in the 10th indicated this client’s move to London at age 16, especially since Jupiter occupies the 9th of travel and rules the 4th of home and the 7th of relocation.

Lilly continues with his comments about Mercury, stating that in the year 1605 the Ascendant meets with the square aspect of Mercury by primary direction. In reality, Mercury cast its square to 20 Libra and not to 10 Libra, as Lilly mistakenly believed, so that this Mercury square to horizon direction does not perfect in reality until 1619 when the native is 35 years old.

To rectify the chart, Lilly checked several accidents reported by the native, but he relied most heavily on his having attained a good office at age 41. Lilly writes: “In July 1626, being complete 41 years of age, the Sun was directed to a Trine of the Moon, and the Medium Coeli to a Sextile of Jupiter near the cusp of the 11th House. Now he had a good office. By this accident I rectified the whole Nativity.”

In the modern chart, the Moon lies at 2 Taurus 54′ and its trine at 2 Virgo 54′. In Lilly’s original chart the Moon lies at 2 Taurus 06′ — there is almost a degree of difference. In the Solar Fire chart the trine of the Moon arrives at the position of the Sun on 21 December 1626. In addition, the Sextile of Jupiter in the modern chart lies at 4 Leo 01′ near the 11th cusp and by primary motion arrives at the MC on 12 April 1626. Because Lilly’s planetary positions differ from those calculated by modern computer, his timing is a bit different but in the same ballpark. Both these primary directions perfect within orb of the native turning 41 years old.

The article from the 1644 edition of England’s Prophetical Merlin continues in this manner, showing how Lilly delineated the natal chart and used primary directions to forecast events over the course of the native’s lifetime. Despite Lilly’s errors and miscalculations, the text gives us insight into how Lilly worked with his clients’ charts.

Connecticut’s Worst Earthquake

Today is the anniversary of the 1791 earthquake in Connecticut. According to the site Patch.com:

“The quake violently shook 2,000 square miles of land in Connecticut and Massachusetts, sending aftershocks from Boston to New York.  It is estimated that the ‘Moodus Quake’ as it was called, registered between 4 and 5 on the Richter scale.”

An eyewitness account from 1791 of the great quake went as follows:

“It began  . . . with two very heavy shocks in quick succession. The first was the most powerful; the earth appeared to undergo very violent convulsions. The stone walls were shaken down, chimnies [sic] were untopped, doors which were latched were thrown open, and a fissure in the ground of several rods in extent was afterwards discovered. Thirty lighter ones succeeded in a short time, and upwards of one hundred were counted in the course of the night.”

“This shock was felt at a great distance. It was so severe at Killingworth [modern-day Clinton], about twenty miles distant, that a Capt. Benedict, who was walking the deck of his vessel, then lying in the harbor of that place, observed the fish to leap out of water in every direction as far as his eye could reach. The atmosphere was perfectly clear and pleasant, and the moon, which was near its full, shone remarkably bright. On the night of the 17th, six more were observed. The atmosphere was still clear and warm.”

The epicenter of the quake, which began close to 8 PM, was in the Moodus / East Haddam region of the state. Here is a chart for the event.

In this event chart, set for 8 PM in Moodus, CT, 17 Sagittarius rises, making Jupiter the ruler of the Ascendant.

Asc-ruler Jupiter is afflicted, retrograde and in detriment in Virgo, and closely conjunct the Midheaven. Jupiter also rules the 4th house of the land and territory.

Mars is in partile square with Uranus, and in opposition to the Moon, forming a T-square pattern.

Mercury, the domicile and exalted ruler of the MC, is the most angular planet in the chart, conjunct the Descendant. 10th-ruler Mercury applies to square Jupiter at the MC.

The malefics in this chart connect with the positions of eclipses of the period:

– on November 6, 1790 there was a partial solar eclipse at 14 Scorpio 34′, which connects with the T-square involving Mars – Uranus – Moon in this chart. The Moon rules the 8th house, which Uranus occupies, and Mars rules the 12th.

– on April 3, 1791 there was a solar annular eclipse at 13 Aries 42′, within a degree of the position of Saturn in this chart.

– on April 18, 1791 there was a partial lunar eclipse at 28 Libra 29′, close to Neptune in this chart, and in trine to Venus and quincunx to the Sun.

Planetary Sub-Lord of the Hour

Over the years I’ve experimented with the Lord of the Hour of Birth and found it useful in chart analysis. Planetary hours are calculated by dividing the total amount of daylight, or nighttime, by 12 to arrive at the duration of each day hour and each night hour. As such, they rarely measure exactly 60 minutes, as do the hours on a clock. Each hour is assigned to a planet in Chaldean order, beginning with the planet that rules the day associated with sunrise. There are only seven planetary rulers of the hours because there are only seven classical visible planets.

At some point it occurred to me to subdivide each hour into seven sections and to assign a planetary sub-lord to each of the seven segments, starting with the actual Lord of the Hour as sub-lord of the first segment. Experimenting with sub-lords of the planetary hour of birth revealed interesting nuances in natal interpretation.

Recently I was speaking with a colleague about distinguishing between the charts of twins, and afterwards I realized that the planetary sub-lord might be useful in this regard. The case we were discussing was that of the Percy twins who were born 2 minutes apart. The first twin born was eventually murdered and the second twin (born 2 minutes later) escaped death. Could the sub-lord of the hour of birth distinguish between these two charts?

Both girls were born in Oakland, CA, on Sunday, 10 December 1944; the older twin at 5:25 PM and the younger twin at 5:27 PM. Unfortunately, we don’t have birth times exact to the second. Here are the planetary hours calculated by the program PlanetDance.

Both twins were born during a Saturn hour, which ran from 5:02:25 PM until 5:50:29 PM and had a duration of 48:04 minutes. Dividing this duration by 7, we find that each of the seven segments of this Saturn hour lasts 06:52 minutes. Thus, the sub-lords of this Saturn hour run as follows:

Saturn: 17:02:25 (PlanetDance)Jupiter: 17:09:17Mars: 17:16:09Sun: 17:23:01Venus: 17:29:53Mercury: 17:36:45Moon: 17:43:37End of hour: 17:50:29

Apparently PlanetDance measures sunrise as the moment the upper disk of the Sun crossed the horizon, and sunset as the moment the upper disk of the Sun descends below the horizon.

Checking Solar Fire, I found that this popular program uses the center of the Sun rather than the upper disk of the Sun to measure sunrise and sunset. According to Solar Fire, the Saturn hour begins at 16:58 and ends at 17:45. The difference between the PlanetDance values and those of SolarFire is about 04:36 minutes on the clock. A similar list of hourly sub-lords generated using the center of the Sun crossing the horizon to indicate sunrise and sunset looks like this:

Saturn: 16:57:49 (using the center of the Sun)Jupiter: 17:04:41Mars: 17:11:33Sun: 17:18:25Venus: 17:25:17Mercury: 17:32:09Moon: 17:39:02End of hour: 17:45:53

With this second method of calculating planetary hours, we see that the older twin, born at 17:25 has Venus as the sub-lord of the Saturn planetary hour of birth, whereas the younger twin, born at 17:27 has the Sun as sub-lord of her Saturn planetary hour of birth. Because they were born only 2 minutes apart, their birth charts are almost identical. Here is the chart of the older twin, who was murdered.

Born at 17:25, this twin has Saturn as the planetary hour lord and the Sun as the sub-lord of the hour. Her sister, born 2 minutes later also has Saturn as the hour lord but the Sun as the sub-lord of the hour.

We need to examine the Sun and Venus in this nativity. Of the two planets, Venus appears less difficult. She is the “lesser benefic” and forms a trine to “greater benefic” Jupiter. There is a square to Venus from the Moon, but Venus receives the Moon in her domicile Libra.

The Sun, on the other hand, is conjunct Mars and opposed to Uranus, as well as in square to Jupiter. Hence, the Sun appears to be a significantly more difficult planet for the native than Venus is.

In the solar return for 1966, the year of the murder, the Sun lies in a tight square to Pluto at 18 Virgo 26′ and Uranus at 19 Virgo 32′. Venus is not similarly afflicted.

In this experiment, measuring the planetary hours based on the center of the Sun crossing the horizon appears to be more effective. The use of sub-lords also appears useful in distinguishing the charts of twins in this case study.

The Importance of the Lord of the Orb

The concept of the Lord of the Orb appears repeatedly in medieval and Renaissance texts and was widely used by astrologers of those periods, but it has largely been ignored by English-speaking astrologers. Its importance derives from the role played by the Lord of the Hour in classical astrology. Abu Ali al-Khayyat in The Judgments of Nativities (9th century CE) tells us that Hermes, one of the legendary founders of horoscopic astrology in the centuries before Christ, regarded the planet ruling the hour of birth, aka the Lord of the Hour, to be on a par with the Lord of the Ascendant. According to al-Khayyat, both Lords (of the Asc and of the hour of birth) share the same significations, and the judgement of the nativity is the same from either of them.

Planetary Lords of the Hour, from Theatro del Mundo y del Tiempo (1606)
by Giovanni Paolo Gallucci, 1538-1621?

Understanding that the Lord of the Ascendant has a counterpart in the Lord of the Hour of Birth, classical astrologers incorporated the hour lord into their predictive method of annual profections. To forecast for the year ahead, the astrologer had to determine annual timelord, or the Lord of the Year, which is the planet ruling the profected Ascendant sign, at a rate of one sign per year. Thus, the 1st year of life belongs to the ruler of the rising sign, the 2nd year of life is ruled by the lord of the next sign after the Ascendant, the 3rd year of life has as its timelord the ruler of the third sign as measured from the Ascendant, and so on throughout the life cycle.

The Lord of the Year has a counterpart, the Lord of the Hour of Birth, which is also “profected” in a special way, that is, it is advanced in the Chaldean order of the planets from the slowest to the fastest: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and finally the Moon.

For instance, if Venus were your hour ruler at birth, then Venus would be a participating timelord with the Ascendant-ruler during the 1st year of life. After Venus comes Mercury, so Mercury would be the participating timelord with the ruler of the next sign after the Ascendant during the 2nd year of life, and so on for the rest of your life.

Because there are only 7 visible planets, the Lord of the Orb sequence repeats after every 7 planets. Hence, in our example, Venus rules the hour at birth (age 0) and then again at ages 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and so on. It is easy to calculate the Lord of the Orb at any age. For example, if Venus rules the hour at birth and we want to know at what ages the Moon will be the participating timelord, we simply have to note that the Moon is two planets past Venus in the Chaldean sequence: Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, …, and so on.

In our example, because Venus is a timelord at ages 0, 7 , 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, etc., then the Moon will be a participating timelord (Lord of the Orb) at ages 0+2, 7+2, 14+2, etc., that is, at ages 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 37, 44, and so on. This table should make the method used in the example clearer:

In this table we see that when Venus is the Lord of the Hour of the Nativity, then at age 37 the Moon is the annual Lord of the Orb, which works cooperatively with the Lord of the Year (profected Ascendant ruler) as a timelord for the given year.

To show how this works in practice, let’s look at a chart from the literature. I randomly opened Martin Gansten’s book Annual Predictive Techniques to the chart of a man with congenital lung disease who died in 1996 at age 37 when, owing to his chronic health condition, he contracted pneumonia. Gansten gives the man’s birth data as Wednesday (a Mercury day), December 31, 1958 at 12:40 CET, at 56N03, 12E42.

At age 37, the annual profected rising sign would be the 2nd sign from the Ascendant. We know this because the ruler of the ascending sign is Lord of the year, which has a 12-year cycle, at ages 0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, and so on. Casting the birth chart of the lung-damaged native in the tropical zodiac, we find 15 Taurus rising. The sign that follows Taurus is Gemini, making Mercury the Lord of the Year of his demise at age 37. The symbolism seems fitting because he died of lung disease.

Next we must determine the Lord of the Orb. Born 40 minutes after Noon, his natal Sun lies in the first half of the Placidus 9th house. Each Placidus House measures two planetary hours. He was born during the 7th hour of the day, a Wednesday. Counting 7 hours in Chaldean order, starting with Mercury at sunrise, we arrive at Venus as the Lord of the Hour of Birth: Mercury (Lord of House at Sunrise of the Birthday), Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus (ruler of the 7th hour, which is the Hour of Birth).

Because Venus ruled his Hour of Birth, at age 37 the Moon becomes the participating timelord of the hour, that is, the annual Lord of the Orb. This is so because at age 35, a multiple of 7, Venus is Lord of the Orb, and at age 37 the Moon is two planets past Venus in the Chaldean sequence.

We conclude that at age 37, when he died, the native’s annual timelords in the tropical zodiac were: Mercury, Lord of the Year, and the Moon, Lord of the Orb. Now, let’s look at the chart to see what these planets signify in the birth chart.

Man with congenital lung disease, tropical zodiac, Placidus houses, true node.

At age 37, the Lord of the Year is the timelord Mercury, which lies in the 8th house of death and conjoins the 8th cusp. Mercury rules the Placidus 3rd cusp (the lungs), the 4th cusp (conditions at the end of life), and the 6th cusp (bodily ailments).

At age 37, the participating timelord, the Lord of the Orb, is the Moon, which occupies the 6th house and conjoins the 6th cusp of illness, and squares the Lord of the Year, Mercury, which lies in the 8th house of death. The Moon is also the ruler of the Ascendant by exaltation and therefore signifies the body and vital force of the native. An annual timelord in the 8th of death (Mercury, Lord of the Year) squaring a participating annual timelord in the 6th of illness (Moon, annual Lord of the Orb) suggests some type of life-threatening health crisis during the year.

The natal Moon applies to make a favorable trine with the natal Ascendant degree and will also trine Mars and sextile Jupiter, which are in opposition across the horizon. Mars is in its debility in Taurus, and Jupiter is ruler of the 8th cusp of death and the 12th of misfortune and suffering. It may be that the trine signifies a welcome death that will put an end to suffering.

In the Solar Return at age 37, Venus lies at 11 Aquarius in square to the Moon at 10 Taurus in the 1st house of the return. Venus rules the natal Asc (which is at 15 Taurus) by domicile, and the Moon rules the natal Asc by exaltation. In the the nativity and the solar return charts, the Moon rules the 4th cusp of the mother. In this case, the man’s mother had the painful experience of discovering her son’s body in his home after he had died of pneumonia. In the solar return the Moon (mother) occupies the 1st house (the native’s body) and closely applies to square Venus (the Asc-ruler of the natal chart and also the natal Lord of the Hour, which Hermes says has the same significations as the ruler of the natal Ascendant).

Solar Return Jupiter lies at 29 Sag 21 in partile conjunction with natal Saturn in the 8th but at the cusp of the 9th. Jupiter rules the 8th cusp of death in both the natal and the solar return charts. It often happens that the 9th house (of God) is activated during the year of one’s demise.

Saturn in the Solar Return lies at 19 Pisces in the unfortunate 12th house in square to natal Mercury (Lord of the Year) at 17 Sagittarius in the natal 8th house.

The Ascendant of the Solar Return lies at 28 Aries 34′, so that Mars rules the 1st house of the return chart. Natally, Mars lies in the 1st and is opposed by 8th-ruler Jupiter from the 7th. In the return chart Mars lies “at the bendings” at 23 Capricorn in square to the Lunar Nodes at 23 Aries & Libra.

Also in the solar return chart, the Sun rules the Leo 6th cusp and is in partile conjunction with the MC.

This example demonstrates the usefulness of the Lord of the Orb in delineating annual profections and solar returns.

Solar Return at age 37 of man with lung disease

Morin discusses the 1646 Aries Ingress in Paris

Recently I read a post on Facebook regarding Book 25 of Astrologia Gallica in which Morinus discusses the Aries Ingress in Paris in 1646. Unfortunately, given the ephemeris of his time, Morinus has the incorrect Angles and house cusps of the ingress chart for Paris, as compared with an ingress chart cast by modern computer. Here is Morin’s original diagram:

Aries Ingress at Paris, France, in 1646, as calculated by Morinus

Morinus cast his chart for mid-morning in Paris, but Solar Fire gives the Aries ingress as occurring about 1 PM. To recreate a close approximation to Morin’s chart, I relocated the Solar Fire chart for the 1646 Ingress to a geographic longitude about 50 degrees to the west of Paris. Here is the Solar Fire relocated chart:

Morin reviews this chart with an aim to demonstrating which planets play a prominent role in the ingress. He concludes that the year 1646 will be dominated by Mars (reinforced by the fixed star, the Eye of the Bull), but that Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn (in that order) will also play an important, those less significant than Mars in governing the year. Here is his original Latin text, followed by my translation of Morin’s Latin.

Morin’s discussion of the 1646 Aries Ingress from Book 25 of Astrologia Gallica.

Now to my translation of Morin’s text (my comments are in brackets [ ] ):

“Thus, in the above figure of the annual revolution of the World (Mundi), or the ingress of the Sun into the beginning of Aries, the Sun of fiery nature enters into a fiery sign & his own exultation and triplicity in the 11th house of the figure. Mars, verily, is the lord of the primary point [0 Aries] or the Sun, and is in his triplicity and is oriental to the Sun [rises before the Sun] and angular in the 10th [house].”

“Mercury, however, is lord of the next cardine [Angle], of course the Horoskopos [Ascendant] and [a ruler of] of the triplicity at the MC [Aquarius, of the airy triplicity] [and] also oriental [of the Sun] and angular in the 10th:”

“and they [Mars and Mercury] are both conjunct in Pisces, a water sign, and their lord [dispositor] Jupiter is in the next Angle and house, in mutual reception with Mercury [that is, Jupiter lies in Gemini in the 1st, ruled by Mercury, which occupies Pisces, ruled by Jupiter]”

“[and Jupiter] applies to the square of the Sun [at 0 Cancer] and to the trines of Mars and Mercury [at 3 and 7 of Cancer, in Morin’s figure — note here that Morin views transiting Jupiter as advancing toward the points in the zodiac where the square of the Sun and the trines of Mars and Mercury fall in this ingress chart]”

“Therefore, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter are powerful in this chart, but Mars claims primary [of power in the chart] for itself, and Mercury trumps Jupiter on account of its [Mercury’s] conjunction with Mars [which is the most powerful planet in the ingress chart]

“For sure, just as Mercury in Pisces is under the dominion of Jupiter [the ruler of Pisces] and depends on Jupiter to act, so too is Jupiter [in Gemini] subject to the lordship of Mercury. [Here Morin is referring to his principle that the behavior of planets is influenced by their dispositors. Thus, because Mercury and Jupiter are in mutual reception, the behavior of each is dependent on the other, but Mercury is in a stronger position because is it conjunct the very powerful Mars in this chart.]”

“Since it is true that Mars applies immediately and partilely [within the same degree] to the sextile of Saturn [which in Morin’s chart lies at 3 Pisces in the 10th], [which is] powerful at the MC and Asc, each of which is in its [Saturn’s] triplicity, thus Saturn also exerts some power in this chart.”

“Finally, the bright fixed star, the Eye of the Bull, of the nature of Mars, lies partilely at the Ascendant, on account of its latitude, and it alone among the fixed stars will exert influence there.”

For the sake of completeness, here is the chart of the Aries Ingress in Paris in 1646, calculated by modern software (Regulus Platinum) with Regiomontanus Houses, Morin’s favorite system:

Morinus discusses two charts from Abu Ali al-Khayyat

In Book 21, Chapter VII of Astrologia Gallica, Morinus discusses two charts from the Judgement of Nativities by the 9th century astrology Abu Ali al-Khayyat to contrast his own methods with the use of triplicities found in the early Hellenistic literature. Here are the charts from a Latin edition of The Judgement of Nativities against which Morin tested his own ideas about triplicities and chart interpretation:

The first chart is nocturnal, with the Sun in Virgo in the 3rd place. The Moon rules the 2nd and lies in its fall in Scorpio in the 6th, where the Moon conjoins Saturn. The planet Mars in Aquarius in the 9th squares both the Moon and Saturn in the 6th. The extreme poverty of the native, according to Morin, is indicated by the 2nd ruler Moon being in fall and conjunct Saturn in the 6th, and being square by Mars. Morinus feels that his interpretation of the chart is more reliable than al-Khayyat’s use of triplicity rulers to come to the same conclusion.

The second chart is diurnal with the Sun in Aquarius in the 11th where it conjoins Mercury. Both al-Khayyat and Morinus would regard Saturn and Mercury as the Sun’s triplicity rulers in this chart. Morin does not agree with al-Khayyat’s reasoning that the good fortune, wealth, property and honorable position of this native are due to the Sun’s first triplicity ruler being Saturn and second triplicity ruler being Mercury. How could Saturn conjunct Mars in the 8th and being in square to Mercury, asks Morin, account the this native’s great fortune? Instead, Morin argues, 2nd-ruler Venus in the 10th and in trine to the cusp of the 2nd, is a better indicator of wealth and honors, as is Jupiter exalted in Cancer in the 4th in mutual reception with the Moon in Sagittarius in the 9th and in trine to the Aries Ascendant. (In the diagram from this old Latin text, there appears to be a typo in the 9th cusp of the second chart, which should be in Sagittarius, with the 10th cusp in Capricorn.)

Morin miscalculates charts below the Equator

Recently, while reading Book 15 of Morin’s Astrologia Gallica, I noticed a couple of charts of men born in Brazil in which the Regiomontanus cusps of the houses are inaccurate. James Holden, the translator, notes that Morin must have calculated the intermediate cusps for a northern latitude rather than a southern latitude. Morin may have simply used the house cusps from the Regiomontanus Tables, which were calculated for locations North of the Equator, or perhaps he did not want to do the math involved in calculating accurate house cusps for a birth at a southern geographic latitude and opted to use the values for a northern latitude as approximations (but this seems unlikely since he was writing a treatise on the correct way to do astrology).

Book 15 contains the chart of Philippus Bandeyra de Mello (Latin name), aka Felipe Bandeira de Mello, a noted Brazilian solider of the 17th century. Morin tells us that he obtained the birth information from the Commander of the Fleet of the King of Portugal, an official source. Morin then used the birth chart of de Mello to show how the signs of the zodiac retain their nature and influence, regardless of whether the chart is cast for a location above or below the equator.

Felipe de Mello, born in Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil, was the son of Antonio Bandeira de Melo and Jeronima de Mesquita de Azevedo. He had at least one sister (Maria) who was born before circa September 14, 1608. According to Morin’s source, Felipe was born on April 15, 1612 (Palm Sunday) one hour before sunrise. Here is the birth chart of de Mello, calculated by Solar Fire. Morin’s chart has intermediate house cusps which differ from this computer-generated chart because Morin apparently based his Regiomontanus cusps on the birth location as if it were north of the equator.

Birth chart of de Mello calculated by Solar Fire. The intermediate house cusps differ from those indicated by Morin, who appears to have calculated them for latitude 8N rather than 8S (below the Equator). Thus, Morin’s chart has intermediate house cusps that differ by up to 4 degrees from the ones in this chart.

Morin describes the native’s characteristics and some of his life history to show how the birth chart, using the tropical zodiac just as one does for charts above the equator, fits the personality and life events of de Mello. Felipe was always interested in arms and military matters. He frequently got into quarrels and, in 1635, at age 23, actually killed a man in a dispute on a riotous evening.

Although born in Brazil, he traveled to various parts of Europe. In his travels he experienced severe storms at sea and several shipwrecks, including one in 1638 (age 26) in which he was able to swim to safety. He was captured three times by the Dutch.

According to Morin, Felipe’s interest in a military career and his combative nature are indicated by Mars ruling Aries on the cusp of the 1st house, with the Sun exalted in Aries in the 1st house of one’s personality and temperament. In addition, Mars rules Scorpio which lies partly in the 7th and partly in the 8th houses — symbolizing quarrels, disputes, wars and the risk of death. Furthermore, Mars is exalted in Capricorn on the cusp of the 10th house of actions and career. Mars also applies to conjoin 10th-ruler Saturn.

The shipwrecks and danger of death at sea are shown by Mars ruling Aries on the cusps of the 1st and the 8th (danger of death) in the water sign Scorpio. Mars, the exalted ruler of Capricorn, and Saturn, the domicile ruler of the 10th house Capricorn, both occupy the water sign Pisces. The 10th-ruler Saturin lies in the 12th house of evils and misfortune. Felipe escaped death on his sea voyages because Jupiter rules the 9th of long journeys, disposes both Mars and Saturn, and trines the Sun in Aries in the 1st house. Felipe was captured several times, as indicated by the two Malefics, Mars and Saturn, conjunct the 12th house cusp of imprisonment and confinement.

Morin felt that Felipe would encounter perpetual difficulties throughout his life because the Sun and Moon were in opposition across the 1st (the native) and 7th houses (open enemies, conflicts). He also saw a risk of violent death because the 7th house Moon, ruling the cusp of the 4th house of the end of life, was besieged between the antiscions of Mars and Saturn in the 12th. The antiscion of Saturn lies in 16 Libra, and the antiscion of Mars in 28 Libra. Alternatively, one might say that the antiscion of the Moon, which lies at 9 Pisces 02′, is between Mars and Saturn and conjunct both cusp of the 12th house.

As Morin predicted, Felipe de Mello died in combat in the Captaincy of Pernambuco, Brazil, in October of 1655 at age 43.

(Note: this post is a revision of an earlier post from yesterday which contained some errors that are hopefully now corrected.)

Morinus miscalculates a chart

Recently, while reading Book 15 of Astrologia Gallica, I came across the chart of Philippus Bandeyra de Mello (Latin name), aka Felipe Bandeira de Mello, a noted Brazilian solider of the 17th century. Morin tells us that he got the birth information from the Commander of the Fleet of the King of Portugal. Morin used the birth chart of de Mello to show how the signs of the zodiac retain their nature and power regardless of whether the chart is cast for a location above or below the equator.

Felipe, born in Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil, was the son of Antonio Bandeira de Melo and Jeronima de Mesquita de Azevedo. He had at least one sister (Maria) who was born before circa September 14, 1608. According to Morin’s source, Felipe was born on April 15, 1612 (Palm Sunday) one hour before sunrise. Unfortunately, Morin did not know how to calculate charts for locations below the equator, so the chart he presents in Book 15 has incorrect Angles and house cusps. The correct chart, calculated in Solar Fire, is as follows:

This is the correct chart, based on Morin’s data for de Mello. Morin did not know how to calculate charts for locations below the equator, and the chart he presented in Book 15 has the Asc in 10 Aries and the MC in 8 Capricorn.

Morin describes the native’s characteristics and some of his life history to show how the birth chart fits the personality and life events of de Mello. Felipe was always interested in arms and military matters. He frequently got into quarrels and, in 1635 at age 22, actually killed a man in a dispute on a riotous evening. Although born in Brazil, he traveled to various parts of Europe. In his travels he experienced severe storms at sea and several shipwrecks, including one in 1638 in which he was able to swim to safety. He was captured three times by the Dutch.

According to Morin, Felipe’s interest in a military career and his combative nature are indicated by Mars ruling Aries in the 1st house, with the Sun exalted in Aries in the 1st house of one’s character and temperament. In addition, Mars rules Scorpio which lies partly in the 7th and partly in the 8th houses — symbolizing quarrels, disputes, wars and risk of death. Furthermore, Mars in exalted in Capricorn which occupies most of the 10th house of actions and career. Mars also applies to conjoin Saturn, which rules Capricorn in the 10th of profession.

Because Morin miscalculated the chart, he believed that the Ascendant sign was Aries. In fact, the Ascendant sign is Pisces ruled by Jupiter in Leo, which is disposed by the exalted Sun in Aries in the 1st — certainly descriptive of this native’s combative personality and interest in military matters.

The shipwrecks and danger of death at sea are shown by Mars ruling Aries in the 1st and the cusp of the 8th of death in the water sign Scorpio. Mars, the exalted ruler of Capricorn and Saturn, the domicile ruler of the 10th house Capricorn, both occupy the water sign Pisces in the 12th house of evils and misfortune. He escaped death on his sea voyages because Jupiter rules the 9th of long journeys, disposes both Mars and Saturn, and trines the Sun in Aries in the 1st house.

Felipe was captured several times, as indicated by the two Malefics, Mars and Saturn, occupying the 12th house of imprisonment and confinement.

Morin felt that Felipe would encounter perpetual difficulties through his life because the Sun and Moon were in opposition across the 1st (the native) and 7th houses (open enemies, conflicts). He also saw a risk of violent death because the 7th house Moon, ruling part of the 4th house of the end of life, was besieged between the antiscions of Mars and Saturn in the 12th. The antiscion of Saturn lies in 16 Libra, and the antiscion of Mars in 28 Libra. Alternatively, one might say that the antiscion of the Moon, which lies at 9 Pisces 02′, is between and conjunct both 8th-ruler Mars and 12th-ruler Saturn in the 12th house.

As Morin predicted, Felipe de Mello died in combat in the Captaincy of Pernambuco, Brazil, in October of 1655 at age 43.