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The Birth Chart of Sixto ab Hemminga Frisio

In Book 22 of Astrologia Gallica, Section V, Chapter 4, Morin discusses the natal chart of Sixtus ab Hemminga, a staunch critic of astrology and its methods of prediction. In his book Astrologiæ, ratione et experientia refvtatae liber (Astrology Refuted by Reason and Experience), published in 1583, (“Ex officina Christophori Plantini. M. D. LXXXIII,” M = 1000, D = 500, LXXX = 80, III = 3), Sixto ab Hemminga devotes an entire chapter to his own birth chart and argues that many of the major events of his own life have no closely corresponding primary directions and would not have been predicted by astrological techniques. Here is the chart which Sixto used for his own nativity:

Here is the closest approximation I could make to this chart, using modern astrological software:

We see immediately that Sixto’s planetary positions differ somewhat from those calculated by modern methods. For example, Sixto has his natal Moon at 23 Cancer 29′ (R.A. 116:51) but the modern calculation places the Moon at 24 Cancer 17′ (R.A. 115:34). Notably, because many of his criticisms involve serious illness with the risk of death, the position of 8th ruler Mercury becomes important. In Sixto’s original chart, Mercury lies at 17 Pices 25′, but in the modern chart Mercury lies at 13 Pisces 34′ — a difference of about 4 degrees, which would make a difference of several years in a primary direction. Sixto most likely calculated primary directions by the method of Regiomontanus. Morinus, wrting in the 17th century, was aware of the erroneous positions of the planets in Sixto’s original chart (see comments at the end of this post).

Sixto writes about occasions on which he came close to death because of serious illness, for example:

APRIL 25, 1555 (julian):
“In the year 1555, on April 15th, a most troublesome affliction began to torment me, which they call celiac disease or diarrhea, arising from weakness of the stomach and spleen, which had originated from a change in diet and indigestion. With treatment improperly begun and continued by a certain inexperienced physician, as often happens, on the tenth day from the beginning of the illness, I was in danger of my life in the greatest distress, and with difficulty was finally, though imperfectly, cured after a month. Hence, from the intemperate condition left in my stomach and spleen, I suffered from bulimia for more than two whole years, and from sad melancholy; finally I was cured by the use of stronger wine. The direction of the horoscope to 8 degrees 58 minutes of Sagittarius signified nothing of the sort; the revolutions with the annual ingress were blameless. It would be strange if the stars had indicated this physician’s inexperience.”

DECEMBER 12, 1559 (julian):
“In the year 1559, on December 8th, in the morning hours, a very acute fever seized me, with pleurisy and inflammation of the liver, as affirmed by those who took most diligent care of me: Bernardus Cronenburgius and H. Faber, highly experienced physicians of Cologne. On December 12th, my life was almost despaired of, but I recovered by the Christmas holiday.”

Using Janus software, I calculated the primary directions by proportional semi-arc, with and without latitude, Naibod key for timing, based on the modern version of Sixto’s chart:

In the above list, the primary directions most active around April 25, 1555 were Uranus square to MC, and Jupiter square to the Sun. Uranus occupies the natal 8th (life-threatening conditons) and conjoins the greater malefic Saturn which lies in detriment in the 8th. Jupiter rules the 4th cusp (end of life matters), is square Neptune in the 4th, and is quincunx the Moon which lies in the 8th and rules Cancer intercepted in the 8th.

In the above list, the primary directions most active around December 12, 1559 are the trine of Saturn to the Ascendant, the planet Mars to the prenatal syzygy, and the sesquisquare of Chirong to the Midheaven. Saturn occupies the 8th where it is debilitated, and the Ascendant signifies the body and health of the native. Mars rules the Ascendant, is a natural signifier of fevers, and is opposed by the Moon in the 8th and ruler of Cancer intercepted in the 8th.

Had Sixto ab Hemminga had access to modern tables of planetary positions and modern astrological software, he might not have been so harsh in his criticism of astrological techniques.

————

Morinus disussed this chart on p.158 of Holden’s translation of Book 22, On Primary Directions. For some reason, Morinus attributes the following birth chart to Sixto (planetary positions are calculated by modern computer and differ somewhat from Sixto’s original chart in his 1583 book):

According to Morinus, this is Sixto’s rectified birth chart, based on his nearly fatal illness (fever, pleurisy, liver inflammation) of December, 1559. Morin claims that Sixto considered the direction of the Ascendant to the antiscion of natal Mars to estimate the birth time. In this chart, the antiscion of Mars lies at 13 Sagittarius 01′.

Morinus also writes that Sixto used the direction of the Ascendant to the square of 8th ruler Mercury (at 13 Sagittarius 34′ by modern calculation) to signify his serious illness of December, 1566. In Sixto’s original chart, Mercury is shown at 17 Pisces 25′, which would place its square at 17 Sag 25′. Morin argues that Sixto’s planetary positions are often inaccurate, so that his primary directions would not produce reliable timing.

Studying the chart, Morin rectifies the birth time to 2 minutes earlier, based on the date of Seito’s wedding on August 2, 1563. Morin’s rectified version of Sixto’s natal chart has an MC of 13 Virgo 37′ and an Ascendant of 21 Scorpio 30′. Morin based his rectification of the direction of the square of 7th ruler Venus (with latitude) to the MC to coincide with the date of his marriage.

Morin’s rectification of Sixto’s birth chart, calculated by Janus software and using modern positions of planets, looks like this:

Sixto criticized astrology as being imprecise in its timimg of predictions. He felt that primary directions ought to closely identify the dates of important life events (within days or a few weeks at most). Holden points out in a footnote that Morin’s rectification of Sixto’s chart finds primary directions of significant events that are only accurate, on average, to within 7 MONTHS of the event. Sixto would attribute such primary directions to mere coincidence with the actual timing of events (if you look hard enough, you can usually find a relevant primary direction within a year of an event) and would therefore regard prediciton by primary direcitons as an invalid predictive technique. Morin, on the other hand, regarded primary directions as providing a glimpse into the the mind of God and the divine ordering of the universe. What Sixto regards are mere coincidence, Morin views as an article of faith.

The Birth Chart of Sexto ab Hemminga Frisio

In Book 22 of Astrologia Gallica, Section V, Chapter 4, Morin discusses the natal chart of Sextus ab Hemminga, a staunch critic of astrology and its methods of prediction. In his book Astrologiæ, ratione et experientia refvtatae liber, published in 1583, (“Ex officina Christophori Plantini. M. D. LXXXIII,” M = 1000, D = 500, LXXX = 80, III = 3), Sexto ab Hemminga devotes an entire chapter to his own birth chart and argues that many of the major events of his own life have no corresponding primary directions and would not have been predicted by astrological techniques. Here is the chart which Sexto used for his own nativity:

Here is the closest approximation I could make to this chart, using modern astrological software:

We see immediately that Sexto’s planetary positions differ somewhat from those calculated by modern methods. For example, Sexto has his natal Moon at 23 Cancer 29′ (R.A. 116:51) but the modern calculation places the Moon at 24 Cancer 17′ (R.A. 115:34). Notably, because many of his criticisms involve serious illness with the risk of death, the position of 8th ruler Mercury becomes important. In Sexto’s original chart, Mercury lies at 17 Pices 25′, but in the modern chart Mercury lies at 13 Pisces 34′ — a difference of about 4 degrees, which would make a difference of several years in a primary direction. Sexto most likely calculated primary directions by the method of Regiomontanus. Morinus, wrting in the 17th century, was aware of the erroneous positions of the planets in Sexto’s original chart.

Sexto writes about occasions on which he came close to death because of serious illness, for example:

APRIL 25, 1555 (julian):
“In the year 1555, on April 15th, a most troublesome affliction began to torment me, which they call celiac disease or diarrhea, arising from weakness of the stomach and spleen, which had originated from a change in diet and indigestion. With treatment improperly begun and continued by a certain inexperienced physician, as often happens, on the tenth day from the beginning of the illness, I was in danger of my life in the greatest distress, and with difficulty was finally, though imperfectly, cured after a month. Hence, from the intemperate condition left in my stomach and spleen, I suffered from bulimia for more than two whole years, and from sad melancholy; finally I was cured by the use of stronger wine. The direction of the horoscope to 8 degrees 58 minutes of Sagittarius signified nothing of the sort; the revolutions with the annual ingress were blameless. It would be strange if the stars had indicated this physician’s inexperience.”

DECEMBER 12, 1559 (julian):
“In the year 1559, on December 8th, in the morning hours, a very acute fever seized me, with pleurisy and inflammation of the liver, as affirmed by those who took most diligent care of me: Bernardus Cronenburgius and H. Faber, highly experienced physicians of Cologne. On December 12th, my life was almost despaired of, but I recovered by the Christmas holiday.”

Using Janus software, I calculated the primary directions by proportional semi-arc, with and without latitude, Naibod key for timing, based on the modern version of Sexto’s chart:

In the above list, the primary directions most active around April 25, 1555 were Uranus square to MC, and Jupiter square to the Sun. Uranus occupies the natal 8th (life-threatening conditons) and conjoins the greater malefic Saturn which lies in detriment in the 8th. Jupiter rules the 4th cusp (end of life matters), is square Neptune in the 4th, and is quincunx the Moon which lies in the 8th and rules Cancer intercepted in the 8th.

In the above list, the primary directions most active around December 12, 1559 are the trine of Saturn to the Ascendant, the planet Mars to the prenatal syzygy, and the sesquisquare of Chirong to the Midheaven. Saturn occupies the 8th where it is debilitated, and the Ascendant signifies the body and health of the native. Mars rules the Ascendant, is a natural signifier of fevers, and is opposed by the Moon in the 8th and ruler of Cancer intercepted in the 8th.

Had Sexto ab Hemminga had access to modern tables of planetary positions and modern astrological software, he might not have been so harsh in his criticism of astrological techniques.

The Sibly Chart of the USA

Recently, while reading Ken Bowser’s article on the Sibly chart of the American Revolution, it occurred to me that many astrologers may not be familiar with Sibly’s reasoning. With this in mind, I decided to look up and reproduce here Sibly’s comments from his 1826 book, A new and complete illustration of the celestial science of astrology: or, The art of foretelling future events and contingencies by the aspects, positions, and influences of the heavenly bodies … In four parts by Sibly, Ebenezer (1751-1800). Here are the relevant pages:

Sibly begins his analysis with the Vernal Equinox of 1776 calculated for London. He notes that Jupiter rules the Ascendant of the Aries Ingress chart and lies in detriment in Gemini in the 7th house of open adversaries. To locate the significator of England in the chart, he looks to Mars because Aries is the presumed Ascendant of England, and Mars rules Aries. Unfortunately, in the 1776 Aries Ingress chart in London, Mars, though strong in Aries, lies in darkness beneath the horizon and is combust the Sun. The Moon (the common people of England) is also combust the Sun and afflicted by a conjunction to Mars.

Furthmore, Mars is advancing to perfect an opposition to Saturn, exalted in Libra, in the powerful 10th house. Saturn is further fortified by close trines from the two benefics, Venus and Jupiter. Sibly states that Saturn in this chart signifies America and the American congress, presumably because of the essential dignities of each planet. Because Saturn is more powerful in this chart, and Mars will soon perfect its opposition to Saturn, he foresees “a total and eternal separation of the two countries.”

To determine when this separation will take place, he does a kind of primary direction on the Aries Ingress chart. He notes the Right Ascension of Mars and Saturn and calculates the arc between them to be 16 degrees and 22 minutes of arc, which he must then convert to units of time. There must be a typo in the text because he says that Saturn and Mars occupy “common” signs — he must have meant “cardinal signs.” A rule of thumb for speed is that cardinal signs are fast, common (mutable signs) are intermediate, and fixed signs are very slow. Sibly reasons that in cardinal signs each degree of Right Ascension will be equivalent to about a week so that in about 15 weeks and 2 days from the Aries Ingress (of March 20, 1776) the Mars-Saturn opposition is likely to manifest. (There are 107 days between March 20th and July 4th (including the end date), 107 days divided by 7 days per week = 15 weeks and 2 days.)

In fact, Sibly’s reasoning doesn’t make sense to me. He argues that time should be judged from the number of days it takes the Sun to traverse the arc of Right Ascension between Mars and the oppositive of Saturn. It will takes the Sun a little more that 16 days to traverse that arc, but somehow Sibly came up with a little more than 15 days.

If we relocated Sibly’s original USA Independence chart (19 AQ 49′ rising) from London to Philadelphia, we get Uranus exactly on the western horizon opposing the Ascendant degree.

Interestingly, the 1776 Cancer Ingress chart for Philadelphia has the same cusps as the Gemini rising chart of Dr. James D. Keifer from the early 1900s.

Should we be using the sidereal zodiac?

Recently a friend mentioned that he was having a crisis of faith about the use of the tropical versus sidereal zodiac in Western astrology. He was dismayed that the vast majority of tropical astrologers had predicted a win for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, but Trump unexpectedly (according to Western tropical astrology techniques) won. He was also impressed that the sidereal astrologer Ken Bowser accurately predicted Trump’s victory using the sidereal zodiac and had a track record of such accurate predictions.

I grew up learning Western tropical astrology and its techniques. When I started learning traditonal astrology in the 1970s, I was puzzled by the concept of essential dignities in the tropical zodiac. Because the zodiac was originally sidereal, based on the actual positions of the stars in the heavens, I could not understand how a section of the sky, in which a planet is dignified, could move with precession over the course of centuries. Because of precssion, a planet that is dignified in a tropical chart can shift to being debilitated in a sidereal chart, and vice versa.

The shift from the sidereal zodiac to the tropical zodiac appears to be due to the popularity of Claudius Ptolemy’s writings in the 2nd century CE. Prior to Ptolemy, astrologers used observation of the heavens to determine the positions of planets in the sky. By the time astrology reached Europe, the tropical zodiac had by and large replaced with original use of the sidereal zodiac for interpreting charts.

Several years ago Alan Annand sent me a review copy of his book on mutual receptions. He writes from a sidereal point of view. The book was extremely well done, but for my own reasons I was left confused because many of the mutual receptions he discussed failed to be so in the tropical zodiac in which I was used to working. I was unable to reconcile the discrepancy. Around the same time I happened to be reading something by the scholarly astrologer Martin Gansten and noticed that he uses the sidereal zodiac (Krishnamurti ayanamsa) instead of the tropical one.

This week I happened to watch a video by AstroLab about the astrology of the Spanish tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz in which the author mentions that he contacted the mother of Carlos who responded in an email that he was born around 3 AM (“Carlitos nació sobre las 3 de la mañana”). With this information we are able to cast a birth chart (May 5, 2003, Murcia, Spain) with a fairly accurate Ascendant.

The sidereal chart of Carlos Alcaraz appears much more descriptive of this young man’s athletic talent and career than the tropical chart. Take a look:

TROPICAL

Note that the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars are all peregrine in the traditional chart. The Almuten of the chart is Venus, which is peregrine and Rx. Using traditional techniques, we find his professional class to be “artisan” as signified by Venus.

SIDEREAL

Note that Mars, Venus, the Sun, the Moon, and Jupiter are all exalted in the sidereal chart! The Almuten of the sidereal chart is Mars which is exalted and conjunct the Capricorn Ascendant and also ruler of his Scorpio MC. Using traditional techniques, we find his professional class to be “warrior” as signified by Mars.

How do we explain that his natal planets are exalted in the sidereal chart but peregrine in the tropical chart? The exaltations make more sense in the context of his illustrious career as such a young age.

Obstructing Influences in Astrology

Indian astrology contains the concept that certain signs can have an obstructing influence in a given birth chart. The 2nd and 7th houses of the birth chart are often regarded as “Maraka” houses that can indicate troubles, danger, and impediments. The Jaimini tradition mentions argala and obstructors. Parashara discusses Badhaka sthanas, which are whole-sign houses associated with obstruction, harm, suffering, affliction, difficulty, problems, injury, frustration, hindrance, or even death. A google search of the Sanskrit meaning of the root “badh” gave the following results:

bādhTo resist, oppose, annoy, afflict, assault, drive, or abolish

In his discussion of the sign-based Chara dasha in BPHS, Parashara states that the 11th house from movable (cardinal) signs in their badhaka sthana (obstrucitng house), the 9th from fixed signs is their badhaka sthana, and the 7th from common (mutable, dual) signs is their badhaka sthana. Specifically, here is a list of signs and their corresponding Badhaka Sthana:

SIGNBadhaka SthanaLord of BadhakaRelationship to SignAries (movable)Aquarius (fixed)Saturn11thTaurus (fixed)Capricorn (movable)Saturn9thGemini (common)Sagittarius (common)Jupiter7thCancer (movable)Taurus (fixed)Venus11thLeo (fixed)Aries (movable)Mars9thVirgo (common)Pisces (common)Jupiter7thLibra (movable)Leo (fixed)Sun11thScorpio (fixed)Cancer (movable)Moon9thSagittarius (common)Gemini (common)Mercury7thCapricorn (movable)Scorpio (fixed)Mars11thAquarius (fixed)Leo (fixed)Sun9thPisces (common)Virgo (common)Mercury7th

Despite Parashara’s mention of the concept of Badhaka only in the BPHS chapter on the sign-based Chara Dasa, many astrologers have extended the use of the Badhaka concept to other dasha systems, including the popular Nakshatra-based Vimshottari system. For example, KP astrologers routinely, and apparently effectively, use the Badhaka Sthana and its lord in their delineation of charts.

Nadi astrologers also use this concept. For example, I came across a post on Facebook by Prof. Abhijit Krishnan who wrote:

“Concept of Badhaka is stands for ‘Vadh’ or ‘End of Everything’, 4th Bhava from any Lagna stands for ‘The Real Badhaka’ in Nadi.
Else, if Chara [movable] Lagna having afflicted Kethu at 11th Bhava (Sensitive Angle for all Chara Rasi), then it will treat as ‘Additional Badhaka.’
If Sthira [fixed] Lagna having afflicted Rahu at 9th Bhava (Sensitive Angle for all Sthira Rasi), then it will treat as ‘Additional Badhaka.’
If Ubaya [common] Lagna having afflicted Rahu/Kethu at 7th Bhava (Sensitive Angle for all Ubaya Rasi), then it will treat as ‘Additional Badhaka.'”

Apparently, in Nadi astrology, as in Western astrology, the 4th house signifies the final ending, the exit from earthly existence, and the grave; and in this sense it is a Badhaka sthana. Additional Badhaka sthanas in the birth chart will depend on the nature of the Lagna, whether it be cardinal, fixed, or mutable.

To illustrate, let’s look at the chart of actor James Dean who died in a car accident on September 30, 1955.

James Dean, time from Birth Certificate, Krishnamurti ayan., true nodes.

James Dean has mutable Pisces rising with Rahu in Pisces, so his Badhaka sthana is the 7th house Virgo, ruled by Mercury and containing Ketu. His 4th house of final endings and exit from Earth (the “real Badhaka” in Nadi) is Gemini which contains the Asc-ruler Jupiter.

The actor died on 30 Sep 1955 during Vimshottari Ju/Ra/Ke. Jupiter rules his Lagna and his 4th house of final endings. Rahu occupies his 1st house, and Ketu occupies his Virgo 7th, which is the Badhaka sthana for his Pisces Lagna.

In his KN Rao Chara, he is in the Gemini/Leo period. Gemini is his natal 4th house of endings, and his Asc-ruler Jupiter lies in Gemini. Leo is his 6th house of bodily injury and accidents. The Sun, which rules Leo, is opposed by Mars (a signifier of accidents and injuries, and ruler of the Aried 2nd house – a Maraka house) and occupies the same sign Capricorn with Mercury, ruler of both Virgo (7th house, Badhaka and Maraka) and Gemini (4th house of endings)

Looking back at the 2024 US Presidential Election

In October I stated in a post that I thought Kamala Harris would be the likely winner of the presidential election. Obviously, I was wrong and need to review and reflect on the methodology I used.

Considering predictive techniques based on the natal charts of both candidates, Harris and Trump, I felt that they each had the potential to win, but that Harris seemed to have an edge over Trump, although it would not surprise me if Trump was the victor. What tipped me toward Harris was the fact, from a wider perspective than their natal charts, “that all the slower planets are undergoing a sign change ( tropical) in the year around the election and inauguration of a new president in the USA. Such an event is likely to have major political consequences in mundane affairs, and the election of a mixed black-Indian woman as U.S. president seems to fit the symbolism.”

Obviously, my belief that the election of a woman of non-European heritage as president of the United States would signal a major change in world affairs was incorrect. In hindsight, it appears that the election of Donald Trump was a better fit to the radical changes in mundane affairs signaled by the major sign changes of planets in the tropical zodiac this election season.

In addition, there was a certain amount of political bias on my part. I found it hard to believe that the American people could vote for a man with Trump’s history of criminal behavior, moral turpitude, and disdain for the U.S. Constitution. Because of this bias, I looked for the possibility of a Harris victory and discounted the observations of Richard Houck, an astrologer who greatly influenced by thinking. Houck had noticed that, near the time of the election, a progressed natal planet turning direct suggests a win, whereas a progressed natal planet turning Rx (or not stationing at all) suggests a loss. Harris had her secondary progressed natal Uranus station Rx on 24 Nov 2024, within weeks of the election, suggesting a loss. Trump had no secondary progressed natal planets stationing around the time of the election, but his natal Pluto, by tertiary direction, turned direct on 7 Oct 2024, suggesting a victory. In contrast, Harris had her tertiary progressed Uranus turn Rx on 27 Aug 2024, suggesting a loss. Although this is only one measure, such a pattern in Houck’s experience suggested a Trump victory.

As I was experimenting with alternate methods of prediction of the outcome of an election, I did not avail myself of the traditional methods found in mundane astrology that have stood the test of time. Traditional mundane astrology makes use of the Sun’s ingress into the cardinal signs as follows:

A Fixed Sign on the ASC (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) of the Aries Ingress chart means that the Sun’s entrance into Aries will influence the entire 12 months (until March 20th of the following year), and all other cardinal ingresses are of secondary influence.

A Common/Mutable Sign on the ASC (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) of the Aries Ingress chart means that the Sun’s entrance into Aries will influence the following six months of the year (roughly March 20 – September 23), that is, until the autumnal equinox at the Libra Ingress.

A Cardinal Sign on the ASC (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) of the Aries Ingress chart means that the Sun’s entrance into Aries will influence the subsequent three months of the year (roughly March 20 – June 21), that is, until the summer solstice at the Cancer Ingress.

Where the Sun’s Ingress into Aries has rule for a longer period than three months, all other Solar Ingresses occurring with that period will have a secondary influence to such Ingress into Aries, and that of New Moons following within such period, in addition to being referred to the previous quarterly figure, should also be referred back to the figure for the Sun’s entry into Aries.

In these mundane charts, cast for Washington, DC, the 10th house represents the current government (Biden, Harris), and the opposite 4th house signifies the opposition (Trump, Vance). In mundane astrology the 1st house signifies the people and the general state of the nation.

Here is the 2024 Aries Ingress chart for DC:

The 2024 Aries Ingress chart for DC is nocturnal, cast for a Mars day during a Sun hour.

The Sun rules the 10th house (current government) and contains no planets. The Sun occupies 0 Aries in the succedent 5th house. The cadent 9th-house Moon is separating from a favorable trine to the Sun, which itself is applying to a sextile to Pluto in the 3rd. These factors favor the current government.

Saturn rules and occupies the angular 4th house (the opposition to the current government) and contains Mars (Asc-ruler, the people), Venus, Saturn (4th-ruler), and Jupiter. The planet Venus, the benefic of the nocturnal sect, applies to conjoin 4th-ruler Saturn. There is also a favorable partile trine between Saturn and the Part of Fortune (good luck in mundane matters) in 12 degrees of Cancer.

The Sun separating from a semi-square to 2nd-house-ruler Jupiter (financial matters) at the cusp of the 7th house (international affairs and conflicts). The 7th ruler Venus occupies the 4th opposite the 10th, suggesting that international affairs may be causing problems for the current government. In addition, the 10th-ruler Sun occupies the derived 8th from the 10th house (crisis, anxiety, mortality, loss, endings) of the Aries ingress chart.

Judging from this 2024 ingress chart for Washington, DC, the current government is facing strong opposition, both from the people (Mars ruling the Scorpio Asc) and the opposing party (Saturn ruling and occupying the angular 4th and fortified by an applying conjunction from sect-benefic Venus and a trine to the Part of Fortune). The Sun rules the 10th but is succedent in the 5th and fortified by a separating trine from the Moon in the cadent 9th.

For lack of time, I won’t discuss here the Libra Ingress chart prior to the election, or the lunation charts or eclipses, which also illustrate astrological factors to be considered.

Based on the 2024 Aries Ingress chart for the USA alone, a Trump victory is certainly a possibility. In the future, I’ll need always to consider the solar ingress charts in any mundane prediction, even if I don’t want to hear what it has to tell me.

The Birth Chart of Aleister Crowley

Recently an astrology group which I follow discussed the natal chart of Aleister Crowley, a noted astrologer, occultist, and Tarot master whose deck is still quite popular. Years ago I read a biography of Crowley and attempted to rectify his time of birth based on his life events. In his autobiography Crowley states the he was born around 11 PM to Midnight. My conclusion from looking at several life events was that his birth time was probably around 11:30 PM UT.

Crowley himself wrote that he was uncertain of his birth time but believed that he was born around 11 PM to Midnight on Tuesday, 12 October 1875. In his book The Equinox of the Gods, published in 1936, Crowley included his natal chart with a birth time of 10:52 PM LMT (shortly before 11 PM).

For various esoteric reasons, the occultist Crowley was convinced that he had Leo rising at birth. He may have selected the 10:52 PM LMT birth time because it represents the first moment that Leo ascended to the eastern horizon at his birthplace on Tuesday night, 12 October 1875. In other words, this chart may not be what he believed to be his actual birth chart, but rather the chart for the beginning of the period with Leo rising, between 10:52 PM and Midnight, during which he was born.

Here is a copy of Crowley’s birth chart, which he cast for 10:52 PM LMT, from The Equinox of the Gods:

Crowley (Frater P.) cast his own natal chart of 10:52 PM LMT on 12 Oct 1875 at Leamington, England. This chart has 0.3 Leo rising and 4 Aries on the midheaven. Modern calculations give the Moon at 22 Pisces.

Here is the same chart cast with Solar Fire software:

Aleister Crowley’s natal chart which he published in The Equinox of the Gods (1936) cast for 10:52 PM LMT. This chart may represent the first moment that Leo rose to the Ascendant on the evening of 12 Oct 1875, and thus the first possible birth chart before the civil day ended at midnight.

The famous Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa, was also a gifted and experienced astrologer. Pessoa became interested in Crowley’s work and, having read a reference to Crowley’s birth chart in a British publication, he wrote to Crowley in 1929, suggesting a rectification he had done, using “directions,” of Crowley’s time of birth. Here is a copy of Pessoa’s letter:

Fernando Pessoa wrote to Crowley on 4 Dec 1929, to say that he had rectified Crowley’s birth chart, apparently using events from Crowley’s life and their corresponding “directions.” The rectified time of birth is 11:16:39 PM LMT, which give 11 Aries on the MC.
Source: https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Portuguese_Brazilian_Studies/ejph/pessoaplural/Issue1/PDF/I1A08.pdf

Pessoa, who was a brilliant astrologer, rectified Crowley’s birth chart, using “directions” (I’m not sure which type of directions Pessoa used in his work), and came up with a birth time of 11:16:39 PM LMT (or 11:22:43 PM UT, which is close to my own estimate of 11:30 pm UT). Here is Pessoa’s rectified chart for Aleister Crowley.

Pessoa’s rectification of Crowley’s chart with 11 Aries on the MC, from his letter of December 1929. Interestingly, Starkman, who I believe used Topocentric cusps and Placidian primary directions, also rectified the chart to one with an Ascendant of 4 Leo 32′. It is rare that two diffierent astrologers agree so closely on a rectification..

Crowley died at age 72, on 1 December 1947, of chronic bronchitis aggravated by pleurisy and myocardial degeneration.

Not long before his demise, on 12 November 1947, there was an annular solar eclipse at 19 Scorpio in partile square to his natal Uranus-Saturn opposition across the 2nd-8th house axis. Here is Crowley’s rectified chart (by Pessoa) with the eclipse superimposed. Saturn rules the natal 8th cusp of death and is highly active in the chart combination. It appears that Fernando Pessoa did an excellent job in rectifying Aleister Crowley’s birth chart.

In Search of an Ayanamsa

Ever since I first read Cyril Fagan’s Primer of Sidereal Astrology (1971), I have been puzzled by the various ayanamsas available in the literature, that is, which one to use? Fagan’s study of ancient texts led him to believe that the “zero year” (when the tropical and sidereal zodiacs aligned) was 221 AD. By Fagan’s estimate, the ayanamsa for January 1, 2000, would be about 24d 44m (calculated on astro-seek.com).

Indian astrologers commonly use the ayanamsa proposed by Lahiri, a scientist who was appointed by the Indian Government to come up with an Ayanamsha that would be the basis for a common and widely used ephemeris (panchanga). According to Lahiri, the ayanamsa for January 1, 2000, would be about 23d 51m (calculated on astro-seek.com) or 23d 51m 23s (calculated on astrosage.com).

Another popular version is the so-called KP ayanamsa, proposed by Professor Krishnamurti, the founder of KP astrology who believed that the “zero year” occured in 291 AD. some 70 year after the date suggested by Cyril Fagan. There are two versions, the Old and the New KP ayanamsa. According to New version, the KP ayanamsa for January 1, 2000, would be about 23d 46m (calculated on astro-seek.com). This is quite close to the Lahiri value.

Another version used by KP astrologers is that of S.P. Khullar, who proposed the formula: AyanKP = (50.2388475/3600)*((YR-292)+(261/365)+...)). Using this formula, I calculated the Khullar ayanamsa for January 1, 2000 to be 23d 50m 44s or rounded, 23d 51m. which is very close to the Lahiri value.

Image from https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Precession-and-nutations-of-the-spin-axis-about-the-orbit-pole-Adapted-from-Lowrie-2011_fig1_345007076

Different astrologers use different ayanamsas, apparently depending on their experience and personal preferences. Mathematically, an ayanmsa is not easy to determine because the Earth doesn’t travel at an exactly uniform rate around the Sun, and the Earth is also subject to nutation, that is, a periodic swaying or oscillation of its axis that causes the precession of the Earth’s poles to follow a wavy rather than a circular path. A good discussion of this issue can be found in the U.S. Naval Observatory Circular #179 (Sep 1, 2005).

There is also an excellent book on this topic: Study of KP Ayanamsa with Modern Precession Theories by D. Senthilathiban, in which the author incorporates modern models of the Earth’s motion to offer revised values for the KP and Lahiri ayanamsas. He writes: “Hence for our astrological calculation it is recommended to adopt IAU2006 Precession Model along with latest Nutation Model IAU2000A to obtain True Ayanamsa and True Obliquity, so that more accurate Nirayana position of Cusps, Planets can be obtained (Both for KP System and Hindu Vedic Astrology).” According to his calculations, the mean ayanamsa for April 15th at 00:00 UT are:

Lahiri, 2000: 23:51:55New KP, 2000: 23:47:01Difference: 00:04:54—
Lahiri, 1950: 23:10:01New KP, 1950: 23:05:07Difference: 00:04:54—
Lahiri, 1900: 22:28:08NewKP, 1900: 22:23:13Difference: 00:04:55—


Thus, using up-to-date models and observations, the difference between the 2000 and 1900 values of the ayanamsas are 1d 23m 47′, which is equivalent to a rate of change of about 0.013963888 degrees per year, or 50.27 seconds of arc annually.

East meets West: Experimenting with some ideas suggested by KP Horary

My longstanding interest in horary astrology has prompted me to experiment with different techniques. The Indian astrologer K.S. Krishnamurti (1902-1978) developed a method of distinguishing between charts of twins, which he extended for use in answering horary questions. In a stroke of genius, Krishnamurti invented a way to map the Vimshottari Dasa division of time onto the ecliptic by dividing each Nakshatra (which has a praticular Vimshottari lord) into 9 parts with their own sublords corresponding to the bukti lords and proportional to the time-subdivisions of the Vimshattari system. He also advocated the use of Placidus house cusps. This system is often referred to as KP (Krishnamurti paddhati) astrology.

The result of Krishnamurti’s theory was the division of the zodiac circle into 249 parts, each associated with a Nakshatra lord (aka Star lord) and a Bukti lord (referred to as a sublord). If I understand Krishnamurti correctly, in his horary work he would ask the querent to think of a number between 1 and 249, which Krishnamurti would use to establish the Ascendant degree for the horary question. He would then construct the chart with the Ascendant chosen by the querent (based on the 249 divisions of the zodiac) and with Placidus house cusps for the location of the question, into which he would insert the planetary positions for the time of the question. In some ways, this is similar to Evangeline Adam’s methods of constructing a horary chart for use in divination.

I wanted to test a variation of this method on known horary charts, for example, those of William Lilly. However. Lilly did not ask his clients to come up with a number between 1 and 249 to establish a horary Ascendant degree. It occurred to me that the time at which the querent posed the question ought to be astrologically significant and could be converted into a number between 1 and 249. Giving the matter some thought, I decided to map the week onto the 249 KP subdivisions of the zodiac by assigning the first subdivision to 00:00 AM on Sunday and the 249th subdivision to the period just before midnight the following Saturday at the end of the week.

Here’s an example from Lilly (CA 286). The question is, “A sick Doctor, what was his Disease? If curable?” Here is Lilly’s chart for the question but with Placidus cusps:

Lilly’s decumbiture chart about a sick doctor, cast on a Thursday at 6:10 PM (18:10) LMT.

To convert the time of the question to a KP subdivision, we can do the following:

Thursday is the 5th day of the week, so by 00:00 Thursday morning 4 x 24 = 96 hours will have elapsed.

The question was asked at 18:10 on Thursday, so we add 96 + 18:10 = 114:10, or 114 hours 10 minutes, which is 114.1666 in decimal form.

There are 168 hours in a week of 7 days (7 x 24 = 168).

114.1666 divided by 168 = 0.68313, which is the fraction of the week that has elapsed since the beginning of the week.

0.68313 x 249 subdivisions = 170.1, so the KP horary Ascendant can be found at 170.1 in the KP table of subdivisions, which is readily available online at several sites.

170.1 corresponds to 3 Sagittarius 45′. Its sign lord is Jupiter, Vimshottari Nakshatra lord is Ketu, and sublord is the Moon. These planets should play an important role in answering the question.

We now cast a chart for the location of the question with Placidus houses and the Asc of 3 Sag 45′:

Sick doctor: KP Ascendant. The planetary positions are advanced a bit from Lilly’s original chart, so we will need to analyze this chart based on the original values for the planets but the Angles and Placidus cusps of this chart.

I will not address the nature of the disease from this chart, since medical astrology is a subspecialty and nowadays I would prefer the diagnosis of a well-trained physician.

The question of whether he is curable or will succumb from this illness is more clear-cut. The first house signifies the sick person. The Asc is ruled by Jupiter, which signifies the sick doctor. Jupiter lies in the 7th in opposition to the Asc, an indication of serious illness. Lilly did not know of the outer planets, but the partile opposition of Neptune to Pluto on the horizon is an ominous sign. Uranus in the 12th house (hospitalization, sorrow) in partile square to the true lunar nodes (“at the bendings”) is another warning. The Sun in the 6th, opposite Uranus in the 12th, and in square to the Moon’s Nodes also suggests serious illness, possibly involving the heart (ruled by the Sun).

The Moon rules the KP 8th cusp, signifying death and rules the KP 6th by exaltation. The Moon (sickness and death) conjoins the south lunar node, lies in square to the Sun in the 6th of illness, suggesting a fatal outcome. In Lilly’s original chart, the Moon at the end of Aquarius will enter Pisces and square Jupiter (the sick doctor) in 12 degrees 20 seconds of arc. The Moon in the KP chart is cadent and in a fixed sign, so the 12 degrees could correspond to weeks or months. Given the state of illness described by Lilly, it is probably weeks: 12 weeks = 84 days; 20 seconds = 1/3 of a week = 2.4 days. So they doctor (Jupiter) is likely to meet his demise (Moon) in about 84 + 2.4 days = 86.2 days, that is the 87th day after the question. Lilly tells us that the doctor died on August 14, which is 88 days after the question and very close to the time of death predicted from the chart.

At least in this example, the conversion of Lilly’s original horary to a KP horary gave accurate results.

PS: An alternative method.

After reflecting on this method for a bit, it occurred to me that one could simply project the week onto the zodiac circle without the intermediacy of the 249 KP subdivisions. In other words:

here are 168 hours in a week of 7 days (7 x 24 = 168).

114.1666 divided by 168 = 0.68313, which is the fraction of the week that has elapsed since the beginning of the week.

0.68313 x 360 degrees = 245.9268, which is equivalent to 245:55:36, or 5 Sag 55′ 36″ as the new horary Ascendant, placing the Neptune-Pluto opposition even closer to the horizon. The MC of this chart would be about 3 Libra 45′.

The KP lords of this new Asc position would be: Sign lord Jupiter, Nakshatra lord Ketu, sublord Rahu.

East meets West: Experimenting with KP Horary Techniques

My longstanding interest in horary astrology has prompted me to experiment with different techniques. The Indian astrologer K.S. Krishnamurti (1902-1978) developed a method of distinguishing between charts of twins, which he extended for use in answering horary questions. In a stroke of genius, Krishnamurti invented a way to map the Vimshottari Dasa division of time onto the ecliptic by dividing each Nakshatra (which has a praticular Vimshottari lord) into 9 parts with their own sublords corresponding to the bukti lords and proportional to the time-subdivisions of the Vimshattari system. He also advocated the use of Placidus house cusps. This system is often referred to as KP (Krishnamurti paddhati) astrology.

The result of Krishnamurti’s theory was the division of the zodiac circle into 249 parts, each associated with a Nakshatra lord (aka Star lord) and a Bukti lord (referred to as a sublord). If I understand Krishnamurti correctly, in his horary work he would ask the querent to think of a number between 1 and 249, which Krishnamurti would use to establish the Ascendant degree for the horary question. He would then construct the chart with the Ascendant chosen by the querent (based on the 249 divisions of the zodiac) and with Placidus house cusps for the location of the question, into which he would insert the planetary positions for the time of the question. In some ways, this is similar to Evangeline Adam’s methods of constructing a horary chart for use in divination.

I wanted to test this method on known horary charts, for example, those of William Lilly. However. Lilly did not ask his clients to come up with a number between 1 and 249 to establish a horary Ascendant degree. It occurred to me that the time at which the querent posed the question ought to be astrologically significant and could be converted into a number between 1 and 249. Giving the matter some thought, I decided to map the week onto the 249 KP subdivisions of the zodiac by assigning the first subdivision to 00:00 AM on Sunday and the 249th subdivision to the period just before midnight the following Saturday at the end of the week.

Here’s an example from Lilly (CA 286). The question is, “A sick Doctor, what was his Disease? If curable?” Here is Lilly’s chart for the question but with Placidus cusps:

Lilly’s decumbiture chart about a sick doctor, cast on a Thursday at 6:10 PM (18:10) LMT.

To convert the time of the question to a KP subdivision, we can do the following:

Thursday is the 5th day of the week, so by 00:00 Thursday morning 4 x 24 = 96 hours will have elapsed.

The question was asked at 18:10 on Thursday, so we add 96 + 18:10 = 114:10, or 114 hours 10 minutes, which is 114.1666 in decimal form.

There are 168 hours in a week of 7 days (7 x 24 = 168).

114.1666 divided by 168 = 0.68313, which is the fraction of the week that has elapsed since the beginning of the week.

0.68313 x 249 subdivisions = 170.1, so the KP horary Ascendant can be found at 170.1 in the KP table of subdivisions, which is readily available online at several sites.

170.1 corresponds to 3 Sagittarius 45′. Its sign lord is Jupiter, Vimshottari Nakshatra lord is Ketu, and sublord is the Moon. These planets should play an important role in answering the question.

We now cast a chart for the location of the question with Placidus houses and the Asc of 3 Sag 45′:

Sick doctor: KP Ascendant. The planetary positions are advanced a bit from Lilly’s original chart, so we will need to analyze this chart based on the original values for the planets but the Angles and Placidus cusps of this chart.

I will not address the nature of the disease from this chart, since medical astrology is a subspecialty and nowadays I would prefer the diagnosis of a well-trained physician.

The question of whether he is curable or will succumb from this illness is more clear-cut. The first house signifies the sick person. The Asc is ruled by Jupiter, which signifies the sick doctor. Jupiter lies in the 7th in opposition to the Asc, an indication of serious illness. Lilly did not know of the outer planets, but the partile opposition of Neptune to Pluto on the horizon is an ominous sign. Uranus in the 12th house (hospitalization, sorrow) in partile square to the true lunar nodes (“at the bendings”) is another warning. The Sun in the 6th, opposite Uranus in the 12th, and in square to the Moon’s Nodes also suggests serious illness, possibly involving the heart (ruled by the Sun).

The Moon rules the KP 8th cusp, signifying death and rules the KP 6th by exaltation. The Moon (sickness and death) conjoins the south lunar node, lies in square to the Sun in the 6th of illness, suggesting a fatal outcome. In Lilly’s original chart, the Moon at the end of Aquarius will enter Pisces and square Jupiter (the sick doctor) in 12 degrees 20 seconds of arc. The Moon in the KP chart is cadent and in a fixed sign, so the 12 degrees could correspond to weeks or months. Given the state of illness described by Lilly, it is probably weeks: 12 weeks = 84 days; 20 seconds = 1/3 of a week = 2.4 days. So they doctor (Jupiter) is likely to meet his demise (Moon) in about 84 + 2.4 days = 86.2 days, that is the 87th day after the question. Lilly tells us that the doctor died on August 14, which is 88 days after the question and very close to the time of death predicted from the chart.

At least in this example, the conversion of Lilly’s original horary to a KP horary gave accurate results.

PS: An alternative method.

After reflecting on this method for a bit, it occurred to me that one could simply project the week onto the zodiac circle without the intermediacy of the 249 KP subdivisions. In other words:

here are 168 hours in a week of 7 days (7 x 24 = 168).

114.1666 divided by 168 = 0.68313, which is the fraction of the week that has elapsed since the beginning of the week.

0.68313 x 360 degrees = 245.9268, which is equivalent to 245:55:36, or 5 Sag 55′ 36″ as the new horary Ascendant, placing the Neptune-Pluto opposition even closer to the horizon. The MC of this chart would be about 3 Libra 45′.

The KP lords of this new Asc position would be: Sign lord Jupiter, Nakshatra lord Ketu, sublord Rahu.