Anthony Louis's Blog, page 33

Book Review of Predictive Method: Predicting with Grahas as Karakas by Laura Barat

Not long ago I came across the YouTube channel of astrologer Laura Barat and was impressed by her videos on Hindu astrology. Going to her website, I noticed that she had published a book entitled Predictive Method: Predicting with Grahas as Karakas, so I ordered a copy.

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In the Foreword and Introduction we learn that Laura was a student of Ernst Wilhelm, who provided the introduction for this text and who also taught her the method explained therein. Laura has extensively tested the method and made some improvements, which are detailed in the book.

Basing her argument primarily in Hindu classic Brihat Parashara Hora Shasta, Laura Barat details the significations of the various planets (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu). She then explains that the planets are able to produce what they promise in the birth chart, depending on how much strength they possess as measured as “Ishta” (desired) and “Kashta” (ill) in units called “virupas”. The total of virupas of Ishta and Kashta for any planet always adds up to 60.

The next important factor is to assess the interactions (e.g., hemming and occupation of foundational houses) and graha or planetary aspects of each planet (karaka) with the various benefic (gentle) and malefic (cruel) planets in the chart. Laura points out that gentle planets tend to share their goodness (Ishta) with other planets and to keep their negativity (Kashta) to themselves, whereas cruel planets behave in an opposite manner.

The predictive method is then fairly straightforward. One studies the person’s active nakshatra dasas (e.g., Vimshottari, Yogini, conditional dasas) to see which planets are mahadasa lords during the period under study. These planets become the relevant karakas (significators) to be used for prediction. Then, the astrologer studies the divisional chart (Varga) related to the area of life for which a prediction is to be made. The house placement of the karaka in the divisional chart is important as is the Ishta and Kashta of that planet. One also considers the planetary aspects to the karaka, whether it is hemmed in by benefics or malefics, and which planets occupy the foundational houses (1st, 4th, 6th and 8th) from the karaka. Based on the overall condition of the karaka as indicated by these factors, one predicts whether or not it will be able to produce its significations during that dasa period.

Fortunately, Laura Barat gives several example to illustrate the use of the technique. Unfortunately, one of her main examples is Donald Trump’s bankruptcy of the Taj Mahal Casino (1989 – 1991) in which she uses incorrect birth data for Mr. Trump. The book was published in 2011, and the then current birth time for Donald Trump was believed to be 9:51 AM. Subsequently his birth information became available from his official birth certificate and he was born at 10:54 AM, about an hour later than the chart used in this book, rendering the entire predictive analysis of Trump’s chart by this technique invalid. It would be useful if she would publish on her website a re-analysis of Trump’s 10:54 AM chart with this technique for the 1989-1991 period to see if his bankruptcy is still indicated with the correct birth data.

Another unusual feature of this book is that Laura Barat uses the tropical zodiac with equatorially-based nakshatras and a nakshatra year of 359.0016 days. Although the use of the tropical zodiac is becoming more popular with some practitioners of Hindu astrology, the measurement of nakshatras along the equator rather than the ecliptic and the use of a year other than the tropical or sidereal year is currently highly unusual. Thus, the results of this predictive method, which she has verified using equatorial nakshatras, a 359.0016-day nakshatra dasa year, and the topical zodiac may or may not carry over to more traditional approaches. For example, I was unable to replicate her findings about Trump’s bankruptcy using his correct birth data, but I am also not at all experienced in using the technique.

There is one minor error on page 83 in the Saptamsa chart of Abraham Lincoln, which gives the Lagna as Gemini when if fact it should be Cancer. In the text Laura states that in Lincoln’s Saptamsa, Jupiter occupies the 8th Bhava, which can only be true if the Lagna lies in Cancer.

Overall I liked this book. It contains a lot of interesting and informative material based on classical sources. The argument became less convincing when it became apparent that the primary example was based on an incorrect birth time for Donald Trump. The book also does not address the issue of whether this technique would work just as well with the sidereal zodiac, nakshatras measured along the ecliptic rather than the equator, and a nakshatra dasa year length of 365.24 days. The principles that underlie the technique appear sound, but the proof of the pudding is always in the eating.

The Passing of Edward Aschoff

There was a sad story this week about the unexpected passing of ESPN reporter Edward Aschoff at age 34 after a bout with pneumonia. Aschoff was born in Oxford, MS, on 24 December 1985, time unknown. He died on his 34th birthday. In cases like this I typically find that the true Lunar Nodes in the Solar Return are moving very slowly and are either stationary or about to make a station within 24 hours. In addition, there are usually other striking symbolic connections in the Solar Return chart.

Because the time of birth is unknown, I cast a birthplace chart for sunrise in the tropical zodiac with Placidus houses:

[image error]Birth Chart of Edward Aschoff set for sunrise

In the sunrise chart, his Sun/Neptune conjunction lies on the Ascendant, and the Sun rules his 8th house of death. Mercury rules Gemini (a sign associated with the lungs) on the 6th of illness. Next I cast the current Solar Return of this sunrise chart for his birth place.

[image error]Solar Return of sunrise chart at the birth place on 24 December 2019, also the day of his demise.

The Solar Return as a stand-alone chart is quite striking. Uranus, the planet of the unexpected, almost exactly conjoins the Ascendant. Saturn almost exactly conjoins the MC degree where it is united with Pluto, both Saturn and Pluto being symbols of death. The lunar nodes are moving very slowly and will make a station within 19 hours of the time of this Solar Return, indicating sudden, unexpected and very challenging conditions during the period covered by this Solar Return.

In addition, the solar eclipse of December 26th, within two days of his death, will occur at 4 Capricorn 06, which is almost exactly on his natal Sun/Neptune conjunction, with the Sun ruling the 8th house in the sunrise natal chart. In the Solar Return, the eclipse conjoins Jupiter, which rules the 8th house of the return chart. Typically, close contact from eclipses to natal planets indicate dramatic and unexpected events.

On Capricorn, the Sea-goat

During this Christmas week, the sun is passing through tropical Capricorn. In the tropical zodiac, zero degrees of Capricorn marks the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere and is the shortest day of the year, the day when we experience the least amount of daylight and the maximal amount of darkness. In mythology, Capricorn is associated with the Sea-goat, a kind of impossible mythical creature which is goat from the waist up and fish from the waist down.

[image error] Capricornus as a sea-goat from Urania’s Mirror (1825).

According to Greek mythology, the first sea-goat was named Pricus and he was created by Cronos, the god of time. According to wikipedia (bold print mine):

“Despite its faintness, the constellation Capricornus has one of the oldest mythological associations, having been consistently represented as a hybrid of a goat and a fish since the Middle Bronze Age [roughly 1500–1200 BCE], when the Babylonians used MULSUḪUR.MAŠ “The Goat-Fish” as a symbol of their god Ea. In Greek mythology, the constellation is sometimes identified as Amalthea, the goat that suckled the infant Zeus after his mother, Rhea, saved him from being devoured by his father, Cronos. … Cronos created the immortal Pricus, who shares Chronos’s ability to manipulate time. He had lots of children who lived near the seashore, but when they found themselves on the dry land they turned into normal goats, losing their special ability to think and speak in the process. In an effort to prevent this, Pricus turns back time, again and again; however, he eventually resigns himself to loneliness and misery, letting the little Sea Goats leave him. Learning he cannot control their fate and not wanting to be the only Sea Goat prompts him to ask Cronos to let him die. Because he is immortal instead, he must spend eternity in the sky as Capricorn.”

[image error] An American alligator in Florida. (Source: Getty Images)

Interestingly, this same mythology appears in the Vedic literature in which Capricorn is called makara, a Sanskrti word meaning crocodile, alligator, porpoise, dolphin or sea-monster. According to BPHS (Sharma translation): Capricorn is “lorded by Saturn, Tamoguni (Tamasic) and its element is earth. It resides in the south and is strong at night. It rises with its back, has an unwieldy or huge body, is variegated (in color) and wanders on land and in forests. It is quadruped in the first half and footless in the second half and it glides in water.” For a detailed discussion of the Vedic view of Capricorn, I recommend the video by Corey Dowds All about the Capricorn Rasi.

To experiment with this symbolism of a Sea-goat, which could also be a sea-monster (makara), I looked at the event chart of a toddler who was killed in Florida by an alligator at a Disney resort in 2016. According to news reports the two-year-old was wading in a lagoon near the Walt Disney World Hotel around 9 pm on Tuesday 14 June 2014 when an alligator came out of the water and dragged the child into the lagoon. His body was found a couple days later. Here is the chart in the tropical zodiac with Placidus houses for that incident.

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Around 9 pm or shortly thereafter an alligator dragged the toddler into the lake. The first call to the authorities occurred at about 9:16 pm after the parents were unable to retrieve the child.

In the chart for the attack (around 9 pm) Capricorn is rising and its ruler Saturn is Retrograde and conjoins the cusp of the unfortunate 12th house of loss and grief. Retrograde Pluto (god of the underworld) rises in the 1st house. In addition, the lord of the hour at this location is also the Ascendant-ruler Saturn, the first hour of the night which lasted until about 9:11 pm. Transiting Moon has just opposed transiting Uranus, marking this as a period of sudden unexpected events. The Retrograde Neptune in Pisces very closely squaring Asc-ruler Saturn in Sagittarius carries a malefic connotation of dissolution and loss.

In this case, the prominence of Saturn as the Ascendant lord, the hour lord on a Mars day (Tuesday), and the lord of the first hour of the night making Saturn also lord of the entire nocturnal period, highlights the symbolism of Capricorn as a makara or type of sea-monster. The myth of the Sea-goat Pricus suffering loneliness and misery is particularly poignant in this news story because, even with his power to turn back time, Pricus must accept the fact that he is powerless to control his children’s destiny or to make them return to him.

Astrological Talent in the Chart of Evangeline Adams

In the previous post I commented on a Jaimini technique presented by Laura Barat for identifying astrological talent in the horoscope. One of the major Western astrologers of the last century was Evangeline Adams, so I thought it would be interesting to test this technique in her chart. Here is her chart cast in the tropical zodiac according the the birth information she published about her natal horoscope in her various texts, which were my first introduction to astrology back in the 1950s and 1960s. Data: 8 Feb 1868, 8:30 AM LMT, Jersey City, NJ.

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In her YouTube video cited in the previous post Laura Barat tells us to consider the following:

The signs occupied by the atmakaraka in the birth chart and in the D9 varga. Adams’ atmakaraka is Venus, which occupies Pisces in the natal chart and Capricorn in the navamsa.

2. The pada of the Ascendant. Adams Asc lies in Pisces and its pada lies in Sagittarius.

3. The “upa-pada” of the Midheaven, which in Adams chart lies in Pisces.

Remembering to count in reverse zodiacal order from feminine signs, we must next determine whether Venus, Jupiter and/or Ketu occupy any of these signs or any sign the is in the 2nd, 3rd or 5th place from any of these signs. In addition there must be a connection with the 8th house which rules occult knowledge including astrology.

In Adam’s chart we see the following:

Venus is the atmakaraka and lies in Pisces in the Rasi chart and in Capricorn in the D9. Venus also rules the 8th sign/house Libra from the Lagna Ascendant in the Rasi chart. Mars rules the 8th bhava cusp in the Rasi chart and conjoins Venus in the D9 chart. Venus and mars also lie in the 2nd sign from the pada Jupiter in the D9 chart.

Jupiter occupies Pisces and conjoins the Venus atmakaraka in the Rasi chart and also occupies Libra in the D9 chart. Libra is the 8th sign from the Pisces Lagna in the Rasi chart.

Ketu occupies Pisces and conjoins the Venus atmakaraka in the Rasi chart.

Thus, according to this method, all three “astrological planets” (Venus, Jupiter and Ketu) are activated and there are many connections involving the 8th house, indicating that Evangeline Adams is strongly disposed to become an astrologer.

Astrological Talent in the Chart of Vettius Valens

According to many scholars, the great Hellenistic astrologer Vettius Valens used his own birth chart to explain astrological concepts of his writings. If such is the case, then the birth data of Vettius Valens reveals the following features (Mark Riley translation): “/165P/ Let us take an example so that we may make an intelligent beginning: sun, Mercury in Aquarius, moon in Scorpio, Saturn in Cancer, Jupiter in Libra, Venus in Capricorn, Mars, Ascendant in Virgo.“

Checking the emphemeris for the 1st century CE and using the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri ayanamsa produces the following natal chart:

[image error]Birth chart of Vettius Valens at Antakya Turkey in the sidereal zodiac, 8 Feb 0120 at 18:27 LMT.

In an interesting YouTube video entitled “What makes an astrologer?” Laura Barat discusses a technique from Jaimini for assessing potential talent as an astrologer. She utilizes the following factors:

The signs occupied by the atmakaraka in the birth chart and in the navamsa (9th divisional chart). The atmakaraka is the birth planet with the highest number of degrees in any sign. In the chart of Vettius Valens, the atmakaraka is Venus at 29 Cap 01.

The pada in the birth chart. Pada literally means “foot” and refers to the sign that is as distant from the ruler of the Ascendant, as the ruler of the Ascendant is distant from the Ascendant. In Valens chart, the Virgo Ascendant is ruled by Mercury in Aquarius (the 6th sign from Virgo), so the pada is the 6th sign from Mercury in Aquarius, which takes us to Cancer.

The upapada in the birth chart. The upa-pada is simply the pada of the 10th house or midheaven. In Valens chart the 10th sign from Virgo is Gemini, ruled by Mercury in Aquarius, which is the 9th sign away from Gemini. Counting 9 signs from Gemini in Aquarius takes us to Libra as the upapada. (Astrologers who use quadrant houses would find the upapada from the degree of the M.C., which in this chart lies in Taurus rather than Gemini, and thus the upapada based on the M.C. degree would be in Virgo rather than Libra.)

Next, to determine astrological talent you consider the signs of the atmakaraka in the birth chart and the navamsa (D9) and the signs of the pada and the upapada as a kind of 1st house position. Jupiter and Venus are the two gurus/advisors of Vedic astrology, and Ketu is connected with knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and technical savvy. The ideal astrologer should have Venus, Jupiter and/or the South Node (Ketu), as well as a connection to the 8th house of occult knowledge, in these signs or involved with the 2nd, 3rd or 5th places from the signs mentioned in the previous sentence of this paragraph. From feminine signs you must count in reverse zodiacal order.

For Valens: the atmakaraka Venus lies in Capricorn in the birth chart and in Virgo in the navamsa. The pada lies in Cancer, and the upapada lies in Libra (or Virgo, depending on the type of houses utilized). The 8th house of occult knowledge is ruled by Aries/Mars.

Is there a connection between the 8th house (Mars/Aries) and the 2nd, 3rd or 5th places from Cancer, Virgo, Libra or Capricorn or in the signs themselves? Yes, Mars in Virgo, counting in reverse zodiacal order from feminine Capricorn, also lies in the 5th place from Capricorn, so that the 8th house ruled by Mars is closely tied to his atmakaraka Venus in Capricorn and to his upapada calculated on the basis of the M.C. degreee.

Are Venus, Jupiter and/or Ketu within or linked to these 1st place signs by 2nd, 3rd or 5th place spacings? Venus lies in Capricorn, and Jupiter lies in Libra. From Libra, counting in zodiacal order for a masculine sign, we find Ketu in the 5th place.

Thus, the method described by Laura Barat does indicate fairly strong astrological talent in the chart of Vettius Valens. I have only just learned this technique and have not tested it on a large number of charts to see whether it provides consistent results and would welcome the feedback of other astrologers who are familiar with this method.

For the sake of clarity, let me summarize my current understanding of this method. Vedic astrology is considered an 8th house activity having to do with hidden or occult knowledge which is passed from generation to generation. Thus, the 8th sign from the Ascendant and/or its ruler should be active in the charts of astrologers. Interestingly, in the Western system, astrology is linked to the 9th house of the Sun god and communication with the divine (divination). In Vettius Valen’s chart, the Taurus 9th house is ruled by Venus, which is his atmakaraka, and so from a Western point of view astrology also becomes part of his destiny.

The planets associated with astrology are the two Vedic guru or advisor planets, Venus and Jupiter, and the South Node of the Moon (Ketu) which signifies acumen in technical matters. To be a good astrologer you should be able to give good counsel (Venus/Jupiter) and be able to read a chart and do complex astronomical calculations accurately (Ketu).

The atmakaraka, the embodied visible planet with the highest number of degrees and minutes in any sign, is a symbol of one’s self, of who one is. A good astrologer will have the atmakaraka connected to one or more of the astrological indicators mentioned in the above paragraph. Such a connection can occur through the signs occupied by the atmakaraka in the birth chart or in the 9th divisional chart, and can also occur through the signs of the “feet” of the birth chart, namely, the pada of the Ascendant and the pada of the Midheaven (which might be the 10th sign from the Asc or the sign of the M.C. degree, depending on your choice of house system). If an astrological indicator falls in one of these signs or in the 2nd, 3rd or 5th places from one of these signs (places which are related to learning, knowledge and understanding), the astrological ability is present.

The Importance of Verifying Birth Data

Recently I was watching a video about a somewhat complicated Vedic technique in which the presenter attempted to explain well-delivered theoretic ideas with an actual chart. Unfortunately, the chart chosen was that of Napoleon I Bonaparte, which is in dispute by historians. A commonly cited birth chart for Napoleon uses the data: 15 August 1769 in Corsica with a birth time of approximately 11 A.M. because his mother was noted to have gone into labor while attending church on the morning of the Catholic Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

Unfortunately, this commonly used chart has been discovered to be in error by reputable scholars of Napoleon’s life, and using invalid birth data to illustrate astrological principles calls their validity into question. For example, historian Mary Brett Ashley has written: “Although Napoleon’s Birthday is recognized as Aug 15 – indeed, his true birthday is January 7, 1768, Corte, Corsica. His father was going to send him to military school in France but Napoleon was too old, so his father took his brother Joseph’s birthday of August 15, 1769 and switched so that Napoleon could enter Brienne. This is substantiated by historical records in Corsica where Joseph was born on Aug 15 and the child Napoleon was actually born on Jan 7 [1768].” In addition, the school required proof of French citizenship, and Corsica was not annexed to France until June 1769, the month before Napoleon’s younger brother was born. It appears that many astrologers have been using the birth chart of Napoleon’s younger brother instead to that of the actual historical figure, Napoleon I Bonaparte. 

I have been unable to find any historical sources of the time of birth of the “real” Napoleon I Bonaparte, so here is a sunrise square chart in South Indian format of the famous general whose time of birth is currently unknown:

[image error]Napoleon I Bonaparte, born 7 January 1768, time unknown, cast for sunrise in Ajaccio, France.

Reflections on the Thema Mundi and Jaimini Astrology

Recently I’ve been trying to learn something about Vedic astrology and have been comparing the basic concepts of the Vedic approach with those of early Hellenistic astrology. Fundamental to the Hellenistic approach is the teaching device known as the Thema Mundi, which is a hypothetical chart for the beginning of the universe. Usually the Thema Mundi is depicted with Cancer rising (often 15 degrees of Cancer), as opposed to the Aries-rising chart which is common in both Western and modern Indian astrology.

Some scholars have argued that the astrologers of Egypt chose Cancer rising because it reflects the appearance of the sky at the annual flooding of the Nile, which was the beginning of the life cycle in ancient Egypt. If we follow this logic, it might be more fitting to have the boundary between Leo and Cancer (the summer solstice as seen in the sky in ancient Egypt) on the Ascendant of the Thema Mundi chart because that region signifies the union of the Sun and Moon which generated the universe as we know it. In other words, the sun-god of Leo had intercourse with its reflection in the Moon of Cancer, resulting in the conception of our world. The Thema Mundi modified to fit this conceptualization would look as follows:

[image error]Thema Mundi with the line of intersection between Leo and Cancer as the Ascendant.

The advantage of this modified Thema Mundi diagram is that it clearly divides the zodiac into a solar and a lunar portion, the solar hemisphere ranging in zodiacal order from Leo through Capricorn, and the lunar hemispere ranging in reverse zodiacal order from Cancer through Aquarius, with the lunar signs ruled by a particular planet reflected across the horizontal (0 Leo – 0 Aquarius) axis in their corresponding solar signs ruled by the same planet.

In a recent video which will be posted at the YouTube site of Vedic astrologer Levi Cosign, I hypothesized that this modified version of the Thema Mundi might be related to the fundamental ideas behind the Rasi aspects of Jaimini astrology. In reading Ernst Wilhelm’s translation of the Jaimini Upadesa Sutras, it also occurred to me that this modified Thema Munda could shed light on the concept of Argala found in Jaimini astrology.

For example, the Argala positions are the 2nd, 11th and 4th from the Ascendant. Planets found in these positions are considered to be “pinned” to one’s fate. Looking at the modified Thema Mundi diagram, we wee that the 2nd house is the next sign after Leo in zodiacal order and the 11th house is the next sign after Cancer in reverse zodiacal order. If the universe came into existence at the 0 Leo – 0 Aquarius “horizon,” then the 2nd and 11th signs act as guardians, hemming in this region our world was conceived by the union of the divine Sun and its reflection in the Moon. In fact, the positions of Mercury and Jupiter with respect to the birth of the universe in the union of Cancer/Leo (opposed by Capricorn/Aquarius) could well be related to the Jaimini concept of second strength.

Returning to the idea of Argala, one could also argue that the 4th sign from Leo is pinned to our fate because it is the Angle or Kendra (kendra refers to the fastener or stake that holds the corner of a tent in place) related to the solar hemisphere of the birth of the universe. By analogy the 9th house from Leo, which is the 4th sign or Kendra from the Moon in the lunar hemisphere, in which counts the signs in reverse zodiacal order, could also be an Argala postion, which is linked to our fate by analogy with the solar half of the zodiac.

Another advantage of this scheme in viewing the Argala positions is that in this modified Thema Mundi diagram the 2nd and 11th Argala places from Leo as the 1st receive full aspects from the benefic Jupiter across the wheel. In addition, the 4th and 9th Argala places from the Leo Ascendant receive full aspects from the benefic Venus across the wheel. Thus, planets in the 2nd, 4th, 9th and 11th places from the Ascendant receive the benefit of aspects of the two most benefic planets in the Thema Mundi.

Jaimini also has a concept of positions which obstruct the Argala planets. These obstructing positions are the 3rd, 10th and 12th places from the Ascendant. Note that the 12th place receives a full aspect from malefic Saturn across the wheel, and the 3rd and 10th places receive full aspects from malefic Mars directly across the wheel. If we were to again adjust the Thema Mundi so that 15 degree of Leo fell on the horizon and then folded the chart in half from top to bottom, we would seen that the obstructing positions are reflections across 15 Leo of their corresponding Argala positions. In other words, the 12th place would obstruct its reflection in the Argala 2nd place, the 3rd place would obstruct its reflection in the Argala 11th place, the 10th place would obstruct its position in the Argala 4th place, and the 5th place would obstruct its position in the Argala 9th place. All in all, there is a beautiful symmetry in this formulation.

As a novice at Vedic astrology, I must confess that I may have misunderstood the sutras and my understanding may be way off base. For this reason, I look forward to feedback from astrologers with much more knowledge and experience than I have with these concepts.

P.S.: For a clear explanation of Argala I recommend the video by Ryan Kurczak at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCJidRN-2Pw&t=548s

The Power of Primary Directions

Primary directions are one of the most venerable techniques in Western astrology. They are based on the idea that in the hours after birth, as the sky continues to rise in the east and set in the west, the natal planetary positions are carried clockwise around the wheel. When a directed natal position (a promisor) reaches a fixed natal position (a significator), a primary direction is formed which symbolically indicates an event in the life of the native. To time the occurrence of such events Ptolemy postulated that each degree on the Equator that crosses the meridian corresponds to one year of life.

For those who are interested, I have done some videos about primary directions with Levi Cosijn and with Aswin Balaji. Clicking on the links will take you to the sites.

Let me illustrate the technique with a chart from my files. The client gave permission to use his chart and its interpretation, provided that his personal identity not be revealed. This person consulted me about three years ago in December of 2016. At the time he was 37 years old. We spent much of our time discussing the implications an upcoming primary direction of Mars to the natal Midheaven. Here is the birth chart.

[image error]Natal chart (Placidus Houses, tropical zodiac, true nodes) of a man whose 8th ruler Mars reaches the MC by primary direction at age 38.

In terms of primary directions I noticed immediately that Mars was about 37 ecliptic degrees from the MC, which corresponded to the man’s current age of 37 years. The MC is one of the most powerful points in the chart, so that directions to the MC always manifest prominently in the life of the client. Looking up the Right Ascension (RA) of the MC and Mars in the natal chart revealed the following values:

RA of MC = 69 deg 34 min, and the RA of Mars = 107 deg 37 min,

The difference in RA between Mars and the MC is 38 degrees 03 minutes of arc, which by Ptolelmy’s measure of 1 degree of R.A. = one year of life corresponds to age 38. (Directions to the Midheaven are measured in Right Ascension.) In fact, the exact conjunction of directed Mars to the natal MC would occur very close to his 38th birthday in 2017 (provided his birth time was accurate). I generally use an “orb” of about 1 degree of the directed planet’s application to and separation from an Angle for the range of influence of the direction. Thus, directed 8th ruler Mars crossing the natal MC would be in effect all of 2017 and well into 2018, marking this as a period in which he was likely to have an 8th house experience.

What does Mars symbolize in this man’s chart? Mars in Cancer lies in the sign of its fall, so this is a debilitated Mars, which is also the out-of-sect malefic in a diurnal chart (he was born during daylight hours). Thus, the experience of Mars crossing the MC is likely to be stressful, somewhat painful and challenging. In addition, Mars rules the unfortunate 8th house, which among other matters signifies human mortality. It was also concerning that natally Mars squares Pluto in Libra in the 2nd house, which is a difficult aspect that can indicate radical change and transformation with a potentially traumatic undertone. This interpretation was further underscored by the fact that Mars, Pluto and the Moon (his emotional life) formed a natal T-square. It appeared that the coming year or two (ages 37 and 38) could be a significantly emotionally trying time.

Looking at his annual profections, he had turned 37 years old in September of 2016 and would thus be in a second house profection until September of 2017. His second house is ruled by Venus and contains Pluto therein, with Pluto squaring natal Mars and the Moon. Natal Venus conjunct his natal Ascendant indicated that he would experience this year very personally. Because Venus is a general signifier of women and wives, and in this chart Venus is the exalted ruler of the 7th of the spouse, I asked him if he had concerns about his wife. He responded that his wife had been not feeling well lately and was undergoing some medical tests to determine the reason for her fatigue and lack of energy. I noted to myself that the 2nd house is the 8th house of the 7th spouse, but I did not bring this up with the client to avoid causing any unnecessary worry as his wife was already undergoing medical tests. My concern was that Mars, ruler of his 8th, would be crossing the MC at the same time that the 2nd house, the profected Ascendant of the year (Sep 2016 – Sep 2017) and the 8th house of his spouse, was being activated.

I also looked at the Solar Return which would become active in September of 2017 and cover the period until September of 2018. Here is the natal chart with the Solar Return superimposed.

[image error]Natal chart with Sep 2017 – Sep 2018 Solar Return superimposed

The 2017-2018 Solar Return was of concern. Return Neptune conjoins the 7th cusp of the client’s wife. Return Pluto conjoins both Return and natal Moon, opposes natal Mars and very closely squares natal Pluto in the natal 2nd, which is the profected Ascendant of the year. In addition, the Return Lunar Nodes fall almost exactly on natal 7th ruler Jupiter in the 12th, suggesting sudden unexpected events of a 12th house nature related to the wife. In addition, there was a preponderance of Solar Return factors clustered in the natal 12th house of hospitalization and confinement.

The outcome was unfortunate, as the chart had intimated. The result of the wife’s workup was that she had developed a form of cancer, which would require chemotherapy and a period of hospitalization in 2017. She initially did well and the doctors thought she was in remission but later in the year, after the client’s 2017-2018 Solar Return became active, his wife had a relapse and she died of her illness in the early months of 2018.

On “Fatal” Degrees in Astrology

Various astrologers give lists of unfortunate degrees of the zodiac. For example, William Lilly on page 116 of Christian Astrology lists what he called “deep” or “pitted” degrees (Abu Ma’Shar referred to them as “wells”) in which the presence of the Moon, the Asc Degree or the Asc-ruler would make the querent feel unable to move with regard to a horary question and not know which way to turn and thus the querent would be in need of the help of another to get him out of the ditch he found himself in at the time of the question (CA 118).

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NASA image of the Berkeley Pit of Butte, Montana  (public domain).  Falling into this pit would probably be fatal.

50 Shades of Death

It turns out that Vedic astrology has a similar, though not identical list of troublesome degrees, which fall under the umbrella of the term Mrityu Bhaga. Because “Mrityu” literally means “death,” these are sometimes called “fatal” degrees  (“bhaga” means a portion but can also refer to the female sexual organ) even though the degrees can simply refer to troubles, setbacks, misfortune and other obstacles that fall short of one’s demise. According to one site, “mrityu” or “death” has several shades  and thus “Mrityu” can refer to agony, distress, hurt, fear, pain, shame, illness, confinement, restriction and insult as well as actual death.

The text Brihat Prajapatyam states the following: “The Mrityu bhagas for the Lagna (Ascendant degree) are are the 1st degree in Aries, the 9th degree of Taurus, the 21st degree of Gemini … the 10th degree of Pisces.”  This text is using an ordinal numbering of the degrees (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) and the 1st degree spans the region from 0 to 1 degrees of a sign.

The most commonly sited table of Mrityu Bhagas or Fatal Degrees appears to be one published in the book Finer Techniques of Astrological Prediction, Vol. 1, edited by K.N. Rao. Apparently K.N. Rao modified the degrees in this table based on his extensive research with charts of individuals in the sidereal zodiac. Here is a reproduction of the list from page 132, adapted for a Western audience:

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In this Table of “Fatal Degrees” or Mrityu Bhagas” note that the numbers are ordinal and refer to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., degrees of a sign.

For readers more familiar with the Vedic terminology, here is a copy of the original list from page 132 of K.N. Rao’s text:

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It appears to me that these “fatal degrees” or Mrityu Bhaga of Vedic astrology are extremely similar to the deep or pitted degrees, the ditches or wells that planets could fall into according to William Lilly and Abu Ma’Shar. My guess is that there is a common origin for both systems, probably in the horary literature of the medieval Persian astrologers.

A difference seems to be that for Lilly you either fell into the pit (the single degree) or you were simply near the pit without having descended to its depths.  At least one Vedic astrologer uses small orbs of influence for the fatal degrees, but this approach may be a modern distortion of the original ancient concept. The use of orbs would have to be tested in practice to see if it holds any weight.

Although I have been aware of Lilly’s list for many years and have found it helpful in some horary charts, I have only recently become familiar with the Mrityu Bhaga and have had little opportunity to test them with real-world charts. Nonetheless, they do appear worthy of further study and experimentation.

Why are Placidus Houses so Popular?

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British astrologers were captivated by the brilliance of Placidus and began a deliberate campaign to popularize his concepts and methods in Western astrology, especially in the English-language literature. The Roman Catholic Church was terrified by the ideas of Placidus (just as they had been by the ideas of Galileo), and the Church banned his writings in the Catholic countries of Europe. Prior to the popularity of Placidus in Protestant England, Regiomontanus was the dominant House system among British astrologers, including William Lilly.

Recently I watched a YouTube video about house systems in astrology. This otherwise helpful video on astrological house systems contains a glaring error. The idea that Placidus became popular in the West only because tables of Placidus houses were so readily available in an urban legend that was propagated initially as an astrological joke by knowledgeable historians of astrology. (I can recall both Rob Hand and James Holden joking about this idea a couple decades ago.) Unfortunately less well-informed astrologers took this joke as the truth and began to spread this myth as if it were factual.

Let me be clear that I am not singling out the presenter of this YouTube video for criticism. I don’t know her or the quality of her work, which may be excellent. She has merely fallen into the trap of misinformation about the reason for the popularity of Placidus houses in the English-speaking world. My goal is simply to clarify a historical fact.

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This is a sample natal chart cast with Placidus Houses, the most popular system in Western astrology.  Astrologers who falsely claim that Placidus houses became popular only because their tables were readily available are living in an alternate reality.  Such a distortion of historical fact could be considered “fake news” by today’s journalistic standards.

In reality it was the British astrologers who popularized Placidus houses because the writings of Placidus were banned by the Roman Catholic Church and only available in Protestant England. Until that time Regiomontanus was the dominant house system in the West because of the false belief that Regiomontanus correctly understood Ptolemy. The British astrologers, upon reading Placidus, realized that Regiomontanus had misunderstood Ptolemy (considered the father of Western astrology at the time) and that Ptolemy was in reality using the method espoused by Placidus to time primary directions.

Because the British astrologers regarded the teachings of Placidus (who in many ways anticipated Einstein’s notion of a space-time coninuum) as a major breakthrough in astrological research, they discarded the tables of Regiomontanus, which were available in England (Lilly has them in his horary text) and began a campaign to popularize Placidus and his ideas, which they felt more correctly represented the origins of Western astrology. Unfortunately modern astrologers who don’t know the history of Western astrology and therefore don’t understand the joke which claims that Placidus houses only became popular because the Placidus tables were readily available are perpetuating a false view of reality.

While it is true that the Placidus  Tables of Houses of Dalton and Raphael were pretty much the only ones available in the 20th century, this does not mean that the availability of tables is what made Placidus popular. Rather, it was a deliberate decision by British astrologers to give up Regiomontanus and promote Placidus because they were impressed with his writings and felt that he more accurately represented the original ideas of Ptolemy in his understanding of house division and primary direction. In other words, Placidus did not become popular because the tables were available. It was the other way around. The tables were made available because of the immense popularity of Placidus’s writings in England. In his book on Primary Directions Martin Gansten does a great job documenting the tremendous impact of Placidus on British astrologers after the epoch of William Lilly who favored the Regiomontanus system as did his contemporary Morinus in France.

A final note about the logic of the argument.  Would one say that fast food is popular in the USA because there are 16,000 McDonald’s outlets in this country? Or is it more likely that there are so many McDonald’s restaurants because fast food has become so popular? Hint: Replace “fast food” with Placidus House System and “McDonald’s” with Tables of Houses in the previous two sentences.