Anthony Louis's Blog, page 52

Alex Rodriguez Announces Retirement

On Sunday 7 August 2016 at an 11 AM press conference in NYC Alex Rodriguez announced his “retirement” from the NY Yankees.  Rodriguez marred his reputation when he admitted to augmenting his natural talent at baseball with the use of performance-enhancing drugs.  His birth time is unknown, so I did a sunrise chart and superimposed the chart for the start of the press conference outside.

At the time of the press conference two major outer planet transits were in effect in Alex’s natal sunrise chart.  Transiting Uranus conjoins natal Jupiter in the sunrise Placidus 10th house, suggesting sudden significant changes in career, feeling liberated and setting off in a new direction.  At the same time, transiting Uranus is square his natal Saturn in the sunrise Placidus 12th house of retirement.

In addition, transiting Saturn in the sunrise Placidus 5th house conjoins natal Neptune, indicating a depressing time of feeling cut off and having to deal with one’s failures.  Ebertin defines Saturn/Neptune as a principle of suffering and renunciation.  At the same time Saturn is square natal Venus in the Placidus sunrise 2nd house of income, suggesting a realistic reassessment of relationships and financial matters such as the contractual relationship between A-Rod and the Yankees.

It is always interesting to see how astrological symbolism plays out in significant events.

Wynn’s #14 Theory

Recently I’ve been looking at the work of American astrologer Sidney Kimball Bennett, a.k.a. Wynn.

In her book Here and There in Astrology (1961) Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson discusses a chart on pages 46-50 in which she uses the Wynn #14 Theory to predict the unexpected early demise of the native’s father.  I have been unable to locate Wynn’s original description of the #14 Theory, but Goldstein-Jacobson says that it is useful for determining the influence of a planet in other houses of the horoscope.

In the example chart (see below) Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson uses this theory to delineate the influence of Uranus in the nativity.  She says (on page 48) that the number of the house where natal Uranus resides “is deducted from 14, the remainder being the number of the house which reacts to his influence.”  She goes on to say that the same procedure is used to determine the influence of the “Meridian & Horizontal Parallel Points” of Uranus.

Woman born Jan 19, 1902 at 11:36:40 AM in River Vale, New Jersey

In this chart, Uranus resides in the 3rd house.  According to the #14 Theory, the influence of Uranus will be felt in the 11th house during the life of the native. The Meridian Parallel of Uranus is its reflection across the MC/IC axis; in this case, it falls at 24 Aquarius 31 in the 4th house of home and family and its influence will be felt in the 10th of career.  The Horizontal Parallel of Uranus is its reflection across the horizon; in this case it falls at 18 Leo 05 in the natal 10th house and its influence will be felt in the 4th of home, parents and family.

Putting together the symbolism of Uranus with the 4th, 10th, and 11th houses, Goldstein-Jacobson delineates that when Uranus is activated by progression or direction there is likely to be a sudden disruptive event involving career, family, the parents, and the death of one of the parents (because the 11th house is the 8th from the 4th).

In April of 1912 when the native was 10 years and 3 months old, her father died suddenly,while in a coma. Goldstein-Jacobson does not give the exact date of the father’d demise, but it must have been in late April because the native was 10 years and 3 months old at the time (her birth day is on January 19th).

By Solar Arc Direction, directed Mars on 19 April 1912 was at 24 Aquarius 45, just 14″ of arc from exact.  Here is the natal chart with the Solar Arc Directed chart superimposed.

Goldstein-Jacobson attributes the coma to Solar Arc directed Uranus opposing natal Uranus.  She also says that the Solar Arc directed Sun in the 4th of fathers squares the natal Moon’s Nodes, suggesting a fatality in the family (4th house).  She regarded the Nodes as fateful degrees.  She does not mention the fact that natal Sun in the 4th forms a close quincunx to natal Neptune, suggesting the possibility that the 4th house parent may have health problems (quincunx) related to Neptune (coma, mysterious ailments, etc.).

In any case, the #14 Theory is a potentially useful tool for chart delineation.  It is based on the idea that the influence of a planet in a house above the horizon will be felt in the corresponding “reflected” house below the horizon: house 2 is reflected in house 12, house 3 in 11, house 4 in 10, house 5 in 9, house 6 in 8, and vice versa.  Since the horizon passes through houses 1 and 7, they are not reflected in the other houses.  The use of Meridian and Horizontal Parallel Points is simply a way of finding two points whose mid-point is either the MC/IC or ASC/DSC, respectively.

 

Wynn’s Method of Natal Chart Interpretation

In my last post I reviewed Wynn’s life-threatening car accident of May 1926 which propelled him to invent his method of prediction called the Wynn Key Cycle.  Having developed an interest in Wynn (Sidney Kimball Bennett), I looked at his somewhat unique method of natal chart delineation.

In his book  Your Future: A Guide to Modern Astrology (1935) he discusses the chart of the famous German boxer Max Schmeling (born 28 September 1905, Prezlau, German, time uncertain, possibly 10:50 AM, Rodden rating DD — “dirty data”).   Below is Max Schmeling’s natal chart with Placidus Houses set for Noon (time unknown) followed by Wynn’s delineation from his 1935 book.  (Note that the ‘dirty data’ gives a rising sign of Scorpio where as the Noon chart used by Wynn has Sagittarius rising.)

“His ruler is Jupiter, because the sign on the Ascendant is Sagittarius, and Jupiter is the ruling planet of this sign; we see it angular and in Gemini, the sign of the hands and the clever, lower mind.  Mars is rising in the Ascendant, showing he can fight, for Mars is the fighters’ planet.  Mars here is in Sagittarius, its second-house sign, indicates money that he can gather by his scrapping abilities; while the entertaining Venus both disposes of his Sun (rules the sign occupied by his Sun) and rules his occupation (tenth house).  Venus in Virgo at the cusp of the ninth is not only in its own fifth-house sign, but it actually rules his mundane fifth, hence his success as both a fighter and entertainer of the public. Saturn, ruling his second (money), is located in its own second-house sign at the cusp of the third, the hands and clever mind again.”  — Wynn, 1935.

Let’s unpack Wynn’s delineation.  He begins with the Sagittarius Ascendant and its ruler, Jupiter and notes that Jupiter is quite powerful being angular and that Jupiter in Gemini indicates manual dexterity and a clever mind — two traits essential to boxing.

Next he points out that Mars (the warrior) rises in the 1st house, indicating prowess at fighting.  Now things get interesting.  Wynn focuses on Mars being in Sagittarius, which is the sign that follows Mars-ruled Scorpio.  Thus, Sagittarius bears a 2nd house relationship to Scorpio which Mars rules, suggesting that Schmeling can earn an income from his boxing abilities (Mars in Sagittarius in the 1st).

Turning to Venus in Virgo at the cusp of the 9th house, Wynn notes that disposes Schmeling’s Libra Sun and also rules the 10th house of career.  Furthermore, Venus governs the “entertainment” 5th house of the chart, and  Virgo bears a fifth house relationship to Taurus on the cusp of the 5th.  Thus Schmeling’s core identity (Sun) and career (10th house) are closely linked through Venus to 5th house themes of games and entertainment.

Wynn concludes by noting that Saturn rules the natal Capricorn 2nd house of income and occupies the sign Aquarius which bears a second house relationship to Capricorn.  Saturn’s conjunction with the cusp of the 3rd house of quick movement, cleverness and manual dexterity again emphasizes Schmeling’s ability to earn money through boxing.

Wynn’s method of delineating house relationships between the sign a planet rules and the one which it occupies provides an interesting twist on natal chart delineation.  If Schmeling were born at the 10:50 AM time with Scorpio rising, however, the delineation would be rather different and might now hold up as well.  Here is the 10:50 AM chart, presumably based on the recollection of the boxer’s mother:

P.S.  This week my most recent book on tarot was just released for publication.  Clicking on the image below will take you to the book on amazon.com

Sidney Kimball Bennett (Wynn) and the Failure of Progressions and Directions

Sidney Kimball Bennett, born February 10, 1892, in Chicago, was a notable U.S. astrologer of the early twentieth century.  He published Wynn’s Astrology Magazine in the thirties and forties and is known today primarily for his method of forecasting called the Wynn Key Cycle.

Wynn’s claim to fame in the 1930’s was a 1932 prediction he made in the NY Daily News , when he forecast a week of immense financial turmoil for early March of 1933.  On March 4, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated.  One of his first acts was to proclaim a “bank holiday,” closing all the banks in the United States from March 6th until March 13 and from which many banks never recovered.  Interestingly, on March 8, 1933 (two days after the start of Roosevelt’s bank holiday) the recently discovered dwarf planet Pluto in Aries by transit made an exact square to Uranus in Cancer (the Whole Sign 2nd house of money of the USA Gemini-rising chart).  I don’t know whether Wynn had begun to use Pluto in his charts at that time.

According to The Free Dictionary Encyclopedia:

“In The Key Cycle, Bennett [Wynn] relates that a number of his clients had complained that his prognostications, based on the techniques of progressions and directions, had failed. He regarded these failures as being traceable to mistaken birth times. These faulty predictions struck home, however, in May 1926 when he failed to foresee an accident in which he was almost killed by a hit-and-run driver.  At the time, Bennett was traveling in California on a business trip during which he was attempting to take advantage of a ‘marvelous combination of progressions’.  However, from a business standpoint the trip was a total failure.  Reflecting upon these events and calling to mind his clients’ complaints, he was persuaded to give up progressions and directions.”

I was surprised upon reading this passage about Wynn because life-altering events such as a major accident with a near-death experience almost always show up astrologically using traditional techniques.  Most likely such an event would involve Mars (force), Uranus (unexpected disruption) and the 8th house (near-death experiences).  I felt that Wynn must have missed a significant progression or direction when he did his personal prognostications for 1926, so I decided to investigate.

According to astro.com, Wynn was born on 10 Feb 1892 at 9 AM in Chicago.  Here is his natal chart with Whole Sign Houses.

We must begin by determining whether a serious car accident is revealed as a potential in his birth chart.  Local transport is a matter of the 3rd house, which contains a Neptune/Pluto  conjunction in Gemini (a travel sign).  This Neptune/Pluto conjunction is opposed by Mars in the 9th house of long-distance travel (the accident occurred in California, far from his Chicago birth place).  In addition, the 3rd house Neptune/Pluto conjunction lies in 6 degrees of Gemini, which is quincunx Uranus in 6 degrees of Scorpio in the 8th house of death.  The quincunx carries and 6th and 8th house connotation.  The natal chart appears to carry the potential for a life-threatening accident while traveling.

Solar Return:

Now let’s look at his birth place Solar Return for 1926, the year of the accident.  At the time, Wynn was using Placidus houses, so I have cast the 1926 return in that house system.

In the 1926 Solar Retutn Wynn’s Sun lies in the return 8th house of death.  The house position of the Sun in a Solar Return chart indicates a major theme for the year.  The Sun is conjunct return Mercury, which rules the 3rd house of local transportation in both the natal and the return charts.

Return Saturn, the traditional ruler of the return 8th of death, forms a square aspect to the return Sun/Mercury conjunction in the 8th, warning of a serious potentially life-threatening (8th house) problem while traveling.  Mercury also rules the return 12th house of confinement and undoing, which includes hospital stays whereas in the natal chart Mercury rules the 3rd of local travel and the 6th of bodily afflctions.

Furthermore, the Moon rules the return Ascendant and almost exactly opposes the degree of the Ascendant, which rules the body and the vitality of the individual.  The transiting ASC-ruler opposing the degree of the Ascendant indicates some difficulty for the vitality of the organism.  In Hellenistic astrology the Moon is a general signifier of the body.  In Wynn’s natal chart, the Moon rules the 4th house of endings and the grave.

If we superimpose his natal chart on his solar return, we see the following.

There is an emphasis on the 6th, 8th and 10th houses with natal MC in return 6th, natal Sun in return 8th, and natal Ascendant in return 10th.  The accident occurred while on a business trip in California.

Most striking, however, is the natal Moon opposite the return Moon across the horizon.  As mentioned the Moon is a general signifier of the body.  She rules the 4th of endings in the natal chart and the Ascendant (body and vitality) in the return chart.

Lunar Return:

The Lunar Return for the day of the accident (May 18, 1926) is even more revealing.  Here is the natal chart with the Lunar Return superimposed:

Here are the key features of the Lunar Return for the day of the hit-and-run:

Malefic Saturn, peregrine and retrograde, conjoins the cusp of the natal 8th of death as well as the Ascendant of the lunar return which lies in the natal 8th house.
Lunar return Mars in the natal 12th of hospitalization squares natal Mars in the 8th house.
Lunar return Venus, which occupies the natal 12th of confinement and undoing, conjoins the natal Ascendant.
The Lunar Return M.C. occupies the natal 6th of bodily afflictions where it opposes return Mars in the natal 12th and squares natal Mars in the natal 8th, thus forming a T-square connecting the traditionally unfortunate 6th, 8th and 12th natal houses.

Solar Arc Directions:

Wynn said that his directions for this period did not reveal the event.  Let’s look at his Solar Arc Directed chart superimposed on his natal chart for May 18, 1926.  (In his book on the Key Cycle Wynn says the hit-and-run accident occurred at 9 PM in Merced, California on 18 May 1926).

What stands out is that solar arc directed Uranus is exactly conjunct natal Mars (01′ orb) in the Placidus 8th (Whole Sign 9th house of distant travel) on May 18th of 1926.  I cannot imagine a more compelling symbol for a life-threatening hit-and-run accident than a Uranus/Mars conjunction in the 8th of death.

At the same time this Uranus/Mars conjunction is quincunx the directed Neptune/Pluto conjunction in the 4th of endings and the grave.

In addition, the solar arc directed MC is exactly quincunx directed Pluto in the 4th of endings; and in modern astrology Pluto (god of the underworld) would be considered a ruler of the natal 8th of death.

The solar arc directed Moon has recently entered the 6th house of bodily affliction.

Finally, the directed Sun almost exactly conjoins natal Venus in the 12th house of undoing and confinement.  Venus is exalted ruler of Pisces, which is intercepted in the 12th.  Venus also rules the 2nd of income, suggesting a costly period of confinement in a hospital following the accident.  On May 15th directed Venus in the 1st was exactly quincunx natal Saturn in the 6th, and at the time of the incident this aspect was within one degree of orb.

Primary Directions:

If we direct the natal chart by the Placidus semi-arc method of primary zodiacal directions using the Kündig key (which I discussed in a recent post), we get the following primary direction during the period from April 1 through June 1 of 1926:

In May of 1926 the primary directed Ascendant (the body and one’s vitality) was moving through the natal 12th house (confinement).  On May 17th (the day prior to the accident) the primary directed ASC exactly semi-sextiled natal Mercury in the 11th.  The semi-sextile is a stressful aspect similar to the quincunx.  Natal Mercury rules the 3rd of local travel and, with Virgo intercepted in the natal 6th, co-rules the 6th of bodily affliction.  Thus, this semi-sexitle of the primary directed Ascendant to natal Mercury connects the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 12th houses — symbolism apt for being hit by a car and end up in the hospital.

In summary, it seems that Wynn must not have looked at his Solar Arc directions or his Lunar Returns for May of 1926 when he did his personal forecasting for the year.

The Kündig Sun Key for Directing a Chart

I recently came across a reference to the Kündig method of rectification.  Heinrich Kündig (born 23 April 1909, 9:33 AM, Thalwil, Switzerland) was an astrologer who developed a method of chart rectification based on the idea that a chart should be erected for the moment where there exists a perfect harmony between MC and the planets ruling MC/IC axis.  Apparently this method, which produces ten potential birth times, is popular in Scandinavia and in German-speaking countries but is little used in other parts of the world.  I have experimented a bit with this method and have not been impressed in the small number of charts I tested it against.

On the other hand, in his book Astrologische Prognose, in the chapter Der Wahre Zeitschlüssel (The True Time Key) Kündig discusses a rate (“key”) for directing a natal chart.  The Kündig key produces remarkable results.

In the method of secondary progressions, astrologers equate each day (24 hours) following the birth moment with one year of life. If I understand Kündig correctly, in directing a chart he equates one degree of ecliptic traveled by the Sun after the moment of birth to one year of life.  The twist is that he converts that one degree of ecliptic longitude to Right Ascension and then uses the value in R.A. (in degrees, minutes and seconds) to direct the chart.

To illustrate the use of this key, I tried to think of a dramatic event which should produce notable results.  What came to mind was the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

JFK was born on 29 May 1917 at 3 PM in Brookline, Massachusetts.  He died on 23 November 1963 at the age of 46.48 years (or more precisely 46.48724 years).

To calculate the Kündig Sun Key for directing, we start with the position of his natal Sun:

Kennedy’s Sun was at 7 Gemini 50′ 36″ with a R.A. of 66 deg 04′ 05″.

When the Sun advances exactly one degree of ecliptic longitude, it will be at 8 Gemini 50′ 36″ with a R.A. of 67 deg 7′ 48″.  (This occurs on 30 May 1917 at 21:01:50 GMT.)

These positions can be easily found using the online Sun & Moon Position Calculator.

Thus, when the Sun advances by one degree of ecliptic longitude from its birth position, it advances by 67 deg 07′ 48″ minus 66 deg 04′ 05″ degrees of Right Ascension = 1 deg 03′ 43″ of arc in R.A.

In other words, 01 deg 3′ 43″ of arc in R.A. is the Kündig Sun Key for directing the natal chart.  In decimal form, this key is 1.06194444 degrees of arc.

At the time of Kennedy’s death he was 46.48724 years old.  Multiplying his chronological age by the Sun Key we get 1.06194444 x 46.48724 = 49.36687 degrees of arc, which we must add to every position in his natal chart to produce the directed chart.

Here is JFK’s natal chart with the Kündig Sun Key directed chart superimposed:

JFK Natal Chart with Kündig Sun Key Directed Chart outside at the time of his death.

The outstanding features of this chart are:

Directed Sun conjunct natal Saturn (ruler of the 4th of endings) –  02′ orb.

Directed Saturn square natal Venus (ruler of the 8th of death) –  13′ orb.

Directed MC quincunx natal Uranus (stationary) — sudden shocking events  ( 03′ orb).

Directed Pluto square natal Jupiter in 8th of death ( 24′ orb).

Directed Chiron conjunct natal Mars at cusp of 8th of death ( 21′ orb).

The symbolism of the aspects formed by the directed chart with respect to the natal chart certainly portend risk to the life of the native and attest to the accuracy of the Kündig Sun Key in directing a chart.

 

 

 

Shooting in Baton Rouge

This morning we woke to the news of yet another shooting — this time in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The alleged killer was identified as Gavin Eugene Long of Kansas City, Missouri.  He chose to carry out his murderous attack on six police officers on his 29th birthday.  Mr. Long was a former sergeant in the Marines.  His time of birth is unknown.  Here is his sunrise chart for Kansas City.

A striking feature of this chart is Mars in Leo almost exactly square Pluto in Scorpio.  This aspect is an indicator of powerful drives, the urge to dominate and control, extreme effort, and intense emotions with a potential for violence.  (At present we don’t know his time of birth, but Mars square Pluto became exact at 4:47 PM CDT on his date of birth.)   Also noteworthy is that Pluto is stationary retrograde in Scorpio, giving the significations of Pluto prominence (transformation, death and rebirth, coercive force) throughout the life of the individual.

If we superimpose the current Solar Return on the sunrise natal chart, we get the following:

What is most striking in the comparison chart is the almost exact square of transiting Uranus in Aries to his natal Sun.  Transiting Uranus is also stressed by a close quincunx from transiting Mars in Scorpio.  His natal Mars/Pluto square was being triggered by the solar return Mercury/Venus conjunction.  In addition, Mr. Long was in the midst of his Saturn return.  The transiting Moon in his return chart, which disposes his natal Sun, Mercury and Venus, is conjunct both his natal and return Saturn, suggesting that he has been dealing with difficult emotional issues and frustrations during this Saturn return period, especially during this Solar Return year.

Will Hillary be our next President?

Now that the Republican and Democratic conventions are just around the corner, it seems clear that the November U.S. Presidential Election will be between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  We have reliable information for Trump’s birth but Hillary’s birth data is still considered “dirty data” because of the many conflicting reports about when she supposedly was born.  Most astrologers appear to be using an 8:02 AM time for Hillary, and I will stick to that convention.  In addition, there is disagreement among astrologers about which chart to use for the “birth” of the United States.  My own favorite is a Gemini rising chart which has consistently yielded positive results, so I will make the following assumptions about chart data:

Donald Trump: 14 JUNE 1946, 10:54 AM, Jamaica, NY, from birth certificate.

Hillary Clinton: 26 OCTOBER 1947, 8:02 AM, Chicago, IL, time in dispute.

USA Gemini rising Chart: 04 JULY 1776, 2:13:48 AM, Philadelphia, PA, a symbolic chart.

First votes in USA Election: 01 NOVEMBER 2016, 00:00 AM, Dixville Notch, NH.

Let’s begin by looking at where the USA is with respect to its progressed Sun-Moon cycle. Here is a list from Solar Fire about the current USA progressed lunation cycle:

Roughly every 29 1/2 years the USA enters a new progressed lunation cycle. The current cycle began in 1995 when Bill Clinton was President.  Key events that surrounded the May 28, 1995 date (Aquarius 10th house progressed New Moon) were:

April 19, 1995 – Bomb explosion at Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma kills 168 people in a homegrown terrorist attack.

June 1995 – Monica Lewinsky began her internship at White House.

The themes of terrorist attacks on America soil and the obsession with the sexual behavior of consenting adults have been a prominent part of the current USA progressed lunation cycle.

The First Quarter phase began in January 2002 (Taurus 12th house progressed First Quarter Moon).  The most notable event of this period was George W. Bush’s State of the Union speech in which he name Iraq as a member of the ‘axis of evil’ and warned of the grave danger to the USA of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

The Full Moon phase began in August 2009 (Virgo 4th house progressed Full Moon).  This was Obama’s first year in office and he was dealing with the subprime mortgage financial meltdown and was also promoting his new healthcare plan for the nation. In the gardening metaphor used for lunation cycles, the flowers have now blossomed and the plants are about to bear fruit.

The nation is now in the Disseminating Moon Phase, the time of harvesting and distributing the goods of the harvest — to use the gardening metaphor.

The next president, who will be elected in November of 2016, will lead the nation through the final quarter of the Aquarius 10th house progressed lunation cycle, which will begin in October of 2017 with the progressed Moon at 12 Sagittarius 22. The harvest has been gathered and distributed, and the plants that remain in the fields begin to decompose as we prepare for the end of this cycle and the beginning of a new one at the next progressed New Moon in November of 2024.

Who will America choose to oversee the final distribution of the harvest and to preside over the ending of the cycle that began with Bill Clinton and came to fruition under Barack Obama?  From a thematic point of view it seems to me that Hillary Clinton is a more logical candidate for winding down the cycle started by her husband bill and brought to fruition by her colleague Barack Obama.  Donald Trump, despite his popular appeal, seems to be to radical a change for this late stage of the lunation cycle.

That being said, there are a number of factors which suggest that Trump will do very well in the November election.  The next figure shows the Gemini-rising USA chart progressed to the November 2016 election with Donald Trump’s natal chart superimposed.

Incredibly, Trump’s natal Moon falls  exactly on the USA progressed Ascendant, an indication that Trump’s sense of the public mood of the America people is exactly in accord with where the emotional state of the populace.  Moreover, Trump’s natal Sun/Moon opposition is powerfully placed on the horizon of the progressed USA chart — suggesting a compelling resonance between Trump’s personal style and the current state of the nation.

If we compare Trump’s progressed chart at the time of the election to the USA progressed chart, the results are also quite striking.

Here we see that Trump’s progressed Uranus lies exactly opposite the progressed USA Ascendant at the time of the November election but it is also directly opposite his natal Moon.  Generally such a Uranus aspect has an unpredictable, tense, disruptive and emotionally distressing effect.  Since the base chart is that of the United States, the upset is likely to be in the 7th house area of foreign affairs and our relationships with other nations.  Certainly a Trump win would have such a Uranian effect on our dealings with other countries.

Note also that Trump’s progressed Sun squares the USA progressed Moon at this time.  If this were a synastry comparison between Donald Trump and the United States, Solar Fire would interpret it as follows:

“Each one seems to fill a void deep inside the other. In astrology it is considered important to have a combination of personal planets in order to enjoy a deep relationship, but this can be a difficult combination once the initial excitement has worn off. Friction easily arises and what was once attractive becomes irritating. The success of this relationship largely depends on each person’s ability to accept the other person’s differences. Donald may eventually have difficulty understanding the USA’s emotional nature. Donald may feel impatient and frustrated by the limitations placed on him by the USA.  The USA may feel overwhelmed by Donald’s personality.”

Now let’s look at Hillary’s natal and progressed chart for the election compared with the progressed chart of the USA for the same period.

Hillary Clinton’s closest aspects to the USA progressed chart for the 2016 election are her natal Jupiter conjunct the USA progressed Moon.  This is quite positive, especially since Jupiter rules the USA progressed Ascendant.  In addition, Hillary’s natal Saturn trines the progressed USA Ascendant, suggesting the the people will see her as a more traditional and conservative choice.  Her natal Part of Fortune is on the MC/IC axis of the USA progressed chart, which seems to be another positive indicator.

Let’s now compare Hillary’s progressed chart to that of the USA.

Here Hillary’s progressed Neptune conjoins the USA progressed MC within half a degree, no doubt contributing to the public perception of her as deceptive or deliberately misleading.  Hillary’s progressed Venus makes a favorable trine to the USA MC, but here progressed Sun/Mercury conjunction squares the progressed USA MC, suggesting some difficulty or obstacles in winning the presidency.

On the other hand, her Sun/Mercury conjunction is disposed by Saturn, which is sextile her progressed Part of Fortune in the USA 10th and trine the progressed USA Ascendant, suggesting that she will be able to overcome the difficulties indicated by the Sun/Mercury square to the MC.

Finally, the Sun/Mercury progressed conjunction is extremely close, so that Mercury is ‘cazimi’ or ‘in the heart of the Sun’ — a very powerful conjunction which strongly fortifies Mercury.  This is significant because natally Mercury rules Hillary’s 10th house of career success, so that at the time of the election Mercury’s ability to effect its significance as a career indicator is extremely powerfully activated by secondary progression.

All in all, it looks to me like Hillary more than likely will be the next president, though she will have some tough times in the fall during the height of the campaign.  Trump is extremely popular and has tapped powerfully into the public mood, so a Trump win is not out of the question.  If Trump were to be elected, however, the progressed charts suggest that we would be in for a rough ride, especially with regard to our relationships with other nations.

Dodekatemoria

For those who may be interested I just wrote a brief article on dodekatemoria for the Spanish website Campus Astrología:

The article is based on the following passage from page  157 of the book In the Path of the Moon:Babylonian Celestial Divination and its Legacy de Francesca Rochberg (Brill Academic Publishers, 2010) in which the author presents a scholarly discussion of the Babylonian method of calculationg dodekatemoria:

George Lucas’ Near-death Experience

For those who attended my talk at the NYC NCGR meeting on 18 June 2016, I have posted below what I intended to say about George Lucas’ chart.  Unfortunately I brought the solar return for the wrong year in the slides I made for the lecture.  My apologies.

In a TV interview with Oprah, George Lucas commented about his senior year in high school:

“In high school, I lived to be a race car driver. I was in a very bad accident and so then I reevaluated all that. I said maybe there’s something else for me. Maybe there’s a reason I survived this accident, that nobody should have survived…

“I was hit, broadsided, by a car that was going about 90 miles per hour. I should be dead… It did give me this perspective on life that said, you know, basically, I’m operating on extra credit… Let’s just go for it. I’m never afraid of dying. I feel like what I’m getting is bonus material.”

A report about the accident adds:

“The Star Wars creator was driving home from school in the middle of his senior year when a car slammed into the side of his vehicle – causing it to flip more than seven times. The filmmaker was left with several broken ribs and two collapsed lungs.

Lucas is convinced the accident had a profound effect on his life, revealing the experience prompted him to reconsider his dreams and change the course of his career.”

Chris Brennan uses this event in his lectures about zodiacal releasing because at the time Lucas was going through his first significant ‘loosing of the bond’ period (12 Sep 1961 –  5 April 63), as you can see in the table below.

Lucas Solar Return for the year is quite telling. Here is the SR chart in effect at the time of the accident.

Note in the Solar Return that Pluto conjoins the ASC, marking a year of dramatic change in his sense of personal identity.  The Jupiter/Chiron conjunction in the 6th of bodily injury opposes Pluto in the 12th of hospitalization.  Uranus in the 12th of undoing and confinement squares the SR Sun in the 9th (his philosophical view of life).  Mars rules the SR 3rd of car travel and occupies the 8th house.

Here is Lucas’ Solar Return with his natal chart superimposed.

Here we see his natal Uranus at the MC of the solar return.  Uranus often indicates accidents.  Notably, natal Uranus on the SR MC squares SR Pluto on the SR ASC, marking this as a year in which this square between the outer planets (SR Pluto square natal Uranus) will manifest in his life.  Angular planets have special prominence, and the outer planet aspects often have life-changing implications.  Uranus often symbolizes major disruptions, such as accidents or divorce; and Pluto often indicates events that divide one’s life into “before and after.”

Natal Mercury rules the SR ASC and conjoins natal Venus in the SR 9th.  Venus rules his natal ASC (his body).  The SR Neptune in the 3rd (local car travel) opposes his natal Mercury/Venus conjunction in the 9th, warning of the potential for a car accident related to Neptunian inattention.

In addition, Lucas’ natal Chiron (the wounded healer) conjoins the SR ASC and SR Pluto.  At the same time natal Chiron opposes the SR Jupiter/Chiron conjunction in the 6th house.

 

 

The Zodiacal Releasing of a Pleasant Surprise

Last year I wrote about the astrology of a pleasant surprise.

To quote that post:

“Not long after my horary book was first published I attended the United Astrology Congress at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Washington, D.C. from April 16 to 21, 1992. At the conference I was surprised and pleased when I received a “Regulus Most Promising Newcomer Award” at the opening banquet. I don’t recall the exact date of the award during the April 16-21 period. Judging by the programs of recent UAC conference, the awards banquet was probably Monday evening, 20 April 1992.”

Recently I’ve been going through the most recent lecture about zodiacal releasing which Chris Brennan posted in his online Hellenistic Astrology Course.  Zodiacal releasing is a time-lord technique for forecasting described by Vetius Valens. You begin by measuring time from the natal sign which contains your Part of Spirit.  Each zodiacal sign covers a certain number of years and is divided into subperiods assigned in sequence to the signs of the zodiac.  If you complete an entire cycle of the zodiac, you jump to the sign opposite the one that started the period; this is called “loosing of the bond.”  Such “loosing of the bond” (LB) periods often mark significant transitions in one’s professional life or life direction.

When I tried this technique in my own chart, I discovered that there was a loosing of the bond at the time I submitted a proposal to Llewellyn to write a horary book (August 1989) and again when the book was published (January 1991).  Finally, there was a loosing of the bond during the week that I unexpectedly received an award for the book at the 1992 UAC Conference.

The following table shows the loosing of the bond, marked (L), in August 1989 (book proposal submitted) and January 1991 (book published).

The next table shows the loosing of the bond, marked (L), on Level 4 for the UAC Conference in April 1992 when I received the award, which occurred on April 20, 1992 as far as I can recall.

The level 4 loosing of the bond occurs from April 18 – 22, 1992, in the sign Cancer which is my Whole Sign 10th house of career.  This corresponds exactly to the time I received the award.  The precise timing is quite amazing.

All-in-all the Hellenistic timelord technique of zodiacal releasing is quite impressive and pinpoints some key periods in my professional life.  My thanks to Chris Brennan for his clear presentation of zodiacal releasing and his excellent course on Hellenistic astrology.