Anthony Louis's Blog, page 60

Designer L’Wren Scott Dies at 49

The apparent suicide of fashion designer L’Wren Scott has been much in the news lately, partly because she happens to be the partner of Mick Jagger.  Ms. Scott was found dead by her assistant at her NYC Chelsea apartment around 10 a.m. on Monday, March 17, 2014.  Like many celebrities she apparently gave a false birth date (01 Jan 1967) to make it appear that she was younger than her chronological age.  Judging from her appearance in recent published photos, I would estimate her to be close to 50 years old.  Most news sources are now reporting that she was born on April 28, 1964 in Salt Lake City Utah (time unknown).  If that date is correct, her death on Saint Patrick’s Day should show up in her chart.

Let’s consider her solar return in effect this week.  Since the birth time is unknown, I will use sunrise for her birthplace in the natal chart and calculate its solar return.  I find that the sunrise chart usually produces symbolically meaningful information when the birth time is not available.  Here are the superimposed charts:

L’Wren Scott’s solar return superimposed on her sunrise birth chart (time unknown) for the current period.

The most striking feature of this chart is the very close opposition of solar return Saturn to her natal Sun.  Saturn is the planet of frustration and hardship.  A year when Saturn opposes the Sun is usually quite a trying and stressful time.  SR Saturn also opposes natal Mercury (ruler of the sunrise Placidus 6th house) and Jupiter (ruler of the sunrise Placidus 8th & 12th houses).  Traditionally, houses 6, 8 and 12 are the most unfortunate places in the horoscope.  Taken jointly, they rule sickness, death, anguish of mind, exile, confinement, and self-undoing (including suicide).

On Monday, 17 March 2014, transiting Saturn was at 23 Scorpio 07 Rx where it conjoined her natal Moon and exactly quincunxed her natal Mars in the 12th house (self-undoing) of the sunrise chart.  Solar return Saturn also opposes her solar return Mars and her natal Mercury.

Solar return Mars is stressing her natal Jupiter, Sun, and Mercury.  In the sunrise chart, Jupiter happens to rule the Placidus 12th house of self-undoing and the 8th of dying.  Natal Mars is conjoined by solar return Mercury in the 12th.  The prominence of transiting Saturn often correlates with feeling overwhelmed and depressed by life’s obligations.

In short, this chart is certainly consistent with death by apparent suicide, so from an astrological point of view the April 28, 1964 birth date appears to be correct.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Because of an illness in the family, I haven’t had much time to study the chart of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which disappeared a week ago.  News reports give the time of takeoff as 0:41 AM on March 8, 2014 from Kuala Lumpur.  Here is the chart.  I used Porphyry houses.

Departure of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Sagittarius rises, so Jupiter rules the ASC as well as the Pisces 4th house of endings.  Jupiter in the 8th of death and conjunct its cusp is an ominous sign.  Jupiter is exalted in Cancer but is debilitated by its placement in the 8th.  Jupiter is also opposed by Pluto, lord of the underworld, and squared by Uranus, an indicator of sudden disruptions.

Also significant are the two most angular planets: Neptune conjunct the IC in the 4th of endings and Moon conjunct the DSC where Moon very closely opposes the ASC.  Moon squares Neptune.  Moon also rules the 8th of death and disposes ASC-ruler Jupiter. These factors suggest that the plane went down in the ocean.

It is probably unwise to elect to begin a journey with the lord of death angular on the horizon opposing the ASC and squaring an angular Neptune (dissolution, god of the oceans) which conjoins the end-of-the-matter IC.

Jupiter in the 8th lies in a southwesterly house.  This raises the possibility that the plane will eventually be found to the west of Kuala Lumpur and somewhat to the south, which I believe is somewhere in the Indian Ocean.  If we apply Lilly’s method for missing ships, then the Moon also represents the plane; and the Moon lies due west of the ASC.  Again, the suggestion is that the plane went down to the west in the Indian Ocean.  Cancer is a northerly sign, but Gemini suggests west by south.  My overall impression from this “takeoff chart” is that the missing plane ended its journey to the west and somewhat south of Kuala Lumpur.  These “rules” are based on astrology developed north of the equator.  Since the plane took off from a location almost exactly on the equator, I’m not sure how well they apply.

Here is the map of the region with the local space lines for the takeoff (from Solar Fire).  I’m sleepy this morning and not sure why the Jupiter and Moon lines are running west and north of Kuala Lumpur when the chart make it appear as if Jupiter is west and south, and the Moon is due west of the ASC.  I’ll have to figure this one out.   It probably has to do with the large positive declinations of the Moon and Jupiter and with the fact that the chart is cast for a location near the equator.   If anyone has a handy explanation, please leave a comment.  According to the map below, the plane is likely to be found to the west and slightly north of Kuala Lumpur (see the region bounded by the Moon and Jupiter lines in the map).

To hedge my bets, since the Sun occupies the end-of-the-matter 4th house, I suspect the plane will be found in the Indian Ocean to the west of Kuala Lumpur in the region bounded by the Jupiter line north of the equator and the Sun line south of the equator.

Local Space map of flight’s takeoff from Kuala Lumpur.

Planetary data at the time of takeoff in Kuala Lumpur.

I’m puzzled by the “who did it?” question in this chart.  Although a current theory is one of human agency, I don’t see it clearly in the chart.  It is possible that some bizarre yet “natural” explanation will be found, especially with Neptune in Pisces on the IC.  However, Lilly regarded the 10th house and its ruler as signifying the leading officers on the ship. The Sun is also a natural significator of the captain.  Here the 10th is ruled by Mercury which lies in Aquarius (which Lilly associated with the  Master or Captain of the Ship).  Mercury is disposed by Saturn in the 12th of sabotage and secret enemies, which could indicate that someone at the level of the caption or a ship’s officer is responsible.

Jerome Cardan gets sick

Jean-Baptiste Morin de Villefranche is one of my favorite astrologers.  Recently I was reading Book 24 on Progressions and Transits of his Astrologia Gallica in which he takes the famous Jerome Cardan to task for an inaccurate prediction.

Cardan’s birth data is given as 24 September 1501 Jul.Cal. (4 Oct 1501 greg.) at 18:29 (= 6:29 PM ).in Pavia, Italy.  Based on his birth chart, Cardan had forecast for himself that he would enjoy good health in 1553.  Nonetheless, notes Morin, on 20 November 1553 at 2:30 pm Cardan suffered an unexpected and painful illness.

Morin studied Cardan’s solar return for 1553 and felt that it clearly warned of a serious illness.  Here is the solar return cast with Regiomontanus houses which were Morin’s preferred house system.  At the time Morin was unaware of the existence of the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Cardan’s 1553 Solar Return for his birthplace with Regiomontanus houses.

Morin notes that Mercury rules the 8th house of the solar return and occupies its 12th house of confinement, where it is disposed by Mars.  With Cancer partially in the 8th house, Morin regards the Moon as a co-ruler of the 8th of the solar return and notes that the Moon occupies the 6th of illness.  Mars rules the SR ASC (the body and its vitality) and afflicts Mercury by conjunction and the Moon by opposition.  Morin concludes that “a violent illness and one with danger or fear of death is plainly signified.”  Modern astrologers would note the significance of Neptune opposing  Mars and the ASC and of Uranus on the cusp of the 12th house in this solar return.

Next let’s consider Cardan’s natal chart with his 1553 solar return superimposed:

Cardan’s natal chart with his 1553 solar return superimposed.

The suggestion of a significant illness is even more evident in the superimposed charts.  Solar return Saturn sits on top of Cardan’s natal Moon on the cusp of the 12th house of hospitalization and confinement.  Solar Return Mercury, which rules the return 8th and occupies the return 12th, closely opposes the natal ASC, which represents Cardan’s body and physical vitality.  Mercury also rules Cardan’s natal 6th house of illness.  Four of the solar return planets occupy the natal 6th house of illness.  Since Morin only knew of the 7 visible planets, this meant that 4 of the 7 solar return planets (57%) occupied the natal 6th house.

This is a striking example of the value of solar return in forecasting.

Tracking the April 2014 Cardinal Grand Cross

Recently I was looking at the chart of a Mexican singer and songwriter whose music I enjoy.  His name is Jaime Kohen.  Jaime studied at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. Many of his songs are posted on YouTube.  Recently I noticed a headline (27 Feb 2014) that Mr. Kohen had come out publicly as gay in response to publicity about the homophobic nature of the Russian culture and other anti-gay sentiments in the news.  He apparently felt that the time had come for him to take a public stance.

When I read this headline, I happened to be looking at a number of charts in light of the upcoming cardinal grand cross of April 22, 2014.  I wondered if this major aspect was active in Jaime’s chart at this time.  Jaime Kohen was born on 9 September 1986 in Mexico City, time unknown.  Using a birth time of 12 Noon, I cast his chart and its secondary progressions for April 22, 2014.  Below is his natal chart in the center, surrounded by his secondary progressed chart, and finally by the chart of the cardinal grand cross.

Jaime Kohen, time unknown, 12 N chart, solar sign houses. Surrounded by secondary progressions (middle wheel) and cardinal grand cross of 22 April 2014 (outer wheel).

It was quite striking that the cardinal grand cross fell almost exactly on Jaime Kohen’s secondary progressed Sun on the day of the cardinal cross.  The symbolism of transiting Mars on the progressed Sun fits the leadership role and fighting stance he took in going public about his sexual orientation.  The opposition of transiting Uranus to progressed Sun suggests a need to define himself uniquely and to establish personal freedom.  It always amazes me how closely the astrological symbolism parallels what is happening in people’s lives.

Neuroscience Discovers the Tropical Zodiac

Two thousand years ago Ptolemy in his Tetrabiblos attempted to summarize the existing knowledge about astrology in the Hellenistic world.  Ptolemy, who viewed himself as a scientist and an encyclopedist, sought to put astrology on a scientific footing.  For this reason he elected a tropical zodiac based on the seasons of the year rather than a sidereal zodiac based on the constellations and subject to the precession of the equinoxes to determine the first degree of Aries, the conventionally agreed upon start of the zodiac.

Fast forward 2000 years.  Modern neuroscience is beginning to discover the implications of the tropical zodiac.   According to a recent article by Christian Jarret entitled How your season of birth is etched into your brain:

“Spiro Pantazatos, a neuroscientist at Columbia University Medical Center, has studieed links between season of birth and brain structure in healthy adults. He thinks the association between season of birth and psychiatric and behavioural outcomes later in life could be mediated by genetic factors that affect the growth of the brain.”

Dr. Pantazatos was also able to predict which season the women in his study were born under by “looking at differences in grey matter volume across their brains.”

This study reads a lot like Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos couched in modern scientific terminology rather than the extant scientific hypotheses of Hellenistic times.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.

The Modern Confusion about Astrological Houses

Alan Leo did pioneering work in re-introducing astrology into the modern world at the end of the 19th century. Unfortunately in his zeal to simplify astrology, Leo introduced many misunderstandings into the modern astrological lexicon.  The most egregious of these errors is the equation of signs and planets with astrological houses.  It is nearly impossible to pick up a modern textbook about astrology or to read a current astrology website that does not contain the falsehood that Mars represents 1st house matters.  This statement is only true if one has Aries or Scorpio rising or if Mars resides in an individual’s 1st house.  Otherwise, Mars does NOT signify  first house matters.  Since many modern astrologers do not bother to read the history of astrology or its primary texts from the two thousand years prior to Alan Leo, they remain unaware of the misinformation which Leo inserted into astrological tradition.

My guess is that Alan Leo had a copy of Zadkiel’s abridged version of Lilly’s Christian Astrology (1647) in which Lilly discussed consignifcators of the houses. Lilly noted that the signs of the Aries-rising zodiac used in the West since the time of Ptolemy run in order from 1 to 12.  He then paired the signs with the houses in numerical order and said that Aries (1st sign) shares an ordinal number with the 1st house, thus Aries is a con-significator of the 1st house.  And so on for the rest of the houses.

As for planets con-signifying the 1st house, Lilly never mentioned Mars as having a generic association with 1st house matters.  Instead, Lilly noted that the planets also have an ordinal arrangement dating back to the Chaldeans: Saturn is the 1st planet, Jupiter the 2nd, Mars the 3rd, etc. all the way to the Moon which is the 7th planet.  Then the pattern repeats.  Thus, SATURN, the 1st planet, (and not Mars which is never mentioned) is the con-signifier of the 1st house.

Finally, Lilly incorporates the ancient system of JOYS of the planets, which is most likely based on ancient mythology and the Hellenistic perception of good and bad houses.  This is what Lilly actually said:

The Consignificators for this house are Aries and Saturn; for as this house is the first house, so is Aries the first signe, and Saturn the first of the planets… Mercury doth also joy in this house, because it represents the Head and he the Tongue, Fancy and Memory. (CA. p.151)

Here is a table which summarizes what traditional Western astrology believed about associations between planets, signs and houses before Alan Leo introduced his misunderstandings into modern astrology a little more than 100 years ago:

  HOUSE
Consignifying  SIGN
Consignifying  PLANET
Planetary  JOY


1
Aries
Saturn
Mercury


2
Taurus
Jupiter



3
Gemini
Mars
Moon


4
Cancer
Sun



5
Leo
Venus
Venus


6
Virgo
Mercury
Mars


7
Libra
Moon



8
Scorpio
Saturn



9
Sagittarius
Jupiter
Sun


10
Capricorn
Mars



11
Aquarius
Sun
Jupiter


12
Pisces
Venus
Saturn

This table assumes that we are using the tropical zodiac which starts with Aries rising.  It also assumes that we can make a correlation between the order of the houses, signs, and planets (in their Chaldean order).

With regard to Mars, note that traditionally the red planet was a consignifier of the 3rd and 10th houses and it rejoiced in the 6th.  Traditionally Mars was never a consignifier of the 1st house as Alan Leo and his modern followers falsely claim.  Thus, when you see Mars in a chart you are justified in saying that it has some generic significance for 3rd and 10th house matters.

Unfortunately, this error has become ingrained in the minds of modern astrologers.

Scientific Bias against Astrology

Recently I have been taking an online course at coursera.org entitled Pensamiento Científico by Professor Carlos Gershenson of UNAM in Mexico.  Having followed the work of Carlos Gershenson for some time,  I was was delighted to have an opportunity to hear him lecture about the scientific method.  I majored in math and minored in physics in college and acquired a Master’s degree in theoretical mathematics prior to pursing my doctorate in medicine,  so I consider myself a member of the scientific community.  At the same time astrology has been a serious hobby since my teens, and I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about the art, though there is still much about astrology I would like to learn.  I have had enough experiences with accurate “predictions” in astrology to be convinced that there must be some scientific validity to the art.

Today I listened to Dr. Gershenson’s lecture on Pseudociencia and was disappointed by his obvious bias against astrology on the basis of an lack of knowledge of the art and a pseudoscientific “study” by a group of Belgian and German scientists which he cites as evidence.  It is clear from the lecture that Professor Gershenson has never studied astrology and is almost totally ignorant of the celestial art.

The so-called study which Gershenson refers to was done by a group of Belgian and German scientists who began with the premise that the date of birth (and hence the zodiac sign during which one is born) correlates to individual difference sand general intelligence.  Any competent astrologer would tell you that such correlations between a sun-sign and individual differences including intelligence would be no better than chance.  How could one twelfth of the world’s population of 7 billion or so people all share the same traits and intelligence levels on the basis of which of the 12 signs they were born under?  It’s an absurd premise, which shows a total ignorance of the principles of astrology, and I’m surprised that Dr. Gershenson swallowed this ridiculous premise hook, line and sinker.  He should know better.  Garbage in, garbage out.

There are some good studies of astrology which show positive results.  The Gauquelin research on the Mars effect is a good example.  The Gauquelins gathered a large sample eminent athletes and found that Mars occupied a prominent position in their horoscopes as predicted by astrology when compared to a control group of less prominent athletes or the general population.  Their statistics were scientifically valid and demonstrated that athletes with a prominent Mars at birth were likely to achieve public recognition for their athletic skills at a rate significantly greater than chance.  The rigorous science of this study upset the scientific community which responded by diluting the sample with athletes of much less eminence and thus reducing the statistical difference.

In another interesting study of infant mortality:

“A study by Arno Müller, Profesor of Psychology at the University of Saarland, Germany of the lives of 1,145 German nobility over five centuries where records were kept meticulously, showed a significantly higher frequency in infant mortality within the first 15 months (p=0.0004) of birth when Saturn was rising or culminating (Gauquelin sectors) at birth. (Muller & Menzer 1986) [This fits with a traditional interpretation of Saturn rising as difficulties early on in life.] “

Interestingly, I recall reading Goethe’s autobiography in which he attribute his serious post-natal ill health to Saturn rising at this birth.

Not to belabor the point, but I am seriously disappointed in Dr. Gershenson’s ignorance about astrology and his lack of scientific objectivity.  I expected him to be open-minded as a scientist and to follow the evidence wherever it might lead him.  Instead he has chosen to pontificate about a subject of which he knows nothing and to accept as truth a “study” founded on a ridiculous straw-man hypothesis which was guaranteed to produce the result desired rather than to seriously test the validity of astrology.  In doing so, he is exhibiting bias without reason, espousing bad science, and contradicting his own principles which he is teaching in his course.

Tarot books by the author

Amazon.com will be publishing my most recent book on tarot in April of 2014. For those who may be interested, here is a list of my tarot books which are available from amazon.com.  Click on the image to be taken to the amazon site.

The Uranus-Pluto Square of April 2014

The astrological community is abuzz with musings about the ominous portent of the Uranus-Pluto square in April of 2014, especially because it occurs in the context of a Grand Cross involving Mars and Jupiter, all in cardinal signs.  Astrologers seem to be expecting the worst, some of the comments bordering on mass hysteria.  Will the stock market crash like it did in 1929?  Will the world be beset by major revolutions?  Will the USA suffer another major terrorist attack?  More mass killings in schools, theaters, and at sporting events?  Will there be an attempt on the life of the President?  Etc., etc., etc.

Uranus was discovered in 1781 and Pluto, in 1930.  Pluto was initially classified as a planet but in 2006 it was renamed a “dwarf planet” because it did not fit the IAU definition of a planet.  It turns out that Pluto is smaller than Eris, another dwarf planet.  Thus, Pluto was a planet for only 76 years before it was relegated to the status of a dwarf planet.  At some time after 1930 astrologers began to speculate that Pluto might be connected to Scorpio, which had for thousands of years been ruled by Mars.  Thus, Pluto has been a “modern ruler” of Scorpio for some 80+ years.

In Cosmos and Psyche Richard Tarnas looked back in history to see what kinds of events correlated with major aspects between Uranus and Pluto, which will be exactly 90 degrees apart (a square) on April 21, 2014.  In reality, this is but one of seven such squares which began in June of 2012 and reoccur periodically until March of 2015.  What makes this square special is that Mars and Jupiter join in the mix to form was is called a cardinal Grand Cross.  Technically speaking, the Grand Cross does not begin until Mars retrogrades into 13 degrees Libra, which occurs very early in the morning on April 22nd, 2014. Here is a chart of the Uranus-Pluto square of April 21st set for Washington, DC to give a sense of how it might affect the USA according to the house positions of the planets.

Uranus square Pluto in DC on April 21, 2014, just prior to grand cardinal cross, Placidus houses  Note Mars in Libra in 2nd square Pluto in Capricorn in 5th square Uranus in Aries in 8th square Jupiter in Cancer in 11th.  The 2nd and the 8th are money houses, so there could be a financial crisis.  The 8th is the house of death.  The 5th has to do with children, with recreational and sporting events, gambling, and speculative investments (like some stock trading).

Tarnas observed the following: “…eras in which Uranus and Pluto were in axial alignment” correlated with “widespread radical and political social change and often destructive upheaval, massive empowerment of revolutionary and rebellious impulses, and intensified artistic and intellectual creativity.”  Also “unusually rapid technological advance, an underlying spirit of restless experiment, drive for innovation, urge for freedom in many realms, revolt against oppression, embrace of radical political philosophies, and intensified collective will to bring forth a new world.”  (pp. 143-144, Cosmos & Psyche).

Individuals born with their Sun or personal planets and chart points at 13 degrees of a cardinal sign will be most strongly affected in their personal life.  In the tradition of Chaucer and T.S. Elliot, April may be the cruelest month for such individuals.  Thus those born with their Sun around 13 degrees of a cardinal sign, that is, those born within a few days of January 4th, April 3rd, July 5th, or October 6th of any year) will feel this transit most acutely as it affects their natal Sun.  A study of each individual’s birth chart will be necessary to see what other planets and chart points are affected.  If you accept July 4th as the birthday of the United States, then this country is in for a period of major upheaval.

We can see the playing out of this astrological configuration in the current revolution in Ukraine which declared its independence on 24 August 1991 at 5:31 pm local time according to Ukrainian astrologers.  Here is a “natal” chart of modern Ukraine with the upcoming April 21st Uranus-Pluto square superimposed.

Chart of modern Ukraine’s Independence with April 2014 Uranus-Pluto square chart superimposed.

During the current upheaval and bloodshed in Ukraine, the radical Uranus-Neptune conjunction in cardinal Capricorn in the 12th is being squared by transiting Uranus and conjoined by transiting Pluto.  In April, this same conjunction will be squared by transiting Mars in the 8th and opposed by Jupiter in Cancer in the 6th.  Traditionally, houses 6, 8 and 12 are considered unfortunate houses.  Mars in the 8th of death squaring radical Uranus-Neptune in the 12th looks particularly foreboding and carries the potential of bloodshed and loss of life.

In terms of timing, it is noteworthy that transiting Pluto crossed over the midpoint of the radical Uranus-Neptune conjunction in the 12th house on January 28, 2014.  In addition, transiting Uranus made an exact square to radical Uranus in the 12th house on Monday February 17, 2014 as the revolt was in full force.

It looks like Richard Tarnas’ correlations with historical events are playing out with the current transiting Uranus-Pluto square.

My interview with Misha

Last night Misha interviewed me about several topics, including my new book Tarot Beyond the Basics which will be available in April 2014.  Here is a link to a recording of the interview.

Interview with Misha, 19 February 2014, 9 pm EST