We’re all looking forward to August’s eclipses, so I posted an article I wrote on Eclipse Weddings. 
Prince Charles and Paul McCartney both had two marriages near eclipses! I also consider J.K. Rowling, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger and some regular folks’ weddings near eclipses.
This piece was originally published in the Spring 2016 NY NCGR’s Ingress newsletter. Thanks to Tracy Allen and the NY NCGR for including it.
When I found the birth data for the Alexandria, Virginia shooter on Ancestry.com (December 12, 1950), I couldn’t be certain if it was correct. The James T. Hodgkinson I found was the same age as the man in the news, with the same name and middle initial, the only one listed in the town of Belleville, Illinois. But one look at the chart convinced me this was the person who had opened fire on Congressman Steve Scalise and other Republicans at an early morning baseball practice. 
Was this someone who could conceive a grandiose scheme? He had the Sun and Venus in Sagittarius along with Jupiter in Pisces, all of which suggest seeing the big picture.
Is this the kind of person who’d think outside the norm and take an extreme stance? He had Mercury Out of Bounds in declination and opposite Uranus, along with the Moon in Aquarius, all of which may incline toward a radical agenda.
Could this person think ahead to plan a crime? Hodgkinson had Mercury in Capricorn and Saturn exalted in Libra, both signifiers of the ability to take things one step at a time and follow through on plans.
Could he carry out a violent act? Mars in Capricorn and the Sun trine Pluto are both indicators of someone who can exercise control, take a calculated risk, and is not afraid of pursuing violence.
The timing of the shooting was also clear. Sudden events and extreme acts come under the rulership of Uranus, and violence is associated with Mars. On the day of the shooting, transiting Uranus squared Hodgkinson’s Mars and trined his Venus (within a half a degree of exact for both).
Transiting Saturn was near the midpoint of Hodgkinson’s Sun and Venus. He may have been feeling down and depressed, unhappy with the status quo, leading him to take his fatal actions.
Of course, we don’t have a time of birth for Hodgkinson, and not everyone born on this day will express the chart with such negativity. For example, the popular Indian actor Rajinikanth was born on the same day. He has gone on hunger strikes to draw attention to issues that were important to him, and has supported anti-corruption and campaigned for eye donations. In June of 2017, the month of the Alexandria shooting, Rajinikanth met with leaders and appears to be considering entering politics. He leans conservative.
The FBI’s wanted list confirms Hodgkinson’s birth data.
What’s the horoscope of a subway look like? Manhattan’s Second Avenue subway left 57th Street and 7th Avenue for the first time at 12:01 PM on New Year’s Day, 2017, according to AM New York. The train extends service in the Upper East Side to 96th Street.
Mercury retrograde in the 9th house already provided a broken elevator at 86th Street, a locked women’s room, and a recording announcing delays from “train traffic ahead.” But as Mercury also sextiles Mars and Neptune, the ride was completed successfully.
The Moon conjoins and exactly parallel’s Venus in Aquarius in the 11th house, with both trining Jupiter in Libra. Jupiter indicates large-scale transit, and conjoins the 7th house cusp, insuring popularity. Real estate commentators expect prices in the surrounding neighborhoods to rise. As Venus rules the 2nd house of money and the Moon rules the 4th of property, their trine to Jupiter confirms this obvious assessment. The Sun in Capricorn at the Midheaven and conjoining Pluto also suggests an important business transformation.
The most dynamic configuration in the chart is a close angular T-square of Uranus rising opposite Jupiter on the Descendant, with both squaring Pluto in the 10th house. Astrologically it appears that this extension is both notable and innovative. Pluto in Capricorn’s influence echoes the fact that it’s taken over 70 years to replace the Second Avenue elevated train that was demolished in the 1940s. The MTA promises more efficient travel times for many, but it appears that there may be some significant issues to resolve before that becomes a reality.
The next planned phase will extend the line to Harlem.
It took this old fashioned Capricorn too long to catch up with technology. But now, my new astrology book, Regal Brides, is available both in print and for Kindle. 
Regal Brides looks at the lives and horoscopes of five American women who became royals themselves through marriage: Consuelo Vanderbilt (The Duchess of Marlborough), Wallis Simpson (the Duchess of Windsor), Grace Kelly (Princess Grace of Monaco), Hope Cooke (the Queen of Sikkim) and Lisa Halaby (Queen Noor of Jordan). Their husbands’ horoscopes and wedding charts are also considered. I’ve been fascinated with wedding horoscopes since I wrote for Modern Bride magazine, and am always drawn to horoscopes of exceptional people and situations; this book covers it all.
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Buy for Kindle: Regal Brides: The Astrology of Five American Women and their Royal Marriages (The Inquiring Astrologer)
Buy in Print: Regal Brides: The Astrology of Five American Women and their Royal Marriages (The Inquiring Astrologer)
We tend to favor aspects over signs these days. But the quality of the signs themselves can be very revealing and help us anticipate what’s to come.
Last week, I stopped into a downtown bank to pick up forms to be added to my mom’s account. I was told that she must come in with me. Since my mother has severe arthritis and rarely leaves the house, this was impossible. The banker then said we could put a Power of Attorney on the account. I already had a general Power of Attorney and said I’d bring that in.
I decided to go the following day, with the Moon in Scorpio and flowing lunar aspects that I hoped would help me. I went to a local branch armed with my Power of Attorney.
The banker there was the epitome of Scorpio, wanting to control everything about our relationship. While a nicely dressed, calm and well-spoken young man, he argued that my mother needed to come in, that I must use their form and that the other branch had given me incorrect information. He finally agreed to scan my POA and e-mail it to their legal department for review. While we waited, he reiterated his very “fixed” plan for me. But my POA ended up being approved! I simply needed to fill out a short form with my signature notarized. However the banker was undaunted, continuing to insist that the best thing would be to do it his, more involved and complicated, way. When pressed, he informed me that everything would be saved online and I’d only need to drop off the new form. He then gave me unsolicited advice about my need to get up-to-date and do all of my banking online. I finally left with my form after 45 minutes at the bank.
I waited several days to return to the downtown branch with flowing aspects and a Sagittarius Moon. Another well-spoken, well-dressed young man stepped up to help me. Like a breath of fresh air, he was friendly, open and responsive, seeming to want to expand our relationship. Good. However he proceeded to inform me that he had to re-do all the work of the previous clerk. While he did so and we waited for approval, he asked about my living situation and digressed about his plans to buy an apartment, his divorce and his own personal investment options – too much information! Typical Sagittarius. All proceeded smoothly, though this time the visit took nearly an hour. More “expansive,” all around as we’d say in astrologese.
He then gave me a sales pitch to open a new account for myself. I politely declined, putting on my jacket to escape. Despite the different flavors of Scorpio and Sagittarius Moons, bureaucracy is still bureaucracy and this bank had it at every turn.
On August 6, 2015, a stolen Stradivarius belonging to concert violinist Roman Totenberg was presented to his family at the U.S. Attorney’s office in NYC. His story shows the importance of the cycles of the Moon’s Nodes.
Roman Totenberg was born on January 1, 1911 in Warsaw Poland according to Wikipedia. He had the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Uranus in Capricorn, all opposed by Neptune in Cancer. This is striking symbolism for someone with a career in classical music, whose expertise demanded both skill and feeling.
Totenberg’s North Node in Taurus closely trined his Venus in Capricorn, bringing up the themes of talent, possessions and value in his life. His prized possession was his Stradivarius, bought in 1943. It was stolen in 1980, a period of 37 years, twice the lunar nodal cycle of 18.6 years.
In 1943, the year Totenberg bought the violin, both the transiting North Node and Jupiter were in Leo, and squared his natal Nodes. When the violin was stolen in May of 1980, the North Node was at 24 Leo, still within orb of squaring his Nodes, and exactly quincunx his natal Uranus in Capricorn. Transiting Pluto in Libra was also within a degree of squaring Totenberg’s Venus and formed a quincunx aspect with his North Node. There was a suspect but not enough evidence to prosecute him.
At the time of the violin’s recovery in June of 1980, transiting Jupiter in Leo was once again in square to Totenberg’s Nodes and quincunx his Venus. The family plans to have the instrument restored and to sell it to a performer, perfect symbolism for transiting Pluto closely approaching Totenberg’s Venus in 2016. By the time Pluto exactly conjoins the violinist’s Venus in early 2017, it will probably have passed to a new owner.
The South Node was in Taurus in 1734, the year the violin had been made by Antonio Stradivari in Italy, giving it lasting value.
The dealer who appraised the violin and alerted the FBI was born on October 10, 1952. His Jupiter is at 19-1/2 Taurus, closely conjunct Totenberg’s North Node and trine his Venus. The man suspected of stealing the violin, Philip S. Johnson, who predeceased Roman Totenberg, was born on January 27, 1953, not long after the dealer. Both men had Pluto at about 22-1/2 Leo, squaring Roman’s Nodes. The transiting North Node was closely conjunct Johnson’s Pluto at the time of the theft.
Wikipedia provides Totenberg’s birth date as well as other key dates in his story.
NASA scientists on the news talk as if it’s Star Trek: the first mission to a new planet in an exploratory spacecraft and the greatest distance ever flown – nearly 3 billion miles from earth. Their voyage to Pluto culminates on July 14, 2015 as the New Horizons craft reports on its closest encounter with Pluto.
The mission began in 2001 when it was approved, and surged on January 19, 2006 as New Horizons lifted off from Cape Canaveral on its long journey. Of course, within months, scientists had officially demoted Pluto to the status of a dwarf planet, but I guess astrologers already knew why Pluto has an ironic sense of humor.
What’s happening with the horoscope of Pluto as scientists learn more about it? Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 at approximately 4:00 PM in Flagstaff, Arizona (documented time, rated A on Astrodatabank).
As the news stories multiply, transiting Jupiter in Leo trines the discovery chart’s Midheaven and transiting Uranus stations a few degrees from it. Everybody’s suddenly excited about Pluto, and its reputation is getting a boost.
The discovery chart has the Sun in Aquarius conjunct Venus in Pisces, both part of a T-square with oppositions to Neptune and squares to Jupiter. It looks like this oddball little planet is just often misunderstood.
Transiting Saturn in Scorpio stations in close square to the discovery chart’s Sun at the time of New Horizons’ closest approach, and quickly activates all the planets in the T-square. NASA is looking deeper at Pluto, but in a reductive manner, and may devalue it further. As they take time to analyze the spacecraft’s data, transiting Pluto will oppose the discovery chart’s natal Pluto in 2016, so our understanding of Pluto could still be transformed. The combined influence of hard-core Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn should make the take-way some pragmatic facts.
I first saw the Pluto discovery horoscope in Noel Tyl’s How to Personalize the Outer Planets. The late Jeff Jawer wrote a fascinating article about the discoveries of the outer planets in this book, noting that all of them have the Moon in Scorpio along with hard Saturn aspects! It’s well worth a read (though Jawer used a different time for Pluto’s discovery and gave no information as to its source).
Hillary Clinton announced her run for the 2016 presidential race on April 12, 2015 at around 3:02 pm*. This becomes the natal horoscope for her campaign, and we can analyze the development and possible outcome of the campaign with this chart. An event chart like this one is read like a horary.
The Ascendant is 0 Virgo – with the suggestion of it being “too soon.” Fair enough – it’s a kick-off announcement a year and a half before the election. The Ascendant rules Hillary herself – the party initiating the event. Virgo is ruled by Mercury in the 9th combust the Sun. Hillary’s ruler is elevated in the horoscope, but the Sun rules her 12th house – her liabilities. Her current message may be obscured by previous questions about her official e-mails and other voter concerns. However the campaign should be able to outpace these issues as Mercury moves away from the Sun by the end of April.
The Sun conjoins both Mercury and Uranus in Aries in the 9th house. Talk about a world-wide announcement! This one packs a punch with the Sun exalted in Aries. And the Uranus-style notice was made with e-mails, in an online video and on Twitter.
Venus in the 10th ruling the Taurus Midheaven highlights the prestige of the presidential office. Venus opposes Saturn, an indication of the challenges therein. But the Moon in Aquarius (co-ruling Hillary) will trine Venus and sextile Saturn from the cusp of the 6th house: Hillary is up for the challenge and will work hard and pursue an independent course to achieve her goals.
An astrologer would probably not have chosen the angular T-square of Venus in the 10th, Saturn in the 4th and Neptune in the 7th house. But Neptune in the 7th rules Hillary’s opponents (“open enemies” astrologically). And while they may blow smokescreens to confuse the issues, they are also not the most effective.
Saturn in the 4th is grounded, but as significator of the “end of the matter,” it may not be propitious. We must look to Hillary’s birth chart to see how the planets are influencing her personally.
The flaws in the announcement horoscope ultimately don’t matter that much. President Obama, for instance, had a void-of-course Moon for his February, 2007 election bid. The more important things to consider are the candidate’s birth chart, the astrological weather at the time of the campaign and election, and transits and progressions to the natal chart. Unfortunately we may not have a definitive birth chart for Hillary Clinton. That’s a topic for another post.
*The NewYorkTimes.com stated that Clinton’s 2-minute video announcement was released “just after 3 p.m.” on April 12, 2015. I used her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn Heights for the location.
Robert Carl Jansky in his 1979 book Interpreting the Eclipses discusses the chart for the United States (page 75). He says that the U.S. horoscope with 7-1/2 Gemini rising closely conjunct Uranus (approximately 2:15 AM on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia) is the chart “that a majority of astrologers have come to recognize as the correct one.” In his analysis he also considers a Libra rising as well as a Sagittarius rising chart that he credits to Dane Rudhyar.
Donna Cunningham similarly states in her 1982 book, Being a Lunar type in a Solar World that, “Most astrologers use the traditional chart calculated for July 4, 1776 at 2:13:32 AM in Philadelphia” (page 29), virtually the same chart Jansky referred to. Barbara Watters in her book Horary Astrology and the Judgment of Events (1973) also cites a US. Gemini rising chart with Uranus rising drawn for 2:17 AM.
How things have changed! In the years subsequent to 9/11, many more astrologers have accepted a Sagittarius rising horoscope due to the fact that transiting Pluto was conjoining this chart’s Ascendant at the time of the attacks. It seems to me that this event has changed our thinking radically. A major event, surely, but still only one.
And while many astrologers have presented documentary evidence for one chart or another, basically none of them are dispositive.
I use Evangeline Adams’ 3:03 AM Gemini rising chart for 7/4/1776 which has Mars rising and the Moon in the 9th house. Jupiter rules the 7th and is placed in the 1st house. This is strong symbolism for being a nation of immigrants who come from afar. But I can’t support it further except to say that it seems to work for me. And while Astrodatabank gives a source for her data, this does not seem to be based on any documentary evidence that is available.
Scotland went to the polls on September 18, 2014 at 7:00 AM to decide its future. Would it split from the UK and become independent? Based on the horoscope for the event, it’s clear why the answer was No!
The Sun rises in Virgo, giving Scotland, the initiator, a strong self-identity. Yet it’s in a mutable sign and no aspects to the Sun reflect autonomy. It conjoins Venus in the 12th house, showing peacefulness and a passive bent. The Sun also sextiles Saturn in Scorpio in the 3rd house, putting Scotland in close and agreeable contact with the authorities.
Perhaps more importantly, the Moon in Cancer in the 10th house also indicates the authorities, and there appears to be a significant sense of security coming from the Queen and her kingdom – another angular placement which is possibly as strong as the Sun rising. And finally, the Moon approaches a sextile to the Sun, so Scotland retains its relationship and the stability of the past flows smoothly into the future.
Of course, there are signs of a need to break away as well, otherwise there wouldn’t have been a vote at all. The transiting square of Uranus and Pluto created a T-square with the Moon in Cancer, but at the time the polls opened, the Moon had already passed its aspects to these two disruptive planets and was approaching its sextile to the Sun. Pluto was in the angular 4th house of the homeland, but its interception in the sign of Capricorn also weakened its influence.
In addition, Jupiter in the 11th house in Leo is a strong influence for the values of the authorities (as the 11th house is the 2nd from the 10th), and Jupiter trined Uranus, showing once again the ability to work things out. Jupiter will also square Saturn, perhaps indicating future frustrations, but taken together, the aspects for the status quo do outweigh those for independence. Although the final vote was only 54% for remaining part of the United Kingdom, the astrology is much clearer than the actual votes, as often happens.
