Category Archives: forecasting

Gloria Steinem’s Marriage

Gloria Steinem remains a strong advocate for equality and social justice.  A 1934 Aries, she chose not to marry because she felt the role too restrictive for her as a young woman in the 1950s.  But she did finally marry at the age of 66. How does this show up in her birth chart?

We see Steinem’s personal strength and self-sufficiency in her Scorpio Ascendant and its ruler Mars.  Mars is placed in its other ruling sign of Aries and conjoins the Sun, a very dynamic combination.  The Sun is exalted in Aries and rules her 10th house of career.  This might be a combination focused on children, since the Sun and Mars are in the 5th house.  But Evangeline Adams’ teacher Catherine Thompson said that the Sun in the 5th house has the potential to “burn up.”  Mars is also inconjunct Neptune in Virgo in the 10th, showing a less conventional outlet.  Gloria pursued a career that she liked and enjoyed.

The 5th house also relates to creative self-expression and Steinem began as a freelance journalist.  Her Moon in Leo in the 9th house found a wider audience through writing, editing, lecturing and political activism.  She became a celebrity in 1963 for her exposé on the treatment of women at the Playboy Club in New York after being hired as a Playboy bunny waitress.  This was the time of her Saturn return, when it also opposed her Midheaven, showing a major turning point in her life.

Her experiences with marriage and partnerships are 7th house issues, and she has Taurus on the cusp, ruled by Venus in Aquarius.  Venus conjoins Gloria’s 4th house cusp, so again we might consider an outlet through the home, or a sense of security as inducements to marriage.  Though the sign of Aquarius is not known to necessarily follow conventions.

Saturn also conjoins her 4th house cusp and Venus, so we can see why her concept of relationships had a sense of restriction.  With both planets conjunct in Aquarius, Steinem needed a feeling of independence in partnerships, and her focus remained on special-interest advocacy.  The early home is also represented by the 4th house, and Gloria’s youth was peripatetic, with some freedom but obligations as well.

Her father was a travelling antiques salesman, and the family rarely stayed in one place for long.  When her parents divorced when she was 12, she became responsible for the emotional support of her mother, who suffered from chronic depression.  This might also be indicated by Mercury in Pisces in the 4th opposite Neptune, giving her empathy and compassion through an experience of suffering at an early age.

In keeping with the prominence of the dignified Saturn in Aquarius, Steinem’s paternal grandmother had been a noted Ohio suffragist in the early 20th century, astrologically showing her feminist roots.

Taurus on the 7th and its ruler in fixed signs typically supports longer lasting connections, and Gloria had several long-term relationships with prominent men over the course of her life.  She came close to marriage once, even getting a license, but didn’t follow through.  She has said that it was always her own choice not to marry, but both Saturn and Aquarius may shy away from legal permanence.

Steinem’s marriage to businessman and environmentalist David Bale on September 3, 2000 at the age of 66 is in keeping with Saturn’s influence for a delayed or late marriage, or one that demands maturity.  The marriage seems to have been a good one, but while Bale was seven years younger than his wife, he died of brain cancer in late 2003 at the age of 62, putting Steinem back in a caretaker role during the last two years of his life.

At 90, Gloria Steinem continues to fight sexism and campaign for equality, working from her Manhattan brownstone home.  Google Arts & Culture says that “Since 1966, this apartment has served as birthplace and host to many movements and limitless ideas… countless organizations and individuals… coalesced here to organize, strategize and create.”  Real estate is another 4th house theme, and the activist eventually bought her apartment, which is extremely valuable today.  Ultimately, it seems that the home and the relationships that it supports became the real center of stability in Steinem’s life, a connection that’s lasted nearly 60 years.

Gloria Steinem was born on March 25, 1934 at 10:00 p.m. in Toledo, OH, rated AA on Astrodatabank (from “officially certified birth data”).

Ms. Gloria Steinem: A Life by Winifred Conkling is an excellent biography that inspired me to look at Steinem’s horoscope.

Transition Time

The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on the winter solstice of 2020 ushered in a new era as the planetary pair moved into Aquarius.  The conjunctions set the stage for 20+ year developments, and have a long history with the U.S. government and presidency, as I wrote about in my book Tecumseh’s Curse.

Since early 2023, Pluto has likewise been moving back and forth between the last degrees of Capricorn and the first degrees of Aquarius, bringing its own momentous changes, at a much slower pace.  But this is especially so as it’s been crossing the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction degree over a 2-year period.

These transits have provoked contentious issues and some extremism in government and elsewhere.  We might metaphysically see it as growing pains, but there are many challenges ahead.  We are at a turning point with the presidential elections now less than a year away.

Many events are developing which resonate with Pluto changing signs and the Capricorn old guard transforming into something new and different.  We seem to be turning a page, as old authorities, organizations and associations face a changing landscape, and the past falls away.  Some of these notable events include:

Rosalyn Carter’s death on November 19, 2023 and her husband Jimmy, 99, in hospice care, symbolic of a generation passing.

Court Voting Rights Act decisions are set to empower Black and Native American minorities in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and North Dakota, with other redistricting suits developing elsewhere.  The slim minorities in both the House and Senate could easily be reversed in 2024.

Various court rulings have been made in Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan as judges consider removing former president Trump from 2024 ballots in violation of the Insurrection clause of the Constitution.  Some will certainly progress to the Supreme Court.  Trump of course also has several ongoing legal battles, with trial dates set for the spring and summer of 2024 (see my overview forecast from August 2022)

As many question the age and wisdom of leading presidential candidates Biden and Trump, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is polling with greater support than any independent candidate before.  And the No Labels party of more moderate values may put Joe Manchin or another forward as a 2024 presidential candidate.

These are striking developments taken individually, but altogether show a major transition.  Things will change and move forward.  Pluto will station within half a degree of its return to the U.S. July 4, 1776 chart in October, moving into Aquarius for the final time in mid-November of 2024.

It’s no coincidence that this occurs right at the time of the next presidential election cycle.  We can expect a re-set somehow, with the U.S.A. in a very different place by 2025.  Unfortunately, it looks like the transition will be slow and messy.  But that’s the nature of Pluto, who drags things out before moving on.

Kevin McCarthy’s Ouster

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is in the news with his ouster from the House on October 3, 2023 after only 9 months in office.  It reminded me of a class with Bob Zoller nearly 30 years ago.  He was stressing that nothing will manifest that’s not promised in the birth chart.  We all accept that, but he had a more deterministic view.  Certainly, I argued, sometimes things work out better than astrologers might expect.  He agreed, but went on to say that if that’s the case, the success will be either partial or short-lived. 

We often find Saturn in the 10th house in people with visible positions of authority.  But sometimes, depending on the essential dignity and aspects, they’ll face challenges or experience a loss of position for one reason or another.  Think about Herbert Hoover, who had an illustrious career but only served one term as President due to the Great Depression.  He had Saturn in Aquarius in the 10th opposite his Moon, Mars and Uranus.  Woodrow Wilson had Saturn in Cancer conjunct the MC and opposite his Sun, and had to address World War I and a severe stroke that left him disabled.  He never realized his hope for a League of Nations.

Saturn in McCarthy’s chart is different in that it’s closely square the Moon in Sagittarius conjunct the 7th house cusp.  There’s no dignity for Saturn in Pisces or the Moon in Sagittarius, and the mutable signs are not as forceful as the fixed (Hoover) or as tenacious as cardinal (Wilson).  But like the others, he is in a sense the victim of circumstances.  He’d do better if he had a solid majority to back him.  But his horoscope doesn’t suggest that.

The Moon may represent his constituents, the public, his general audience or his open enemies.  Ruled by Jupiter in Taurus in the 12th which squares his MC, his partnerships and position (since Saturn is also ruled by Jupiter) are somewhat at the mercy of others, and might be undermined by hidden enemies (the 12th) who are more determined than he is (Taurus).  And with his angular Moon so closely square Saturn, the timing has not been right.

McCarthy’s horoscope has some good aspects but no essential dignity.  So despite being a member of Congress for over 16 years, as Zoller said, his greatest success was both contentious and short-lived… so far.   I don’t think we’ve heard the last of him.

British journalist Martin Bashir, who controversially interviewed Princess Diana, has some similarities in his chart with Saturn in the 10th square his Moon, though his Saturn in Aquarius is stronger and the Moon is weaker.

The Judge and the Abortion Pill

Eclipses may cause upheavals when they occur, and their patterns highlight trends and events to come.  The April 2023 Court decisions on the abortion drug mifepristone are part of a larger pattern involving eclipses, the Biden administration, Joe Biden himself, the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 0 Aquarius and now Pluto’s change of sign from Capricorn to Aquarius as well.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk was confirmed by President Trump in 2019.  Lawsuits filed by conservative groups in his Amarillo, Texas jurisdiction have been assured of the outcome, and the judge has already made decisions on immigration and LGBTQ workers.  His April 7, 2023 decision on mifepristone would amount to a nationwide ban on the drug, which was approved by the FDA and in use for over 20 years.

The original Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to abortion was decided on January 22, 1973, four days after a Lunar Eclipse at 28 Cancer 40.  When the Court struck this ruling on June 24, 2022, transiting Pluto was at 28 Capricorn, closely opposing the eclipse degree.

The Kacsmaryk decision shortly after a full Moon was quickly brought to the Supreme Court, who froze the ruling on April 21, 2023 on the heels of a Solar Eclipse at 29 Aries, until the court appeals play out.

Let’s remember that the 2021 Biden inauguration Moon is also at 29 Aries.  Placed in the 12th house, it suggests the private nature of the matter addressed and the crusading energy placed in this question by many.  29 degrees certainly shows change, especially as the Moon in the inauguration horoscope conjoins Mars and squares Pluto and the Sun at the Midheaven.  President Biden is fighting Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling, and his own Moon is about 1 Taurus, closely conjunct the administration’s Moon.  The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 0 Aquarius in December of 2020 set the stage, making these developments part of a larger cyclic trend.  And the transiting North Node will also be at 29 Aries in July of 2023, further emphasizing this point.

We can clearly see the many astrological layers at work:  Roe v. Wade decision on a Lunar Eclipse at about 29 Cancer, and the Supreme Court strikes Roe v. Wade with transiting Pluto at 28 Capricorn.  Court’s hold on Kacsmaryk’s decision on a Solar Eclipse at 29 Aries.  Pluto is at 0 Aquarius to 28 Capricorn from January 2023 through February 2024 and will activate these points, showing not only how things are slowly changing, but also the strong personal feelings involved on both sides of the question.

We don’t have a birth date for Judge Kacsmaryk.  However Wikipedia says that he was born in 1977 – the year of a Solar Eclipse at 28 Aries!  Now we know exactly why this particular judge is involved.

We may not be able to predict the final outcome of the court decisions.  But with Pluto at 29 Capricorn 47 for the November 2024 election, this issue will surely continue to motivate voters.

What Evangeline Adams Knew Review

I was very pleased to read Sara Rose Diamond‘s review of my update of What Evangeline Adams Knew: a Book of Astrological Charts and Techniques:
Christino has done the world of astrology a major service by compiling, and presenting in such a lively way, a lot of valuable information that would otherwise fall by the wayside… vital scholarship for the safeguarding of astrological history.

Brooklyn Author Betty Smith

Betty Smith, the well-known author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, had an early play produced in New York City this season.  I was surprised to learn that she had actually been a playwright for most of her career, and had no real success until her novel was published when she was 47 years old.

A Sagittarius, Smith was born on December 15, 1896 at 6:00 p.m. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, according to her biographer (though no source is given for the time).  She had many trines in her birth chart, but her life often wasn’t easy.  With Cancer rising, her Moon in Taurus in the 11th house is exalted, suggesting popularity and a good income from her career.  A grand trine with Jupiter in Virgo in the 3rd house and Mercury in Capricorn in the 6th house shows her facility for writing.  With Cancer rising and a prominent Moon, her best work drew on her memories.

Betty’s mother was practical and down-to-earth (shown by the Moon in Taurus and 10th ruler Jupiter in Virgo).  But her father, well described by the Sun in Sagittarius opposite Mars and Neptune in the 12th house, was a dreamer who couldn’t support his family and died of alcoholism when his daughter was just 19.  The Moon also squares Venus on the cusp of the 8th house, showing other family issues and their modest circumstances.

Betty was forced to work at around age 15, and she worked diligently for most of her life, often struggling to get by.  She returned to school twice but never completed her high school degree.  And while she later attended college and then completed a master’s program in playwriting at Yale University, she never received those degrees because she lacked the prerequisites.

There are no angular planets in this chart, and aside from the Moon, there’s a lack of essential dignity.  The 7th, 8th and 9th houses are all traditionally ruled by Saturn, but its near-exact conjunction with Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius, covers these houses either way.  Placed in Scorpio in Smith’s 5th house, we can see her relentless pursuit of education and creative work, and her focus on her two daughters throughout her life.  But there was often an element of both responsibility and unexpected change in each of these areas.  Saturn may delay things, but with a close trine to the Midheaven, the author always found opportunities and had great success after middle age.

Smith’s sometimes rocky marriages also come under the rulership of Saturn and Uranus.  After splitting with her first husband following his infidelity and some separations, she essentially raised her girls alone.  She became bored with her younger second husband when their relationship stabilized, and her third husband, also younger and reflecting the Neptunian pattern in her chart, was a drinker who secretly cashed large checks and pawned household items before he died of a sudden heart attack when his wife was 63.

Smith worked in North Carolina for the depression-era Federal Theater Project and stayed there the rest of her life.  She wrote many plays, mostly with others, and earned some money through publication.  She drew on her personal experience for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and writing about urban poverty from a female point of view was innovative at the time.  The novel also resonated with many during the war years, as it reflected a simpler time and depicted women struggling to hold their families together and survive.

Many astrological events combined at the book’s publication on August 18, 1943 which radically changed Betty’s life as it quickly became a best-seller.  Smith neared a progressed Solar Eclipse in her 8th house (she had been in debt before immediately receiving a large royalty check).  Her progressed Midheaven at 13 Taurus in her 11th house of career earnings trined her 3rd house Jupiter and sextiled her Ascendant.  The progressed Ascendant at 21 Leo trined and sextiled her Sun-Mars-Neptune oppositions from her 2nd house of money.  The progressed Moon and Mercury in Capricorn through her 7th house kept her focused on her goals and added the help of her publisher and the public as both planets sextiled her MC and natal Saturn-Uranus conjunction. And transiting Pluto also squared her ruler, the Moon, from the 2nd house.

Smith continued writing; her fourth novel Joy in the Morning (1953) took a nostalgic look at her first marriage and was also a best-seller.  In early 2023, when her early play was first produced in New York, transiting Uranus in Taurus was near the progressed MC of her break-out novel, and squared her Nodes from the 11th house.

Like her mother, Betty Smith tragically suffered from dementia as she aged, and she began having trouble with words.  Jupiter in the 3rd house square Pluto in Gemini in her 12th contributed to her writing abilities, but ironically also suggests the possibility of mental challenges.  In her early 70s, Betty began forgetting names and her daughters eventually institutionalized her.  She died less than a year later at 75.

Perhaps due to her strong Moon in Taurus and its grand trine with Midheaven ruler Jupiter and IC ruler Mercury, we still share in Betty Smith’s memories of her family and the old neighborhood from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  No wonder, since the image of a tree growing in a harsh environment is so aptly symbolized by her Moon-Jupiter-Mercury grand trine in earth signs.

More on Betty Smith on Wikipedia.

About the 2023 NYC production of her early play.

Valerie Raleigh Yow’s biography of Smith.

Presidential Cycles

In my book, Tecumseh’s Curse, I studied the cyclic patterns in Inauguration charts.  Since all three previous Sun-Saturn administrations “were limited in time and by circumstances,” I still think Joe Biden will be a one-term president.

Previous Sun-Saturn presidencies faced contentious issues.  Examples are Zachary Taylor (1849), Rutherford B. Hayes (1877) and JFK (1961).  In each, the country was divided as we addressed major conflicts regarding race, so I felt that “racial justice will once again feature during the 2021 administration,” which has proven to be true.

I expected previous Sun-Uranus and Sun-Pluto administrations to show similarities to 2021 as well.  These cyclic patterns indicated that “financial affairs were often highlighted, with important changes in policies and trends,” the “political parties themselves underwent change,” and “the country’s territory, alliances and antagonisms came to the forefront.”  We can already see how these influences have played out in the first half of the Biden administration with inflation, recession and rising interest rates; the changes in both parties notable in Congress; and developments involving relationships with China and Russia in particular.

I believe that planetary cycles are an extremely important forecasting tool.  They reveal the patterns of history, and how certain themes are reiterated with each new generation.  Since Joe Biden, inaugurated with the Sun conjunct Saturn, is presumed to be running for president again in 2024, I’m not sure exactly how things will play out, but time and further astrological study will tell.

Read more about my book Tecumseh’s Curse:  Indigenous Wisdom, Astrology and the Deaths of U.S. Presidents.

Update: What Evangeline Adams Knew

I’m very pleased to announce my update of What Evangeline Adams Knew:  A Book of Astrological Charts and Techniques – now available in digital and print.  Originally published 19 years ago (a nodal return), the book was ready for a renovation.

I corrected some errors (including a few birth times) and made it a little easier to read.  It’s essentially the same book with a few additions.  Evangeline’s teacher Catherine Thompson’s chart for her second wedding shows why it was problematic.  Edgar Cayce biographer Thomas Sugrue’s account of his reading with Adams gives us another example of how she worked.  And a short excerpt on astrological investing from Sepharial’s The Law of Values clues us in on the state of financial astrology in the early 20th century.

What Evangeline Adams Knew introduces us to Adams through the charts and work of several of her teachers.  We get to know her through her relationships with Aleister Crowley, her marketer husband and many of her friends and associates.  I include the transcript from her 1916 trial for fortune telling in New York City, and analyze many of her forecasts for individuals, public figures (including politicians running for office) and mundane affairs.

Read the reviews and more about the book here.

If interested, be sure to buy the 2023 corrected and updated edition with the new cover above.  What Evangeline Adams Knew is available on Amazon.com, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, Hoopla and other outlets.

About my reviews and links.

A T-Square and a Tough Time

I was remembering the therapist who’d helped me out of a funk over 20 years ago. Over the better part of a year, I learned she was a wise woman with a strong character. I only recently found that she’d been called to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee! A surprise, though it made sense since this difficult experience certainly made her more grounded and strengthened her ideals.

I met Eleanor through a blind referral from my HMO. Saturn was on my Ascendant and many things seemed difficult. But I felt comfortable with her right away. She spoke softly, was a good listener, and always gave me some sound advice to consider or a practical, constructive action to take. I talked about being an astrologer and she shared that she was a Taurus. She was always sensible, reliable and supportive. It seemed inappropriate to ask more since she always kept a professional distance.

(Photo is of Eleanor and her lawyer at the McCarthy hearings.)

I did think that she had some Aries, since she had occasionally become impatient with me when I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. She once referred to the years of World War II, so I knew she was older than she appeared. And I also thought she had some mutable placements, as she encouraged me to be assertive but also understood when to let go and adapt.

When I recently looked her up online, I found Eleanor’s birth date and discovered that her Sun, Venus and South Node all conjoined my Ascendant, creating a resonance between us and explaining why I had found her at this time, as we shared the Saturn transit. Her Jupiter trined my Mercury, so she calmed my fears. Her Saturn trined my Moon and she helped me stabilize my emotions and resolve my issues. She also had a Libra Moon like both of my parents, and her Jupiter and Saturn in Virgo seemed to increase her helpfulness and practicality.

The only other thing that turned up online was a photo of her with her attorney as she was being interrogated by Senator Joseph McCarthy and attorney Roy Cohn as a young woman in 1953. Her life had an element of destiny to it. I had been in the right place at the right time to benefit from her experience, and she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was forced through a frightening and potentially life-altering situation.

Eleanor had gotten a job right after college with the Army Signal Corps labs in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where her older sister also worked during World War II. Eleanor subsequently returned to school for her MSW, got married and worked at various counseling jobs.

A decade later, during the Red Scare, Eleanor and her sister were called in to testify and asked for the names and addresses of their co-workers, friends and associates. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been executed only a few months before. Rosenberg had also worked at Fort Monmouth, and Eleanor’s sister had dated a close associate of his who had fled the country several years earlier.

Cohn and McCarthy were relentless in their questioning of Eleanor, her sister and their husbands (who knew nothing first-hand of the events or relationships). Eleanor answered that she’d never been a spy or involved with espionage, but pled the Fifth Amendment many times so as not to incriminate herself. Eleanor and her family were variously threatened with contempt, perjury and further legal action.

Despite being a minor witness, Eleanor’s photograph was taken by an AP reporter and reprinted in Life magazine and newspapers across the country. I’m speculatively placing Neptune on her Midheaven for the press’ misinterpretation of her role and her career as a counselor. Scorpio rising would highlight her personal reserve, and places her Taurus planets in the 7th house of relationships. Her Libra Moon would then fall in the 12th, giving her empathy and the ability to work for large institutions like the HMO.

Eleanor’s most notable chart pattern is a probable T-square with her Moon, Mercury and Pluto. This may certainly show the tough circumstances she faced due to her sister’s previous relationship. But it also indicates resilience and the ability to put down boundaries, called into play when she faced Cohn and McCarthy. I always think of those with notable Pluto aspects to the lights as survivors.

At the time of her testimony, an astrologer could have told Eleanor that all would work out before too long. There were no close aspects from the outer planets, which are associated with longer-term issues and challenges. Transiting Saturn was opposing her Sun (showing the difficult situation with authority figures), but would soon pass. Transiting Mars had just conjoined her Saturn, probably helping her say only what was required. The North Node had squared her Sun and would go on to square her Nodes in a few weeks. But Jupiter in Gemini was at an exact station and closely trined her North Node, providing a release.

No charges were ever brought against the former Fort Monmouth employees. Six months after the sisters’ testimony, the McCarthy hearings were televised, leading to the Senator’s decline in popularity. He was censured on December 2, 1954, and died a few years later at the age of 48 (biographers suggest from alcoholism).

Eleanor and her sister continued their lives as therapists and counselors. Eleanor lived to 98 years old and her sister to 96! Her obituary was short and to the point, calling her “a remarkable woman who cared about family, people, social justice, and made a difference in the world.” I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her better; she made a big difference to me. Astrology helped me understand why.

 

The Master Class

I recently found my notes from a class with Robert Zoller on his length of life method.  I was interested in the ancient techniques he had recovered from Guido Bonatti, which were something of a holy grail to him.  The longevity class was eye-opening.  But the Medieval techniques?  Let’s just say I leave them to others!

In the 1990s, I was part of Bob’s study group on Plato and later Neoplatonic thinkers, and I attended a number of his astrology classes and lectures.  We had both studied with Zoltan Mason and had an interest in forecasting and the history of astrology.

I also enjoyed several of Zoller’s books, especially Tools & Techniques of the Medieval Astrologers (1981), an exploration of the late 13th century astrologer Guido Bonatti’s Liber Astronomiae and Medieval and ancient methods.  Bonatti’s work was published in 1491 and included opinions from other astrological sources, notably the 9th century Muslim astrologer Abu Ma’shar.

The determination of length of life presumes the astrologer is studying a chart shortly after a child’s birth.  We first astrologically eliminate those who would die before the age of 3 or 4.  If the child is judged to survive, the astrologer proceeds to further analyze the chart.  The technique includes delineating planetary rulers, the Hyleg (the “giver of life,” indicating times of illness and danger), the Alcocoden (showing the years of life), the anaretic (or “killing”) planet, and various Arabic Parts.  Planetary aspects and connections with the Nodes may add or subtract years, providing a range.  A full analysis would also need the confirmation of Primary Directions. There are numerous variations and methods to direct to the key points, and the calculations become rather involved (as they should be for such an important topic).

Zoller actually offered the longevity analysis to clients. My notes from the time show that he charged $200 (his fees were always reasonable), provided no guarantee, and could give a 5 to 7-year range.

I asked Bob for a class on this method since it wasn’t clear to me.  One of my grandmothers was German, and we had the official family book with birth times (to the quarter hour) of her and her 12 siblings from the turn of the century.  I thought this was great data to explore the technique.

We began with my grandmother, who had a strong constitution and lived to her late seventies.  We spent at least an hour in lengthy calculations, only to find that Bonatti would have eliminated her to the “dies in infancy” pile!  This was disappointing.  Based on the recorded birth time, she had 1° Virgo rising, with a 25° Leo Moon.  Undaunted, Bob insisted that, “I think she must have had Leo rising.”  I shared with him that Ida had kept a spotless house and had worked as a domestic for years.  While she always took good care of her appearance, my father had succinctly described her as “a little mouse.”  And this is how I remember her – definitely not Leo rising.  (I wrote about her chart here.)

Still, Zoller, remained adamant about the Leo Ascendant; the technique simply wouldn’t work without it!  Well, we’ve all done it.  And certainly with Mercury in Aquarius opposite Saturn and Pluto, he could be opinionated.  (And what I believe Jung had actually found with his married couples data is that, quantum-like, the person considering it will affect the result).

But the lesson was over, and with it my interest in Medieval astrology as a practical tool.  It was too involved, too tedious, too annoying. As Zoltan Mason used to remind us, “Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult” (after Hippocrates).  Bob had once waxed poetic about Medieval monks sitting up late into the night with calculations, as I imagine he must have done, too.  Not for me.  And, I felt, it was no more accurate than the 17th century techniques I was brought up with, and the 19th century methods I was already becoming attached to.

The astrological experience, though, had definitely stretched my mind.  I still have tremendous respect for Robert Zoller’s scholarship, research and results.  But I ultimately feel there is no one-size-fits-all, definitive, hardline technique in astrology.  What we can all do, though, is use what resonates with us, and get to know the values and limitations of our methods.  That will always give us much to think about.

See my post about Robert Zoller.

Zoltan Mason taught the 17th century astrologer Morin’s techniques.  More on Morin here.