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Wise Men

Worldly leaders work their way up to positions of authority, are elected, inherit their jobs or sometimes seize power. Spiritual masters are different, since their authority reflects their inner lives and not the material plane. They, too, may work their way up in an organized group, or they may simply be found. Their stories of recognition, sometimes at an early age, may be recorded for history.

Much has been written about the Christmas star, with astronomers, astrologers and historians weighing-in on what, exactly, it was. It’s been seen as a comet, a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction and a supernova. Astrologer Courtney Roberts believes that the Magi (wise men or even astrologers in some New Testament translations) who visited Jesus from the east were in fact Persian Zoroastrian priests, known for both astrology and dream interpretation. This seems to be a more important point.


Mathew in Chapter 2 tells us that the star was a sign leading the Magi to the baby Jesus. When they inquired where the child could be found, the Roman ruler Herod hoped to enlist them to locate the baby for him (learning of the prophecy in Micah 5:2 stating that the child would come from Bethlehem). But the Magi were warned in a dream and went straight home after recognizing and presenting gifts to Jesus, who may have been two years old.

Micah also says that the promised Israeli ruler’s “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,” which might also suggest reincarnation. The Magi’s gifts of gold – for royalty but also representing alchemical perfection; frankincense – an incense used in temple rituals that represents spirituality; and myrrh – used in burial rituals, which might allude to the reappearance of the spirit on earth.

We have more detailed information on the discovery and recognition of the 14th Dalai Lama, the great guru of compassion, believed to be the reincarnation of his predecessor. Once again, prophecy and signs led wise men to find him. The head of the 13th Dalai Lama, after his death in 1935, was found facing east. It was the Tibetan Regent’s role to find the successor, and he saw a clear vision in the sacred Tibetan lake of a monastery and house. Following these and other signs, search parties of high lamas and dignitaries looked for the place described.

When found, the party disguised their roles, but the two-year-old boy of the household recognized the rosary worn by the group’s leader and named him. Other recognition tests followed; various items were presented to the boy, and he was able to identify the ones he had owned in his previous incarnation. His identity was confirmed and the 14th Dalai Lama was officially enthroned in 1940.

Though these stories are separated by over 2,000 years and 3,000 miles, they describe similar spiritual practices of discovery and verification. Both appear to reflect trust in traditional practices that include omens and prophecies, and were considered important enough to be captured for posterity.

This brief biography of the Dalai Lama includes the story of his identification.

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer also wrote about the discovery of the Dalai Lama in his book, Seven Years in Tibet.

How to be Compassionate is a wonderful and accessible book from the Dalai Lama.

Ian Stevenson Was a well-known reincarnation researcher; he wrote about young children who remembered previous lifetimes in 20 Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation and Children who Remember Previous Lives.

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Louisa May Alcott’s Jupiter

Popular writer and feminist Louisa May Alcott has enjoyed unusual popularity over the years. Her best-known work, Little Women, published in 1868, spawned five feature films and has been translated into over 50 languages. Her life is explored in at least half a dozen biographies, and her earlier works have been rediscovered. Why have so many for so long responded to her work? You guessed it: Jupiter.

Alcott had an eventful life, and not an especially easy one. Saturn rises in Virgo as part of a T-square with Mercury in Sagittarius in her 4th house and Jupiter in Pisces conjunct the Descendant. Her upbringing was unusual, with great limitations but also rich rewards. Her parents were both reformers who supported social equality, abolition and women’s suffrage. Her mother was responsible for the home and family and later became an early professional social worker. Her father, Bronson Alcott, was an idealist and vegetarian who believed in self-denial (in keeping with Louisa’s Saturn in Virgo archetype). He ran an experimental school, brought the family to a utopian community, and would only accept donations for his work or lectures. The family was often impoverished and moved repeatedly.

But growing up, Louisa got to know many prominent writers and thinkers, including neighbors Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne, Julia Ward Howe and Margaret Fuller. She met Frederick Douglass and the family home served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Saturn rising in Virgo points toward her sense of responsibility and practicality, and Saturn rules her 5th house of creativity and 6th house of work and service. Louisa began teaching and writing at a young age and she supported family members throughout her life. Her writing gained acclaim around the time of her Saturn return in 1863 when she published Hospital Sketches, about her experiences nursing Civil War soldiers. Saturn also forms a tight grand trine with Mars in the 9th house of publication and Neptune in the 5th, igniting her imagination and giving her the ability to express it. Her work was commercially and critically successful.

Alcott’s Jupiter in Pisces conjunct the Descendant sextiled Mars in the 9th and Neptune in the 5th house, turning the grand trine into a kite pattern. It also forms another T-square with her Ascendant and Midheaven. The 7th can show business partners and it was a publisher who originally asked her to write a book for girls. She had mixed feelings (since the Moon in Aquarius in her 6th squares Mars), but accepted the offer. The autobiographical book became Little Women, which was praised for its strong, realistic female characters. Alcott’s Moon in Aquarius conjunct Uranus helped her as a freelance writer. The Moon’s trine to the Gemini Midheaven shows the popularity of her work and subject matter, and its sextile with Mercury in her 4th house points toward her facility for drawing on her past experiences.

But it’s ultimately Jupiter in Pisces that ensured her long-term success. Angularly placed within half a degree of the 7th house cusp, it gave her an unusual ability to reach a wide audience. The sextile to Neptune in the 5th provided a great well of inspiration. Jupiter is also the final dispositor of the chart (eventually ruling all others). Well over a century after her death, she continues to resonate with the public.

Alcott never married and contemporary interpretations of her life and writing suggest she may have been gay. Regardless of our retrospective opinion, Jupiter in the 7th house can show someone whose need for independence is too great to tie themselves down. Pluto conjunct the 8th could also indicate strong personal boundaries, especially as it squares Venus in Capricorn.

Louisa May Alcott and her father were both Sagittarians and shared the same birthday. She passed in 1888 at the age of 55, two days after her father died.

Dad had a Grand Cross

The grand cross is known as a tough pattern, with challenges throughout life. The standard descriptions I’ve heard characterize it as scattering the energies and presenting repeated crises. I’d instead suggest it as a strong motivating force, demanding compromise and bringing notable developments in life from time to time. All of course depends on the planets, their essential dignity and placement in the horoscope.

My dad passed ten years ago and is never far from my mind. He was centered, stable, good-humored and yes, he had a grand cross. Don Christino was born at home in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I believe his time of birth is essentially correct. Uranus in Pisces in his 10th house fell in a T-square with his Gemini Ascendant and Jupiter in Sagittarius conjunct the Descendant. All of his positions in life were relatively independent. He had a restlessness about him and was multi-talented: a handyman, driver, gardener, mechanic, bird watcher and personal accountant.

The grand cross in cardinal signs includes the Sun in Aries, Moon in Libra, Mars in Capricorn and Pluto in Cancer. I believe Mars and Pluto work for the 2nd-8th houses. He prioritized job security and benefits, and when he died at the age of 87, his affairs were in perfect order. Don grew up during the Great Depression, worked a paper route as a boy, and made money from football pools at school (which the principal shut down as they were starting to do really well). He loved telling the story of how he earned more than his father one Christmas holiday.

The full Moon squaring Mars and Pluto suggests contention in the home. His father was a Libra who apparently left all household tasks to his wife, creating conflict. Don ended up doing much of the heavier work at a young age, including getting up early to shovel coal in the winter. But he liked the responsibility and doing things for himself and others. His Ascendant ruler Mercury in Pisces is drawn into the grand cross, and gave him charm, compassion and understanding. (A Viet Nam vet told us at his funeral that he’d helped him get over the war. No idea what he did, but it made sense.)

Aquarius on the MC and a prominent Uranus drew him to engineering (often associated with square aspects) and he began a college course. But World War II intervened, a disruption of his life path nicely symbolized by Uranus in the 10th house. With the Sun in Aries and Mars in Capricorn (out-of-bounds in declination), he led a tank unit. Hard Pluto aspects may also point toward a strong survival instinct or the experience of traumatic events like these. After the war he joined the police force in Brooklyn and was a motorcycle cop on the block where I later lived for over 25 years. He subsequently became a credit card detective and finally a Court Officer. He notably guarded mass-murderer Joel Rifkin at his sentencing in 1996 (as Jupiter conjoined his Mars and Uranus into Aquarius sextiled his Sun from the cusp of the 9th house). The video was featured on the evening news and his picture was on the front page of the daily papers.

(The photo of us is probably from the late ’80s.)
I feel the strong essential dignity in my father’s chart helped him overcome the challenges his early life presented. The Sun exalted in Aries and Mercury in its detriment both fall in the fortunate 11th house. He was gregarious and popular, but had no ambition for any great achievements. Venus is dignified in Taurus, Mars exalted in Capricorn and Jupiter angular (conjunct the 7th cusp) in its ruling sign of Sagittarius. As he could be generous to a fault, there similarly always seemed to be someone on hand to help when needed.

He was happiest lifting a glass with friends and family, and was a part-time bartender at his club for much of his life (Gemini rising with Mercury in Pisces). He loved tending to his backyard “farm,” battled squirrels every year, and avidly followed the Three Tenors (Venus in Taurus in the 12th). Straightforward and direct, he believed that serving on a jury was a wonderful experience, yet typically Southern Italian, he trusted few authorities and felt politicians were “all a bunch of thieves.” (Uranus in the 10th square Jupiter in Sagittarius, and traditional MC ruler Saturn in Scorpio). He enjoyed reading Michener, Mark Twain and James Herriot, was a wonderful storyteller himself, and had a deep and hearty laugh (Jupiter trine Neptune).

Does a grand cross signal a frustrated, sad or wasted life? Indeed not. Planetary placement and dignity are often more important to consider than aspects. This horoscope clearly shows why we shouldn’t too quickly judge a prominent pattern without a thorough study of all facets of the chart.

Neptune and Transcendentalism

The Transcendentalist literary and philosophical movement from mid-19th century New England stressed intuition, self-reliance and human godliness. Since the unseen and eternal were valued, Transcendentalists supported metaphysical thinking, which underlies an astrological world view. I believe that Evangeline Adams’ teacher, Dr. J. Heber Smith (1842-1898) and Adams herself were influenced by this movement, which was often allied with Unitarianism and reform.

Expect Great Things, Kevin Dann’s biography of Henry David Thoreau, explores his connections with the transcendent world. Thoreau captured personal insights and ecstatic experiences in his poetry and journals, many of which are shared in this book. He revered the power of nature and learned about Indigenous cultures.

We don’t have a definitive birth time for Thoreau, but his Sun and Mercury closely contraparallel Uranus and Neptune show his insightful and intuitive focus. He wrote, “Every mortal sent into this world has a star in the heavens appointed to guide him. It has sent its beam to him, either through clouds and mists faintly or through a serene heaven.” And he believed that, “in eternity there is indeed something true and sublime.”

Thoreau read widely on classical hermeticism, the daimon, the ether and the immortality of the soul. He was a student of mythology, and while Thoreau was not an astrologer himself, his biographer considers seven-year cycles, Martian energies and the long-term influence of Neptune. Dann places the Transcendentalist movement near the planet’s discovery, word of which came to U.S. shores on October 20, 1846, nearly a month after its announcement (before transcontinental telegraph communications).

Before the name Neptune was settled on, Atlas was preferred for the planet (referencing the Titan obliged to hold up the heavens after their revolt against the Olympian gods). The first use of ether for anesthesia in the U.S. was on October 19 of that year, and it replaced mesmeric anesthesia (without the side effect of clairvoyance!). Dann sees this time as representing a turning point from a spiritual understanding of myth to its study as a purely academic subject, and the subsequent embrace of a mechanistic and materialistic view, when, in Thoreau’s words, “shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths.” The cycle of Neptune in Pisces from 1848-1862 spanned much of Thoreau’s career.

In addition to tracing Thoreau’s life of ideals and later support of John Brown, Dann also looks at Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller’s interest in mesmerism and spiritualism, and Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott’s efforts to convey Transcendental ideas to a wider audience.

A wonderful book for students of U.S. history, philosophy and metaphysical thinking. Kevin Dann has done a tremendous amount of research to capture not only the history, but also the soul and spirit of a man and his times.

Expect Great Things on Amazon.com

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The Light Ages

Since the Enlightenment, the word medieval has had negative connotations, as does the even more derogatory phrase Dark Ages. Seb Falk dispels this negativity with a deep look at the life of John Westwyk, a medieval scholar, monk, astronomer, astrologer and author. Westwyk’s anonymous text sparks our journey into this fascinating period of time in The Light Ages.

Medieval philosophy and religion went hand-in-hand with earthly research, since belief provoked an exploration of the natural world. The planets and cosmos were an awe-inspiring expression of God’s grandeur. Long before the word science existed, this time gave us important investigations into our relationship with the Universe. Vast translation efforts of Islamic, Greek and Hebrew texts resurrected understanding in the west, part of which was our astrological tradition.

Hindu-Arabic numerals were introduced in this period, as were glass lenses and the university system of liberal arts education. Books had great value; studious monks would share their thoughts on manuscript margins and worked hard to transcribe and improve on notable works.

The later Middle Ages gave us mechanical clocks, including one of the most advanced at John Westwyk’s own abbey, a remarkable invention reminiscent of the Greek antikythera mechanism. The medieval history of calculating and calendrics is equally absorbing (quite different from our own) and remnants of them still exist. The astrolabe and similar mechanical instruments were developed in part to aid astrologers’ calculations. The stars were used to time prayers after dark, and the poet Chaucer actually wrote a well-known treatise on the astrolabe. Falk conveys the dedication and care necessary to create astrological tables before the age of printing, as Westwyk did in a remote outpost in northern England.

There’s a nice overview of astrology, unusually accurate for a non-practitioner. Sketches of Ptolemy, Plato, al-Kindi, Mash’allah, Abu Mashar, Regiomontanus and many other familiar names show how Greek and Islamic astronomers eventually paved the way for Copernicus’ heliocentric view.

The Light Ages is a rich feast of history, science and culture. While the non-mechanically or mathematically inclined may find some parts dense or a bit dry, those interested in the history of ideas, medieval astrology, ancient instruments or simply a more holistic world view are sure to find something to surprise and delight them. Seb Falk has gifted us with a top-notch piece of research that brings an oft-dismissed period of time to vibrant life: comfort food for the mind and spirit in a time of uncertainty.

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2022 Election: Chuck Grassley

Senator Chuck Grassley accepted Donald Trump’s endorsement for his his 8th term in the Senate, where he’s the longest serving Republican at 88 years old. A successful politician, his horoscope has assets and liabilities, as most do. In the coming year, though, stressful aspects far outweigh the supportive ones.

As reality-driven Pluto trined his Sun in Virgo at his October 9, 2021 appearance with Trump, the Senator stated, “I was born at night, but not last night…” expressing his understanding of the former president’s popularity in Iowa. As we have no time of birth for Grassley, let’s take him at his word and estimate around 9:40 p.m., the middle of night-time hours. This approximation gives him Gemini rising with Sagittarius on the 7th house cusp, and 7th ruler Jupiter in the 5th conjoining both Mercury and the Sun in Virgo. The fortunate combination is in keeping with his continued popularity, his 67-year marriage, and five children.

Grassley had supported Trump’s policies and lauded his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices. But he criticized Trump’s actions following the 2020 election, and called the January 6 violence at the Capitol “an attack on American Democracy itself.” Things change.

While September 2021 polls show Grassley leading against his Democratic opponent, aspects throughout 2022 present challenges. He will experience his third Saturn return in December, as Saturn activates his natal Saturn-Mars square. While it could consolidate his position, it’s also sure to produce some life changes, along with professional frustrations and limitations. Transiting Uranus’ station in January 2022 also begins to turn the natal square to a T-square, introducing unforeseen circumstances over which the Senator will have little control, especially as it exactly opposes natal Mars in May and December 2022.

Another notable pattern in Grassley’s chart is his natal Uranus-Pluto square, characteristic of the early Depression era. Transiting Pluto activated this pattern in 2021, which may indicate shifting sands or unstable footing. Pluto exactly squares Grassley’s Uranus once again in August and November 2022 – significant timing for his re-election.

The Sun conjunct Mercury and Jupiter (with Mercury exalted, closely conjunct and parallel Jupiter) seems to be at the heart of his past success. Transiting Neptune, though, will weaken this pattern and likely undermine his efforts going forward. The Senator survived the coronavirus in November of 2020 as Neptune opposed his Sun-Neptune midpoint. But Neptune will exactly oppose his Sun throughout 2022 and into early 2023, beginning to station again at the time of the election, an aspect that may well reduce his effectiveness.

In addition, Grassley’s progressed Sun will be nearly 24 Sagittarius in November 2022, creating a T-square with his natal Sun and transiting Neptune and adding to Neptune’s disintegrating effects. (Donald Trump had a similar pattern at the time of the 2020 election, with a grand cross of natal Sun, Moon and Uranus with his progressed Moon and transiting Neptune.) However, when transiting Uranus conjoined the Senator’s Mars and squared his Saturn, he was elected to Congress. When transiting Neptune squared his Sun, he was elected to the Senate.

Throughout much of the Senator’s birth night, Saturn in Aquarius was a singleton and the most elevated planet, an indication of his political longevity. Vice President Kamala Harris has a similar placement. Both consistently advanced step-by-step in their careers.

Still, it does not look good for Chuck Grassley in the year ahead. But without a timed chart, we can only speak in relative generalities. His popularity seems to ensure his 2022 re-election, but the long-term, heavy planet transits point toward many developments by that time. He’ll be 89, and may fall prey to health issues, erosion of support, a rapidly changing landscape, or all three. Perhaps he only wants to ensure that Iowans retain a Republican Senate seat. But things will certainly play out differently than he imagines. We’ll have to wait and see.

Post-election update 11/13/22 — Grassley won re-election once again with 56% of the vote, but only after polls in October showed his Democrat rival closing in on him within 3%.  The Senate will continue to be controlled by Democrats.

Dueling Elections

When an electional chart works, events should flow smoothly and allow you to accomplish your goal. Might things turn out differently if we started earlier or later? It’s hard to say, since there’s usually no way to compare. But Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s 19th century race around the world gives us two departure times for the same goal.

Nellie Bly was an early undercover reporter who famously had herself committed to a mental institution in 1887 and shared her experiences in the sensational New York World. She subsequently exposed sweatshops, jails and lobbying practices. Later, 25-year-old Bly convinced the editors to support her attempt to beat Jules Verne’s fictional record from Around the World in 80 Days. Her ship departed for Europe from Hoboken, New Jersey on November 14, 1889 at exactly 9:40:30 a.m.

Capitalizing on the publicity, Cosmopolitan magazine sent its own writer, Elizabeth Bisland, on the same journey in the opposite direction. Bisland was a freelancer from the south who only had six hours to prepare. Her train left Grand Central Station at 6:00 p.m. the same day for the west coast. How do the event charts compare?

Nellie Bly left in the morning. Jupiter rises, and all the rest but Neptune and Pluto are above the horizon. The Sagittarius Ascendant signifies a long trip, though Jupiter in Capricorn is not at its best (the reporter did pack light, bringing only one carry-on bag). But Venus in Libra in the 10th house of success is a final dispositor of the chart (all planets by traditional rulership lead to it), and its conjunction with Uranus shows the attention-grabbing nature of the event.

While the horoscope isn’t high in essential dignity, rulerships strengthen some key planets. Jupiter in its detriment in Capricorn squares Mars in the 9th house but also exalts it. The combination perfectly describes the pioneering journey and highlights initiative and speed. Mercury in Scorpio in the 10th sextiles Jupiter, and it’s also exalted by Saturn in the 8th house, which trines Jupiter, symbolism for both movement and follow-through (as well as the support of a major publication). Saturn also exalts Mars.

Bisland’s trip of course has the same dignities. But she left after sundown, when most planets were below the horizon, and the Ascendant ruler Mercury fell in the weaker 6th house. (Its sextile to Jupiter conjunct the 8th house may confirm the fact that Cosmopolitan’s editors bribed some carriers to facilitate the trip.) The Midheaven ruler, Saturn, showing the final outcome, is below the earth in the 4th. And while electrifying Uranus now forms a nice grand trine with the Ascendant and MC, dignified Venus is in a relatively weaker position near the 6th house cusp.

As we’d imagine, Nellie Bly completed the trip in about 72 days and 6 hours, receiving great acclaim. Elizabeth Bisland returned to New York 4½ days later. But if the departure times were switched, would it have worked out differently? Event and election charts are not stand-alones, and the natal charts always tell part of the story.

The journey was Bly’s idea proposed a year earlier, and with Jupiter in Scorpio, her Sun conjunct Pluto and Moon all in Taurus, she was determined and had overcome an impoverished background. Transiting Jupiter approached a trine to her Taurus planets at her departure, and transiting Uranus trined its natal place.

28-year-old Aquarius Bisland was also independent and self-supporting. Transiting Jupiter trined her natal Saturn, and she neared her Saturn return, both heavier influences. The trip also reflected her natal Saturn square Uranus, bringing a sudden development to her life. Like Bly, she was probably well paid for her efforts.

I’m not sure an astrologer would have elected either of these charts, though both travelers returned safely. If we wait for the ideal time to act, we could be waiting a long, long time.

Nellie Bly was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, PA. Elizabeth Bisland was born on February 11, 1861 near Fairfax, Louisiana. No times of birth are available.

Data and information is from Matthew Goodman’s Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World.

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An Astrological Life

My mom, Renée Randolph, was my first astrology teacher. She began studying astrology in the late ‘60s and was immersed in the New Age movement as many metaphysical topics became more easily accessible.

Renée was born in upstate New York and came to the City on her own. With four planets in the 9th house, she worked as a bilingual secretary and later married and raised a family on Long Island. (The photo shows her in Bryant Park when she first came to New York City in 1951.)

By 1968, she had become somewhat restless and bored, and eagerly accompanied a friend to a local Edgar Cayce “Search for God” study group run by Burt Davis, the brother of the famous psychic’s stenographer. She was delighted to meet so many like-minded people for the first time in her life. As Uranus through her 11th house exactly sextiled her 9th house Sun, and Neptune in the Scorpio closely trined it, she felt her world had opened up.

A few friends from the group became interested in astrology and Renée joined them. They were mothers with young children who found it hard to get away to the City, the only place an astrology teacher could be found. So they devised a plan: one would attend the weekly classes, take copious notes, and later meet with the others to share the lesson. The friends were fortunate to study with Zoltan Mason, who focused on Jean Baptiste Morin’s 17th century technique of astrosynthesis.

Although her chart held a challenging pattern with the notable 1931 Saturn-Uranus-Pluto T-square, Renée’s Sun conjunct Jupiter in the 9th house brightened her life and gave her lucky breaks on many occasions. Her early life had been difficult, but she was a true believer in the transcendent world, and astrology only strengthened her convictions. She was strong minded and pragmatic, with an ironic sense of humor.

Renée was a prodigious reader, who collected many popular astrology books and regularly picked up copies of American Astrology and Dell Horoscope. She read about the afterlife, reincarnation, dreams, ESP and psychic phenomenon, learned meditation, practiced yoga and had some amazing personal experiences with regressions.

While I was initially a skeptic, it wasn’t too long before I became interested in astrology too. I had access to an entire library of books and learned mainly by studying charts and talking about them. Whenever we met someone interesting, we’d get their time or at least their birth date. We’d see what was happening during major life events and speculate on the rising signs of our favorite TV and movie stars.

Renée found it easy to begin doing readings professionally as there was great awareness and interest in the 1970s, though not that many who practiced in our area. She often advised people to wait for stressful aspects to pass before making major decisions.

Renée Randolph wrote a Sun sign column for a Westchester entertainment magazine called 911 for a time, and co-wrote Star Success: An Astrological Guide to Your Career with me in 1991. She also helped me with quite a bit of research for my other Sun sign book, Your Wedding Astrologer.

With Jupiter in Leo, Renée was attracted to celebrities and had a few prominent clients. One was Peter Savage, who co-wrote boxer Jake LaMotta’s memoir, Raging Bull, on which the Oscar-winning de Niro/Scorsese film was based. (Upon being introduced to the bull himself, she jauntily quipped, “Hiya Rocky!” to which he sulkily replied, “I’m Jake.”) She read Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.’s chart and developed an acquaintanceship with the old-time film star in the 1980s. And she coerced talk show host Dick Cavett to get his birth certificate and time after I worked with him in summer stock one year. (The photo shows Renée backstage with Fairbanks in 1978.)

Renée Randolph lived a long and full life and passed peacefully in her sleep in April of 2020 at nearly 89 years old. When she discovered astrology, she felt she had truly found her niche. It enriched her own life and also uplifted and inspired the many who she connected with for decades.

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Mountain Astrologer Review

I was delighted to read Mary Plumb’s review of my new book Tecumseh’s Curse on The Mountain Astrologer blog:

“Christino’s book is a nuanced and wide-ranging weaving of this history… an exceptional work from a seasoned astrologer who weaves techniques and historical details into an engaging, evocative and substantive book. Highly recommended.”

Read the full review here.

Read the book’s introduction and more reviews here.

Looking Forward

The uncertainties of life often lead to a greater interest in predicting the future. Jamie L. Pietruska’s book Looking Forward (2017) documents and analyzes futurism in the late 19th to early 20th centuries and looks at how forecasting crept into daily life. Pietruska considers the development of weather, market and economic forecasts (all of which had skeptics and detractors) and there’s also a well-researched section on fortune telling.

“Fortune tellers” include astrologers, card readers, palmists, mediums and psychics, who’ve been criticized and prosecuted in the U.S. since before the Civil War. Always popular (and perhaps because of it), they were denounced by scientists, the religious and mainstream society, and sometimes linked with crimes like counterfeiting, prostitution and even abortion (the presumption was that practitioners were usually scamsters and con artists). In the late 1800s, district attorneys and police began campaigns to prosecute fortune tellers in their cities; their stories were covered in dramatic fashion in daily newspapers (where the practitioners often advertised).

As early as 1895, well before astrologer Evangeline Adams’ first arrest in New York City in 1914, a fortune teller used the legal argument that she only read palms and did not “pretend to tell fortunes” (the legal jargon of the time). And in 1897, a Brooklyn jury agreed with the defense that palmistry was a recognized science, and acquitted the reader in two minutes. By the early part of the 20th century, these cases were often decided on character and intent, as the judge did with Miss Adams in 1914.

Pietruska seems as much an anthropologist as a historian; she documents the acceptance of antiquated laws and how society changed. This is a carefully researched work, and my book, Foreseeing the Future: Evangeline Adams and Astrology in America was quoted several times. It’s rewarding to see the same type of scholarly citations used for the other subjects. Astrology has a compelling history, and it’s refreshing to see it simply addressed as history, without the common “we know better” critiques.

There’s also a fascinating section on Adena Minott, a Jamaican-American businesswoman and activist who opened a “character reading” school in New York City that included phrenology, physiognomy, psychology and palmistry. The author shows that Minott’s story “reveals how antidivination law was used to enforce segregation in early twentieth-century cities as well as how the professional authority of a black educational institution challenged racial discrimination.” (Minott prevailed.)

The epilogue includes a look at the 2016 Trump election, when many mainstream and metaphysical forecasters miscalculated. People continue to crave predictability, despite the fact that all forecasts retain some degree of uncertainty. Like many astrologers, I favor knowing as much as we can.

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