Category Archives: astrology history

W.H. Chaney (1821-1903)

19th century astrologer William H. Chaney was from Bangor, Maine, practiced law in West Virginia, may have become a District Attorney in Iowa, and finally studied astrology with Dr. Luke D. Broughton in Manhattan.  He practiced astrology for the rest of his life, moving to the west coast, then St. Louis.  Chaney finally ended up in Chicago, married six times along the way, enlightened many students, wrote some books and published, including his own calculation of an American ephemeris.  He admitted to being a difficult personality.

Al H. Morrison believed he was the reincarnation of Chaney, feeling that the two lives and personalities had many parallels.  Chaney is known today as the father of the author Jack London, and Al even felt that London’s chart was similar to his own son’s.

San Francisco astrologer Joseph Silveira deMello (1925-2004) researched Chaney’s life, and his profile of Chaney from The Mercury Hour was published on the Astrologer’s Memorial.  Since that website is no longer easily accessible, I’m reposting it here.

W.H. Chaney by Joseph Silveira deMello

I first lectured on America’s first-born astrologer (b. 1821 in backwoods Maine) at UAC in Washington, D.C. Chaney was editing newspapers, writing, practicing law in Ohio when he encountered astrology. He moved to NYC for special tutoring by Dr. Luke Broughton. Chaney and Broughton were persecuted and jailed for practicing astrology, but Broughton was recognized as a proper gentleman, since he headed the NY Medical Society, and was released. Chaney, a self-styled curmudgeon and very contentious, languished without trial in the Ludlow Street jail for over six months. When Chaney set up his own practice, advertising that he had been a student of Broughton, Broughton felt that Chaney was trading on Broughton’s name and was very much out of joint about it.

But Chaney did not linger in New York. He moved west to practice in San Jose and San Francisco and in Portland. In San Francisco he lived in the same boarding house as did a lady from Ohio whom he had met at the home of a Mayor of Seattle who was his client. This lady found herself pregnant, and of the men around her chose Chaney as the father. Chaney denied this all his life, saying he was physically incapable of fathering offspring. She tried to commit suicide, publicly blamed Chaney for insisting she have an abortion and for disassociating himself from her. Chaney was exonerated by local authorities, but the story was picked up by Abigale Dunniway, pioneer newspaper publisher in Oregon, who refused to acknowledge that Chaney had been exonerated.

The child, however, turns out to be Jack London who wrote Call of the Wild and is an acclaimed American literary figure. London was born on the day before Chaney’s 55th birthday, and the two charts are worth study, the similarities are quite patent. After his problem in San Francisco he moved to Salem and Portland, Oregon, where for ten years he was suing and countersuing Dunniway who was not as peerless a character as she insisted other people be.

Eventually he moved back to St. Louis where he had previously lived, published a Primer of Astrology which came out in small pamphlet lessons, and moved to Chicago where records show that he operated an astrology school at two locations prior to his death in the early 1900’s. At the time of his death he was toothless, blind and deaf. As an astrologer, he was a very public figure, available always to lecture on any topic at any symposium, an early environmentalist and conservationalist, even in the 1880’s looking to the immediate onset of the Age of Aquarius. He made a great hobby of sending off for publicly advertised horoscopes and then taking astrologers to task for the mistakes they made in delineating his chart. He had a long running feud with Raphael’s stemming from a book order for which he paid and the fact that they would not give him a refund for part of the order they never filled, and he took Raphael’s to task for continually predicting the death of Queen Victoria in the face of her continued life.

I have enjoyed studying Chaney’s Primer as much as Broughton’s Elements of Astrology. Indeed, he is a marvelous precursor of Al H. Morrison.  For your further study, Chaney’s data is January 13, 1821, 11:31 PM LMT, Chesterville, Maine, 44N33, 70W06. This is the birth data Chaney used for himself. (Chaney’s chart on Astrodatabank)  Jack London, January 12, 1876, 2:00 PM LMT, San Francisco, California, 37N47, 122W26.

Sources include A Pictorial Life of Jack London by Russ Kingman who explores the origins of London and his parents, and Dr. Luke D. Broughton’s Elements of Astrology.

Originally published in Mercury Hour, April 1999 (100th Edition)

Joe deMello’s chart on Astrodatabank

DeMello’s tribute on the Astrologer’s Memorial at the Internet Archive

Some more on Dr. Broughton and Chaney’s legal problems in New York City

I collected the work of Al H. Morrison and he talks a bit about Chaney in The Best of Al H. Morrison 

Many have researched Chaney’s life due to his connection with Jack London.  He was a fascinating character, and here are some links to more about his life:

Sonoma State University:  Jack London Online — William Chaney

Encyclopedia.com:  William Henry Chaney

StrangeNewEngland.com:  William Henry Chaney — the Strange Journey of Jack London’s Father

Father Cassidy

Another tribute I wrote for the Astrologers’ Memorial was for Laurence L. Cassidy, Ph.D., S.J.  A practicing astrologer, he was a Jesuit for 57 years and a Catholic priest for 45.  He had a classical background and was knowledgeable of Church history, yet he never felt a conflict between his religious and astrological beliefs.  I knew him as a long-time friend, student and colleague of Al H. Morrison, and remember a modest and soft-spoken man with a strong intellect.  As one of the notable astrologers I met when Uranus conjoined my Sun, his work influenced my thinking.

A Gemini with a Cancer Moon and Aries rising, Cassidy was probably born in 1929, but I haven’t confirmed his birth date.  He died on June 29, 2006 at the age of 77.  Fr. Cassidy taught philosophy at St. Peter’s College in New Jersey beginning in 1969 and served as chairman of the department for a time.  The New York Times  covered his metaphysical class in 1972 as “Occult Interests Jersey City Priest.”  His dissertation was on Nicholas Cusa, a 15th century cardinal, who was also interested in astrology, alchemy and the occult.  For Cassidy, he was simply “a learned medieval man.”  His class, “Magic, Mysticism and Metaphysics,” open to 90 students, was often over-booked.  He said, “I like to return to the time when the truth was pursued in all aspects of human experience.  This has been abandoned over the last few centuries with adoption of Aristotle’s view that only that is true that can be proven through our senses.”

The Jersey City Journal also reported on his Rotary Club lunchtime address on Russian psychic experiments to a somewhat skeptical group in February of 1972.  Fr. Cassidy shared that occult and metaphysical topics are part of “the tradition of wisdom” and did not conflict with his other beliefs:  “Whatever happens to man is a reflection of the universe, which is created by God.”

He wrote two books on the transcendental philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas and was the author of The Thinking Self (1992), a text of Socratic dialogues that he used in the classroom.  (He’d probably be dismayed to see second-hand copies currently selling for $50 and up.)

Cassidy was a contributor to CEO TIMES, Kosmos and other astrological publications.  His popular article, “The Believing Christian as a Dedicated Astrologer” (1978) was reprinted many times.  In it, he maintains that astrology and Christianity are compatible as long as we believe in free will, and says, “I have taught some astrology here at St. Peter’s College and no one has ventured to suggest that I am putting any soul in peril for so doing.  Of course, most think my mind has become enfeebled, but that that is another story… We really are a free community of scholars.”  His article, “Old Astrology and the New Catechism” was originally published in Realtà, the Irish Astrological Association journal, in 1994.  Fr. Cassidy’s writing is lucid, rigorous and uplifting and we’re fortunate to be able to find copies of it online.

Cassidy spoke for the Irish Astrological Association and addressed various conferences and groups in the U.S.  Colleagues and students at St. Peter’s fondly recalled his sermons at their chapel on Sundays, his dedication to “the good and the true,” his love of teaching and his keen interest in his students and their families.

His letter to the editors of National Jesuit News is reprinted in Crisis online and takes an impassioned stance against pacifism in the face of nuclear war.   Below is some artwork from St. Aedan’s Church, now managed by St. Peters’, which resembles a horoscope wheel. 

Ed Dearborn

Since the Astrologer’s Memorial is no longer being maintained, I wanted to post some of the tributes I wrote for it.  First up is on Ed Dearborn, who founded the Declinations SIG and spent most of his life studying astrology.

Astrological historian, writer and advocate Edward L. Dearborn was born on May 3, 1922 at 5:27 AM in Meadville, Pennsylvania and passed over on August 18, 2012.  He was a school guidance counselor and devoted to his wife and family.  A lifetime student of astrology, he chose to pursue it as a sideline until his retirement in 1985, when he had more time for research and writing.  Ed was an incredibly supportive friend and colleague, and astrologers across the country and around the world benefited from his dedication and commitment to astrology.

With both the Moon in Cancer and Neptune in Leo in his fourth house, he had an unusual upbringing.  Ed met his future wife (a neighbor) when he was only five or six years old and in exemplary Taurean fashion was true to her throughout his life.  His six-year-old brother died in 1930 and his parents divorced the following year.  Yet since both of his parents eventually remarried twice, he never lacked close family members nearby, sometimes living on the same block.

Ed Dearborn began studying astrology before he turned 17.  He never mentioned any personal tutoring and I always assumed he was self-taught.  He was a voracious reader who collected an extensive astrological library and subscribed to most astrological periodicals in the U.S. and several abroad as well.

After high school, Ed enrolled at local Allegheny College, but was put on probation for poor grades.  He also had difficulty paying the $250 a semester tuition.  He decided, instead, to enlist in the Marines in 1941.  Ed felt that he “cheated” to get in as he’d nearly broken both feet in jumping off a four-foot wooden horse at the age of eight and thereafter had regular issues with his feet.  However he managed to pass the physical and was careful throughout World War II.

Ed was assigned to a Northern California home guard unit and served as a communications officer in the Signal Corps, where he was primarily responsible for radio equipment and repairs.  He was called to duty in the Aleutian Islands conflict in August of 1943 on Kiska Island, Alaska, and also spent time in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands and Guam.  He said that he carried a 1939 edition of Llewellyn George’s A to Z Horoscope Maker and Delineator across the Pacific theater.  In his last years, Ed returned again and again to memories of his war years, and participated in a Federal oral history project to preserve them.

After the war, Dearborn went back to Pennsylvania and worked in a wire factory, taking a vacation in 1946 to attend the AFA convention in Columbus, Ohio.  Ed was enthralled by the numerous astrologers he joined there, many of whom were nationally prominent or had written books and articles he’d read.

At the banquet Ed sat with the New York delegation, including Marion Meyer Drew (1889-1974), the first editor of Horoscope magazine.  A Sagittarius, she’d been married to Sidney K. Bennett (Wynn) and was then writing a daily column for the New York Daily News.  Fellow Taurus Elizabeth Aldrich (1875-1948), once publisher of the New York Astrologer and a prominent mundane astrologer, was also there, as were Marc Edmund Jones (working on his Ph.D. in theology at Columbia University), and Mabel Leslie Fleisher, President of the Astrologer’s Guild of America, who also held a law degree, unusual for a woman at that time.  Ed Dearborn had, at the age of 24, found his way to some of the most accomplished astrologers in the country.

Marion Meyer Drew needed help around her house in Cold Spring, New York, and talked Ed into staying with her and returning to college.  In August of 1946 he quit his job in Meadville and moved to Cold Spring.  In exchange for room and board, Ed served as driver, gardener and handyman as well as an assistant for Marion’s newspaper column.  He drove her to the city to attend Guild meetings, and afterwards a dozen or so from the group would head to Schraft’s restaurant for refreshments and further discussions.

Ed took psychology classes on the G.I. Bill at Washington Square College (NYU) for the two years he remained in New York.  He was able to focus on his studies and did much better than before.  He explored Weiser’s bookstore downtown, stocked with older authors that he’d never seen before, like Dr. Luke D. Broughton, A.J. Pearce and W.J. Simmonite.

He also became better acquainted with Elizabeth Aldrich, a close friend of Marion’s.  Aldrich had been diagnosed with cancer and was ill by Christmas of 1947, and Ed visited her many times in the hospital before she died in early 1948.  Aldrich had made Ed the executor of her will and he cleaned out her office and living space in her Carnegie Hall loft, saving most of her notes and correspondence while taking his college exams.  In the fall of 1948 he returned to Pennsylvania and continued his studies.

Ed was finally able to marry Mary Jane Watkins on August 17, 1948 and they had two daughters.  Jane was a double Gemini with Scorpio rising, but despite her Jupiter in Cancer, had what Ed described as a “no clutter” attitude – quite at odds with his own instincts to hold onto anything astrological that came his way.  To hear Ed tell it, though, this appeared to be the only meaningful conflict in their 62 years together!  He described her as “an angel on earth.”

Dearborn received an AB from Allegheny College and his Master’s degree from Ohio State University in 1956.  His Jupiter and Saturn in Libra in his 6th house suited him well for intellectual service.  Over the course of a long and varied career, he taught American history and science to many school grades.  Ed served as the principal of a correctional school for girls, in work-release programs, and was involved as a vocational/technical liaison counselor in a cooperative educational program where students spent half a day at school and half on the job.  Ed also taught a few beginning astrology classes over the years.  He eventually reached his original goal of becoming a high school guidance counselor in 1961, and settled in Norwood, Pennsylvania in 1965.

Ed’s personal experience, as well as his years of teaching and counseling, led him to fervently believe that education was a key ingredient in reaching one’s goals.  Having worked in the wire factory for over three years, he could see how factory workers typically became boxed into a corner with financial commitments to families, cars and homes.  He anticipated the real estate crisis and mortgage defaults by at least six years, if not astrologically then certainly through his good sense as well as a keen ability to foresee the results of actions and events (Sun and Mercury rising in Taurus; Saturn exalted in Libra in an out-of-sign square to Mars).  Ed saw no good in folks with few options outside their factory jobs getting mortgages with less than 5% down, and he was right.

I first met Ed in 1993 when he wrote to request what he called “Astro-Morsels” from me – basically a personal history and experiences in the world of astrology.  Countless other astrologers initially encountered him in just the same way.  He had a wide correspondence and was determined to put together the history of astrology in the U.S., piece by piece.  And he was persistent.  My mom, who considered it a chore to write anything down, received repeated queries from him until in exasperation she finally wrote her own astrological story for Ed (which was much more substantive than the fragments she’d shared with me before).

Ed was a wonderful correspondent.  In the ‘90s he used to send photocopies of cartoons and gags from newspapers (often poking fun at scientists and politicians), accompanied by neatly handwritten letters in which he answered questions and shared the books and articles he’d recently read, the lectures he’d seen and his most recent research – a typically Libran give-and-take.  By the time I knew him, he had accumulated so much data on index cards that he could quickly provide information about most any astrologer in the last century – their publications, location, teachers and areas of expertise.  His thousands of Astro-Morsels had indeed added up to a monumental collection that was extraordinary in its scope.  Ed created histories of astrological groups and continued collecting astrology periodicals and books, often buying a second copy to lend to friends.  In 1995, at the age of 73, he took typing and computer classes, bought himself a computer and determined to transfer all of the information to disk.  Ed took the advice that he’d shared with students: “The skills you are being pressed to learn are some you are going to need before long.  If you approach them enthusiastically you will be amply rewarded.”

Ed had a tremendous vitality well into his senior years.  He kept in touch with many astrologers, was quite involved with his extended family (including aged step-parents and great-grandchildren), was an active member of his local NCGR Greater Delaware Valley astrological group, and took care of his home.  With Venus rising in Gemini, he had many talents, and his abilities in a wide variety of areas could be astonishing.  He once told me about making improvements to a vacation home, and it soon became apparent that he had not only installed much of the electrics, new plumbing and a complete septic system, but also handled the carpentry of major structural changes, all on his own.

Despite this he was always modest about his abilities.  In his later years when his hearing had deteriorated, he’d apologize for “running on” on the phone.  He never considered himself a professional or full-time astrologer and in fact never appeared to have charged a fee for a chart reading; he did not feel confident at interpretation.  Although he kept his astrology and work lives separate, I always assumed that he’d used astrology to counsel several generations of children and young adults to find their true paths in life.  His conviction in the usefulness of astrology was admirable; I’ve known few others who utilized it as such an integral part of their lives over such a long period of time.

With the Sun rising and the Moon in the 4th house, Ed Dearborn studied his own chart throughout his life and would share how astrological aspects impacted him personally.  He was a regular contributor to the Mercury Hour and AFA’s Today’s Astrologer, and was published in astrology journals in the U.S. and overseas.  He tirelessly worked and reworked his articles, most recently those on quincunxes and yods; the springboard for these pieces were yods in his own birth chart.  His interest in the new body Sedna was due to its discovery within a day of the birth of his fifth great-grandchild.

Ed’s interest in declination was sparked by consideration of Mars in Sagittarius in his 8th house placed Out of Bounds, which he felt left him lacking an ordinary sense of fear (something which concerned him and forced him toward greater self-control).  He was influenced by Kt Boehrer’s book, Declination: The Other Dimension (1994), and went on to organize and found the NCGR’s Declination SIG in 1996.  Ed received NCGR’s Sisyphus award in 1998 for this accomplishment.  What a marvelous metaphor for someone who’d worked so hard for so long toward all of his achievements!

Ed felt that astrology was more tangible and reliable than other occult arts and shared his belief that, “Relying on clairvoyance seems to me like walking on thin ice – just how thick is it?”  He had a strong mind but was not overtly opinionated; he just kept learning and retained a good sense of humor.

Ed’s other interests included political astrology, cycles, horary, the asteroids and new bodies.  He enjoyed gardening, traveling and music.  In his later years he became more interested in spirituality.  During one notable class on angels, the instructor suffered a heart attack yet survived, due, they all concluded, to the intercession of the course’s subject!

Ed Dearborn was a gentle soul with a tremendous spirit.  He was a true Venusian, yet he could be tough as well.  I called him one day and teased him as he answered the phone.  He did not recognize my voice and sternly demanded, “Who IS this?!!”  Then I understood why he’d been successful as both a Marine and the head of a juvenile delinquency program:  he had a lot of strength.

Many years ago he informed me that he’d studied his chart and concluded he’d be around until the age of 91 or 92 as I recall.  He was overweight and wheezing at the time and I wasn’t sure he could be correct.  But he came close – making it to 90 and well past his third Saturn return.  He was not one to complain about any of the health issues, aches and pains that accompany old age, taking each day as an opportunity to live life fully.  He once wrote that, “’Tis easier to face life when I kind of roll with the punches and recognize that not one of us knows what Our Creator intends.”  That was Ed:  always patiently committed.

I know it was difficult for him to see his wife Jane through her cancer diagnosis and final illnesses (she predeceased him by about three years).  He remained touchingly dedicated to her, searching for the proper holistic remedy to lessen her pain and speaking with more than a little pride about taking care of her – he seemed to consider it a privilege rather than a duty.

Ed Dearborn was like the grandfather I never knew.  I think he must have known how much we all loved him and needed him in our astrological lives.  Giving to others was second nature to him.  He shared his optimism, spirit and gifts with us all, without reserve.  We miss you, Ed!  We hope we’ll see you again.

Some of Edward L. Dearborn’s articles are:

“The Inconjunct, the Quincunx and Yods” The Mountain Astrologer, August-September 2006

“Ramifications of the Quincunx” Considerations Volume XVIII, No. 2 (2003)

“Planetary Cycle Charts” The Mountain Astrologer, August 1998

“My Recollections of the 1946 AFA Convention” AFA Convention Program, 1996

“Astro Periodicals List” The Mountain Astrologer, August 1991

Many thanks to Joan Aldrich and Lois Livermore who helped with this piece.

Some of the Astrologers’ Memorial still lives on the Internet Archive, though without posts from more recent years.

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.

Lynn Wells and Evangeline

Evangeline Adams practiced astrology in her New York Carnegie Hall studios from 1905 until her death in 1932, reading thousands of charts, with many more processed for mail order work by her assistants.  One of these was Lynn Wells, who wrote the introduction to the 1970 edition of Adams’ autobiography The Bowl of Heaven.  I could never find much information on Lynn Wells, until I located the publisher’s files and discovered that she actually used a pen-name.

Wells’ father, Clarence C. Smith, worked at Carnegie Hall and became its manager around 1911.  The family lived next door until the Hall was sold in 1925.  Lynn’s mother was friendly with Evangeline, who draw up her chart when she was a baby.  She became interested in astrology, and beginning at age 17, “I was trained by Miss Adams and worked with her for many years.”

Lynn married in 1925 and started her own astrology practice with her husband.  In 1946 they were pictured as some of astrology’s “top practitioners” in a Life magazine feature that said: “Most dignified of astrologers are Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Wells, who have an early American apartment in Greenwich Village, deal chiefly with professional men, are considered a little high-hat by competitors.  They married soon after Evangeline Adams predicted they would.”  Adams’ home was done in an early American style, too, so maybe she inspired Wells.  Holden and Hughes in Astrological Pioneers of America say that both Lynn and Charles wrote for astrological publications in the 1950s.

In The Bowl of Heaven, Lynn said that Adams “referred hundreds of people to me.”  A newspaper article in 1940 stated that Evangeline “left Miss Wells a collection of some 7,000 to 8,000 charts.”  But in her reply to an astrologer in 1982, Wells said that Adams’ “files contained at least 50,000 charts of clients, these no doubt lost or destroyed by now as I destroyed my own thousands of charts when I retired a few years ago.”  I have never found any trace of Adams’ charts or office files; all are probably gone.

Lynn Wells was born on February 23, 1901 in Norwalk, Connecticut, according to her marriage record.  In The Bowl of Heaven, she said that “my chart indicates that I cannot be a successful speculator.”  The couple also appear to have had no children.  So I’ve somewhat arbitrarily placed Uranus in her 5th house.

Leo rising would explain the way Wells inserted her own story into her introduction to Evangeline’s book, as well as the somewhat high-handed manner in which she responded to the astrologer in 1982 who asked for information about Adams’ Windsor Hotel forecast.  Unable to answer the question, she offered, for no apparent reason, “I note your chart contains the Part of Fortune and the Moon Nodes, which I consider superfluous now being invented by earlier astrologers searching for the source of Uranus and Neptune influences…”  I don’t know who would agree today.

If she was born at about 4:00 p.m., Lynn’s Venus in Aquarius would conjoin her 7th house cusp, and her husband was an Aquarius with the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars all in this sign.  Lynn also seemed to have a compelling need to identify herself through her relationship with Aquarius astrologer Evangeline Adams (Pluto in the 11th trine Venus).  In accepting the assignment to write the introduction to Adams’ autobiography in 1969, she wrote the publisher, “The original Bowl of Heaven is inscribed to me by Miss Adams.  Also her Astrology, Your Place Among the Stars is inscribed, “For Mollie, with sincere regard and affection from her teacher and co-worker.”  In a P.S., Lynn added that “Mollie was my young nickname.”  (Neither book was dedicated to Wells; by “inscribed” she means that Adams signed a copy of the book for her.)  Decades after her death, she continued to remind folks of her association with her famous employer.

The name rang a bell for me, and I recalled two pictures of Adams sold on Ebay addressed to “Mollie,” both were dated after Wells had her own practice.  One said, “For ‘my girl’ Mollie with much affection and all good wishes – Evangeline Adams, 1929.”  (Adams was warm, if not effusive, in all of the signed photos I’ve seen from her.)

In fact, Mollie Smith was Lynn’s birth name, and Mollie Wells was her married name, according to her marriage and Social Security records.  “Lynn” appears to have been a pseudonym.  With Mercury in Pisces square Neptune, the difference between the two was blurred.

It seems rather strange that I came across two pictures Mollie owned.  What are the odds?  How many must Adams have signed for Mollie/Lynn in the first place?  Lynn’s Sun opposite Mars fell right on Adams’ Nodes, and her Mercury conjoined Evangeline’s Ascendant, showing points of connection and identification.  Her Moon conjoined Adams’ Pluto, hinting at the potential for an obsessive focus on the older woman.  As Adams was the best-known astrologer of the time, their association served as something of an endorsement.

Mollie/Lynn Wells and her husband had moved to Florida by the 1960s, and later to North Carolina.  Lynn died at the age of 90 and left quite a bit of money to her local library to expand its building.

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.

The Milky Way

To start her new book, The Milky Way: an Autobiography of our Galaxy, Moiya McTier reminisces about her relationship with her “celestial mom and dad” – the Sun and Moon.  As a girl in rural Pennsylvania, she felt they watched over her, and she’d speak with them regularly, sharing her news and feelings:  “I sought comfort from the Moon well into my adolescence.” 

And no, she’s not an astrologer.  She considers herself both an astrophysicist and folklorist (which is probably about as close as you can get) who found “science and myth weren’t as contradictory as they seemed on the surface.  Both are tools that we humans use to understand how we fit in with the rest of the universe.”  I suspect that McTier represents a new generation of astronomers who don’t find astrology quite as threatening, offensive or absurd as those who came before them.  In fact, she goes so far as to have the Milky Way say that “You might think they [astrologers] would annoy me but I like them; they remind me of my sufficiently awestruck ancestors.”

The marvelously organic conceit of the book is that it’s dictated by the Milky Way galaxy itself, who’s charming and pompous at the same time, as well as all-knowing, even admitting that, “consciousness is an inherent quality of the universe.”  I loved the idea that a galaxy’s black hole holds their angst and negativity.  This is a far cry from the typically materialistic astronomers we’ve come to know.

Dr. McTier mentions lots of sky myths from around the world, as the Milky Way waxes nostalgic for a time when humanity was more connected with the cosmos.  Much of the astronomical information is accessible and even entertaining due to the Milky Way’s compelling persona; but some of it was still a bit too technically involved for this astrologer’s taste (reminding me that we, too, have the same problem communicating more detailed astrological analyses to the inexperienced).

They still don’t know exactly what dark matter is, though it comprises over a third of the universe.  And there are only about 10,000 astronomers and 1,000 radio astronomers in the world.  We exponentially outnumber them, interestingly enough.  The Milky Way admits that measuring galactic distances is very derived and indirect, a thought that’s often struck me, too.  A defense of astrophysics is that “some sciences are observational in nature, not experimental,” and related critiques have regularly been leveled at astrologers by skeptics.

Often accessible, The Milky Way is a refreshing and informative journey through the history of the cosmos.  On her website, McTier says she was born in 1995, giving her the Uranus-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn signature of the times, which perhaps explains her gentler, more inclusive astronomical point of view.  It’s notable that Dr. Percy Seymour’s The Scientific Basis of Astrology and Dr. Anthony Aveni’s Conversing with the Planets were both published in 1992, when the Uranus-Neptune conjunction was already nearly exact; both seemed to open the door to broadening views of astrology.

As Moiya McTier has not yet reached her first Saturn return, I’m eager to see where the coming years take her and what other topics she’ll address in the future.

Buy The Milky Way on Amazon.com.

About my reviews and links.

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.

Judge Freschi and Evangeline Adams

Judge John J. Freschi famously tried Evangeline Adams for fortune telling in New York City in 1914, concluding that “The defendant raises astrology to the dignity of an exact science.” He exonerated her of all charges. It always seemed to me he was unusually sympathetic to Adams, and both his experiences with women and his horoscope give us some clues why.

The son of Italian immigrants, Freschi was born in Manhattan on March 9, 1876 according to New York City birth records. He graduated from NYU Law in 1898 and continued in private practice before being appointed a Magistrate by the Mayor in 1910 at the age of 34. He was married with two sons and they lived in an apartment in the West Village.

Freschi had been a member of the press club at school, regularly gave interviews to the press, and wrote for publication himself. Around the time of Evangeline’s trial, the judge advocated women’s suffrage in the Scarsdale Inquirer, saying, “Women have a right to be represented… The spirit of 1776 still lives! Why should any class have to live and be governed and taxed without just representation? Is it any wonder that there lurks in the hearts of some of the women of civilized nations, a spirit akin to rebellion?”

Judge Freschi had also presided over the Court of Domestic Relations where he heard many divorce cases and became known as “the judge who understands.” He had found that mediation and communication were key and was able to resolve many of the cases presented to him, saying, “The secret of a happy marriage can be told in three words: compromise, compromise, compromise.”

Evangeline Adams was born on a lunar eclipse, and John J. Freschi was a Pisces born right before a lunar eclipse. This may explain his ability to address complicated human issues, his compassion and pragmatism (since his Moon was in Virgo). His Mercury in Aquarius opposed Uranus, making him open to new ideas, and he realistically considered astrology in court, without jumping to conclusions. Jupiter in Sagittarius must have attracted him to the law and encouraged him to voice his opinions. But Jupiter squared Saturn in Pisces, once again tempering idealism with practicality and understanding.

Freschi played a short but significant role in Evangeline’s life. We don’t have his time of birth, but his Sun fell right on Adams’ Ascendant and Venus, so he was able to support her. His Mercury also conjoined her Sun, so he must have genuinely understood what she was all about. Since Adams was single and self-supporting at the time, he may have even admired her independence.

The judge’s Jupiter also conjoined Evangeline’s Saturn in her 9th house, clearly showing his legal boost to her reputation. I often feel that this combination can show a karmic influence, giving a sense of paying back something owed. Adams’ Nodes also fell right on Freschi’s own Jupiter-Saturn square, adding another note of destiny to their encounter.

Judge Freschi’s Saturn also conjoined Adams’ Mercury and South Node in her 12th house, so that his authority had an impact. Some have suggested that the judge was bribed with an astrological stock market tip, and the 12th house connection might show that possibility. But we’ll probably never know exactly what happened.

The often random relationship with a judge can have a huge impact on a person’s life. Evangeline gained much from Judge Freschi’s thoughtful decision, and talked about it for the rest of her life. It may actually be the main reason she’s remembered today. These two eclipse charts had an impact when they combined their energies!

Read about Evangeline Adams’ Court battle in my books Foreseeing the Future: Evangeline Adams and Astrology in America and What Evangeline Adams Knew: A Book of Astrological Charts and Techniques.

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.