Category Archives: astrology history

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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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.

More on The Light Ages at Amazon.

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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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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.

Buy Looking Forward on Amazon.com
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Presidential Wheels of Fortune

Why did I ever get involved with the presidents?  It must be astrological.  With a strong Saturn trine the Ascendant, my connection with them began before I even thought about looking at their elections astrologically. 

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a poster with headshots of all the chief executives.  I’m not sure why they considered it an appropriate gift for a grade-schooler, but they were both civic-minded and we all had Capricorn in our charts.  The poster stood out in black and gold on my bedroom wall, and I was fascinated by the weird hairdos and fashions.  I knew very little about the people, but named my hamster after one of them.  (Fillmore’s cage sat beneath the poster, though he never got as far on his wheel of fortune as his namesake.)

When my first book about Sun-signs and career came out, one of my radio interviews was in Tennessee.  It was election season and I thought they’d like to hear about Vice Presidential candidate Al Gore’s chances for success.  Using pretty basic techniques, I already expected Bill Clinton was likely to win, and Gore’s chart settled it. 

I’d always been attracted to forecasting, and calling the outcomes of political elections was the kind of definitive, testable astrology I liked.  Clients were interested in it, too.  I focused on the natal horoscopes for my conclusions regarding major changes, continuing on a particular path, and possible success. 

Early 20th century astrologer Evangeline Adams was no stranger to prediction, and famously called the outcomes of several presidential elections correctly.  She appeared to base her judgments, at least partially, on transiting Saturn, which is so important to career and life direction.  When I began studying Adams’ work, I became more interested in her Gemini rising U.S. chart, and took more time with my next presidential forecasts, studying not only the candidates’ charts but the country’s too.

With several correct forecasts in a row, I now had a record to uphold!  I eventually became convinced that the more things I looked at, the more accurate I’d be.  I checked transits, solar returns, progressions, solar arcs, progressed declination, planetary cycles, the candidates’ progressed to the U.S. chart, as well as their progressed to U.S. progressed aspects, and included the candidates’ spouses to see if they supported my conclusions. 

Some were easier than others.  I was skeptical that an African American president could be elected in 2008, but the prevailing transit of Saturn opposite Uranus, announcing innovation, clinched my forecast of Obama’s win.  In 2012, his progressed declination was so deeply connected with longer-term U.S. progressions that I felt his work with the country was not yet complete.  At the same time, Mitt Romney had transiting Neptune squaring his Gemini Ascendant, while running mate Paul Ryan had the mirror aspect to his Sagittarius Ascendant:  I imagined their joint hopes would evaporate.

The presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore, despite being one of the closest in U.S. history, seemed to me relatively easy to determine astrologically, and many other astrologers agreed. 

My brother, a die-hard skeptic, also kept me focused on the presidential predictions.  A math person with a fixed-sign Aquarius Mercury, he argued my successes were simply coincidence.  I’d actually been correct 6 out of 6 times.  The probability of choosing heads correctly in 6 coin tosses is 1 in 64, or a 1.56 % (.0156) chance. 

But by the time Hillary Clinton ran against Donald Trump, I’d become overconfident, and transiting Jupiter trine my Moon that year only added to my presumption.  Living in New York City for most of my life, I assumed most would see Donald Trump’s run as the publicity stunt I thought it was.  I also couldn’t imagine someone with such a checkered career in the White House.  We all know the result; bias is not a good thing for astrological judgment, and the lack of an accurate birth time for Hillary didn’t help. 

I was determined to do better with the 2020 election and again spent a great deal of time with the candidates, their spouses and the U.S. charts.  I also returned to basics, and only used the techniques I was most familiar with – transits, progressions and progressed declination.  My study of U.S. Inauguration charts for my book Tecumseh’s Curse also helped me call the 2020 outcome correctly, when I realized that Saturn and Uranus in hard aspect historically suggested a change in presidential party. 

I now had an accuracy record of 7 in 8 correct, or 87.5%, versus odds of 3.13% by chance alone.  When I asked my brother what he thought, he laughed nervously and began talking about Trump’s legal challenges.  (We now know that his 60+ lawsuits for voter fraud across the country were virtually all dropped or dismissed due to lack of evidence.)  More importantly, I had refined my forecasting techniques and vindicated both myself and astrology. 

New Book — Tecumseh’s Curse

On the verge of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, I’m delighted to release my new E-book, Tecumseh’s Curse: Indigenous Wisdom, Astrology and the Deaths of U.S. Presidents.  I cover the Shawnee brothers linked to the “curse” and the zero-year presidents dying in office, the connections between myth and history, Indigenous culture and American expansionism, and astrology and prophecy.  The book looks at patterns in American presidential history and includes analyses of inauguration charts with a preview of the 2021 term and the Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius era to come. 

Read the intro on my blog:  https://karenchristino.com/books/tecumsehs-curse/

To buy or for a sample go to Amazon.com.

Inauguration 2021

The 2021 inauguration horoscope seems to indicate a period of momentous change and potential turmoil, upheaval and even loss during the term.  Seven planets all square one another, and Neptune squares the Nodes.  Certainly there should be many noteworthy events in the coming four years, and we also appear to be moving into a new and different situation.  Is it possible to be more specific?

We can get a better idea of what we might expect in the future by looking back through history.  While I’ve seen no inauguration horoscope as focused or dramatic as 2021, various elements repeat themselves from previous administrations. 

Pluto can relate to financial issues, power, essential transformation and intervention or even manipulation.  Pluto with the Sun or Midheaven in an inauguration horoscope may show the president’s experience with these issues during the term.

Thomas Jefferson’s 1801 administration and James Monroe’s 1817 term both had the Sun conjunct Pluto in Pisces.  William McKinley (and Theodore Roosevelt) had the inaugural Sun and Mercury in a T-square with Uranus and Pluto.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt had an angular grand cross with the Sun, Moon, Mars, Uranus and Pluto in 1937 and a fixed grand cross with the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Pluto in 1941.  Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration had the Sun, Moon and Nodes square Pluto. 

Most of these Plutonian administrations were notable victories for the presidents elected.  They all sought to unite the country in various ways, and often succeeded (the above list includes some of the most notable presidents in history).  The political parties themselves also underwent change either in their evolution or due to reforms or other pressing issues.  Developments in the country’s territory, alliances and antagonisms came to the forefront.  Financial affairs were often highlighted, with important changes in policies and trends.  The presidents either chose to utilize more fiscal or political power, or were forced to do so. 

Hard aspects from Uranus to the Sun in inauguration horoscopes created surprising and unforeseen circumstances in administrations that started with them.  They coincided with danger to the chief executive as well as some of the shortest of presidential terms. William Henry Harrison served for a month (Sun conjunct Uranus), James Garfield and William McKinley only eked out about six months apiece (Sun opposite and square Uranus, respectively), and Warren Harding served for about two and a half years (Sun opposite Uranus).  The Civil War raged throughout Abraham Lincoln’s Sun square Uranus 1861 term, with a tempestuous and chaotic situation for the entire country.  (All of these inauguration charts also included Jupiter conjunct or parallel Saturn.)

2021 Inauguration horoscope

A concern for 2021 is Uranus conjoining the inaugural Ascendant (less than 7½ degrees).  Roosevelt’s 1941 inauguration Uranus was solidly in the first house and he was forced to confront the constant unpredictability of war (though Uranus had no close classical aspects and the fixed grand cross did not involve it).  Roosevelt’s 1937 administration may more closely resemble 2021, as Uranus is in a grand cross with the Sun, Moon, Mars and Pluto.  Overseas conflicts were a key issue, but the U.S. was not yet at war.  Though in 1937, Uranus was in the twelfth house in the inauguration chart.

Ulysses S. Grant’s first term featured Uranus rising closely trine the Sun and a grand fire trine, quite a different pattern.  He was a reformer who supported Reconstruction and civil rights and made progress in these areas while stabilizing the economy. 

Uranus and Mars conjunct the first house in 2021 suggests a new identity and perspective for the country.  Mars in its detriment in Taurus holds the potential for volatility and even violence, and with an angular Sun square Uranus, the president will likely face some surprises.  Popular movements may impact the coming years, leading to reform or even some sort of crisis or revolution that shakes up the country in a significant way. 

But with traditional rulers, Saturn is the final dispositor of the 2021 inauguration chart, ultimately ruling both Mars and Uranus as well as the Sun.  Only a few chief executives began their terms with the Sun actually conjunct Saturn.  These coincided with contentious issues and the administrations were limited in time or by circumstances. 

Zachary Taylor was the only president not elected in a zero year to die in office.  His 1849 inauguration Sun conjoined both Saturn and the South Node.  Over a decade before the Civil War, the slavery debate had created partisan divisions and southern leaders threatened succession.  Rutherford B. Hayes came to the presidency in 1877.  With an inaugural Sun conjunct Saturn, Hayes’ election was one of the most hotly disputed in U.S. history.  He lost the popular vote, and electoral votes in the south were contested amidst charges of fraud and Black voter suppression.  John F. Kennedy’s Sun conjunct Saturn in Capricorn years are remembered for the Cold War, with civil rights also an important issue during the early ‘60s as well. 

All three of these Sun-Saturn administrations addressed Black inequality (the Sun-Saturn combinations reiterate the Sun-Saturn square in the U.S. horoscope).  With the Black Lives Matter movement in the forefront in 2020, it seems probable that racial justice will once again feature in the 2021 administration.  The president could be limited to some extent by public opinion (first house), opposing parties or international relations.  Like FDR or even Woodrow Wilson in 1913 with a Moon-Mars-Uranus conjunction straddling the ninth house cusp, the president may also need to begin to respond to developments abroad as the country’s relationships are re-evaluated and reorganized (since Mars or Pluto rule the inaugural seventh house). 

Uranus squaring Saturn in the tenth house in the 2021 inauguration highlights the breakdown of old structures, with movement into a new phase.  Unanticipated events might even impact the president personally. 

In fact, many presidential elections or inaugurations with hard aspects between Saturn and Uranus have coincided with a change in the president’s political party.  (We can consistently see this in the transitions from James Buchanan to Lincoln, Hoover to FDR, Truman to Eisenhower, Ford to Carter, Clinton to George W. Bush and Bush to Obama.)  This presents a likelihood that the same will occur in 2021. 

Though I personally need to analyze the candidates themselves before coming to a more definite opinion about the election (see my guidelines for forecasting political elections here), planetary cycles are very powerful! 

I analyze many inaugural horoscopes in my forthcoming book, Tecumseh’s Curse:  Indigenous Wisdom, Astrology and the Death of U.S. Presidents.

The Ultimate Astrology Book

Many of us remember the book reviews in Dell Horoscope by astrologer Michael O’Reilly under the pen-name Chris Lorenz. O’Reilly was extremely fortunate to cover astrology books every month for 27 years – nearly an entire Saturn cycle! But astrology readers are now even more fortunate to have a collection of virtually all of his reviews as a ready reference in The Ultimate Book of Astrology Books – a massive collection.

It’s heartening to realize just how many titles have been written on real astrology in recent decades (no Sun-sign books are included), and how many talented and even brilliant authors have tackled such a wide variety of astrological topics. O’Reilly includes 334 reviews.

The Introduction describes the book’s organization and gives us some insight into the author, who admits his preferences for both asteroids and traditional astrology. The Table of Contents is organized by topic (the basics, natal, books about individual planets, predictive, comprehensive, synastry, financial and many more) and the e-book is hyper-linked to jump to the book or topics you’d like to explore. (One can also use the Kindle book search feature for whatever else you want to find.) The author index at the end is packed with some of the best-known names in the field, as well as numerous other insightful authors. As there are also quite a number of earlier texts reviewed as reprints, O’Reilly’s coverage probably includes not only the last Saturn cycle of publications but the previous one as well.

Those of us who research astrology’s past are often stymied by the inability to find copies of older magazines and books. Michael O’Reilly takes a step to correct that, as he has preserved not only his own work but his coverage of the hundreds of authors represented, too. We can even become aware of trends in topics and publishing.

Michael provides overviews of each book, highlighting the salient points the authors make and often providing a little history or background to the topic and brief excerpts, along with his personal observations. He consistently enters into the spirit of each book, and no two reviews are anything alike. They’re succinct and well-written, and at times we’re also alerted to errors or challenges to reading such as font size or the absence of an index.

Astrology readers may be frustrated by the lack of online reviews. We rarely know the point of view of individual reviewers, and as real astrology still continues to be a publishing “niche,” many specialized topics are often not covered at all. The Ultimate Book of Astrology Books solves these dilemmas by providing a trusted resource and consistently sensible opinions on a wide array of books. You’ll learn much about any topic just by reading the featured reviews.

This book should be required reading for skeptics to learn about the depth and breadth of astrology. We’re extremely lucky to be astrologers in the 21st century with so much literature readily available. This book is truly an expression of the epochal conjunction of Jupiter (books), Saturn (history) and Pluto (repurposing) in Capricorn. Treat yourself and buy it!

The Ultimate Book of Astrology Books is available at Amazon.com in e-book or paperback. (The paperback is reasonably priced at under $30, but be aware that it’s nearly 800 pages long!)

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A Scheme of Heaven

Alexander Boxer’s A Scheme of Heaven is a new work about the history of astrology. Obviously published to capitalize on astrology’s current popularity, the book benefits from the author’s familiarity with ancient texts, but is ultimately undermined by his scientific point of view.
Boxer is a classics scholar with an affection for the old tomes and languages. His bite-sized coverage of many astrological topics, from Manilius to Cardano, is often easy-to-understand and sometimes even entertaining. While the writer covers much familiar ground, I still learned some new things Chaucer wrote a textbook on using the astrolabe. Alexander the Great’s conquest in 331 BCE is accurately described by an eclipse omen tablet from 300 years before. And some have seen Shakespeare’s Hamlet as an astrological allegory, with the names Rosencrantz and Guildenstern turning up in Tycho Brahe’s family tree.

But the author is also a “data scientist.” The book’s U.S. subtitle, “The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data,” is, it seems to me, a faulty conceit. Boxer assumes that all astrology is essentially reducible to algorithms and statistics, and its allure simply due to our need for patterns. He rather gleefully and cavalierly reduces Bonatti’s rules for trading to a virtual investing program. In practice, it doesn’t work very well, but what could we expect without human judgment involved? (Mr. Boxer: Bonatti wrote aphorisms, NOT algorithms.)

Boxer addresses chart interpretation, the cyclic deaths of U.S. presidents in office and other topics in a similar manner, as the book devolves into a display of his cleverness. He’s solved the houses issue! He’s re-invented the chart wheel! (As his chart can’t even show an obvious opposition, it’s not of much use.) The writer couldn’t resist sharing his own birth data, with Jupiter rising in Leo square Venus and Mars in Taurus. The book’s major flaw is that it’s more about what the author can do than the topic at hand. His arrogance and self-indulgence have led him to presume that he could address a complex topic without being able to grasp its depth or the great continuity of its tradition.

A Scheme of Heaven proves one thing: that astrology is an occult study (one concealed or not apparent to all). Despite reading Ptolemy, Vettius Valens and Guido Bonatti in their original languages, the writer nevertheless lacks an essential understanding of what astrology actually is. While real astrology is thriving and there’s a proliferation of online classes and certification today, Alexander Boxer still considers it “a topic for which the whole idea of expertise seems thoroughly up for grabs.” The reality is either obscured or he hasn’t even bothered to check. He considers Mercury to be “in retrograde,” a dead giveaway to astrological cluelessness.

With nearly 30 people thanked for their contributions to this offering from a major publisher, it’s baffling that not one real astrologer was consulted. And no editor, proofreader or fact-checker was able to rescue Boxer from the intellectual prison of his linear mind. Boxed-in, as it were.

It appears to have become acceptable to admit astrology’s prominence in the past but not the present. The closest the author gets to exploring contemporary astrology is having a cookbook print-out done for himself and family members. He gives short shrift to the last four hundred years, becoming more derivative and disillusioned with each century that lies beyond his expertise.

Alexander Boxer’s attitude towards astrology is ambiguous at best. He assures us he had a wonderful time researching and writing this book and that he’s not a true debunker. But he admits it’s politically incorrect to associate oneself too closely with astrology, and fears he may end up like Otto Neugebauer, who translated Babylonian astrological cuneiform texts and was supposedly labelled as something of a crank. Ironically, the writer will probably never again find another project as uniquely tailored to his own talents.

For those who want to know more about astrology’s past, A Scheme of Heaven is worth reading. It’s also indicative of the modern malaise of those with nothing to believe in, who summarily dismiss anything outside their limited view.

If you’d like to learn more about the history and spirit of astrology, try something like Anthony Aveni’s Conversing with the Planets (by a more simpatico non-believer). Or better yet, just read anything by an actual astrologer. They’re very easy to find these days. Unless, like Mr. Boxer, you choose not to look.

Check out A Scheme of Heaven on Amazon.com.

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Edgar Cayce’s Birth Time

The famous psychic Edgar Cayce said he’d had 37 astrological readings, and nearly half of the astrologers felt his birth time was incorrect! Cayce’s Mercury in Pisces made him visionary and eloquent, but outside of his trance states, exact details may not have been a strength. And since Mercury sextiles his Moon conjunct Neptune, confusion might also follow.

Cayce was born in the 19th century, when many American birth times weren’t recorded, so astrologers often rectified their charts. Several astrologers in touch with Cayce in the early 20th century offered him their own, “quick and dirty” rectifications on his time of birth.

Myra Kingsley, who’d worked for Evangeline Adams, wrote to Cayce with a horoscope interpretation, saying, “I have the chart drawn up for about 3:30 p.m. by West Kentucky time, as I am quite sure, due to your unusual ability, that you have a late degree of Leo rising, and the Sun in the eighth house.”

American Federation of Astrologers founder Ernest Grant had requested Edgar’s birth data and some notable life events, and shared that, “I rather believe that you were born either about 1:10 p.m. or somewhere between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.”

Thomas Sugrue, in his biography There is a River, quoted Cayce’s grandmother for a time of “three o-clock exactly.” But his biography fictionalizes dialogue and life events, so would not necessarily be trustworthy.

In a 1936 letter, Edgar clearly stated that he was born at 1:30 P.M. on a Sunday afternoon, quoting “the actual record from my parents, the physician and the birth certificate record.” While in a trance state for a reading for himself in 1919, Cayce, through his metaphysical source, provided a 3:03 p.m. birth time. These are the only two documented times that we have; others have been altered by astrologers or those not consulting the original records.

Edgar Cayce regularly differentiated between physical birth, the time of a baby’s first breath, and soul birth, which could occur many hours later. I believe that the 3:03 p.m. time provided by the reading was Edgar Cayce’s soul birth time (rounded off and given to Edgar’s grandmother by Sugrue decades later). The original birth certificate time of 1:30 was probably near his physical time of birth. The readings consistently said that physical birth times should be used for horoscope interpretations.

Edgar Cayce was born on March 18, 1877 at 1:30 p.m. LMT, in the small town of Beverly, Kentucky (Christian County – 36N45, 87W32). I would rate it “AA,” from the birth record. Birth data is listed in reading 254-2, Report 4 and 294-8, Report 13 in the Cayce database. (The soul birth time is also from reading 254-2).

Edgar Cayce’s readings and many records of his life are available to members of the Association for Research and Enlightenment. I write the “Celestial Forces” column for their magazine Venture Inward, which covers many metaphysical topics. Sample issues are available here.