Category Archives: forecasting

Presidential Nodal Returns

Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris will have her third Nodal return on September 17, 2020. Donald Trump will experience his fourth Nodal return on November 10, 2020. With both candidates experiencing this near-exact aspect this fall, what, if anything, does it bode for the election?

Ken Negus did an in-depth study of these returns and found that we often experience important new beginnings, endings or even sharp turns when the Lunar Nodes return to their natal places at the ages 19, 38, 56-7 and 76. Some encounter major transformations and others may find various areas of their lives affected. Ken researched these cycles in the lives of the presidents and confirmed that at the returns, some of the notable events included appointment to major political office.

I attended Ken’s lecture on this topic in 1996 and will summarize his findings.

The Moon’s nodal cycle of 18.6 years overlaps the 19-year Metonic Sun-Moon phase cycle (though they diverge noticeably as the years go on). Ken found that, like Harris and Trump, almost half of the 41 presidents he studied had angular Nodes. This makes sense since the Sun represents the ego and the Moon the public. It may also explain their ambition for public service (since any random group should only have the Nodes angular about a third of the time).

At the age of 38, Ken found that 17 of the 41 presidents studied (about 41%) were elected or appointed to important political offices. But the returns at 56-57 were the most impressive, perhaps as they are a prelude to the Saturn return. 7 of the 41 began their first presidential terms at this age, and 3 went on to a second term (making for a total of almost 25% who were elected president on a Nodal return).

4 completed their presidencies and 4 more were elected to other offices – Vice President or Congress. On the other hand, another 4 of the 41 studied died in office! Ultimately, about 61% experienced significant turning points in their political careers at their third return years.

Ken concluded that the half returns were also notable. At age 66½ there were more negative overtones, including difficult terms of office, the decision not to run, defeats, and the death of a candidate or their spouse. Abraham Lincoln and Vice President Andrew Johnson were born only 45 days apart, with natal Nodes separated by about 1¼ degrees. Johnson took over as president after Lincoln was assassinated near both of their half-Nodal returns. Jimmy Carter lost his bid for re-election. (John F. Kennedy was also killed at a half-Nodal return at the young age of 46.)

By the fourth Nodal return at the age of 76, most presidents were in retirement, but often experienced other significant life events. Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and James Madison became rector of the same institution. John Quincy Adams intensified his political activities, chairing a committee to impeach President Tyler (which did not go forward). Harry Truman was involved in John F. Kennedy’s campaign.

Can we draw any conclusions from the Nodal returns for the 2020 election? There’s a likelihood that both Harris and Trump will each have important career transitions. It makes the most logical sense to me that Harris will be elected and Trump will be voted out of the White House. Harris’ Ascendant trines her dignified Saturn conjunct the 10th house, showing the slow and steady progress of her career, and this would be the next logical step for her. While Trump’s Sun conjunct his North Node and Uranus in the 10th indicates spectacular achievements with equally striking reversals, which would be in keeping with him losing support.

But the Nodal return is just one element to consider, and we need corroboration elsewhere to arrive at a definitive judgment.

About Ken Negus — his chart on Astrodatabank, and his bio/obit from the Astrological Society of Princeton.

1918 Flu vs. COVID-19

As COVID-19 spreads, many are recalling the influenza pandemic of 1918. With the largest population in the U.S. (5 million), New York City was the worst hit. 33,000 died over a year, a third of all cases in the country. The City’s response was very different than for the 2020 Coronavirus restrictions, as the astrology shows.

When the flu first struck in the spring, it wasn’t serious. But New York was the arrival port for troops returning from Europe in World War I, and that fall influenza became a serious health concern. Young, healthy people were falling ill and dying.

The City’s health system, recently galvanized to combat tuberculosis, advised the public to avoid spitting and to use handkerchiefs – reminiscent of some of the hygiene suggestions we’re receiving a century later. The Health Commissioner ordered staggered work hours to lessen rush-hour crowding. 150 emergency health centers were put to work. But businesses, theaters and schools remained open to avoid panic. Teachers and school personnel were expected to assess children for symptoms and educate them. These measures seem to have worked as the death rate was much lower than in other large cities (about half a percent).

New York City has a dynamic horoscope, with Jupiter rising in Libra: it’s well-known for its focus on business, publishing and the arts. The Sun conjoining the 4th house in Capricorn reminds us that many make their homes here, too, and the T-square with Jupiter in Libra and the Midheaven in Cancer creates a lively, active place. Four planets in Sagittarius put the emphasis on communications and the value of its ports and many immigrants. Venus and Jupiter are in mutual reception and dispose of all the other planets, making New York a rather large and successful city.

As the flu arrived in the spring of 1918, a total Solar Eclipse activated the City’s Neptune conjunct Pluto in air-sign Gemini, and transiting Jupiter conjoined first Pluto, then Neptune in the 9th – allowing for a wide spread of a deadly pathogen by air. In September, when the flu became more dangerous, the progressed Moon in late Capricorn conjoined progressed Venus and the North Node, and squared the progressed Ascendant in Libra. Transiting Jupiter in Cancer conjoined the MC as it stationed on the City’s natal T-square, squaring 1st house Jupiter and opposing Saturn. As is so often the case, the emphasis on angularity made for more significant events.

While the cardinal signs and angular houses are again emphasized, the 2020 Coronavirus scenario is quite different. The authorities’ recommendation to shelter at home and avoid unnecessary travel are clearly shown by the transiting combination of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn in NYC’s 4th house. With so much Capricorn, there is a more serious, organized and controlled response.

Transiting Saturn conjoined the City’s North Node in the 4th in mid-February, perhaps the time when the infection originally arrived. When the first cases were reported in NY in March, transiting Jupiter in Capricorn conjoined natal Mercury (ruler of the 9th and 12th) in the 4th house. The progressed Ascendant at about 19 Capricorn conjoined the progressed North Node at 20 Capricorn (right on the January Lunar Eclipse at 20 Cancer), further adding to the emphasis on Capricorn and the North Node that we also saw in 1918. But as Mars, Saturn and Pluto have now moved away from these degrees, hopefully the imposed restrictions will help alleviate the contagion.

Evangeline Adams on NPR Podcast

I’m delighted that my biography of Evangeline Adams is featured on NPR’s Throughline podcast. They did a beautiful job of dramatizing her story!

Hosts Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei along with producer Lawrence Wu all did terrific research and learned about astrology before they interviewed me. As objective historians, they covered Evangeline’s story and then moved to the Reagans and astrology in the White House. The result is a beautifully-produced podcast with solid historical information on astrology in the U.S.

Here’s the link to Throughline’s “The Stars” podcast.

Check out my Evangeline Adams biography, Foreseeing the Future.

Robert Zoller

Robert Zoller was an unforgettable character. Despite his focus on Medieval astrology, I always thought of him as a Renaissance man. He liked to call himself a “rogue scholar,” but was also a linguist, dowser, sketch artist and high-wire telephone electrician, as well as a man of extremes. Mild-mannered and modest, he could also be rather opinionated and even imperious (he claimed descent from Irish royalty). Outwardly a regular guy with a light New York accent, his work could be overly intellectual (consider a lecture entitled, “The Role of Hermes as Teacher, Initiator, Heirophant and Psychopomp”). A predictive astrologer, he probably leaned closer to the Fate side of the spectrum than many, yet as an adult he became a Lutheran (a Christian faith with an ideology based on Free Will).

Bob was a footloose vagabond who loved travel and could casually converse in Spanish with NYC waiters. A compelling speaker, his fame in the 1990s followed his translations of Hermes Trismegistus, Al Kindi and Guido Bonatti, and he sometimes lectured to standing-room-only crowds. He may be best remembered for his World Trade Center attack forecast, and while not hitting all the specifics (who could?), it was published in advance and sent to his subscription list in 1999 and 2000.

With no earth in his horoscope, Zoller was not very concerned about the material plane (something he probably thought an “infinite regress”). He lived simply and delved deeply into magic, meditation and spirituality. He argued that “Spirituality is a Saturn trip,” as he considered it involved more renunciation than Jupiterian expansion. He believed in angels and other beings not because the Bible told him so, but because he had experienced them first-hand.

While I had little use for the laborious Medieval astrological calculations he was attached to, I visited the Masonic Library in New York at his request, and accompanied him to W.D. Gann’s grave in Brooklyn (which I’m convinced he psychically found as we had little in the way of a map for guidance). He gave me the opportunity to turn the parchment pages of a 15th century Latin manuscript at the New York Public Library.

Bob’s outlook lay somewhere between radical libertarian and ultraconservative, but it would be wrong to categorize him. He shared subversive 1970s counter-culture classics. He didn’t vote as he felt that election results were pre-ordained. He’d calculate death dates on request from clients (to within 5 or 10 years), though he also felt that in astrological prediction, “If you’re getting 75%, you’re doing really well.” He scoffed at the ideas of evolution or alien UFOs. He suggested he was the reincarnation of Evangeline Adams, as they shared some similar horoscope placements and more than a passing physical resemblance. But as he relished both the profundity of life as well its absurdities, I was never certain whether or not he was joking.

With a consciousness always attuned to the cosmos, I trust that Bob Zoller is now off on another one of his audacious adventures.

Robert Zoller had a number of self-published books, though his one traditionally published title, the Arabic Parts in Astrology: A Lost Key to Prediction is still available at Amazon.com.

About my Amazon links.

Mundane Astrology

The comprehensive astrological textbook Mundane Astrology: an Introduction to the Astrology of Nations and Groups (1984) benefits from the contributions of three accomplished astrological authors – Michael Biagent, Nicholas Campion and Charles Harvey – who raised the level of astrological discourse with their contributions. While readers need a familiarity with basic astrology to understand this book, those interested in the subject, whatever their level of knowledge, will find much valuable information.

This is one of the excellent astrology books published by the U.K. based Aquarian Press in the 1980s. It begins with a concise history of western mundane astrology dating back to the Babylonians. Basic meanings of planets, houses and signs in mundane astrology are provided, along with information on various planetary cycles. Other topics include ingress charts, lunations, eclipses, Astrocartography, the astrology of cities and countries and much more. This book predates Biagent’s Astrology in Ancient Mesopotamia and Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes and The Great Year, and provides an introduction to those works. I had never read Charles Harvey before, and his discussion of planetary cycles is phenomenal, including many references to Andre Barbault’s work. He also addresses midpoints, giving us a better understanding of this topic, too. The work of Charles Carter and John Addey is also covered, and with numerous references to the works of others, the book serves as a resource for more.

A long section pulls the techniques together to analyze World War II, as many European astrologers failed to accurately forecast it (ironically, Americans Elizabeth Aldrich, Louise McWhirter and Evangeline Adams had all predicted U.S. involvement in a conflict years earlier).

While this is a long book, many chapters are inclusive in themselves. The Table of Contents and Index make it easy to find topics of interest.

And it’s time for a reprint! While the book is available second-hand, copies tend to be rather expensive. The charts are small and hand-written, and can be challenging to read. Planetary abbreviations at times also make for a less than fluent read (it took me a while to find the key and realize that SO stood for the Sun!). Notes and sources sometimes follow one chapter and other times are placed further along in the text. The use of a 90-degree dial around the outside of many of Harvey’s charts is not explained until the very end, and it would’ve been more helpful at the beginning. A tiny font detracts from the Index. (Perhaps the 1995 Thorson’s edition may have resolved some of these issues.)

But these are quibbles. Mundane Astrology is a classic of astrological writing, superbly researched and clearly written. The authors generously share their abundant knowledge, and anyone interested in this complex subject will profit from reading it.

Check out Mundane Astrology on Amazon.com

Saturn Chasing the Moon

How can we forecast long-term trends with astrology? I wondered what took my grandmother away from her home in the U.S. for nine years during World War II. She had lengthy transits of Pluto and Neptune through houses, but their aspects changed and didn’t seem the most descriptive of her situation. Her progressed Sun in Sagittarius in her 4th house would show the developments in her home situation, including foreign travel, but that’s a longer trend. She also had Saturn chasing her Moon.

Since the progressed Moon’s cycle through the signs and Saturn’s transit cycle are similar (around 28 or 29 years), some of us will experience extended periods of time with Saturn repeating the same aspect to the progressed Moon. This, too, is such a long-term influence that it may be tough to categorize.

Saturn opposed my progressed Moon for over 20 years. For me, the period coincided with career development, important decisions, a lot of hard work and important housing issues. I also researched my family genealogy, broke an ankle and had minor surgery. I lost my father and became a caretaker for my mom. The symbolism is clear, but these are also typical life events that many of us will experience in a 20-year period.

My grandmother Ida’s cycle started in 1935 with Saturn in her 7th house opposite the progressed Moon in the 1st, and didn’t end until after 1948, with Saturn in the 1st and the Moon in her 7th (lasting about 13 years, nearly half a Saturn cycle).

Ida’s natal Moon was in the 12th and Saturn in Pisces in her 8th house. Both might relate to events she couldn’t control. There’s no close connection between the two planets, but they’re widely inconjunct (over 3-1/2 degrees apart), not the most comfortable aspect.

Ida had been away from her native land and family members for about six years when her progressed Moon began to oppose transiting Saturn. She never gave us convincing reasons why she didn’t come back to New York before her visa expired. Though when back in Germany, her mother wasn’t well and she also had no great affection for her husband in the U.S. She worked on the family farm and later had jobs as a mail carrier, waitress and housekeeper. World War II brought major limitations: food shortages and life-threatening situations. Her mother and two brothers died during this time. Ida finally got back to New York in 1947, but a year later her husband had a stroke and died, leaving her with little money and an infant to raise. The final two exact passes of her progressed Moon to transiting Saturn came later that year.

Most people won’t experience dire events like these. And because of its length, the transit Saturn-progressed Moon cycle is somewhat unwieldy for astrologers to interpret. It nests within many other cycles and we need to do a lot more research to understand how best to describe it.

See my previous post for more information on Ida’s natal chart and her experiences as a refugee and displaced person.

McWhirter’s Market Forecasting Techniques

Louise McWhirter’s 1938 book on stock market forecasting outlines the methods she used to predict long and shorter-term trends on the stock market. She had obviously studied both natal and mundane astrology and used the North Node’s cycle, her own rectified chart for the New York Stock Exchange, the horoscopes of corporations, and lunations and transits to form her judgments.

The North Node’s cycle outlined the bigger swings of the market. From Scorpio to Libra, expected business volume moves from normal to above normal, creating prosperity. In Leo, business is at a high point. In Cancer and Gemini, business is above normal trending toward normal. With the Node in Taurus through Aries, we transition to below normal. When the North Node passes into Aquarius, we are at the low point. From Capricorn to Sagittarius we move from below normal to normal again.

McWhirter rectified the NY Stock Exchange chart, giving it a 14 Cancer Ascendant with 24-1/2 Pisces on the MC and felt that transits to the angles would change the trends in securities, bonds and the general condition of the market. These “secondary factors” could alter the expected nodal cycle movement by up to 20%. Lunations (New Moon charts) compared with the NYSE horoscope will show the trend of the coming month.

Other factors can also throw this business cycle out of its expected rhythm. Transiting Jupiter conjunct the Node or in favorable aspects to Saturn or Uranus may give the markets a boost. Saturn or Uranus in hard aspect to the Nodes should depress prices. The positive or negative aspects between transiting Saturn and Uranus can also be used to forecast major trends. Louise felt that both the signs of Gemini and Cancer related to the United States, so Jupiter in these signs was helpful, while Saturn, Uranus and Pluto here were not.

To forecast for individual stocks, McWhirter utilized incorporation dates and their solar charts. If their natal planets connect to the NYSE chart, we can expect them to follow the general market’s trend. Lunations and outer planet transits to these charts will indicate how the particular company will fare in the coming months and years.

In 1938, McWhirter reiterated Dr. Luke D. Broughton and Evangeline Adams’ cycle for U.S. war with Uranus in Gemini, and correctly forecast that when Saturn and Uranus were in this sign from 1942 to 1944, it suggested “war, depression, government change, social upheaval and a financial panic.”

Louise McWhirter’s methods might not be as effective today as they once were, but they’re based on sound, standard astrology. We can all begin to test them by following the charts for the market and individual companies and studying the transits and lunations to them. As Louise advised, “It takes time and practice to become adept in analyzing the charts of stocks, but it is interesting and very worthwhile because it helps you to obtain financial independence through investment of a sound and practical nature.”

My biographical sketch of Louise McWhirter is here.

McWhirter Theory of Stock Market Forecasting is on Amazon.

Louise McWhirter

Search the web and you’ll find plenty of information on financial astrologer Louise McWhirter, though all of it relates to her 1938 book, McWhirter Theory of Stock Market Forecasting. Her low profile has even led some to speculate she was only a pseudonym for W.D. Gann (a rather sexist theory proposed by a man). But yes, she did exist.

Wikipedia shares information from a family member’s posts on Ancestry.com. Martha Louise McWhirter was born in 1896 in New York City, and we can find additional family information in Census records. Her younger brother was born two years later. Her father, Robert, was from Texas and her mother was from France. By the time Louise was 14, she was living in Maryland, her father had remarried and he was now a gardener and shareholder in a cooperative farm, which must’ve been an unusual situation at that time.

Louise’s parents had divorced and her mother returned to New York, working as a department store clerk. She died when Louise was only 21 years old.

McWhirter married John Mitchell Henry soon after, and the couple settled in Bayonne, New Jersey. They eventually owned their home and had five children – making it obvious why Louise didn’t publish her book until her early 40s. John worked as an assistant engineer at an oil refinery and Louise was a stay-at-home mom. Apparently she used her middle and maiden names for her work for privacy. She had studied the astrology of financial markets for years and one would guess that she made some modest investments herself. Perhaps she did readings for clients.

Evangeline Adams and her teacher Catherine Thompson had used some financial forecasting techniques beginning in the late 1900s. The stock market crash of 1929 brought more interest in predicting the highs and lows of the market. Sepharial and L. Krohn had written a few books on the subject in the ‘teens, W.D. Gann was also writing by that time, and James Mars Langham and L.J. Jensen had published financial astrology texts in the early ‘30s. McWhirter says she originated the New York Stock Exchange chart, and Graham Bates credits her with rectifying it.

We don’t know exactly who Louise’s astrology teachers were. Her home was within commuting distance from Manhattan, where she might have taken classes with one of Evangeline’s former employees like Iris Vorel, Myra Kingsley, Nella Webb or Lynn Wells. Other New York astrologers at the time included Elizabeth Aldrich and Katherine Taylor Craig. Astrologer Juliet Pontin had a home in New Jersey and an office in the city.

McWhirter used the North Nodal cycle, transits and lunations to the NYSE and incorporation charts for long and shorter-term forecasting. She was a Libra with Jupiter in Virgo and her book is a clear and workable instruction manual on how she used astrology to forecast the ups and downs of the markets. As she said, “It is no longer necessary to be wiped out on the Stock Market. That is a sign of ignorance.”

I’ll share more about her book and forecasting methods in a later post.

McWhirter Theory of Stock Market Forecasting is on Amazon.

Jane Austen… Again

Over 200 years after her death, Jane Austen’s popularity continues to soar. Her numerous book spin-offs include plays, film adaptations, soft-core porn sequels and even things like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. With Neptune rising in her horoscope, it appears that everyone can see something different in Austen.

Neptune conjoining the Ascendant in Virgo in Jane’s chart makes her work multi-layered. Her books give us her personal impressions and are true-to-life reflections of daily concerns that strike a chord with readers, perhaps because there is usually some romanticism and often the suggestion of happy endings. But typical of Neptune, we don’t even know what she looked like!

Austen may not always be what she appears, especially as Neptune squares her 4th house Sun in Sagittarius. Commentators have seen her as a conservative, a house-mouse and a feminist (she never married and while tied to her family, she produced great novels). Her Mercury in Sag. in the 3rd attests to her need to write, and it opposes Uranus in the 9th house, giving her an independent outlook. Jupiter in Gemini in the 9th shows her education and the ability to publish, especially as it trines her Moon and Saturn straddling the 2nd house cusp. This aspect is probably part of what has continued to keep her books popular with readers, as Saturn can bring longevity. (While she sold some work during her lifetime, Jane did not make much money at it.) Venus in Scorpio indicates her deep feelings.

The Moon in Libra conjoining Saturn gives Austen a consistent interest in relationships, which were both persistent (especially those with women) and limited (she quickly broke off an engagement). The Moon and Saturn also square Mars in Capricorn in her 4th house, suggesting responsibilities and obligations to the home and family. Her life had limitations. Saturn squaring Pluto in Capricorn shows her pragmatic and realistic side. The Sag. and Capricorn planets combine to make her work both humorous and ironic.

With Pluto trining the writer’s Ascendant in 2020 and returning to its natal place in 2021, the recycling of her brand will probably continue. Hopefully some of it will get to the heart of what makes Jane Austen special.

Jane Austen was born on December 3, 1775 at around 11:45 pm in Steventon, Hampshire, England, according to a letter from her father – see Astrodatabank.
Helena Kelly’s feminist analysis, Jane Austen, Secret Radical, deconstructs Austen’s life and work and provides an encyclopedic look at the history and culture of the time.