Category Archives: horoscope interpretation

The U.S. vs. Trump

When I looked at Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency in 2020, I noticed an unusual aspect in synastry:  his progressed Mars was approaching a conjunction with the U.S. progressed Mars.  At over 6 degrees apart, I didn’t consider it.  But time has passed and I was reminded of this combination when Trump announced on August 8th that the FBI had raided his Mar-a-Lago home.  It looked to me like a fight. 

Astrologers are familiar with Trump’s rising Mars in Leo, which perfectly describes his bold, assertive, bombastic personality.  It rules his 9th house, making him expansive and litigious, as well as his 4th house, often focusing him on family matters and real estate.  Trump’s Mars has helped him enthuse followers and push through his agenda.

In the U.S. Gemini rising chart I use (favored by Evangeline Adams), Mars is also rising.  In Gemini, a mutable sign, it has less force and consistency.  But it does describe a multiplicity of voices and America’s sense of independence and self-reliance.  Trump’s natal Mars is roughly sextile the U.S. Mars.  But relationships grow and change and we can get a better idea of their status at any moment by looking at progressed to progressed aspects.

The U.S. progressed Mars, like Trump’s, is now in the middle degrees of Libra, the sign of its detriment (opposite its ruling sign of Aries), making it more malefic.  We might potentially say that Trump and the country are joining forces, but the U.S. also has natal Saturn at 14 Libra 47, the sign of its exaltation, giving government authority figures the edge in any encounters.  Saturn rules the 8th, 9th and 10th houses in the U.S. chart, and closely squares the U.S. Sun in Cancer.  We can see the resources (8th) of the government (10th) and its legal system (9th) brought to bear in an authoritative move against the former president.  Both the U.S. and Trump’s progressed Mars conjoin one another, but also conjoin U.S. natal Saturn and square its Sun.  The country may be at a crossroads, and all are experiencing a challenging period of time.

The progressed to progressed combinations are unusual and continue for several years.  Trump has been actively flirting with running again in 2024, but at the time of the election, his progressed Mars will nearly exactly conjoin U.S. Saturn (less than half a degree – it will be roughly exact in the summer of 2025).  Meanwhile, the U.S. progressed Mars moving slowly retrograde and Trump’s progressed Mars moving more quickly direct in Libra are in a double-approaching conjunction with one another, less than 2½ degrees apart at the time of the 2024 election.  They will continue their close conjunction until around 2027, when the aspect will perfect.

One commentator has suggested that the more aggressive the government’s actions against Trump, the likelier he will be to run for president again in 2024. Contention motivates him.  This fits the astrological picture, which suggests a long legal battle over what justice (Libra) actually means.  The malefics involved show quite a contentious relationship in the coming years, but the strength of the U.S. Saturn implies that the country will win in the end.  (Unless, of course, Trump once again becomes its authority figure.)

Still, the malefic Mars-Saturn combination does not bode well for Donald Trump’s candidacy in 2024.  But the election is over two years away, much will change in the intervening years, and these progressed aspects, though notable, are just one small piece of a much larger picture.

 

P.L. Travers Consults Johndro

Mary Poppins’ creator P.L. Travers had been successful in her career, but at age 40, when she was offered a set of twins to adopt, she felt she could only take one.  Should she do it?  And which child to take?  Who could answer this kind of question but an astrologer?  She consulted L. Edward Johndro half a world away and listened to his advice.

The Poppins books contain many magical elements, and these grew out of Travers’ world view.  She had worked as a Shakespearean actress and newspaper columnist in her native Australia before moving to London in 1924 at the age of 25.  There she met George William Russell (also known as AE), the editor of the Irish Statesman.  Through him, Travers explored Celtic mythology and Eastern religions, and met Yeats and other metaphysical thinkers.  She became interested in Theosophy and followed Krishnamurti, studied with Jung in Switzerland and was even a disciple of Gurdjieff, whose consciousness-raising program included fasting, labor and dances.  Travers loved Romantic poet William Blake, another original thinker who was also interested in astrology.

Uranus conjoined her Ascendant in Sagittarius, and Pamela was a seeker who identified with esoteric subjects.  Uranus trining her Venus in Leo in the 9th shows her love of writing and study, as well as her phenomenal worldwide success.  The Sun in Leo conjunct the Midheaven and Mercury in Virgo in the 10th house, both dignified, clearly signify her many achievements.  She had a formidable horoscope with an equally notable life and personality.

Despite her prominent Leo planets, Ascendant-ruler Jupiter is placed in the 12th house in Scorpio, turning her inward and attracting her to imaginative work and occult studies.  Her biographer, Valerie Lawson, shared that she had a reserved personality and “valued anonymity.”

Her early life had been difficult.  Saturn was rising and part of a tight T-square with her Moon in Virgo conjunct the 11th house cusp and Pluto in the 7th, showing a notable disruption and maybe even questions of survival.  Saturn traditionally rules the 4th house relating to home and family, and its modern ruler Uranus also comes to her 1st and  squares Mercury.  Travers’ father died when she was seven and she was raised by an older aunt.  While her mother had some family money, her uncle lost much of it through mismanagement.

Travers was concerned with finances as an adult, and Saturn-Pluto is quite security-oriented, especially with the T-square involving the Moon in Virgo.  She must have had anxieties but was probably a disciplined writer.  Her son’s oldest brother Joseph Hone, writing critically, said that she was “steely, self-centered and very controlling,” and added that she was “a contrary, divided, hypochondriac of ambiguous sexuality.”  The Moon in Virgo also shows her attraction to the discipline of Gurdjieff’s “work,” and Hone added that Guardjieff advised her to take an enema a day!

A friend was the grandfather of six children abandoned by their parents.  Pamela travelled to Ireland to visit the twins and consider adoption in October of 1939.  Camillus was better-looking but crying, and she wasn’t sure.

Travers’ mentor AE was later an adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose one-term Vice President Henry Agard Wallace also worked with L. Edward Johndro.  So AE may have recommended Johndro.  Pamela wrote to the astrologer, who did both charts to help her decide.  (She must have had their times of birth, which we do not.)  Johndro soon wrote back to recommend Camillus, saying that “All in all it would be a rare thing to find better cross rays between a child and its OWN mother.  So I would say, by all means, ADOPT HIM.”

Camillus was also a Leo, with his Sun conjunct Travers’ own.  Not only that, his Sun, Mercury, Venus and Pluto all in Leo fell at the top of his adoptive mother’s chart.  His Moon, whether in Leo or Virgo, did the same, so there was much common ground.  And they unfortunately also shared hard Saturn-Pluto aspects.  Camillus’ Saturn was almost exactly square Pluto, and Saturn also conjoined his South Node.  He had learned the lessons of survival in infancy, and was underweight, underdeveloped and in and out of hospitals for a few months after Travers brought him home.

Pamela was born on a first quarter Moon, and Camillus on a new Moon.  While they had issues (particularly the fact that she hadn’t told him the truth about his birth), they remained on “more or less friendly terms” throughout their lives.  But according to biographer Lawson, Travers gave Mary Poppins a dramatic full Moon at birth!

And while Camillus was fortunate in his adoption, he had drinking problems throughout his life as did his twin Anthony, who he didn’t meet until he was 17.  Anthony died an alcoholic at the age of 65 while Camillus lived six years longer.

Pamela became wealthy in the 1960s from the Mary Poppins Disney film.  Beginning in 1976, she was a consulting editor and contributor to the magazine Parabola, which addressed mythology.  She left over ₤2 million in trust for her son and grandchildren when she died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Mercury was one of her most notable planets and her fame came through her writing.  In 2018, a crater on Mercury was named for her!

Frances McEvoy obtained Travers’ birth data from her according to Astrodatabank.  Though it may be rounded-off to noon, her life does seem to resonate with this time.

Emma Thompson convincingly portrayed a curmudgeonly Saturn-rising Travers in Saving Mr. Banks.

Valerie Lawson did excellent research for her biography of Travers, Mary Poppins, She Wrote.

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Astro-Genealogy: Reclamation

Why do we connect with particular ancestors?  Of course it’s astrological.  Gayle Jessup White’s oral history assured her that she was a descendant of Thomas Jefferson.  White’s book, Reclamation, chronicles her lifelong journey to trace her roots, and astrology shows an extraordinary connection between the ancestor and his descendant, with eleven conjunctions between the two charts.

The author gives us her birth date, and with at least five planets in Leo, White writes candidly and with love and pride.  Her Moon may be in Cancer or Leo (if she was born after 6:15 p.m.).  Cancer seems more likely since her writing also shows warmth and sensitivity.

At thirteen she overheard her older sister mention that the family was descended from the president.  After some research, they also believed they were descended from Sally Hemings, the enslaved half-sister of Jefferson’s wife Martha, who had six of the president’s children.  But their father had lost his mother at five to tuberculosis, so knew little about her life.  Though he identified as black, he remembered uncles who had “shed their black identities.”

Gayle Jessup White’s Leo Sun disposits all the planets in her horoscope (except for the Moon if it’s in Cancer), making it quite influential.  The Sun conjunct Uranus and trine Saturn shows her connection with her father and their unique heritage, as well as her interest in the past (Saturn).  It was many years before Gayle was able to piece together more of her family history.

As an adult, White regularly visited Monticello, Jefferson’s estate, always sharing her story with the tour guides when they mentioned Hemings, but got no response.  Finally, in May of 2010, with transiting Saturn conjoining her natal Jupiter and transiting Jupiter and Uranus in Pisces opposing her Jupiter, she visited again with her son, and her story found an audience.  They received a private tour and a referral to a researcher interested in their history.

In late July, as Jupiter and Uranus, now in early Aries, both stationed closely in trine to her Sun, Gayle made contact with the researcher, who quickly found her grandmother in the 1900 Census, living as the servant of a white great-granddaughter of Jefferson (a remnant from the days of enslavement).  After getting the news, Gayle had a psychic experience, hearing the voice of her grandmother saying, “It’s all I have, tell my story.”

She then continued her search with “relentless determination” (as we might imagine with Mercury, Mars and Pluto all conjunct in Leo), and was eventually able, through genealogy records and DNA testing, to confirm that she was indeed a direct descendant of Jefferson and that Sally Hemings was her four-times great-aunt.

Gayle’s astrological connections with her ancestor are remarkable.  Isaac Starkman’s rectified chart for Jefferson and the noon chart for White both share a late Cancer Moon.  Their Mars are conjunct in Leo, and Jefferson’s Saturn and Jupiter in late Leo and early Virgo conjoin White’s Mercury, Pluto and Venus.  If this were not enough to motivate a search through the centuries, their Nodes are closely conjunct in opposing signs, with Jefferson’s Pluto falling exactly on White’s North Node.  Their Saturn-Pluto conjunction is also near exact; both Pluto connections suggest their genetic bond.

What Gayle knew for so long was proved.  She had received a research grant from the Jefferson foundation and became the PR and Community Engagement Officer at Monticello.  She describes herself as “A woman who after a lifelong journey found her family, her home, her purpose.”  A strong Leo Sun trine Saturn often promises success, even if Uranus made for many twists and turns before she got there.

Buy Reclamation on Amazon.com.

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Cornerstones of Astrology

Cornerstones of Astrology is an unusual book with a curious history that was inspired by the work of Jean-Baptiste Morin de Villefranche (1583-1656).

Morin’s magnum opus, Astrologia Gallica was published in Latin in 1661, five years after his death, and not many took notice.  The book was rescued from obscurity by French astrologer Henri Selva (b. 1861), who translated its most important section (Book 21) on synthesizing the horoscope in 1897, and wrote a commentary a few years later, making turn of the century French readers aware of the depth of Morin’s thinking.

Viennese astrologers Friedrich “Sinbad” Schwickert (1837-1930 – a frigate captain) and Adolf Weiss, M.D. (1888-1956) digested Selva’s books and together wrote a 5-volume work, Bausteine der Astrologie (Leipzig 1925-1927) based on Morin’s techniques.  Weiss later relocated to Argentina (a wise move since at least one of Sinbad’s other astrology students was killed by the Nazis), and published a Spanish version of the work in 1945.

Cornerstones of Astrology is a 1972 English translation by an unidentified astrologer based on the Schwickert and Weiss Spanish translation.  It seems to me that it covers only the first two original German volumes, on the elements and synthesis (the latter once again following Morin’s crucial Book 21).

Quotes from Selva’s work are some of the most compelling parts of the text, along with those from Morin himself.  The authors nevertheless state that Selva was “not very successful on his enterprise.”  Were they more familiar with Morin’s original work?  Only somewhat, it appears, as they admit it was written in “an almost incomprehensible Latin.”  Nevertheless, Cornerstones effectively communicates Morin’s techniques and shows how charts can be judged using it.

The first half of the book describes the Primary Characteristics (hot, cold, wet, dry and fire, earth, air and water) and Essential Nature of the planets, signs and houses.  These include lists with more modern esoteric discussions that reference Ptolemy and 19th to early 20th texts as sources, with much having little to do with traditional astrology.  Uranus and Neptune are addressed, and Pluto mentioned but not included, due to a lack of research.  I don’t feel the first part of the book works particularly well.

With the chapter on Cosmic State and Local Determination, we finally begin to get into Morin’s techniques.  Cosmic State relates to each planet’s strength from its sign, malefic or benefic nature and aspects.  Local (or Accidental) Determination or Terrestrial State takes a planet’s house placement and rulerships into consideration; in other words, where the planets fall, come from and lead to at a particular time and place.  Do they have analogous meanings with the houses they’re in and planets they combine with?  Do they facilitate or hinder the affairs of the houses they’re involved with, and how?  All of these considerations will inform our judgment.

The book goes on to describe how the techniques work in example horoscopes.  While at times the astrologers digress, their analysis is thorough and focused ( I sensed a Virgo approach and indeed, both were Virgo).  Schwickert and Weiss communicate Morin’s ideas and show how the facets of the horoscope are inter-related in charts.  I don’t know of another text that goes into such great depth of systematic analysis.  (Patti Tobin Brittain’s Planetary Powers presents isolated elements of similar considerations without real chart examples.)

The criteria used range in importance from planetary position and essential dignity to house associations and rulerships, then finally aspects.  General significators (the Moon for the mother, Saturn for the father) are too general, but may be helpful when they coincide with more specific determinations found in the birth chart (like Saturn in the 4th or the Sun ruling the 10th house).

The steps are challenging enough in themselves, but there are additional hurdles.  Schwickert and Weiss use abbreviations:  “M” represents malefics and “m” accidental malefics, for example, and houses are given in Roman numerals, both of which I found unwieldly.  In addition, aspect symbols are used but sometimes the characters aren’t printed completely.  (The authors share Saturn in detriment in the 7th house – perhaps creating a barrier to access?)  There are typos in some of the charts (one has no date listed and there are other errors and omissions).  The three charts from Morin don’t include the modern planets, while the others do, and most of the authors’ collection of charts give times to the second, with no indication of how they were rectified.  The 1972 English translation is not the best overall, and has made no attempt to update original comments on sexuality and lifestyle, which some today may find objectionable.

Finally, Schwickert and Weiss only present the steps of their judgment that are necessary to see how the combinations of planets, houses and aspects work together.  But all charts are in the appendix, so the reader must continually flip back and forth between charts and text, often with little reminder of who the people are.  No charts are completely delineated in one place.

Despite its limitations, Cornerstones of Astrology is written by expert astrologers, covers an amazing amount of ground and provides worked examples of how Morin may have looked at horoscopes.  As a result, this book is unique and valuable.

Check out my blog post on Morin and his Astrologia Gallica, which has additional links.

Buy Cornerstones of Astrology on Amazon.com.

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Morin’s Book

Jean Baptiste Morin de Villefranche (1583-1656) was a leading astrologer in 17th century France, with patrons like Cardinal Richelieu, Pope Urban VIII, France’s Queen Marie de Medici and Queen Kristina of Sweden, but he never received quite the acclaim he felt entitled to. He fumed over contemporaries who used what he considered deficient methods but who nevertheless enjoyed greater success. For 30 years he toiled over his masterwork, The Astrologia Gallica, yet he was never able to publish it. Finally, five years after his death, his patron Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga of Poland brought it into print.

With Jupiter ruling the 9th of higher learning and publishing placed in its own sign of Pisces, Morin retained a college professorship for over 25 years. Jupiter trined his Mars and conjoined 3rd house ruler Mercury in Aquarius, and he could certainly write – Astrologia Gallica runs over 26 books and 800 pages! So what was the problem? Saturn.

By the time Morin practiced in the mid-17th century, his Latin was going out of style and the work of Copernicus and Newton attracted more attention as the west drew closer to the scientific reductionism of the “Enlightenment.” Morin was a man who suffered for an expertise that no longer seemed relevant to many.

Jupiter conjoined his Sun at about a half a degree, with both in orb of conjoining Saturn in Pisces in the 12th house. Morin’s Moon, also in Pisces, conjoins Saturn more closely. If Jupiter lacked dignity, we might describe the situation as “too little, too late.” Instead, we have a seminal work that is still being read and translated over 400 years after publication, but only in parts and with a limited audience.

All of the 12th house planets increased Morin’s sense of isolation and seclusion, but gave him the opportunity and motivation to capture his thoughts. With Aries rising, Mars in cranky Cancer conjoined the low-point 4th house, quintiled the Ascendant and trined the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn in the 12th. His attacks on Descartes, Galileo, Cardan and others didn’t help his popularity. Today we can also see that Mars squares Pluto in the 12th, heightening his anger and frustration. But the 4th house placement goaded him toward a solid foundation, and with Mars’ trine to Saturn, ruler of the 10th, he succeeded in transmitting an astrological tradition over several centuries. Unfortunately, though, in keeping with Jupiter, the Astrologia Gallica is also just a little too big, complex and comprehensive.

With Jupiter conjunct Saturn ruling Morin’s 8th through 12 houses, this notable combination also activated events after his life. Jupiter and Saturn at 1 Taurus 36, conjoined his Ascendant on April 18, 1881, and 20 years later, on November 28, 1901, the conjunction in Capricorn closely conjoined his Midheaven.

At the turn of the century, French astrologer Henri Selva translated an abridged version of Morin’s 21st book on determinations, and included a commentary. The next Jupiter conjunct Saturn in 1921 fell at 26 Virgo 36 in Morin’s 6th house of helpmates and squared his 3rd-9th house Nodes. Austrian astrologers Captain Frederich “Sinbad” Schwickert (1837-1930) and Adolf Weiss, M.D. (1888-1956) together wrote their own explanation of Morin’s methods, a 5-volume work based on Astrologia Gallica’s Books 21 and 22 (synthesis and directions) called Bausteine der Astrologie (Liepzig 1925-27). Weiss fled the Nazis in the 1930s, moving to Brazil and finally Argentina, where he published a Spanish version of their work in 1938.

The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 1961 at 25 Capricorn fell in Morin’s 10th house and squared his Ascendant, again setting the stage for what would follow. Hungarian immigrant Zoltan Mason (1906-2002) opened his astrology bookshop in New York City in 1950. As he was fluent in both French and German, he may have initially encountered Morin in Europe through the earlier 20th century works.

Mason’s Ascendant was opposite Morin’s, and his Moon at 28 Libra closely conjoined Morin’s 7th house cusp, making him a partner. In 1974, Mason published an English translation of Morin’s Book 21, Astrosynthesis, by his student Lucy Little (a pseudonym as the woman’s family disapproved of astrology). The same year, a translation by Richard S. Baldwin was released by the AFA.

Another teacher of Morin’s technique was Gerhard Angel Houwing (1923-2009). According to Dave Roell, he was from Argentina though he may have been Dutch. Houwing began studying astrology before he turned 20, and was introduced to Morin in the 1950s through the German Bausteine. He resettled in Dallas in 1963, and his students included James Herschel Holden and Patti Tobin Brittain. Brittain wrote the Morin primer, Planetary Powers (1980). (See my review of Planetary Powers.)

Cornerstones of Astrology is an English version of the Spanish translation of Schwickert and Weiss’ Bausteine, published by the Sangreal Foundation, Inc. from Dallas in 1972. There is no indication of who translated the book, but Brittain tells us that Houwing was “instrumental” to the work. The short preface is attributed to Jan Meursing, which Roell believed was a pseudonym for Houwing.

In the early 21st century, after the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at about 23 Taurus on 5/28/00 in Morin’s first house, Holden translated several parts of the book into English. Morin’s Moon and Saturn closely straddled Holden’s Ascendant, so he was able to connect with and express the long-obscured work. The AFA published a number of English translations of Astrologia Gallica’s books, many by Holden.

I will write more about Cornerstones of Astrology in a later post.

Morin’s chart is based on his own statements, with research by Tony Louis and Zoltan Mason.

Robert Corre has much on Morin on his Forum on Astrology.

More on Morin from the late Dave Roell at Astroamerica.com.

Philip Graves appears to have a rather complete list of works by or about Morin at Astrolearn.com (scroll down).

Louisa May Alcott’s Jupiter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dad had a Grand Cross

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2022 Election: Chuck Grassley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dueling Elections

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Astro-Genealogy

My great-grandmother died in the 1918 pandemic, well before my father was even born.  We only have a few records of her life, though her original birth certificate actually has a time, so astrology can tell us more.

Mariantonia de Stasio was born in Montecalvo Irpino in Avellino, Italy in 1870.  The country was unified in 1861, but the south had a high tax burden, limited medical care, transportation problems and land shortages.  About a third of the town’s residents left for the U.S. between 1892 and 1924.

I’m not sure of the accuracy of the 11:00 a.m. birth time on Maria’s birth record.  But it gives her Leo rising, which seems appropriate, as her photo shows that she had good taste and presented a polished appearance.  She wore a beautiful lace collar and earrings, and her hair is perfectly swept up.

Maria’s Sun in Taurus conjunct Pluto, as well as her Moon-Venus-Saturn T-square, suggest some trauma and limitations in her life.  Her father died before she married at the age of 20.  Her husband, my great-grandfather Donato, travelled to New York City in 1895, and their second daughter died in Italy only a few months after he left.  But with Jupiter trine her Moon and conjunct her Sun, emigrating to the U.S. was probably a good choice for Maria.

Maria and Donato had six more children in New York, one of whom died in infancy.  Census records show that they lived in tenement apartments in Manhattan’s Little Italy on Mott Street and Hester Street.  By 1915 they had moved to Bridge Street in Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill, on the other side of the Manhattan Bridge. 

Maria’s mutable Moon in Virgo square Saturn in Sagittarius could also indicate their less than ideal housing situations.  She had been trained as a tailor and must have been skilled, with a strong work ethic.  Her oldest daughter Rose was working as a coat finisher when she was only 13.  Like many women of the time, they probably sewed piecework in their home. 

The Moon rules Maria’s 12th house relating to the immune system, and Saturn rules her 6th of illness.  Saturn is then placed in her 5th of children.  It seems like her many responsibilities may have weakened her health.  She might have also suffered from anxiety or even depression. 

The flu pandemic hit NY in the spring of 1918, and became much worse that fall.  With transiting Jupiter and Pluto in Cancer and Saturn in Leo, both youthful signs, it was more dangerous to children (as opposed to the 2020 pandemic with Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn affecting seniors more strongly). 

Maria’s Sun helpfully conjoins Jupiter, but Jupiter in its detriment in Gemini makes it less benefic.  Mercury is dignified in Gemini and disposes the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, so she probably overcome her limitations with common sense and the help of friends (since Mercury conjoins the 11th house).  But mutable signs can affect the lungs:  Saturn in Sagittarius might constrict her breathing, while Jupiter in Gemini presents potential lung congestion.  She contracted the flu and died of pneumonia less than two weeks later, on October 24, 1918.  Transiting Saturn conjoined her Ascendant, lowering her vitality, while transiting Uranus in the 7th opposed it.  The doctor visited but was unable to help her; she was only 48 years old.

At the same time, Maria’s progressed Midheaven at 25+ Gemini opposed natal Saturn, and her progressed Ascendant at 26 Virgo conjoined her Moon, both activating the natal Moon-Saturn square.  (It seems that her 11:00 birth time may not be that far off.)   

We often find close connections with the horoscopes of family members.  I never met my great-grandmother and we have only one photo to tell us what she looked like.  But her Pluto is only a few minutes from my Moon and the connection is both genetic and after her death!  

 

I wrote more about the 1918 pandemic in New York City here.

Medical astrology information in this post is from Diane Cramer’s book, Managing Your Health and Wellness. 

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