Ask Christine Astrology

Our little cat has been having tummy trouble, and tonight, Sunday, we returned home from a weekend out of town to discover she hadn’t been keeping her food down. We’d been treating her for the past week according to her vet’s directions, but leaving her alone overnight, even with my best friend coming by to visit her several times, may have caused a setback. I put up a quick chart with the question, “Just how sick is she? Is it serious?” (I’m not a doctor and an astrological reading does not constitute medical advice for people or their pets. I’ll call the vet in the morning, whatever the chart says.)

(Click to enlarge the chart.)

With Aries on the cusp of the 6th, the house of small animals, my cat’s significator is Mars. Mars is a hot, dry planet, currently in cold, wet Cancer: she’s definitely out of sorts. Cancer is the sign ruling the stomach, which matches what I know about her situation. Her stomach is what’s bothering her.

Normally, I look at Mars in Cancer in a horary chart and cringe. In Cancer, Mars is in its fall, a considerable debility. But in this case, this planet and sign combination tells me three things I find reassuring. One, a planet in its fall is certainly in poor condition, but it’s in an exaggerated way; my cat is definitely sick, but the situation looks worse than it is. Two, the curious thing about Mars in Cancer is that it’s simultaneously debilitated and dignified. According to Ptolemaic tables of essential dignity, Mars is triplicity ruler of water signs in both day and night charts. Triplicity is a decent level of dignity, a comfortable element for a planet to find itself in. It makes me feel better to know that my cat, though in her fall, isn’t all the way in it, so to speak.

Three, Cancer is a cardinal sign, and that suggests to me that my cat’s condition is acute, not chronic (fixed) nor recurring (mutable). We probably need to continue the treatment we already started, but if I’m correct and if her vet concurs, this is not going to be an ongoing issue. I really hope that’s the case. I notice that the Moon is also in a cardinal sign, repeating the testimony that this will be resolved quickly.

Is there any way to tell when she’ll start feeling better? Mars is at 10 Cancer 18. We first noticed that she was ill about 10 days ago. Symbolically, there’s a relationship between the 10+ degrees since Mars entered Cancer and the 10 days since she fell ill. Mars has just under 20 degrees until it enters hot, dry Leo, where this hot, dry planet will be more in its element. (And the sign of the Great Cat has got to be a good place for our feline friend to be headed.) So I suspect it will be another 20 days before she’s all the way back to her frisky self.

Meanwhile, she’s jumped up on my lap twice since I began telling you this story. She’s curled up here now and is drowsily waving her soft grey tail. I think she was upset that we left her for the weekend. Mars in Cancer loves the Moon, which is my co-significator as querent in this chart. It looks like we mean the world to her, and with Moon in Capricorn exalting Mars, we outright adore her. Since bringing her home from a shelter six weeks ago, we’ve happily become her willing and doting staff.

There’s a story John Frawley tells in his book The Real Astrology of an almanac published by one Isaac Bickerstaff in the early 18th century. In this almanac, one of many being written and distributed in England at the time, Bickerstaff discusses “the gross abuse of astrology in this kingdom,” and states that the fault lies not “upon the art, but upon those gross impostors, who set up to be the artists.” To establish, by contrast, his own credibility in the art, he puts forth several predictions of his own for the year 1708, leading with this one:

My first prediction is but a trifle, yet I will mention it… It relates to Partridge the almanack-maker; I have consulted the stars of his nativity by my own rules, and find he will infallibly die upon the 29th of March next, about eleven at night, of a raging fever; therefore I advise him to consider of it, and settle his affairs in time.

The “Partridge” he meant was John Partridge, an astrologer whose own almanacs were widely distributed and consulted - and apparently one of the “gross impostors” Bickerstaff sought to discredit. Bickerstaff goes on to foretell the deaths of other “great persons” - a cardinal, a prince, “an eminent goldsmith in Lombard-Street” - and provides further predictions through September 1708 before concluding,

… let no wise men too hastily condemn this essay, intended for a good design, to cultivate and improve an ancient art, long in disgrace, by having fallen into mean and unskilful hands. A little time will determine whether I have deceived others or myself: and I think it is no very unreasonable request, that men would please to suspend their judgments till then.

His readers didn’t have to wait long. On March 30, 1708, there appeared news of the fulfillment of the first of Bickerstaff’s predictions: Partridge was dead, deceased the previous night, March 29, 1708. An anonymous letter-writer speaks of seeing Partridge on his death-bed, who repents that he had ever allowed Bickerstaff’s prediction of his own death to enter his thoughts and so bring about his demise. Why did you not cast your own chart to confirm it? exclaims his interlocutor in surprise. “Sir, this is no time for jesting,” says poor Partridge. “I have sense enough to know that all pretences of foretelling by astrology are deceits.” Upon which, the astrologer expires, “above five minutes after seven,” reports our anonymous witness, “by which it is clear that Mr. Bickerstaff was mistaken almost four hours in his calculation.”

The only thing is, Partridge wasn’t dead. And Bickerstaff wasn’t the almanac writer’s real name, but Jonathan Swift, the satirist you may know for “A Modest Proposal,” Gulliver’s Travels, and other works. Swift published the phony almanac, the announcement of Partridge’s demise, and an elegy to the astrologer in a carefully plotted prankster’s trifecta, all to discredit both the folly of astrology and the astrologer himself.

What did Swift have against Partridge? Teresa Santoski of the Nashua, New Hampshire Telegraph reports that Partridge’s own 1708 Merlinus Almanac included snide remarks about the Church of England as well as predictions of the deaths of several officials of the church. Supposedly this was motive enough for Swift to launch his attack.

But how could Swift’s campaign work? Partridge was still walking around, was he not? He was, and in fact, his new almanac was published later that year with a note that reports of his death were widely exaggerated; but as Frawley writes in The Real Astrologer,

Bickerstaff rushed into print again, defending his prediction. Amongst other evidence, he pointed out that it was well known that many almanacs continued to appear long after the death of their putative author. Partridge’s attempts to prove himself alive were hindered by a falling out with the Company of Stationers, which refused him a license to publish for the next three years. In intellectual circles, if not on the street, he rapidly became a laughing-stock.

Noting, today, the 300th anniversary of the reputed demise of John Partridge, I can’t help but think we haven’t changed much in three centuries. Anonymous writers of unknown motive can still “rush into print” online, blogging or commenting or trolling their attacks with little fear of identification or retribution. And a few choice words can spread like wildfire, doing irreversible damage to a career or reputation.

Read for yourself the Bickerstaff-Partridge papers at Project Gutenberg.

Read Teresa Santoski’s note about the March 29, 1708 prediction and its aftermath. (Scroll down to “Saturday.”)

The Real Astrology by John Frawley is available at www.johnfrawley.com and through booksellers such as The Astrology Center of America.

I’m struggling with a horary chart I’m working on. Not because the chart is that inscrutable, but because the client is my husband. He’s got his eye on a fancy zoom lens for his camera and decided to check in with the planets before he ponies up. There’s a quirk in the chart that I would have to navigate no matter who my client happened to be; but the fact that it’s my husband makes it all the harder to cope with the usual concern that my answer - if I’m reading the chart correctly - might not satisfy him, particularly if it tells him not to go forward with a purchase he wants to make anyway.

His question: “Should I buy this lens? My hesitations are that 1) it’s a private seller I don’t know, 2) the seller is the lens’ second owner, and 3) the lens is old.” (Click to enlarge the chart.)

“Should I buy this thing?” is a second-house question. You’re asking, should I exchange some of my cash and accept this object in its place? Right away, the quirk I mentioned at the outset is apparent. With Virgo on both the first and second house cusps, it looks like the querent and the lens are represented by the same planet, Mercury. Not that I necessarily need a significator for my husband at this stage; I can look at Mercury as Lord 2 and learn a lot about the condition of the camera lens.

And what I learn at first glance is, ewwww. In Pisces, the sign where Mercury is in its detriment and its fall, the lens could hardly be in worse shape. The doubly debilitated significator could mean the lens is broken, missing some parts, or just old and badly scratched. In fact, Mercury’s only saving grace is the company it keeps: it’s conjunct Venus exalted in Pisces. Could that mean it’s actually an excellent lens for artistic purposes? Can I draw on the “rule of sufficient explanation” and say that, in some way, Mercury in Pisces is an appropriate description of photography - helping communicate through not-words - and thus not a debility? Maybe. (Feels like a reach, though.) But it’s also possible that the presence of Venus won’t be able to help this Mercury out of its debility. Venus may be essentially strong, but she can’t help Mercury if Mercury is essentially weak, that is, incapable of accepting her help. This Mercury has some dignity by term, but I think the double whammy of debility by detriment and fall knock it back into its hole, out of reach of Venus’s outstretched hand.

So, if I take Mercury to represent the lens, this answer feels like, “No, don’t do it, the lens doesn’t work.” But what if Mercury isn’t the correct significator? Is there another planet that could signify the lens, if we need to reserve Mercury to signify my husband/querent? There is, if you think about the essential function of a camera lens and assign it its natural planetary ruler instead of the 2nd house cusp ruler. The essence of any lens is to focus incoming light; the essence of a zoom lens is to make an image appear larger or smaller. Which planet receives light from another source, and grows larger and smaller? The Moon, of course, who has no natural light of its own but is lit by the Sun, and goes through phases every month.

Does looking at the Moon in this chart give me a better story to tell my husband? The short answer: not really. The Moon at 21 Scorpio is no longer in the Via Combusta (15 Libra-15 Scorpio), and it hasn’t been in its detriment like Mercury, but it is in its fall in a fixed sign. If Moon is the zoom lens, it’s in pretty poor shape and (as it’s in a fixed sign) possibly can’t be repaired. Not only that, but I notice that Lord 7 (the seller) is Jupiter in Capricorn, Moon’s detriment. The seller hates this lens. That makes sense; he’s trying to unload it, after all.

And about that seller: Jupiter in Capricorn is in its own fall. I’d rather have seen him in a little essential dignity, not debilitated. Could the fellow be dishonest? It’s a warning, anyway.

My husband is waiting for my answer. Except for my uncertainty about whether Mercury in Pisces is truly debilitated or just descriptive, I am pretty sure he shouldn’t go ahead with the purchase. But I don’t love “pretty sure” as a level of confidence.

To folks who have stopped by after seeing my guest blog post on Jeff Kishner’s Seduction Central on Tuesday, welcome! To Jeff, thanks!

Haven’t seen it yet? Come on over. I’m providing horary astrology answers to Seduction Central readers’ questions about love and relationships. Here’s another one from earlier this month.

Somewhere on the planet, a young student of astrology is thinking of turning her hobby into a professional career. She’s pored over her birth chart and the charts of her friends; she’s read some of the contemporary books that go beyond sun signs; she’s joined the give-and-take of one or another astrology forum online, sharing her knowledge and asking for advice. Now she’s talking about finding a way to become certified as an astrologer. “It would be nice to feel legitimized and have some source of credibility other than friends and clients,” she explains. Here’s how I answered just such a student recently.

You can take the four levels of NCGR exams; you can join professional astrology societies. You can even attend Kepler College and get your BA in astrology. But it all comes down to this: Certification impresses nobody but other astrologers.

There’s no government body that recognizes astrologers. There’s no baseline of knowledge you need to have, no astrological bar you need to pass, before you can put “Astrologer” after your name on a business card. Maybe there ought to be. (I suspect some astrologers are happy there’s not.)

More importantly, your future clients won’t have a clue what those letters and memberships mean. Like mine: NCGR III, Society of Astrologers, John Frawley’s Horary Apprenticeship? What do those mean to non-astrologers? Does it mean I know my ascendant from my elbow?

If you want to feel legitimized, then study, practice, and hone your skills.

If you want to prove to your clients that you know what you’re doing, then study, practice, and hone your skills.

If you want to feel qualified to judge a chart… but you get the idea.

As for finding a source of credibility other than friends and clients - actually, there’s none better. If you’re developing your business, honestly, the good words and opinions of your existing clients are gold. Yes, it helps your reputation to publish or blog or contribute to communities - if people think you know what you’re doing. And to know what you’re doing…

Study. Practice. Hone your skills.

I’m making my slow way through Joseph Crane’s new article, “A Practical Introduction to Hellenistic Astrology,” in the current issue of The Mountain Astrologer. Hellenistic astrology goes way back, and informs the branch I practice, but I’m not well versed in its different rules. Let’s see what has stuck to me from paging through the article on the subway…

• Two planets in any degree of the same sign are effectively conjunct, or at least “together”. They act in concert. Even if they’re 25 degrees apart. As long as they’re in the same sign.
• The concept of signs beholding one another is key, more so than precisely measured aspects. So a planet at 3 Leo would be trine a planet at 27 Sagittarius, although they’re far past 120 degrees of arc from each other.
• In a Hellenistic chart, the entire sign that is rising constitutes the first house; the ascendant is an important point within that house. I have 29 Virgo rising and am used to thinking of degrees 3-29 (or so) of Virgo as making up my 12th house; but in this system, all that Virgo (including my Venus at 1 Virgo) makes up the first house, or “place.” Each sign then follows suit and forms the following 2nd to 12th “places.” (I’ll have to go back and see how they manage the midheaven when it is in a sign that is not square to the ascendant. I think they just plot it where it lands but still call the 10th “place” the house of career, etc.)
• Different planets are stronger in day charts than in night charts. Some planets are in sect (and therefore strengthened) when above the horizon in a day chart; others, when above the horizon by night. Mercury changes, of course: in a day chart, it’s strong when preceding the Sun; in a night chart, it’s strong when it sets after the Sun. That makes sense. If the Sun is already warming the sky, Mercury can’t do much.

I’m not finished with the article. I read a little and set it down, pick it up again and read some more. Crane has a book about this: Astrological Roots: The Hellenistic Legacy, from The Wessex Astrologer. I might have to look into that.

Each month’s full moon has a name to some folks, did you know that? I was vaguely aware of the prettier-sounding ones such as Full Strawberry Moon and Full Harvest Moon. But seeing that March 21st this year brings the Full Worm Moon made my nose crinkle a bit in confusion. How does a worm come to be honored with its own moon?

The answer, of course, is obvious when you think of farming. Lowly though it is, the worm is our natural earth-plower and soil-improver. In one end and out the other, soil goes through earthworms and, enriched with nutrients, is much the better for passing through. And the tunnels formed by worms as they live their lives help air and water circulate through the earth. What could be better for preparing land for new plantings after the frigid stillness of winter?

So this is the Aries/Libra full moon: the first full moon of the solar year that began at the spring equinox. The sign marking new life connects to the sign of fall’s harvest, when we hope the land may pay back our attention with a plentiful crop. A promise is made; we sow with the hope of reaping.

Dear Christine,

My boyfriend and I have been together for more than two years, living together for the past year and a half. We’ve talked about having a family in the future. In recent months I have felt the persistent urge to have a baby and have been reassessing where my life is going. I enjoy my work, but I think the ultimate fulfillment would be in having a family. I’ve just turned 29 (I’m two years older than he is). I talked to my boyfriend about it last night, and he says the main thing that would hold him back is wanting his own business and if we had a family, that it would be a bigger risk.

Please can you tell me if we are going to have kids in the next couple of years?

- R. who longs to be a mom

Dear R.,

There are so many things we can have in life if we “just put our minds to it:” a new career, a positive attitude, a love of going to the gym. But for some of our deepest longings - finding love, starting a family - just making up our own minds to do it isn’t all it takes (though that determination may get us a long way closer). I hear the hope in your question, and I’ve had a look at the horary chart. It’s an astrological chart I cast for the place and time at which I understood what you needed to know.

(Click on the chart to enlarge it.)

The simple answer is this: I think you will have children eventually. There’s absolutely nothing in the chart I cast that out-and-out slams the door on your dream. You simply might have to give it a little more time than you originally hoped.

First, to find out if you’ll have children in the next couple of years - the time period specifically mentioned in your original question - we’re looking for one thing: an aspect in the chart that connects you to your future child. In this chart, which has Aries rising, you’re represented by Aries’ ruler Mars. Now, in most cases, you would get another planet on your team: the Moon, which is almost always the co-ruler of the querent (the person asking the question). But in this chart, we see the sign Cancer on the cusp of the 5th house of children, and so we need to use the Moon, Cancer’s ruler, to represent the hoped-for child.

Is there an aspect connecting you to this child? Let’s look. Mars (your significator) is at 2 Cancer 45 in this chart. The Moon (representing the child) is at 26 Taurus 18. The Moon is not forming any aspect to Mars. That’s our first indication that your dream may not come true in the next couple of years.

Could there be another way to get a “yes” answer? After all, it takes two to tango. Can we connect your boyfriend to your future child? In this chart, with Libra on the 7th house cusp, he is represented by Libra’s ruler Venus. At first glance, it looks like Moon is applying to a square to Venus - which is actually a good thing. In this old-school horary astrology, a square brings a “yes,” not a “no” as some modern astrologers teach. That said, squares indicate obstacles and delays before you reach the promised land.

But in this case, the square doesn’t get a chance to deliver on its promise. Before Moon can reach Venus, it must square Mercury first. An aspect that interferes in this way is called a prohibition: a road block. This is a second indication that you may need to be patient beyond the next couple of years stated in your original question.

But all hope is not lost. Horary astrology can be very literal, and because you asked specifically about the next couple of years, the chart reflects that specific time frame. So although our answer is “Not in the next couple of years,” the chart does NOT say “Not ever in your lifetime.” I’ve studied a long list of factors and I see nothing in this chart that says you won’t eventually start the family you hope for. (Also, I reserve the right to be totally wrong if the stork decides to pay you an early visit - despite what the chart may say!)

R., give it time, and don’t lose hope. One thing you can do in the meantime is ask your boyfriend to tell you more about his concerns about starting his business and the risk involved. If the two of you give each other permission to talk about your hopes and fears in a two-way conversation, you’ll be in that much better shape to start your family together when the time comes.

Thanks for writing. Best of luck to you, and please let me know how things work out.

- Christine