What astrology books would you take to a desert island?

Expecting to be stranded any time soon? (Wonder what progression would show that?) Dave Roell of the Astrology Center of America has some delightful suggestions for your desert island astrology library in the “FeMarch” issue of his newsletter. (He’s also added some hilarious movie quotes, though I haven’t the foggiest idea what they’re doing there.) Three pages, easy to read, have a look.

(Looking for his top pick of the financial astrology books? As a graphic designer I worked with used to say, “They’re on the back.”)

Sockington: the astrological chart of the most popular cat on Twitter

Look. If a cat can acquire 100,000 followers on Twitter, then I can find his birth data and cast his astrological chart.

sometimes he goes by Socks

Some definitions, first: Twitter’s that 140-characters-per-post microblogging social media thingy that people either love or don’t get. (I’m there, twittering as @astrologer.)

Sockington is, well, he’s a cat, with a kind of ace-of-spades face and a curious viewpoint on the world and a snarky girl cat roommate and, well, you just have to read for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Sometime tonight, the 100,000th person will discover Socks, or read about him, or have a friend say, “you’ve got to follow this crazy cat” and then Socks will be, like, the 25th most popular Twitter user on the PLANET. And he doesn’t even have thumbs. (Socks, when you hear “thumb drive,” what does that even mean to you?)

Anyway. I did some poking and prying and came up with this data for Sockington’s first tweet. Does anything about this chart say “will one day have more followers than John McCain, John Cleese, and Stephen Colbert”? Well, actually, it just might. Here are some of the more remarkable things about Sockington’s “birth chart.”

1. Sockington – or at least his Twittering career – was born at the New Moon. Look: Sun at 28 Pisces, Moon at 28 Pisces, just separating. A New Moon automatically puts the Part of Fortune right on the Ascendant. That Sun/Moon combo beholds the Ascendant by trine, and the Sun rules the 10th house cusp of fame. Start of something big? I’d say so.

in the beginning there was socks

2. That’s not just any New Moon. See how close Sun/Moon are to the North Node? Socks was “born” just three minutes after a partial Solar Eclipse. An eclipse shows the energy of the times. Compare your chart to the eclipse (solar or lunar) immediately preceding it and you’ll get some insight into how plugged in you are to your times. Sockington the little cat? With every one of his planets virtually identical to the eclipse placements, he IS the symbol of his time. (This is going to make @pennycat shred her fur in fury.)

3. So what’s this chart like? The ruler of that Sun/Moon in Pisces is Jupiter, using traditional rulership. Where’s Jupiter? The Greater Benefic is crazy powerful in its own sign, Sagittarius. Sockington may look like a meek rescued stray, but this cat is getting BIG.

4. The exaltation ruler of that Sun/Moon in Pisces is Venus. And where’s Venus? Crazy powerful in ITS own sign, Taurus, in the 6th house of small animals. Moon and Venus are in a gorgeous mutual reception (Moon exalts Venus, Venus exalts moon).

5. Venus in this chart is also the ruler of the 7th house cusp: another indicator of public response to Sockington. Love at first tweet? (No, it took some time, actually, but since New Year’s it’s been astronomical, if you’ll excuse the expression.)

That’s just what a first look reveals. What do you see that makes this cat  – or at least this chart – so remarkable?

What does the New Moon mean in a horary chart?

Interesting question from Seeker:

Can you please tell me what the New Moon means in a horary chart?  What if the querent is hoping for a “no” answer?  What if the querent is hoping for a “yes” answer?  I’ve read it’s malefic, but what does that really mean?

I’m glad you asked. The way you phrase your question tells me a lot about how you approach your astrology. I’d like to show you a different way to think about your horary charts than simply, “This pattern means yes, this pattern means no, this is good, this is bad.”

First, what is a New Moon? Several things. One, it’s a conjunction of Moon and Sun. Two, it’s the start of a new cycle – a new lunar phase – or, if Moon is applying to Sun but hasn’t caught up yet, it’s the end of an old one. Three, it’s the Moon being combust, overpowered by the Sun. Four, it’s the Moon with zero light, a very hungry waxing Moon about to fling itself out and gather Sunlight.

Which of these is relevant depends on the question itself, and also depends on what Sun and Moon themselves represent in that horary chart.

Imagine these possible questions…

“Will I see him tonight?” If in this chart you are Moon and he is Sun, and Moon is about to conjoin Sun, then yes, your planets are getting together, thus, so will you.

“Will I see him tonight?” Now imagine you are Moon trying to aspect him as Saturn or something, but Moon conjoins Sun first: no, you won’t. Combustion is a pass-not, the end of the matter for the combusted planet in the time frame stated in the question.

“Is it a good time to buy silver?” Moon is the natural ruler of silver. Moon, being combust, is extremely weak, so silver (in this imaginary chart) is cheap. From combustion, Moon can only get better, so yes, we can expect the price of silver to improve.

“Is it a good time to try to lose weight?” Moon, as querent’s co-ruler, is conjunct Sun: Moon is as faint as can be and will only get bigger as it gains in light. If what you’re trying to do is get smaller, then no, this is not the time.

The way to read the New Moon depends on the question being asked. Astrology is not about finding the constellations “Yes” or “No” splayed across the sky; it’s not about cookbook paragraphs that excuse you from thinking for yourself. Learn to see what is really in front of you in the chart, and you will learn to answer the querent’s questions – and your own.

Who’s on your celebrity birth data wish list?

There are at least two charts I’d love to peek at, if I only had their birth times. One is Gordon Ramsay (8 November 1966, birth place cited by different sources as Johnstone or Elderslie or Glasgow, Scotland), the choleric chef/owner/personality behind some of the world’s top restaurants – and some of my favorite television programming. The choler is just blinding, from his ceaselessly competitive nature to his famously foul mouth and temper. And he works with fire! I would love to see where the perfectionist is in his chart, the relentless quality control, and how he has bubbled up to the top of the cooking pot. Sun/Venus closely conjunct in Scorpio are sextile Mars in Virgo, and are ruled by it; Moon looks to be in Virgo too. Hmm, could be!

Fascinating for entirely different reasons is Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens (21 July 1948, London), internationally renowned musician who renounced popular music when he converted to Islam. I’d love to see that chart too, and how and where it rhymes with a life that, so far, has featured an early rise to fame, two near-death experiences, that renunciation of his fame and music, years of philanthropic work for peace, and a return to secular music thanks to his son’s influence. Venus, recently direct and still slow, opposes Jupiter in its rulership but retrograde; Sun in Cancer exalts that Jupiter.

Who’s on your  wish list?

Free astrology magazine download (with a horary article of mine)

The publishers of The Mountain Astrologer have now made the complete June/July 2007 issue available as a free PDF. Download it from their site – all 112 pages of it, including my horary article, “How I Used Astrology to Find My Perfect Condo.” You’ll also find articles on the outer planets, Vedic astrology, astrology and Alcoholics Anonymous, Molly Ivins, and lots more. Enjoy!

Horary astrology and the “dead or alive” question

There is a painful, terrible question I hope I never receive from a client. “What has become of her? Is she dead or alive?” Much like questions such as “how long will I live?”, these make me realize how very gentle we must be with our art and with the clients who hope to gain insight into circumstances they cannot control.

An astrologer in Colombia recently forwarded me his chart data for a missing person case in Spain and asked how I would read the chart. Not being very experienced with such matters, I went straight to Christian Astrology by William Lilly, hoping his instructions would give a clear answer, but to be honest, I’m not sure they helped. What do you think?

Is she alive or dead?

(Chart data: 28 January 2009, 12:16 pm EST, Pereira, Colombia)

The missing girl, a 17-year-old, was last seen by a friend who left her outside her house. Apparently she never made it inside. A neighbor reported hearing a scream that evening but did not investigate.

She is no relation to the querent, so she is represented by Mars as lord of the 7th house. Lilly says to give the missing person the Moon as well. We will need to turn the chart, looking at *her* eighth house, *her* fourth, and so on; but we will also need to look at these houses in the radical chart.

Reading Lilly’s directions and looking at this chart, I’m relieved to see that her planets are not in the house of death ( 8 ) or the house of endings (4). Yes, the Moon is still in her 4th, but is close enough to the next cusp that I would consider it to be in that house instead.

The bad news is that she, as Mars, has recently been in touch with death: Mercury rules her 8th house, and separates from conjunction with Mars. Either she has recently been in danger and has escaped, or she is already dead.

Her planet, Mars, is exalted. I don’t know whether that means she is well, or she is on her way to exaltation, that is, heaven.

So where is she? Her planet Mars is in her 3rd house: she may be at a neighbor’s house. Or, since it is a cadent house, she may be far from home. She is ruled by Saturn, so perhaps the neighbor is an old man. Saturn also rules her 4th house: again, this can stand for “the end of the matter,” her death. She may already be “underground,” buried. The Sun’s position exactly on her 4th house cusp suggests this as well.

What is the Moon, her co-ruler, doing? It has entered Pisces but it has 14+ degrees to travel before its first aspect: opposition to Saturn – which could represent the neighbor, or the end of her life. The long (symbolic) distance Moon has to travel before making an aspect suggests to me that it will be  a long time indeed before anyone hears from her, alive or not.

I don’t think things look hopeful for her. What do you see?