I’m still thinking about my husband’s question about the sex of his sister’s baby. A colleague points out that Mercury’s location in feminine Pisces and quite close to superfemme, dignified Venus in Pisces would make it more feminine than masculine in this chart. That would tip the balance toward girl-baby, not boy-baby. I can see that.

For bonus points, I decided to consult The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology by the Persian scientist/astrologer/philosopher al-Biruni, written in 1029 AD or so. He’s got lists of Arabian parts (lots) for determining this and that. One of them is called “As to whether expected birth male or female.” Perfect, I thought.

Then I looked closer. In my edition of the book, the formula is given as Ascendant + Moon’s dispositor – Moon. But somebody wrote a double-headed arrow over that to indicate that the planets should be transposed, and that the formula ought to be Ascendant + Moon – Moon’s dispositor. Which to use? Heck, let’s calculate both.

I will spare you lots of boring math. You’re welcome. The first formula puts this lot at 2 Gemini 31, telling me to look at its ruler, Mercury. The second formula puts it at 13 Pisces 23, suggesting Jupiter is my key planet. That’s the way you work with parts or lots, by the way; you figure out where the lot is, and then look at its planetary ruler to see what you can learn. (You can look at the lot itself, but the planetary ruler is typically more important.)

How’s Mercury? Oriental, so masculine; but in Pisces with Venus, which is pretty feminine. Sextile Jupiter and Moon in feminine Capricorn. How’s Jupiter, on the other hand? Masculine planet in a feminine sign, conjunct the Moon (which is nearly angular, so accidentally strong), sextile the Mercury/Venus conjunction in Pisces. Girl power continues to predominate.

So maybe it’s a girl.