The importance of birth times

I would love to analyze the birth chart of Jack La Lanne, the great fitness expert who just passed away at age 96.  Actually, I had the impulse to write about him last year after reading an article about him in the magazine section of the Sunday paper.  But I couldn't then, for the same reason I can't now:  We don't know his birth time.

Without a birth time we cannot know what the rising sign (Ascendant) is.  The planet that rules the rising sign is the Lord Ascendant, signifying "me" in the chart.  The Sun alone--also "me" in the chart, but more like the essence of the person--is not enough, as I have written about before.

Mr. La Lanne was remarkable because of the condition and strength of his physical body, and he was famous, due in large part to his long-running fitness show on TV.

Here is his chart, cast for September 26, 1914 in San Francisco using a default birthtime of 12:00 p.m.:

I can only speculate as to the astrological explanations for Mr. La Lanne's great physical condition and fame.  There is a method of approaching the problem of birth charts with no birth times; it is called rectification.  However, it requires a great deal of time to research properly, and even then the results are questionable. 

A quick glance at the chart above can only give us a few hints about where we might start:

1) Mars is likely important.  When we progress the chart, we see that in a few years Mars enters Scorpio, where it is super strong.  However, Mr. La Lanne experienced a great turning point at age 15, and Mars is already at 08 degrees by then.  I experimented a little with birth times to see if I could place Mars in a prominent position by progression.  A time of 0800 puts progressed Mars exactly conjunct the Ascendant at age 15.  This is intriguing, but only a guess at best.

2) It is tempting to look at Saturn as the natural ruler of structure, including our physical structure of skin and bones.  It's intriguing that Saturn is so afflicted in this chart--in detriment and tightly conjunct Pluto at 02 Cancer.  But we don't know what this might mean, because without an Ascendant we can't know what role(s) Saturn is playing in the chart.

We could examine essential dignities and reception among the planets--interesting in and of itself--but without knowing what houses they rule we have nowhere to go with the information.

Rest in peace, Jack La Lanne.

Edited July 20, 2012

Woo hoo! Packers win

"Did you predict a Packers win?"  (This from my husband.)

"Yeah."  (Me.)

"Wow, you lucked out on that one."

It's true; I wasn't at all secure in my prediction, and the Packers were not playing as well as they did last week.  I'm sure I wasn't the only Packers fan with nerves on edge!

Now that we know the outcome, let's review the astrological reasoning.  In event charts cast for the start of games, many rules of horary get thrown out the window.  Forget essential dignities, forget accidental dignities, Frawley teaches us.  The placement of Lords 1 and 7 did not tell us anything.  We couldn't look to Lords 10 and 4 because they were already in play.  So we had to find the answer using the Moon and Fortuna.  The Moon at 27.38 Virgo does not make any bodily aspects before it changes sign.  It's in the sign and exaltation of Mercury, which favors the Packers.  Mercury connects with Saturn in its role as dispositor of Fortuna at 23.43 Aquarius, which brings the Packers to the prize.

The more curious question to me know is why the contest horary was wrong--or, rather, my analysis of it.  The evidence seemed overwhelming:  Lord 1, Moon, weak and badly placed.  Lord 7, Saturn, strong and better placed.  Fortuna in Capricorn favoring Saturn.  Nodes conjunct the Asc/Dsc with South Node in the first house.

All I can come up with is that Saturn is in station--about to come to a halt--which makes it vulnerable.  And Lord 10, Packers win, is still in Pisces and so has essential dignity and and accidental dignity in the 10th.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad the Packers won.  Super Bowl, here we come!

Packers vs. Bears

Before the Packers won last week against Atlanta I was only a lukewarm fan.  After watching Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense, though, my interest really heated up--especially because the Packers would be facing the Bears, and this is one of the greatest rivalries in sports!

So on Friday I cast a contest horary asking, "Will the Packers win on Sunday?"  The chart was very similar to the Rose Bowl chart (see previous posts), so it looked like a clear loss for the Packers.  Cancer rising makes the Moon our team and Saturn the opponent.  Moon has no dignity and is cadent.  Saturn is exalted and better placed in the 5th.  The nodes are within a degree of Asc/Dsc axis, with South Node in the first house.  But for some reason, I just didn't trust this chart.  I'd thought of asking the question days before and didn't, and I'm only recently a fan this year.  Is my horary valid?  Or did I just not want to see a Packers loss?

No problem really, since we can always cast the kickoff chart to confirm--and so I did.  We are at halftime now.  Here is the kickoff chart, set for today, 1/23/11, at 2:06 p.m. CST in Chicago, IL:

This is a confusing chart.  Packers are three- to four-point favorites so win, so they get Lord 1, Mercury.  Bears get Lord 7, Jupiter.  But look at the 10th and 4th houses--same planets.  Lord 10, Packers victory, should be Jupiter but we can't use it, because Jupiter is already signifying the Bears.  Same with Lord 4: Mercury should be Bears victory, but it is already in use representing the Packers.  South and North nodes are still in first and seventh houses, respectively, but not in the signs on the cusps, so not as important. 

Following the rules for these sports event charts, we must look mostly to the Moon (as flow of action) and Fortuna (the prize) for the answers.  This isn't clear to me, either.  Moon is in the sign and exaltation of Mercury, which could favor the Packers.  It is just two degrees 22 minutes from an aspect to Jupiter, but to join with Jupiter it must change signs--which isn't supposed to count.  Its antiscion is just 2.22 degrees away from Jupiter, but does that count?  I'm not sure.

The only bodily aspect that will perfect in this game is the square between Mercury and Saturn.  Saturn is the dispositor of Fortuna, which could favor the Packers.  However, it is a square and Saturn usually has a nasty influence. 

I have to make a call one way or another, especially as the game is back in play after halftime by now!  I'll say Packers win because of the aspect between Mercury and Saturn as dispositor of Fortuna.  In about an hour and a half, we'll see if this is right!

And a loss it is

Well, Badger fans, I'm sorry to say that I was correct in my prediction of a loss in the Rose Bowl.  It was TCU's night.  For those who'd like to run the chart themselves, here is the data:  January 1, 2011, 3:42 p.m. CST, Milwaukee, WI, using Regiomontanus houses as always with horary charts.  As sports horaries go, this was a pretty easy one:  South Node on the Ascendant tells the tale at a glance.

For those of you who like sports astrology, be sure to tune in come March for my March Madness NCAA predictions.

P.S.  I was onto something with with the defense comment (see previous post).  The key play of the game was TCU's Tank Carder swatting away the ball in the Badgers' two-point conversion attempt with two minutes to go in the game.

Rose Bowl Prediction

I've been a Badgers fan for a very long time.  Soon they face off against TCU in the 2011 Rose Bowl.  I thought I'd test my sports horary skills and ask the question, "Will the Badgers win the Rose Bowl?"

Alas Badger fans, it doesn't look good.  South node just inside the first house bodes poorly for Bucky.  Lord 1 is the Moon, poorly placed in the sixth and losing light (waning).  Lord 10, symbolizing a win for the Badgers, is in the 10th and has dignity, but Uranus is tightly conjunct, suggesting an upset.  Opponent TCU is Saturn, exalted in the fifth house so very strong essentially, and moving slowly, which Saturn likes to do.  Perhaps this means a really great defense?  TCU's win, Lord 4, is Mercury.  Mercury is in detriment but it is the dispositor of the Part of Fortune.  Looks like a TCU win to me.

If I'm wrong, I'll have to take out Sports Astrology and review the rules.  Game starts soon, so in a few hours we'll know.