Gryphon Astrology Blog

The Madeleine McCann case is the latest mystery in the Astrology of Missing People topic; the story has been covered by the news somewhat here in the United States, but not nearly as much as in Europe. One of the readers of this blog, Magwitch, has brought the Madeleine McCann disappearance to my attention. Magwitch writes:

I was re-reading your blog entry from January concerning the whereabouts of missing student May Zhou. At the start of the article you say that “the fate and whereabouts of missing people” is an area of astrological interest for you. That got me wondering; has there been much in the news in your part of the world about the missing 4 year old child Madeleine McCann?

Madeleine was apparently abducted from her parents’ holiday apartment at the Ocean Club Resort, Praia da Luz in Portugal on Thursday 3rd May. The story is absolutely massive here in the UK and across most of Europe and the press seem keen to keep it as front page news even 3 weeks after the event. Sadly there appears to be no progress on Madeleine’s whereabouts at the moment.

Full details about Madeleine and the search to find her are available at http://www.findmadeleine.com

Madeleine was last seen by her parents on May 3, 2007, at 9:30 p.m. local time***(see important update at end of post), near the town of Lagos, Portugal. To try to determine whether she is dead or alive, and her whereabouts, we cast a horoscope for the time of her disappearance, which is below:

We will examine the chart according to the rules laid out by astrologer William Lilly in his book, Christian Astrology. First, we shall see whether little Madeleine is still alive, and then we will analyze the horoscope for her location.

Is Madeleine McCann Alive?

We take the ruler of the first house, Mars, and the Moon, as Madeleine’s significators. Mars is in Pisces, in the fourth house. Mars is not afflicted, as it is in the sign of its triplicity, and it is not making aspects to troublesome planets. So far, so good.

The Moon, however, is not in such good shape: it is in Scorpio, the sign of its fall, so little Madeleine is in trouble. The Moon is void of course, meaning it will not make any more aspects in its current sign, and is about to enter Sagittarius. Normally, this would mean that Madeleine’s situation is about to get better, since the Moon is not nearly as afflicted in Sagittarius as it is in Scorpio. However, we would really want to see the Moon entering its own sign, to indicate that Madeleine will return home. I will discuss this more later when we talk about her whereabouts.

Death is shown by the ruler of the eighth house, Mercury, and to a lesser extent, by Venus, which is right on the cusp of the eighth. We also need to look at the Arabian Part of Death, which falls at 25° Gemini. It is encouraging to see that neither the Moon nor Mars are aspecting Mercury, ruler of the eighth house. However, and this is significantly troubling, Mars is about to square the Part of Death, from its location in the fourth house. Also, William Lilly writes that if the missing person’s significators are in the fourth house, “these are testimonies that the party absent be dead.”

I am also concerned to see Venus, ruler of the 7^th house, so closely conjunct the Part of Death in the eighth house. While Venus is not one of Madeleine’s significators, whenever we see the Part of Death in play like this, it adds in a small way to the evidence of death. The seventh house would rule her abductors, and I do not like to see them connected to her death by such a close aspect. So, while the evidence for death here is not as overwhelming as in the May Zhou case, I am inclined to believe that Madeleine may not be alive.

Where Is Madeleine McCann?

We can also use this horoscope to find her location. Praia da Luz, Portugal, is about 90 miles from the Spanish border. The fact that the Moon is about to enter Sagittarius made me think that Madeleine’s abductors took her across the border to Spain. Spain is ruled by Sagittarius, and the Ascendant, where the Moon is located, represents the East direction. The emphasis on water signs (Mars is in Pisces and the Moon is in Scorpio) might show her in or near the water, particularly standing water.

***Important Update (5/26/07):

One blog reader (Suzanne - thank you!) has found out that Madeleine was last seen around 9 pm, not 9:30 pm. This changes the above chart in one important respect: The Part of Death falls at 13 Gemini. As a result, neither of Madeleine’s significators, Mars or the Moon, aspects the Part. This takes out a major part of our concern that Madeleine has come to an untimely end. I am far more optimistic about her being alive now, than when I looked at the 9:30 pm chart. Unfortunately, I cannot tell from the above chart whether she will be found again. I still feel very strongly that the water is important here, as I am sure it would be very easy to take away the child by boat without a trace, or even hide her in a boat. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for her safe return, folks!

I left the old chart up for comparison, and because it is still extremely close to the 9 pm chart (which has the Ascendant at 21 Scorpio).

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Horary Question:

My husband and I have two wonderful children. We are both 40. We both want another child but it doesn’t seem to be happening for us. We have had all testing done and the doctors can’t give us any reason as to why we are not getting pregnant. We did get pregnant 6 years ago; but sadly miscarried at 9 weeks. We are both in good health with the exception of myself having high cholesterol, which I do have under control with diet and exercise.

—M.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear M.,

I get many letters similar to yours; I never knew there were so many women in this world longing for a child. I really wish it were possible for every woman who wants a child to conceive. I cast a horoscope for your horary question, which is below:

Since you are about 40, we will need to find an aspect between the planet showing you and the planet showing the baby. If the same question was asked by someone in their 20s, general indications of fertility in the horoscope would be sufficient. But as the odds drop over time, we need stronger and stronger evidence to show conception.

You are represented by the Moon, ruler of the first house of self, and the baby/your fertility potential is indicated by ruler of the fifth house of children. Your husband is represented by her seventh house of partners, and its ruler, Saturn, and his ability to conceive is indicated by Venus, ruler of his fifth house. We will look at the condition of all these planets, which will help us determine just how fertile the two of you are, and potentially, where the obstacles to fertility may lie.

The Moon is in Virgo, which is a barren sign, and afflicts your fifth house of fertility by a sextile aspect. This is not an auspicious start, but it can still be overcome by other positive evidence. The significator of the potential baby is Mars in Aries, which is a neutrally fertile sign. Mars is in the ninth house, where it is cadent and therefore difficult to express its energy.

Your husband’s significator, Saturn, is in a barren sign, Leo. Saturn also afflicts your fifth house, your fertility, by a square aspect. His fifth house is ruled by Venus in the fertile sign of Cancer, which is very positive. However, I am concerned that this testimony alone is not enough to promise a child. This fertile Venus applies to trine your house of fertility, which is a positive factor, but it is tucked away in the 12th house, and so does not have the oomph needed to manifest.

We do not see an applying aspect between the Moon and Mars, which, combined with the testimonies for infertility, does not promise a child. We do see an applying aspect between the Moon and Mercury. Mercury can signify doctors, so you may well make another trip to the physician either for testing or for fertility treatment. I do wish you much luck.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left, or learn more at http://www.gryphonastrology.com/astrologyreadings.html.

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That exciting planetary time of year is upon us: the two benefic planets trine each other, creating a powerhouse combination of good luck and blessings. June 19^th is a very good day, or really a two-day period, during which just about any endeavor will prosper. This is one way of using electional astrology to choose the most favorable time for important things in our lives.

If you are doing anything love- (Venus) or wealth- (Jupiter) related, you will find that this combination will help you a great deal. However, there is an important caveat here, and I’m not talking about Mercury being retrograde. The Moon, after aspecting Venus, will go on to aspect this nasty Saturn in detriment. Therefore, it is best to act on June 18, the day before the aspect becomes exact, and before 3:07 p.m. Universal Time, when the Moon aspects Venus. If this is too technical, don’t worry about it. Just know that there will be more factors in your favor if you act earlier than after the date and time above.

So, what can we do with this gift from above? Depending on what natal houses are ruled by Venus and Jupiter in your chart, this is a good healing combination, so if you’re undergoing some kind of medical treatment (other than surgery, which has its own set of electional astrological rules), this might be a good time to start. In general, any endeavor will benefit from this combination. If you are a Mercury retrograde-phobe, this will provide you with a momentary ray of light during which you can safely do mercurial things, such as sending important letters or e-mails.

You can learn more about electional astrology (and how it was used to found the city of Baghdad) on my website.

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The fact that Ohno won, explains exactly why it is not enough to just look at astrological transits. Astrologers have a written a lot about why Joey Fatone or Laila Ali had the superior astrological transits during the finale of the show. However, this is not satisfactory, as few could come up with a very decisive judgment on the matter. From an astrological transit perspective, Ohno did not have things sewn up. No beautiful Jupiter transit was happening in Ohno’s horoscope, and certainly nothing that would particularly distinguish him from two other very qualified dancers.

We do not have an exact birth time for Apolo Ohno, but we do know his date of birth, and his place of birth. As a result, we can run a noon chart for him, which is satisfactory for things relating to fame. I have a strong suspicion that he was, in fact, born around noon. Apolo Ohno’s noon horoscope is below:

We noticed that the progressed Moon conjoins natal Venus on May 24, just a couple of days after the contest. His natal Venus is not particularly strong, as it is in Aries, the sign of its detriment. Moreover, it is in a mutual reception with a detrimented Mars. Nonetheless, Venus is associated with dancing and artistic pursuits, so if it is strongly placed in the natal chart by house, the progressed Moon hitting it will likely bring some kind of positive Venusian experience. Natally, I strongly suspect that Apolo has Venus prominently placed or linked to the ascendant. His teen pop idol cuteness is a dead giveaway. The fact that Venus was activated during his win further shows that his popularity among teenage girls (Venus rules women, especially young women) was a major factor in his victory.

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Horary Question:

I am at a life and career crossroads. I’ll be 50 years old this year and have work experience in many areas: managerial and administrative positions (in finance and academia), dressmaking and design, and writing (teaching; creative and expository writing). I also have considerable experience in reading and teaching tarot and astrology (modern western), and counseling and teaching women’s mysteries.

At this point in my life, I do not want to be “split” like this anymore. At 50, I am beginning to understand the need to conserve and focus my energy. And as far as work is concerned, I would like to create a situation where I am able to focus on one area of work which will put my developed skills to good use and also allow me to work into my elder years (I have no intention of ever “retiring”).

The choices I’m considering are:

1) to add to my astrological knowledge (take courses in horary and tradtional astrology) so that I can offer consultations and contribute through writing and teaching in this area,

2) to continue developing my tarot reading and teaching practice,

3) to focus on creative writing (poetry, fiction, and erotica) and publishing

Which of these areas is most likely to provide a good income as well as a sense of purpose into my elder years? (income and purpose are equally important to me here)

—D.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear D.,

Thank you for writing to me. Career questions are always very interesting, as the horoscope shows very clearly where the person’s talents and strengths lie. As always, I cast a horary chart for your question, and your horoscope for this is below:

First, we have to figure out which of your three options is represented by which planet or house. Both astrology and tarot would be represented by Mercury, which is linked with the divinatory arts, and also with the ninth house, which represents higher knowledge. So, to the extent it’s necessary, we will need to distinguish further to separate these two. Creative writing is also represented by Mercury, but the concept of producing creative works is really a fifth house activity. The fifth house rules all of our creations. The third house is also associated with writing, but it really represents the act of writing, of putting letters together on a page. Writing in the sense of composition, of creating written works, is properly a fifth house activity.

So we have two planets that we are examining; Mercury, which rules both tarot in astrology here, and Mars, which rules the fifth house of creativity. Both planets are very strong essentially, because each is in its own sign. So we see that you definitely are gifted to do any of these three. So in terms of satisfaction or the sheer ability to do this work, you could choose any of those options. Similarly, as far as fulfilling your soul’s purpose – any of these choices would put you where you need to be. As long as you are using your gifts, which you clearly are, with such strong planetary placements as these, you are on the right track.

However, not all of these fields will present the most opportunities for your growth and worldly success. For that, we have to see which of the planets is strongly placed such that it has maximum influence over its reality. This will show us which of your talents are in the best place to manifest strongly in your life. Mars, representing creative writing, is it. It is just inside the Midheaven, the house of career/fame, and in its own sign. Clearly, this Mars is in control. Mercury, on the other hand, could not be more weakly placed. It is in the cadent 12^th house, tucked away in the back of the garage, as it were. It will be easier for you to make yourself known for your writing, and to make it into a career, than for the other two areas of endeavor.

Now, as far as money, the writing will do it for you. The second house from the fifth, indicating money from writing, is ruled by Jupiter in its own sign, Sagittarius, where it is strong. The income from writing looks positive, then. Jupiter is retrograde, so there might be difficulty getting the income stream going, but it is in the 5^th house of creativity as well, so we get a strong sense that money will come from your creations.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left, or learn more at http://www.gryphonastrology.com/astrologyreadings.html.

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It certainly has warmed up in the last couple days, and the haze and fog has largely gone away (for a little while, anyway). Now that the Sun has moved away past the Aries ingress midheaven, it will cool off again.

Well, folks, I think we are in for more of the same. The upcoming week is going to be pretty dry, and I doubt it’s going to be as hazy as the previous week. For this quarter Moon, we have the ruler of the fourth house, Jupiter, trine Saturn, which gives us a sense that the dryness will persist, whether we like it or not. There are few indications of moisture for this week.  The lunation chart, set for San Francisco, is below: 

Transiting Moon will conjoin the lunation ascendant on the 23rd, but this will bring in more wind than rain, and perhaps some haze. The Moon will also activate our angular Mercury in the Aries ingress chart, further emphasizing the windy theme of this spring. The following few days, especially the 23rd through the 25th, will continue to be fairly windy. This is because the transiting Sun will square the Aries ingress Mercury, and then the Aries ingress ascendant.

In the next few days, I will be preparing the summer forecast for the West, which promises to be interesting, though not quite as much as this upcoming winter! In any case, if I have already posted the Summer 2007 weather forecast, and you miss it, just click the astrometeorology or weather links on the left to pull all the weather related posts.

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Horary Question:

An acquaintance of mine had a brain aneurysm. He had brain surgery in early May, but is still in a coma. If he lives, to what extent will he recover? Will he live or die?

—G.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear G.,

Thanks for your question – I had a moment of indecision about how to analyze this horary, since I wasn’t sure whether the person in question was a friend or acquaintance. If the former, we would take a look at the 11^th house of friends; if your relationship is not that close, we’d give him the 7^th house of “other people.” I plumped for the latter, since we are usually not that ambivalent about someone’s status if they are really a friend. The horary chart for your question is below:

First, we see that Jupiter, ruler of the 7^th house, is in its own sign. This is generally a good sign, except for medical horaries, because Jupiter is a hot and moist planet, but Sagittarius is a hot and dry sign. As a result, the nature of the sign is inimical to the well-being of the planet this is caused by the overabundance of heat (in terms of the old Greek/Arabic medical model). So we see that the person is actually sick, and the significator of the disease is the same as the significator of the person. Turning to Saunders, he says that:

Jupiter in the last 18° in Sagittarius is hot in the extremity of the fourth degree, and dry in the beginning of the fourth degree, causing diseases of red choler mixed with blood, that are without remedy… diseases of exceeding heat and drouth [dryness], consuming the radical moisture and humidity of the body.

The situation is indeed serious. Whenever we have a planet in the fourth degree, the disease has the potential to be deadly – the situation is in extremis. An aneurysm, an abnormal enlargement of blood vessels inside the brain, with the potential to burst and bleed into the brain, is a classic hot and dry disease, one afflicting the blood.

So we know the person is in dire straits. Jupiter is retrograde, and will go direct at 9° Sagittarius, in August. If Jupiter was direct in the chart and about to go retrograde, then the prognosis would not be very favorable. I do not think that the man will die, though it may be a while before he starts recovering, as it will be a while before Jupiter goes direct. Jupiter is not applying to aspect with Mars, ruler of the radical eighth house, nor Venus, ruler of the turned eighth house. We also do not see an applying problematic aspect to Jupiter. Interestingly, Jupiter had previously trined a very nasty Saturn in detriment in the 12^th house, but the aspect is separating, so the person is getting away from danger.

You also asked to what extent will he recover. I think he will be functional, again indicated by Jupiter’s forward movement. But Jupiter will stay for a long time in Sagittarius, which is not hospitable for a hot and moist planet, so this makes me think that he will not get back to his previous level of functioning.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon may learn more at http://www.gryphonastrology.com/astrologyreadings.html.

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On May 29, Mercury will leave Gemini and enter the sign of Cancer. This is a substantial drop in strength for Mercury, which was in its own sign in Gemini, and therefore very strong and beneficial. In Cancer, Mercury has considerably less strength, though it is not entirely Peregrine (without any essential dignity) throughout the sign.

The bigger problem with Mercury passing through Cancer this time around is that Mercury will go retrograde at 11° Cancer, on June 15/16. It will go backwards until it hits 2° Cancer, and then slowly start moving forward again. The problem is that during its retrogradation period, Mercury will be passing through degrees where it has no dignity at all. It will not get substantial essential strength until the 25th of July, when it will enter its own term, and it will remain there until July 30.

So Mercury will be particularly unhelpful for about a month, and if you’re interested in doing anything particularly mercurial during Mercury’s journey through Cancer, such as writing a grant proposal, starting a book, calling someone about an important negotiation, it might be best to wait until the end of July. The good news is that by that time, the Sun will have moved into Leo, giving you another very strong planet with which to work, to support your endeavors.

Special Note: Occasionally, I get requests for specific times when a planet will be very strong, beyond what I provide during the date ranges, such as above. This is for purposes of astrologically electing the optimal moment to do something. I think it will be helpful to get a very precise time range when one planet will be very strong both in terms of position, and in terms of essential (zodiacal) strength. For Mercury, one such time will be on May 25, from 7 to 7:40 a.m. local time, at least in Northern California. Your specific location may well be different, as the Moon changes position.

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Horary Question:

My husband and I are starting a feng shui business and website this year. What would be a good time, day for beginning this venture? We are looking for a day to start the business and website that would bring balance, opportunity for travel and influencel, prosperity, good health and communication. We both will be 45 this year.

Over the past two years, our family moved out of working and living with a non-profit educational institute that we dedicated 18 years of our life to. I choose to give the health of my marriage, family and daughter and health of myself. These areas had suffered from the lack of attention. Now feng shui has helped offer peace, balance, health and we are looking to offer this to others. We have both been teachers of metaphysics over the past 18 years and are now moving through a transition with the feng shui with our careers.

—T.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear T.,

Thank you for writing to me. The nice thing about horary astrology is that we can also use it to determine a good time frame for you to act. We cannot determine or search for the specifics that you requested, as that is only possible through an electional astrology reading, which is considerably more time-consuming. With an electional reading we can adjust the knobs much more; add this, subtract that. It’s like the difference between having a stereo with only the volume control, and a stereo with a full mixing board setup. We can, however, find the overall best time for you to start your business. It just will not have all the nuances and fine timing we would get through an electional reading.

I cast a horary chart for the time that I understood your question, and the horoscope for the moment is below:

In your question, you asked about both your business and a website to promote the business. The business would be ruled by the 10th house, while the website will be ruled by the fifth house, as it is more specifically your creation. The fifth house rules all of our creations, whether they are human children or brain children. In his horoscope, the planet Mars rules both houses; since the business and the website are largely one, this seems especially appropriate. We will want to find a time when Mars is strong.

The good news is that Mars is currently in very good shape, as it has recently entered its own sign of Aries. However, we can always try to make it even stronger. In about 11°, Mars will move forward to trine Jupiter in Sagittarius. Now, Jupiter is retrograde, but it is still quite strong in the fifth house (remember, this is the house that rules the website), so Mars’s connection to it seems like an especially auspicious time to launch the business. I would take the 11° to symbolize weeks, though if 11 months seems more realistic, that is the better timing.

The other nice thing is that in 11°, Mars will move much closer to the midheaven, where it is very powerful. Currently, it is tucked away in the ninth house. Now, the ninth house represents knowledge and higher understanding, which seems appropriate for a feng shui business. However, planets cannot exert their power very easily from the cadent houses, and with Mars moving ahead 11° toward the powerful 10^th house cusp, it shows your business (if started around this time) becoming an influential force in the world.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon may learn more at http://www.gryphonastrology.com/astrologyreadings.html.

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Horary Question:

I am about to be proposed to by a wonderful man, who cares for me and who loves me very much. He does everything for me, and he is a perfect person. I care for him very much, and I can grow to love him. However, I am in love with someone else, someone I had dated previously. The person I am in love with has many influences that affect his behavior - when we are together, everything is perfect, when we are not, he questions his feelings (I am positive that his family members played a significant role in pulling us apart). Everything was going great for several years, but then for a few months, times were difficult for the both of us, misunderstandings happened, communication was bad, and he said he wanted to take a break. I don’t know what to do.

I believe that we are perfect for each other, and that we can work this out. Will this break be for good? I want to be with him, but if we will definitely not be together, then I will say yes to the man who is about to propose. If there is a chance that the person I love and I will be together, then I will not say yes. I don’t know what to do. Should I wait for the person who I am in love with, or should I say yes to the one who is about to propose?

—S.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear S.,

Why does true love have to be so complicated? If I ran the world, everyone would live happily ever after with their soulmate. But I don’t run things, so instead, I ran a horary chart for the time I understood your question. The horoscope for your question is below:

You are ruled by the ruler of the first house of self, Venus. We see that Venus is in the sign of the Moon, Cancer, and in the triplicity and detriment of Mars. Mars rules your seventh house of partners, and since you kind of like Mars, but overall you sort of dislike it, it must symbolize the guy who is about to propose to you. He is certainly marriage minded, and he has decided to pursue that with you. His significator, Mars, has just moved into the exaltation of the Sun. The Sun is one’s urge to find a mate; obviously, finding a wife is foremost on his mind. He is certainly ready to march up to the altar with you. Too bad you do not love him.

The Moon, which symbolizes your emotions, is in Gemini, where it is most interested in Mercury. Mercury must be the man with whom you’re in love. Mercury, at the moment, is most interested in himself. It is in its own sign and triplicity, so I am concerned that he is not nearly as interested in you as you are in him. Still, the Moon and Mercury are applying to conjunction, indicating an upcoming opportunity to renew the relationship. The problem is that even renewed, it’s not going to have a lot of lasting power, since he is not that deeply interested in you. But I think you will need to experience that for yourself.

So what to do? Marrying one guy while pining over another will leave you forever wondering how it would have been had you not done so. I suggest putting the potential husband on the back burner, at least ask him to wait, and let the situation with your true love play itself out. Give yourself a hard time limit, say six months, and stick to it. If Mr. Right doesn’t come back during that time, you will need to move on.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon can click on the PayPal button at top left, or learn more at http://www.gryphonastrology.com/astrologyreadings.html.

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