Gryphon Astrology Blog

Horary Astrology Question:

My wife has been housebound for over eight years, she has had a heart attack in 1999 and a quadruple bypass, is arthritic, diabetic, needs constant care, is overweight, immobile, on tons of meds, needs insulin twice daily, and her memory is slipping, I, her husband for 57 years and caregiver, would be grateful to know how long she will have to suffer.

—B.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear B.,

Thank you for writing to me. What a difficult situation yours must be; taking care of a seriously ill person is not easy, especially when there is little chance for a complete recovery. I cast a horary chart for the time that I understood your question, and the horoscope is below:

Your wife is shown by the ruler of the seventh house of partners, Mars. How is Mars? Not so good; it is in Taurus, in the sign of its detriment. Now, we see that Mars is about to move into Gemini, where it is considerably less afflicted than in Taurus. However, the context of her health problems is such that we would not really expect a major recovery for her.

Since we are asking about death, we will need to look at when your wife’s planet, Mars, will aspect Venus, which rules her eighth house of death. The timing for this aspect will indicate approximately the time of your wife’s passing away. We see that shortly after entering Gemini, Mars will square Venus in Virgo. This will happen at about 0.3° Gemini/Virgo. This means that Mars has about a degree to go before making that aspect with Venus. Since Mars is in a cadent house and a fixed sign, this would indicate an approximate timing of one month (!), while Venus being in a mutable sign in a succedent house, also points to a timeline of months rather than years. Venus only has to travel half a degree to get to the aspect, but it is moving very slowly, and it is in a mutable sign, which tends to add a little bit to our estimate. As we do not have your wife’s birth horoscope to confirm this, we should be very conservative about this prediction, and say that we are looking at one year instead of one month; in either case, we would expect her to pass away within a year.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left.

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Our resident long-term weather forecast gnome has gotten a case of the summer lazies recently, and no amount of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream could persuade him to type up one of his weather predictions. He had earned a break for correctly predicting a rare day of summer rain here in California, so I didn’t insist. But our gnome’s glory lost its luster after a while, and my nagging grew ever more strident, so he deigned to submit a new long-term weather prediction for the U.S. West Coast:

The following week has Venus in Virgo and Saturn in Leo (in their fall and detriment, respectively) straddling the Midheaven. An interesting and unpleasant combination, especially given that Saturn squares a nasty Mars in Taurus to boot! Because the aspect is separating, it is not as strong as we would normally expect, but it’s worth keeping an eye out. Saturn square Mars is thought to bring thunderstorms and hail in the summer.

More immediately interesting is Venus in Virgo, which is said to give cold and dry air, combined with some rain (because Venus is occidental from the Sun). Here in the San Francisco Bay area, rain is somewhat less likely than in other parts of the, West (due to the naturally dry summer climate), but heavy fog or clouds are quite within the realm of possibility. Watch for it especially around August 6, as the transiting Moon conjuncts the 7^th house cusp of our lunation, the Midheaven of the Aries Ingress and the Midheaven of the Cancer Ingress. Mars passing across the MCs of both Ingress charts might even bring some thunderstorms in the West on August 7th and 8th, supporting the stormy Saturn-Mars testimony.

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Horary Astrology Question:

My enemy is a cop. For years he has stalked me and had others help him; they included members of my own family. Now he has been caught on tape threatening the life of another cop. This pleases me because I made the same claim several years ago, but was ignored and ridiculed. What’s going to happen?

—K.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear K.,

Thank you for writing to me. I cast a horary chart for the time that I understood your question, and the horoscope is below:

Because he is your open enemy, the cop gets the seventh house. Its ruler is Venus in the sign of its fall, Virgo. This can indicate that he is indeed a baddie; because Venus is essentially a benefic planet, he may look good on the outside but is rotten on the inside. A planet in the sign of its fall can show the person is already in jail - presumably, he is not yet in jail. So the bad state of Venus can only be a comment on his nature.

At first glance, it may seem that he is going to get off scot free. This is because Venus is retrograde and will soon enter Leo, where it is not nearly as afflicted as it is in Virgo. However, before Venus can escape into Leo, it will run into a square aspect with Mars. Here, Mars rules the 12th house (turned) of your enemy, and the 12th house rules imprisonment. So he is trying hard to get out of trouble, and for a while it may seem as though he will escape, but he will go to jail after all.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left.

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Horary Astrology Question:

I’ve known my friend C. for two years. We were an item for years and love each other very dearly but finally the many forces working against us (his friends and family disapproving, long-distance, my constant travels) had their way and we stopped talking for two years. Last Memorial Day he began communication again and we learned that we’re both moving to the same city and will likely be going to the same university despite that never being in our plans when we knew each other. This will all be happening next year. He’s in a relationship right now and I of course live halfway across the country. I’m wondering what type of relationship we will have when we live in California and see each other regularly. Will we be friends? More? Less?

We love each other dearly and have so much respect for each other, but if it’s best we be just friends, I would love that just as much and I think he would as well.

—S.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear S.,

Thank you for writing to me. I cast a horary chart for the time that I understood your question, and the horoscope is below:

In this horoscope, you are represented by Venus, ruler of the first house of self, and also by the Moon, your co-significator. One question is whether your friend is represented by the 11th house of friends, or the seventh house of partners. I’m inclined to put him in the seventh house of partners, partly because the two of you had had a relationship, and that context is also implied in your question.

My sense is that the two of you will definitely be in contact, and may even reattempt your romance, but it I am not convinced there is enough mutual interest here for a full-on romantic relationship. Here is why: he is symbolized by Mars, ruler of the seventh house of partners, and by the Sun, which is his physical/hormonal side. What is interesting is that both of your planets, Venus and Mars, are each moving into a new sign, presumably the indication of both of you moving to a new place. The interesting thing here is that when Mars enters the next signed, Gemini, it really loses interest in Venus and the Moon (as it is currently in the sign and exaltation of these two, respectively).

For your part, I think you will be more interested in pursuing a relationship with him, but I’m still not quite seeing it in emotional terms; Venus will enter the sign of the Sun, so there’s plenty of physical attraction on your end, but with the Moon having recently entered Pisces, your feelings for him are not quite strong enough to sustain a romantic relationship. That the two of you will be in contact is indisputable: Mars is squaring Saturn, and Venus will conjoin Saturn shortly after its reentry back into Leo. So we have Saturn collecting the light between Mars and Venus. Saturn rules the fifth house of pleasure and parties, so we could see the two of you getting together in some fun social setting, or through a mutual friend symbolized by Saturn.

What about friendship? I think it’s possible, but I’m still not seeing enough interest on his part, especially from Mars, to say that the two of you will become fast friends. The most likely scenario is that your relationship will continue positively, but I wouldn’t expect any dramatic improvements from where things stand today.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left.

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Another Solar Eclipse is upon us, this time falling at 18 Virgo, exact at 12:44 pm Universal Time. The Solar Eclipse will be visible in the lower portion of South America, specifically Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. We would expect these countries to be the most strongly affected by the solar eclipse.

In addition, countries and areas traditionally associated with Virgo (also Pisces, the opposite point of Virgo) may also experience difficulties. Virgo is associated with Africa, Athens, Babylonia/Mesopotamia, Basel (Switzerland), Bratislava (Slovakia), Crete, Croatia, southwest France, Jerusalem, and (Milan) Italy.

The most notable features of this eclipse are as follows:

1. The Lord of the eclipse (Mercury) conjunct the malefic fixed star Vindemiatrix, which is also known as the widowmaker, and is associated with trouble through overreaching.

2. Mercury is sextile a benefic Jupiter in Sagittarius, which should mitigate some of Mercury’s negative effects. However, despite Jupiter’s strength, it is in the detriment of Mercury, so the positive influences of Jupiter are not going to be as helpful to Mercury.

3. The eclipse itself is square Mars in Gemini, which is a negative testimony.

The duration of the effects of the eclipse will be just over four years, with the effect manifesting depending on the solar eclipse’s location in a given place. Some of the effects associated with solar eclipses in Virgo are increases in thieves/Pirates, an increase of dry diseases, especially those of the lungs and breath, religious schisms, high winds and earthquakes, and the drying up of streams and rivers (attributed to Mercury’s occidental position). This particular part of Virgo is associated with famine, plague, sedition, and drought. Lovely, isn’t it?

For the sake of interest, let us take a quick look at the eclipse as cast for Washington, DC. Here, we would expect the greatest effects within the first year, as the eclipse is in the general vicinity of the Ascendant. The sorts of effects would be the same as I listed above, with an added emphasis on Mars in Gemini, which also rules the 10th house of rulers and kings. Probably the most important point is the continued difficulty posed to the government, since a solar eclipse by its nature is bad for the ruler, as the Sun - the ruler - is robbed of its light (if other testimonies concur, since not all solar eclipses indicate problems for all governments). Here, the eclipse squares the ruler of the 10th house of kings, Mars in Gemini.

[Addendum 8/18/2007: The above chart is very close for the eclipse chart set for Lima, Peru.  In Lima, the "widowmaking" Mercury is about 3 degrees away from the Ascendant.]

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Horary Astrology Question:

I had a very sexually and emotionally intense relationship with a man about 15 years ago. We were together for about 2 years, and just before we broke up, I miscarried his baby (but he didn’t know I was pregnant, and I never told him I lost the baby). Shortly after that, the relationship ended abruptly with him breaking up with me because, in his words, “I don’t love you because I don’t know what love is.” And yet, I know he did. And my suspicion is that he broke up with me because he DID love me and was terrified by it.

But 15 years have passed, we haven’t spoken in about 10 years, and we live thousands of miles apart now, but I still feel this man “with” me all the time. And every once and a while, I hear from an old mutual friend who will, in the course of our conversation, tell me what’s going on this man’s life - and every time she does, I already know it.

Lately, I have been considering getting in touch with him to tell him about that long ago pregnancy in the hopes that finally telling him will help resolve the relationship for me, and perhaps for him as well. But, I’m also worried about opening that wound again, so to speak, and stirring up something that should just be left alone.

So, my basic question is should I contact him to tell him this or not?

—K.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear K.,

Thank you for writing to me. I think this is where horary is so helpful – we can understand what is going on with others. To me, this is even more valuable than knowing what the future will bring. I cast a horary chart for the time that I understood your question, and the horoscope is below:

The first question is whether this feeling is mutual, or whether it’s something going on only on your end. In his horoscope, you are represented by Mars in Taurus and by the Moon in Pisces. He is represented by Venus, ruler of your seventh house of partners, and by the Sun. I am afraid that your strong bond is one-sided, for a few reasons. First, we see that with Mars in Taurus, you are strongly interested in what is going on with him, and you still do love him. The problem is that Mars is conjunct the fixed star Algol, which can represent us losing our heads. So it’s as though your strong feelings for him are making you blind to the truth of the situation.

With the Moon in Pisces, we see that you are emotionally putting him on a pedestal, as the Moon is in the exaltation of Venus. So you are very much engaged with him on an emotional level as well. My concern is that neither of those planets, Venus and the Sun, reciprocate. Venus is currently in Virgo, where it is not interested in either Mars or the Moon, and the Sun is in Leo, which tells a similar story. So we see that at the moment, he is not thinking of you.  You had also asked about possibilities for the future, specifically if you were to contact him.

Venus is about to move into Leo, indicating some kind of a change of conditions for him. However, even in Leo, Venus is not very interested in Mars or the Moon, so I am not sure that contacting him would somehow reignite his heart. If anything, it may bring more pain into his life, and perhaps the kinder decision would be to leave the subject alone.

—Readers who wish to get a reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left.

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