John McCain: Biography of a Future President in the Stars?
July 9, 2008 by Nina Gryphon
John McCain may have the biography of a future president, if past events in his life are any indication. From an astrological perspective, whether McCain’s biography and past accomplishments will be sufficient to propel him to the presidency is a different matter altogether. To become president, one has to have a Royal chart, or more accurately, one’s horoscope has to be more royal than those of one’s opponents.
A few days ago, we have examined Barack Obama’s horoscope for potential indicators of royalty. Today, we will look at McCain’s presidential potential according to the rules of the English astrologer, William Lilly, and later, we will post a comparison of the royal potential of each candidate’s horoscope.
John McCain: The Biography of a King?
Royal Criterion 1: The Sun and Moon, their aspecting planets, the ruler of the midheaven (the house of honor and glory), and any planets in the midheaven should be in their own signs or exaltations.
McCain’s Horoscope: Neither the Sun nor the Moon are in their own signs, and neither aspects other planets. The ruler of the midheaven is the Moon, which is in the sign of its detriment, Capricorn, and it is in the fourth house, the lowest point of the chart. There are no planets in the midheaven. The best and most favorable piece of evidence in this criterion is that the Sun is in the benefic 11th house, where it is elevated above the earth. However, the Sun is in Virgo, where it has dignity by face, which is only a minor strength.
Royal Criterion 2: The above planets should be angular (in the 1st, 7th, 10th, or 4th houses).
McCain’s Horoscope: the planets we are considering are the Sun, the Moon, and Mars. Of these, only the Moon is angular, and it is in the lowest angle (the fourth house), the one least associated with worldly success and renown. However, Mars and the Sun are in the 11th house, which is very benefic and lucky, but it is not strictly in keeping with this criterion.
Royal Criterion 3: Any of the above planets, including the angles, should be conjunct one of the Royal stars (Aldebaran, Hercules, Regulus, Spica, Lucida Lancis, and Cor Scorpionis).
McCain’s Horoscope: McCain has the Royal star Spica within about 5° of the Ascendant. The Midheaven is within about 6° of the Royal star Pollux. It is said that Spica brings “unexpected honor beyond the native’s hopes and capacity,” which could certainly bring the presidency.
Judgment: By William Lilly’s standards, John McCain does not have an overwhelmingly royal chart, but a royal star on the Ascendant and Midheaven may well be all that’s needed to win the presidency.
The challenge of John McCain’s horoscope is that his birth time is given as exactly 9 a.m.; if he was born just a few minutes before 9 a.m., the Ascendant and Midheaven would move, and it may be that the royal stars would no longer be within range. Alternatively, if he was born a few minutes after 9 a.m., the royal stars could be sitting directly on his Ascendant and Midheaven, and he would be a shoo-in for the presidency. Therefore, there is some uncertainty regarding the quality of McCain’s horoscope.
In the next few days, we will look at the royal potential of John McCain’s horoscope from the perspective of the medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti, and then we will post an astrological comparison of the presidential potential of Barack Obama and John McCain.
The Astrology of Missing People: Madeleine McCann
May 25, 2007 by admin
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 7th 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).
How to Read William Lilly’s Christian Astrology
July 20, 2005 by admin
Hint: With your wits firmly ensconced about you. Or, to paraphrase the 17th century physician and astrologer Nicholas Culpeper, you must keep your brains in your head where they belong and not in your books.Let’s get this out of the way first: why even read William Lilly’s Christian Astrology? Because it is the greatest book on astrology that has been written in the English language. Ever. Whatever you may think of the most recent editions of Neptune or Solar Arcs or that timeless classic, Astrology to Instantly Firm Up, Groom, and Tone Your Karma. Reading CA is guaranteed to turn you into a better astrologer, provided you use some common sense when reading. There can arise an infinite number of charts, each different from the last, and even the most explicit 1-2-3 instructions (on which Lilly tends to skimp, anyway) will not work in all cases.
Reading William Lilly is frequently crazy-making, and it’s not because of his archaic language (you should know by now that Lilly’s “clown” so often mentioned in CA = our peasant/country bumpkin/hick). Rather, it’s because he is not a particularly methodical writer or explainer. Don’t get me wrong – he was a truly excellent astrologer. It’s just that in the conveying of the information, he would be somewhat stream-of-consciousness. Disorganized, we would say nowadays.
So, how do you read Lilly for pleasure and profit? Since he himself provides no handy manual, here are some necessary steps:
1. Check and recheck that brain is in your head not book. Less messy that way.
2. Get pen & paper.
3. Open your CA, and start writing. Organize Lilly’s instructions numerically; break each segment down into an outline. Once you have a good algorithm for a certain operation (e.g. how to tell if it will be a girl or boy in a horary), go and test it out on some charts. As you do this, keep asking yourself at each step, why? Why do we care what the 11th house is doing in a pregnancy chart? (Answer: because in most pregnancies, it takes two, and the 11th house is the 5th house of the partner, who is signified by the Querent’s 7th. And it’s the partner’s kid as much as the Querent’s.)
Note that in many if not most chapters, Lilly will give several possible algorithms for a certain operation. In such cases, try to use both when learning, but mainly, be very analytical. Observe what common elements arise among the instruction sets. Then try to figure out why these elements are important.
4. Rinse and repeat, banging head against wall as little as possible.
Good luck, and let me know if you have questions. You can always reach me at nina ” at ” gryphonastrology.com.
Badges
