Anthony Louis's Blog

Today the site https://www.facebook.com/astrodatablog announced that the award-winning French actress Nathalie Baye died in Paris on 18 April 2026 at the age of 77 from complications of Lewy body dementia. Her birth chart (rated AA) is available at https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Baye,%20Nathalie. Here is her chart cast in Morinus 9.6.2 freeware with Placidus houses.

It is instructive to consider the natal charts of celebrities at the time of their passing. Nathalie was born on a Mars day during a Mars hour. She has Cancer rising, making the Moon the ruler of her Ascendant.

Jupiter rules both her 6th (illness) and 8th (death) houses and opposes the Venus-Uranus-Mercury stellium at the cusp of her 12th house, which Mercury rules. The annular solar eclipse of 17 February 2026 at 28 Aquarius 50′ in her 8th house closely trined this 12th house stellium and formed a close sesquiquadrate to her 12th house Sun at 14 Cancer. The annual solar eclipse, occurring in her natal 8th house, also formed an impressive exact quincunx to her natal Ascendant degree. Natal Mars in Virgo forms a T-square to Jupiter in Sagittarius and the stellium in Gemini.

What primary directions were active at the time of her demise? Calculating in Morinus 9.6.2, the following list of Placidus semi-arc directions (with latitude and the Bianchini circle at the Naibod rate) appears for 2026. Aspects calculated included the “major” Ptolemaic aspects plus the semi-square, sesqui-quadrate, and quincunx. The classic hylegiacal significators were used (Sun, Moon, MC, Asc, Fortuna) to generate the list.

One can see that in 2026 the active primary directions were the following:

1) The opposition of the 8th & 6th rulers, Jupiter, comes to the MC by primary motion on 21 February 2026.

2) Mars, malefic of the nocturnal sect in a day chart, conjoins the Ascendant degree on 23 April 2026. (Her passing occurs on 18 April 2026, five days prior to the body of Mars coming to her natal Ascendant.)

The testimony of her current solar and lunar returns is also quite striking.

In this tri-wheel diagram, her natal chart is in the center. Study the 12th house, which contains both her natal Sun and Moon, which rules her ascendant degree (health, vitality, and life force).

The middle wheel is her current solar return (2025 – 2026). Solar Return Jupiter, ruler of her natal 6th and 8th, closely conjoins her natal ascendant-ruler Moon.

The outer wheel is her current lunar return at the time of her passing. Lunar return Jupiter tightly conjoins her natal 12th-house Sun.

Several other testimonies are apparent.

On page 33 of Christian Astrology, Lilly wrote:

Note that Lilly writes, “What space is contained between figure one (cusp of 1st) and figure two (cusp of 2nd) is of the first house, or WHAT PLANET YOU SHALL FIND IN THAT SPACE (between cusp 1 and cusp 2), you shall say HE IS IN THE FIRST HOUSE, yet IF HE BE WITHIN FIVE DEGREES OF THE CUSP of any house, his VIRTUE shall be assigned to that house whose Cusp he is nearest, etc.”

By “virtue” of a planet, Lilly means the planet’s astrological influence, power, impact, and effective presence. The “location” of a planet refers to which house the planet occupies, as determined by the cuspal boundaries of the house. According to Lilly, while a planet’s physical “location” is defined by the mathematical boundaries of a house, its “virtue” (astrological influence, power, impact, effective presence) can shift if it is close to a cusp. If a planet is within five degrees of the cusp of the following house, it is considered to have its primary influence in that upcoming house, rather than the one it technically occupies (its actual location in the chart).

Some astrologers regard planets at the end of a house as actually being in the next house. This practice is contrary to what Lilly taught. Planets are located where they are present in a chart, and their astrological influence is strongest at their actual location. If the cusp of the next house happens to be nearby, the influence or impact of a planet by its presence will be felt strongly at that cusp.

Let’s look at a case example. In 1973, Noel Tyl cast a horary chart to help a colleague find a valuable missing pearl necklace, which had been a gift for his wife. The querent bought the necklace on a trip to Japan and gave it to his wife when he returned to Germany.

The necklace had gone missing several months earlier, but the wife kept it from her husband because it was such a special gift and symbol of his love for her, and she wanted to spare his feelings. Tyl followed the approach of Ivy Jacobson and used Placidus houses. Lilly preferred the Regiomontanus houses used in this chart.

The querent, Tyl’s colleague who asked the question, is signified by the Moon, which occupies the Aries 10th house. The Moon is also a general signifier of fugitives and missing things, and its presence in the 10th suggests that the necklace is in the home of the querent.

The Rx South Lunar Node, in Cancer in the 1st house and about to rise, fits the emotional impact of the potential loss of the necklace on the querent.

The missing necklace is ruled by the Leo 2nd house, so the Sun signifies the pearl necklace he gave to his wife as a token of his love. The Sun’s location is in Aquarius at the end of the 8th house, which represents loss, anguish, or the money and valuables of another person. Since the Sun (the necklace) is located here, it suggests the item is currently lost, hidden, or in a state of being “dead” to the querent. The 8th house position also reflects the anguish and emotional distress surrounding the disappearance.

While the Sun’s technical location is the 8th house (loss, distress), its virtue (influence, impact) would be assigned to the 9th House because of the Sun’s proximity to the 9th cusp (foreign travel). The Sun’s close conjunction to the 9th cusp modifies the delineation from “lost/hidden” to include “displaced during travel,” “in a high place,” or even “near religious or legal documents.” Because Aquarius is an Air sign, it suggests the necklace might be in an “airy” or elevated spot—perhaps on a shelf, in a closet, high up, hanging somewhere, in an upper room, or in a high location in the house.

Technically, the necklace belongs to the querent’s 7th house wife whose valuables are signified by the Aquarius 8th house ruled by Saturn, which is Rx just inside the 12th house (loss, grieving). The Rx status of the signifier of a missing item is often a testament to its return. The fact that the Moon and Saturn are mutually applying to a sextile is also an indication that the necklace will be found.

If we view the 8th house as representing the wife’s belongings, Venus lies just inside the 8th cusp and is closely conjunct it. Venus in this chart rules the Libra 5th cusp (the children). Venus also rules Taurus in the 11th house, which represents the querent’s friends and the wife’s children. Could the children have played a role in the disappearance of the necklace? The signifier of the children is “hanging out” in the space of the wife’s valuables, where she keeps her necklace.

The 5th house has Libra on the cusp, Uranus just inside the cusp, and Neptune late in the house conjunct the 6th house cusp (2nd house of children—their belongings). Was the disappearance related to some unusual circumstance involving the children that ended in a confusing or misleading placement of the necklace? The 6th cusp is the 12th of the wife (loss and sadness). Did some Neptunian activity of the 5th house children (Neptune at the end of the 5th house) result in grief for the querent’s wife?

Venus is a natural signifier of ornaments and jewelry. With Venus in the 8th (2nd of the wife) mutually applying to trine Saturn Rx (signifying the wife and her belongings), it appears likely that she will recover the necklace. Since Venus rules the 5th, somehow the children may be involved.

The 4th cusp often describes the location of the missing item. With Virgo on the cusp, it may be stored in some kind of container, box, shelf, drawer, cabinet, or compartment. Virgo loves neat organization. With Mercury in Aquarius (an air sign) in the 9th, it could be high up or in an upper location in the house.

OUTCOME:

Tyl writes, “The necklace had been used by the family’s children in play and had been placed in a toy pocketbook and put away with other toys in a spiral stairwell on the way to the attic, in wall cabinets at shoulder level.”

Late on a summer night in 1977, a massive radio telescope in Ohio picked up a mysterious, 72-second blast of radio waves coming from deep space. When astronomer Jerry Ehman saw the data on a computer printout, he was so shocked by how strong and unusual the signal was that he grabbed a red pen, circled the code “6EQUJ5,” and wrote “Wow!” in the margin. To this day, it remains one of our best “maybe” clues that someone else might be out there, because the signal didn’t look like anything nature usually creates—yet, despite decades of listening, we’ve never heard it happen again.

The “Wow! signal” was recorded on August 15, 1977 at the Ohio State University Radio Observatory, famously nicknamed “Big Ear.” The telescope was located on the grounds of the Perkins Observatory at GPS coordinates 40°15′03″N, 83°02′58″W. The local time in Ohio during the detection was 11:16 PM (23:16) EDT, and the radio-wave signal ran for 72 seconds on the clock. Let’s look at an astrological chart for this event. Here it is cast with Regiomontanus houses.

Some scientists regarded this radio signal as coming from an extraterrestrial source, perhaps sent by an alien civilization to communicate with humans on Earth. Other scientists were skeptical of viewing the “Wow! Signal” as evidence of an extraterrestrial intelligence and believed it to be a natural phenomenon whose origin we had not yet fathomed.

In 2004, astrophysicist Abel Mendez published a paper that offered a plausible natural explanation of the “Wow! Signal,” namely that it could have been caused by a transient astrophysical phenomenon. The Mendez hypothesis (2024) suggests that the “Wow! Signal” wasn’t a message from aliens, but rather a rare, natural “cosmic laser” event. He hypothesized that the source of the radio wave was a massive cloud of hydrogen gas somewhere in outer space and the trigger, a sudden, intense burst of energy from a distant star that shot through that hydrogen cloud. This scenario would result in a burst that caused the hydrogen atoms to release all their energy at once in a process called superradiance. This momentarily turned the hydrogen cloud into a giant natural amplifier, creating the powerful “Wow! Signal” detected on Earth in 1977.

In other words, Mendez believes that the 1977 signal was a one-time astrophysical fluke in which a hydrogen cloud was “zapped” by a passing star, making a natural radio signal look like an intentional broadcast. According to Occam’s Razor, the Mendez hypothesis is a more likely explanation than positing radio signals beamed to Earth by extraterrestrial scientists from a distant alien civilization. Mendez assumes that a known natural phenomenon (a hydrogen cloud) interacted with a known energetic object (a magnetar) in a rare but scientifically possible way (superradiance), relying entirely on existing laws of physics and objects we already know exist in the universe.

What can astrology add to the “Wow!” discussion? William Lilly, in his 1647 text Christian Astrology, pages 192-194, explained a method to evaluate whether a report or rumor was true or false. We can regard the chart for the detection of the “Wow! Signal” as a horary chart that poses the question, “Did this signal really come to Earth from an intelligent extraterrestrial creature far off in space?”

Lilly’s Method:

If he found the Moon in the 1st, 10th, 11th, or 3rd house, separated by a benevolent aspect to any planet and applying by sextile, trine, or conjunction to the Asc-ruler, the rumor was true. In this chart, the Moon lies in the 5th house, so the rule is not applicable.

Check the Asc-ruler, the Moon, and the Dispositor of the Moon. If any of them occupies an angular or succedent house and a fixed sign, or favorably apply to aspect the Benefics or the Sun, then the rumor is true. Here Asc-ruler is Venus in Cardinal Cancer in the cadent 3rd, Moon’s dispositor is Mercury in Mutable Virgo in the cadent 6th, and the Moon lies in Mutable Virgo in the succedent 5th. None of these conditions apply in this chart, suggesting the rumor is false.

Do Venus, the Moon, or Mercury favorably apply to aspect the Benefics or the Sun? The Moon’s next aspect is a sextile to Venus. Mercury is separating from a sextile to Venus and will next apply to square Mars. This is a mixed testimony.

“Rumors are for the most part true when the Angles of the Figure are of fixed signs, … and the Moon and Mercury in fixed signs, separating from the Infortunes, and applying to a fortunate planet, placed in any Angle.” In this chart the horizon lies in fixed signs, but the meridian in Cardinal signs. The Angles start in fixed signs but culminate (and anti-culminate) is rapidly change cardinal/movable signs, suggesting that the rumor may initially appear fixed and true but will eventually be regarded as false.

The Moon and Mercury are in Mutable signs. Neither is separating from an Infortune. Moon is applying to sextile Venus but Mercury is applying to square Mars. This is a mixed testimony.

If we allow “modern” planets, the Moon’s next aspect is a partile sextile to Uranus, followed by a square to Neptune (deception) Rx in the 8th house. This configuration may indicate the highly unusual nature of the “Wow! Signal,” followed by a misunderstanding of its true nature.

On balance, the weight of the astrological testimony supports the conclusion that the “Wow! Signal” is not of extraterrestrial intelligent origin but is more likely an unusual natural phenomenon.

As mentioned in the previous post, I’m currently reading Amir Bey’s new book Blendings in which he introduces his Lot or Part of Union/Disunion (PoU), determined by projecting the arc from the Sun to the True North Lunar Node from the Midheaven. PoU = MC + True North Node – Sun.

Given the current war whichPresident Trump is waging against Iran, it occurred to me that we could check the effectiveness of the Lot of Union in the charts of the Islamic Republic, the USA, and Donald Trump.

Nick Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes cites the following as the chart of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States at Noon on January 20, 2025. To check his administration’s attitude toward Iran, I looked at the July 4th birth chart of the USA advanced by secondary progression to the date of Trump’s inauguration. My preferred USA chart has Gemini rising at the same degree as the Descendant in the chart of the Cancer Ingress of the Sun on 20 June 1776 in Philadelphia because the Descendant signifies open opponents to the established order of the rising degree.

Progressing the USA Gemini rising chart to the date of Trump’s Inauguration in January of 2025 yields the following chart.

It is striking that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Lot of Union/Disunion at 16 Libra 41′ falls exactly on the progressed USA Gemini Rising chart’s Mars, which has moved to 16 Libra 40′ Rx in the progressed 9th house of foreign affairs.

Recently I received a copy of Amir Bey’s new publication entitled Blendings: The compatibility and parallels between Composit and Davison Relationship Chart, Introducing the Part of Union. For those unfamiliar with Amir, he is a New York City artist, astrologer, sculptor, and occultist who is known for his Equinox Celebration Tarot, a 36-card deck strongly influenced by the 36 decans of astrology. Amir has been a practitioner of the occult arts since 1968 when he was first introduced to Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, and he has been a practicing astrologer since the early 1970s. Although I have never met him in person, Amir and I have corresponded over the years about particular charts and various astrological issues.

One of Amir’s particular interests is the astrology of human relationships, which also pervades his Celebration Tarot deck. He has worked extensively with synastry and composite charts, including the zodiacal mid-point and the geographical Davison charts, testing these techniques in his astrogocial practice with large numbers of clients. In his new book, Amir introduces a modern Lot or Part, which he calls the Part of Union/Disunion. He connects this Lot to the tarot card called “The Pact” in his Celebration Tarot deck.

Drawing on Uranian astrology, Amir views the MC (Medium Coeli or Midheaven) as representing the conscious “I,” the self, the ego, and one’s conscious aims or goals. The North Lunar Node in synastry reveals the purpose behind unions and how partners help each other reach their destiny. The Sun is a symbol of core identity, life force, and conscious will. Because all three astological factors are key in human relationships, Amir combines then into a single Lot or Part, which is closely related to unions and disunions:

The Part of Union/Disunion = MC + North True Lunar Node – Sun.

In other words, he is projecting the arc from the Sun to the North True Lunar Node from the Midheaven, regardless of the sect of the chart. I was unfamiliar with Amir’s Lot of Union/Disunion prior to reading his book and have not had much time to experiment with it. Calculating this Lot in my own chart, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my own Lot of Union lies in partile conjunction with my wife’s Sun!

On March 18, 2026, the astrological community received the sad announcement of the passing of J. Lee Lehman, Ph.D. (9 September 1953—18 March 2026). Many of us knew Lee from her books, lectures, and workshops during the past four decades. The news was rather shocking since Lee was relatively young, only 72 years old and still quite productive. Being an astrologer, I wondered what was currently going on in her birth chart.

Looking up her chart data in AstroDataBank, I was surprised to see that according to her birth certificate, she was born with Leo rising. In a conversation I had with Lee several years ago, she said proudly that she was a “triple Virgo” with natal Sun, Moon, and Ascendant all in that sign. Doing some research, I discovered an interview, conducted by Garry Phillipson and posted on Skyscript, in which Lee stated that she had rectified her Leo-rising chart to one with Virgo rising. Her “official” birth certificate data is 9-9-1953, 4:35 AM, Wakefield, Nebraska, which she initially rectified to 4:45 AM, finally settling on 4:41 AM.

This last statement struck me as a bit odd because my experience has been that rectifications often result in a birth time somewhat earlier than the time stated on the birth certificate. Astrologer Sidney Kimball Bennett (aka Wynn) made the same observation years ago in one of his publications. Here is Lee’s Leo-rising natal chart based on her birth certificate:

And the same chart is in horary format:

What immediately strikes the observer is that because Leo, Virgo, and Libra are signs of long ascension, Saturn, fallen in Libra, will rise to the eastern horizon by primary motion roughly around age 70. More precisely, Lee was 72.5217 years old at the time of her passing, which corresponds in Ptolemy’s scheme to 72:31 equatorial degrees and in the Naibod scheme to 71.481 (or 71:29) equatorial degrees. The oblique ascension of anaereta Saturn was 210:57 equatorial degrees. Do the subtraction: 210:57 – 71:29 yields the result 139:28 degrees of oblique ascension for the Asc, using Naibod’s timing key. The oblique ascension of her Asc in the 4:35 AM chart is 140:03, which suggests that the birth certificate time is reasonably accurate.

We obtain the following results for the primary directions of the Asc to Saturn, calculated with and without latitude in Janus 6 using the Naibod key for the 4:35 AM chart:

The midpoint of these two directions occurs in March of 2026, again supporting the validity of the 4:35 AM birth time. The body of Saturn crosses the eastern horizon in August of 2025, and the zodiacal longitude of Saturn crosses the eastern horizon in October of 2026. The midpoint of these two influences occurs in mid-March of 2026.

If the 4:35 AM time is accurate, then Lee has a late Leo Ascendant, which is conjoined by Mars in Leo in the term of Mars. This configuration aligns with her love of Aikido, which emphasizes non-violent self-defense by blending with and redirecting an attacker’s energy. The Virgo Sun rules her Ascendant and is governed by Mercury, a natural symbol of astrologers, which trines the MC and is the final dispositor of her chart.

It’s sad that Lee is no longer with us. She would probably have some brilliant and insightful remarks to make in response to this post.

Some of the earliest Greek horoscopes presented by Neugebaur and Van Hosen (1978) come from a text by the 1st century CE astrologer Balbillus in which he discusses “the method concerning the length of life from the starter and destroyer.” After identifying in a natal chart the point or planet that signifies the giving of life and the corresponding point or planet that represents the ending or destruction of life, one measures the arc between them and converts the number of degrees in that arc to years of life. Balbillus gives two case examples, labeled L-71 (native born 27 Dec 071 BCE) and L-42 (native born 16 Jan 042 BCE).

In this blog, I will use modern computer-generated charts that are close approximations to the ones in Babillius’s text. The positions of the planets and Angles of the chart differ somewhat from those of Babillius, and I assume that the modern values more accurately represent the sky as it appeared in these nativities. I used the Raman ayanamsa, which generally gives good results for charts of this period.

L-71: Neugebaur and Van Hosen present this diagram on page 77.

Modern Approximation:

To understand Neugebauer and Van Hosen’s translation of the Babillius text, we need to review some of the vocabulary they use:

Centers (page 3): “The ‘centers’ are the four points which the ecliptic has in common with the horizon and meridian at a given moment.” In other words, the “centers” are the Asc, Dsc, MC, and IC of the chart.

Epanaphora (page 7): “A sign which follows, in the order of the signs of the zodiac, a center. Thus, Taurus is epanaphora if Aries is in Midheaven.” Hellenistic astrologers apparently used epanaphora (ἐπαναφορά) to label the sign that “comes after” or “rises after” an angular sign. For example, in chart L-71, as described by Balbillus, the Sun lies in Capricorn, which is epanaphora with respect to Sagittarius on the western horizon.

According to the translation by Neugebaur and Van Hosen (page 77): “since the luminaries (sun and moon) did not fall in a center, he [the astrologer] went to the epanaphorai, and he did not take the Horoskopos as starter, nor the sun, which was in epanaphora of the setting point, but he took Saturn in Capricorn as starter … because it had the greater claim in the theme and was in his own house. And he says that Mars in Aquarius is the destroyer, and he computed the distance from Aries to Mars, and so long, he said, would be the length of life.”

Balbillus is using a chart that is about a century old as an example. Our modern calculation places the natal sun in Aquarius rather than in Capricorn, which would make the Sun epanaphora and thus unacceptable as a starter. Saturn is angular in Capricorn, and it is dispositor of the Sun, Mars and Mercury. Saturn is the daytime triplicity ruler of the Gemini Ascendant and probably also ruler of the term/bound of the Ascendant degree. Thus, Saturn has “greater claim” in this diurnal theme and can act as the starter.

Unfortunately, the translators, who are not astrologers, state that the length of life is determined by the distance from Aries to Mars, which makes no sense. Had they understood the astrology, they would have understood that the length of life is reflected in the distance from the starter planet Saturn to the destroyer planet Mars. Most likely this distance would have been measured in oblique ascensions (rising times). Consulting the speculum for the modern chart in Janus 6 software, we find the following:

Oblique Ascension of Mars: 296:17 equatorial degrees.
Oblique Ascension of Saturn: 255:18 equatorial degrees.
The difference is about 41 degrees of the celestial equator passing over the horizon as primary motion carries Mars to Saturn—an equatorial arc corresponding to about 41 years of life.

It is not clear from the translation of Balbillus’s text which method he used to measure the arc between Mars and Saturn. Prior to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos, the more common method appears to be the use of rising times (oblique ascensions) of the two planets, expressed in equatorial degrees, to measure the arc between them, regardless of whether or not the signs containing the planets were actually rising. In this chart, Mars lies in the sign Aquarius, whose rising time is 25 equatorial degrees, and Saturn occupies the sign Capricorn, whose rising time is 31 equatorial degrees.

If we use the values of the original positions in the Babillius chart, Mars at 14 Aquarius is about halfway (47%) through the sign Aquarius and would have traveled 11.7 degrees of R.A. through this sign.
Saturn at 4 Capricorn is about 87% of the way from the end of the sign, so Mars would need to travel about 26.9 equatorial degrees to reach Saturn, or about 26.9 years. The sum, 11.7 + 26.9 = 38.6 years of life expectancy, is calculated by rising times in the original figure presented by Balbillus. Calculating the primary direction of Saturn, the starter, to Mars, the destroyer, at the Naibod rate, by either the method of Ptolemy/Placidus or Regiomontanus, yields a lifespan of about 41 years.

Because Neugebaur and Van Hosen are not astrologers and don’t understand what Balbillus is saying, they inaccurately state that the length of life is calculated by the arc between the position of Mars (14 Aquarius according to Balbillus) and the square aspect of the starter Saturn (whose position is at 4 Capricorn and whose squares are at 4 Aries and 4 Libra). The translators then, without understanding, measure the ecliptic arc from 14 Aquarius to 4 Aries and claim that the length of life must be 50 years, thereby misleading the reader. Instead, Balbillus would have measured the equatorial arc, in oblique ascension, between Saturn and Mars to estimate the length of life.

Now let’s consider the other chart, L-42, discussed by Babillius. Here is how Neugebaur and Van Hosen present it on page 78:

This is a modern estimation of the same chart:

In the modern version, the positions of the planets are slightly different from those given by Balbillus. In addition, the MC lies in 27 Libra as opposed to 3 degrees of Libra in the original text. Neugebaur and Van Hosen suggest that the original chart shows the MC calculated from the Part of Fortune, not from the Ascendant degree. In fact, 3 Libra is on the Midheaven when 19 Sagittarius (the degree of the Moon in the original chart) is rising.

The Sun is on the Ascendant in this nativity, and Balbillus takes the Sun to be the “starter.” To determine the destroyer, “one comes to the destructive sign, which is the one rising before the starter, i.e., Sagittarius. And finding there the Moon (in 19 Sagittarius), he says that it becomes the destroyer. Taking the orbit of the Sun up to the quartile of the degree of the Moon (at 19 Sagittarius), i.e., Pisces 19, then, he says, comes the destruction. In other words, the Moon in the 12th sign from the Ascendant and in aversion to the Ascendant is a destructive planet, and its sinister square aspect into 19 Pisces becomes the destroyer. By primary motion, 19 Pisces will rise to the Sun on the Ascendant, thus indicating the end of life.

Again, we can estimate the length of this native life based on oblique ascensions:
The rising time of Capricorn is about 31 degrees of R.A. in this chart. It will take the destroyer about 21 years to go from the end of Capricorn to the Sun.
The rising time of Aquarius is about 25 degrees of R.A. in this chart. This corresponds to 25 years.
The rising time of Pisces is about 21 degrees of R.A. in this chart. 19 Pisces will take about 13.3 years to rise to 0 Pisces.
Adding 21 + 25 + 13.3 = 59.3 years as the estimated length of life of this native by the method of rising times.

In his horary charts William Lilly made use of Ptolemy’s observation in the Tetrabiblos that “sometimes, also, among the signs that ascend slowly the sextile aspect destroys, when it is afflicted, and again among the signs that ascend rapidly, the trine” (p.283, Loeb edition).

In other words, Ptolemy observed that the temporal relationship between zodiacal signs (how long they take to rise) modifies the interpretation of the spatial relationship between the planets that occupy those signs (the geometric planetary aspects). In this way, the rising speed of the signs alters the effective harmony of the softer aspects. We cannot assume that sextiles and trines are universally favorable or harmonious. If one or both of the planets in a geometric sextile or trine are afflicted, then the sextiles in signs that rise slowly and the trines in signs that rise rapidly behave destructively.

William Lilly extended Ptolemy’s principle to squares in signs that ascend either slowly or rapidly, thereby becoming more advantageous and harmonious in their effect. One might say that spatial squares in signs of slow ascension act like temporal trines and in signs of rapid ascension, like temporal sextiles. Oppositions are not affected by ascensional times because the signs are 180° apart, and their rising times are symmetrical. Even if one sign rises fast and the other slowly, the total rising time of the pair is always the same.

The bottom line is that zodiacal aspects, measured spatially as arcs along the ecliptic circle (the apparent path of the Sun around the Earth), cannot be interpreted in isolation. Both Ptolemy and Lilly tell us that the effect of spatial zodiacal aspects depends on the condition of the planets involved and the ascensional times of the signs they occupy. To interpret an aspect, we must always consider at least three factors: (1) space (the arc between planets along the ecliptic circle); (2) time (the rising times of the signs involved, which indicates how rapidly or slowly the aspect can be perfected by primary motion); and (3) the condition of the planets (their state of affliction or bonification).

Let’s look at an example from Lilly. On page 219 of Christian Astrology, Lilly discusses a horary chart cast for his desire to purchase the Houses of Master B.

Lilly notes that the horary Asc (13 Libra 45′) is in the same degree as his natal Jupiter—a good omen.

Venus signifies Lilly, the querent. He assigns the Sun in the 7th to the seller, Master B.

The Sun receives Venus (Lilly) in his exaltation sign Aries, Venus conjoins the 7th cusp, and no other planets occupy the 7th so that there are no other buyers. The Sun also rules the 11th cusp, Lilly’s hopes and wishes in the matter.

Saturn rules the 4th cusp (the houses), and Venus (Lilly) applies mutually to trine Saturn, as does the Sun (Lilly’s hopes). Saturn also signifies Lilly because it beholds the Asc by whole-sign sextile and is the ruler of the Libra Asc by exaltation.

The Moon, which is translating the light of 7th-ruler Mars (the seller) to Saturn (Lilly, his hopes, the houses) by a spatial zodiacal SQUARE aspect, “(yet out of signs of long ascensions) did much facilitate the matter…” (C 220). Lilly realizes that a square from the Moon to Saturn would do much to hinder his buying the houses, but such a square in signs of long ascension would act more like a temporal trine and increase his chances of getting the houses. Lilly must also have regarded the Moon and Saturn in this chart as being reasonably well fortified and free of serious affliction to be able to act favorably on his behalf.

Looking at the speculum in Janus 6 software, we see:

The column ‘OA’ gives the Oblique Ascension for each planet, that is, the degree on the Celestial Equator that rises simultaneously with the planet. The Moon’s OA is 164:12, and Saturn’s is 290:53. Thus, temporally the Moon and Saturn are separated by 126:41 degrees of OA along the equator, which is quite close to the number of degrees in a trine. Spatially, the Moon and Saturn are separated by 92:06 degrees along the ecliptic circle, a square aspect. The next table from Janus 6 shows the rising times of the signs in this chart, expressed in degrees of Right Ascension crossing the Midheaven as the signs rise:

The Moon lies in Virgo, and Saturn lies in Sagittarius. The signs Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius are all of long ascension. The average rate is 30 degrees per sign, and each of these signs takes substantially more than 30 degrees of R.A. per sign to rise.

The roll of antiscia in this chart is quite striking. Here is Lilly’s horary with the antiscia around the outside of the wheel. Note how Venus (Lilly), Mars (Master B, the seller), and their antiscia are interacting in this horary.

On February 17, 2026, the world experienced an annual “ring of fire” solar eclipse at 28 Aquarius. Astrologers noted striking connections between this eclipse and the birth chart of Donald Trump.

According to his official birth certificate, President Trump was born in NYC on June 14, 1946, at 10:54 AM EDT. He has the 30th degree of Leo rising, with natal Mars in the 27th degree of Leo conjunct his Ascendant. The February solar eclipse of 2026 took place in the 29th degree of Aquarius, directly opposite his natal Ascendant and also opposite Mars, which rules his 9th (foreign affairs) and 4th (endings) houses. Because the Ascendant signifies the body, state of health, and vitality, an eclipse directly opposing the Leo-rising degree, which is ruled by the Sun, raises concerns about his physical health and well-being. Pluto’s conjunction with the natal 6th house (illness) cusp reinforces this concern, as does the placement of eclipse Saturn, the dispositor of the eclipse, in the natal 8th house (mortality) conjunct transiting Neptune. According to Reinhold Ebertin, the biological and sociological correlates of Saturn/Neptune connections include “chronic and unhampered progress of malady, organic decomposition; poor, sick, or depressed persons, etc.” Pluto crossing the 6th cusp and Saturn/Neptune combinations representing chronic or wasting conditions are consistent with Ebertin’s approach and modern medical astrology.

It is also notable that Donald Trump was born on a lunar eclipse day, so that his natal Part of Fortune lies quite close to the Descendant. The February 2026 “ring of fire” eclipse falls directly on his natal Fortuna. The Asc of the 2026 annual eclipse lies at 7° Pisces, where it conjoins the eclipse’s Venus-North Node conjunction at 8° Pisces. Natally, Jupiter rules the 8th (chronic illness, dying) and 5th (fun, pleasures, romance) houses, and Venus rules the 3rd (news, communication, media narratives) house. Eclipse Mercury at 16° Pisces tightly squares natal Uranus in the 10th house (public reputation and career), and Mercury rules the natal 2nd house of the economy but also the throat and the ability to speak. In addition, natal Mars is closely tied to the natal Ascendant. At the time of the eclipse, transiting Mars occupies the natal 6th house of illness, while natal Mars and the natal Asc occupy the 6th house of illness in the eclipse chart.

A comparison of the two charts—the president’s birth chart and the February 17, 2026 eclipse—raises serious concerns that Donald Trump may need to confront significant, serious, chronic, persistent, and unhampered health concerns during 2026. Such concerns are linked in his chart to his manner of speech and communication, the news media, his public image, and surprising or unusual happenings in his career.

Considering other predictive techniques, we see that Donald Trump, born in 1946, is now 79 years old and thus in his 8th whole sign (Pisces, ruled by Jupiter) annual profection year, which ends when he turns 80 years old in June of 2026 and enters his 9th house (foreign affairs) Aries annual profection year. During the February 2026 eclipse, transiting Jupiter applied to square his natal Jupiter, which is stationary direct at the end of this natal 2nd house and conjunct his natal 3rd house cusp. Natally, stationary Jupiter is square to natal Saturn, the ruler of the natal 6th of illness.

Jupiter, the Lord of the Year at age 79 by profection, is also the planetary hour lord at birth. Thus, Jupiter is Lord of the Orb at age 77, making the Sun Lord of the Orb at age 79. Natally, the Sun rules his Ascendant and his 12th cusp of chronic illness, and his natal Asc is opposed by the Sun in the 2026 “ring of fire” eclipse, again reinforcing the issues previously highlighted by his astrological configurations this year.

Bernadette Brady advocates looking at the original eclipse of a Saros series to gain a sense of how a particular eclipse will play out during its Saros cycle. The original eclipse of the Saros 121 cycle occurred on April 25, 0944. Here is the chart for the peak of that eclipse, relocated to Jamaica Hospital, where Donald Trump was born:

In the initial Saros 121 eclipse chart, Taurus rises and Venus rules the Ascendant. In New York City Venus is on the 2nd house cusp, just inside the 2nd house, where she directly opposes Mars, which lies on the cusp of the 8th house. Venus rules the sixth house of illness. Mars rules the 7th cusp (Descendant) and the 12th cusp (chronic or wasting illness, undoing). The Asc of the initial Saros 121 eclipse at Trump’s birthplace is tightly square his natal Asc.

The astrological symbolism of a need to confront chronic health issues keeps repeating. Recent news reports have highlighted irregularities in Donald Trump’s speech and ability to regulate himself while conversing with others. Experts in language, psychology, and medicine have noticed clear changes in his speech and behavior, including difficulty retrieving words, mispronunciation, slurred speech, disinhibited or dysregulated behavior in conversation, going off-topic, tangentiality, circumstantiality, decreasing complexity of speech, trouble completing sentences, and challenges with thought processes, which some think could suggest cognitive decline, including frontotemporal syndromes. It is important to realize that these expert observations are largely based on Trump’s public performances and do not constitute a formal diagnosis made after expert testing and personal examination. These astrological indicators and the real-world observations of medical and language experts are, of course, separate lines of inquiry—but their convergence around the same concerns is striking. Astrologically speaking, the 2026 eclipse activating his Ascendant–Mars conjunction, 6th, 8th, and 12th houses, and Mercury–Uranus square describes a period of heightened vulnerability to long-term challenges involving cognition, communication, and the manner and clarity of his speech—issues that, as the chart suggests, are unlikely to resolve quickly and may actually worsen.

A friend recently asked about astrological methods for forecasting the outcome of sporting events. This has not been a particular interest of mine, but I recalled reading John Frawley’s book Sports Astrology several years ago and being impressed by his careful logic and the fact that he tested his methods empirically to be sure that they were reliable.

Here is a summary of my understanding of Frawley’s method. Begin by casting an event chart with Placidus houses for the time and location of the start of the contest, as determined by the sport being played. This is an event chart, not a horary chart, so the rules of delineation will be specific to such an event chart. The presumption is that the team favored by the odds-makers will win unless factors in the chart strongly impede the favorite team’s chances or strongly favor a victory by the underdog.

One team (or person) is competing against another team (or person) to win the game. Political contests (elections) can also be judged by this method. The favored team (according to the pundits and bookmakers) is signified by the 1st house and its ruler (Lord 1, or L-1). The opposing team is assigned to the 7th house and its ruler (Lord 7, or L-7). Use traditional rulerships and the seven classical planets.

The success of the 1st house team (the favorites) is shown by the 10th house and its lord, L-10. The success of the 7th house team (the underdogs) is shown by the 4th house (the 10th from the 7th) and its lord, L-4.

A planet on the cusp of a house controls it—so Lord 7 on the 10th cusp (or closely applying to it) is powerful testimony for the underdog because the underdog’s significator is dominating the favored team’s success house.

A planet inside a house is controlled by that house—so Lord 7 just inside the 10th represents the favorite’s success house imprisoning the underdog’s significator, which favors the favorite team.

Use only the traditional major aspects. The Moon represents the flow of events, and her final applying aspect to any of the four lords decides the winner—it doesn’t matter whether it lands on Lord 1, Lord 10, Lord 7, or Lord 4; whichever team’s lord receives the Moon’s final aspect wins. If the final aspect of the Moon is not to a key planetary significator, it only reflects conditions at the end of the game and does not identify the winner. Frawley also advises us: “don’t take the Moon past a conjunction. Treat the conjunction as if it were the final aspect.” Thus, even if the Moon conjoins a planet and then moves on to make other aspects, the prior conjunction to a planet is considered final.

For most sports, the Moon is allowed a range of about 5 degrees to perfect an aspect, a little more if there is the possibility of overtime, but never more than the end of the sign that the Moon occupies at the start of the game.

Antiscia of the main significators and of the Part of Fortune are checked against all four cusps, not just the 1st and 7th.

Aspects from Lords 4 and 10 to the Part of Fortune are weaker than those from Lords 1 and 7 and should only be used as supporting testimony in mixed charts rather than as decisive evidence on their own.

The Moon conjunct, trine, or sextile Pars Fortuna or its antiscion favors the 1st house team.

The Moon square or opposed to Pars Fortuna or its antiscion favors the 7th house team.

The Moon void of course (perfecting no major aspects before it leaves its sign) implies that nothing is likely to change unless other testimonies in the chart overrule it.

Pluto on key cusps or opposing Pars Fortuna is a negative factor.

Uranus on the MC favors the 1st house team.

The Lunar Nodes conjunct a key planetary significator: the North Lunar Node favors it, and the South Lunar Node impedes it.

Combustion with the Sun within a narrow orb is extremely unfavorable (especially, about 2 degrees or less away from the Sun and in the same sign as the Sun; the closer to the Sun, the more notable the effect, except for cazimi).

Interpreting sporting event charts ignores essential dignity, receptions, aspects between significators L-1 and L-7, most fixed stars, house placements within houses far from their cusps, and non-angular house placements.

Here is an outline of the above (for more detail, please read pages 71-122 of Frawley’s book on sports astrology):

What Matters in Sporting Event Charts (kick-offs, matches):
Planets on, close to, or inside angular house cusps (2–3°)
Part of Fortune, including its Antiscion and Dispositor
Pluto on angular cusps or opposing Fortuna
Nodes on planetary significators
Combustion
Uranus on MC (helps favorite)
Antiscia of the key significators
Moon’s final applying aspect to a classical planet

What to Ignore in Sporting Event Charts:
Essential dignity
Receptions
Most fixed stars
Aspects between L1 and L7

Let’s look at a case example from the sport of rugby. On Saturday, 17 April 2021, in Round 6 of the Telstra Premiership in Mudgee, Australia, the favored Gold Coast Titans competed against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. The match began at 3 PM AEST. The site justbetting.com.au strongly favored the Gold Coast Titans to win. Here is a summary of what the odds suggested:

Score: A reasonably high-scoring game (44+ points total) is slightly more likely than not.
Winner: Gold Coast (comfortably favored).
Margin: Gold Coast by 7+ points is the expected outcome.

Despite the odds, the outcome was a resounding victory for the Manly Sea Eagles. Here is a chart for the start of the match.

The Gold Coast Titans were strongly favored to win, so they get the 1st house with Virgo on the cusp. Lord-1 is Mercury, and Lord-10 (their success) is also Mercury.

The Manly Sea Eagles are the underdogs, so they are assigned to the 7th house with Pisces on the cusp. Lord-7 is Jupiter, and Lord-4 (Manly’s success) is also Jupiter.

The key significators are Mercury and Jupiter. The only key significator near an angular cusp is Jupiter (Manly) applying to conjoin the 7th cusp (Manly) within an orb of 4° 37′, which is greater than the 2–3° orb that Frawley allows for the angular cusps. Thus, Jupiter (as Lord 7 and Lord 4) applying to the 7th cusp is only a mildly favorable indicator for the ‘underdog’ Sea Eagles.

Let’s look at Frawley’s other interpretive criteria for winning or losing a game:

Part of Fortune, also its Antiscion and dispositor — Mercury (the favored team and its success) is closely applying (within less than 1 degree) to OPPOSE the Part of Fortune, indicating that Mercury’s team, the Gold Coast Titans, are working against or away from winning.
Pluto on angular cusps or opposing Fortuna — not applicable.
Nodes on planetary significators — not applicable.
Combustion — Mercury (signifying both the favored team and its success) applying to the Sun within a tight orb of 2° 5′ and is thereby overpowered and burned to a crisp by the Sun’s fire, indicating that the Gold Coast Titans are likely to crash and burn.
Uranus on MC (helps favorite) — not applicable.
Antiscia of the key significators — The antiscion of Mercury, about 4 degrees into the 1st house, is mildly favorable for the 1st house team (Gold Coast). The antiscion of the Part of Fortune just under 3 degrees inside the 7th house cusp is moderately favorable for the underdog team (Manly Sea Eagles).

Moon’s final applying aspect to a classical planet—here the Moon’s final aspect is a trine to Jupiter (the Manly Sea Eagles), suggesting that they will be the winners.

In this chart the Moon’s final aspect to a classical planet is its trine to Jupiter. The Moon then moves on to trine the Part of Fortune, which is not a planet and therefore would not be a key significator on one of the teams or that team’s success.

In the event chart for the start of the game, the Moon applies to Mars at 26:11:42 Gemini (not a key significator) and also applies to trine the position of Jupiter on the ecliptic (26:11:57 Aquarius).

In the list of “transit to transit” aspects on the day of the match, Solar Fire calculates that the Mars trine Jupiter aspect perfects at 3:13 PM (13 minutes after the start of the game), so the Moon’s final transit to transit aspect in “real time” is a conjunction to Mars. Frawley recommends checking the ephemeris to determine whether and when aspects perfect.

However, in the list of “transit to radix” aspects on the day of the match, Solar Fire calculates that the Mars trine Jupiter aspect perfects at 3:10 PM (10 minutes after the start of the game), so the Moon’s final transit to radix aspect is a trine to Jupiter.

In this case example, measuring the applying aspects of the Moon to the radical positions of the key significators appears to give a more convincing result. However, Frawley advises us to stop at the Moon’s bodily conjunction to a planet, so in this instance we would not take the tr

The Outcome, from https://www.seaeagles.com.au/news/2021/04/17/sea-eagles-dominant-titans-in-36-0-win-in-mudgee/:

“A rejuvenated Manly Warringah Sea Eagles side recorded a dominant 36-0 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Glen Willow Stadium in Mudgee today in round six of the Telstra Premiership. In their finest and biggest win of the season, the Sea Eagles gained momentum early and piled on the points in an impressive first-half performance to lead 26-0 at half-time and to leave the field to a standing ovation from delighted Manly fans.”