Rectification (With or Without a “W”)

Zip Dobyns

An accurate horoscope requires accurate birth data, if we wish to function as astrologers rather than as psychics. (An ideal situation would include an accurate chart, in-depth knowledge of astrology, AND psychic ability, but life is rarely ideal). Where the birth time is uncertain or unknown, there are a number of choices, all of them fraught with problems. One can do a solar chart, putting the Sun on the MC or Ascendant; one can do a flat chart, putting the signs in their natural houses (Aries in the first house, Taurus in the second house, etc.) and calculating the planets for the middle of the day; or one can try to determine the uncertain variable. Occasionally, the day, month, or year will be in question. If the birth certificate says June l and the mother insists that the baby was really born on May 31, you can hope to solve the dilemma if the rest of the data is given (including the time of birth). If more than one variable is unknown or uncertain, it is an almost hopeless quest, and I’m inclined to suggest a psychic or a palmist as substitute counselor.

The challenge most frequently faced by astrologers is a questionable birth time. A number of different techniques for determining time are available in the astrological literature, but most of them are too simplistic to be dependable. I profoundly distrust any system that guarantees a quick, easy answer. All systems work some of the time, but prove unreliable or impossible at times. The one technique that I have found most dependable involves the most work (naturally) and is still highly uncertain in results until the suggested chart has been observed over an extended period of time to see whether the horoscope continues to match the later events in the life. The technique involves finding the best fit between a series of events and a series of aspects between planets and angles of the chart. The planets and the angles (Ascendant, MC, East Point, and Antivertex) may include natal and progressed, but there should be aspects involving angles for all of the major events that really change the life.

A number of different progressions and directions can be used in this technique, but it is important to have appropriate aspects for all events in each system. Taking an aspect from secondary progressions for one event, an aspect from tertiary progressions for a different event, an aspect from minor progressions for a third event, an aspect from solar arc directions for a fourth event, etc. can literally prove ANY time. If the time is correct, there should be angle aspects for all major events in all systems of progressions and directions! The really big events should have most or all of the four angle axes involved; that is, there will be aspects to the Ascendant, and the MC, and the East Point, and the Antivertex.

It is also normal to find angle aspects for the more traditional form of progressed angles and simultaneously for the quotidian or daily angles. Of the several techniques for progressing angles, I prefer to move the MC the distance the progressed Sun has moved (the solar arc) and then to calculate the other three angles from the new progressed MC. Quotidian progressed angles move about one degree a day, with the MC calculated for the proportion of the year completed at the date of the event, calculating from the adjusted calculated date. Thus, if the event being considered is exactly between the calculated date in two successive years, the quotidian MC will be opposite the “normal” progressed MC. Of course, it is easier to calculate the variety of angles with a computer. I tend to work initially with the traditionally progressed MC and Ascendant and only add the other angles later as a further check on accuracy. I also work initially with a single system (major or secondary progressions—alternate names for the same technique) and may use other systems as a later test on accuracy. However, since solar arc directions are easy to calculate mentally, one can note when the outer, slow moving planets would have crossed angles.

When an approximate time is given (i.e. mother said it was just before tea time), it is easiest to start with a chart in pencil (prepared for many erasures) only calculated to the degree. Minutes can be added later in the fine tuning. The list of events (at least a dozen) is then compared with the possible aspects between planets and angles. A basic knowledge of what is appropriate is required. Separation events often are signaled by an opposition or a quincunx. Saturn is normally a key to father and Moon to mother and home (though on rare occasions, these can be reversed.) Mars and/or Pluto will normally be involved in surgery. Venus is almost always involved in marriage, and so is Juno! But though there are often aspects from these appropriate planets to the natal or progressed angles, there will be occasions when the planets aspect other planets rather than the angles. So one cannot assume that any specific aspect will be present. One of the angles is often opposite or quincunx Saturn at the death of the father, but not always! An angle might be quincunx the ruler of the tenth house instead. Or the ruler of the tenth (or fourth) house might be the moving factor, aspecting the natal angle.

The basic principle involved is the appropriate symbolic meaning of the set of aspects, since for any major event, there will be several aspects that point in the same direction. Remember that there are always a number of aspects, some harmonious and some stressful. A harmony aspect such as a sextile or trine does not invalidate a set of aspects for a traumatic event, nor does a stress aspect at a time of success and happiness mean that the chart must be wrong. There will always be some of both types of aspect, mixed together. Our happiest periods still include challenges, and our most stressful periods offer assistance in some parts of our life situation and character. As readers know, I believe that character creates destiny, so we can handle our conflicts successfully if we know what they are and work with them. It is partly because of the mixture of aspects that it is very difficult to predict details in one’s life. As was pointed out in an article some years back, even when Mohammed Ali won a fight, he took a lot of physical punishment, and even when he lost, he made a lot of money. The other reason it is difficult to predict details is that we do have choices. We may choose to manifest something other than the option that occurs to the astrologer. Each of our twelve basic principles can be manifested in many different details, depending on our choices.

In working with rectification we are, of course, starting with the details in the life and looking for the sets of aspects which correspond to each detailed event or cluster of events. Traditional astrology would have looked at (for example) a progressed Ascendant quincunx Saturn and tried to guess whether during that period of the life, the individual experienced a separation from a father-figure, a change in the profession, a confrontation with some other form of authority or power, an issue involving the personal conscience, guilt, and responsibility, etc. The same range of details remains possible, but we are now trying to match a series of events with a series of aspects. Does this event fit this set of aspects or another set? The individual may have experienced all of the above details at different times in the life, and others such as personal illness which seem equally to fit that particular aspect. Which one is the right fit? It takes enormous patience and a fascination for detail and a thorough knowledge of which details are appropriate for which astrological patterns, to find the best fit when the events all correspond with proper aspects. But it is also very exciting when everything falls into place and you have angles aspecting Venus and Juno for marriage; Mars and Pluto for surgery; Saturn and Moon for parental involvement, and job and home changes; planets in or ruling the fifth house (and Sun, Moon, Ceres as natural rulers) for children; etc. etc.

If the individual has experienced some events in places other than the birth place, one of my follow-up tests is to check the local angles, again using both natal and progressed. They should also have appropriate aspects for the major events; the fourth-tenth axis for parents, parenting, home, and career; the first-seventh axis for health and equalitarian relationships. Some texts on rectification suggest that only early events are useful, but it is possible to use the major changes at any age, including the death of the individual if you are trying to rectify a deceased relative or famous figure. In several cases, I have used an individual’s death to get an approximate time of birth out of 24 hours, and later information has supported the accuracy of my judgment. Past cases include Martin Luther King, a murdered child, and Jim Jones. Using the attack on President Reagan as an indication of extreme mental problems enabled me to guess the approximate time of Hinckley out of 24 hours and be off just six minutes. But normally, one needs all the information one can get. The best one can hope for from a single dramatic event is to deduce the time of birth within a few hours.

The primary tool in making such a deduction is the secondary progressed Moon. As previously indicated, any big event will have a variety of aspects, often with most of the chart tied in to a massive interconnecting configuration. The progressed Moon will normally be a part of such a configuration, and to get the Moon in the right degree to connect with the rest of the pattern, one can often pin down the birth time within a few hours. Where an approximate birth time was given, it is not necessary to work with this technique, but it is highly useful where there is no birth time at all in the 24 hours. My procedure in such cases is to look only at aspects formed by the progressed Moon to other planets (natal and progressed) until I find a series of aspects that point to the same general time of day. Some aspects might exist that would permit a birth at any time of the day, but if you are patient and/or lucky, you will find a clustering pointing to a specific time; e.g. early morning, late evening, or whatever. Once you have spotted such a clustering, you can proceed as was suggested for the case with a known approximate time. Set the chart up for the middle of the suggested time period, in pencil, and start to look at angle aspects, house positions, etc.

To look for such a clustering of events suggesting a limited period during the day, it is necessary to be familiar with the calculation of the adjusted calculated date. I do this work in my head, but at the beginning, it is probably wise to set up a table listing possible aspects and the time of birth which would have occurred if a given aspect fit a given event. For example, if the individual had surgery in June of a given year and you see that during the ephemeris day corresponding to that year, the progressed Moon would have formed an aspect to natal or progressed Mars or Pluto, you calculate what calculated date would make the aspect exact within one degree, what Greenwich time would produce that calculated date, and finally what the birth time in the zone of birth would have been for that U.T. Most readers are probably familiar with the procedure for obtaining the calculated date, and it is readily available in many books including my book on Rectification.

As was indicated above, you will find a variety of times of day are possible depending on which aspect fits which event. The most you can hope for in this preliminary work is to find a clustering around a period of a few hours out of the day. It may turn out to be a false trail, and you have to go back to the drawing board, but I have found the technique more dependable than trying to guess Ascendants by appearance, symbolic degree meanings, and many other quick and unreliable methods. Every time I try other methods, I am driven back to this time-consuming but potentially solid method. It is true you need a long list of events and a lot of patience, but if you really value an accurate horoscope, it is worth while.

One of the examples I chose, and one of the reasons for including this article, is Pope John Paul II. His date and place of birth are known, but his time is apparently unrecorded and all near relatives deceased. He is a good example of the problem of not practicing what I have just advised. I started to work with his chart with the bias that he ought to have a mutable sign rising or his Taurus stellium in a mutable house because of his verbal fluency and strongly mental life. I also started with the bias that he must be late enough in the day to put the Moon in Gemini for the same reasons; his total focus on the mind and his ability to do more than one thing at a time; for example, to read and sign correspondence while listening to a series of speeches and still be able to summarize the talks at the end of the evening showing that he really listened and absorbed the contents. In an early issue of The Mutable Dilemma, I published a tentative rectification for John Paul II with Virgo rising, an appropriate sign for a celibate priest who is married to the church. This placement also put his Taurus stellium in the ninth house which fit the skill with many languages and the widespread travels, writing, and religious work.

Then someone took a shot at him and the aspects did not seem adequate to me. So back to the drawing board. I tried another chart with Sagittarius rising and his Taurus in the fifth house. He is dramatic and charismatic to an incredible degree. I have seen other charts with an over-loaded fifth house where the individual did not have children but might work with them, or be very fond of them. Then someone in Spain went after him with a knife. Again, I did not feel that the progressed Moon aspects were adequate. So I finally stopped trying to impose a preconceived Ascendant on the chart and went back to just looking at the progressed Moon. Lo and behold, a chart with early Scorpio (the Sagittarius dwad) would put progressed Moon conjunct Saturn opposite Uranus for the first attack when he was actually seriously hurt. Progressed Moon would be octile progressed Mars and natal ascendant for the second attack. Progressed Moon would be conjunct progressed Venus in the ninth house sextile natal Sun for the time he was chosen to be Pope.

The Moon aspects are highly appropriate for the events, and we also have the dramatic progressed Mars on the natal Ascendant for the whole period of being uprooted from Poland to take personal power over the Catholic Church and having two attacks on his life (I think the first Pope to be so assaulted) in addition to the peripatetic travels he has pursued ever since he took office. Mars on the Ascendant fits all of these; enormous energy and action, battles which have included some battles over Church dogma, personal power, and (in Scorpio) intense impact on many people. Other appropriate angle aspects included progressed MC sextile natal Neptune and progressed Mercury while progressed Ascendant was trine natal Jupiter and progressed Neptune when he was elected Pope. At the same time, the Rome progressed MC was trine natal Moon, trioctile natal Ceres, semisextile progressed Mars and natal Ascendant. The quotidian (daily) angles included Antivertex conjunct the natal Sun and sextile progressed Moon-Venus, Ascendant semisextile natal Jupiter and progressed Ceres, East Point sextile natal MC, and MC quincunx the Jupiter-Neptune-Mercury combination. All of the local angles also had aspects, both the “normal” progressed positions and the quotidians ones.

But it is still a matter of judgment. The Virgo rising chart put the election as Pope at the exact New Moon, with progressed Moon conjunct progressed Sun. That, in addition to a progressed Moon square Pluto at the death of his mother when he was not quite nine years old seemed to support that initial choice. But the aspects were not adequate for the attacks. The Sagittarius rising chart put the progressed Moon for the first attack at the midpoint of natal and progressed Saturn, semi-square natal Mars, and it was square the natal Ascendant for the second attack as well as conjunct the MC in Portugal where the attack occurred. But that chart lost a good Moon aspect for the election to the Papacy. The early Scorpio rising chart puts the progressed Ascendant square Neptune for the mother’s death with the progressed Moon aspecting both. Neptune is a ruler of the fourth house. Progressed MC would have been octile Pluto (natural key to death) and sextile Mars, thus aspecting both rulers of the Ascendant. Regardless of birth time, progressed Sun was square the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Progressed East Point was opposition natal Sun (ruler of the MC) and progressed Antivertex was quincunx the south node of the Moon; all appropriate aspects for the separation from a loved one. The quotidian aspects were also appropriate; MC octile natal Moon, Antivertex quincunx natal Moon, Ascendant quincunx natal Venus-South Node, East Point conjunct natal Mars.

I will include the three charts discussed so far, in case readers want to experiment with their own preferred rectification techniques. The list of events which I obtained from a biography include baptism June 20, 1920; mother’s death April 13, 1929 (she had poor health which fits the Moon square Saturn-Uranus and quincunx Vesta), a brother who was an M.D. died, possibly in the fall of 1932, a move to Cracow in the summer of 1938 and attendance at the university that fall, his father’s death was possibly in 1940, sometime after the German invasion in Sept. 1939, and within the next few months John Paul was hit by a tram and then by a truck and a little later, possibly in 1942, he decided to be a priest. He was under extreme physical and emotional stress during the war years, working with the underground, doing physical labor, with inadequate food, in constant danger. During 1944-5, he was suddenly relatively safe, hidden by the Archbishop in his home where he received instruction in the Catholic faith. He was ordained a Priest on Nov. 1, 1946; a Bishop on Sept. 28, 1958; an Archbishop Dec. 30, 1963; a Cardinal June 16, 1967; Pope Oct. 16, 1978. The announcement was made at 18:18 Rome time and he spoke to the crowd at 19:22. The two attacks occurred on May 13, 1981 and May 12, 1982; the latter at 39 N 37 and 8 W 39. If anyone has more specific dates on the deaths of the brother and father, or the accidents during the war, I would like to have them.

At the moment, the Scorpio rising chart seems to best fit the events. It does include the Sagittarius dwad rising as well as the two rulers, Mars and Pluto, in the Sagittarius and Pisces houses. Neptune and Jupiter are in the ninth house closely conjunct the MC with Jupiter in the tenth house by progression. To further support the religious identification, the Antivertex is in Sagittarius in a grand trine to Neptune and Chiron. Where there is no recorded birth time, we may never know whether we are right in our efforts at rectification, but if we keep on watching the events in the life, we should be able eventually to gain confidence in one of the possible charts.

I have debated a variety of other charts as possible examples for this article, and decided to offer an impossible one where only the place of birth is certain. The subject has been front page news repeatedly since early 1979: the Ayatollah Khomeini who managed to overthrow the Shah of Iran and has been the primary power in the country for the past three years. His birth date is variously reported as 1900, 1901, or 1902. May 17 is suggested, but seems quite uncertain. His birthplace is Khomeyn, Iran at 33 N 38 and 50 E 3. My advice is to avoid all cases in which there is more than one unknown, but I do not always take my own advice. I am fascinated by Gurus and power people, and here we have both in one package. Who can resist a flyer? To make matters worse, I have totally inadequate data on events in his life. His father died when he was quite young. One source says the landlord had him killed. One reference says he was then raised by his mother and an aunt. Another reference says an older brother raised him.

His first wife died and his second was the daughter of a wealthy land owner. He had children and one rumor says that the Shah’s agents killed his son but I have no dates on any of these family events. He is said to have written 21 books on philosophy, law, and ethics. In 1962 he moved to the religious city of Qom, and in 1963 he was arrested and imprisoned there after a violent anti-Shah speech. He had already been a foe of the Crown since 1941. After a few months in prison, he was exiled in 1964, going to Iraq on Nov. 4. He remained there until he was considered an embarrassment to the country. On Oct. 6, 1978 he arrived in France and lived near Paris. Meanwhile, he continued to stir up Iran until on Jan. 16, 1979, the Shah left the country. Khomeini returned to Iran to a hero’s welcome on Feb. 1, 1979. Bakhtiar, the Shah’s appointed Prime Minister, saw the handwriting and slipped out of the country on Feb. 11, leaving the control to Khomeini’s appointment, Bazargan. Following a vote on March 30- 31, Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979. On Nov. 4 1979, the American diplomatic staff were taken prisoner and most of them held until Jan. 20, 1981. The Shah died July 27, 1980. Iraq invaded Iran on Sept. 1980, and Iran took back most of their territory by late May 1982. A new constitution was voted in on Dec. 3, 1979 which made Khomeini the ruler for life. In Jan. 1980, heart trouble forced Khomeini to move to Teheran from Qom. A variety of other dates are available including the deaths of some of the rulers of Iran from internal violence.

Even if we were sure of the date of birth, the information I have to date is not really adequate to do a proper rectification. With as much uncertainty as we have on data, it is probably a hopeless quest, but I am going to offer three charts, all for about the same time on the same day but for the three possible years. Then if anyone wants to join in the game, they can try. If any readers have news magazines that give additional information on events in Khomeini’s life, I would love to get it.

The time I have picked puts together two unknowns, the tentative Ascendant for the U.S. chart (discussed in the last issue of The Mutable Dilemma) on the IC of Khomeini. The adversary relationship makes this seem appropriate. There are also other interesting contacts such as Khomeini’s Sun on the Shah’s south node of the Moon and his MC opposite the Shah’s Mars conjunct Saturn in Virgo. The time chosen for Khomeini puts his progressed MC on his natal Sun for his triumphant return to Iran after 14 years of exile, and for his assumption of supreme power in his country. I am maintaining this MC/Sun aspect in all three of the years suggested for his birth. All of these charts also have a close Neptune conjunction to the Ascendant, fitting his life devoted to religious affairs. His father was also an ayatollah and Khomeini studied for a religious life from his youth, fitting the Pisces MC.

The 1900 chart has a major emphasis on planets in Gemini-Sagittarius in the sixth and twelfth houses, appropriate for the prolific writing, the travels, the constant communication. Mars in the last degree of Aries fits the power drive, but Venus in Cancer in the first house seems softer than we would expect for someone who has incited as much violence as he has. Still, it is a possible chart with progressed Mars conjunct Neptune for his triumph, as well as opposite Moon, and progressed Saturn opposite the natal Ascendant for the power struggles revolving among his associates. Transiting Neptune is in the middle of the picture for some time to come. The progressed Moon would have aspected natal Ascendant and progressed Neptune for his return to Iran, and it would have moved to conjunct progressed Jupiter at the Shah’s death which must have been a moment of feeling he had achieved a long-held goal. The progressed Ascendant would have opposed Saturn when he was around five to seven years old. Unfortunately I do not have the date of his father’s death.

In the chart for 1901, a Chiron-Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Capricorn is appropriate for a religious leader. The death of the father could have occurred with the opposition of Ascendant to Saturn at around age 15 to 18, though that is probably too late, or the opposition to Jupiter might be the aspect since Jupiter rules the tenth house as co-ruler of Pisces. It might even have occurred with the opposition to Chiron while the progressed MC was square natal Uranus around age 5. Mars might have been opposite the MC when he was first opposing the throne in the early 1940s. But are the Venus-Mercury in Taurus in the twelfth house and Mars in Virgo in the third strong enough to justify the violence surrounding this man? Progressed Mars is quincunx the MC and the progressed Moon on it for the return to Iran, which fits a change of authorities and establishment, but the rest of the aspects seem inadequate to justify the chronic state of war and death of those years.

The 1902 chart puts the East Point right on Mercury and close to Pluto with Pluto opposite Uranus from 1928 for the rest of his life, an appropriate aspect for constant upheaval as well as mental productivity. Saturn exactly conjunct Vesta in Capricorn in the eighth house and closely quincunx the Ascendant-Neptune fits the separation from the father by death, but there is also a grand trine in earth signs in water houses for both ability to control the material world and help coming from others. With earth we do it. Water protects or is protected by others. Juno and Moon in Virgo square the Gemini add to the mental ability but could indicate the death of a wife through illness. Venus is strong and ambitious in Aries in the tenth house in the Leo dwad, while Mars in Taurus is conjunct the Antivertex, also showing personal drive and power. As a side note, Toro is conjunct the natal Sun, another key to dogged determination and tenacity. Hidalgo is exactly on the Descendant opposite Ascendant and Neptune. Pandora is exactly square Ascendant/Neptune. Icarus is conjunct natal Mars and Lilith is opposite both within one degree. Natal Neptune is exactly on the natal Ascendant while progressed Neptune is exactly on the Teheran Ascendant. Interesting! Jupiter is in its own house and, like Venus, is in the Leo dwad.

Another interesting sidelight: not only is Khomeini’s Sun on the Shah’s south node, but in the 1902 chart, the Shah’s Sun is on Khomeini’s north node. I’m not sure what either of them has been learning, but I don’t think this is the first lifetime they have been working at it. Progressed aspects include the Moon trine the MC, conjunct the progressed Antivertex which is quincunx progressed Jupiter (natally in the ninth house) for the triumphant return to Iran. Progressed Mercury is opposite natal Saturn- Vesta; progressed East Point trines natal Uranus; progressed Ascendant is leaving the quincunx to Saturn-Vesta and coming to the sextile to Ascendant- Neptune. Progressed Venus is conjunct progressed Mars in the first house, just approaching the octile to natal Sun and square to natal Venus which will mark the years following that triumph. One other note, transiting Sun on that day (Feb. 1) was conjunct progressed Jupiter in the 1902 chart.

In Nov. of that year, when the American hostages were taken and became both an ego trip and a problem, the progressed Moon had reached the opposition to progressed Saturn across the second-eighth houses. The tying up of Iran’s money was the lever that eventually freed the hostages. Progressed Mercury was square the progressed nodes of the Moon and quincunx the Descendant. The quotidian angles were also interesting, with the East Point on Jupiter for a touch of hubris. Both the Ascendant and Antivertex aspected progressed Neptune among other factors, and the MC aspected Uranus.

At the Shah’s death, Khomeini’s progressed Moon squared the natal nodes of the Moon and was semisextile progressed Neptune. The quotidian Ascendant was on the true north node of the Moon while the quotidian MC was just reaching the progressed Sun. He had won. The invasion by Iraq came with the progressed Moon trioctile Uranus. The quotidian MC for Teheran was opposite Venus and square progressed Mars for the second invasion, and square progressed Neptune for the first one five days earlier. The quotidian Ascendants were conjunct progressed Uranus for the first attack on Sept. 17, 1980. There are many more aspects that could be noted. Uranus finally reached the one degree orb of a sextile to Jupiter in 1974 and will hold the aspect the rest of his life. Both Uranus and Pluto have been octile-trioctile either the mean or the true node of the Moon all of his life. Neptune was octile Mars to 1939. Jupiter remained trine Pluto to 1928. Jupiter squared Mars from 1955 to 1972, and moved to trioctile Moon from 1981 for the rest of his life.

At the moment, I’m most impressed with the 1902 chart. If any readers have additional information on Khomeini’s earlier life, I would like to have it. But this chart does seem to fit the turbulence and the religious extremism of his life. The progressed Sun has been trine natal Venus through 1980 and 1981, but he now has progressed Ascendant and Moon in Virgo (if the chart is accurate) and the Sun is headed for a square to natal Mars in less than two years. It is also quincunx the MC if the chart is right and will remain quincunx the Teheran MC for two more years. The progressed Moon will conjunct the IC opposite the MC in the spring of 1983, and form squares to the Gemini and Sagittarius planets through the balance of that year. The Antivertex is moving into a quincunx to progressed Uranus in the sixth house. The East Point is quincunx progressed Saturn, and will move to form the aspect to natal Saturn-Vesta. The Ascendant has started a two-year trioctile to progressed Vesta. If the chart is right, the progressed Antivertex will soon oppose progressed Vesta. There are many health implications in these patterns, and he is 80 years old if he was born in 1902. He has driven out the Shah and the forces of Iraq. His goal now is to overthrow Iraq’s ruler. The battle continues. When or if that goal is attained, what next? Neptune rising (or Jupiter) can identify with God: “I am or ought to be God.” There may still be interesting developments for this enigmatic, fighting Guru.

I had planned to end this article with Khomeini, but to my delight, the A.F.A. bulletin arrived with a birth date and place for General Galtieri of Argentina. Since we have no time out of the 24 hours of his birth date, he offers another opportunity to experiment with my technique using the progressed Moon. Looking first at the rest of his planets, we can note that he was born in 1926, the year of the great fixed cross, just a month before Fidel Castro of Cuba. Progressed Jupiter has moved retrograde to form a long square to natal Saturn and to sextile Mars but pull into the pattern the Mars quincunx to Saturn. Progressed Mars in moving into the configuration and in a few years will oppose Saturn and square Jupiter. In a matter of months, it will square natal Mercury. Progressed Venus and Neptune are opposite natal Jupiter.

It seems likely that the progressed Moon is involved in that fixed cross during this power struggle over the Falklands. We check to see the Moon’s possible range, from a birth at the beginning of the day to one at the end. The progressed Moon is past the octile to progressed Mars, but if Galtieri were born early in the day, it might be octile natal Saturn and trioctile progressed Jupiter. A birth a little later in the morning would put the progressed Moon octile the Venus-Neptune-Jupiter grouping. An aspect to Saturn in Scorpio seems a little more appropriate, and it would last for about four months, including first natal and then progressed Saturn. If that early A.M. birth time is accurate, the progressed Moon would have formed the octile to progressed Mars for the time Galtieri took over the Presidency in December of 1981.

As reiterated above, we obviously cannot do a proper job of rectification with only two events, but we can at least do some exploration. Having picked a possible general time of day, we look at angles and possible house placements. He would have Aries or Taurus rising, with Mars in Aries near the Ascendant. Gauquelin found Mars in the twelfth house most often in famous military men, so even thought the results are only a statistical figure, they are encouraging. We note that the progressed Sun has moved about 54 degrees since birth. If we put early Aquarius on the MC, we could put the progressed MC into the beginning of Aries, in an octile to progressed Mars and with the prospects of years of aspects to the fixed cross. With a computer in the house, it is done, and fascinating.

The progressed Moon would have entered Libra in late 1981 and been opposite our proposed progressed MC when Galtieri became President. Progressed Ascendant would be quincunx the progressed south node of the Moon in the ninth house for the strain with foreign countries and ethical issues, and it would be conjunct the natal north node of Mars as well as square progressed Sun. Progressed East Point would be conjunct the progressed north node of Mars. Transiting Mars was on the natal south node of Mars on the day of the initial attack on the Falklands. Transiting Pluto was retrograding to conjunct the progressed south node of Mars. A repeated theme? Want more? The natal Part of Mars (Ascendant plus Mars minus Sun) would be early Aquarius and the progressed Part of Mars would be middle Aquarius, just far enough to put natal MC at the midpoint of the two Arabic parts! Progressed Antivertex would be in the last degree of Cancer octile progressed Ascendant and Sun.

In general, the chart looks reasonable. Natal Moon would be quincunx natal Mars and progressed Jupiter, a yod. It is also exactly on Margaret Thatcher’s progressed Moon which is in her tenth house. Jupiter in the tenth house fits the high value placed on power, and Saturn in the seventh the willingness to fight. The degree chosen gives the Gemini dwad rising. I have often found the dwad of the Ascendant to be a better key to the physical appearance than the sign. But Taurus rising and Venus on the Antivertex in its own house fits the physical attractiveness. Of course, we could put the time a few minutes earlier and have the progressed MC conjunct Uranus, but that would also fit the turbulent power politics that were going on in the years just before Galtieri managed to change the rules to let a Junta leader become president. He was sworn in on Dec. 22, 1981, according the A.F.A. article, which would put transiting Venus on his natal MC. Natal Venus also participates in that incredible collection of planets at 19 degrees, with a square to the Moon, a quincunx to Saturn, a trine to Jupiter, and a sextile to Mars and Mercury. It also rules his sixth house if this time if accurate.

Of course two events are totally inadequate for proper rectification. Consider this an example of where to start, not a finished product! Where should one stop? When we run out of pages. But there is so much more, including the new asteroids. Icarus is widely conjunct Jupiter with progressed Dembowska conjunct it and progressed Saturn square them both. If the chart is accurate, natal Urania is exactly on the Descendant in Buenos Aires and progressed Urania is conjunct Saturn square progressed Jupiter. Things are rough now, but in about three years when the progressed Sun and Mars move in to nineteen degrees to set off the whole configuration, with the progressed angles adding their emphasis, it is likely to be a good bit rougher. This decade marks a cosmic report card for a lot of people. There are no easy answers, but love and common sense can help.

Copyright © 1982 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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