Book Review

Zip Dobyns

Students of mundane astrology will find this book interesting, though it is a shining example of the risks inherent in making specific predictions with astrology. The Stock Market, the Dollar and Interest Rates Developments 1985 to 1990 by Dr. Hans Gerhard Lenz of Germany was published in 1985 by Gertraud Lenz Verlag. The book covers a short look at the history of astrology, a little on general cyclical trends, techniques used in forecasting, and a variety of charts and predictions on the U.S.A., West Germany, Great Britain, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and Australia. Final chapters discuss gold and interest rates.

Much of the period forecast is still ahead of us, but the predictions for 1985 can be compared to actual events. For the New York Stock Exchange, Dr. Lenz expected a bear market through most of 1985 with only short periods at the beginning and end of the year allowing upward price movement. He wrote, “Because of the unfavorable aspects, it is quite possible that the Dow Jones Average will fall below 1000 points in 1985.” He thought that the beginning of 1986 might mark a small recovery but that more declines were to be expected periodically, concluding “Taken over all, the Index will register a further net decline in 1986.” p. 70 He expected the bull market to begin again in 1987, though with some weak periods, into early 1988.

Only time will tell about the balance of this year, but the Bull of 1985 is legendary and is still charging to new highs as this is written in late May 1986. Rather than dropping below 1,000, the Dow is flirting with 2,000 at the moment. My guess is still that a major down period is likely in the last part of 1986—anytime from mid-October on. I keep thinking we must be near the top, but apparently the people with discretionary money or the managers of the pension and insurance funds are still optimistic. According to some of the newsletters I receive, about 75% of the rise in the market has been due to takeovers and mergers. It still looks like 1929 to me, but I hope I am wrong!

Dr. Lenz predicted a high for gold in the second half of 1985, was not sure how long it would last but suggested the peak might be in 1986 with the next low expected in the fall of 1987. Actually, gold has mostly moved “sideways”, in terms of U.S. dollars and has dropped in cost in some other currencies. One forecast that was “on target” concerned the value of the U.S. money. Lenz wrote that “from December 1985 to May 1986 the dollar exchange rate will fall significantly.” He continued “From June 1986 to the end of the year it will be able to regain some of its loss of value.” p. 65 The dollar seems to be strengthening a bit in May, but I suspect we will see a further challenge in the latter part of the year.

Lenz compared the Yen, the monetary unit of Japan, with the German Deutsche Mark (DM), so he did not specify the spectacular rise of the yen against the U.S. dollar. He expected the yen to rise against the DM in February to April 1985, the DM to regain value in the summer and hold it through the rest of 1985, the DM to strengthen still more in February to April 1986, and then lose a little ground in the following months. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) reports a mostly stable relationship between the yen and the DM with yen up a little in February 1985 but back to baseline by May; down a little in July but back to base in September, and up a little in March 1986, losing half of that gain in April 1986. All the changes were small. (My appreciation to Wayne Turner for the IMF data.)

As far as I could tell in my reading of the book, Dr. Lenz uses only transits including cycles involving two or more planets to each other and transits to basic charts of countries, stock exchanges, the beginning of legal currencies, etc. The horoscope data is perhaps the most valuable part of the book for mundane students. There were numerous charts I had not seen in any other reference which I happily added to my collection. The times of some of these beginnings are uncertain, but just having a date and place can be helpful. Unfortunately, some of the data is different than my information, including the chart of the New York Stock Exchange and Jesse Jackson. Of course astrologers differ fiercely on the right time for the U.S. Declaration of Independence. I could not read the German style charts, but ran my own on our computer. Of course, Dr. Lenz did not have any asteroids in his charts. By the time the book reached the U.S., its price was inflated, but for serious mundane students who want to work with charts from a variety of countries, it offers data I have not seen anywhere else.

Copyright © 1986 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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