Pluto on the Natal Ascendant

I was asked recently about Pluto conjunct the Ascendant. Pluto has a number of meanings and all apparently can be applied when Pluto lies natally on a person’s Ascendant. Let’s start by looking at some examples. I looked at well-known individuals, who would have enough public information about them so that you could look them up and see how this really works. I also chose individuals for whom there is an accurate public time of birth. This left very few people…

The orb I used is 3°. Each day the earth rotates so that Pluto is conjunct the Ascendant for several minutes. It works out that about 2 people in a 100 will have a tight (± 3°) conjunction of Pluto and the Ascendant.

However Pluto moves very slowly, taking about 250 years to go through the twelve signs. Thus, these examples all are in six signs, Taurus through Libra. Pluto has gone through Scorpio, Sagittarius and is now in Capricorn, but individuals with this aspect are so young that they have not got public reputations. And their Pluto-twins from 250 years previous are not well represented in my files.

Pluto was in Taurus and conjunct the Ascendant of Diamond Jim Brady who was born in 1856. Brady was a bon vivant in New York City, spending big, owning jewelry, making bets and large financial transactions that today would be against the law. He was one of the ideals of the Gilded Age of prosperity before WWI. In short, Brady exemplified the man of the era, a self-made multi-millionaire who lived large in the largest center of finance and culture in the US. Taurus is the sign of sensuality and physical appetite, after all.

With Pluto in Gemini, and conjunct the Ascendant we have more individuals and more meanings of Pluto: Clyde Barrow, Wernher von Braun, Joan Grant and Knute Rockne. Gemini is an intellectual sign, of thinkers, writers and thieves. Gemini moves quickly and is clever. Clyde Barrow is the famous Depression-Era bank robber who was killed along with his paramour Bonnie Parker, note that Gemini is a sign of a sibling or sibling-like relationship. Wernher von Braun is the Nazi rocket scientist who made a deal with the Allies and came to American to build our space program; he demonstrates the “clever” part of Pluto in Gemini. Joan Grant is the reincarnation-themed author, whose haunting stories seem to reflect actual glimpses of previous lives. Grant shows another meaning of Pluto which is in-depth, in biological cells, inherited, and innately human—the connection to a biological or spiritual part of ourselves that lived before us. Knute Rockne was a Norwegian-American football player and later coach at Notre Dame. He is considered the greatest, or among the greatest college football coaches of all time.

Pluto conjunct a Cancer Ascendant is a whole different kind of person. Pluto rules Scorpio, and Cancer is another water sign. Both are emotional and given to indirect (some would say manipulative) action in the world. Among individuals with this aspect are: former Mexican president Miguel de la Madrid, leader of the PLO Yassir Arafat, entertainer Desi Arnaz, newscaster David Brinkley, jazz musician David Brubeck, Black Power leader Eldridge Cleaver, guru Ram Dass, and singer Judy Garland. Yassir Arafat probably best exemplifies the dark side of this Pluto conjunct Cancer Ascendant. Wikipedia points out that “Arafat remains a highly controversial figure whose legacy has been widely disputed. He was ‘revered by many Arabs,’ and most Palestinians, regardless of political ideology or faction, viewing him as a freedom fighter who symbolized their national aspirations. However, he was also reviled, especially by many Israelis, who viewed him as a terrorist responsible for hundreds of bombings and deaths. Critics have accused Arafat of mass corruption, secretly amassing a personal wealth estimated to be USD $1.3 billion by 2002 despite the degrading economic conditions of the Palestinians.”

Pluto conjunct a Leo Ascendant is a sunnier person, but no less desirous of power. Among those with this placement are entrepreneur Richard Branson, rocker Lindsay Buckingham, actress Glenn Close, counselor and astrologer Donna Cunningham, Judge Lance Ito and actor Steven Seagal. Both Donna Cunningham and Seagal are healers, who use their Pluto insight and heritage and depth to work for the physical and mental health of others. Cunningham, a LCSW, has written a book specifically about Pluto, “Healing Pluto Problems.” Seagal has mastered martial arts and starred in many movies, tweaking the plot to include some of the healing philosophy behind Asian martial arts.

When Pluto is in Virgo and conjunct the Ascendant, we have another change. Virgo is far less dramatic than Leo, and operates at a smaller scale. But Pluto still seeks intense connection with others. Thus we have one of the world’s most famous lovers, Giacomo Casanova, who was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century. Casanova was so famous for his often complicated and elaborate affairs with women that his name is now synonymous with "womanizer." During Pluto’s 20th century transit of Virgo, we have the following individuals with Pluto on their Ascendant: heavy-metal-suicide Kurt Cobain, actress Shannon Doherty, actor Will Ferrell, singer k. d. lang, actress Lucy Liu, actor Keanu Reeves, survivalist-bomber Eric Rudolph, actress Sharon Stone. Stone was the star of the “erotic thriller” Basic Instinct. Even before its release, Basic Instinct generated heated controversy due to its overt sexuality and graphic depiction of violence. It was strongly opposed by gay rights activists, who criticized the film's depiction of homosexual relationships and the portrayal of a bisexual woman as a murderous sociopath. Despite initial critical negativity and public protest, Basic Instinct became one of the most financially successful films of the 1990s; grossing $352 million worldwide, which shows just how popular “basic instincts” are!

I only had one example of Pluto in Libra and conjunct the Ascendant, the unfortunate Laci Peterson, who was murdered by her husband at Christmas time when she was 7 months pregnant with their first child. It turns out that I had used the wrong time for her chart. Her corrected chart, though, has Pluto conjunct the Descendant, the opposing degree to the Ascendant and signifying her husband. Pluto is intense, and Libra is partnership. Both applied to the relationship between Laci and her husband Scott Lee Peterson who is now in prison.

Good luck with those individuals in your life who have the unforgettable Pluto/Ascendant combination!

Lalia

Why Astrologers Use Celebrity Charts as Illustrations

As a student of astrology, which we all are, you may have wondered about why your chart is never featured in an astrologer’s article about chart features. Well, there are a bunch of reasons. Here are some of them.


First, consulting astrologers have codes of ethics that forbid publishing charts for their clients or revealing any information shared by their clients, UNLESS the client expressly gives them permission to publish. However, even if given permission, most astrologers will avoid using client charts as illustrations for some of the following reasons and because it may make future clients hesitate to consult that astrologer. Even if it is operating on an unconscious level, future clients may hesitate to consult with an astrologer whose client charts keep being published.

However, this distinction does not directly apply when a person is a public celebrity. True, if he or she is a client, their information is confidential, and I would keep their chart confidential as well. But if this person is not my client, and is a public person, then I see no problem with looking at their chart or commenting on it. My only knowledge of the person is through mass media and the birth chart. I am not revealing anything that is not public already. However, some saucier aspects of a chart I may refrain from commenting on for people who are alive, out of respect for them and their families. Or I may make my comments very general in ways I might approach a similar configuration in a client’s chart.

Celebrity charts tend to be more extreme, in good and bad ways, than actual clients most of us encounter. We see more celebrity charts with clear themes and obvious career indicators. While actual clients tend to have more muddled charts, part of why they are consulting us in the first place. So celebrity charts are usually better examples of specific aspects or chart configurations, as they may not have opposite factors that confuse the interpretation.

Because celebrities are public figures, if you see their chart and wonder about something you see in the chart, you can easily consult public news media or encyclopedias or other information sources to find out exactly how the aspect has worked in that person’s life. This is not true for private charts. The astrologer posting the chart may tell you what happened, but there is no independent way for you to confirm the information.

A drawback to celebrity charts is that usually they are of older people. This is for several reasons. One is that a person needs a certain track record, period of fame, before his or her chart attracts the news media and the biographer and the astrologer. Also, the older a person is, the more likely some astrologer has discovered the correct birth data and posted it where other astrologers can retrieve it. (Thanks to those who do!)

So if you are wondering about how that Sun-Mars conjunction in the first house actually works in a chart, you won’t learn much from private files, even if you can find them. It is celebrity charts that will show that aspect and others splashed over the news!

It’s much easier to see that Sun-Mars in the chart of Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr., than in the chart of someone who lives on your block. Earnhardt is a third generation stock car racer. How apt a way to express a Sun-Mars conjunction!


Lalia Wilson sees astrology as a way to understand one’s own life, one’s relationships and current patterns. Astrology is not deterministic, but rather has patterns of symbolic meaning which will be expressed in some fashion as the pattern unfolds. Contact Lalia at Lalia W /at/ aol dot com. Astrology consultations require a person’s name, birth date, time and place. All astrology consultations and Kofutu Healings are pre-paid. Consultations are by telephone to US clients, or by e-mail anywhere.

How to Relocate Your Horoscope

You were born at a particular time, date and place. This resulted in your natal horoscope.

Sometimes we wish to move to a place that is more advantageous for us. We can see what the vibrations will be like, what our “fate” will be like, at the new location by relocating our chart.

We are using American President Barack Obama for this example. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4th. However that same moment in time, when the planets’ relationships with each other were the same, the angles and houses of the horoscopes are different in different locations. It is night hours in the mainland (continental) USA. It is just after sunrise in London, and it is earlier in the afternoon in Sydney, Australia.

The above chart is for Obama in Chicago.  Why do you think he considers Chicago his home town?  One reason he likes Chicago would be having Jupiter, the planet of politics, conjunct his Midheaven of public reputation and fame.  Now let's look at his chart in Washington, DC.

For Washington, Obama has the Moon right on the Ascendant, he naturally connects with his Moon in Gemini nature: lots of information, talk, and other Gemini things.  Obama also has the Sun and Fortuna conjunct the 4th House cusp or IC.  He is fortunate in his home--the White House!

What if Obama is in London? 

London has Black Moon Lilith right on the Ascendant.  This suggests that in London, and to his UK audience, Obama promises more than he delivers.

Let's look in a totally different part of the world, Sydney, Australia:

Sydney would not be Obama's favorite town.  Saturn, the Great Disciplinarian, is close to his Ascendant.  Obama's role in Sydney is to be stern and to make others tow the line.  Saturn in Obama's natal chart is buried in his 12th House, he is not comfortable expressing Saturn.  In Sydney he has to.  Probably not a favorite spot for the president.

If your astrology software does not automatically relocate a chart for you, here is how to do it:

• Cast your natal chart.

• Note the sign, degrees and minutes of the Moon’s position—the Moon will remain at that exact position in all the correct relocated charts!

• Notice the time of your birth—almost all relocations will have the exact same minutes of time. (In our example, Obama’s birth is at 7:24 PM, all the other charts are set for 24 minutes after the hour in the new locations.)

• Choose a location to examine. Cast your chart for that location by entering your own date and time of birth, but the new location.

• Modify the time by the number of time zones (one hour earlier or later for each time zone) between your actual birthplace and this new one.

• A correct chart will have the Moon in the exact same position in the zodiac.

Now the complex part: interpreting the new chart. Look mostly to the angles of the horoscope. What you will most experience at the new location is planets that were angular in your natal chart and now are not, and planets that were in obscurity in your natal chart and now are angular.


Good luck!

Lalia Wilson

Lalia Wilson sees astrology as a way to understand one’s own life, one’s relationships and current patterns. Astrology is not deterministic, but rather has patterns of symbolic meaning which will be expressed in some fashion as the pattern unfolds. Contact Lalia at Lalia W /at/ aol dot com. Astrology consultations require a person’s name, birth date, time and place. All astrology consultations and Kofutu Healings are pre-paid. Consultations are by telephone to US clients, or by e-mail anywhere.

Jesse James was born on September 5th, or Was He?

American outlaw Jesse James was born at “midnight” between September 4th and 5th 1847 (Local Mean Time) in Kearney, Clay County, Missouri. James was likely born at home, and the time was local mean, or sun, time. This was before standardized time zones in the USA. So the translation of “middle of the night” to “midnight: 12:00 AM” is full of error. And we can see that when we look at the chart set for one minute after midnight on September 5th. The chart features a Cancer Ascendant and is more the chart of a shopkeeper or cook than that of a notorious outlaw. If he was born on September 4th or 5th with a Cancer Ascendant, his ruling planet would be the Moon located in its home sign of Cancer in the 1st House, widely conjunct Jupiter in Cancer. At the top of the chart is Saturn in Pisces conjunct the Midheaven. This describes a man who is law-abiding, poetic, emotional, sentimental… Not a man considered the most famous outlaw of the Old West.

So, let’s step back and see what chart would be a famous outlaw. Wikipedia describes James thus, “Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.” Outlaw, gang leader, robber. Okay, ONE of the planets, Mercury, is called the God of Thieves. Perhaps if James was born just a little bit earlier, with Gemini rising, we could bring in some of the thievery. So, we back up the chart, and after some fine-tuning, set a chart for September 4th at 11:08 PM. This chart fits James the man and James the legend. It also dramatically ties in to James’s death by shooting.

Notice that at 11:08 PM, we have the opposition of Mercury and Neptune, ruling opposing signs, lined up with the MC/IC axis. This is a chart for a Legendary (Neptune) Outlaw (Mercury)! To become a legend, one needs an outer planet, particularly Neptune, the planet of dreams, myths and fables.

But if that is not convincing enough, look at the tri-wheel for James’s death. Both secondary progressed Ceres, and transiting Ceres are lined up right on that MC/IC. Ceres, seen as the Goddess of Mothers, is also the Goddess of Death.

Also from Wikipedia: “Jesse James remains a controversial symbol, one who can always be reinterpreted in various ways, according to cultural tensions and needs. Although some of the neo-Confederate movement regard him as a hero, renewed cultural battles over the place of the Civil War in American history have replaced the long-standing interpretation of James as a Western frontier hero. Recent historians place him as a self-aware vigilante and terrorist who used local tensions to create his own myth among the widespread insurgent guerrillas and vigilantes following the American Civil War.”

James has been portrayed as the main character in over twenty films, and numerous television shows, books and songs.


Lalia Wilson

Lalia Wilson sees astrology as a way to understand one’s own life, one’s relationships and current patterns. Astrology is not deterministic, but rather has patterns of symbolic meaning which will be expressed in some fashion as the pattern unfolds. Contact Lalia at Lalia W /at/ aol dot com. Astrology consultations require a person’s name, birth date, time and place. All astrology consultations and Kofutu Healings are pre-paid. Consultations are by telephone to US clients, or by e-mail anywhere.

Caligula, Gladiators, and Football Omens

Friday evening a young man died in an arena: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/aug/31/fan-falls-from-upper-level-of-georgia-dome/?partner=popular  the fall occurred at about 8:30 PM EDT in Atlanta, GA, on August 31, 2012. The young man, a resident of Lenoir City, TN, died later that evening in the hospital.

This was the opening game of the season for the University of Tennessee Volunteers Football Team, and their opponents Georgia State. For this reason, the fall and the death are more indicative of things to come, as it is the BEGINNING of the season.

The fall occurred as Mars, planet of violence and brutality, was in the 8th House of Death, sextile Sun, indicator of the life force, and both quincunx the planet of sudden events, Uranus.  This formed a fateful pattern called a Yod, or Finger of God.  A young man, Mars, had his life snuffed out, Sun, suddenly, Uranus!


I have learned about the importance of omens, events that coincide with first actions or decisions that may signify their importance or future, from the work of astrologers Mark Lerner, with his Planet Earth magazine and website, and Ray Grasse. Grasse wrote the book The Waking Dream: Unlocking the Symbolic Language of Our Lives, which I recommend to anyone interested in symbols. Both men advocate watching for coincidences. One would be the death of 20-year old Tennessean, Jonathon Kelly, on Friday. But there is another that speaks of arenas. Friday was the anniversary of the birth of famed Roman Emperor, the Third Emperor of the Roman Empire, Caligula. Caligula was a hugely controversial figure. Few contemporary accounts exist of him, but those accounts depict a man of cruelty and many evil actions, along with drunkenness and sexual licentiousness. Caligula was assassinated by his own people before he served 5 years. Caligula was the emperor during what was called the Gladiator Games. These “games” were held in Rome at the largest arena available, which was the Colloseum after its construction in 80 CE. But the Gladiatorial Games date from 264 BCE to 435 CE, and killed 3.5 million people, making them the 28th worst atrocity of human history according to historian Matthew White, writing in his recent book The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities.

How does Caligula figure into this story? Wikipedia quotes Gregory Aldrete’s "Daily life in the Roman City", “Once at some games at which he [Caligula] was presiding, he ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the crowd into the arena during intermission to be eaten by animals because there were no criminals to be prosecuted and he was bored.”

Perhaps there is a human thirst for a spectacle, for public death and sacrifice, and as the planets align this occurs.

Lalia Wilson

Lalia Wilson has been a professional astrologer since 1973 when she passed the AFA professional level teacher exam. Wilson sees astrology as a way to understand one’s own life, one’s relationships and current patterns. Astrology is not deterministic, but rather has patterns of symbolic meaning which will be expressed in some fashion as the pattern unfolds. In addition to astrology, Wilson offers Kofutu Absent Healing as an additional way to assist clients. Contact Lalia at Lalia W /at/ aol dot com. Astrology consultations require a person’s name, birth date, time and place. All astrology consultations and Kofutu Healings are pre-paid. Consultations are by telephone to US clients, or by e-mail anywhere.

Vacation Survey: Astrology

I'm posting the survey that is tied in to a presentation I will be doing in Knoxville on August 19th.  If you choose to do this survey, and get it to me by August 14th, I will include your information in the results.  I will share a summary of the results here on this blog.

Lalia

Vacation Questionnaire

Name (first and last)

Date of Birth

Time of Birth

Location of Birth

Contact information e-mail/phone

Tell me about your “best ever” vacation. Where were you? City? Country? Mountains? Beach? In the USA? Other country (which)? What did you do that was so fun? Was part of the fun having loved ones/friends with you? If so describe their relationships with you… Friend, Lover, Spouse, Sibling, Child, Parent.


Describe your ideal vacation—what you would do, where you would go, and who you would go with—if you did not have to cope with the reality of budgets, responsibilities and obligations to others.

For astrologers, what in your chart do you see as corresponding with the items above?

Please return your survey promptly, but no later than August 14th, to Lalia Wilson at Lalia W /at/  aol dot com.

Lalia

Saturn in Libra—Time to Have Better Relationships!

Saturn entered the sign Libra more than two years ago. On the personal level, everyone has had to work hard on relationships and sociologically (in the US) the fastest growing household size of young adults (21-35) is single occupancy. This is because Saturn is the planet of hard work. Hard work when he is being a good guy. When he’s bad Saturn is constriction or going all the way to the “ball and chain.”


So instead of relating, harmonizing and “being fair,” the positive meanings of Libra (where Saturn is admittedly considered a good placement), you may have experienced Saturn as putting a lot of hard work into relationships with little to show for the experience. Certainly millions of young adults have decided that getting married or even living with a significant other is more trouble than paying for their own space or living back at home with Mom and Dad. Here in Tennessee half of all babies are born out of wedlock. That is a lot of people deciding that they would prefer to avoid the hard work of having a successful relationship. Their aversion to marriage as hard work and other more negative Saturn traits is the opposite of what most generations have seen marriage—as a convenient way to meld individuals together to create families.

One myth that seems to speak to this Saturn transit of Libra is the kidnapping of the maiden Persephone by Hades, the brother of Zeus and the god of the Underworld. It would have been a difficult experience for Persephone, and probably for Hades, at first. She was a maiden, unaware of the forces that bind men and women. He perhaps thought that just removing Persephone from her mother would be sufficient to bind her to him. But they had a period of months of adjustment before Persephone’s mother, Demeter, caught up with them. By then Persephone had consumed the pomegranate seeds, a symbol of beginning her adjustment to adulthood and a mature relationship with Hades. Saturn’s transit of Libra can be compared to the difficulties in the relationship before the “happily ever after.”

On a societal level the United States has had an acrimonious public conversation about Gay Marriage. Here the meaning of “constriction” best applies to Saturn in Libra. There are strong public individuals that want to constrict, or stop, the possibility of Gay Marriage. Perhaps to them, marriage is such a horrible fate that many Americans think they can save the gay people from it. But more likely they are acting out of mean-spiritedness.

Perhaps it would be helpful to see some of the lessons of Saturn: delayed gratification, patience, isolation, solitude, sadness, limitation… These look to be bad things, but actually each can be a positive for individuals and for couples. Could these last few months of Saturn’s transit of Libra be easier if all couples deliberately programmed some “alone” time for each person? It is ironic that Libra is the sign of relationships, couples and togetherness, while currently Saturn is going through Libra denying togetherness, inhibiting relationships and thwarting couple formation.

Libra is associated with beauty and charm and social graces. Saturn in Libra makes beauty more spare. Less well fed. Less opulent. Less blonde. Darker. In décor Saturn limits the palette, especially pulling in the grey and darker somber colors. Saturn is about finding structure and using structure in your life. Saturn in Libra is about structure in matters of relationships. Saturn is the authority figure who says “No.” Saturn is the responsible person who is concerned with what is real, not what is a dream. You have to wait until Saturn’s transit of Sagittarius (beginning in Sept 2015) to use Saturn to make your visions and dreams real.

With all this talk about how difficult Saturn has been for relationships you would think that everything will be wonderful when Saturn moves on to the next sign in October 2012. You would think so! But the next sign is Scorpio—the sign associated with sex. Do you want sex to be hard work, rationed, or constricted? Probably not. But that is a story for another day.

Lalia

Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. ~Barnett R. Brickner


A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming


Lalia Wilson has been a professional astrologer since 1973 when she passed the AFA professional level teacher exam. Wilson sees astrology as a way to understand one’s own life, one’s relationships and current patterns. Astrology is not deterministic, but rather has patterns of symbolic meaning which will be expressed in some fashion as the pattern unfolds. In addition to astrology, Wilson offers Kofutu Absent Healing as an additional way to assist clients. Contact Lalia at Lalia W /at/ aol dot com. Astrology consultations require a person’s name, birth date, time and place. All astrology consultations and Kofutu Healings are pre-paid. Consultations are by telephone to US clients, or by e-mail anywhere.