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Being
asked by our worthy Secretary to give a lecture, it
occured to me that I
might as well begin, like charity, at
home and talk about
a sign which is conspicuous in my own
nativity, and this despite
the fact that a scientist, and
above all an Aquarian
scientist, should be impersonal and we
have never encouraged
members to talk about themselves,
their personal problems,
their particular horoscopes.
Nevertheless it is true
for most of us that we began to
study our science in
order to find out more about ourselves
and our destinies, or
life-patterns; and this is hardly
reprehensible.
It becomes so when we get no further and
become "bogged down,"
as the saying is, in our own nativity
and weary others with
discussing it!
Indeed there are undeniable
advantages in studying our own
map. In this process,
subject and object are the same...or
at any rate intimately
related. The mind that studies is
itself part of the object
of study, for its own motions, its
periods of inspiration
and enlightenment, of disappointment
and of illusion, are
largely, if not entirely, in gear with
the planetary revolutions.
So also the mind watches our
feelings. These,
indeed, are no part of our real selves;
they probably represent
neither more nor less than our
egoistic responses to
the waves of astral ebb and flow that
pulsate through the
solar system, at the bidding of the
planets. Nevertheless
they are very near to us and we can
watch them closely as
we experience them and can thus deduce
the nature of the Powers
that generate them.
Further, we can observe
our environment...our relations
with things and people...as
these also change. We cannot do
this, in anything like
so complete a manner, with anyone
else. Thus there
is nothing unscientific, but quite the
reverse, in keeping
our own maps under observation. In
exactly the same way
some of the most fruitful medical
discoveries resulted
from experiments carried out by and
upon the person of the
experimenter. This is certainly
better and kinder than
the action of the physician whose
tombstone records...I
forget where...that "with great
courage" he experimented
with the then newly introduced
smallpox vaccines upon
his wife and children!
Besides watching our
own maps, most of us have a natural
and quite excusable
interest in the lives of those whose
nativities resemble
our own, and find pleasure and probably
instruction in comparing
notes with the natives. One cannot
imagine a more interesting
talk that what would ensue if one
could but meet a fellow-astrologer
who was born with a
horoscope identical
to one's own; but we may have to wait a
long time for this pleasurable
experience!
Certainly all these
studies of "bits" of horoscopes, such
as Sun positions, are
apt to be misleading. Every item in
our lives is intimately
related with every other, and with
the lives of all those
around us, and the same is true of
the items of our nativities.
We cannot isolate one aspect
of our maps without
leaving the realm of reality and
entering that of artificial
abstractions. That is the weak
point in statistical
studies, useful though these are within
a limited sphere.
Treating of the philosophy
of Hegel, the late Joad wrote:
"No single thing in
the universe can be adequately known or
properly understood
when it is treated, or example, by
science, in abstraction;
that is to say, divorced from the
context of the whole
in which it appears. So to treat it is
to falsify it, for the
reason that, so treated , it is not
really itself."
A nativity is just
such a "whole."
It is like taking
an incident out of your life or out of
history and trying to
consider it in isolation.
However, this method,
whatever its intrinsic drawbacks, is
one of those by which
we pursue astrological truth, and, by
abstracting the same
position from a number of maps, we seek
to find a common factor
that will tell us something reliable
about it.
It is not difficult
to make such a list. One has only to
run one's finger down
"Notable Nativities" or Maurice
Wemyss's smaller but
much more accurately compiled booklets,
and one can collect
plenty. Others of you may care to give
us the benefit of a
similar investigation; but it well to
avoid ascendants because
they are often not to be trusted,
and they do not, in
any case, really cut as deep into the
character as the solar
position. But tonight I shall
present instances of
solar and lunar Aquarians and of those
with this sign rising.
For simplicity's sake I will call
them all Aquarians.
In my view we are certainly
in an Aquarian epoch of human
history, whether it
is the famous but much misunderstood
"Aquarian Age" or not;
and Aquarians have come to the front,
so it is just as well
to learn something about them. We
shall try to be impartial.
Not for us the optimistic notion
often promulgated that
the "Aquarian Age" is going to be
some sort of earthly
paradise, or that all Aquarians
overflow with love of
their fellows. Some do...but not all.
They are an uncertain
race. It was written of a sect of old
that "to be heterodox
was their orthodoxy" and that is true
of your Aquarians.
At least, they are interesting. I can
claim that much for
my brethren.
Let us take them chronologically.
We shall begin with
one who was born in the 15th century,
to wit, Sir Thomas More,
recently canonized by the Roman
Church. He is
known as a scholar and a lawyer of
distinction, who was
a favourite of Henry VIII until his
refusal to acknowledge
his master's authority in matters
spiritual as well as
temporal, for which act of courage he
paid with his life.
He foresaw that Henry's claim could
only result in the setting
up throughout Europe of a number
of separate nominally
Christian communities, thereby
"rending Christ's robe
into shreds." It will be remembered
that he met his end
not only bravely but in a spirit of
whimsical humour which
is Aquarian.
In the next century,
the 16th, we have Robert Burton, the
author of "The Anatomy
of Melancholy," described by Sir
William Osler as "a
great medical treatise, orderly in
arrangement, serious
in purpose." But it was much more that
this, as the Encyclopaedia
Brittanica points out.
Burton had Mars precisely
rising in Aries, but Saturn in
Capricorn almost exactly
on the M.C. accounts for his
statement that he wrote
the work to escape from melancholia;
and many are his reasons
for this complaint, amongst them
the influence of the
stars, whilst his remedies include old
age pensions!
It is curious that these were finally
introduced by another
Aquarian, David Lloyd George!
It is evident that
Burton may be acclaimed as a scientist
and also as a humanitarian
and social reformer, who, like
More, speculated with
the idea of a Utopian State. We shall
find these propensities
illustrated in other Aquarians as we
go on.
Indeed, this pursuit
of an Ideal State seems quite an
obsession with some
Aquarians...the more hopeful sort, I
suppose. From
Sir Thomas More's original Utopia down to
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
with his "New Deal"!
We come now to two
born in the 16th century, Francis Bacon
(Sun and Mercury rising
in Aquarius) and Wallenstein (Uranus
rising in Aquarius).
Both men exhibit clearly
three prominent qualities of the
sign (a)marked but eccentric
abilities;(b)ideals and
ambitions of great amplitude;(c)lack
of personal integrity
and principle.
It is not my task
to discuss Bacon's character in detail.
It is a controversial
subject. Pope called him the "wisest,
brightest, meanest of
mankind", though I do not know what he
meant by "brightest"...perhaps
he referred to the
unquestioned wit and
verbal felicity of Bacon's Essays.
His scientific, or,
as people said in those days, his
philosophic ambitions
were vast, for he envisaged a general
restatement of scientific
aims and methods. It is said
that, in point of fact,
he has been more praised by
philosophers than by
men of science, who have not followed
his ideas.
His life was much involved
in friendships (though that was
common enough in those
days of place-seeking and patronage)
and he is rightly condemned
for his savage attacks on Essex
when the old favourite
had fallen. It may be said that he
was genuinely horrified
by Essex's action, still, at least
by modern standards,
he might have "pulled his punches."
He took bribes and
condemned himself for having done so.
It was a common practice
in those days; but a philosopher
should have broken with
the custom "more honoured in the
breach than the observance."
He has been called
a Rosicrucian and what not, but no true
brother of that Fraternity
has ever owned to such
membership.
It is an interesting
matter for astrological speculation
as to why Bacon has
posthumously had so much nonsense talked
about him. His
horoscope tells us just what he was: a hard,
brilliant, able and
extremely intellactual man.
Wallenstein, who was
born in 1583, was a brave and
successful soldier of
the Thirty Years War. He was
unboundedly ambitious
and seems to have envisaged a scheme
for the constitutional
reorganization of Germany, with
himself at the head.
Nominally a Catholic and a servant of
the Emperor Ferdinand,
he entered into negotiations with the
Swedish generals who
had succeeded Gustavus Adolphus, killed
at the battle of Lutzen,
but his plans were betrayed and he
was put to death by
some of his subordinates who were loyal
to the Emperor.
His career is the theme of the grand
trilogy by Schiller
and his tragic end is the subject of
some stirring German
ballads.
He has a special interest
for us, because he relied
throughout his life
on astrology. Schiller represents his
private astrologer,
Seni, an Italian and good Catholic, as
warning his master against
false friends, but these, Seni
thought, must be the
"heathen"...that is, Lutheran...Swedes.
Bacon envisaged a "reformed
astrology."
We can see marked resemblances
between these two men and
their careers and in
each there was the one outstanding
feature of treachery
or near-treachery to his patron.
In each instance the
delinquent would probably have put up
fairly good case for
himself.
Probably many
Aquarians see things differently from other
people and reject Saturnian
limitations on conduct. We
shall have reason to
recur to this trait of
unpredictability.
We now enter the 17th
century where I find one fine
example of Sun in Aquarius,
namely, Swedenborg.
Again we have the outstanding
abilities, for Swedenborg
was a mining engineer
and metallurgist of considerable
distinction.
Again we have the "ideals
of great amplitude" for he
sought to establish
a "New Church" to which members of all
communities could belong.
A bold thing to attempt at any
time and particularly
inthe 17th century.
Certainly his moral
character was beyond reproach.
May I mention here
how often the Aquarian element (whether
Sun, Moon or ascendant)
is combined with Sagittarius? The
two signs seem to work
admirably together.
Swedenborg had the
9th sign rising.
I do not know what
he thought on the subject of astrology;
but he tells us that
in the spiritual world the Sun is
always 45½ above
the eastern horizon, that is, in the middle
of the 11th house...a
very Aquarian touch!
Coming now to the 18th
century, I pause for a moment to
speak of Linnaeus, the
Father of modern botany. HOwever, he
had but the Moon in
Aquarius.
My next name is Frederisk
of Prussia (1712). He had Sun,
Mars, Mercury in our
sign, on the M.C., and opposed by the
Moon conjunction Saturn.
Not a pleasant or easy nativity at
all. A rather
well-placed Venus gave him his victories and
in the appreciation
of music and poetry.
He was a tremendous
worker and conscientious after his
way; but he could show
a callous indifference to human
feeling. "Dogs, would
ye live forever?" he shouted (from a
safe distance) to his
faltering guardsmen. HIs upbringing
may excuse much.
It would appear he suffered from
loneliness. Aquarians
are rather a paradox here; they are
sociable, and yet they
like to remain in some sense aloof.
Perhaps there was more
of the mild of human kindness in
Frederick than history
has recorded, but there is a cold
detached side to the
Aquarian nature and there is also a
treacherous side, or
at least a devious one, as we saw in
the case of Wallenstein.
But he "laboured genuinely for the
good of humanity," says
the Encyclopaedia, and was capable
of warm attachments.
Wofgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756) was strongly Aquarian; he
had Saturn, Sun, Mercury
and Venus in that sign, but I must
leave others to discuss
how and to what extent this appears
in his work, for I am
not qualified to say anything on this
point. He was
an enthusiastic freemason, which agrees very
well with the sign of
fraternity.
The astrological puzzle
presented by Mozart is rather that
he had Jupiter in Libra
in the 2nd, well aspected by the
Moon in Sagittarius,
and yet was always in financial
difficulties and had
an improvident wife! But that is
another matter.
Should anyone aspire to give us a lecture
on "Jupiter Debunked"
they might care to use this horoscope.
We come now to two
very different men born with Aquarius
rising and in the same
year, 1758.
Robespierre is too
well known to need description here.
He is, however, typical
of the "idea-ridden" Aquarian. Like
More, he "lost his head"
quite literally but whilst the
lawyer died heroically,
Robespierre broke down and made a
pitiful end.
Then we have Thomas
Taylor, the Platonist, a bank clerk
who taught himself Greek
and set himself to translate the
whole of Plato as well
as most of the corpus of Neo-Platonic
literature. This
was at a time when banks did not close at
3 p.m.! He also
was possessed by a great idea and one which
seems fantastically
out of place in the "Age of Reason," for
he wished to restore
the worship of the ancient Hellenic
gods, as esotericised
by the Neo-Platonists. The
Christians, with whom
he was at perpetual variance, even
accused him of sacrificing
a bull to Zeus in his
back-garden. Thomas
Taylor was a wise and kindly man and it
is questionable whether
he would have wished to kill a fly
or could have afforded
to kill a bull!
However, whatever our
good friends may say,, the worship
of the ancient gods
has never died: those who fill in their
football pools are still
worshipping Jupiter, those who buy
savings certificates
are still making obeisance to Saturn,
those who attend boxing
matches are bowing to Mars...and as
for Venus, she has never
had more devotees! One could
expand the list to most
human interests and activities; and
the the scientists themselves
recognize, or at least the
more intelligent ones
do.
In a delightful book
by Charles Seltman, entitled "The
Twelve Olympians" and
published in the Pan-series, the
author writes that the
ancient gods "rose into the firmament
to become the darlings
of astrologers and magicians.
Medieval and many later
men have believed their destinies to
be ruled by the god-planets"
and again "It is pleasant to
reflect that as Concepts,
Beings, Symbols...they have not
left us, nor we them."
Robert Burns was born
in 1759, with Sun conjunction Mars
in Aquarius, time unknown.
We know that many of
his writings have the true Aquarian
ring..."a man's a man
for a' that," and so on. Also, though
sincerely religious,
he annoyed the clergy and the unco'
guid and had no use
for them; and with Aquarian perversity
he seems to have had
a fairly clear liking for "Auld
Clootie," alias Satan.
It is said of Frederick
of Prussia that in his old age his
best friends were two
greyhounds that slept in his bed; and
Burns shows the same
liking for the dumb creation, as in the
famous poem about the
mouse..."wee, tim'rous, sleekit,
cowerin' beastie."
"Auld Lang Syne" is
fitting memorial to an Aquarian;
indeed it is sort of
Anthem of Aquarianism, though "we'll
fill a cup of kindness
yet" is rather Piscean, for the cup
was, we fear, not destined
by Burns to be filled with the
harmless waters of Aquarius!
As regards his love
of the lasses, I think we may claim
that sexual over-indulgence
is not a fault to which Aquarius
is prone, though our
next example was, if possible, worse
than Robert in this
respect; I refer to Lord Byron l(1788)
who had Sun, Venus and
Saturn in the 11th sign, birth-hour
unknown or doubtful.
Byron was a friend
of liberty and died in the campaign to
free Greece from the
Turks. But I do not see him as a
particularly Aquarian
poet or as markedly Aquarian in any
way. We must recall
that the Sun-sign is often dormant
during the first half
of life, and he died at the age of 36.
Of course the club-foot
which is said to have warped him
psychologically may
be referred to Aquarius.
Perhaps someone will
wish to say that there is evidence
that Aquarius is not
pleasant or normal in his sex
interests. I would
reply that Aquarius is unusual in many
ways; and it is true
that Havelock Ellis had Aquarius rising
with the Sun and Moon
in it, and so was a sort of King of
all the Aquarians.
But in most cases I believe the sign
will be found to the
student of, rather than the participant
in, heterodox habits.
It is attracted by what is unusual
and out-of-the-way,
in sex and all else.
One would think of
William Wordsworth as a very Aquarian
poet, for love of Nature
is strong in most natives of this
sign. Actually
he had his ruler therein...no more.
Charles Lamb had Sun,
Venus, Mercury and Pluto there and
friendship played a
large part in his life. He remains as
one of the most lovable
of our gallery, and his whimsicality
is an attractive version
of what, in so many, is
eccentricity.
We may say that humour is not peculiar to any
one sign but Aquarians
have, I think, more than most of the
others.
His loving devotion
to his afflicted sister manifests a
patient and steadfast
affection that Aquarians do not always
show. It is often
said that they are detached in their
feelings but in this
case such "detachment" as there was
came from without in
the form of loneliness, due to no fault
of his own. The
weekly "socials" he enjoyed so much came to
an end.
How much we should
like to find that Sir William Herschel
had had the Sun in Aquarius!
But in point of fact he
hadn't, nor had his
talented and devoted sister, who acted
as his faithful assistant,
nor his son who carried on his
work. Perhaps
the planet he discovered was prominent in his
map; it could hardly
have been otherwise. Perhaps, after
all, Uranus has nothing
in particular to do with Aquarius.
We now come to the
19th century.
My first name is that
of George Sand (1804) who had
Aquarius rising, Saturn
in Virgo.
She exhibits the extreme
eccentricity that some Aquarians
present; she was given
to wearing male attire and smoking
cigars. Her works
show a love and understanding of country
life and the ways of
the peasantry, and this is often
conspicuous in Aquarians,
in contrast to Leo which is
frequently indifferent
to Nature and rural beauties. Here
Taurus, though is square
to Aquarius, has much in common
with it, though perhaps
one could say that Taurus is the
country, or part of
it, whilst Aquarius observes it in a
more detached way.
Abraham Lincoln (1809)
had the Sun in 23 Aquarius, reputed
to be an area of sympathy.
There is little need to speak of
a man so well known
and widely honoured, but one may mention
his whimsical humour.
Intent on watching a play, he did not
observe the approach
of a large lady who subsided next to
him...on his top hat.
"Madam," said Lincoln sadly, "I could
have told you that my
hat wouldn't fit you!"
Charles Dickens (1812)
is another case of Sun in Aquarius
displaying profound
sympathies and ardour for social reform,
with plenty of humour,
too obvious, perhaps, to be classed
as whimsical.
What might be called broad strokes of humour
and a vivid sense of
fun are commonly found with the Moon in
Sagittarius.
Karl Marx (1818)
is another example of the desire for
social reform, in his
case via economics, which is just what
one might expect from
the Sun and Moon in Taurus. The ruler
Saturn was in Pisces.
There is a curious Aquarianism about
his theories, which,
he explained, would only work so to
speak in a vacuum...in
actual practice it would always be
found that other factors
would interfere with their free
manifestation.
Hence he would be quite unperturbed by the
patent fact that the
poor have not got poorer and poorer nor
the rich richer and
richer, as they should have done
"according to plan."
It is curious that the Sign of the Man
is sometimes quite inhuman,
in the sense that it ignores
human nature and assumes
that we are all, whether
capitalists or proletariat,
mere automata. Yet other
Aquarians have a deep
understanding of man.
Is this the Paradox
of Aquarius and has every single sign
a similar paradox?
A good subject for a lecture!
Next, I would mention
Czar Alexander II, who freed the
serfs and was repaid
by assassination. He was born in 1818
like Marx, but had only
the Moon in the sign which is our
subject. Yet such
a typically Aquarian act deserves being
remembered and respected.
Though nominally he was an
autocrat it may have
required great courage on his part to
take that step and he
may be bracketed with Abraham Lincoln.
We continue with our
reformers and come now to John Ruskin
(1819) who had the sun
rising in our sign. Not long ago
Mrs. Rodgers gave us
an excellent study of the man; and in
any case his work and
ideals are well known. However, he
was another who seems
to have failed in understanding common
human nature, especially
in its female presentation.
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy
(1821) was one of those remarkable
people, including Queen
Victoria and the Prince Consort, who
had Uranus conjoined
with Neptune either at the end of
Sagittarius or the beginning
of Capricorn. She had nothing,
however, in Aquarius
save the Moon, unless indeed it was
ascending, so I mention
her only in passing. But she can be
placed beside Swedenborg
as the founder of a new church.
Francis Galton (1822)
had the Sun in Aquarius and Moon in
Sagittarius, like Dickens.
As the founder of the science of
Eugenics it does seem
fit and proper that he should exhibit
something of the 11th
sign. He had Libra rising and of a
his discoveries I recollect
only that he declared Nottingham
to have a higher percentage
of pretty girls than any town in
Great Britain.
I believe it comes under Libra anyway, so
perhaps he as a Libran
had a bias in its favour. But our
statisticians will tell
us that even if this attractive
factor was true in his
time, there is no reason to assume
that it still is.
To found a new science
and above all a very human science
must be a real triumph
for an Aquarian.
n point of fact, it
is rather surprising that my list
does not include as
many scientists as one might expect.
But I would like to
record the interesting fact that Newton
had Venus, and Einstein
had Jupiter in the same degree, viz.
27 Aquarius.
Jules Verne (1828)
with Sun and Mercury on the M.C. in
Aquarius, was not exactly
a scientist and yet he had an
extraordinary gift of
scientific imagination. We may
compare him in this
respect with H.G, Wells, who had only
the Moon in Aquarius
but who, besides his works of
scientific fiction,
had the urgent desire to reform society
that we have found featured
again and again in our portrait
gallery.
Lord Salisbury (1830)
had Sun, Mercury and Uranus in
Aquarius. ascendant
unknown. These positions appeared
chiefly, I think, in
his chemical researches. I do not
think Aquarius often
enters politics; nor is it often, like
Salisbury, a "convinced
and devout Churchman." Further, it
is said that his family
life was singularly happy and that
he seldom went outside
its circle. In fact he was
unsociable by nature,
which is unlike our sign.
He did not attempt
Utopian schemes but thought a statesman
ought to be satisfied
if the country managed to make some
progress and avoid real
catastrophes, such as major wars.
Bismarck said he was
a lath painted to look like steel.
Our next subject did
not think about Utopias, so far as I
am aware, but created
an imaginary world of joyous fantasy;
I refer to "Lewis Carroll"
(1832) and his Wonderland. He
had Sun, Uranus and
Jupiter in the 11th sign, and
Sagittarius rising with
the Moon, Venus and Mars therein.
Like Ruskin he had an
abnormal and not very pleasant
interest in little girls,
but at least this gave us "Alice"
and I believe Mrs. Rodgers
pointed out that it was a
propensity which, for
some reason, our Victorian ancestors
did not find objectionable.
I regard "Alice" as
a very Aquarian creation, even down to
the chess-board theme
in "Through the Looking Glass" and the
little brooks that had
to be jumped over. And was there
ever a better portrait
of one kind of Aquarian than the
good-natured muddle-headed
old King of Hearts in the trial
scene? Or, for
that matter, the White Knight?
Thomas Alva Edison
(1847), Mercury, Sun, Neptune in
Aquarius brings us back
to the scientific type, with the
prodigious powers of
sustained work that the sign sometimes,
but not always, displays;
as a rule, like the other air
signs, Aquarius cannot
forgo sleep easily. But Edison had
Scorpio rising and Mars
in Capricorn, with the Moon.
Charles Dodgson had
a fan in the 9th, 10th and 11th signs;
they comprised no less
than eight bodies and the ascendant
as well. Edison
had eight bodies in the 10th, 11th, 12th
and 1st signs.
These "fan satellitia" seem common in
distinguished maps.
Edison exhibits the practical as
distinct from the more
idealistic Aquarian, who sometimes
becomes the "bats in
the belfry" type, with all sorts of
grades in between.
General Baden Powell
(1857) had Moon and Mercury rising in
the sign; he was certainly
a practical dreamer whose works
live after and speak
for him.
Then we have Charles
de Foucauld, about whom I once
lectured here.
Born in 1858, he had Aquarius rising. After
a youth of a most scandalous
nature ending in his being
legally forced to hand
over all he had to what I believe the
French call a conseil
de famille, an awful humiliation, he
turned religious and
went native in Algeria and Morocco,
made one convert and
was murdered.
Whilst carrying on
his discouraging task as a missionary
he did useful work for
the French on the lines of secret
service; and it does
seem to me that, from the Arab
standpoint, this was
somewhat double-faced and might be
taken as a sample of
Aquarian disingenuousness.
Next, David Lloyd George
(1863) who has also been accused
of a certain...shall
we say?...elusiveness. I believe his
ascendant is authentic,
and if so, he had Venus and Mercury
rising in the 11th sign.
There seems little doubt of his
sincere sympathy for
the less fortunate classes of society
and of his desire to
help them. Like Dickens, he
Sun-Aquarius, Moon-Sagittarius...a
rather happy combination,
apparently. If
Dickens portrayed exaggerated types, Lloyd
George certainly used
exaggerated language, though I do not
recall his ever having
called half the population of the
country "vermin" or
"morons." We had to wait for a Scorpio
satellitium for that
pleasure.
Baron Lionel Walter
Rothschild (1868), Sun in Aquarius,
was a great naturalist,
who bequeathed one and a half
million butterflies
and moths to the nation. We have
already commented on
the pronounced love of nature that the
sign displays.
We next mention a statesman,
President Ebert (1871), who
had Sun and Venus in
Aquarius in the midheaven. He was the
first president of the
so-called Weimar Republic.
And, whilst we are
in Germany, we recall that William II,
Sun in Aquarius, a fantastic
figure, and a case where, as
with Byron, physical
deformity warped the mind.
C.G. Jung (1875), Aquarius
rising, gives us another
instance of the Aquarian
interest in human nature and, we
may gladly add, of sincere
love of truth, for Dr. Jung has
not hesitated to express
his belief in the veracity and
value of astrology in
the face of an unbelieving and
ignorant world.
Grock, the clown (1880),
had Aquarius rising and gives us
yet another example
of Aquarian whimsicality.
Next, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt (1882), Venus, Sun,
Mercury in Aquarius,
the first two being squared by Saturn
and Neptune.
We get again the accusations
of duplicity and
untrustworthiness; he
was so popular in Britain during the
war that we do not always
remember how vehemently hated he
was by many of his countrymen;
and now we know that he was
certainly deluded by
Stalin and by his artless faith in his
powers of "jollying"
that grim individual into a pliable
state of mind.
Sun in Aquarius has
to beware of being betrayed by its
associates and false
friends, at least if the Sun is
afflicted badly, as
Roosevelt's was.
However, he takes his
place among the Aquarian reformers
and would-be benefactors
of the oppressed.
My last example is
a scientist, Professor Piccard (1884).
He had both Lights in
Aquarius, with Libra rising, a most
appropriate configuration
for one who entered the
stratosphere!
You may say: "What
about the astrologers?"
But I am afraid the
time has not yet come when we can
justly apply the word
"eminent" to any astrologer.
However, as a small
addendum, I may say that we find John
Coley (1633) with our
sign rising. John Partridge (1644),
the unfortunate victim
of Dean Swift's squib, had Sun,
Mercury and Venus in
Aquarius and so had L.E. Johndro (1882)
an American student
recently deceased. Paul Choisnard, the
well-known French astrologer,
had Sun, Mercury and Jupiter
in Aquarius.
So we close our survey,
conscious of the great names that
must have been omitted.
Among our Aquarians
we have found many who wished mankind
well, and some who have
deserved to be remembered by every
one of us with gratitude
and honour. Others, like Charles
Dodgson and Grock have
amused and delighted us. Of some few
it is not easy to speak
kindly. And "others there be that
have no memorial."
I confess I have found
much pleasure in writing about
them, for they are interesting
subjects of study.
Furthermore, I think
that there is a sufficient family
likeness throughout
to constitute, of itself, an argument
for the truth of Astrology.
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