The Value of Case Studies in Astrology

The word “research” may bring up thoughts of experimental designs, statistical analysis, or people peering through microscopes. However, in a field like astrology where nothing has yet to be consistently and definitively verified, it is often a good idea to work gradually from gathering anecdotal evidence step-by-step rather than jumping full-blown into a more rigorous research study. Rigorous research studies are important too and I have conducted them myself, but most research is closer to gathering anecdotal evidence and this is appropriate. However, there are better and worse ways to gather anecdotal evidence.

I often study a chart and make notes of what I expect a person to be like and then upon meeting the person or getting to know the person better, I compare my notes with the reality. It is easy for astrologers to be defensive and “always right”. Even when we are wrong, we can have quick and ready reasons, such as this Aquarian is not progressive because Aquarius is also a fixed sign and ruled by Saturn and Saturn in this chart is peregrine or conjunct Algol, etc. This is all well and good as long as we are then willing to commit ourselves to these rules, clearly identify the rules, and try to refine the rules to be more precise over time.

In the 1970’s it quickly become evident to me that a simple interpretation of astrological infuences does not work. People with Leo stelliums and Leo rising are not necessarily dramatic, self-centered, etc., etc. If there is truth to many of these ideas, the dynamics are more subtle and perhaps more psychological. In short, we need to look clearly, honestly, humbly, and non-defensively at the charts and strive to sort out what is really happening. All of us in the field sometimes fall into the trap of being defensive and finding “excuses” so to speak. We need to be aware of this tendency, and to slowly work through the extraordinary complexity of ideas that different astrologers believe in to ascertain what is valid and what is not, or in what way an idea may be valid.

Recently I have spent time looking at the charts of extreme people. What astrological factors made Van Gogh a mad genius, why did John Coltrane not play the saxophone like everyone else, and how did Joe DiMaggio play baseball with such grace and hit with so much consistency. An extreme person is a kind of pure type, the person who is beyond the 99th percentile. These people fascinate and interest us. Extreme or pure types are excellent candidates for research. I think it is a bit bland to describe Van Gogh as having this in Aries or that in Pisces; there must be something in the astrology chart that identifies his unique qualities. When I first studied astrology I thought these extreme people would have more squares in their charts, but I do not need to do a statistical analysis to see that this is generally not true, and at best an enormous sample size would be needed to confirm this. We can avoid many wasted research ventures if we gather information honestly and clearly every time we analyze a chart, and particularly when we know a person very well or the person has extreme traits.

A case study is a detailed study of a few people rather than a quantitative analysis of a group of people. There are books that have been written on conducting case studies. I am using the term to simply emphasize that careful study of a few cases can be very valuable, and this is exactly the kind of research that many astrologers are already engaged in. I have made most of my discoveries in astrology through identifying things that do NOT work in the astrology chart. There is no doubt that sometimes I am defenesive and resistant to seeing the truth as well, but by consciously striving to be objective as well as intuitive and sensitive to fine nuances, the inability of astrological theories to work has been the key to finding ideas that appear to work consistently and can even possibly be verified in rigorous research in the future.

At some point I hope to find time to write up my analysis of key astrological infuences in the charts of Van Gogh, Coltrane, diMaggio, and many others, but this will have to wait until I have time to do this. A few hints though: look at the 13th harmonic chart and direct midpoint structures in Van Gogh’s chart. In Coltrane’s chart the magical 134.4 degree aspect shows up precisely in a powerful direct midpoint strucure. The angle of 134.4 degrees is a sesquiquadarate and a trine in the 25th harmonic chart. DiMaggio’s 63rd harmonic chart is important. The harmonics formed by multiplying 5, 7, and 9 together (25, 35, 45, 49, and 63, for example) are very important. At some point I hope to give the detailed analysis of these charts and many others.

Astrologers: “Soul Preservationists”

Outstretched between mountains lies the battlefield where valiant astrologers defend the sacred, protect the fragile, and withstand the fierce winds that threaten to drown the dreams, visions, and ancient stories of old in a world of logic and numbers and efficient machinery. Like liberal Amish people who move in a world of automobiles, airplanes, and computers, and even enjoy their benefits, we cling tightly to the ancient, the immeasurable, and the qualities of the soul. We aspire to where even Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell would tread only a short way. We dive deeper and speak in parables like the master of the Piscean age. The hero on his journey and the other epic tales are not just children’s stories, the relics that only primitive peoples cling to, or psychological dynamics elucidated by those educated with books and the rigid constraints of educational institutions built in the modern industrial complex. These myths are “writ in the stars”. The symbol is not an afterthought or shadow of some quantum reality so artfully and ingeniously constructed by great brains fed on the foods of corporate America. Amidst the ketchup, french fries, and the fast-food hamburger lies the discoveries of our sciences which solve all human problems with a pill promoted between episodes of a TV show. We have found the old spinster, the regal king, and the searfaring philosopher writ in the stars; they are vast and cosmic and we are a part of them and not the reverse. Like strong fathers and mothers we protect the precious gift that we have been given. We have identified the myths and stories inscribed in our souls from the vast reaches of space, and we have delineated the stories in a way that even the mayans, babylonians, and greeks have not done. Our stories were fashioned by modern astrologers from the clues given by the thousands who have gone before us. We may argue about the true source of truth and whether the trickster is Uranus, Mercury, or Ketu, and whether Aquarius is fixed and Saturnian or the home or Uranus, but protectors all are we. With defiance we face a world that has placed the stories inscribed by the cosmos as secondary or illusionary and dive into the heart of what makes us truly human and say our grace in a universal language beyond the confines of man’s religions. We are wary of the astrologer who introduces too many numbers, too many calculations, and too many “scientific” ideas into a world that is sacred and gentle, mysterious and eloquent, far more eloquent than the mechanical processes of modern science. But could we be ourselves yet a bit blinded by the simple melodies and harmonies of our youth and yet a more perfect and celestial design woven in the fine tapestries of Handel and Mozart been muddied by the pounding beat of the Rolling Stones, and has even the poetry of Yeats and Dylan (both Bob and Thomas) and the stories of the masters of East and West placed a perimeter for our vision which is vast, though not vast enough to see that we are protecting our precious gift a bit too much, and the alchemical marriage awaits our own liberation from the cultural limitations of our times, and awaiting us is the liberation into the intricate and elegant intelligence and beauty that all of us are capable of entering, that each and every one of us is not limited neither in music, nor art, nor intution, nor communion with the devas, nor number, nor logic. We can receive all of these and more and in so doing be blessed in a communion both whole and of all, and the alchemical marriage joining all-in-one be found at last, and then yes, we can say that we have overcome and peace reigns in our kingdom. Thus lies the path of cosmic cybernetics where all gifts and visions are born, and none of God’s gifts are left as second-class citizens, and science and art are one and none are blasphemed for being incapable, limited, or unworthy of highest praise and placement on the altar of illumination. We have protected our child too carefully and kept the child from entering a universe more grand than the one we know. We must not place our self-defined limitations on the universe, but accept that in our mortal embodiments we can not traverse all the mysteries and yet together surrendered to the spirit that moves us at last have joined altogether in oneness. Accept all of these and unto you all shall be given.