Health is a subject which astrologers tend nowadays to approach with caution when it comes to predictions or definitive statements. Although historically it was one of the principal tools in medical treatment – gauging the individual’s susceptibility on the basis of their chart, matched with the date of onset of the condition. There is still a specialist branch of medical astrology but sites like this would tend only to refer to health conditions in retrospect – what astrology shows now that the ailment is known.
Despite there being general rules of thumb which often apply – 6th house, Neptune for allergies and viruses, Neptune Saturn for epidemics, Uranus for accidents and shocks etc etc, Mars Saturn for broken bones, that doesn’t mean these are tablets of stone which hold an immutable truth every time. One individual may be drenched in Neptune and sail through albeit foggily, while another sags with infection. I’ve seen health warning flags on a chart which turned out to be a close relative succumbing. Some individuals ‘somatise’ = act out psychological pressures by getting physically sick, while others process the influences internally. Or they totally externalise, for example with Pluto in hard aspect to the Moon which can affect relationships, or body, or house. The domestic walls start to subside. These are not purely a matter of choice, ie. you can’t blame people for getting sick.
The ancients were right in thinking that the potential had to be there in the chart before certain illnesses followed and that is not always easy to pin down.
The best comeback on doctors warning that alcohol is a terrible sin with deadly consequences is two words – Queen Mother. She sloshed back the champagne and Dubonnet and mixed happily and keeled over at 101. I knew someone who survived on fish n’ chips and gin, never ate a vegetable and live into her mid eighties. What’s sauce for the goose isn’t always sauce for the gander. Know thyself before pushing your limits.
However looking at a few high profile cases with definite birth times.
Chris Reeves, 25 September 1952 3.30am New York became quadraplegic after a horse accident on 27 May 1995 and died 7 years later. In 1995 his Progressed Mars was opposition his Uranus which is a classic shock/accident. Tr Neptune was on the cusp of his 6th house starting a long haul through his house of health; as well as tr Uranus which was exactly conjunct his Solar Arc Mars. So a double whammy of Mars Uranus, which in older individuals can also accompany heart conditions – though Donald Trump ambled through the same without incident despite an unhealthy lifestyle.
Prince Friso of the Netherland, 25 September 1968 8.48am Utrecht, was buried in an avalanche while skiing on 17th February 2021, never recovered from a coma and died a year later. Tr Uranus just into his 6th house was opposing his Libra Sun; and his Progressed Mars was conjunct his Uranus – for a double strength shock. Tr Neptune was moving to form an undermining opposition to his Mars in the following months.
Rock Hudson, 17 November 1925 2.15 am Winnetka, Illinois, was diagnosed with AIDs on June 5 1984, though presumably the condition was there months before that, and died two years later. When he was diagnosed tr Uranus was conjunct his Progressed Mars for a shock; and the previous year tr Uranus had been conjunct his Moon for an upset. When he was diagnosed transiting Pluto, Saturn, Mars, Uranus, Neptune and Jupiter were all retrograde. There was nothing affecting his 6th house.
Patrick Swayze, 18 August 1952 8.10am Houston Heights, Texas, was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer on 1 December 2007 and died two years later. His Solar Arc Mars had been opposition his Uranus two years earlier and was moving to an undermining square to his Neptune in the aftermath of the diagnosis. In 2007 his Solar Arc Uranus and transiting Saturn were conjunct his 12th house Venus. Tr Uranus had been moving through his 6th for several years. Having been incredibly fit, it came as a shock and he tried every remedy, alternative and other. Tr Neptune moved to oppose his Pluto in the aftermath which tends to accompany devastating confusion; at the same time as his Solar Arc Pluto squared his Uranus turning his life upside down.
Billy Connolly 24 November 1942 4.30am Glasgow, Scotland was diagnosed in 2013 with Parkinson’s. At that point tr Neptune had started to square his Uranus Saturn in Gemini and his Solar Arc Neptune was aiming to oppose his Gemini Moon two years after the diagnosis. His Solar Arc Midheaven was conjunct his 12th house Neptune. So a very Neptunian experience. Again nothing showing in his 6th house.
The accident or shock Mars Uranus collisions by Progression or Solar Arc or transit are obvious and it can be a helpful indicator of the need to take care when it is around. As for the rest, it depends on genes and psychological patterns. All of us are hypochondriacs and tend when maybe health-related Astro-warning flags pop up to panic but it doesn’t always follow.
How fascinating.
Traditional astrology reflects the influence of the cosmos on the earth ie in the organs: Moon to do with brain, glands, Mars the gall bladder, Mercury the lungs, Jupiter the liver, Venus the kidneys and Saturn the spleen and bony structure.
Also manifests in wood: Moon and fruit trees, Venus the birch, Sun the ash, Mars the oak, Jupiter the maple, Saturn the pine family.
Equally with metals such Mars and iron, Venus copper, Jupiter tin, Saturn lead.
Also the grains Moon and rice, Venus barley, Sun and wheat, Mars and oats, Jupiter and rye, Saturn corn.
There are a very few qualified doctors who take the chart and transits into account, however not in allopathic medicine and I know nothing about Chinese medicine.
I am looking forward to hearing more about Draconic charts could it be they are an asteorogram for our leaving the earth in our previous life?
Many thanks for all your input
The 15th century “Housebook of Wolfegg Castle” contains some lavish engravings of the seven planets and their virtues and the signs of the zodiac and spheres of life they ruled over. It’s worth taking a look at these to try to understand the way astrology was seen to play a part in the day to day life of an educated nobleman of that era and also to see ‘traditional astrology’ in all its beauty.
Gerard’s ‘Herbal’ (1597) is a wonderful source for medical astrology. Here, you can see the way physicians and herbalists of the late 16th century used the ‘doctrine of signatures’ originating from Galen and Dioscorides as a guide to their use for certain parts of the body and organs and this doctrine was promoted by Jacob Böhme in the 17th century.
From wiki;
“The 17th century botanist William Coles supposed that God had made ‘Herbes for the use of men, and hath given them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read … the use of them.’ Coles’s The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, stated that walnuts were good for curing head ailments because in his opinion, “they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head”. Regarding Hypericum, he wrote, “The little holes whereof the leaves of Saint Johns wort are full, doe resemble all the pores of the skin and therefore it is profitable for all hurts and wounds that can happen thereunto.”
Hence ‘liverwort’ whose leaves resemble a human liver, lungwort, etc or Forget-me-not which due to it’s hairy stems and leaves which can cause irritation is known as Scorpion Grass and thus ruled by that sign. Each plant is listed as ruled by a planet and/or sign, whether the plant’s effects are hot/cold/dry/moist. The natural world must have seemed vibrant with meaning and divinity through the eyes of these botanists, herbalists and physicians.
I have Moon in Capricorn on the Descendant. Moon quintile Saturn. As a child I was constantly breaking my bones. So much so, that I overheard my parents joking that they should take out an advert, disclaiming anything to do with my bones breaking. As an OAP I am riddled with osteoarthritis, even in my jaw, where I have a titanium jaw joint. Which squeaks sometimes. Saturn is supposed to be represent Iron – not in my case!
Saturn is supposed to rule the bony structures – ie. bones and teeth. So broken bones are v Saturinine.
Thank Marjorie… Coping with osteoarthritis and herniated disk problems since Saturn has been traveling from my Capricorn ascendant toward my Pisces sun & moon in 2nd house. Managing a bit better now while under care but hate to think what’s in store when Saturn goes conjunct.
Thanks Marjorie, this is indeed fascinating. My family is a bunch of hypochondriacs so I sometimes need to remind myself of that and not get ‘panicky’ about passing inconveniences. A good friend of mine took her own life last year and it was such a shock to me, I didn’t see it coming (also not in her chart, but I am no expert) but with retrospect, a year later, I can now see that it had been coming for quite some time. Sometimes you are too close to see what’s really going on. And fortunately we don’t all respond in the same way to internal and external pressures.
More recently, Chadwick Boseman, a.k.a the Black Panther. His cancer diagnosis and death was another shocker.
This is all very interesting. In February, following sinus surgery with biopsy, I was diagnosed with an extremely rare and potentially fatal autoimmune disease. The symptoms usually involve kidneys, lungs and sinuses. For me, the disease is concentrated solely in my sinuses–no organs involved….thank God. Can’t help but attribute this to the fact that I’m a quadruple Aries (sun, moon, mars, mercury)–it’s all about the head. Doctors are treating me with heavy-duty drugs to manage the disease, which is incurable, so neptune is obviously working overtime in my chart. There was a time when I would have immediately consulted an astrologer for a prognosis. I’ve done that in the past re health issues and the stars never failed to accurately predict the outcome. However, at this point in my life, I’ve decided that I don’t want to know in advance what’s in store. Completely surrendering to fate.
Thanks Marjorie – enjoying the “She sloshed back the champagne and Dubonnet and mixed happily and keeled over at 101″….! My (Cancerian) grandfather was the same – a lifetime of enormous fried breakfasts and smoking – but little alcohol. Fit and walking for miles in his 80’s, no operations, died of old age at 96.
I checked the astrology of a hit-and-run accident I had as a teenager. That event has affected my body ever since, as it fractured my coccyx, and damaged my pelvis and knees. I walk a lot nowadays, and have done yoga and Pilates to keep things from seizing up, which my spine tends to do if not stretched regularly.
The astro is curious I think. The SA Sun is conjunct natal Mercury. SA Mercury conjunct the natal IC. Progressed Mercury is square natal Mars, while progressed Mars is square natal Mercury. In the Solar Return – one day after this accident – there’s a Mars/Saturn/Solar MC t-square which aspects, yet again, natal Mercury – Saturn being trine, Mars semi-sextile by transit. Natal Mercury has no challenging aspects of its own, and is in the 3rd house. It has the latest degree of any planet in my chart, and is retrograde natally.
It’s strange there’s no Uranus involved in this, as it was such a shocking event. Also makes me think that Mercury carries more ‘weight’ than perhaps we sometimes think.
Thanks Marjorie, reading interesting reading.
Hi @Jane, Interesting examples. If Mercury is a key player, Curious then as to what the aspects were between Mercury and Neptune or Uranus (or degrees between them), even if not the obvious ones, then indirectly tied to the 6th house? Or is Mercury tied in somewhere else not obvious, but linked to 6th house? Could it work like that? Just a thought.
Hi Jennifer – Mercury rules my natal IC and 12th house cusp (hospitals?). 6th house is ruled by Jupiter, which perhaps suggests some kind of protection or “luck” in 6th house matters? I have only one dramatic hospital incident in adult life – sudden and violent food poisoning (salmonella). I came close to death, or so the hospital said. They also remarked that I was ‘very lucky’. That event has tr Saturn squaring the Moon, Mercury on my Sun/Moon midpoint, and a Mars return. Transiting Uranus is quincunx natal Mercury.
The other near-death event in my (nine?!) lives occurred as a young child. Uranus was then squaring Mars for the surgery that went very badly wrong. Jupiter and Chiron squared….Mercury. It really is a kind of theme, and yet I don’t have Gemini or Virgo rising. What is interesting is that I recently did my Draconic chart online, and the Draconic Sun is in Virgo. I’m trying to learn more about that technique, so can’t say much at this point. It might be relevant though.
Wow Jane. I note too a number of references to the Draconic chart keep coming up lately. I’ve been discovering surprise links in that chart too and want to understand more.
Yes, Jennifer, it is really thought provoking. I’d been paying more attention to the nodes in charts, and also Black Moon Lilith – so guess the Draconic chart is one more lunar possibility. I’m waiting for a book on this to be delivered, and to looking at various charts I have from this new perspective.
My Draconic book has just been delivered so will do a speed read and see what emerges. I have looked in the past and not been any clearer but maybe I misunderstood the point of them.
Hi Marjorie and Jane, is it the new Victor Olliver book that you’re referring to? Please post your reactions/reviews!
Thanks, and Happy St George’s Day!
Me too, Marjorie. However, it’s fair to say I certainly wrestled with interpreting the Nodes (like St George!) but finally saw them as sensitive symbols and catalysts first, sign second. Ditto Chiron. Many of your articles/posts and discussions have helped enormously too.
And Andrew, a happy St George and the Dragon’s Day to you too. An auspicious day for delving deeper into the ways of the Dragon’s head and tail. Yes, Victor Olliver’s work is the book I’m waiting to read.
Hi Marjorie, that’s great!! I’m excited to read your take on it when you are ready to share.
Much thanks as always and appreciate your insights!!
It may take a day or two – quite a difficult concept to get your head around. Not improved by the fact that Janus software which I use doesn’t appear to have a calculator – except it does! Have found it. What a relief.
The book is certainly well written, witty, erudite and v readable and good at explanations. With high profile examples. My slight impression and it is v early days is it works for prominent figures but may be less obvious for us lesser mortals. But will see. Will pursue.