there seems to be renewed interest in this author born in 1890 and who passed away many years ago... my neighbour - in his mid 70's was telling me he is rereading a book he had read in his early 20s by him as he is curious if he will be affected by the book as much as he was when he read it over 50 years ago... i don't know much about him, but there was a page which my wife read on him that was interesting and i tried to tie the 2 of them all together via his chart...

now his chart sounds rounded off to 9am.. these are the source notes from adb - "David Fisher quotes a colleague from Lovecraft by letter. His biographer, S.T. Joshi in "The Life of a Gentleman of Providence" writes, "Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born at 9:00 AM on August 20, 1890, at his family home at 454 (then numbered 194) Angell Street in Providence, Rhode Island."

https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Lovecraft,_H.P.

below is his chart in sidereal zodiac, although i encourage and welcome others to engage with whatever zodiac or system they use and share your thoughts...



here is the article that i was trying to make connections from onto this chart..
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/ ... -47718299_

hopefully the link works.. it lists 'ten things you should know about hp lovecraft... i know nothing about him and haven't read any book by him either but i had heard the name... for some reason i thought he was a british writer, but i was wrong - american..

" 1. Both his mother and father were separately committed to the same mental institution"
that is a bizarre observation and i wonder if it reflects the time and era? regardless - what is in the chart that denotes this? here is how i rationalize where i look - family, parents and heritage - 4th house, 10th house, sun, moon - maybe 9th house... others could do it differently - i am curious.. jupiter in capricorn rules the 4th house cusp... it is in poor celestial shape being in capricorn.. perhaps it is not helped by its ruler saturn, also being in poor celestial shape... mercury, ruler of the 10th - is in late leo, the 12th sign to the ascendant - i do whole sign houses and so if the 12th is considered a bad house - this would fit for a difficult parent dynamic.. if we use 9th house to explain the father - venus its ruler is also in bad celestial shape... maybe these planets in signs has a lot of bearing on it all? and finally - this is my emphasis on aspects - sun in a conjunction with saturn seems problematic for the role his father played... moon conjunct uranus ( out of sign) in the ascendant would seem to imply an unusual or odd emotional dynamic and perhaps reflected in his relationship with his mom and women more generally... moon rising is found in many charts of writers for what that is worth and it is here.. this is what he is primarily known for - writing..

"2. He wanted to be a professional astronomer but never finished high school"

well that sort of goes with uranus rising, or the moon/uranus conjunction too as i see it.. maybe someone else would see it differently.. i would be curious.. the topic of high school - is sort of a 3/9 house issue as i understand it... his 9th ruler venus is in poor celestial shape, but his 3rd house ruler mars is strong by sign - mars in scorpio, although it is very challenged by the square from saturn, and the opposition from the neptune/pluto conjunction.. the overall family dynamic might not have helped any in this regard..

"3. He rarely went out in public during daylight"

this reminds me of something wei said in a post i just read earlier today... i am not sure where you'd see this in a chart... ruler of the ascendant in the 12th house? i think 12th house or maybe 6th house could explain this, but not sure.. 12th house sun could also feed into this and perhaps the sun conjunct saturn in the 12th could too... all the personal planets are rising in the east which suggests an independence of thought, with not much concern for what others think... maybe that is part of it too??

"4. He was best buddies with Harry Houdini"

if i just analyze it from the importance of the 11th house - moon is ruler and it is conjunct uranus, so connections with odd people would be highlighted.. maybe the 3rd house and 7th need to be considered as well as any aspects to mercury more generally.. 3rd house ruler is mars in the 3rd... i am not sure if that fits... ketu or south node is also in the 3rd and ketu is known for being very weird and odd, so maybe that is it..

"5. He wrote an estimated 100,000 letters in his lifetime"

well, i immediately think of mars in scorpio as ruler of the 3rd here.. that is a lot of letters and perhaps this is how he channeled his energy in the most productive manner he could imagine.. mars, although strong by sign, is in one tangled mess aspectually speaking... venus and mars are in a close 60 aspect.. perhaps this helped feed all of this in a more artistic and creative way? i suppose having venus rising would help with any artistic pursuit and i do think of writing as a creative activity... he also has sun in leo which excels at some form of creative activity, but i mostly think of it in a more extroverted way with leo... but then sun in 12th close to saturn would stifle that... then again - saturn in leo is also a deep need for pursuing creative activities.. that is something i have always found, so the connection with both sun and saturn to leo highlight the idea of creativity in some way, shape and form... tons of letters? i guess i fall back on mars in scorpio in the 3rd...

"6. He really didn’t like sex"

this is kind of fascinating from my point of view.. mars in scorpio and he didn't like sex.. i know - i am hanging onto all those astro stereotypes, lol.. okay, what house is sex connected to?? i used to think the 8th, but then i modified my ideas on this a number of years ago to think the 5th... if you think of the 5th house here - it is ruled by saturn which is a downer right away!! but even if mars in scorpio seems like a sexed position, having saturn squared onto it - looks very unappealing.. i would blame it on the saturn at the top of a t square with all the other planets in the 3/9 houses... thoughs??

"7. He suffered night terrors"

moon/uranus conjunction? or, the heavy emphasis in the 12th house, including the ascendant ruler??

okay - i have to stop... others can offer there ideas on the last 3 -
"8. He inspired Batman, Black Sabbath, South Park and more
9. HP Lovecraft isn’t buried under his headstone
10. Cthulhu is pronounced ‘khlul-loo’ (because we’ve all wondered at some point)"

fun hey?

James, In April, while I was reading Picatrix, I took notice of this person, H.P. Lovecraft.

I remember that H.P. Lovecraft used a ritual or magic mentioned in Picatrix in one of his books.

I tried to read his novels, but they failed to capture my interest because I couldn't understand them.

What did you say I mentioned? I have forgotten.

james_m wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2024 4:40 pm "7. He suffered night terrors"
moon/uranus conjunction? or, the heavy emphasis in the 12th house, including the ascendant ruler??

Very interesting chart, James. Thanks for bringing it up.
Night terrors would be the 12th house of sleep and the Moon so I agree. The Me is important too.
The Mo-Ur is also afflicted by Rahu, which amplifies anything it touches.
Saturn is square to Neptune, and Me, the ascendant lord, is in the bending of the Nodal axis.
The Sun being placed in its own house gave him enough stability to keep from completely going mad.

wei - this was in the hemisphere thread.... it reminded me of the quote above..

Wei wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2024 2:52 pm So, I think I need to get out more. Staying indoors and reading books isn't enough; knowledge from books is hard to understand without personal experience. I need practical knowledge and experience. (I still highly value book knowledge - these are precious experiences.)

fwiw - i have a close friend who lives in taichung... we are considering going to taiwan next april, but not sure at this point.. my friend is coming to visit us in july/august and we will discuss it then.. cheers

aj

thanks! those are all good observations and i had neglected to pick up on some of them too - mercury square the nodes would be important.. i still struggle with the idea of rahu trine moon and generally rahu in trines as being afflicted! i do like the idea though of rahu amplifying what it touches... judith hill used the idea of power surge and power outage to balance the north/south node dynamic... perhaps that could be considered an affliction if it wasn't handled properly.. i don't know..

i suspect the saturn-neptune-pluto configuration led to hp lovecrafts writing emphasis on horror, but maybe i am wrong on this and it has strictly to do with the 12th house dynamic... i too could be a traditional astrologer and ignore those pesky outer planets, lol... but i am not!

james_m wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2024 6:26 pm
fwiw - i have a close friend who lives in taichung... we are considering going to taiwan next april, but not sure at this point.. my friend is coming to visit us in july/august and we will discuss it then.. cheers

This is such exciting news! I feel even more thrilled than you do. I've already started picturing us going on adventures together. Haha. (Just imagining though).

When you visit Taiwan, remember to tell me what you love most about it.

Good night. I feel like tonight will be joyful, and I'll have sweet dreams.

Hi James ... Lovecraft was a strange character, read one or two of his stories but not a favourite, his Weird Tales were a little too weird for me. Thought I'd take a look at this chart using the Tropical Zodiac and Placidus cusps. "1. Both his mother and father were separately committed to the same mental institution"
Father - Capricorn on 4th, Saturn combust in Virgo in the 11th disposited by Mercury in 12th (institutional care), square (0°42') to Neptune and Pluto (1°50'), both of whom are stationary so intense and in the 9th from the 4th so averse by by house (weak) and sign as he sends his trine to the 3rd
Mother - Cancer on 10th, Moon in Libra in 1st conjunct (1°35') Uranus (unstable) disposited by Venus in the 12th
Both significators are harmed and both dispositors are in the 12th.

"2. He wanted to be a professional astronomer but never finished high school"
I usually take the 9th to mean higher education, college, university and the 5th for regular school (places where children are found).
Aquarius on the 5th of schools with Saturn in the 11th in opposition to the 5th, and, in Virgo, averse to his Aquarius domicile; Uranus/Moon in the first sends their trines to the 5th possibly indicating his schooling would be unstable/disrupted ... maybe due to his mother?

"3. He rarely went out in public during daylight"
That's an odd one; maybe Venus, ruler of the Asc, in the 12th....secretive? likes isolation? Also, Lilly has the Moon (with Venus) as ruling "night owls" (assuming he means someone who likes being up late)

"4. He was best buddies with Harry Houdini"
Leo on the cusp of the 11th with Sun in Leo in the 11th - famous friends. And with Saturn (magicians)

"5. He wrote an estimated 100,000 letters in his lifetime"
Letters = 3rd, Mars in the 2nd conjunct the 3rd (he made his money writing); Mars is in Sagittarius, Fire, so passionate, energetic writer and Sag on the 3rd is ruled by Jupiter, who is angular in the 4th and can be excessive especially as he is trine the Pluto/Neptune conjunction in Gemini, which could easily signify a compulsive (Pluto) writer

"6. He really didn’t like sex"
According to Lee Lehman's Book of Rulerships, Al-Biruni gives "sexual organs" to the 8th house; Venus rules the cusp, she's in domicile in the 12th conjunct the Asc (feminized?) and Mars is in the opposition with no reception in Taurus (his detriment) and he is peregrine in Sagittarius, perhaps indicating a lack of interest.

"7. He suffered night terrors"
Looking at the 9th for dreams, Gemini on the cusp with Mercury in the 12th "bad dreams"?

"8. He inspired Batman, Black Sabbath, South Park and more
Moon/Uranus in the 1st in Libra with Venus in the 12th - would guess he was well known by the public as a quirky character with a dark side; could see him, as a personality, inspiring Batman and Black Sabbath, for South Park, maybe his off-the-wall stories

"9. HP Lovecraft isn’t buried under his headstone"
The 5th is said to represent what happens to you after you die; ruled by Saturn combust (hidden) by degrees but not in the same sign as the Sun?

That was fun, thanks for posting the chart.

Jane: Great observations and delineation. Thanks.

James: In Indian astrology, afflicted Mercury is associated with bad dreams, and Rahu is associated with the interpretation of dreams and it's influence on the Moon, the mind, and the association with Uranus certainly in a large part accounts astrologically for Lovecraft's tying into all of that in a creative, if not dark, way. The Ne-Pl is plugging into all of this as well because the very close conjunction is in peski-sesqui to Moon-Uranus and as you note, the Saturn square. Mars in the 3rd house of writing opposes Ne-Pl giving a lot of energy into it all. Expansive Jupiter in the 5H of creativity is trine to Ne-Pl and inconjunct Saturn so lots of prolific output with edginess.
The intense rising Mercury in it's own MT sign even though in late degrees but in an exact square to the nodal axis, gives it almost laser-like focus.

Fallen Venus rising with the Moon-Uranus is very interesting, isn't it? I will comment on that later if I find some more time.

A late addendum, as you mentioned earlier: "there seems to be renewed interest in this author born in 1890 and who passed away many years ago..."
Currently, (June 13th, 2024) the South Node is exactly conjunct his natal Venus, ruler of the 2nd house of status and the North Node is exactly trining natal Mars-POF. The transiting Sun is exactly conjunct natal NN and square natal Me; tSu is also throwing a trinal glance to natal Mo-Ur.

Note: I am using WSH here.

james_m wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2024 6:26 pm hose are all good observations and i had neglected to pick up on some of them too - mercury square the nodes would be important.. i still struggle with the idea of rahu trine moon and generally rahu in trines as being afflicted! i do like the idea though of rahu amplifying what it touches... judith hill used the idea of power surge and power outage to balance the north/south node dynamic... perhaps that could be considered an affliction if it wasn't handled properly.. i don't know..

i suspect the saturn-neptune-pluto configuration led to hp lovecrafts writing emphasis on horror, but maybe i am wrong on this and it has strictly to do with the 12th house dynamic... i too could be a traditional astrologer and ignore those pesky outer planets, lol... but i am not!

hi wei

well, it isn't a done deal yet, but i will let you know if it happens... cheers! james

jane

thanks... great insights and observations! it is interesting how we are using different systems - sidereal or tropical and a different approach to houses too, and yet - we can explain these 10 quirky aspects of lovecrafts character in a reasonable manner! ( note - we didn't resort to the terms of the planets!) i have more to say on this for a philosophical post that i have been ruminating on for the past month or more... thanks again for your participation! i am glad you enjoyed it.. we will have to do more of these!

aj

i think the fact i missed the mercury square the nodes factors into the night terrors and idea of bad dreams, but the moon uranus conjunction could feed into this too... for me - mercury/moon have great sway over issues of mental health and aberrations like this idea of 'night terror'... yes - the 135s from neptune/pluto to moon/uranus would feed into this too...

i like the fact you took a look at the transits for this time back to lovecrafts chart.. those are good observations too! i was telling a young friend - kyle about this and my fascination with the fact he was a virgin and had to go read up on all the sex books to know how to move forward, lol.... i liked his wifes comments on this in the guardian article.. anyway, my friend kyle mentioned about incel which is a movement within younger people today which might also explain some of lovecrafts increased popularity?? i don't know.. i don't generally have a problem with ''weird'' but lovecraft seems to have weirdness in spades... i think i have to attribute this to moon/uranus rising.... my wife tells me there were some questions of inbreeding as well in the lovecraft clan! now my comments on personalities is getting worse then my comments on foreign policy objectives of some countries!!

bottom line - i am going to have to read one of his books.. i will talk to my neightbour on how reading him a second time round worked out and maybe he will lend me the book...

james_m wrote: Thu Jun 13, 2024 3:47 pm bottom line - i am going to have to read one of his books.. i will talk to my neightbour on how reading him a second time round worked out and maybe he will lend me the book...

They are all available for free on archive.org. Happy reading.

thanks jane

i can't read books on the internet... but thank you...

james_m wrote: Sat Jun 15, 2024 4:47 pm thanks jane

i can't read books on the internet... but thank you...

Hi James...sorry to hear that, hopefully your neighbour will be willing to lend you one of his books, or maybe the library still has some on the shelves.

thanks jane

i can read on the internet - of that it is not a problem, but the pleasure of reading a book is lost for me if i have to read it on a computer screen.. my wife uses kindle and that seems to work really well for her... i haven't given kindle, kobe and the various tablets a try, so i guess i am a bit of a curmugeon!