Mystery Chart No 4 Revealed
Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 2:55 pm
Many years ago Malcolm Muggeridge (not our subject) wrote a book, published a series of essays really, titled Jesus Rediscovered. It was ?St. Mug?s? explanation of his own spiritual beliefs. In that little book he discussed a BBC program he was involved in that highlighted the life of Cistercian, aka ?Trappist? monks. These men take a vow of silence, live Spartan lives that consists of doing the things they have to do to survive, plant, tend, and harvest food (and make some of the most delicious beer on earth, which they don?t drink ? they only sell) and pray. It is only relatively recently that the complicated hand signals have been relaxed and some necessary speech is allowed.
Muggeridge was anxious to let the world know, via a BBC TV program, that these men and others like them in other orders (there are similar orders for women) were not hiding from the world as it seemed to those who didn?t know, but actually sacrificing for others. After being given permission to speak one monk asked Muggeridge, ?Why should we show ourselves on TV to millions when we?ve chosen this lifestyle in the first place?? Good question. ?St. Mug? did not tell the reader what his answer was, but the program went on just the same.
Monks pray for the world. The pray for you and me and everyone else. They believe this life of prayer and sacrifice performs a service that God finds pleasing. This is not a life for everyone, although Muggerridge actually made it sound appealing. But is this the only thing a Cistercian can do to influence the world? No, he can travel, and speak, and write prolifically and actually become famous in this environment as did our subject.
The native is Thomas Merton, Roman Catholic Cistercian Monk. theologian and mystic. He was a unique individual in an environment that exemplifies conformity. I?m tempted to assign that to his singular Moon in Leo opposing all those Aquarius planets.
Merton was born in Prads, France, not to be confused with Prades, France a different place that produces a slightly different chart. My data comes from Joseph Crane?s wonderful little book, A Practical Guide to Traditional Astrology. Some biographies list Prades, and I?m taking Crane as correct, and the primary directions mentioned on the thread seem to validate that locale. I was not aware of the two places with such similar names until after people began posting or I might not have put up this chart.
What is most obvious about this figure is the Aquarian emphasis. In the world of modern astrology there is nothing quite like Aquarius. Songs are written about it. The age of Aquarius is coming or is here, and it promises heaven on earth or at least free dope. It is the sign of humanitarianism, which means whatever political belief the observer happens to hold. While Aquarius in the traditional world is a humane sign, it is also a fixed air sign ruled by Saturn ? gloomy, rigid, solitary Saturn ? the perfect sign/planet combination for a monk. It is no coincidence that the old Soviet Union was considered ruled by Aquarius, and while the leftists hailed it so because it was ?revolutionary,? Solzhenitsyn told us of the cold, dry Soviet Union in fiction like Cancer Ward and the chilling One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich as well as in non-fiction like the Gulag Archipelago.
So Aquarius may not be all its cracked up to be, yet the Cistercians are not the KGB. Perhaps it merely reflects one side of Saturn, his best side, yet it is Saturn nonetheless. One has to be accepted into the order and has to be considered by others to be cut out for this ascetic lifestyle. It?s not easy. And as noted above they do this for humanitarian reasons. It?s just that they don?t confuse ?humanitarian? with ?material.? We?re dealing with a very spiritual person. In fact the antiscion of the part of spirit is conjunct the ascendant.
The primary directions work pretty well with the 9:00 am birth time. In July 1915 Pluto is directed to the IC and in August of that year the Mertons are forced to lee France for the US due to WWI. Merton?s mother was an American. In 1920 as Saturn is converse directed to the IC, Merton?s mother is diagnosed with cancer. She dies from the disease on October 21, 1921. In 1922 Venus is converse directed to the MC and Merton?s father begins a serious relationship with a woman with whom 7 year-old Thomas never gets along. They never marry probably as a result of the difficulties with the child.
In January of 1931 the senior Merton dies leaving then 16 year-old Thomas without parents. The direction that occurs at this time is nearly a year off from the event. As stated above, Merton senior dies in January 1931 and the direction Jupiter to the ASC occurs much later in the year depending on the key used. However the direction may symbolize something other than the father?s death. We are only dealing with directions to angles here and there are many other ways to do primary directions.
Moving past early childhood and on to what others wrote:
Libra29, our house modern, wrote:
Libra?s remarks about being in contact with the mind of God are exactly on the money. Also, Merton was a pacifist, and he wrote about social justice, which is a bit unusual for a monk since their concerns are more other worldly, but it is not unheard of.
Libra really gets going with this:
However there is a traditional answer to this problem. The dispositor of Jupiter and Mercury is in aspect to them. Saturn in triplicity is trine this conjunction in the 3rd ruling the 10th. Saturn disposits an awful lot in this chart, and in fact is a true final dispositor, a rarity in charts. Everything in this chart leads back to Saturn in the third house of communication. Saturn is conjunct the fixed star Betelgeuse. Robson tells us: ?Shrewd, cunning, craftily dishonest, treacherous to friends, eventful life with many ups and downs, eventual wealth but little comfort, unfavorable for domestic matters.?
The nasty stuff up front doesn?t fit, but the eventful life with many ups ad downs is right on the money, as is eventual wealth with little comfort. Merton?s books sold well, but he took a vow of poverty. Unfavorable for domestic matters? Well he was actually considered a womanizer in his youth, probably a bogus charge since virtually all young, single men are womanizers. It comes with the glandular system. If this held, however, it would have been bad for domestic matters and joining a religious order saved him from it, but the charge is a tad ludicrous.
Tony Louis wrote:
Tony wrote:
Alex wrote some great stuff:
Libra hinted at it, but it is noteworthy that Merton was also a mystic having several mystical religious experiences. Merton?s later life becomes one of writing and contemplation. He met with the Dali Lama, he explored Tibetan Buddhism and it was rumored he wanted to become a hermit.
Tragically, Thomas Merton died as a result of a freak accident. On December 10, 1968, while traveling in Bangkok, where he spoke at a meeting of Asian Benedictines and Cistercians, he touched a poorly grounded fan while emerging from a bath and was electrocuted.
There are all sorts of websites dedicated to the memory and work of this remarkable man, who, it should be noted, was not born Roman Catholic, but rather converted when a young adult. His books are still widely read. The title of his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, is a reference to Dante?s Purgatorio. The souls of purgatory must climb a high mountain to gain their reward, symbolizing his climb from a materialistic, some say hedonistic lifestyle to one of the spirit..
Merton is a fitting character, since it is the Christmas season, to end, temporarily, the mystery chart threads. I?ll be away from Christmas Day until New Year?s Eve. If there is still interest after January 1, I?ll post another. If anyone else wants to do so before, please feel free. Until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year to All.
Tom
Muggeridge was anxious to let the world know, via a BBC TV program, that these men and others like them in other orders (there are similar orders for women) were not hiding from the world as it seemed to those who didn?t know, but actually sacrificing for others. After being given permission to speak one monk asked Muggeridge, ?Why should we show ourselves on TV to millions when we?ve chosen this lifestyle in the first place?? Good question. ?St. Mug? did not tell the reader what his answer was, but the program went on just the same.
Monks pray for the world. The pray for you and me and everyone else. They believe this life of prayer and sacrifice performs a service that God finds pleasing. This is not a life for everyone, although Muggerridge actually made it sound appealing. But is this the only thing a Cistercian can do to influence the world? No, he can travel, and speak, and write prolifically and actually become famous in this environment as did our subject.
The native is Thomas Merton, Roman Catholic Cistercian Monk. theologian and mystic. He was a unique individual in an environment that exemplifies conformity. I?m tempted to assign that to his singular Moon in Leo opposing all those Aquarius planets.
Merton was born in Prads, France, not to be confused with Prades, France a different place that produces a slightly different chart. My data comes from Joseph Crane?s wonderful little book, A Practical Guide to Traditional Astrology. Some biographies list Prades, and I?m taking Crane as correct, and the primary directions mentioned on the thread seem to validate that locale. I was not aware of the two places with such similar names until after people began posting or I might not have put up this chart.
What is most obvious about this figure is the Aquarian emphasis. In the world of modern astrology there is nothing quite like Aquarius. Songs are written about it. The age of Aquarius is coming or is here, and it promises heaven on earth or at least free dope. It is the sign of humanitarianism, which means whatever political belief the observer happens to hold. While Aquarius in the traditional world is a humane sign, it is also a fixed air sign ruled by Saturn ? gloomy, rigid, solitary Saturn ? the perfect sign/planet combination for a monk. It is no coincidence that the old Soviet Union was considered ruled by Aquarius, and while the leftists hailed it so because it was ?revolutionary,? Solzhenitsyn told us of the cold, dry Soviet Union in fiction like Cancer Ward and the chilling One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich as well as in non-fiction like the Gulag Archipelago.
So Aquarius may not be all its cracked up to be, yet the Cistercians are not the KGB. Perhaps it merely reflects one side of Saturn, his best side, yet it is Saturn nonetheless. One has to be accepted into the order and has to be considered by others to be cut out for this ascetic lifestyle. It?s not easy. And as noted above they do this for humanitarian reasons. It?s just that they don?t confuse ?humanitarian? with ?material.? We?re dealing with a very spiritual person. In fact the antiscion of the part of spirit is conjunct the ascendant.
The primary directions work pretty well with the 9:00 am birth time. In July 1915 Pluto is directed to the IC and in August of that year the Mertons are forced to lee France for the US due to WWI. Merton?s mother was an American. In 1920 as Saturn is converse directed to the IC, Merton?s mother is diagnosed with cancer. She dies from the disease on October 21, 1921. In 1922 Venus is converse directed to the MC and Merton?s father begins a serious relationship with a woman with whom 7 year-old Thomas never gets along. They never marry probably as a result of the difficulties with the child.
In January of 1931 the senior Merton dies leaving then 16 year-old Thomas without parents. The direction that occurs at this time is nearly a year off from the event. As stated above, Merton senior dies in January 1931 and the direction Jupiter to the ASC occurs much later in the year depending on the key used. However the direction may symbolize something other than the father?s death. We are only dealing with directions to angles here and there are many other ways to do primary directions.
Moving past early childhood and on to what others wrote:
Libra29, our house modern, wrote:
I?ll get the quibbles out of the way first. I don?t see the chart as Uranian because I don?t see Uranus as ruling Aquarius. Yet we cannot discount the influence of Uranus as it is conjunct the Sun, traditionalists would say ?combust.? But if we treat Uranus as a fixed star, like I do, then combustion is not an issue and what I see is a ?separation (Uranus)? from the ego (Sun or those parts of the ego that the Sun may symbolize). Monks do that. The Sun in traditional astrology represents the principle of power and monks surrender personal power to a life of prayer and contemplation.I don't think I've ever seen such a strongly Uranian chart with Sun in Aquarius conjunct Uranus (1 degree) and in 11th House. A statement repeated 3 times, like this, becomes almost a certainty in the life and gives this person a strong identification with Promethean themes. He is in direct contact with "the mind of God", universal truth, and he is a channel for modern, progressive, futuristic, democratic ideas.
Libra?s remarks about being in contact with the mind of God are exactly on the money. Also, Merton was a pacifist, and he wrote about social justice, which is a bit unusual for a monk since their concerns are more other worldly, but it is not unheard of.
Libra really gets going with this:
Merton?s chart viewed with whole sign houses produces one interesting result. Aquarius is the 11th sign and all those planets would therefore be in one ?house? the 11th. Using the 12th house for the conjunction has merit given the contemplative lifestyle of a monk and an early meaning of the 12th is the house of confinement. Monks are confined in every sense of the word. Perhaps people with a 12th house Mercury are more inclined to solitary activity and thinking and those with Mercury in the 11th house; or Mercury in the 9th with teaching or practicing philosophy more outwardly. I don?t know, but if we stick with the idea that the 12th is a place where planets have a difficult time ?getting out? this become a problem in Merton?s life since he was a prolific writer and quite famous.With Mercury conjunct Jupiter also in Aquarius in the 12th house, he sees the big picture and has a powerfully philosophical mind, interested in things mystical.
However there is a traditional answer to this problem. The dispositor of Jupiter and Mercury is in aspect to them. Saturn in triplicity is trine this conjunction in the 3rd ruling the 10th. Saturn disposits an awful lot in this chart, and in fact is a true final dispositor, a rarity in charts. Everything in this chart leads back to Saturn in the third house of communication. Saturn is conjunct the fixed star Betelgeuse. Robson tells us: ?Shrewd, cunning, craftily dishonest, treacherous to friends, eventful life with many ups and downs, eventual wealth but little comfort, unfavorable for domestic matters.?
The nasty stuff up front doesn?t fit, but the eventful life with many ups ad downs is right on the money, as is eventual wealth with little comfort. Merton?s books sold well, but he took a vow of poverty. Unfavorable for domestic matters? Well he was actually considered a womanizer in his youth, probably a bogus charge since virtually all young, single men are womanizers. It comes with the glandular system. If this held, however, it would have been bad for domestic matters and joining a religious order saved him from it, but the charge is a tad ludicrous.
Tony Louis wrote:
Yes, despite being a monk, Merton was no shrinking violet. He voiced opposition to the Viet Nam War and wrote prolifically on a variety of subjects.Mars rules the ASC by sign and the MC by exaltation. Hence Mars is a key to both his talents (ASC) and his career (MC). He is symbolically a fighter, a warrior of some type. His career is an assertive expression of his personal goals and ambitions. Who he is and what he does in the world are closely linked and find expression in this assertive Martian energy.
Tony wrote:
The entire period of 1941 ? 1949 is significant and a whole host of directions, direct and converse attest to that beginning with the Moon crossing his DSC in 1941 when he entered the Cistercian Abbey of our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, USA. In 1944 he took his simple vows. In 1946 his first book, A Man in the Divided Sea, was published. In 1947 he took his Solemn vows and published Exile Ends in Glory and in 1948 as Mars crossed the MC (in some keys earlier in others) he published his best known work, still available, his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain as well as What Are These Wounds. It is a this time that he become known internationally.An important career event should occur when the MC crosses Mars (exaltation ruler of MC) by primary direction. I get the following dates:
MC crosses Mars (converse) March 1946
Mars crosses MC (direct) June 1947.
Alex wrote some great stuff:
Yes and it shows how important that conjunction is in this chart.Most striking to me about this chart is that Mercury and Jupiter in Aquarius are making a phasis with mutual reception from Saturn in Gemini (to Mercury) by trine aspect. Saturn (which rules the MC, profession, and rules 11th, both good houses) receives all the Aquarius planets, but most especially the close Mercury-Jupiter conjunction by tight harmonious aspect. Rare indeed.
Law, too. Merton was a theologian.One can?t get very far into reading Lilly without Jupiter frequently coming up as either ?ecclesiastical men? or judges, councilors, lawyers, scholars (CA, p. 63) to name a few. In other words, either spiritual law or secular law. In modern times a religiously inclined person might instead become philosopher, humanitarian. Venus is in the 9th, received by Jupiter (with sextile=charitable, kindly plus Venus delights in 9th house significations) and Jupiter rules 9th (law, vision, religion, teaching) and 12th (regio and placidus houses put Jupiter and Mercury in the 12th; 5 degree rule) making him contemplative and content somewhat behind the scenes - which all further corroborates writer-teacher.
Libra hinted at it, but it is noteworthy that Merton was also a mystic having several mystical religious experiences. Merton?s later life becomes one of writing and contemplation. He met with the Dali Lama, he explored Tibetan Buddhism and it was rumored he wanted to become a hermit.
Tragically, Thomas Merton died as a result of a freak accident. On December 10, 1968, while traveling in Bangkok, where he spoke at a meeting of Asian Benedictines and Cistercians, he touched a poorly grounded fan while emerging from a bath and was electrocuted.
There are all sorts of websites dedicated to the memory and work of this remarkable man, who, it should be noted, was not born Roman Catholic, but rather converted when a young adult. His books are still widely read. The title of his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, is a reference to Dante?s Purgatorio. The souls of purgatory must climb a high mountain to gain their reward, symbolizing his climb from a materialistic, some say hedonistic lifestyle to one of the spirit..
Merton is a fitting character, since it is the Christmas season, to end, temporarily, the mystery chart threads. I?ll be away from Christmas Day until New Year?s Eve. If there is still interest after January 1, I?ll post another. If anyone else wants to do so before, please feel free. Until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year to All.
Tom
