------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Electing the Best Moment for Creation" *************************************** or "How to Drive Yourself Stark Raving Mad" *************************************** (a defense of the election chart for alt.astrology.moderated) by Gail Klein Impatience has its virtues. If not for the rash impulsiveness of idiots like me, what state would the world be in today? There'd be planning, careful and thoughtful restraint. That would never do. The following tale of woe and wist documents *this* idiot's frenzied labors to elect the best perceived moment for the creation of "aamod" -- without a whole lot of waiting involved, that is. First of all, I wanted the chart to reflect harmony. In electionals, this usually means the chart should possess soft aspects between the planets in, and ruling, the most important houses for that particular chart. One date in the ephemeris really stood out: November 8, 1998. The Sun, Venus, Moon, and Jupiter would make a grand applying trine, with Mars sextile to Venus, and possibly the Moon (depending on the time of day), to boot! This seemed to give terrific leeway in setting those planets just right in terms of house placements and rulerships. But the cosmos, as is its wont, will not be dissuaded from its practical jokes. I also had to contend with an over eager Mars Jupiter opposition, and a crumbly, dissociative Saturn Neptune square. Yikes! Well, it's a good thing I'm so impatient, or I might have let that stop me... ;) So... how do I place this chart so that its benefits are optimized and its weak points are less deadly? I'll summarize just the highlights and lowlights in this article, of the many charts I tried for this particular Cancer Moon, lest I be tossed back into the sea of existential, astrological spaghetti that I tangled with during the original judgings. Well, I thought, a strong Ascendant is pretty important. And since in this chart, the 7th house of "others" will refer both to friends and foes in the whole internet community, I certainly want it weak (for the foes), but well disposed towards us (for the friends). In that case, the initial choice of Cancer rising would not do. We would have Saturn ruling the 7th house, either from the 10th, which would place the Moon hidden and cadent in the 12th (at our given geographical coordinates of 88w04 41n48), or we would have Saturn in the 11th (to get the Moon in the first). The Lord of Karma, weakened by square to Neptune, in our 11th house of hopes and goals? Hmmm... (one of the possibilities I tried: November 7, l998 8:25 PM CST (+6), 88w04 41n48) Evidently, it was time to revisit the old drawing board. Next, I tried a Libra rising chart. Seemed ok at first glance; Mr. Saturn was now in the 7th, but the 7th cusp ruler, Mars, was high in our 11th house, in loving sextile to our Ascendant ruler, Venus. This seemed to soften the impact, some, of that energetic Mars Jupiter opposition and, with typical fool's elation, I decided this was the chart to use. But...but...but...the 4th house was in dreadful shape. Capricorn on the cusp, ruled by a weakened and decrepit Saturn, and Neptune and Uranus contained in the 4th, looked to me very much like "Titanic time": sink or swim and we forgot to add the lifeboats, chum, sorry! Hmmm... I didn't want poor "aamod" to go slip-slidin' away from its very first day... Back to that drawing board! (one of the possibilities I tried: November 8, 1998 4:25 AM CST (+6) 88w04 41n48) Well, how about Virgo rising? Mercury makes a lovely sextile to Uranus, and after all, this group would be all about communicating astrology. The 7th house Pisces cusp wasn't too good, but then not so difficult as the Cancer rising's chart. And the 4th house would be stronger, although I wanted to try to downplay, if I could, the influence of our Retrograde Jupiter. The houses Jupiter would rule (in this case, the 4th) would "promise more than they'd deliver" according to Barbara Watters in "Horary Astrology and the Judgment of Events", if Jupiter is Rx. But I liked this chart. So much so that I picked it... But I couldn't quell my misgivings about that darned Jupiter Mars opposition across the 1st and 7th houses. Didn't look too reassuring at all, particularly with Jupiter ruling the 4th. And big, fat, backwards ol' Jupiter disposits darned near every planet in the chart, *including* picky, vigilant, hissy Mars in Virgo right on our *BOING!!!!!* Ascendant! (I didn't care for earlier degrees of Virgo rising; that placed the Ascendant in square to Pluto and Mercury. Anything later placed the Mars Jupiter opposition closer to the rising degree.) Looked to me like more uptight quarrels with cheerful, taunting "skeptical enquirers". Hey, guys, we *know* it works. Ever tried empirical, observational study? No? I didn't think so... (one of the possibilities I tried: November 8, 1998 1:31 AM CST (+6), 88w04 41n48) So... back to that creaking drawing board, huh? Well, now, really. What was left? I couldn't go with Scorpio rising; that put Neptune and Uranus in our precious 3rd house! I foresaw a bunch of crazy people jabbering to one another in tongues! (Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know. That's the case, in any case, right? ;) But seriously, I didn't want Capricorn on our 3rd house cusp. That would have been as close to "communicational coma" as we could have come, with the ruler in square to Neptune, *and* Neptune and Uranus in the house. Sagittarius rising? Well, that would put our Scorpio Sun and Venus in the 12th house. Please, lord, not that. Capricorn rising? Strictly out of the question. Aquarius rising? Heck, no, not with Saturn then in the 3rd or 4th! Pisces rising? ("Earth to aamod - Earth to aamod - Come in aamod - Where are you, aamod???") I think not... Just joking, of course, but it would have put Capricorn on the 11th cusp also, which didn't seem promising. Hmmm.... chin dragging on the floor by now.... Aries rising? Oh good heavens! Saturn in the 1st? I wouldn't hear of it! Taurus rising... for a wild and panicked nanosecond, I considered this one. It wasn't too bad, nor too great. But (that famous "but" pops up everywhere, doesn't it?), the Moon has then already separated from all of its happy trines. And - good grief - prepares to square Saturn and oppose Neptune. I'm sure you can imagine how my howls of dismay managed to be heard within a 300 mile radius at that point. (one of the possibilities I tried: November 8, 1998 4:30 PM CST (+6), 88w04 41n48) Gemini rising put Saturn back in the 11th house again. I think I took some Kava and went to bed. Well, there was nothing for it. I had to try Leo rising. Yep, egotistical, overbearing, bombastical and spastical, arrogant and contraricant LEO! Gee whiz, Leo gets a bad rap in the astro world, doesn't it? :) Well, this gave me an ok 7th house, a stronger 4th house, a strong 11th house Moon, an apt 3rd house Ascendant ruler, and it did get the Mars Jupiter opposition further from the Ascendant/Descendant axis. But... Saturn: dear, doddering, deadly Saturn stuck his bony butt straight in our hallowed 9th house. At first, I thought this was A Bad Thing. And, maybe it is. Also, I didn't at all like the Moon in the 11th ruling our fateful and freaky 12th. Neptune quincunx Ascendant didn't fill me with joy, either. So, I did what any despairing astrologer would do - succumbed to frozen paralysis and became incapable of judging a chart for several days. After I picked myself up from the dregs of electional discouragement, dusted myself off, and made some fresh spaghetti, I went with the old "intuition" trick. Ya know, "which chart *feels* right..." Well, in that case, it was likely Virgo rising. So I had that settled in my mind for a few days. But then it started anew, the comparisons. Leo or Virgo? Virgo or Leo? Leo or Virgo? Virgo or Leo? I cannot tell you the number of times I tweaked the rising degrees, desperate for that one revelation which would finally show me the light! I did a horary chart. I couldn't make head or tail of it! Except, that horary did seem to indicate that Leo rising was the better choice; I hadn't wanted to accept that because, at the time, I wanted Virgo rising, or so I thought. But - was it *really* such a good idea to place the chart's angles in Mutable signs? Nah, probably not, if we want a bit of stability. And did I *really* want to hassle with that Mars Jupiter opposition across the 1st and 7th houses? Nah, Kava's pretty expensive... And now, I harken back to the impetus for starting this newsgroup, and it was the eclipse of August 21, 1998. According to Charles Jayne, "Nothing good, or of importance, starts without an eclipse behind it". The rising degree had to be late in Leo, or we'd have Cancer on that 12th house cusp (and actually, we still do, in some house systems, but we're ok in Placidus, Regiomontanus, and other house systems, with Leo also on the 12th. Mainly, I was wary of having the 12th house ruler in the 11th. But in a chart for a newsgroup, what does that really mean? The 12th house then describes the newsgroup's "lurkers", as well as the other hidden facets of the group; all in all, this is probably not so deadly). Late degrees rising isn't really a stricture in electional astrology, the way it is in horary astrology. So I went for it. Yes, I put the degree of the eclipse smack dab on the Ascendant. Hey, with Regulus, too. Long live alt.astrology.moderated! I hope.... alt.astrology.moderated was born on November 8, 1998 at 00:04 AM, CST (+6), 88w04 41n48. *******************************************