Saints

[Jim Eshelman]

Sotonye alerted us recently to a collection of timed charts for saints on Astro.com. I have taken all of those that have birth data at least B-rated (meaning there is a formal record on which the data is relying, either biographical, family reporting, or direct birth record). To these, I added a few popes that have been canonized but were not in the list, and for whom we have well-timed data.

The study resembled my other study of all opes of the last 11 centuries in one respect: SUN IN TAURUS is the clear leader for Sun-signs. But in most respects they are quite different, e.g., Moon in Taurus, which also was most common for popes, is one of the least represented among saints.

Here are the details of the 48 saints.

[Jim Eshelman]

As mentioned above, SUN IN TAURUS is the most common. Just taking raw numbers and not yet correcting for variable distribution (Sun spends more time in one part of the zodiac than the other), of 48 cases each sign would, on average, have four examples. Taurus has six.

No other signs distinguish themselves. Three others have 5 (Sagittarius, Aquarius, Pisces), which is interesting but not numerically significant. Nearly have the signs have only 3, which is not statistically significant.

MOON IN AQUARIUS is the clear leader with 7 instances, with SAGITTARIUS close behind at 6. The only other sign to distinguish itself in the collection of Moon-signs is Moon in Taurus, which had fewest (only 1).

MARS IN GEMINI is the leader in raw counts (7 cases: and this is not a part of the zodiac where Mars spends an unusual amount of time). This was also true of the popes. Meanwhile, Mars in Pisces is the least represented (1). So far as Moon signs go, one would have to conclude that there is greater focus on science than mysticism.

[Jim Eshelman]

Mercury and Venus are hard to judge, but I think we can rely on a couple of details.

MERCURY IN AQUARIUS leads with 7 instances, while the signs immediately around it are average or lower. Chart by chart, where Mercury would have the opportunity to slide to Capricorn or Pisces, I'd watch it appear in Aquarius. This should be adjusted for normal expectancies, but the distribution in surrounding signs suggests it really is a stand-out.

VENUS IN CAPRICORN, like Mercury in Aquarius, acted like the sign was a magnet for it. Repeatedly, I'd know Venus would fall in Capricorn when Sun was nearby, and that's exactly where it fell 7 times. Venus expected occurrences are hard to predict, and I'd give some attention to nearby Pisces except that Venus was in Aries as much as Pisces - they may not be significant. What truly IS noteworthy, though, is Venus complete absence in Taurus.

Ascendant and Midheaven signs have some preferences, but, again, I'm not yet sure how much weight to put on it. For example, ASCENDANT IN GEMINI is the most common - notice the Gemini recurring theme - but this may not be important because, in the northern hemisphere, Gemini is the sign that Ascendant occupies above average part of the day. What is quite fascinating, though, is that ASCENDANT IN SAGITTARIUS tied Gemini (and Scorpio nearly as high).

Let's do a crude calculation of what we should expect on this. Mean expectancies for Ascendant placements vary with latitude and era. Let's pick an average latitude of Rome, and a time in the rough middle of these births, say, January 1, 1800. (If I'm off by give-or-take 70 years, it doesn't really matter).

At Rome on that date, Gemini rose from 3:10 PM to 5:27 PM, 2h 17m or 9.51% of the day: In 48 tries, Ascendant should fall here 4.57 times (4 or 5 times). In our collection, it rose 7 times.

Sagittarius rose from 6:13 AM to 8:16 AM, or 2h 04m. We would expect just over 4 occurrences on average (4.13), and our sample had 7 here also. (The excess for Sagittarius is a bit higher than for Gemini.)

Scorpio rose for the same date and place 3:45 AM to 6:13 AM, or 2h 28m, meaning we would expect almost 5, therefore the 6 occurrences are not unusual. Similarly, Virgo rose from 10:34 PM to 1:06 AM, or 2:32, so we would expect 5 occurrences of Virgo rising; therefore, 6 instances are not unusual.

Ascendant in Sagittarius and, secondarily, Gemini are interesting excesses. Aquarius and Pisces (1 each) have the least.)


MIDHEAVEN IN LIBRA is the peak with 8 occurrences. Midheaven, for the centuries of these births, spends 1h56m in Libra for all parts of the world, meaning we expect 3.9 occurrences (call it four). In fact, we got double that many, with 8 Libra MCs. Here, though is where we run into one of the puzzles of assessing signs on angles: MC in Libra is what we get with Asc in Sagittarius? Which is the driving factor (if either), or is it both?

[Jim Eshelman]

Angularity results are pretty clear. In two different ways of assessing it, PLUTO IS MOST OFTEN ANGULAR, and the benefics tend to come behind.

Specifically, if we just to a straight headcount of times each planet is in the foreground or conjunct a secondary angle, Pluto is the highest (17 times out of 48), with Moon and Venus next (16) and Sun and Jupiter third (14). Mercury is the least (10).

However, if we weight the major angles above the minor ones, this shuffles a bit. Pluto is still the champ - its lead is stronger with 54 points - and second place goes to Venus with 45 points. Jupiter comes third at 39 with Mars barely behind at 38.

[Jim Eshelman]

Luminary houses (as usually happens) don't give us anything useful, though it is possible there is something hidden behind the gross data.

Here is a simple rule: Campanus houses squeeze more zodiacal space near the horizon than the meridian, so that the houses immediately adjacent to Ascendant or Descendant are much more likely to be occupied than other houses, the greatest difference being with those near the meridian.

So, when I see that the two houses most commonly holding Sun are 7th and 1st, and the two least are 9th and 4th, I know that is just a normal astronomical distribution.

Similarly, when I see the greatest frequency of Moon placements in the 6th, 7th, 1st, and 12th - all four houses adjacent to he horizon - I know, again, it is a normal astronomical distribution. Similarly, the least frequent Moon houses are 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th. The one possible interesting result is that Moon in 9th is not at the rock bottom, but (though hardly high scoring at 3 occurrences) has as many Moons as the other three meridian-adjacent houses put together.

But I wouldn't get too excited about these.

[Jim Eshelman]

Aspects are perhaps the most interesting to me. I tabulate them in several ways, though mostly the same set of aspects tends to dominate no matter which way we look at them.

The one huge leader is MERCURY-JUPITER. This occurred so many times that I'm inclined to call it an aspect of sainthood - which might, of course, just mean that they are prone to have their name and story selected for special recognition. But there is indeed a kind of magical thinking about Mercury-Jupiter, an infusion of faith and optimism, that probably fits the character profile.

Secondly, in a simple headcount, MARS-SATURN shows the tendency of struggle and difficulty - the ordeals and persecutions, the raw labor and contribution.

If I weight the aspects by type - giving more weight to the hard aspects, less to the soft - the picture changes a little. Three aspects tie for first place, these being the two just named (Mercury-Jupiter and Mars-Saturn), and the third being SATURN-NEPTUNE, an aspect to which are attributed all sorts of saintly characteristics from suffering to asceticim to morbid introspection and to monastic withdrawal. 0 If we take ONLY hard aspects, Saturn-Neptune is the one clear champ (even Mercury-Jupiter pulls back, because it has as many soft aspects as hard), so that's how Saturn-Neptune emerges so strongly in the weighted aspects.

[Soft Alpaca]

Jim reading through this I think this is hinting at Plutos exaltation in Gemini (it's no surprise that religion would follow cultural themes that are found in the Gemini-Sagittarus axis {Gemini is heavily linked to themes of art and poetry which are often founded in culture and history})

I also think that the Taurus sun is very interesting however perhaps the ancient egyptians had it firgured out, if you associate the sign with their deity of Ka (and it's symbol). Holding ones hands up to the heavens. Tapping into ones life force or soul (think about the phallic implications about life force as well).One could easily see these people seeded in some sort of philosophical devotion.