He settled on the name "The Moricand Pattern" in the August, 1957 issue of American Astrology, after reading Henry Miller's book A Devil in Paradise about French astrologer Conrad Moricand who has the undisclosed pattern in his natal chart and has the character to go with it. Moricand was born January 17, 1887, between 7:00 and 7:15 PM, in Paris. (He died August 31, 1954, 10:30 PM CET, Paris, France.) He was (among the nicest things that could be said about him) "a louse without peer."
Bradley talked more generally about the subject thus:
Garth Allen wrote:Moricand, wretch as well as scholar, pornographer as well as occultist, was born under what I personally have long believed to be the most unfortunate and treacherous of all horoscope patterns [emphasis added]. Many of my friends and correspondents are familiar with my numerous past harangues about this particular horoscopic design, but I have never been able to bring myself to air these views in print, not because of the nature of the topic, which is sordid enough as it is, but because I cannot handle the topic umbiasedly. I am fulminatingly prejudiced, with good reason I believe, against three particular astrological situations [emphasis added], and Moricand's chart wallows in all three. Until I can solve this personal problem, this negative reaction to something which I should rightly "be above" as a contingency of scholarship, I had best not be explicit. Perhaps there are exceptions to the rule that has formed so painfully in my mind, although I have yet to find one. Miller's book, incidentally, has provided me with a handy reference name for this pattern, to wit, "the Moricand Pattern." With this new label I can dispense with the unprintable terms made use of until now.
After Moricand's good riddance, Miller reflected on what had taken place; he mused much the same thing that often occurs to me when I observe an instance of the Moricand Pattern in action. Quoth Miller, "I thought of Ramakrishna's words regarding the 'bound' souls. 'Those who are thus caught in the net of the world are the Baddha, or bound souls. No one can awaken them. they do not come to their senses, even after receiving blow upon blow of misery, sorrow and indescribable suffering [emphasis added].'" Bound souls. What a perfect description of those few people born with the Moricand Pattern! Such people are prize exhibits attesting to the validity of psychosomatics. As shown by their characteristic opinions, they filter their view of the world and all that is within range through the muddy lens of their own spiritual misery [emphasis added]. Their trademark is mirrored in Miller's key sentence about Moricand: "His great failing was that he had an answer for everything [emphasis added]." And like Miller decided about Moricand, these people cannot be helped at all [emphasis added], not in this lifetime, at any rate. Bound souls they are and bound souls they remain; God alone knows the purpose in their captivity.
