In the sign of Sagittarius lies much of the nature of the horse and of the deer, timid, delicate, proud, courageous and swift, Only the suddenness of its action in any way resemble our typical Uranus force; but the sign itself, if Jupiter be happily aspected, may have much power to overcome much that seems hard and coarse and cold in the planet. Cold, say we, for the cruelty of Uranus is calculated and deliberate, the cause of a joy no less sinister than divine, while that of Mars is the hot cruelty of far more ‘human’ passion. But Sagittarius never fails to give liveliness to the temperament; it is as Celtic an Ascendant as Leo or Pisces, more so, in fact, than the latter; thus we find in him . what one might humorously call a ‘reformed’ Uranus, etherealised, sublimised. But of course, as before, bad aspects and an inharmonious Ascendant will weaken and corrupt these qualities. For example the horoscope of Queen Victoria shows arrogance and petulance, impatience of contradiction. Gemini is rising, a totally opposed sign, and Neptune is within 5 degrees of Uranus in the seventh house. Saturn squares them, but fortunately Venus is trine; else had the situation been hopeless. It just supplied the missing clement of fact. Mercury is in the twelfth house, and not particularly strong, undoubtedly temperament plays a much larger part than personality.
George Eliot has Scorpio in the Ascendant, and Sol, Venus, Mercury. Uranus and Neptune are all in the cast, not far below the horizon. r..tars is in Leo, trine to Venus, but opposed by Jupiter. The result is naturally a highly confused mass, for which no single true resultant emerges; a stormy life, and a mixed career of joy. sorrow, failure, and triumph are effects of this complicated chain of causes. Natura1ly, on such a sky no eternal repose, starry, can shine; the native was bound to be submitted in the end.
Sir Richard Quain is an example of the contrary, a placid and successful career, with no great wealth of dramatic incident.
Here Leo rises, and Sol is between Mars and Jupiter, within 18 degrees all told. Venus is exactly semi-sextile to him and approaching Uranus which is in the fifth house. Here there is nothing very important; but what there is, is pleasant. There is no obstacle to overcome.
Now let us consider the horoscope of Shakespeare, with Virgo rising. Mercury is in Aries, and has no notable aspect~, though it is within 6 degrees of the trine of Uranus. There IS no planet ascending; Uranus is in the fifth in opposition to Neptune, a world-shaking aspect; Venus is with Neptune within 5 degrees, and sextile to a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. Here then we sec a tremendous temperament, and a negligible personality; and we’ find this diagnosis confirmed by a study of Mr Frank Harris’ admirable book on the subject.
Another master-mind was that of Herbert Spencer. Uranus is on the exact cusp of the Ascendant, 28 degrees of Sagittarius, and Neptune is rising only 2 1/2 degrees below him, again a tremendous aspect. Hence the epoch-making character of his philosophy. The man himself was retiring. Jupiter in Pisces softened by the square of Venus – and there is no conflict of any kind indicated; the work was everything.
Bismarck, again, has the lord of his Ascendant (Leo) squared by Luna and very near the trine of Uranus; here is again excellent harmony, save that the ~Moon gives some brusquerie. On the whole, it is a disposition likely to afford the best results, from the standpoint of a career.
Still more earth-shaking is the colossus Luther. Leo is rising once more, but Sol, Saturn and Mercury are in conjunction of Venus, Mats and Jupiter. Thus both personality and temperament are tremendously strong and harmonious with the other. The result we know.
A far calmer figure is that of Cornelius Agrippa. I 116 Virgo is rising, and Mercury in the second house, not specially strong, Uranus is near the square of the Sun and within 9 degrees of the opposition of Mars. But there is nothing fulminating in the figure, and so we have scholarship and deep thought without any further manifestation than the acquisition of a great and not very well-deserved reputation as a magician, and some books rather curious than revolutionary.
Ruskin is a very difficult person. He has the critical Aquarius rising with Sol dose to the cusp – temporary success, no more. Uranus is squared by Saturn so that his ideas were foolish, and Luna and Mars close to Mercury are in opposition, making him quarrelsome and weak, violent and obstinate, but without dear vision. A lamentable wreck of good material! Of course, the obvious incompatibility of Sagittarius and Aquarius will already have occurred to the reader. An interesting example of temperament is seen in Nell Gwynn, with Capricornus rising, and Uranus exactly conjoined with Neptune on the cusp of the eleventh house. Here is a tremendous force to work through friendship, as she did, and as the Lord of the Ascendant, Saturn, is trine to Sol, she had the force of character to make use of it.
William III f England has Luna rising in Leo, trine to Mercury, with Sol in conjunction with Jupiter. Uranus and Neptune are exactly conjoined – this, by the way, often stands for Great Opportunity – and the whole figure is very favourable, so that, from a petty princeling, he became the King of England. ~Mars is square to the Neptune-Uranus position; no effort of his own was necessary to his success.
The Tsar Alexander II is a very remarkable type. Once again Leo is rising, and Sol is trine to Jupiter, sextile to Mars, the two latter planets being in opposition. Saturn, too, is sextile to the Sun. On the other hand, Uranus receives no great help from any quarter. Hence the personality of the man was strong and courageous, but he was brought to ruin by his work. However, he did at least achieve it, and if he could not control the storm that he aroused, who shall blame him, since the tempest-blast that overturned his bark was the breath of Liberty.