On the surface, there is not much sympathy between this planet and this sign. The only point which they seem to have in common is the suddenness; but the suddenness of Pisces is that of the will-of-the-wisp, a better word might be elusiveness. Pisces is an exceptionally receptive sign – there is no driving force in it. It is the precise antithesis to the aggressiveness of Uranus. There is, of course, a great deal of subtlety in Pisces, but this is a different kind of quality to the secretiveness of Uranus. We shall consequently not expect to find very many men of the first-class with this position of Uranus. Occasionally, the dispositions of the planets may be such that it is completely dissolved in, and its influence spread throughout, the sign, and where this occurs there will be an extension of the occult influence of Uranus in the psychic menstruum 0S of Pisces. There is fortunately one example of this in its perfection – William Blake.
Here Cancer is rising with the lower edge of the Moon touching the cusp of the Ascendant, semi-sextile to Neptune and trine to Uranus, but in opposition to Venus, which is sextile to Uranus. We have often pointed out that the opposition of two planets is very much mitigated by the presence of a third, trine to one and sextile to the other. The personality is therefore extremely well suited to the temperament. The general influence is, of course, watery; and Uranus being in the ninth house, it is only natural that religion, and particularly that extremely personal and true religion which lakes the form of direct vision, should be the key-note of the career.
Curiously enough, Swinburne, who discovered Blake and introduced him to his own blind countrymen, has the same position of Uranus. Cancer again is rising 3 degrees earlier than that of Blake, and Uranus is 12 degrees earlier than Pisces, but still in the ninth house. The Moon of Swinburne, however, is in close conjunction with the Sun in the tenth house, and Mars occupies the Ascendant in conjunction with Jupiter. Uranus receives no more assistance than the semisextiles of Venus, Mercury and Neptune and the Ascendant is evidently much stronger than the ninth house. We have a personality of extraordinary force and violence, far more creative than that of Blake, but entirely without inspiration in any sense in which Blake would have understood the word. The sympathy between the two poets is confined to the Ascendant and the position of Uranus, and this proved strong enough to get one to appreciate the other. But in spite of the warmth of the appreciation, there is not the remotest trace of Blake’s influence in the work of Swinburne.
As an example of the visionary quality or thought produced by this position of Uranus at its worst, where it is little better than muddle-headedness, we may look at the horoscope of Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence. Here Sagittarius is rising, with Jupiter near the conjunction of Mars, squared by Saturn, and in opposition to the Sun and Mercury. Uranus is near the cusp of the third house and can show nothing better than the semi-sextile of Neptune to help him. The mental disturbance is consequently well-marked, and the personality is shown as eccentric, obstinate, violent and lacking in all sense of proportion. It is a lamentable figure.
An even more unfortunate example of the weakness and flabbiness and sponginess of Uranus in Pisces is Henry VI of England. Here, Taurus is rising with the Moon, and Venus is in the house of her abomination, Capricornus, sextile to Uranus. The Moon is afflicted by the opposition of Mars, and there is nothing whatever to set off against these disabilities. There is no lack of harmony between personality and temperament, there is not enough strength in either to create any unpleasantness. Uranus, too, is in the twelfth house. Thus his influence is not great. The Lady of the Ascendant being in the ninth house in ” Saturnian sign, we get a form of religious devotion not far removed from Melancholia.
Another unfortunate monarch of very” similar temperament was Louis XVI. The weak Virgo is rising, with Mercury imprisoned in the twelfth, and Mars just under the cusp of the Ascendant. Jupiter and Sol are in close conjunction with Mercury, but although these planets are benefic, in such an instance it may be held that they rather overpower the planets. A trine aspect would have been far preferable, especially as Uranus is close to the opposition. of his conjunction, and though he is benefited by the trine of the Moon, this is not sufficient to make him really strong, when he is in a watery sign. It needs some warmer planet to kindle his fire. Hence we sec, the temperament of a mild-mannered person who passed his time making watches, while his throne crumbles beneath him; and when it came to the point where his personality was put to the test, it proved entirely weak, and unable to cope with the situation. His no less unfortunate Queen has Cancer rising, Mars in the Ascendant, and the Moon squared by Saturn. Uranus has a trine of the Sun and Venus and is situated in the tenth house, Sol and Venus being in the fifth house. We get a somewhat faded though voluptuous type, intensely pleasure-loving and causing scandal through this quality. The pamphlets written against his queen, Marie Antoinette, did more to bring about the revolution than almost any other single issue.
A little better is the horoscope of Tchaikovsky. Here Cancer is ascending, and the Moon though near the cusp of the third house, has nothing between her and the Ascendant. Uranus has a square of Saturn, which is not altogether bad, and a trine of Jupiter which is distinctly good, and he is also helped by the sextile of the Sun and Mars in very close conjunction. The Moon has no particular dignity but that of her mundane position, and even that is not very strong. The result is a rather insignificant man, turning out great work_ Uranus and his aspects are all-important in his horoscope.
The greatest singer of our times Adelina Patti, has also this position of Uranus; Leo rising, the Sun in conjunction With Neptune, ruled by the Moon; and although squared by Mars may be counted strong, since Mars has the trine of Uranus. On the whole, however, the temperament is stronger than the personality; a supreme artist with no interference from any eccentricity or self-will.
We may now consider two writers, singularly sympathetic to each other, Alphonse Daudet and Thomas Hardy. Daudet has Scorpio rising with Mars in his detriment in Taurus in the seventh house in conjunction with the Sun. Uranus, on the other hand, has a square of Saturn, which is one of the better aspects of these planets, and he is near the cusp of the fifth house. The temperament is consequently very)’ powerful and it expressed itself natura1ly in an artistic form.
Thomas Hardy has Libra rising with Venus in Taurus near the conjunction of Mercury and Mars, but otherwise; not particularly strong, nor is the eighth house a1together a desirable place for her. As with Daudet, Uranus has the square of Saturn. This aspect will have to be taken to indicate the clear-sighted and philosophical realism which is to be discovered in the works of both authors.
To return for a moment, to the Middle Ages, let us look at the horoscope of Nostradamus. Here Aries is rising, with Mars In no way assisted by aspect or dignity. Uranus is in the twelfth house, giving a great secretiveness, and the only thing which can be called help to him is that he is pretty close to a trine of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The man is accordingly much less than his prophecies. With Solon the cusp of the mid-heaven and Neptune occupying it, his fame was assured, and considering the trine referred to above it has been perhaps not altogether undeserved.
We shall now proceed to a consideration of the nativities of a pair of very clever, successful and unscrupulous politicians, one born to a throne and the other to a screw factory, Edward VII and Joseph Chamberlain.’ The late King of England has 28 degrees of Sagittarius rising , with Jupiter just touching the cusp of the Ascendant. It is square to Uranus, but the latter has a trine of Sol, and Jupiter has a sextile of Venus, all of which things make for success. The subtlety and astuteness with which he engineered the Triple Entente and isolated Germany will long be remembered in history, as the principal cause of the Great War.
In the horoscope of Joseph Chamberlain, on the other hand, we find little beyond chicanery and selfishness. There is no indication of true statesmanship or enlightened patriotism. He changed his politics as another man would change his neck-tie, and he did it so success fully that, in spite of the intense hatred and distrust with which he was regarded by the more intellectual classes of his countrymen, he always managed to be on the side of the majority. Cancer is rising, with the Sun on the cusp of the second, Mercury on the cusp of the Ascendant, the Moon exalted in Taurus, square to Neptune, which gives a certain trickiness, for which indeed he was celebrated. Mercury is trine to Uranus, and is exactly on the cusp of the Ascendant. Thus we see an extraordinary degree of concentration on the aggrandisement of self, and the marvellous skill in engineering schemes to attain purely personal objects.
Our next pair should prove exceedingly instructive. Here the influence flows to a purely financial channel, and we see emphasis laid upon the fact that Pisces is the house of Jupiter. The pair consists of Jay Gould211 and J. Pierpoint Morgan. The former has Gemini rising with Mercury just below the cusp of the Ascendant, very strong in his own house with a trine of the Moon and Saturn-. This is a very cold and heartless combination. There is no warmth from any source. The Sun himself is imprisoned in the twelfth house and forms a square with Uranus. It is the very picture of a greedy, calculating, cold-blooded, unscrupulous financier. Venus and Jupiter being in the second house turn the affections towards money, and assure its gain. The afflict ion of Uranus removes all trace of constructive intelligence from that planet, and as he is situated in the tenth house, it is easy to understand that the financier could not escape from the reprobation of his fellowmen.
J .P. Morgan has Leo rising and the Sun is in very close conjunction with Mercury. He is exalted in Aries, and culminating, which renders him suddenly powerful. There is no particular help to Uranus, but on the other hand he suffers no damage. The personality is far finer and nobler than that of our last example, not nearly so concentrated upon pure gain and in no way inhibited from undertaking constructive work.
In France, we have al ready had two persons prominent in the political world, and we now strike a whole group, equally prominent though not born to the purple. They range through all degrees of failure and success, probity and improbity. It should be well worth our while to examine their nativities in detail.
General Boulanger, -here Cancer is rising with the Moon in Aquarius, within 9 degrees of the conjunction of Uranus, which is on the cusp of the tenth house. Beyond a sextile of Sol and Venus and a semi-sextile of Neptune, which applies to Uranus rather than to Luna, there is no particular assistance. We find, in fact, that it was the personality of the man which failed him ; at the critical moment he wavered and broke down.
Contrast him with the great Gambetta, who has Scorpio rising and Mars in his own house Aries, quite close to the conjunction of the Sun and Mercury. Saturn is rising within 7 degrees of the trine to Mars. Uranus is in conjunction with Venus in her exaltation but in opposition to Jupiter. The personality appears extraordinarily forceful – the temperament not so markably so. In fact, his work was an obvious one. It was merely that of rallying the French in the hour of their defeat, an idea which might have occurred to anyone. The amazing energy and success with which he carried out his task an: due to the great power of the Ascendant and the good aspects of its lord. It will be noted, of course, that the affliction of Uranus Jed in this instance to a manifestation upon the material plane – violent death.
The three very commonplace politicians are Presidents Carnot, Faure and Loubct.21 S Carnot has Capricornus rising with Saturn, semi-sextile to Mars and trine to Uranus. No planet is ascending except the latter. There is consequently great harmony between the personality and temperament, but there is no development of any extraordinary force. There is success but only ordinary success.
President Faure has Libra rising and Venus is within seven degrees of the conjunction of Uranus. Venus is squared by Saturn and Uranus by Jupiter, and though there is no particular lack of unity involved in these configurations, they are not strong and the presence of Mars in the Ascendant, would seem to outweigh them. There is energy and capacity shown, but once again, no very great tendency towards any development of the Revolutionary qualities of Uranus.
Emile Loubet is an even softer type. That he should have permitted himself to be publicly smacked upon the face at a race-course is not indicative of a force of personality such as commands universal respect, more particularly a ruler. ‘” The passive and easy-going Cancer is rising, the Moon is touching the cusp of the Ascendant, with the lower edge of her silver orb, and she is almost exactly in opposition to the Sun and Venus. She has the trine of Uranus and this assures that general harmony of character of which we have been speaking. It also assures success, but that kind of success which comes to a man, as an Irishman or a philosopher might say ‘through no fault of his own’.
The last of our group will be found to remind us far more of Joseph Chamberlain than of any other. It is Robespierre. Here Aquarius is rising, Saturn just under the cusp of the Ascendant and Uranus a little below him. Saturn has the semi-sextile of Venus and the square of Mercury, which indicates a successful and plausible lawyer with a sense of reality, but no load of scruple sufficient to hinder his march toward power. Uranus receives only the doubtful assistance of a semi-sextile of the Moon, and though Jupiter is in the tenth house, in his own house Sagittarius, trined by Mars, we can only regard this as adding executive force to his ambition without making, in any way, a harmonious combination with it. Here is a picture, one may almost say a clinical picture, of a cold, harsh, overbearing, ambitious, unscrupulous man, and so, as in all the cases that we have been considering, we find the clearest possible witness of history through the truth of astrology.
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