The first paragraph of the foregoing sign readings applies to the sun sign; the whole of the reading applies to the ascending sign. The reader is referred to the table of ascending signs to be used when the birth hour is known. Should date of birth fall within three or four days of the date when the sun enters a new sign, the individual then partakes of both signs. Similarly, though in a much lesser degree, will the person partake of two signs should the extreme beginning or end of a sign be found on the ascendant. The person is then said to be born “on the cusp.” The difference here is however quite readily perceived, as in the case of twins who are born each on the other side of the cusp.
It will be found that the mental characteristics are more in evidence than the bodily. The latter seem more subject to modification by hereditary conditions.
The popular “Solar Readings” divide humanity into twelve groups. By combining the sun sign and the ascending sign judiciously (in the manner of an astrologer) we obtain 144 groups. That such a combination is far superior to the singular sun readings will at once become apparent to the observer. Nevertheless, nothing better than a general accordance can be expected, considering that the sign positions of the sun and the ascendant are only two of many factors subjected to analysis and synthesis when properly delineating character from a horoscope; but they are important factors and the only ones that can be considered on this narrow scheme.
The reader may now proceed as follows: Select from among your acquaintances any one who comes near to being a type of one of the signs, then get that person’s birth date. Letting him keep the hour to himself, or meanwhile he may inquire of the parents. (The birth hour is roughly known to a majority of the younger generation.) Put the middle of the rising period of the sign describing the native on a slip of paper and, holding your hand over it, request your “subject” to announce the hour. I have turned that stunt with general success on many occasions. When removing my hand I let him gaze at the hour on the slip. This never fails to produce an effect upon those present. The party himself may be a “hard case” and you may have to put up a bet to make him go to the trouble of interesting himself in himself. Of course, the bet, to be on the square with an honest disbeliever, should be one against twelve, since there are twelve signs and you are to guess the right one, but he may not understand this (they don’t always), and you, having the advantage of this much knowledge, can afford to be generous with your “victim.” You will make mistakes, but you can pick types enough to come out winner in the long run, and many more than are needed for proof.
In this demonstrative manner I once guessed the exact date of a child’s death. I was given four months to go on, – that means 120 to one. I put down February 7. The father denied it, saying, “it was in February, but it was on the 8th.” But those that were present gave me full credit for having come surprisingly close. The next day the father admitted that my guess was absolutely correct, as he recalled having received a telegram on the 8th, stating that the child died on the 7th, at 11 p.m., “but,” said he, “the stars had nothing to do with that, for she died of pneumonia, and if she hadn’t caught a cold on a certain occasion she wouldn’t have died, – no, your astrology is all bosh!”
Now, Mr. Psychologist, did I kill that child by suggestion?
This happened about twenty years ago, when I was not able to attempt such fine guesses and had an astrologer to help me out. I have made a few guesses of more practical value since then, such as are not for publicity.
To illustrate the combination reading with an example: A man is born April 10, at 7 a. m., Chicago, III., before 1883. Referring to the table of rising signs, as will be explained, we find his ascendant in Taurus. We then have an Aries individual and a Taurus person. Aries is active, that is “quick,” “impulsive,” “excitable,” etc. (see sign reading) while Taurus is fixed, or “determined,” “slow,” “reserved,” etc. He is also of a fiery-earthy nature (see left-hand diagram). Accordingly we judge our man is inwardly active, though his actions, or expressions, would indicate the reverse. Hence he is a man who will “use his head to save his feet,” capable of accomplishing much without seeming to be in a hurry. Well adapted for city life as he will readily turn its many comforts to practical use. If well bred, refined, or repressed, he will win his way through diplomacy. If a man of the rough and the wild – like unpolished rice, whole wheat, or unrefined brown sugar, with the natural, active, health producing elements intact – in terms of “cosmic psychology” I would say, his latent fires un-repressed – he is then a “bully,” yet preferring the easy practical way, avoiding, if possible, the exertion and discomfort of a fight. Add to this combination the possibility of a prominent Mars and beware lest he gets “mad.” Had he been born two hours earlier, he would have been an Aries man in and out – ever ready for the fight, a pioneer type with an eye for risk and excitement.
Had the native been a woman, the same individual would express through the same person and through the feminine sex, which would modify according to the additional repression imposed on her by our ethic rules and custom.
People who are born at sunrise are generally the easiest read, their sun and ascendant being then in the same sign, unless date be near the 21st. Sunrise people are the healthiest as are also those born in the spring months. Noon people are most successful, their sun being elevated, in or near the mid-heaven, the house of position, honor and business career.
If the reader will familiarize himself with the two little diagrams, the symbols and order of the signs and their relation, one to another, whether in “trine” (triangle) meaning harmony, or in “square,” meaning discord, he will soon know more than has taken six pages of sign readings to express. It is well to memorize the symbols, as they and their names aptly express the sign’s nature. Notice also that, according to their order, the signs relate to the various parts of the body, as Aries to the head and Pisces to the feet, expressive of “the Grand Man of the cosmos.”