Astrological Chart of George Custer

Astrology is part of a larger whole that includes your upbringing, your experiences, your family, and a host of other factors. You may be well suited to be a concert pianist, for example, but if your family doesn't have the money for a piano and lessons, likely you're not going to end up as a concert pianist. 

St. Augustine, who, incidentally, was a sun sign Scorpio, had a great saying about astrology: "The stars may impel, but they cannot compel." In other words, your astrological makeup can tell you a lot about who you will become and give tendencies that may affect your life, but in the end it's all about your choices. It's especially interesting to cast a chart for a newborn and see what happens as the child grows older, and see what choices s/he makes.

So why did I choose to say this today? Well, there are certain astrological signs and scenarios that make people a particularly good fit for what they do in life. The repressed emotion of Capricorn moon, for example, will make for an outstanding general, but that moon placement would suck for someone who works with children, for example. The intensity of Scorpio sun is fantastic for the military in many cases, and the sign rules matters of life and death. But I know plenty of Scorpios who are incapable of following orders, much less killing someone in combat.

Looking at Custer's chart, some parts are very suited for military work, while certain others are not. I'll try to highlight these qualities as we move forward.

Aries Chart Signature--The "signature" of a chart is based on some calculations of the overall dominant element and quality (cardinal, fixed, or mutable). Aries is the ultimate sign for combat, so while Custer is a sun sign Sagittarius, the Aries signature will make him more suited to leading troops than your standard Sag.

Sun in Sagittarius--With its fiery temperament, and sharing the fire element with Aries and Leo, Sag might seem on the surface to be a good choice for military leadership. And it's far from the worst choice. You have many, many fine qualities, including a fantastic sense of humor, an ability to take life and themselves with a grain of salt, a penchant for honesty, and the ability to think philosophically/spiritually. And as a fire sign, bravery is not usually an issue. What's interesting is that Custer was a cavalry commander and Sagittarius, the Archer, is a centaur. So he was in the perfect branch of the military, I'll say that. What's the problem, then? 

It's not the best choice for one big reason: Sag is the wanderer of the zodiac and the ultimate freedom-seeker.

As a mutable (flexible) sign, Sag folks are typically good at following orders, to a point. In other words, if given orders that go against their "truth"--a very subjective thing for Sag that they refine throughout their lives--the Sag might very well refuse to obey those orders. With the understanding that "ground truth" from commanders in the field might very well cause those planning any given campaign to change their minds, Sag might decide on a moment's notice that a particular objective--one that likely is a piece of a much larger puzzle that Sag may or may not be aware of at the time--is no longer viable from his point of view, despite command opinion that it is important.

Also, that "to a point" illustrates another facet of Sagittarius. They love their freedom. They don't want to be tied down to anything, and that includes a set of rules that everyone follows. That's not to say that they are constantly deliberately disobedient or insubordinate. But to quote a famous movie, for many Sag people, rules are "guidelines" to follow when they're convenient, but can be ignored at will. Custer got in trouble once for going AWOL to see his wife, and it was supposed to cost him a one-year suspension until his higherups interceded on this behalf.

Large amount of "night" planets--The majority of Custer's planets are underneath the equator of the chart. Nine of the major celestial bodies fall into this category. Since "personal" matters"--involving mostly things that are extremely important to you and mainly you alone--are a big part of night planets, Custer likely had a "me first" attitude in many different areas. For me, this would be a command deficiency. 

Venus in the 1st House--Venus has a great placement in Libra, in its dignity. But it's sitting in the 1st house, which represents ourselves, our personal expression, and how we see ourselves. With Libra in this most personal of houses, Libra being the love planet and all could give someone with this placement the idea that they're, well...pretty damn awesome. So it's pretty likely that Custer thought pretty highly of himself. With Libra rising--the edge or "cusp" of the 1st house is the rising sign, the mask through which we see life--he probably thought he was good-looking, too. (He may not have been wrong; Libra rising people have a tendency to inherit Venus' good looks. No, really. But I digress.) Again, this could be a problem on the battlefield. 

Mars in Capricorn in the 4th--We know that Mars is the planet of war, and its position is of particular importance for a military man. One of the great things about this position is that Mars in Capricorn gave Custer excellent battle organization skills, and up until his death he had the pedigree to prove it; he was a skilled commander. But an even larger benefit would be for Custer to think before committing to a battle; Sagittarians are not usually ones for planning things out terribly well. Mars in Capricorn in the 4th house is common for a military background, so it's not surprising that this is what Custer ended up doing. 

Alternate career--Based on my read of this chart, Custer would have made an outstanding teacher if he hadn't gone into the military. As a Sagittarius with a heavy third house, he'd have done very well teaching, especially children. I wonder how much training he did; I'll bet he was excellent at it. Younger soldiers would have done better with him than the older ones, generally.

Thanks as always for stopping in! See you next Friday for another military chart! 

Astrological Chart of Dwight Eisenhower

Let's take an astrological look at one of the most well-known military commanders of all time, Dwight Eisenhower!

NB: Big caveat here, folks. This chart has a Rodden rating of "DD", which means that two or more sources have given different birth times, and that while sincere efforts have been made, there are no conclusive results. Since a chart's accuracy is based on a very specific moment of birth, unless and until additional information is found concerning the subject's birth time, the analysis that follows is based solely on the birth time listed in this chart, 3:00am.

Heavy Air--Ike's chart has so much air in it, far overpowering any other element in the chart.  Air deals with the mental body--the collection of our thoughts and ideas and our ability to communicate are two big examples--so Ike was likely an excellent communicator. Considering the kind of commander and commander-in-chief that he was, this isn't surprising. When you're able to easily convey your message to others, and you do a good job of convincing them to follow you (there's another air trait!), you have a much better chance for success.

Grand Trines in Air--When two planets are trine, they are 120 degrees apart. This is an easy relationship between planets, which normally you'd consider a good thing, because it means that they are working well together. Problems can arise, however, because trines can foster laziness. Think of the person who is so talented at what they do that they don't ever have to practice it or work at it. There's no challenge, so it may be difficult for them to improve on what they can already do. 

In Ike's case, he has two grand trines in air. Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune all trine each other, forming a large triangle in the chart; you can see it above if you look at the 4, 8, and 12 clock points. What this means is that anything air-related would come very easy to Ike. Mercury is the planet of communication, so speaking, writing, and listening were all skills that Ike likely did very well. With Mercury in Libra, he would want to build consensus. With Jupiter in Aquarius, he'd want to expand his message by working through large groups of people; Aquarius rules things that affect a society as a whole, for example. Pluto in Gemini would allow for time and flexibility for the message to be understood. Neptune in Gemini would allow for creative visualization of the message. On the negative side, grand trine in air folks can be extremely talkative, and Ike probably wasn't in a rush to do most things.

Libra = Peace?--Libra is a sign that does well at mediating disputes and as I mentioned earlier, building consensus among people. One of the most interesting thing about Eisenhower's terms as President is that there were no new wars. He ended the Korean War, but no new ones were started. Libras are typically excellent at avoiding conflict. What can be a problem, however, is that Libra people tend to avoid conflict even when it would be the most efficient method of resolving a problem. They want everyone to get along. That's not to say that they LIKE everyone; they're human beings, and no one likes everyone else. Eisenhower certainly had his share of people he didn't like personally. But generally, he knew how to get them to do what he wanted them to do.

No Water at All--Water rules the emotional body, and there is not one single planet in a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) in this chart. This may have made it challenging for Ike to show emotion and use his intuition, so likely he wasn't used to doing either. People like Ike with heavy air in their charts work with information--intelligence--and "hunches" are not usually viewed in a positive light. I can see Ike having a conversation with one of his advisers, and the adviser says, "I just have a feeling we should..." and Ike responding with, "Get me the intel to support that opinion, and we have a place to start the discussion. But until then..."

When he had to be firm, likely he had no problem with it, and "sob stories" probably didn't move him, either. For a military commander, this is a fantastic asset, but in his personal life I'm sure there were many people who might have seen him as undemonstrative. Luckily, Libra sun and moon balance out some these effects. 

Interesting note: People who have little or no water often lack compassion and can be very cruel. One example of this is Hitler, who had almost no water in his chart at all, but Hitler had repressive Capricorn moon backing up as well. Luckily for us, we had Eisenhower instead.

Anyway, that's a quick look at Dwight Eisenhower. Tune in again next Friday for another famous military astrological chart! :)

Astrological Chart of George Patton

Let's take a look at the astrological chart of Gen. George Patton. 

Capricorn Moon--George has a Capricorn moon. I can't stress this one enough. The Moon is our emotional body, or the sum total of our emotions and how they affect us. If you're sitting there thinking, "Patton wasn't an emotional guy!" you would be right. 

Capricorn moon is the WORST--as in least desirable--moon position, opposite Cancer, which is the best. Think about emotions as a river. While Cancer moon allows for free-flow of water and fantastic sensitivity, Capricorn moon is like Hoover Dam. It allows water through, but not much, and it's selective. 

In Patton's life as a general, this was a true asset. When you have to order people to do things that might get them killed, Capricorn moon helps you from worrying too much about the possibility of people dying and do what Capricorn does best: Focus on the long-term goal. I have a Capricorn moon myself, and I have to actively try to show emotions and not repress them to keep myself balanced. So while it is the hardest moon position to deal with, it can be a rewarding challenge as well. 

You probably also noticed in his speeches that he's not trying to win prizes for pretty words or being sensitive to others. He's just laying out the goal, plain and simple. 

Scorpio sun in the 6th--Intensity is always the name of the game with Scorpio, but with its placement in the 6th house, he was ideally suited for the military, which rules service in general and the armed services in particular.

 

Flexibility--Patton's planets were by and large in mutable (changeable) signs. Scorpio evolves over time, but it's a fixed (stubborn). The fact that there was so much mutable energy in this chart gave Patton another dimension most Scorpios don't possess. Had he had more planets in fixed signs--13% in fixed signs as opposed to 50% of this planets were in mutable signs--likely he would not have been as effective a commander. His "unpredictability" comes from that ability to change tactics quickly. His Gemini rising also helped with this skill.

Mercury in Sag in the 6th--Mercury in Sagittarius is also in its detriment, but it is bolstered for military work because of its position in the 6th house (see above). Patton and Petraeus share this sign placement; sadly, with Petraeus' lack of birth time we don't know what house it is in. But with Patton, we know that Mercury is sitting in the 6th house. Likely his colleagues found him too blunt, but you always knew where you stood with him when it came to military matters, and he knew how to give orders.

The 6th house--This is the strongest house in Patton's chart. We've mentioned its connection to service and the military, but people with this placement do well at the workplace in general and anything routine or day-to-day. The 6th house, ruled by Virgo, is also about being detail-oriented. I'd guess that it took Patton a while to give up the idea of being down in the weeds on every single thing. His Gemini rising sign, which is, like Virgo, ruled by fast-moving Mercury, would only have fueled his desire to know it all. Put this together with his Scorpio sun and Capricorn moon and you get "ultimate control freak", someone who has the potential to be extremely critical. I haven't done any historical research on Patton, but as an astrologer I'd wonder about his eating and health habits. Typically, a 6th house sun can indicate a health nut, or someone very concerned about what they put into their body. Patton was very concerned about the soldiers under him, and took extra steps to make sure they were well cared for; this is another manifestation of the role of the 6th house in his chart: responsibility to others.

Moon in the 8th--This house is naturally ruled by Scorpio, Patton's sun sign. While Capricorn moon is in its detriment here, the 8th gives it depth and a lot more intensity. The Scorpio nuclear explosion of temper from Patton was likely legendary, when it happened. But I'm guessing people didn't get to experience that much; the moon in the 8th lends a secretiveness to the moon, and since the moon rules private and emotional matters and is in its detriment in Capricorn, he likely kept his emotions to himself. But this position likely also fueled his interest in occult/metaphysical things.

 

Venus in Capricorn in the 7th--Married with children is exactly how you'd expect things to go with someone with this placement. Venus has more power here than the average Venus in Capricorn because one of its signs, Libra, rules this house. Astrologers call it an "accidental dignity". It was surprising to hear that he had extramarital affiairs; the sun, moon, and Venus signs in this chart don't really support that. But astrology is only part of the picture; our upbringing, society, and our egos have a role in who we are. I suspect in this case that it was the latter driving the bus.  

Neptune in Taurus in the 12th--This is a great placement for artistic and/or musical ability. Neptune in Taurus, a sign ruled by Venus, in the very sensitive 12th house, can indicate someone who is drawn to the arts. With it in retrograde motion--moving "backward" at the time of his birth--it may not have had as much effect.

 

Mars--The planet of war is not particularly well aspected in Patton's chart. While it is trine Venus--the two have a nice, easy relationship in the same element, earth--Mars also squares (shares approximately 90 degree angles with) both Mercury, planet of logical thought and communication, and Pluto, the planet of transformation. Squares are challenges to overcome in an astrological chart, and they tend to propel us forward. In this case, talking (Mercury) vs. doing (Mars) was likely something Patton struggled with.

 

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look at Patton's chart. Tune back in every Friday as I talk about the astrological profiles of other military leaders.

Solar Chart of David Petraeus

Here's a look at the solar astrological chart of former US Army General David Petraeus.

 

Many of you may not be familiar with looking at astrological charts, so let's talk about a few things first. Gen. Petraeus' chart has a Rodden Rating of "X", which means we do not have his actual birth time. We call this a "solar chart" because we use noon as the birth time on the day of his birth. All of the relationships between the planets, the rising sign, and the houses of the chart are inaccurate without the birth time. So this will be a general planetary overview. In future charts, I'll try to pick out the ones with more accurate information. 

As a sun sign Scorpio, David would be very comfortable with secrets of all kinds. Many Scorpios are drawn to professions that involve intelligence of some kind for that reason. Every Scorpio has their own moral code, and unfortunately his decisions to have an extramarital affair made front page news. Sadly, he had the ultimate Scorpio dream job as Director of the CIA. Not trying to second guess or judge him, but COME ON, MAN. Any Scorpio on the planet--including this one--would LOVE that job. Losing it must have REALLY hurt.

Scorpio is also the sign that rules sex. What I also found interesting was that his lover was also a sun sign Scorpio. But David didn't leave his wife for this woman. He may have known that it's entirely possible he'd have run into the same problem with another person. More detail on that below.

Moon in Cancer is the moon's most comfortable position (in its dignity in the sign that it rules) and it rules our emotional selves. Underneath the hard exterior Scorpio shell was an extremely sensitive individual. I wouldn't rule out some natural psychic ability there, either. But one area that we could consider is his relationship with his mother. Many lunar Cancers have problems with mom that carry over into their adult lives. In this particular chart, the moon is conjunct Uranus; that could indicate abrupt emotional changes or shifts.

Mercury in Sagittarius means we're dealing with a straight shooter. One area he likely has to watch for is being too blunt, but likely he also has a great sense of humor. Venus in Sagittarius, however, can be a problem romantically; Sag's attitude is "don't fence me in", and it can give the tendency to become restless in love. I also wouldn't be surprised if David enjoyed being away from home almost as much as he liked being at home, and not just for extracurricular activities.

Mars in Capricorn is great for slow, steady career growth. Mars is also the lust planet, so it's quite likely that his affair started slowly and very gradually.

Unfortunately, without a birth time there's not a lot else to say on this one. But I hope you will tune in again soon when I do another astrological chart. 

Happy Birthday, US Army and Contest!

Happy Birthday, U.S. Army!

On June 14, the US Army celebrated its 236^th birthday. To honor all of those who serve, I’m giving some highlights from the Army’s astrological chart. I’m also giving away a full astrological workup as a prize! Read this over for the details.

For those of you new to astrology, what I’m doing is taking the Army’s creation date, place and time of June 14, 1775, in Philadelphia, PA, and casting an astrological chart for it. In other words, I’m looking at astrologically what was going on at that moment to get insight into the Army. You can do this for any event, but usually it is done for a person’s birth—a natal chart—to get insights into personality and other facets of a person’s life.

Here’s a quick look at the planetary setup at that moment. Since we don’t have an exact time, I chose noon. A summary of the chart is below. 

Planet	Sign	Element	House
Sun	Gemini	Air	9th
Moon	Capricorn	Earth	4th
Mercury	Cancer	Water	10th
Venus	Leo	Fire	11th
Mars	Virgo	Earth	12th
Jupiter	Gemini	Air	9th
Saturn	Libra	Air	1st
Uranus	Gemini	Air	9th
Neptune	Virgo	Earth	12th
Pluto	Capricorn	Earth	4th
Rising Sign	Virgo	Earth	1st
Signature	Virgo	Earth	N/A

So what can this tell us? Well, here are a few clues.

With so many planets in mutable (changeable) signs—Gemini and Virgo in this case—the Army’s flexibility is highlighted here. That’s great when things change on the fly, and the Army can take on many different missions well.  On the flip side, it’s not great over the long-term, since the potential is that the Army 1) could sent in too many directions at once (how many wars are we involved in right now, folks?) and 2) could become a “jack of all trades, master of none”. Lots of direction changes are possible with such an organization, and if a leader wants the Army to go in one direction, it can do that easily, but the changes are usually not long lasting. 

The elements of the signs where the planets fall also have an impact on the overall chart. Earth and Air signs rule this chart almost completely, which makes sense. The Army focuses on doing a job that is done on the ground, and that’s Earth, which also rules the physical body. The Air part deals with the objective way the job is done, and that you can see from military language, designed to communicate quickly and objectively. With the other two elements so weak, it can indicate a lack of drive and self-confidence (Fire), and a distinct lack of emotion (Water).

The great majority of planets in this chart are in Gemini and Virgo, both signs that are ruled by the planet Mercury. Let’s start with Gemini, a sign that rules communication and short-term trips. It’s interesting that the Army has the tanks, since Gemini rules the 3^rd house, which rules all transportation matters. And communicating with the various Army elements is likely one of the most important parts of what the Army has to do well.

Virgo, the Rising Sign (the “glasses” through which the Army sees life) and the chart signature (overall flavor of the chart) make total sense: Virgo rules order as well as the 6^th house, the house of SERVICE and RESPONSIBILITY.

The Moon rules our emotions, and our emotional security. For the Army, she is sitting in Capricorn, which is the worst possible place for it (opposite of the sign the Moon rules, which is Cancer), astrologically speaking.  This Moon placement is difficult—I have it in my personal chart, so I live it every day—because it can make you unemotional and seemingly unfeeling. It’s the ultimate “SUCK IT UP” Moon placement; emotions are de-emphasized, stifled, and not expressed. One danger for this placement is the lack of mercy that can come with it as well.

With that said, it’s great for ambition and getting ahead, devoted to DUTY above all things, and will succeed eventually because of its long-term view.  For mission completion without letting emotions get in the way, Capricorn Moon is your best friend.

As you can imagine, Capricorn Moon can be an unfeeling SOB. But add to it the fact that it is the 4^th house, ruled by Cancer (again, its opposite sign), and that’s even worse. Cancer and the 4^th house rule the family unit and home sweet home, and considering some of the burdens that are placed on our soldiers and others who serve in the Army, this makes way too much sense. So many people deployed over and over again, away from home and family.  You couldn’t ask for a more unfavorable Moon placement, but again, it does have its advantages in combat.

Mars is the planet of war and conflict, and in this case it’s very appropriately in Virgo. So that means discriminating, carefully thought-out and well-planned conflicts; in other words, being very careful to destroy your enemy and not everyone who happens to be around. And since Virgo rules the armed forces, once again we’re right on track. Virgo is also an Earth sign, which is where the Army does its job.

Anyway, that’s a quick overview of the astrology chart of the US Army. I’m just scratching the surface; a full chart is normally more than 20 pages and goes into detail into the entire chart, not just the planets and what signs they are in but how they interact and what that could mean for you. If you’re interested in having your own chart done, send me an email at hierophant@cox.net and we’ll chat. All you need is your date, place, and time of birth (as close as you can).

To enter the contest for a free birth chart and complete workup, you need to do two things:

1)   Follow my blog; and

2)   Post a comment here about your experience with astrology. If you only know your Sun sign, that’s just fine too!

Once I get 100 followers I’ll do a drawing and pick a winner. Thanks so much for stopping by!