I won’t explain the above photo other than to say that the man is the well-known baseball player, long retired, Rod Carew. Among the many youthful fans he encountered, signing autographs and taking the time to speak to and encourage, was a youngster named Konrad Reuland. That was 27 years ago. Carew doesn’t remember Konrad from that date, of course.
Carew probably is not aware that he had a t/Moon-to-n/Sun Return in the 9th house on Sept. 14th, 2015. That chart is shown below.
The 9th and 10th house area of this chart is very crowded so the reader will need to be careful in examining planet positions and aspects. Of note is t/Uranus at the IC opposed t/Mercury at the MC. Nervous system, excitement, stress, sudden news are the words that come to mind. Square this opposition pattern is (in the 1st house) t/Pluto-t/Part of Fortune which opposes n/Mars in the 7th. More stress and challenge to the physical body.
We might choose to play astrological hopscotch and look at the natal Ascendant and natal MC. We would note the n/Asc. at 17 Scorpio square the n/Moon-n/Pluto and the t/Venus. The n/MC conjoins the t/Mars. Oh my, a lot of the planets are all intertwined into some complex and stressful patterns. Enough said. We begin to get the picture for this, then, 70 year old man. Let us look at his Advanced chart for Sept. 20, 2015.
The MC has advanced to 22 Libra, the Asc. to 3 Capricorn. t/Uranus remains near the IC angle and still widely opposes t/Mercury. n/Mars squares this opposition pattern and opposes t/Pluto. All of these planets remain in play from the Return chart. The t/Sun has now conjoined n/PoF — and opposes t/PoF! I’ve always said that the PoF represents chance and change when it is contacted — BUT, when both the natal and transiting PoF’s are mutually contacted, then, that is chaos!
On this day, while golfing, Rod Carew had a hear attack.
We will now move ahead in time to the another date when he, unknown to him, had another t/Moon-to-n/Sun Return in the 9th house — just as he had three months earlier. That chart is shown below.
This Dec. 5th, 2015 t/Moon-to-n/Sun in the 9th is so similar to the September Return chart. The IC angle is empty but t/Pluto is on the Asc. and opposes n/Mars-Desc., while squaring t/Mars at 13 Libra in the 9th. Carew was having problems with his heart and was awaiting a transplant. None had become available during the past several weeks and his condition was becoming very unstable. If an astrologer had been counseling him, I’m not sure how that t/Pluto-Asc. would have been described to Carew; was ‘transformation’ or was ‘death’ the appropriate consideration. What about the presence of both natal and transiting Mars? That is one of the problems with working with a symbolic language, symbols have multiple meanings. Which to choose? t/Sun was coming up on an opposition to n/Uranus — good or bad?
On Dec. 16th, 2015 the problem was resolved. A heart from a much younger man, one who was an athlete and who was very strong and healthy, had been found and was a match to Carew’s needs. The chart below is for that date and operation.
What a change in several days time, astrologically. The chart angles had mostly cleared, leaving t/Venus-n/Asc. at the MC. Carew was experiencing a new outlook on life (n/Asc. at MC) that gave him peace, harmony and balance. t/Sun-squared-t/Jupiter; a beneficial lift to one’s life and outlook. That t/PoF was now opposing n/Neptune-n/Mercury-n/Jupiter-n/Sun-n/Chiron. We still have t/Mars-square-t/Pluto and opposing t/Uranus-square-n/Mars — a grand cross of bad guys. Yet, great news prevailed. A lesson for us astrologers. Those planets and patterns were not angular! That is why they didn’t prevail. What was angular was Venus-n/Asc. at the MC.
We can never lose sight of the fact that what ever is in the Return chart will often change as the cycle and the chart-angles advance — and that it is the angles that call the shots.
The photo at the top of this page is of Konrad Reuland’s mother listening to her son’s heart beating strongly in the chest of Rod Carew. Carew had been her son’s sports hero when he was very young. They had briefly met once. Now, they had met again in a very significant way. The two families have become very close, and Rod Carew can look forward to many more years of playing golf.
This is a very unusual story, both from the human side and from the astrological side. It was my pleasure to share this story with you. And, it is a good lesson to learn; to concentrate on the angles and not the terrible patterns elsewhere in the chart. As that hypothetical astrologer mentioned earlier, I would have advised Rod that the day of the Return chart was indeed dangerous and to avoid stress and just try to get through the day until a better day came along. What else could one say? As the astrologer, I would have looked ahead and saw the angles clearing and the better angular conditions approaching — indicating improvement is some way.
Dave
The Ninth House 3 