29 Degrees

In my first book, Signs and Parts in Plain English by Press & Ima Roberts and myself, there is a good discussion of Sun-signs on the cusp.  Following that discussion, it is also worthwhile to study other placements at the cusp between two signs.  In researching charts of family members for astrological purposes, I was inspired to pursue some ideas in more depth.

Construct, if you will, the chart of “Baby Hazel” for November 26, 1930 at 6:15 p.m. PST in Medford, Oregon.  Her ascendant was 29:28 Gemini.

Baby Hazel starved to death after living just a few days.  She was able to nurse, but spit the milk up.  An autopsy revealed that she was born with an imperforate esophagus.  In 1930, the technology that could have saved this child simply did not exist.  With modern advances in microsurgery, nowadays children born with this condition are saved routinely.  Since I believe in astrology, it seemed to me that her condition could have been deduced astrologically.

According to Rex Bills’ The Rulership Book, the esophagus is ruled by Cancer and the Moon.  The stomach shares these rulerships, but the throat is assigned to Taurus.  Since the purpose of the esophagus is to convey chewed food from the throat to the stomach, I was prompted to ponder if the esophagus might actually carry a Geminian influence as Gemini is the sign between Taurus and Cancer.  Looking at Baby Hazel’s horoscope in particular, 29 Gemini would seem to symbolize the dark side of Cancer, not unlike the contrast between the 12^th house and the ascendant.

Another case of a 29 degree ascendant is equally illustrative.  “Tad” was the son of a private client.  Tad’s ascendant was 29:01 Taurus, which would suggest the dark side of Gemini.  To exacerbate matters, Tad had Neptune in close opposition to the ascendant.  These factors spelled out that Tad should have been discouraged from operating a motor vehicle.  In early 1996, Tad, while driving with just a learner’s permit, collided with a tree, thereby killing himself and one of his passengers.

The implication here is clear.  When a planet is in the last degree of a given sign, it takes on the negative, challenging attributes of the next sign.