ASTROLOGY: America's Prophet of Astrology Incredible as it may seem, astrology was persecuted earlier this century in the Western World. England's Alan Leo had to pay œ30 in fines and court costs in 1917 (ca. $1,500 today). But an American contemporary fared much better. It all started in 1899, when with Saturn and Uranus transiting her M.C., Jersey City born and Boston resident Evangeline Adams decided it was a good time to move to New York City. She read the chart of the owner of the hotel she planned to stay in on March 16 and predicted imminent disaster. On St. Patrick's Day Warren Leonardi's Windsor Hotel burned to the ground. He admitted she had predicted it; the press headlined it; Ms. Adams was on her way to fame. That was too much for the skeptics, and she was summoned to court on basis of an old state law equating astrologers with those "who pretend to tell fortunes."2 She refused to have the case thrown out of court. Judge Freschi gave her the data for a chart to interpret; she accurately read the personality of his honor's son, and the judge cheerfully admitted that "the defendant raises astrology to the dignity of an exact science."3 Astrology now became legal in New York, then the nation's "trend setter." The defendant rejoiced: "I have Mars conjunct my natal Sun in the 12th house. I will always triumph over my enemies."4 She now began to make a host of famous friends. Her Carnegie Hall studio in the heart of the city was visited by English royalty and the likes of Enrico Caruso, Mary Pickford and J. P. Morgan. In 1930 she started a thrice weekly radio program; mail poured in at the rate of 4,000 pieces a day. She surprised her public by turning down a travel tour for the fall of '32. Did she really know that she would then depart this plane? Her chart contains two patterns, indicator of an advanced ego, as also the fact that two of her New Age planets are angular.5 It is a Seesaw, two groups of planets separated by sextiles. She could view things from all sides. This is underscored by this also being a Full Moon map, bringing added awareness. All the more since the two lights are drawn even closer together by belonging to a ring (mutual reception of more than two planets) with Uranus, "patron planet" of the celestial science. Straddling the Ascendant is a cluster of seven planets compressed within 94 degrees. This is the natus of a talented person uniquely drawn to the public. The Sun may be in the "weak" 12th house, but one way or another it is connected with all the other planets.6 This is also a bucket Ä one planet at least a sextile from all others. It is Saturn, on the 9th cusp of the higher mind, dominating the entire chart, also co-ruler of the Sun sign and in a critical degree.7 Ms. Adams was a highly disciplined lady. We must never lose sight of the fact that one's capacity for discipline reflects one's progress on the Path.8 Students of astrology must be truly disciplined, from within, for there is no control over them from without. Anciently, they were "regulated"; Daniel was a "master of. . . astrologers."9 But today, the astrological community prefers to regulate itself, but as newsman Paul Harvey repeatedly reminds his listeners regarding mundane matters: self- government without self-discipline won't work. There are diverse kinds of discipline. Our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount spoke of a discipline consisting of activity whose "rewards were wholly in secret. He spoke of prayer and giving,10 but the principle also applies to those who would use the wisdom of the stars to serve mankind. To do the utmost good, astrologers must continue to labor at perfecting their skill even if inclined to think they could "get by" with less, that "nobody" would know the difference. Not on earth, perhaps. But rivalling Saturn's strength in her chart is Neptune Ä ruler, final dispositor, in a critical degree, cardinal sign and angular house. It is also lord of the most occupied sign, Pisces, with three planets and the Ascendant, and natural ruler of the most heavily tenanted house, the 12th. Its sign is also that of the sign signature, indicating compassion, sympathy, and understanding. It is noteworthy that at her funeral the preacher did not dwell on her skill or fame; he "commented on Miss Adams' 'love and understanding' of her fellow man."11 Dale Carnegie, in his classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People," claimed that sympathy and understanding is "what everybody wants."12 Of course it is no substitute for skill in reading the stars, but a necessary adjunct. The identical facts can be presented as encouragement or the very opposite. An author once admitted he felt better after a certain publisher rejected his manuscript with profuse apology than after another accepted the same grudgingly! Ms. Adams not only knew the planets and their screeds, she also understood people and their needs. In comparing her chart with that of her country we find that the two closest planetary links are her Neptune and Jupiter in Neptune's sign to the U.S. Sun; too, her Part of Fortune is in the same sign and degree as the U.S. Neptune. Her sympathy as well as skill made her what she was. p 1. America's "Dean of astrologers" called her a "prophet" because "astrology to her was not so much a profession as a cause." The Guide to Horoscope Interpretation, Marc Edmund Jones, p. 84. 2. My World of Astrology, Sydney Omarr, p. 73. 3. Sydney Omarr, op. cit., p. 75. 4. Astrology, Louis MacNeice, p. 196. 5. Astrology: A Cosmic Science, Isabel M. Hickey, p. 130. 6.In midpoint configuration with Mercury and Jupiter; nonagen (40 degrees) to Venus; conjunct Mars; in ring formation with Moon and Uranus; sextile Neptune; disposited by Saturn; square Pluto. 7. Saturn's closest aspect is a challenging square to Mercury, which is widely conjunct Jupiter of expansion and growth, both in the sign of intuition, in the house of ferreting out secrets. Truly she was queen of her art. 8. The Astrology of Human Relationships, Sakoian and Asher, p. 40. 9. Daniel 5:11. 10 Matthew 6:l-6. 11. Louis MacNeice, op. cit., p. 198. 12. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, pp. 189-195, paperback edition.