Don't Believe The Hype: Reconsiderations Of Barack Obama's New Birthtime Part

[Guest guest]

Don't Believe The Hype: Reconsiderations Of Barack Obama's " New "

Birthtime Part One - Horary Analysis

 

6:48 PM 05/19/2008 Mon

 

With the 2008 United Astrology Congress, which was held in Denver CO

this year, about to go down in the history books, perhaps now is the

time to (re)consider this year's Main Event of sorts - the revealing

of a " new " birthtime for Democratic Presidential candidate, Illinois

Senator Barack Obama. According to noted Vedic astrologer Joni Patry

of Dallas TX, Obama's point of entry into this world occured at

7.11PM local time at Honolulu HI. For Western astrologers, this

clocktime yields an Asc of 14 Aqr 21.

 

Although I did not attend the proceedings, I am told that this event

was attended with much fanfare and pomp; the local and national news

covered the event; and it appears that Ms. Patry is getting quite a

bit of press mileage out of it all. But there's just one small

problem with all of this:

 

The time she reported, is not so.

 

How can I be so sure, you may ask? Of course, if you're as intense an

astrology enthusiast as myself, you already know that Ms.

Patry's " reveal " sounds quite dubious - she gets wind of the

birthtime from a client who got it from a " campaign manager " in the

Obama campaign, by way of a " closed-access government website " -

meaning, that no one can actually get a hardcopy of the birth record

that actually has the birthtime on it.

 

It reminds me of the " telephone " game we used to play as kids.

 

According to reporter and astrologer in his own right Eric Francis,

who was in attendance at the time of the announcement, the matter is

being investigated by Astrodatabank, with Patry assisting. As it now

stands, the birthtime is being given a " DD " rating per the late great

Lois Rodden's grading system for astrological birthdata. " DD " is

considered highly suspect, and until or unless someone can come

forward with the goods, rightly so.

 

But this alone only says that the data is a bit shaky; it does not

necessarily mean that it is false.

 

Or does it?

 

That's where astrology comes in.

 

Being the good man that he is, Francis punches up a chart for the

exact moment that Patry gives out the " new " birthtime, Fri May 16

2008 at 9.39PM MDT Denver CO. The resulting Asc, using Placidus

houses, is 15 Sag 56, and while Francis does give a bit of an

analysis of this chart, and opens the door as to whether the time

given by Patry is indeed correct, he holds off from giving a

definitive judgment, saying that he wants to defer to British Horary

Master Geoffrey Cornelious. I can't blame him; Cornelious is the man.

 

But when one has been doing Horary as long as I have, all that is

needed is a trusty copy of Christian Astrology - William Lilly's

magnum opus - by one's side. The answers lay therein.

 

On page 70, Lilly gives clear instructions as to whether a report or

rumor be true. Here's what he said, regarding a report he got that

the town of Cambridge was taken by the King's army:

 

" A Report that Cambridge was Taken by the King's Forces; if true? "

 

Question background: " In the yeer 1643, His Majesties Army being then

Rampant, severall Reports were given out, that his Majesty had taken

Cambridge, & c. a wel-affected person enquires of me, if the newes

were true or false? Whereupon I erected the Figure ensuing, and gave

Judgment: All that we heard was untruth, and that the Towne neither

was, or should be taken by Him or his Forces. "

 

Horary chart data: April 21, 1643 GC, 4:29 pm GMT, London (00w10,

51n30) Placidus 4 Lib 47

 

Lilly gives his analysis:

 

" First, I considered that the Angles were all moveable, and that Mars

did vitiate the cusp of the 10th, and Saturn the cusp of the 7th, one

argument the Report was false.

 

Secondly, I found the Moon cadent, and in Gemini, a Signe wherein she

nothing delights; a second strong evidence of a false rumor.

 

Thirdly, I found North Node on the cusp of the Ascendant, a Signe of

good to the Parliment, for the 1st house signified that honorable

Society: I found Venus Lady of the Ascendant, and our Significatrix,

in her Exaltation; but Mars, Lord of our Enemies Ascendant, viz. the

7th, entering his Fall, viz. Cancer, and afflicted by Square of

Saturn; I saw the Moon seperating from Jupiter, placed in the 7th and

transferring his light and virtue to Venus, which gave me reason to

expect, that there would come good to us or our side from this report

or Rumour, and no benefit to our Enemies: I saw Mars and Saturn in a

Square, which assured me our Enemies were so full of division and

treason, and thwarting one anothers Designes, that no good should

come unto them upon this Report; and so in short, I judged Cambridge

was not taken, and what we heard of its taking were lyes. "

 

If one casts the chart in question they can clearly see that the 7th

house, representing the army, is in bad shape, as its ruler, Mars, is

fallen in Cancer. The King himself, is represented by the 10th house,

ruled by the Moon, Cadent by house and peregrine by Sign. Finally, we

can see that another fallen planet, Saturn, is moving toward the 7th

cusp. All of these factors do not look good for the rumor to be true,

and in fact may be indicative of a lie. At the very least, false.

 

Hence Lilly gives the astrologer some very strong points and tips as

to ascertain whether a rumor or report be true or false. In this

case, whether the rumor/report that Barack Obama was indeed born at

7.11PM, is true, or not.

 

So, let's now consider the moment Ms. Patry annouced her " new "

birthtime for Sen. Obama:

 

Again, as Francis notes, Sagittarius rises, making Jupiter its ruler.

The Asc in Horary always represents the " Querent " , the one who is

asking the question. Since there was no such question in this case,

we can take the Asc to represent Patry herself, which seems to fit,

given that she has a very " firery " look about her. Jupiter is fallen

in Capricorn, and Rx to boot, something that does not bode well for

her information being accurate, as she is the source, being the one

who is announcing to the world what time Obama was supposedly born.

To make matters worse, Pluto, a malefic planet, rises at the Aries

Point in Capricorn (opining on matters relating to Politics before

the Public) and is also Rx. In a Horary, such a thing to see is not a

good augury for a favorable outcome.

 

Next, the Moon in this chart is at 24 degrees Libra - right in the

path of the Via Combustia, held by many to be among the Strictures

Before Judgement of a Horary Figure. Moreover, the Moon is Void of

Course, having trined Neptune as its last aspect. As Francis rightly

points out, Neptune itself is within " striking distance " of the 3rd

house cusp itself, and in any event rules the intercepted Sign Pisces

in the 3rd. Moon does indeed rule the 8th house of secrets. A VOC

Moon is another of the Strictures, and almost always is a signal that

what is demanded of the querent will not come to pass - in this case,

that Patry's announcement that Obama was born at 7.11PM, is in

someway false.

 

But wait, there's more!

 

On Mon May 5 2008, at 10.49AM MDT, Moses Siregar III, a prominent

astrologer in his own right, announces on the Horscopic Astrology

forum, a discussion group on MySpace that boasts upwards of 6,000

members, that he has Obama's birthtime but cannot reveal just what it

is yet; it will be revealed soon. Casting a chart for this data, as I

did when I first got word of the matter, we again find some

interesting things:

 

1. The Moon, ruler of the Asc, is exalted in Taurus and placed in the

11th house of forums and groups; this shows how important Moses is to

the astrology community, that he is a part of its " establishment " .

This feature alone, suggests that the chart is indeed radical and fit

to be judged. It is also interesting that the Moon moves to sextile

Uranus, ruler of the 8th house of secrets, holding Neptune there as

well.

 

2. That 18 Can 30 rises, holding a deeply fallen Mars in the Asc.

This represents the impulsive nature of Moses on that day, running

forward with the news of this false report. As Moses is now

the " source " we can clearly see that the information he brings cannot

be relied upon.

 

3. Please note that Jupiter is again fallen in Capricorn and in the

7th house - Obama. This is the first sign that the birthtime Moses

has is not accurate. Also, please note that Jupiter is in a Mutual

Reception with Saturn, which is in Virgo - the Sign of Jupiter's

detriment - and yet another signal that the birthtime Moses has on

Obama is suspect.

 

In other words, both the Patry Announcement chart and this one above,

both have some strong things in common: both have the Moon heavily

involved, per Lilly's rule; both have fallen planets associated with

their Ascendants at the time of their respective announcements,

suggesting that they got the wrong information. In that we now have

two such " announcement " charts, one made as a kind a " sneak preview " ,

we can be fairly certain that the data that is now the rage

throughout the astrology community, cannot be relied upon as accurate

in any way.

 

But there's one final loose end...what about Mercury in the Patry

chart?

 

Indeed, Francis refers to this winged planet as " the trickster " , and

that " he's looking right back at us " . I take that to mean, as the

great George Orwell so elegantly put, that to recognize the truth

that is front of one's nose, requires a constant struggle. Mercury is

very much dignified on that night Patry made her earthshaking

announcement. Mercury, in its own Sign of Gemini, in the house that

represents the great man himself, Barack Obama, has to point to only

one conclusion -

 

That he may very well have the Sign of the Twins rising in his chart.

And that will be the subject of Part Two of this essay.

 

I would just like to close out by saying that I for one am quite a

bit disturbed, annoyed and disappointed by the actions of both my

colleague Moses Siregar, and Ms. Patry, whom I have never met but

have heard a great deal about. Both of these people have been around

astrology around long enough to know better - they both should have

done a much better job of vetting astrological birthdata, especially

when its as important as who the next Leader of the Free World is

likely to be. We astrologers work so hard - Lois Rodden in particular

has worked so hard - to bring exacting standards of competence and

precision to our Art. And for it to be put aside in the name

of " scoops " is to my mind, the chief reason why astrology has not yet

been taken seriously by the public at large. I find then, quite a bit

of irony that all this would go down as the world's largest gathering

of astrologers takes place; a bit of information that is procured

secondhand and that cannot be verified in any way at all for a public

figure.

 

Lilly has got to be rolling over in his grave.

 

Coming up: If the Planets don't fit, you must acquit!

 

Salaam

Mu