Our mystery native is very well known in the US. There are streets named after him in Brooklyn, NY, where he made his reputation first as an athlete. An entranceway will be named after him when the new stadium is built for baseball?s New York Mets club. But athletic prowess is not what he is remembered for primarily, despite his having all around athletic ability, baseball, basketball, and tennis are a few of the sports at which he excelled. Mostly he is remembered because he broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947. This is the chart of Jackie Robinson, the hard charging (choleric) second baseman (mostly, he played first, third and the outfield on occasion) for the Brooklyn Dodgers who endured insults, and personal attacks from fans and players, simply because of his race.

Robinson was choleric, a hothead for sure, and he was not short on guts. Branch Rickey, the Dodgers General Manager knew he was breaking new and historic ground and had to choose one man for the effort, and that choice had to be made based on both baseball talent and character. Robinson was 27 when he was brought up to the Dodgers, relatively late for a baseball player or any professional athlete (remarkabl close to his Saturn return). Rickey chose Robinson over future teammate Roy Campanella, a more docile man by temperament (but Campy could really hit), Robinson, however was forced to swallow insults to avoid fighting and being thrown out of the game. He would not allow himself to be degraded however, and the threat of his willingness to fight back was needed. Still Campy was a much, much bigger man than Robinson, and probably would been easily voted least like to be insulted. Ricky made his choice, and the choice was Robinson.

Robinson was outspoken, and had been all his life. The other word usually associated with him was applied to his playing style: ?electrifying.? He still may hold the record for most steals of home in a career. For those who don?t know it is probably the second rarest play in the game (the unassisted triple play being the first), and it rarely succeeds.

He retired from baseball after the 1956 season at the age of 37 and was subsequently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a successful businessman and outspoken on the subject of civil rights when that movement was beginning to take hold, but he was something of an outsider in that movement. His politics were interesting in that he worked for NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Republican, endorsed John F. Kennedy, Democrat, but after meeting Richard Nixon, switched allegiance, and in 1968 endorsed Hubert Humphrey when he ran against Nixon. . Temperamentally he was unsuited for Martin Luther King?s non-violent approach, but he was called an ?uncle Tom? by black militants who saw him as too docile because he said he?d never support the enemies of his country.

His health began to fail in the late 1960s. He suffered from diabetes, which resulted in near blindness. In June of 1971 his son, Jackie Jr, after apparently overcoming a drug addiction problem and having just completed his enlistment in the US Army, was killed in a car accident. Emotionally his father never got over it. On Oct 24, 1972, emergency medical workers were called to his home. He had collapsed and was unconscious. They could not revive him. It?s been said that he died of a heart attack and there were other complications due to diabetes. He was 53.

Although I?ve never seen it elsewhere, Noel Tyl uses this chart in his astrology course and claims there were whispers that Robinson committed suicide due to the combination of his failing health and the loss of his son. None of the biographical material I consulted mentions this rumor.

There is one thing that Noel Tyl and John Frawley have in common: both teach that if something jumps out at you in the chart, it does so for a reason, and that reason is important. Saturn in this chart is impossible to miss. I imagine a choleric temperament choked by Saturn on the ASC and the fixed signs on the angles shows an internal seething that is held in check. Since Saturn is retrograde and in detriment, holding it in check is detrimental to the native, and the early death is therefore, not unexpected.

Robinson?s father abandoned the family when Jackie was a baby. Notice Saturn squares the MC ? IC axis with only a 7 minute orb. Furthermore there are a slew of primary directions that took place in 1920, the year his father left and his mother took the family to California to avoid the Spanish flu epidemic that was killing Americans in huge numbers that year. The lack of a father may well have been a constant source of anger for the youngster that carried on into adulthood.

We can, of course discuss anything at all about his remarkable life, but for the moment I?d like to switch gears and go to the end of his life and focus on the solar returns of 1971, the year his son died, and 1972, the year he passed away. I?ve been working with Morin?s method and that requires the solar return be cast for the location at the time of the return. Unfortunately I don?t know where Robinson was on Jan 31, 1971 or 72. An educated guess, since he was nearly blind and sick from diabetes, is that he was in the same place he would eventually die, at his home in Stamford, Connecticut.

Finding the death of the son in the natal chart isn?t all that clear. Jupiter rules the 5th cusp and Mercury occupies the 5th house, if we ignore the five-degree rule. Since so Much of Capricorn is in the 5th we would grant co rulership to Saturn. Jupiter is in the sign of his exaltation, Cancer, but Jupiter is retrograde. Pluto fans can?t help but notice their favorite dark destroyer conjunct natal Jupiter. The Moon disposits Jupiter from the 6th house of accidents and is combust. Jupiter also is in trine to Mars in Pisces and receives Mars into his domicile. The contra-antiscion of Mars is 26 Aries 25. Keep this in mind. From the above I think we can see danger to the son, but it is difficult to say with certainty that the son will predecease the father.

The solar return for 1971 takes place on Jan. 31 at 10:15:51 am EST (+ 5 hrs) in Stamford, CT, 41 N 3? 12? 73 / W 32? 21? 26 Aries 37 rises, the contra-antiscion of natal Mars. Jupiter has moved from the natal 11th to the SR 8th. A primary direction of Saturn to Jupiter takes place this year. As well. The natal Moon dispositor of Jupiter has moved to the SR 12th or the 8th of the 5th. Mars disposits the Moon from the SR 8th. And is conjunct natal Mercury by antiscion, which is in the natal 5th. The south node in the SR, where the native gets hurt, is in the 5th house. And Neptune fans will swoon when they notice the SR 5th cusp is in partile conjunction to natal Neptune.

The 1972 SR set for the same location as 1971, took place on Jan 31 at 4:09:02 PM. We all die, so we don?t have to look too hard for it in the birth chart. I didn?t notice anything that would indicate violent death in the nativity, however. Leo rises in the SR, the same sign as his nativity, so a significant year is promised. Jupiter rules the natal 8th house and in the SR is in partile trine to the natal ASC. As John Frawley used to tell us, ?A trine can kill you.? Saturn, so prominent in the nativity, rules the SR 8th house and squares the natal ASC. Saturn is also conjunct the natal ASC by antiscion indicating something secret about the death. The malefic south node is in the ASC. And the Moon, so important in a solar return is in partile conjunction to the natal ASC and square SR Saturn. The Moon is not only conjunct Regulus but is a little more than a degree from Alphard. Robson tells us:

?? danger of death by asphyxiation. If afflicted by Mars or Saturn, death by drowning or poison especially if Mars be angular. If a malefic is in conjunction with Algol, death by water or poison.?

Mars trines the Moon, but this may not qualify as an affliction, but Saturn squares the Moon and is fairly close to Algol. Clearly this chart was not promising for the ailing man.

But his life was important, not just to his friends and family, but to millions more not to mention the black baseball players that came after him. It?s been said that the 4th house of endings can tell us how we?ll be remembered after we?re gone. In the 1972 Solar return, Mars, Lord of the natal 4th is in his domicile, Aries, the exaltation of Robinson?s ASC ruler. It is posited in the 10th house of honors moved there from his position in the natal 7th house of others. It is the most elevated planet in the chart and it is fitting.

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks again for the time, effort and experience you put in your mystery charts, and the great moderation.
I never heard of the native, Jackie Robinson, before. But this chart started ?speaking? to me from the first moment, unlike Mystery Chart #6, Diane Downs.
I am aware that Astrology is not an exact science, but it still puzzles me why you sometimes find the red thread and sometimes not. In hindsight, many things become clear to me like the cold heart and the imprisonment of Diane Downs, but I still can not see the murderer with certainty. I was impressed with Steven?s findings.
Since I cannot activate my intuition on request, I try to and fine-tune my approach to a chart and check the methods I use. These mystery charts are a great opportunity to do this.

How do other Forum Members see it?

Ren?

Maybe his health would have benefited from being a fireman controlling other fires rather than his own?

I wasn?t at all inclined toward his being an athlete. I don?t know why after all my attention to Mars trine Jupiter. Mars/Jupiter aspects are known for affecting vigor and muscular action. Here is Rob Hand discussing transiting Mars trine Jupiter in Planets in Transit. We can apply it to the lifetime of a top athlete.

This is one of the best transits for almost any kind of activity, for your energies are high, you feel good, and you believe that you can do twice as much work as usual, which you probably can. Your muscles have unusually good tone and vigor, so this transit is extremely favorable for any physical activity, especially athletics.

In considering the Mars-Jupiter trine I half-heartedly tried to bring in the 5th house because of Jupiter?s rulership there and in consideration of Morin?s opposite house effect, but I dropped the thought. The 5th signifies places where sporting events take place, so Jupiter does get his playing field.

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Concerning the 1971 solar return chart and his son?s death:

Use the solar return chart as the base and place the natal points in it.

1. The SR chart has Saturn in the powerful and important 1st house and square the SR Sun ? the star of the show in a solar return cart. Saturn is important this year.

2. The Sun rules the 5th house (children) in the return chart. Children will somehow be important during the year. Possibly the South node in the 5th factors in?

3. The natal Saturn-Ascendant conjunction is in the SR 5th. The house placement of the natal Ascendant in the SR chart highlights that return house for the year. Children again.

4. Jupiter as ruler of the SR 12th (death of children) is in the SR 3rd (transportation). Primary directed Saturn is applying conjunct natal Jupiter in the return 3rd. Keep in mind that Saturn is highlighted for the year by its 1st house placement in the return chart and square SR Sun.

I?m not so sure about this next one, but I?ll include it anyway.

5. The natal Venus-Uranus conjunction is given strength & prominence in the natal chart due to its opposition to the Saturn-ASC conjunction. Venus is the dispositor of the SR Saturn and is the almuten of the SR 12t (death of children). I?m using Dorothean triplicities and Egyptian terms. Using Ptolemy (Chaldean) terms, Jupiter and Venus are tied for almuten. SR Venus is square SR Pluto.

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What about harm to children in the natal chart?
In the natal cart children are signified by Jupiter as lord and almuten of the 5th. Retrograde Jupiter is applying conjunct Pluto. Their dispositor, the Moon, is peregrine and very combust in the cadent 6th. And then there?s the opposition to Neptune. As Tom pointed out, Neptune is right on the 5th house cusp of the solar return chart. Is it a stretch to use the fact that the natal ASC?DESC axis is the 3rd-9th axis for the children? That puts the Venus-Uranus conjunction on their 3rd house cusp, opposed Saturn on the 9th . Transportation dangers.

So, giving the children an ASC of 28 Sagittarius, that puts the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in the angular 7th, a house that does traditionally have meanings of death. Maybe more importantly, it puts the Sun-Moon conjunction in the 2nd , with the Moon ruling the 8th. But with the cusp late in the last degree of Cancer and the rounded-off birth time, the Sun could possibly be ruler. Either way, with Sun and Moon in the 2nd we have Morin?s opposite houses again and are led back to the 8th.



Enough already! It?s all starting to spin. At this point I?m going to post this in faith that I haven?t got things all turned around.

Thanks Tom, this chart was again a very good learning experience. If the sixth house ruler Saturn is on the Ascendant received by the Ascendant ruler, it means that the body welcomes the illness. And the Moon translating light from the Sun (body, vitality) to Saturn (illness). Not a good thing! It seems so clear now...

But I'm wondering the role of Venus, the MC and the 10th house ruler, right on the Descendant. Apparently the Descendant means "enemy" here

The SR chart has Saturn in the powerful and important 1st house and square the SR Sun ? the star of the show in a solar return cart. Saturn is important this year.

I've been working, as time permits, with Morin's volume 23 of Astrologia Gallica, and he stresses the importance of a planet returning to its position in a house regadless of sign differences. I don't know that he would have been as excited about Saturn in the first in the 1971 chart since Saturn is not in the same sign as the ASC, but he may have.

Saturn is important this year for a variety of reasons including his square to the SR Sun, which is, of course the natal Sun. There will be a Saturn square to his natal position this year (1971). Saturn is in the first house. Saturn rules the 10th and 11th and since there is no planet in the 5th, the Sun in the 11th will have influence over the fifth and that influence will be tinged by Saturn. Saturn is in a tight trine with the MC.

Just to toss out something on solar returns, John Frawley teaches that the Moon is extremely important in solar returns and the Sun is extremely important in lunar returns. After all in their own returns the Sun and Moon are always in the same position by sign. In this chart the Moon is in the 12th house of troubles disposed by Mars in Sagittarius in the 8th and Mars' antiscion is 24 Capricorn conjunct natal Mercury at 25 Capricorn in the 5th.

I took a quick look at the June 12, 1971, lunar return (Jackie Jr was killed in June 1971) and 25 Sagittarius rises in Stamford Ct. 28 Sagittarius is the 5th house cusp of the nativity. The lunar return holds a partile Jupiter - Saturn opposition in the 11th (Jupiter) and the 5th (Saturn) reiterating the Jupiter Saturn themes in the nativity and the solar return. Jupiter rules the 8th in the nativity and almost all of Capricorn is contained in the natal 5th, and there is th Jupiter - Saturn conjunction via primary direction this year.

Is it a stretch to use the fact that the natal ASC?DESC axis is the 3rd-9th axis for the children? That puts the Venus-Uranus conjunction on their 3rd house cusp, opposed Saturn on the 9th . Transportation dangers.

I don't think that is a stretch at all.

Tom

Tom and Kirk already commented on the Solar Return charts. A look at the Solar Eclipse chart and the Aries Ingress chart preceding Robinson?s death is also quite interesting.

The Aries Ingress Mars is exactly on the natal MC and squares natal Saturn. Aries Ingress Saturn squares natal Mars within an orb of 2?.

The solar Eclipse Mars is exactly conjunct natal Neptune while transiting Neptune is square natal Mars within an orb of less than 1?.
The Eclipse stood in the midpoint of natal and transiting Saturn within a 1 ? ? orb.

Ren?

Hello Papretis,

But I'm wondering the role of Venus, the MC and the 10th house ruler, right on the Descendant. Apparently the Descendant means "enemy" here.

Excellent thought. Jackie Robinson?s Lord 10 (Venus) conjunct the Descendant is a strong indicator for overcoming one?s enemies (CA, p. 641). It is not unusual to see this in the charts of successful competitors. Some of the other variations include Lord 7 in 10th or Lord 10 in 12th or Lord 12 in 10th or Lord 10 in 12th.

I've been following the enemy indicators in these mystery charts all along. Comparison proves interesting. To date, there have been nine charts. Three of the nine were champion competitors, all of whom had one of these aspect variations for overcoming adversaries (competitive opponents ? tennis, chess and baseball - mystery charts 1, 3, and 7 respectively, though Robinson excelled in at least 4 sports). The other six mystery charts did not have any of these ?overcome adversaries? (MC action) indicators, nor were they in competitive fields.

Among the nine mystery charts, two were incarcerated (both charts had captivity indicators but lacked the ?overcome adversaries? indicators).

Among the three charts who DO have these overcome adversaries conditions, only one of them (mystery chart #3) has an incarceration indicator. He is the only one threatened with imprisonment. The US gov?t claims to have grounds to incarcerate him, but so far he has evaded capture (his Lord 10 conjunct Descendant is stronger than the captivity indicator).

Jackie Robinson?s enemies went far beyond mere opponents on the playing field. Lilly gives several possible ways to cull the difference. For one, Lord 7 in 1st indicates many adversaries (CA, p. 640). Planetary condition and aspects are considered as well, especially oppositions to luminaries (orb too wide in Robinson's chart but applying). Saturn's detriment, unfortified works in Robinson's favor to weaken his enemies, meaning that they are not "men of power" (not in powerful positions over him) though due to angularity they are numerous and have strength. Lilly seems to be saying that if Lord 7 or 12 are actually in the Ascendant (as opposed to simply in the 1st house) then the Ascendant Lord overcomes them (Robinson?s chart Lord 7 is conjunct Ascendant rather than in 1st, therefore he overcomes).

Also, Lord 12 aspect to Lord Ascendant can increase the number of enemies. If no aspect then ?not very many enemies? (CA, p. 640). In Robinson?s case, Lord 12?s (Moon) conjunction with Lord Ascendant (Sun) is weakened by combustion. Again and again, Robinson overcomes adversaries.

I?m sure there is more to it than what I?ve said here. I hope others will add their views.

Tom,

Once again, another great chart, great find. You really have a gift for this ? we should start calling you Professor.

Christina

Hi Christina, you wrote:

Jackie Robinson?s Lord 10 (Venus) conjunct the Descendant is a strong indicator for overcoming one?s enemies (CA, p. 641). It is not unusual to see this in the charts of successful competitors. Some of the other variations include Lord 7 in 10th or Lord 10 in 12th or Lord 12 in 10th or Lord 10 in 12th.

I've been following the enemy indicators in these mystery charts all along. Comparison proves interesting. To date, there have been nine charts. Three of the nine were champion competitors, all of whom had one of these aspect variations for overcoming adversaries (competitive opponents ? tennis, chess and baseball - mystery charts 1, 3, and 7 respectively, though Robinson excelled in at least 4 sports). The other six mystery charts did not have any of these ?overcome adversaries? (MC action) indicators, nor were they in competitive fields.

How interesting that you've compared the charts this way. So much to learn...