Ralph Waldo Emerson – Rectification

Mercury–Ascendant directions and South Node–Midheaven contacts clinch Emerson’s rectified birth time

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Ralph Waldo Emerson and his rectified birth chart

Originally published on September 2, 2013

Available Birth Data

Astro-Databank: Ralph Waldo Emerson – Rodden Rating AA

Astrodatabank reports an AA-rated birth time of 3:15 p.m., quoted BC/BR with the 3:15 p.m. birth time “recorded in his father’s diary” according to biographer R. L. Rusk “Life of Emerson” (1949, p.1). The proposed rectification is slightly later.

Proposed Rectification

Ralph Waldo Emerson

25-May-1803
3:31:23 PM
LMT +04:44:15
Boston MA
71w03’37”, 42n21’30”
ASC 19LI42’57”

Rectified birth chart of Ralph Waldo Emerson – May 25 1803, 3:31:23 PM. Ascendant 19LIB42’57”

Solar Arc Directions

2-Apr-1828. d.s.a. Jupiter conj ASC

Brother Edward suffers a mental collapse in Spring 1828; taken to a mental hospital during late June 1828. Consistent with Jupiter ruling the 3rd of siblings in the 12th of confinement.

 1-Jan-1829. c.s.a. ASC square Mercury
22-Mar-1829. d.s.a. Mercury square ASC

Boston’s Second Church voted to invite Emerson to be its junior minister, 11-Jan-1829.
Emerson ordained as colleague with Rev Henry Ware, 11-Mar-1829.
**LOCK** Mercury/Gemini in the 9th of religion is a good delineation match to these events.

23-Sep-1838. c.s.a. South Node conj MC
21-Feb-1839. d.s.a. MC conj South Node

23-Sep-1838 – Former Divinity School mentor Henry Ware, Jr. delivered sermon “The Personality of the Deity” which served as a rebuttal to Emerson’s Harvard Divinity School graduation address made 15-Jul-1838 which effectively cut him off from the clergy.
21-Feb-1839 – Closed his course of lectures at Masonic Temple in Boston
**LOCK** Both of these events are exact date hits with the first one of the most important events of Emerson’s life when he severed ties to established clergy and started down the road to Transcendentalism. South Node/Leo/11th promises destruction of alliances. Note that Henry Ware, Jr. (born 21-Apr-1794) has the opposite nodal placement compared to Emerson.

24-May-1840. c.s.a. ASC conj Saturn
 5-Nov-1840. d.s.a. Saturn conj ASC

Transcendental Club discussion includes ‘sterility of poetic inspiration,’ 13-May-1840.
Proposal by George Ripley to begin utopian community of farmers on West Roxbury milk farm, 9-Nov; Emerson declined in letter 15-Dec-1840.

25-Sep-1843. c.s.a. Saturn conj Moon
 8-Apr-1844. d.s.a. Moon conj Saturn

Aunt Mary became gravely ill with erysipelas, late Sep 1843.
8-Apr-1844 – Final issue of Transcendentalist publication The Dial appeared.

 4-Aug-1850. c.s.a. MC sextile Mars
25-Apr-1851. d.s.a. Mars sextile MC

The period between these two solar arcs is a good match to Emerson’s fiercest protests against the Fugitive Slave Law enacted during September 1850. Emerson denounced the Law in a series of lectures in March 1851. On 18-Apr-1851, the anti-slavery publication The Liberator published Emerson’s letter for “every lover of human rights” to “enter his protest for humanity against the detestable statute of the last Congress.” On 3-May-1851, Emerson made a significant address to the citizens of Concord, MA on the Fugitive Slave Law.

3-Oct-1854. c.s.a. MC conj Sun
7-Aug-1855. d.s.a. Sun conj MC

From October 1854 to March 1855 Emerson gave 73 lectures in New England and Canada.

6-Jul-1862. c.s.a. MC trine Jupiter
9-Aug-1863. d.s.a. Jupiter trine MC

Planets ruling the 6th placed in the 12th are significators of slave revolts. With Jupiter/Virgo meeting this condition, Emerson endears himself to the abolitionist cause by viewing slave revolts with a Jupiterian-style of generosity. During this time period, which arguably was kicked off by Sumner’s plea to Lincoln to emancipate slaves in order to use freed slaves as troops (4-Jul-1862), Emerson delivered major addresses on the Emancipation Proclamation between September 1862 and January 1863 when the measure went into force. No exact event match for the 9-Aug-63 direction.

Primary Directions

REG D (Mercury/Gemini) P Sun c. => Mars (l=MA) 22-Jul-1872

House fire, 24-Jul-1872. Marked an end to Emerson’s serious lecturing career. There are a variety of Mars-Sun directions between the summer of 1871 and 1872 which also coincide with the onset of Emerson’s memory problems and speech problems (aphasia).

REG D (Mars/Pisces) P opposition Jupiter c. => Sun 13-Jul-1882

Death by pneumonia, 27-Apr-1882. Jupiter is the significator for pneumonia, confirmed by transit of Jupiter and the South Node to Emerson’s natal Sun at death. Emerson had a series of Jupiter-Sun primary directions between 1879 and 1882. The 13-Jul-1882 direction is the closest to the day of death.

From the ‘Medieval Astrology Profile for Ralph Waldo Emerson’, Victor Database
For more information on Doctor H’s work, visit the House of Wisdom

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