Where we left off last was with Helena having met her teacher, a Master Morya, on her 20th birthday in England. Here is where things begin to get fuzzy as to her travels, where she was and when. Apparently during the 1850s she made multiple attempts to get into Tibet.
During the period between 1851 and 1870 I find two specific dates associated with her life activities. The first is the claim by biographer Fodor that while in Italy she fought in a battle near Mentana on Garibaldi’s (losing) side 17 November 1867 and had multiple wounds that put her in near mortal condition. However, the date of the Battle of Mentana is listed historically as 3 November. Taking either date when we progress this chart we see …
– prog Jupiter near 17S51 parallel natal Uranus 17S48 (separating).
That means Jupiter had progressed into this culminating aspect (+/-0°05′) years previous (1862), which generally fits with travel in foreign countries since this aspect took place in her 9th natal house. It’s just not particularly relevant to the Ascendant, except as a general confirmation of the broad time of day in which we’re working for the correct Asc.
The second specific date during this period is when her beloved Aunt Nadyezhda Andreyevna de Fadeyev got a letter from Master Koot Hoomi on 11 November 1870 stating that Helena (HBP) was well and planned to be back with her family before “18 moons” had risen. (I take that to mean 18 days.) Apparently she’d been away for a long time. The last time any of her family in Russia had seen her was in 1860. They were worried and had begun to think maybe she had died. That means that around the time the letter arrived she would have probably already begun her trek from Tibet to Russia.
So taking the date of the letter to her Aunt for the transits …
Jupiter makes it even more obvious now that this degree area of 19-22° Gemini for her Asc is valid. Because we’re not looking at a known date for the beginning of Helena’s travels there’s no point using this date to narrow down the Asc here. But Saturn’s position at 26° Sagittarius, while also parallel the DC, its 7th house position suggests again that the Asc/DC axis may actually be a bit later than 20°.
From there we next find her aboard a ship that embarked from Greece heading for Egypt. Its powder magazine blew up with great loss of life on 4 July 1871. Helena was unharmed. Considering that she traveled so much and was uninjured I see no point in looking at the transits for this date. She remained in Egypt for at least a few months investigating spiritualist phenomenon, but was apparently unsatisfied in her research. So next we come to something that really matters. It is said that around June 1872 while in Paris she received communication from her Master to go to New York.
She arrived by ship in New York City 7 July 1873. (I’m using 8 July 0:00 UT since that equates to an evening time in the US on the 7th). This was another major move, maybe the biggest of all. In these major moves to foreign countries we want to see major outer planet transits to the IC, and we have that here with Pluto at 21° & N.Node 22.9° Taurus both squaring the natal IC area. I think with this exact date and with her change of destiny making it clear the Lunar Node was involved, we can take its figure 22.9° and subtract 5° = 17.9° to see that the natal IC is in range. The question is whether Pluto is also making a semi-sextile to the Asc?
Jupiter is back down in the 4th house of residence again conjunct natal Mars-Saturn, and Mars is parallel the natal IC area.
After she arrived in NYC she began doing work designing illustrated advertising cards. That speaks to Venus progressing through the 5th house and it is involved even more specifically for the date of her arrival. Remember, the Moon, the 4th house and its contents, and the IC itself can all be involved in major moves of residence or domestic changes. The progressions for this event:
– prog Venus sextile natal N.Node in 4th house, orb=0°01′
– prog Saturn in 4th semi-sextile natal Moon (topocentric) within culmination zone, but because it is within about 01′ here it is a very strong piece of evidence the natal Asc is within just a couple degrees of correct, but hints at a possibly slightly later Asc mark.
The question is whether the declination of prog Venus at 14S45 marks the correct IC declination (within 05′), which would translate to a natal Asc figure +/-22GEM20.
There is at least one more major event before her death that I want to look at. I think there will be enough material to illustrate throughout her biography that this chart Lois Rodden was using for her is very function. I think I’ll also be able to narrow down the Asc figure to within minutes of arc using the transits and progressions of precisely dated events. More to come … part 5
Kannon McAfee Natural Healing 