I do a lot of electional astrology. I wrote a book
on it 16 years ago and have continued to explore the area as both a
personal project and as a service to clients. Along the way I've tested
old rules and tried more than a few experiments.
I think electional astrology appeals to people who
want to control things. We all know that this kind of attitude can get
us into trouble. If a client wants me to time an event that only
affects them, like a surgery date, well that's fine with me. Maybe such
a chart will really improve the operation of the heavens.
Unfortunately, there are many out there who want
to use my services as a way to manipulate others. This I hate, because
I need to make money, but doing it goes against my principles. My
response to this kind of situation is to more or less do what the
client wants me to do. But I also constantly interject comments that
force them to think about the larger implications of what they desire.
When I finally get them to admit that their intentions are
manipulative, slimy, and on the same level as a rat's, they either give
it up or stop working with me.
I believe that electional astrology is a kind of
ritual magic in which the practitioner exercises a kind of control over
the unfolding of events by consciously altering the event stream at a
specific moment. In other words, it's a way of programming your life,
and then living it, consciously. It's a way of catching event-energy
waves, a kind of "life surfing." With electional astrology, you can
seize a propitious moment in time and jump through a window of
opportunity as it comes by. I think that most successful people do this
without astrology, just like most people navigate the roads without
maps. In many respects, those who use astrology are map readers. Some
of them even open their maps while driving, blocking their own view,
and creating all sorts of chaos for themselves and others on the road.
So much for my observations about electional
astrology in general. As I said, I have no reservations about helping
clients schedule a surgery date -- it's their body, and most of the
time it's only about healing. I get requests for this work from time to
time and have developed a methodology that gets good results most of
the time. I'll share with you how this method developed and something
of how it works.
About 20 years ago a client came to me requesting
that I select a day for cosmetic surgery. She had already had some work
done on her nose, which she found unsatisfying (both the work and the
nose). It didn't look so bad to me, but this woman had Virgo rising and
was very concerned with the details. I looked at her chart and found
that on the day her surgery had been performed, Mercury was retrograde
and her natal Mercury was being squared by Saturn. It was incredibly
obvious to me that Mercury, ruler of Virgo, had not been in good shape
at the time of the surgery, and poor results could have been expected.
I gave her some dates when Mercury would be well-aspected and moving
direct, and her next surgical experience was positive..
The word then got out that I could schedule
successful cosmetic surgery, and soon other clients came to me with
similar requests. Most of the time, I found that the success of
cosmetic surgery was very closely linked to the condition of the
Ascendant and its ruler, which makes perfect sense when you consider
that these points relate to the body's appearance. Even other kinds of
surgery showed a similar pattern, with a few adjustments for the
different body parts. Only under the worst conditions did the surgery
turn out bad. Easy enough. The hard part is finding an astrologically
propitious moment that matches both the doctor's and the hospital's
schedule.
Anyone who has had
surgery will know that the doctor's schedule is the number one
consideration. The receptionist will tell you that, "Doctor only
operates on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7:00 a.m. He plays golf on the
other days." So the astrologer not only has to find a spot during the
work week, but it must be on either Tuesday or Friday at 7:00 a.m. On
the one hand, this is good -- it narrows the search for a good day. On
the other hand, it's incredibly frustrating, because there's no room
for adjustment. Then there's the immediacy factor -- everybody wants
(or needs) to have their surgery done as soon as possible. For the
electional astrologer, this is headache city.
It can get complicated from here, but there's a
very good way to minimize the possibility of a bad surgery experience,
a way that I recommend to everyone who wants me to pick the date of
their operation. I tell them to hire a good doctor. That's right. Get a
doctor with a lot of experience and a good reputation, and chances are
he or she will do good surgery on just about any day that doctor
operates. In my opinion, this alone accounts for about 85 percent of
the success of any surgery.
Now, assuming you have a handle on doctor's
schedule, and you want to "improve" the chart for the surgery, which
accounts for 15 percent of the outcome, you have to take into account
both the inner and outer realities of the patient. The inner reality is
shown by transits, progressions, and directions to the natal chart of
the patient. The outer reality is shown by the current mundane aspects
and combinations. The inner reality is how the patient experiences the
event; the outer reality is how the world is functioning at the time.
In general, I favor
the inner reality. Or at least I begin my work with it, since the
patient's experience is at the center of the work. On the other hand,
the efficient, or not so efficient, functioning of the various
components of an operation -- the team of doctors, nurses, assistants,
hospital administrators, etc. -- will be shown by the current
conditions.
As to what configurations one should seek or
avoid, there is, in my opinion, no perfect standardized set of rules.
Everything is constantly changing, and planetary combinations that look
bad by themselves might be excellent in some situations. But for
starters, here are some suggestions for each category of reality.
Inner reality: Directions (solar arc, primaries,
etc.), secondary progressions, and transits to the natal chart will
reveal stress periods and periods of opportunity. A lack of aspects to
the natal chart suggests stability, which is a good time to have
something as delicate as surgery performed. Look for positive and
supportive aspects to the Sun, Ascendant, Ascendant ruler, and the
planet that signifies the part of the body operated on. For example,
don't do stomach surgery right when the natal Moon is afflicted. Exact
aspects are quite powerful. Try to avoid major surgery on the day that
an aspect is exact, particularly a stressful aspect. Aspects to the 6th
house and its ruler will show how healing progresses.
Outer reality: Look at what the Moon is doing.
Generally, a void-of-course Moon suggests that things may not go
exactly as planned. There will be less control over events during these
periods. Note when the Moon makes aspects to other planets and plan the
surgery to occur as the Moon is applying to a favorable aspect. Check
the last aspect the Moon makes in the sign that it is in during the
surgery. A nasty last aspect is something to consider avoiding, since
it symbolizes a tough finish to the matter -- in this case, the
surgery.
Check the mutual
aspects and avoid the days when eclipses or other exact alignments
occur. Avoid stressful combinations involving Mercury (and Mercury
stations), which is both the planet of communication and a significator
of the use of precision instruments and devices that are the tools of
doctors. Determine what planets will be rising, culminating, setting,
or at lower culmination as the operation begins. Put Jupiter on one of
the angles if possible. Pay attention to any parans that may exist on
the day of the surgery at the latitude of the hospital.
If cosmetic surgery is requested, make sure to
avoid periods of time when the natal chart Ascendant degree and
Ascendant ruler are terribly afflicted. Remember that one bad aspect
won't spoil the bunch, but several will. If it's some other kind of
surgery, or if the client's condition is serious, you have to consider
a few more things. Here are a few more general electional rules you may
want to consider in such cases.
The Sun, Ascendant, and the Ascendant ruler are
potent indicators of the physical body in a birth chart. If possible,
don't do surgery, except in an emergency, when all three points are
severely afflicted by Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto.
Generally speaking though, if somebody needs surgery, at least one of
these points will be afflicted, symbolizing the fact that they have a
physical problem. Try to avoid dates when hard aspects (squares,
oppositions, conjunctions) are making exact aspects to these points.
Exact is too tense; you want to keep the pressures as low as possible.
For a good adjustment to the surgery and quick healing, make sure the
ruler of the 6th house, or any planets therein, are not horribly
afflicted. You don't even have to have good aspects, just regular
normal aspects, and things will behave predictably.
I learned a few things when I had surgery myself.
Back in the 1970s I slipped a disk by lifting heavy guitar amplifiers,
moving refrigerators, and changing the transmission on my car. For a
year I tried conservative measures like chiropractic and acupuncture,
but the problem (sciatica) kept getting worse. I then reasoned that
since conservative Capricorn was on the cusp of my 6th house of
healing, I should probably go the traditional route for my problem --
back surgery by an orthopedist and neurologist. I then tracked down the
most famous back surgeon in the region and had to wait four months to
see him. He checked me out and suggested I get a laminectomy and spinal
fusion ASAP.
Next I checked my aspects and set a hospital date
when Saturn was square my Midheaven, which is always a good time to
retire, check out, and keep a low profile. In terms of my career this
worked out fine, since business was slow. But I also found that I lost
control over any scheduling. Sure enough, as Saturn passed the square
of my Midheaven, first the surgery was delayed by four days, and then
there I was, horizontal and tied to the hospital bed with tubes coming
out of my body. On the day of the surgery, the Moon was in Leo (rules
the back) conjunct Saturn (last aspect a square to Jupiter), and there
was an exact conjunction of Mars and Neptune (cutting and drugs)
sesquiquadrate my natal Sun. Jupiter was squaring my Ascendant, and
there I was being attended to by the nurses. More positively, the Sun
was approaching my natal Jupiter in Sagittarius. To keep my spirits up,
I read a few books about the Aztecs and human sacrifice.
The operation was a great success. The doctor knew
his stuff, and the only thing I lost was the ability to run
long-distance painlessly. So I took up hiking. Astrologically, I
learned to not fear what seemed at first to be bad aspects. Some of the
old rules about elections for surgery clearly didn't work. I believe
that the major factors were that the transiting Sun, which rules my
Ascendant, was applying to a conjunction of natal Jupiter (positive),
while my natal Sun was being afflicted by Mars and Neptune (stressful).
I was successfully drugged and cut open. Here's my rule of thumb: major
surgery is never shown astrologically as stressless and painless, so
don't fear a hard aspect or two. Just make sure that other supportive
aspects are coincident.
By now you should have gotten the idea that
elections for surgery are not easy. If you have the nerve to dabble in
this field, don't get bent out of shape if you can't find a perfect
planetary pattern that fits into doctor's schedule. Hire a good body
mechanic and pick a time around his or her schedule that is not an
astrological mess. If it's a halfway decent time, all should go well --
unless doctor's chart is horribly afflicted! Ha! Surprise! Yet another
potential astrological headache that I try not to think about.
Copyright ©1996 Bruce Scofield
