Challenge Corner Answer

Zip Dobyns

The first three babies all died; those born at 9:12, 9:13, and 9:14 A.M. The last three lived; a female born at 9:15, a male at 9:16, and another female at 9:17 A.M.

This issue of The Mutable Dilemma is being written just before a trip, under time pressures, so there are probably other differences between the charts in addition to the ones I spotted. Perhaps some of our readers will note them. The dividing line was between the 9:14 and the 9:15 births, so I concentrated on those two. The first difference noticed was that the East Point for the first three babies was 29 Scorpio. The last three had an East Point in 0 Sagittarius. The distinction between the two groups is dramatic, though we could not automatically assume which group might be the survivors. Scorpio could point to death, but also to self-mastery. Sagittarius could point to the faith to make it here on earth or to the urge to fly away. As I keep saying, astrology does not tell us “what” will happen; it tells us “why”.

Another change of sign between these two crucial charts was the shift of the Ascendant/Moon (midpoint) from Sagittarius for the first three births to Capricorn for the latter three. This time, knowing the results, we can say that the first three decided to fly while the last three had the guts to stick it out. But it could just as easily have been the other way, with Capricorn often indicating conditions beyond our control, theoretically as consequences from the past (lives).

The first-born three also had a parallel of Venus to the Ascendant which was out of the one degree orb for the last three. I suspect that aspect would have tipped my choice in the wrong direction, and I would have guessed that the first three made it. Venus symbolizes our pleasure and the Ascendant is our right and power to do what we want. If we feel that our pleasure will be greater somewhere else, an Ascendant-Venus combination reserves the right to go elsewhere. With Venus also close to the Ascendant in longitude, the principle is highlighted.

One more aspect that differentiated between the two sets was a one-degree octile (semisquare) of the true north node of the Moon to the IC which was present for the first three babies but out of orb for the last three. The aspect suggests friction in close relationships connected to home and parents (nodes and fourth cusp). The signs strongly indicate a freedom-closeness dilemma and six babies in one womb meant a lot of closeness for some months. The freedom-closeness issue (my will vs. our will) was emphatic in the charts, but since we have no more data about the babies, there is not much point in speculating about how they handled it. Maybe multiple births are a way that souls face this issue in a really intense way so they are forced to deal with it. If readers spot other useful differences between the charts, we would be glad to include them in future issues of The Mutable Dilemma.

Copyright © 1986 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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