Friedrich Froebel - PeeWee's First Playhouse

While looking at the chart of Johannes Itten I came across the name of Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel who was listed as one of Itten's major influences as an educator. Froebel also influenced many other modern artists and designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright. He developed a new educational style for small children which talked to them at their level and he was the first guy to think to do this. He gave them toys such as blocks to play with that were shaped on the basic units of nature and let them "harness" their own natural impulses. Through this he felt that a child would naturally develop his own logic about creation. He's the guy who coined the word "Kindergarten" which means "Children" and "Garden" in German based on the school that he opened.

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel
b. April 21, 1782 Oberweissbach, Germany

Sun 2 Taurus, Moon either in Cancer or Leo, North Node 17 Aries

Cardinal Grand Square: Jupiter 29 Sagg-Saturn 2 Cap opposite Uranus 30 Gemini (Aries Points!); squaring Mercury 7 Aries opposite Neptune 7 Libra

Froebel had a tough childhood. His Mother died when he was 9 months old. His father sent him to live with an Uncle and then died when Froebel was about 20. The Cardinal Influence shows an ability to start a whole new trend in thinking. He grew up in a forested town in Central Germany and was very connected with Nature and natural medicines.

Air Grand Trine: Mars 12 Gemini trine Neptune 7 Libra trine Pluto 9 Aquarius.
A strong intellect that maybe enabled him to see the need to develop a sense of play and the need for a child to develop his own thoughts organically through the experience of singing, dancing, gardening and playing rather than through mechanical means of memorization and repetition. His specially made toys called Froebel Gifts naturally exposed a child to the basic units of Nature rather than forcing learning through rote.

North Node is in Aries; directness and play are obvious avenues of development. NN is unaspected by planets which puts extra stress on its influence. It is, however, conjunct Pallas which is a strong indicator for recognizing patterns and is thought to be common in designers' charts. From 1811-1815, Froebel worked in a University Museum categorizing minerals by their crystal shapes. Perfect job for his Pallas-NN. He eventually correlated these geometries with his ideas about the growth of children, adults and even cultures. In 1811, t. Pallas was conjunct his natal Sun and his prog. Venus was conjunct his NN-Pallas conjunction. His Grand Square was lit up by his Saturn Return and by his prog. Mars which was conjunct n.Uranus and opposite n.Saturn. Saturn rules Minerals and Form and Shape. His job was probably pretty dull but just what he needed to form his future ideas.

Froebel opened his Play & Activity Institute in 1837. Lots of North Node and Chiron action. Transiting Pluto was c. his n. NN-Pallas and the t. NN was c. his natal Sun. Chiron, the Wounded Teacher, is strongly aspected at this point. His natal Chiron in Taurus was receiving a conjunction from prog. Venus and Pallas and t.Chiron was conjunct his natal Mars in Gemini. Also, he was going through the very mystical transit of t. Neptune c. n. Pluto. It's interesting that he seems to have been doing so well. Natally his Pluto is in Aquarius and squaring his Sun which would indicate some kind of defeat of his ego but he seems to have just been coming into his own. But here, Neptune and Pluto are working together at their highest levels. Both planets are involved in the natal Grand Air Trine with Mars.

When he coined the word "Kindergarten" in 1840 Froebel was going through his 2d Saturn Return. Opposite that, Progressed Sun was 2 degrees from conjunction with his natal Uranus at 29 Gemini which is an Aries Point. His revolutionary (Uranus) ideas about Children's education (Gemini) came to the attention of the world.