Grandma Moses

I tend to ask people their signs with curious abandon wherever I am. When you do this sometimes you get rebuffed by disinterested people who couldn't care less about what's spinning around out there. But, sometimes you get some really good information. The Physical Education instructor for the Senior class of an adult school where I used to work gave me a rundown on which old ladies make it into old age without losing their marbles. She said that hands down the Sagittarians win the prize. They keep up their appearances, wear sporty little jogging suits to class, and keep their minds sharp with their finances while discussing world affairs. She thought to tell me this because apparently the dopey little old lady with my own sign, Cancer, read everyone their horoscopes every day in class. Well, at any rate, we Cancers care. And I never liked P.E. class anyway.

Capricorn is the sign of the old Man, Father Time. Astrologers always say that life gets easier for Capricorns as they age but I don't think that's true. Capricorns are always sick and frail and old age just adds more ailments. If a Capricorn is doing fine in old age it's due to their persistence and intelligence rather than their well-being. Even so, you always have to look for its prominence in a successful old person's chart. You'll notice Grandma Moses had it for a rising sign with its ruler Saturn angular in H7 and strongly aspecting her Mercury (mind) and Moon (mood). But she also had strong Mutable emphasis in her chart which shows adaptability.

I looked at Grandma Moses' chart because The Barn mentioned her. Hey Barn, if you're still hanging around. I have to admit her paintings don't really me send me but I'm still amazed by her accomplishments. She's a Virgo. (That was actually the P.E. instructor's sign.) Grandma had always worked doing needlework and, due to failing eyesight, switched to painting while in her 70s. Her paintings were discovered hanging in a drugstore in Upstate New York in 1938 and a New York dealer gave her her first show the next year.

Grandma Moses
b. Sept. 7, 1860 3:58 PM Greenwich, NY

Sun 16 Virgo; ASC 23 Capricorn; Moon 9 Gemini; MC 19 Scorpio; NN 30 Capricorn

Virgo rules crafts and craft projects because of its attention to detail and probably due to its practical uses. I wonder if Folk Art, overall, is ruled by Virgo. Makes sense because Virgo is opposite Pisces which is always attributable to the arts due to its attention to everything that's not practical in life. Grandma Moses had Neptune in Pisces, natural rulerships. It's her only planet in Water which emphasizes it's prominence in her chart. With regards to a leaning toward artistic talents it is also very strong because it is in the 2d house, Venus' house, and is trining Venus. Venus is in Leo in the 7th house which it also rules and is conjunct her South Node. Venus, Neptune and Sun are often indicators for artistic talent.

Artistic talent is nice, lots of old ladies have it. But what indicates Fame? Moses had strong Fame indicators in her chart. Scorpio MC, ruled by Pluto and opposed by Pluto and squared by Jupiter is for starters. Pluto likes anything connected with power. Moses has it ruling her MC which shows career and public standing. It's aspected by Jupiter which gives extra pizazz and excitement to her outward expressions of herself. It also adds the Luck element. In addition to this, Moses had Sun in H8 (Pluto's house) trining Pluto. Her Sun is also trining Mars conjunct Capricorn ASC which could account for her strong constitution late in life. Probably nothing really got her down too much in life. She also had a conjunction of Mercury and Saturn in Virgo which is very stable that squares a conjunction of Moon and Uranus which is very unstable. Her mind and her emotions were probably always a little at odds with each other. she would have had to keep busy in order to avoid getting depressed. Mercury-Saturn is very practical, factual, analytical, linear and Moon-Uranus in Gemini is quite fanciful and eccentric so this is actually a very good complex for an artist to have. It explains all the rich detail in her work of everyday life as both Gemini and Virgo enjoy life on an everyday basis. Her Uranus Return and Neptune opposition would have happened in her early 80s and definitely seem to have given her a second wind. They set off all Grandma's inner planets with major aspects. Uranus hit Mercury, Moon and Saturn. Neptune hit Venus and Mars.

Grandma started painting in her 70s. She was discovered in 1938 when she would have been around 78 years old. You can really see this amazing shift in her progressions and transits but at her age I think it would have been easy to misinterpret them. Her progressed Sun had just moved into Sagittarius so she was moving into a new track in life. Her progressed angles had just shifted with each other. Her progressed MC (career) had moved into her 1st Houes (personality) and was conjunct her North Node (Fate) in Capricorn (Career). Her progressed ASC was about 4 degrees into her 4th house (Home, well, some people would have said this was an indicator of retirement and maybe even death, reasons for astrologers not to do predictions).

In addition to the progressions many of Grandma's natal planets were receiving major transits. T. Uranus was conjunct her natal Pluto and trine her natal Sun and Mercury (revolutionary shift)
T. Neptune was just past conjunction with her natal Sun (artistic shift, actually most astrologers would probably have read this as death because it occured in her 8th house, I think it also would have something to do with failing eyesight and having to reach for a higher plane of existence through painting).
T. Jupiter and progressed Mars in 1st house were opposite her natal Saturn-Mercury (Guess this balances the Death theories and gives ya a second career).