Johannes Kepler Reads His Own Chart

The following is an except called:

"Kepler's Horoscope for Himself, November 1597" pp. 31-33

from:

Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother

by James A. Connor

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"This person was born with the destiny to spend most of his time working on the difficult things others shirk from....

...Mercury in the seventh house means haste and an aversion to work, because he is also swift; the sun in Saturn's sixth means conscientiousness and perseverance. These two things are in conflict: to continuously feel regret about lost time while still willingly losing it again and again. Because Mercury affects a tendency for play and fun, this person enjoys the spirit of lighter things. As a child, he was devoted to play; as he grew older he found enjoyment in other things, and he therefore turned to other things; to find out what brings a person joy, therefore, remains subject to opinion. Since being stingy with money deters one from play, he often plays by himself. One has to note the following here: holding on to money does not have the goal of wealth, but rather the alleviation of the fear of poverty. Of course, most greediness grows out of unfounded worry. Or perhaps not; rather, the love of money possesses many. His eyes are fixed upon gain and reputation. Perhaps it is the fear of poverty that can be blamed for much. because he is presumptuous and contemptuous of mass opinion, he tends to be hard.

By nature he is very well suited for pretense of all kinds. There is also a tendency toward disguise, deceit, and lies. It has its root in common with the jokes and jest. Mercury does this, instigated by Mars. But one thing prevented these disguises: The fear for his reputation. Because foremost he yearns for true recognition, and every type of defamation is unbearable to him. He would pay very good money to buy himself free of even harmless, but wicked gossip, and poverty frightens him only because of the shame."

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According to the author, this is Johannes Kepler's own description of his chart. When he was 49, Kepler had to leave his job to try to help his 70+ year old Mother who was being tried for being a Witch during the Counter-Reformation. After many years of trials and torture her name was cleared. She was an Herbalist and had a difficult personality. Kepler's best memory of her was when he was 6 when she took him outside to watch a comet. Kepler's Moon was in Gemini in his 12th House. According to Bruce Scofield's article in Mountain Astrologer (available online), one of Kepler's big contribution to Astrology was the study of Minor Aspects.

When one looks at the placement of Kepler's Moon and understand the complex relationship with his Mother one can understand why. He had a stellium of Mercury, Uranus, Sun and Venus in Capricorn all in different aspects to the Moon: Inconjunct Mercury 5 Cap; BiQuintile Uranus 9 Cap; ______ Sun 16 Cap; Sesquiquadrate Venus 19 Cap; Trine Mars 9 Libra; Quintile Pluto 22 Pisces. Uranus rules his MC and the Sun rules his IC.

Funny how the Sun is sandwiched between Uranus and Venus but doesn't aspect the Moon. Kepler's parents had a horrible relationship. His Father was always running away from home when Kepler was growing up and he (the Father) ran away for the last time when Kepler was 17.

Kepler's Sun-Venus is apex to a small triangle that sextiles Jupiter-Pluto trine Saturn. He had his big revelation about the Motion of the Planets by understanding the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. This was on July 19, 1595. Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto-Mars-NN were all in Aries squaring his natal Capricorn planets. The transiting Moon was conjunct his natal Capricorn Planets. Mercury-Chiron was conjunct his natal Gemini Ascendant and t. Neptune was conjunct his MC.

Johannes Kepler
b. Dec. 27, 1571 2:30 or 2:37 pm Weil-der-Stadt, Germany (OS)
I don't understand what the Popes and Priest were doing with the Calendar but the (NS) date is January 6, 1572.

Sun 16 Capricorn; ASC 25 Gemini; Moon 5 Gemini; MC 23 Aquarius; NN 3 Leo