Hitch Your Wagon to a Lucky Star!! by Jim Lewis

Hitch Your Wagon to a Luck Star!!

     By Jim Lewis

      "Jim, this is Marge," said a manifestly happy voice from the telephone-answering machine. "I just called to tell you that I won $500 in this week’s New York lottery." The news was particularly pleasing because Marge’s encounter with Lady Luck had been precipitated by an astrology lecture she had attended.

      A California resident, her interest in New York was generated by an astrological mapping technique that suggested it would be a good location for gambling success.  Evidently it was - as Marge sent a friend in New York the money with which she bought the $1 winning ticket.

      Luck is, of course, a totally mysterious life quantity; neither science nor mysticism has been able to offer much concrete information as to why some people win more than others or why one person might win at some times and lose at others.  There are some rather inconclusive statistical studies; but luck, like astrology, is an area into which science would rather not have to venture.  It’s just considered too subjective a phenomenon.

      I was introduced to the astrology of luck by an article I read in late 1972; it detailed how the author had done a lot of complex charts and calculations, gone to Nevada on the appointed day, and come home with $6,000, having won it almost at the exact moment he had predicted.

      For obvious reasons, this idea had a certain appeal.  I filed away in the back of my mind that the key factors he had used were the occurrence on angles of natal and/or transiting Moon, Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto. Experience has since demonstrated that one of these planetary pairs, Jupiter and Pluto, seems to be the one most associated with unplanned, extraordinary good luck.  This information, coupled with a knowledge of locational astrology, may enable one to find places at which one is particularly lucky.  At least, it worked out that way for Marge.

      Why should Jupiter and Pluto be associated with luck? A short look at the deeper psychological meaning of these two planets (originally god brothers in the Greek pantheon) may shed some light on their function in the mysterious equation that brings about good fortune.

     Jupiter

      Jupiter seems to be best symbolized by a process of filling up space with self. When conditions are optimal, bacteria, plants, or humans breed happily and prolifically and eventually take over the entire available space. They incorporate material (food) from this ideal environment, turn it into more self, and eventually reach a maximum density. (Residents of New York, London, and Tokyo will confirm that his process can go only so far and that it has built-in limits.)

      This idea might be called biological manifest destiny - no one ever really questions it. On a more psychological or cultural level, this "occupation of space" theme seems to manifest as a drive for understanding: religion, science, and astrology. The general human drive to understand and systematize the unknowable and seemingly blindly unfathomable universe may be one to try to organize and, thus, fill the void of blind fate with reason.

      Garth Allen, whose small but powerful book, "Taking the Kid Gloves off Astrology" has remained a foundation of modern psychological interpretation of planets, describes the influence under Jupiter as a process by which an infant "creates" its mother. The baby feels hunger and eventually is fed, so it comes to believe (insofar as infants can believe anything) that its need has "created" the need’s fulfillment.

       Incapable of thought complex enough to recognize forces outside of itself, the baby assumes that the hunger brought into being the thing that fulfilled it.  This psychological process, described originally by psychiatrist Ferenczi, seems a little less off-the-wall when one considers in the modern world a phenomenon of people who truly believe that God, after creating the universe, particularly empowered they and their friends to run it.

      This is nothing new, however, as in more ancient times the ruler was considered by most to be the appointed regent of heaven; doctrines like the divine right of kings or the social systems described in books like the "I Ching" show amply that moral authority and God are frequently seen as the same force, a force that often displays a marked sense of "manifest destiny" when confronted with differing beliefs.

      In a more highly socialized world like that of the present, authority and morals are usually more inwardly than outwardly enforced; and Jupiter symbolizes this inner conscience or ethical set of standards that militates, for example, that at least 99 percent of humanity considers it a crime to kill another human.

      Money seems also to be associated with Jupiter. In light of the preceding generalized (and thus, Jupiterian) ruminations, one can see first that money is instinctively thought of as a reward for conforming to social expectations; it also allows a person to fill up more individual space and to see his or her will enforced.

      Cliches notwithstanding, virtue is not its own reward, at least not anymore; and the acquisitive side of Jupiter suggests that by being a good boy, a cosmic Mommie will reward you with golden jelly beans.

      Wonder of wonders, this seems to be true. As Allen points out, "Wishful and constructive thinking has a way of fulfilling itself." Gain is aided by the mere act of believing in an auspicious outcome.  It is easier to believe in an auspicious outcome if you truly believe that you are more deserving than anyone else.

      Also, society will tend to reward those who conform to its own rules  best. It is hard to judge objectively just who that might be; and, in gambling, many people are seeking tangible evidence of their own virtue. If you win a million dollars at a lottery, obviously some incomprehensible force higher than the authority that pays you $125 a week has deemed you superior to the multitude.

      It is for this reason that Las Vegas’ gaming rooms are eternally thronged.  Few people can pass up the opportunity to have God, or some universal force of chance, designate them winners.  As Garth Allen observes, "There is always more fervent praying under way in a gambling casino than in any chapel."

      So it’s obvious that Jupiter is both the wish to be distinguished by honor and money for one’s virtue and a self-fulfilling prophecy for success.   What has Pluto to do with all this?

     Pluto

      The big problem with Jupiter is that it is also the planet of conformity - in searching for virtue, it is easiest and most obvious to do what everyone else is doing.  Clearly, if 99 percent of the people around are wearing white socks, there must be some inherent virtue in clothing of that color. The problem is that by conforming, one cuts one’s chances for success. It’s like always betting on the favorite on the racetrack - even if you do win, you don’t win very much.

      Pluto is the perfect antidote to this problem, as it is the planet of singularity, one in a million, the unique event. It rules birth and death, which will, let’s face it, happen to any of us only once.  Pluto is the dialogue with the eternal and is present in those rare moments when an individual gets to look at his/her own mortality - the crack in the cosmic mirror through which the darkness and exaltation of the void can be glimpsed.

       Pluto is so far from the Sun that the Sun appears to be just another star and, thus, is the threshold between the world of life and warmth and the howling void of the unknowable nothing. So when Pluto intrudes into a horoscope or situation, the odds are defied, the one in a million happens.  Garth Allen calls it: "the planet of the improbable, defier of odds, the thwarter of the commonplace, and the highlighter of the unique…A Plutonian event," he continues, "is the thing…which should not happen." Winning a million dollars would seem to be just such an event.

      Also inherent in the combination of Jupiter and Pluto are the ideas of publicity, fame, success through change (such as inheritance), growth through radical transformation, healing, miracles, and the creation of a very personal code of ethics. People with this combination in their natal horoscope can seem to be the outlaws of the world - they feel that they do not need to conform to get the goodies they want from the universe.  They truly march to a different drummer and feel that success comes to them not because they are like everyone else, but because they are different and special.

      It should now be obvious that this ability to bet on one’s own impressions, to rejoice in one’s differences, coupled with Jupiter’s penchant for gambling and proving (by believing it) that the universe is indeed on your side, should produce some pretty spectacular results at the gaming tables. It is the potential for winning substantially in a single stroke, when the odds are high, as opposed to playing the favorites cagily and gradually building up a stake by carefully observing what everyone else is doing.

      In addition, the best times in anyone’s life to gamble will be when transiting Jupiter is aspecting Pluto, or vice versa or when they are otherwise combined in their action in your horoscope, temporarily upsetting the odds in your favor. If you can, it’s good also to arrange things so that the Moon is involved (feeling, which in this case would be joyous, and the idea of attraction and participation). Maybe Uranus, too, would lend the daring and immediacy of a sudden big win.

      None of these planets can do much good if they are not also in aspect to the angles of the natal horoscope. The angles identify the point at which the forces of the universe enter the individual life experience.  As one cannot hurry transits or change one’s natal angles, there are very few people with all the conditions for big success in gambling.

     There’s a Place for You!

      One is powerless to speed Jupiter in its trajectory towards a conjunction with one’s Pluto; but one may relocate geographically in such a way as to bring these two energies to focus, at least at that place. For every person’s horoscope, there are bound to be places in the world where Jupiter and Pluto appeared on the angles at the time of his/her birth.

      If you were not blessed with a conjunction of these two planets, as the one under which this article is being written, it is still possible to go to a place where each of the planets occupies an angle at the moment of your birth. Somewhere on earth (probably not your birthplace), Jupiter was at the midheaven at the moment you were born and Pluto occupied the ascendant.  (No guarantee can be made that this somewhere will not be under 10.000 fathoms of water of two miles of ice.)

      As most are by now aware, I have devised a process by which such places can be determined at a glance by using a computer to draw lines across a world map, identifying every possible location at which planets were angular (rising, setting, on the midheaven, or straight down) at the moment of birth. Such a map will show some forty lines, four for each planet, curving about and crossing one another in patterns determined by the birth moment. Examples of such maps are reproduced with this article.

      To determine the places at which Jupiter and Pluto will be most powerful together - and thus, where they might behave in a fashion likely to attract this extraordinary, odds-defying good luck - one must merely find places where the Jupiter and Pluto lines cross, since a crossing of any two lines on these maps shows a place where, at the moment of the native’s birth, two planets each held the powerful spotlight of angularity.

      In the accompanying map, there are several such places: the JU MH (Jupiter on the midheaven) line crosses the PL ASC (Pluto on the ascendant) about 1000 miles south of Australia; other Jupiter-Pluto combinations are found east of Nova Scotia and east of New Zealand, all out to sea and, therefore, of no use.

      More encouragingly, the Pluto IC line crosses the JU ASC line straight over Monte Carlo; in keeping with this miraculous combination, the native for whom this map was done found herself there, with a friend, down to their last twenty dollars. Rather than spend it on something foolishly practical like food, she approached the world-famous casino and, to her own amazement, proceeded to play sixty hands of blackjack, hardly losing any.

      The house, understandably alarmed at this turn of events (others in the casino began betting on her hands as well, thus increasing the loss to the management), changed dealers five times, to no avail. After she had piled up "thousands" of francs, she and her friend tried to leave but were accosted by a well-dressed gentleman who introduced himself as a German count.

      The count invited them to spend the weekend at his island villa; once they had arrived, he initiated a romantic affair with the owner of this chart. Two weeks later, he had become so enamored that he suggested they return to Germany and seek his mother’s permission to marry. Sadly, it can be seen that on the map the JU-PL (Jupiter-Pluto) crossing is here changed to one of Mars and Pluto; the romance ended with the count’s intense drinking and increased callousness, his mother’s disapproval, and my friend’s hasty departure for home.

      Marge, who had won the $500 in the New York Lottery, had Jupiter on the IC and Pluto rising in New York.  Most significantly, both these lucky women were enjoying transits of Jupiter to either their Jupiter or Pluto at the time of their notable successes.

      A better known example of Jupiter and Pluto is that of Billy Carter, whose map also appears with this article. Readers may remember a crisis involving him and Libya, a country he visited and which bestowed upon him a "gift" of many thousands of dollars, presumably a compensation for his "friendship." Both the pattern of unusual personal good fortune and that of going against political mores and standards of behavior are evident in this case.

      On his map, not only is his natal Jupiter-Pluto opposition angular - and, thus, most powerful in Libya - but it is also crossed by rising Uranus, reinforcing the rebellious, non-conforming, and devil-may-care nature of the aspects.  It is probably worthwhile to note Jupiter and Uranus may often have much the same effect as Jupiter and Pluto, as the non-conformity and singularity of Uranus also serves to single out the individual for Jupiter’s favors.

     Lucky Winners

      In Lois Rodden’s "American Book of Charts" (Para Research, 1979), several charts are given for lucky winners. Among them is a fellow who managed to win $56,000 at Keno over several days - $25,000 of it in one day.  Las Vegas, his lucky location, lies between Jupiter IC and Pluto midheaven on his map. At the time of his winning, transiting Jupiter was between an opposition to his Pluto and a conjunction with his natal Jupiter.

      The "Game Show Winner" from the same book has the Moon on the IC in Los Angeles, with transiting Jupiter opposing the natal Sun nearby. There is a close Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in this chart also, though not angular at Los Angeles. The "Illinois State Lottery Winner" had much the same situation in Chicago: Jupiter conjunction Pluto on the descendant, though Saturn opposed them at birth. Transiting Uranus and Pluto conjoined over the location of the good fortune and were opposed by transiting Jupiter.

      Finally, it should be mentioned that even if all of one’s Jupiter-Pluto crossings fall in inaccessible places, there is still some hope. Work with ASTRO*CARTO*GRAPHY maps has illustrated the importance of "crossings" or parans, as the siderealists know them.  The crossing of Jupiter and Pluto Lines (or any other two planetary lines) are felt most strongly at the place under which the lines occur; but they are also felt, to a lesser degree, anywhere along the line of latitude at which the crossing occurs.

      Every time I visit Seattle (half a dozen times to date,) I have been written up in the papers, appeared on TV and radio talk shows. While I usually have a hard time securing such engagements, even when I want them, in Seattle they always seem to seek me out. Why? My Jupiter is in Gemini and Pluto in Leo, for one thing; and the crossing is at that exact latitude.

      On the chart for my friend in Monte Carlo, a latitude line through that location adds two crossings’ influence to that location; JU IC and PL DSC (off Nova Scotia) and SU IC and MA ASC (in Utah) suggest the extreme good fortune and the intense sexuality of the liaison with the count.

     Summary

      In summary, it seems consistent that some relationship between Jupiter and Pluto appears in the horoscope of those who are apt to win large amounts of money. Moreover, the time this occurs seems to be most often when these planets are linked by transits to emphasize the natal potential. Finally, it seems that anyone is most liable to win unusual sums of money in the place where Jupiter and Pluto were angular at the time of birth; one may determine this place and the the latitudes where its crossings dominate from ASTRO*CARTO*GRAPHY maps.

      Obviously, this capacity for winning vast sums is predicated largely upon one’s nativity. As one would expect, not many people’s charts show the possibility for great wealth of this sort.  Marge, who introduced this article, won "only" $500, perhaps because her Jupiter is aspected as well with Saturn.  Still, it was an exciting experiment for her and a lesson in applied astrology. She became a little famous, at least to the readers of HOROSCOPE, didn't she?