Medical Astrology: Part 2
Your Health’s Astrological DNA
…we know medical astrology works, even if the ‘how?’ remains unknown. Then we come to feel a deep gratitude for all those intrepid and often persecuted practitioners down the centuries who kept this flame alive for us to use, to enhance, and once again, pass on to future generations.
Judith Hill, Medical Astrology: A Guide to Planetary Pathology
In my opinion, at its heart, astrology is about observation, and medical astrology is observation and pattern identification in its most mechanical form. There is a similarity in what first drew me to science. I fell in love with the million and one things to observe, and then with the process to attempt to see a pattern in repeated sets of observations captured as data.
The “how” then only matters if you wish to manufacture or sell the what, e.g. a reproducible product. So, let’s put aside the “how” (although in the intro to her book: Medical Astrology: A Guide to Planetary Pathology, Judith Hill lays out the theories which have been most investigated) and focus on the “what”. Beginning with your birth chart and what can be observed from the placements.
Last week, I left you with some optional homework. It was to list out your main maladies and then to list out rulership by sign of the “planets” in your chart. (Note that I forgot to include the Lunar Nodes in the list last week). ICYMI, there was a fun extra credit involving Da Vinci’s Last Supper, for you to check out, too.
Hill introduces a Code of Medical Astrology. It has three basic components, as follows:
“Planets” are: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Lunar Nodes
“Signs” are the twelve zodiac signs.
“Houses” are the twelve divisions of the birth chart. I use Porphyry, from the lineage in which I was trained, but you may use whichever you are most used to using. Note that the houses which are most important in health are: 1st, 6th, 8th, 12th.
For now, be aware of the first two principles (there are ten in total) of the code:
Planets are the activating energies, describing various types of symptomology and pathology.
Signs represent the body parts.
As you can imagine, this could get very complicated very fast! For today, just keep in mind the signs which are most prominent in your chart. In order to keep it simple, let’s have you consider your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs, and any signs which have 2 or more “planets”. Using my birth chart as an example, my handful of prominent signs is: Aries (Moon), Leo (Sun, Mars), Virgo (South Node, Mercury, Pluto), Libra (Uranus,Venus), and Scorpio (Rising, Jupiter, Neptune).
As I walk through the physical correspondences for each sign, I will then have a general sense of which of the maladies I consider prominent in my life may correlate to the prominent signs in my chart. The goal here is simply to understand your birth chart and yourself in a different way, rather than to diagnose and remediate issues (although that may organically happen as you tune in). In fact, now may be a good time for me to disclaim any diagnosis or treatment you stumble upon. Your health and body belong to you and I am not licensed to practice medicine and have not been contracted by you.
Here are the Signs and their Physical Correspondences, taken verbatim, hence the block quotation.
Yes, it was a lot of typing, but it is worth it as I think it may create some light bulbs to go off out there. Also, I am a fairly quick typist, as one of my first jobs was as a (horribly incompetent) secretary for my dad, typing up legal briefs on annoying pleading paper that had to be lined up just so. This was much easier.
**However, I must also urge you to buy Hill’s book, or at minimum visit her website, as what I present in this series is a minuscule portion of her important work. I leave in references to other chapters in order to be faithful to the quote.**
For listeners to the podcast, this is a bit of a yoga nidra experience, so it is understandable if you fall asleep.
ARIES: Head, skull, cerebrum, motor centers of the brain, frontal and lateral lobes, corpus callosum eyes, optic nerves, crystalline lens of eye, eyeballs, upper jaw. Teeth (with Saturn and Taurus). Aries is probably more associated with the teeth of the upper jaw.
(See: Sun in Aries and Aries Diseases, next chapter).
TAURUS: Ears, neck, carotid arteries, vessels of the neck, salivary glands, lower jaw, sternocleidomastoids, cervical vertebrae, base of the skull, cerebellum, chin, taste buds, vocal cords, upper portion of esophagus, tonsils. Hearing (with Gemini). Teeth (with Saturn and Aries. Taurus is associated strongly with the teeth of the lower jaw). Sense of taste (with Mars). The tongue (with Mercury). The nose is under the rule of Scorpio.
(See: Sun in Taurus and Taurus diseases next chapter).
GEMINI: Hands, arms (not elbow), fingers, trachea, bronchial tube, lower esophagus, upper lobe of lungs, scapula, clavicle, pleura (with Cancer), voluntary nerves (with Mercury), speech, hearing (with Taurus).
The capillaries.
(See Sun in Gemini and Gemini diseases next chapter).
CANCER: Stomach (with Moon), mucous membranes in general, breasts and nipples (with Moon), rib cage, elbows, lower lobes of lung, spleen (Carter), gastric mucosa, pleura, some association with meninges of brain and also the fatty protection of eyes, water retention, lower esophagus, upper lobes of liver (Cornell), uterus (see Scorpio), the diaphragm (with Virgo), temperature regulation of the body.
(See Sun in Cancer and Cancer diseases next chapter).
LEO: The back in general, the spinal cord, heart, vena cava, aorta. The myelin sheaths.
(See Sun in Leo and Leo diseases next chapter).
VIRGO: Pancreas, lower lobes of liver, upper intestines, appendix, cecum, ascending colon, abdominal cavity, bile duct, diaphragm, solar plexus, immune system (with Pisces), duodenum (with Pisces - writers vary), spleen (Cornell, but Carter’s findings indicate Cancer rules this gland). Some relation to womb with Cancer and Scorpio, the sympathetic nervous system, the solar plexus, the diaphragm (with Cancer).
(See Sun in Virgo and Virgo diseases next chapter).
LIBRA: Kidneys, lumbar region of back, (Leo is the back in general), acid-alkaline balancing, hormonal balancing, fallopian tubes, reins, distillation and filtration of urine, ovaries (with Venus), veins (with Venus and Aquarius).
(See Sun in Libra and Libra diseases next chapter).
SCORPIO: Colon, rectum, prostate, anus, bladder, male genitalia, female genitalia, cervix and glandular portion of uterus along with the neck of womb, sweat glands, nose, pelvis, sacrum, coccyx.
(See Sun in Scorpio and Scorpio diseases next chapter).
SAGITTARIUS: Hips, hip bones, femur, thighs, sciatic nerve, arteries, (with Jupiter), gluteals, some relation to the spinal cord (with Leo). The central nervous system (CNS) is coordinated under Sagittarius, the voluntary peripheral nerves being under the opposite sign Gemini, and the sympathetic peripheral nerves being more under Saturn, according to Cornell. Sagittarius squaring Virgo influences the sympathetic nerves.
(See Sun in Sagittarius and Sagittarius Diseases, next chapter).
CAPRICORN: Knees, the skin (with Saturn and Venus), sebaceous glands (?), bones, nails and cuticles in general (with Saturn). The teeth are influenced in this sign, although are under the general rulership of Aries (upper teeth), Taurus (lower teeth), and Saturn. The gums are related to the opposite sign Cancer.
(See Sun in Capricorn and Capricorn diseases, next chapter).
AQUARIUS: Ankles, lower leg, achilles tendon, circulation, veins (with Libra and Venus), oxygenation of blood, the little understood electrical system of the body (with Uranus).
(See Sun in Aquarius and Aquarius diseases, next chapter).
PISCES: Feet, heel, blood (with Aquarius, Moon and Mars), lymph, and lymphatics, duodenum (with Virgo).
(See Sun in Pisces and Pisces diseases next chapter).
Note that Hill refers to “Carter” and “Cornell”. I will put the full references at the end.
Have you had any ah hahs about your unsolved health mysteries? There are many more nuances to explore, such as the Lunar South Node being an area of health “leaks”, or the sign opposite your Sun likely being a compromised spot, as well as other concepts which round out your patterns of troublesome chronic or recurrent health issues. Later in the series, we will touch upon planetary transits, which serve to activate underlying vulnerabilities.
If nothing else, perhaps you feel validated that you are perhaps not wholly or partially to blame for your issues. But as I mentioned at the start of this series, Medical Astrology can provide a different lens - a more holistic lens than is used in our broken healthcare system - with which to view yourself and your health. And hopefully to understand yourself as more than simply a set of diagnoses.
Resources:
Judith Hill Books used so far in this series:
The Twelve Zodiac Sign Syndromes of Medical Astrology: Expanding Out View of the Seasonal Wheel
Medical Astrology for Health Practitioners: A Healer's Guide
Judith Hill’s website
Here are the references from the bibliography of Medical Astrology: A Guide to Planetary Pathology.
The Astrology of Accidents, C.E.O. Carter, Theological Publishing HouseLtd., London, 1978.
Encyclopedia of Medical Astrology, H.L. Cornell, M.D., Llewellyn Publications and Samuel Weiser, Inc., NYC, 1972.
This is so fascinating! My husband has unexplained chronic pain - but he is a 29 degree cancer sun, cancer rising, and a Gemini moon (moon in the 12th house). Eek! 😱 😂❤️🩹