We had a discussion about the Russian author Lev - or Leo in English - Tolstoy´s chart in another thread. So many interesting things came up that I decided to give it a post of it´s own.
Background for those who aren´t familiar with the detail´s of Tolstoy´s life: He is one of the most prominent authors that has ever lived, developed a deep spirituality based on ideas like pacifism and was a great inspiration for Gandhi´s ideas of non violence. He pronounced practical work as an important part of spiritual development and was at least dreaming of becoming a renunciate. Which wasn´t easy, having a wife and 13 children. His marriage to his wife Sophia Tolstaya was infamously conflictuous, but the spouses also seem to have been dear to each other. A glimpse of it can be seen in the movie The last station, which depicts the end of his life. Helen Mirren is seen in the role of Sophia in that movie. Sophia wrote a couple of books in which she complained about her share in the marriage. Among other things, to my understanding, she said she was forced to have more children than was good for her health.
So, some details from his chart. The birthdata I´ve gotten from astro.com. It´s september 9 1828, 22.52, Tula.
- He has only one akriti yoga: Yupa, the sacrificial pillar. The foundation for a spiritual life is laid...
- His Moon is in Uttara Phalguni, a relationship centered nakshatra. The shakti of UP is "bringing prosperity through union or marriage" and the result of that is accumulation of wealth. Tolstoy became a very wealthy man through his writing, and his wife took part in the work as his secretary or a role similar to that.
(It´s interesting to see how the ideal of Uttara Phalguni is reflected in his most famous book Anna Karenina / alongside with War and Peace/ in which the passion-based relation of Anna and her lover count Vronsky is contrasted to the much more mature and down-to-earth marriage of Kitty and Levin. The first ends in catastrophy whilest the latter leads to happiness. The relation between Kitty and Levin is very much based on work and responsability. It´s an harmonious picture of man and woman working together.)
- Jupiter retrograde in the 5th. A prolific author and a father of 6. Jupiter rules the 6th and 9th house, making the daily struggle and the spiritual path important themes in his writing. And, as said: He became the father of 13 children!
- His 5th lord is in the 7 house. A "wife killer". In Anna Karenina there is a scene in which count Vronsksy makes Anna read his diary, in which he has written down his erotic adventures. According to Sophia´s autobiography - I believe - this happened in their reality. Tolstoy, in an attempt to show utter honesty it seems, asked her to read his diary in which he had written about his erotic adventures with the servants of the household - on the night of their wedding! A "wife killer" indeed!
- His Venus is starved by Saturn in the 2nd house.
- His 12th lord Mercury is exalted, but also agitated by the Sun. Frustrated renunciation.
- His AK Moon is agitated by the Sun. Frustrated child mind.
- Mars in the 7th, being the 5th and 10th lord (Cancer lagna) forms, from what I can see, a perfect Raj yoga, giving strength to the 7th as well as the 5th and 10th.
- 7th lord Saturn in the second, fulfilling Uttara Phalgunis promises of abundance through relationships. A caretaker.
- Ketu in the 10th, Rahu in the 4th.
Still looking forward to look at his CoT too...
What other important indications have I missed?
Staffan
The Cards, looking at them as I´m writing:
- BC: 2D Earth connection.
- Underlying card: 6C: working philosophy, easy time to understand philiosophy
- Overlying card: AD: Developing a new value system
- EC: QD: taking care of things. Levin in Anna Karenina (Tolstoy´s ideal version of himself it seems): Taking care of the farm, of Earth. Taking care of family. (Although one might argue that he dropped out in the end, wanting to be a renunciate. I don´t know all the details about that though.) He ran a farm.
- Jupiter and Ketu share lord, so Ju/Ke conjunction in the 6D Mars card: Connect to existing value systems, let go of them quickly. Looking for something else. Ju/Ke: Innate wisdom, a natural knack for spirituality.
- Uranus card: 5H A knack for evaluating and improving relations. Seems to contradict his Rahu in the 4th to a degree. Natural understanding for female psychology. Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina, one of the most famous study of the female psychology in the world literature. (Didn´t say he doesn´t have negative factors as a husband, though.)
- Neptune card: 3C: An independent and expansive thinker.
- Pluto card: 3S: Has to overcome himself, personal growth. He describes an existential crisis that almost led him to commit suicide in "A confession".
- Sun card: JS with Saturn and Venus in it: does what it takes, a slant of lack of morality. Frustrated due to Saturn. Saturn is his DK, Venus obviously represents marriage, so his marital frustration can be seen here. Venus here indicates a younger wife and somewhat disobedient wife.
- Moon card: 8C with the lagna falling there: Social skills. Anna Karenina, as everything he writes, is full of people. Brotherhood is a main theme in his writing. Moreover: In "A confession", about his existential crisis that turned him towards God, it was the realization that the common lives on despite the meaningless of life that has been pointed out by privileged people like King Solomon, Buddha and Schopenhauer, becomes the solid ground that he needs for to not commit suicide but rather try to live on and open his heart and mind to God.
- Mars card: 6D: Easy time achieving skills, easy time finding values, for example working philosophy. Which he equally quicked abandoned. In "A confession" he speaks about he had access to the most brilliant scientific minds of his time, learned from them and ended up empty and unfulfilled. Same with the philosophers he mentions in the book.
- Mercury card: 4S with his AK Moon, Sun and Mercury in it: a life strategy based on authenticity, he knows who he is and use that as a foundation. Balance. Until the last days of his life, at least. It also rhymes with the philosophy that he developed, as described above: "I am what I am, no more, no less than the ordinary people." Just like Levin in Anna Karenina he took part in the practicalities of his farm, working alongside with his workers. To what extent I do not know.
- Jupiter card: 10H: Hard struggle to find harmony in the family and marital life
- Venus card: 10D: High value partner, high value partnership, as seen in the portrait of Levin and Kitty. His 5th and 12th cusp falls here, so an important card for his writing and spirituality. "High class".
- Saturn card: 8S: Forced to question himself, to get out of his comfort zone. His 7th cusp falls there, so his frustrated marriage was or should have been an important part of that.
- Rahu card: AH Struggling with new emotional connections. Infidelity and learn how to stay with one partner? I need some help on this.
- Ketu card: AD, also his overlying card: Need to realize that you don´t need new things in every moment, there is newness to every new day, also with the things you´ve already got.
Something like that...
Staffan
I think his Venus is very difficult being in enemy sign and conjunct to Saturn. Also whenever a planet is in 6th from it's exalted sign like ve in Leo is 6th from pisces, that can show the planet has to go through terrible crisis in order to improve as ve has to move 8 positions towards its exaltation sign. It's like a war situation.
@amit Very interesting, and a good description of his marriage, from what I´ve understood. I haven´t read The Kreutzer Sonata (yet), but it seems to be very much in line with what you say.
Staffan
@amit I hadn´t thought about this. So what do we make of it? Let´s say we find Mars in Gemini. It´s in an enemy sign and it´s in the 6th from the exaltation sign. What do we tell the client?
Staffan
@amit The image that comes to me is someone struggling in a swamp. 8th - hidden obstacles. 6th - hard work (to get free). Something like that, then? For any planet in 6/8 or 8/6 position from it´s exaltation sign I guess, but obviously worse if in an innimical sign.
Staffan
Yes, you have to see how far the planet has to move to the exaltation sign from its current position. Mars in Gemini and Venus in Leo need to undergo heavy purification where they are like twisted and crushed if they have to learn to live healthy on their own.
Ernst has explained this technique in character development course I believe. Please refer that to understand it fully
@amit Interesting, I have missed that. Would that be "Character effects of the grahas"?
Staffan
@amit Yeah, it turns out that it was one of the first courses I took and I also have a dim memory of it. But I have the notes still, and I wonder: Are you sure that what you say relates to exaltation signs and not to MT?a
It´s a wonderful course by the way, well worth taking again. A young, witty Ernst at the peak of his enthusiasm. Very fun. You can eat chips and have a drink why listening to it, like looking at some old TV comedy show.
Staffan
Yes, MT will add more details to to the technique like what will the planet gain by working towards its exaltation number. So for Venus in Leo is 11 away from Libra it's MT sign, it can gain titles or social recognition
@staffan Yes I love those earlier courses - you learn 5 new things each minute 😀 Lots and lots of notes. I love all the courses, really.
I think the compatibility Audio course is the most fun one, though, you can really laugh a lot and learn some truly profound things about the female male polarities at the same time. Nowadays whenever a woman starts listing all the ways in which she's doing great, and has done so much healing, I can't help but think of that class 🙂
@nkan Yeah, young Ernst was a firework! Glad he slowed down a little though, he wouldn´t have last, nobody can, I guess. I remember we spoke about this before him turning 52 - going from the Sun card to the Moon card in the CoT-system - and he already before realized that he was going to go more inwardly. Well, everything is relative, Ernst´s productivity is still so much higher than for example mine, even at his new pace.
Staffan
@staffan yeah I aspire to be one day half as productive as Ernst is on his worst days 😁 and with a Mars Saturn conjunction in Capricorn, you can believe me when I say I constantly try to do as much work as possible, but it's an ongoing struggle for me. Then I get exhausted from all the internal stress and guilt I cause myself, and end up being even less able to work as much as I'd want to 😂
@nkan Well... What card are you? Ernst has an idle card, remember. I´m a 5 of Clubs, I´m "only" supposed to find the truth. For myself, obviously. My Mercury card is 7 of Diamonds, "constantly running into walls" with Ace of Spades on the Moon: "Get up on your feet again!" As a 5 of Clubs I´m not supposed to be very productive, in that sense, I believe.
Maybe you ain´t neither.
I just saw his beautiful beautiful story about how he took care of his father at the end of his life, vid 51 or 52 in the PAC course. The more mature Ernst isn´t that bad neither. 🙂
Staffan
@staffan Oh the more recent courses are absolutely incredible, the profound blend of psychology, counselling and astrology. Remarkable insights. (That's what I love most about astrology anyway, predictions are not as interesting to me - though they are fun, of course.)
"joy-giving wisdom" = each and every course on this website. I'm eternally grateful.
And as you asked - I am 9 of clubs 🙂 With my Moon and Lagna in the Sun card - 9 of spades. (with Sun, Pluto and Midheaven in the KH - Mars card, if it matters). Every day I dream I could just stop time, lock myself in my flat for a few years and just study astrology and read with nobody and nothing bothering me - full-on hermit mode.
@nkan Yeah, first I did the cards, so at least I have a decent foundation in that sense. Then I´ve been trying during years to become a real astrologer, but there is always a Ra/Ke- or LA-course wrapping me up, stealing my time from plunging into the depth of the dasas, yogas and you name it. I´m mostly joking of course, the luxury of having the cards is that after that you can afford to cherry pick from the astrological table, you can always go back to your cards. Besides, I hope I´ll get there, more or less, next year. BUT - of course the PAC course is taking up most of my time.
Personally I´m declined to work with medical astrology most, since I really love the gemstones, since my wife is a natural healar and chiropractic and such and since my Jupiter´s only really good varga is D30; exalted there.
And of course PAC and the LA are going to be a huge part of that.
9 of Clubs... No way you are not going to be a good astrologer with that card (if you aren´t already). Well, unless some really louse planetary positions speak against it.
Yeah, that Sun card and Mars card just want to stay in studying, of course. The KD doesn´t bother the solitude neither. But your Neptune card 10H has another idea, of course...
Staffan
@staffan beautiful that you are both dedicated to healing as a couple, we need more of that in the world.
I believe this is what Ernst tends to recommend anyway - COT first if we want to help people - as they take less time to properly master.
God willing, we will all have many more years gifted to us to keep learning, growing and helping others 🙂
About Leo's chart, the first things I noticed were the Jaimini indications:
- That Venus being aspected by Rahu and together with Saturn never stood a chance - relationships with women were always going to be problematic and painful. And in his 2nd house of family and taking care of his responsibilities.
- His AK Moon, together with MT Mercury in Virgo - he could have been a healer and in a way did end up healing I guess, through his words and creativity. But it's certainly a strong writer combination! And it's with the 5th cusp of creative intelligence.
- Strong Jupiter in his Pada and UP - Raj yoga for a highly successful and fulfilling life
- Lord of the 5th and 10th exalted Mars in the 7th - another raj yoga
- Rahu in Libra - learning how to have win-win, balanced relationships. And in this 4th house of emotions. Explains a lot.
@nkan Very true and relevant observations. I listened yesterday on the PAC video in which Ernst speaks about Venus/Saturn conjunc, how Venus must accept paying a karmatic dept - in Tolstoy´s case to the persons his responsibie for - and how one must accept that task with a good attitude. But how they tend to be put be put down by Saturn, and that of course was a part of Tolstoy´s frustration. Maybe Sophia had a tool or two in her toolbox to make life bitter to him that we don´t know about. If you have the avastha it doesn´t take much to feel great pain.
I missed Jupiter´s raj yoga. From what I can see both raj yogas are stainless, am I wrong? What a powerful chart indeed!
Staffan
@nkan I´m pretty impressed by how much we managed to squeeze out of his chart(s) without even considering the vargas, and only a few basic yogas. It would be interesting to see what other layers Ernst or someone else with years and years of experience would be able to extract. Something tells me that this orange still has a lot of juice within it. Astrology is truly fascinating, it´s one layer after another.
What you said yesterday about locking yourself in studying; I forgot to mention the most obvious prediction of them all, as for the cards; that the black 9s are hermits and that 9 of Clubs is the kind of hermit that likes to isolate him/herself for a while and then come out triumphantly of his chamber/laboratory showing the world his/her last invention...!
Staffan
@nkan I looked briefly on his Dasas. He ran Jupiter dasa when he had his huge existential crisis and wrote "My confession". Coming out of it, getting into his Saturn dasa, it was published. So at the end of the Jupiter dasa, he wrote it. Jupiter rules his 6th and 9th. Neat!
Staffan
@nkan In "My confession" he speaks about having identified with the role as a teacher, through is writing teaching people how to live their lives. The problem, he says, is that he had no idea what to teach! He looked around and observed how the members of the intellectual, progressive class to which he belonged all shared that idea of doing good and being important on society´s path of development, yet they all quarrelled between them and didn´t seem to have any real foundation for the words they were preaching to the word.
That, I think, is an expression of Ketu in the 10 / Rahu in the 4th.
Plus in relationship, men with the nodes on the angles, tend to give their initiative away to women, thus making both frustrated. Just heard Ernst explaining this in the 7th audio of the Character effects course. That offers any layer for to understand his marital problems.
Staffan
Ernst also says in that video that a man with the nodes in the angle tend to be overly forceful and doesn´t listen to a no.
Staffan