A Personal Story with Medical Astrology

Medical astrology is a branch of the tradition which ancient physicians used routinely.  From the transits to your natal chart, physical history, and horary questions, the physicians would determine what kind of disease you had and would recommend treatments.  

Even today, medical astrologers can give you windows into the world of your body’s constitution and how it might respond to interventions.  While the interventions have changed (blood letting for example vs. antibiotics), even today you can see how the stars will play into the situation and outcome.

Houses in Medical Astrology

Key placements to look are the rising sign and its ruler’s condition, the 6th house of health, the 8th house of death, the 10th house of intervention/treatment, and the 12th house of closed spaces (think hospitals).  

Planets in Medical Astrology

Each planet rules different conditions.  If you are thinking specifically about surgery or inflammation, you look at Mars.  Problems with Venus can indicate issues with blood sugars.  Jupiter can indicate issues with excess such as obesity, liver, or cancer.  Leo or the Sun can suggest problems with the heart.  Neptune can indicate problems with the immune system, addictions, or misdiagnosis.  Uranus afflictions can show problems with sudden accidents or the nervous system.  Mercury shows up with speech issues, mental disorders or respiratory problems.  Saturn can show chronic issues or hardening diseases.  And Pluto can indicate massive infection, congenital issues, or even death.

Signs in Medical Astrology

And the signs rule different parts of the body.  For example, Libra governs your endocrine system and kidneys, while Scorpio rules your sexual health. Aries rules your head and brain.  Gemini will rule your arms, lungs, hands and nervous system. Virgo is your digestion. The feet are ruled by Pisces while the ankles are ruled by Aquarius. Taurus rules your throat. Leo rules your heart. Cancer rules your stomach and breasts. Sagittarius rules your legs and liver. This is not an exhaustive list, by any means.

My Personal Experience

My chart is no exception.

As a Capricorn rising, I am prone to issues with bones, joints, and teeth.  Capricorn risings can indicate younger people with older people problems.  Mars is in my 6th house of health in Gemini.  Knowing that Gemini is a mutable sign, this would suggest that my problems show up and then go away for awhile.  Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, is in its detriment in Cancer, but is dignified by its term.  It’s not a surprise that I have had a lot of surgeries on my knees and spine.

I am going in for bi-lateral knee replacements tomorrow so my medical astrology has been at the forefront of my mind. It’s rare for a 44 year old to be getting this surgery so young, but I’ve literally exhausted all treatment options from intensive PT to various injections.  I’ve had this booked since October 2019.

It’s important that you seek experts in the field when getting information.  I am not a medical astrologer, so I booked a consult with Jane Ridder-Patrick out of the UK for more insight.  Every practitioner is different and I first learned of her when I attended the United Astrological Conference in 2018.  

I gave her a detailed medical history with all of my surgical dates and wondered if there were common threads to the interventions.  Indeed there were:  Saturn or another outer planet was usually making an aspect to my cardinal cross planets every time I had an issue.  

Tomorrow is no different.  My Saturn opposition is almost exact, Mercury will be moving into Pisces minutes before my surgery will take place opposing my Sun/Moon by sign, and the Moon moves into Capricorn simultaneously.  

It’s not ideal.  One of the first rules of surgery election dates is to not undergo an operation when the moon is VOC or in the same or opposite sign of the body part that will be cut.  This goes back to Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine.  

“Touch not with iron that part of the body rule by the sign the moon is transiting” – Hippocrates (460 BC)

Like I said, this isn’t ideal.  But in modern medicine you also need to be practical.  I didn’t really get much say in my surgery date which is typical of medicine in the USA.  Also, with the COVID-19 influx, I am actually surprised it hasn’t been canceled yet.  However, I check in daily and they assure me it is still on. 

One of my friends is an Infectious Disease doctor who actually recommended I get this procedure done as the first wave of COVID-19 hasn’t fully hit and my husband (a palliative care doctor) will be at home on FMLA and not on service with all of the sick patients.  With my kids now out of school as well, we are essentially on quarantine which is the best thing for my recovery.  

Am I worried?  Yes.  I’d be a fool not to be regardless of where the Moon was.

Have you had any experiences with medical astrology? I’d love to know more about it in the comment section!

Medical Astrologers I trust: Jane Patrick-Ridder, J.Lee Lehman, Kira Sutherland

***Update: It has been postponed and unknown when it will be rescheduled. As a bonus, maybe I’ll get a better moon for the procedure.***