by Milky Way Maid
One of the most
popular questions in any astrological life reading consultation is
how many children one is likely to have.
The best technique
I have seen to handle this question is one promoted by prominent
astrologer Carol Rushman. We will take a few charts and see how her
method works.
The method is as
follows:
1- Assuming you
have drawn up an accurate birth chart, look to the fifth house of
children. Determine the traditional ruler of the sign on the cusp of
the fifth house.
Note that we will
use the traditional rulers, although in the case of signs that have
gained a modern ruling planet with the discovery of more planets in
our solar system, we will of course try using the new ruler to see
what that yields.
This means that
the ruler we will use for Pisces is Jupiter, for Aquarius is Saturn,
and for Scorpio is Mars.
2- Determine how
many planets that ruler is APPLYING to. For the purposes of this
exercise, we use only the classical aspects of conjunction, sextile,
square, trine and opposition. Do not count the semi-sextile or
inconjunct.
So, for example,
if the ruler of the fifth house is Venus at 10 degrees Cancer, and it
is applying to a sextile to Mercury in Virgo, a square to Jupiter in
Libra, a trine to Pluto in Scorpio, and an opposition to Saturn in
Capricorn, then that would mean a potential for four children.
Rushman feels that
with the prevalence of birth control and other methods, people may
not elect to fulfill the potential for all the children promised in a
chart, but the potential is nevertheless there. Another astrologer
feels that birth control has little effect on the number of children
actually produced, because prevailing economic conditions will have
more influence.
3- There is a
second system if for some reason it is difficult to make a
determination using the first two steps. That is to see how many
planets are in the native's fifth house; each planet will in some way
represent one of the native's children. Three planets in the fifth?
Then probably three kids –potentially. If one has Jupiter in the
fifth, then there may be any number of children.
At any rate, this
is a very simple system to use, so let's look at a few charts and see
how they work.
First up is the
chart that started a recent discussion between myself and another
astrologer on the subject – for Ringo Starr.
Starr's birth time
is given as 12:05 am BST in Liverpool, England on July 7, 1940. This
yields a chart with a very late degree of Pisces rising, and Cancer
on the cusp of the fifth house. The Moon is also in the fifth house,
incidentally, at 4 degrees of Leo. It applies to five planets: a
conjunction to Mercury at 5 Leo, squares to Jupiter at 10 Taurus and
Saturn at 12 Taurus and Uranus at 24 Taurus, and a sextile to Venus
at 29 Gemini. He had three children with wife Maureen before they
divorced. He and Barbara Bach decided to remain childless in his
second marriage.
This would seem to
be a miss, but note that Barbara Bach had two children from her
previous marriage. Her children become his whether or not he formally
adopts them. Her oldest was only 13 when she married Ringo. Three
plus two equals five in my book.
Let's take another
public figure. Princess Diana of Wales was born on July
1, 1961 in Sandringham, England at 7:45 pm. This gives 18 Sagittarius
rising and the fifth house is Taurus. Ruler Venus is at 24 Taurus,
applying to a square to the Moon at 25 Aquarius, and a trine to
Saturn at 27 Capricorn. As is well known, she had two boys, William
and Harry.
Let us also take
the case of a non-celebrity female born Feb. 23, 1949. The ascendant
is in the latter half of Sagittarius, making Taurus the fifth-house.
The ruler, Venus at 21 Aquarius, makes just one applying trine to
Uranus at 26 Gemini. She had just one child before divorcing. Venus
makes an applying semi-sextile, but this is not counted in this
system.
Let's look at
someone where we do not yet know how many children he will ultimately
have. Prince William was born at 9:03 pm on June 21, 1981 in London.
With an ascendant at 27 Sagittarius, the ruler of the fifth house is
lovely Venus at 20 Cancer. Venus applies to a square to Pluto at 21
Libra, and a trine to Uranus at 26 Scorpio. We do not count the
inconjunct to Neptune at 23 Sagittarius. Only time will tell if Wills
and Kate settle for producing “an heir and a spare.”
People today may
choose not to manifest all the potential children in their chart by
using various forms of birth control. By the same token, people may
have quite a large family if they have Jupiter in the fifth house or
strongly connected to the ruler of the fifth house.
Sometimes the
fifth house is tenanted by some planets and each one describes each
child in some way.
For grandchildren,
look to the fifth house of the fifth house – or in other words the
ninth house. The ninth house will especially describe the first
grandchild. To find descriptions of successive grandchildren, go to
the eleventh house for the second grandchild, then the first house
for the third grandchild, then the third house, etc for each.
Try this out on
people you know and see if it works for you.
To go to the
source, read Rushman's book:
"The Art of
Predictive Astrology" by Carol Rushman, Llewellyn Publications, 2002,
272 pages including index.
