The Best of Al Morrison

I've received an astrological inheritance. PS happy Pisces eclipse.

A collection of articles, lectures and letters.

Good Morning from New York:

I’ve mentioned here and there that I recently discovered a book — a collection of articles, lectures and letters written by Al H. Morrison. Though you may not know his name, we have Al to thank for the fact that Chiron is taken seriously.

He was publisher of CAO Times, which served as a kind of organizing platform for the rapid assembly of data and field reports on the 1977 discovery. He also published the first book on Chiron, called Essence and Application by Zane Stein.

I cover this somewhat in The Chiron Factor, my article from the week before last (now open). Stein, for his part, obtained the first Chiron ephemeris from then-head of the Minor Planet Center at Harvard, Dr. Brian Marsen. And Stein remained friends with Chiron discoverer Charles Kowal for the duration of Kowal’s life. This was the first time that I know of that the seeming breach between astronomy and astrology was healed, of course, with the help of bridge-builder Chiron.

Back to Al

Morrison was an original. He was one of those bold, no-bullshit centaur-types who passes through astrology from time to time. He really, really, really liked to garden.

His essays brim with fresh thought, unusual angles of view, and a gritty, practical common sense brought into astrology that is a refreshing alternative to the digital mashup and various shades of New Age fluff that have soaked our field. He was exceedingly well-studied and equally experienced.

And perhaps more notably, in our day he provides an exciting alternative to the dogmatic “thinking” that has, sadly, taken hold among many second- and third generation astrologers who depend a tad too much on regurgitated classical astrology (originating out of what was once a beautiful thing — Project Hindsight of Roberts Hand, Schmidt and Zoller, a major influence on my work).

The 165 Degree Aspect or Quindecile

Anyway: there is a lot of great stuff here. For example, he made a couple of references to the Johndro aspect, first delineated by Edward Johndro (1882-1951). He is talking about the 165 degree aspect, which I had never considered. He makes a few references to it, which make much more sense when you go into the topic a little.

Minor aspects draw connections between planets that you might otherwise have missed — with distinct tones of expression. They sketch out patterns that you would never see if you stick to the usual squares, oppositions and trines. The most interesting parts of Paris are tucked in the back alleyways of rive gauche where the tour bus will not fit. No muggers, only cats.

The 165 is also known as the quindecile. Minor aspects get us into new modes of how the chart vibrates. My natal chart is swimming with trines, quintiles and septiles — so many that it’s challenging to pick them out. These are musical kinds of aspects, of different styles. I missed my calling as a crime scene clairvoyant. Or did I?

Anyway, the quindecile or Johndro aspect is about persistent, stop-at-nothing determination, which can manifest as commitment or as obsession. (One man’s vice is another man’s virtue. One man’s pandemic is another man’s chronology.)

Based on this new lead, I went looking in my natal chart and found two exact contacts of 165 degrees, to the degree: Venus to Neptune, and Saturn to Pluto. Ohhh boy. An actual new discovery in my natal chart: both of these explain a lot.

Maybe Try Liberty Bookshop

You can get this book lots of places, but I would suggest first going to Linda Roller at The Liberty Bookshop. This is an actual building stuffed with 45,000 books, its devoted curator and I am sure, a few critters. I have not warned Linda that you all might be coming. Please be patient in line.

She is very good at finding stuff you thought might be impossible to track down, such as the National Lampoon High School Yearbook Parody that turned my life around.

Happy eclipsing,

With love,

Your faithful astrologer,