Since now John (jr_esq) has had ample opportunity to read my post announcing my test of astrology and Jyotish and has chosen instead to use Jyotish to "reveal" things about David Carradine that anyone reading a newspaper already knows :-), I will post the answer. I wrote it shortly after posting the test, and sent a copy to Richard M, because he managed to figure out who the person was using Google, and I wanted to congratulate him. If anyone accuses me of rewriting it to "fake the results," he can verify that the two copies are the same. Thanks to both Card and Bhairitu for playing. Interestingly, when you read the answer below, both of them got some things right. Well done.
The Astrology Test OK, there *was* a bit of a "cheat" in this test. But only a bit of one. The person whose birth data was given was the subject of a six-volume series of books by the person I consider the greatest writer of the English language in the 20th century. He was fictional. *However*, Francis Crawford, Earl of Lymond was also one of the most meticulously imagined and researched characters in the history of literature. His creator was Dorothy Dunnett, considered by many the greatest writer in Scottish history. You probably have never heard of her, other than in mentions of her by me on this forum. The reason is that she wrote historical fiction, which is not everyone's cuppa tea. But Dorothy wrote historical fiction with a precision and with a level of "due diligence" that most historians have never achieved. Dorothy never "fudged" anything having to do with the periods of time and the characters -- both real and imagined -- she wrote about. She would typically spend a minimum of a year researching the place and the time she was to write about, reading literally hundreds of books about it, going there personally to get the "vibe" of the place and its people, thoroughly immersing herself in the place and the time, and then starting to write. She wrote about Lymond for 15 years, in a six- volume set of novels known as The Lymond Chronicles. If anyone on earth can be said to have had a real existence, it is someone who has thus been focused on by a great writer so intently, and for so long. Astrology plays a great part in the novels, because it played a great part in the times of which Dorothy was writing. As a result, Dorothy imagined and docu- mented his original birth date and time, and was aware of many of the *general* things that the astrology of the times would have said about a man born at that time and place. Nonetheless, she was not a believer in astrology herself; she merely "did the work" to make sure that every word she wrote about that time period "rang true." Decades later, she grew curious and, as I said when introducing this little "test," she commissioned a well-known British astrologer to cast a horoscope for Lymond, giving her nothing but the birth data. The result was the chart I posted, plus the following description: "The chart displays the tremendous strength and emotional powers of Scorpio underneath the characteristics of Gemini and Libra, producing an outer personality which is mercurial, fickle, adaptable, quick and original in its habit. The presence of Jupiter adds a philosophic depth, and that of Venus means a leaning towards feminine things and an understanding of them, as well as an unusual success with women. Mars in the fourth House adds an element of violence and even crudity, and together with the other factors implies conflict in the home. The fifth House indicates a quick-minded facility with, beneath it, great strength and sense of purpose. Neptune in the 9th House and Uranus in the 12th in association with the rest, indicate important and unusual events happening overseas. Neptune, the watery sign, can also mean renunciation. Saturn in the 10th House has to do with raising up and casting down in despair, and the 12th House implies self-sacrifice and even self-destruction, together with prisons, hospitals and all that is confining. On the other hand, Jupiter in the ascendant can also mean great good luck. "A strong, powerful and vigorous chart, overlaid by an original and decorative outer personality." Dorothy was shocked beyond words. This fairly accurately describes the man she spent 15 years writing about. Francis Crawford, Earl of Lymond first enters our awareness in the opening book of The Lymond Chronicles, "The Game Of Kings," introduced by the words, "Drama entered, mincing like a cat." If you want to see how accurate the astrologer's interpretation of Lymond's chart really was, read The Lymond Chronicles. It would make the perfect summer reading for someone who loves words and loves great writing. If you can make it through the first 50 pages (and many cannot), I warn you...you may become "hooked," and be able to read nothing else until you have finished the entire series. And then -- worse -- your first impulse upon finishing it will be to start at the beginning and read it again. I have read The Lymond Chronicles five times now, all 3066 pages of it. I just started re-reading it again. It will be my "beach reading" again this summer. If you find in Lady Dunnett (she was married to Lord Alistair Dunnett, the real-life model for Ian Fleming's James Bond) the magic I do, it may become your summer reading as well. This year, and many years in the future. Great books only become better the more you read them. Only shitty books get read once and then forgotten. And so do shitty characters -- real or fictional. A photo of Dorothy Dunnett, taken by her daughter: [Dorothy Dunnett] An artist's interpretation of Francis Crawford, Earl of Lymond: [http://www.dorothydunnettreadingaids.com/images/ship.jpg]
