Astro-Notes on the Death of George Washington with Eclipses of Influenceby Jude Cowell
If you wish, view the natal horoscope of
George Washington, Rodden Rating: AA; born
February 22, 1732 (NS) 10:00 am LMT Colonial Beach, Virginia;
ASC 18Tau28 ('19Taurus': "A Newly Formed Continent");
MC 29Cap34 ('30Cap' = "A Secret Business Conference" and
natal IC (Roots) '30Cancer' = "A Daughter of the
American Revolution.")
Below is my proposed Death Horoscope for George Washington set for a speculative time of 10:12 pm LMT, Mount Vernon, Virginia on December 14, 1799 after supervising his estate on a cold, snowy day (Dec 12), eating dinner still wearing his wet clothes, and riding out again the next day (Dec 13). Historical records give his time of death between 10 and 11 pm on the evening of December 14 and I'm using 10:12 pm because of the several Angular planets in the chart, both transit and natal (natal placements are in blue around the chart; also note that the difficult Saturn-Uranus midpoint rises at 10:12 pm = mourning and bereavement. Please enlarge the image to read my study notes which include the Prenatal Solar Eclipse of his death, plus, the even closer to the event Lunar Eclipse @20Taurus (sign of the throat) which hit Washington's natal ASC-DESC axis on November 12, 1799; (ASCendant = the physical body.) Themes of Washington's 4 North Prenatal Solar Eclipse ('PE") are penned on, lower right in orange, along with the date and degree of the next 4 North eclipse at Summer Solstice 2020 @00Cancer, a major cosmic event (to be posted on later).
Mars = fever and infection (with Neptune = infectious disease)
Closer than the eclipses to the evening of his death was his then-in-force Mars Return of January 5, 1798 with transit Pluto square natal Mars (details in the center of chart), plus, his next Mars Return (23Sco13) which perfected on December 15, 1799--the day after his death; Mars at the IC (endings) is highlighted in lavender-pink, and along with contagious Neptune and wounding Chiron, present a trio of infection and disease made much worse by the three attending doctors (Chiron):
ASC 3Vir14 makes Mercury chart-ruler yet with no Ptolemaic application, this denotes the importance of Mercury's sign, Saturn-ruled Capricorn, and house placement (5th h of Risk-Taking). It's an Hour of feverish Mars yet instead of reading Washington's Death Horoscope in the usual way, I shall use Ebertin's The Combination of Stellar Influences and the biological correspondences it provides for the planetary pairs present in the horoscope. The biology of the pairs will be added to medical notes taken from 10 facts about the horrific death of George Washington, plus, another excellent source on the topic: PBS NewsHour's July 4, 2011 article The 9 Deadly Diseases That Plagued George Washington all through his life. Among them are diphtheria (throat, breathing), tuberculosis (lungs), malaria, dysentery (bowels), quincy (tonsillitis), pneumonia (lungs), smallpox (age 19), and carbuncle, a growth on his face (was it cancererous? no one seems certain.)
My idea is that after his cold, calamitous 5-hours-long ride in snow, hail, and high winds on December 12, 1799, the return of one or more of these chronic infections may have played a part in his suffering (or been a prime cause) during his final days--diphtheria in particular since its symptoms resonate with his condition as he took ill (see below).
Add to his weakened constitution the ineptitude of the physicians who attended him and debated how to treat him which included certain awful "remedies" of the era such as bloodletting. Over 10 to 12 hours they removed approximately 35% of the blood from his system which naturally left his immune system weaker than before, created a 'water-blood imbalance' and possibly brought or worsened bladder issues (Moon-Saturn) which could have resulted in shock during his final hours of "calm." Shock would have contributed to or caused his subsequent death. And the Mercury-Saturn pair suggests inhibited speech which his throat condition certainly provided. His last words? "Tis well," murmured to his personal secretary, Tobias Lear.
During Washington's later hours of misery, the application of Spanish Fly (Cantharides--a powder made from the dead bodies of a certain beetle, a known toxin) was a major medical misstep for its application to his throat, the source of his complaints, caused blistering, diarrhea, and kidney inflammation which only increased his agony. This hideous powder was a "false remedy" (Jupiter-Neptune) and did not remove poisons from his system, as apparently they'd hoped.
Now the symptoms of George Washington once he took to his sickbed were as follows: a terribly sore throat, trouble swallowing, difficulty speaking, convulsions, distress, expectoration of phlegm, and bouts of suffocation (which followed his gargling of vinegar and sage tea, if not before). Note that diphtheria symptoms include an extremely sore throat and a pseudo-membrane at the back of the throat which can cause suffocation. Also note that a tracheotomy to ease his labored breathing was suggested but since it was a new procedure, it was not employed. Diphtheria also releases a toxin into the bloodstream that damages the heart - was his heart previously damaged? (Saturn-Uranus = heart blockage; Rising = mourning and bereavement--opposite Pluto = major harm, and a tremendous fear of loss).
Now as you know, Virgo-Pisces is the victim-savior axis (6/12) and it rises and sets in the horoscope (ASC '4Virgo' = "A Colored Child Playing with White Children"...freedom for Washington's slaves was part of his Will which he wrote himself on July 9th--however, Martha freed them all sooner than he'd specified--good on her).
As you see, 1799 Uranus, planet of shocks, is in Virgo (bowels) and is apex planet of a T-Square between Sun and Jupiter = a sudden turn. Expansive Jupiter Rx @26Gemini conjoins Washington's natal South Node, a Saturnian point of separation--similar to 1799 Uranus in Virgo opposing GW's natal Venus (critical @29Pisces) = separation from a female or females, broken relationships. Plus, rising in 1st house is Uranus conjunct Saturn-Neptune, the pair of 'weakness and sickness' - triggered by Uranus = 'sudden illness'. GW's first natal planet to rise in the Death Horoscope is his 6th house (Health) Jupiter in Venus-ruled Libra, sign of balance. Perhaps the Venus-Jupiter pair hints at over-rich or sugary foods and/or possibly diabetes.
Now George Washington suffered with bloody dysentery and debilitating abdominal pains off and on during his lifetime and who can deny that the torturous 'treatments' he received during his final days, including at least one enema, were nauseating and obviously could make most any chronic condition worsen. Few men could withstand it!
Plus, the T-Square's Sun-Jupiter opposition is interesting for biologically the pair suggests 'tissue elements of the organs, particularly the glands, regenerative functions of the blood' (unless it's been pilfered via a wrong diagnosis (Jupiter-Neptune); plus, Sun-Jupiter is 'particularly important for the restoration of health'. Yet tragically with so many forces against him and medical knowledge lacking, it looks as if the sterile (Step-?) Father of Our Country didn't stand a chance of restoring his health. And priding himself on his Capricorn habit of punctuality (Moon @16Capricorn, a reigning need via Saturn, ruler and keeper of Time) he just had to eat dinner in wet clothes. And what did he eat for dinner? No idea but I do know that the Sun-Jupiter pair can also point toward 'illness through the wrong nutrition' with corpulence as one result. The Jupiter-Uranus pair also applies to our topic for its biological influences suggest: 'the organic rhythm of life; peristalsis of the intestines; convulsive fits; colic with no time limit; magnifying or exaggerating everything; zealous representation of one-sided views'--and 'a turn of destiny'.
Now there are other health indicators of disease in Washington's Death Horoscope such as a semi-square between Jupiter-Saturn ('chronic disease; an organic defect (e.g. tubercular cavity in the lungs); gall and liver functions'. So since GW contracted tuberculosis during an island trip with his brother who wanted to recuperate from TB, his lungs probably didn't aid him during his last-ever throat infection which could have triggered a relapse of diphtheria or other infection/s. Even the Venus-Saturn square is problematic for biologically this pair can represent such conditions as 'glandular malfunction' or 'atrophy', 'swollen glands', 'goiter', and/or 'pulmonary emphysema'. And we should include Sun-Saturn (sesqui-square, a health indicator) for the pair suggests potentials for: 'cell death; rheumatism, hereditary afflictions, and/or arterial sclerosis'.
Whew! There are more health indicators in the chart worth mentioning but that's gracious plenty for one post--and we have only to read about them, not have them greatly magnified by incompetent, ill-informed physicians who were concerned about being blamed (just like doctors nowadays). So my kudos go to any reader who made it to the end of this astro-consideration of the Death of George Washington. And...
May The General R.I.P.
A Related Video: Where Is the Tomb of George Washington?
Above image: 'Portrait of George Washington' by Gilbert Stuart {public domain}
