Martin Luther King • Natal Chart
15 January 1929, 12:00pm CST, 33N75 • 84W39
Source : www.astro.com/astro-databank/King,_Martin_Luther
Natal Chart
“No astrologer – and as well no psychoanalyst – can interpret a life and destiny at a level higherthan that at which he himself functions.” [Dane Rudhyar, ‘Astrology of Personality’, p.217]
Indeed. That of course means I’m well out of my depth here with the chart of this awesome human being. But I’ll attempt it anyway because Rudhyar has left some wonderful tools to help us bridge levels. Fortunately too, we have a wealth of biographical material to work with, and (tragically) a short lifespan to look at, which in a way makes researching this incredible life a little easier.
Here’s some links to biographical sources used in this study …
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
• https://www.biography.com/activist/martin-luther-king-jr
• www.boomsbeat.com/articles/108948/20160503
OK, let’s walk awhile in this man’s shoes. There’s three avenues to explore if we’re to gain a basic understanding of his journey :
(1) The Person (Moon);
(2) The Destiny (Sun); and
(3) His Method or ‘Modus Operandi’ (The Lunation Type) …
THE PERSON
Pisces Moon, 11th House. So, what’s a fair statement about an 11th House Pisces Moon lad? How about, “an impressionable boy with deeply conditioned spiritual values, a love of music, and a strong sense of community.” Or, as Paul Simon sang it …
“I’m a consecrated boy, singer in a Sunday choir …”
There’s one fine aspect to keep our eye on here as well : Moon Conjunct Venus. And two scary ones which we’ll let the biographic material explain : Moon Square Saturn; and Moon Square Mars.
The Biographical Facts
• born into a stern religious family, his father a Baptist minister who regularly whipped him until he was 15 (Moon Square Mars). A mention in the Wikipedia material says, “a neighbour reported hearing the elder King telling his son “he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death” (strangely prophetic);
• sang in a church choir with his mother, with whom he was especially close (Moon Conjunct Venus);
• impressed by his father’s proud and fearless protests against segregation (Sun Conjunct Midheaven?);
• as an adolescent suffered depression (Moon Square Saturn) and anger (Moon Square Mars) because of “racial humiliation” – also because his father brutalised him (Mars Opposite Saturn);
• apparent public-speaking ability and high intelligence at school (10th House Aquarian Mercury?)
THE DESTINY
26° Capricorn Sun, 9th House. Rudhyar says that from the natal solar degree we learn about the potential purpose (destiny) of a person [‘Lunation Cycle’, p.40]; while the House in which that degree falls shows us the area of life most likely to be involved in actualising that purpose [‘Astrological Houses’, p.178]. For Dr King we have the Sun on the 26th degree of Capricorn in the 9th House, as a Sabian Symbol …
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26° Capricorn … “A nature spirit dancing in the iridescent mist of a waterfall.”
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This is a hard symbol to interpret without reference to the 5-fold sequence in which it belongs : Capricorn 26°-30°. Rudhyar says this sequence refers to potential membership of an invisible “inner government which has the power to guide the evolution of our planet and of mankind.” [‘strological Mandala’, p.248]. Members of this unseen government include what he calls the ‘nature spirits’ (Capricorn 26°), ‘sages’ (27°), ‘clairaudients’ (28°), ‘clairvoyants’ (29°), and ‘committee members’ (30°). According to Rudhyar, Dr King’s particular role as a ‘nature spirit’ involves “a deep intuition of super-physical forces” that are somehow related to the processes of the “world soul” and the “alchemaic element Water”. Hard to interpret, non? Anyway, at his highest level, Dr King supposedly, symbolically, “dances in the iridescent mist” of this phenomena.
I take this to mean, initially, his awareness of the power of COLLECTIVE SENTIMENT (‘water’ as a symbol), and later his mastery and manipulation of this element in order to foster change in social and political values – locally at first, and later nationally. The area of expertise (i.e natal ‘House’) he developed to express this ‘dance’ was theoretically the Ninth House, that is, the realm of ‘higher thought’ and all of its institutions (religion, ethics, law, philosophy and mass media).
The Biographical Facts
I don’t think anyone will doubt that abundant biographical evidence exists to support the view that Dr King masterfully manipulated ‘collective sentiment’ to bring about positive evolutionary change within his nation; and that his mission was focused through Ninth House institutions : religion, ethics, law, philosophy and mass media. By midlife he was a Doctor of Philosophy, an ordained Minister, and a mass media celebrity of the highest order : Time Magazine Person-of-the-Year; Nobel Prize Winner, and an artful public speaker before audiences of 200,000+.
THE MODUS OPERANDI
Crescent Moon Type. Rudhyar says a person’s ‘Lunation Type’ explains HOW they go about delivering on the purpose revealed by the sun’s zodiacal degree [‘Lunation Cycle’, p.40]. In Dr King’s case the natal chart shows a ‘Crescent Moon’ type which in theory describes a modus operandi conspicuous for …
• a self-assertive and determined approach to the purpose;
• a challenging of all traditions that inhibit the purpose; and
• efforts to bring a personal dream or vision ‘down to earth’.
The Biographical Facts
Again, the biographical material provides plenty of evidence that confirms the ‘Crescent Moon’ style that Dr King applied to his work, with its determination, revolutionary approach to static social values, and tireless effort to bring a dream ‘down to earth’ (so wonderfully demonstrated by Dr King in his 1963 speech, ‘I Have A Dream’ …
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s].
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OK, that’s my attempt to summarize the ‘bare bones’ of this horoscope : person, destiny, and modus operandi. I hope Rudhyar’s methods have helped do it justice. We might wrap this brief analysis with one final consideration : that both Sun & Moon appear above the chart’s horizon. Rudhyar says this layout shows
“… a main focus of the life IN THE OUTER WORLD [where] both the essential purpose and the character of the individual are polarized by racial, cultural, social ideals or collective spiritual values.” [Rudhyar, ‘The Practice of Astrology’ (1978), p.54]. Again, the biographical material does seem to confirm the astrological statement.
In the next part of this study we’ll have a look at the pattern of Dr King’s progressed ‘Lunation Cycles’ to see how the given destiny was planned to unfold and whether the biography confirms that personal history. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a little song about … a consummated man who snatched a little purity …
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* If you’d like to explore the ‘Crescent Moon Type’ in some more detail, Radilina Shanova has produced a neat 2-minute video presentation about it, here … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRP7RLSobn4
Quest for the Real Astrology 
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