As astrologers we look for that unique chord that makes a chart sing; or at least one chime that sounds like the person's true nature. Each chart holds its own tones and with a little research we can hit that special note that resonates with both the astrologer and the real person. For some of us, it is too much to expect that we can pick up a chart and read it like a sheet of music. Most of my astrological leaps come via several hours of preparation of a detailed discovery process searching for patterns, before I meet the client. I do this all in search of that special something in a chart.

My early studies of astrology began in 1974 when I learned chart construction and basic symbolism from Oscar Weber. My studies waited to advance when two factors came together eleven years later; the purchase of my first computer for an astrology program and my introduction to Frances McEvoy, September 6, 1985. Then my astrological toolbox quickly began to grow, especially with Fran's lessons on declinations, asteroids and planet stations. Fran introduced me to a world of the finest minds in the field at the monthly NCGR meetings. I was dazzled by Frances' brilliant recall of the ephemeris that one gains only from drawing every chart she read, a practice I adopted and continue today. I thought I was jumping ahead of the game with a computer that would produce a chart for me in seconds only to learn the brain-link connection to the hand revealed valuable subtle details impossible to absorb by glancing over a printout of a computer generated chart.

We will all miss Frances, her hospitality after our monthly meetings, and her wonderful articles. The last article she wrote in the Astrologer's Newsletter was about the Mars retrograde that referred to Martin Luther King's Mars retrograde in Gemini. Remembering that Frances and King were born with the same 1928/1929 retrograde Mars cycle, I wondered if Fran realized that her natal Mars retrograde cycle was being repeated now, at nearly identical degrees. Even though her natal Mars at 29° Cancer was not retrograde, her chart had a dynamic connection to the 1928/1929 Mars cycle. Fran's keywords for Mars retrograde, "relentless drive and determination", best describe how she devoted her energies to the astrological community. She was a net-worker, tireless campaigner for the NCGR, and a generous writer until her final journey on December 10, 2007.

In many ways, Fran embodied that 1928/1929 Mars retrograde cycle that began at 9°Cancer conjunct her 11°Cancer Nadir. Mars then set its direct station down at 20°Gemini 59' where stunningly Fran's Moon (20°Gemini 55') arrived to reinstate the direct station's energy. This served as a lifelong fire under her third house pot of gifts to her world. Certainly a stationary Venus on her Aries Ascendant contributed to those gifts as did her stationary Neptune conjunct the royal star Regulus in Leo.

We all have valuable information in our charts as seen through the window of prenatal planetary station degrees. In 1987 I was inspired by the late Eleanor Bach's lecture on the two year sensitivity range of transiting planet stations. That struck a chord and I began to apply the theory to natal chart studies. By collecting each planet and major asteroid station point in the prenatal period, and at times finding the last retrograde Venus and Mars stations over a year before the birth, all in search for that song waiting to be released in the natal chart. Even the stand alone arrangements of these stations with their aspects to one another deliver their own story, but once layered into a natal chart they offer clues of greater trends with more intense focus then a chart without its prenatal history.

Stationary planets at birth deliver a stronger dose of planet energy. The personality and life experiences express exaggerated and blended traits from the stationary planet to any natal planet. Some people don't realize why they are more argumentative or warlike when a prenatal Mars station aspects their Sun, Moon or Ascendant which is the case with George W. Bush. Both the retrograde and direct stations were found in these prominent positions in his chart. A prenatal Mars retrograde station was conjunct his Ascendant and hidden in the twelfth house. Very dramatically his 13°Cancer Sun reactivated the degree of the Mars direct station at 14° Cancer in the year of his birth. With the U.S. Sun at 12° Cancer he took our country into an unwarranted war and appears to be constantly seeking grounds for new wars.

Another metaphor comes to mind in addition to the musical metaphor. Once the prenatal planet stations are placed in the houses and anchored by the angles, display as a sort of passport of origin that traces the lineage of each point in the wheel. I use the prenatal Solar Eclipse point to hold the space for the mega solar influence prior to your birth and likewise the prenatal Lunar Eclipse point to represent the Moon's dominant influence. Once aware of the important layer of relevant activity prior to one's birth, viewing the horoscope as a snap shot of the sky appears out of context without its valuable prenatal history. It is as if you are viewing the birth certificate of an unclaimed infant with no knowledge of its parents, where they came from and the story surrounding the birth of the child. A 2007 movie comes to mind of just such a scenario, "Eastern Promises". The movie opens with an infant born to a dying teenage mother and the E.R. nurse, played by Naomi Judd, takes the Russian journal found on the body of the mother and assumes the mission of tracing the family, only to find the father is the Russian mob boss.

One of the best real life examples of, how the astrologer and client can benefit by the study of prenatal stations, came during one of my classes on the topic several years ago. It was a terrific find in the chart of one of our NCGR members, but for the sake of sensitivity, we'll call her Angie, who has graciously given permission to use her chart and fascinating story. Her birth data is January 12, 1943 at 7:08 AM EWT, Taunton, MA.

Angie's chart shows a Moon at 11° Aries in her third house. The third house cusp is late in Pisces and suspiciously Mars, the Moon's ruler, is found in her twelfth house of secrets. Ceres at 0°Aries was another clue. We thought there must be an important third house sibling story. We were sure to find something relevant in the list of prenatal planet stations. You can use an ephemeris. We created a dynamic events list using Solar Fire for planet stations. I set the date for two years prior to her birth, so as not to miss the less frequent Venus and Mars stations. We found the prenatal retrograde Mars station at 23°Aries, in the third, and close to her 29°Aries Nadir. We were more excited to discover the direct Mars station, a full fourteen months prior to her birth, at 11°Aries 04' so exactly conjunct her Moon at 11°Aries 01'. So we asked Angie about the possibility of an older sibling which may have dramatically impacted her early development.

Being the oldest child in the family, Angie never made this connection. She remembered that there was an infant girl who tragically died soon after birth due to a mysterious injury in the delivery room. The death forever remained a mystery because there was no conclusive cause of death given to the family. It was apparently covered-up. (Note the Ceres direct station at 19°Pisces exactly square Angie's Mars in the 12th house.) Angie's mother was sent home without her baby and full of grief which impacted baby Angie's arrival a couple of years later. This prevented her from bonding with Angie for fear of loosing another baby. The picture of the grief surrounding a sibling was seen with natal Ceres in the third house at the very loud 0°Aries point. The prenatal retrograde Ceres station, also in the third house, occurred at 4°Aries, again, ruled by Mars.

It was Angie's survival that proved to her mother that she could bear strong infants which left her mom feeling emotionally stronger to bond with her next daughter. It was in this class that Angie began to understand why her younger sister became safe for her mother's love while she herself was deprived of the mother/infant bonding. It was clear that Angie left class with a higher understanding of this lifelong issue.

This is one of the techniques we will discuss in the January 26, 2008 talk. If you would like your chart used as an example for the lecture, please email your birth data to: dietrechpessin@lunar-shadows.com. I will select the first five charts and prepare each just as I would for a client session using various techniques to find what special feature makes your chart sing.

Dietrech Pessin is a career astrologer with an international clientele and has lectured internationally on her book Lunar Shadows which is also published by the Russian NCGR. Lunar Shadows, now in the process of its third edition, will be available in the spring of 2008. You can hear Dietrech's astrological transit report each Saturday on 90.3 FM WZBC Radio at 9:45 AM which is the inspiration for her website at Lunar-Shadows.com, where you will find an in-depth weekly transit report that includes an audio file of the accompanying radio report for those who missed the live broadcast. Dietrech is available for consultations and classes. Weekly class meets on Tuesday evenings in Watertown, Massachusetts and all are welcome.