Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Health, the Zodiac Signs & Scorpio

While I don't fully disagree that the way the planets were configured at the time of a person's birth can have a bearing on the general health of that person, I'm wary of placing too much reliance on that traditional theory. There are so many other life factors to take into consideration: heredity, environment, family circumstance and ethnicity for starters. Still, if astrology provides even a single strand of input, it's worth bearing in mind.

Last week, in a junk shop, I picked up the only astrology book I found on our Texas trip. It's a 1961 paperback by Janet Harris: Astrology for Everyday Living. Fairly run-of-the-mill stuff, I'd say - written by Sun sign with chapters on various life topics: personality, health, partner, children, career, home, leisure.....you know the drill! One chapter title irked me a bit, but the book was written in 1961: How to help your husband succeed. Just another of little wifey's duties? Sadly, and predictably even for a non-astrologer, there was no matching chapter on "how to help your wife to succeed".

Getting back to the health issue then, and, as the Sun is still in Scorpio, let's see what Ms Harris had to say about health issues for Sun Scorpio people - also applicable to other "Scorpio-types" I guess. Perhaps I'll fish out more in this vein for other signs as they come around.

In regard to your health, as well as to every other aspect of your life, you believe that you are "master of my fate". (Note from your blogger: that sounds oddly put, to me. Editor asleep on the job? - I doubt any reader ever believed they were master of Ms Harris's fate, it'd be made clearer by omitting the quote marks and making it "your" fate.) Anyway..... Your long suit is willpower. You feel that you can control the state of your health, simply by willing it. You have no patience with any sort of ailment or infirmity. Like Theodore Roosevelt, a Scorpion, who turned the delicate health of his youth into a vigorous maturity, you believe in all forms of strenuous exercise. You have great powers of endurance, and can triumph over a physical condition that would lay low anyone else.

If you are typical of your sign, you are thick-set, strongly knit, and sturdy. The sign indicates large bones, a powerful jaw, and a determined mouth. The eyes tend to be piercing and cold, the eyebrows bushy. The women of this sign have a voluptuous beauty, and the men are very masculine in appearance.

It is fortunate that nature has endowed Scorpio natives with strong bodies, for these people frequently indulge in excesses that would ruin a less sturdy constitution. They tend toward overeating and drinking. Sex is ruled by Scorpio, and in this area, too, moderation and discretion must be used.

If you are a typical eighth-sign native, you tend to disregard the first warnings of illness. You do not trust doctors, and you detest bed-rest. It is a real effort for you to take any sort of curative measures, and as for periodic check-ups - the idea rarely occurs to you! If you are really sick, though, you are a good patient, for you have outstanding courage. When it comes to pain, you simply "grin and bear it".

By and large, you are strong enough to resist many of the ailments that plague your weaker brothers and sisters. If you are careful about watching for danger signals and obeying sensible rules of hygiene, you are among the longest-lived people in the Zodiac.
Hmmmm. Strange she didn't mention that in traditional astrology Scorpio rules the sex organs, though she did mention sex, in passing, and there's a veiled comment about being careful about hygiene. The author was probably wary of being overly explicit and continuing the thought that Scorpio-types can be extra likely to suffer from problems connected with the genitals - STD's and suchlike.

I'm not sure how much we can rely on those ancient zodiac sign/body part lists.



(Right: The signs of the Zodiac and the parts of the body they govern, from: Gregor Reisch. Margarita philosophica. Freiburg: Johann. Schott, 1503. Below, a 20th century version.)

I have Sun in Aquarius, ankles are supposed to be a weak spot for Aquarius people - and oddly enough I do have a problem there. It arises from an inherited tendency to poor circulation in lower legs. I happily avoided the varicose veins which seriously plagued my mother and her father, but have inherited a dicky valve in the left ankle. It was the indirect cause of a 2-year long ulcer on top of my left foot some 15 years ago. The original minor injury, a burn from a metal decoration on my sandals heated by the sun, wouldn't heal. The wound gradually enlarged and deepened into a nasty painful ulcer, which took 2 years and a lot of effort to heal. My father had Sun in Aquarius too, and he had varicose eczema on his lower legs for most of his life. So I will not rule out the possibility of zodiac sign/body part correlation. How or why this could possibly be so, even in SOME cases - I have no idea!


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being ahead of you folks in America by 3 hours now (rel. to EDT) I may turn out frequently to be the first to comment on your blog, T. And then I am Aries, also...

On Zodiac and health: It's incredibly true. Mostly personal evidence counts (as in other astrological phenomena):

1) have Mars in Aquarius. Because of heart surgery a vain is missing now, so I have a lot of trouble with my right leg, the tibia to be exact. Aquarius! So fortunately I have a brave horse helping me to go around.

2) Stomach, Virgo: Have Moon there at the very beginning of Virgo, being opposed by Mars (end Aquarius). Had plenty of ulcers until I learned to watch the type of food and when to eat it or not.

3) Head, Aries: banged it numerous times, especially skying. But never wore a cascet.

PS. Knew an Argentinian lady who was living with one of Dr. Mengele's sons (poor fellow, being a descendant of that man). The Argentinian lady told me that Mengele Junior, being Scorpio, had a serious health problem with his genitals. Not contagious, but indebilitating.

Astrology Unboxed said...

Twilight:

As an Aries, I have frequent headaches and migraines since I was a kid. As you said, the correlation cannot be explained, but the pain is real.
Also when dealing with astrology and health, we need to take into account, transiting planets and their impact on our health. I am thinking more specifically about Saturn. It seems Saturn plays a role in health setbacks. I remember when it was in Cancer, my energy level for the duration of it's passage in that sign was pretty low (it was squaring my sun at the time). Same thing is happening now that Saturn is opposing my sun.
When Saturn was in Virgo, I needed a lot of dental work that required deep drilling. At the time, Saturn was exact on my Pluto.
It is something that I also have noticed with my clients. It seems that when Saturn hits a planet, creating a crisis, there is generally a health issue manifestation of that transit too.
Anyway, something to explore.

Anonymous said...

For keen astrological observers: I tend to have tooth problems in late December, every 2-3 years or so. When Sun enters Capricorn and squares my Sun-sign Aries. Or is this more general? Capricorn signifying boones and teeth? Maybe some dentist reading this blog can confirm. (But dentists to my knowledge - at least the ones I have met, were not interested in my astrological cum dental problems).

Twilight said...

Anonymous (I think it's Gian Paul?)

Thank you for your input of personal experience in the realm of astro-health connection. :-)

My personal planets are in Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Scorpio Sagittarius and Capricorn - so there's plenty of scope there for a lot of trouble....lol... Head, all areas of legs; feet, and genitals.

Well, I have sinus/allergy related problems (head), legs/feet connect to the already mentioned bad circulation problem, but....my genitals are problem free - I did need a hysterectomy (only hospital stay in my life) back in the 1980s though, which is a link to sex organs (Mars in Scorpio)

I think the most interesting cases to study would be those where the native has personal planets clustered within just 2 or 3 signs.

Twilight said...

Astrology Unboxed - Fabienne~~~

Good points! Thank you.
I'm sure transits must "trigger" any potential trouble areas, and as you say, saturn is one of the most likely trouble-makers in that regard.

I wonder if any serious research has been carried out in this area?
I suspect not because not enough people would agree to submit data, and not enough qualified people in both statistics and astrology would be willing to collaborate to translate it. Pity!

Gian Paul said...

Yes, "anon" was me. Thing with the name did not work - and I think I now found out why for weeks I could not access your blog, Twilight.

Since I operate on g-mail the baggers found out, forced me to blog via Goggle (traffic for them) and cut me simply off until I now registered with their Blogger blog. All the trouble I went trough, bunch of inconsiderate technocrats (and I am being kind!).

Twilight said...

Gian Paul ~~~ Oh !! 3 cheers :-) I'm not sure I understand the ins and outs of it all, but if it means you're back without hiccups - it's all to the good! I'm glad it worked out in the end, but sympathise with your frustration with the powers that be in cyberland. :-)

Wisewebwoman said...

Interesting premise on health there T.
As you say, not enough of a data base to give complete credence but it would be worth pursuing.
Sorry to read of your leg, that must have been completely frightening for you.
XO
WWW

Twilight said...

WWW ~~~ this would be a good place to start research because at least there'd be some definite facts to offer rather than just "feelings" (eg - "I'm emotional" or I'm outgoing" etc) which can be subjective assessments.

Yes, the foot problem was a real and ongoing problem. The NHS fell down a bit there - only time ever in my experience. I saw a BUPA specialist at my own expense eventually and the ulcer was better in a further 2 or 3 months, leg needed to be bound from foot to knee very tightly ....nothing new-fangled just a peroxide solution which hurt like hell and elastic bandage. :-)

Gian Paul said...

gian: This is a test of the cyber tech guys