Well, as far as I know, no one knows for sure if Marilyn's death was a suicide. If it was, then in my opinion Alcochoden isn't a trustworthy calculator of her lifetime. I think to calculate Hyleg/Alcochoden correctly, we need charts with a good Rodden rating and the certain cause of death which is NOT suicide.
Sorry, can't really show my chart now.
Got some reasons for that. Maybe later?
Yes, Alcochoden is the almuten of Hyleg which aspects the Hyleg. The last condition is obligatory! If your Sun is your Hyleg and is at 4 Capricorn, then you look at Saturn because it's the Sun's almuten. But if your Saturn is at 5 Aquarius, there's no aspect so you go to Mars because it's exalted in Capricorn and see if the Sun aspects it and so on. I hope you won't say "Oh, great, there's a semi-sextile between the Sun and Saturn so I guess it fits!
" Nopp, only major aspects. To find almutens, I think Bonatti's table makes sense (domicile +5, exaltation +4, triplicity +3, terms +2, face +1) so use this. Using another example, if your Hyleg is at 2 Libra and it's a day chart, the almuten is actually Saturn, not Venus (exaltation + triplicity + terms), so you first look at Saturn and its aspects.
P.S. Oh yeah, it's a good question whether Hyleg can also be Alcochoden (in case of the Sun and the Moon). I can't say for certain, but in my opinion, yes, it can.
According to Ptolemy and some other authors, the Sun and the Moon could be both the Hyleg and Alcochoden. I mean, if it weren't the case, then why would you have a table of the years a planet can give where you actually list the greater years of the Sun and Moon? I believe that if you, say, have a Moon in Taurus as Hyleg and also in its triplicity then it's both the hyleg and the alcochoden.
Also, what do you think of the North and South node when considering the years? I've read somewhere that a conjunction to the NN amplifies the years of the planet up to 125%, while the latter reduces it by a fourth of its years.
And finally, what criteria should one follow to decide how many years a planet gives? I've seen multiple times that a cadent planet doesn't necessarily give its lower years, a succedent its middle and an angular its greater years. I think it'd suit best to consider all the possible dignities beside that one, as in essential dignities, sect, speed, orientation, etc.
If I were to put it into a guide, I'd say:
Cadents give their lower years only if in detriment or fall. I think this is fair, considering how not many people die at these ages. So it would be considered rare. If you considered a peregrine planet to give its lower years, I'd say a lot more people would have died at that age by now.
So,
IF CADENT
- Lower years if in detriment or fall
- Middle years if peregrine, exaltation, triplicity, term, face or rulership
- Possibly greater years in special cases where a planet is very much dignified both essentially and accidentally with the exception of it being cadent. Like a Mars in Scorpio in hayz (triplicity and rulership), fast, direct, in sect, in its house of joy, etc.
IF SUCCEDENT
- Lower years if in detriment, fall or peregrine while also in other kind of debility such as out of sect, slow, retrograde, in via combusta (if Moon), etc. I'd say it a planet would give its lower years here if it's not only damaged by fall or detriment, but also by being peregrine and out of sect and slow. You need to have a good bunch of debilities here to say it's giving its lower years.
- Middle years if only in one essential debility (detriment, fall, peregrine) and if in face, terms and triplicity.
- Greater years if in rulership or in exaltation and direct.
IF ANGULAR
- Lower years: The opposite of the greater years in a cadent house. I'd say you can get the lower years of an angular planet if in an extraordinarily bad condition, such as being retrograde, slow, out of sect, in ex cond, detriment/fall and peregrine, etc. However, I think the only exception to this is when the planet is conjunct a cusp of an angle, as its accidental strength is pushed even farther, in which case it'd give its middle years.
- Middle years: If the planet is in detriment/fall with some other debility.
- Greater years: If in detriment/fall but saved by other essential dignities such as triplicity. From peregrine onwards. Any kind of strength here makes it give its greater years.