Joseph Ledzion
Well-known member
Who is David Phillip and why is he so interesting that we are going to study his chart? His biography from astrodienst.com reads,
"American child known as "the Bubble-Boy," born with a rare disorder of immune deficiency. He made history by living in isolation inside a germ-free bubble for 12 years.
The second son born to David, Sr., and Carol Ann Phillip with a rare disorder known as SCID (Severe Combined ImmoDeficiency), he was only able to survive by living in a completely sterile environment. His older brother died at six months of the same condition. Extraordinary precautions were taken at his birth to make his delivery as sterile as possible. David's parents and older sister adapted their lives for David to live at home in the plastic bubble. A generator kept the power going during storms and power outages. He could only eat food that had been sterilized. He was never able to have ice cream or a Coke. He went to school via speakerphone and was tested with a 126 IQ. He grew up as normal as possible, given his confinement to the bubble. He had a typical brother-sister relationship with his older sister, and he had friends who came to visit, staying outside the bubble.
A bone-marrow transplant surgery was attempted in the hope of allowing him to live a half-way normal life. The last 15 days of his life were spent outside of the bubble, in a hospital room where his family could be with him, touch and hold him, before he died at 7:55 PM on 2/22/1984, Houston, TX."
When an astrologer wants to measure the health, or lack of health, in a person's chart, or wants to find a specific kind of disease or illness that hinders the body and spirit, they look to the 6th house, extracting all possible information from it. Classically, the 6th house is known as the place of sickness, a most unfortunate and slave like position, and its negative influence is partly explained by the fact that it can make no angle to the Ascendant, who is the giver of life. The 150 degree seperation is known in modern astrology as a disjunct or quinqux, but in truth it is not an actual angle; it is at best the expression of complete lack of joining. Correctly understood, the disjunct means "no angle." The sign ruling the 6th house (and 8th) have a different polarity, triplicity and quadriplicity than the Ascendant, which gives it its negative expression as a house in the horoscope.
There are certain techniques to measure the length of a person's life, to determine the time of their death. The names given to the planets whose function it is to perserve the vitality of the native are called the Hyleg and Alcochoden. There is also something called the Anareta, which means "killing planet." This is the planet who posses a threat to your health and life. We will not discuss this in this article, but it is important to mention that when these two meet under brutal conditions, a person's life is in danger. Yet at the same time, these are classical rules, written centuries ago. What used to mean death in the ancient times, now, because of medical advances, may signify that one suffers a serious injury or illness--but not usually death.
David has a very interesting chart, as you would expect from someone who has lived such a unique life. Later we will look at the symbolism of why he lived this life, but for now, let us focus on the body rather than the spirit. Spiritual lessons always come last, because they are the final piece to everything.
Before looking to the 6th house to discover the illness, I have assessed David's temperament and found him to be quite Sanguine. Regardless of the bubble, David was probably very well liked by others, because he really likes to share ideas and to be around other people. He was a social person, naturally, regardless of the disease. He does, however, also have a high level of Melancholy in him as well, which is interesting, because these two qualities totally oppose each other. The temperament of Sanguine is Hot and Wet, while Melancholic is Cold and Dry. In a way, they cancel each other out, or are in angst with each other. Thus at times he would be filled with joy, extremely active mentally, and other times a depression would overcome him. It would be hard to predict his moods at any given time.
The condition of the 6th house requires we look in some great detail. It is obvious that the malefic planet Mars is Peregrine in this house, conjunct the North Node. This term Peregrine means that a planet is in none of its 5 essential dignities. This is a very detrimental thing, and although Mars is considered to be in its Joy in the sixth, it can come to no good in his case, lacking dignity and foundation. The planet Mars without dignity is like an adult without any knowledge of sports attempting to coach a team. The team will lose, there is no doubt. In the 6th house, it is an automatic indication of health problems. But this is even further brought into focus because Mars just happens to be the natural ruler of the 8th house -- the house of death, endings and suffering. You can be quite sure that it is a bad sign that ruler of the 8th house is found peregrine in the 6th house. In his case, the ruler of death is notorious. Mars is the planet of war, naturally fitting the role of killing. There is great danger in this!
The conjunction of Mars, a malefic planet, to the North Node shows an emphisis on the role these negative indications would play out in his life, because the North Node holds sway over destiny, and the time. If ever there are planets found on the North Node, whatever they represent--through the layers and house rulerships--are a major theme. Especially when they are within 1 degree, like in his case. Mars, planet of destruction, is a major theme of his life. That he is the ruler of the 8th house, peregrine on the North Node in the 6th seems to indicate the eventual death of whatever afflicted him. So, we can see that he was destined for this.
The ruler of the 6th house shows the condition of his illness. It is Saturn, and Saturn is also found to be peregrine. All these peregrine planets make him lost, sort of without hope (in the areas signified by the houses they rule). Saturn is the most elavated planet in horoscope, and also the only one that is retrograde. Saturn was the first planet to rise, and all the other planets are following his cue. As ruler of the house of illness, the function of Saturn in his weakened state, peregrine and retrograde, is unfortunately emphsized by being placed in "an angle." The 10th house is one of the angles, along with the 1st, 4th and 7th. These are where planets operate at full strength. Essentially, you do not want the rulers of unfortunate houses placed so strongly! It is better to have them cadant, where what they symbolize isn't such an obvious thing. Because the ruler of the 6th is angular, and in such a weak condition, and because it rose before all the other planets, we see an emphsize on illness.
However, the final piece to the puzzle of why he was so ill is understood by the concept of Sect. Sect is a foundamental principle lost to modern astrologers, although it was literally the flour to one's bread in the ancient times. Basically, because David Phillip was born when the Sun was below the horizon, Saturn is "out of sect." This is because Saturn is one of the planets that belongs to the day sect. Sect is a form of government amoung the planets, and it is, of course, based upon whether one is born at night or during the day. Basically, Saturn has no business having so much authority of David's wellness (the 6th house). It is like handing over the keys to your car to an unliscenced driver. Driving without a liscence is illegal, because it is dangerous. According to ancient Egyptian astrological doctrine "the exchange of properties between the sects is fatal."
It is also interesting to note that Aquarius, ruler of the 6th, is the sign of technology. Aquarians are often known for being different and original personalities. I am not a medical doctor, but I can profess my belief that the state of his illness does seem to be rather unusual.
While the 8th house rules over the cause of death that one has, the 4th house is the actual death itself. And we see that with Jupiter extrememely well placed in his 4th house, he died along side with his family, in just about a happy state as possible. While death is always sad and we always grieve, David for the first time in his life was let out of the bubble, and this is a form of celebration. Jupiter in his chart is about as good as it gets: it is in its own Sign, Triplicity and Term in Sagittarius, traveling at warp speed and conjunct a pleasant star. So the cause of death was his most unfortunate Mars, but the ending itself was of a better ending. Because Neptune rules over the media, I am sure that he is famous.
Ultimitely, at a spiritual level related, David's life was related to his South Node in the 12th house, and the ruler of it, his Sun in Virgo. Virgo is the sign of sterility. It is Virgo who is terrified of germs and conversations with people. Virgo is a most negative sign, and there is always a distance kept between the Virgo and another person. If we think back to the mythology of Virgo, we realize that Virgo existed in a time "before mankind had ever sinned." And so Virgo knows not of the entire world in which we live, this world of germs. As his Sun was ruled by the South Node and 12th house, it is as though David had spent so much time in his past lives being afraid of living that he spent this one in a symbolic summary of what had happened before.
We could go on and on with this chart, because it is incredibly interesting and there is much more to David Phillip than just his disease, in particular his high I.Q. is clearly indicated, but hopefully I have entertained you enough, and explained a few interesting principles to help you to understand astrology.
Joseph
[Mod edit - thread moved here, as the discussion of the chart is mainly based on Medical Astrology.]
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