Teresa Alfonso Astrologer

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I am a qualified and professional astrologer listed with the esteemed Society of Astrologers, an international organization dedicated to the study and practice of Traditional Astrology. I trained with one of their Master Craftsman as a top student. This ancient craft of Traditional Astrology, believed to have been handed down to Man, originated in Babylonia and Chaldea around 2000 B.C. It thrived until the mechanistic philosophies of the Enlightenment forced it into obscurity. However, the past few decades have seen a notable revival in the practice of The Tradition. My website aims to inform the public on this celestial art, which has, at its core, monotheistic principles. Please visit the Library Index packed with articles on Traditional Astrology to acquaint yourself with its theory and practice.

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The Soul Chart of Saint Joan of Arc

In a world where faith is increasingly considered a proclivity of the naive and the uneducated, the story of the fifteenth century Joan of Arc who believed she spoke with angels seems like a medieval canard.

In fact, it has become so bizarre to the modern mind that many psychologists today doubt her sanity despite her Catholic sanctification through a strict ecclesiastical process which lasted half a millennium. Some clinicians assert she suffered from schizophrenia or a variation of the disorder. In essence schizophrenic patients find it difficult to tell the difference between real and imaginary experiences and may typically experience hallucinations such as hearing voices like Joan did.

However, a study of her nativity reveals that nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, it shows an extraordinary human being, whose life - despite her heroic contribution to French history and the hoopla about her voices - was about holy devotion, despite the personal consequences. Even when it meant being burnt alive as a heretic. Joan’s story is a tale of love divine.

Joan was an illiterate peasant girl from the village of Domremy in north eastern France where the river Meuse meanders through the ancient hamlet. A farming community, hay stacks lay strewn across the fields with the mewing of sheep lazing on the breeze as the church bell tolls soporifically in the French countryside.

One quiet Sunday afternoon, the summer still juvenile, Jeanette (as the locals called her) was in her father’s garden when she heard her voices for the first time. Today a majestic church stands in the same place in Joan’s honour. Her voices urged her to help France in the Hundred Years War, waged from 1337 to 1453 between the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet (also known as the House of Anjou). At stake was the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The House of Valois claimed the title of King of France, while the Plantagenets claimed the thrones of both France and England. The Plantagenet kings were the 12th-century rulers of the kingdom of England, and had their roots in the French regions of Anjou and Normandy. When Joan finally adhered to her voices – which she later identified under interrogation as the angel Michael, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine – French sovereignty was in dire straits with France under English domination.

The forces of England’s Henry V had invaded in 1415. When he died in 1422, the English controlled all of France north of the Loire River, and in 1428 laid siege to France’s last stronghold in the region of Orleans. Making matters worse, the French throne was itself in dispute. King Henry had married the daughter of Charles VI of France, and under the terms of the 1420 treaty of Troyes, Henry’s son was named heir to the throne over the Dauphin Charles, son of the French king. It was then in March 1429 when Joan presented herself at the Dauphin’s court at Chinon Castle and convinced him to place her at the head of his army after which she raised the siege at Orleans and drove out the English. She was only sixteen and until then she had tended to her father’s sheep, devoutly went to church and played under the faerie tree with the other girls in Domremy who thought she was an unassuming friend who lived only for God.

The highly esteemed website Astrodatabank and the late doyenne of astrological standards Lois M Rodden give Joan’s birth details as 5 pm (an hour after sunset) on 6 January 1413 in Domremy, even though most history books have it as 1412. Rodden writes Joan was born on the customarily given data of January 6, 1412 Old Style, which converts to a New Style date of January 15, 1413.

Rodden: “From the 9th to 15th centuries, in some cases as early as the year 1338, various locations of Europe began the first day of the year on 1 May, on 12 August, on 1 November, on 25 December and on 25 March. The most commonly used New Year's Day was Easter and this calendar was known as the Annunciation Calendar. Rheims (Reims), France used 25 March as the first day of the year until 1390, after which it named Easter as the New Year day. France, in part, began to use 1 January as New Year day in 1563 by the edict of Charles IX and entirely after 1567.James Martin Harvey, an outstanding astrological historian noted for fastidious research into original documentation made a note for the data of Charles VII that "the French year then began at Easter." However Joan's birth is presented in reference works with some vagueness. The most noted encyclopaedias give "circa 1412." There is no question that in 1412 the Annunciation Calendar was in use. The only question was whether or not the year of Joan's birth had been converted to the new style year by some historian who did not properly note that the correction had been made. When we read encyclopaedias and almanacs that cover the mid-centuries, at times they give old style dates and at times, new style dates, sometimes in the same book, without noting the date style that is being used. Naturally this gives rise to a great deal of confusion and necessitates endless research to determine which date is accurate.”

I worked extensively with the chart generated by the Academia Astrologiae’s Mercurius programme with the particulars of 6 January 1413 at 5pm, Julian Calendar (1Leo29 Rising, the Sun at 25Capricorn22 and the Moon 20Pisces09), which generated very convincing directions. It is noteworthy that 6 January is the Christian Feast of the Epiphany, celebrating the 'shining forth' or revelation of God to mankind in human form and in the person of Jesus Christ.

The fixed star of South Asellus is on the horizon in Joan’s chart. In the constellation of Cancer. It carries the myth of the hero Hercules ho wanted to enter paradise. However, as a mortal, he was unable do this and thus he asked the help of an immortal. It relays the message that we need divine help to achieve the seemingly impossible. The Aselli, telling of the donkeys that help fight the war between the Titans and the Gods, also carry the mythological question of Who is your master? After her capture at Compiegne in May 1430 Joan was brought before an ecclesiastical court at Rouen for heresy. A year later she was taken to the cemetery of St. Ouen where she was threatened with being burned if she did not submit herself fully to the authority of the church officials. Her judges insisted she sign a document of abjuration, which also stated: “I confess that I have most grievously sinned, in pretending untruthfully to have had revelations and apparitions from God, from the Angels, and Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; in seducing others; in believing foolishly and lightly; in making superstitious divinations; in blaspheming God and His Saints…”

“For fear of the fire” as she later said, she then signed the document. Illiterate however, she did not fully comprehend what she was signing, but in so doing she denied the existence of her voices and thus the help of God in her miraculous victories on the battlefield as a teenage girl leading veteran soldiers in a war which crushed the bravest of men. To save her body then, she adhered to the world and betrayed heaven. Three days after Joan abjured, she recanted when her voices enlightened her as to what her renunciation meant spiritually. She chose to save her soul and was subsequently burnt at the stake. If the fire was supposed to cleanse her from her sins, it certainly did of her desire to save her body.

It is important to know that Joan did not willingly submit to her voices. By her own admittance she resisted them for years. When captured she tried to escape several times and once jumped sixty feet from a prison tower, was knocked unconscious and recaptured. Her voices reproached her for trying to flee from her life’s purpose. They told her, her victory would be in her death, something which she found difficult to come to terms with. If Joan fought a war for her countrymen, her greatest battle was to accept her terrible fate notwithstanding her love of God.

The Part of Fortune is at 26Virgo16. Fortuna depicts what the soul hungers for which is ultimately derived from every soul’s longing for God. Yet, our relationship with Him is one of reciprocation and if we yearn to be with Him, He beckons us like a Sheppard in the field calling to his sheep at nightfall. Where Fortuna then is in the chart, shows the way Home. Fortuna in Joan’s chart is on the 3rd/9th House axis of truth. Posited in the third she shows a yearning to manifest the ideals of the ninth, which is the House of God as God is truth. Her morality comes to life through the matters of the third such as communication, which would have been of intrinsic importance to Joan, who had a Sanguine temperament. Fortuna is in the double-bodied sign of Virgo and on Zaniah in the constellation of Virgo. Associated with Mary who manifested God in this world by giving birth to Christ, it could be suggested that Joan delivered His Word. If we put forward that Fortuna’s presence in the third shows Joan’s wish to do thus, we have to remember her hunger is there because she is called by God to do so.

Fortuna’s dispositor is Mercury on Wega. The fixed star is always considered in a duo with Altair, which in this chart happens to be on the Sun, Lord 1 as the native. Altair, also called the Bird of Jove, is the eagle soaring up to the heavens which lifted Ganymede, the most beautiful of the mortals, to the heavens to partake in the feast of the gods. Wega is known as the fallen vulture and together these two stars tell of one that has seen the glory of heaven and then in vain tries to emulate it in a corrupted world. Altair and Wega are also associated with the theme of the charioteer in the constellation of Auriga. It is equated to greatness of soul because we have to take right action even when we know it will go against our self-preservation. It retells Joan’s story, but as if to emphasise God’s participation we find the accidentally feeble Mercury in the unfortunate 6th in a close and applying aspect to the angular Jupiter - the ruler of God’s house in the chart. With both planets having dignity in term and in aspect, Joan was at the very least poised to successfully manifest the truth axis in her chart, especially so as Jupiter is also her Lord of the Geniture. It is documented that Joan forbade her soldiers to use vulgar language and as Altair and Wega are so often associated with the music of the Gods, she would have her soldiers attend mass and sing hymns, her favourite being Veni Sancte Spiritus, as she wanted to be sure they were spiritually connected to God when fighting in His name.

Mercury as Lords 3 and 12 is in fall of Jupiter. My interpretation of this reception is that as Joan was unschooled and could hardly write her own name, her illiteracy, was capable of harming God. Her signing of the document of abjuration which she could not read herself is a good example of this. Not realising that it refuted her voices she in effect denied the help of God. Through her illiteracy then she betrayed God and this became her undoing as Mercury being Lord 12 suggests.

The Moon is applying to sextile the Sun, which means her harm. There may be a psychology of pending doom with the native and a sense that she is her own worst enemy as the Sun is Lord 1. The self-harm derives from what she believes to be true and what it may do to her physical being as the Sun/Lord 1 is her personal truth and body. Yet, if the Sanguine Moon in the double bodied sign of Pisces chooses to save her body as opposed to what her heart loves – God or Jupiter as Lord 9 – she brings herself in conflict with her soul purpose as the Moon’s applying opposition to Fortuna indicates. The Moon deeply fears Lords 3/12 or what she speaks and her undoing as she is detriment and fall of Mercury. Herein is the mighty challenge of her life. The Moon is on malefic Scheat and in the constellation of Pegasus it carries the myth of Bellerophon who attempted to fly to heaven on the back of this winged creature. Zeus sent a gadfly which stung Pegasus, the horse reared and Bellerophon dismounted, but despite the stinging shock Pegasus continued his course, entered heaven and took his place among the stars. The myth then tells of obstacles and overcoming them. Applied to Joan’s chart it shows the choices her heart had to make in this struggle.

Joan’s Pars Solis, the Sun Part which unites us to God is in the 11th, the house of God’s grace and His pledge for redemption despite our sins. Although God’s mercy outweighs his justice, the story of Noah tells us God’s salvation does not mean that Man is exempt from punishment. The very malefic Algol is on the cusp of the eleventh and thus colours the affairs of this house. In the constellation of Perseus it tells of the hero who had to slay a monster. History has named Joan, God’s Maiden Warrior come to earth to bring his mercy but also his justice. Pars Solis opposes Venus as Lords 4 and 11 connecting the native through conflict to her homeland and God’s grace. The dispositor of Pars Solis is like that of Fortuna – Mercury on Wega, which is also associated with the vulture, a sacred bird which can stick its beak into a rotting carcass without contamination. Joan never killed a single man on the battlefield. She carried a standard or a flag in her right hand so as to prevent her from entering into combat, while she sustained several battle wounds. Mercury as the dispositor of both Fortuna and Pars Solis is sextile to Jupiter as Lord 9 showing an easy interaction to all the issues these two planets represent in the chart. I believe it also signifies God’s aid and in this she was sustained in one of the most important soul planets in her chart. Pars Solis is conjunct Saturn in Gemini as Lords 7 and 8 – open enemies and death. Saturn is in sign of Mercury telling us the open enemy loves her undoing and is ruled by what she has to say and the beliefs she manifests in this life.

The motives of the Part of Love at 11Aries54 and the Part of Despair at 21Scorpio03 reside in the question of how to bridge the gap between Fortuna and Pars Solis. In other words, how exactly is Joan going to do what she is meant to do? Astrologer John Frawley writes: “The Part of Love is called so, because soul and spirit (Fortuna and Pars Solis) wish to be united and the distance between a clockwise direction of primary motion producing the earthbound emotion of despair - says: “You’ll never make it!” them produces the desire for conciliation through hope and faith.” Thus, the Part of Love tells me, “Yes, you can bridge the gap!” The Part of Despair - extrapolated from the distance between soul and spirit in the chart, says: "You will never make it!" This part is also called the Part of Necessity and represents the chafing against the inevitable limitations of incarnation, especially the constant need for choice. It is the weighing and the compromise of the ideal. In other words, the soul realises that in order to bridge the gap between the soul and the spirit he has to pay a price and honour the toll of passage to the ferryman. What will the charge be?

Joan’s Part of Love is conjunct the Midheaven and just inside the cusp of the tenth and thus in its power. To serve her soul’s purpose, she has to attend to the matters of the 10th – her king and her calling. The part’s dispositor – Mars – is in the house of open enemies and as Mars is the natural significator of war it is obvious that she has to wage war against others. Mars is conjunct disruptive Uranus and on Castra telling us it will not be pretty. Mars is also Lord 5 – ruler of the house of messengers and the Holy Spirit. So, to serve her soul’s purpose she also has to bring messages in God’s name. Like Fortuna and Pars Solis, the Parts of Love and Despair share a dispositor. Mars opposes the 1st, the house of the physical body and is in detriment of the Sun/ Lord I. Yet again, like Mercury, Mars is in aspect to Lord 9, which loves Mars, but at the same time is in fall of the Moon. The latter – which rules no house in the chart and can therefore only he regarded as the native herself and her emotions - is in the sacrificial sign of Pisces, which tells us again that she has to give herself up physically to bridge the gap between Fortuna and Pars Solis and make her way back to God. The Sanguine Moon in a double bodied sign of Pisces will have to make this decision. How deep is her love of God? Will it be strong enough to pay this terrible price? The Part of Victory at 5Capricorn02 is where we are most likely to receive God’s grace. As per directions I found this Part to be the most active except for Fortuna. The dispositor of the Part of Victory is Saturn/ Lord 8 of death. It is on Aldebaran, the right eye of the bull in the constellation of Taurus which has one eye turned towards the Divine and one to the world. This constellation tells of love and what we are prepared to do for love. Saturn opposes the antiscion of the Sun on Antares. The chart clearly tells us that in sacrificing herself through death by staying true to her Voices and thus admitting the help God afforded in this, she will find victory and grace. On hearing she was to be burnt at the stake, she said:” I am at peace, because God made me understand that my victory was in my death. The angels told me that God would help me in the fire.”

Many historians today believe that Joan was not burnt to death but died from smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning. In her nativity we find Lord 8 in Gemini, an air sign, but retrograde and thus going against its airy nature. The South Node of the nature of Saturn is on the 2nd of the throat where we inhale. Saturn also opposes the Sun’s antiscion which apart from Lord 1 is also Lord 2.

In the Solar Return (SR) for 7 January 1431; Domremy la Pucelle; 10Scorpio13 Rising; Moon at 25Libra42 the SRFortuna as the native is in a partile conjunction to the Part of Victory. She also opposes malefic Pluto, is conjunct SRMercury/Lord 8/ death and SRVenus/Natal (N) Lord 11/Lord 4 as God’s grace. These planets are trine SR Jupiter/ N Lord 9 and SR Lord 2 of her throat. Mercury as Lord of Death in this Solar Return chart is not in a fire sign as one would want to see with a fiery death, but is in cold and dry earth, which is the opposite of hot and moist air showing thus a lack of air.

In the Lunar Return (LR): 6 May 1431; Domremy la Pucelle; 11Libra12 Rising; Sun at 24Taurus01 the LR Ascendant is conjunct N Part of Victory. Saturn - LR L1 and L2 of the throat as well as N Lord 8 is trine LR Sun/LR Lord 8/native/God which is conjunct LR Jupiter/N Lord 2/Lord 9 AND trine LR Fortuna. I believe that she suffocated to death due to smoke inhalation and before the fire got to her. The Part of Courage at 16Pisces03 is concerned with capacity for right action, eschewing the petty demands of the ego, of greatness of soul, doing what should be done whether it serves one’s immediate interests or not. The dispositor of this part is Jupiter in Scorpio, which is her Lord of the Geniture and of course Lord 9 telling us that her bravery would be associated with her beliefs which would require the very best in her. Her valour as Jupiter, her capacity for right action has the aptitude to harm the Moon or her as a person. Conjunct the Moon the part is on Markab. It gives honour, riches and fortune, but also fevers, cuts, blows, fire and a violent death.

Assessing her Wit and Manner we find the Sun and Mercury in cold, dry and cardinal Capricorn, while the sanguine Moon is hot and moist and in mutable Pisces. So, there is elemental diversity. There is also conflict by reception with the Moon in detriment and fall of Mercury and the latter and the Sun are in detriment of the Moon. The close applying aspect between the Sun and Moon brings the conflict to the fore, but it also shows that the mind is well integrated despite the inner struggle.

This, I suggest, was her truth – she heard voices she believed to be those of angels steering her to free France from oppression. She also knew that she would pay with her life for these beliefs but if she wavered, if the mutable Moon – who loved God, but also feared what she told the world as well as her undoing – chose to betray God to save herself, she would break His heart. So, she stepped onto the stake and when they set her alight she called out to Christ until her voice became silent like the solemn shadows of the wooded hills of Domremy. And those who were there, swear they saw a dove emerging from the fire and it flew towards France.