Astrobiology:
or the Astrological Fertility Cycle
I first encountered this aspect of Medical Astrology in Linda Goodman's Love Signs. She referred to it in a biblically inspired chapter entitled: A Time To Embrace
The Ancients knew of the relationship between the phases of the Moon and women's fertility cycles, but this knowledge was seemingly lost to us until it was recovered in 1956 through the work of Dr. Eugen Jonas of Czechoslovakia. He noticed that there were two times each month when a woman's fertility was high. The first, and most fertile is when the Sun and Moon in the sky repeat the exact angular distance they held in the woman's nativity. The second, and lesser fertile time was the traditional midway date in the woman's cycle. (Day 14 - ish, depending on the actual menstrual cycle)
Linda, in her beautifully written, if slightly misleading presentation of this system as an answer to unplanned pregnancies, stated, "as the ancients who planned the conceptions of Kings knew well, a woman can conceive only during a certain approximately two-hour period of each lunar month... without exception a woman can conceive at no other time..." and goes on to state that, "If a day or two are added as a safety margin on either side of the day within which the two 'fertile hours' fall - lovers and mates will need to 'refrain from embracing' only five days per month. Unfortunately, this is not the whole of the matter.
Perhaps in ancient times, when people were living more in sync with nature and their food supply was not contaminated with pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones, this was true. However, in this day and age, with all the stress we put our bodies through trying to be on the go as close to 24/7 as we can, very few women's astrological fertility cycle coincides with their mid-cycle date. I have even seen cases where the astrological fertility cycle occurred during menstruation!
Due to the viability of the sperm which can be anywhere from 48 to 72 hours, when we add this amount of time to the Astrological fertile day, and then again to the mid-cycle date, we are closer to approximately 14 days of abstinence required to avoid unplanned pregnancies. To be thorough we might also want to take into account the impact that diet, stress and any medications taken (which can all alter the typical ovulation cycle)... well, let's just say that although I am convinced of the validity of Astrology, I might prefer to use these cycles to help seemingly "infertile" women conceive than I would to try to use them to avoid pregnancy.
The Three postulates of the Jonas System
- Time of optimum fertility
- Gender
- Viability
1 - Time of optimum fertility
As we have already discussed, this is determined by the exact Sun/Moon angle at the time of the woman's birth. When the Sun and Moon in the sky repeat this angular distance (13 times each year or once each lunar month) this is the time of greatest fertility. Then we must take into account the ovulation date according to medical science, the midway date in the menstrual cycle. (often referred to as Day 14) As already stated, these two times often do not coincide.
2 - Gender
It was determined by the Ancients that each zodiacal sign corresponded to a particular gender.
Male Signs are: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius
Female Signs are: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces
The gender is determined by which sign the Moon is in during the actual conception. Now, due to the viability of the sperm, this may not necessarily be the same sign the Moon was in on the Sun/Moon angle day!
3 - Viability
Viability is a calculation that requires just a bit more in-depth knowledge of Astrology, and is reflected by the hard aspects (traditionally squares and oppositions) of the Moon in the potential fertility chart. This fertility chart should then be compared to the woman's Nativity. Dr. Jonas also discovered that viability may also be affected by oppositions of the Sun to major planets. Always the woman's own natal chart should be read in terms of ability to conceive and bear children. This is based on the condition of the 4th House in the natal chart (ability to conceive) and the 5th house in the natal chart (for children in general).
That having been said, we might also want to look at afflictions to/from the signs Scorpio and Cancer in the woman's nativity. Scorpio rules the "generative organs" as relates to sex and the process of elimination. However, the uterus, when viewed as the container for the new life, shifts polarity to the sign Cancer. In Medical Astrology, the sign Cancer relates the the concept of "containing-ness", so afflictions to or from either of these signs can relate to the ability to conceive and carry a child.
