I have done a fair amount of research on the quintile; as you may know it is a fifth harmonic aspect which John Addey always associated with the use and abuse of power; because of the occult significance of the pentagram it is considered by some to be an aspect which requires activation lest it be triggered into its base expression with often uncomfortable results. Bill Tierney noted that it is often found in the charts of composers and artists, but also mass-murderers and murder victims.
Adolf Hitler’s chart shows some configurations which other astrologers have claimed explains his motivation, I cannot agree. The inclusion of Eris, Goddess of strife and discord in his nativity, aspects to the ascendant too, evidences an incredible and absolutely perfect fifth harmonic pentagram. If Addey is correct and the 5th denotes the abuse of power, then clearly Hitler was the perfect 5th harmonic instrument.
Adolf Hitler, 20 April 1889, 18:30 ( -0:52:08 ) Braunau am Inn, Austria
Of course, there are other interesting factors in his chart that support the historical outcomes. The partile conjunction of Ma/Ve in square to Saturn on the midheaven tells a story of idealism brutally expounded, and Taurus, fixed earth is powerfully material, Venus disposits the chart, is energised by Mars (which it overwhelms) and is given ruthless staying power by Saturn in fixed, autocratic Leo. With all of those ponderous outer-planet energies configured in this pattern, the Moon-Jupiter conjunction creates the most obvious channel for its expression, in the 3rd: by use of slowly building oratory (Cap. on 3rd) he was able to focus the fanatic zeal for power of Saturn in Leo and the near spiritualised intellect of Neptune in Gemini, itself lent destructive intellectual power by Pluto, accidentally dignified in the fixed 8th.
The quintile when viewed retrospectively in this way is comprehensible, and even beforehand it might be possible to put these clues together, but really, the most remarakble feature of this configuration is its power. It is like a Yod, but supercharged, and without the element of hunting dissatisfaction found in that pattern; it becomes, once activated, innate and in some manner overwhelming and undeniable.
The ‘Golden Yod’ then, is an intriguing configuration formed from a quintile between two planets which each biquintile a third. An angle works just as well. From my research the Golden Yod is often found in the charts of musicians and actors. Kevin Costner has a Golden Yod to his Mc. Many iconic film stars charts evidenced Golden Yods, or what I call ‘Golden t-squares’ (two quintiles joined by a biquintile), such as Joan Crawford, Charlie Chaplin and James Dean. James Dean has an incredible configuration of quintiles if you take a look at his chart.
Musicians too, Buddy Holly and Carole King for example.
The negative potential is found in the charts of many notewrothy individuals. Murder victims like Albert Ayler who was found dead in NYs East River on 25th Nov. 1970 for one; there are many other examples; victims of anothers power misuse; like Patty Hearst for example.
I have a fairly extensive library on the [bi]quintile now. You may wish to include 36 deg. and the sequiquintile of 108 deg. That’s a magical number too, according to Crowley it is the sum of Jesus and Mary, and there are 1080 bricks in a Turkish oven, always, and of course it is representative of 9 and 12 numerologically.
So, how do you interpret the quintiles in everyday astrology? For practical purposes it is uninterpretable, at least, not without the gift of hindsight. The majority are quite oblivious to this aspect because it is – as in music- an off-beat rhythm, it is decidedly Uranian in that respect, if the aspect were a style of music it would be a rather obscure form of jazz. On the other hand, it may be possible to explore some of the theme blends and see where that leads you. Consider this list of personages with Moon in 5th harmonic aspect to Saturn:
- Adolf Hitler
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Willy Brandt
- Bill Clinton
- Betty Ford
- Edward Kennedy
- Robert Kennedy
Are you seeing a common quality? Moon – Saturn always speaks to matters of self-discipline, self-control inadequate maternal relationships and staying power; but here it is lent a different quality, one that if “switched on” can become a true asset, for good, or for evil.
February 8, 2009 at 7:36 am
Reading the book on YODs and Unaspected Planets by Karen, it appears that The North Node is excluded from consideration and that a Golden Yod that has the North Node as one “leg” does not fit into the definition of a Golden Yod.
From your experience would the North Node become a “dumb” point in this configuration?
February 8, 2009 at 11:50 am
Hi Nigel, I assume you are referring to the book by Karen Hamaker-Zondag, and I haven’t read it so I cannot vouch for it. If it contains information on golden yods as opposed to normal yods however, I would be very interested in reading it.
As for the NN question, I am not sure if you are referring to Hitler’s chart (since the NN is not configured in this pattern: Mo/Ju – Eris – Ne/Pl – Sa – Ur) or to a hypothetical configuration. I am personally not convinced that NN would fail to function in either a yod or a golden yod, but they would certainly operate in very different ways, and a golden yod is always difficult to activate of course.
The Node is also not really an area of great expertise for me either, I keep meaning to read more and look at it more closely.
It seems to me that NN has maternal, fated/destined connotations, but mostly I am with Ebertin who creates from it a power of association, this seems to bear out. Ju in good aspect to NN always seems to create a positive leaning to fellowship in a person for example.
February 10, 2009 at 8:23 am
Hi Chirotic,
Good article on the Golden Yod. I appreciate that you truly seem to get it. As the person who first identified and wrote about this configuration, I appreciate that this concept is finally getting into the general discourse of astrology. When I named this configuration about 20 years ago, my rationale was based upon my interest in sacred geometry and the relationship between the Golden Mean (what Kepler and Da Vinci called “the Divine Proportion”). As you probably know, this ratio (1.6180339…) can only be created exactly by the construction of a 5-pointed star. I began to realize that this “quintile yod” was the real thing and the “quincunx you” was a shadow of the true magic. By the way, what you refer to as a “Golden T-Square”, I call a “Golden Triangle.” And when there’s 4 adjacent points on the Grand Quintile (Joan d’Arc), I refer to this as a “Golden Bowl” (Robert Bly.” Anyway, I just wanted to connect with a fellow quintilian. Cheers! ~Rick Levine.
February 13, 2009 at 2:16 pm
To Rick Levine -
the great (albeit controversial) Magi Aleister Crowley had 3 interlocking quincunx yods that formed a pentagram. Rather a fitting symbol given his talents. You say you have come to believe quincunx yods (and so pentagrams) are a weakened down version of their quintile counterparts. Crowley was a master of the crafts so I’m not sure this take can be applied to all people with quincunx pentagrams ?
Leonardo da Vinci had one , so did Karl Yung and I happen to have one too. Hitler, we know, was very into the occult and magic etc etc. I myself study Astrology, read the Tarot and similar. There seems to be a definate tie to psychic/occult talents and interests when one has this configuration. I’ve seen it in the chart of a Tai Chi master and healer as well as someone else well into the mystical path. Recently a lady studying mediumship contacted me for a report and I noticed she had one too . They are rare and whenever I do see them they ALWAYS tie in with some sort of psychic/magickal abilities . Curious….
ps) Between my chart and my partners we have a grand quintile pentagram pattern. He is an artist, musician, Reiki Healer and very intuitive.
March 9, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Great article.
I think I have a Yod and a Golden Yod, that is if you count Chiron for the first and Lilith for the second.
Success seems unreachable for me.
A moon in Hayz.
The moon is the finger.
I feel I am struggling towards some great personal revelation.
thanks for the help