Oh! The swirls of sand protecting the birth date of Muhammad; yet, careful reading of the leading sources for the study of Islam does settle upon 570 as the birth year for this personage, founder of Islam, the world?s second largest and fastest growing religion.
Out of those non-literate times and people, we do learn scraps of information about Muhammad; out of the mercantile and religious clan-traffic and battles involving thousands and thousands of people, as time passed, history does bring occurrences forward with more and more accuracy. ?These bits of information will have to guide our conjectural designation of Muhammad?s birth data and their rectification, perhaps to afford us all an appreciation of his focus of history.
For example, we get a glimpse of Muhammad?s physicality: ?He was handsome, with a compact, solid body of average height. His hair and beard were thick and curly, and he had a strikingly luminous expression and a smile of enormous charm, which is mentioned [often] in all the sources.? –Taurus must be the initial consideration for the Ascendant (with Venus beautifully situated indeed, as we shall see, in Pisces, quintile the Ascendant and sextile Mercury).
In the sixth century, in the nomadic Arab world, there was no concept of universal human rights. Social reform loomed necessary because of the tyrannical clan tensions ?tribal glories and ancestral honor– involving vital trade routes to and market focus at Mecca. Life existed in the context of ?the tribe?; life was dangerously, competitively tough. —-We are told repeatedly that ?[Muhammad] was convinced that [this] social reform must be based on a new spiritual solution, or it would remain superficial.?
Out of the painful societal awareness in Islam/Muhammad histories, there emerges a constant discussion of humanitarianism. This speaks for Aquarius, of course. ?And we must note that the histories of giant avatars ?like Jesus for example?focus often on the essence of the New Moon, the beginning of a new cycle, of new light.
Following this spirit, I tested the New Moon birth date in Aquarius, in 570: I settled upon January 22, 570 in Mecca, (now) Saudi Arabia, and after much testing focused a time of 12:52 PM LMT, giving up a Taurus Ascendant.
It was intriguing indeed, that, after fifteen date-tests of the horoscope (events to measurements, measurements to dates) and shifting the time forward and back within the rectification process, settling on 12:52 hours, placing the Sun securely within the 5th degree of Aquarius, I discovered a startlingly corroborative Sabian symbol [Blain Bovee] for that degree: ??affinities for ancestral roots, cutting-edge sensibilities, an uncanny sense of ancient wisdom. Watch for unique appearances, a deep appreciation of the unique occasion of human experience. Be aware of abilities for entering into trance, delving deeply into consciousness, skillfully appropriating one?s place in history.? –What images for Muhammad!
And even further: the 14th degree of Aquarius for the Midheaven which is set by the birth time: ?The expression of the human soul in the physical world ? the atmospheric tension that precipitates emergence into the world; the pressing issue of human existence to seize the moment, to express one?s self ? Following in the train of a powerful natural force.?
Impressive. This was Muhammed!
Here are some of the life-points corroborated by this horoscope:
1. Muhammad?s father ?Abdullah died before Muhammad was born [see SA Pluto=Asc; natal Uranus, ruler of the 10th, squared by Saturn].
2. Muhammad lived with his wet nurse and her family until he was six years old; he returned to his mother in Mecca, and shortly thereafter his mother died. This is a double bereavement that made a deep impression on Muhammad. [Moon=MH with tr Neptune conjunct Ascendant.]
3. At age 25 (595), Muhammad married a wealthy widow ?an important sociological maneuver?whom he loved very much: in the spring, tr Uranus square Sun-Moon and tr Saturn opposed Pluto, ruler of the 7th and squared the Ascendant.
4. According to tradition, Muhammad received his call to be a Prophet at age 40, early in the year 610: he was following the holy customs of the sacred time of Ramadan, when, upon Mount Hira, as he slept in solitude, the Angel Gabriel came to him. The Angel commanded the bewildered, illiterate Muhammad to ?Recite!? ? three emphatic times, and, finally, spontaneously, the first four verses of the ninety-sixth chapter of the Muslim scripture, the Qur?an, were born. [Qur?an (Koran) is an Arabic word that combines the meanings of ?reading? and ?recitation.?]
Now, Muhammad had many successive visions, revelations, thereafter from which the Qur?an was inspired, spoken, and remembered in the oral tradition. ?Muhammad was susceptible to having visions: we note Neptune?s relationship with the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, and the Midheaven! That first vision upon Mt. Hira took place with tr Pluto square Jupiter, tr Neptune sq Neptune, and tr Saturn square his Ascendant!!
5. In 619, Muhammad experienced what is recorded as ?a year of sadness:? his wife had died, he had begun to preach to pilgrims but was doubted by many; there were no more revelations to fortify him at that time; his position within his clan began to weaken. [Tr Neptune square Ascendant with tr Uranus conjunct the IC ? leading to change.]
6. Then in March 620, he did begin to experience his initial acceptance by the people, with Mars=Midheaven and Jupiter=Ascendant.
And so the rectification process develops. ?We see enormously daring confrontations between the now-forming Muhammad (Islam) clan and all the others; his brave arrival in Mecca (tr Saturn conjunct the IC); a revelation to direct prayers toward Mecca instead of Jerusalem; the battle of Badr (a major triumph in March 624: SA Moon at AP, SA Asc=Uranus; SA Uranus=Venus, ruler of the Ascendant; with tr Pluto square Uranus); an assassination attempt; many other battles ? and then a sudden precipitous fall to ?the nadir of his career?, with tr Pluto opposed Saturn. ?His crucial problems were linked to his new-wives (627-628) and the formulation of ethical doctrines, including the emancipation of women and leadership succession, all also in the light of incongruous massacre-executions ordered after the heat of battles. The soup was thick.
Muhammad then commandeered an enormous horde of followers and pulled a great triumph out of the impossible and into history (629 in March), with tr Saturn conjunct Saturn, tr Jupiter conjunct Jupiter, tr Uranus trine Sun-Moon.
The next year he made ?an assault? on Mecca and won over the city and all of the Arab people without the blow of a single weapon! Muhammad had arrived.
The next year ?apparently with his mission accomplished, with all the verses of the Qu?ran remembered ? to be recorded some twenty-five years after his death ? with humanistic teachings and realities and spiritual practices in place?Muhammad appeared to be ailing (tr Saturn opposed his Ascendant).
Muhammad died quickly and quietly in the arms of his wife on June 8, 632 at age 62: SA Pluto=Saturn, tr Saturn opposed the Ascendant the final time. It is told that the Angel Gabriel came to Muhammad a last time to lift away his spirit.
Arguments about leadership succession and the editing of Muhammad?s revelations started immediately upon his death. Of crucial influence, extending bitterly into present-day religiopolitical affairs(!), are the warring factions of the Shia and the Sunnis. –But Islam could then and now take its place next to Judaism and Christianity with the focus upon an eponymous Prophet-founder and a message for all humankind.
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***Of course, we do not know if the chart conjectured and cursorily tested here is true. There are even suspected calendar changes involved, perhaps ending at the halfway point of Muhammad?s life, etc. But its relevance to the extraordinary life-development of the man called the Prophet Muhammad is certainly helpful toward appreciation of history past and history yet to come. It helps us learn. It makes our brains work.
**Accessible bibliography for Muhammad and Islam:
Muhammad ?A Prophet for our time; Karen Armstrong; HarperCollins, 2006.
Muhammad and the Origins of Islam; F. E. Peters; State University of New York Press, 1994.
Next Update, December 31, 2007