Penelope Sitter joins the show to talk about the life and work of the 17th century astrologer Jean-Baptiste Morin de Villefranche, and her new translation of his work.
Morin was an astrologer from France who lived around the same time as William Lilly, and he wrote a massive tome on astrology titled Astrologia Gallica, which means French Astrology.
Penelope just translated book 21 of Morin’s work from Latin, which is the most important book of Astrologia Gallica, where he outlines his unique approach to chart synthesis.
Penelope became so excited about Morin’s work after being exposed to it in the 2000’s through the work of Robert Corre that she actually learned Latin specifically in order to translate Morin’s text.
During the course of the episode we talk about Morin’s life and work, and then we also get into his techniques and discuss what makes his approach interesting and different when compared to some of his contemporaries.
Along the way we talk about his birth chart and personality, and use his chart a few times to demonstrate his technical approach, which he does several times in his work.
It ended up being a fascinating discussion, introducing an important but often overlooked astrologer who was the last great court astrologer in France before the decline of astrology in the 17th century.
Penelope’s Translation of Book 21 of Morin
You can get Penelope’s translation of book 21 of Morin here:
This episode is available in audio and video versions below.
Timestamps
- 00:00:00 Intro
- 00:01:04 About Jean-Baptiste Morin
- 00:08:32 Astrologia Gallica volumes
- 00:15:00 Translations of Astrologia Gallica
- 00:18:51 Penelope Sitter’s background
- 00:31:45 Why Morin has been difficult to understand
- 00:35:38 Morin’s natal chart
- 00:41:50 Morin’s personality
- 00:47:59 Triplicity rulers
- 00:49:20 Morin’s significations of the houses
- 00:55:38 Morin’s family
- 00:57:37 Significations of Sun and Moon
- 00:58:41 Zoltan Mason
- 01:00:49 Reestablishing of lineages
- 01:03:17 Rejection of general significators in book 21
- 01:10:11 Morin’s use of specialized terminology
- 01:12:27 Planet begins the action and dispositor takes over
- 01:16:39 Particular significators and local determinations
- 01:20:51 Essential and accidental meanings of houses
- 01:23:23 Angular vs. intermediate houses
- 01:24:58 Chapter on houses
- 01:31:30 Significators for parents
- 01:31:58 Jupiter and Mercury significators
- 01:33:49 Best steps to follow for delineations
- 01:39:25 Theory of astrological signification
- 01:49:50 Influence of planets on preceding house
- 01:57:07 Gustavus Adolphus’ natal chart
- 02:00:14 House distortion
- 02:02:50 Blending of whole sign and quadrant houses
- 02:06:30 Cabala of the houses
- 02:11:57 4 traditional human aims
- 02:18:23 Rulers of the houses
- 02:25:21 Influence of Aristotle
- 02:30:20 Derived houses
- 02:32:21 Synastry
- 02:34:10 Timing techniques
- 02:37:04 Fate and divine will
- 02:39:34 Penelope’s book and projects
- 02:44:35 Closing credits
Watch the Video Version of This Episode
Watch the video version of this episode on Morin on YouTube:
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Transcript
A full transcript of this episode is available:Â Episode 449 transcript
Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode
Listen to the audio version of this episode or download it as an MP3:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:46:43 — 153.1MB)
Wonderful interview and explanation of Morin’s work. The second half of the interview is a goldmine of information on technique.
I have a suggestion for a future interview. Morin’s book 23 on Revolutions is one of the most instructive astrology texts I’ve ever read. It would make a fascinating topic. Thank you both.
I’ve been hoping you would interview Penelope Sitter about Morin and so I was so excited to see you had! I loved this so much! Morin rocks and I so enjoyed the two of you discussing his work. Please have Penelope back for her next book which sounds fascinating!
This was excellent. Though it might have seemed long to some, and it did approach 3 hours, I didn’t want it to end.
I ordered the book and love it. Penelope has written it so that it does, indeed, feel as if Morin is speaking directly to us, to show us the way.
This book sits right next to COSI, works by Ronald C. Davison, and others and surely deserves the honor.
I hope someone will take up Tom’s subtle request and does a full translation of Book 23, Revolutions.
Thanks again, for the podcast and for the beautifully translated Book 21!