Dag Hammarskjöld
Picture from the frontispiece of the book by Sven Stolpe.
The credit states "Courtesy of BLACK STAR (photography by Werner Wolff)."

April, 2004
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Dag Hammarskjöld
From Suffering to Service--The Charts
by Sandra Weidner
sleeweidner@gmail.com
Towards new shores--?
At every moment you choose yourself. But do you choose your self? Body and soul contain a thousand possibilities out of which you can build many I’s. But in only one of them is there a congruence of the elector and the elected. Only one--which you will never find until you have excluded all those superficial and fleeting possibilities of being and doing with which you toy, out of curiosity or wonder or greed, and which hinder you from casting anchor in the experience of the mystery of life, and the consciousness of the talent entrusted to you which is your I. (Markings, Hammarskjöld’s posthumously published journal, page 19, 1945-1949)

Introduction
Dag Hammarskjöld was Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953 until his death in an airplane accident in 1961. He assumed the post following Trygve Lie, the first Secretary-General of the then still fledgling United Nations. As soon as Hammarskjöld accepted the post, he went through a tremendous transformation.

Even before his life at the United Nations, Hammarskjöld was well-acquainted with success:

Dag Hammarskjöld’s academic career was almost uniformly distinguished. He received degrees in law and economics from the University of Uppsala and went on to receive his Ph.D. in economics at Stockholm. At the improbable age of thirty he became Under-Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Finance and served concurrently as chairman of the Governors of the Bank of Sweden... In 1947 he became Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office. His activities as Swedish representative in the formative period of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation and the Council of Europe gave him a foretaste of international life.” (Urquhart, 22. The number following the author’s name cites the page from whichever of three books the quote was taken. The books are cited at the end in the section entitled “Bibliography.”)

But, ”For all his success as a Swedish civil servant, the early part of Markings reveals a nagging discontent...” (Urquhart, 23)

In his Introduction to Markings, W.H. Auden states “[Hammarskjöld had] an exceptionally aggressive superego--largely created, I suspect, by his relation to his father--which demands a Hammarskjöld shall do and be better than other people: on the other hand, [he had] an ego weakened by a “thorn in the flesh” which convinces him that he can never hope to experience what, for most people, are the two greatest joys earthly life has to offer, either a passionate devotion returned, or a lifelong happy marriage. Consequently, a feeling of personal unworthiness which went very far...(Markings, xiv)

We have Hammarskjöld’s own declarations:

What is one to do on a bleak day but drift for a while through the streets--drift with the stream? Slowly, with the gravity of an inanimate object, now coming to a standstill, now turning, where currents meet... Slow--and gray... Slow and gray--He searches every face. But the people aimlessly streaming along the gray ditches of the streets are all like himself--atoms in whom the radioactivity is extinct, and force has tied its endless chain around nothing. (Markings, 24, 1945-1949)

But Hammarskjöld’s emptiness becomes more defined over time. By 1950 he writes, “Hunger is my native place in the land of passions. Hunger for fellowship, hunger for righteousness--for a fellowship founded on righteousness, and a righteousness attained in fellowship.” (Markings, 53, 1950)

Then:

It occurs to you in a flash: I might just as well never have existed. Other people, however, seeing you with a guaranteed salary, a bank account, and a briefcase under your arm, assume that you take your existence for granted. What you are can be of interest to them, not that you are...(Markings, 73, 1951).

When Markings (the title in Swedish is Vägmärken) was published posthumously in 1963, two years after Hammarskjöld’s death, many Swedes were astonished, dumbfounded, even indignant, to discover in Hammarskjöld a contemporary, heretofore-unknown, Christian mystic. Hammarskjöld had grown up in socialistic Sweden, socialism he and his family had helped bring about. Its people, especially the young of the educated and upper classes from which Hammarskjöld came, were agnostic, if not outright atheistic. His contemporaries assumed Hammarskjöld an atheist, too. As it turned out, Hammarskjöld was not. He may have appeared lacking contemplation, but he was a traveler on the path of religious commitment and realization through action. He kept his inner life almost entirely to himself. Glimmers of it, however, were left us in his journal.

In this paper I examine the astrology of Hammarskjöld the mystic as well as Hammarskjöld the man. I present the forces that formed him--his relationship to his mother and father. Since, after he became Secretary-General, periodic rumors circulated claiming him to be homosexual, I also include his 5th chart, discussing what it tells us about his sexuality.

The main point of this paper, however, is to show the astrology of Hammarskjöld’s extraordinary transformation, at age 47 when he became Secretary-General, from a successful but unhappy man to a successful one aligned with and at peace with his fate. His election released, and best used, all the extraordinary qualities of his personality. At the same time, the commitment it demanded of him became the fulcrum for the realization of his religious life.

Gunnar Jarring later described Hammarskjöld’s state of mind as “an agony of indecision” during those few hours he took to make his decision to accept the post. (Urquhart, 13) Once he had cabled his acceptance, however, his agony disappeared as if by a stroke of magic. In the years before his acceptance, his journal describes several telling tales of suicides, one including an admission of its appeal to him. After his acceptance, contemplating his life retrospectively, he wrote:

I don’t know Who--or what--put the question, I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone--or Something--and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life in self-surrender, had a goal.
From that moment I have known what it means “not to look back,” and “to take no thought for the morrow.” (Markings, 205, titled “Whitsunday,” 1961)

From that moment, and thereafter until the end of his life, he felt called upon to serve. “For him it was a welcome bondage. ‘I am more of a prisoner than ever,’ he wrote Rajeshwar Dayal in India in December 1954, ‘but it is an imprisonment for which I have only to be grateful.’” After the Suez Crisis (1956), “at the height of the bitter campaign against him in some of the Western countries, he was asked if he enjoyed his job. He replied, ‘Well, it seems incredible but I do.’” (Urquhart, 23) )(PC, Note No. 1571, April 4, 1957--that is, from a record of a press conference)


Before examining his harmonic charts, let’s make a brief survey of Hammarskjöld the man from the point of view of his shell chart. The shell chart is the combination of birth and conception charts before harmonics are added. It is the core which repeats throughout all the harmonic charts. It is this core from which all the harmonics are derived.


Dag Hammarskjöld
Shell Chart

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

The above chart shows planets and houses in Hammarskjöld’s combined birth and conception before harmonics are added. Birth houses are usually in blue, and conception, in red, but this chart only, hoping to make things easier to discriminate, I reserved those colors for planets only.

Houses and planets inside the circle show the traditional (except they are sidereal rather than tropical) Western birth chart containing ten planets and the moon’s nodes situated within twelve houses. Planets outside the circle show Hammarskjöld’s conception derived from my own formulation for conception. It also contains the traditional ten planets and the moon’s nodes within twelve Placidian houses, but this time of conception, not birth. Places where birth houses significantly overlap conception houses, and vice versa, are called “house overlaps. ” Birth houses are always written first. For instance, “7th/9th” refers to the overlap of birth 7th house to conception 9th house.

A number of tentative statements can be made about Hammarskjöld from his shell chart. For instance:

B MC in Cancer is in c 8th house. His career (MC) might involve finances of others (8th). Hammarskjöld was a very young Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Sweden and went on to other prestigious economic posts from there. His doctorate was in economics. Ruler of B MC, b moon, is in b 9th house and simultaneously in c 7th house. His career (B MC) could involve law (9th house). He studied law. He failed to get his doctorate in it because of an unexpected difficulty with his advisor. His career (B MC) may involve work with foreigners or in foreign lands (9th house). It will involve considerable communication--used in his position as Secretary-General--with others (moon in Gemini in 7th)
C MC is in birth 12th house, indicating a possible career either behind-the-scenes, for instance, in a hospital. Or, perhaps it shows occult (in the sense of hidden from usual view) dynamics directing his career. The Secretary-General does much of his work “behind-the-scenes.” Ruler of C MC, c mercury in Virgo, is conjunct B Asc in c 10th house. His brilliance (mercury Angular) and very fine discrimination (mercury in Virgo) will be prominent (conjunct Asc) in his career (10th house).
Birth and conception saturns are in c 2nd house, indicating possible poverty. But c 2nd house is ruled by jupiter, lighted by his c sun and B MC. His birth 2nd house is ruled by the lesser benefic, venus. So, finances are not a problem for him. At the same time, he is not particularly interested in wealth (saturn in 2nd. The personal accumulation of wealth and possessions would be antithetical to that.).
C Asc is in b 2nd house. Once again, finances are highlighted, but then, as already stated, his degree was in economics, and he held several prestigious posts in economic institutions. Ruler of C Asc and c 5th house, c mars, is in c 9th house. Both his having (2nd house) and his desire nature (5th house) are referenced to his higher mind (9th house). Material possessions appeared to matter little to Hammarskjöld. He owned a modest cottage in Sweden, and, after he became Secretary-General, a modest home in Brewster, New York, where, among other things, he knew my teacher, Dr. Willem Nyland.
Continuing with c mars, ruler of c 5th house in c 9th house, Hammarskjöld never married. An old friend (see discussion of 5th chart, below) believed Hammarskjöld never even consummated the sex act. While I doubt all individuals with ruler of the 5th in the 9th sublimate their sexuality, it is safe to say this condition could promote it.
The ruler of his b 7th house, neptune, is also in a 9th house--b 9th house (and c 7th). It could mean he marries a foreigner, that is, some one foreign to him in Sweden. Or meets his mate in a foreign land. It could also mean his marriage is to higher mind, a mystical marriage or allegiance, especially with neptune.
Ruler of c 7th house, c venus, is in c 11th house (and b 2nd). While no one appeared to know Hammarskjöld thoroughly, throughout his life he valued the companionship of a number of gifted and loyal friends.

That’s enough, but not at all an exhaustion of information contained in the shell chart. The harmonics flesh out the shell chart. Harmonic planets foster or frustrate potentialities indicated in the shell.


To recapitulate, in this paper I present several of Hammarskjöld’s harmonic charts:


Let’s start with his 4th chart, the one which shows his relationship with his father.

Before introducing Hammarskjöld’s 4th, I should say a few words about this method:


Astrological Method
This astrological method originated in 1983 through my playing around with numbers and astrological symbols. From that time until the present, I have used research and readings to discover and define how it works. Here is its background information and some of its empirically-derived principles:

This astrology uses the sidereal positions of the planets based on the Fagan-Bradley SVP. For my view on the difference between tropical ("Western") astrology and sidereal ("Eastern") astrology, read:
The Sidereal and Tropical Zodiacs: A Discussion
Harmonics are taken from the sidereal position of the planets. The Egyptian harmonic, discussed in the paper “About This Method,” is used.
About This Method
This method uses only conjunctions, applying and separating squares, and oppositions. Planets so related to each other are referred to as “in the same set.” A set, then, is two or more planets (or an Angle) connected to each other through conjunction, square, and opposition within the defined orbs (2nd paragraph below). The set is more active if it contains a light, and less active without one. Learning to look in terms of “crosses” can be helpful in rapidly finding planets that are in the same set.
”Lights” include suns, moons, and moons nodes. When mercury rules an Angle, especially if it rules two Angles (Gemini and Virgo), it functions both as a light and a planet. For instance, when mercury rules B MC and B Asc and is in the same set with mars and saturn, that constitutes a lighted (by mercury) mars/saturn set with forefront influence (the two Angles). MC and Asc act similar to lights in the sense they enliven and empower the expression of any planet they are touching, but they are not really lights, and their orb is smaller than regular lights.
All planets in a set are lighted, then, when the set includes an Angle, sun, moon, or nodes, and mercury when it rules at least one Angle.
Orbs for planets in sets with lights is 5°; without lights, about 2.5°. Orb for MC/planet or Asc/planet is 2°. Orb for progressed planet-to-Angle or vice versa is 1° and increases ½° - ¾° when a light is involved. If I could be certain each time of birth was absolutely correct, orbs could be established definitively.
In the paper on gurus I introduce the concept of path when speaking about an astrological set. Planets in a set, the houses they are in, and houses ruled by them describe an astrological path. If, for instance, planets in a set rule 4th, 5th and 9th houses, then the 4th, 5th, and 9th houses are inextricably connected to each other. Energy of learning as well as failure, determined by planets in the set, flows among those three houses. That energy flow can be called a path. As can be seen, paths have profound implications.
In the sets below, I am interested primarily in whether or not the significator planets are in the set. I may, however, include all planets in the set. Sometimes this is to show rulership through the other planets. It also shows that regardless of the presence of other planets, if the significator set is there and its path is right, the problem will eventually manifest.
Because this approach uses both a birth and conception chart and they share the same axis, birth houses usually overlap different houses of the conception chart. These are called house overlaps. Like paths, house overlaps play an important part in this astrology. Throughout this paper I use the convention when writing about house overlaps of putting the birth house first, then the conception house. So, for instance, a “5th/1st” overlap refers to an overlap of birth 5th house with conception 1st house in that order. A “9th/3rd” has birth 9th house overlapping conception 3rd house. Birth house/conception house in that order.
Birth planets (including their harmonics) rule only birth houses. Conception planets (including their harmonics) rule only conception houses.
Although the harmonic used for each chart is always 2 greater than the number of the chart, for ease in reading I have adopted the convention of writing the harmonic number the same as the chart number. For instance, “b12 mars” represents the harmonic of birth mars for the 12th chart (but the harmonic used to find b12 mars is the 14th).
In abbreviating, I use “b” for birth, “c” for conception, “p” for progressed, and “t” for transiting. A number following them, e.g., “3” or “7,” shows the harmonic chart we are examining. For instance, “b7 pluto” represents the harmonic of birth pluto for the 7th chart. “Pc3 mars” is the harmonic of progressed conception mars for the 3rd chart.
I do not use harmonics of Angles. Compared to planets, Angles move very fast. Small errors in time of birth lead to large errors in harmonic Angles. For instance, an error of four minutes in birth time produces an MC that is approximately 1° off. Its harmonic for the 1st chart would be off by 3°. Its harmonic for the 12th chart would be off by 14°. With a 2° orb for Angles-to-planets (and vice versa) and 1° (less for rectified charts) progressed Angles-to-planets, errors in harmonic MCs starting at 3° render harmonic Angles useless.
This method uses a solar return that occurs every 40 degrees (exactly) after birth up to death, with nine returns occurring annually.

Hammarskjöld, Relation to Father, 4th Chart
Sven Stolpe, who knew Hammarskjöld since childhood, starts his book, Dag Hammarskjöld: A Spiritual Portrait with the sentence, “Dag Hammarskjöld came of an old aristocratic Swedish family which for centuries had supplied the country with civil servants and soldiers, many of whom attained high rank.” The family, still aristocratic, had become impoverished by the time Dag’s father, Hjalmar, was growing up. Hjalmar had to give up his interest in the classical languages in order to study law so he could help raise siblings. He had exceptional administrative gifts which resulted in his being called often to Stockholm on official duty. In time he became Cabinet Minister, then, after being Swedish minister in Copenhagen, became Lord-Lieutenant at Uppsala. In 1914, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld became Prime Minister of Sweden. Autocratic in method, but democratic in policy, Hjalmar was not a popular leader, and was forced to resign in 1917. He was not corrupt or inept, but too forceful, too “old-fashioned” (in the sense of unbending duty to country), too efficient.

“Dag Hammarskjöld brooded all his life over his father’s destiny: that man of duty who could not act otherwise than he did and who for that very reason was doomed to be hated.” (Stolpe, 15-16)

Hjalmar Hammarskjöld had a life-long interest in establishing an international system of justice. He was committed to the principles of popular justice--qualities which can be seen mirrored in the behavior of his youngest son, Dag.

Stolpe visited the Hammarskjöld house many time around the winter of 1930 (when Dag would have been 25. He continued to live at home until he left for New York). Stolpe writes on such occasions “I received a daunting impression of the father’s reserve and isolation...he could be glimpsed as a massive Småland block of granite, away there in his study, barely aware of the young guests in his house.” (Stolpe, 17)

And:

Dag Hammarskjöld’s father was a man of ideas, a great but detested politician, with considerable resources and brilliant gifts, but with only meager capacity for making direct and warm contact with his fellow-man. He was remote even from his youngest son. His reported remark, ‘If I had Dag’s brains I should have gone far’ is of course apocryphal. More convincing is another anecdote. On studying Dag’s brilliant graduation report--the young man naturally took a First--his only comment is said to have been: ‘Åke’s was better.’” (Stolpe, 19-20)

Stolpe continues, “I may add that when Dag gave me the manuscript of his Academy speech [election to Swedish Academy, 1954, where he was to occupy the place of his deceased father--a first in Swedish Academy history] he [Hammarskjöld] said in a quiet, diffident voice: ‘Well, you know me--you realize that I never knew my father as well as this during his lifetime...’” (Stolpe, 20)

The above provides a sketch of Hammarskjöld’s relationship to his father. He is a strongly principled man with a forbidding presence who is, apparently, incapable of generating warmth towards even his children. What, if anything, in Dag’s 4th chart reflects that?

Set 1c4 mercury24 Virgo06ruler of C MC
c mercury24 Virgo 01ruler of C MC
B Asc24 Virgo 40
c4 SN27 Virgo 59
b4 mercury24 Sagittarius 41ruler of B Asc in c 10th house
b4 mars29 Pisces 43ruler of b 3rd and b 8th houses

Three of his four mercuries, rulers of C MC and B Asc, in this chart are in the same set with B Asc. Could we say this is an exceptionally “mental” relationship? The Hammarskjölds, like the Joseph P. Kennedy family, discussed current events at the dinner table. Every one was required to participate. Faced with his father, Hammarskjöld’s response was to go into his head. Critical, evaluative thinking was expected of him.

Although b4 mars, 5° away from B Asc, would not normally be in a set with it, it belongs in this set for two reasons. (1) The node in the set, acting as a light and increasing orb, helps include it. (2) When mercury rules Angles--Dag’s C MC and his B Asc--it acts more like a light, so the three mercuries increase orb. Altogether, they clearly pull b4 mars in Pisces into this set. Mars in Pisces implies indecision and confusion with a subsequent sense of powerlessness. Hammarskjöld had to emphasize his mind in his relationship with his father, but he could build little on the mixed results (mars in Pisces) it presented him. A similar emphasis exists in Set 2, below.


Dag Hammarskjöld
Partial Harmonic Chart for His 4th House, Set 2

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

Set 2 contains moon/moon/saturn/uranus/NN all in Sagittarius and also both neptunes in Gemini. B4 moon rules B MC, so this set has forefront influence. His relationship to his father is characterized by saturn/neptune/uranus to two moons and a node, that is, triply lighted, so very powerful. Saturn turns the relationship toward formality, with emphasis more on duty than on affection or spontaneity. Saturn/neptune represents feeling defenseless--Hammarskjöld does not even have the power to please, even through duty. Saturn/uranus is characterized by sudden change--it is difficult to know just how to relate to father. One day one thing works, and another day it does not.

So, Set 2 is not the nicest set to have in a parent chart. But, it contains some interesting features relevant to the planets in Sagittarius in b 3rd house. Hammarskjöld’s father conveyed his belief in international justice (Sagittarius emphasis) to his son (it is his 4th chart), whose growth (NN) involved realizing (NN) justice in practical ways (3rd house and Angle influence). They shared (SN) an idealism (neptune) of ideas (Gemini) about justice (b 9th house). As cold and impersonal as Dag’s relationship with his father was, Hjalmar provided his son the emphasis in international (Sagittarius) law (Sagittarius) and justice (Sagittarius) he would need as Secretary-General.

His b4 mars in Pisces, then, which is conjunct his c4 NN in Set 1 reads that through his father Hammarskjöld began “practicing” non-ego involvement early. His father seldom praised Dag’s considerable intellectual accomplishments. As a result, he (Dag) may have given up entirely. Or, more likely, these early experiences were his first in teaching him the pitfalls of anchoring his self-esteem in the praise and recognition of others. It was early practice for the considerable independence of thought and action Hammarskjöld demonstrated as Secretary-General.

Even Dag’s non-harmonic conjunction of c moon and b saturn conjunct his b SN in Aquarius acquires a harmonic neptune. That is, in his relation to his father, Dag has a second light/saturn/neptune set in his 4th chart.

What about his mother?


Hammarskjöld, Relation to Mother, 10th Chart
Although she shared her husband’s personal ideals, Agnes Almquist Hammarskjöld was almost opposite in temperament from her husband, Hjalmar.

In his biography Stolpe writes she had a “radically democratic and...‘evangelical’ view of mankind; a child’s open attitude to life; an anti-rationalism with strong emotional undercurrents.” (Stolpe 21) “She was warm and gushing; it was hard to tell at times whether she was laughing or crying; she had so overflowing and generous a heart that no one who came near her could avoid her eager--sometimes perhaps slightly ill-considered but always warm--solicitude.” (Stolpe, 22)

She was, Stolpe continues, a “dogmatically vague but emotional and strongly committed Lutheran Christian. Dag’s companions from that time later recalled with an ironical smile how out of courtesy he accompanied her to church on Sundays: so brilliantly gifted a man could of course have no Christian faith...It is also told how he once arrived a quarter of an hour late for a rendezvous with a young lady, and gave as a fully adequate explanation and apology that it would have been quite impossible to interrupt a conversation with his (certainly very garrulous) mother.” (Stolpe, 23)

Quoting from Dag’s brother, Sten’s, youthful novel The Boy Who Bowed to God, Stolpe offers us Sten’s description of Mrs. Hammarskjöld:

When she was to leave him, were it for only a few hours, he felt the emptiness gnawing at him. And if she had to be away for half a day or more, he would always stand outside the garden gate when she went, his heart aching with grief. He felt as if he would never see her again. The hour before she left for a party, or the like, he took care to spend with her while she changed, following her everywhere about the room. The loss of her cast a shadow before. (Stolpe, 25)

The comment about the above description from Sten Söderberg, one of Dag’s finer portrayers, was:

The difference was that Dag was more often able to be with his mother than Sten, who was sometimes confined to bed. Dag was his mother’s gentleman-in-waiting, her page, her faithful and considerate attendant.” (Stolpe, 25)

Hammarskjöld, picture from wordsonimages.com

We have enough now to look at Hammarskjöld’s 10th chart. What does it show about his relationship with his mother?


Set 1B Asc24 Virgo 40
c mercury24 Virgo 01ruler of C MC, c 8th house, and co-ruler of c 9th (20 of 38°)
b10 sun26 Virgo 13

Set 1 is a simple, but important set. This chart develops Hammarskjöld’s B Asc conjunction mercury in Virgo (in c 10th house) in a more positive way. If we think of the keyword for Virgo as “discrimination,” the sun joining this set shows intelligent, dependable (sun) development of his discriminatory powers (Asc/mercury in Virgo).

Like many upper class ladies of her time, Agnes Hammarskjöld engaged in charity work. It was expected of her. But, unlike many others, Mrs. Hammarskjöld’s charity was often personal. She went to the homes of those she helped. She investigated actual conditions. She addressed greatest need by finding the best way to help others to help themselves. She often took Dag with her on these missions.

Set 2B MC2 Cancer 39
c sun2 Libra 11ruler of c 9th and co-ruler of c 8th house (12 of 20°)
c jupiter1 Aries 41ruler of c 2nd house
b10 venus6 Aries 11ruler of b 9th and b 2nd houses

His 10th chart also develops Hammarskjöld’s B MC/sun/jupiter from his shell chart. B10 venus, in Aries as is jupiter, is pulled into conjunction with it by the light provided by c sun. This gives him Angle/sun/venus/jupiter, with venus ruling b 9th and sun ruling c 9th. This set, the summum bonum of sets, shows his success and fame (forefront light/venus/jupiter) in legal (9th influence) and/or foreign matters (9th influence) (see footnote 0 at bottom of page). His sun as light implies individual, singular (sun) fame. For instance, the mass appreciation given a rock star usually involves the moon. He becomes famous for what he does and his name is attached to that. The emphasis is on the public (moon) approbation. Hammarskjöld’s name became famous and, other than his title, few individuals knew anything about what he actually did. The emphasis was on the individual man (sun).

This set also shows the correlation between a good relationship to mother and later social position--in Hammarskjöld’s case, success--because both are shown by the 10th chart.

Set 3b SN7 Aquarius 00
c moon7 Aquarius 12
b saturn7 Aquarius 53Rruler of b 4th house

The above is the shell part of Set 3. In his 4th, father chart, it acquired a conjunction of harmonic neptune. How does chart 10th develop it?

continuing Set 3b jupiter8 Taurus 00
b10 saturn4 Leo 40ruler of b 4th house
b10 moon5 Leo 15ruler of B MC
b10 jupiter5 Leo 55co-ruler of b 3rd house
b NN7 Leo 00
b mercury9 Leo 07ruler of B Asc in c 10th house
b10 neptune6 Scorpio 17ruler of b 7th and b 6th (25 of

This set, which contains three lights which extend acceptable orb (moon. node. mercury), influences two Angles: (1) B Asc because the set includes its ruler, b mercury, and (2) C MC because c mercury rulers C MC.

As was the case with his father, Hammarskjöld’s mother chart shows important North Node development. As with his father, this set contains node/moon/saturn/neptune. Duty (moon/saturn) is still important (NN). This time, however, the NN sign is in Leo, and it includes jupiter in Leo. Duty can be uplifting (jupiter), empowering (Leo). All the Leo planets fall in Hammarskjölds b 10th house. They show that “one individual (Leo) can make a difference (jupiter).”

Separating out other influences of this set, jupiter/neptune reflects a mystical or religious tone, neither of which were associated with Hammarskjöld until after his death.

Conventionally religious, Hammarskjöld’s father seldom went to church. His mother, a close friend of the theologian Archbishop of Uppsala, Nathan Söderblom, attended regularly. She often took her youngest son (Dag) with her. During his childhood and early adolescence, Hammarskjöld himself put no emphasis on religion. As he entered young manhood at University, he started reading books on the lives and works of Christian mystics as well as philosophy. Only later, in adulthood, did he realize that, after all, he affirmed the faith of his childhood. Agnes Hammarskjöld believed in the difference her efforts made, and she raised her son to believe in his.

Set 4c10 sun26 Taurus 13ruler of c 9th house
b venus28 Taurus 01ruler of b 9th house
c pluto28 Taurus 10
c NN 24 Leo 40
c10 SN25 Leo 59
b10 mars29 Aquarius 26ruler of b 3rd and 8th houses
c10 jupiter20 Taurus 10ruler of c 2nd house

The sun and two nodes pull in b10 mars and c10 jupiter. Without them c10 jupiter would not be part of this set, which is why I listed it last. But, considering its location in Taurus, as well as the set’s influence to c 2nd house, it may have something to do with the Hammarskjöld having been in leadership roles in a number of financial (Taurus, 2nd house) institutions. Other charts--not covered here--for instance the 2nd, 7th, and 8th, would confirm or deny such interests.

C10 sun develops Hammarskjöld’s original venus conjunct pluto. It shows powerful and unconscious (pluto) forces in Hammarskjöld’s love (venus) for his mother, and later, his love for his religious service (b 9th house). (See footnote 1 at the bottom of this paper.)

The main set showing Hammarskjöld’s complex and powerful love for his mother, Set 5, is shown in chart form below.

Dag Hammarskjöld
Partial Harmonic Chart for His 10th House, Set 5

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

In the shell Set 5 started as a wide square of b mars to c saturn. Without a light it is meaningless, not even a set in this method. Tenth chart harmonics, however, added Node/moon/venus/neptune to it--two lights. C10 venus rules c 6th house. The moon as light includes a second venus, c venus, also ruler of c 6th house, in the set.

Lighted venus/neptune in a chart representing the individual’s relationship to a parent shows that parent to be the one for whom the individual has intense and exceptionally tender (venus/neptune) feelings. When developed by harmonics, venus/neptune and jupiter/neptune (as well as venus in Pisces and jupiter in Pisces) show, so to speak, the addictive parent. That parent steals the overwhelming majority of the child’s affection and his lifelong devotion. That parent is the positive model for later ideals and injunctions.

Mars/neptune and saturn/neptune (as well as mars in Pisces and saturn in Pisces) developed by harmonics show the toxic, or most difficult, parent. However, as seen in Hammarskjöld’s life, that parent can also be a model for the child’s later ideals. Hammarskjöld’s father’s principles about international justice “took” in his son, who developed them even further. Since Hammarskjöld probably had a fear of becoming like his father, a fear of sharing his father’s fate, his father also provided powerful restraints for his son’s ideals.

Thus, even though he was the toxic parent, Harmmarskjöld’s father had something of great value to pass on to his son. And, even though she was the addictive parent, Hammarskjöld’s mother’s influence could have become toxic. For instance, she could have so tied her son to her that he never could have left Uppsala.

As it turned out, both parents were powerful influences in creating the man who later became such an unusual international servant.

So far, because neither 5th house is influenced by Set 5, and because it has no Angle influence, Hammarskjöld’s mother appears to have influenced his feelings without influencing his sexual orientation, or at least, his actual sex act (5th house). What does that mean?

I am clear--that is, I have seen enough of it in my research--that the 4th and 10th charts contain considerable information about the life of the individual as influenced by his parents as models. Work so far has suggested these charts also include information about how those models affected the child’s later, adult sexual expression. At least, the information is as likely to show up in these charts as it is in the 5th or 7th. All of this is based on the immense influence of parents as models.

[For more on the 4th and 10th charts as simultaneously reflective of home and father experience and social status and mother experience,go to the following link Paper on Mass Murderers, Influence of Parents (written 9/2012]).

When I complete the study on male homosexuality (see 5th Chart, below, for explanation of its relevance to this Hammarskjöld paper) it will include examination of the 4th (father) and 10th (mother) charts as well as the 5th (sexuality) and 7th (relationships with important others) charts. I am aware that homosexuality is no longer included as an illness, that is, as a neurosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. But, parents or their substitutes--present or absent, great or petty, toxic or addictive--are prototypical models for all children. They have an effect on their child’s later sexual expression whether it is heterosexual or homosexual and regardless of whether or not the child loved, despised, or was indifferent to their existence. I would not fail to examine the influence of the 4th and 10th charts just because I was looking at the chart of a homosexual.

More on Hammarskjöld’s sexuality is covered below under the subheading, 5th chart.

Set 5 also includes a noteworthy conjunction of NN and moon in Cancer in b 10th house. Long before he became Secretary-General, and long after, Hammarskjöld occasionally moaned about the “baby talk” [that is, nurture (Cancer) along] he had to use with his fellow man. But, this makes him appear conceited. I think it was less a matter of conceit than a kind of intellectual loneliness. He effectively used baby talk when it was necessary, and he became quite good at it.

Now that we have discussed the main influence of his parents in Dag Hammarskjöld’s life, we can continue with a look at his 5th chart. What does it show us about his sexuality?


Hammarskjöld, Sexuality, 5th Chart
Of course, even without astrology we can see the influence of both parents on Hammarskjöld's sexuality. His relationship to his warm, actively religious mother likely influenced his feelings toward women. His experience of his father’s suffering because of his righteous but rigid adherence to principle also played a part. His parents, as complementary opposites, were perhaps too starkly contrasting. Identification with either of them left any child considerably out of balance.

We see, in a sense, Hammarskjöld filling in the incompleteness, or extending the implications, of each parent. For his mother, Agnes, he became the truly effective, truly righteous civil servant. In that he was a cut above the merely egalitarian thrust of his father. For his father, Hjalmar, he achieved, I believe, the fellowship Hjalmar’s righteousness perhaps deserved but failed to claim.

What can we know about Hammarskjöld’s sexuality through reports of friends, acquaintances, and biographers?

He was a “highly fastidious man who had to make a great effort to overcome a natural shyness and diffidence...the idea of physical contact made him uneasy, and he shrank instinctively from it, just as he fiercely protected his privacy.” (Urquhart, 27)

This did not mean he was ascetic or rejected human companionship. He loved the company of his close friends and delighted in small social occasions and good conversation....From Markings it was all too easy to gain the impression of a man almost overwhelmingly high-minded, serious, and self-absorbed, but nothing could be further from the truth...To friends and colleagues his lightness of touch, quicksilver mind, humor, boundless curiosity, and powers of perception made him a fascinating companion. The main difficulty was to keep up with the speed and development of his thought...” (Urquhart, 27-28).

During Hammarskjöld’s first year in office his predecessor, Trygve Lie, apparently started a rumor that Hammarskjöld was homosexual. On hearing about it, Hammarskjöld’s reply was that “if there had been any element of truth in the story, he would not, and he could not in the prevalent state of public opinion on the question of homosexuality, have accepted the office.” During the Suez crisis the allegation of homosexuality occurred again, printed in France. When Hammarskjöld was shown the story he remarked, “What kind of mind must a man have to write this sort of thing?” and went back to his work. (All of the above quotes are from Urquhart, 27.)

Urquhart writes that no one who knew him well or worked closely with him thought Hammarskjöld homosexual. Almost all of his life Hammarskjöld worked long hours, and, as Secretary-General, often involved others. None of those individuals thought Hammarskjöld homosexual, not even--in modern parlance--a closet homosexual.

Hammarskjöld surrounded himself with male companions who worked for him, or were invited to his home for small dinner parties, or were friends. That makes it appear he liked only men. At the same time, his bachelorhood and his job would have justified avoidance of intense, close relationships with women. Further, when Hammarskjöld grew to manhood the main way to know any woman for very long was to marry her. Whatever his reason(s), Hammarskjöld had friendships with few women. Djuna Barnes was an admired friend. Much of their relationship occurred through correspondence.

Hammarskjöld himself indicated varying things about his sexuality. In Markings, he wrote of the trade off between his calling and his body’s desires, indicating he was well acquainted with desire.:

For him who has responded to the call of the Way of Possibility, loneliness may be obligatory. Such loneliness, it is true, may lead to a communion closer and deeper than any achieved by the union of two bodies, but your body is not going to let itself be fobbed off by a bluff: whatever you deny it, in order to follow this call, it will claim back if you fail, and claim back in forms which it will no longer be in your power to select. (Markings, 120, 1955)
[apparently alluding to sexuality]...”Why,” you ask, “deny yourself something which does nobody else any harm and does you good?”...Yes, why--provided it does not conflict with the path you have chosen. Your subsequent reaction to your behavior when you have forgotten this proviso--as one reacts to a lie or a humiliating weakness--is sufficient answer to your question. (Markings, 152, 1957)

The second quote above, which implies so much, could, however, refer to a homosexual or heterosexual attraction. Or, it may not be about sexuality at all. Biographical writers read about and interview many people who have known the subject of their biography. The two I have used (the third book being by Hammarskjöld himself) ventured the opinion that Hammarskjöld never had any sexual relationship--not with a man, and not with a woman.

From Markings, it appears over the years that Hammarskjöld experienced a strong attraction to--at least a powerful appreciation of--several men. I did not see in his writing any parallel appreciation of women. We should consider this next remark, in which X appears a man to whom Hammarskjöld is considerably attracted:

X--outwardly restless, inwardly ascetic, in feeling anti-feminine. Concordant aspects of a single personality, but without any causal connection between them. While ‘more normal’ types, when they venture out under the open sky, drag along with them the atmosphere of the office and the bedroom, in his company you can escape into a world of freedom and reality even within thick walls or under a low ceiling. His touch is light, but more unerring and sensitive than that of others. An inflection of his voice can bind, a glance unite... My friend, the Popular Psychologist, is certain of his diagnosis. And he has understood nothing, nothing. (Markings, 73, 1951)

The above could be an aesthetic and spiritual appreciation of X. Yes, it certainly is that. With his allusion to the Popular Psychologist, however, Hammarskjöld appears to be admitting to what would then (perhaps not so much in Sweden, I am not sure) have been considered a deviant attraction almost everywhere except among homosexual subcultures.

At the same time, he is telling most of us--consumer's of the opinions of the Popular Psychologist-- that in thinking we understand his feelings for X, in fact we understand nothing at all. Our “understanding” is an impediment to our perception of reality.

[March 2011: I now have two parts, at least, of the significator for homosexuality (now with about 60 charts of homosexual males showing them). I just examined all of Hammarskjöld’s charts, and found him lacking the important first part in every one of them. So, we are still left wondering exactly what he meant by the above remark.]

We see Hammarskjöld's spiritual--at least non-material and non-physical--emphasis developed more in the following :

Our incurable instinct to acquire--to assimilate in the crudest sense of the word--provides the medium for much of our aesthetic experience. Like the mountain troll who wants to eat the princess over and over again--only over again to have the experience of being just a mountain troll. We pick the flower. We press body against body--bringing to nought that human beauty which is only physical in that the surfaces of the body are animated by a spirit inaccessible to physical touch. (Markings, 45, 1945)

Because of questions about Hammarskjöld’s gender identification, I had hoped to finish a study on male homosexuality before discussing Hammarskjöld’s 5th chart. That study has turned into far more work than I originally supposed and is not finished. As I stated above, when it is finished, it will include analysis of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 10th charts of 50 homosexual males as well as 50 heterosexual ones. For homosexual males, when possible, it will include progressions for when each discovered his sexual orientation.

The main influence of Hammarskjöld’s 5th chart on his sexuality can be covered adequately without the homosexual study.

Dag Hammarskjöld
Partial Harmonic Chart for His 5th House, Set 1

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

Set 1 above shows the conjunction in Virgo of sun, mercury, mars and saturn on Hammarskjöld’s B Asc/mercury. B5 jupiter and c5 uranus in Gemini are also part of the set. The sun/mars/saturn part of it shows severe affliction. I saw affliction, along with some astonishingly benefic sets, in 5th charts of the 50 homosexual males (I have not worked on the heterosexual charts). Those afflictions--assumed, based on present experience, to constitute problems of sexual function rather than homosexuality--did not approach the severity of Hammarskjöld’s Set 1. Set 1 is a forefront set because it is conjunct his Ascendant. It is also forefront because c mercury rules C MC, so Set 1 influences two Angles. Sun/mars alone would indicate a strong sexuality. Saturn added to it indicates an equally strong prohibition on it.

I am not sure, in addition to its connecting the set to another Angle, does mercury’s inclusion refer his sexuality to his mind? (see footnote 2). Does this set spell out Hammarskjöld’s “shyness” (saturn) and particularly his “highly fastidious” (Virgo) nature quoted above? I think it does. It also confirms he is unlikely to have children: he has mercury/mars (mercury=children and mars=aggravation and agitation) plus mercury/saturn (mercury=children and saturn =depression and limitation) (mercury=children and mars + saturn=death, disability, or extreme difficulty) influencing two Angles. It would take strong benefic sets to overcome such a strong indication of “trouble with” (mars or saturn) or “no” (mars + saturn) children. If he did have children, he would lose them through alienation or premature death.

Hammarskjöld does have a sexual set in his 5th. It is:

Set 2c5 mercury18 Aquarius 07ruler of C MC in b 12th house
c mars17 Leo 34ruler of c 5th and C Asc
b5 venus16 Scorpio 07ruler of b 9th house
c5 pluto17 Scorpio 13

Set 2 is forefront because it influences an Angle and is “lighted” by c5 mercury, considered a light in Hammarskjöld’s chart. (The only time mercury acts like a light is when it rules one or more Angles. Here it rules conception C MC.) Venus/mars/pluto indicates a strong sexuality, a fact Hammarskjöld himself indicated in some of the comments left us in Markings.

Does that 9th influence of b5 venus, like his c mars (ruler of c 5th and C Asc in c 9th), indicate his inclination is toward sublimation of his sexual energy into religious channels? This set’s influence to a 12th house (C MC in b 12th house) adds that his sexuality will have a hidden or limited (12th) component.

Set 3c saturn20 Capricorn 56
c5 NN22 Capricorn 39
b5 moon25 Capricorn 34ruler of B MC
b5 uranus 22 Cancer 38ruler of b 5th house
b mars24 Libra 57ruler of b 3rd and 8th houses
c5 venus26 Libra 10ruler of c 6th and c 11th houses

Set 3 is forefront because it has Angle (B MC) influence. It influences c 5th house. This set surely adds force (mars) and desire (venus) to Hammarskjöld’s sexuality. Along with Set 2, it gives him two sets with light/venus/mars influencing an Angle This one references a 3rd and 6th house. Note this set developed by light/venus/mars is also in his 10th chart.

Why doesn't the saturn in Set 3 squash his sexuality? From research it appears that when saturn is added to sets with light/venus/mars, instead of acting like a mars/saturn set (which it is), it acts like a venus/mars set with some sexual denial, or coldness, or control (all saturn). It probably has something to do with the natural strength of sexuality in all of us, especially when young. It is powerful, and hard to totally suppress.

Hammarskjöld has another forefront set I can interpret only incompletely because I have not seen it in other charts that I could compare it to:

Set 4b7 SN19 Virgo00
C MC20 Virgo 23
c5 moon20 Virgo 24co-ruler of c 8th house (30 of 52°)
b5 neptune 18 Pisces 40ruler of b 6th and b 7th houses

In a 3rd chart this set, Set 4, of Angle/moon/node/neptune would fulfill the 3rd chart (but not the 1st chart) major requirement for schizophrenia, but how does it operate in a 5th chart? It influences his 6th and 7th houses through neptune. Moon co-rules c 8th house.

Does the 3rd house part of this set, again, put his sexuality under control of his mind (3rd), and perhaps indicate its use in service (6th) as the realization of ideals (neptune)?

Then, it would read North Node conjunct neptune in Pisces in his 3rd/6th houses suggests growth (NN) through complete surrender (Pisces) to his highest spiritual ideals (neptune) through the union (3rd/6th overlap) of his interests (3rd house) with his highest in service (6th house/neptune.). And all of this is somehow connected to his sexuality (5th chart).

His South Node conjunct moon in Virgo conjunct C MC, then, suggests an ingrained tendency (South Node) to refer his sexuality to 8th house matters, which could be read he was highly concerned (moon), but discriminating or even fastidious (Virgo), about the emotional commitment and consequences (8th house) of sexuality.

In concluding this discussion of his 5th chart, we can say Hammarskjöld was a strongly sexual man (confirmed by his own notes in Markings as well as by his astrology in Sets 2 and 3) with considerable receptivity (Set 4) who was driving with the brakes on (Set 1). His brakes had two sources: (1) his saturn conjunct his mars conjunct sun, a sort of astrological note to “stop” (saturn) the “go” (sun/mars) on sexuality (5th chart). And (2), through his personal fastidiousness (Virgo), which would have made him highly selective. The latter had nothing to do with his ability (or inability) to accept his sexuality, since highly fastidious individuals find partners, too.

In terms of sexuality as shown by his 5th chart (that evident in his 7th chart is discussed more under that chart), then, Hammarskjöld's power-packed set was Set 1, above. Sun/mars/saturn in harmonic charts in this method always implies serious difficulty for matters covered by that chart. In a 5th chart it is sexually forbidding. His sexuality was not repressed in the sense he was not in touch with it. He was in touch with it, but it was behind a barrier of reserve. He was sexually underdeveloped. He not only likely never experienced sexual relationship, he never experienced its maturation through relationship.

Hammarskjöld's sexuality was...fraught with choices. There is no question he had sexual energy. It exists in his 5th and 7th charts. His formidable energy and youthfulness also suggest an abundance of sexual energy. However, because of Set 1, it was not spontaneous. He could, and was inclined to, be sexually reserved. His c mars, ruler of c 5th house--unless mars is afflicted, its association with the 5th house usually indicates strong sexuality--in c 9th house indicated potential use of his sexual energy (5th) for spiritual purposes (9th). Ruler of b 5th house, b uranus, was in b 3rd house/c 1st house. In mythology, uranus is castrated by his son, saturn. The distribution of its influence gave him an early (1st house) mental interest (3rd house) in the objective (uranus), impersonal (uranus), not subjective (saturn) use of sexuality.

The resolution of all these forces gave Hammarskjöld his (later necessary) freedom from emotional entanglement with either sex. It gave him freedom from responsibility to family, saving all his time and considerable energy for service. On the more active side, it sponsored his later much-admired capacity for objectivity. All served him in his search for satisfaction of his primary thirst--his longing for participation in a "righteous fellowship."

So, was Hammarskjöld a homosexual? Until I finish my study of homosexual males--assuming it yields results--I can draw only three astrological conclusions. (1) Hammarskjöld had a strong sexuality, but (2) he was unwaveringly reticent in expressing it. (3) He had a tendency to redirect his sexuality into social, even mystical outlets. His own comments in Markings, including the one regarding the revenge his body would exact if he were unsuccessful in sublimation of his sexuality (“take forms you have no control over”), easily suggest fear of his body getting out of control, perhaps in homosexual encounters. So, we can say Hammarskjöld appeared to share some of the qualities of a closet homosexual. Even more than that, however, he was a closet mystic. The Lover he gave himself to over and over again was his conception of God. His acceptance of the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations was the realization of (at least the beginning of) that relationship and the turning point in his life.

Depending on your point of view, Hammarskjöld’s “exceptionally aggressive superego” mentioned by Auden either enhanced his level of Being or it enmeshed him even further in inauthenticity.


We have reached the main theme of this paper--the shift in the center of gravity of Hammarskjöld’s consciousness from his 7th to his 6th chart when he became Secretary-General of the United Nations. First, let’s look at his 7th chart. It was his “main chart” (as it is for most of us) until he was asked to be Secretary-General.


Dag Hammarskjöld, First Main Chart--the 7th Chart
The 7th chart describes the individual as most people who know him would describe him. Since much of what we know about ourselves is gained through our relationship to others, the 7th chart also describes us as we usually see ourselves.

I wrote “usually.” If an individual is reflective enough to know himself as an individual independent of his identity with others, he may know himself best through his 1st chart. The 1st chart may also predominate for less positive reasons. An individual whose later charts are heavily afflicted, especially his 3rd (mental illness), 5th (sexual dysfunction), 7th (fear or anger toward others blocking relationship), and 8th (inability to share self and resources) may also know himself primarily through his 1st chart. If the 1st is also seriously afflicted, as occurs with autistic children, he may not even have a self he knows.

An exceptionally gifted intellectual, like Nikola Tesla, may know himself best through his 3rd chart. Tesla lived much more in his mind than he did through relationship. His 7th chart contains the more traditional indicators of brilliance. It has a set including Asc/uranus/NN/pluto conjunct in Aries--falling in c 3rd house--combined with mercury/another node/neptune. Gemini (that is, mercury-ruled) is on the cusp of his 3rd house. His b sun is in Gemini, and his c sun and b moon in Virgo--all mercury ruled.

Tesla’s 3rd chart reflects the different information this method produces: the highly benefic chart, barring its expression being blocked by other factors or other charts, with forefront Angle/venus/jupiter/(light) shows superior functioning in the area covered by that chart. Tesla’s most highly benefic chart was his 3rd chart. The benefic set indicates both success and recognition. I have created a second appendix which shows the most important sets for Tesla’s 3rd and 7th charts.


Look at Tesla’s Charts


Returning to Hammarskjöld... Until he became Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld knew himself best through his 7th chart. How do I know this? In spite of the fact he was an exceptionally disciplined and quite successful man, with people who admired him and good friendships, he was lonely. He was a high-functioning, brilliant Outsider who felt, underneath it all, essentially useless. He never had an I-Thou (he personally knew and admired Buber) relationship. He never married and he never became deeply emotionally involved. He did approach marriage once. He surrendered that potential wife to a good friend upon discovering the friend was also courting her. Without love, without partner, without the kind of social belonging and sense of purpose brought by them, Hammarskjöld was a man living on the outside, looking in. He did not, as I see it, envy any one in any particular relationship. He longed for, but could not have, the sense of purpose others experienced through relationship.


Hammarskjöld, picture from theguardian.com

Let’s take a look at his 7th chart.

Set 1b moon7 Gemini 56ruler of B MC
c7 mercury6 Sagittarius 09ruler of C MC
b uranus7 Sagittarius 31ruler of b 5th house
c uranus3 Sagittarius 22 Druler of c 3rd house

Set 1, with lighted mercury/uranus influencing two Angles and a 3rd house, shows Hammarskjöld’s brilliance, both functioning with and recognized by others. Note the Sagittarian planets are also in b 3rd house, showing an intellectual (3rd house) interest in law, philosophy and religion (Sagittarius). This set, along with the conjunction of his c mercury with his B Asc (shown earlier) assure that Hammarskjöld mediates his world primarily through his intellect. Moon (and suns) in Gemini indicate an excellent, perhaps even photographic, memory. When he switched from economics to law, Hammarskjöld was observed in the hall before a meeting quietly--collected, assured, not at all nervous--pacing and learning law. He could depend on his mind to perform prodigious feats of memory and understanding.

His intellectual capacity and facility were extraordinary by any standard... His learning and experience in the fields of law, politics, logic, economics, and finance were comprehensive... When he extemporaneously delivered a long speech in Mexico in 1959 and the Foreign Minister later asked him for the text, he proceeded to dictate the whole thing straight out, word for word, after his return to New York. His introduction to his last annual report, a document of some eight thousand words that Hammarskjöld himself regarded as the final and most complete statement of his position on the controversial issues of the time, was dictated without notes and without a pause, except for one final section, in a Sunday afternoon, and he made virtually no corrections at all the original manuscript. He increasingly wrote his own speeches and communications because he found it quicker than asking someone else to do it and then having to correct the text. (Urquhart, 31)

After he became Secretary-General and his existence acquired meaning to him, Hammarskjöld relaxed inside, and had more fun with his brilliance.

Hammarskjöld developed an increasing taste for press conferences and enjoyed the intellectual challenge of answering questions--which he rarely ducked--without committing an indiscretion or a breach of confidence. Over the years, he perfected a technique of escaping into a cloud of metaphor or abstraction, with a style at the same time articulate and obscure, brilliant but hard to grasp, apparently forthright but often uninformative. His performances evoked a grudging admiration among the journalists, who not infrequently found themselves, at the end of a long press conference in which important matters had ostensibly been discussed, with no spot news and little to write about. Bruce Munn of the United Press International, the Chairman of the United Nations Correspondents Association, put it well at a luncheon in Hammarskjöld’s honor in June 1957, saying “we have him not and yet we see him still,” to which Hammarskjöld immediately responded with another quotation from Macbeth, explaining the recent months had been “’a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury’...and those who, in all modesty, have tried to go against the remaining part of the quotation--the part that says ‘signifying nothing’--and have tried to have it all make sense have really had a somewhat busy time.” (Urquhart, 56)

Note that for all his intellectual superiority, his intellect was his tool, not his reason for being. In his 7th chart his c7 NN is in Pisces, the sign of faith. His SN is in Virgo, the sign of discrimination. A correct intuitive understanding of this on Hammarskjöld’s part is reflected in one of his journal entries:

You are not the oil, you are not the air--merely the point of combustion, the flash-point where the light is born.

You are merely the lens in the beam. You can only receive, give, and possess the light as the lens does.

If you seek yourself, “your rights,” you prevent the oil and air from meeting in the flame, you rob the lens of its transparency. Sanctity--either to be the Light, or to be self-effaced in the Light, so that it may be born, self-effaced so that it may be focused or spread wider.

You will know life and be acknowledged by it according to your degree of transparency, your capacity, that is, to vanish as an end, and remain purely as a means. (Markings
, 155-156, 7/28/57)

In looking at mind, the 3rd chart should also be examined. I do not include Hammarskjöld’s here. Here, however, is a major set from it:

Set 2b moon7 Gemini 56ruler of B MC
b3 jupiter9 Gemini 58co-ruler of b 3rd house (30 of 41°)
c3 sun10 Gemini 55ruler of c 9th house
b uranus7 Sagittarius 31ruler of b 5th house
c uranus3 Sagittarius 22 Druler of c 3rd house
c3 jupiter8 Sagittarius 24
b3 SN5 Pisces
c3 moon6 Pisces 00
b3 saturn9 Pisces 27Rruler of b 4th house

Note how differently his 3rd chart develops Hammarskjöld’s shell moon/uranus. Still influencing one Angle, this set picks up two greater benefics, jupiter, in b 3rd and b 9th houses. The one in Gemini undoubtedly added to his facility with facts as well as his superb memory. The one in Sagittarius ought to be have been good for the study of law as well as for his interest religion. Note the cross-over: his Gemini planets are in Hammarskjöld’s b 9th house. Gemini has natural correlation with the opposite, 3rd house. His Sagittarian planets, in his b 3rd house, have natural correlation with the 9th house. Hammarskjöld does not have overlaps of 3rd and 9th houses, but this condition also increases the traffic between the two opposite signs and houses, that is, between lower and higher mind, practicality and spirituality.

The Pisces planets--moon conjunct saturn conjunct SN--in Hammarskjöld’s 3rd house indicate an early (SN) mental inclination to personal lack of definition and depression. I do not know if saturn’s rulership over b 4th house means his father (4th house) was its sponsor. Certainly the two jupiters mitigated against it. His b3 NN in Virgo in c 9th implies service (Virgo) through higher mind (9th)--law, religion, philosophy. His NN in Sagittarius in b 3rd house conjunct uranus implies personal growth (NN) through teaching or communicating (3rd) unusual or “new” (uranus) principles or laws (Sagittarius). It also implies innovative use of them.

Progressing b3 saturn in Pisces was at 6 Pisces 03R conjunct his c3 moon when Hammarskjöld was 10 years old. It should have been a difficult time for him. Neither of the biographies I read contained specific information about his 10th year.

The saturn/uranus part of this set--which influences an Angle and 3rd house--tentatively identifies Hammarskjöld as having manic-depressive tendencies if the 1st chart also shows them. However, even if it did (I did not check), presence of two jupiters in this set dampens any tendency to manic depression. It is a matter of degree and whether or not the individual has somewhere else to go besides mania or depression. Hammarskjöld did--he had both jupiters. Individuals with manic depression have only either saturn or uranus, hence the exclusive cycling from mania (uranus) to depression (saturn) and back again and again.


Returning to Hammarskjöld’s 7th chart. I will not show it here, but he has the set which shows his success, albeit not without its trauma, in this chart that matches his even better success shown in his 10th chart (above). At this point I want to focus on the two 4th houses in his 7th chart.

Dag Hammarskjöld
Partial Harmonic Chart for His 7th House

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

Note c saturn in b 4th house. When mercury rules an Angle(s), it acts more like a light. Hammarskjöld’s c saturn is conjunct pluto in his b 4th house with mercury, ruler of B Asc, lighting it from Libra. This set implies separation and alienation (saturn/pluto) from others toward the end of life (4th house).

Hammarskjöld feared increasing emotional isolation. When he contemplated his retirement in Markings, in 1958, i.e., even after he had found meaning for his life in service, he wrote “Still a few more years, and then? Life has value only by virtue of its content--for others. Without value for others, my life is worse than death. Therefore: how incredibly great is what I have been given, and how meaningless what I have to “sacrifice.” (Markings, 166, 1958)

B saturn, which is conjunct c moon and b SN in Aquarius is an all-charts set. With b saturn’s rulership over b 4th house, it already has implications of alienation, isolation, feelings of failure and worthlessness, and depression in the latter years of life. (It is just before the cusp of b 5th house. Which house does it influence? Both? A case could be made for its influence to his 5th as another indicator of his extreme sexual reserve.)

In addition, b7 saturn is conjunct b7 moon in Aries in c 4th house. B7 saturn rules b 4th house, and b7 moon rules B MC. This set spans MC/IC and occupies the 7th/4th. Astrologically, it shows Hammarskjöld’s experience of coldness and sense of separation. It lead to depression, which he would not have admitted. He would, instead, have just kept busy, kept trying to be useful. However, Markings contains some dark thoughts as well as some religious ones. It contains several descriptions of suicides. It contains one guilty admission he found the idea comforting.

Note where this last set comes from. C moon and b saturn are conjunct in the shell chart. It would be easy to assume they would remain conjunct in their harmonics. They are, however, too far apart to stay in the same set in the higher harmonics. Instead, the set comes from b saturn’s close trine (not used in this method) to b moon. They are 120° 03’ minutes apart, and generate harmonics which are in the same set in the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th charts. (So close trines from traditional aspects have cardinal house implications in this method).

Saturn’s influences are not all dark. Some of them are “literal,” showing up as the 7th house part of Hammarskjöld’s moon conjunct saturn:

At the beginning of 1931 he [i.e.., Hammarskjöld] wrote, “My bad habit of reducing all conversations to ‘essentials,’ intellectual and moral cubism, if you like, leads to a dry-as-dust sincerity which only in rare contexts can be of interest to others...’” (Stolpe 41-42)

Such utter sincerity is saturnine. We are acquainted with its more severe (or pure) form. High-functioning autistic Temple Grandin discusses people’s reactions to her sincerity and incapacity to deceive or even joke. Her self-description resonates with Hammarskjöld’s comment.

More about moon/saturn as it influences Angles and/or 4th houses is written in the paper about Vivienne and the one about psychological heredity examined in one family. Here are links to them: Paper on Vivienne's Suicide, Astrology on Heredity, One Family.

Hammarskjöld has two more sets worth considering in evaluating the end of his life, i.e., his 4th house influences. (1) C jupiter is triply lighted in c 4th. One light is b7 SN. The second light is c7 moon (co-ruler of c 8th house). The third light is c sun (ruler of c 9th house). It has no Angle influence, so it cannot overcome his strong saturn influence. (2) C neptune, ruler of c 4th, is in a set with mars/node, giving him crazy, disturbing experiences toward the end of life. C7 neptune, the other ruler of c 4th house, is in the same set.

In summary, his 4th house influences in his 7th chart showed Hammarskjöld heading, as he had intuited correctly, for a depressing, isolated, alienated end-stage life.


However, that is not what happened. As Secretary-General Hammarskjöld witnessed the darker side of men’s motives. He saw first-hand how self-centered men could be. He saw, in fact, that much of Mankind still had a “Stone Age mentality.” But, up to the day he died he was liked and admired by all at the United Nations headquarters. “He inspired loyalties and affections of remarkable intensity and duration.” (Urquhart, p. 597). He had great enthusiasm for exploring, traveling, designing, dining with friends. His interesting interactions with others involved the fields of literature and art as well as diplomacy. His life was hectic, involved, committed, and contained the Silence within, not silence without.

How did Hammarskjöld manage to escape the loneliness, the deadness that was “in store” for him? Was his astrology wrong? Did he pull himself up by his bootstraps?

When the call came, Hammarskjöld’s Yes, re-affirmed thereafter in action, thought, and feeling, switched the center of gravity of his consciousness from his 7th chart to his 6th chart.

Hammarskjöld’s 6th chart, like his 10th, shows his potential for social success. Only his 6th shows it coming through service. Only his 6th chart--not his 7th, and for that matter, not even his 9th--also shows us Hammarskjöld the Christian Mystic.


Hammarskjöld, Acquired Main Chart--the 6th Chart
In traditional astrology the 6th house is identified as one correlated with, among other things, illnesses and service. With this method so far I have shown only the illness indications in the 6th chart. Below I will show its service implications and illustrate why I believe it became Hammarskjöld’s main chart once he became Secretary-General.

I should add, the 6th chart is not the only one which yields information about illnesses. The 1st and 12th charts contain information about physical illnesses. The 3rd chart (along with the 1st) contains information about mental illness. I saw one woman’s hysterectomy most represented in her 5th chart. The cancer of Son 2 in the paper on one family’s emotional heredity showed up in his 7th, not his 6th chart, but the set influenced his 6th house. So, illness is primarily represented by the 6th chart, but it occurs in other charts.

I do not know why the 6th chart contains information about illness and service. That is, I do not know how that understanding originated in astrology. “Suffer or serve” is the way I first read the caption identifying the 6th house’s dual function. For those to whom it applies, it is really more like “suffer, then serve.” I do know the 6th chart contains information about illness and surgery. I know it also contain information about service.

Throughout his life Hammarskjöld was engaged in various forms of service. His interest in reading mystical literature started in his undergraduate years. But his mysticism did not flower until he combined it with his role as Secretary-General of the United Nations. When he accepted that role, he started in earnest his journey on the path of “Not my will, but Thine.”

Let’s get to his 6th chart.

Comparing his 7th chart to his 6th, in his 6th chart c saturn, in b 4th house, has lost both its conjunction to pluto and its “light,” mercury in Libra (Asc ruler). Mercury and pluto were harmonic, therefore connected only to his 7th chart. His saturn (non-harmonic) picks up no other lights. So, he has lost his lighted saturn conjunct pluto in a 4th house.

The moon conjunction saturn in Aries, as a description of the darkness at the end of his days, in Hammarskjöld’s 7th chart in c 4th house disappears in his 6th chart. Both moon and saturn were harmonic, therefore connected only to his 7th chart.

By way of further illustrating 4th conditions as late life conditions, we can look at a particularly instructive chart. Another famous individual, Elvis Presley, had a painful end. Caught on the slick slope of drug addiction, by the time he died he was taking so many legally prescribed drugs his final combination so confused his physiology that major organs broke down. Drug addictions are located in the 1st chart. Here is the link: Look at Presley’s Chart


Returning to Hammarskjöld, 6th chart harmonics produced from b saturn and b moon (which in his 7th chart yielded their conjunction in Aries) were b6 moon at 3 Pisces 30, and b6 saturn at 3 Cancer 07--a trine in traditional astrology. This method does not recognize them as part of the same set. Moreover, that same b6 saturn, ruler of b 4th house, has become part of the set with B MC:

Set 1B MC2 Cancer 39
b6 saturn3 Cancer 07ruler of b 4th house
b6 jupiter3 Cancer 57co-ruler of b 3rd house (30 of 41°)
c sun2 Libra 11ruler of c 9th house
c jupiter1 Aries 41

Not only is Set 1 Angular, by including saturn it has acquired influence to Hammarskjöld’s b 4th house. That gave him two lighted jupiters, with Angular influence, to 4th house. He did not have that in his 7th chart.

Once again, Hammarskjöld’s 3rd and 9th houses are connected, this time united under a single influence in Set 1. It shows, perhaps, a unity (or a move toward unity) of higher and lower mind.

We can reach the point where it becomes possible for us to recognize and understand Original Sin, that dark counter-center of evil in our nature--that is to say, though it is not our nature, it is of it--that something within us which rejoices when disaster befalls the very cause we are trying to serve, or misfortune overtakes even those whom we love.
Life in God is not an escape from this, but the way to gain full insight concerning it. It is not our depravity which forces a fictitious religious explanation upon us, but the experience of religious reality which forces the “Night Side” out into the light.
It is when we stand in the righteous all-seeing light of love that we can dare to look at, admit, and consciously suffer under this something in us which wills disaster, misfortune, defeat to everything outside the sphere of our narrowest self-interest. So a living relation to God is the necessary precondition for the self-knowledge which enables us to follow a straight path, and so be victorious over ourselves, forgiven by ourselves. (all three quotes from Markings, 149, 1957)

The important, revealing set, however, is shown in chart form below in his partial harmonic chart for his 6th house. When he switched consciousness to that chart, he was on the road to simplicity:

To have humility is to experience reality not in relation to ourselves, but in its sacred independence. It is to see, judge, and act from the point of rest in ourselves. Then, how much disappears, and all that remains falls into place!
In the point of rest at the center of our being, we encounter a world where all things are at rest in the same way. Then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud a revelation, each man a cosmos of whose riches we can only catch glimpses. For the simple, life is simple, but it opens a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable. (Markings, ??, 8/4/29?)

Here is that most important set:

Dag Hammarskjöld
Partial Harmonic Chart for His 6th House, Set 2

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

The above set includes b6 venus, c6 pluto, both b and c neptune, c6 jupiter, c6 sun, b6 mars, and c6 mars. The sun, as light, is important in pulling this all into one set. On the lower end of it Hammarskjöld has sun/venus/jupiter/neptune--showing his mysticism (jupiter/neptune) as well as his success (lighted venus/jupiter influencing an Angle).

Houses ruled are instructive:

  • b6 venus rules b 9th house (and b 2nd) and co-rules b 8th
  • c neptune rules c 4th and co-rules c 3rd
  • b neptune rules b 7th and co-rules b 6th
  • c6 sun rules c 9th and co-rules c 8th
  • c6 mars, as stated, rules C Asc. It also rules c 12th
  • b6 mars rules b 3rd and b 8th

The 3rd and 9th house are again related, this time with the 6th in the 6th chart.

Since the 6th chart also includes information about health, I will comment on that angular mars in Pisces. Hammarskjöld was always in exceptionally good health. In times of crises he slept only several hours per night for the period of the crisis, remaining fresh. Lester Pearson wrote, “He was a man of quiet but incredible energy. I have never worked with anyone who seemed so impervious to fatigue--or human weakness.” (Urquhart, 29)

But, “for all his seriousness and idealism, Hammarskjöld was anything but heavy or sanctimonious. In fact, his quickness and agility of mind might have made a less serious person seem almost mercurial. His slight figure and youthful face usually gave an impression of constant motion. He walked everywhere when possible, and always with a brisk, springy gait, intent on the next objective. During the long debates of the UN’s deliberative organs, however, he would sit almost motionless for hours on end, moving only occasionally to write a note to a neighbor or to answer a question from a passerby...Slight, youthful, and informal as he was, he had great presence and stood out in any company.(Urquhart, 28)

Hammarskjöld himself pointed out he had the advantage of not having to divide his energy between job and domestic concerns.

Nonetheless, all my work so far indicates his b6 mars in Pisces on his conception I.C. (and in c 6th house) in his 6th chart would eventually have lead to disease. I do not have enough work on the 6th chart to know which disease. Perhaps it would have been a rheumatoid condition, complications of which claimed his brother, Åke’s, life while still quite young.

Other interpretations are possible. Ruling b 3rd house, could it have represented a “matured” mars in Pisces, a form of acquiescence to what is, a capacity to get himself out of the way? Sir Patrick Dean, the former British Ambassador to the UN, noted after his death Hammarskjöld’s “supreme ability for finding a formula for reconciling the irreconcilable.” (Urquhart, 32) Walter Lippman wrote of him, “Never before, and perhaps never again, has any man used the intense art of diplomacy for such unconventional and such novel experiments.” (Urquhart, 32)

Urquhart adds, “All of Hammarskjöld’s great gifts would have had far less effect without the personal impression he made on most of the people who dealt with him. His integrity, disinterestedness, and purity of intention were clear even to those--and they were many--with whom he frequently and strongly disagreed. He was not always liked, but he was almost invariably respected.” (Urqhart, 33)

A separate Appendix contains progressions germane to supporting Hammarskjöld’s given time of birth. Among them are progressions for all three charts--Hammarskjöld’s 10th, 7th, and 6th--for the date, April 10, 1953, he was installed as Secretary-General of the United Nations. It also contains data on his re-election on September 26, 1957.


Go to the Appendix 1, Testing the Time of Hammarskjöld’s Birth


From Markings, the entry for Whitsunday, 1961:

I don’t know who--or what--put the question. I don’t know when it was put. I don’t remember answering. But at one moment I answered yes to someone--or something.
From that moment stems the certainty that existence is meaningful and that therefore my life, in submission, has a goal.
From that moment I have known what it means “not to look back,” and to “take no thought for the morrow.” (U543)

I will close the body of this paper with a look at Hammarskjöld’s chart at the time of his death. Was the crash of his airplane accidental, or was he (and every one with him) murdered? Those not interested in this question, can go directly to the Conclusion.



The Wreckage, picture from thehindu.com

Hammarskjöld, Progressions for Death-- Hidden Enemies? 12th Chart
The Secretary-General’s DC-6B, the Albertina crashed near Ndola, Southern Rhodesia on September 17, 1961. The time of the crash, established by the stopped watches of the passengers, was between 10:11 and 10:13 p.m. GMT. All on board died (nine in H’s party, plus the crew of six). (Urquhart, 589)

The Albertina had been fired upon earlier that day when it took off from Elisabethville, but all conclusions about the cause of the later crash have been inconclusive. Essentially, murder was not supported rather than ruled out.

We can look at Hammarskjöld’s aviation death from the point of view of his astrology. In the paper on JFK, Jr. I reported my findings on aviation death, which shows up in the 7th and 9th charts. Here is the link to that paper: JFK, Jr., Aviation Death. I also have significator sets for individual’s who are murdered, usually involving 7th and 12th charts .

If Hammarskjöld was murdered, it should, among others, show up in his 12th chart.

Dag Hammarskjöld
Partial Harmonic Chart for His 12th House

Placidus: c11--14Lib, c12--0Sco, c2--20Sag, c3--12Aqu b11--9Leo, b12--5Vir, b2--19Lib, b3--22Sco

The set above with sun conjunct mars and saturn in Aquarius is--as discussed with the similar set in Virgo in his 5th chart--a serious affliction. Further, saturn rules b 4th house. It lacks, however, Angle influence. Angle influence could be acquired through a an Angle-ruling planet progressing to the set. The set could also be activated another way, without Angle influence. In that case, other Angles--shell or progressed--have individually to acquire their mars/saturn influences.

However, the planets in Leo--c mars and c12 uranus--are also part of the set. C mars rules C Asc and c 12th house. Together the Aquarian and Leo planets form a fault in Hammarskjöld’s 12th chart--lighted mars/saturn influencing an Angle and 4th house. The orb, however, between c mars and the planets in Aquarius is too big for anything but a fault. An Angle progressing to them would hit, then pass beyond, the influence of c mars before it came under the influence of b12 mars, or the sun/saturn 1° later.

Still, it was active on September 17, 1961. On the date of his death progressed c SN was at 19 Aquarius, specifically re-lighting his Aquarian sun/mars/saturn with 4th influence. But it still does not have Angle influence. The progressing node does not include c mars, which it has not yet reached. Progressing c NN’s movement was slow. It was at 20 Leo 23 the year, 1953, he became Secretary-General. Five years before that, in 1948, it was at 21 Aquarius 07. It became dangerous to his life when his Angles also acquired mars and saturn (shown below).

I will not include here other interesting 12th chart conditions. Let’s look 12th chart progressions for his death.

Set 1progressed B MC26 Leo 54
progressed b mars26 Scorpio 44ruler of b 3rd and 8 houses, co-ruler b 7th (19 of 24°)
progressed b12 neptune26 Scorpio 44ruler of b 6th house

Set 1 shows a progressed Angle/mars, in fact Angle/mars/neptune. The Angle/mars part occurs in all charts.

Set 2progressed C MC17 Leo 44
c mars17 Leo 34ruler C Asc, 12th, 5th; co-ruler (14 of 24°) of c 4th
progressed b12 neptune26 Scorpio 44ruler of b 6th house

Set 2 shows a second progressed Angle/mars, this one with influence to 4th and 12th houses through it rulership. It influences c 9th house by being in it and activated. This set also occurs in all charts.

T12 saturn was at 17 Leo 37R at 10:12 p.m. GMT.

His 40° return for that period erected for Ndola had an Asc of 25 Libra 31, conjunct his b mars in c 12th house. Return mars was at 20 Virgo 49, conjunct his progressed mars conjunct C MC in b 12th. Return harmonic saturn was at 20 Leo 22, in close aspect to his sun/mars/saturn in Aquarius with progressed node.

Set 3C MC20 Virgo 23in b 12th house
progressed c mars20 Virgo 55ruler C Asc, 12th, 5th; co-ruler (14 of 24°) of c 4th

Set 3 is his third progressed, all-charts, Angle/mars. At the time, Hammarskjöld was in the midst of the Congo crisis. His job involved embroilment in one crisis after another, but three Angle/mars through progressions is excessive. The one’s (Sets 2 and 3) influencing 4th houses are also dangerous to life.

Forefront mars influence is all over the place, several involving mars/12th and mars/4th. What about saturn?

Set 4B Asc24 Virgo 40
progressed b moon25 Gemini 52(a “timer”)
progressed c12 sun23 Gemini 34(Another “timer”--using their midpoints works best)
progressed b12 saturn25 Sagittarius 09Rruler of b 4th house

Set 4 has both Angle and 4th influence. Actually, progressing b12 saturn has passed beyond its aspect with B Asc, but the two progressing lights, moving very fast (14 times their non-harmonic "parent" or sponsor) pulled it temporarily back into an acceptable orb. Very temporarily.

With the above, without massive research to decide the question one way or another on all kinds of accidental and homicidal deaths, all that can be said so far is it is possible Hammarskjöld was murdered.

The 12th chart is rather an “everything-but-the-kitchen sink” chart. It is paramount in demonstrating individuals have been murdered. In charts from astrological databases of individuals known to have been murdered, the 12th chart contains significators similar to Hammarskjöld’s. The 12th chart, however, has other implications besides murder.

In all aviation deaths I examine the 9th chart for very specific significators as the most active chart indicating death. While Hammarskjöld’s 9th satisfies my criteria, (refer to the paper of JFK Jr. if you want to know what they are) they are weak, so-so.

Much to my surprise Hammarskjöld’s 6th chart showed progressions for an aviation (9th house) death.

Hammarskjöld’s 6th chart has the following set:

Set 1c mars17 Leo 34ruler of C MC, c 12th, 5th, and co-ruler of c 4th house; in c 9th
c6 NN17 Scorpio 19
c6 saturn17 Aquarius 30(co-ruler of c 2nd house, 30 of 52°)

Progressed C MC for death was at 17 Scorpio 44, fitting squarely into the above set. With it he had Angle/node/mars/saturn with influences to 4th and 12th houses. He lacked a 9th house influence. Mars is in the 9th house, so he had mars/9th, but lacked a saturn/9th. Pb6 venus, ruler of b 9th house, was at 18 Taurus 11, a little late, but arguably a part of the above set. With its inclusion in the set, Hammarskjöld’s 6th chart contains his death, his possible murder, and his specific death through aviation

In his 40° return for this period, harmonic6 moon was at 18 Leo 11, also a part of Set 1, also helping to include pb6 venus in the set.

In all likelihood Hammarskjöld and his party would have viewed a murder investigation as creating trouble where none more was needed.

On September 20, Tshombe met with Khiary in Ndola. Together they concluded the cease-fire agreement that had been the first point on Hammarskjöld’s agenda. (Urquhart, 591)

You told yourself you would accept the decision of fate. But you lost your nerve when you discovered what this would require of you: then you realized how attached you still were to the world which has made you what you were, but which you would now have to leave behind. If felt like an amputation, a “little death” and you even listened to those voices which insinuated that you were deceiving yourself out of ambition. You will have to give up everything. Why, then, weep at this little death? Take it to you--quickly--with a smile die this death, and become free to go further--one with your task, whole in your duty of the moment. (Markings, 158, 1957)

Conclusion
Because I started out with an approximate time of birth, in the Appendix I presented material which supports the approximate time as Hammarskjöld’s actual time, within minutes. Relevant timed events throughout this paper also support this.

Hammarskjöld’s relationship with each parent was covered in his 4th and 10th charts--good fits, I think, with the biographical information.

Hammarskjöld’s father, Hjalmar, trained him with an ear for international justice and objectivity. In addition, he showed his son by example the high price sometimes paid for impartiality by those who would serve it. They were hard lessons, but they were right for Hammarskjöld’s destiny.

Hammarskjöld’s mother, Agnes, trained him in seemingly opposite, but complementary ways to his father. She showed him caring and the value of reaching out to others. She taught him mercy salted with reason. Without her influence, his inheritance from his father would have left him too cold, too much a machine of justice. She taught her son, again by example, that he could make a difference.


Dag Hammarskjöld experienced a shift in the center of gravity of his consciousness once he accepted the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations. That the shift occurred is supported by material from both biographies and Hammarskjöld’s own words from Markings..

The theme of this paper is not only did the shift occur, it was reflected astrologically as a shift from his 7th chart as predominant chart to his 6th chart as predominant chart. Proof was offered from two perspectives.

First, that of timing.

Hammarskjöld did not just decide to become an international public servant. True, his background prepared him for that possibility. His twenty-plus years work beforehand established his integrity, dispassion, kindness, and accountability, among other things. But he did not just assume that role because he realized that was where he belonged. Hammarskjöld was invited--by events beyond his individual control--to become Secretary-General. Once asked, Hammarskjöld's job was to respond with yes or no. (see footnote 3)
The role he accepted was one international in significance. As such, it was an honor for Hammarskjöld to be asked. Accordingly, he had benefic--forefront venus and jupiter--in his 7th, 10th, and 6th charts on the date of his swearing in (which was only 10 days after he was asked).

Second, that of analysis of the different implications of his 6th and 7th charts.

The consciousness Hammarskjöld experienced through his 7th chart was more a consciousness of separation and alienation. It had too much saturn emphasis. He could not relax with others. He could not relax with himself. He was a working “machine”--admired, but not envied. What is more, through its 4th house influence his excessive saturn emphasis was leading him to barren last years, bereft of comradeship, bereft even of a feeling of accomplishment.
Hammarskjöld’s 6th chart had far less saturn emphasis--especially its 4th house implications. It had far better benefic influence, houses influenced also being an important consideration. His 6th chart--the meaningful service he finally assented to--was Hammarskjöld’s medium for all the key parts of his later life.
It brought his mystical inclination into the same orbit as his wish to have a meaningful life. Through his 6th chart Hammarskjöld realized service and his religion. His 7th does not contain the mystic-oriented lighted jupiter/neptune. That is only in his 6th. It is not even in his 9th. When he found the right form for his life--service through his 6th chart-- Hammarskjöld also found his way to his God.
It is also through b neptune’s rulership of b 7th house--in the 6th chart set with sun/venus/jupiter/neptune--that Hammarskjöld, who had always inspired admiration from a distance, could relax with and enjoy others. Thereafter he inspired devotion, loyalty, and dedication, but additionally, his relationships took on a warmth that never existed in his 7th chart relationships.
Hammarskjöld’s 12th, 9th, 7th, and 6th charts all presented death charts. His 12th and 6th, however, were the most powerful.
"Then I saw that the wall had never been there, that the “unheard-of” is here and this, not something and somewhere else... that the “offering” is here and now, always and everywhere--”surrendered” to be what, in me, God gives of Himself to Himself." (Markings, 96, 1954)


Postscript
I believe what happened to Hammarskjöld happens to others in different forms, in different ways. Astrologically, this “hanging one’s hat on a star” and finding out it, indeed, takes one beyond one’s self, has two different astrological indicators. First, it happens to some through pursuit of North Node behavior. Second, it happens when an individual--consciously or unconsciously--pursues his best chart.

Joseph Campbell expressed it as “pursuing one’s bliss.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed it more thoroughly with the following:

Each man has his own vocation.
All men are but several porches into one mind. Each man has his own calling, which is determined by his peculiar reception of the Common Reason. There is one direction to every man in which unlimited space is open to him. He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion. He finds obstruction on all sides but one. On that side all obstruction is taken away and he sweeps serenely over God’s depths into an infinite sea. (Emerson, essay on Ethics, p. 147)





Footnotes
(0) In my later development of this method, Angle/light/venus/jupiter began to be labeled a "golden benefic. It was golden because it contained the lesser and greater benefic (venus and jupiter, respectively). Since it was either on an Angle or influencing one through a ruler, it had forefront influence. If it was not on an Angle and working through a ruler, then the light was necessary to enliven or potentiate its benevolence. Golden benefics are the prognosticators of success, felicity, charisma, the good.

Similarly, "dark malefics" (though the planets in them are absolutely necessary for life on Earth, so have positive value also) comprised of Angle/light/mars/saturn all in one set sponsor our darkest and most difficult experiences. Mars and saturn, the lesser and greater malefics, respectively, are involved in catabolism. They tear down, digest, dissolve, break up, exclude (saturn)and so on. Without dissolution psychologically we would be stuck with where we started out in life. Without it physically, planet Earth would be overwhelmed with created things. Nonetheless, we experience much of dissolution as painful, even exceptionally painful. Death, too, is a form of dissolution.

Hammarskjöld's golden benefic in his 10th chart is not as powerful as it could be because of the distance between venus and jupiter. It is, nonetheless, a golden benefic.

(1) Exactly how long anything stayed unconscious in Hammarskjöld is debatable. He was an exceptionally self-examining, self-honest individual, but much more so as he aged.

(2)An overlap of 3rd and 5th houses can lead to obsessive sexual thoughts about an individual, as was shown in the paper on John Hinckley.

(3) Of course, many people serve. For some reason, only some have to experience the feeling, like Hammarskjöld, of long-term displacement beforehand.

Apparently, people switch from one chart to another by focusing exclusively for a long time in the area covered by the chart. In Hammarskjöld’s case, up until then he had lived a life replete with service. He had tilled the soil of possibility. The change from his 7th to his 6th chart, however, was ultimately not under his control.



Bibliography
Markings, by Dag Hammarskjöld. Translated from the Swedish by Leif Sjöberg and W.H. Auden, with a Foreword by W.H. Auden. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965.

Dag Hammarskjöld: A Spiritual Portrait, by Sven Stolpe. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1966.

Hammarskjöld, by Brian Urquhart. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972.

The Early Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume II, 1836-1838, edited by Stephen E. Whicher, Robert E. Spiller, and Wallace E. Williams. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1964.




Data Acknowledgments
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (DD)
Birth: 7/29/1905, 11:30 a.m. MET, Jonkoping, Sweden. From Astrodatabank by Lois Rodden and Mark McDonough. Church of Light quotes Drew, “an approximate time.”
Conception:10/19/1904, 11:04:17 a.m. MET, Jonkoping, Sweden.




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