18 Months to Live

 

May 13, 2005

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/may13.html

 

Dear Eric,

 

My brother was recently told by a doctor that he has 18 months to live. Not 17 months and not 19 months -- exactly 18. I have tried to tell my brother that no person can tell another when he will die and in my opinion it was a very unethical thing to do, especially since my brother is showing no symptoms of this fatal illness. Nevertheless, on some day in 2006 which he has marked on a calendar, I believe he will lay down and do what the doctor told him. (He is currently seeking a second opinion). I want desperately to help him through this to whatever conclusion there will be, but I feel so powerless -- is there anything in my chart to show me the way?

 

Gratefully

Susan

 

 

Dear Susan:

 

Yes.

 

I have met two different old (as in ancient) guys who were told by doctors they were going to be dead by the age of 18 (not 17 and not 19!). The literature from the branch of medicine known as homeopathy has numerous cases when on the scheduled day of surgery, there was nothing to remove because the remedy had cured the cancer before the operation happened. Every healer on the planet will tell you stories about their clients who were very sick and just got better; who were impoverished and learned to take care of themselves; who were lonely and found good company.

 

So even if your brother actually had some bizarre disease, and on any particular day had exactly 18 months to live, that would mean nothing special -- not guaranteed, anyway. Many factors can intervene, particularly if we let them. And yes, it's super duper weird for a doctor to predict the date of death.

 

Thus, before I start spewing off random expletives at this particular doctor, I am happy your brother is seeking a second opinion; at this rate he might want a third. If you can keep him focused on medical science, you would be doing him a great favor. It sounds like you love him more than words can say. The question of death is also what you might call deeply spiritual, connected directly to the meaning of existence. What do you think might lead him to even consider the possibility of 'checking out' in 18 months? Perhaps you can take the conversation right to this core essence.

 

Let's see what the astrology says. We can start with you, since you wrote the letter. I'll give a look at your brother's chart in a moment and we'll see what's up with his 6th house (medical), and his 8th house (matters of death and dying), and whatever is arriving in Nov. 2006.

 

As for you: there is some unusually powerful and equally mysterious stuff in your chart regarding siblings. (Techno: you have Scorpio on your 3rd house of sibs, with Scorpio's rulers, Mars and Pluto, located in the 12th house of big mysteries, the unconscious, the beyond, intense psychological stuff).

 

The imagery is 'so much larger than life', to borrow a little Peter Gabriel; and it has overtones of spiritual -- the spirit world -- world bridger (from Mayan mythology) -- and perhaps a touch of past life memory that might unconsciously lead you to fear for the loss of siblings. Or, for that matter, children, as you have a conjunction of Ceres, Mars and Pluto. The part about children and mothers comes from Ceres, whose daughter was taken down to Hades by Mr. Pluto.

 

You are intimately connected to what some call the hidden world. I do suggest you tap into this intuition deeply and go beyond your fears; feel for the truth, and for the truth of what you can do. You are someone whose chart tells me that experience has taught you a great deal, and has been your greatest teacher. This experience has taught you how to relate to people in crisis by reaching for the child within them. I would suggest that you have a true healing gift if you can reach that spark inside you where we are all little kids. There is a relationship between this inner spark and your gift as a healer. They are one and the same thing.

 

Remember that you are one of your brother's most important connections to his past, and to the child he was. You may know him better than any person on the planet, and he may know you better than anyone. I suggest that you take the whole story of your relationship into account when communicating with him about this subject. You don't necessarily have to bring it up, just remember those times way long ago when the world as we know it today did not exist. You have a gift for him there.

 

As for your brother. He has a placement that might lead him to build up exaggerations in his mind in regards to health issues: Jupiter conjunct the Moon in his 6th house. He also has Chiron in that house, which can intensely focus interest on health, and Scorpio is involved, so his thoughts might naturally tend in the direction of the worst possibilities. That makes the case for things being far less extreme than they seem.

 

On the other hand, however, I suggest that he watch his health and take care of this matter quite consciously, because in 18 months (Nov. 2006) he does have quite a lot of intense activity in his 6th, as a number of planets show up in Scorpio (which occupies his 6th house). There are many connections between his 8th house (death, sexuality and transformation) and his 6th -- so we can take them as one subject, for the purposes of this discussion.

 

There is most certainly a major change he is trying to make. Yet the arrival of so much in this angle of his chart at that time feels like pressure; it feels confusing; there is still the ever-present sense of exaggeration that follows him anywhere; there is the need to be careful about communications with medical professionals, and to get things in writing (that also means to read up on things!); and to be wary of the role of fear in his experience of health and wellness.

 

In fact, his whole story around health can be summed up as 'emotional health' and this is what he needs to be mindful of more than anything. So the best astrological advice I can give is to deal with things early; not to let matters build up; to keep the discussion going. What happens is not a matter of fate -- it is a matter of choice, of response, of decisions made with medical professionals, and more than anything, of his relationship with his existence, which is definitely coming up for discussion.

 

And to a real extent, he is counting on you to keep that discussion focused, sane and positive. Thanks for writing in.