Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889)

I have to admit to a certain ennui when it comes to American politics, particularly the American Civil War. But that may come from a feeling of ‘been there, done that’. Boring…

(Q.) Why do you not rub your head when sick? (Ans.) Because I have nothing to rub out. Now here are the two modes of reasoning. The natural man never sees that the misery follows his acts. When he reasons it is all action with him and he never dreams that reaction is the true wisdom, so the natural man is courageous at first, for he does not see his real enemy. His real enemy is the natural result of his acts, which is reaction, the true wisdom that will always measure to action its own measure.

The wise man sees the wisdom of the thought before it takes effect and destroys it. When the patient asked the question, he had the answer in the question for his ignorance was what I was rubbing out, so if he had known that he would not have wanted any rubbing. I will illustrate this mode of reasoning by Jeff Davis and Abraham Lincoln. Davis’ wisdom is all action, not having the element of true wisdom or reaction in all his acts. He is ambitious and wants his own way; this makes him a one-idea-man, all go-ahead without wisdom. His will is law and man must obey. As he sees no reaction or wisdom, he shows courage, but it is the effect of ignorance. Lincoln does not reason, his acts are governed by the people, and his wisdom is in knowing the laws and in putting them into execution according to the will of the people. He is not a dictator but a servant whom the people have chosen. Here is the difference. Davis is a dictator without wisdom or courage. Lincoln is a servant who has respect for his master, the people. Knowing that his acts are the wishes of the people, he is strong; he does not boast, for boasting is cowardice. Now when Davis sees the reaction of his folly, he will flee, for his wisdom is of this world, not of science; for if he had the science that action and reaction are equal, he would have seen that he was building up a tower that would fall and crush him in the ruins of his own wisdom. He did indeed show some spirit when his tower was rising, but when the winds of the Northwest blew upon it, it commenced to tumble, the rocks and mortar began to fall and he trembled, for his reason had departed from him. His friends forsook him and he tried to find a place in the mountains to hide himself, for the day of retribution had come and woe to them to whom it shall fall.

The last is a prophesy foretold the latter part of April 1861.

Quimby, Phineas. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby: His Complete Writings and Beyond (pp. 134-135). Phineas Parkhurst Quimby Resource Center. Kindle Edition.

Well, I should have expected something about this situation from Quimby’s writings, since they were from this time frame. What I didn’t expect was a discussion about Jefferson Davis‘ nature in comparison to Abraham Lincoln‘s. But that gave me food for thought and then this post.

This birth chart is rectified to show the age of 62-63 when Davis was elected President of the Confederation (Jupiter and Pluto in the Pisces 8th House of Death). He has one inconjunct.

Mars Inconjunct Uranus

You have a tendency to be rash and impulsive, which may get in your way. If matters proceed too slowly, you are likely to make a sudden move that upsets the whole situation and forces you to start over again. You must learn to be patient if you want to achieve your objectives.

This energy may also be expressed as a hot temper, especially when you have to endure restriction or limitation. You have a rebellious streak that needs to be disciplined, because everyone has to endure some restrictions, and it takes so little to trigger your temper.

Sometimes you may make sudden moves that startle people. You may make a decision very quickly and start to act on it immediately, but that is not such a good idea. Make up your mind more slowly, or at least wait for a while until you start to act. If your idea still looks good a couple of days later, it is probably all right to go ahead with it.

(It seems that Quimby’s assessment of Davis was actually spot on…)

The Attack on Fort Sumter

This is a factual date, time and place for the start of the American Civil War. I think the most significant aspect is the Mercury/Neptune/Ascendant in the last degrees of Pisces. The Neptune in Pisces alone would have given the ‘sneaky’ nature of the enterprise on its own. But is that enough to tell us how it would end up? (I think this is where the two Presidents need to be highlighted along with the event.)

Again, what I didn’t expect to see is how ‘connected’ Davis and Lincoln were. Their birth dates are a little over 7 months apart, so there will be some overlapping of the outer planets, but the more personal ones are the surprise: the Saturn in Lincoln’s chart is (almost) exactly conjunct Neptune in Davis’ chart @ 3° Sagittarius; with Pluto mixed up between them, Davis’ Jupiter is about 5° from Lincoln’s Mercury in Pisces and opposite Lincoln’s Ascendant. And Lincoln’s Midheaven splits the wide conjunction of Davis’ Sun and Mars, while being conjunct the ACW (American Civil War) Mars/Uranus conjunction. Lincoln’s Jupiter @ 22° Pisces is conjunct the Mercury/Neptune/Ascendant of the ACW. Is it any wonder that the North defeated the South?