Who was Charles E.O. Carter, and what was his contribution to astrology? His life spanned from the late 19th century through three quarters of the 20th century. He came to astrology while he was a soldier fighting in World War I, seeking answers which would help him cope with the devastation of the world around him. You can see from his chart that the ruler of his fourth house is Saturn in its fall in Cancer near the midheaven. The loss and trauma he had encounter forever changed the direction of his life – and with Saturn in square to his Ascendant-Uranus conjunction in Libra, his identity underwent a major and shocking change. When Charles Carter returned from war, he could no longer settle into his old life as an attorney and sought something with more freedom and ability to move around. We can imagine the surprise among his very traditional family members when Charles adopted this very fringe subject as his career.
That he would be a gifted astrologer is suggested by the Sun and Mercury in Aquarius, considered astrology’s sign, in the house of his joyful pursuits, and this conjunction is applying to his notable Uranus near the Ascendant. Charles Carter described this trine as “an original and energetic mind, dominant and fond of responsibility and leadership.” Not content to practice astrology on his own, Charles Carter would join other astrologers to form The Astrological Lodge in London, where respectability was brought to the practice and teaching of astrology. The Saturn with his Midheaven tells us that he would work very hard to establish a good public image.
Charles Carter also was the founder and editor of The Astrology Magazine, fulfilling the promise of his Jupiter-ruled third house. Jupiter also is in mutual reception with its dispositor, Mars, in the sixth house, telling us of his drive to create an excellent periodical. His Jupiter gifts are also on display in the numerous books he published during his lifetime, including The Principles of Astrology which he wrote to provide students with a solid basic text.
Famously, Charles Carter was said to have predicted his own death in 1968. While I imagine he must have used a number of predictive techniques, one technique, that of using secondary progressions to note when aspects from the natal chart perfect, was in evidence at the time of his passing. In 1968, the Sun and Mars met by conjunction at 3 degrees of Taurus, in his eighth house of death, just as he was having a lunar return to his eighth house Moon. By transit, his eighth house ruler, Venus, was conjoining his natal Jupiter in Scorpio, which opposed the eighth house stellium. Charles Carter was 81 years old, and Uranus has just ingressed into Libra, bringing liberation to his first house and signaling the beginning of his Uranus return.
Charles E.O. Carter is often considered to be a bridge from the older astrology practiced in England before the war, and modern astrology, which would thrive as early 20th century psychologists learned to combine astrology’s wisdom with the exciting new study which explores our interior life. By giving us practical structures from which astrology could be studied and taught, Charles Carter ensured that astrology would be carried forward to those of us who love to learn the language of the stars.
