In the world of astrology, Cyril Fagan (1896-1970), an Irish astrologer, stands out for his advocacy of the sidereal zodiac, a system that has been a cornerstone of Jyotiṣa (Vedic astrology) since ancient times. Despite the prevalent modern-era shift towards the tropical zodiac, Fagan passionately championed the sidereal approach. His work not only challenged the prevailing astrological trends but also inspired a reevaluation and adoption of sidereal calculations among many contemporary astrologers.
Fagan was born in Dublin on May 22, 1896, at 12:00 Dunsink Time, which corresponded to about 12:25 GMT. Below is his ‘Vedic’ birth chart using his own sidereal calculations.
Fagan was born in Dublin on May 22, 1896, at 12:00 Dunsink Time, which corresponded to about 12:25 GMT. Below is his ‘Vedic’ birth chart using his own sidereal calculations.
While most Vedic astrologers today do not use Cyril Fagan's specific calculations, it's noteworthy that there's a marginal difference of only one degree between his method and the more commonly used sidereal calculations in Vedic astrology. This seemingly small discrepancy of one degree significantly alters the position of Mercury in his birthchart, shifting it from Taurus to Gemini. Below is Fagan's chart, illustrated using the sidereal calculations commonly employed by Vedic astrologers today.
Sidereal Leo was rising when he was born, although someone using tropical calculations would calculate it to be Virgo, of course. But I’m not sure how Cyril would feel about you using tropical calculations for his birthchart!
Ketu, the south lunar node was in his 1st house, with Rahu, the north node in his 7th. The accounts for him being the ‘other’, as he was always an outsider in his field. He may have changed many a mind, as the nodes are prone to, but he also rubbed many up the wrong way.
Fagan's Timeline
There are planetary and sign-based daśās we can observe to see his timeline. I’m including the popular Chara daśā, the Sanskrit word chara meaning ‘movable’, reflecting the different signs being active at different times in his life.
Leo was his first daśā, as this was his rising sign at birth, followed by Virgo, Libra, and so on. For Leo and some other signs, the count is clockwise, while some other sign move anti-clockwise.
The length of each sign's period is based on the position of the sign’s ruler. Counting inclusively from the sign to the ruler, before then subtracting one, we calculate the sign’s activation in years. For Leo, unlike the order of the sign count, the count to its ruler is anti-clockwise. Counting from Leo to the Sun in Taurus in reverse order, we get 3 years once we subtract 1 from the count.
Virgo lasted 4 years, Libra 6, Scorpio 4, Sagittarius 7, Capricorn 3, Aquarius 4, Pisces 8, Aries 11, Taurus 11, Gemini 11. He died in 1970, 2 years into his Cancer period, his 12th house of loss.
He was born in a period of the Sun, but only just. Viṁśottarī daśā (pictured above) is usually calculated from the Moon's position. The Moon was in the lunar mansion, Uttaraphalgunī when he was born but had transited to the very end of this asterism that is associated with the Sun. This meant he only experienced a brief period in his Sun period. Yet despite this, the Sun would have had a big say in who he was for his whole life, much like having a birth chart is, even though the planets keep moving after birth.
With Leo rising at his birth, and the Sun in his 10th whole sign house Taurus, this pointed to his prominent career. Not only did he have an important role to play in astrology, but he also had something new to say. He transformed astrology for a new generation of seekers.
Despite the prominence of Ketu, which often makes a person feel hidden (and indeed he might have felt this because of his views), Leo rising and the Sun in the 10th would have propelled him into the spotlight.
The issue was that he was not always well-received due to his challenge to the status quo. Those with the lunar nodes prominent may be controversial figures but they get us to look at things we may prefer not to or change things we prefer would remain the same.
His Ketu nature was what gave him a searing insight. Kenneth Bowser, a modern-day campion of Fagan, writes in an article that he was ‘’frightening to some because of "the gift," which manifested as the sort of specificity in his astrological interpretations that seemed to go well beyond what the planets could convey’’ (Bowser, 1996).
His brief Sun daśā from birth was followed by 10 years of the Moon, until he was 10 years of age. This was also during his Virgo and Libra chara daśā, with the Moon in Virgo, his 2nd house. No doubt, the Moon’s rulership of his 12th house would have brought losses of some sort. Indeed, he contracted scarlet fever as a child which left him nearly deaf.
Libra is his 3rd sign represents hearing, with Saturn and Uranus placed therein. Saturn shows the limitations he faced, while Uranus was unexpected and disturbing.
Then, at the age of 10, he entered his ‘Mars years’, after which he entered a daśā of Scorpio, from the age of 13 until 17. Mars is in the 8th house of secrets, research and occult knowledge. Mars also rules Scorpio, the sign of hidden knowledge.
According to Bowser, ‘’he was an inveterate reader, and he spent virtually the whole of his life immersed in study, either in libraries and archives or at home at his desk.’’ Although Bowser attributes this to his Moon in Virgo, I daresay his Mars in Pisces, in the 8th house of research, would have driven his passions early on.
He began studying astrology in 1916, once he has entered his Rahu daśā, which took place from the age of 17 until he was 35. His Sagittarius daśā began when he was 17 also, with its ruler, Jupiter, exalted in the 12th house. He must have felt as if he were disappearing down a rabbit hole at this point.
Rahu was in the 7th house of Aquarius, a sign it co-rules along with Saturn according to Vedic astrology. Rahu daśā would have brought much to experience, including foreign travel.
It wasn’t until he reached his Jupiter daśā, from the age of 35 until he was 51, that his writing took off. These were also his Pisces and Aries years, representing his 8th house of research and his 9th house of publishing. This was likely when all the disparate parts of the puzzle (Rahu) came together into a cohesive whole (Jupiter). Jupiter exalted in Cancer in the 12th shows a more elevated and creative kind of thinking.
Yet there is no denying that he was not seen or appreciated for the work he did – by the larger astrology community. The 12th house would have reflected this. Yet he had something to prove, whilst working away in the background on his theories.
He studied astronomy and mathematics alongside astrology. Jupiter is the ruler of Pisces, where Mars was placed, and Mars can show logic and a scientific rigor. Jupiter’s rulership of his 5th house of creative self-expression, and its placement in the 12th, granted him the seclusion he needed.
By 1944, at the age of 48, he wrote about Babylonian astrology being sidereal, in a Jupiter-Mars daśā. The strength of these planets in a trine to each other would have brought many AHA moments, I’m sure. This was within his Aries daśā. This highlighted his 9th house of faith, after some struggles and research within his 8th house Pisces daśā.
The Jupiter-Rahu daśā is usually a complex time in anyone’s life. He experienced this from the age of 49 to 51. There is no reason to think Fagan was an exception.
This period pits two competing ideologies against each other. There's the Jupiterian tradition and Rahu’s innovative approach. It was during this period, and in the next Saturn daśā, from 1947, when he was 51, that he experienced the most kickback due to his alternative views. And yet, it was in this period, also a Taurus 10th house daśā, that he became most prominent in his career. Despite Saturn's challenges, the Sun in the 10th brought fame and recognition.
Still, Saturn daśā for a Leo pitted him against others, as Saturn rules the 6th and 7th houses for Leo, placed very strongly in exaltation in Libra in his birthchart. He had powerful adversaries (Saturn), including Dane Rudhyar, the French astrologer.
Though exalted, Saturn was also retrograde when he was born, complicating matters to do with adversaries.
When a planet exalts and is retrograde it behaves as if it were also debilitated, as if it were in the opposite sign. For Saturn, this would be Aries, where boundaries were tested on both sides. He challenged others but was equally challenged in return. Others would have pushed back strongly in his Saturn daśā. He went on to push back for many more Saturn years.
It was Saturn's hard work ethos that led to one of his greatest contributions to astrology. Apart from the sidereal perspective, he discovered a rationale for the degrees of exaltation. It’s interesting that he realized this during a Saturn-Saturn cycle considering his own exalted Saturn.
He published Zodiacs Old And New in 1950. This was his Saturn-Mercury daśā. This is perhaps an argument against his own sidereal calculations due to these planets’ positions in his birthchart. If we use the more accepted sidereal calculation today, placing Spica at 0 degrees of Libra, his Mercury moves to Gemini. This would place Saturn and Mercury in a trine to each other. This is a better relationship to be able to actualize something. Yet one could argue that Mercury in Taurus, his 10th house, in a challenging relationship to Saturn, showed how contested this piece of work was.
His Saturn period lasted until 1966, when he was 70 years of age, at which time he began his Mercury daśā. He went through a Gemini period at this time, reflecting all the many associations and connections he made with others due to his work. He began a Cancer period shortly after he began his Mercury daśā. It was in this period, in 1969, that he published his last offering to the astrology community, in a book titled Astrological Origins.
He died on January 5, 1970. He was in a Mercury-Ketu daśā at the time. This once again pitted two ‘planets’ that have very different agendas against one another. One impulse was to achieve something practical (Mercury), the other to take one out of this world in one way or another (Ketu). Fagan had other works he was developing before his death but his soul had other plans, it seems.
His story lives on through a body of work that is yet to be embraced by the astrology community at large.
Auṁ Tat Sat
Reference
Bowser, K., 1996. A Brief Overview Of The Astrological Work Of Cyril Fagan. Realta.
Chart Data and Source
Cyril Fagan, May 22, 1896; 12.00 p.m. DMT; Dublin, Ireland; 53n20, 6w15; (Source: astro.com; AA Rodden Rating).