I recently presented this chart delineation (in far less technical terms) to a group of sports people. I have a deep seated interest in sport and a respectful curiosity about sports people, having spent over a decade in that arena as a sports coach and personal trainer. I am grateful to Bruce Fordyce for allowing me to share his nativity in relation to the topic in question. Bruce Fordyce is considered the world's greatest ultra marathon runner. He was born in the Far East and schooled in the UK , but is South African through and through. He entered his first Comrade's Marathon while a student at Wits University in Johannesburg, and won this gruelling ultra marathon eight times in succession and nine times overall. He competed internationally as well, winning the London to Brighton Marathon three times in succession, setting a world 50-mile record in the process.

The Motivation Provided by the Temperament

The motivation to endure hours of physical discomfort (even pain), mind numbing repetition and the discipline to prepare your body for these events requires more than simply the right genes or physical aptitude. Bruce has a predominantly melancholic temperament followed by phlegmatic. From this we can deduce that he is able to slot into a mind set that can focus on a single task for hours on end, but he will not do anything if there is no reward or if it does not make him feel good. What we may then perceive as suffering, running an ultra marathon, is for him enjoyable – he wouldn't do it if it were not. The tenacity (some may see it as being stubborn) of a melancholic temperament is well suited to endurance sport, as is the ability provided by the temperament to endure pain. Melancholic types do not react quickly, the process is more ponderous and contemplative, and often by the time the need to voice any concerns is realised, such as a high level of discomfort or suffering on some level, the event has already passed. The phlegmatic “runner up” contributes to this as well – if he needed to suffer for what to him was a higher cause, he would endure.

The Moon

The Moon is Lord 1, the ruler of his physical body and obviously of his emotions and mind. His Moon is melancholic but is filtered through fixed fire – this fixity added to the melancholic temperament displays the ability to suffer physically, emotionally and mentally in order to receive public accolades - the Moon takes Jupiter L10 into her triplicity. She is in a partile square to Mars, the Lord of the Geniture. This is a separating aspect so we have this very powerful Mars pushing him from behind. However, it is a nasty aspect as Mars holds the Moon in fall, and posited in the house of sport, the lesser malefic is definitely a force to be reckoned with. This could provide some of the drive needed to excel in the endurance arena, but not all of it.

The Moon is applying to oppose the antiscion of Saturn – other people and their opinion of him (Lords 7 and 8) and we have powerful negative mutual reception between the two. This provides strong indication of a person who does not wish to impose himself on others nor have them reciprocate that – so again we see the ability and the desire to spend long periods alone. Bruce is caught between a rock and a hard place - behind him is a planet that hates him (Mars) and what lies ahead hates him as well (Saturn). Beyond this inability or unwillingness to socialise and interact with people, for extended periods of time, we have one of the major testimonies in this nativity in light of his achievements in sport.

The Moon is applying to trine the debilitated and combust Mercury and the Sun, and both are posited on the royal star Antares. There is a desire to be the top dog in his field and this is not only desired by Lord 1 by application and disposition, it affects the very core of him, the Sun. The Moon is in Leo and would thus wish to be with the Sun and he receives her by face. She will do everything in her power to reach him, beyond the hardship of Saturn lies something more gentle which will be kinder towards her. We therefore have further testimony of the drive that was required to excel – the glimmer of hope on the horizon that will ease the pain of the besiegement caused by Mars and Saturn. It is possible that Bruce ran to “escape” on some level. Yes, he was blessed with the right genes and the physical potential to excel in his sport of choice, but that is insufficient reason for someone who excelled due to many sacrifices which had to be made along the way.

There has to be something in a person's make up, so in their nativity, which would incite and continue to fuel the desire to push your self and your body to its limits. I believe it was his desire to be alone (to escape), and then the longing to achieve great success which is beckoning to him, it is his way out of the “rock and a hard place” scenario that he endures. The Moon is travelling at great speed in this chart so we have an indication of “running”, but she is posited in a fixed sign – this is not a sprint race! The Moon is in a partile conjunction to Uranus – as the “fixed star” connotations of Uranus are of divorce, I see this as highlighting the stereotype of the loneliness of the long distance runner – so it separates him from the crowd, in this case emotionally, physically and mentally.

Other Factors in the Nativity

Venus, his border control, opposes the Asc, Jupiter sextiles the Asc and Mars is in trine to it – these three planets will have bearing on his physical body, as will the aspects to the Moon, and she is aspected by Mars. Mars which is the LoG, aspects both the Asc and its Lord. Mars is L9, his lower legs and ankles which are extremely strong – a lovely placement for a runner. Jupiter is confined in the sign of Virgo and although in detriment, Jupiter, I believe, was able to focus on taking one step at a time, and was able to break the long distances into smaller, more manageable chunks. Mercury's signs are concerned with the “small stuff” and it is essential for a long distance runner to focus on one kilometre at a time instead of allowing the enormity of the total distance to overwhelm him.

Jupiter shares joint title of most influential planet with Mars, so the symbolism provided here of wanting to break free from the constraints, and literally be bigger and unrestrained, will be important. Mercury which is Jupiter's dispositor and his lungs L4, is in Jupiter's sign of expansion – so although the lungs are not strong (detriment) because of the strong mutual reception between Jupiter and Mercury (and Jupiter is the natural ruler of the lungs) we see that he was able to pace himself correctly so as not to overtax this body part which is vital in running.

Fortuna is disposited by Saturn, so the profound desire for solitude manifests once again, as well as the longing for discipline and structure. Saturn is a lonely fellow, preferring seclusion to company and silence to conversation, and again we have the fixity through Scorpio. On a very simplistic level Fortuna is posited in the 9th – the house of long journeys and things “far away” – so possibly a longing to be somewhere else, other than where he was at the moment. His academic achievements are also highlighted by this placement of Fortuna. The nativity however did not yield everything that I had hoped for and I needed to turn my attention to the soul and eclipse charts in the hope of finding specific testimony of the “escape route” of choice – long distance running.

The nativity most definitely exposes enough conflict to display a man who would prefer his own company to that of others and who would find solace in pursuing an activity that would consume his time and his attention for long spells at a time – but what made him choose long distance running as opposed to long walks in the park or mountain hikes? It is important to note this does not mean that he was anti social nor that he did not enjoy the company of others in other areas of his life – we are assessing this in light of his sport of choice.

The Soul Chart

Contrary to popular opinion amongst modern astrologers (and to douse the hopes of astrologers of The Tradition) there is no magic formula that will reveal the chart, and thus the person, to the astrologer in one foul swoop. There are a variety of methodologies available, some more effective than others, and it is by considering these various techniques that we are able to piece the puzzle together. The soul chart is not a simplistic chart that reveals the “soul” of the person which can then be placed in a convenient box with the applicable label; it is simply another method to be added to the melting pot of complexity. John Frawley states in the Architecture of the Soul (Astrologer's Apprentice number 22) that the planets are derived from the Arabian Parts used to calculate the 7 pillars of wisdom, and not the other way round.

It is the arrangement of these parts that create the soul itself and from which the other facets of the native and his life manifest. It is for this very reason that astrologers need to educate themselves in matters other than astrology in order to do their craft justice – and one of the compulsory text books for an astrologer of The Tradition is the Bible. The Pentateuch provides (amongst other things) the information that we need on the formation of the soul and its interaction with the world around it.

The delineation of a soul chart is neither a flippant nor simplistic task, but for the purposes of this article as I am only assessing his potential for his chosen sport, I need to keep it simple. Here are the Parts applicable to this assessment:

• Part of Spirit: 8 Scorpio
• Part of Success: 8 Capricorn
• Part of Victory, Triumph and Aid: 23 Aries

The ruler of the soul in Bruce's chart, thus his “significator of manners” is the Sun, having rulership over the Moon and controlling Mercury by combustion and by a very tight conjunction. The Sun, as we know, is posited on a royal star so a longing for recognition and the need to excel in his desired field is clearly visible. What is worth noting is that the Part of Spirit (the part of the Sun) is disposited by Mars as is the Part of Victory (the part of Jupiter). So the LoG of the nativity once again has a strong say in what is manifesting. The drive and will to succeed, the energy to realise the ambitions provided by the receptions and the promise of the royal fixed star, and the passion required to pursue the goals are all provided by this powerful Mars. Saturn disposits his Part of Success and again we see the rigour, discipline and restraints that were necessary in order to become the greatest ultra marathon runner the world has known.

The Eclipse Chart

The pre birth eclipse chart, whether a lunar or solar eclipse, partial or full, can indicate the potential of the native which may be unclear in the nativity. The MC of the eclipse chart is posited across the radix nodal axis. This provides an indication that the career and arena of public accolades for Bruce would be of importance during his life. This area would require attention on his part as well as attracting attention, and it would have the potential to be one of his primary areas of focus. Eclipse Saturn is in a mundane conjunction to natal Jupiter, Jupiter being Lord 10, so we see the discipline and restrictions required in order to manifest the 10th house matters of career. Eclipse Jupiter is in a mundane opposition to natal Sun, again highlighting the importance of 10th house matters and the royal star of Antares on which the Sun is posited.

As this eclipse occurred 3 days prior to the birth, some celestial aspects which are highlighted in the nativity will be present from eclipse to radix as well, and as we know, we do not state the obvious or inevitable. Celestial aspects to note are Eclipse Mercury is now closely in trine to natal Moon which is Lord 1 – Mercury in the radix is his feet as it is an incepted sign soon after the cusp of the 12th house. So his feet (and movement which is ruled by Mercury) are of importance. We do not normally consider trines or sextiles in these assessments but if it appears to have bearing, it can be worth noting.

I looked at the pre birth lunation as well which occurred on 14 November 1955 at approximately 7.30pm and this Sun Moon conjunction is posited in his 5th house of sport. It is far from the cusp and in a different sign to it, so ordinarily we would ignore its placement but there is too much activity here for me to disregard it. Lunation Mars is on the cusp of the radix 5th , Mars as Lord of the Geniture and the ruler of action, passion and aggression, all required to excel in sport. Lunation Mars is in a mundane conjunction to radix Mars, both posited in the 5th so again highlighting 5th house as well as “Mars” matters. Both the eclipse and the lunation charts depict this tremendous ability and gift that he had to push his body beyond its limits in the sporting arena and to turn this into a successful and lucrative career.

Conclusion

The chart of Bruce Fordyce is a superb example of how natal difficulties can manifest as something good and positive in the actual life. There are many difficult receptions in this chart, and even the strong melancholic predisposition provided by both by the overall temperament and the Moon phase are at odds with the LoG Mars. The receptions and aspects that we have to and from Mars in all three of the delineated charts, highlight the activity related to this planet who is one of the two most influential in the nativity. How does one get a slow moving person, who would rather take his time assessing and pondering matters, to become the warrior that his chart is pushing him to be?

Once again I am I am impressed by the positive outlet provided by the modality of sport – it can become a channel for so many of our idiosyncrasies and allow a man who is highly melancholic and who would under normal circumstances possibly be viewed as anti social or simply introvert, to become an international public figure while still honouring the essence of who he is. The many layers and threads provided by these charts are woven together to form a tight weave, one where discipline, hard work and patience, supplied by the overall fabric are allowed to shape the life.