Woody Guthrie was a prolific American singer-songwriter born in Oklahoma in 1912. He was a humanist and an activist, and he didn’t shy away from sharing his gift for story-telling through his song lyrics.

He was an inspiration to many American activist-artists in the 20th century who came after him, including the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Sadly, however, we do not have an official birth-time for Guthrie. Many times, when I have seen an X or DD rating for a natal chart on Astro.com, I’ve often scrolled down to find a ‘Starkman’ rectified time. This of course refers to Isaac Starkman, a professional astrologer originally from Israel who specializes in birth-time rectification.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that rectification is complicated and requires quite a bit of leg-work!

Nevertheless, in going through Guthrie’s biography, I couldn’t help but imagine a different shape to his chart…!

But first, let me back up. Why am I writing about Woody Guthrie? After posting about the news of a treatment breakthrough for Huntington’s Disease, a high-school friend of mine commented that the piece made him think of the famous American folk-singer whose most famous song is probably “This Land Is Your Land”.

I replied, “Given that he (Guthrie) focused on themes of socialism and antifascism, maybe this breakthrough is a message from the beyond--a symbolic gesture of hope that is still to come.”

Then on a whim the next day, I looked up Guthrie’s chart, and lo and behold! Guthrie’s Sun was clocking in at 21°!

So the Jupiter placement of the original paper by Dr George Huntington that first described the disease showed up in the treatment breakthrough chart as a Jupiter Return to the same 21°. And now Guthrie’s chart—albeit untimed—was showing a partile conjunction with that Jupiter Return!

If we think of the Sun as the Circle of Spirit—the Mission Impossible brief-case that we’re given when we’re born and that we yearn to fulfill—then seeing Guthrie’s “mission” to tell the story of the working-class man in America, to protest American imperialism, and his evolution toward becoming a powerful voice for racial justice does chime with the question of **what might have been** had Guthrie had more time on Earth? (Guthrie died of complications from Huntington’s Disease on October 3, 1967 at at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, New York—he was just 55 years old.) The idea that the treatment breakthrough announcement might be speaking directly to those spirit-souls who embody missions similar to the one Guthrie himself embodied is beautifully delicious and gorgeously symbolic of the hope that is so needed in the world today.

But what of the rest of Guthrie’s chart? I looked at the Starkman rectified chart and could certainly see the argument for it here and there, but I didn’t find it particularly inspiring and it wasn’t fitting in with the biographical data I was reading. So I decided to try my own hand at rectifying Guthrie’s chart in line with facts & events from his life.

Have a look at the charts below. The first one (top left) is Starkman’s rectified chart. The second one (top right) is my take on Guthrie’s chart. To be clear, I was simply going for rectification by sign, and so was reversing the clock until I got to Leo Rising.

WGuthrie JK Rectification | W Guthrie JK Rect Clara Fire?.png

Now I did this for two reasons. If you look at photos of Woody Guthrie, his hair-style in younger days strike me as being a bit of a mane. His son, Arlo Guthrie, is also Leo Rising in an A-rated chart from Astro.com and it’s not far-fetched to imagine that Woody’s head of hair might have looked similar to Arlo’s had it been grown long.

But a more compelling reason was the role fire played in Woody Guthrie’s life (and how this would fit Mars falling in the 1H).

Before he was even born, the Guthrie family saw their home burn down in 1909 only one month after it was finished being built.

Then, when Woody was “not yet seven years old”, his older sister, Clara, died of injuries when her clothes caught fire. I pulled up the Guthrie’s Solar Return for the age of six—this is the 14th July 1918 chart.

We can see that Uranus falls in the SR 3H of siblings in this chart. We can also see the Moon applying to Mars in Libra—and in Wikipedia, an argument between Clara and her mother is said to have precipitated the awful event. The ruler of the SR 1H and the SR 4H is in the SR 8H of mortality.

And when we see the chart in a bi-wheel with my version of Guthrie’s rectified chart, we see this Moon-Mars conjunction falling in Guthrie’s natal 3H.

But let’s go back to my version of his rectified chart and examine it more closely.

Guthrie’s father was a businessman/land speculator with conservative Democrat leanings. In 1911, he was susspected of having been involved in the lynching of a mother and son, and in 1915, he was said to have joined a revival of the Ku Klux Klan.

Guthrie’s mother suffered from Huntington’s Disease (although the family did not know it at the time) and was ultimately institutionalized when she doused her sleeping husband in kerosene and set him and the house on fire.

In both cases, having the luminaries in the 12H of mental instability, institutions, and secretive groups, makes sense. And if Venus can be thought of as representing “sisters” then Venus in the 12H could speak to the awful death of Guthrie’s sister, Clara.

I also like Mercury in its joy in the 1H. Guthrie inherited a love of music from both his parents and at one point, would carry his guitar proudly displaying the words, “This machine kills fascists.” Given that Mercury was said to have invented the lyre (stringed instrument like a guitar) and with the co-presence of Mars, this mixing of words, instruments, and defiance seems to very much fit with Guthrie’s character and the way he conducted himself in life.

Guthrie was also married three times and fathered eight children in total. Although he wasn’t always present in his children’s lives as a young man, this did change as he grew older. He also wrote over 400 children’s songs and said the following,

"Watch the kids. Do like they do. Act like they act. Yell like they yell. Dance the ways you see them dance. Sing like they sing. Work and rest the way the kids do. You'll be healthier. You'll feel wealthier. You'll talk wiser. You'll go higher, do better, and live longer here amongst us if you'll just only jump in here and swim around in these songs and do like the kids do. I don't want the kids to be grownup. I want to see the grown folks be kids."

Given all this, we would expect there to be some kind of emphasis in the 5H. In the Starkman rectification, we have an Aquarius 5H ruled by Saturn in Gemini in the 9H with only triplicity dignity. On the other hand, with Leo Rising, we see Jupiter in domicile in a Sagittarius 5H, albeit Rx. While Jupiter would speak to many children, perhaps the retrograde speaks to the passing of the faulty gene that causes Huntington’s Disease—especially with Saturn directly opposite in the 11H and suggesting chronic & possibly hereditary diseases, or even diseases that kill nerve-cells in the brain (given that Saturn is in the domicile of Mercury and thus connecting the two).

And while the lunar nodes falling across the 1H/7H axis in the Starkman rectification could most certainly speak to the life experience that inform one’s temperament and disposition, I think the nodal axis across the 3H/9H makes even more sense given that communication (about his environment), publishing/perfoming songs, and travelling are all noteworthy parts of the different biographies of him.

I also like how a Taurus 10H speaks to Guthrie’s musical career and his singing. And the MC as an indicator of his most visible self in the 9H and in the diurnal sign of Mars speaks to the defiance, resistance, and dissent (keywords for Mars) he pioneered (keyword for Aries) as protest through the beliefs (9H keyword) informing his lyrics.

And what could Saturn in the 11H be pointing to? During the ‘Red Scare’ of the 1950’s McCarthy era, Guthrie was blacklisted as a performer, despite having never been an actual member of the Communist Party. His left of center inclination and opinions became the targets of a smear campaign against him and Guthrie “faced a decline in professional opportunities, losing film and music projects” as a result.

In this way, we can see Saturn doing the Saturn thing of negating Guthrie’s audience, professional support, and even aspirations—all 11H themes.

One other piece that fits well is that Guthrie moved around A LOT. His travels took him all over the country, visiting almost every state as a “wandering minstrel.” Documenting the lives of the people he met along the way during The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era earned Guthrie the moniker of “the Dust Bowl Troubadour.” So having the ruler of the 9H in the 1H symbolizes this very well with the 3H/9H axis signifying communication and documentation, as well as the concept of ‘troubadour’ fitting in very nicely with a Leo Ascendant.

Furthermore, in this piece, Guthrie is described as “a ravenous autodidact, a natural entertainer and a restless soul” which perfectly encapsulates what one might imagine for Mars ruling the 9H (self-motivated in his beliefs/self-taught) and in a Leo 1H (a ‘born’ performer). His vagabond lifestyle in his younger years can equally be seen with the 9H ruler in the 1H and the 3H ruler in the 12H, indicating both the challenge it must have been for him to stay still, as well as the music and relationships he generated when he WAS moving around (Venus in a cadent house of liminality & movement).

What about looking at the Dodecatemoria, or 12th Parts of Guthrie’s Ascendant? If we look at Dr Ali Olomi’s translations around the Dodecatemoria of natal Ascendants, we can see that one description is more befitting than the other.

In the Starkman rectification, the 12th Part of the Libra Asc falls in Gemini. This describes “those [who] will find great joy in arts, crafts, and sciences” and who will “mingle with scholars and esteemed figures…above their own station.” The native is further described as being “closer to their mother than father” and “having multiple names or [changing] names frequently.”

Now look at the description for the Leo Asc 12th Part—which falls (ironically!) in Libra:

“Those born under this star will have a fair voice and a pleasant face. They will have a long nose… They will have difficulty holding on to money in their youth, but will be better off after 35. They will be a lover of beauty and justice. They will be wrongly accused or unjustly dealt with and it shall lead them to finding a cause. Their children may suffer from an illness when young. They enjoy dancing and music. Many will spend their time with musicians.”

Of course this only speaks to the 12th Part falling in Libra from any sign, but I took this as a good omen when I looked it up!

Another way I’ve been starting to evaluate charts is through the prenatal eclipse (PNE)—that is, the solar eclipse before birth. This is particularly good technique to use if you have an untimed birth-chart, provided you ignore the native’s Moon and the angular points. However in this instance, the angles of the rectified Leo Asc chart add further weight to how we might line up the native’s biography with his natal chart.

Here, we can see that the MC of the Leo Asc version of Guthrie’s chart is conjunct the solar eclipse before birth in the sign of Aries. If we take the PNE as an expression of the soul’s intent in this incarnation, then we can see how Guthrie’s championing of social causes—his fearlessness in pushing back against capitalism, racism, and imperialism—shows up in the most visible point in the chart falling on the PNE itself.

I also like how there is further emphasis on the 5H with the rectified Asc and Mercury falling here. The co-presence of Mars could be said to signify the death of Guthrie’s four-year old daughter, Cathy, in an electrical fire, as well as the death of other children through disease and accidents.

To be clear, most of this delineation (without the angular points) would stand regardless of birth-time as we are placing the timed eclipse for Guthrie’s place of birth as the inner wheel of this bi-wheel chart.

But the Asc here lends further weight to how Leo energy, and 5H energy were especially important in the native’s life. Likewise, the rectified Dsc of the Leo Asc chart falling in the Aquarius 11H of the eclipse chart really brings to life the alternative vision of social architecture that Guthrie was presenting to audiences. The presence of Uranus there could be describing his desire to “upend” the status quo.

I did play with the idea of Guthrie’s chart being Taurus Rising as an alternative. This, however, would make the chart a night-sect chart and when we look at Firdaria, we can see how being a day-chart fits the timeline of Guthrie’s life more closely:

Guthrie was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease in 1952—after years of misdiagnoses that included alcoholism and schizophrenia. Notice how he enters a Saturn period in 1952. The 6H & 8H are usually examined for adverse health issues and chronic diseases, resepectively. The 6H ruler is Saturn and the 8H ruler is Jupiter Rx and the lack of harmony between the two speaks to the poor outcome Guthrie experienced with regard to the topics of both houses.

It is also worth noting that by having Mercury in the 1H, we are tying in Saturn in Mercury’s diurnal domicile of Gemini and the slow process of nerve-cell death in the brain, as Mercury in the Western medical astrological tradition (on the whole) is said to rule the brain.

Interestingly, in the Indic traditions, Mars ruling the sign of Aries (symbolizing the head) leads to Mars ruling the brain. Either way, having both Mercury and Mars in the 1H puts emphasis on “brain matters” for Guthrie personally.

Finally, if we look at Guthrie’s Zodaical Releasing from the Lot of Spirit using the Leo Asc, we see a timeline that laregely matches the events in Guthrie’s short life, compared to the Libra Asc chart.

Rectified Leo Ascendant Zodaical Releasing

In both rectified charts, the Sun and Moon are close enough that the Lots of Fortune and Spirit are in the same sign. As such, to release from Spirit, we must start from the sign following the Asc.

In the Leo Asc ZR, we can see that Guthrie begins a Level I Peak Period in Feb 1940. This time in fact did coincide with Guthrie’s most prolific period, which began after WWII, when he settled down in Coney Island with his second wife and their family. Guthrie would receive the diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease in 1952 and carry on before passing away on October 3, 1967. Notice how Level I shifts to Capricorn in the 6H, ruled by Saturn.

Guthrie Leo Asc ZR line-up around his death

We can see how the Level III Leo ruler is the Sun—and it is sandwiched between Saturn on Level II and Saturn on Level IV, indicating challenges and difficulty.

If we look at the Leo Asc ZR around the time of the sad death of Guthrie’s daughter at age 4 in an electrical fire on Feb 10, 1947, we see the following:

Leo Asc ZR Around Death of Guthrie’s Daughter, Cathy

We see that Guthrie enters a Level II Pisces period with the ruler Jupiter in the natal Sagittarius 5H. Notice on Level IV how Guthrie enters a Scorpio period with Mars indicating personal challenge and/or difficulty around the topics of the 4H and 8H whilst roping in the 5H (because that’s where Jupiter actually is).

If I show you the ZR from the Starkman rectification with thie Libra Asc, the ZR timeline makes little sense. For example, take Cathy’s death in 1947:

Here, Guthrie is in a Level I Capricorn Peak Period in the natal 4H. However, around the time of Cathy’s death, Guthrie has enetered a Level II Gemini period, which rules the natal 9H in that chart and with Mercury in the 11H (although to be clear, the 11H can be associated with children). Guthrie then goes into a Level III Leo period and enters a Level IV Gemini period just before Cathy’s death.

Whilst I’m aware that arguments can certainly be made for other delineations here, I’m simply trying to stretch myself by seeing what lines up and how through the use of different techniques. I would like to see if I could test out the Leo Asc rectification using the medieval Islamicate technique of Abu Ma’shar, but that is beyond the scope of this blog post for now.

I’m going to end here as I’ve been sitting far too long looking at all this! It’s been amazing to delve into Woody Guthrie’s fascinating life and learn more about the many historical events he lived through, his story-telling abilities, and his reputation as the OG protest artist who inspired so many who came after him.

I hope you enjoyed falling down this rabbit-hole with me—I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts! Tag me on social-media on FB, IG, or Bluesky, or email me at: joli@bodhimindful.com

Rectifying Woody Guthrie’s Chart

A Look At Huntington’s Disease