Editor’s Note: As it’s the day after Election Day in the U.S., it seems a fitting time to run this tribute to the late Joan Quigley, who famously advised Nancy and Ronald Reagan during this presidency. — Amanda

By Amy Elliot

Joan Quigley, the astrologer who famously advised to former First Lady Nancy Reagan, died Oct. 21. She was 87 years old.

Photo of Joan Quigley taken Nov. 15, 1988, by Tom Levy for the San Francisco Chronicle

A celebrity astrologer until her role at the White House was revealed in 1988 by White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan, Quigley’s story offered the public a rare glimpse into the real work of an actual astrologer.

More than that, as Eric noted in an email, “She is the most notorious astrologer of our lifetimes. Her name is actually known.”

Hired by Mrs. Reagan in March 1981 to protect her husband from any further assassination attempts, Quigley seems to have done precisely that, on the principles of electional astrology: using the President’s birth data, she helped to schedule meetings and travel for the most auspicious times.

In a very real way, she was hired to keep Pres. Reagan alive; had he not very nearly been assassinated, we would not know who Quigley was.

She likely was key in softening Reagan’s attitude toward Mikhail Gorbachev prior to the 1985 Geneva summit. As Eric noted in Planet Waves FM last week, even if her influence here was very slight, even if she postponed the horrors of nuclear war for five minutes, this act alone fully justified her position.

Quigley’s natal chart features a Uranus-Eris conjunction square the Nodes, all on the Aries Point; an indication that her career would probably be more influential than that of a simple socialite. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in art history, and decided to study astrology while at college due to her mother’s interest in the art.

She became a regular guest on Merv Griffin’s talk show in the 1970s, and through this contact she was introduced to Nancy Reagan. On hearing that Quigley might have been able to prevent the attack on the President had she been studying the relevant charts, Mrs. Reagan hired the astrologer on a monthly retainer. This arrangement lasted until Donald Regan published his book. In the fallout from these revelations, and after apparently being implored by Mrs. Reagan not to disclose her White House ties to the press, Quigley was swiftly dropped.

People differ in their opinions of her influence on Reagan’s policies. Certainly, she was not the first astrologer known to the Reagans; they had previously consulted Jeane Dixon and Carroll Righter. Reagan’s 1967 inauguration as governor was documented to have been timed awkwardly at 12:10 am; some speculated that this was on an astrologer’s advice. The Moon of the resulting chart was almost precisely on the Ascendant, which under usual horary rules would indeed be auspicious for its subject.

The media responded to the news with ridicule, following the Western social trend of treating astrologers as charlatans. The Federation of American Scientists noted their own disdain, saying they were “gravely disturbed.” No matter how effective or harmless Joan’s work actually was, to take this line automatically seems to have been common sense.

Joan Quigley’s natal chart. View larger size here; view glyph key here.

Quigley’s natal chart certainly has the qualities of an astrologer in the making. With Virgo on the Ascendant and a Gemini MC, this is a Mercurial chart, and Mercury is positioned neatly on the Descendant, conjunct Jupiter.

With the added benefit of intuitive Pisces, this indicates a good listener and communicator, someone who can easily absorb the ideas of others, and address them in their own language.

A Pisces Descendant also carries the probability of idealism relating to other people, and might well capture symbolically the inspiration she felt in relation to Reagan’s horoscope, citing his “magical inner will.” The Leo Moon perhaps flavors this tendency somewhat by giving her a natural respect for leadership.

The sheer number of objects on the Aries Point — to the degree — including the Nodes, which are heralds of the soul path, is very suggestive of Quigley’s potential to act on the world stage. Pholus tightly conjunct the South Node implies that occurrences familiar and easy to Joan would be exponentially magnified in their effects; note that her employment by Mrs. Reagan, when discovered by the public, caused a furor that is somehow wholly out of step with her actual day-to-day role.

There is also an intriguing opposition between Venus-Juno in Taurus and Vesta-Pallas in Scorpio, which may shed some light on the fact that Miss Quigley (not Ms., according to her preference) never married, and could perhaps be said to have been devoted to her profession. Venus in the 9th house of higher purpose and philosophy is telling in itself, but the configuration as a whole is remarkable. It would seem there was a conscious decision not to marry; she devoted herself instead to her work — a choice for which all survivors of the Cold War may be in her debt.

“At the time, they were thinking of the Russians as gangsters. I told Nancy that Gorbachev was a different kind of leader, and that he would share a vision with Reagan.”
— Joan Quigley