A Special Fathers Day Tribute

by Tracey Couto

On Sunday, June 20, many of us will be paying tribute to a very special man who protected us, guided us and helped us to become the men and women we see in the mirror today. In honor of this special day made especially for fathers, I would like to dedicate this article to a very wonderful and special man, my own father, who left the earth plane two years ago. This one is for you, Dad, to celebrate your life and to honor your memory.

I firmly believe that before each and every one of us is born, we choose our parents and the families with whom we will grow and evolve as we walk our paths in life. My father was only 19 years old when I chose him to be the guardian, protector and teacher of my soul. I couldn’t have selected a more hard-working and warm-hearted person for the role of guiding my soul into its adult years. With his Capricorn Sun and Virgo Rising, he learned how to be responsible and to provide for his family at a very young age. He had two stelliums in his natal chart: one in the sign of Capricorn and the other in the sign of Scorpio. One gave him great leadership and inspirational qualities and the other gave him the tendency to be a bit stern and overprotective. Both made him the most excellent father I could have ever asked for.

The connections between my father’s birth chart and those of my mother, brother, sister and me are nothing short of phenomenal and tell the story of our shared fates and destinies so very well. This type of comparative chart analysis is called a synastry and is done by studying the aspects formed between the planets in two or more people’s charts. This comparison between charts can give you many insights on the ways you are connected to another person and on how you will get along with each other. My father’s Sun, Moon and Saturn all link to the Moon in all four of our charts, each in a unique, harmonious and special way, and thereby tell the story of our karmic unions with one another.

Beauty in synastry

The ties between my mother’s and father’s birth charts are truly out of this world, and I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that they are two intertwined souls that have waltzed through many a lifetime together. Some of the tell-tale aspects that show their soul-mated ties are: My mother’s Sun conjoined my father’s Moon, my father’s Venus trined my mother’s Pluto, and each of their Chirons conjoined the other’s North Node of the Moon. These are just a few of the signs in their synastrry telling the story of two soulmates looking for one another in this lifetime. Their Suns sextiled, their Moons trined, and so did their Vertexes, all indicating a deep closeness, united destinies and great overall compatibility.

They had some interesting karmic ties as well, as indicated by the aspects formed between the planet Saturn in one person’s chart to a personal planet in the chart of the other. My mother’s Saturn formed aspects to my father’s Venus, Moon and Mars, and my father’s Saturn aspected my mother’s Sun and Moon. All of their personal planets blended so well with one another’s, and it was plain to see — to all who knew them — just how meant-to-be their union was. The Sun in my mother’s chart sweetly aspects all four of the personal planets in my father’s chart. I could go on and on talking about the sheer beauty of their synastry.

Their composite chart tells a very similar and interesting story as well. A composite chart is formed by calculating the midpoint between each of the same planets in two or more people’s charts. The midpoint is found between two people’s Suns, their Moons, their Mercury placements, and all the way down the line to Pluto. The chart that is formed from this unique blend of planets is another way of telling the story of anyone involved in a relationship with someone else. My parents’ composite chart had both the Moon and Venus in a harmonious aspect to Chiron, as well as Venus and Mars in a sweet aspect to Jupiter, while at the same time Venus was trine to Uranus and Mars conjunct Neptune, all showing that he was her Prince Charming and she his Cinderella. The love they shared for their children and with each other was vividly shown in this particular chart, and so was all the passion and romance they shared with one another.

The only sad and tragic part of their love story and romance is how short the time was that they had to spend with one another. They fell in love at first sight at the age of 18 and had 30 short years together in this life. You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at my father’s natal chart just how short his life was going to be this time around. But if you looked at his progressed chart, you could start to see the pattern of his ill health developing. The problems with his heart began when he was only 6 years old and gradually became worse until he died at the age of 48.

Signs in the progressed and solar-return charts

A progressed chart shows how you and your chart evolve throughout your lifetime. It also shows the various times and cycles of a person’s growth and development. The most common method of calculating a progressed chart is the day-for-a-year method, which is found by casting a chart for any given amount of days following the birthday in relation to the year of life you want to know about. So if you want to know what your 16th year of life will be like, you would count 16 days after your birthday and pull the chart for that day and study the aspects the planets form with one another, along with the aspects they form to your natal planet placements.

The battle my father endured with his frail heart could all be seen in his progressed chart. The trouble first began when his Progressed Moon opposed his Uranus (the ruler of his 6th house of health) when he was a small boy of 6 years. The Progressed Moon went on to square his Saturn one year later. He contracted rheumatic fever during that time, which resulted in long-term damage to his heart. All throughout his adolescent years, the planets in his progressed chart opposed the ruler of his house of health (Uranus) — first the Sun when he was 12, followed by Mercury one year, later and then Venus when he was 16. By the time he was 27, he had to undergo open-heart surgery. The Progressed Sun and Venus were both squaring and the Progressed Moon was conjoining his Saturn, all indicating poor health and trouble with the heart.

By the time the Progressed Sun was opposing his Pluto, around the age of 45, he began suffering from heart attacks, several of which landed him in the hospital. On the day my father died, his Progressed Moon was conjunct his Pluto, and transiting Uranus was conjunct his Progressed Sun, which to me show the final attack of his heart that sent his soul to the hereafter. Every soul is unique in its choice of what aspects will be present when it decides to leave the earth plane, and the ones my father chose won’t necessarily be the same as anyone else’s. But to me, the finding was significant.

Even though we all knew my father’s time on this Earth was limited due to the frail condition of his heart and how many attacks he was suffering during his last three years of life, no one is ever truly prepared to hear the earth-shattering news that a close member of the family has passed on. A big piece of my heart was ripped out of my body the day I heard those devastating words that dropped like tiny bombs from my mother’s lips to my ears. I just didn’t want to believe or accept that it was true. I mean, I had just seen him the night before and he looked fine to me. But that’s how my father was, hiding his own pain and discomfort so that his family wouldn’t worry about him.

I searched his solar-return chart for more clues on why he decided to leave this plane when he did. A solar return is a chart calculated each year at the time the transiting Sun returns to the exact position it occupied on the day you were born. The chart cast for that moment is very telling of the events that transpire throughout the year. My father’s return chart showed several indications of terrible and failing health. The ruler of his 6th house of health in that chart, the Moon, opposed several of his return and natal planets. I also noticed that the Return Moon conjoined his Progressed Uranus, and the Return Uranus opposed the Progressed Moon. The Return Mars formed a T-Square to the Saturn and Pluto opposition that was going down at the time, and the Return Mercury opposed the natal Uranus. All of these aspects indicate very poor health conditions.

The 8th house of a chart indicates the endings associated with death (among other things), and I noticed that his Scorpio (natural ruler of the 8th house) stellium, which includes Mars, the Moon and Saturn, along with his Neptune in late Libra, were all encased within the 8th house of the solar-return chart. I also noted that his Return Uranus/Progressed Sun conjunction fell in the Return 12th house of karma. That, along with his Return Rising at 0 degrees of Pisces, all indicated to me that the choice to leave this plane had been very much open to him. Again, I do not mean to imply these signs would necessarily be the same for anyone else, but in the context of my own father’s chart, the timing for his departure from the earth plain seemed reflected in his progressed and solar-return charts.

Remembering Dad

My father was a sweet, kind-hearted, warm and fun-loving man, whose presence in my physical life I will miss very, very much. I will miss the times he called me by the pet name that he gave me when I was 4, his infamous and delicious beef stew that he used to make special for my brother, sister and me, the times he would tease me about almost turning 30, even though it was still half a decade away, and the times we would tape ourselves singing Little River Band songs. I will always treasure all the stories he used to tell us about his childhood and how he met and fell in love with my mother, his wonderful sense of humor, and the times my quirky behavior would bring smiles to his face and laughter to his heart, and the trips to the park and Plymouth Plantation when I was a child. All of the memories and blessings that my father brought into my life I will tuck away into the deepest corners of my heart forevermore and treasure them always.

I will always remember and appreciate everything my father gave me while he was alive, the valuable lessons he taught and the morals he instilled in me. He bought me my first toy and my first car, and he even gave me my first office job in the drywall company he used to own a decade or so ago. I will always be grateful for all the help he has given me throughout my life, all the sacrifices he and my mother made so that my siblings and I would always have food on the table, clothes on our backs and presents under the Christmas tree, all the advice he gave me to help solve my problems, and the wisdom he shared with me gleaned from his Capricorn Sun. Most of all, I will always treasure the beautiful friendship he shared with my mother and how all the love they shared between them and with their family has taught me so much about how relationships should be. My father taught me how to love, to be kind, generous and compassionate to others and the importance of family and friends.

I consider myself very fortunate to have grown up in a family full of love and with such a wise and wonderful father. I wish with all of my heart that he could have stayed around to watch me get my psychology degree, to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day, to see my children be born, and all through the remaining years of my life. That was not to be this time around. But I know he will always be with me in spirit and will live on in my heart and in the memories I have stored in my mind until the day we meet again, perhaps again later on in this life or maybe in the next one. I will think of him every time I hear his favorite songs on the radio and will remember the sound of his beautiful tenor voice singing along. He is, was, and always will be a special man who enriched the lives of all who knew him before and also those he will come to know in the future. I feel blessed to have known him and will never forget how wonderful he was while he was my father.

So everyone, please have yourselves a wonderful and special Fathers Day on June 20. Be sure to give your father a great big hug and kiss on the cheek, and be sure to tell him just how very special he is and how much he means to you. Share every moment you can together as if it is the last, because you just never know when the day will come when it will be.