I have done a fair amount of research on the quintile; as you may know it is a fifth harmonic aspect which John Addey always associated with the use and abuse of power; because of the occult significance of the pentagram it is considered by some to be an aspect which requires activation lest it be triggered into its base expression with often uncomfortable results. Bill Tierney noted that it is often found in the charts of composers and artists, but also mass-murderers and murder victims.
Adolf Hitler’s chart shows some configurations which other astrologers have claimed explains his motivation, I cannot agree. The inclusion of Eris, Goddess of strife and discord in his nativity, aspects to the ascendant too, evidences an incredible and absolutely perfect fifth harmonic pentagram. If Addey is correct and the 5th denotes the abuse of power, then clearly Hitler was the perfect 5th harmonic instrument.
Of course, there are other interesting factors in his chart that support the historical outcomes. The partile conjunction of Ma/Ve in square to Saturn on the midheaven tells a story of idealism brutally expounded, and Taurus, fixed earth is powerfully material, Venus disposits the chart, is energised by Mars (which it overwhelms) and is given ruthless staying power by Saturn in fixed, autocratic Leo. With all of those ponderous outer-planet energies configured in this pattern, the Moon-Jupiter conjunction creates the most obvious channel for its expression, in the 3rd: by use of slowly building oratory (Cap. on 3rd) he was able to focus the fanatic zeal for power of Saturn in Leo and the near spiritualised intellect of Neptune in Gemini, itself lent destructive intellectual power by Pluto, accidentally dignified in the fixed 8th.
The quintile when viewed retrospectively in this way is comprehensible, and even beforehand it might be possible to put these clues together, but really, the most remarakble feature of this configuration is its power. It is like a Yod, but supercharged, and without the element of hunting dissatisfaction found in that pattern; it becomes, once activated, innate and in some manner overwhelming and undeniable.
The ‘Golden Yod’ then, is an intriguing configuration formed from a quintile between two planets which each biquintile a third. An angle works just as well. From my research the Golden Yod is often found in the charts of musicians and actors. Kevin Costner has a Golden Yod to his Mc. Many iconic film stars charts evidenced Golden Yods, or what I call ‘Golden t-squares’ (two quintiles joined by a biquintile), such as Joan Crawford, Charlie Chaplin and James Dean. James Dean has an incredible configuration of quintiles if you take a look at his chart.
Musicians too, Buddy Holly and Carole King for example.
The negative potential is found in the charts of many notewrothy individuals. Murder victims like Albert Ayler who was found dead in NYs East River on 25th Nov. 1970 for one; there are many other examples; victims of anothers power misuse; like Patty Hearst for example.
I have a fairly extensive library on the [bi]quintile now. You may wish to include 36 deg. and the sequiquintile of 108 deg. That’s a magical number too, according to Crowley it is the sum of Jesus and Mary, and there are 1080 bricks in a Turkish oven, always, and of course it is representative of 9 and 12 numerologically.
So, how do you interpret the quintiles in everyday astrology? For practical purposes it is uninterpretable, at least, not without the gift of hindsight. The majority are quite oblivious to this aspect because it is – as in music- an off-beat rhythm, it is decidedly Uranian in that respect, if the aspect were a style of music it would be a rather obscure form of jazz. On the other hand, it may be possible to explore some of the theme blends and see where that leads you. Consider this list of personages with Moon in 5th harmonic aspect to Saturn:
- Adolf Hitler
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Willy Brandt
- Bill Clinton
- Betty Ford
- Edward Kennedy
- Robert Kennedy
Are you seeing a common quality? Moon – Saturn always speaks to matters of self-discipline, self-control inadequate maternal relationships and staying power; but here it is lent a different quality, one that if “switched on” can become a true asset, for good, or for evil.
