The tradition is clear about it, at your birth you are given a certain amount of years and when these are used up, it is over. A healthy life-style will not change this, it can certainly contribute to well-being but it cannot give you a longer life. In the old texts methods are given by which you would be able to determine the length of life on the basis of the natal data alone. One of these is the renowned alcocoden method, of which there are many varieties but none of these varieties works in a satisfactory way. What works much better is the analysis of the progressions, if there is a cumulation of negative indications (it has to be a real cumulation!!) , this shows that the moment has come.
The reaper does not care for any status, rich or poor, famous or unkown, young or old, he will knock on the door when the appointed time has come. This astrological view explains the mysterious sudden deaths of people in good health that just died because their hearts stopped beating and about which science has nothing sensible to say. The cosmos will find a way to mke it happen when the hourglass has been emptied. An example of this is the recent sudden death of Olivier Dassault, immensely rich scion of the Dassault family, the owners of a very big company, which has the production of military planes as it essential activity.
Certainly Olivier Dassault loved life and also had the means to enjoy it, but the reaper does not care and this shows the essential powerlessness and weakness of man, Dassault was not ill, not very old nor reckless he died in a crash of a helicopter, built by the family phirm. In the radix it can be seen in the eighth house how death will come, in Dassault’s chart Mars of accidents is found there in an Air sign on powerful purely martial Aldebaran, the Bull’s eye, associated with violence and accidents. His radix will not be analysed now, as we are interested in what the progressions show, click on the link above to view them.
The Solar Part
The first thing striking the eye is that the part of the Sun, moving backward through the zodiac because of the way it is calculated, has just entred Virgo and thus has activated Mercury, radix Lord of Death. Also the Part is moving over Saturn, the General Signficator of endings and the solar part, the essence of the Sun and symbol of our divine origin, is opposing the Part of Fortune, the essence of the Moon and the symbol of earthly life, so they are going to separate, he is going back to his origin. The Part of Fortune is entering Aries, activating ist ruler, Mars of accidents in an Air sign in the eighth house.
Pegasus
Sometimes the practise of our celestial art wll make you shiver and this is such a moment. The Part of Fortune is moving over Scheat, a malefic star in the Pegasus constellation, associated with a fatal fall from the Flying Horse. The PoF’s speed is one degree a month so this is rather exact, without stars an astologer is a half-blind cripple. The progressed Moon, moving at the sames peed, opposes Mercury Lord of Death conjuncting the mighty South Scale, the merciless Scorpion’s Claw. This would be quite enough for the reaper to pay a visit, but on top of this the Sun is moving over natal Pluto, who wil pop up in his usual sudden and overwhelming way. This is a cumulation of grim indications so the time had come to go.