The Transcendent Life of a Stoic
Signora Morano was one of eight children, had a spare diet and separated from her husband eighty years ago,
Read more: C128 Oldest Woman dies at 117We know more of her diet — she ate eggs and chicken solely; no grains, no vegetables — than we do of her. Like Marcus Aurelius & the Roman Stoics of yore, Signora Morano felt that was the reason for her long life: she ate sparingly, prayed often.
Emma Morano was born November 29, 1899 in Verbenia, Italy , northwest of Milano. Our header picture is of this picturesque area s 25 miles from the Switzerland — one can see the foothills to the Alps in the background.
We do not have a birth time for her, so rectified it for about 10:30 at night for a late autumn day. This gives her a symbol of 23 Leo 33 or A unprepossessing & untidy figure, yet she is a nun of transcendent powers. This is a symbol emphasizing the qualities of inner excellence at the expense of outer. An indifference to comfort so genuine that it sparks an inner awakening. Implicit in the reversed symbolism are the values of an inner refining of self rather than hoarding either the physical or psychological possessions of being.
The Keyword for this symbol is Character and it has a positive note: self-abnegation. <mfn> Self-Abnegation is the setting aside of one’s self’s desires for a greater goal. It is akin to selflessness and self-denial. </mfn>
A preponderance of Sagittarius
Straight off is her multitude of planets in Sagittarius spanning the fourth and fifth houses. If you add in the asteroids, which I did not do on the chart above, it’s jammed full. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter and it’s called the “lucky planet” for a reason — mishaps, disease, trouble all go smoother with Jupiter at your side.
The Signora is a Neptune bucket — they did not discover Pluto until she was 30 years old. While this coincided with the rise of Il Duce, it is more likely. This was an important period of her life because it was around then she met her husband and had her son. We do not have exact dates, but eighty years ago would be in the ballpark.
The marriage did not go well. First, her son died, and then the marriage ended. Again, the details are missing. But Mercury is in its fall in Sagittarius and it would seem this was a mismatch in personality. Thanks to the Sagittarian preponderance most of Signora’s planets are in the West, showing she was “molded by circumstances” and had little resources to fall back on.
Her handle, dreamy Neptune is also her strongest planet having the greatest amount of aspects. It is also exact to her Arabian Part of Divorce. showing is an enormous effect on her. Worse though was the loss of her son, showing up at her Part of Bereavement at 26 Aries 17. It is also opposite her Moon and square her Part of Divorce, confirming that her without her boy her marriage was meaningless, no matter the societal (Pluto in the eleventh) pressure. Why he died like most things in her life are unknown.
Her husband died about forty-five years ago. It does not seem they kept in touch.
Death, Divorce and Imprisonment
While she has the Part of Fame exact on her Uranus at 09 Sagittarius in the fourth, it was hard won. Like the monks of old, all that fourth house activity shows makes her home also her monastic cell, and it is no wonder that the Arabian Part of Imprisonment is at 12.47 Pisces exact to transiting Neptune at the time of her repose.
This is an extremely odd aspect for while a year on Earth is approximately 365.25 days long, Neptune’s cycle is 60,190 days or 164.79 years, and is important because “she had not left her small two-room apartment for 20 years,.” Of course, her great age and immobility were all be physical impediments. That her sudden repose should have happened on Paschal Eve, tell us for the devout Emma, she had fulfilled her obligations — perhaps showing us to be equally abstemious in diet was the key to a long and healthy life — and was free at last to go home.
Our condolences to her friends, family, and of course, fans.
The Solar Return Chart & Asteroid Parvati
By the time of her demise, all those Sagittarians were now in the twelfth house of endings and prisons. Signora’s midheaven was at Libra 03, where Asteroid Roero named for the an area there was situated. Noble Jupiter was nearby and conjunct showing the fame her long life had brought her.
Also in the vicinity was asteroid Parvati, two degrees away from the great planet, highlighting how much the Signora’s life had been like the mythic princess, and wife of Lord Siva , who had been carefully instructed in the arts of asceticism and dancing. . Asteroid Parvati was discovered 1 Feb 1959 at Lowell Observatory and named in 1993.
An amusing side note, was at her solar return, her Vertex was conjunct Asteroid Vallerani, named for the famous Piedmontese astronaut. Emma was another resident who brought fame to the area, though in a very different way.
