In Pope Benedict XVI’s birth chart, we see Pisces rising, which aligns him with the archetype of the Christian Age, with Pisces on the Ascendant and Sagittarius on the Midheaven, an age inaugurated with the birth of Christ and lasting until the transition into the Age of Aquarius. We still live in a period in which the greater benefic Jupiter rules both the 1st house and the 10th, i..e, the emergence of form and the full realisation of that form as public office and vocation.
Pope Benedict was, in astrological terms, a man of his age. With Jupiter right on the Ascendant, ruling the 1st house, the planet of clergy and prophets, it is no surprise that he rose to the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. Planets placed in the 1st house contend for a central role in shaping the native’s gifts, capacity, personal authority, and manner of appearing in the world. With the greater benefic in domicile in its own sign, the native takes on the profile of a leader, while Pisces inclines him towards compassion, faith, and charity. In the scheme of planetary rulerships, Jupiter in Pisces establishes a trine with the Moon in Cancer; whereas Jupiter in Sagittarius has a trine with Sun in Leo, which explains why a Piscean Jupiter is more inclined to lunar qualities, not to mention Pisces is also the sign associated with Christendom.
We also find Mercury in detriment and fall in the same sign and house. Even so, it remains in its joy, which offsets its poor essential condition with strong accidental strength. What might otherwise point to a lack of clarity or discrimination of intellect is moderated by the presence of an extraordinary Jupiter, and also by Mercury’s adaptive nature, which takes on the character of its place and company. Mercury’s intellect and communication, in the 1st house and joined to Jupiter, gave him sharpness tied to faith and to the intellectual life of faith itself, hence his great literary and exegetical output across his life. It was a theological, philosophical Mercury. Being the planet on a mute sign like Pisces, it may also explain Benedict’s tendency to prefer writing than lengthy public speeches and appearences. Also, the fact that Venus is in Taurus in the 3rd house, in domicile, also supports this tendency to be a writer and exegete.
Nevertheless, there is a square between Mercury and an angular Mars in Gemini, in the 4th house. This shows conflicts between Joseph Ratzinger and his family, especially related to religion, since Mars also rules the 9th house cusp Scorpio. Religion was certainly a highly discussed subject and, with the conflictal and intelectual Mars in Gemini signifying his family and father, he was exposed to intense discussions on the matter. Also, with Mars, significator of war and conflict in the 4th tied to one’s country and land, it also represents the period of World War II that marked his youth.
There is another interesting detail. Saturn is placed retrograde at the top of the sky, in the 9th by Alcabitius and in the 10th by Whole Signs, with great influence over destiny and office. In the Age of Pisces, Sagittarius falls in the 10th house of the age, so the sphere of temporal power takes on a priestly and hierarchical form, creating a fusion between religious institutions and political ones. Church and government become entangled, as religion descends into the plane of secular power rather than raising it beyond that plane, because the institutional 10th is taken over by Sagittarius.
Ratzinger, by virtue of having a chart that mirrors the Age of Pisces, also took part in this union of religion and politics. Saturn, through its decisive presence in the 9th house of religion and the 10th house of office, acted too as a restraint upon the Jupiterian ideal, holding that flame in check with a conservative, traditional posture. Even his singular withdrawal from the papacy, becoming Pope Emeritus, is signified by this Saturn, which led him into seclusion and away from the public eye, something typical of a retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius marking visible destiny, while also ruling the cusp of the 12th house of withdrawal from public life and enclosure.
All this after Jupiter, by ruling the Midheaven from the 1st, had pushed him towards the destiny of a great institutional head. The partile trine from the exalted Sun in Cancer to the Midheaven also increased his visibility in an extraordinary way, the Sun being a significator of status and reputation, but it was Saturn that brought his pontificate to its close.
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