Lisa Ling and Singleton Analysis

I don't know how many of you regularly use the very simple technique from quadrant analysis of isolating singletons, but I have found it to be astonishingly useful in very quickly making a sharp, focused, accurate statement about a natal horoscope. Notably, what areas of life is this person likely to find most compelling, or that may suggest who he or she is. If you're not familiar with it, take any horoscope and look to see if one of its hemispheres has only one planet represented there. Count any retrograde planets as being in the opposite hemisphere from where they are placed in the horoscope. Then take each of the four hemispheres one at a time and see which has the fewest left. If you find one or two only in one of the four hemispheres, those are the singletons. Ideally there is just one, but the technique works with two. After that you are getting a bit overwhelmed with information.

Once you have your singleton planet--we are going to assume one here--look at it as a planet with some special significance for this individual. What is the nature of the planet--what issues does it naturally suggest? What house does it rule--what issues does that suggest? Where is it located--what issues does this add to our blend? Finally, how is it aspected? The combination of these factors is astonishingly accurate in encapsulating the individual in my experience, and can be a remarkably useful shortcut in analysis.

Let me give you an example. If you haven't seen Lisa Ling's CNN television show "This Is Life," you might find it interesting, particularly for those with strong Eighth House interests. She is a former National Geographic reporter whose show looks at a lot of fascinatingly controversial subjects of American life that others might find difficult to discuss. She recently aired a show on the swinger culture in which she stripped naked and attended a swinger party, which is what prompted me to think--I have to look at this woman's horoscope. Happily, it seems that her birth data is available. 30 Aug 1973, 6:53 am, Carmichael, CA.

When you move Ju to the Eastern Hemisphere of her chart, you find that Ma is the only planet remaining in the West, making that the singleton. It rules the Eighth House (!) and is located in the Ninth. It trines Su-Me in the Twelfth conjoining her ASC. This suggests assertive energy, drive focused on a blend of Eighth and Ninth House issues. In the Eighth House we have deep research into the issues others don't like to discuss, sexuality, drug use, violence, etc. In the Ninth House, we have a focus on the opinions of others, travel, philosophy, religion and the like. The trine to Su-Me in Virgo the Twelfth--going behind the scenes to discuss secret, often veiled issues in a careful, investigative way?

Lisa Ling was on The View for a few years before becoming the host of National Geographic Explorer (Ninth House?) and then an investigative reporter for the Oprah Winfrey show. Wikipedia lists some of the topics she did for Oprah to include bride burning in India, gang rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, child trafficking in Ghana, under cover investigation of Pennsylvanian puppy mills with Main Line Animal Rescue, the immediate aftermath of the hurricane in New Orleans, and the April 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre. Serious Eighth House reporting! She is quoted as saying publicly, ""I think traveling is the best education. If there's one takeaway here tonight, it's to travel … I'm convinced that you are better, smarter, more marketable as a job candidate if you travel."

This technique works, folks. I hope you're using it.