Who knows if science will ever confirm the hypothesis of Lisa Morpurgo about the presence of two transplutonian planets (yes, astrology still considers Pluto to be a planet), that the astrologer named “X” and “Y”.
I was just re-reading “Introduzione all’astrologia” (Introduction to Astrology) (TEA pratica, Milano, 2015) the part in which Morpurgo challenges the so-called planetary dignities and one gets fascinated by this theory that nonetheless has the merit of relocating the exaltation of Mercury in Scorpio by removing it from Virgo, which is already the base domicile of the planet itself.
The astrologer thinks that the relatively recent discovery of the transsaturnian planets, which were invisible to the ancient people, and namely Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, has made the ptolemaic allocation criteria of the planetary dignities on the base of the distance of the planets from the Sun obsolete and she proposes a new geometric parameter which takes into account the angular distance that ranges from a planet's domicile to its exaltation (p. 38), an angular distance that shall be "harmonic", as the sextile (60°) or the trine (120°), on the base of the assessment that the exaltation of the Sun is in the sign of Aries (trine to Leo, sign in which the Sun has its only domicile) and the exaltation of the Moon in Taurus (sextile to Cancer, which is solely ruled by the Moon), according to the consolidated astrological tradition.
Lisa Morpurgo goes so far as to define the following rule (p. 43): "The exaltations' pattern includes four triangles, two on the upper part of the Zodiac and two on the lower one. At each vertex you can find the exaltation of a planet which has its base domicile in the previous vertex of the same triangle. Each of the triangle is built according to the following pattern: given the ABC vertices, the planet with base domicile in A is exalted in B, the planet with base domicile B is exalted in C, and the planet with base domicile in C is exalted in A. In the upper part of the Zodiac, the A vertex of each triangle lies on the domicile of the two luminaries (Sun and Moon).".
By following this pattern the astrologer infers the existence of the two transplutonian planets. In fact, if A is the Sun (base domicile in Leo), then B shall be Aries (exaltation of the Sun), which is in a 120° angular relationship with Leo. Aries will also be the base domicile of Pluto, as Mars first rules Scorpio. Therefore the planet that has its base domicile in B, namely Pluto, will be exalted in C, that is to say in Gemini, which is 60° from Aries (and from Leo). It is hypothesized that the second transplutonian planet has its base domicile in Gemini. The latter, which represents the C vertex of our triangle, by following the rule of Lisa Morpurgo, will be in exaltation in A, that is to say, in Leo. By this time, because "the A vertex of each triangle lies on the exile position of the two luminaries", the A vertex of our second triangle
will be represented by the sign of the Aquarius (exile of the Sun), base domicile of Saturn. Saturn (A) has its exaltation in Libra (B), thus confirming the traditional allocation drafted by the ancient astrologers. The lord, or more accurately I should say the lady of Libra shall be the first transplutonian planet, X, as Venus already has its base domicile in Taurus. X (B) shall be exalted in Sagittarius (C), which is 60° from Libra (and from Aquarius). Sagittarius is the base domicile of Neptune which, in turn, is exalted in A; that is to say, in Aquarius.
Lisa Morpurgo offers then some fascinating descriptions of the transplutonian planets.
X is described as "the great female principle": "in its base domicile, in Libra, it is the Earth that (...) gets ready for the secret fecundation of Pluto and Mars in Scorpio. It is exalted (sic) in Sagittarius, a delicate beginning of the intrauterine life, of the underground life of the seed" (p. 67). She continues: "On a psychological level, the planet definitely corresponds to a generous yet enveloping temper, devouring and possessive at times, by analogy with the mechanism of the female sexuality" (ibid.).
Lisa Morpurgo also finds an analogy between X and the emergence of the vegetation on the Earth (X should have its primary domicile in Taurus, a sign which is directly connected to the environment and nature): if forests can be viewed as the "hair" of the world, then X shall have a correspondence with the hair bulbs, that could be "confirmed by the cases of baldness, which is very rare in women (female hormones' strength), and highly frequent among males (lack of female hormones)". As for Y instead, according to the author it should be: "the beginning of time (...) the lord of the origins, of the hardening of the Earth's crust (...) It has its base domicile in Gemini, where time enlarges in the happiness of nature and (...) its exaltation is found in Leo, base domicile of the Sun, which is the origin of everything, and where time regains the stillness of what does not yet exist or of what does not exist anymore" (p. 69).
The theories of Morpurgo on the existence of the transplutonian planets haven't been confirmed yet by science but, by searching on the internet, I got astonished by the fact that this hypothesis has also been taken into account by the astronomers and that not only are they actively searching for the proofs of the existence of X (also called "Planet Nine") but that it is currently under investigation whether we shall confirm the likely presence of a hypothetical "Planet Ten" or, in Morpurgo's words, Y.
And you, what do you think? Do you find this hypothesis by Lisa Morpurgo convincing or not? And, if Morpurgo were right, would this affect astrology in any way, also given the fact that the influence of Pluto is still largely debated and to be verified?