The Gemini Pioneer of Free Will Astrology, Grant Lewi

By Robert Wilkinson

One of the greatest astrologers of all time, Grant Lewi, was a Gemini. Author of Heaven Knows What, Astrology for the Millions, and many other works, he pioneered an entirely new approach to analyzing birth charts, signs, planets, and transits. A Professor at Dartmouth, he left academia to pursue a brilliant (if too short) career as an author, publisher, and one of the greatest lights of 20th Century astrology. He died a legend, having predicted his exact time of death before it happened as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Before Grant Lewi, astrology was still a 19th Century art, filled with superstition and esoterica. Like many areas in the 1930’s, astrology was being pressured by conformists to “standardize” using “scientific” yardsticks. (It also happened in the healing fields, with the formation of the predatory and fascist AMA.) Grant Lewi and other pioneers of “free will astrology” like his and my friend Carl Payne Tobey, the pioneer of statistical astrology, changed the way all of us would regard astrology forever, especially the Saturn Return.

Perhaps Grant Lewi’s greatest contribution to modern astrology was his pioneering explanation of transits in general, and specifically the Saturn return. He was the first astrologer to take it out of the realm of superstition into a view where we could use this time, as well as any difficult transit period, more productively. Before Grant Lewi, the Saturn Return was seen to be a time of fated doom, gloom, and difficulties. Grant pointed out that during the Saturn return it is imperative for us to use our free will and self-discipline to reject obsolete duties and limitations while embracing a new way to live on our own terms.

He may well have been the first “psychological astrologer,” since he believed in free will to the utmost, and offered radically different ways to understand the birth chart than the mechanistic, deterministic models in vogue up to that point in time. His pioneering work, Astrology for the Millions, first published in 1940, was the first time in print we were told that during the Saturn Return we are revising deeply what we can live with and what we cannot, and learn to clear our inner nature of the deadwood of obsolete complexes and sentimentalities. He emphasized that the Saturn return is one of those times in life when free will works to liberate us of a lot of subconscious refuse, and that nothing that happens to us is as important as our response to it. He admonished us not to “lay the blame at the door of circumstances.” Sounds like free will in dynamic action to me.

Grant was one of the first authors I studied when trying to get a handle on the craft. For those of you inclined to know more about astrology, or even just ways of looking at your chart and figuring out some of what's up, Astrology for the Millions is one of the best books to start with. It is simple, to the point, entertaining reading, and will give you a very solid foundation for anything else you may choose to study. There are usually hardbound and paperback copies in used bookstores, so it won't cost you a small fortune to get a good take on the planets in the signs and some ways to regard significant transits.

© Copyright 2005, 2014 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[emma]

thank you the review of Astrology for the Millions! but i would debate that mr. lewi was the first 'psychological astrologer'. as early as 1933, dane rudhyar was writing holistic, transpersonal, objective, astrology books and articles, with his, Astrology of Personality, being first published in 1936. many of dane's works (on art, music, poetry, civilization and culture, his philosophy of wholeness, theosophy, spirituality as well as astrology) can be read at http://www.khaldea.com/.

[Robert]

Hi emma - This is longer than I intended, but my readers may be interested in some history of these giants, as well as others who have contributed to the psychological dimension of the craft.

Grant and Dane Rudhyar were contemporaries. Rudhyar was the first astrologer to join astrology, humanistic psychology, and holistic philosophy. He wrote mainly musical, theosophical and philosophical articles in the 20s and early 30s, became a student of Marc Jones' material in 1930, and cultivated his interest in holistic philosophy and Jungian psychology in the early 30s. From a bio: "Rudhyar had kept his interest in astrology and occasionally had interpreted charts for inquiring friends; but the MEJ courses showed him how much wider the scope of astrological thinking could be." His first articles came out in 1933-34, but he was not a practicing astrologer, whereas Grant was a practicing professional by 1934.

The real difference is that Rudhyar was much more philosophical-theoretical in his writings. Grant was actually doing professional readings for people. Wouldn't THAT have been an experience!

Technically, Alan Leo, the great British Theosophist-astrologer, was actually the first "psychological" astrologer. From a bio: "in the last years of his life he turned from 'event oriented astrology' to character description & psychological tendencies..." as a reaction to legal problems arising from predictive astrology. That was 1917. His work was picked up by C.E.O. Carter, also a British Theosophical Astrologer, who was the first to publish a work with the words "psychological astrology" in the title, but it was still mostly based on the old mechanistic model.

As an aside, in my opinion, Marc Jones was perhaps the greatest spiritual astrologer of all time, producing an enormous body of extraordinary material well respected to this day. I have the highest respects for Rudhyar, and would never put Rudhyar or his work down, as I met and spoke with him and Dr. Jones several times in the 70s and 80s and have utmost respect for both. That said, I seldom recommend Rudhyar for aspiring beginning astrologers, as his work can be difficult to apply, whereas Grant Lewi's work is truly "Astrology for the Millions." Still, thanks for raising the issue, since these men are all giants of the craft, and worthy of highest respects.

[emma]

robert, you met dane rudhyar (and marc jones)!? holymoley! :) what an incredible blessing! thank you for sussing out your post with this additional information. i appreciate it.

[Robert]

Hi emma - A little more. Yes, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting both men several times, sat in limited attendance seminars with each, and got a couple of personal "audiences" due to interesting circumstances occurring at the conferences where each were presenting.

Dr. Jones was the most brilliant metaphysician I ever met and spoke with, but he was a stiff drink of water, so to speak. He tended to become impatient with people who he thought asked superficial questions, and gave them what for in no uncertain terms. In Q&A he was quite formidable. My personal interaction came as a result of an astrological question I asked him that he had never thought of before. It intrigued him, which led to a lengthy discussion "after class."

I got to speak with Rudhyar due to "winning" the time with him at a conference. I was put in the unwanted position of being challenged by an arrogant "heavyweight" astrologer (probably no one you've heard of) who insisted that predictive astrology was bogus, and no one could predict the outcome of contests. So I proceeded to win three out of six prizes despite thousands of entrants. One of those prizes was a personal audience with Rudhyar lasting about half an hour. I mainly wanted to discuss the septile series aspects, since I was writing about them at the time and he was interested in my work. I also had copies of his articles on same from the late '30s and '40s from several magazines in my collection, and he asked me for copies, since he didn't have any of his own, and we corresponded for a brief time after that.

Of course, in the late 70s both were very old men, but both were as you can imagine sharp as a tack. I have never forgotten my time with either. And yes, it was truly an incredible blessing. So was my long lasting friendship with Carl Payne Tobey, Grant Lewi's best friend and the pioneer of statistical astrology. I met a few more in the old days. Ron Davidson and I became good acquaintences, and I got to know Michelle Gauquelin fairly well, as he shared the same birthday as my wife at the time. There were others both famous and obscure I got to know back when I circulated in those seminars and gatherings, but I haven't done that in a loooooong time. Too busy blogging! ;-)

[emma]

awww, yur killin' me!
*what great stories!* HAa! :)

_thanks so much for sharing_.

to have been able to connect with these folks speaks volumes of your essence. (then again, a read of any of your columns makes that obvious as well).

namaste, robert.

[Robert]

I don't usually share much of my personal experience, so thanks for gettin' me to talkin' I suppose...

[Barbara]

Dear Mr. Wilkinson,

I just discovered your site and was excited to read that you had known Carl Payne Tobey.

I know that he had had an astrology course. Do you know if it is still available, and, if so, how one could get it?

Thanks.

Barbara

[Robert]

Hi Barbara - I can't personally recommend any one source as I have not directly dealt with those who are selling versions of Carl's course. That said, I heard that a former student of his had compiled his work some time ago and was faithfully trying to keep his work in the public eye. I found this: "Naomi Bennett was a former student and associate of Carl Payne Tobey in Tucson from 1968 to 1974. She has extensive knowledge of his techniques and uses them in her practice. These lessons are available for $150.00 plus $6 for US domestic 4th class postage. They are sent seven lessons at a time for four months. Naomi can be reached by email or phone for questions."

I suspect this is the woman, so you may want to go with her. Her email is: [email protected]

[bre]

hi
i wonder does anyone know how i could predict my death? i would like to know how lewi did it. can anyone really be that accurate? i have had many a chart done but it all seemed so vague. why do they have to be so vague? i think people in general want to know specific ocurring astrological events that happen in the course of their lives.

[Robert]

Hi bre - First, we have several possible times that we could die, so predicting a specific time is a fool's game given you have all the choice in the world to live a long or short life based on your choices. Yes, Grant was THAT accurate, and I am familiar with his technique. Sorry you've had sessions with astrologers who were vague. My sessions with people are not vague in the least. But there are things I will never tell my clients. No point, no need. Too much to live for to be chasing points of possible death.