This is my grandmother, Henry’s wife. I only met her once. She was a Cancer with Venus in Cancer, a Gemini Moon and a stellium in Leo. Henry met her when he was in his early 30’s. She was 19 and they fell in love.
They married and he built her a house. He built her an adobe house, which is interesting in light of her chart which has the Moon (home) square Uranus (eccentric) and Saturn (dirt)!
So she winds up living in this odd mud house with a double Capricorn. Henry was a father figure who provided security to her Cancer sun.
She has a baby, my mother but she was unhappy. She was a city girl, see? And she was lonely. This is all taken from his letters by the way. Henry chronicled everything in his letters. He tried to take care of her by building more houses.
He built her a house and then he built some more houses around it so she could have neighbors. (Gemini Moon, rules neighbors) But in the end, she just could not hang.
She was not cut out for motherhood either as shown in her chart. She had a Gemini Moon (flighty) square Uranus (rebel) square Saturn (oppressed). So would up leaving Henry with my mother when she was two years old and she did so with Henry’s blessing.
Though she remained detached from my mother (who has her Sun and Moon in Aquarius) for the most part, she and Henry remained attached for many years. She sent him pictures from the city and he forgave her completely of course.
And he wrote about this extensively. Henry felt that a person could not and should not hold another person back. I absorbed his philosophy around relationship and I don’t think anything I have ever learned anything that has proved more valuable.
Henry taught that a person’s life belonged to them and any attempt to stop them from living as they wished was just plain wrong. 40 years later I’ve never seen a thing that’s shown me otherwise.
Skip to Part Six
Catch up here – Henry in his own words…
I LOVE the Henry stories and how you break down the astrology. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM.
Very nice! Thank you for putting this up. I had a feeling she was a water sign, probably Cancer. That is a classic combo, but I can see how the elements in her chart were not as conducive to her staying in the long run.
My husband’s grandparents are Cap/Cancer combo. They bickered a lot but stayed together. There always seems to be this wistful/sad vibe to the Cancer lady (lonely? emotionally needy?) and the overcompensating or security-providing aspect to the Cap. male. His grandma also had a moon in gemini. It’s like she provides the feminine/nurturing/moonchild aspect to counter the male/providing/earthly side. It’s fascinating…
Anyway, sorry for rambling. I loved it.
this helps alot!
wow, that’s amazing.
Henry’s philosophy is exactly how mine is-an innate understanding of this concept without knowing where I developed it from.
My marriage was focused on the CHOICE to be ‘in it’. Not halfway or three-quarters…100% or nothing at all. If the other person was no longer happy or felt the need to be with another person, the door was open to walk through. It was a comforting feeling for us both-and we were proud of this concept!
We would ultimately want each other to be happy and not ever hold the other back. EVen if it caused us sadness. This idea served us well-he was Aqua and I was Gem with both of our Moons in Cancer. In the end, I chose to move onward. And it was the right choice for me. We released each other with tears and pain yet with that special understanding which comes from allowing each other the Freedom to Choose. (And not hold the other back.)
***Keep in mind, this is not the same idea as an open marriage….it is simply the acceptance and understanding of the ebb and flow of Life and Love.
Henry was a gift for you Elsa!! And for those of us who enjoy reading his stories! Thanks!
Looking at the photos… physically — there is definitely some of your grandmother in you…
What a beautiful story. No wonder you are so proud to have had Henry as your grandpa. Such a wonderful soul. Thank you for sharing his words with us!
Wow, your Nana has all the moves! She’s obviously a natural model. My grandma wasn’t cut out for marriage and motherhood either. But she did them both, badly and grudgingly until my pop died because ‘That’s what you did in those days’. It’s great that your Pop could throw away the standards of the day so that they could both be happy.
Elsa, thank you for sharing your Grandfather with us. I think you should publish Henry’s letters so the world to gain some wisdom from him.
Love reading the Henry chronicles Elsie.. I also believe in not holding anyone back.. even if it is painful to let something good go. It’s true love. Henry really demonstrated that beautifully.
Whoa, so interesting.
Funny how some of us learn well into adulthood, what Henry seemed to know innately. And the astrology paints the picture so well.
That is awesome.
That is purely amazing. I’m going to try to internalize that.
@Kathy, that is exactly how I view relationships and the way my two longest ones (not marriages but marriage-like, with one 6 years and one 7 years) ended. In fact, the only thing that makes me nervous about marriage is that most people don’t think this way. I believe in a committed, monogamous relationship with an implied open door (cage!) — an implicit agreement that both people are there because they choose to be, every day, not because 3/5/10 years ago they said they would be.
Your grandfather, the letters and stories give me a feeling of hope for humanity & reminds me to follow my heart, dreams and inner wisdom as he clearly did. Your grandmother was stunning…I guess she detached from your mother to save her Cancerian heart from shattering.. nothing quite like Venus in Cancer for holding memories of love. Thank you for sharing, and I agree with prior comment, you must publish a book on his life. From a double Pisces fan…..
I can thank her for my Venus in Leo… 🙂
Hi, and wishing a truly blessed Happy New Year to all!
Boy, this picture of your Grandmother! – my maternal grandmother, every picture I have of her, she is posing like a model just like this. And she hated motherhood also, was depressed apparently alot, was very distant to my mother, and my Grandfather was also a Capricorn (Grandma was a Pisces). My mother idolized her father, and always spoke of her mother in painful overtones.
To be able to truly believe in not holding a person back because of your own fears…..I am so sorry to say that I learned from my mother how to manipulate others, most especially if you are afraid they are going to hurt you. It is so painful for me to admit this, but I know it is true. Her fear that came from her mother’s rejection, permeated everything she did, and when I am fearful of being abandoned, I learned what buttons to push.
It is such a hard habit to break, one of the many things I am in therapy for – so hard to not let the fear of abandonment send me into a blind panic.
I grew up in an adobe house too, with kerosene lamp and water pump, no kidding, that’s what my dad could built when he married my mom, who came over after her home got bombed and burned down in WWII. I remember she was never happy there, while for us children it was fun. We actually built a smaller adobe house close to it and moved in there. It had a fire place and the roof was of straw…so one day it caught fire and burned down like WWII, and we moved back with our parents. This house still exists and in South America many people still live in adobe houses, but they’ve got running water and TV now.
I think your grandpa was totally right, Elsa, because even if people accepted to be controlled, it would still be their own wish. I haven’t seen any successful attempt either in half a century 🙂
conny that is so cool. i have dreams of moving to the desert and this only feeds that dream further.
That’s a good idea, Kashmiri, I’m missing the open sky and the silence too. We went to school riding our little horses and “parked” them all in front of the school building, where they could rest until school was over. It was really cool, I wished kids could do it now.
But if you use straw or leaves on the roof of your house in the desert, remember no fireplace inside, ok?
ha ha…indeed! that sounds so unique and beautiful.
These photos absolutely beautiful. What a stunner she was.
since i first heard it i’ve thought the story of henry and your grandmother both beautiful and sad… she was lucky to find a man that open minded back then (well, now’s not so great either, in that light.)
Look at that style!!!
I know she moved on, but she had to have left you all something rich in the DNA.
Love it.
Wow what an incredible man! Your Grandmother was very lucky! And you are very lucky to have him in your ancestry. Beautiful letters, beautiful letters. Thank you Elsa for sharing this with us. I am very touched by this story and love hearing about ancestry! Very cool!
this confirms my suspicions. i am also have two cap-sag stelliums born under a solar eclipse. my suspicion is that the only other person who could balance me would have to be someone else born 6 months later during an eclipse too or something along the lines of a cuspy or intercepted chart, fused with the ether element. when your chart is broken, you must find flow. the hardest flow is sag into cap…. to never be the bad side of cap which is death, only giving sag. tight rope act, scorpio transforms, aquarius ascends. piscean blends, no friends?
my first girlfriend was a gemini and i wasn’t sure if we were together until i saw her walking with a guy cute like me but more like her. but then her best friend casually admitted she knew we were dating behind everyone’s backs. i loved her like a flower y’know, i stared at her in class and never said much only after class. my other gf but long time was a virgo too, she was a blessing and yea my jupiter in virgo fuses with both my stelliums. i was raised by a single mom and she was kind of co-dependent and i guess i was, but we all need people, even the strongest of us. no one can change the world alone. i need more air and water in my chart… but i’m one with good now i don’t need.
this made me open my eyes alot that not every woman have the mother gene, and that’s not a bad thing. she needed to be free, to save her soul, and it’s amazing that your grandfather has that wonderful philosophy, not to hem or keep someone against their will. What an amazing individual your grandfather Henry was, so inspiring and so forgiving.
i do notice alot of those with strong sagittarius in their chart has that philosophy, dont hem them in.let them be free or its very very wrong.
some things made me realize and maturely see things for what they are.