Back in print
Tyl's Midheaven Extension Process - which he says is new - is based on the premise that as the sun shines strongest at mid-day, if we can somehow satisfy our 10th house, and, most particularly, the Midheaven itself, that this will lead to satisfaction in our lives (pg. 5). I confess I overlooked this when I first wrote notes on this book. I merely presumed that Tyl had decided to use dispositors in his work. He is, instead, trying to delineate the MC & came upon dispositors as a means of doing so. Hence its "newness" to him.
Tyl presumes the MC will determine career. To me, this is too broad an interpretation. Yes, the sun shines brightest at noon (ie, conjunct the MC), but at the equator it is too intense to endure (the sun is considered a malefic in Vedic astrology, in India, where it beats down mercilessly), while, on the other hand, in far north latitudes, it is so low in the sky as to be too weak to have much effect. It is similar with people. Some people love the attention they get when in full public view. A few hide & are rarely seen. Most people, in fact, come and go, and most people, in fact, have lives more private than public. Here, Tyl weakens his case by exclusive consideration of the famous (including himself), who, by definition, have MCs that crave the full light of day. As with much of astrology, occupation, job and career is a multi-faceted puzzle and needs more detailed handling, one way or another.
But Tyl does some nice stuff by forcing the reader to follow the chain of dispositors around the chart. He uses modern rulers (Pisces: Neptune. Aquarius: Uranus. Scorpio: Pluto), which, in his own chart, gives a radically different perspective on his own tenth, which is Pisces. Tyl says his MC is ruled by Neptune, which is in Virgo in 4 (dead opposite Saturn in Pisces in 10), which is disposed by Mercury in Capricorn, which is disposed by Saturn in Pisces, which is disposed by - Neptune, a full circle. Tyl cuts this off at Mercury, in part as Mercury has a tight opposition to Pluto and both have a tight square to Mercury, making for a powerful T-square. This is of interest to Tyl, so he considers what he can do with Mercury, which he defines as communication. He immediately goes to the third house, which he says Mercury rules (but not in his chart), where he finds his Moon in Leo. As it happens, the Moon in Leo is the ruler of Tyl's ascendant. This is a backwards way of coming to the Leo Moon (which, in fact, is dominant in Tyl's personality). Using traditional rulers, Tyl's chart is much different. Pisces on 10 is ruled by Jupiter in Capricorn in 7, which, itself, is disposed by Saturn in Pisces. Mutual reception. Which welds the 7th and 10th houses together & should make his wife or partner publicly known. Interestingly, Tyl in fact has always kept his private life private. Can this paradox be explained, or should I throw my lot to the modern rulers, the tradition be damned? Let's see . . .
Whenever I see a chart with an ascendant at the very first, or very last degrees of a sign, I consider the possibility the time might be off enough to slip the ascendant into the nearby sign. If we take Tyl's ascendant, 0 degrees 3 minutes of Cancer, at 3:56 pm EST and make it for one minute prior, an entirely new chart comes into focus.
Interestingly, when I calculated Tyl's chart, with Tyl's own data (December 31, 1936, 3:56 pm, West Chester, PA), I got 29 Gemini rising, using Solar Fire. I got exactly the same result when I calculated in Win*Star. I got Tyl's result - exact to the minute of arc - when I added a minute to his time, which would be 3:57 pm. I am curious where Mr. Tyl got his initial chart, as it, or the time he uses, appears to be in error. (Accuracy matters.) But I digress.
If Tyl had a late degree of Gemini rising (which is what his published birth time insists), then that degree would be in tight sextile to his Moon. It would be trine to his Mars. It would be semi-sextile his Pluto, and inconjunct his Mercury. A Gemini ascendant would be, in other words, a major player in Mr. Tyl's life. (His Cancer ascendant is not.) It would be ruled by the inconjunct Mercury, which, as it's inconjunct, means he would have difficulty determining what he appears to be. Disposed by Saturn in Pisces in the 10th, he might, early on, consider a career in music (ruled by Pisces) and seek the stage, which, any way you look at it, will feed a Leo Moon. (Leo Moons crave attention, regardless of aspect or house placement.) Operatic training, which Mr. Tyl had in his youth, notably produces large chest development (and a big booming voice), which might have misled him into thinking his ascendant could be Cancer. In fact, both the Moon and Mercury would be essential in producing an operatic voice. Mercury for the ability to get the words out, the Moon for drive & stamina. The hard aspects to Mercury, from Mars and Pluto (also aspecting the Moon), would powerfully assist.
Presuming Mr. Tyl has Gemini, not Cancer, rising, eventually the force of Gemini - Mercury - Moon - Mars - Pluto overwhelmed the Pisces midheaven & Mr. Tyl took up his actual career, as determined by his ascendant & its ruler, Gemini and Mercury: Writing, lecturing, teaching. By contrast, most everyone who has ever been in music keeps at least a toe in the water. (Look at me: Music was my last life, yet it has completely overwhelmed this one.) If we posit Tyl's operatic career as a product of his 10th house Saturn in Pisces, fed by a confused Mercury, then we would presume his roles would have been older leading men (Saturn). A career that ended abruptly when Mr. Tyl was suckered by details he had not seen coming (Neptune in Virgo opposed to Saturn in Pisces).
So let's go back to relationships. With Gemini rising, we have Sagittarius on the 7th, ruled by Jupiter. Jupiter is technically in the 7th, but has little affinity with it, not being in the same sign as the cusp. Nor can I comfortably place it in the 8th, even though it shares the same sign (Capricorn), as it is not only far, far away from the 8th, but the Sun is in its way. Jupiter simply floats, without moorings, having, for aspects, only a waning conjunction to the Sun, and a tight trine to Uranus. The final degree of any sign always produces a sense of crisis (see Helen Adams Garrett), so just as we would expect Mercury, ruling the ascendant, to act out via its dispositor & seek a career in opera, we may guess that Tyl once sought a wife, but a weak Jupiter denied him the prize. (Did he seek out a Saturnine partner (Saturn being Jupiter's dispositor), who publicly spurned him (10th house), long, long ago? Could the partner have been connected with his operatic career, such that her refusal effectively ended his singing?)
Denied a wife, we might expect Mr. Tyl to seek comfort elsewhere. After the 7th, the usual place to look is the 5th. Here we find Libra, and in the house, Mars. Mars in Libra wants to be led, one way or another. Both it, and the house itself, are disposed by Venus in Aquarius in the 9th. As Mr. Tyl travels widely, a guess would be that he is often approached while on the road. Libra being a cardinal sign, activity is more important than permanance, but Venus, in a fixed sign, means there will always be another trip, another road. As for children, with the ascendant, ruler of the ascendant, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars all in signs of dubious fertility, I would hazard there are none, which makes Tyl's appearance, as a single individual, exactly what he is.
Dear Mr. Tyl, such are the hazards of publishing your chart. Are you entirely certain you have Cancer rising? I myself have Gemini rising, Moon in Leo in 3. Look what I do with them. "Out" yourself! Come join the Geminis!
As far as that goes, I myself confess that until I had properly rectified my own chart, there were many things about astrology which I did not quite understand. In all his many books, Mr. Tyl has been grasping for something. It might just be his proper ascending sign.
I confess I have not done much of a job in reviewing this book. Suffice to say that if you work through the many examples and apply what you learn to the other eleven houses, you will learn much about dispositors and, most likely, revolutionize your way of reading a chart. It's a lot of work, but this book is a useful start.
P.S. to Mr. Tyl: In Support Horoscope Data in the back, you give Beethoven a Pisces ascendant. I believe that 15 Leo (or thereabouts), with Saturn conjunct, will give better results, both in appearance (all that hair), as well as temper (the bully). You will also note a packed 5th.