The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [109]
Among the items of this sort that I particularly treasure are a) various sketches of Claire, Jamie, or both together, b) assorted pieces of handmade jewelry, approximations of Claire’s pearl necklace, or pieces of Celtic-inspired ornament, c) a picture of a racehorse named “Dragonfly in Amber,” d) lots of beautiful small objects made in cross-stitch, e) pictures of a number of tartan-clad teddy bears named “Jamie,” f) pictures of a number of infant children, named (variously) Jamie, Claire, and Brianna (nobody’s named a kid Roger or Ian yet—at least not on my account.),1 g) handmade paper with heather blossoms embedded, h) pressed-flower and photo arrangements, featuring scenes of the Highlands, i) tapes of original songs inspired by the books, j) original poetry, likewise inspired, k) small wooden and pottery objects with a Celtic inspiration, and 1) the occasional Really Unique item.
These last include a small, baked-clay figurine, showing a little girl with brown hair, gazing down into a puddle, a fired, glazed ceramic figure of a black-haired woman sitting in an armchair with a book (this one is titled “Lady Reading”), a book of photographs, showing life-size terracotta heads of Jamie, Claire, and Yours Truly (that was a shock), a hand-carved wooden “kapertlin”’ spoon, made for me by an inmate at a Vancouver prison where I teach a yearly writing class, a cutting board in the shape of the state of Idaho, accompanied by a bottle of potato hand lotion,2 X-ray films of the covers of all my books (accompanied by an X-ray referral sheet for one James Fraser, showing various diagnosed fractures), and last but not least—personal horoscopes and interpretations for Claire and Jamie.
Now, Jamie’s birth date isn’t given specifically in any of the novels, and while Claire’s birthday is given, she doesn’t know her own time of birth.3 Kathy Pigou, the reader who did the horoscopes, originally E-mailed me a year or so ago, saying that she was simply curious, and if I would supply her with the necessary data regarding birth dates, times, and places, she would very much like to cast a horoscope for Jamie Fraser, simply for her own interest— though she would be happy to send me a copy.
Finding this fascinating, I did send the data—and was intrigued (more than slightly) by the resulting reading. At my request, Kathy very kindly cast a horoscope and did a reading for Claire as well.
While I unfortunately can’t show you all of the generous gifts sent to me by readers, I did think that the horoscopes were both suitable for printing in book form and particularly likely to be very interesting to other readers. So, with the kind permission of Kathy Pigou, who constructed the charts and readings, I’m reproducing them here.
—D.G.
KATHY PIGOU LIVES IN Adelaide, South Australia, with her husband (a forensic chemist) and two sons. She has a degree in biology and biochemistry, and while she regards astrology as a hobby, rather than a profession, she does do occasional paid readings. Among her other hobbies, she includes reading, and … cross-stitch.
by Kathy Pigou
The horoscope is a geocentric map of the heavens at a particular time and in a particular place. All planets on the lower part of the chart are below the horizon; those on the upper part are above the horizon. Thus, someone born at night will have the sun in the lower half. The signs of the zodiac form a background for the planets, and so each planet is “in” a certain sign. In addition, due to the rotation of the earth, the signs appear to rotate, so that each one rises over the horizon during each twenty-four hours.
The sign that is rising at birth is called the Ascendant, and is an important part of the reading of a chart.
The calculation of the chart is mainly math (unless you use a computer program; I have one, but often like to do the calculations myself, to