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Portrait of James M. McPherson

James M. McPherson

James M. McPherson (born October 11, 1936, Valley City, United States), aged 89, is an American historian (born 1936). McPherson is best known for Battle Cry of Freedom. McPherson's honours include Pulitzer Prize for History, Guggenheim Fellowship and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.

James M. McPherson’s zodiac sign is Libra, and in the Chinese zodiac they are a Fire Rat, with Life Path 4 in numerology.

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  • · Your compatibility percentage
  • · What attracts you to each other
  • · What you would bring to the match
  • · Where you might clash
  • · Whether you share lucky numbers, colours, stones or seasons

James M. McPherson’s AsterNym identity

The Radiant Pioneer

Fire represents warmth, visibility and momentum. Fire-led charts are associated with enthusiasm, expression and the ability to encourage other people. Life Path 4 represents structure: foundations, systems and the patience to continue after the first enthusiasm fades.

Fire Day Master (BaZi) × cardinal Sun × Life Path 4, on the physical plane.

How common is the name James in the U.S.?

#6

US rank in 2025

~5,274,520

Americans share it since 1880

1947

its peak year

US Social Security Administration public records

James’s lucky numbers, colours and stones

Traditional correspondences calculated from AsterNym’s astrology, wuxing and numerology system.

Lucky numbers

4 · 2 · 3

Lucky colours

Red & Orange

Lucky day

Friday

Direction

South

Season

summer

Stones

Opal, Diamond, Carnelian

Flower constellation

🧡 Marigold · 🌹 Blush Rose · 🌺 Poppy

Amber · Blush · Flame orange

The same wuxing & numerology correspondences as your own print. One tradition, read for everyone

What the chart says

James, according to the stars

Core essence

James makes the room fairer just by being in it. The core of James is a feel for balance, in people, in colour, in who has not been asked their opinion yet. They are charming because they are genuinely interested, and they can see every side of a thing, which is a gift and, on a bad day, a very slow way to choose dinner.

The vibe

Underneath, James is quietly running a checklist, and half of it is about you. The Moon in Virgo feels care as responsibility: did you eat, did you get home, is the thing you were worried about handled. What James needs to feel safe is order and the sense of being useful. Let them help, and thank them properly.

How James wants to be loved

James wants to be loved completely or not at all. Venus in Scorpio is intense, private and all in, and wants the same depth back: no games, no half measures. Trust is the whole thing. Be honest with James even when it costs you, and they will be the most devoted person you have ever met.

How James creates

How James makes things happen: they light the room. A Yang Fire day master is the sun, warm, visible, impossible to ignore, generous with energy and expecting the same back. James creates in front of people and is at their best with an audience and a cause. The work is learning to rest before the fire does it for them.

Instinct

Instinct: James is quick, clever and alert, a Rat year, and their gut reaction to a problem is to find the angle nobody has tried. Charming, resourceful, a little bit of a hoarder of good things and good people. The Fire year turns the volume up: warmer, bolder, more expressive, harder to overlook.

Purpose

Purpose: Life Path 4 is the builder. James is here to make things that last, to put structure under other people's dreams, to be trusted with the real work. Loyal, practical, honest, and learning that the plan can bend without breaking.

Triggers

Triggers: sloppiness, and being told they are overthinking it. Mars in Virgo means James channels energy into fixing, sorting, getting it right, and gets sharp when others do not care. The critic turns inward first. Give them a problem worth solving and watch them come alive.

Computed from James's birth date, not guessed. The full working is below.

Where James sits

Six lines. Tap where you sit on each.

James’s dot is placed from the chart. Yours is wherever you put it.

Intimate circleWide network
James

You may draw energy from a wide network, many doors, lightly held.

DeliberateSpontaneous
James

You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.

PrivateExpressive
James

You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.

Cool off firstResolve immediately
James

You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.

PracticalVisionary
James

You likely balance practical steps with room to imagine further.

Gradual trustImmediate chemistry
James

You likely warm up at a pace that depends on the person and moment.

✦ A real star from their birth night

Dedicate a star to James M. McPherson

Three stars chosen from the real sky above Valley City on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.

No public birth time is available, so this is a 9:00 p.m. reference evening sky for that date and place. It is connected to the night of birth; it is not the sky at the birth minute, and no other reading on this page uses that time. Dedications are commemorative AsterNym records and do not rename or confer ownership of stars.

James M. McPherson at a glance

Libra Sun

Every side of every argument.

James M. McPherson's Sun was in Libra for the whole of October 11, 1936, so no birth time is needed to settle it. Traditional Libra readings associate the sign with balance, fairness and partnership: an instinct for the other side of an argument and for making a room feel at ease. Astrologers describe it as the cardinal air sign, ruled by Venus. The corresponding tension is indecision, with the classical caution that weighing every side can become a way of never choosing one.

Fire Rat

Resourceful is an understatement.

James M. McPherson was born on October 11, 1936, which falls in a Fire Rat year of the Chinese calendar. Traditional Rat readings emphasise quickness, resourcefulness and an eye for the opening nobody else has noticed. The Chinese almanacs describe the Rat as the strategist of the cycle, first in the order because it saw the shortcut. The corresponding caution in the tradition is scatter: too many angles worked at once, and charm spent where patience was needed.

Life Path 4

Slow, solid, lasting.

James M. McPherson's birth date, October 11, 1936, reduces to Life Path 4 under the numerology method AsterNym uses. Traditional Life Path 4 readings associate the number with structure, patience and building: turning ideas into plans and plans into something that outlasts the mood that started it. Numerologists describe it as the path of the builder. The corresponding tension is rigidity, with the caution that the structure was meant to serve the life and not the reverse.

What stands out in James’s chart

James’s birth chart

Reference chart · birth time unknown

No documented birth time exists for James M. McPherson, so the positions below are checked across the whole birth date, not fixed at noon. The Moon ranges from 1° to 13° Virgo depending on the hour. The wheel's houses are a solar chart, counted from the Sun's sign, because the Ascendant needs a time.

AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces123456789101112Saturn faces off with Neptune · Opposition, 0.7° orbMars flows with Uranus · Trine, 1° orbVenus flows with Saturn · Trine, 1.1° orbMoon flows with Uranus · Trine, 1.2° orbSun opens doors for Jupiter · Sextile, 1.7° orbVenus opens doors for Neptune · Sextile, 1.8° orbMoon fuses with Mars · Conjunction, 2.2° orbJupiter grinds against Neptune · Square, 2.2° orbSun in Libra · 18°11′18°Moon in Virgo · 7°09′Mercury in Libra · 1°38′Venus in Scorpio · 15°54′15°Mars in Virgo · 9°22′Jupiter in Sagittarius · 19°52′19°Saturn in Pisces · 17°01′ · retrograde17°Uranus in Taurus · 8°22′ · retrogradeNeptune in Virgo · 17°40′17°Pluto in Cancer · 28°41′28°

No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1. A documented time would place them from the Ascendant instead.

Tap a planet, a sign, a house, an aspect line or an element to see what it means and what sits in it.
Lines drawn
Conjunction
Sextile 60°
Square 90°
Trine 120°
Opposition 180°

Placements

Tap one to light it on the wheel.

The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow

Aspects across every possible birth time

Stable aspects hold for any birth hour. Possible ones depend on the hour, so their orb is a range rather than a number. Orb policy western_v1.

  • stableVenustrineSaturn0.5° to 1.8° orb

    James’s affections flow straight into their discipline. Effortless, which is exactly why it gets taken for granted.

  • stableSaturnoppositionNeptune0.6° to 0.7° orb

    James’s discipline pulls against their imagination from across the wheel. Two ends of one rope.

  • stableMarstrineUranus0.7° to 1.3° orb

    James’s drive flows straight into their need for freedom. A talent so smooth it can go unnoticed.

  • stableVenussextileNeptune1.2° to 2.4° orb

    James’s affections open doors for their imagination. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.

  • stableSunsextileJupiter1.3° to 2.1° orb

    James’s core identity opens doors for their growth.

  • stableJupitersquareNeptune2.1° to 2.3° orb

    James’s growth grinds against their imagination. The angle that irritates, and the one that teaches.

  • stableJupitersquareSaturn2.7° to 3.0° orb

    James’s growth grinds against their discipline. The friction is lifelong. Worked with, it builds real strength.

  • stableMercurysextilePluto2.8° to 3.1° orb

    James’s mind opens doors for their depths. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.

  • stableMarsoppositionSaturn7.3° to 8.0° orb

    James’s drive pulls against their discipline from across the wheel.

  • possibleMoonconjunctionMarsorb from 0.0° to 8.0° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoontrineUranusorb from 0.1° to 7.4° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoonsextileVenusorb from 3.3° to 14.3° depending on birth time

Chart signature

Elements

  • Fire1 of 10
  • Earth4 of 10
  • Air2 of 10
  • Water3 of 10

Modalities

  • Cardinal3 of 10
  • Fixed2 of 10
  • Mutable5 of 10

Counted across the ten planets by sign: Earth leads this chart.

James’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith

Four minor bodies and the mean lunar apogee, placed in the same tropical zodiac as the planets above. None of these feed the chart signature, the rarity score or any ranking on this site: they are listed for readers who use them. Chiron, Ceres, Eros and Hygiea positions come from JPL Horizons; Black Moon Lilith is the mean apogee, the point most published Lilith tables use. The readings are the modern tradition’s, not AsterNym’s. Without a birth time the degree is the noon value and the day's movement is shown alongside it.

  • ChironGemini 23°18′ (moves 0.01° over the day)

    centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it

    Chiron in Gemini is read as a tender spot around being heard or believed. The tradition has James turning that into a careful, exact way with words.

  • CeresSagittarius 8°42′ (moves 0.36° over the day)

    dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured

    Ceres in Sagittarius is read as nurture through freedom and wider horizons. James is read as someone who looks after people by giving them room.

  • ErosScorpio 13°17′ (moves 0.71° over the day)

    near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire

    Eros in Scorpio sits in the sign the tradition links to it most closely: desire as depth and total exposure. James is read as uninterested in anything half-felt.

  • HygieaCancer 13°05′ (moves 0.12° over the day)

    main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well

    Hygiea in Cancer is read as health tied to home, mood and belonging. James is read as someone who does not thrive far from a base.

  • Black Moon LilithScorpio 0°51′ (moves 0.11° over the day)

    mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed

    Black Moon Lilith in Scorpio is read as power the person has stopped apologising for. James is read as someone others project onto, and who has learnt to let them.

Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith

Major aspects only, at a tight orb. The Moon is left out because its position moves 13° across an untimed day.

  • Ceres square Mars 0.7°
  • Black Moon Lilith square Pluto 2.2°
  • Eros conjunction Venus 2.6°
  • Hygiea trine Venus 2.8°

Method: JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, 1700–2100, cubic Hermite interpolation; geocentric, true ecliptic of date, tropical; geometric (no light-time or aberration); Lilith = mean lunar apogee (Chapront/Meeus mean perigee + 180°).

James’s dominant planets

Scored from rulerships, dispositors and aspect count. Without a birth time there is no Ascendant or house to score, and the Moon's sign is left out where it could change with the hour.

  1. 1. Venus8 pts

    rules the Sun sign, Libra; disposes Sun, Mercury, Uranus; 2 major aspects

  2. 2. Jupiter5 pts

    in its own sign, Sagittarius; 3 major aspects

  3. 3. Saturn4 pts

    4 major aspects

A Venus-led chart is read as taste and relationship setting the terms: James is read as choosing by what is beautiful and who is in the room.

How the score is built
  • Rules the Sun sign, Moon sign or Ascendant sign: 3 points each (traditional co-rulers of Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces score half).
  • Sits in a sign it rules: 2 points.
  • Disposes another planet (that planet sits in a sign it rules): 1 point each.
  • Angular: 2 points in the first or tenth house, 1 point in the fourth or seventh (timed births only).
  • Every major aspect it makes: 1 point.

Dominance scoring is an AsterNym method. Other sites weight differently and can name a different leader for the same chart.

Configurations in James’s chart

Closed shapes among the ten planets under the site’s one aspect-orb policy. The Moon is excluded without a birth time, so a shape that needs it is not claimed.

  • t square, the shape it makesT-square onto Jupiter · Saturn, Neptune, JupiterAn opposition with a third planet squaring both ends. Read as a driving tension that resolves through the apex planet.

Minor aspects

semi-sextile 30° (orb 2°), semi-square 45° (orb 2°), quintile 72° (orb 1.5°), sesquiquadrate 135° (orb 2°), biquintile 144° (orb 1.5°), quincunx 150° (orb 2.5°). Pairs already in a major aspect are not repeated. Moon excluded without a birth time.

  • Sun semi-sextile Neptune 0.5°
  • Mercury semi-square Venus 0.7°
  • Mercury biquintile Uranus 0.7°
  • Sun quincunx Saturn 1.2°

Houses need a birth time. None is documented for James M. McPherson, so no house placements are claimed for the planets or the minor bodies above.

More people like James

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Fellow Libra suns

All about Libra

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Year of the Rat

Also born on October 11

Fellow Yang Fire day masters

What a Day Master is →

Other Libra Rat charts

Other Radiant Pioneers

The Radiant Pioneer explained →

Famous people with Life Path 4

Life Path numbers explained →

From the journal: Do twins have the same birth chart? · Cusp signs aren't real | here's why

James’s cards

Every card is computed from October 11, 1936, none chosen. Tap one to flip it.

Birth tarot card

The Fool

Tap to flip

AsterNym identity card

The Radiant Pioneer

Tap to flip

Western zodiac

Libra

Tap to flip

Chinese zodiac

Rat 子

Tap to flip

♀ Ruled by Venus

Copper Cu

Tap to flip

The working: BaZi pillarsshow

BaZi pillars

Day Master: yang Fire.

Year

yang Fire

Rat

Water

roots & early life

Month

yang Earth

Dog

Earth

work & drive

Day

day master

yang Fire

Tiger

Wood

you & partnership

No birth time is on public record for James M. McPherson, so this chart has three pillars rather than four. The hour pillar, the rising sign and the birth-sky star all need a time, and we would rather leave them out than invent one.

Where this data comes from

James’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q709723, released under CC0, as do the occupations, works, teams and awards in the biography above. No documented birth time is available, so this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. Time-dependent results use a clearly labelled reference time and should not be read as their exact birth chart. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept only at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.

Portrait by United States Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same James M. McPherson at Wikipedia and IMDb.

Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. Every entry is checked against its Wikidata record; where a person shares a name with someone else, the entity id is what settles which of them this is. What we will not tell you sets out the claims this site refuses to make.

These are traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. AsterNym is not affiliated with or endorsed by James M. McPherson.

Quick answers about James M. McPherson’s chart

How old is James M. McPherson?
James M. McPherson is 89 years old, born October 11, 1936 in Valley City, United States.
What zodiac sign is James M. McPherson?
James M. McPherson is a Libra: born October 11, 1936, which puts the Sun in Libra for the whole of that day. That is the Western star sign. In the Chinese zodiac they are a Fire Rat.
What is James M. McPherson's Chinese zodiac animal?
The Rat, with the Fire element, from the Chinese lunar year of the October 11, 1936 birth.
What time was James M. McPherson born?
No reliably documented birth time is public, so AsterNym does not calculate an Ascendant. This chart uses date-only positions: the wheel shows a reference solar chart (the Sun's sign as house 1), and the Ascendant is left uncomputed instead of guessed from an unverified time.
What is James M. McPherson's Life Path number?
Life Path 4, calculated in numerology from the October 11, 1936 birth date.
What is James M. McPherson's Chiron sign?
Chiron in Gemini at 23°. Position from JPL Horizons for the October 11, 1936 birth date.
Where is James M. McPherson's Black Moon Lilith?
Mean Black Moon Lilith in Scorpio at 0°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
What is James M. McPherson's dominant planet?
Venus, on AsterNym's dominance score (8 points: rules the Sun sign, Libra; disposes Sun, Mercury, Uranus; 2 major aspects). Jupiter is second and Saturn third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.

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