"Will Joan Rivers die?"
1st approach = General condition of the chart. Is it a fortunate or an unfortunate chart? No need to turn the chart.
It is a VERY unfortunate chart. The malefics are angular, while the benefics are in aversion to the ascendant and square the malefics. Saturn, the Greater Malefic, is a significator. The Moon is in fall and the nastiest testimony of all is that she is applying to conjunct a peregrine Saturn, which is a very negative testimony in ANY chart, no matter what the question is, regardless of whether Saturn is a significator or not. It would take lots of positive testimony elsewhere in the chart to override this. Saturn is the natural significator of old people and death (also here the ruler of the ascendant) and he's the Moon's next aspect. End of story.
2nd approach = Turning the chart and finding specific significators for querent and quesited. Planets in houses are not rulers of houses, nor co-rulers.
I am the querent, so I get the 1st house and since I have no personal connection with Joan Rivers, she belongs to the 7th house. Death is the radical 8th house ruler or the turned 8th house ruler (although personally I don't like this, either you turn the chart or you don't). Joan Rivers is the Moon in fall, applying to conjunct the turned 8th house ruler, Saturn. End of story.
3rd approach = Whole sign houses. Planets in houses are co-significators. No need to turn the chart.
Joan Rivers is Saturn the 1st house ruler and her death is the Sun (8th house ruler) and also Venus and Jupiter who are posited there. The Moon is translating light from Jupiter (death) to Saturn (Rivers). End of story.
4th approach = Not turning the chart and using outer planets
Same as above, only in this case the Moon is separating from Pluto (death) and applying to Saturn (Rivers). Pluto is also conjunct the Ascendant.
The timing seems to be a day off (it's less than three degrees here and she died less than four days later), but a day before she was pronounced dead, she was moved from the intensive care and taken to a private room. I think she was already gone by then and the official time of death is the time they took her off life support.
My point here is: Stop being so fanatic about the method you prefer, by simply saying "But my method consistently works!" Unless you've tried many different approaches over time, this statement doesn't mean anything. Anything at all. Perhaps there is another method out there which works more consistently than yours, how would you know?
