In Body and Soul, the PtL PTB established Derek's birth date as 17 August 1954. However, in July 1998, long before B&S, I found it necessary as a plot device for Al-Kufrah: Book 1 of "the Anointed" to assign Derek a birth date.

My choice was based upon the following:

1. The pilot established that Derek's father died in Peru in 1969 and that his death took place during the rainy season, which extends from about October thru April. Therefore, Winston was killed either January to April or October to December 1969. Considering the air date, I placed his death in April 1969.

2. It has also been established that Derek was 15 years old at the time of his father's death. Thus, Derek's birth is placed in late 1953 or at some point in 1954.

3. In Traitor Among Us, which aired in 1997, Derek wrote in his journal that he had been precept in San Francisco for over 15 years... so he had been precept since at least 1981. If he had been born middle to late 1954, he could 27 at most when he became precept... even younger if one applies the "over" 15 years. That seems a bit young. So I swung the birth date as early as possible... into late 1953 or early 1954, which dovetailed extremely well with the next point.

4. The most psychic and enigmatic sign in Chinese astrology is that of the Snake. The Snake is the sign that rules those born from February 1953 to January 1954. The deepest thinker in the Chinese cycle... one who will move heaven itself to reach his goal. A wizard. Never predict what they will do; they are the worst enemy to have because they never forget and never yield. There is also a saying about the Snake... that one born on a cold, stormy night will be in danger for his entire life. This worked very well for Al-Kufrah.

* The sign that ruled most of 1954 was the Horse: always attractive and knows it, a sportsman, great at parties, good in politics, quick witted and gossipy, handy in practical matters, hot-blooded, hot-headed and impatient, a worker, will give up all for the sake of love. The horse is more cunning than intelligent and knows it, which is why, despite an air of assurance, he lacks confidence in himself. At heart, he is weak. (No offense meant to Horses out there. This is the nutshell version that IMHO doesn't fit Derek.)

5. That psychic aspect also fits Scorpio, considered to be the most psychic sign of the zodiac.

Therefore, I assigned Derek a Scorpio birth date, mid-October to mid-November 1953. To narrow down the actual date I used a book by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers (a nice Dutch name), called The Secret Language of Birthdays. The two days that seemed to fit Derek the best were 16 November, "the Day of the Boss" (They have a natural feeling for authority and how to wield it.), and 17 November, "the Day of the Bridge" (A crossroads where diverging lines intersect. When called upon to lead or defend others they will if necessary scale the heights to do battle with the gods.).

Because Derek seems to actually enjoy being precept, I leaned toward 16 November, but hedged the actual time toward midnight... around 11 p.m. to 12 a.m., 16 November 1953 on Angel Island.

After Body and Soul aired, I asked Jilly Paddock to do a horoscope for that date, time, and place. She was very gracious and produced the following. Frankly, I am of the opinion that Derek lied to Dr. Goddard about his birth date, not an unheard of thing for Derek to do. See what you think... and thank you, Jilly.

Positive Scorpian traits are: powerful feelings and emotions, a sense of purpose, highly imaginative, discerning, subtle, persistent, determined.

Negative Scorpian traits are: jealous, resentful, stubborn, obstinate and intractable, secretive and suspicious. With four of the planets in Scorpio, the sign's influence very strong.

Because the planets don't move very quickly, he has the same set of planetary positions and therefore the same set of aspects between the planets. A 'bucket' person - that is, most of the planets fall in one hemisphere of the charts, with a single planet on the opposite side. 'Bucket' people often direct their energy towards a single purpose, usually with little regard for self-preservation. The chart is very balanced, in that half of the planets are in male signs and half in female. There are five planets in water signs, emotional and intuitive, and five planets in fixed signs, suggesting resistance to change.

I'll go through the planets one at a time:

Moon in Aries: quick but changeable mind, uneven temper, impetuous, headstrong.

Mercury in Scorpio: incisive mind, capable of intuition, excellent powers of concentration, shrewd but may be sarcastic, general fascination with mystery and the 'forces of darkness' (especially as the Sun is in the same sign), knows right line of action, takes it and sticks to it - a typical Scorpio approach.

Venus in Scorpio: the action of Venus is at its sexiest in Scorpio - a deeply passionate, highly emotional and satisfying sex life is indicated, jealousy is common, the association with big business is likely.

Mars in Libra: falls in love hastily and all too often, learns the hard way but often fails to put the lessons into practice, perceptiveness can be easily developed, intuitive.

Jupiter in Gemini: versatile and broad-minded, interests may be scattered. As the planet is in detriment, there may be craftiness and indiscretion, changeability and restlessness.

Saturn in Scorpio: executive ability and business sense. There is a great sense of purpose and strong reserves. A lack of flexibility, a tendency to brood and secretiveness are very common. A certain grimness can melt into unexpected deadpan 'Saturnian' humour, emotions run deep but are suppressed.

Uranus in Cancer: may at times be eccentric, uncertain and unpredictable.

Neptune in Gemini: intuition strong.

Pluto in Scorpio: care and protection of mass interests, good business ability and a sense of authority.

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The aspects are the positions of each planet in relation to each other, the strongest being conjunction, opposition, squares (90 degrees) and trines (120 degrees). Less powerful aspects are sextiles (60 degrees) and the unpredictable quincunx (150 degrees). Squares indicate tensions, while trines and sextiles are very positive aspects. Again, the aspects are identical in both charts.

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Sun/Mercury conjunction: stubborn, dogmatic.

Sun/Jupiter quincunx: linked to wealth.

Sun/Pluto square: additional strain and tension present - extra positive sympathy from those in immediate circle can be valuable and important. Some areas of personality may be blocked and positive expression is not always easy.

Moon/Mars opposition: not good for health, subject may be over-influenced by strong emotions, becoming irritable and impulsive.

Moon/Venus quincunx: excellent perception, rational outlook, love of beauty.

Mercury/Uranus trine: intuition and brilliance are commonly found, high degree of self-reliance, excellent memory.

Mercury/Pluto square: fails to thoroughly consider a problem before committing him/herself, lines of communication can be easily blocked - may need professional help with this.

Venus/Saturn conjunction: limits the affections and indicates sacrifice, obstacles to the normal expression of love, preventing or delaying marriage, often due to something not of the subject's own making. A powerful sense of duty may take pride of place over personal feelings.

Jupiter/Neptune conjunction: idealism, perception and intuition are well developed, philosophical or religious tendencies.

Neptune/Pluto sextile: positive use of occult traits.

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Derek's rising sign or ascendant is Leo*. Positive Leonine traits are: magnanimous, generous, creative, enthusiastic, a good organiser, broad-minded, expansive, having a sense of showmanship and drama. Negative Leonine traits are: dogmatic, pompous, snobbish, intolerant, fixed in his opinions, patronising, conceited. His ruling planet, Pluto, is in conjunction with his ascendant, which intensifies his Leo traits and adds much that is dynamic.

(* This is interesting because the 17 August birth date would have made him a Leo - D.)

The position of the ascendant on a chart governs where the twelve Houses fall - these relate to different areas of everyday life and are emphasised by the planets that fall within them.

Pluto in the First House: emphasises all Pluto traits (positive: able to make a fresh start in unfavourable circumstances, flair for big business, financial security, analytical - negative; an unhealthy unconscious, underhand, cruel, sadistic). Adversely aspected by the Sun and Mercury - psychological problems of a deep rooted nature may occur.

Mars in the Second House: ambitious to make money, a big spender.

Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the Third House: ability to study, constructive and serious attitude to school life, often made responsible early in life for brothers/sisters.

Sun in Fourth House: happiness in home and family, but the Sun makes a square aspect with the Ascendant, which indicates strains in home and family life.

Moon in Eighth House: possible preoccupation with sex, death and the after-life, excellent for research into psychic matters. (Just to prove that there really is a Cosmic Joker up there, the Eighth House represents inherited possessions and legacies, and the Moon is Luna, of course!)

Jupiter and Neptune in the Eleventh House: idealistic, chooses and achieves inspired objectives, is a good friend.

Uranus in the Twelfth House: secretive, attracted to the unusual, conflicts in the unconscious may be serious.

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Derek's Mid-heaven (the sign overhead at time of birth) is Taurus. The Mid-heaven governs how others see you and your career. Positive Taurean traits are: practical, adept, having strong powers of endurance, having a love of luxury and good food, determined and strong-willed. Negative traits: possessive, self-indulgent, lacking flexibility and obsessed with routines. None of the careers seem to fit* - farmer, business-man, architect, sculptor, art dealer, model or banker, but it does suggest that an artistic hobby, such as music, will be satisfying.

(* Here's where I disagree, Jilly... not with the careers, but with the opinion that they don't fit. Businessman/banker = Executive Director of the Luna Foundation; a precept is the administrative head of a Legacy House; art dealer = founder and director of the Winston Rayne Hall of Antiquities, archaeologist/anthropologist, if extended a bit; architect? I'll wager he put in a lot of those secret passages and the security design of the control room - ;D)