Draconic Astrology, a Documented History
Ask where draconic astrology comes from and you will usually get one of two answers: that it is thousands of years old and Babylonian, or a shrug. María Blaquier gives a third one in her course, and it is the one this page is built on: "What is the origin of the draconic zodiac? We really don't know. That's the truth." What we do know is who wrote about it, when, and where those texts can be found.
This page is María's account of the lineage, as she teaches it in her draconic astrology course and in her introduction video, with every name checked against a catalogue record, a journal listing or a recording in the Astrological Association shop. Where the sources disagree with each other, or with her slides, the page says so. For what a draconic chart is and how to read one, start with What is a draconic chart; this page is only about the history.
The origin, in María's words
María opens the third class of her course with the question most pages skip. Her answer, verbatim:
"What is the origin of the draconic zodiac? We really don't know. That's the truth. There are some hints that it could have originated in Babylonia and it's related to the myth of the dragon god Tiamat, but there's no real evidence to support this. There's no real evidence to support that it existed in ancient times."
She then names the two threads that the modern technique actually hangs from. One is Edgar Cayce, the American medium whose readings, she says, "really didn't make sense when looking at the tropical chart, but they did make sense when one transposed them into the draconic chart. So we can assume that he was using the draconic zodiac." The other is the written record:
"The truth of the matter is that the authors who first published about the draconic zodiac are Maurice Froger, French astrologer, in 1959. Then we have the Italian astrologer Aldo Lavagnini, also in the same year. We have Ronald Davison referring to the draconic zodiac; for instance, in his book on synastry, he refers to karmic relationships and he's referring to the draconic zodiac. Then in 1977, this was a very important year in terms of the draconic because Dennis Elwell introduced the draconic zodiac in the Astrological Association Cambridge Conference. In 1980, Marc Penfield wrote about the draconic zodiac. And then we have wonderful Pamela Crane, who wrote two books on draconic astrology."
The slide behind her lists the same names. We reproduce it below as she showed it, and then check each line.
About the origin of the draconic zodiac, this is a bit shady, because for many years it was believed that it had originated in Babylonia, but there's no real evidence to support this. It might have happened, but we really don't know. So the fact is that the first astrologers to write about draconic astrology were Maurice Froger, who wrote the nodal horoscope for the Astrological Lodge; Aldo Lavagnini, who wrote about draconic in In Search magazine; Ronald Davison wrote two books, The Lunar Zodiac and Synastry. Then a turning point was when Dennis Elwell introduced the draconic zodiac to the Astrological Association conference. Marc Penfield wrote The Reincarnation Chart. And Pamela Crane, who became acquainted with draconic at the Astrological Association conference, has two wonderful books, which I recommend, Draconic Astrology and The Draconic Chart.
The documented timeline, checked line by line
| Year | Publication or event | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 or 1959 | Maurice Froger, "The Nodal Horoscope", Astrology (Astrological Lodge of London quarterly) | Earliest article on Pamela Crane's list (1955); María's course slide dates it 1959. The journal's scanned run stops at 1949, so neither date is verified |
| 1959 | Aldo Lavagnini, In Search magazine | Italian astrologer, listed by Crane and by María |
| 1963 | Ronald C. Davison, The Lunar Zodiac | Listed by Crane; Davison returns to the idea in his synastry book |
| 1977 | Dennis Elwell, "Multi-Dimensional Transits", Astrological Association conference, Churchill College, Cambridge; The Astrological Journal 20.1 (Winter 1977/78), pp. 29-40; reprinted on astro.com in 2023 | The first presentation that can be dated, placed and read. María: "1977 was a very important year in terms of the draconic" |
| 1977 | Ronald C. Davison, Synastry: Understanding Human Relations Through Astrology | Reads cross-contacts between draconic positions as ties carried over from past lives |
| 1980 | Marc Penfield, The Reincarnation Chart | Listed by Crane and by María |
| 1980 | Karmen Goizueta, "La carta dracónica", Boletín Astrológico de A.N.A.E. 4 (Spain) | Earliest Spanish article found, reporting a lecture by Pamela Bennett; preserved by García Vara |
| 1987 | Pamela Crane, Draconic Astrology (Aquarian Press, 224 pp., ISBN 978-0-85030-559-3, catalogue); AA conference recording R0069 | The first book. María's slide dates it 1985; the catalogue says 1987 |
| 1999 | Pamela Crane, The Draconic Chart (Flare Publications, 278 pp., ISBN 978-0-9530261-4-2, catalogue); revised edition 2013 (358 pp., ISBN 978-1-903353-12-7) | Usually dated 2000; the standard reference, and the book María quotes in her course |
| 2011, 2013 | Julián García Vara, "Los nodos de la Luna y la carta dracónica" and "Astrología dracónica" | The clearest Spanish explanation of the arithmetic and the node choice; also preserves the earlier Spanish references |
| c. 2013 | Néstor Echarte, "Astrología dracónica" (Cosmovisión 1, urania.com.ar) | The Argentine technical writer everyone in Spanish cites |
| 2020 | María Blaquier, "Draconic astrology: insights into life's meaning", The Astrological Journal 62.4 (July/Aug 2020), p. 11; reprinted on astro.com in June 2021 | Her first Journal piece on the subject |
| 2021 | María Blaquier, "Astrología Dracónica", Revista Stellium (May 2021), reprinted on astro.com; "Draconic Astrology", Midheaven magazine (June 2021) | First Spanish-language article on astro.com on the subject |
| 2022 | Victor Olliver, Chasing the Dragons: An Introduction to Draconic Astrology (Wessex Astrologer, 222 pp., ISBN 978-1-910531-66-2); essay on astro.com; AA recording R1176. María Blaquier, "Técnicas de predicción dracónicas", astro.com | The second English book, by the editor of The Astrological Journal |
| 2023 | María Blaquier, "Twins Draconic", AA conference, recording R1287; "Una posible solución al problema astrológico de los gemelos", astro.com | The twins hypothesis presented to the AA and published in Spanish |
| 2024 | María Blaquier, "A Possible Explanation for the Astrological Issue Raised by Twins", The Astrological Journal 66.3 (May/June 2024), p. 26 (English text) | The twins hypothesis in the Journal |
| 2025 | María Blaquier, Astrología Dracónica (134 pp., ISBN 979-8-3068149-6-4) and its English edition (ISBN 979-8-1840512-4-6). Pam Crane, "Planetary Nodes: Beyond the Draconic", AJ 67.3, p. 20. Anne Ortelee, "Draconic North Node", AA recording R1391 | The first draconic book written in Spanish, and the technique still being extended by its founder |
Checked in October 2026 against Open Library, publisher pages and the Astrological Association shop. Items known only through Crane's list are marked as such.
The Babylonian claim, and who actually made it
The idea that the Babylonians read a zodiac measured from the Moon's nodes enters the draconic literature with Dennis Elwell's 1977 lecture, as a suggestion. Pamela Crane repeats it with the same care. Most Spanish-language authors take it from Cyril Fagan's Zodiacs Old and New (1950), whose chapter on the "draconic zodiac" relays the Marduk and Tiamat myth that María mentions. Victor Olliver, in his 2022 essay on astro.com, calls the evidence suggestive and not conclusive.
None of the historians of Babylonian astronomy describe a node-anchored zodiac. Nicholas Campion's Babylonian Astrology and Francesca Rochberg's Babylonian Horoscopes and In the Path of the Moon document the eclipse and saros records in detail and contain nothing of the kind. The names "head" and "tail of the dragon" for the nodes are first attested in medieval Arabic texts.
So the honest sentence is María's: we really don't know. Draconic astrology as practised is a twentieth-century technique whose authors, from Elwell onward, have proposed an ancient antecedent that remains undocumented. The figure of five thousand years that appears on some calculator sites has no source at all.
Dennis Elwell, Cambridge, 1977
The first presentation that can be dated, placed and read is Dennis Elwell's lecture "Multi-Dimensional Transits" at the Astrological Association conference at Churchill College, Cambridge, in September 1977. It was printed in The Astrological Journal, volume 20, number 1, Winter 1977/78 (pages 29 to 40 according to one secondary source; we have not held the issue), and astro.com reprinted it in April 2023. Elwell spelled the word "draconitic" and presented the chart as one of several subsidiary charts worth running transits against. Everything that follows in English cites him, and María marks the year on her slide in a different colour.
Pamela Crane, the two books
Pamela Crane heard Elwell and spent the following decade on the technique. Her Draconic Astrology (Aquarian Press, 1987) is the first book; her lecture at the 1987 AA conference survives as recording R0069. The Draconic Chart (Flare Publications, catalogued 1999 and usually dated 2000; revised and expanded in 2013) is the standard reference and the book María quotes most. From her course:
"I would like to end this with a phrase from Pamela Crane. She says, the draconic chart represents principles and profound values. What one preaches is the draconic chart because this is what one values. What one does is more on a psychological level and that is related to the tropical chart. This is from her book, The Draconic Chart."
Crane uses the true node and says so. In 2025 she was still extending the idea, with a column on planetary nodes in The Astrological Journal 67.3. Her own page on the draconic zodiac carries the list of early writers that both she and María rely on.
The Spanish lineage
Spanish-speaking astrologers have written about the draconic chart since at least 1980, when Karmen Goizueta reported a lecture by Pamela Bennett in the Boletín Astrológico de A.N.A.E.. The two technical authors everyone in Spanish cites are an Argentine and a Spaniard. Néstor Echarte's "Astrología dracónica" appeared around 2013 in Cosmovisión and on urania.com.ar, and in 2022 he published "Lazos subyacentes a partir de las cartas natales dracónicas" on family ties read in draconic charts. Julián García Vara's posts of 2011 and 2013 remain the clearest Spanish explanation of the arithmetic and of the node choice, and he preserved the earlier Spanish references: Goizueta, and the Mercurio-3 articles by Rosa Solé and Montserrat Ribas.
María Blaquier came to the technique in Buenos Aires through the problem of twins, and has taught it since the early 2000s in her academy. Her Spanish articles on astro.com, "Astrología Dracónica" (2021), "Técnicas de predicción dracónicas" and "Una posible solución al problema astrológico de los gemelos", and her 2025 book are the first extended treatment written in Spanish rather than translated. Her twins hypothesis, that one twin lives the tropical chart more strongly and the other the draconic, was presented to the Astrological Association in 2023 and printed in its Journal in 2024; the cases and the dataset are on this site.
The nodes behind the chart: Bonatti, Lilly, Rudhyar
The draconic chart is built on the lunar nodes, and María always teaches the two readings of the nodes before the chart itself. In her introduction video: "In ancient times, the North Node was seen as beneficial, like Jupiter and Venus. It was where things grew. The South Node was seen as malefic, like Saturn and Mars, where things diminished. In the last century, French astrologer Dane Rudhyar gave the nodes a psychological interpretation. The North Node is the animal's mouth. It is what we need to incorporate to evolve. The South Node relates to elimination."
In the course she quotes the sources: Guido Bonatti's Tractatus (13th century) and William Lilly's Christian Astrology (1647) for the traditional view, and Dane Rudhyar's article "How to Interpret the Lunar Nodes" (Horoscope magazine, 1966) for the psychological one. She adds: "Traditional astrologers might find this view shocking. I focus on traditional astrology, but I like using the psychological view for draconic astrology." Rudhyar wrote about the meaning of the nodes, not about a node-anchored chart; that distinction matters when his name appears in draconic histories.
True node or mean node, by author
| Who | Node | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pamela Crane (her site) | True node | María: "Pamela Crane uses the True node" |
| Dane Rudhyar | Mean node | Per María's article: Rudhyar favoured the mean node |
| Astro.com | True node by default, user-selectable | Per astro.com's settings documentation; not re-tested by us with a chart |
| Astro-Seek | Mean node by default, true node optional | Test chart run on 20 October 2026, see our node reference |
| María Blaquier | True node | Because she reads stationary nodes, and a mean node can never station; she has had accurate results with both |
| draconicchart.com | True node, always | Hard-coded in the engine |
The choice shifts every draconic placement by up to two degrees. Our node reference has the full table of the difference, 1900 to 2050.
What there is not
There is no peer-reviewed study of draconic astrology. Correlation, the Astrological Association's research journal, has published none; neither has Culture and Cosmos. There is no Wikipedia article on the subject in English or Spanish. The most-linked explanations online are a decade of blog posts and two forum threads. A page about sources should also say where the sources end, and anyone who wants to run a proper study has, on this site, the data and the method to start.
How to cite this page
Blaquier, María and the Draconic Chart team. "Draconic Astrology, a Documented History." draconicchart.com, 2026-10-20. https://draconicchart.com/draconic-astrology-history
For the facts in the timeline, please cite the primary source listed below rather than this page; this page exists to lead you to them. Corrections and additions are welcome through the address on our about page.
Bibliography
Books
Crane, Pamela A. F. Draconic Astrology: An Introduction to the Use of Draconic Charts in Astrological Interpretation. Wellingborough: Aquarian Press, 1987. 224 pp. ISBN 978-0-85030-559-3. Open Library
Crane, Pamela. The Draconic Chart. London: Flare Publications, 1999. 278 pp. ISBN 978-0-9530261-4-2. Revised and expanded edition, 2013, 358 pp., ISBN 978-1-903353-12-7. Open Library
Davison, Ronald C. Synastry: Understanding Human Relations Through Astrology. Aurora Press edition, 1983. Internet Archive
Olliver, Victor. Chasing the Dragons: An Introduction to Draconic Astrology. Bournemouth: The Wessex Astrologer, 2022. 222 pp. ISBN 978-1-910531-66-2. Publisher
Blaquier, María. Astrología Dracónica: Rasgar la superficie, cruzar el umbral y cómo diferenciar la carta de gemelos. 2025. 134 pp. ISBN 979-8-3068149-6-4. English edition: Draconic Astrology: Tearing through the Surface, Crossing the Threshold, and How to Read the Charts of Twins, ISBN 979-8-1840512-4-6. About the book
Fagan, Cyril. Zodiacs Old and New. Llewellyn, 1950. Chapter "The Draconic 'Zodiac'".
Penfield, Marc. The Reincarnation Chart. 1980. As listed by Crane.
Journal articles and recordings
Elwell, Dennis. "Multi-Dimensional Transits." The Astrological Journal 20, no. 1 (Winter 1977/78): 29-40. Reprinted on astro.com, April 2023.
Froger, Maurice. "The Nodal Horoscope." Astrology (Astrological Lodge of London). 1955 per Crane's list, 1959 per María's course; issue and pages unverified.
Lavagnini, Aldo. In Search magazine, 1959. As listed by Crane.
Davison, Ronald C. "The Lunar Zodiac." 1963. As listed by Crane.
Goizueta, Karmen. "La carta dracónica." Boletín Astrológico de A.N.A.E. 4 (1980). Via García Vara; not independently seen.
Blaquier, María. "Draconic Astrology: Insights into Life's Meaning." The Astrological Journal 62, no. 4 (July/Aug 2020): 11. AA listing. Reprinted on astro.com, June 2021. Also "Draconic Astrology", Midheaven magazine, June 2021.
Blaquier, María. "A Possible Explanation for the Astrological Issue Raised by Twins." The Astrological Journal 66, no. 3 (May/June 2024): 26. AA listing. English text.
Crane, Pam. "Sign Language: Planetary Nodes: Beyond the Draconic." The Astrological Journal 67, no. 3 (May/June 2025): 20. AA listing
Olliver, Victor. "Draconic Astrology: Finding Your Soul Purpose." Timelords (Cosmic Intelligence Agency), reprinted on astro.com, 2022.
Astrological Association conference recordings: Crane, "Draconic Astrology", R0069 (1987); Olliver, "Draconic Astrology Synastry", R1176 (2022); Blaquier, "Twins Draconic", R1287 (2023); Ortelee, "Draconic North Node", R1391 (2025).
Spanish-language sources
Echarte, Néstor Luis. "Astrología dracónica." Cosmovisión 1 and urania.com.ar, c. 2013; reprinted 29 April 2014 on Blog de Josep Lluesma.
Echarte, Néstor Luis. "Lazos subyacentes a partir de las cartas natales dracónicas." Academia.edu, c. 2022; reprinted 4 June 2026.
García Vara, Julián. "Los nodos de la Luna y la carta dracónica." Cadencias microcósmicas, 11 January 2011. "Astrología dracónica." Astrodigitalia, 19 April 2013.
Blaquier, María. "Astrología Dracónica." Revista Stellium, May 2021; reprinted on astro.com. "Técnicas de predicción dracónicas." astro.com. "Una posible solución al problema astrológico de los gemelos." astro.com.
On the nodes themselves
Bonatti, Guido. Tractatus (13th century). Lilly, William. Christian Astrology (1647). Rudhyar, Dane. "How to Interpret the Lunar Nodes." Horoscope magazine, 1966. The three sources María quotes for the traditional and the psychological reading of the nodes.
On the Babylonian question
Campion, Nicholas. Babylonian Astrology. 2000. Rochberg, Francesca. Babylonian Horoscopes. American Philosophical Society, 1998; In the Path of the Moon. Brill, 2010. Neither describes a node-anchored zodiac.
María's course and videos
Blaquier, María. Draconic Astrology, article on her site, with Crane's list of early writers. Draconic Astrology course (recorded in English, 2021; the course page is in Spanish), classes 1 to 3, the source of the quotations above. "What is a Draconic Chart?", Draconic Chart channel, 2026.
Revision history: 2026-10-20, first published.
Frequently asked questions
- Who invented draconic astrology?
- No single person, and María Blaquier's own answer is that the origin is unknown. The first dated, readable presentation is Dennis Elwell's lecture at the Astrological Association conference in Cambridge in 1977. Earlier articles by Froger, Lavagnini and Davison exist on Pamela Crane's list but could not be checked against the journals. Crane wrote the first book in 1987 and the standard reference in 1999.
- Is draconic astrology really 5,000 years old?
- No documented evidence supports that, and María says so in her course: there are hints it could have originated in Babylonia, and no real evidence that it did. Historians of Babylonian astronomy describe the eclipse records in detail and no node-anchored zodiac.
- Which book should I read first?
- Pamela Crane's The Draconic Chart (1999, revised 2013) in English, the book María quotes in her course. In Spanish, María Blaquier's Astrología Dracónica (2025) is the first book written in the language rather than translated. Victor Olliver's Chasing the Dragons (2022) is the most recent English introduction.
- What does Edgar Cayce have to do with draconic astrology?
- María explains in her course that Cayce's readings about planetary influences from past lives did not fit the tropical chart but did fit the draconic one, so draconic astrologers assume he was working from a draconic zodiac. It is an inference, not a documented fact, and the page treats it that way.
- Is there any scientific research on draconic astrology?
- No peer-reviewed study exists as of October 2026. The research journals Correlation and Culture and Cosmos have published nothing on it. The twins dataset on this site is offered so that anyone who wants to run a study has data to start from.
- Who are the Spanish-language authors on the draconic chart?
- Karmen Goizueta (1980), Julián García Vara (2011 and 2013), Néstor Echarte (c. 2013 and 2022) and María Blaquier (articles on astro.com since 2021, book in 2025). Their references are linked in the bibliography above.
Interpretation methodology by Maria Blaquier. Astrologer, educator, author of Astrologia Tradicional.