Michael Lutin was an astrology legend and the author of Saturn Signs, Made in Heaven, Childhood Rising, and SunShines, The Astrology of Being Happy. He was also the featured astrology writer for Vanity Fair magazine for over 25 years. In the vast ocean of astrological work, Lutin’s voice is totally original.
In his intro, Lutin writes, “I believe that deep down all people have a core of brilliant, shining, thrilling, blissful health, natural instinct and confidence.”
Early Life and Education
Senator Michael Stewart Lutin, Class of 1961, started young. He was front-page news in The Trinity Tripod of 1961 as Senator Michael Stewart Lutin, ‘blasting’ the Sophomore Dining Club, having been elected only two months before. He never stopped teaching, and he never stopped learning. That combination is also perfect for the media.
Lutin was a terrific product of the 1960s in both Pop Art and astrology. In 1969, he was at Grand Central Station working on an Astroflash booth. It had debuted in Paris in 1967, with Andre Barbault at the helm, and a couple of years later, he could be found in a pink shirt and blue jacket, charging $50-$75 for a consultation as the new-fangled technology whirred behind him.
The IBM-run Astroflash, programmed by Barbault, was doing what Lutin himself would be doing a couple of decades later: making hugely popular public predictions. In October 1969, it was merrily calling the results for the Mets over the Orioles in the World Series.
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Not that Lutin, a Phi Beta Kappa alum of Trinity College, Hartford, would lower himself to mere games. He was far more at home with, say, archeologists. In fact, his horoscope reading for New York’s Iris Love inspired her to pursue the head of Aphrodite - Venus, no less. The British Museum was not impressed.
Career Highlights
Michael’s interpretation of transits was an inspiration to a generation of media astrologers. He elevated the sun sign column in America as Patric Walker had done in Britain. Neil Spencer told me, Lutin was his favorite sun sign astrologer by a country mile.
Writing in Planetarium at Vanity Fair, Michael managed to take ‘Jupiter’s one-year transit through your solar Fifth House’ for Gemini and turn it into something people would quote to each other over breakfast. Lutin would also read all the transits together and, like a detective, piece together the whole story. So Gemini would hear about her Fifth House but also her financial issues, coming from those never-ending Capricorn transits.
As he told John Townley in what might be the definitive Lutin interview, he lived “a very, very frugal life” and at one point had no electricity. Then fate intervened. He was offered $10,000 to write about sun signs by a publisher. Thus the former Latin student, fluent in Spanish from the age of 14, found himself in the most dumbed-down part of astrology, tasking himself with the mission of elevating it. In fact, he took it so far that Vanity Fair made him their own.
MICHAEL LUTIN Astrology Legend Shares His Favorite Techniques & More!
Key Predictions and Insights
It’s extraordinary that my old astrology amigo Mr. Lutin should pass to spirit, just as his most famous prediction (about America) is also passing. On the day that Donald Trump learns what his fate will be from the ‘hush money’ judge Merchan, Pluto goes out of Capricorn.
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This is what Michael wrote in Vanity Fair, before Donald even came near power. He published this in 2006, and I know even some hardline skeptics are still amazed today at the full astrological prediction. This is an extract:
Appearing on the Judith Regan show, he said nobody would know the results until Wednesday morning because Mercury was retrograde. “And I said the winner’s going to be the loser, and the loser’s going to be the winner,” he told New York magazine. “People thought I was this great genius, but that was the only time I’ve ever been right about an election.”
Back in September, the brilliant psychic astrologer Madalyn Aslan, who was mentored by Michael Lutin but also his old friend, had lunch with him in New York and remembers, “At this lunch we both agreed that Trump would get in, but not stay in. Mikey gave him two years.”
Personal Traits and Legacy
Lutin was extremely generous with other astrologers and open to new ideas. Christopher Renstrom credits Michael with pointing him in the right direction, professionally but also personally. Michael was always broad-minded about astrology discoveries and was as open to the modern (the Roman family tree of asteroids) as he was to the traditional.
Funny Man, Serious Mission: Astrology can produce people who take themselves frightfully seriously. Not Lutin. The mission was serious - losing a friend to suicide made him keenly aware of the responsibility of writing a column.
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However, he could flip sides quickly, going from Tibetan Buddhism and depth psychology to the silliest gags. It was more like chatting to one of those classic Woody Allen-era New Yorkers. And yet if you asked him for insights, Michael would give them. I know of one author writing a biography of Gloria Swanson who leaned on him to help write a chapter using her horoscope.
Ronnie Gale Dreyer shares a memory: "Losing Michael Lutin, who I knew for over 30 years, is such a great loss for the astrology world, for our NYC NCGR Chapter and for all his family, friends, colleagues, students, clients. I am glad I got to see him a few months ago when he was recovering from a fall. He could be as acerbic as he was generous. There was nothing that could compare to Michael’s annual holiday party. Covid impacted him and took away the ability to host those parties, which was one of Michael’s joys. But my dearest memory was about 30 years ago when I barely knew Michael and the bookstore where I was going to hold my astrology class cancelled the rental space and I needed a space to teach 8 paid students. I phoned Michael who lived near me to ask if he knew a space. He told me I could use his apartment for two hours once a week for six weeks. He just went to a movie or out to dinner or saw a friend for those two hours. I never forgot that act of kindness. RIP dear Michael. Fly high.”
Tad Mann recently recorded a great interview on reincarnation. Perhaps Michael Lutin may well be here, and here again. That can only be a good thing for astrology. If he ever wishes to return to it.
Oh Mr. Lutin, you were a rare thing in this business. Funny and clever, wise and self-effacing. Inclusive. Waffle-free. Kind.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Astrologer, Author, Columnist |
| Notable Publications | Saturn Signs, Made in Heaven, Childhood Rising, SunShines: The Astrology of Being Happy |
| Columnist | Vanity Fair (over 25 years) |
| Education | Phi Beta Kappa, Trinity College, Hartford |
| Known For | Unique voice in astrology, accurate predictions, humor, generosity |
tags: #michael #lutin #astrologer