American pro astrologer, author, data collector and winner of the 1992 Regulus Award for Enhancing Astrology's Image.
Lois was raised in a small Canadian prairie town in Saskatchewan by two Scorpio parents; two older brothers. Her dad was a land-owner and businessman, prosperous for his time and place, and her mom a restless homemaker. On 10/17/1940, her dad was found on the street with two skull fractures. The case was never closed.
The 12-year-old girl moved with her mom to California where her mom met and married a young handsome second husband. They began a nomadic life style, trying different jobs and business ventures and making some 17 moves back and forth across the U.S. and Canada for the following eight years.
On 2/13/1949, Lois married George Rodden, an aircraft engineer and part-time musician; they had six kids, one deceased. They lived in the San Francisco Bay area for ten years before settling in the Los Angeles area where George Rodden worked for Ford Marketing Corporation and conducted youth symphonies as an avocation. In 1968, they separated, divorcing the following year.
In 1960, a dinner guest gave Rodden a book on Tarot published by the Church of Light. When she moved into Los Angeles in 1961, she found that the Church of Light was three blocks away and classes were available. Within a few months, Tarot fell by the wayside as she discovered the remarkable world of astrology.
The lowest year of her life was in 1968. She had closeted herself for six months to write a book on chart comparison and with its completion, found herself with no money, friends, lover, hope or future, but five kids to support and an old shabby six-bedroom rented Victorian house. Her income consisted of rent from the two university foreign students that she took each year and a few astrology clients. She had sold her first astrology article in February, but the turning point was in September 1968. She was invited to become a charter member of Professional Astrologers Inc, and at the same time invited to give a series of astrology lectures in San Jose and to teach at the Hollywood Astrological Society. She is convinced that her career as an astrologer began at that time.
Rodden published five books of astrological data, the Astro-Data series, and three textbooks, "The Mercury Method of Chart Comparison," "Modern Transits," and "Money, How to Find it With Astrology." Moving to Hollywood in 1973, she built up a clientele of people in the entertainment industry as well as other general fields, always more comfortable with pragmatic counseling than with emotional or psychological dilemmas in the client's charts. In 1976 she wrote a list of transit definitions for one of the first computer companies to sell monthly forecasts. She wrote Sun-signs for the astrology scrolls that sell from vending machines, she wrote annual sun-sign books for the market check stands and she wrote astrologically based ad copy.
In 1985 she sold her Hollywood home at 500% profit and moved to a small California town for a slower pace and less pressured lifestyle in order to focus on more research than clients. Her aged mom came to live with her from 1988 to 1990. When her mom went into a retirement home, Rodden made her first trip to Europe, March 1990.
Data collection and research were always her foremost interests. In 1985, Rodden made an agreement with ISAR to put her extensive data collection on computer in order to provide data to astrologers at a reasonable price. The project moved ahead slowly until reaching a full stop somewhere after 1991.
On 7/03/1996, Rodden met Mark McDonough when he expressed an interest in helping with the databank. Out of this meeting, the AstroDatabank was born, with McDonough designing and creating the AstroDatabank program to store and deliver the Rodden data, which had by then reaching the amount of some 30,000 data.
Rodden's health was always excellent except for a genetic susceptibility to cancer. In 1973 she had surgery for cervical and uterine cancer; in 1980, a melanoma removed from her left arm; in 1986, a mastectomy; in 1997, part of a lung removed, plus a half dozen skin cancers over the years.
She has maintained warm relationships with her three daughters and two sons, with four grandsons and one granddaughter. Her annual trips to conferences and/ or family are enjoyable breaks from her concentration on data collecting. The astrological community is a valuable part of her life with rewarding friendships and continual intellectual challenge.
On 7/29/1999, Rodden was given the news that her cancer had metastasized into the chest, a mass resting on the aorta and left lung. Exploratory surgery on 9/07/1999 confirmed that the mass was inoperable: she began six-weeks of daily radiation treatment and three months of weekly chemotherapy on 9/28/1999. On 12/22/1999, she was declared to be in remission. There were other health annoyances by then, osteoporosis and osteo-arthritis. The chest cancer grew over her left vocal cord, leaving her with a voice of not much more than a whisper. She moved into a much slower life-style in the late '90s without trips and lectures but continued to work with daily enthusiasm on the AstroDatabank.
On 3/15/2002, her cancer once more moved into active status, requiring a series of chemo treatments and slowing down her work to half-speed. She is scheduled to speak at UAC (with a good mike!) on 7/21/2002.
Role model for her integrity, adherence to strict astrological standards, and generosity, our much-loved astrologer, data collector, writer and friend died on June 5, 2003 at about 8:30 AM at her home in Yucaipa, CA surrounded by family and friends.
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