NORMAN NICHOLAS ARENS
(1910-2006)
The Friends of Astrology Inc. mourns the loss of its long-time Education Director NORMAN ARENS who passed from this plane of existence following a massive stroke on February 1. In his mundane life he spent 44 years as a banker, beginning at the First National Bank of Chicago in 1928, and retiring as Vice President of the Pioneer Bank in 1972. However, his passion was his life-long pursuit of spiritual knowledge through astrology, which he described as “the study of the God-Power at work.”
As a boy he looked to the heavens and marveled at their beauty. In his early years he would pore over library books about the stars, a pursuit which led him to astrology. At the age of 19 he taught his first class and began advertising for students. Thus he met and married his first wife, and in the 1930s together they moved to her home in Montana. For more than two decades he continued his banking by day, and his love for the stars by night. During this time he raised his family, but in the early 1960s this marriage was dissolved in a difficult divorce.
Through professional associates he secured a position as a bank officer in Hawaii, where he met his second wife Cecile. His Hawaii banking experience was not to his lofty expectations, and in 1964 he returned to Chicago, bringing Cecile with him. Together they lived in the Marina City Towers, and Norman began actively teaching at various downtown Chicago hotels as well as through the Unity Church in Evanston. Thus began his close association with the Unity movement, and trips to the Unity School in Missouri. In the mid-1960s he relocated his astrology classes to Unity of Oak Park, while continuing to teach classes in Chicago. During this period of his life he was listed as both a teaching and practicing astrologer in Jess Stern’s A Time for Astrology (1971).
Eventually Norman expanded his range to include teaching in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and would travel weekly to conduct his courses and do private chart work. Throughout his teaching he insisted on meticulously rectifying each student’s chart as a part of the class. His classes brought him into contact with professional people, one of whom eventually enticed him to retire from his mundane banking career and pursue his passion for astrology on a full-time basis. In 1974 Norman and Cecile moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, which became their new home base for classes and clients. But while Florida was home, throughout the 1980s Norman still returned on a regular basis to visit family in the Chicago area and continue teaching classes through the Unity Church in Oak Park.
Following Cecile’s death in December 1993, Norman was heartbroken and very depressed. Various clients and students had him visit, but nothing was able to lift his spirits. In May of 1994 his niece invited him to come, and prior to his visit he notified some of his Chicago-area students that he would be in the area briefly. One of these students was LORI LUCK, a member of Friends of Astrology. His brief stay coincided with a major conference held by the International Society for Astrological Research, and Lori insisted he attend with her for at least one day. And while Norman protested that he was not a member and wouldn’t know anyone, one of his former students from Wisconsin, CAROL RUSHMAN, was actually on the faculty! Carol’s book The Art of Predictive Astrology includes many of the techniques she first learned from Norman, and to show her appreciation she dedicated the book to her first teacher – Norman Arens.
It was at the ISAR conference in May 1994 that I met Norman. While working at the registration desk, I saw his name badge for a one-day attendance, and when he came to pick up his badge I introduced myself to him. Within Friends of Astrology we had (and still have) members who had studied with him in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, and I wished to meet the teacher who had instructed them so well. Norman invited me to come to lunch with him and Lori, and while Lori returned to the conference, our conversation continued… and at 4:30 the staff politely asked us to leave so they could set up for dinner!
As astrologers both Norman and I were amazed at the connections between our two charts, but on a personal basis we knew there was much, much more… When Norman returned to Florida we corresponded regularly by mail, and spent even more time on the phone together. We were married at the Unity Church in Oak Park on September 5, 1994 carefully selecting the date and time to match with both our charts.
Norman officially joined the Board of Directors of Friends of Astrology in 1996, and continued to serve in this capacity until his death. During the wonderful 12-year Jupiter cycle we shared in marriage Norman continued teaching at the Unity Church in Oak Park – only now we were teaching together. During the past two years, as Norman’s health began to decline, I was able to ‘fill in’ by carrying on the classes and client work while still allowing him to remain active in the field he loved so well.
In our last months together we purchased a home which would allow us to properly provide shelf space for the (literally) thousands of volumes now in the Friends of Astrology library. The library space is a lasting gift from Norman to the Friends of Astrology, and is perfectly in keeping with his desire to preserve and teach what he called “astrological truth.” But it is his love for astrology that will live on in the many, many students and clients who sought out his expertise during his 75 years of teaching. By continuing to teach classes I, too, am acting as a living legacy so that his experience and expertise can be passed on to still more students, and hopefully inspire yet another generation of professional astrologers. Norman’s spirit must indeed be pleased that even with his death his passion for astrology will continue, and that we – he, and I, and Friends of Astrology -- are providing a foundation for future students.
BIRTH DATA
Source Christine Arens
BIRTH: May 7, 1910 – Chicago IL – 6:44 am CST
DEATH: February 16, 2006 – Westmont IL – 2:38 pm CST
Source Christine Arens
BIRTH: May 7, 1910 – Chicago IL – 6:44 am CST
DEATH: February 16, 2006 – Westmont IL – 2:38 pm CST