Do You Know This Man behind the Federal Reserve?
Called "the currency dictator of Europe", Montagu Norman gave the ultimate bankster speech (an archetypal perspective)
The banking systems make the world go round. But do you know who created the private central banking system?
Montagu Norman was the eccentric but ruthless Governor of the Bank of England. From 1920 to 1944. That’s a a quarter of a century after the First World War.
With Benjamin Strong, he helped set up the U.S. Federal Reserve.
He was instrumental in overseeing the Bank’s transition from a private bank to what is now recognised as a modern central bank.
It’s Aries season—and Montagu Norman had Chiron in Aries.
I dig into archetypal astrology to understand how we harness our energies to flow in life.
Montagu Norman — Aristocrat Son to Governor of the Bank of England
Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman DSO PC (6 September 1871–4 February 1950) was raised in refined surroundings.
He was born the elder son of Frederick Norman and Lina Susan Penelope Collet, a daughter of Sir Mark Wilks Collet, 1st Baronet, himself a Bank of England Governor.
The Norman family was well known in banking. Lord Montagu Norman is the only man in history who had both his maternal grandfather and his paternal grandfather serve as Governors of the Bank of England.
In 1894, he came to New York to work for Brown Brothers in 1894.
From 1916 to 1944, he was the Governor of the Bank of England from 1916 to 1944. He was part of the the central bank conferences which set up the Crash of 1929 and a worldwide depression.
At Norman’s death in 1950, the Times of London described him as “for many years the greatest figure in the world of high finance.”
A T-Square Drive to Discipline and Institutionalised Control
On the day that Norman was born, a tense T-square dominated the sky.
A T-square is an opposition (180-degree) making two squares (90-degree) to third point—the tip of the “bow and arrow”. It promises huge drive in relation to its focal point’s energy.
Let’s start with the opposition.
On one end, we have not one, but two, personal lights in Libra:
Venus is how you relate to people.
In 10° Libra, you’re geared towards relationships that are harmonious. This could mean fair and square reciprocity.
Mercury is how you communicate.
In 2° Libra, you notice what’s out of balance. Rather than critique, you go for win-win. Or the art of compromise.
“The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.”—Montagu Norman
This end of the opposition is an unusually strong aspect. By itself. Being hooked onto a dominating T-square only amplifies its potential.
I’m going to note what’s unusual about these lights on this day. Bear with me — the astrobabble will make sense.
1 . Venus is strong at home in Libra. You’ve diplomat vibes, geared to relate to people.
2 . Mercury is also in Libra. Your mental faculties is always part of the relational process. It promises a clever tongue that chooses to attract with honey. You make a natural diplomat.
3 . Mercury is highly aspected. 9 aspects across the chart. It promises pervasive influence across all areas of life. Mercury rules commerce, sales , financial gain — any trade that requires the art of persuasion.
4 . Libra rules law. Out of the zodiac, Libra is most attuned to relationship. Pop astro paints Libra as pretty and harmless. No, Libra is the start of interpersonal battle. Seeing the world via me vs. you. Like Left vs. Right.
5 . Both are retrograde (appearing to travel backwards in the sky). Their power is internalised. You tend to go against norms.
You’ll see how Norman harnessed these energies at his disposal when we get to his banking career later.
But here’s a sneak peak:
“Debts must be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed..” — Montagu Norman, 1924
Now we get to Aries on the other hand.
Chiron is the wounded healer. A most sore point.
In 10° Aries, you’re extra sensitive. Self-worth, self-importance, self-esteem are your stumblings until you believe that you do count. Only then will you rise to champion the individual in others.
It’s interesting to see the potential of this see-saw in Norman’s younger days.
He was raised rich and fancy — “refined surroundings” — as the child of two of England’s most prominent banking dynasties. He always dressed with a flair for the arty.
But he showed little promise. He dropped out of King’s College, Cambridge, and then “travelled” around Europe for several years.
“Montagu Norman, always absolutely charming, always absolutely wrong." — John Maynard Keynes
In 1912, he had a nervous breakdown, and went to Switzerland to be treated by [Carl] Jung, as was fashionable among the powerful group which he represented.
To say the aristocrat’s son had a chip on his shoulder is understating how it can impact personality.
This tense see-saw requires a release through its focal point:
Saturn is your inner critic.
In 3° Capricorn, this is a powerful placement because Saturn is “at home” in its own sign. You don’t look to others for authority or approval. No. You’re driven to create order. You see long-term well-built structures as a way to restore order in the world.
Saturn is also retrograde (making this T-square a dominating pattern of retrograde energy). You’d struggle with authority. Until you become it yourself.
“When the business man is absent from the business, something will always go wrong.”—Montagu Norman
Capricorn rules institutions (including financial), business, government. It was in his blood.
He would become instrumental in setting up centralised banking in the US, the Federal Reserve as it is known today. But Norman found his family business — commercial banking — to be a bore.
Under Norman’s hand, banking became woven with governance. Here’s a timeline of Norman’s key roles:
1900 — he rejoined Brown Shipley in 1900 as a partner himself. `Norman proved to be a capable and far-sighted (Capricorn) financier. He made swift astonishing changes.
1907 — Norman became a director of the Bank of England. In 1920, he was appointed governor. After almost 25 years, he overhauled its organization, bringing in representatives from all sectors of the British economy.
1915 — he argued to his Brown Shipley Partners that they should not issue securities or participate in underwriting the issues of other bankers while also doing acceptances and other banking functions.
1929+ — This was the essence of the Glass-Steagall reforms 18 years later, after the stock market crash of 1929.
1923 — Norman received the Distinguished Service Order, then sworn of the Privy Council in 1923. By now he amassed networks with central bankers around the world — most notably Benjamin Strong, by now governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
1924—Norman, as Governor of The Bank Of England, addressed the United States Bankers’ Association in New York City.
This is part of the speech:
“Capital must protect itself in every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible.
“When, through process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of the government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers.
“These truths are well known among our principal men, who are now engaged in forming an imperialism to govern the world. By dividing the voter through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting for questions of no importance.
“It is thus, by discrete action, we can secure for ourselves that which has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished.” — Montagu Norman, Governor of The Bank Of England, addressing the United States Bankers’ Association, NYC 1924
There’s more to Norman’s banking empire and how its networks spread across the world.
More next time: how Montagu Norman withheld Czech gold, transferring it to the Nazi regime in March 1939.
Notes:
Norman Montagu’s birth day chart.
Take the wisdom of the zodiac wheel as far as you wish. Going deep with mindset shifts (coined as depth astrology, an extension of all its other principles) is how we can transcend our charts and harness the flow of life.
As within so without,
Mel, i.e.,