Sit back, relax and enjoy an astrological lecture. If you have the time; the good thing about the Internet, is that you can reschedule the lecture for when you are ready to watch.
Showing posts with label Astrologers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astrologers. Show all posts
My First Steps into Astrology
I was introduced to the astrology chart through Russell Grant's Astrology Kit. He is my first teacher in those respects. I received the astro-pack from my mum and dad. The Astrology kit is easy to follow, but I messed up the chart drawings quite a few times until I got it right. The planetary positions and finding the rising degree was difficult to work out at first, along with learning and drawing the astrological symbols. I persisted and finally completed a birth chart. I still have my Astrology Kit for sentimental reasons.
Russell Grant is well known astrologer in England, and is the author of various books, as well as writing newspaper columns. He has also created a Nintendo astrology game and has his own television show, so on this evidence, it appears the man is a mass marketing genius. Grant is an Aquarian and the ambassador of the Alzheimer's society and has poured a lot of his money into youth schemes, I played along the water bearer themes in that description..
Russell Grant is a flamboyant astrologer he dresses and speaks colourfully. In Liz Greene's and Juliet Burk's "The Astrologer, the Counsellor and the Priest." The seminar takes a look back at the history of astrology, and how to conduct astrology counselling sessions and also covers the judgements of astrologers to other practitioners in the same field.
Astrology has its showy side. Its representatives invariably offend those Saturnian astrologers who want very badly to be seen as respectable by the scientific community, and who may have forgotten, beneath the weight of Promethean idealism and Chironian pain, that astrology can also be great fun.
At a European astrology conference some years ago, I overheard the organisers discussing whether or not a particular famous newspaper astrologer (who shall remain nameless, but who has a Sagittarian Ascendant with Jupiter conjunct the Sun in the 1st house) should be invited to speak at the next Congress. The decision to not invite her was unanimous. The reason? Because she was too glamorous and wore low cut dresses when presenting lectures.
In a similar vein, at an analytic congress, a male analyst of my acquaintance turned up in a bright yellow sports jacket, rather like the proverbial bird of paradise amongst chickens. A pair of elderly ladies of the sober, caring type could not refrain from pointing out that such garb was unsuitable for an analyst. Jupiter run amok can sometimes immerse us in sleaze. But all work and no Jupiter makes Jack, and the astrologer a very dull boy or girl indeed".
The Astrological Alphabet
This system was developed by Zip Dobyns, and it's main premise was to develop a way for astrology students to understand repeated themes in the chart. The numerical division is quite simple. The first sign/house of the zodiac and ruling planet all relate to letter 1. So, Aries, the first house and Mars represent one in the astrological alphabet. The 5th house, Leo and the Sun are all connected to the letter 5. Now, the author specifically states in her work that sign, house and planet are not the "same" and this is a method used to understand the 12 basic drives in the personality.
The system has been highly criticised by the traditional branch of astrology, as they have a disdain for such methods. However, I was left baffled by one critic of the Zip Alphabet, he made it publicly known that the Astrological Alphabet has caused great harm to astrology. In his view, houses do not = signs, signs do not = planets. However, if he actucally read Zip's work she clearly says they are not the "same". Nonetheless, this particular critic, praised the late Charles Carter in every single book review. I own four books written by Charles Carter and he has excellent ideas worth exploring in astrology, and I also noted that his observations on sign and house, are almost identical to Dobyn's. Here is an extract from his website regarding this debate:
I shall deal chiefly with Leo rising and Sun in Leo, but I mention that some of the most Leo people I know have heavy stresses on the 5th house and next to nothing in the sign. It used to be said that sign was character and the house the field in which it is expressed, but frankly this is wrong. It is, in my view, a major mistake. The lady who interviewed me on television recently struck me as one of the most Leo persons imaginable. But her natus showed nothing but Neptune in that sign: however, she had Sun, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury in the 5th, with Mars close to the cusp. You may imagine that Mercury conjunction Jupiter, with Capricorn rising, and with this satellitium in the 5th, made her one of the most self-confident persons imaginable. She insisted on announcing me as "President Emeritus of the Astrological Lodge of the Theosophical Society"although she didn't know what "Emeritus" means and also asked me what "theosophical" signified. She said the title sounded so fine! If that isn't Leo, I don't know what is!
Usually if you have read an author well you have a good sense of what take they have on astrology. Here Carter was agreeing with the exact same system that Dobyn's uses. I assumed that the reviewer had read Carter's work in detail, but perhaps not.
Here is a PDF from the late Zipporah Dobyns, and I encourage people to make up their own minds. In one lecture by Liz Greene, a student in the seminar questioned her on the use of sign = house in her highly acclaimed work on "Saturn a New Look at an Old Devil". In this case, she emphasises the house placement of Saturn has the greatest impact. Modern astrologers can be just as vicious, and they often say the "traditionals" are stuck in a time warp, and life hasn't evolved, and they disregard the newly discovered planets. The Moderns are accused of not knowing the history of astrology, and of sprinkling sugar all over astrological interpretations. Moderns are also told they don't have a realistic view of life/art of astrology. The mythical battle between the old and new (Saturn-Uranus) reenacts itself daily in the astrological communities, and it can get pretty ugly at times. Uranus' discovery shook the traditional system, and the ancient astrologers cling to old methods out of security and what works. Modern astrologers promote new planets and new consciousness in the world. Chronus/Saturn and the traditional branch of astrology are still trying to castrate Modern astrologers (Uranus).
An Astrological Analogy
I like the use of an analagy in astrology, as it helps you to gain an imaginative picture of what the author is talking about. An analogy can be extremely clever or strange and some can make you laugh out loud with the use of such an odd comparison. I collected a bunch of anolagies for this post. Liz Greene has to be the queen of analogies as she occupies these examples frequently. I enjoyed browsing through all her books again looking for these. She is such a great writer. Well, here goes...
Astrology and a Packet of Garden Seeds
The natal chart is basically a map of potential. Like the picture on a packet of garden seeds, it shows what you might become. Sue Tompkins - Contemporary Astrologers handbook.
Fate and Free Will - Map to Birmingham or Kalahari Desert
Perhaps the best way of viewing the fate and free will question is to turn to the subjects of maps. After all, the birth chart is quite literally a map for a particular moment. Talking metaphorically imagine you were born with a map of Kalahari Desert and that I was born with a map of Birmingham. One might say that the Kalahari is your fate and that Birmingham is my fate. Our choices and potential are different. I have roads and canals that I can go up and down, and shops I can frequent but just because I have the various features on my map it doesn't mean that I will use them or, if I do, that I will do consciously. In your map of the Kalahari you have different choices; choices of country, choices of game park, choices of whether to keep cattle or hunt wild game, choices as to whether you listen to the weaver birds or notice the acacias. So we have at least to some degree of free will but our choices are circumscribed by the perimeters of our particular map. Such perimeters might be described as our fate. Sue Tompkins - Contemporary Astrologer's handbook
The Ascendant = Driving Along in my Automobile
If the analogy of a vehicle is a good one for the ascendant and First House, then the Sun in our chart depicts us in the role of the driver, whereas our Moon casts us in the role of the passenger or maybe even as the baggage! Sue Tompkins - Contemporary Astrologer's Handbook
The South Node Report Card
The South Node is our Souls report card. It tells what subjects we have passed: the South Node says, " Congratulations, you have passed Gemini Level I, " For "incompletes" and less impressive marks, look to Saturn for further instruction and retesting, not to the South Node. Kevin Burke - The Complete Node Book.
More Gardening
Transits signify periods of growth. If we wish to use the transit period for our growing, we need to begin when the seeds of the transit are planted...Many students attempt to interpret a transit when it is basically over, for they begin to work with it when the crop is being harvested. The unpleasant crop harvested from a difficult transit occurs when we haven't been aware of the effect of a transit soon enough. I use a ten degree applying orb. In that way the energy can be transformed with knowledge and understanding. Betty Lundsted - The Time Your Life.
The Ascendant/Doorway of a House
It's like the doorway to the house. No matter what's going on in that house, the first thing you see is the door. Some doors are open, welcoming, inviting, painted in cheery colours. Other doors are silent, closed, with a little peephole so whoever lives inside can check you out first before you're let in. Some doors are large and grandiose, like palace entrances. Others are small and unobtrusive. The door isn't really any index to the inside of the house. There are houses where you'd never notice that shabby little door, but the inside is beautiful. Others are very flamboyant outside, but small and unobtrusive inside. Never judge a house by it's door. But the door reflects how that person wants you to see him. So, we have the sign of the ascendant. Liz Greene - Astrology for Lovers.
Transits/Hands of a 'Cosmic' Clock
So the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets - and the stars behind them - can be seen as the 'hands' of a cosmic clock. The astrologer is someone who has learned to tell the 'cosmic time'. Through reading a horoscope, meaning 'view of hour', he or she can divine the nature of what or who is happening, and when further 'influences' will occur, and what they mean. But, in this context, the word 'indication' is actually more appropriate than 'influence'. This is because clocks indicate the time, they do not in themselves influence what is happening or make things happen. And the most potent moment in cosmic time is when someone or something comes into being - birth. Hence the importance of the birth chart, for that is truly 'your time', and all other 'times' are related to it. Lyn Birkbeck - Instant Astrologer.
The Psyche Delivering Fruit
As Astrologers, we can wind up in a lot of trouble if we think we can impose our wishes on the rate at which things grow. You are wanting to hear me say, " Yes, you are free. You can can sort out your complexes whenever you like, regardless of the chart". Indeed, you are free, to work with your developmental pattern in any way you choose, including transforming things that are dark or stuck. But as far as getting the psyche to deliver it's fruit when it is not yet ripe, any gardener can tell you such tactics don't work. Liz Greene - The Horoscope in Manifestation.
Saturn/'Wet Blanket'
And not all unconscious issues are unpleasant. Sometimes one finds that perfectly lovely configurations in a chart are very unconscious. The ego does not perceive them as lovely, or one has been taught to see oneself as unlovely. Then some of one's best resources may be hidden away in the darkness. This latter is know as the wet blanket syndrome. For example, we might see a chart with a lot of planets in Capricorn, and angular Saturn opposition Sun, and Mercury square Chiron. And along with these placements is a delightful Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius, but it's invisible. The person doesn't seem to exhibit the joyful, self indulgent, and adventurous spirit we associate with the two 'benefics'. Where has it gone? Most likely it has been suppressed, by both parents and the ego, and it is being projected. There might be a lot of envy toward other people who seem to have everything: "It's alright for some, with looks and money and plenty of time to indulge themselves, but the rest of us don't have it so easy". Or the person may perceive the Venus-Jupiter wholly negatively and stomp around saying, "Irresponsible, self-indulgent people! Liz Greene - The Horoscope in manifestation.
Re-planting Seeds and Cultivating Fields/Natal Potential
The horoscope of an individual's birth reveals the essential balances and imbalances of that person's life pattern; that person's Karma. We call the natal horoscope the "blueprint to life" for it reveals the seeds the individual must (re) plant in life and methods by which he may or may not cultivate his fields. It will show the potential extent of his subsequent harvests. Alan Oken's Complete Astrology.
Rectifying a Chart/Diagnostic Work
The Astrologer who rectifies a map is like a physician who specializes in diagnostic work. When a patient exhibits an unknown ailment, the doctor looks to the symptoms, examines the patients medical and family history, makes certain tests, and comes up with his opinion on the nature of the disease. He then prescribes the appropriate treatment. If the patient responds favourably, the diagnosis can be considered correct. The same goes for rectification. After closely examining the natives life and physical appearance (and, if possible, the charts of the native's immediate family), the astrologer suggests a horoscope pattern and "prescribes" the House positions. Alan Oken - Complete Astrology
In natal astrology, it sometimes helps to think of the houses not as actual houses, but rather as "rooms" that are inside each of us. Each room has a special purpose and is reserved for certain types of experiences. Think of it this way: when we're hungry and want something to eat, we go to the kitchen, not the bedroom or the study; and we don't usually sleep in the bathroom or the dining room. It's the same way with the house in the birth chart. The sixth house is our office-it's where we go to work. When we want to go out and have fun, on the other hand, we go to our fifth house. We meet up with our friends in the eleventh house, and our family in the fourth. Kevin Burk - Understanding The Birth Chart.
A Bead Necklace/Human Intervention
We can take any birth chart, and we have no idea what the individual has made or will make out of it. We don't have a coherent story. We only have a mass of fragments. It is something in the individual that makes these fragments into a story, like placing isolated beads on a string to make a necklace. Have any on you ever worked with beads? There, on the table, is a pile of ceramic beads of various sizes and shapes and colours. There is no pattern. We work out how many of each we have, and then we say, "I 'll think I will put a blue one first, and then three green ones, followed by a big amber one. Then I'll have another blue one, and then another three green ones." The finished necklace has order, design, harmony, intent. Before our intervention the beads did not. Liz Greene - Apollo's chariot
Banging on Doors
With Uranus in the 7th, a stable relationship may sometimes seem like living in a house in which all the doors are locked. Even if one is not conscious of one's own psychic claustrophobia, something inside wants to start banging on those doors. The knowledge that they are all locked is very unpleasant, so one begins to rattle the handles and shout! "Let me out!" If someone opens the door and says, "Look this door is open, you can leave when you like," the chances are that one won't need to leave. Because one knows one is free to go, one may well decide to stay around. But the moment someone says, "You are not allowed to leave. You have to stay. We have a marriage certificate, a mortgage, responsibilities towards the children, and your mother to look after, and what will people think?" then the impulse to get out can become quite compulsive. Liz Greene The Art of Stealing Fire.
Uranus/Onboard Computer
Uranian foresight isn't really intuition in the colloquial sense; it is something else. It is an ability to plug into a larger system, so we immediately know the rules governing a particular system. It is rather like the on-board computer which one gets on certain cars. If one is travelling at a certain rate of speed, and one's journey is two hundred miles, the on-board computer will work out the estimated time of arrival instantly, which will keep changing according to the fluctuations in speed. There is something computer-like about the way in which Uranus functions, which is why the planet often associated with computer technology, and why people with a strong Uranus are often gifted at computer programming and engineering. Liz Greene - The Art of Stealing Fire
Saturn's Bill is Due
The actual meaning of Karma is "substance". We accrue substance through our actions and choices throughout life. Each time a critical point in the Saturn cycle is reached, we must face what kind of substance we have accrued. If we meet this challenge honestly, and work at what has been poorly built, then the next turn of the cycle brings our "just rewards" in productive ways. If we avoid the confrontation, then the next turn of the cycle brings a bigger bill, with accumulated interest; and eventually bailiffs come to claim the debt. And Saturn's interest rates, unlike those of Bundesbank, are never because of political expediency. They remain fixed, because they are a reflection of our mortal limits. Liz Greene - The Art of Stealing Fire
Saturn/First Sexual Encounter
In our course of the Saturn cycle we are struggling to do something that we don't really know how to do, which gradually builds that inner ground. I can't really think of a better parallel than the sexual act. The first time we try it, we usually make a ghastly mess of it,because we are trying to remember what we saw in an X-rated film, and what our friends told us we are supposed to do. We are paralysed with shyness and fear, and the expectation of failure, so we consider it a miracle if anything happens at all. Then we say, " Was it good for you?" which is really a dumb question, since it has been a disaster, it is likely we will be told the truth. Compare that to relating to the person with whom we are making love. It is not unlike where we start with Saturn, and where, with some insight,hard work, and humility, we actually wind up. Liz Greene - The Art of Stealing Fire
Liz Greene Interview
I have all of Liz Greene's books and always look forward to reading all her work. Most of her books contain seminars that have been published. The authors other books are Saturn a New Look at an Old Devil and Astrology for Lovers, along with Relating and Astrology of Fate, which are all favourites of mine. I sincerely hope more books are in the pipeline. Here is one of my favourite interviews by Liz Greene, and I liked this quote below in particular: Click to enlarge.
To enlarge the PDF click the box in the right hand corner:
Richard Idemon
Richard Idemon was an American teacher he counselled taught and lectured psychology for astrologers. I have his book Through the Looking Glass, in this work he tells us that the important people in our lives are like looking glasses-mirrors of our unfolding process toward a fuller consciousness. Liz Greene writes in the foreword, “Richard Idemon invited me to run an astrology seminar with him in 1982, when he first spoke of his dream of teaching astrology in a “retreat” setting of beauty, tranquillity, and historical interest. For our first American venue he chose a wonderful resort hotel in the Green Mountains of Vermont, with all the timeless charm of an old New England hostel-the Sugarbush hill. This conference Through the Looking Glass, with its complex drama of human relationships as its theme, was the result of a years careful planning. By the third conference “The Magic Thread” he was already fatally ill-although few people knew it, and his energy and presence seemed as exciting and dynamic as ever. In 1987, Richard died, leaving behind him a rich legacy of taped lectures, seminars and workshops, but no published book. He had told me he always wanted to write a book, but he had somehow never sat down and done it, more a tragedy for the astrological world“.Richard Idemon committed suicide on the 22nd of February 1987, he was aged 49. Transiting Jupiter in Pisces squared Chiron in Gemini, reflecting a time he was questioning his beliefs, and he may have wondered "what the point of it all is", his future purpose is deeply questioned under this transit. Transiting Jupiter in Pisces trines Pluto in Cancer, and this is a different feeling altogether, he now had a stronger sense of power and he had made a spiritual resolution. Transiting Neptune squares natal Mars symbolizing a dissolving effect to his potency and will. His energy is depleted and he is too tired to keep motivated. Transiting Pluto opposed Uranus indicating a time of extreme wilfulness. Uranus-Pluto is an explosive combination, and it is a generational transit, and represents a time in life when sweeping changes are made. The change in life can be transforming but brings deep turmoil and disruption.
Transiting Saturn in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Virgo, and he confronts his inner most doubts and weaknesses. Richard loved to teach others and was such an energetic personality, and his illness was robbing him of his sense of meaning in life. This can be a painful transition to move through. The aspect is detailed briefly in this article. In the case of illness Saturn-Neptune robs us of our individuality - we feel dependent on others and less self-sufficient. A dreamy, lost and vague feeling can begin to overtake him. Transiting Uranus in Sagittarius is opposite Chiron in Gemini. There is a mythical story between these two planets. Prometheus (Uranus) suffered chained to a rock after he had given fire to mankind and rebelled against Zeus. Chiron is accidentally wounded by a poisened arrow. The accident was no fault of his own, and the irony was that with all his profound knowledge on healing he could not be released from his own suffering. He could heal others but there was no cure for him. This is a sad fate for both characters, and the two stories intertwine when Zeus (King of the God's) allows them to exchange places with one another. Chiron and Uranus in astrology have a close connection, and without each other they could not get out of their predicament. Ultimately, Chiron chose death to release himself from suffering, and Zeus honoured Chiron with a place in the sky. Students of astrology are blessed and grateful to have Richard Idemon’s seminars and work transcribed into books. He is deeply missed and I wish he had lived longer to share more of his incredible insights in astrology.
Related Posts:
Evolutionary Astrology
Archetypal Astrology
Every sign in the zodiac can be associated with a mythological story and every planet with a divine figure, a "god", with certain properties. This divine figure can appear in different guise and under different names. Thus the moon can be regarded as Hera, Hathor or Ishtar. It can also symbolize other concepts, like the womb, the World Tree and the underwaters. These symbolical figures have their roots in the archetypal, mutal layer in the psyche of Man, according to Jung.This is how we can see that figures from mythology are associated with archetypal images and actually can be said to have an influence over us. Maybe your life has been overshadowed by a too dominant "Zeus-figure", or you might have acted out the rage of Medea at times. By drawing parallels to mythological figures and C.G. Jung´s theory of the archetypal images when studying the horoscope, your individual, mythological drama can be easier to understand in a new way that you might not have given much thought to. Source...
Steven Forrest/Mars in Aquarius
Mars in Aquarius in 3rd HouseThe third house represents our communication and ability to express ourselves, short journeys, siblings, cousins, it is associated with early schooling and our attitude and relationship with knowledge itself as well as the environment in which we live and work. Any tools of communication such as the telephone also come under this house; it rules writing, speaking, and communication. Steven Forrest an American pro astrologer; author of “The Inner Sky,” operates a large counselling practice in NC and has authored many articles and composed texts for computerized report-writers. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1971 with a degree in religion and has an active interest in astrological education, running a busy astrological apprenticeship program. Steven is Chair of the Kepler College Advisory Council and a member of the ISAR Ethics Committee.
Steven has Mercury-Mars in Aquarius conjunct in his 3rd house. This combination shows an active mental life, with his busy involvement in astrology (Aquarius rules astrology, technology, and social causes). Mars in the 3rd house represents his motivation to write. Steven Forrest is a member of the International Society for Astrological Research, which encourages the highest standards of quality in astrology. The program offers a course on ethics awareness; this is all representative of his own Aquarian high standards.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)