Barack Obama

An Experiment...

Apart from showing you another example of my interpretive system in action, this post has two experimental qualities:

1) Unlike the posts for Elvis and Janice Joplin, I'm going to cover more than just the Sun/Moon Combination. True, the post about Hitler covered more, but in a tentative way... So, even though I'm trying to go slow for now, to ease into how to use this unique system, Obama's chart just demands I cover more than Sun/Moon.

2) I'm also experimenting by using a living person who is in the forefront of much of the News and has an extremely active and thick aura of media-meaning engulfing his real character. Many astrologers will settle for the media-man and try to fit the chart to that electronic ghost... I choose to start with the man's chart and see him from the inside, out...

So, if you haven't been here before, I recommend you download (Free) my book or, at least, the short version of how to use the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System. You can follow along with my examples and, hopefully, come up with a few of your own interpretations; and, share those in the Comments!

Mr. Obama's chart (which will open in a separate window) shows an archetypical "Bucket" pattern (most planets within half the circle) yet has a uniqueness due to having two "handles" for the bucket (even though the two handles have more than 3 degrees between them, which the link I just gave you says is the limit; though, in Obama's case, one of the handle-planets is the ruler of the other's Sign, "pulling-in" the conjunction).

So, we'll look at Obama's Sun (of course), his Moon and Neptune (the "rim" or defining functions of the Bucket), and Saturn and Jupiter, the Handles or Focus of the whole chart.

I hope you have the basic materials of the system at hand as I use my intuition to select words and phrases to construct the five Symbolic Sentences that go very far in sketching-out the major soul-components of Mr. Obama's character.

His Central Life Purpose

Sun in Leo in the 9th House:
Vitalizing Creative Response in order to See the Broader Perspective.
~~~~~~~~~
The Defining Functions for His Primary Talents

Neptune in Scorpio in the 12th House:
Being Idealistic about an Analytical Attitude in order to Utilize the Resources of His Unconscious Mind.

Moon in Gemini in the 7th House:
Nurturing Conceptual Versatility in order to Initiate Sharing.
~~~~~~~~~
The Focal Release of His Talents

Saturn in Capricorn in the 3rd House:
Clarifying a Desire for Enduring Patterns in order to Make Connections.
closely linked with
Jupiter in Aquarius in the 3rd House:
Being Optimistic about Humanitarian Considerations in order to Be Aware of His Immediate Environment.
~~~~~~~~~

I can hear more than one person saying something like, "Whew! It's all so abstract!!".

My answer: Would you rather use a bunch of bits of concrete "indications", usually borrowed from others, to form an interpretation that limits and constrains your understanding of a living human being?

Certainly, as I've mentioned in past posts, these Symbolic Sentences, or Affirmations, are not intended to give quick and easy "answers"; they, just like the Symbols of the chart, need interpretation. And, here comes yet another experimental aspect of this post: I'm not going to show alternative Sentences for Obama (each Planet/Sign/House combination has 64 possible Sentences in the system...) and I'm not going to (in this particular post) start the process of giving more concrete shape to those Symbolic Sentences. I'm going to leave that up to you...

See you in the Comments.........

"Playing" with Astrology

Elvis' chart, considered in our last post, certainly merits more evaluation than just his Sun/Moon combination and I will be coming back to him and other famous folk, as time goes forward, but for now I'm keeping things simple so the basics of using the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System can be explored. There are free downloads of my book, Astrological Repair Manual, and a short version of the system that explains how to use it.

Last post saw me beginning to Play with the system and this post will show another astrologer taking the Play a bit further. My system of interpretation is intended to be played with, seriously; it was created to be a stimulus to your own creative interpretation—a Guide that let's you lead...

~~~~~~~~~

The quotes below are from a comment to our last post:

"I am not certain where to begin my soulful playing with so many rich and diverse symbols at my disposal except to turn my gaze first upon myself and Clarify (Saturn) Seeing Things From Other's Perspectives (Libra) in order to Be Who I am In The World (10th house).

"Feeling rambunctious in spirit and charmed by your open invitation to play with your system I will manifest the highest intention of my Saturn by taking the liberty to re-invent a phrase or two describing my Central Life Purpose in the immediate present,

"Vitalize (Sun) Creative Play (Leo) in order to Merge With Others (8th house)."

{ I found this looking at herself first, using her own phrase ("creative play"), a beneficial use of the system—to be aware of what in yourself is doing the interpretation of another's life... }

"After reading the wiki biography of Elvis the phrase that resonated most for me was of your creating,

Vitalizing a Desire for Enduring Patterns in order to Be Aware of his Worth.

and I would like to spontaneously add to Capricorn the phrase

a traditional discipline

Integrating (Sun) a traditional discipline (Capricorn) in order to Focus on My Resources (2nd house).......in honor of Elvis mixing and matching musical styles."

{ This adding of her own phrase again is something I encourage everyone to do. Certainly, we should add meanings that stay within the bounds of each category (Aries is Aries and not Capricorn, Sun is not Moon); extending the system, letting it grow... }

"moving along to the Moon.... I was struck by the lunar presence of emotional comfort, safety, and security when Elvis said, 'Since I was two years old, all I knew was gospel music. That music became such a part of my life it was as natural as dancing. A way to escape from the problems. And my way of release.'

Enfolding (Moon) Visionary Initiative (Pisces) in order to Be Aware of My Immediate Environment (3rd house),

spoke to me of creatively adapting to childhood vulnerability (the Moon)......"

"the possibilities unbound, the spirit of play glorious, I await another time, another chart."

~~~~~~~~~

Next time, we'll look at Janis Joplin's chart...

Pulling Out The Stops . . .

I'm a maverick. Whatever I've studied concerning astrology was never taken in without a deep sense of "proving" it—making sure it made sense in the larger scheme of things—things like what people actually do and what most of them are never willing to do...

The bulk of the first volume about astrology that I wrote, Astrological Repair Manual (free download), is contained in the first 26 posts of this blog. What isn't here, yet, is what's called The Instructions—the unique and most honest approach to interpreting a chart that 40 years of teaching, counseling, and study could produce. I urge you to download the book and give the B.I.D.E. System of interpretation a try. You won't find easy answers to your life problems, you won't find a bunch of good and bad "indications", you won't find me telling you what to do. All you'll find is a method of taking the glyphs of Planet, Sign, and House and turning them into Symbolic Sentences—Affirmations—about which you will have to decide what to actually do.

I've worked hard to work out of my system all the "good", "bad", "afflicted", and, basically, Dangerous attitudes that still linger in too many astrologer's heads (and, hearts).

I'll be selecting some famous people's charts and using my system to create some ponderable issues for all of us to consider.

If you have (or will be) using my system with your own chart and want to share the results/insights you've received, I'll be happy to consider shaping a post around your experience!

Next post, we'll consider Adolph Hitler's chart...

Transpersonal Awareness

Were up to Chapter 5 (for the first time since I'm sure we'll be jumping back to discuss previous chapters quite a bit) in my freely downloadable book, Astrological Repair Manual. This chapter is the book's first pause to consider what's gone before—Xena and her Horde of deeply unconscious astrological functions, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. We're headed toward Saturn but that journey demands a huge transition in consciousness. I'm including most of Chapter 5 in this post and do hope it spawns a discussion in the comments!

"Our world has been and is full of some very oppressive and negative people and institutions. Our world has also been evolving toward being, slowly and steadily, a freer and more creative place. If you doubt that last statement, I urge you to look further than you have and to take a small but important piece of advice: what may look bad on the surface or at the beginning can be the most powerful indication of something good. One example that may be close to home for some of you: A child at two years old is always getting into trouble. They’re almost totally unruly by ten and their teen years are full of crime and filth. Then, they hit their personal brick wall, they come up short on luck, and end up behind bars. True, many people like this stay bad and end their lives still in jail or dead in the street. For most of humanity’s existence this has been the general rule. 'Lately', though, there have been more and more examples of folks starting out headed down, coming to a radical turning point, and being given some help at that point that turns their lives around and permits them to grow to become exemplary citizens.

"Why is this happening more now than ever before? What could be happening that has such power to turn lives around?

"I feel it’s the steady growth in society of the awareness that we are not just passive cogs in the wheel or just a bunch of angry individuals. We are both individuals and social beings and we have a need to nurture both sides of our being.

"This is where a knowledge of the cycles of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, and their symbolic meanings, can be of immense aid in speeding the development of a safe and sane society. It's important to consider the lengthy durations of these cycles that apply to the slow yet steady transformation, elevation, and regeneration of our world.

"It’s only been a little over 300 years since Uranus was discovered and humanity had a conscious symbol for a method of getting at the ultimate truths with more to show for it than a collection of fables and myths. And, the conscious awareness of ways and means to raise the level of our dreams and visions (Neptune) and to find the proper ways to purge and regenerate society (Pluto) have been available for even shorter times. Let’s give ourselves a break and stop being pessimistic about the future. If you look closely enough at recent history and compare it with the eons of time humans have been struggling on this earth, you’ll come away totally amazed at the glorious potential we hold in common! I used the word 'Transpersonal' in the title of this chapter for very conscious reasons. '-Personal' because humanity’s growth ultimately depends on more and more individuals getting it right. 'Trans-' because it means to go beyond or through or across. If our personal awareness of life can go beyond the personal while not letting our individual views disappear; if we can see through the merely personal to what lies beyond and is so important for a full life; if we can get across the bridge of the personal and see that it leads to wonderful vistas of creativity and freedom; if each of us does these things, we will be bringing what many see as the dark forces of the unconscious into the bright light of day and using them, very consciously, to accelerate human evolution beyond the hatreds and terrors that are still too much with us. The Instructions [in my freely downloadable book] have suggestions for where to go to get your own birth chart as well as a method for beginning to interpret your chart factors. If you feel adventurous, go there now and find the house and sign for your Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Realize that this first step in using the knowledge from this Repair Manual is only that, a first step, even though it may be one of the most important first steps you’ve ever taken!

"As you ponder the meanings of these factors in your life, don’t forget to look at them as a three-step process of Transpersonal Awareness and also consider them as a sequence from Pluto to Uranus and also from Uranus to Pluto—the first direction is the one that brings large-scale social factors into your personal life and the other direction is you injecting yourself into the flux of society's largest concerns.

"If you do this exercise and end up totally confused, you can count on the fact that your unconscious mind is very happy with your ego. In fact, without you knowing it, your unconscious can arrange to give you dreams that help you understand, or 'mysteriously' lead you to find another individual that helps you understand. Or, you may be the type of person who just stands there and charges against the wall till it falls down and lets you build a bridge. Whatever happens, we still have a ways to go till we reach the Earth and find out what this astrology stuff is all about...

"I'll let you in on a secret here: what you’ve read so far and what you can gain from trying to interpret you own Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto is far and away more knowledge of True Astrology than many practicing astrologers have! Believe it..."

More About Pluto...

I'm still moving forward, slowly, with this blog's posting since I want to let people catch up with where we're at. Right now, we're still in the second chapter of my astrology book (Astrological Repair Manual {it's a free download}), the book that I'm in the process of revising and expanding.

Hopefully, you'll just jump right in and respond to the first few posts (backing up can be fun in a blog) by adding Your thoughts and feelings to help an astrologer with 40 years experience learn something New!!

Here's part of what I wrote about Pluto in chapter two:

"...since we’re into space that's been paid attention to by humans since 1930, we can get down to some real work in the realm of astrological understanding. Understanding death, to be precise, and how it’s a river that wends its way through every part of our lives. There are many deaths in a life—many times when one phase of our existence gives way to another. Even orgasm as been called 'the little death' and sleep can be viewed as a nightly death of our conscious awareness. Pluto/Charon's orbital period is about 248 years and the symbolic significance of that length of time is perfect for gaining meaning about long-term social, political, and economic cycles. In fact, thinking back to what our society was like that long ago can be like looking back to a time that's certainly died, gone forever. Yet, there can be influences felt from those times, just like your parents' behavior on Earth has an influence long after they've left their physical bodies.

"In astrology, the period of 248 years is symbolic of completely new circumstances, a total regeneration of what's being considered, a thorough purging of the past. And, even though none of us can live that long, we can still gain meaning from the symbolism of this cycle. One reason we can use it personally is that the halves and quarters of cycles are very important in gaining meaning from a chart and, if we look at the quarter cycle here, we have 62 years—an amount of anyone's life that shows the qualities of death-of-the-past, or regeneration of basic life factors, or purging of one heck of a lot!"

Your Turn...
Add your thoughts and feelings in the comments...

Way Out There . . . and, Way In Here...

We're staying out here in the realm of Xena for a while. If you don't know what I mean by Xena, please download my free astrology book.

This blog is dedicated to exploring the ideas in the book and, hopefully, learning from all of you the "flavor" and "style" of the revised and expanded version I'm working on. I could very well learn a lot more than just "flavor and style" from my readers here... We shall see...

So, in Chapter One of the book, Xena and the Hordes, I say, "...the meaning of Xena's full cycle could only be useful in understanding things like the rise and fall of civilizations." Of course, with that said, I must add (for those who have yet to read the first edition of my book) that Xena (officially known as Eris) takes about 560 years to make a full cycle around the Sun, putting it about 97 times farther from the Sun than we are. I go on to say, "...we’re in the space [since, in the book, the reader is in a spacecraft coming back into our System] that symbolizes the deeper unconscious mind—the part of our minds that sends us dreams and answers questions we haven’t thought of yet—a mind we all share and which underlies the shaping of humanity's largest social structures, deepest concepts, and most spiritual forces."

Chapters Two, Three, and Four deal with Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus (also cycles of the unconscious) but, like I said, we'll linger out here in the deepest space of our unconscious for a few posts.

The last post talked briefly about "boundaries" and I hope you caught my ironic attitude toward them. Thousands of years ago, Saturn was considered the boundary of the solar system; then the traditional Transcendentals: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Now Xena is the most distant known object. But is she a boundary? I'd rather call her the latest portal to an endless journey into the deepest and highest aspects of our human spirit!

To quote Carl Jung again:

"'All that is outside, also is inside', we could say with Goethe. But this 'inside', which modern rationalism is so eager to derive from 'outside', has an a priori structure of its own that antedates all conscious experience. It is quite impossible to conceive how 'experience' in the widest sense, or, for that matter, anything psychic, could originate exclusively in the outside world. The psyche is part of the inmost mystery of life, and it has its own peculiar structure and form like every other organism. Whether this psychic structure and its elements, the archetypes, ever 'originated' at all is a metaphysical question and therefore unanswerable. The structure is something given, the precondition that is found to be present in every case. And this is the mother, the matrix—the form into which all experience is poured."

To tie this into astrological practice, I would only add that this unconscious Matrix (the outermost portal of which is Xena) mirrors the outside conditions of the solar system. We humans have a 560-year cycle, as well as many more a bit longer and a bit shorter. In 2015, humans will witness the passage of the New Horizons spacecraft through the environs of Pluto. Then it will head into the zone that Xena inhabits. I contend that this passage of a human artifact through that arena of space will coincide with a few eager and open individuals becoming more deeply aware of human potential but, definitely, not through some physical sensing of the spacecraft; rather through the synchronicity between the spacecraft's passage and the growth of human awareness. I also contend that humanity will mirror some of the meanings that cycles of the 500 year and longer variety reveal...

What do you think?

Hello World!

This is the first post in an exciting adventure!

I'm doing the research to revise and expand a book about astrology that I wrote three years ago. It was the result of 40 years of study, counseling, and teaching but it was only a beginning...

You can download the book for free from Lulu.com.

This blog's purpose is to create a space to explore the concepts in the book and stimulate discussion that will feed into my personal efforts to make my statement about astrology as helpful and productive as possible.

I'm actively seeking your thoughts, feelings, opinions, knowledge, and experience!

I'm extremely open to accepting your comments!!