Levels of Perception

I want to step back from specific interpretation in this post and look at how we perceive the symbols of astrology.

First, let me quote a bit from the article, "Why This System", from the Information Site (red link in the right panel):

"After 20 years of learning and struggle, my goal became giving people the most important Perceptions—the underlying positive assumptions that are needed to thrive and prosper in the truly amazing Realm of Astrology. It's one thing to have a practical way to interpret an astrological chart. It's quite another to have the perceptions and understanding to interpret a chart in a way that assures positive and productive results.

"Remember learning about the three states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas? Some of you might also have learned about a fourth state—plasma. Scientifically speaking, plasma surrounds and energizes the other three states of matter. You could also consider plasma as energizing gas, gas energizing liquid, and liquid energizing solid...

"The B.I.D.E. Interpretive System is a way of perceiving the factors in a chart from the 'plasma' or Spiritual level—a realm of perception that surrounds, envelops, and energizes the other three. But just like all other spiritual perceptions, even though they're the most valuable way of looking at things, they need further interpretation to be used in less elevated, yet related and important, realms of life. We need the discipline of spiritual meditation to stay balanced and proactive in the social, personal, and practical fields of life. My experience has taught me that an astrologer needs a way to begin interpretation of a chart from the spiritual level; then, bring it down to the other levels.

"The Symbolic Sentences you create in the B.I.D.E. System are WordSymbols—one step removed from the abstract glyphs of the traditional chart. Being symbolic themselves, they need further interpretation to be used in the 'gas' or Social realm of perception; yet further interpretation to be used in the 'liquid' or Personal realm; even further interpretation for use in the 'solid' or Practical realm. Over time, an astrologer can learn to look at a chart, see the spiritual significance, and, nearly immediately, glide right down through the other levels of perception—a process made infinitely easier when involved in the reciprocal relationship of a living, breathing consultation with the native of the chart."

Next post, we'll take a Symbolic Sentence from the B.I.D.E. System and go through, step-by-step, this interpretive shifting of levels...

M. C. Escher and Uranus/Saturn

M. C. Escher may just be the most unique artist ever...

His chart shows a conjunction of Uranus and Saturn and both are retrograde as well as looking across the chart at most of his other planets...

Since my stats programs show new people arriving here every day, I want to take the analysis of his Uranus/Saturn with the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System rather slowly—step-by-step...

First, I recommend you go to the Planet/Sign/House and Aspect Cycle pages, on the Information Site (red link in the right panel), and click the link that says "Download This Page". With that information in hand, it will be much easier to follow the next steps...

So...

Let's take Escher's Uranus first. It's in Sagittarius in his 5th House.

Look at the words for Uranus on the Planet/Sign/House page:

Transforming
Breaking Obsolete Traditions of
Seeking the Truth of
Exploring Fresh Ideas about

I'm going to choose "Breaking Obsolete Traditions of" for this example. (if you feel another phrase is better, write it down so you can create your own example...).

Now, a phrases for Sagittarius:

a Broad Viewpoint
Philosophical Appraisal
a Top-Down View
an Idealistic Awareness

I'll choose "a Broad Viewpoint" (what's your choice?)

Now, the 5th House:

Dramatize My Concerns.
Externalize My Creativity.
“Test The Waters”.
Provide an Example.

I'll choose "Dramatize My Concerns.".

We first put down the words for the Planet, next the words for the Sign, next the words "in order to", and, finally, the words for the House. This gives us:

Breaking Obsolete Traditions of a Broad Viewpoint in order to Dramatize His Concerns.

Notice that in the House phrase I changed "My" to "His". So, that's my rendition of Escher's Uranus in Sagittarius in the 5th House. What's Yours?

Doing the same steps for his Saturn in Sagittarius in the 5th House, I got:

Structuring an Idealistic Awareness in order to Externalize His Creativity.

Remember, both those planets were retrograde so even the words we've chosen to interpret them need to be considered in the most unique and individualistic way possible...

Now, we need a phrase to represent the aspect—Conjunction:

Begins a New Cycle of Actualization by
Engenders New Possibilities by
Lets the Past Meet the Future by
Closes One Cycle and Opens Another by

When I consider the Symbolic Sentences I created for Uranus and Saturn, I think "Engenders New Possibilities by" fits quite well. (what would You pick?)

Now, we put the aspect phrase between the two Planet/Sign/House Sentences and we get:

Breaking Obsolete Traditions of a Broad Viewpoint in order to Dramatize His Concerns
Engenders New Possibilities by
Structuring an Idealistic Awareness in order to Externalize His Creativity.

I'd Love to see what You decided to create for Escher's Uranus/Saturn! Why not put your interpretation in the Comments!!

Notes from A Newbie . . .

The evolution of this blog has been happening faster than I first anticipated. Due to a few people's responses (and some analysis of the visitor stats), I'm introducing the aspect phrases for the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System.

Just before we read from the notebook of a new student of the System and see how they're blending it with two other systems, I want to draw your attention to the red link in the right panel that says, Information Site. This is a companion site that holds a growing wealth of guides and tips for using the B.I.D.E. System. The latest addition is the > B.I.D.E. Full Aspect Cycle along with an > Example of Using the Aspect Phrases. I'll begin using the aspect phrases along with the Planet/Sign/House interpretations in the next post...

Now, follow along while a newbie experiences their first use of the B.I.D.E. System:
It might help you follow their thinking if you also open the Main Interpretive Page

~~~~~~~~~

I'll gladly share the details of what I did.... it's a bit tentative.
Much of how I brought it together was intuitive.... it just strung itself together and went with the flow of it....to me it makes sense...hope it does to you too!!LOL!
It's the basic transcription from my own note book.

So using the interpretive layout that Bernadette Brady offers in her book, I started:
Uranus conjoins Venus opposes Pluto
                    Natal house position
      11                               5                            11

                    Natal House transited
            ---- 5 ------------------ 5 ------

                    House ruled by planet
                    
      5                              1/8                         2/7           (area impacted)

So, using your formula: Breaking Obsolete traditions (Uranus) liberates (conj) my values ( Venus) in order to externalize my creativity (secure my identity) (5H) in the way I express my self (1st) and how emotionally/soul secure I feel. But it opposes/challenges the transformation of Service attitude (Pluto in Virgo) in order to ground my plans (2H) to refresh a relationship (7H)

For the New Moon (June 23) and it's aspects;
New Moon in Taurus in 8th - New energy/cycle of Individual worth (Taurus) in order to Deepen relationship and/or promote/awaken emotional/soul security ( 8th- this being Arroyo's way of defining Houses)

~~Trine AC Libra, ruled by Venus in 5H -triggers rapid development (Trine) of Awareness (Brady's key principle for AC) of Harmonizing attitude in order to value expression of self.

~~Inconjunct Neptune (r) in 2nd H - releasing negative(?) (r) Idealisation (Neptune) of self worth(rather the lack thereof!)

~~Sextile Mars 6th H, ruling the 2&7- thus encountering a chance/opportunity (sext) to act/take action (mars) in order to improve myself impacting the awareness of my worth and refresh a relationship.

~~Trine Mercury 4th H, ruling 12&9- rapid development of communication of/about emotional/soul action (4th), transforming (8th being where the energy comes from)12-how I utilize the resources of my Unconscious Mind and 9 -realize the ideal and learning about my true identity/highest expression

>>I would go to Arroyo's House key word system or to Brady's key words for aspects when the one's provided did not fit the sentence or context....again, it was done intuitively. <<

The previous New Moon was also in my 8th H, and just for fun, I'll interpret it here:
~New Moon in Gemini, 8th - New energy/cycle of Communication ( or intelectual freedom) emotional/soul security

Opposes/challenges

~~Neptune in Scorpio 2nd H/ ruling the 6th- established(natal) idealisation(Neptune) of the desire (need?) to bond deeply (Scorpio) in order to be aware of my worth

Squares/forces adaptation of

~~Mercury in Aquarius,4H, ruling the 12/9 - perception (mercury) of group consciousness in order to ground myself emotionally (4H) ultimately altering how I utilize the Resources of my unconscious Mind (12H) and 9 -realize the ideal and learning about my true identity/highest expression

Background story, very briefly: For the last five years I have been focusing almost exclusively on my spiritual development and evolution. At that time, I had separated from my partner of twelve years as our paths seemed to go in different directions. We remained friendly but there were no intentions of ever getting back together, until last year when it became clear to me ( due to much self analysis, growth and better understanding of my own, and his, emotional limitations) that our relationship could (still) provide me (us) with a firm foundation from which to "evolve". I broached the subject with him at the time but there were many distractions, obstacles and delays. Still he was receptive, more so than ever before in our relating history, and he asked I hang on to the idea.

I did, with much concerns about being used and humiliation at the idea of "going back"...plus other insecurities.

During the winter, all the obstacles that stood in our way somewhat miraculously vanished, giving us a fresh, new context to start a relationship. In the spring, he contacted me and arranged for us to spend time together and see "where it goes".

He unconsciously picked the day after the May New Moon, and I agreed to join him on that day.

I was beset for the whole cycle- until the full moon- with much insecurity and welcomed the revelation about my "established idealisation of the desire to bond deeply" in order to feel valuable (to him). I was forced to adapt my communications with him, being aware that my insecurities played a big role in our "group consciousness". I was very conscious of the unconscious impulses and moderated those heavily, thus learning about higher expression, and approaching the situation from a soul's point view (for growth). I left him behind to return home a few days after the full moon and he scheduled our next encounter for the 22 June! [Ed. note: the date of the next New Moon]

He's not into astrology and has no idea about moon cycles.

Of course, there's more to the story than that, but for brevity's sake and to stay close to the aspects looked at here....

Alex, this is how I did it. I hope this is helpful. It was to me!

This is as far as I have worked with this, but it has already proven itself to be an effective method, I can't wait to put it to further use and perfect the method!!
Oh! and your input and comments are welcomed!!
~~~ C.

~~~~~~~~~

My comments? Well, I applaud you for taking aspects of my System and working to blend them with two other systems!!

What you've done obviously helps your understanding of a sensitive and powerful set of circumstances; and, while your method isn't my method, I'm the first person to encourage folks to use the B.I.D.E. System in whatever way works for them...

Looking forward to more examples and bold creativity from you!!!

I think you'll like the pages about aspects that I just added:
> B.I.D.E. Full Aspect Cycle
and
> Example of Using the Aspect Phrases

Very Special Closing Note:
I received the above example after someone else had suggested I open the blog to readers' experiences with the System. These two people don't know each other and I just Love the Synchronicity of it all!!!

So...

Here's your Invitation to submit Your experiences with the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System so I can consider their use as a blog post...

"...the dream afraid of waking..."

The title of this post is the beginning of a lyric sung by Bette Midler in the film The Rose, based loosely on the life of Janis Joplin.

"It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance..."

Yet Janis took every chance she could lay her heart on and became a rocking, waking dream...

But there was a piece of her heart that resisted becoming fully awake; the place that had been shunned and ridiculed because of her uniqueness. She took that uniqueness into the rarified atmosphere of the 60s Rock-scene, became a superstar, and died of a drug overdose at the age of 27...

We'll look at her Sun and Moon combination in this post and look more deeply into her chart in later posts.

For those of you not familiar with her music or life, read this biography, listen to this song, or watch this interview...

Janis' chart (which opens in a new window so you can switch back and forth) shows her Sun in Capricorm in the 12th House and her Moon in Cancer in the 5th House.

In our last two posts, we played a bit with the interpretive system I introduced in my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual. You can read about how to use the system in the book or this abbreviated Word .doc. I recommend you at least download the Word .doc so you can easily follow along as well as stimulating your own intrepretations of the chart factors we explore.

Now, let's do some Serious Play with Janis' Sun/Moon combination...

I'm going to use the words and phrases from the system that I feel best express her Spirit, yet you may find other combinations that work better for you (and, if you do, please share them in the Comments!).

Sun in Capricorn in the 12th House:

Vitalizing (Sun) Structural Innovations (Capricorn) in order to Explore the Value of Transcendence of Self (12th House).

Janis was extremely Vital, she Innovated constantly with the Structures of Blues and Rock, and it seems her whole short life was a journey to go Beyond her Self...

We could (by consulting a synonym dictionary) replace Vitalizing with Invigorating, Structural with Performance, Innovations with Creations, Value with Pricelessness, Transcendence with Going Above and Beyond, and Self with Consciousness.

Playing with the meanings that way produces this Symbolic Sentence:

Invigorating Performance Creations in order to Explore the Pricelessness of Going Above and Beyond Consciousness.

Ever thought of Sun in Capricorn in the 12th House that way? If you've come close to thinking that way, please let me know in the Comments since we're more than likely Mind Mates!

For all these decades, while reading more books then I can remember, during all the consultations I've shared in, I've had one constantly swelling Dream—Stop Giving People Fish and Teach Them How To Fish For Themselves...

Each Planet/Sign/House combination has 64 possible Symbolic Sentences in my system, without going looking for synonyms. The whole point of the system is to show you how to fish for unique, creative meanings; unless, of course, you're the type that wants to keep handing out the same old smelly fish you got handed...

Let's look at Janis' Moon in Cancer in the 5th House:

Enfolding Emotional Security in order to Dramatize her Concerns.

I'll soon be sharing the basic meanings for aspects from the system (from Book Three) but for now consider this for the Quadnovile (Book Nine) that separates Janis' Sun and Moon: striving toward a moment of truth.

Now let's combine the first sentence I constructed for the Sun and the one for the Moon with their aspect phrase:

Vitalizing Structural Innovations in order to Explore the Value of Transcendence of Self

Strives Toward A Moment of Truth by

Enfolding Emotional Security in order to Dramatize her Concerns.

To make meaningful interpretations of a chart, you have to "know" the person, usually by sharing an open, honest consultation. I didn't get to meet Janis Joplin but that last interpretation of her Sun/Moon resonates with me. If it means nothing to you, get to know her through those links at the top of the post to Biography, Song, and Interview...

"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...

Galactic Visitors

We've arrived at the last chapter of my Free-To-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual. But the adventure of revising and expanding the single book into a ten book series has barely begun...

This blog will now take on a life more infused with speculation, yet firmly grounded in the major Truths of astrology I've shared so far.

Let's get way out There where the power of astrology was born:

"The last chapter may have been a bit weird for some people: planets not forever circling in stable orbits, catastrophes that ravaged our ancestors, plasma that powers the stars...

"Let’s take that last fact. If plasma does make the Sun glow so ferociously, where does it come from? Well, it’s pretty much all over the place when you look at things from a universal perspective; ninety-nine percent of all the stuff there is. So, it comes from the space that surrounds the solar system. All those atomically-small charged protons and electrons that make up the plasma that’s streaming into the system and lighting the Sun are the most obvious and most continuous Galactic Visitors there are.

"But astrologically, just like the case of the hordes of small bodies we considered earlier, in this perpetual stream of particles, it’s not the particles that concern us; it’s not the particles that can be used to give meaning in astrology; it’s the Stream itself—the patterns and convolutions and dance of the plasma stream have meaning.

"Naturally, since humans have only been considering this plasma in any serious way since the space age dawned, there isn’t a heck of a lot of considered opinion about what this Galactic Visitor means. Except, maybe, this:

"The universe is literally teeming with a tenuous and yet powerful substance that can create stars and galaxies—a substance that has the characteristics of a Cosmic Mother.

"In early Egyptian mythology there were the archetypes of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis: Atum, the first god, and his descendants: Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nuit, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Nuit was the sky goddess, in contrast to most other mythologies, which usually had a sky father. So, just maybe, we can consider Nuit, as Cosmic Mother, contributing the essence of her body to our Sun. This causes the Sun to burn with Purpose. The Sun gives birth to the planets and (with the help of the plasma streams the Sun itself creates) our home Star brings about a dance that we, creatures of this system, have lodged in our unconscious minds. This internal Plasma Dance resonates with the one in space and, we, if we let ourselves, see the synchronicity and wonder of it all, can draw maps of these cycles, attribute psychological meanings to the interactions of the cycles, bring meaning into our lives...

"There isn’t much more to say...

"And also, I could go on forever attempting to describe the insights I’ve gained in the past four decades of courting my sweet lover, Astrology. Back when I first met her, I really wasn’t capable of appreciating her beauty and strength. I misunderstood her motives, misinterpreted her signs, attributed things to her that were all my fault. But she hung in there; she loved me enough to not leave while I went through many convolutions of perception and understanding.

"She remained, always, so attractive that I could never abandon her to the people who would try to pimp her secrets on the newsstand.

"But she was much more mysterious than they could imagine.

"She let them do whatever they wanted, completely unconcerned about her 'reputation'...

"How could the Spirit of the deepest unconscious archetypes worry what a few mortals said about her?

"How could the daughter of the Sky Goddess trouble herself over people that not only didn’t understand her but actively tried to pretend she was something else...

Plasma Love

image credit
Well, we've finally gotten to the Sun in the journey from my Free-To-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual.

After the next post (the last chapter in the book), I'll be free-forming it in this blog—going where most astrologer's fear to go—exploring a new form of astrology that puts You in the driver's seat. I'm hoping for many more comments and feedback. This blog is about you telling me what you think so I can incorporate those perspectives in the expansion of the existing single volume into 10 modular volumes that can make anyone their own astrologer...

I'll let the book speak now:

"The Sun. Our Star.

"Source of Light and Life.

"Mystery to this day!

"Scientists are having a horrible time making sense of how the Sun works. Astrologers miss many of the most important aspects of the cycle of this Function.

"Many people feel that this function is the only part of astrology. (Except, of course, for those twelve Signs of the Zodiac that are popularly given costumes and asked to play parts they’ve never read the script for...)

"You might think that, this being the next to the last chapter of the book, I’d want to calmly summarize and draw all the other chapters’ information to some grand conclusion. The thing is, I don’t intend to actually 'conclude' this book. I want you to enter The Instructions (in the Free-To-Download book) with Wings! I want you to soar through the Realms of Astrological Meaning!! I want you to Really Live!!!

“'Calm down, Alex. These people may not realize what treasure lies at their feet. They may still think this astrology-thingie is a fancy parlor game that makes for witty conversation. They may not understand it when you throw out concepts that aren’t accepted by most reasonable people.'

"Hmmm...

"Well...

"All I can say is that this very close Star, this fantastically beautiful beacon of Purpose has me all fired up! So...

"Start to get used to the idea that our solar system is not what you may have heard it was in high school. The planets may not have always been where they are right now...

"The Sun and its orbiting progeny may not be floating in some lonely backwater of the galaxy, like many astronomers would like you to believe...

"The Sun has been said to hold the planets in orbit with its gravity. This is not capable of being true, which is born out by the latest interdisciplinary scientific studies...

"There are many aspects of the planets, individually and collectively, that want to tell a very different story.

"For instance, the ancients talked about a 'sun' but its characteristics don’t match the one that gives us a tan. They do match the planet Saturn. Also, Venus was thought to have been much closer to Earth in the past and so was Mars. As a matter of fact, there was a time when people saw Venus in front of Saturn, Mars in front of Venus, Jupiter hidden behind Saturn and the whole party steadily revolving at our north pole. There was also a time when this configuration broke up, and there were shudderingly graphic 'wars of the gods' in the heavens which rained debris, electromagnetic bolts, and terror on our ancestors.

“'Oh, my! Poor Alex has gone off the deep end and doesn’t even have a
spaceship’s lifeboat to crawl into. He’s Sun-drunk and his little brain is melted.'

"Hmmm...

"I’m putting some information in the references at the end of this book that will help you find sources that confirm everything I just said. At this point, I’m going to say that this magnificent Star, our Sun, is the Center of our solar system, and it’s also the Center, the Focus of any interpretation you dare make with astrology.

"Focusing, Centering, Life-Giving, Light-Bringing, Purpose-Revealing Sun.

"One extremely important fact of astronomy that every person using it should know is that ninety-nine percent of the universe is plasma. You surely remember your solids, liquids, and gases, right? Plasma is the next state of matter, the most rarified form of substance, yet capable of organizing, moving, and creating new organizations of the other three forms of matter.

"Our Sun is floating in a Sea of Plasma, electrified Plasma, powerful Plasma...

"If you’ve seen neon signs or arc-welders, you’ve seen small versions of the process that lights our Sun and every other of the billions upon billions of stars. The regularity of the orbits of our planetary system (as well as the previous orderings and the transitioning chaotic states) are maintained by the streams of plasma and the power contained in this almost 'spiritual' form of matter. Even the weather on our Earth (as well as the weather on the other planets) is influenced and driven by the power of this all-pervasive Plasma.

"It's much more the case that the planets are ordered by a form of Cosmic Love—a force that transcends mere gravity and material forces—a power and vitality that centers all our concerns...

"If 'Love' holds it all together, it certainly must be a Plasma Love...

"And, if love is the power that binds it all together, we could say that:

Pluto is the Regeneration of Love.

Neptune is the Vision of Love.

Uranus is the Transformative Power of Love.

Saturn is the Clarity of Love.

Jupiter is the Expansiveness of Love.

Mars is the Externalizing of Love.

Venus is the Valuing of Love.

Mercury is the Perceptiveness of Love.

And, our ol’ familiar Moon is the Style of Love’s expression.

The Sun is the Center of it All...

"To make sure this chapter goes out with a sense of the ineffable—the truth that defies rigid expression—here’s a poem by Emily Dickinson:

Love reckons by itself — alone —
"As large as I" — relate the Sun
To One who never felt it blaze —
Itself is all the like it has —

The Art of Awareness

We'll take a brief pause in our journey from my Free-To-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual, just before we get to the Sun, and consider another astrology blog that I read regularly and most heartily recommend:

Astrology :: The Art of Awareness
Authored by Lauren Lesko

Go there now and see astrology in Action!

Next post, I'll meet you at the Sun...