Can You Believe It?

Even if you know very little about astrology, it's a good bet you know not to trust the reports in the newspaper.

But what about astrology books?

What about popular or even famous astrologers?

Since taking what's printed about astrology, rather than discovering your own meanings, can be dangerous, I want to compare some readily available meanings with what can be found with the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System.

You won't need any previous experience with astrology to understand what I want you to learn.

Let's try searching for meanings for one of my own birth chart placements, Saturn in Cancer, on Google. I'll give excerpts from the first seven entries:

"Cancer is all loving and compassionate; Saturn is harsh, unforgiving, and judging. There is a schizoid quality to this combination..."

"Inhibitions, hypersensitivity and early emotional instability will have to be overcome, and much effort will be required in order to fully understand your emotional, feeling nature..."

"An emotional wound experienced as a child may cause you to be fearful and rigid in your feelings, or to be frozen at an earlier stage of development or experience."

"In familial Cancer, Saturn comes across as a hard-hearted autocrat or limited older person."

"You fear being hurt, and are extremely sensitive. It takes courage to open up and be vulnerable."

"Saturn, traditionally a toughie, can be insensitive to Cancer's feelings. Emotions are blocked, denied or distorted. Cancer's flow can be dammed up with obstinacy and insensitivity to core issues and needs."

So...

There seems to be a thread of difficulty here, eh? Seems I just can't deal with emotions properly, right? Problems with early home life, etc....

Since I've been an astrologer for over 40 years, I can say with confidence that many folks who didn't have Saturn in Cancer have had a much rougher time than I did with mom/dad issues and come out of it much more emotionally wounded and unable to let feeling flow healthily.

Some astrobuffs might offer the insight that I probably had other planets' placements that eased my Saturn in Cancer.

Well...

Never mind the jargon if your new, but I have the Sun and Moon Squared to Saturn. According to those astrobuffs reasoning, I should have killed myself over emotional problems a long time ago.

Let's try the meanings for this particular placement from the B.I.D.E. System {You can find these on the Information Site: red link in the right panel}

Here are the options for Saturn:

Defining
Clarifying
Structuring
Organizing

And, those for Cancer:

Emotional Security
Character Development
Active Feelings
Nurturing Abilities

In the B.I.D.E. System, the Planet meaning is followed by the Sign meaning, so I could have 16 different meanings for Saturn in Cancer. But, let's just work with the first choice in each set:

Defining Emotional Security

If you look back to those meanings from Google links, you probably see the resonance between what they're talking about and "Defining Emotional Security"...

The only problem is that, if you trusted what those people said and you were young and had Saturn in Cancer, you'd have your "task" of defining emotional security given a negative twist that it would have to struggle against.

The meanings you find in printed astrological sources have most often come from distorted previous sources and are used by far too many practicing astrologers as the gospel truth.

Certainly, someone born with Saturn in Cancer and having a great need to define emotional security might have more richness in their emotional interactions than another person; but, it can just as well be true that the other person had a much rougher emotional life.

Bottom-line:

The B.I.D.E. Interpretive System was devised to eliminate the problems that most traditional astrological practice has insidiously insinuated into an accepted canon—a book of rules—that is downright dangerous.

In the example I cited from my own chart, the B.I.D.E. meanings give me a chance to find positive and helpful resolutions for my particular emotional journey. Sure, the B.I.D.E. System needs your own input and creativity to reveal its full potential but it's a lot safer than taking for granted what others might say...

For a different perspective on this issue of what to believe about what you read about astrology, see Astrology Predicts Meanings, Not Events on the Information Site...

Back To Basics...

Still have more new than returning folks here so let's review some basics.

We'll use these charts as examples: Fidel Castro, Leonardo da Vinci, and Madonna.

For the following, if you're experiencing your first visit, the Information Site (red link in the right panel) has a page called Creating A Chart that will give you the basic astrological "language" so you can find things in the charts we'll use...

Most people only know about Sun Signs so we'll start with that.

Fidel has his Sun in Leo, Leonardo's is in Taurus, and Madonna's is Leo.

Now, go to the Informations Site's page called, B.I.D.E. Interpretive System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses and look at the four choices for the Sun and also Leo and Taurus (Of course, you can avoid this for now and just read the post first...). I'll make my choices for our examples and, hopefully, you'll make yours and share them in the Comments... Some of you may also want to check out the Information Site's page, Detailed Example of Using the System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses...

Here are my choices for our examples' Sun Signs:

Fidel Castro
Sun in Leo
Focusing Energetic Influence

Leonardo da Vinci
Sun in Taurus
Integrating Personal Resources

Madonna
Sun in Leo
Vitalizing Creative Response

But, much more can be revealed when the House a person's Sun is in is known. For Fidel it's the 3rd House {because it's within 7° of that cusp}, For Leonardo it's the 6th, and Madonna's is the 12th.

From the Information Site, we know that the words "in order to" are placed between the Sign and House, so, here are my picks for our examples (Sure do hope you show yours in the Comments!}:

Fidel
Focusing Energetic Influence in order to Make Connections.

Leonardo
Integrating Personal Resources in order to Improve Himself.

Madonna
Vitalizing Creative Response in order to Utilize the Resources of Her Unconscious Mind.

Make sense to you?

Of course, these statements of these people's Sun placement (their Central Life Purpose {and, Central Life Purpose isn't necessarily what a person shows us upfront...}) is just the bare beginning of the Meaning astrology can reveal...

Questions?

Comments??

What's Up ?

This blog's not all that old...

Five months...

There've been 65 people who've been here more than once and 8 who've been here more than 25 times...

Those who've returned have spent an average time-on-site/visit of 2 mins 45 secs...

Numbers...

What this site needs; what the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System needs is Interaction, Comments, Feedback, Action...

Those qualities will make the blog more valuable as well as making your use of the B.I.D.E. System more valuable...

...

Help?

More About Dane Rudhyar

Last post, we used a few bits and pieces from Dane Rudhyar's Chart (namely, His Sun/Function, Sun's Sign/Energy, and Sun's House/Activity) to see that the B.I.D.E. System can function well even without creating a Symbolic Sentence. (for a guide to using the full System, see our Information Site)

But even though, for awhile, we'll look at piecemeal uses of the System, and because too many astrologers use Only piecemeal interpretation, I included a full Symbolic Sentence for Rudhyar's Sun:

Vitalizing Fresh Approaches in order to Study What He Discovered Was Important.

I also urged you to, "...look into some of his ground-breaking writings on Khaldea's Rudhyar Archival Project...".

Now, I want to draw your attention to the two Planets that define the "boundaries" of his Talents—Saturn and Jupiter.

Let's compare first the differences and, especially, the complementary nature of these Key Planets in Rudhyar's life (in case you've never heard of the man, I would call him the Einstein of Astrology).

Here are the key phrases for these Key Planets in Dane's chart:

Saturn
Rudhyar's Saturn is retrograde so everything pertaining to it must be viewed in the most unique and individualized way possible...)
Defining
Clarifying
Structuring
Organizing

Jupiter
Expanding
Amplifying
Optimizing
Being Optimistic about

If these Planets were married, they'd be the Perfect Couple...

Now, let's compare the interaction of the Signs of Saturn and Jupiter in his chart:

Scorpio for Saturn
the Urge to Blend Perspectives
the Desire to Bond Deeply
an Analytical Attitude
the Worth of Others

Gemini for Jupiter
Diversity of Ideas
Multiplicity of Interests
Intellectual Freedom
Conceptual Versatility

Even a quick scan of the Wikipedia Article for Dane will reveal the prominence of these Energies in his life...

Here are the Houses (or, the most prominent Activities in his life):

11th House for Saturn
Make His Social Position Secure.
Enlist the Aid of His Social Network.
Activate His Goals.
Give Expression to His Hopes.

7th House for Jupiter
Begin (or, Refresh) a Relationship.
Be Aware of the Other Person’s Perspective.
Initiate Sharing.
Find a Compensating Viewpoint.

You may have to dig a bit deeper into the Khaldea site or the Wikipedia article to see how these activities were prominent but it won't really be all that hard...

And, to bring this post to a conclusion, I can't avoid constructing the full Symbolic Sentence for these Planets. They're nine degrees from a Waning Trine but Saturn is retrograding back toward a tighter orb so:

Clarifying an Analytical Attitude in order to Give Expression to His Hopes
Induces Insight into the Needs of Society by
Optimizing Intellectual Freedom in order to Initiate Sharing.

And, Share he did!

Those were my picks from all the options in the System...

What would you pick to create a Symbolic Sentence for Dane's most prominent Functions?

Want to share it in the Comments?

General Astrology Techniques

Since the returns from our survey, so far, show "General Astrology Techniques" as the most desired topic for this blog, I'm going to show you how to use the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System to gain valuable information even when you're not constructing the complete Symbolic Sentences the System is designed to provide.

If you haven't yet taken the survey, please click this link and give us your opinions!

To show you some creative ways to use parts of the System to explore charts, I'm going to look at my favorite astrologer's chart: Dane Rudhyar.

The first thing I want to point out is the B.I.D.E. System's use of the word "Function" for Planets, "Energy" for Signs, and "Activity" for Houses.

So, to begin an exploration of what I consider to be the Einstein of Astrology's chart, we might look to his Sun Function, expressed as:

Vitalizing
Centering
Focusing
Integrating

What did Rudhyar try to Vitalize, Center, Focus On, and Integrate?

It was his Sun's Energy or Sign, Aries:

Individual Awareness
Dynamic Awareness
Personal Initiative
Fresh Approaches

And, what did he Do about this Central Purpose of using Individual Awareness, Dynamic Awareness, Personal Initiative, and Fresh Approaches?

He put that Central Purpose's Energy into his 3rd House:

Being Aware of His Immediate Environment
Learning Important Facts
Studying What He Discovered Was Important.
Making Connections

We haven't even constructed a Symbolic Sentence with the System, yet we have information about Rudhyar that bears on his life-long work of {and here comes a Symbolic Sentence [and, if you've never even considered how these Sentences are constructed, please look into our Information Site...}}:

Vitalizing Fresh Approaches in order to Study What He Discovered Was Important.

And, what he discovered as important has changed the face of astrology forever...

Even if you know nothing about Rudhyar's life and work, and how that Symbolic Sentence expresses his Central Life Purpose, please do look into some of his ground-breaking writings on Khaldea's Rudhyar Archival Project...

What I want you to realize in this post is that the B.I.D.E. System still "works" even when we take parts of it into consideration—looking at just the Planets/Functions, Signs/Energies, or Houses/Activities...

Next post, we'll take this piecemeal approach a bit further...

Comments?

Please...

What We Don't Know *Can* Hurt Us...

From Dane Rudhyar:

"...the person who becomes an astrologer's client must have faith, or at least the queer borderland feeling in which curiosity, skepticism and an avid eagerness to believe blend. As the astrologer talks of these remote entities, the planets, the ordinary client senses the power of mysterious Forces operating in his life. He is led to the realm of a 'threshold knowledge'; he is led, in most cases, blindfolded and without any bearings. Yet he who leads him and pours into his mind and psyche starting information has, in most cases, very little sense of responsibility for what this information evokes in the client's consciousness."

It's time for me to reveal a bit about my sense of responsibility in introducing the B.I.D.E. System to the readers of this blog and I'll do it by talking about asteroids (please take note that I'm using the term "asteroids" in a non-astronomical way, somewhat like calling the Sun and Moon "planets". {for detailed information about the smaller bodies of the solar system, check out Asteroid groups and families and the IAU Minor Planet Center})

In the original volume of Astrological Repair Manual (which is still a free download near the top of the right panel), I began to address the issue of interpreting "asteroids":

"The critical thing for an astrologer to consider is what can be done, with such a wide variety of objects orbiting in such a wide variety of places, when the astrologer comes to the point of trying to draw any logical, interpretive conclusions. Sad to say, there are many astrologers who don’t stop to consider many things before they blithely offer up their opinions. Result? Chaos; in the astrologer’s mind and in any soul unwitting enough to bite this particular apple."

I mentioned not only the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter but also those in other spaces in the solar system. The tentative interpretive issue I sketched back then was stated this way:

"The first major consideration before attempting astrological interpretation of this kind of object is, 'What about all the other ones?' Sure, some astrologers interpret a few of the asteroids in their practice, but the critical difference between planets and this host of other bodies is that they are a host, a multitude, a legion. Back when we were hovering near Xena, I said one approach for hordes-interpretation was to, '...think of a sheath or aura around the chart, a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously'."

The three images below show, first, the "asteroidal bodies" out to Mars' orbit, then, out just past Jupiter's orbit, then, out past Pluto. The second image includes the first image and the third includes the second. The blue circles are the planets' orbits and the orange areas are the names of asteroids and other small objects...

We are, in truth, dealing with "a sheath or aura around the chart", not just the four or five asteroidal bodies most astrologers consider...

Well, "Why", you might ask, "should we worry about all of them?"

My answer would be another question: Why should we use the planets beyond Mars' orbit? Can't we just forget about Saturn through Pluto?

Of course we can't forget about those planets and we shouldn't forget that there are thousands of other objects around each of our charts...

I'd said that these bodies represent "a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously".

Well, dear soul, this astrologer, even after 40 years, is still working on clear, conscious use of all the planets out to Pluto. So, I'm still looking forward to the day when I begin to get a clear sense of how to explain the tentative understanding I've gained about this aspect of astrology. I intend to share it in future volumes of Astrological Repair Manual...

So am I just teasing you with this post?

Nope. I'm using the issue of interpreting asteroids as an example of why I feel so strongly that the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System is valuable. I know that continued use of the System leads to more conscious control over how the planets are understood and how that understanding is used to improve our situation here on sweet Mother Earth. And, I'm revealing my deep concern about the responsibility that Dane Rudhyar was talking about in that opening quote.

I want anyone who continues to visit this blog and persists in learning to use the B.I.D.E. System to gain a much more complete understanding and conscious control over their destiny...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, the survey that lets you help me know what you'd like to see in this blog is still available: up near the top of the right panel and, also, right HERE...

Shameless Promotion...

     This blog is a laboratory for exploring ways to use the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System...
     I admit, I crave Your comments about any experimenting you do with the System...
     I know most folks rarely leave a comment...
     So, shamelessly, I ask you to visit a new site, AstroLuxx, the Cosmic Astrology Cafe, click on the Upcoming Tab at the top, look for posts by amzolt (that's me), notice the white star in the purple box, and click on it for posts you've read and liked!
     While you're there, consider contributing to the content. The site is new and has great promise for spreading news and articles of interest to astrophiles--like You!!

Dane Rudhyar & Carl Jung

We're going to look at a connection between Dane Rudhyar's chart and Carl Jung's chart using the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System.

The connection is the 25th degree of Aquarius and holds Jung's Saturn and Rudhyar's Moon. That particular degree is within two degrees of my chart's Descendant or 7th House cusp.

These two men had a deeply profound influence on my growth into astrology and the blending of their teachings definitely influenced my creation of the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System.

If you need a little background on these two men's ideas, try this link for Dane Rudhyar and this link for Carl Jung.

When I consider their influence on my interpretive System and the close conjunction between one's Saturn and the other's Moon, as well as those planets' conjunction with my 7th House, I can safely say that the way I Relate (7th) to the world {especially with the B.I.D.E. System} has a strongly blended impact of Saturnian and Lunar power. In fact, to understand the purpose of my reason for creating my System, an exploration of the Rudhyar/Jung connection has deep explanatory capacity.

So... You may want to reference the Planet/Sign/House and Full-Cycle Aspects pages before we get started...

First, Jung's Saturn (retrograde) in Aquarius in his 1st House:

There are four interpretive words for Saturn in the System and for this example I'll choose "Defining"; and, that defining is highly individualized due to its retrogradation (I'll use the word "Uniquely" to indicate this). For his Aquarius, I choose "Group-Consciousness". For his 1st House, "See Things Clearly". Now, we can put those together (with the usual "in order to") and we get:

Uniquely Defining Group-Consciousness in order to See Things Clearly.

Now, Rudhyar's Moon in Aquarius in his 2nd House:

For his Moon I'll choose "Nurturing"; for Aquarius, "Humanitarian Considerations"; and, for his 2nd House, "Focus on Resources". Putting them together we have:

Nurturing Humanitarian Considerations in order to Focus on Resources.

Now, we need a phrase for the conjunction between those planets. I'll choose "Engenders New Possibilities by". To put them together, we need to remember to put the slower planet first:

Uniquely Defining Group-Consciousness in order to See Things Clearly
Engenders New Possibilities by
Nurturing Humanitarian Considerations in order to Focus on Resources.

There...

Now you have my interpretation of how I feel about Sharing (my 7th House) the B.I.D.E. System with You that also expresses the focused blending of the two men who most influenced me to create it.

Kinda cool, eh?

Big Bag of Tools

This post is dedicated to showing you all the tools available to help you use the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System. You can access all these tools with the red link in the right panel that says, Information Site.

The most important tools are the Planet/Sign/House phrases and the Full-Cycle Aspect phrases. With these two tools you have all you need to generate a fully customized, individualized, positive, affirmative interpretation of a chart.

There are also articles to help you use those two interpretive guides:

The Detailed Guide to Using the Planet/Sign/House Phrases

And

The Example of Using the Aspect Phrases.

There are also guides on How to Create a Chart and How to Calculate Aspects.

There's also an article on Why the B.I.D.E. System is Valuable and Why Astrology Doesn't Predict Events.

One final tool available is a Very Special Offer to enable you to have free astrology software and the files needed to Easily use Full-Cycle Aspects.

Enjoy !!!

"...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...

A Positive Interpretation of Hitler's Chart ?

Click Image To Enlarge

Overheard at the Café:

Susan: "Well, of course he was evil. His Venus was retrograde in the 7th House. And, his Moon and Jupiter were both in Capricorn—cold man..."

John: "Yes, and Neptune and Pluto in the 8th, my God what a bad position!"

Andy: "Then there's his will-to-power with Mars in Taurus and Saturn in Leo in the 10th..."

Really? Is everyone with Venus retrograde in the 7th and Moon and Jupiter in Capricorn cold?

Know anyone with Neptune and Pluto in the 8th? You do!? Hm... Trick question: they were conjunct back in the late 1800s and won't be again till the 2060s... Do you think they thought or will think that was or will be a bad position?

Mars in Taurus and Saturn in Leo in the 10th... Let's kill 'em all before they breed!

Far too many astrologers are working their craft backwards. They learn a bunch of good/bad "indications" and use them like a bludgeon—beating people with good clubs or bad clubs so they'll fit into the mold—the predetermined "meaning" of the chart factors. No room, it seems, for free will; no time for grace; no patience with positivity...

I've known people to attend a class on positive thinking, leave with malice in their hearts, then claim the methods didn't work.

I've also known people who had all the "bad" aspects and all the "afflicted" positions in their charts who turned out pretty well. In fact, if you look at my chart, you'll understand the utter unfairness of a student of mine, asked to analyze the chart (not knowing it was mine) and tell me who they thought it was. They said, "Charles Manson"...

Naturally, trying to guess who belongs to a chart is a hapless profession but I did the experiment to prove a point—back-reading a laundry-list of "indications" into a chart is exactly the wrong way to do astrology.

Certainly, if someone, due to their own free-will or the oppression of another's free-will, becomes evil, astrology can see the factors that were warped. Try reading this biography of Hitler while keeping in mind what those folks in the Café were saying and you can see some of the places in Hitler's chart where the wrong external or internal pressure was applied. This still does not justify reading a chart and attributing negatives automatically...

It's my very carefully considered opinion, after forty years of study and counseling, that astrology must be used to help foster the positive development and/or help heal the negative experiences of fellow members of our human family.

That's why I took 20 years to create a system of interpretation that was as honestly positive as I could make it—a system that gives people the best possible chance to use the blueprint of their chart to help them develop their latent potential toward constructive and affirmative ends.

This system is available in The Instructions of my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual. In fact, I'm going to use the system to reinterpret those claims made by my imaginary Susan, John, and Andy. 

Since each combination of Planet, Sign, and House can have 64 interpretations in the system, I'm purposely going to choose the ones that emphasize Adolf's challenges. Even though the symbolic sentences produced by the system are positive, I think you'll see where he needed more encouragement at a young age, more positive nurturing, more constructive use of his free-will, more support for the soul inside that was abused and frightened...

Venus retrograde in Taurus in the 7th: (retrogradation demands that the factor be interpreted as highly unique and internalized, capable of development in ways that challenge the norm.)
Valuing Individual Worth in order to Be Aware of the Other Person’s Perspective.
He was not given enough support for his individual worth...

Moon conjunct Jupiter in Capricorn in the 3rd:
Nourishing and Expanding an Objective Attitude in order to Be Aware of his Immediate Environment.
His immediate environment was ill-equipped to help him be objective...

Neptune conjunct Pluto in Gemini in the 8th:
Being Idealistic about and Regenerating Intellectual Freedom in order to Merge With Others.
He got the intellectual freedom part but was impeded in his efforts to merge with others... (the activity in the 8th is a consequence of the activity in the 7th—see Venus and Mars)

Mars in Taurus in the 7th:
Being Driven by Individual Worth in order to Find a Compensating Viewpoint.
The close conjunction with Venus here, and not having had enough support for his individual worth, made the compensation come from his unconscious—the shaky and defensive soul that he didn't feel he could unburden...

Saturn in Leo in the 10th:
Organizing Dramatic Concern in order to Express his Social Role.
He had the drama and could definitely organize it yet his other challenges and his lack of self-worth warped his sense of his social role...

O.K., now it's your turn; to add some feedback or argument in the comments. Or, at least go away from this post considering how you can help support the development of another member of our human family...

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...

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 —

What's Your Point-of-View ?

Last post we checked out the Moon as the fastest and most intimate Function in astrology. Now, we'll look at the Earth's cycle in the second half of Chapter 10 from my Free-to-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual:

"If I said the Moon cycle shows the Style of living, then the Earth shows the actual Central Focus of a life. The Earth is going around the Sun, right? In astrology, the Sun is referred to as the Central Focus of life. It's easy to see why, since without it, we’d be dead! So why am I confusing things and calling Earth the Central Focus? It’s because the Sun’s cycle is the reflection of a moving Earth, and astrology is all about our point-ofview from the Earth. I needed to remind you that the Earth is moving ‘cause it’s so easy to forget...

"So, we’ll pair the Earth-Sun year-long cycle of Central Life Purpose with the month-long Moon cycle of Style of Living that Purpose, and we’ll have the most important Couple of all the astrological Relationships. So important that, with just Sun- Sign and Moon-sign and an understanding of how to blend their meanings into one 'chord', you can impress and astound anyone by explaining the Core of their psychology.

"Certainly, there are other important considerations, like two or three of the other planets close to each other or the Sun or Moon very near another planet, but Everything else in a chart depends on this 'battery' of Sun/Moon. Nothing else would happen without it.

"While we’re here where astrology actually lives, it’s time to get into a little more detail about what the Signs and Houses of astrology mean. We’ll start with the Houses, since these are the Space within which everything else happens.

"There you are, a newly born babe, taking your first breath (the most accurate moment to use in a birth chart). The space that surrounds you has Meaning. Your unconscious mind is already working overtime, though the conscious ego will take years to catch up, if it ever really does... The unconscious is noting the directions and the various cyclic energies that are ranged around you. Powerful connections are being made between your deep psychological state and the actual space that surrounds you. The imprint of this moment of birth is so profound that an astrologer can look at a chart’s meanings and sometimes actually deduce some of the physical happenings at that moment. Certainly, the moment is powerful enough that it becomes, in the full detail of a complete birth chart, the 'blueprint' for the rest of your life.

"To the East, where the path of the planets rises, is what has been called the 'Ascendant' or the beginning of the First House. At the highest point of the planets' path is the 'Midheaven' or the beginning of the 10th house. These two positions define the circle of the Houses. There are actually twelve of them, and their meanings will be given in detail in The Instructions. For now, let’s look at these two defining positions' meanings.

"The Ascendant is the position of your most individualized perspective on life— your 'mask', in the old meaning of that word—what the medicine man wore to let a part of his unconscious come out, certainly not something put on to hide behind. If you don’t know your time of birth accurately and you can’t find it in the records, you need to locate a well-seasoned and rigorously honest astrologer to do what’s called 'rectification'. This is a complex method of working 'backwards' to deduce a time of birth. Much can be told from a chart that’s approximately correct, but it will be significantly general information, true for many people born at or around the time of your birth.

"The Sign that was rising on the Ascendant when you were born is the energy you characteristically use to individually perceive the world. Any planets that are near the Ascendant will blend their functions with your perceptions and become some of your very best 'tools' in life.

"The Midheaven is the position of your characteristic way of Growing into the world. It shows the way you can best be 'objective' about life and, with its accompanying Sign is often used to guide people toward a profession. (Again, I must stress that the chart doesn’t 'say' which specific profession. What’s indicated is the meaning that the profession has in your life. Rather than saying 'doctor' or 'nurse' or 'counselor', for instance, you might see the meaning of 'helping others', although this is a very simplistic way of telling you what a good astrologer could say about your Midheaven and its relationship to other factors in your chart.)

"All the other Houses in your chart derive their meanings from these two—your individualized way of perceiving life and your unique way of growing into it. The Houses can be thought of as the Activities of your life while the Signs are the Energies you use in those Activities and the Planets are the Functions that channel those Energies in those Activities. Another way to say this is that the Function 'uses' the Energy to 'perform' the Activity. You’ll get a lot of practice with this basic astrological formula in The Instructions (in the Free-to Download book) when you begin interpreting your own chart!

"So, the Houses are determined by where and when you were born and define your Space of Activity. The Signs are determined by the motion of the Earth around the Sun and define the Energies that are used in that space.

"There is a moment in the Earth’s journey around the Sun that we call Spring— when day and night are equal and day is beginning to be longer than night. This moment and the place the Sun is in at that time is what we call the beginning of the Sign Aries. In a very important way, saying what Spring means is saying what Aries means. There is another time in the Earth’s journey around the Sun that happens when night is longest and day is shortest and day is just beginning to increase again. This time and the place the Sun is in then is called Capricorn and (without using any of the negative meanings) saying Capricorn is the same as saying Winter. These two Signs and times determine all the other Sign’s meanings, similarly to the Ascendant and Midheaven giving meaning to all the other Houses. I’ll direct your attention to the web site link in The Instructions that goes to Khaldea where you’ll find more than enough information to go as deeply as you desire into the lush fields of Sign and House meanings...

"Earlier in this book I said something to the effect that nothing in astrology has meaning without everything else—kind of like your head means nothing without your neck... Even things like the Ascendant or the first House, which give meaning to other factors, don’t have meaning by themselves. It’s our position on the Earth and it’s relationship to the rest of the solar system that give meaning to Ascendant and first House.

"When we get to the last chapter, you’ll get a feeling for how even this solar system gets its meaning from the rest of space...

"Most of my time on this Earth has been spent learning to find the core meanings of the various factors of astrology. The journey has been wild with discovery and, at times, perilous with risk. I mentioned two languages earlier—the one that astrology has crystallized into traditional words and meanings—and the one that holds the truth. Even though you’ll be able to interpret your own chart (in a basic way) by the time you finish reading this book, you won’t have reached the end of that interpretation until you die. The reason I've stuck with astrology for so many years is that its deepest meanings are the 'seeds' that give meaning to everything else. The structure of astrology is, at root, the structure of our psyche.

"Bold statement, that! Hard-won truth, too. Back behind all the lunacies of popular astrology, far deeper than anything I can say about the subject, is the ocean of our unconscious mind. Our mind, because, at that level, it is a collective mind—heir to the full history of humanity and parent to any individual ego consciousness. There is a man, someone I’ve called the Einstein of psychology—Carl Jung. If you want to delve into this magnificent arena of the origin of consciousness, read Jung...

"And what about our feelings? Ah! We must travel to Venus to begin to unravel the mysteries of feeling..."

We'll also be exploring Venus in the Houses in the next post...

Asteroids and Chaos

We've left Jupiter and are entering the asteroid belt. Our journey mirrors the one in my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual.

Let's look at Chapter 8:

"Here we are traveling through what’s been called the Asteroid Belt—many thousands of carbony or rocky planetoids, chunks of stuff that some think are left over from a destroyed early planet and others think haven't been together long enough to make a planet; jury’s still out...

"The thing is, that since they first called it a belt, astronomers have found bodies orbiting in something more like a sphere with the majority of them huddling in the somewhat flat plane of the major planets. Also, this conglomeration of bodies between Jupiter and Mars used to be the big thing in small bodies. Now we know there are large groups between Saturn and Neptune, not to mention all those Hordes out past Pluto (check out the first few posts of this blog for Xena and her Hordes).

"The critical thing for an astrologer to consider is what can be done, with such a wide variety of objects orbiting in such a wide variety of places, when the astrologer comes to the point of trying to draw any logical, interpretive conclusions. Sad to say, there are many astrologers who don’t stop to consider many things before they blithely offer up their opinions. Result? Chaos; in the astrologer’s mind and in any soul unwitting enough to bite this particular apple.

"One outstanding example of this unconsidered (though, probably, sincere) approach to interpreting this realm of chaotic bodies is the object dubbed Chiron. Discovered in 1977 and having an orbit that takes it between Uranus and Saturn, this small celestial traveler has been given way too much responsibility in the traditional astrologer’s bag of tricks...

"The first major consideration before attempting astrological interpretation of this kind of object is, 'What about all the other ones?' Sure, some astrologers interpret a few of the asteroids in their practice, but the critical difference between planets and this host of other bodies is that they are a host, a multitude, a legion. Back when we were hovering near Xena, I said one approach for hordes-interpretation was to, '...think of a sheath or aura around the chart, a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously.'

"That was said for the bodies out beyond Pluto, but it can certainly be applied to the asteroid belt and this plethora of small bodies. Another consideration is the length of their cycles. This depends on physics, but with this legion spread over most of the extent of the solar system, we witness cycles from less than a year to many hundreds of years...

"One approach would be to use 'the sheath or aura...of potentials and energies' and give it special attention when we find a concentration of these denizens of chaos. Since the Hordes of Xena have very long cycles, they would represent a congregation of energies that society-at-large can use; the flock between Jupiter and Mars would be oriented toward the transition between Social Expansion (Jupiter) and Personal Motivation (Mars-teasermeaning).

"I should make it clear that since astrology deals with the mirroring of solar system cycles in the lives of people (and cultures or individuals), everyone is always 'using' these energies and functions. The goal is to make this cyclic-meaning more conscious. And, to be as progressive as possible, astrology is not the only way to do this; just the one I’m writing about...

"So, in other words, these hordes and legions are a cloud of cycles and meanings that don’t have the clarity or precision of interpretation that planets do. They do, however, let us consider the value of chaos in our lives.

"Chaos is a word, like many others, that now seems to live far from its birthplace. Not to say that words shouldn’t grow and move from place to place, but, like you and me, if they change their identity too many times, we should give them a new name or folks might get confused. Actually, most words like this don’t change their meanings; people just don’t know them well enough. Like 'chaos'.

"It came from the Greeks and originally meant something like the primal emptiness or to gape or be wide open. One thing it didn’t mean back then was disorder or confusion—meanings common today. Some of you may be thinking, 'So the word changed its' meaning. Forget about the old ways of using it.' Well, the fact is, that’s real hard to do, and the reason is lurking right there in all our minds—the unconscious. It remembers, very well, and, when we use words in ways they weren’t born for, we induce chaos in our thoughts. Oops! Did I mean disorder or confusion? Did I mean emptying our minds or making them wider? (Actually, I tried hard in that sentence to leave room for all the meanings of chaos...)

"Let’s leave this discussion behind with the understanding that words can be tricky, we should be wary, and chaos just might be a good thing—in its proper place, of course!

"I feel this is the proper place for an understanding of the potential for using all these otherwise misunderstood space objects as a symbol of the vast and multilevel energies available to us; some deep in the unconscious, some much closer to our waking understanding. It’s my firm conviction, though, that none of us will use them consciously unless we're using the main functions—the planets we all know and love—in consciously controlled ways.

"Let me share a quote from Dane Rudhyar that speaks to this positive understanding of chaos:

'Whereas our ancestors used to dwell in a comfortably static universe in which everything had a well defined and rationally reassuring name, a form and a permanent set of characteristics, today we find change enthroned everywhere.... Against the classical concepts of permanence and identity the realization that all living is a dynamic process of transformation from which no entity escapes now stands backed up by the whole edifice of scientific research and theory. On the ruins of the world of thought dogmatically extolled by nineteenth century minds we witness the reappearance of ancient concepts which were for millennia the foundations of human knowledge. The universe is once more to be understood as an ocean of energies in which two vast complementary tides can be distinguished. Everywhere a dynamic and electrical dualism appears as the foundation upon which all reality stands.'
--- The Pulse of Life (1943)

"Humanity is far from a complete understanding of life, the solar system, or the universe. There will always be more to learn and new ways to use what we already know. As we approach the inner edge of this asteroid belt, let’s just agree that there is more to know, and we can profit from letting our minds open a little bit wider at times. If we can reach a place where our minds feel somewhat empty, we will feel less driven, less oppressed. Our minds might even become broad enough to let new interpretations in, interpretations that include enough reality to have the power to take us closer to the truth."

All comments, critiques, and questions welcomed!

Melting with Neptune

Still slowly entering the solar system from interstellar journeys—just like the reader in my astrology book (Astrological Repair Manual), which is a free download.

We've visited the outer realms with Xena and the Hordes, stopped to let Pluto influence us, and are nearing Neptune's playground...

Neptune is not just illusion or delusion. These are just misuses of Neptune's cyclic power.

From the book:

"One of the more misunderstood aspects of Neptune’s meanings is the process of dissolving associated with its symbolic action—the dissolution or evaporation of the solid ground of past beliefs or dreams. It’s important to always remember that astrology deals with cycles and with cycles-within-cycles. A planet’s functional and symbolic meaning happens by giving birth to energies and forces appropriate to its cycle, building them to a full state, then letting them decay and die into a rebirth.

"And, within any given cycle there are sub-cycles of birth, growth, decay and rebirth. Neptune’s ability to dissolve the old (and this will be, hopefully, the last time I remind you that it’s not the actual physical planet doing these things but the psychological powers within us), this power of dissolution, prepares the way for Pluto’s regenerations. We’ll see this with each planet we come to—its function is necessary for the one further out (or, deeper within...). We can also look at the interrelationship of these life functions the other way around, the way we’re doing it in this book, from the deepest/farthest to the most conscious/nearest. This way, we see Pluto’s deaths and purgings as necessary for the dissolving actions of Neptune’s dreams and visions to take place.

"When we get to Uranus, we’ll have a triple of functions that most people on this Earth never bring to conscious awareness."

I really do want to learn from you! Please leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments...