Take This Challenge !

I want to pose a challenge to all my readers...

Even if this is the first time you've been to this blog, if you take the challenge, you'll either end up knowing more about yourself or you'll confirm more deeply important aspects of your character...

First: Download the original edition of Astrological Repair Manual--it's free--and look near the end of the book--page 63--where I've provided pages for each of the Planets, Signs, and Houses in a format that lets you print them out, cut them up, and have small cards you can move around on a desktop...

Second: Go to our Information Site and download the information from B.I.D.E. Interpretive System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses and Detailed Example of Using the System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses...

Third: Get your chart out. If you don't have one yet, check out Creating A Chart, where you can follow two different links to get a free chart and also have the basic Key to translate those weird astrological symbols in the chart into words that you can plug into Steps One and Two...

Fourth: Take the small cards you cut up in Step One. Pick out the ones for the Sun and Moon (four for each) and the ones for the Sign your particular Sun and Moon are in (four for each, unless the Sun and Moon are in the same Sign). Then, pick out the ones for the Houses your Sun and Moon are in...

Fifth: Choose one card for the Sun and one for the Moon, then one for the Sun's Sign and one for the Moon's Sign, then one for the Sun's House and the Moon's House...

Lay them out on the desk, in the order that was indicated in the download in Step Two, and Say The Words Out Loud (not forgetting the words "in order to" between the Sign and House...

Sixth: Change one or more of the cards--Sun/Moon, Sign, or House. Say that Symbolic Sentence Out Loud...

Seventh: Keep changing cards till you have a Sun/Sign/House and Moon/Sign/House Sentence that makes total sense to you...

Eighth: Repeat at least once a month...

Ninth: At some point in this process, tell us about your experience in the Comments...

If you're really adventurous, check out the post, The "Verbs" of Astrology, and explore how to link the Symbolic Sentences you have for your Sun and Moon into one awesome statement about why you're on this Earth...

Stories In Your Birth Chart...

Still staying rather basic for awhile on the blog; but, I feel I have to step up the level just a bit today...

Most anyone who's looked beyond Sun Signs knows that a Planet in a Sign and in a certain House (and, that Houses need an accurate birth time), those Planet/Sign/House combinations can be considered "sentences" in a chart.

If you're brand new you may want to review a couple pages on our Information Site (red link in the right panel): Creating A Chart, if you don't have one yet; B.I.D.E. Interpretive System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses; and, for the last part of this post, Example of Using the Aspect Phrases.

Of course, I'll try to write the rest of the post so you can just keep reading and go back to those links later ;-)

So...

I'll interpret my Sun in Aries in the 9th House using the B.I.D.E. System (Here's my chart); but, realize, I'm doing this right now for how I feel about myself right now. There are 64 different interpretations available for every Planet/Sign/House combo in the Basic B.I.D.E. System. The links above will give you all you need to do what I'll do next: choose a phrase for the Sun, then for Aries, then for the 9th House; then, put them in the right order:

Sun in Aries in the 9th House

Vitalizing Personal Initiative in order to Bring the Situation to its Highest Expression.

Of course, that Symbolic Sentence means a lot to me because I'm working extra hard right now to promote my Nutrition Business while maintaining this blog and my other blog. So that Symbolic Sentence up there is a statement of my "Central Purpose" right now...

There's also the Way I use that Central Purpose—my Moon in Libra in the 3rd House—my current "Style".

Moon in Libra in the 3rd House

Adapting Considerations of Sharing in order to Make Connections.

But, so far, I've only got two Symbolic Sentences. I want to link those Sentences in the right way so they'll tell a short Symbolic Story...

This is where the "Aspect" or distance between the Planets becomes important. There are a total of three pages on Aspects on the Information Site right now with more to come.

For now, take my word for the fact that my Moon is 172.6° from my Sun and that's called a Waxing QuadNovile aspect.

So, I take the Sun Sentence and link it to the Moon Sentence by choosing one of the phrases for the aspect-distance between them:

Sun in Aries in the 9th House
Waxing QuadNovile
Moon in Libra in the 3rd House

Vitalizing Personal Initiative in order to Bring the Situation to its Highest Expression
Induces a Sense of Worthiness of Goals by
Adapting Considerations of Sharing in order to Make Connections.

So...

That's not just a huge sentence, it's a short Symbolic Story about where I'm at right now...

If you had done the same process for your Sun and Moon, you'd have a short Symbolic Story about Your current Central Purpose and the Stylistic Way to make it work.

Napoleon Bonaparte

In this post, we'll be looking at Napoleon Bonaparte's chart.

Napoleon is well known for being a military dictator: "His critics charge that he was not significantly troubled when faced with the prospect of war and death for thousands, turned his search for undisputed rule into a series of conflicts throughout Europe and ignored treaties and conventions alike. Napoleon institutionalised plunder of conquered territories..." [Source]

Yet, his Napoleonic Code "...set out to reform the French legal system..." since "Before the Code, France did not have a single set of laws; laws depended on local customs, and often on exemptions, privileges and special charters granted by the kings or other feudal lords." [quotes from Wikipedia]

I felt it was important to set out just a bit of the two sides of a man who made such an impact on world history. Even the worst among us can display spiritual qualities that move the world forward, in spite of the wrong committed against humanity...

From a rather traditional astrological approach, what I've said so far could be attributed to the four strong Oppositions in his chart (along with the support of two Grand Trines in the Earth element). Also, a thorough examination of all the aspects in his chart would yield tremendous insight into his complex character.

Even though this blog is dedicated to the use of the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System, which is capable of generating Symbolic Sentences of the form

Planet/Sign/House
Aspect
Planet/Sign/House

and, even though I urge you to explore this use in the post Oprah, Revisited; and, even though those types of exploration are the most powerful, they demand the most work and concentrated understanding to reap the rich rewards offered by the System.

So...

What I want to offer in this post is a simpler, yet still powerful approach: a simple listing of Napoleon's Planet placements in a logical order—Sun, Moon, then Mercury out to Pluto—and let you see how even this rather "restrained" use of the System is valuable...

Don't forget, what I present are only My choices from the broad spectrum of interpretive choices available. See the Information Site (red link in the right panel) for the full System...

» Napoleon's Planetary Placements «

Sun in Leo in the 10th House
Focusing Energetic Influence in order to Realize His Highest Objective Goals.

Moon in Capricorn in the 3rd House
Adapting Structural Innovations in order to Study What’s Important.

Mercury in Leo in the 9th House
Investigating Creative Response in order to See the Broader Perspective.

Venus in Cancer in the 8th House
Evaluating Emotional Security in order to Find the Depth of the Issue.

Mars in Virgo in the 11th House
Being Driven by Systems and Techniques in order to Realize His Highest Objective Goals.

Jupiter in Scorpio in the 1st House
Optimizing an Analytical Attitude in order to See Things from His Own Perspective.

Saturn in Cancer in the 9th House
Organizing Active Feelings in order to Bring the Situation to its Highest Expression.

Uranus in Taurus in the 7th House
Breaking Obsolete Traditions of the Value of Possessions in order to Find a Compensating Viewpoint.

Neptune in Virgo in the 11th House
Dissolving Old Forms of a Service Attitude in order to Activate My Goals.

Pluto in Capricorn in the 3rd House
Getting to the Depths of a Desire for Enduring Patterns in order to Study What’s Important.

Whatever your opinion of military dictators {and, it must be stressed that we are in the midst of a global revolution to establish the rule of the Oneness of Humanity}, studying what they did and seeing what their accomplisments led to are important for an understanding of where We Are...

I'll close this post with a quote from Napoleon from the Lucidcafé: Library:

“I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality to all regardless of religion and before the law. I fought the decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction of all this. I purified the Revolution.”

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!!

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 !!!

Michael Jackson

While talking with another astrologer about my efforts to convey the importance of personal interpretation of the Symbolic Sentences generated by the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System [see the red link in the right panel for more Info...], the idea of featuring Michael Jackson's chart came up. We looked at various versions of his chart and quickly determined there's no solid information on his birth time...

With that knowledge and the persistent desire to do something with his chart, I decided to focus on the closest applying aspect—considered to be the most "pressing issue" or "critical talent" a person possesses.

{ even if we had a good birth time with his exact Moon position and that Moon made a closer applying aspect, the aspect we'll consider would still be a very strong critical talent... }

In Jackson's case this applying aspect is Saturn in Sagittarius waning BiSeptile Sun in Virgo (within 26' of a degree).

Most astrologers would treat the phase relationship between his Saturn and Sun as an applying BiSeptile and leave it at that. However, it's a Waning BiSeptile which introduces the idea that a cycle is an organic whole and the aspects from 0-180° are different in quality from those between 180-0°.

I'll go further with the idea of a full-cycle, organic approach to aspects:

Each aspect in a full-cycle [check-out B.I.D.E.'s Full Cycle] begins at the degree-separation derived by geometry—conjunction at 0°, square at 90°, etc. But, in an organic use of the full cycle of aspects, the aspect continues to hold sway until the next aspect in the series begins.

In Michael's case, since the aspect is 26' of a degree before the waning BiSeptile, it's actually a waning TriDecile, yet, certainly, "yearning" strongly toward the BiSeptile state.

Many in astrology don't deal with the Septiles and Deciles so I'll list B.I.D.E.'s meanings of the waning TriDecile:

Increases Awareness of the Implications of Past Actions by

Impells the Need to Realize Inadequate Responses and the Will to Rectify the Situation by

Integrates Personal Performance with the Needs of the Whole by

Rejuvenates Participation in the Social Realm by

{This waning TriDecile is the "Issue" in Michael's life that consistently urged him toward the applying BiSeptile, the meanings of which are:

Incorporates Creative Ideals into the Social Situation by

Instills the Desire for Creative Integration into a Larger Whole by

Aids the Conscious Assumption of a Critical Social Role by

Creates Awareness of the Need for Individualized Acceptance of Necessary Social Values by}

They all end with the word "by" because they're part of a System of constructing Symbolic Sentences from the chart factors and you'll soon see the importance of that little word "by"...

Now, let's look at the other available factors from Jackson's chart so we can construct a Symbolic Sentence for this important "critical talent".

The available meanings from the B.I.D.E. System for Saturn are:

Defining
Clarifying
Structuring
Organizing

And, those for the Sun are:

Vitalizing
Centering
Focusing
Integrating

Those for Sagittarius are:

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

And, Virgo:

Discrimination
Systems and Techniques
Careful Considerations
a Service Attitude

Now, we have the necessary components to construct a Symbolic Sentence for Michael Jackson's Saturn in Sagittarius waning TriDecile Sun in Virgo. All that's necessary is to choose a Planet/Sign combination for Saturn in Sagittarius and Sun in Virgo then link them with a choice from the options for waning TriDecile. Now, we have a Symbolic Sentence for

» Michael's Critical Talent «

Saturn in Sagittarius waning TriDecile Sun in Virgo
Structuring an Idealistic Awareness
Integrates Personal Performance with the Needs of the Whole by
Vitalizing Systems and Techniques.

As far as personal interpretation of that Symbolic Sentence, I want to make minimal comments, hoping You will add your Comments of it's meaning and, possibly, your selection of different choices for the components of the Sentence.

Personally, I feel that the "Idealistic Awareness" is very clearly evident and the Structuring of it by Saturn is easy to see...

Integrating his Personal Performance with the Needs of the Whole may be a bit harder to pin down but his phenomenal success surely speaks to answering Some Need of the Larger Whole that was his audience...

Doing that Integration of Personal Performance with the Needs of his audience by Vitalizing Systems and Techniques is, to me, adequately explained in this quote from an allmusic biography (bold words particularly applying):

"In his prime, Jackson was an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and loads of sheer star power."

Naturally, if we had a good birth time we could see much more detail in the interpretation by adding the phrases for the Houses...

Please Do Comment...

Why is The B.I.D.E. Interpretive System Valuable?

Some folks don't see the value of the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System.

I tend to think they may be the people who haven't taken the effort to actually use it with their own chart.

It's one thing to have someone say, "You should drink this, it's very refreshing". It's quite another to take a drink and discover the refreshment...

There's a lot of information on the Information Site (red link in the right panel) that shows how to use the System and this blog will continue to have posts that apply the System to well-known people's charts (and, hopefully, display your interpretation of your own chart. [you can email them to me at amzolt@gmail.com so I can consider them as possible posts]).

Right now, I'd like to give you a rather stark example of the difference between the B.I.D.E. System and a certain other style of interpretation that one might call the "Limited Options" system.

Let's look at particular aspect and compare interpretive philosophies {in this example, we'll only use the Planet and Aspect meanings from the B.I.D.E. System}:

Saturn square Mars

First, some excerpts from the first four links provided by Google when the phrase, "mars square saturn" was used:

"With Mars square Saturn, you alternate between periods of aggression and periods of recession and apathy. You are constantly at war with yourself because you cannot resolve this problem..."

"You are a perfectionist. You can pick at yourself and others unmercifully, trying to get circumstances in your life to match some unspecified standard."

"You can be austere, callous and harsh and usually won't go out of your way to help others unless you gain by it."

"...repressed anger, and when the person releases the anger, it can turn into violence."

Admittedly, these are only four opinions but, if you were to look further, you'd be hard-put to find a positive interpretation...

Now, let's use the B.I.D.E. System to see what's possible with Saturn square Mars (there are Many alternative interpretations in the System for any given chart factor so I'm only choosing a few as examples).

The first consideration is that there are two square aspects, the waxing and the waning. I'll give a few examples of both. Also, aspects should be considered from the slower function (Saturn) to the faster function (Mars).

First the waxing square:

Organizing
Provides for a Break with Past Compulsions by
Externalizing

Structuring
Impels Decisive Future-Oriented Action by
Motivating

Clarifying
Creates the Conditions for Stability through the Efforts of
Asserting

Defining
Induces Courage to Face Crises by
Being Driven

Now, the same phrase choices from the System with the waning square between them:

Organizing
Increases Dedication to Social Transformation by
Externalizing

Structuring
Shifts the Attitudes of the Group by
Motivating

Clarifying
Reorients Inadequate Responses Toward Social Viability by
Asserting

Defining
Uproots Unnecessary Attitudes and Values by
Being Driven

Can you see how the B.I.D.E. System gives a person the opportunity to interpret a chart from an affirmative, positive perspective?

Can you see the limitations of a system that "pre-defines" what the behavior of the person will be?

Can you see the value of using an interpretive system that puts the final choice of what's possible in the mind of the person using the system?

Does the system you use to interpret charts give you the freedom to decide what you'll do and how you'll do it?

Hope to receive some Comments.........