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...

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?

Barack Obama

An Experiment...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His Central Life Purpose

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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...

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!

Promiscuous Gods

We left Saturn behind (in this trip ever deeper into the astrological solar system from the free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual) and we're arriving at Jupiter. I'll let the book speak for itself:

"Approaching Jupiter, largest planet in this system, 300 Earth’s-worth of gaseous colors swirling in riotous flow...

"Jupiter Optimus Maximus (the Best and Greatest) for the Romans; Zeus for the Greeks—god of sky and thunder.

"For everything that Saturn pulls in and tightens, Jupiter loosens and expands. Rather than focusing on a clearly defined territory of meaning, Jupiter magnifies things to their widest potential. Instead of limiting, he amplifies.

"Jupiter’s full cycle is very close to 12 years and its meanings have to do with opportunities and how we give them birth, fill them with optimism, and reap their
rewards.

"In mythology, this character represents what most of us think of when the word promiscuous is used—many sex partners. In fact, this “god” impregnated many mortal women. (It's interesting that the word promiscuous comes from Latin roots that mean to mix very well.) Jupiter was also the supreme ruler of all the other gods, sat on his throne on the highest peak of the world, and issued proclamations that none dared to question. I’ve been mentioning some of the mythos of the planets as we’ve been traveling, and I think you’ve noticed that I don’t adhere strictly to the myths' "official" interpretation. It’s not that I think the myths have little to offer; it’s that there’s more than any one particular myth-meaning in every planet. The planets and their symbolic meanings predate the urge that societies had for making myths. The planets' cyclic meanings run deeper and spread farther than all the myths ever told.

"Fact is, we have the whole solar system inside us, including all the changes this system has gone through in its history. Our unconscious minds resonate and vibrate with the energy of the cosmos. And, when I say that, I’m just repeating something that’s been said in every culture and religious tradition since stories started to be told.

"This is something that Saturn would caution against—dangers abounding for those who go too far, dream too high, probe to deep! Jupiter shrugs and says, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

"There have been many times in my astrological career that I’ve wanted to rename everything, even astrology itself. Names carry so much power to bend minds and too often blind us to the true identities circling around us. I believe there’s a place in all of us (part of that deeper, collective unconscious mind) that knows well the names of Jupiter and Saturn, knows their exploits and their reputations. This is the part of the unconscious that needs a good airing out in the light of day. And while the dirty laundry is flapping in the breeze, we can dive even more deeply into what preceded these notorious characters."

We'll do that in the next post...

Your thoughts and feelings?

Astrology and the Unconscious

This may be the last post about the first chapter in my book Astrological Repair Manual ( Free Download ).

I'll probably be soon moving into the chapters on Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus—unless folks start to post comments that tell me otherwise...

Let me just say, from that first chapter:

"What I do want to stress...is the fact that humans do have this unconscious realm and that the more we pay attention to it, or 'woo' it, the healthier and happier we'll become. Sure, it takes effort and can lead to some fantastic struggles but life without struggle is death...

"It may have entered your mind to wonder, 'Why is Alex starting way out in the unknown to help me change my perception about astrology?' Well... I could have started on Earth and I could have gone even further toward an earthly approach by saying things like, 'Saturn is the planet of limitation and grief.', or, 'Venus is the planet of love.' But, this jamming of large concepts and energies into narrow boxes is very unhealthy. I'd rather start out here with Xena and make her my friend 'cause she could change into Hercules or Pan, she could give me some secret knowledge, she could help me even when I'm not paying attention to her. Better have her on my side than ignoring her and having her blast into my consciousness and wreak havoc!"

What are your thoughts and feelings?

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

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

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

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

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

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

To quote Carl Jung again:

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

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

What do you think?

Setting The Boundaries

Just barely into this venture and here I am setting boundaries...

Not to worry though because the most important boundary in astrology is the Universe.

Next would come our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

Then, our solar system. Sadly, far too many people think the boundaries of astrology end here.

In my book, which I hope you'll download and read (free), I begin by putting the reader in a spaceship coming back from "somewhere" and dealing with one of the outer "boundaries" of our solar system.

In that first chapter, Xena and the Hordes, I mention this idea:

"This is where astrology begins. Further out, between the stars, is the space that symbolizes 'contact' with 'other souls' that inhabit a purely spiritual dimension. Once inside the atmosphere of the Sun, we’re dealing with aspects of ourselves that relate to life on a very solid earth, even though Xena and the Hordes are aspects of our minds that we rarely think about."

In that chapter, I'm dealing with what are called "archetypes"—psychological energies that we all have to deal with, sometimes creatively but most often (due only to lack of experience) in a manner that causes us grief and unnecessary pain.

One person I respect in regard to explaining the "deeper" parts of ourselves is Carl Jung. And, since any valuable practice of astrology needs a solid psychology behind it, I'll give Carl a chance to say something about this realm:

"Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to put away his scholar's gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart through the world. There, in the horrors of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling-hells, in the salons of the elegant, the Stock Exchanges, Socialist meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic sects, through love and hate, through the experience of passion in every form in his own body, he would reap richer stores of knowledge than text-books a foot thick could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick with real knowledge of the human soul."

Your feelings and thoughts?