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 ISAR International Astrologer
April, 2013
Volume 42, Number 1

Table of Contents
Announcements, Information and Special Offerings
Officers and Leadership contact information 2
Advertising in the ISAR Journal 3
Submitting Articles to the ISAR Journal 4
ISAR Board of Director’s Election Information 5
Time for a Smile - astro-cartoons S.A. Hopkins 49

Regular Columns
President’s Message Gisele Terry 5
Editorial Perspective Victoria Smoot 6
ISAR Circling the Globe - VP Report from Around the World Chris McRae 7
Book Reviews Margaret Gray 10
Transit Tales Barbara Hamilton 16
Mercury in Mars -
Interview with Lynn Bell, ISAR VP for France Kay Taylor 20

Featured Articles
The Planetary Joys and the Origins of the
Significations of the Houses and Triplicities Chris Brennan 27
House Cusps and Systems
There’s More Than One Way to Slice a Chart Jeff Jawer 43
The Protean Nature of Astrological Archetype Glenn Perry, PhD. 46
Professionalism, Power and Presence
in the Astrology Chart William Morris, Ph.D 50
The Crucifixion, Myth or Reality?An Inquiry using
Contemporary and Uranian Astrology Alan Ouimet, O.F.S. 53
Pluto, Saturn and the Jet Stream Alan R. Wheatcroft 61
The Secret History of the
American Federation of Astrologers Gary Noel 66

Cover: The astrolabe clock in Prague, “is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and
astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining
local time given local latitude and vice-versa, surveying, triangulation, and to cast horoscopes. It was used in classical
antiquity, the Islamic Golden Age, the European Middle Ages and Renaissance for all these purposes. In the Islamic
world, it was also used to calculate the Qibla and to find the times for Salah, prayers.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Astrolabe
ISAR International Astrologer is published three times per year for distribution to members of the International Society for
Astrological Research. ISAR International Astrologer, Copyright 2013. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
by any means without permission from ISAR, Inc. ISAR, Inc. is not responsible for nor does it endorse the statements in the articles
that appear in all its journals. Materials presented are provided solely for the readers entertainment.

Publisher: Richard Smoot, Editor: Victoria Naumann Smoot

Editorial Staff: Alexandra Karacostas, Roxana Muise, Evelyn Roberts, Grace A. Siregar
Advertising Manager, Jillian Kerry
April Issue, 2013 - 1
 Int er
Inter national Socie
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Astrological R
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Mission Statement

The International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) is dedicated to advancing astrological
education and research, promoting high standards of ethics and competence, and sponsoring the
exchange of ideas amongst astrologers worldwide.

ISAR Board of Directors (Elected 2013)

President Gisele Terry tovaterry@sbcglobal.net

Vice-President Chris McRae (Chair, Certification Committee) cmcrae@uniserve.com
(Chair, International Council)
Recording Secretary (nominated) Margaret Gray graymgt@gmail.com
Treasurer Michele Gould michelle@bbos.com
Directors Robert Corre corre@rcn.com
Aleksandar Imsiragic aleksandar@kepler.united.org
Dorothy Oja (Chair, Ethics Committee) DOja07@gmail.com
Glenn Perry glenn@aaperry.com
Donna Woodwell donna@fourmoonsastrology.com

Appointees
Special Projects Darri Murphy darrimurphy@gmail.com
Co-Chair, Consulting Skills Monica Hable Dimino mhabled@aol.com
Operations Manager/Asst. Treasurer Richard J. Smoot (Co-Chair, Consulting Skills) richard@richardjsmoot.com
Membership and Corresponding Secretary Marguerite dar Boggia maitreya33@csiway.com
International Astrologer Editor Victoria Smoot vpeltz@gmail.com
International Astrologer Publisher Richard J. Smoot richard@richardjsmoot.com
Research Advisors Mark Urban-Lurain urban@piolet.msu.edu
Glenn Perry glenn@aaperry.com
Tape Archives Georgia Stathis georgiastathis@sbcglobal.net
Steve Pincus stardial@earthlink.net
Advisors Roxana Muise roxanamuise@comcast.net
Raymond A. Merriman mmacycles@msn.com
Carol Tebbs caroltebbs@aol.com
Peggy Lance Little homebuyercare@msn.com
Webmaster Bojan Raduloviæ studio.trid@gmail.com
E-Zine Editor Donnah Youngblood newsletter@isarastrology.com
Online Financial Moderator Matt Carnicelli matt@hpleft.com
Mail Liaison Marc Penfield marc.penfield@yahoo.com
1-818-755-2963 (USA)
International Vice-Presidents
Argentina Claudia Rizzi claudia.rizzi03@gmail.com
Australia Maggie Kerr maggiekerr@infintequest.com
Bali Evelyn Roberts astroeve@earthlink.net
Belgium Koen Van de Moortel koen@astrovdm.com
Bosnia Alma Hodzic alma.Hodzic@austrian.com
Brazil Márcia Ferreira Silva marcia@astrologiaceap.com.br
Canada Anne Massey anne@annemassey.ca
Chile Paulina Penafiel paulinap@sam.cl
China Felicia Jiang felicia.jiang@nodoor.com
Croatia Igor Ognjenovic astrocentar@net.hr
Czech Republic Zdenek Bohuslav zdenek@bohuslav.com
England Frank Clifford info@flareuk.com
France Lynn Bell lynnbell@mac.com
Germany Antonia Langsdorf Antonia.langsdorf@web.de
Italy Grazia Mirti grazia.mirti@gmail.com
Israel Gali Livneh galilivne@yahoo.com
Netherlands Joyce Hoen chta@astrologie.ws
Portugal Nuno Michaels info@nunomichaels.com
Russia Karine Dilanyan info@astrol.ru
Serbia Zorica Illievski jovellana@neobee.net
Slovenia Bern Jurecic bern@astrology.si
South Africa Petra du Preez petra@astrozone.co.za
Spain Helia Ramos Ruiz eliaramos@telefonica.net
Switzerland Verena Bachmann verena.Bachmann@astrodata.ch
Turkey Hakan Kirkoglu hkirkoglu@ttmail.com
Ukraine Andrei Kudelko avk@acubens.org
2 - ISAR International Astrologer
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April Issue, 2013 - 3
 ISAR International Astrologer - AUTHORS’ GUIDELINES

Article deadlines:
April Issue January 15th
August Issue May 15th
December Issue September 15th

Our organization’s purpose is to assist and encourage the development and use of techniques relevant to astrological
research, astrological education, and a sense of community among a diverse membership. In the process, we set high
professional standards of competence in the field of astrology. We on the staff of the International Astrologer take our
jobs seriously. We’re looking for material that is simply, clearly and objectively stated. It doesn’t matter if you are a
professional or a student – if you have something to teach us, some research to share or some philosophical thoughts on
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The IIA Journal Editorial Staff reserves the right to refuse any submissions and to edit all manuscripts chosen for
publication for grammar clarity. Queries are appreciated. Mailed articles are not accepted. Payment is $10.00 to $50.00
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Submission Guidelines
Please send us your final draft. Except for the addition of missing information or correction of an error, IIA will not allow
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4 - ISAR International Astrologer

 President’s Message
Gisele Terry
April, 2013
Greetings ISAR members,
Now it’s spring, the Vernal Equinox, and we’ve cycled
around again to the beginning of the zodiacal year. What
seeds have we planted that are almost ready to bloom?
What new endeavors can we begin?
The Aries season begins with several events and activities
that are firsts for ISAR.
Astrology World 2013, produced in late January 2013, was
ISAR’s first teleconference. With lectures presented from
seven countries, this webinar was a new global educational
event for our organization. For members who are unable to
attend ISAR conferences in person, online access to ISAR
webinars can bridge this geographic gap and provide an
inclusive conference experience for astrologers all over the
world.
On the subject of ISAR conferences, we have a big one
coming up in the summer of 2014. The board and I are
gearing up for this event and we welcome anyone who
wants to be involved in the planning process. More
detailed information will be forthcoming.
With sadness, we said good-bye to Maureen Ambrose, our
long time board member, who decided not to run for
another term. Maureen dedicated fourteen years of
remarkable service to ISAR and we will miss her. Margaret
Gray, who has been the ISAR journal’s book reviewer, is a
new member on our board. Margaret brings the Aries
sparkle of initiative, energy, and enthusiasm to the projects
we are undertaking.
With the publication of this journal, ISAR is taking a big
step forward. We are thrilled to offer a new web version of
the ISAR journal that has several interactive capacities. As
we proceed into 2013, we will publish more about these
exciting web journal features so that all ISAR members
will be informed about them.
To date we have fourteen ISAR Affiliated Schools. All
schools, in all countries, are welcome to apply to become
Affiliated. The purpose of the ISAR Affiliated School
program is to provide an educational resource for
astrologers seeking to obtain quality education in
astrology. Check out the school listing on our website.
Speaking of our website, we are only a few months away
from having a new ISAR website. We are very excited
about this! More information will be forthcoming about
this, as well.
There is still more on the list of firsts. We have a new Vice
President for China, Felicia Jiang. ISAR Consulting Skills
trainers are traveling to China to conduct trainings in the
summer of 2013 and to meet with Felicia, David Railey,
and our Chinese colleagues. ISAR is making communion
with astrologers all over the globe a reality.
We look ahead, as well, to a journey to Great Britain later
in 2013, where we will be conducting consulting skills
trainings and, as always, so enjoying working with our
British colleagues.
As a leader on the world front of astrology, ISAR’s goal is
to further our relationship with colleagues in other
countries, to support astrological education and research,
to enhance connections with astrology organizations in the
U.S. and abroad, and to support programs that educated
society about the value of astrology.
It is a time of new ventures for ISAR. I hope this spring is
a season of successful new ventures for you, our ISAR
members, as well.
April Issue, 2013 - 5
Editorial Perspective....
I t could be said that we have stepped over a threshold
in time into a new dimension of time and space.
Through our astrological studies we know that each day
on this amazing planet in some way is like that, too: a
new step. In the measuring of our planetary placements
on the map of a chart, the “astrolabe” of our own tools,
keywords and definitions may appear so lovely and so
well preserved as the stunning astro-clock in Prague.
Yet, they too, go though evolution and change through
experience and research just as every learning process
demands. In these ways, the highlights of our issue are
worth noting and enjoying.
The astrolabe on our cover also implies the featured
triad of articles on the basis of our house systems,
planetary correspondences and archetypes of
measurement and meaning. Three distinct articles are;
Chris Brennan’s peer reviewed original research “The
Planetary Joys and the Origins of the Signification of
the Houses and Triplicities”, Jeff Jawer’s “House
Cusps and Systems” and Glenn Perry’s “The Protean
Nature of Astrological Archetypes,” seem to show us
the past, present and future of Astrology. Each
perspective on the structures and foundations of setting
up the chart hold much to consider, verify, perhaps
debate, and explore.
Also in this issue, we are privileged to debut two new
columnists. Not new to ISAR at all, these contributors
6 - ISAR International Astrologer
Victoria Smoot,CAP - Editor
have recently put their names into nomination for our
Board of Directors. “Transit Tales” of a remarkable life
is presented by writer/counselor/astrologer, Barbara
Hamilton, and Kay Taylor puts considerable intuitive
experience and talents to work in an interview with
American astrologer working in France, Lynn Bell, for
the newly renamed, “Mars in Sagittarius” after her own
Mars in Sagittarius. We welcome these and more
opportunities to see their work in our journal.
Other articles present special applications of the
astrology. “Crucifixion, Myth or Reality” by Alan J.
Ouimet, considers the charts of two dates for a central
event of Christian faith. “Professionalism, Power and
Presence in Astrology” by William Morris extends the
examination of our modern definitions and experience
to the house, sign and planetary placements. Climate
concerns are addressed in “Pluto, Saturn and the Jet
Stream” by Alan R. Wheatcroft. Finally, in honor of
AFA’s 75 Anniversary, Gary Noel writes a fascinating
account of the secret history of Astrology in America.
We are very pleased about this issue showcasing the
thoughts, efforts and fine work of our colleagues in
Astrology. We hope you will enjoy our new on-line
publication, now launched and complementary of our
printed version. We send many blessings to all this
spring.
 CIRCLING THE GLOBE:
By: Chris McRae, ISAR Board Vice-President
Chair: ISAR Certification Program
Chair: ISAR International Council

CHINA UKRAINE

There is a great deal of new ISAR activity in China.
First of all, the ISAR Board proudly announces the
appointment of Felicia Jiang as our new Vice-
President of China and member of the International
Council. Many of you had the pleasure of meeting
her in New Orleans at the last UAC Conference
where she completed her ISAR.CAP. You may also
have met her attending the ISAR table at the entrance
to the product room.
I received a message recently from our VP in
Ukraine, Andrey Kudelko, who tells us that astrology
continues to flourish there with classes and seminars.
They are always moving forward by upgrading their
Internet resources and developing new on-line
classes. Many of us had the pleasure of meeting
Andrey at our last ISAR Conference and look
forward to meeting him again at another event in the
near future.

Felicia and David Railey are partners in a thriving, ARGENTINA

flourishing school in Beijing called NoDoor. We are
working together in preparation for the full ISAR Claudia Rizzi, our VP for Argentina, continues to
Certification program in China. They feel that amaze us with their school activity in Buenos Aires
ISAR’s mission “is very compatible with the with more ISAR.CAP graduates. We welcome 5 new
development of serious professional astrology in ISAR.CAPs in Argentine as follows:
China” to which they are deeply committed, to use
David’s own words. In August, 2013, we will be • Silvana Ortiz Gatica
there conducting two Consulting Skills Seminars on • Alicia Saint Jean
two consecutive weekends, an Ethics Awareness • Alejandra Torassa
class, and proctoring the Competency Exam, as well • José Alejandro Abt
• Daniel Enrique Zagari
as presenting workshops on topics yet to be chosen.
We are exceedingly excited about this project that
Mr. Zagari achieved the Competency Exam with the
could only happen through the vision and great
highest qualification since they started with the
organizational skill of Felicia and David. This can
Spanish certification. A special congratulation for
only be possible with the help of very skilled
him, and for the rest of the new graduates who have
translators who will translate all the documents prior
done such great work.
to our visit, and interpret our presentations when we
are there.

ENGLAND

Frank Clifford, our VP for England, has also been

busy preparing for an ISAR Consulting Skills
program in London from October 25 - 27th. It
requires a lot of work in order to stimulate interest
and enthusiasm for a whole new project in a new
area. It is a joy working with Frank and we look
forward to being there.

April Issue, 2013 - 7

With these 5 new CAPs, Argentina now has 17 recognized astrologers, being the third country with more
ISAR CAPs, after Serbia, and of course, United States. They are indeed following the high standards of ISAR
certification worldwide. Their website link is as follows. http://spanish.isarastrology.com/index.php/
directorio-de-astrologos-cap

Claudia says, “I strongly recommend others VP to develop this program of excellence in Astrology, joining
more professionals every year.” She thanks the ISAR Board for its full support, but indeed, we also thank her
and all the other VPs who are bringing this vision to reality.

ISRAEL

On January 11, 2013, our VP for Israel, Gali Livneh recently held an Ethics Awareness Seminar in Tel Aviv
with 11 participants. Her assistants were Dvora Weil, recently from Los Angeles and now living in Israel, and
Guy Matarasso, whom I met in Istanbul when we were there conducting a Consulting Skills a couple of years
ago with Hakan Kirkoglu. It seems ISAR is everywhere, globetrotting with the best of the best. ISAR is very
proud of the organizational work Gali is doing in her country.

The picture includes Dvora Weil on the left, Gali Livneh in the middle, and Guy Matarasso on the right.

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8 - ISAR International Astrologer

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April Issue, 2013 - 9

10 - ISAR International Astrologer
Book Reviews
by Margaret Gray
MSW D. Psych. Astrology
W hat a wonderful assortment of books I have had the
great pleasure to review for this edition of the
journal. Two of them, Luna by Paul F Newman and The
Light of Venus by Adam Gainsburg, bring our attention to
the theme of the feminine. It is particularly encouraging
that male authors are increasingly addressing this issue,
hopefully indicating a forward surge in the rebalancing of
the feminine with the masculine. Demian Allan offers us a
very interesting overview of The Astrological Dynamics of
the Universe from 1970 – 2020 which is very timely,
having crossed over from 2012 into 2013. It was with great
pleasure that I read The Astrology of the New Generation
which offers stimulating essays in key astrological areas;
and lastly. Mike Grabarkek offers us an introductory book
based on what he feels would have been useful for him
when he embarked on his astrological studies.
But first, let us get to a guest reviewer, Dennis Flaherty,
who has graciously review Edith Hathaway’s new book, In
Search of Destiny: Biography, History and Culture as Told
through Vedic Astrology
Guest ISAR Book Reviewer - Dennis Flaherty
In Search of Destiny: Biography, History and Culture as
Told through Vedic Astrology.
By Edith Hathaway.
Vintage Vedic Press, San Diego, CA.
First Edition April 2012
Website: www.edithhathaway.com
Edith Hathaway’s remarkable new book is an astrological
sensation on many levels. It is a tale of destiny, an
ambitious, voluminous work, culminating in 531 pages.
However, you as a reader, will not become distracted, or
fatigued, for her subject matter and biographies are
revealing and satisfying. Edith’s book is vast in its
conceptualization, yet appropriate for the novice, as well
as the advanced student of Vedic astrology. Once you start
reading each page becomes more compelling than the
previous.
Her first chapter commences with a classic discussion of
precession of the equinoxes and the calendric complexities
of Indian time keeping. However, it is her innovative, non-
classical, compelling analysis of the twenty-year Jupiter/
Saturn conjunction that marks this as a work worthy of
distinction. Her research examines the recurring elemental
patterns of those conjunctions, revealing the authors
comprehensive grasp of historical trends and events, and
includes her current and future predictions for each of the
Saturn/Jupiter conjunctions in the sidereal elements of
Fire, Earth, Air and Water.
In Search of Destiny features a fabulous annotated list of
the 54 Saturn/Jupiter conjunctions, by constellation,
Nakshatra, and elemental pattern from 1405 to 2020 with
snap shot notes! These carefully crafted tables alone merit
the price of Edith’s book, as they are an excellent resource
guide for the research oriented mundane astrologer. I
cannot stress enough the value of these tables, and snap
shot commentaries. Even if you are not a mundane
astrologer, you are likely become one after just a brief
glimpse through Edith’s historically comprehensive
looking-glass.
The next chapter successfully gives a succinct overview of
Vedic astrology and philosophy, introducing the reader to
the fundamental concepts of Vedic astrology, and
introducing briefly the differences between the sidereal
and tropical systems. It concludes with the differences
between the North and the South Indian styles.
The heart of the book is the case studies for each of the
constellational rising signs, from Aries to Libra. Each of
the covered Ascendants features several penetrating
biographies. Each of the Ascendants biographies is a
narrative of individual dharma woven into the context of
collective destiny. There are review questions at the end of
each of the chapters. So, for those inclined, the book also
serves as an excellent study guide to learn Vedic astrology.
I highly recommend Edith’s book. Her book thrives on
several levels, from the brief introduction to Vedic
astrology; it quickly gives way to a complex cast, of 31
characters, playing out their worldly dharma on Edith’s
stage, like a good PBS, or HBO mini-series. It is an
astrological tome of spiritual, historical and political
theater, engaging, informative and entertaining. Bravo,
Edith! Buy this book, and for God’s sake, don’t lend it
out…you won’t get it back.
April Issue, 2013 - 11
The Light of Venus: Embracing Your Deeper Feminine,
Empowering Our Shared Future
Adam Gainsburg
Soulsign Publishing
PO Box 10517
Burke,
Virginia, USA 20009
ISBN-10: 0-9788535-5-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-9788535-5-6
$29.95
With an increasing awareness of the importance of
embracing the feminine as a collective, in this phase of our
evolutionary journey, author Adam Gainsbug offers us a
beautiful map and guidebook based on tracking the phases
of Venus in the sky. Grounded in his many years of
observing the night sky, combined with extensive client
consultations, the author developed a system of observing
13 phases of Venus that “could be embodied, felt and lived
in mundane life.”
Distinguishing between our personal Venus in astrology
and Dharmic Venus as our “societal feminine function
…and contribution to a better, richer, easier and more
beautiful society,” Adam explores in the prologue the basis
of the Feminine principle versus the Feminine Self. The
remainder of the book is concerned with the 13 phases, in
detail, inviting readers to explore which phase they were
born under. The description of each phase offers a
description of what was going on in the sky at the time, the
collective theme described by the phase, the personal
Dharma, a summary of the phase and a Meditation Image.
The list of Venus Phase Dates at the back of the book
enables readers to easily access what phase they were born
in and the wealth of Appendices include a brief summary
of all the phases and the meditation images. There is also a
very interesting section on Venus Retrograde and Venus
Invisible as well as a table and description of the meaning
of Venus in aspect to the Moon and on “The Solar
Feminine” as “the key to human evolution beyond the
emotional and biological organism that we are.”
The core focus of this experienced author’s writing,
including his other three publications, is to bring our
attention to the important messages held in the patterns in
the night sky as an invaluable and deeply insightful guide
on our soul journey. This excellent book is likely to be
appreciated by astrologers at all levels as we will return to
it time and time again in our daily work with clients.
12 - ISAR International Astrologer
Luna: The Astrological Moon
Paul F. Newman
The Wessex Astrologer Ltd
4A Woodside Road
Bournemouth
BH5 2AZ
England
www.wessexastrologer.com
ISBN: 9781902405575
Sterling 15.95
What a truly stunning comprehensive book on the Moon
which manages to be both deeply astrologically
informative, yet also, movingly poetic by astrologer,
author and artist Paul F Newman, this is.
In the beautiful first section of the book entitled A Lunar
Prowl, Paul reminds us that although in most approaches
to astrology the Moon “plays equal partner to the Sun,” in
some branches, including horary medical and Vedic, the
moon is considered to be more important because of its
faster movement. In the section entitled “The Goddess
with Three Faces,” Paul beautifully explores the
importance of triplicity in our writing, religious teachings,
and psychology as an introduction to a deeper exploration
of the three phases of the Moon: the fertile maid, the great
mother and the wise godmother. Even the section on “The
computational Moon,” where the author explores “Moon
maths” as well as the Moon in Vedic astrology and
eclipses, maintains a gentle imaginative flow throughout,
assisted by examples and reflections on lunar events,
individuals, as well as writing and music that reflects the
moon. I particularly enjoyed Paul’s reflection on Pink
Floyd’s album “The Dark Side of the Moon” as well as his
chart of the defining incident that truly incarnated the term
“Paparazzi”!
The final two sections include “The Poetic Moon” and
“The Black Moon.” This latter section offers an excellent
exploration of the Black Moon Lilith including legends
and movies connected to this deity. The conclusion offers a
fascinating and interesting summary of things and places
ruled by the Moon. I didn’t know, for example, that
Wyoming entered the Union as a State when the Sun was
in Cancer!
This truly is a superb book which is likely to be enjoyed by
astrologers and non-astrologers alike at all levels — A
classic book to keep on our shelves and refer to on a
regular basis as the moon peeks through our windows in all
its phases.
The Astrological Dynamics of the Universe 1970 – 2020
Demian Allan
ISBN: 978-1-78099-439-0
O-Books
John Hunt Publishing Ltd,.
Laurel House,
Station Approach,
Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK
www.johnhuntpublishing.com
$14.95
With an increased awareness amongst the population at
large that we are going through changes of unprecedented
proportions, this book is a very helpful, easily readable
and timely contribution to understanding the participation
of the outer planetary cycles in these changes for both
astrologers and non-astrologers alike. Offering an
overview of the cycles from 1970 – 2011 on an
astrological and energetic level, the author Damian Allan
explores ways they are likely to manifest over the next
eight years and beyond. Although his focus is on the UK
and the USA, the information in this book is relevant cross
culturally.
Former Vice Chairman of the British Astrological and
Psychic Society, the author is a professional astrologer,
psychic, tarot reader and spiritual teacher. He has also
contributed to Channel 4 news as a political astrologer and
has a regular column in Mind, Body, Spirit magazine from
which the content of this book emerged.
Starting with the “Plutonic Crisis,” the author explores the
passage of Pluto through Libra, “Scorpio and Sagittarius in
the lead up to its entry into Capricorn in 2008. Describing
this as a ‘Plutonic Crisis Point,” Damian reminds us that,
“Pluto is forcing us to this crisis point so that we get a
second chance to create and respect our place on this
planet Earth.” The author deftly moves into an exploration
of Uranus over the past 40 years under the heading of
“This State of Emergency” followed by a chapter on
Neptune. Moving onto the importance of the Jupiter/Saturn
cycle in mundane astrology Damien also offers readers a
helpful outline of the meaning of the houses in the charts
of countries preparing us for a more detailed exploration
of the potential impact of the transits over the next 8 years
on the charts of the UK and the USA.
The remainder of this interesting and very informative
book covers the signs of the zodiac from the viewpoint that
“they form the basis of the cycles of time.” Aspects and
their meanings are also covered, including planetary
conjunctions with the last three chapters dedicated to the
current transits and beyond. The chapter on “How to
survive 2012 -2020 through each sun sign” is particularly
interesting and likely to be of interest to everyone.
This highly informative book, which is based on a belief
that the planetary transits operate within the context of
‘universal law, by which “everything that we send out to
the universe has energy that at some point directs back at
us,” is ideal for astrologers at all levels of learning. As
mentioned at the start, it is also likely to be of interest to
non-astrologers as it offers an engaging, enriching and
stimulating approach to the current transits, including the
buildup and the aftermath.
Astrology The New Generation
Edited by Nan Geary
Project Manager Demetrius Bagley
Flare Publications in conjunction with The London
School of Astrology
BCM Planets, London WC1N 3XX, England, UK
www.flareuk.com and
www.londonschoolofastrology.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-903353-21-9
$24.99
One of the great gifts of essay compendiums is that they
are likely to offer something enriching for everyone. This
book generously fulfills this, offering us 14 easily
engaging essays which cover a broad spectrum of
astrology from the Mundane to the Evolutionary, including
Psychological, Archetypal and Traditional approaches. The
majority of the authors range from their mid 30s to their
mid 40s offering a refreshing approach to subjects such as
an exploration of mental health issues from an Astrological
and Spiritual perspective by Evolutionary astrologer and
teacher Maurice Fernandez, a new look at locational
astrology and Astro*Carto*Graphy with Moses Siregar III,
and a consideration of Time Lords in Traditional Astrology
with Dr Benjamin Dykes.
Among them, many of the authors in this valuable
publication share both a wealth of experience and an
outstanding array of qualifications, including Masters and
Doctorates, which contribute to the richness and depth of
their astrological work.
This stimulating book is the brainchild of Frank Clifford,
prolific author, teacher and owner of the London School of
Astrology. It is divided into 4 main astrological areas:
Mundane astrology, Spiritual and Evolutionary, Modern
and Traditional Techniques, and Psychological and
Archetypal approaches. What is particularly enriching
about this book is that most of the essays present us with
information that is immediately and easily applicable to
our own birth chart and/or to the chart of where we live.
For example, the writings of Mark Jones and Tony Howard
between them, explores Pluto in Virgo, Libra and Scorpio.
Gary Caton presents the journey of Venus as applicable to
our individual chart, while Nick Dagan Best explores it
April Issue, 2013 - 13
from a Mundane perspective. In the Evolutionary section
of the book, prolific writer Eric Myers presents a
transpersonal approach to the planets. Frank Cliffords
essay on the Sun Moon & Midheaven in Vocation offers a
guide to the core features of Vocational astrology.
In the Psychological & Archetypal section, Keiron Le
Grice reminds us in a deep and beautifully written essay of
the archetypal principles of “Uranus, Neptune and Pluto as
primary agents of individuation” and of the importance of
archetypal astrology in offering us a framework to “help us
navigate even the most challenging of experiences.”
There are also excellent contributions from Wendy Stacey
on the cycles and trends in Cinema as well as from Branka
Stamenkovic and Rebecca Crane. With lots of chart
examples to illustrate their approach, each of these essays
is deeply enriching on its own.
I will leave you with the words of my colleague John
Green from his essay on Psychological astrology. “As long
as individuals philosophize about their purpose and want
to know about the inner workings of the self, then studies
that explore the psyche in depth will always be popular.
They may change and grow but it seems impossible to
imagine a time when humans will not ask themselves ‘who
am I?’” This book offers us a further stepping stone on
discovering the answer to this question within ourselves.
What better can a book offer!
This book is likely to appeal to astrologers at all levels as
well as many non-astrologers.
Fast Track Astrologer: The Book I Wish I Had When I
Became an Astrologer
Mike Grabarek
Manifesting Intentions LLC
www.usefulastrology.com
ISBN -13: 978-1468057713
ISBN-10: 1468057715
$17.95
Following a dearth of books on basic astrology for anyone
who is new to the subject, several introductory books have
started to emerge over the past couple of years. The latest
one is this offering by Mike Grabarek. In his own words,
this book is aimed at anyone who wants to “fast track their
learning and use astrology like the professionals.” Being
relatively new to astrology himself can be of benefit to
readers; he is still fully aware of the information that is
particularly helpful for anyone who is totally new to the
subject. Mike’s background in Electrical Engineering is
evident in the clarity of how the work is presented
including ample well outlined charts and tables.
14 - ISAR International Astrologer
The book includes sections on Astrology Fundamentals
encompassing all the basics of natal chart delineations
followed by an exploration of the major components
including planets, houses and signs and a section which
brings all of it together, using the example chart of the
same individual throughout the book.
There is also a brief introductory section on “Other
Astrology Methods,” which includes: transits, relocation,
compatibility and Mundane as well as a Bonus Section
which includes Celestial Geometry and a discussion on the
issue of birth time uncertainty as well as house systems.
The usefulness of this book is that it brings together an
introduction to several of the basics of astrology in the one
tome, in an easy relaxed manner. The one thing different in
this book is the use of the Krusinski House system, which
Mike favors in that he believes that it doesn’t distort the
sky from the perspective of the birth location in the
manner of the Koch and Placidus House systems. Some
readers may feel a little uncomfortable with the term
“evolved” and “less evolved,” but this is a book which I
imagine many introductory readers will find useful.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who
send me your wonderful books to
review. I endeavor to read all of your
work in the order it arrives in my
mailbox, as well as trying to balance
reviews of older publications with
more recently published work. Many
thanks for your patience. I am still
working my way through the post
UAC publications. Feel free to email me if you would like
to mail me a book to review so that I can send you my
current mailing address. Remember also to check out the
ISAR journal to see your review in print.
Warm wishes ~ Margaret Gray
Margaret@astrologypsychological.com
www.astrologypsychological.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/PSYCHOLOGICAL-
ASTROLOGY/188561817828453
 Astrology, September 19-22, 2013
At the all new LEED-certified Embassy Suites,
Reincarnation Denver Downtown Convention Center

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April Issue, 2013 - 15

 Meeting Pluto on the Way
By Barbara Hamilton, M.A., C.A.P.
When Pluto comes knocking on our door, we hope
that whatever doesn’t kill us, will likely make us
stronger! As we know, this master of
transformation, death, rebirth, and regeneration can
mercilessly clear all that blocks evolution with the
precision of a brilliant surgeon. While the intention
of this transmutation is the liberation of
consciousness, the initial effect on a mere mortal
ranges from major discomfort to serious trauma.
When Pluto predominates, as he inevitably does,
one’s experience of life is forever changed. The
tale that follows of a most remarkable man could
be a poster child for this theme.
Born on September 27, 1957, at 05:45 PM in
Philadelphia, PA, USA, John’s history goes from a
relatively apple-pie American childhood to teenage
“what the ****!” with screenplay adaptation by
Pluto.
During my early encounters with him, I was
impressed by John’s remarkable combination of
left-brained analytical incisiveness and a caring,
spiritual nature, as evidenced by his chart. Noting
his Pisces Ascendant, his sensitivity and
perceptiveness add to his easy likeability. With the
Sun exactly conjoined Cupido, along with Mars
and Jupiter, all in Libra in the 7th house, we know
that mutually beneficial relationships will play
important roles in his life. Being a natural Libran
diplomat, John’s ability to negotiate and mediate
should serve him and others well.
Rounding out his 7th house, Mercury in clever
Virgo fills in the details, and attracts intelligent
communications and information. In the same
theme of personal interactions, Mercury also plays
16 - ISAR International Astrologer
well with the Nodes, sextile to a Venus/North Node
conjunction in Scorpio in the 8th house. There may
be numerous 7th house social contacts, but it is only
John’s very deep relationships that are welcome in
his small inner circle.
In some of our conversations regarding his early
family life, John stated that he had no recollections
of his parents being anything other than supportive
of him. I would agree that the chart is free of signs
of intentional abuse or meanness; yet, his Moon /
Pluto square suggests an intense emotional makeup
that lacked a supportive environment for its
expression. In addition, his 9th house Sagittarian
Moon/Saturn conjunction indicates a fairly rigid
home atmosphere, often resulting in a sense of
heaviness, unworthiness, and emotional repression.
If we pile onto that heap the Uranus square to
Venus and the Nodes, a tendency to shut down and
go one’s own way is common. To offset this,
positive aspects from Mars, the Sun, and Jupiter to
the Moon and Saturn can easily represent ongoing
appreciation and guidance from other sources that
encourage John to evolve and blossom. It is also
possible that, in the shadow of John’s Pluto event,
circumstances prior to that time might seem
relatively inconsequential.
From October of 1972 until July of 1974, Pluto
was busy making his way back and forth over
John’s Mars and Sun marking his territory and the
revisions deemed necessary. These were John’s
sophomore and junior years of high school, a time
of exploration, insecurity, and defiance in the life
of most teenagers. His brilliantly retentive Mercury
served him well and masked any rebellion, as John
was able to get good grades, while rarely studying.
Although he wished his parents were more open
and liberal, it was easier to
just keep up a front. He
maintained a low profile and
behaved one way at home
and quite differently outside
of the house. He yearned for
a sense of freedom to do what
he wanted when he want to,
without concerns or
repercussions from others.
John had no interest in
continuing the status quo any
longer. A part of him really
just wanted to let go, be out
there, and do his own thing!
While his need for control
prevented him from doing
drugs, John was pushing
boundaries in every other
way possible. During this
time he even dropped contact
with his best friend, because
he wasn’t “fast” enough. He
wanted something more, and
his new acquaintances were a
better means to a bigger South Node in the 6th house of health, of course,
Adrenalin rush. both squaring the Sun/Pluto conjunction. Neptune
at 5 degrees Sagittarius occupies the 11th house
To create an astrological snapshot of this time, I (Remember those new friends?), sitting on the
ran the Solar Return for September 27, 1973 at natal Moon/Saturn mid-point. Any ideas as to what
02:41:43 pm EDT, in Philadelphia, PA, USA. happened?
Wow! This stuff really works! The 9th house of
beliefs and philosophy is packed with the Sun at 4 On June 28, 1974, at 10:30 pm, John and three
degrees Libra 18 minutes conjoined with Pluto friends were out drinking and driving around in his
within minutes. Slightly further down the Libra Mustang, having “fun,” as indestructible teenagers
road, in the same house, we have the Moon, sometimes do. It was a rainy evening and the road
Uranus, and Mercury marching to their own was slippery when he lost control of the car he was
irregular beat between 19 and 22 degrees. That’s a driving and it slid sideways, crashing into the trees.
pretty erratic crew running the emotional values John’s friends walked away shaken up with minor
show, especially for a hormonal teenage young injuries. He, however, was not so lucky and was
man. Oh, did I mention Chiron at 19 degrees Aries, pinned inside the car. John sustained several
the wounded trailblazer, opposing the Moon/ crushed vertebrae in his back from T9 to T12. His
Uranus/ Mercury trio? Then we have Mars in leg was broken and required a pin. He received
Taurus revolting in the family 4th house, opposing more than 100 stitches on his head and body for
the 3degrees 55 minute Mid-heaven and Venus in cuts from the glass and the crash impact. He also
Scorpio. To give Mars the extra push he really lost a tooth. In one night, John went from being a
didn’t need, he’s squared by Jupiter in Aquarius! healthy, active young man to a paraplegic in a
Rounding out this illustrious cast, we have Saturn wheelchair. His family was devastated. Although
at 4 degrees 24 minutes Cancer, conjoined with the

April Issue, 2013 - 17

he tried to act like it was no big deal, inside he was
filled with guilt, anger, and the classic questions:
Why me? Why did this happen to me?
The transits for this event followed the indications
of the Solar Return and more. Pluto was direct at 4
degrees, close to his last exact conjunction with the
Sun and still less than 2 degrees separating from
Mars, affecting his vital life force. Unpredictable
Uranus was also 2 degrees from his progressed
Sun, denoting the sudden, unexpected nature of the
event. Warrior Mars now played a vital role,
conjoined with both natal and progressed Uranus at
12 degrees Leo in the 6th house. We can almost feel
a crash-like event in that! Transiting Sun, Saturn,
and Mercury are conjoined in the 4th house in
Cancer, all squaring his natal Mars, Sun, and
Jupiter. The heaviness, sadness, and frustration of
the entire family is evident here. Then there is
transiting Neptune within 2 degrees of natal 9th
house Saturn in Sagittarius, dissolving all the
existing structures and beliefs regarding future
expectations. The transiting Moon in powerful
Scorpio conjoins the North Node and Venus over
the first twenty-four hours, demonstrating the
nodal call for deep connection, emotional support,
and hopefully, regeneration.
During the six weeks that John spent in intensive
care, Pluto remained within a degree of his Sun,
and Saturn completed his square to Jupiter.
Throughout this time and through his hospital
rehab, he overheard the dire predictions of those
around him. He was told that he would never walk
again or have children or any kind of hoped-for
life. He was urged to lower his goals and
expectations of higher education, and go to trade
school. Fortunately, while Jupiter’s influence may
have been somewhat grounded, Saturn also was
sextile to his North Node and then Venus,
summoning up deep untapped inner and outer
resources. John was determined to not let anyone –
or anything – destroy his dreams! To seal the deal,
after he returned home from the hospital, John
purchased a Thunderbird and had hand controls
installed, in the spirit of the Phoenix rising from its
own ashes! He went back to high school that fall
and graduated with his class, as the North Node
18 - ISAR International Astrologer
conjoined his Moon in Sagittarius and Venus
conjoined his Uranus! At the same time, Neptune
retrograded over his Saturn in Sagittarius, chanting
something about dreams coming true.
John entered college in the fall of 1975. With
Neptune still transiting his Saturn, his initial
incentives were too intangible to sink his teeth into
the work. He referred to this time as “almost
tragic,” lacking the inner drive and determination
needed to set the pieces in place. It actually took
over two years, but John finally got it together. Not
only did his studies improve, he also worked full
time, at one point holding down two jobs. At the
time, Pluto was still within a few degrees of his
Jupiter, along with the North Node, which then
moved on to conjoin his Sun. During the 18
months before he graduated, both Jupiter and
Saturn traveled back and forth over his Libra
planets, encouraging grounding, help, and
opportunity for more productive functioning.
After his 1982 graduation, John worked as a
financial analyst at an Atlantic City Casino and
was finally able to move out of his parents’ house
and live on his own. By the way, Uranus was
conjoined with his Sagittarius Moon as Jupiter met
up with his 8th house Neptune. While Uranus
squared his Pluto and his resistance to change,
Jupiter was sextile to Pluto, enumerating the
benefits. In 1985, John realized that an advanced
degree would further his career. Despite his
lackluster early undergraduate years, he petitioned
the university and, with the help of letters of
recommendation, he was finally accepted.
With the North Node conjoined with his 2nd house
Taurus South Node, John worked for a
management firm and studied for and naturally
passed the C.P.A. exam. In late 1987, he received
his M.B.A. degree and became corporate controller
for a group of four healthcare firms. But this is
hardly the end of our tale.
During late 1987 through 1988, Pluto transited
John’s 8th house North Node a number of times. Is
it any wonder that during that period, John met
Leslie, the love of his life? Also, between 1988 and
1992, John’s personal spiritual path began to
further unfold. Workshops with Angeles Arrien had
a profound impact on him, as did a year of healing
studies with Barbara Brennan.
On August 18, 1990, John and Leslie were married
as Pluto conjoined his Venus and Rev. Barbara
Hamilton conducted the ceremony. The icing on
the wedding cake came about two and a half year
later, when precious baby Victoria blessed their
lives in late January, 1993. For about six months,
Jupiter transited over and over John’s Libra
stellium.
In May of 1993, John resigned his position and
decided to work as a consultant, while also
researching and writing. Mars was conjoined with
his Uranus, as Jupiter transited his Sun.
By 1996, with Uranus trine his Mars and his Sun,
and Pluto conjoined with his Sagittarius Moon,
John‘s 650-page Home Health Financial
Management was published by Aspen. In addition,
he was appointed as Senior Examiner on the Board
of Examiners for the prestigious Malcolm
Baldridge National Quality Award. The Baldrige
Award is the only formal recognition of the
performance excellence of both public and private
U.S. organizations given by the President of the
United States.
In 1998, as Uranus was trine his Jupiter, John co-
authored a book even closer to his heart,
Transforming Home Care, as it addressed quality
of care in addition to fiscal and data management
Between 1998 and 2000, John and his family took
a major step, moving away from their respective
families for opportunities in Tennessee. With Pluto
transiting his Saturn, the move came with much
deliberation. As a result, in 2000, with Neptune
trine his Sun, John accepted a position as Director
of Research Informatics at a major children’s
research hospital.
In keeping with our original theme, let us fast-
forward to the end of 2009 into 2010. Saturn has
stepped into Libra just long enough to land on
John’s Mars and Sun in direct and retrograde
motion for a few months. In addition, Pluto in
Capricorn in the 10th house starts out supporting
Pluto and Neptune right before squaring his Mars
and within square range of his Sun. His comment
at the time was about feeling like Atlas holding up
the world. That sounds like an accurate definition
of Saturn transiting Mars and the Sun. Sorting out
what actually is heavy and what feels heavy by
interpretation has been illuminating for him.
Over the following year to now, the contrast
between John’s early Pluto encounter and this one
has been more than remarkable. While he had
accomplished much professionally, John was
clearly willing, even if somewhat apprehensive, to
now face his own deeper blocks and patterns.
Residue from the early Pluto event still triggered
his distrust of his own judgment, along with other
old patterns. However, the awareness and
expression of this and other beliefs activated the
beginning of a profound healing process that
continues to this day. As the purpose of Pluto is to
reveal one’s true nature for its own expression,
John has much fulfillment to anticipate.
Barbara Hamilton, M.A., C.A.P.,
visionary writer, speaker, coach, and
futurist/astrologer is a trusted
advisor to many of the foremost
authorities in the fields of business,
medicine, government, spirituality,
education, and entertainment. In a career spanning
three decades, she assists individuals and
organizations globally in defining their unique
missions and blueprints in the context of an ever-
changing larger picture.
In addition to an extensive background in business,
psychology, and healing, Barbara is principal of
Kaleidoscope International. She can be reached at:
www.barbarahamilton.com, at
astrohealr@aol.com, or call 561-394-6965.
April Issue, 2013 - 19
 Interview with Lynn Bell
ISAR, VP in France
Lynn Bell is a Paris-based astrologer originally from
the United States, whose work spans multiple cultures
as a speaker, teacher, author and consultant in
astrology. Currently the VP for France for ISAR, Lynn
is a featured speaker at many of the major astrology
conferences in the world and teaches seminars from
Western Europe to far-off lands like Bali, Mexico,
Australia and South Africa as well as the US.
As a master consulting astrologer with a multi-layered
approach, Lynn’s work combines psychological and
spiritual perspectives. Her personal path and training
in Ericksonian Hypnosis led to work in family systems,
and later, several years of ongoing research groups on
the charts of families. Her book on planetary patterns
in families, Planetary Threads, was first published in
1998 and will be republished this spring.
Lynn is interested in many aspects of astrology, from
mundane cycles to archetypes and mythology, the
relation between soma and psyche, to reection on the
psychological implications of traditional astrology. Her
expertise in Solar Returns resulted in the publication of
Cycles of Light in 2005. She is also one of the co-
authors of the Mars Quartet, and numerous journal
and magazine articles.
She was invited to join the Centre for Psychological
Astrology in London in 1995 and continues to teach
there as well as for The Faculty of Astrological Studies
Summer school in Oxford, and the London School of
Astrology. Outside the world of astrology, she has often
collaborated with Caroline Myss, and her CMED
Institute. She has been part of the faculty of the New
Chartres School, held every year, for the past seven
years in Chartres, France by Wisdom University.
I spoke to Lynn via anymeeting.com while she was
visiting Chicago over the holidays.
20 - ISAR International Astrologer
KT: I’m really delighted I could meet with you today.
Let’s just start at the beginning with how did you come
into being an astrologer?
Lynn: I was a vociferous reader as a child, and would
read anything you put before me, including cereal
boxes and newspapers. So I discovered my horoscope
when I was very young. I was desperately looking for
some way to explain the behavior of people around me!
I think astrology was the first thing I found that helped
me. In the beginning I just read the horoscopes. Then
my mother, who liked to go to garage sales, must have
brought home Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs or some
other astrology book. I started noting the birthdays of
everyone I knew, and by the time I was eleven or
twelve I was certainly aware of what a sign was and
what they meant.
I got more seriously interested in astrology a little later.
I bought the few astrology books I could find, and then
ended up learning palmistry because I found Bentham’s
Laws of Scientic Hand Reading. It was a back door into
the language of planets. There weren’t any esoteric
bookstores in the neighborhood I lived in, and I didn’t
really meet an astrologer until I was much older. I was
conflicted. I would give my books away, then wonder
where a particular book was, and ask for it back! But I
couldn’t let go of it. It was never my intention to
become an astrologer. It wasn’t on my radar. It was just
too strong for me not to do.
KT: Did you even understand then what an astrologer
was? Did you have the awareness that people did that
for a living?
LB: Probably not. When you’re a child you don’t
understand that anyway. I think now one can imagine
being an astrologer and earning a living with it but I
don’t think that was on the radar at all.
KT: So did you have other jobs during that time so that
you had something to transition from to working as an
astrologer?
LB: Well, I did my first chart reading when I was
twenty-one. I was a graduate student in a Ph.D.
program in Oregon, and dropped out after a year. I then
did the usual thing - waitressing, odd jobs, but I
wouldn’t say I ever had a real job. I started working
after school when I was fourteen but I never really had
another profession.
KT: And what were you going to study in your Ph.D?
LB: Literature.
KT: Of course, because you loved to read! So did you
ever study astrology with anybody? You said you were
self-taught. Who inuenced you?
LB: Everyone I read inuenced me but this was a long
time ago, so if the only book yound is Alan Leo, it takes
you in such a different direction from what you might
find today. There was no such thing as psychological
astrology then. It didn’t really exist. I suppose Rudhyar
is who I would have been closest to but I didn’t nd him
until much later.
After graduate school, I had what I call my esoteric
period where I haunted a bookstore in Cambridge, MA.
I would read everything on the shelves and occasionally
I would buy something. I read the Germans, the Ebertin
School, and occult writers like Steiner. When I read a
book, I would internally say, “Yes, I agree,” or “No, I
don’t agree with that.”
From the beginning, I had an inner lter as I read these
books. I remember one of the early readings I did was
for a man with many fifth house planets and the books
said fifth house planets were fun, but this was a fifth
house Capricorn Sun, and he was not having fun. So, I
would wonder why the book said one thing, and yet
didn’t fit the individual’s experience. I taught myself
through thinking the contradictions through.
I lived in Boston for a while and I went to one class
taught by Isabel Hickey and it just really didn’t work
for me. At that point I knew quite a lot of astrology and
I was already doing readings. The style, the language
and all the rest, it really wasn’t mine. However, I think
that we invisibly learn from every book we read, and I
would certainly include hers. Then, when I read Arroyo
and Liz Greene for the rst time, I felt, “Yes! This is my
astrology!” because this is what I believe; this is what I
feel.
I first studied Jung when I was enrolled in Independent
study, on Myth and Literature, as an undergrad and my
professor knew I was into astrology. He gave me Jung’s
Symbols of Transformation as part of my independent
studies. So I read Jung and I started working on my
dreams when I was about twenty. I came into the
relationship with symbols through that personal
experience and deep inner work. I also kept journals for
many years. But I was reading a lot of esoteric subjects
along with that even at that time.
KT: So it sounds like you both synthesized what you
were reading and had a really strong inner compass of
truth for you.
LB: Yes. An inner compass, exactly. There came a point
when I finally decided, okay, I’m an astrologer. I went
back and forth for a number of years, and nally
someone said to me, “I believe in doing what you love
in life. Otherwise what is the point? So what is it that
you love the most?” And I said, “Well, I love astrology.
When I do it, something happens that doesn’t happen
anywhere else in my life. The experience of doing a
reading is in a heightened, separate category from
everything else I do.” That question really helped me
recognize astrology as the path that had something
extra, that owed from the life force.
I also loved cooking and was quite serious about food
at the time — although it wasn’t fashionable to be a
chef then. The first work I found in France was
working as a chef for a family, although “chef” would
be too gloried a word.
Once I decided I was actually an astrologer, I devoured
every astrology book I could find. And of course,
astrology was very, very different in France. At that
time it was much more traditional, much more
predictive. Psychological astrology was a distinct
minority along with the humanist astrologers following
Rudhyar’s work. So at first I was pretty much in my
corner with astrology, following my own path.
Eventually, I found good friends among the humanists
led by Alexander Ruperti. On the other hand I
discovered André Barbault’s groundbreaking work on
planetary cycles. Later, there was a great owering of
psychological astrology in France.
April Issue, 2013 - 21
Under Neptune, I had a period where I would go to
school in my dreams. I remember being shown things,
like geometric patterns. During that time astrology
moved out of my head and my mind and into a more
integrated place inside.
KT: Yes, I understand that exactly. So how was it that
you moved to France? You know, France is really my
favorite place in the world and I have spent a lot of time
there, especially in the south. When did you move?
How old were you? What got you there?
LB: I was in my 20s. I had never felt at home where I
grew up in Chicago. I really didn’t have a feeling of
having a place I belonged. I don’t think I have that
sense of home in the way a lot of people do. It probably
has a lot to do with the kind of family I grew up in. I
desperately needed distance from my very difcult
family.
When I went to Europe for the first time, my
grandfather, who was Greek, had moved back, around
age 80. I was running away from a relationship, and
decided I needed to go see the world. At the end of that
rst trip, I ended up in France. By a series of
coincidences I met people who became close friends,
and a little over a year later I was back, to stay.
I had studied French in high school, and a little bit in
college. That was a huge advantage. At first I was an
illegal immigrant; I had no job, no place, but I had
friends to stay with. I went with the intention of staying
at least two years, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to
integrate into another culture and learn the language in
less than that time. It was such hard work; it’s really
exhausting to learn another language. You have to go to
bed early every night. There’s a certain moment where
your brain can’t take anymore in, and I’m a
communicator, so being able to speak is completely
fundamental to me. I was able to give my first reading
in French about a year and a half later.
KT: You said that French astrology was a little different
back then - more traditional. What do you find is the
difference between the astrology world in France and in
North America?
LB: The French are much more intellectual, trained in
Cartesian thinking. Perhaps the greatest difference is
that they are drawn to theory rather than practice. There
are great innovators like Barbault or Gauquelin,
brilliant thinkers like Luc Bige, Joelle deGravelaine.
There is a lot of depth in the French community, a deep
interest in cycles, in the Black Moon Lilith, and
22 - ISAR International Astrologer
recently a great deal of work on myth and symbol. In
the UK, the astrological tradition was devitalized after
Lilly, whereas the French preserved their connection
with authors like Morin de Villefranche to a greater
degree.
One difference I found especially surprising in the
beginning was the way people argued. There’s a
tradition of arguing in intellectual circles here, and at
the same time students question teachers less. For many
years there was a vibrant humanist astrology network,
that held annual workshops in the French countryside,
and in cities throughout France. They followed
Rudhyar’s approach. If you have ever read Rudhyar it
will help to know that he was born in France and wrote
in English. Alex Ruperti, Jean-Francois Berry, and
others built a great interest in astrology throughout
France, as a path to consciousness. As an American, I
had a reputation for being more practical: what works,
how does it function, what happens in the charts of real
people? In French intellectual thought, theory is always
superior to practical. So, that’s a huge difference.
KT: That is a huge difference. And yet you built your
practice...
LB: As I said, I didn’t fit in the environment I grew up
in, and being 12th house I actually thrive in a non-
familiar environment, where I bring something that
isn’t mainstream. I found that people really responded
to my work very quickly here in France, from the very
beginning. I often had people much older than me who
came and consulted. I was young and very fortunate,
and there must have been something I was bringing in
terms of humanism, the idea that astrology is a tool for
consciousness, which was not so widespread then
among traditional French astrologers. Somehow, I’ve
always brought together psychological and real life
issues, with the goal of enhancing awareness; all those
layers are present. It depends on the situation and the
individual what actually emerges in a reading, if that
makes sense.
KT: That makes a lot of sense. So, you’ve built your
practice by word of mouth and you don’t have a
website, which I think a lot of astrologers would nd
interesting...
LB: Well it’s really strange, I know, but one of the
things is I actually work in many different places.
People can nd me through the CPA website or through
Star IQ. I know astrologers who say they do ten
readings a day. I can’t even imagine. I couldn’t even
conceive of that. There’s a certain limit to the amount
of work I would want to do. If you’re doing writing you
actually need to clear your schedule to do that. I find
the amount of clients I need comes, rather mysteriously.
I will get a website, though. I’m planning to get a
website!
KT: Your bio mentions Ericksonian hypnotherapy. How
does that come into your work or how did you use that?
LB: First, let me preface that by saying I did many
kinds of psychological work and a fair amount of
training in different things. I was in a traditional
analysis, with both Freudian and Jungian inuences, for
seven or eight years. I found that the analytic model, for
all its gifts, had
certain limitations. I
then did Ericksonian
hypnotherapy training
with a brilliant family
systems therapist. In
my practice, whole
families would come
to me as individuals,
and I found that
really, really
interesting.
The other part of the
Erickson work is the
importance of
language. It was very
interesting to have a
direct link to the
unconscious and
particularly with Ericksonian hypnosis to be aware of
the way language works on the unconscious; the way
you use a word or don’t use a word. Or the way you
talk about the future when you say what might happen,
what should happen, what you know or don’t know.
And very often I use language in a particular way in a
session, taken from hypnosis, perhaps using simple
words or voice tone to help someone connect with a
physical in-body consciousness, to bypass the mental
chatter.
KT: I read in a book review that “you have a reaction
on the psychological implications of language in
traditional astrology.”
LB: I love integrating traditional discoveries into a
psychological framework. I became interested, maybe
twenty-ve years ago, in the planetary joys. They made
sense to me. Again, it’s that inner lter that says, “Yes,
this is right!” but I didn’t understand why. There’s a
section in Planetary Threads where I mention the joy of
the Moon in the third house, the joy of Jupiter in the
11th. Since then, I’ve elaborated the joys quite a bit
more and they’ve inuenced my understanding of
houses. So, that’s one example.
There are other things. At UAC this year, I spoke on
Planets in Detriment. Early on, in psychological
astrology we threw out some of the tradition, perhaps
seeing planets in detriment as a label that made people
feel bad about themselves or their chart, and so it might
be glossed over. It was a sort of political correctness.
The return to horary astrology, and the ensuing
traditional
revolution changed
that. And while it
is true, that these
terms may lock
people into a kind
of hopelessness,
which I’m very
much against, they
also have
signicance. How
can we translate
that, a planet in
detriment? A man
who has Mars in
Cancer, may not
use that Mars in a
typically masculine
style, and it is
likely his whole
relationship to what it means to be a man is going to be
different to that of a man who has Mars in Aries. It’s
absolutely true. But in some traditional circles I have
heard people say, “My God, Mars in Cancer, You’re
going to have trouble with that. We need to be skillful
with language. I hear students say things like, “I have
Venus in Virgo. I’m doomed.” People say these things
all the time. I would ask, “What does it mean if you
have a planet in detriment. What is it you’re given to
do? What’s the task?” In the talk at UAC I spoke about
how a planet in detriment takes you on a journey that is
often against the interests of the planet, and in order to
have a connection to the planet you have to go there.
It’s a soul imperative.
I’m very interested in that kind of very specific, very
considered thinking of what the tradition gives us. How
can we language that in such a way that it makes sense
for people today? I’m very interested in the ideas
April Issue, 2013 - 23
coming out of traditional astrology, but I’m interested
in making them extremely workable and useful for
everyone, not just for astrologers.
I’m sure any astrologer has dealt with people who have
been traumatized by other astrologers who have used
language unskillfully. For example, I had a client, a
Scorpio, who had transits from Pluto in Scorpio at the
time. He had gone to an astrologer I knew and
respected, who had told him things were going to be
really difficult for another seven years. Now, I can’t
ever imagine saying that to a client. I was shocked
because again, I came from a very different place,
looking for the opening you can give to someone, even
if they’re in a difficult time. But I also believe in
helping people acknowledge the difficulty, to go as
deep as they need to go. I believe you need to do both.
I work in a much shorter time period. I don’t do ten
year readings for people. I might talk about two years
out, but I almost never go beyond that because I believe
we create our future through decisions we make as we
go along. And we as astrologers forget that we lock
people in by saying well, you know, you’re not going to
get married until Progressed Venus conjuncts the Sun in
ten years. Well, if somebody says that to you, and
you’re twenty, it might have an incredibly strong effect.
Even if the person says “bullshit,” they won’t forget
that.
Liz Greene used to say that she believed some
psychological training was necessary for all astrologers.
No matter how we think about astrology, it still remains
magical for the people we deal with. It has a power way
beyond what we imagine. People still come to me and
say you predicted such and such. And I say, “I don’t
predict, actually. Are you sure I said that? That doesn’t
sound like something I would say?’ But people will
hear it that way even if you are extremely careful.
Ericksonian Hypnosis was a revelation to me because I
understood on a very different level how people tie
themselves up with language and how things need to be
unraveled, not just on the level of the mind. Again, I’m
an air sign. I’m very wordy. You’re going to get more
words rather than fewer words from me, and at the
same time I’m actually working under the surface of
words in a reading, looking for a place that needs to be
unlocked. Often when you find it, you feel a release in
a person’s awareness of what they’re experiencing, of
where they’re going or what’s coming.
24 - ISAR International Astrologer
KT: Yes, I would agree with that, and hypnotherapy has
helped me understand that people really can change
when you work within the symbolic, unconscious level.
LB: Change happens here and now in the present.
That’s important. There’s a moment where we become
aware that it’s not our chart that’s responsible for what
we do, or our past that’s responsible for what we do,
but the decisions we make about the energies we have
in our chart at this moment. “What can I do now about
this situation in my life?”
KT: Very true.
LB: So for me when I have a client I have choice of
where I go based on what that client needs. Do I stay
totally present, does the past call me, is there an
experience that needs to be excavated? And I never
make a decision ahead of time. It has to do with the
energetic dialogue I have with the client, what emerges
from the reading, an intuitive essence of what’s
important, but I can do that because there are many,
many years of experience and many things in my
toolkit...
KT: ...And a strong intuition that I see that you have,
which takes me to my next question: you’ve been
working with Caroline Myss and teaching at her school.
What do you teach?
LB: Usually I teach with Caroline in her Sacred
Contracts work. Caroline is a huge fan of astrology.
Her Sacred Contracts work, which is based on
archetypes, has a strong resonance with what we do in
astrology. When I began to work with Caroline, I really
learned to speak the astrological language in a
meaningful way to a larger number of people. Invoking
an archetype like the hero, or the creative, the way she
uses this language, translates the solar principle for a
wider audience, we’re going to do a workshop in
October together where we talk about how the energies
of the moment interact with people’s sacred contracts in
different areas of their lives.
KT: That’s sounds really good!
LB: We’re very good friends so it’s easy for us to work
together. I always joke with Caroline that after I’ve
worked with her I’m medically clairvoyant for about a
week!
In reality, I certainly don’t do what she does, but I pick
up a lot of information about people on those levels.
Sometimes I’ll be doing a reading and I’ll have a pain
somewhere in my body, and I’ll check with the person
to see if it is coming from them or not. I pay attention
to the information I get from any system, whether it’s a
feeling I get while sitting across from someone, or
some other form of nonverbal communication. Even the
fantasies I have before the client arrives may have to do
with the session. Often I am moved to wear a particular
color and a client will walk in wearing that same color.
I sometimes have dreams about what the client brings
me, the night before. So all of those are part of the field
I step into as part of the work.
Actually I find that some of the readings that are more
difficult are people who know a lot of astrology and
have a stereotype in the way they are thinking of
themselves. “Well, I have Saturn here so I’m like this,”
and I’m like “Erase!”
What I want to do is work on the edge of what’s not
known for a person at a given time. That’s what I’m
very interested in working with, just at the place that is
wanting to open.
KT: What about the Center for Psychological Astrology
(CPA) in London? I noticed on their website they’ve
changed the format; they’re not doing such an involved
degree program. They say it’s like a Plato academy.
You are still teaching there?
LB:Yes, I’m still teaching there, pretty much in the
same way, two or three workshops a year. Liz has
stepped back from the school for the moment, and is
teaching her seminars in Bath, where she lives. It was
always possible to come to the CPA and take a seminar
here and there and not do the degree program which
involved supervision, being in London, taking a
minimum of certain courses, taking certain foundation
classes, again being in therapy, writing things. There is
now no core student body, that is why it is an academy.
I also teach in other places in the U.K., like the Faculty
Summer School in Oxford and the London School of
Astrology (LSA).
I love going deeply into subjects and the CPA is a place
that really helped me grow inmy own work and evolve
as the students also were looking for that very deep
work.
I loved being connected to the other teachers there, like
Darby Costello, Charles Harvey and Melanie
Reinhardt. So it’s been fantastic to be connected to it.
KT: So what is it you’re teaching these days? What are
you excited about?
LB: Good question. I’m going to be teaching something
on Lilith in London in February, which I haven’t really
done before. I’m excited about exploring the archetype,
which is a huge part of French astrology.
I’m redoing a workshop on Betrayal and Trust, which is
basically about Pluto initiations. I’ll also be teaching
that in February. I’m always interested in teaching the
family work, which is what I’ll be doing in San
Francisco (http://ncgrsanfrancisco.org/
IADSF2013.html) in March, and on the East Coast in
May. I just came back from Asia where the book on
family patterns is going to be published in Mandarin in
Taiwan, so I was there teaching some of that material.
But I’m approaching it in various ways, and developing
very specic workshops. For example in Taiwan I taught
‘Patterns of Failure and Success in Families” and in
Hong Kong I taught on the “Influence of Family on
Present Relationships.”
In terms of new things, I have some writing I need to do
right now and I’m leaving myself a little time to have
some new ideas pop out.
KT: I was going to ask you about that next. You’ve
mentioned that Planetary Threads is being republished,
which is great, and you’ve got a couple of other books,
right? You’ve got Cycles of Light, about Solar
Returns....
LB: I did solar returns very early on. it was a good fit in
France, where they are used actively. There were things
I discovered in my early work on solar returns that I’d
never seen written about and I became very well known
in part of the French community for my work and
teachings on solar returns. The book is in a seminar
form. It’s a CPA book, with questions and answers, but
in reality I integrated many, many years of experience,
It’s a product of many years of research.
KT: How do you feel about the current changes in the
world?
LB: As we were going into the Uranus/Pluto square, I
was interviewed in 2008 at UAC and there’s a video
online (www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO5n-izcw6s) that
people can see. I did a lot of research on Uranus/Pluto
in the 90s actually, when we had the sextile. It is a
disruptor of patterns, but it’s also something necessary.
In our personal, psychological, cultural and historical
evolution—there’s a moment where we create a form as
a society. And then it just isn’t viable anymore. We’re at
that point where the society we live in is clearly
April Issue, 2013 - 25
breaking apart, a little bit like those icebergs splitting
off from the ice sheets in Greenland.
There’s so many events from Fukushima to Hurricane
Sandy that have made it clear that the world we live
in... You know, 100 years from now, living on the coast
is probably not going to be very viable and yet it’s
where the most expensive real estate is. There is so
much going on, and yet, what we don’t know is how
destructive those changes are going to be, what the new
social form is, what the new political form is going to
be. Clearly we’re stepping into new models of
education, models of literacy, human technological
interface... all of these things are so much bigger than
our individual minds can take in, that we can only
glimpse the future, like the myth of the four blind men
with the elephant and how they describe it.
I think astrologers are very much like that right now.
Anybody predicting where society is going is a little bit
like that.
There is a group emerging into adulthood right now
with the Uranus/Neptune conjunction. They are the
ones whose task it is to find a new vision for the future
and Ithink we can help them. The world needs their
creativity, their invention.
KT: What can you tell people about yourself that might
surprise them?
LB: Well, I already mentioned that I was a cook, a chef,
so what do you expect after that? (laughter) I’ve always
had a spiritual practice. Perhaps people would be
surprised at how strong a piece of me that is.
KT: So do you want people to know about that? I was
interested in the fact you have such an important
relationship with Thich Nhat Hanh.
LB: I was very rooted in Buddhist teaching for about
ten years, and I love Thich Nhat Hanh. It used to be
that I was interested in every form of spirituality except
Catholicism, and through teaching every year at
Chartres, I’ve had some powerful experiences with the
Cathedral, and the black Madonna. There is a strong
spiritual, even mystical core to everything I do. I see
astrology as a spiritual practice.
In American astrology there has been a more spiritual
language, where astrology had evolved both in France
and UK to be spiritually neutral. I came from a different
26 - ISAR International Astrologer
approach, connecting the astrological tradition with the
humanist paradigm of consciousness and an intellectual
framework. For me spirituality was something more
private. And I still feel that way. One of the great gifts
of astrology is that it allows us to work with many
different spiritual approaches. I feel it’s important to let
people know when you’re working from your personal
beliefs, whether those are reincarnation or atheism, or
conservative christianity. Over time I’ve become
comfortable expressing spirituality more openly.
KT: Do you have any comments about how you feel
about the direction of astrology overall?
LB: I just came back from Taipei and Hong Kong,
where I was invited to teach at an astrology school
created by Rod Chang in Taiwan, and Jupiter Lai in
Hong Kong. So there were many young people, born in
the 70s 80s and even the 90s. And it was really
wonderful to see the enthusiasm, to see the new
generation of astrologers coming up, particularly in
Asian culture. I love that, and I love what a lot of
astrologers are doing. I can see the creativity of the
younger generation, especially their creativity with
technology, with the net, with video, with different
technological forms. Twenty years ago if I were
researching a talk I would have to go to the library to
do research, photocopy images and have them printed
onto transparencies. Now with the web, information is
available in an accelerated way, it speeds up creativity.
Things that took me twenty years to learn, younger
astrologers have at their ngertips. That’s very exciting.
That can only be good. Of course, even given all the
gift of technology, astrology actually does require time
and study to integrate, as you know.
KT: That is for sure! Thank you for allowing us to
interview you and sharing your insights.
Kay Taylor is a full-time astrologer/intuitive for over
28 years, integrating clairvoyant
channeling and psychosynthesis into
her sessions, professional lectures and
workshops. ISAR Consulting Skills
Trainer. Writer for Astrology.com.
San Francisco Bay Area (510) 601-
6507. Email: kay@kaytaylor.com.
Website: http://kaytaylor.com
 The Planetary Joys and the Origins of the
Significations of the Houses and Triplicities
Chris Brennan
(Note: This article is original research and peer reviewed.)
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of a
previously unknown scheme underlying the foundations of
Hellenistic astrology. I will demonstrate how this scheme ties
together a number of early astrological concepts, ultimately
appearing to act as the motivation for some of the
significations of the houses, as well as the rationale for the
assignment of the four elements to the signs of the zodiac.1
The Joys
Astrological texts written in the Mediterranean region
between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE
commonly refer to a scheme for associating each of the seven
classical planets with one of the twelve “houses” or “places”
(topoi). The house that each planet was associated with was
said to be the place where it “rejoiced” or had its “joys.” For
the purpose of this article I will refer to these assignments as
the system of planetary joys.
According to most authors,2 the joys of the planets are as
follows (see Diagram 1 at end of article):
• The Sun has its joy in the 9th house.
• The Moon has its joy in the 3rd house.
• Jupiter has its joy in the 11th house.
• Venus has its joy in the 5th house.
• Mars has its joy in the 6th house.
• Saturn has its joy in the 12th house.
• Mercury has its joy in the 1st house.
The joys appear to have been the basis for a convention
whereby names were given to some of the houses. Instead of
referring to these houses by their number relative to the rising
sign (e.g. “5th house”) they were instead sometimes referred
to with a specific name.3 The common names for the houses
associated with the joys in Hellenistic tradition are as follows:
• The 9th house is referred to as the “place of God” or
simply “God” (Theos).
• The 3rd house is referred to as “Goddess” (Thea).
• The 11th house is called “Good Spirit” (agathos
daimon).
• The 5th house is called “Good Fortune” (agathe
tuche).
• The 6th house is called “Bad Fortune” (kake tuche).
• The 12th house is called “Bad Spirit” (kakos
daimon).
• The 1st house is called the “Helm” (oiax), as in the
helm of a ship.
The remaining houses were also sometimes given names,
although these are not directly related to the joys, since no
planets rejoice in them:
• The 2nd house is referred to as the “Gate of Hades”
(Haidou pule).
• The 8th house is referred to as the “Idle” place
(argos).
• The 10th house is referred to as the “Midheaven”
(mesouranema).
• The 7th house is referred to as the “setting” place
(dusis).
• The 4th house is referred to as the “subterraneous”
place (hupogeion).
The names for the 10th, 7th, and 4th houses are purely
descriptive, in terms of the astronomical location of those
three houses. However, the names for several of the other
houses are not astronomical in nature, but instead they appear
to be associated with the planet that is said to have its joy in
each of those houses.
For example, the 9th house is said to be the house of God,
and the 9th is the house where the Sun has his joy. Opposite
to that is the 3rd house, which is called Goddess, and this is
the house where the Moon has her joy. The two benefic
planets, Venus and Jupiter, are associated with the two good
houses, which are the house of Good Fortune and the house
of Good Spirit, respectively. Conversely, the two malefic
planets, Mars and Saturn, are associated with the two bad
houses, which are the houses of “Bad Fortune” and “Bad
Spirit,” respectively.
This close association between the meaning of the names of
certain houses and the astrological meaning of the planets that
have their joys in the same places seems to imply a
relationship between the two concepts. This connection can
be confirmed by the 4th century astrologer Firmicus
Maternus, who at one point in the introductory material of his
Mathesis says that the 5th house “is called the Good Fortune,
because it is the house of Venus.”4 Similarly, he says that the
6th is called Bad Fortune “…because it is the house of
Mars.”5 Later in the same century the astrologer Paulus
April Issue, 2013 - 27
Alexandrinus called the 3rd the “house of the Moon,” the 5th
“the house of Venus,” the 6th the “house of Mars,” and so on.6
Dating of the Joys
The connection between the joys and the names of the houses
is important because it provides us with a crucial piece of
information when trying to date the joys and determine how
widespread their usage was in Hellenistic astrology.7 In order
to do this we will assume that anytime the names of the
houses are mentioned that the doctrine of the joys is implicitly
referenced as well, since the two concepts appear to be
intertwined.
The joys appear very early in what survives of the Hellenistic
astrological tradition. The two earliest datable references are
found in Thrasyllus and Manilius, two contemporaries who
wrote their texts sometime around the first few decades of the
1st century CE.
Only a summary of Thrasyllus’ astrological treatise titled
Table (Pinax) has survived into the present day.8 In the
summary there is a section where Thrasyllus discusses the
significations of the houses, and in it he refers to the 12th as
“Bad Spirit,” the 6th as “Bad Fortune,” the 5th as “Good
Fortune,” and the 11th as “Good Spirit” — these are precisely
the rejoicing places of the malefics and benefics. When
mentioning some of these house names, Thrasyllus cites
another text attributed to Hermes Trismigestus. Since we
know that Thrasyllus died in the year 36 CE, we must assume
that the text he was drawing on that was ascribed to Hermes
was written sometime earlier, probably in the 1st century
BCE.9 Given the close connection between the names of the
houses and joys, we must then assume that the doctrine of the
planetary joys had already been introduced by sometime in
the late 1st century BCE.
After Thrasyllus, nearly every Hellenistic astrologer whose
work has survived mentioned the joys in some form or
another, either by referring to them directly, or by referring to
them indirectly by invoking the names of the houses
associated with the joys.10
Manilius is the only ancient author who described an alternate
scheme for the joys, where Venus rejoices in the 10th rather
than the 5th, and Saturn in the 4th rather than the 12th.11
Unfortunately, since Manilius’ text is the only one which
contains this alternate scheme, it is unclear whether his
arrangement represents a genuine variant tradition, an error in
the textual transmission, or an idiosyncratic addition of his
own. Both the arguments for and against viewing Manilius’
variant as legitimate have been made by different scholars in
the past two decades.12
Basic Patterns in the Joys
28 - ISAR International Astrologer
Of the many patterns in the arrangement of the joys, there are
two that stand out at first glance. The first is related to the
Hellenistic doctrine of sect.
According to this doctrine, the planets are divided into two
“factions” or “sects” (hairesis). There is a daytime or diurnal
sect that is led by the Sun, and a nighttime or nocturnal sect
that is led by the Moon. The classical planets are then divided
evenly between the two sects, with each sect receiving a
benefic and malefic. Jupiter and Saturn join the Sun as diurnal
planets, while Venus and Mars join the Moon as nocturnal
planets. Mercury is said to be neutral, capable of joining the
diurnal sect when he is a morning star or the nocturnal sect
when he is an evening star.13
One pattern that is immediately evident in the arrangement of
the joys is that the three diurnal planets are grouped together
in the upper hemisphere of the chart above the earth, while
the nocturnal planets are grouped together in the bottom half
of the chart below the earth. This appears to be tied into a
separate sect-related doctrine where the diurnal planets are
said to rejoice when they are above the earth by day and
below earth by night, whereas conversely the nocturnal
planets are said to rejoice when they are below the earth by
day and above the earth by night.14 Mercury, which is capable
of joining either the diurnal or nocturnal sect, has his joy in
the 1st house, which is one of only two houses where a planet
could be on either side of the horizon and still be in the same
house (due to the use of whole sign houses in the Hellenistic
tradition).15
In addition to this pattern related to sect, it is also notable that
the luminaries, benefics, and Mercury all rejoice in one of the
so-called “good houses” that are configured to the rising sign
through one of the classical aspects (i.e. conjunction, sextile,
square, trine, opposition), while the two malefics rejoice in
two of the “bad houses” which are not configured to the rising
sign.16
These patterns are somewhat straightforward because they are
predicated on basic concepts, although recently I discovered a
few additional patterns which connect the joys to numerous
other concepts in Hellenistic astrology. These will be
discussed below.
Mystery Surrounding the Elements and the Signs
For the past 20 years there has been something of a mystery
surrounding how the four classical elements came to be
assigned to the specific signs of the zodiac that they are
associated with in the Medieval and Modern traditions of
astrology. The standard scheme since late antiquity is as
follows:
In their 1993 translation of Book I of Vettius Valens’
Anthology, Robert Schmidt and Robert Hand pointed out that

Table 1
Triplicities and Elements
Aries, Leo, Sagittarius: Fire
Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn: Earth
Gemini, Libra, Aquarius: Air
Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces: Water
Valens is the earliest Hellenistic author to mention these now-
familiar associations between the four elements and the signs
of the zodiac.17 For example, Valens says that Aries is fiery,
Taurus is earthy, Gemini is airy, Cancer is watery, and so on.
He does so in a way that makes it seem as if he is he was
getting the associations from an earlier source, though, since
Valens appears to take the associations for granted, as if they
were common knowledge in his time.18 Schmidt points out
that elsewhere in the Anthology Valens tends to let the reader
know when he is innovating, which implies that it was not
Valens himself who introduced this element-sign
relationship.19
Earlier sources such as Thrasyllus, Manilius, and Dorotheus
do not mention the same scheme where the elements are
assigned to the signs of the zodiac,20 although they do group
the signs into sets of three or “triplicities,” and they associate
each triplicity with a specific set of planetary rulers. These are
the triplicity or trigon lords, which are usually arranged in the
following way:21 (Table 2 on this page)
Thus, while many astrologers did group the signs into four
triplicities, and did associate each one with a set of planetary
rulers, they did not all associate these signs with particular
elements. Instead, they associated the triplicities and their
rulers with the four winds, which are connected with the four
cardinal directions, north, south, east and west.22 Thus, the
connection between the triplicities and the four elements was
not always taken for granted in the same way that it is today.
Ptolemy, who was an older contemporary of Valens, did not
associate the elements with the triplicities either, and even
after Valens’ time the element-triplicity scheme is only
mentioned infrequently by a few other Hellenistic authors.
Rhetorius definitely mentions the scheme in his compendium,
which was written towards the very end of the Hellenistic
tradition in the 6th or 7th century CE.23 Firmicus Maternus
also seems to have mentioned the elements in connection with
the signs in his 4th century text, although the evidence is
somewhat scanty, since large parts of the section of the
Mathesis where he would have discussed the topic are
missing.24 Other well-known Hellenistic astrologers such as
Porphyry, Hephaistio, and Paulus are silent on the matter,
although one would expect them to mention the elemental
attributions in their introductory texts if they were aware of or
endorsed them.25
From this we can conclude that the triplicities do not
necessarily have to be associated with the four elements, but
they could be. Their association may represent a later
addition, or perhaps something which not all astrologers
agreed on. The latter seems more likely, since in the case of
Valens and Ptolemy we see one astrologer using the
associations, while his contemporary who lived in the same
time period and the same location, did not.
With respect to the widespread adoption of the element-
triplicity scheme in subsequent centuries, we know that
Rhetorius drew on Valens and cited him several times in his
Compendium, possibly making Valens the source of
Rhetorius’ application of the four elements to the triplicities.26
Pingree has demonstrated that Rhetorius’ compendium was
available to astrologers such as Masha’allah in the early
Medieval tradition.27 This may have been the route through
which the practice of assigning the four elements to the
triplicities was transmitted to the Medieval tradition. On the
other hand, Valens’ Anthology was translated into the Middle
Persian language of Pahlavi much earlier, perhaps around the
3rd or 4th century CE, and parts of it were passed on to
Arabic writers independently of Rhetorius, so there may have
been multiple entry points for the doctrine into the later
tradition.28 Whatever the source, after the 8th century the
assignment of the four elements to the signs of the zodiac
became commonplace in astrological texts in the West.
Joys Associated With Angular Triads
The initial starting point for the discovery that I’m about to
present was an observation that Robert Schmidt made in early
Table 2
Triplicity Lords
Day Night Cooperating
À Ä È Ð Õ Ö
Á Å É Ó Ñ Ô
Â Æ Ê Ö Ò Õ
Ã Ç Ë Ó Ô Ñ
April Issue, 2013 - 29
2008, that the planetary joys are, in fact, the trigon lords
grouped around the so-called angular triads.29
Schmidt coined the phrase “angular triads” in order to
describe a common convention that was used in the
Hellenistic tradition whereby the houses are grouped into four
sets of three, with each centered around one of the four angles
or pivots (kentra).30 Each angular triad consists of one angular
whole sign house, flanked by two additional whole sign
houses on either side of it. The two flanking houses consist of
one cadent whole sign house that is moving away from the
angle, otherwise known as a declining house (apoklima), and
one succedent house that is moving towards the angle,
otherwise known as a post-ascension (epanaphora).
When the joys are viewed within the context of the angular
triads, we see that they fall into place according to the
triplicity lords (see Diagram 2 at the end of the article). The
Sun and Jupiter, which are the two principal rulers of the
triplicity that consists of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, are in
two of the houses that comprise the angular triad around the
10th house. Saturn and Mercury, which are the two primary
rulers of the triplicity that consists of Gemini, Libra and
Aquarius, are in two of the houses which comprise the
angular triad around the 1st house. Next, we find the Moon
and Venus, which are the rulers of the triplicity that consists of
Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, in two of the houses that
comprise the angular triad around the 4th house. Finally, the
last planet that is left over is Mars, which is one of the
primary rulers of the triplicity that consists of Cancer,
Scorpio, and Pisces, and we find it in one of the houses that
comprise the angular triad around the 7th house.
We may be able to find some textual support for this
connection between the joys and the angular triads in the
work of the 2nd century skeptic Sextus Empiricus. Note
Sextus’ decision to list the names of the places according to
the angular triads in his brief overview of astrology:
Or, to speak more concisely, the “decline”
of the Sign of the “Hour-marker” is called
the “Bad Spirit,” and its “post-ascension”
“ineffective”; similarly, the decline of the
“Midheaven” is “God,” and its post-
ascension “Good Spirit”; and in the same way
the decline of the “anti-midheaven” is
“Goddess,” and its post-ascension “Good
Fortune”; likewise, the decline of the
“Descendant” is “Bad Fortune,” and its post-
ascension “Idle.”31
In this passage Sextus demonstrates that the houses were
sometimes grouped according to the so-called angular triads,
and it is suggestive that he also chose to refer to the houses by
the names associated with the joys when he did this. This is
probably not an accident, but instead may imply that this was
30 - ISAR International Astrologer
based on a commonly-known relationship between the joys
and the angular triads in the 2nd century CE.
Connecting the Joys and Triplicity Lords to the Four
Elements
The first discovery that I made with respect to the joys, and
the primary one that I would like to demonstrate in this paper,
is that the arrangement of the joys around the angular triads
actually provides the manner through which the signs of the
zodiac came to be associated with the four elements.
My observation is as follows: the joys are arranged so that the
Sun and Jupiter, which are the two planets that later came to
be the principal rulers of the fire triplicity, are at the top of the
diagram, clustered around the angular triad associated with
the Midheaven or 10th house (see Diagram 3 at the end of
the article). The Moon and Venus, which are the two planets
that later came to be the principal rulers of the earth triplicity,
are at the bottom of the diagram, grouped around the angular
triad connected with the “subterraneous” house. Saturn and
Mercury, the two planets that came to be the primary rulers of
the air triplicity, are positioned over on the left side of the
diagram, in the angular triad associated with the Ascendant or
rising sign. The last remaining planet, Mars, which came to be
one of the primary rulers of the water triplicity, is over on the
right side of the chart, in one of the houses that comprise the
angular triad that is centered on the descendant or setting
house.
The result of this arrangement is that the planets associated
with the element of fire are at the top of the chart, the planets
associated with earth are at the very bottom, the air planets
are on the left, and the water planet is on the right.
This scheme is arranged in a way that imitates or replicates
Aristotle’s doctrine of natural place. According to Aristotle,32
each element has a natural tendency to move either upwards
or downwards, either towards the center of the cosmos or
away from the center of the cosmos, with the Earth at the
center. Fire rises up to the highest region, while earth moves
down to the lowest region. Air rises upwards and settles in a
position just below fire, while water settles down and rests on
top of earth. The hierarchy of elemental layers is therefore:
1. Fire
2. Air
3. Water
4. Earth
This ordering of the elements in terms of the positions they
were thought to hold in the cosmos was later taken up by the
Stoic and Hermetic philosophical schools, and so it would
have been very widespread and familiar during the Hellenistic
period.33 The arrangement itself appears to be very deliberate,
and the creator of the joys scheme seems to have had the
doctrine of natural place in mind when assigning the elements
to the different angular triads.
When viewed in this context, the arrangement of the joys
represents a depiction of the doctrine of natural place with the
planets themselves representing each of the four elements in
their proper place in the cosmos. The two planets associated
with fire are at the very top of the cosmos, clustered around
the house that is called “midheaven” (mesouranema). The
two planets associated with earth are at the very bottom of the
cosmos, clustered around the house that is called
“subterraneous” (hupogeion). The two planets associated with
air are placed near the 1st house, which Thrasyllus calls “the
Ascension (anaphora) and the Ascendant (anatellon),”34
because planets rise over the horizon at the Ascendant and
then move upwards towards the Midheaven. The placement
of the air planets here is clever because it creates a situation
where air is symbolically being pushed upwards, towards the
element of fire. Conversely, Mars (the planet associated with
water) is located near the 7th house, called the “setting”
(dusis) place, because planets in this sector of the chart set
and move downwards towards the subterraneous house. The
placement of the element of water here makes it so that water
is being pushed downwards, towards the element of earth.
The end result is that fire and earth form the upper and lower
extremes, while air and water have middling positions, but the
diurnal rotation pushes air upwards towards fire and water
downwards towards earth.
If we take this arrangement as deliberate, which it would be
hard not to, then it provides an original basis for the
application of the four elements to the signs of the zodiac.
Presumably the signs themselves were already grouped into
triplicities and associated with certain planetary rulers, but it
was this scheme which allowed the triplicities to be associated
with each of the four elements.
Adoption vs. Lack of Adoption of the Elemental Scheme
The assignment of the four elements to the triplicities was
already known to Valens in the mid-2nd century CE. One
would assume that it was probably known to Ptolemy as well,
since both men lived in Egypt around the same time period,
and may have drawn on similar sources.35 This raises the
question of why Ptolemy would choose not to adopt the
element-triplicity scheme if he did know about it.
One potential answer is that Ptolemy may have deliberately
chosen not to use the element-triplicity scheme because it
would have caused a conceptual issue for him in the
arrangement of the signs of the zodiac. Ptolemy had an
inclination toward Aristotelian philosophical and
cosmological doctrines in his astrology.
One of Aristotle’s most well-known doctrines is the
association of each of the four elements with four contrasting
qualities: hot, cold, wet, and dry. In Aristotle’s system fire is
primarily hot, and it is opposed to water which is primarily
cold. Conversely, earth is primarily dry, and it is opposed to
air which is primarily moist.36
Aristotle’s entire approach to the elements is predicated on
the notion that these are contrasting qualities that sit on
opposite sides of a spectrum, and that “the elements all
involve a contrariety in their mutual relations because their
distinctive qualities are contrary.”37 The element-triplicity
scheme that appears to be derived from the joys is
problematic from an Aristotelian perspective because it
makes it so that the fire signs are literally opposite to the air
signs in the zodiac, and the earth signs are literally opposite to
the water signs. If the zodiacal assignments were to follow the
Aristotelian scheme then the fire signs should be opposite to
the water signs in the zodiac, and the air signs should be
opposite to the earth signs. Instead, the element-triplicity
scheme that first appears in Valens follows a model that was
advocated by a rival philosophical school, the Stoics. In the
Stoic system air is conceptualized as cold, and it is opposite
to fire which is hot, while water is said to be moist, and it is
opposite to earth which is dry. This matches the arrangement
of the signs according to the element-triplicity model derived
from the joys, and in fact the Stoic model of the qualities is
explicitly ascribed to the elements by Valens, who described
air as being cold and water as being moist.38
To the extent that Ptolemy tended to predicate much of his
astrological model on Aristotelian cosmological doctrines, he
may not have wanted to adopt the elemental scheme
employed by Valens, even if he knew about it, because such a
scheme contradicts one of the basic doctrines of Aristotelian
cosmology. Later, astrologers who either followed Ptolemy or
followed Aristotle’s approach to the elements also would not
have wanted to adopt the scheme for similar reasons, which
may explain the small number of astrologers who appear to
have adopted it in the latter part of the Hellenistic tradition.
Rationale for the Order of the Triplicity Lords
After this initial discovery about the joys and the element-
triplicity scheme, Dykes and I began searching to see if there
were other doctrines embedded in the arrangement. A
subsequent discovery seems to explain the order in which the
trigon lords are usually assigned.
In the Hellenistic tradition the triplicity lords were used for a
number of things. One particular application was to use them
in order to divide a native’s life into two parts. The first part
of the life was ruled by the first triplicity lord, and the second
part of the life was ruled by the second triplicity lord.39 The
third triplicity lord was said to cooperate with the first and
second lord throughout the course of the life.40 Please see the
previous Table 2 for the usual scheme.
Valens provides a somewhat weak attempt at an explanation
for the assignment of the planets to certain elements, although
otherwise no explanation for the ordering of the assignment of
the triplicity lords is given.41 That is to say, no rationale is
given for why the Sun is the primary ruler of the fire triplicity
April Issue, 2013 - 31
by day and Jupiter is the secondary ruler, or why the Moon is
the primary ruler of the earth triplicity by night and Venus is
the second ruler, and so on. Only Ptolemy attempts to explain
the order of the assignment of the triplicity lords, although his
logic does not fully explain the schemes used by Dorotheus
and Valens.42
When the Joys are viewed within the context of the angular
triads, a pattern emerges. In both the fire triplicity lords and
the air triplicity lords the principal ruler by day falls in the
cadent or declining house, and then the secondary ruler falls
in one of the subsequent houses within the same angular triad,
moving in counterclockwise order (see Diagram 4 at the end
of the article). This ordering matches the triplicity lord
assignments where, for example, the Sun comes first by day
in the fire triplicity and Jupiter comes second, or where in the
air triplicity Saturn comes first by day and Mercury comes
second.
Part of the rationale here is that the cadent houses were
conceptualized as being the first in the sequence of the three
houses that make up the angular triads, because the sign of the
zodiac that each coincides with was recently at the angle
itself, and is now moving or declining away from it due to the
diurnal rotation. The cadent house is then followed by the
angular house itself, and then last by the succedent or post-
ascensional house. So the sequence is always: 1) cadent house
 2) angular house  3) succedent house. The order of the
assignment of the trigon lords to the different parts of the life
appears to be predicated on the place that the trigon lord
occupies in the sequence of the angular triads.
This pattern also holds true for the earth and water triplicity
lords, except that the nocturnal rulers are depicted first in the
cadent houses, since these triplicity lords are all below the
horizon in the chart, which is conceptualized as being
nocturnal. Accordingly, the pattern follows the nocturnal
sequence of the triplicity lords. Within this scheme, the Moon
is in the cadent house, and so it becomes the primary ruler of
the earth triplicity by night, and then Venus follows after it in
the succedent house, so it becomes the secondary triplicity
lord of earth by night. Mars is the last remaining planet, and it
is placed in the cadent 6th house, and so accordingly it
becomes the principal ruler of the water triplicity by night.
Interestingly, this arrangement may also explain part of the
rationale for the assignment of the third or participating
triplicity lord as well. It is notable that in every instance the
cooperating triplicity lord happens to be the next closest
planet in the diagram among planets of the same sect. For
example, the Sun and Jupiter are the main triplicity lords for
fire, and Saturn is the cooperating lord because he is the next
closest planet to them. Saturn and Mercury are the main
triplicity lords for air, and Jupiter is the cooperating lord
because he is the next closest planet to them. The Moon and
Venus are the primary triplicity lords for earth, and Mars is
32 - ISAR International Astrologer
the cooperating lord because he is the next closest planet to
one of them. Finally, Mars and Venus are the main lords for
water, and the Moon is the cooperating lord because she is the
next closest planet.
This discovery about the connection between the joys and the
order of the triplicity lords is important because it appears to
provide a more consistent theoretical rationale for the
assignment of the triplicity lords—particularly the
cooperating lords—than other rationales presented so far,
such as the one offered by Ptolemy.43 Robert Hand noted in
his treatment of the assignment of the triplicity lords that it
was unclear how some of the cooperating lords were
assigned, and it seems that the joys can help to clarify that
issue, although in the process it raises an interesting question
of whether the joys or the triplicity lords came first.44
Configurations
The creator of the scheme surrounding the joys appears to
have been familiar with a number of other basic astrological
concepts, and it can be demonstrated that those concepts were
taken into account in the formulation of the scheme.
One concept that is evident in the joys diagram is the doctrine
of aspects or configurations, and there are some interesting
patterns in the arrangement of the joys when viewed from this
perspective.
The diagram is arranged so that both of the luminaries are
configured to their sect-mates (see Diagram 5 at the end of
the article). For example, the Sun is configured by sextile to
Jupiter and by square to Saturn, while the Moon is configured
by sextile to Venus and square to Mars. This apparent desire
to make the planets configured to their sect mates is probably
one of the reasons why the planets occupy the houses they do
according to the joys. For example, if the Sun had his joy in
the 10th while Jupiter still had his joy in the 11th, then the
Sun would not be configured to Jupiter, but instead the two
would be in aversion to each other. Therefore, there appears
to be a sort of conceptual necessity to put the planets in the
houses they occupy in order to ensure that these
configurations are present.
Additionally, the author of the joys scheme also seems to have
had some general notion of the nature or quality of the aspects
already, as it is arranged so that the two luminaries are
configured by sextile to both of the benefics, and by square to
both of the malefics. This is in agreement with the general
convention that the sextile is a more easy or favorable aspect,
while the square is more difficult or unfavorable.45 It is often
thought that the qualities of the aspects were partially derived
from the configuration of the planets in the Thema Mundi, as
outlined by Firmicus Maternus,46 although the joys may
provide an alternate or overlapping rationale for the reason
why sextiles came to be seen as positive and squares came to
be seen as negative.
Clarification of a Conceptual Issue Involving Sect
There is also an additional concept embedded in the joys
which appears to clarify a long-standing issue related to the
concept of sect.
In the first book of the Tetrabiblos Ptolemy attempts to
explain sect within the context of his unique naturalistic
rationale, where the planets mean different things in astrology
due to their ability to produce varying levels of heat and
moisture.47 Ptolemy attempts to explain the assignment of
Saturn to the diurnal sect by saying that since Saturn is
naturally cold, it is made more moderate when warmed up by
the heat of the Sun in a day chart, and therefore becomes
more positive or constructive functionally. Similarly, Ptolemy
says that Mars is assigned to the nocturnal sect because Mars
is naturally dry, and therefore when placed in a night chart is
moistened and thus becomes better tempered. In Ptolemy’s
model, it is the fact that the malefics are excessively cold or
dry which leads to them being malefic, whereas that which is
moderate or temperate is conceptualized as benefic.48
The problem with Ptolemy’s rationale is that it implies that
Saturn is not inherently diurnal, but instead that it is simply
made more benefic functionally when placed in a day chart.
Similarly, Mars does not have any inherent affinity with the
nocturnal sect, but is functionally more benefic in a night
chart. In this way Ptolemy’s rationale for sect does not really
explain how the planets came to be assigned to the sect that
they are associated with, nor does it explain how Saturn can
in any way be said to be inherently inclined towards the
diurnal sect or Mars to the nocturnal sect. Instead, the only
thing that Ptolemy’s rationale explains is how the malefics
could be interpreted as if they were functionally more positive
or negative in a chart within the broader context of Ptolemy’s
naturalistic rationale for astrology.
This serious conceptual issue in Ptolemy’s argument seems to
imply that his explanation was not the original rationale for
the assignment of the planets to each of the two sects. This
seems to be confirmed by the fact that other authors such as
Porphyry present an alternate rationale to explain sect, which
has to do with the frequency with which the planets rise and
set under the beams of the Sun.49 According to this view,
Jupiter and Saturn are assigned to the diurnal sect because
they set under the beams of the Sun somewhat infrequently,
while Venus and Mars spend relatively more time obscured
by the beams of the Sun. Thus, as a result of their
astronomical behavior, Jupiter and Saturn have more to do
with visibility and light, while Venus and Mars have more to
do with hiddenness and darkness. This alternate rationale
seems to do a better job of explaining how each of the planets
could be associated with their respective sects inherently
rather than just functionally, and therefore may represent
something closer to the original rationale for the sect
assignments.
During the course of our discussions Dykes noted an
additional rationale that appears to be embedded within the
planetary joys scheme. The arrangement of the planets
according to the joys is partially predicated on the diurnal
revolution, since the houses themselves are based on this
cycle in which the planets rise, culminate, set, and then anti-
culminate each day. When the joys are viewed within this
context, there seems to be a progression where the diurnal
planets are moving from the Ascendant up to the 9th house,
whereas the nocturnal planets are moving from the
Descendant down to the 3rd house. This seems to
symbolically convey some sort of progression, where each of
the planets of the respective sects is becoming more and more
diurnal or nocturnal, depending on what side of the horizon
the planet is on (see Diagram 6 at the end of the article).
On the diurnal side of the horizon, the progression starts with
Saturn, which seems to be the least diurnal of the three planets
which comprise the diurnal sect. Next in order is Jupiter,
which represents a progression towards a more diurnal state.
The next and final step is the Sun, at which point the
progression is complete, as we have reached what is easily the
most “diurnal” planet in the chart – the very embodiment of
day itself.
On the other side of the horizon, the nocturnal side, we start
with Mars, who like Saturn seems to be somewhat out of
place in terms of the quality of the planet compared to its
other sect-mates. Next in order is Venus, who is arguably
more nocturnal than Mars, and thus represents a progression
towards a more nocturnal state. Finally we get to the Moon,
who is the most nocturnal planet in the chart, and the
sequence is complete.
Both the diurnal progression and the nocturnal progression of
planets could almost seem to represent some sort of a process
of purification, in which the planets move from being least
like their respective sect to most like their respective sect.
What is interesting about this perspective is that it may
actually explain the conceptual problem with the malefics that
Ptolemy attempted to deal with somewhat unsatisfactorily
within the context of his model. When the malefics are looked
at within the context of the joys and the diurnal rotation,
something that stands out is that they are the two planets of
their respective sects which changed hemispheres the most
recently.
If Saturn is located in the 12th house then this would mean
that he only recently moved through the 1st house and crossed
over the degree of the Ascendant, thus moving from the
nocturnal half of the chart below the horizon to the diurnal
side of the chart above the horizon. If we were to use
Ptolemy’s naturalistic rationale then we might say that Saturn
is the planet that most recently moved from the cold, dark,
nocturnal hemisphere under the earth to the hot, bright,
diurnal hemisphere above the earth. In that sense it could
definitely be said to be diurnal, since it is firmly on the
April Issue, 2013 - 33
daytime side of the chart. However, it is the least diurnal of
the three diurnal planets, since it has only recently “changed
sides,” so to speak, by joining the daytime planets in the
diurnal hemisphere.
The same argument holds true for Mars. If Mars is located in
the 6th house, then it would be a nocturnal planet which
recently changed hemispheres, having recently moved from
being above the horizon to being below the horizon once it
reached the degree of the descendant in the 7th house. Again,
to use Ptolemy’s naturalistic rationale for the sake of
argument, we could say that symbolically Mars is firmly in
the nocturnal camp since he is under the earth; however, since
he only recently moved from the hot, bright, diurnal side of
the cosmos to the cold, dark, nocturnal side, he is still in the
process of becoming more nocturnal, and many of the diurnal
qualities are still prominent in him.
I acknowledge that the level of symbolic thinking that this
requires combined with the lack of explicit textual support
may make it difficult for this argument about the origins of
sect to be validated or accepted as entirely plausible.
However, I feel that this arrangement is far too suggestive to
be a mere coincidence, especially since it solves a clear
conceptual problem with sect that even Ptolemy couldn’t
entirely resolve in the 2nd century.
The Origins of the Houses
One of the major differences between the Hellenistic and
earlier Mesopotamian astrological traditions is the apparent
introduction of the concept of the twelve houses. There is, as
of yet, no clear evidence of the existence or use of the houses
in the earlier Mesopotamian astrological tradition. The houses
do appear in the earliest sources of the Hellenistic tradition,
however. This seems to imply that either the houses were
developed in the late Mesopotamian tradition and we simply
don’t have evidence of this development, or that the houses
were introduced sometime very early on in the Hellenistic
tradition.
In 2010, Dorian Greenbaum and Micah Ross argued that the
use of the Ascendant, Midheaven, and subsequently the rest
of the houses in the Hellenistic tradition were originally
motivated in part by the use of the decans in the earlier
Egyptian tradition.50 Ultimately, they make a compelling case
for the development of the usage of the four angular houses,
although their argument does not explain where the
significations of the other 8 houses derive from. This is a gap
that I believe can be filled in part by the joys.
In the Hellenistic tradition, there appears to have been a text
on the twelve houses in circulation that was ascribed to
Hermes Trismegistus, since we have several references and
allusions to it in later authors. For instance, in the 1st century
34 - ISAR International Astrologer
Thrasyllus cited Hermes as a source for the house
significations in his Table. Also, in the 1st century Dorotheus
began his discussion of the significations of the houses by
announcing that they came from “the honored [and]
praiseworthy by three natures, Hermes, the King of Egypt.”51
In the 6th or 7th century, Rhetorius mentioned in passing that
“Hermes” deliberately designated the 12th house as having to
do with the topic of childbirth.52 Firmicus Maternus drew on a
house delineation text similar to the one used by Rhetorius,
though in his own parallel passage on the 12th house he refers
more generally to certain “wise men” (prudentissimi viri) who
associated that house with childbirth.53 Again, Antiochus cites
an earlier astrologer named Timaeus, who is himself said to
have cited Hermes as the author of a specific scheme of
advantageous (chrematistikos) houses.54
All of these references seem to indicate that there was a very
influential text on the houses that was written sometime in the
early Hellenistic tradition, and that it was ascribed to Hermes
Trismegistus. Since it is cited by Thrasyllus already in the
early 1st century CE, this means that it must have been written
sometime earlier, perhaps in the 1st century BCE. This would
make it not only one of the most influential texts on the
houses that we know of in the Hellenistic tradition, but would
also make it one of the earliest texts that we know of on the
houses.
To be sure, though, the Hermes text was not the only early
text on the houses. There was another text in circulation very
early on that was ascribed to Asclepius, and this text
apparently outlined a unique set of significations for the first
eight whole sign houses.55 This system was called the
octatopos, or eight-place system. The octatopos was
attributed to Asclepius by the anonymous author of the
Michigan Papyrus, and Asclepius is also mentioned by Valens
as having contributed to the doctrine of the houses.56
Schmidt has pointed out that many of the later treatments of
the houses appear to represent a synthesis of the eight- and
twelve-place systems.57
It is interesting that in many of the historical chronologies that
have survived from the Hellenistic tradition, Hermes is often
listed as the earliest author, or as the founder of the
astrological tradition.58 While we might be inclined to dismiss
this purely as mythology, the numerous references to a work
on the houses by Hermes is perhaps enough to make us
consider whether there really was an early text on the subject
that contained the foundational principles of the doctrine. But
what else could this text have said, and what was the original
theoretical basis underlying the significations of the twelve
houses?
The Significations of the Houses
In the Hellenistic tradition, astrologers do not appear to have
followed the modern convention of equating specific houses
with certain signs of the zodiac and the rulers of those signs.
For example, in modern astrology the 1st house is usually
equated with the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, as well as the
planet that rules that sign, Mars. The 2nd house is associated
with the second sign, Taurus, and the ruler of that sign, Venus.
Oftentimes, modern astrologers will borrow significations
from the sign of the zodiac or the planet associated with that
sign in order to talk about the meaning of a specific house.
Despite how prevalent this practice is in modern times, there
is no evidence that it was used as a method for determining
the significations of the houses in the Hellenistic tradition.
Instead, the Hellenistic astrologers appear to have derived the
significations of the houses from considerations such as the
angularity of the house or its position within the scheme of the
angular triads, the configuration to the rising sign or lack
thereof, and the symbolic significance of the house in
astronomical or visual terms. Some of the basic significations
of the houses can be derived in this way. But there is a fourth,
little-explored consideration: the planetary joys.
When the Hellenistic astrologers discussed the significations
of the houses there often seems to be a connection between
the significations of the houses and the joys of the planets.
This is demonstrated particularly explicitly by Valens:
[The house of] God gives signs for the father; Goddess
for the mother; Good Spirit for children; Good Fortune
for marriage; Bad Spirit for suffering; Bad Fortune for
injuries; Lot of Fortune and Horoskopos for life and
living; [the Lot of] Spirit for mind; Midheaven for
action; [the Lot of] Love for desire; [the Lot of]
Necessity for enemies.59
One of the realizations that I had during the course of this
series of discoveries is that the systematic nature of the joys
and the way that they tie together several other astrological
concepts implies that the scheme was acting as some sort of
foundational construct. This is similar to the way that the
Thema Mundi appears to act as a sort of theoretical construct
in order to explain the origins of the domicile rulerships, the
natures of the aspects, and other concepts.60 In point of fact,
Firmicus Maternus explicitly says that earlier astrologers
deliberately devised the Thema Mundi as a teaching tool in
order to explain some of the basic concepts of astrology.61 If
this is true, then it would not be surprising to find other
deliberate arrangements or conceptual constructs embedded
in the tradition as well.
One of the consequences of this discovery about the
interconnectedness of the joys with several other concepts is
that it implies that the meanings of the twelve houses were not
determined first and then the joys assigned to those houses
later, based on some sort of perceived affinity between the
house and the planet. Rather, it was the reverse. I would argue
that it seems more likely that the joys were developed first, as
part of the elaborate construct that I’ve outlined in this paper,
and then the significations of the houses were subsequently
derived in part from the joys. This would explain why some
of the houses were assigned the names that they were given,
because the planets associated with those houses via the joys
were playing a significant role in informing the meanings of
the houses.
The observation that some of the significations of the houses
were derived from the joys is not new, as Deborah Houlding
already made this argument in her 1998 book on the houses.62
What is unique here is the point that the joys themselves are
part of an elaborate systematic construct that originated very
early on in the Hellenistic tradition, presumably from a single
text, and that it may in fact represent a major part of the
earliest rationale for assigning significations to some of the
houses.
Deriving Significations from the Joys
When the houses are viewed within the context of the joys,
the motivation underlying some of their significations
becomes much clearer. In fact, the joys actually provide us
with a theoretical rationale for generating the
significations.
In generating the significations of the houses through the
joys there seems to have been a heavy emphasis on a
division of the chart into two hemispheres, with one
hemisphere above the earth and one below the earth.
Everything above the horizon appears to be considered to
be the realm of the Sun, which the author of the scheme
seems to have associated with the spirit (diamon). This is
the reason why the 11th house is called the house of Good
Spirit, and the 12th is called the house of Bad Spirit. Later
astrologers such as Valens and Firmicus associated the Sun
with the concept of spirit, which they said had to do with
the soul and the mind or intellect.63 Conversely, everything
below the horizon was considered to be the realm of the
Moon, which the author of the joys associated with the
concept of fortune (tuche). This is why the 5th house is
called the house of Good Fortune, and the 6th is called the
place of Bad Fortune. Valens associated fortune with the
body and the physical incarnation of the native.64
One of the potential implications of this division between a
solar hemisphere at the top of the chart and a lunar
hemisphere at the bottom of the chart is that everything in
the top half of the chart has to do with the soul and things
related to the mind, while everything in the bottom half of
the chart has to do with the body and physical things. This
may be part of some sort of Hermetic division between the
spirit and the body. The consequence of this is that the
specific significations that are attributed to the houses will
then either pertain to the soul or to the body depending on
what side of the horizon they are on.
April Issue, 2013 - 35
 Diagram 1 Diagram 2
The Joys Joys & Angular Triads

Angle
t
iri go en
t De
cl
Sp d ed in
d cc e
oo su
G

Õ Ð Õ Ð

su
it

cc
ir

in
Sp

ed
cl
Ö Ö

en
d

De
Ba

t
10 10
11 9 11 9
12 8 12 8

Ò Ò

Angle

Angle
Helm

1 7 1 7

2 6 2 6

Ô Ô
3 5 3 5
4 4
e

suc
un

e
lin
ce
rt

de
Fo

ec
Ñ Ó Ñ Ó

D
nt
d
Ba

e D
G
od tu
n ec nt
or l in de
de ce
ss dF e
suc
G oo
Angle

Diagram 3
Joys & Elements

Fire
Angle
nt De
de cl
ce in
c e
8BUFS
su

Õ Ð
su
"JS

cc
in

ed
cl

Ö
en
De

10
11 9
12 8

Ò
Angle

Angle

1 7
2 6

Ô
3 5
4
suc

e
lin
ce
de

ec

Ñ Ó
D
nt

D
ec nt
lin de
e ce
su c
Angle

Earth

36 - ISAR International Astrologer

 Diagram 4 Diagram 5
Triplicity Lord Sequence Joys & Configurations
Pivot Pivot
t De t De
en cl en cl
ed in ed in
cc e cc e
su su

Õ Ð Õ Ð

su
su

cc
e

cc

in
in

ed
cl
2

ed
cl

Ö1 Ö

en
De
en
De

t
t
10 10
11 9 11 9
12 8 12 8

Ò Ò

Pivot

Pivot
Pivot

Pivot
2 1 7 1 7

2 6 2 6

Ô
5
Ô
3 5 1 3 4
4

suc
suc

e
e

lin
lin

ce
ce

1 2

de

ec
de

ec
Ñ Ó Ñ Ó

D
n
D
nt

t
D
D
ec nt ec nt
lin de lin de
ce e ce
e
s uc suc
Pivot Pivot

Diagram 6
Joys & Sect Progression

Pivot
t De
en c lin
ed
cc e
su

Õ Ð
su
e

cc
in

ed
cl

Ö
en
De

10
11 9
12 8

Ò
Pivot

Pivot

Ascendant Descendant
1 7
2 6

Ô
3 5
4
suc

e
lin
ce
de

ec

Ñ Ó
D
nt

D t
ec en
lin ed
e c
suc
Pivot

April Issue, 2013 - 37

This provides us with two underlying theoretical principles
when generating significations from the specific houses in
which a planet has its joy:
1. Is the house above or below the horizon? If it is
above, then it will have to do with the soul. If it is
below, then it will have to do with the body.
2. Is the planet associated with that house a benefic
or malefic? If it is a benefic, then the house will
indicate good things. If it is a malefic, then it will
indicate bad things.
By taking these two principles into consideration we can
explain some of the basic significations that came to be
associated with the houses.
For example, let’s look at the 5th house, which is called
the house of Good Fortune. As the 5th house is under the
horizon, we know that it will signify things pertaining to
the body. We also know that since it is associated with the
benefic planet Venus, the significations must be positive.
From this we come to the conclusion that the 5th house
would signify good things that relate to the body.
Coincidentally, the 5th house became one of the primary
houses that signify children.
The 6th house is the house of Bad Fortune. As it is under
the earth, it relates to the body. As it is associated with the
malefic Mars, it must therefore signify something bad.
Thus, the 6th house pertains to bad things related to the
body, and it is the house that came to be associated with
injuries.
The 11th is the house of Good Spirit. It is above the earth,
so it relates to the soul or mind. It is associated with the
benefic Jupiter, and so it must signify something good.
Thus, the 11th house pertains to good things related to the
soul or mind. One of the primary things that the 11th house
came to be associated with was friendship, which was
viewed by philosophers such as Aristotle as an affinity
between the soul or spirit of two people.
The 12th house is the house of Bad Spirit. It is above the
earth, so it also relates to the soul or mind. Yet, as it is
associated with the malefic planet Saturn, it must signify
something bad. Thus, the 12th house signifies bad things
that pertain to the soul or mind. This is why it came to be
associated with enemies, as well as other things such as
suffering, which could be characterized as an affliction of
the soul.
While this scheme cannot be used in order to generate all
of the significations of the houses, it does seem to provide
a compelling rationale for some of the major significations
of the houses that coincide with the planetary joys. It is
notable that for the most part the planetary joys do not
38 - ISAR International Astrologer
coincide with the angular houses, as the angular houses are
the ones in which it is the easiest to derive significations
from, according to the symbolic significance of their
astronomical location. For example, the 10th house is the
highest and most visible sector in the chart, and it is said to
represent the public reputation of the native. This is
opposite to the 4th house, which is the lowest and most
hidden part of the chart, and is said to signify things
related to the native’s personal life such as their home. The
symbolic meanings of the angles are somewhat
straightforward in this way, but it is a bit more difficult to
derive significations from the other houses according to
their astronomical location, and this is where I believe the
joys come in.
The only angle that does contain the joy of one of the planets
is the 1st house, which is the house where Mercury rejoices.
The Hellenistic astrologers used whole sign houses, and in
whole sign houses, the 1st house will always be partially
above the earth and partially below the earth; this is because
the Ascendant merely marks the sign that becomes the 1st
house. In this way, Mercury is situated at the meeting point
between the two hemispheres, where the diurnal realm of
spirit and the nocturnal realm of the body are brought
together. It is no surprise, then, that the 1st house is usually
said to signify both the body or physical vitality as well as the
spirit (pneuma) of the native.65
The Origins of the Joys?
As I noted above, the earliest source that we have for the
existence of the joys is the text ascribed to Hermes
Trismegistus, as cited by Thrasyllus. Thrasyllus explicitly
connects the doctrine of the twelve houses to Hermes, and in
the excerpt from Hermes he uses the names for the houses,
which are connected with the joys. That being the case, it is
possible that the scheme that the joys represent was originally
introduced in this early text ascribed to Hermes.
But how can we know for sure that the joys were already
present in the Hermes text when the only evidence we have is
that some of the names of the houses were mentioned? I
believe that the answer lies in one of the significations that
Thrasyllus cites Hermes for.
According to Thrasyllus, Hermes said that one of the
significations of the 1st house is “siblings.” This attribution
does not make a lot of sense within the context of the later
tradition, which tended to attribute the topic of siblings to the
3rd house. But it does make sense when we consider that
Mercury has its joy in the 1st house, and that one of the
common significations of Mercury is brothers.66 From this we
can provisionally conclude that the joys were indeed in the
Hermes text, and that some of the significations of the houses
were being derived from the joys. If the Hermes text was in
fact one of the earliest texts on the houses, then it is possible
that this was also the source for the doctrine of the planetary
joys.
Conclusion
I hope to have demonstrated in this paper that the planetary
joys scheme represents a deliberate and very elaborate
construct, which ties together and provides the motivation for
the following things:
1. The assignment of the four elements to the signs of
the zodiac
2. The order of the sequence of the triplicity lords
3. Part of the rationale for the sect assignments of the
planets
4. The assignment of some of the significations of the
houses
While much of this argument is difficult to validate textually
since we are discussing a conceptual model that is only
implicitly referred to or alluded to in many of the texts, I feel
that the systematic nature of the model and the way that it
consistently connects several different techniques and
concepts argues against it being an accident.
The implications of this discovery are far-reaching, since it
appears that the planetary joys scheme provides the rationale
for a number of major astrological concepts and techniques
that have been in use by astrologers since antiquity. It also
adds another layer to the debate that has been taking place
recently in the astrological and academic communities about
the origins of Hellenistic astrology.67 I hope that this will shed
light on and make a substantive contribution to both sides of
that debate.
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Biography
Chris Brennan is a practicing astrologer and researcher from
Denver, Colorado, USA. He is the former President of the
Association for Young Astrologers, as well as the former
Research Director of the National Council of Geocosmic
Research. He conducts consultations and teaches classes on
Hellenistic astrology through his website:
www.ChrisBrennanAstrologer.com.
Endnotes
(Editor’s Note: Greek character accent marks do not appear in this
article due to publishing technical issues. The “International
Astrologer” regrets their omission.)
1 The discoveries presented in this paper were largely the
result of a series of discussions between Chris Brennan and
Benjamin Dykes that took place in April of 2012. The results
of the discovery were first presented publicly in a lecture by
Brennan titled Hellenistic Astrology as the Study of Fate at
the United Astrology Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana
on May 27, 2012. I would like to thank Charles Obert, Scott
Silverman, Austin Coppock and Maria Mateus for the
discussions we had after the initial discoveries. I would also
like to recognize Robert Schmidt for his early suggestive
comments about the triplicity lords and angular triads.
Katarche: December 25, 2012, 2:38 PM, Denver, Colorado.
2 The primary sources for the joys are Paulus, Introduction,
24; Olympiodorus, Commentary, 23; Firmicus, Mathesis, 2,
15-19; Rhetorius, Compendium, 54. The only author who
appears to follow a different scheme for the joys is Manilius,
who will be discussed below.
3 For the names of the houses see Firmicus, Mathesis, 2, 15-
17; Paulus, Introduction, 24; Sextus, Against the Professors,
V: 15-20; Valens, Anthology, 2, 16: 1.
4 Firmicus, Mathesis, trans. Holden, 2, 21: 6. Emphasis
added.
5 Firmicus, Mathesis, trans. Holden, 2, 21: 7. Emphasis
added.
6 Paulus, Introduction, 24. Rhetorius makes similar
statements in chapter 57 of his compendium.
7 For the purpose of this article “Hellenistic astrology” is
defined as the type of astrology that originated in the
Mediterranean sometime around the 1st century BCE, and
then was practiced until approximately the 7th century CE.
8 For the summary of Thrasyllus’ Table see Catalogus
Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum (henceforth CCAG), Vol.
8, Part 3, ed. Petrus Boudreaux, Lamertin, Brussels, 1912, pp.
99-101.
9 For the dating of Thrasyllus see Pingree, Yavanajataka, Vol.
2, p. 444.
10 The chief sources for direct references to the joys are
Paulus, Introduction, 24; Olympiodorus, Commentary, 23;
Firmicus, Mathesis, 2, 15-19; Rhetorius, Compendium, 54.
There are some scattered references to the joys in Valens,
Anthology, 2, 5-16, and Dorotheus twice refers to the 3rd
house as the place of the joy of the Moon in Carmen, 1, 5: 3
& 1, 10: 28. For indirect references to the joys via the names
of the houses associated with them see Sextus, Against the
Professors, V: 15-20, Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 3, 11; 4, 6; 4, 7;
Hephaistio, Apotelesmatika, 1, 12; Michigan Papyrus, Col.
ix: 12-19.
11 Manilius, Astronomica, 2: 918-938.
12 Deborah Houlding argued in favor of viewing Manilius’
variant as genuine in her 1998 book The Houses: Temples of
the Sky, largely based on his antiquity as a source (p. 35ff).
On the other hand, Robert Schmidt dismissed Manilius’
treatment of the houses as “sketchy” and “aberrant” within the
context of the rest of the Hellenistic tradition, and challenged
Houlding’s argument by citing Thrasyllus as being a more
reliable source. See Schmidt, Facets of Fate, p. 126, fn. 11.
13 Cf. Porphyry, Introduction, 4.
14 Valens, Anthology, 3, 5.
15 See Hand, Signs as Houses (Places) in Ancient Astrology.
16 Firmicus points this out within the context of the names of
the houses in Mathesis, 2, 18-19.
17 Valens, Anthology, Book 1, trans. Schmidt, ed. Hand, p. 8,
fn. 1.
18 Particularly see the discussion in Valens, Anthology, 4, 4.
19 Schmidt, Definitions and Foundations, p. 94.
20 Although there are a few instances where Dorotheus
mentions water or earth as being a property of some of the
signs (e.g. Carmen 5, 10: 2; 5, 23: 2-3; 5, 24: 4-6), he appears
to be using a different system from the one that would later
become common. This alternate system, which has to do with
the images associated with the constellations, was also
mentioned in other authors such as Manetho (e.g.
Apotelesmatika, 5: 149-158; 6: 419-422) and Olympiodorus
(e.g. Commentary, 38, p. 136: 1-5).
21 Valens, Anthology, 2, 1; Dorotheus, Carmen Astrologicum,
1, 1; Rhetorius, Compendium, 9.
22 For Pingree’s discussion of the different directions
associated with the winds and the triplicities by different
astrologers, see Yavanajataka, Vol. 2, pp. 223-227. See also
Ptolemy’s discussion of the winds in Tetrabiblos, 1, 11.
23 Rhetorius, Compendium, Ch. 3.
24 We are missing most of the descriptions of the signs in the
extant manuscripts of Firmicus, although in the fragments that
remain he says that Aries is fiery (ignitum) and Pisces is
watery (aquosum). Firmicus, Mathesis, 2, 10.
25 I am unsure of whether the references to the element-
triplicity scheme in Teucer of Babylon’s treatment of the signs
of the zodiac (CCAG 7, pp. 194-213) are genuine because of
the potential for interpolations from Rhetorius. Holden flags
this material as having interpolations from Ptolemy in the
preface of his translation. See Rhetorius, Compendium, trans.
Holden, p. 165.
26 In Holden’s edition of Rhetorius’ Compendium Valens is
cited in chapters 13, 64, and 97.
27 See Pingree, From Alexandria to Baghdad to Byzantium.
28 Pingree, From Astral Omens to Astrology, p. 47ff.
29 Private communication, January 2008.
30 Schmidt coined the phrase as early as 2006. One of his
earliest uses of it in print was in Schmidt and Black, Peak
Times and Patterns in the Life of Dane Rudhyar, p. 40. He
discussed the angular triads more recently in Definitions and
Foundations, p. 11. For the translation of kentron as “pivot”
see Schmidt, Definitions and Foundations, p. 281f.
31 Sextus Empiricus, Against the Professors, V: 18-20, trans.
Burry, slightly modified so that the terminology for the houses
is consistent with the conventions used in this paper.
32 Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption, 1: 2-3.
33 For the Stoic adoption of this elemental hierarchy, see the
report by Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers,
7: 137. For the Hermetic tradition, see the cosmogony in
Corpus Hermeticum, 1: 4 (p. 1 in Copenhaver, Hermetica),
where fire and air are said to move upwards and water and
April Issue, 2013 - 41
earth downwards. Copenhaver (Hermetica, p. 98) interprets
the language in this passage as having been influenced by the
Stoic treatment of the elements.
34 Definitions and Foundations, trans. Schmidt, p. 343.
Firmicus refers to the Ascendant as ortus, which means
“rising.” Mathesis, 2, 15: 1.
35 For example, Hephaistio (Apotelesmatika, 2, 22: 8) said
that Ptolemy drew on Petosiris for his treatment of the topic
of children, and Valens frequently cites and sometimes quotes
Petosiris on a variety of topics.
36 Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption, 2, 1-10.
37 Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption, 2, 4, 331a 14-
16, ed. Barnes, p. 541.
38 Valens, Anthology, 4, 4: 20-31.
39 See Valens, Anthology, 2, 1-2; Dorotheus, Carmen, 1, 22.
40 In the Medieval tradition this arrangement changed so that
the life was divided into thirds that were each ruled by one of
the three trigon lords; astrologers in the Hellenistic tradition
appear to be consistent in only dividing the life into two parts.
41 Valens, Anthology, 2, 1.
42 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 1, 19.
43 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 1, 19.
44 Hand, Night & Day: Planetary Sect in Astrology, p. 28.
45 Porphyry, Introduction, 8.
46 Firmicus, Mathesis, 3, 2: 1-7.
47 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 1, 7.
48 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 1, 5.
49 Porphyry, Introduction, 4.
50 Greenbaum and Ross, The Role of Egypt in the
Development of the Horoscope. Similar but less
comprehensive arguments about the decans acting as the
motivation for the development of the houses have been made
by other scholars. See Pingree, Yavanajataka, vol. 2, p. 219;
Tester, A History of Western Astrology, pp. 25-26; and
Schmidt in the preface to his translation of book 3 of
Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos, pp. viii-ix.
42 - ISAR International Astrologer
51 Dorotheus, Carmen, 2, 20.
52 CCAG 8, Part 4, p. 131: 4-8.
53 Mathesis, 3, 7: 24. In his translation of Rhetorius, Holden
rightly points out that this indicates that Firmicus and
Rhetorius were drawing on a common source for their
delineations of the houses (Rhetorius, Compendium, trans.
Holden, p. 47, n. 1).
54 CCAG 8, part 3, p. 116: 3-12.
55 That the octatopos only represents a sequence of the first
eight whole sign houses rather than a division of the entire
circle into eight sectors has been rightly pointed out by both
Goold (Manilius, Astronomica, pp. lxi-lxii) and Schmidt
(Definitions and Foundations, p. 308f).
56 Michigan Papyrus, Col. ix: 20-27; Valens, Anthology, 9, 3:
5.
57 Schmidt, Kepler College Sourcebook, p. 77.
58 Firmicus, Mathesis, 3, 1: 1 & 4, proem: 5; Manilius,
Astronomica, 1: 30-52; Anonymous of 379 in CCAG 5, part
1, p. 204: 13-22; also, see the anonymous papyrus fragment in
CCAG 8, part 4, p. 95.
59 Valens, Anthology, 2, 16: 1, trans. Schmidt, ed. Hand, p.
18, slightly altered.
60 Robert Schmidt has done the most work in this area. See
Schmidt’s treatment of the Thema Mundi in Definitions and
Foundations, pp. 106-12. For an earlier treatment see
Bouché-Leclercq, L’astrologie grecque, p. 182ff.
61 Firmicus, Mathesis, 3, 1-2.
62 Houlding, The Houses: Temples of the Sky.
63 Valens, Anthology, 4, 4: 1-2; Firmicus, Mathesis, 4, 18. Cf.
Paulus, Introduction, 23.
64 Valens, Anthology, 4, 4: 1-2. Cf. Paulus, Introduction, 23.
65 Valens, Anthology, 4, 12: 1. Cf. Paulus, Introduction, 24;
Rhetorius, Compendium, 57.
66 Valens, Anthology, 1, 1: 38; Dorotheus, Carmen, 1, 18: 2;
67 This is discussed briefly in Brennan, Hellenistic Astrology,
pp. 15-17. Greenbaum and Ross recently weighed in on this
debate in The Role of Egypt in the Development of the
Horoscope, pp. 149-153.
 House Cusps and Systems:
There’s More Than One Way to Slice a Chart
by Jeff Jawer
As originally published at www.StarIQ.com
H ouses are arguably the most contested area of
basic astrological practice. While there is almost
universal agreement as to their importance
(considerable) and meaning (environment, where we
meet the energies), there are many differing opinions
about which system to use and how to use it. There
are well over a dozen house systems, as well as
disagreement about the significance of house cusps.
Few astrologers understand the underlying
symbolism of the houses because the construction of
most systems is much more abstract than the
calculation of planets’ positions in the Zodiac.
The Placidus system is the most popular one in the
western world; its success based as much on
widespread publication and distribution of its tables
as its efficacy. It is based on the tri-section of the
semi-diurnal arc, a process that divides the distance/
time between the Midheaven and the Ascendant. In
fact, most systems use the Midheaven as the cusp of
the Tenth House and the Ascendant as the cusp of the
First House. The differences come in the calculations
of the other house cusps, called the intermediate
houses.
“Tri-section of the semi-diurnal arc” (division of one
quarter of the day into three parts) is not a phrase that
rolls easily off the tongue. It does not paint a picture
that opens the mind to understanding. It is, rather, an
arbitrary mathematical system that has become the
standard for the majority of western astrologers. But,
without a symbolic understanding of this technique,
we are accepting it on faith and by experience. The
notion that “it works” and is therefore the correct
system weakens astrology. I accept that “it works” is
a valid reason to use a technique, but not to tout it as
better than those that don’t work for you. Each
astrologer is going to resonate with different
techniques. The magic, then, lies in the practitioner,
not in the technique.
House Cusps
Many astrologers interpret house cusps very
precisely. That is, if you have a planet 1 minute of arc
(a 60th of a degree) from the cusp of the Third
House it is still interpreted as if it is in the Second
House. Transits and progressions, too, are reported
when crossing cusps. I have some questions about
this approach for several reasons:
1. Different house systems will give different cusp
positions
2. A 4 minute error in birth time will move cusps
about one degree
3. Ptolemy gave a 5 degree orb to house cusps (with
Equal House system)
4. Hindu Bhava system reads the middle of a house
its strongest point
5. The Gauquelin research suggests an orb to house
cusps
6. The Huber School recognizes peaks within a
house, not at the cusp
I once asked astrologer Rob Hand which house
system most accurately represents what we see in the
sky, that is, is most correct astronomically. He told
me that each one is correct within its own system,
through its particular lens. Each represents reality
according to its own rules, perfect in its own
universe, but dumb to all the rest.
While Placidus is the most popular house system,
such diverse twentieth century astrologers as Dane
Rudhyar and Charles Jayne used the Campanus
system which has some great logic going for it. In
this system, the horizon (Ascendant/Descendant axis)
is a great circle, like a disk, that we’re standing on.
The meridian (MC/IC axis) is a vertical circle
passing through the north and south poles. The Prime
Vertical is another vertical circle passing through the
east and west points of the horizon. Campanus
April Issue, 2013 - 43
divides the Prime Vertical to produce its cusps. Yet,
in practice I didn’t like what it did to charts generally
(enlarged first and seventh houses), nor what it did to
mine, so I set it aside.
Grant Lewi used the Equal house system. Some
twentieth century English astrologers promoted it
because it did away with the great extremes of house
sizes at latitudes far from the equator. It’s also found
in many traditional systems. But, since houses are
measured in equal 30 degree arcs from the
Ascendant, the Midheaven is excluded from the
house building equation. I like Rudhyar’s idea that
we must include the Midheaven (vertical axis or
“spine” of the chart) because “we don’t live lying
down.”
Many of my colleagues and I use the Koch house
system. My teacher started using it, I liked the book
it first appeared in, and it was written by a triple
Virgo. I took it as an improvement of the Placidus
system, but don’t think of it that way anymore. It’s
just part of the way I tune my instrument. Clearly, no
single system has demonstrated universal superiority.
The Moment of Birth
If birth times are not reliable, how can you pin an
interpretation on the precise position of a house
cusp? I was present at the births of my two daughters
and saw that birth was much more of a process than a
single event (moment). There’s the onset of labor, the
head coming out, the body coming out, first breath
and cutting the cord. First breath is the most common
and logical measure. My daughters had first peeps—
small sounds less dramatic than the classical lusty cry
we imagine to trumpet the moment of birth.
Additionally, the cords were not cut for some time
after that first breath, further muddying the waters
with respect to the separation from mother and
beginning of independent life.
Charles Jayne’s extensive work with rectification led
him to conclude that the effective moment of birth
for chart calculation purposes didn’t necessarily
coincide with the first breath (or any specific
physical event). The chart that worked, according to
Jayne, might actually precede or follow the birth.
Vladimir Bogdanov is another astrologer who argues
that birth may not be a moment, but a series of
events.
44 - ISAR International Astrologer
Intercepted Signs
Another issue to consider is that of intercepted signs.
I’ve always been bothered by their use in chart
interpretation. First, there are so many questions
about houses that it seems pretty shaky to base an
interpretation on a principle so poorly understood.
Second, the notion that a planet’s energy is inhibited
by the tri-section of the semi-diurnal arc is quite a
stretch. Third, they tend to be interpreted negatively
and distance the client from the planet’s energy.
Planets are real, the seasons (signs) are real,
aspects are real, but houses are a based on many
different and often obscure formulae. Diminishing
the power of a planet (a strong principle) by an
intercepted sign (a weak principle) is neither logical
nor constructive.
I understand that individuals claim to see the
influences of interceptions, but anything important in
the personality is likely to manifest itself several
ways in the birth chart. Quite a few years ago when I
spoke out against the importance of interceptions,
someone responded by saying that her Aries Sun was
intercepted and that she certainly wasn’t a very
aggressive Aries. I asked if Neptune was opposed her
Aries Sun. It was! In other words a solid principle
(aspects) explained the condition very well.
Cusps May Not Be Finite Points
Now, if cusps are not absolute points, but shifts in the
energetic wave, how can we interpret them. I like to
use orbs of about 5 degrees with house cusps. This is
in recognition of the uncertainty due to the reasons
mentioned above, as well as an appreciation for
process. What is the meaning of the Second House
becoming the Third? Rather than having a rigid
boundary between self-worth and possessions
(Second House) and observation and communication
(Third) I prefer to consider how two becomes three.
When are we sufficiently rooted in our sense of self-
worth to begin taking notice of our surroundings?
What is the relationship between what we have and
how we see?
This seems to be a more sophisticated approach to
looking at houses. The purpose is not to cloud the
issues, but to see the many shades of gray between
black and white. It is to remind us that cycles have no
beginning or end and that life is about movement.
This kind of approach also trains the astrologer to stay open-minded. It encourages movement of the mind,
rather than rigid rules.

Our techniques affect our interpretations. The attitude that we bring to astrology will determine a great deal of
what we get out of astrology. If we seek absolute answers within absolute systems we may be rewarded with
occasional insights, but will also be punished with severely limited choices and perceptions. An appreciation
for nuance—a desire to see process, rather than product—works like life, something alive and dynamic, even
if it is a bit uncertain at times.

Postscript:
The use of Whole Sign Houses has grown considerably since this article was written in 1999. I appreciate its
simplicity and how it avoids some of the complications of unequal house systems such as interceptions and
extreme latitude distortions. However, recently I’ve been thinking that the perfect symmetry of the tropical
zodiac doesn’t reflect the lack of symmetry in human experience. Therefore, the “distortions” of unequal
houses represent this subjective quality that is missing in equal house systems.

Biography:

Jeff Jawer is the CEO of StarIQ.com. He presents Planet Pulse, a daily audio and video
forecast, with Rick Levine on StarIQ.com and Tarot.com. Jeff has a B.A. in “The History
and Science of Astrology” from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is a co-
founder of AFAN and UAC. He writes Calendar column for The Mountain Astrologer and
teaches astrology internationally. Jeff can be reached at jjawer@stariq.com

April Issue, 2013 - 45

 The Protean Nature of
Astrological Archetypes
By Glenn Perry
The protean nature of
astrological archetypes is
what gives astrology its
enormous flexibility as a
language. In Greek
mythology, Proteus was a sea
god who could change his
shape at will. To be protean
refers to something that can
readily take on varied shapes,
forms, or meanings. A
protean entity, in other words, exhibits considerable
diversity in its manifestations. Just so, a single astrological
archetype is capable of depicting at least four inner
dimensions (motive, affect, function, and target state), four
outer dimensions (person, place, thing, and event), and a
ninth dimension — behavior — that bridges the gap
between inner and outer reality. Before proceeding further
with this idea, let us consider where astrological
archetypes originate.
The Meaning is the Angle
The first thing to realize about astrological archetypes is
that they derive from angles. There are four fundamental
variations: planet, sign, house, and aspect. All but one of
these (planets) are actual angles, which are phase
relationships of whole cycles. However, since cycles are
formed by planetary movements, a planet is the primary
variable that allows for all the others, i.e., without
planetary cycles there would be no phase relationships to
measure.
Consider, for example, the meaning of the last 90 degrees
of a 360 degree cycle. This is the phase relationship of
Capricorn, the 10th house, and the closing square, all of
which are variations of the closing 90° angle
and thus have a similarity of meaning. Saturn,
of course, is the planet whose significance
corresponds to that phase. All of this is to say
that astrological archetypes are essentially
angles formed by division of a whole cycle by
12. The meaning is the angle. And for every
phase relationship, there is a planet that has a
parallel meaning.1
Figure 1 (shown in next column): Various
authors refer to planets, signs, and even houses
as archetypes, but the unifying factor is
46 - ISAR International Astrologer
actually the corresponding angle. Note in the left hand
column that all angles after 180 degrees are closing angles;
thus, even though the angle of the first and second squares
are both 90°, the closing square begins at a later phase of
the cycle (i.e., at 270° ).
We recognize that certain signs, houses, and aspects share
a commonality of meaning. This is the basis of rulerships
in astrology, e.g., Libra, the 7th house, and the opposition
all are described in similar ways. While each variable is
different from its counterparts, they all share a familial
relationship by virtue of a common principle: their mutual
angle of 180 degrees. Libra is 180 degrees from the
beginning of the zodiac at 0 degrees Aries; the 7th house is
180 degrees from the Ascendant (which inaugurates the 1st
house); and two planets in opposition are at the 180 degree
phase of their synodic cycle, which commenced when they
were conjunct. Once again, we see how the angle is the
archetype.
Sign-Planet Systems
Now, let us return to the idea that astrological archetypes
can be described in terms of nine dimensions. The first
dimension is sign motivation, and the second is planetary
function. Rulerships in astrology are based on the
recognition that signs and their affiliated planets are
closely related in meaning. Accordingly, I like to think of
signs and planets as sign-planet systems, e.g., the Aries-
Mars system, the Libra-Venus system, the Capricorn-
Saturn system, and so on. Psychologically, signs and their
ruling planets are as inseparable as a rocket and its fuel
tank. The sign is the motivating principle, and the planet is
the action principle. Aries, for example, symbolizes the
motivating need for autonomy and survival that stimulates
Mars to perform the requisite actions to satisfy the Aries
motive. Planetary functions represent our capacity to act in
the service of motivating needs. In effect, a planetary
function is the normal, proper, or characteristic action of
that archetype.2
Every planetary function has its own range of actions, but
how does a person know when to act in a manner
appropriate to a time and place? Motivation for action is
conveyed by feelings (affects), which is our third
dimension of astrological archetypes. Each sign
symbolizes a range of feelings that fall along a continuum
of affective intensity. Aries, for example, ranges from a
state of mild restlessness to consuming fury. The stronger
the feeling, the more motivated the person to perform the
necessary action, e.g., take a walk, or storm the bastille!
How does a person know when to terminate a particular
behavior? If an action fulfills its motivating need, a state is
attained that conveys fulfillment of that motive. This is the
fourth dimension of astrological archetypes—the target
state. For Aries-Mars, this state might be a sense of
aliveness, freedom, and joy. Once attained, the Aries-
motivation recedes into the background only to be
succeeded by a new need that assumes dominance.
Note that a motivating feeling is subtly different from a
target state. A feeling pushes from behind and operates on
the basis of deficiency, motivating the person to take
action. A state, on the other hand, is like a teleological
cause that beckons from the future. It signifies an
emotional ideal, a condition of fulfillment, that for the sake
of which the action occurs. Every sign-planet system has
its own target state, which can be defined with a few
simple key words—e.g., freedom, comfort, knowledge,
belonging, self-esteem, competence, power, faith, control,
insight, or transcendence, to list a few. Between motivation
and target state lie a range of emotions that depict varying
degrees of satisfaction of the relevant archetype. Again,
fulfillment operates on a continuum, from chronically
unfulfilled (neurosis) to optimal fulfillment that is readily
attained. A planet’s capacity to satisfy its motivating need
is a measure of that planet’s functionality (or
dsyfunctionality).
Content Mirrors Process
Generally speaking, the language of astrology can be
divided into two broad areas: process and content. Process
constitutes the psychodynamics of the birthchart and has to
do with the underlying motives, beliefs, goals, and choices
that characterize a person’s inner life. Because process can
be defined as a series of operations conducive toward a
goal, it is dynamic; it is the active movement of
consciousness as it progresses from motive to action to
target state. Content, on the other hand, is the outcome of
psychological functioning. It shows up in a person’s lived
experience—relations with people, places, and things.
Whereas process is psychological functioning, content is
the consequence of psychological functioning, an
epiphenomenal by-product of psychic life. In effect,
content is a vehicle for process. Content provides the
actual experiences that allow individuals to fulfill
psychological needs and grow in their capacity for yet
greater fulfillment.
Note again that process has four inner dimensions: motive,
function, emotion, and target state. For example, Capricorn
is the need/motive for success, and Saturn is the function
of achievement. As an emotion, Capricorn may signify a
fear of failure that stimulates Saturnian actions of
planning, organizing, and persevering. Saturn also
symbolizes the target state (a feeling of success) that
signals fulfillment of the originating motive.
Likewise, content has four outer dimensions: person,
place, thing, and event. For example, Saturn can signify an
authority figure (person), an executive office (place), a
calendar (thing), and a delay (event). If an individual
striving for a promotion is given a deadline by his boss to
complete a project, this event becomes a vehicle to fulfill
his need for success as well as to stimulate growth in his
capacity for yet greater success.
Behavior is the ninth dimension and has qualities of both
process and content, for behavior is the connecting link
between inner and outer experience. Any behavior, by
definition, involves some sort of interaction with an
outside environment. Whereas Saturn signifies the
functions of organization, structure, and control, a person’s
capacity to express those functions varies considerably.
Capacity is a measure of how integrated that planet is in
the overall psychic economy. If a person is in conflict with
his Saturnian impulses, then his behavior in this area may
be comparatively dysfunctional, e.g., disorganized,
impractical, or undisciplined in situations that call for a
Saturnian response. Needless to say, the results of his
behavior are likely to reflect his dysfunction.
Since the same astrological variable can symbolize any of
nine dimensions, a key idea is that content mirrors process;
intrapsychic dynamics are reflected in the nature and
quality of one’s outer experiences. Jung’s theory of
synchronicity is central to astrology because it provides an
explanatory mechanism for how inner and outer
experiences are related via circular causality. Internal
processes generate outer conditions, which, in turn,
influence internal processes; hence, a system learns by
processing the consequences of its own actions.
Synchronicity rests on Jung’s concept of the archetype,
which he described as having psychoid properties, i.e., an
archetype can manifest simultaneously as both an
intrapsychic factor and an environmental condition.
April Issue, 2013 - 47
The systems concept of feedback explains how circular
causality may act as a spur to consciousness evolution.
Feedback is the effect of a system’s output that is
reintroduced to the system as information about that
output. Synchronistic events constitute feedback in that
they reflect the psyche’s current state of integration, while
also serving as a catalyst to its further development.
Content not only mirrors process, it provides a vehicle for
its evolution over time. As consciousness evolves via
accommodation to its environmental correlates, new
experiences are created in an ongoing, iterative cycle.
Summary
This brief (and highly condensed) tour of the complex
symbolism of sign-planet systems underscores that
astrological archetypes are multidimensional. Their
protean nature allows us to see how the intrapsychic realm
of drive, function, and target state manifest in the event
world as relations with people, places, and things. A single
astrological archetype has multiple significations revealing
how inner and outer worlds are connected. This is
precisely what makes astrology so versatile and adaptable
as a psychological language.
In subsequent installments of this column, we’ll explore
some further entailments of this idea, especially with
regard to how a process interpretation of an astrological
48 - ISAR International Astrologer
configuration differs markedly from its corollary content.
We will also examine how planetary aspects signify
complex psychodynamic processes – conflicts, defenses,
and compromise formations – that are built upon the
foundation of sign-planet systems.
Glenn Perry, Ph.D., is an astrologer and licensed
psychotherapist in Haddam Neck, CT, USA. In addition to
private practice, Dr. Perry lectures internationally on the
application of astrology to the fields of counseling and
psychotherapy. He has written eight books on astrology and
serves as qualitative research advisor for ISAR, as well as
being a member of their Board. Glenn is director of the
Academy of AstroPsychology, an online school that offers
Certificate and Diploma programs. He currently serves as
program coordinator and lead faculty for the Master’s
Degree Program in Archetypal Cosmology at the Graduate
Institute of Connecticut. Contact: 860-467-6919 or
www.aaperry.com
Notes:
1
For a more detailed explanation of this concept, see my
related column, Archetypes as Geometric Forms.
2
For more information on this way of thinking about
astrological archetypes, please see Introduction to
AstroPsychology.
Time for a Smile

A special thank you to ISAR member, S.A. Hopkins, C.A.P.

Send comments or inquiries for photography or illustration work to: startalk@comcast.net. Please visit:
http://astrologic.us/astrotoons/ On Twitter:@_startalk_ also @Ampersandman_

April Issue, 2013 - 49

 Professionalism, Power and Presence
in the Astrology Chart
William Morris, PHD
T he nature of astrology and power are two areas
that have interested me over the years. In this
article, I explore common archetypal assignments of
planetary images and weave them into contemporary
works on power and professionalism. As a one-time
student of Marion March, I have an appreciation for
fundamentals.1 I, therefore, limit this discussion to
the basic 7 planets plus the transpersonal planets of
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Contemporary astrologers attribute the keyword
power to Pluto. Often, there is Machiavellian intrigue
involving secrecy and the undermining of the other.
There are more straightforward forms, however.
Take, for example, the Sun’s power to be, cast light
and generate clarity of vision. Of course, Jupiter, the
magnanimous and giving father, and Saturn,
archetype of stern reprieve, are also power constructs
within the contemporary psyche.
As a solar endeavor, power is often taught and
assessed through ideas of leadership. There are good
reasons as the influence of a discipline can be
realized through professionalism and leadership.2
Further; the sense of power and influence that an
individual within a profession enjoys can affect their
presence and capacity as a human being.
Stage development is a pertinent feature of power,
ethics, morals and the ability to influence others.
This article explores power and stage theory as a tool
for developing astrology. Leadership author, Janet
Hagberg, synthesized a stage model for identifying
personal development in relationship to power. She
describes six stages are divided in two parts, internal
and external.3 I use it to create a framework for this
article.
Leadership in terms of power stages has value for
several reasons. The ability to assess a client’s level
of personal power in life can lead to important
50 - ISAR International Astrologer
interactions in consultation that make a difference.
Knowledge of one’s own stage can affect the ability
to heal at the level of both personal and social
systems. As a teacher, the ability to assess the power
stage of a learner can affect how interactions take
place, as well as the selection of learning
partnerships in the clinic and classroom.4
Stage of Power Introduction
Aside from obvious power stage references in terms
of an evolutionary house schema, I use planetary
references and ideas pertinent to particular houses.
Prior to moving forward, 2 houses are assigned to
each stage in a linear fashion beginning with the 1st
and 2nd houses for stage 1, 3rd and 4th houses for stage
2, and so forth, until the 11th and 12th houses are
achieved in the last stage 6 – liberation of sorts, if not
confinement and sacrifice. We move on to a more
practical, experience based and practical schema than
this linear form.
3 Internal Stages
Internal power stages evolve through reflection,
which is enhanced by the influences of the Moon and
Mercury, which gives special powers of reflection
when retrograde. Then we consider power by purpose
when the Sun, Mars, or 10th house is strong, to power
through wisdom with a strong 9th house and Jupiter.
In this second half of the journey, there is integration
of the capacity to act with the capacity to reflect.
Internal power emerges out of our inner self, our
souls, our deepest values, and is more related to
whom we really are and what our life purposes are.
When these stages are active we find meaning and a
sense of calling within our work, we explore our
inner passions, thus creating long-lasting effects that
are rooted in consciousness, community and
connectedness.
3 External Stages
External stages of power move thus: powerlessness
(1st, 12th houses, weak Moon, weak Sun), to power by
association (7th, and 11th houses, Jupiter and Saturn),
to power by achievement (10th house, Sun, Mars).
People in the latter part of the first three stages can
marshal resources, meet goals, manage people, make
things happen, and make a living. The latter stage of
competence is often seen as the pinnacle of
professional ability.
Stage by Stage
The 1st stage has feelings of powerlessness. The
person may feel trapped, insecure, and dependent
with low self-esteem (impaired Sun or Mars and hard
aspects from Saturn). We often see such attitudes in
first year learners, especially during the first term.
On the shadow side, these leaners experience
frustration and hopelessness, resorting to distractions
from study (Mercury combust). It is necessary to
overcome fear (Saturn) and develop self-esteem in
order to generate a transformation out of this stage;
this can occur by facing inadequacies, developing
skills and moving away from attachment to
outcomes.5 Other ways to move from out of this stage
are to find allies, get support, share with others, take
responsibility, confront self, and seek mentors
(Jupiter).
Characteristics of the 2nd power stage involve
learning about the culture in which one participates
and apprenticeship – 2nd and 3rd house action.6 Power
comes through association with peers and mentors,
which brings new levels of self-awareness. At this
stage, Jupiter and Saturn represent the larger social
context in which an individual operates. During this
cycle it is important to get feedback, develop
competence that is reflected in credentials, become
involved, take risks, develop networks, and develop
independence. There is a process of learning about
and enjoying the journey. The shadow of this stage
can be expressed as naivety and chameleon-like
behavior. Obstructions to moving out of this stage are
lack of confidence and the need for security.
Next, 3rd power stage people are competent. They
display technical expertise, and confidence. They
have the badges of success: titles, degrees, stature,
money, self-esteem and recognition7. They can be
dynamic and competitive given their ambitions (Sun
and Mars). The mature individual in this stage
contributes knowledge to the field (Jupiter and
Saturn). On the shadow side, they can have egotism,
greed and bravado. Integrity is a catalyst for
transforming such a shadow. Stagnation and
confusion can be transformed by: (a) creating crises
and accepting the change crisis can bring (b)
appreciating solitude and serious self-reflection (c)
trying new activities that cause different thinking
processes (d) designing rituals (e) reflecting upon
next stages (f) building a network (g) and doing long-
term visioning of one’s life.
Individuals who operate in the 4th stage communicate
insight and perspective (Uranus). They can shift
perspective from subjective to objective points of
view, creating interplay on the bounds between the
intrapersonal and interpersonal, intra-cultural and
intercultural systems.8 The sense of personal power
shifts from self value through competency towards a
focus upon a mission.3 These people have influence.
They provide skilled mentorship, have well-
developed personal style and display true leadership
with strength. They have rediscovered sacred ground.
In the shadow of the 4th stage, these individuals may
find themselves playacting, confused and
misunderstood. Under these circumstances it is
important to let go of ego and face fear, while
identifying the mission and purpose of this life. Other
factors that can assist the transformation that occurs
at this stage include a willingness to release control,
going beyond the intellect, and connecting to
wisdom. To do this one must face one’s own shadow.
This takes deep transformation and courage, courage
to move beyond potential losses. It requires finding
grace within the darkness. Movement out of this
stage occurs when staying accountable to someone
who knows your story.
The 5th stage is truly the expression of the deepest
heart’s desire. Here, one accepts self as that with
calmness, courage, and awareness of the needs of the
group. There is humility and a deep sense of clarity
about one’s mission in life. This is the arena of
practicing mystics; they have elusive qualities, and
are generous in empowering others. In the spirituality
of this stage there is surrender.
April Issue, 2013 - 51
The shadow of stage five includes pseudo-innocence,
which I would suggest is a sign that person is at an
earlier stage. It also includes a perception by others
that one is impractical or undeveloped. The catalyst
for movement is universal understanding. Failure to
understand the universe will hold people at this stage
back, as will faithlessness and fear of loss (Neptune).
In the 6th stage, the essential question is how close
am I willing to come to the flame (Pluto)? This is a
deeper life that is consumed by a spiritual fire and
self–sacrifice. People in this stage have integrated the
shadow, are unafraid of death, and demonstrate
compassion for the world. Such people include
Moses, Buddha, Christ, Sun Simiao, Mother Teresa
and Ramana Maharshi, the Dalai Lama and Nelson
Mandela. They each possess extraordinary qualities,
yet they are in touch with their own humanity. The
shadow of Stage Six is that these people can be out of
touch with danger and appear too sacrificial. And – it
is their own humanity that prevents them from
achieving the vision they hold for humanity within
their own spiritual framework. Ultimately, their cause
and followers bring about emancipation.
Closing
Awareness of the power stage for oneself and the
other is a feature that can be important for life. The
usefulness of such knowledge can be realized in
practice, teaching, learning and profession building.
The achievement of the possibilities of a
collaborative astrological profession requires
transformative leadership with the capacity to move a
collective through power stages effectively.9 To do so
require tools to assess the stage and state of the
profession. It is hoped that this article introduces a
small piece of a view upon the stages of power in
relation to astrological emblems of both the houses
and the planets.
Biography
William Morris is a practicing astrologer since
1977, focused upon medical astrology. His early
training was with Church of Light and Marion
March. Studies with Eileen Nauman brought him to
seek acupuncture. He further studied with Rao,
Charak, Leighmen, Barclay, Hand, Zoller and
52 - ISAR International Astrologer
Schmidt. He earned an MSEd in medical education
from USC, a doctorate in acupuncture and Oriental
medicine from Emperor’s College and a PhD in
transformative studies from the California Institute of
Integral Studies. He currently uses astrology in his
acupuncture practice, teaching select students his
medical astrological methods.
Endnotes
1. March, M, McEvers, J. The Only Way to Learn
Astrology, Volume 1 and 2. Van Nuys, California:
Astro-Analytic; 1981.
2. Turner. B. Medical. Power and Social Knowledge.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1995.
3. Hagberg. JO. Real Power: Stages of Personal
Power in Organizations. Third ed: Sheffield
Publishing Company; 2002.
4. French, JRP, Raven, B. The bases of social power.
In: Cartwright D, editor. Studies in Social Power.
Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press; 1959.
5. Greene, L, Hand, R. Saturn: A New Look at an Old
Devil Newburyport, MA Weiser Books; 2011.
6. Evetts, J. The Sociological Analysis of
Professionalism: Occupational Change in the
Modern World. International Sociology.
2003;18(2):395-415.
7. Klein, G. Sources of Power (How People Make
Decisions). First ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 1998. 308 p.
8. Kegan, R. In Over Our Heads: The Mental
Demands of Modern Life. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press; 1994.
9. Kenny, RM. The Whole is Greater: Reflective
Practice, Human Development and Fields of
Consciousness and Collaborative Creativity. World
Futures. 2008;64(8):590 - 630.
 The Crucifixion, Myth or Reality?
An Inquiry using Contemporary
and Uranian Astrology
Alan J. Ouimet, O.F.S.
F or the astrologer
interested in
historical research, the
use of an event chart is
an ideal technique to
determine if a
prominent event
occurred at a particular
time or if at all. Having
an interest in the
history of religious
ideas, I have felt that
astrology, if an
accepted tool to biblical scholars, would certainly
answer some perplexing questions. Take, for
instance, the date of the Crucifixion. Biblical
scholars have given many dates for this event.
Biblical evidence places it during the Jewish
Passover feast, which means it had to occur during
the first full moon (lunar eclipse) after the Spring
Equinox. Various dates have been suggested from 27
AD to 34 AD. However, biblical scholars have
narrowed it down to two possible dates - April 7, 30
AD or April 3, 33 AD. This is an enticing astrological
challenge. Will either event chart for these dates
prove “radical” representing a picture comparable of
the terrible events that day as portrayed in the New
Testament (NT)? If so, certainly some important
issues may be more easily resolved – did such an
event actually occur? Or is it a myth? Further, if such
a chart is confirmed, would it not provide us with the
birth chart of Christianity, given that we may assume,
due to similarities, it was the Jesus event? After all, is
not the death of Jesus Christ the seed event giving
birth to a new worldwide religious movement? What
follows is an analysis of these two dates using
significator and dispositorship dynamics
complemented by planetary pictures drawn from
Alfred Witte’s Uranian astrology.
The “facts” concerning the crucifixion can only be
found in the NT,basically a faith document. However,
the timing of the crucifixion is dependant on the
presence of historical figures for whom we have
extra biblical sources. For instance, Pontius Pilate
arrived in Palestine as the procurator in 26 AD and
remained until 36 AD. Consequently, the crucifixion
had to occur during this period. Further, it had to
happen during the moveable Jewish feast of Passover
celebrated at the first sighting of the New Moon after
the Spring Equinox (lunar eclipse). It not only
occurred at Passover, but on the Sabbath. Out of
respect for the Sabbath, Jesus’ body, had to be taken
down from the Cross. Consequently, this further
limits us to consider only Friday’s, the beginning of
the Jewish Sabbath. During 26 – 36 AD only four
Passovers commenced at the same time as the
Sabbath– April 11, 27 AD, April 7, 30 AD, April 3,
33 AD, and April 23, 34 AD. Because John the
Baptist was still alive, 27ADis considered too early
as he predeceased Jesus. Saint Paul reportedly
converted in 34 AD; this date is considered too late
as Jesus died previous to his conversion. That leaves
April 7, 30 AD, and April 3, 33 AD.
The basic outline of the story is as follows: we are
looking for an event in which the government and
religious authorities executed an innocent man who
was thought to be dangerous and considered a
religious zealot, a revolutionary. He was accused by
the religious authorities of being a pretender to the
throne of Israel – king of the Jews; his arrest was
sudden; his trial was done in the shadows; he was
mocked and given a crown of thorns for his
pretension to royalty. On his death his followers were
scattered out of fear and disillusionment; and
reportedly, for thirty pieces of silver he was betrayed
by a member of his own small community, who later
committed suicide out of guilt. A new religious
movement, branching out from Judaism, developed
after his death.
The Charts and Significator Dynamics
The charts are drawn up for the death of Jesus,
reportedly (NT) at the 9th hour (day starting at 6 AM)
which is 3:00 PM.
April Issue, 2013 - 53

(1) Both charts with Sun Aries 8th House reflect
death; 30 AD Sun disposited by Mars double
inconjunct (Finger of God) Saturn and
Uranus suggests the death of a revolutionary;
33 AD Sun disposited by Mars conjunct
Jupiter, oppose Pluto, inconjunct Saturn – the
death of a religious zealot.
(2) The 10th House placements and their
dispositors in both charts identify the
government and religious authorities
signified by Saturn and Jupiter. Which
element of the religious authorities — the
Pharisees (scholars) or Sadducees
(priesthood)? Jupiter in Pisces supports the
NT – the priesthood. In 30 AD, Jupiter is in
the 7th House of open enemies; in 33 AD the
priesthood is strongly suggested by Mars –
Jupiter 10th House oppose Pluto, inconjunct
Saturn – religious authorities working with
the government to effect a change. Things
are being done out of sight but the main
opposition is from the religious authorities.
54 - ISAR International Astrologer
As to who the person is being
put to death? Both Ascendants
tell the tale. In 30 AD, with a
Virgo Ascendant disposited by
Mercury, Taurus 9th House of
religion in turn disposited and
sextile Venus, Aquarius 7th
House suggests the idealist,
the servant, who needs to be
socially significant and who
has come under judgement.
The 33 AD has the 29th critical
degree in Leo disposited by
the Sun in the 8th House of
death indicating the person
who has completed the
individuation cycle and is
entering the service of others
through death. Venus-Mercury
in Pisces moving into the 8th
House, as in 30 AD, is the
idealist, however, unlike 30
AD, a Piscean one.
(3) Further
identification of the “who” is
the Midheaven. In 30 AD, it is
Gemini disposited by Mercury, sextile Venus
Aquarius – the idealist; in 33 AD, it is Taurus
disposited by Venus, conjunct Mercury
Pisces on the 8th House cusp; again, the
idealist, but in the sign of the fisherman.
(4) The Moon in a mundane chart represents the
people. 30 AD has Neptune square Moon in
Libra 2nd House oppose Mercury in Taurus
9th House sextile Venus in Aquarius 7th House
suggestive of the community of believers in
self-worth conflict, confused, and disoriented
over the death of their leader. The 33 AD has
Moon in Libra 2nd House oppose Sun
forming a T-Square to Saturn – the death of
the leader and the consequent loss in the
orientation and bearing of nascent
community of believers.
(5) The suddenness of the event as well as the
deception and secrecy surounding it appears
quite evident. 30 AD with Neptune (secrecy
and deception) ruler of the 8th House, square
Moon in Libra, 2nd House of money (thirty
pieces of silver?) trine Venus in Aquarius
disposited by Uranus 12th House inconjunct

Mars in Capricorn (sudden violent event)
suggests events as depicted. The 33 AD,
similarly, has Leo Ascendant inconjunct
Neptune in Aquarius disposited by Uranus in
Leo in the 12th. Not only was Jesus arrested
suddenly and unexpectedly, but his trial was
held secretly during the evening by the
Jewish religious authorities.
(6) Overall, with Pluto oppose Saturn in 30 AD
and Pluto oppose Mars – Jupiter inconjunct
Saturn square Sun in 33 AD, there is an
overwhelming sense of tragedy in both
charts.
Astrologically, the difficulty as to which date is
preferred can be troubling. The differences are there
but not as sharp as hoped for as there is misery and
sorrow in both charts. 30 AD has the double
inconjunct or Finger of God aspect which is certainly
tempting from an esoteric point of view. However, I
prefer 33 AD for the following reasons: The
planetary configuration of Saturn inconjunct Pluto
oppose Mars – Jupiter 10th House with Mars
disposited by Sun in the 8th is a dead ringer
describing the death of a religious zealot by religious
and government authorities
working hand in hand. Further,
Pisces on the 8th House cusp
disposited by Mercury- Venus
(the Piscean idealist) entering
the 8th House suggests the
death of such a person as Jesus
was known to be.
Significantly, astronomically,
33 AD is more in sync with
events. The required lunar
eclipse is only one degree
from exactitude at 3:00 PM in
33 AD; the 30 AD chart is 10
degrees separating.
The value of using planetary
pictures as a complement to
normal chart delineation is the
introduction of a series of
descriptors from a third party,
Alfred Witte. This method is
helpful as it counterbalances
interpretations. It keeps the
astrologer honest by checking
the human flaw of seeing what
one wants to see, especially in matters of religion.
The Witte descriptors to planetary pictures, I have
found, will provide the alphabet soup of events as
they occurred during the event in question.This will
be seen in the following series of descriptors of both
charts.
Planetary Pictures of Alfred Witte
Discovered during the First World War by Alfred
Witte, a German mathematician, Uranian astrology
is not based on planetary aspects but on the
symmetrical relationships between planets and
sensitive points. Somewhat akin to Arabic Parts and
Cosmobiology’s midpoints, its salient feature is the
inclusion of eight sensitive points, called the
transneptunian planets - Cupido (CU), Hades (HA),
Zeus (ZE), Kronos (KR), Apollon (AP),
Admetos(AD), Vulcanus (VU), and Poseidon (PO).
There are over 4000 such planetary pictures and their
accompanying descriptors developed by Witte and
the Uranian school. The bible of the Uranian
astrologer is the Rules for Planetary Pictures: The
Astrology of Tomorrow by Ludwig Rudolph. As
with midpoints, the descriptors will tell a tale. Here
we are hopeful the tale will be in sync with the
April Issue, 2013 - 55
crucifixion as we know it from the NT. If either chart
is correct, it may well be considered the birth chart of
the nascent Christian religion; consequently, I am
using a 2 degree 30 minute orb. However, we will
primarily be looking at planetary pictures made to the
Midheaven, Ascendant, Sun and Moon as
representative of the moment, day and hour of the
event.
What follows are the Witte descriptors of planetary
pictures copied verbatim and in italicized format
from the Rules for Planetary Pictures. There are over
a hundred planetary pictures just using the 4th
harmonic. What follows is only a sampling.
Planetary Pictures for April 7, 30 AD, 3:00 PM at
Jerusalem, Israel
Planetary pictures to the Sun (day, body, man) were
AP/PO, AP/AD, PL/KR, SA/KR, SA/PL, HA/KR,
yielding the following descriptors respectively
separated by a semicolon:
A man who exposes his mental and emotional
disposition; whose mind is at rest and easy, so that
nothing can move or scare him; during days of
drastic change. A man who has grown old and has
many experiences in life, is hindered and separated
by the authorities, and is separated until matters are
finalized; He suffers from days of ill-fate, is subjected
to great baseness, and has to defend himself from vile
action; with no support from the government, he
suffers death by grave events.
The following planetary pictures are formed equally
to the Ascendant (environment, others) Midheaven
(Ego, important person) North Node (connections)
and Venus (attraction love) - MC/HA, MC/NN, MC/
SA, MC/PL , NN/HA, NN/PL , SA/HA, PL/HA, ME/
CU, ME/MA, AP/VU, JU/VU, VE/PO, ASC/VE,
AD/PO, KR/PO, VE/KR, PL/PO, PL/AD.
The attitude of the environment is saddening,
bringing grief and sorrow; to soul unions united in a
state of mourning saying goodbye; new connections
are made and changing relationships, under
influences that cause an alteration in personal
development; secret connections are made with
associations of the poor, criminals and prostitutes;
the seriously sick, who are dirty, filthy and unclean
and persecuted refugee people. One has to deal with
others who cannot cope with appearing difficulties
and who withdraw their association due to failure to
56 - ISAR International Astrologer
live the simple life; experiencing a decline, there is a
need for repairing and rebuilding.
One who is favored by the Muse, socially converses
with and shares ideas in and through communities;
debating with others and being embroiled in
disputes. He feels influential and powerful having a
great power of attraction and to has to deal with
violent people; he lives in a manner where he
expresses himself explosively; concentrating his
energy to one point, he is exposed to a certain
outbreak of forces of nature, a mighty display of
power suddenly connected with great energies which
is investigated, examined, checked and rechecked;
instilling great hope in others and giving them
courage to go on.
He is connected with priests and preachers and has
faithful religious inclinations connecting with others
in matters of religion and spiritualized love; the mind
is influenced by love; He stays firm and unbending
resulting in being treated harshly under the heavy
blow of fate; He is connected with others through
high minded interests, and has revelations striving
for wisdom and understanding. He is charitably
disposed through unselfish love, mother love. His
higher state of spiritual development, led by an inner
conviction, takes him, mentally and spiritually,
higher and in the development of a new outlook on
life. He is one whose total transition remains on
course making a complete metamorphosis in his
intellectual capacity to understand deep reaching
changes in relation to one’s surroundings and other
people.
Planetary Pictures for April 3, 33 AD, 3:00 PM at
Jerusalem, Israel
The planetary pictures to the Sun and Moon are the
same as follows: ASC/AP, ZE/PO, ZE/AD, ZE/PO,
CU/AD, CU/PO, CU/ZE, ME/PO, ME/ZE, MA/HA,
UR/HA, NN/SA, SU/SA.
A man who is familiar to many by appearances, has
become known to the public and has women clients.
He must show his conviction and declare himself;
several people witness something and testify to the
truth. He faces entirely new conditions and
completely changed surroundings; living among a
nation or people subjected to the influence of a
certain upbringing, training or education; He
experiences the dissolution of his family or
community leaving lonely and deserted women. A
man of faith, a member of a religious community
consisting of women or people who represent a
religion, mediumistic or spiritual group, he is the
head of a new foundation in society; His spiritualized
conception of being is associated with men and
women who are possessed by the idea and spread
them.
On this day and hour of murder, he is condemned
and judged by decree; endures sudden injury to the
body through energetic action; endures a long agony,
a grave ending, perishing through an unusual death.
The planetary pictures to the Midheaven, which are
similar also to Mars, and Kronos, which repeat the
above scenario, are as follows: MA/JU, MA/PL, MA/
AP, MA/CU, JU/AP, PL/AP, HA/AP, PL/ZE, PL/CU,
PL/HA, HA/ZE, MA/HA, MO/SA, ASC/NE, VE/NE,
VE/VU, NE/VU, AD/VU, NE/KR.
He, who creates something new, causes an action
that divides, splits and branches off; and unfolds into
a large expanded activity with a generous way of
acting. It is a working partnership, which, however,
through misfortune, ends in an unusual death caused
by a liaison with evil end. This activity belongs to a
great family or community; which, starting from a
small start to a great importance, became an
occurrence of great consequence, a new
development, which grows and extends in all
direction.
He comes through a bad experience to the knowledge
of great poverty, and possesses an elevated position
of honor and esteem, great self-confidence and
tremendous respect by others. He was taking over a
duty and starting something new, causing changes in
human society occur concerning unions and
partnerships transforming the community; however,
an evil change occurs leading to a downfall because
of devilish plans and manipulations causing sorrow.
He suffers mean acts from others disposed to
atrocities or murder and suffers and unusual death,
bringing sadness to a nation under foreign rule.
Put in danger by the deception of others, his hopes
were not realized causing disharmony with close
friends and relatives disrupted by the abnormal
buildup of adverse conditions. Though working with
a great power of attraction and mighty love,
compelled and motivated by an inner force, he drew
attention to himself through unusual events and odd
or unusual fateful occurrences, and was exposed to a
blow of fate. Seen as a Great Pretender (my caps),
and wanting to give the impression of great
importance, he suffered a great deception as a leader,
a leader ruined by misfortune; he was made
powerless by forces which one cannot see, an extra-
ordinary deception, due to a breaking of connections,
by a lonely and secluded man who meets with a
sorrowful end of life
Similarly, the planetary pictures to the Ascendant are
as follows: NN/VU, UR/PO, NN/NE, UR/AD.
The person who achieves a vigorous accomplishment
with others resulting in experiencing powerful
relationships; He instills ideas in others to spread
enlightenment and propaganda, bringing light and
clarity into evil and making things of the past come
to life again; He is deserted by others who are
terrorized and break off their connection for fear of
the danger of death. They are disappointed feeling
they have been deprived of a great influence and
power and have experienced a great deception.
Summing up the pictures
A review of the definitions of each set of planetary
pictures reveal somewhat different stories.
30 AD: This appears to be the period around the
founding of the nascent Christian community. The
key figure was the prophet, John the Baptizer, who
was put to death around this time (29 AD) by King
Herod. The emphasis of the planetary pictures is
more on a mission rather than a tragic death. As it is
written in the NT, some of the Baptist’s followers
became disciples of Jesus joining him in his
preaching and healing ministry primarily among the
poor and indigent. The suffering and sorrow depicted
do not suggest the intensity of the Passion story
shown in the NT.
33 AD: Here we find the man of faith, a member of a
religious community and a “founder of a new
association or community in society.” He experiences
the “dissolution of his family and community.” His
family is a “great family” (House of David?). He is
living a life dedicated to “enlightenment” and “to
bring clarity to evil.” He is subject, nonetheless, to
repeated investigation and examination reminiscent
of the constant debates and traps set by the Pharisees.
He is arrested suddenly, through the deception of one
April Issue, 2013 - 57

of his own followers, “a leader ruined by
misfortune.” He is charged by the Jewish religious
authorities for pretensions to royalty, the king of the
Jews. For this he is mocked as the “great pretender”
by the Romans and given a crown of thorns. He is the
victim of a long agonizing and unusual death given
his innocence and the life he led. His community is
shattered and dispersed in fear and confusion.
Based on the above descriptors, 33 AD reflects the
crucifixion event as we know it from the NT.
Astronomical Phenomenon
The darkening of the sky portrayed in the NT at the
time of Jesus’s crucifixion has presented some
problems to astrologers who have interpreted it as a
solar eclipse. The NT reports the crucifixion
occurred during the Passover feast – a feast with
great theological significance to both Jews and
Christians alike. Mosaic Law requires Passover be
celebrated annually during the first Full Moon (lunar
eclipse) of the Spring Equinox. A total solar eclipse,
darkening the skies, occurred only a few weeks
earlier, on March 19, 33 AD. However it would be a
contradiction to interpret this as the Passover event
and date of the crucifixion. It is impossible for a
solar eclipse and Passover to occur simultaneously.
However, according to the National Aeronautic and
Space Administration (NASA) a partial lunar eclipse
occurred on April 3, 33 AD lasting for three hours
58 - ISAR International Astrologer
and visible from Jerusalem. As recorded in Acts 2:20,
this eclipse had the appearance of a “blood red
moon.” However, its visibility would have been later
in the day around 6:30 PM. With a total eclipse
having occurred some three weeks earlier one could
understand the confusion around the timing of the
two events especially when considering the gospels
were written between 70 and 100 AD – some 40 to
70 years after the event by men who were not
scientists.
No particular astronomical event of note in history
occurred in 30 AD.
It is truly amazing what the various forms of
astrology permit us to do. Through the use of
signifcator dynamics complimented by planetary
pictures we have been given the ability to reach back
in time to sniff out correspondences of historical
events at the very moment and hour. In the above
example we have not only given astrological
confirmation, by date and hour, of an important
historical event, but also supported it with
astronomical measurements supplied by NASA.
More importantly we are able to confirm an event
similar to the passion narrative really happened at
this time and place! True, a flaw may be seen
suggesting my perception and knowledge of
astrology is advanced by my religious belief.
However, the beauty of using planetary pictures is
that the hand of Alfred Witte is writing the
descriptors and not my own. They compensate my
own interpretation and either confirm or negate my
original observations. There is very little in the 30
AD descriptors that portray the passion narrative as
we have come to know it.
What is surprising is that Witte’s brainchild appears
to be of little use to the contemporary astrologer. The
December 2012 issue of the ISAR Journal carried an
article by Chris McRae entitled Circling the Globe
reporting the results of a survey done at UAC 2012.
The survey sought to determine the percentage of use
of such astrological specialties as Uranian astrology,
Jyotish, Cosmobiology, AstroCartoGraphy, etc. I was
surprised to learn that Uranian astrology falls into a
very small pocket of users around the world, some
ten to twelve percent. The reason may be that event
astrology or research into historical events is not of
general concern to the astrological community at
large. Whatever the reason, its potency should be
emphasized if not only to provide the wonderment all
astrologers feel when seeing the correspondence of
the heavens to realities on earth. Two more very brief
examples of more recent events tell the tale
demonstrating the power of planetary pictures:
On October 25, 1957, at around 10:00 AM, Albert
Anastasia, the Mafioso godfather, and the “lord high
executioner of Murder Inc.,” was assassinated in a
barbershop in New York City. The following
planetary pictures of transiting Sun and Moon were
formed to his natal chart: MO/HA, UR/ZE, ME/SA
which are described as follows:
An unfortunate hour of a local tragedy; an hour of
strong explosions; involving a violent person and
people who are ready and eager to follow orders; A
Passing fated ordeal; Poor wife of a man. A sudden
discharge of firearms, judgment, and a parting
person.
On December 14, 2012, at 9:35 AM in the little town
of Newtown, Connecticut one of the worse school
massacres occurred killing 20 first graders , six teachers
and the mother of the assailant. Some planetary pictures
to the Midheaven and Ascendant, portraying the
moment for this event were: UR/KR, AR/UR, MC/UR,
MC/AD, SA/PO, SA/ZE, AR/AD. Additionally, to
round out the pathos of the event, the following
planetary pictures for Uranus, Sun and Hades: UR =
MO/HA, SU = PL/HA and HA=MA/JU.
Such correspondences to historical events are truly
mystifying. One wonders how Alfred Witte came up
with such an accurate system of measurement and
descriptors. Whatever the source and mystery around
them, I recommend planetary pictures be part of the
toolbox of every astrologer interested in bringing into
focus events long past and, with the appropriate
discernment, future events as a complement to their
astrological specialty.
Alan J. Ouimet, O.F.S., a Franciscan
tertiary, (Secular Franciscan Order,
OFS) has been student of astrology
since 1972 and a graduate, with
honours, of the Master’s Degree Level
Course of Astrological Studies under
Noel Tyl. A graduate of Saint John’s University (BA,
History) and the University of Connecticut (MA,
Political Science) he was an FBI Counterintelligence
Agent until his retirement. He is the founder of the
Franciscan Family Apostolate (www.openhearts.org)
serving the destitute in India and welcomes all
coworkers. He was awarded the F.B.I. Foundation’s
Humanitarian Award in 2000, and a nominee of the
OFS National Peace Award in 2010. Alan resides in
Madison, CT. Email: ajouimet@att.net.

The descriptors are as follows:

The person is a tyrant. Others are subject to

someone’s power which suddenly appears; in a place
with others; an erratic person suddenly uses force
creating mental tension all around; a person who
cannot be influenced and shows direct disrespect for
other people; pupils, educators and colleagues; who
are endangered in a warlike situation; death on this
earth, mass dying; in a sudden fatal ordeal for
families; the man who physically fails, chronic
disease, and who is incapable of unions and
partnerships; fruits which one does not harvest.

These last few midpoints are certainly poignant

describing as they do the family grief, a mentally
deranged assailant, who as reported by the media,
was suffering from a disorder which caused a lack of
empathy for others, and the slaughter of 20 dead first
graders – fruits which one does not harvest.
April Issue, 2013 - 59
 Wisdom Astrology
Alexandra Karacostas
ASTROLOGY CONSULTANT
“Insight for your life”

(530) 520-9992
E-mail: alexandrakaracostas@yahoo.com
www.WisdomAstrology.com

60 - ISAR International Astrologer

 Pluto, Saturn and the Jet Stream
Alan R. Wheatcroft
The purpose of this article is to raise serious
questions in order to ascertain what exactly is driving
the extremes in weather that scientists are associating
with global warming. Also, we will examine crucial
planetary factors as potential root causes.
The jet stream is the 100 mph ribbon of air that flows
east-to-west around the planet at an altitude of
roughly 35,000 ft (see diagram 1), pushing weather
systems across the Atlantic towards Europe. During
most summers the jet stream lies to the north of the
UK, so rain-bearing depressions miss the UK and hit
Scandinavia instead. Although the jet stream has only
recently come to prominence, it was first discovered
in the 1920s by the Japanese scientist Wasaburo
Ooishi.1
During the summer of 2012, the jet stream shifted
southwards placing it over northern Europe; the shift
meant that it would expose countries, like the UK, to
the Atlantic depressions and the stormy weather that
goes with them. Consequently, this prolific shift
caused severe flooding in many parts of the UK, as
well as other countries across the world. According
to many of the world’s meteorologists, the
catastrophic floods that occurred on Kyosho Island in
southern Japan in July, and the drought like
conditions that engulfed many states across North
America followed by horrendous thunder and
lightning storms in the same month, were a direct
result of the shifting jet stream — complete with its
meanders and curlicues.
Firstly, this raises the question as to what might be
causing the kinks in the jet stream and driving it
south when ordinarily it should have positioned itself
northwest over Canada and further east above
Scotland. One possibility, which seems relevant, is
that the jet stream gets its energy from the
temperature gradient between the Arctic and the
tropics and currently the pressure of the gradient is
being compromised by temperature fluctuations in
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Another possibility
could be the shrinkage of the northern polar ice cap
— melting fresh water ice is being continually
dumped into the ocean creating an imbalance with
salt water. This imbalance could be responsible for
the orchestration of extreme weather patterns. But
aside from all of this, the most obvious
meteorological reason for the shifting jet stream has
to be La Niña.
(It is important to stipulate here that due to the
unpredictable nature of the jet stream, the weather
patterns across the northern hemisphere could alter
significantly at any time; meaning, the jet stream
could shift position again. At the time of this article’s
composition, July 2012, the jet stream was already
beginning to edge further north.) Note the jet stream
diagram on the next page.
Pluto
Putting aside all of these meteorological hypotheses,
the incomparable traversing of the jet stream could
have been significantly influenced by the
electromagnetic fields of Pluto and Saturn. Let us
have a look at a few possible scenarios accentuating
these planets’ potential effects.
Meteorologists have already determined that icebergs
are beginning to move south away from the Arctic
Circle, and Pluto, in my estimation, rules icebergs.
This would have a significant bearing on the jet
stream. Also, could Pluto’s transit of Capricorn be
responsible in some way for the marked increase in
global temperature causing melting at the polar ice
caps? This is considered especially now that Pluto’s
energy infrastructure is being re-modified at the sub-
atomic level by the fiery explosive energy of Mars,
which, in turn, is stirring Pluto’s volcanoes. Pluto is a
water planet, and does, after all, symbolise
termination. Are the poles melting because the Earth
is still recovering from the last ice age, which was
Pluto-influenced? So, is Pluto simply beginning to
heat up now that it’s under the influence of Uranus
and Aries? Scientists have ascertained that there is a
definite increase in the melting of the ice at the poles.
So, what then is causing the acceleration?
April Issue, 2013 - 61
Now that Pluto is butting heads with Uranus, so to
speak, could this impassable flow of energy be
causing further degradation in the Earth’s weather
systems, as Uranus in Aries signifies sudden bursts of
energy? It’s certainly worth thinking about! Could it
be that Pluto is somehow transmuting this over-
heating energy via the oceans’ attributers such as
rivers and estuaries, and is gradually raising the
temperature in the oceans? In the UK alone, there has
been a marked increase in river water temperature.
And is Pluto also heating up the water vapour in rain
bearing clouds while they are forming, causing more-
and-more violent thunderstorms (Uranus), which are
frequently affecting parts of the US?
It might also be worth considering that the first
exactitude of the square between Uranus and Pluto
(24th June 2012) could have caused the profound
kinks that were visible in the jet stream. And it seems
coincidental that the jet stream began shifting
northwards when the square aspect’s exactitude had
passed momentarily. So, if this planetary
configuration is responsible, what will the outcome
be; and more importantly, will these shifts and
62 - ISAR International Astrologer
meanders continue to occur, considering that there
are a total of seven Uranus-Pluto squares between
2012 and 2015? It could mean that weather systems
are about to become more unpredictable causing
severe flooding in some countries and drought in
others!
Saturn and the Tropics
There is another important consideration to take into
account with Pluto, and that is the Earth’s parallel
latitude lines and Pluto’s effect on them, as well as
the effects that other planets may also be having. To
my knowledge this particular hypothesis has never
been raised.
The parallel latitude lines in the northern hemisphere
are the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer; the
parallel latitude lines in the southern hemisphere are
the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Capricorn. The
circumvolutions of the Cancer and Capricorn parallel
latitudes rotate at 23 degrees 05 minutes
simultaneously.
 transit also have played its part in influencing the jet
Interestingly, the Tropic of Cancer is currently stream? I wonder. Looking at this evidence, it seems
Pluto’s sign polarity. So, another question we have to a strong and likely possibility.
ask ourselves is: Is Pluto’s transit of Capricorn
affecting the weather systems across both Other Planetary Influences
hemispheres; and if so, will this transit continue to
affect the weather, especially when Pluto in longitude In attempting to find which planet (if any) influences
symbolically reaches its conjoining and opposing the jet stream, my immediate choice would have been
exactitudes of these latitude meridians in 2020? either Uranus, or possibly Mercury. Neptune and
Although there is no direct proof to this hypothesis, I Jupiter are also strong contenders. Neptune rules
believe that the planet of transformation has and will precipitation and Jupiter’s atmosphere has multiple
continue to have a dramatic effect on what scientists jet streams responsible for the formation of the
call the global warming effect. banded colour structure that gives Jupiter its familiar
iconic appearance. Interestingly, the factors that
The tropics are the two lines where the Sun is control the number of jet streams in a planetary
directly overhead at noon on the Tropic of Cancer on atmosphere are an active area of research in
June 21st (the beginning of summer in the northern dynamical meteorology. In models, if one increases
hemisphere and the beginning of winter in the the planetary radius, holding all other parameters
southern hemisphere), and the Sun is directly fixed, the number of jet streams multiplies.4
overhead at noon on the Tropic of Capricorn on
December 21st (the beginning of winter in the In a recent article called Diverse Ruminations,
northern hemisphere and the beginning of summer in published via the Astrological Lodge in London, the
the southern hemisphere). 2 astrologer Betty Gosling said, “we know that Jupiter
has been ‘wounded’ by the Schumaker-Levy 9 comet
Initially, the jet stream swung
south at the summer solstice.
This was also when Saturn
symbolically made a tight
square of 23 degrees to the
Tropic of Cancer from its
retrograde transit of Libra; and
according to the American
Astro-meteorologist Kris
Brandt Risk, “Saturn is
responsible for the formation of
low pressure systems,”
especially when in hard aspect
to Mercury and Mars. Also, the
jet stream works hand-in-hand
with low-pressure systems.3
Saturn lay at the symbolic apex
point of Cancer and Capricorn
thereby creating a powerful T-
square configuration; and at the
time of the summer solstice,
Saturn had made a tight square
to Mercury and a semi-sextile
to Mars (see chart 1 on this
page). Along with the clash of
Uranus and Pluto at the
solstice, could this Saturn

April Issue, 2013 - 63

because astronomers and some
of us, through TV, witnessed
the onslaught, but we don’t
know how ‘hurt’ he was and
whether or not it will affect us.”
Astronomers have already
pointed out that Jupiter is
Earth’s protector; if the
Schumaker comet had missed
Jupiter it would have passed
dangerously close to the Earth.
I wonder if the kinks in the jet
stream have somehow become
a reflection of the hurt suffered
by Jupiter during the
bombardment of the Schumaker
comet making Jupiter the
primary influencer of the jet
stream. After all, its multiple jet
streams must have been
disrupted. As unlikely as this all
seems, it is still worth
pondering.

Conclusion

Alas, I don’t believe that the

weather will improve in the northern hemisphere
much before 2020. On the 21st of January that year,
Saturn and Pluto conjoin making a symbolic
opposition to the Tropic of Cancer and a conjunction
to the Tropic of Capricorn; Jupiter is conjunct the
South Node with the North Node in Cancer and with
Chiron sitting on the Cancer-Capricorn midpoint (see
chart 2 on this page). Amidst all the difficulties
associated with evolutionary change, this
configuration most definitely has healing potential.
Pluto represents supple but intense changes
throughout evolution, whereas Saturn represents
protocol and symbolises the principle of limitation;
Saturn, along with the Capricorn stellium also has the
potential to settle things down, so to speak. Overall,
it is likely that natural climate change will reach a
pinnacle at this point, and in my opinion Uranus’s
transit of Taurus will assist in bringing stability
particularly to the northern jet stream, that is
assuming Uranus influences it. Meanwhile another
possibility is that “natural climate change” is being
implemented by some elaborate divine master plan.
I hope that through this short article, I have raised
some interesting questions, which will give you room
for thought. In my opinion, there is substantial
evidence here to surmise that the cosmos has
contributed to the continuing weather crises, or at
least our perception of it. Furthermore, I believe that
the composition of the Earth is dramatically
changing, and the Earth is on the verge of a
significant climate shift. According to some astro-
meteorologists, “climate change is accentuated up to
2020,” at which point things should begin to quiet
down, as humankind begins to witness the dawn of a
new era in consciousness.
Chart Data:
Event chart 1. 21st June 2012, 18:00 London BST.
Placidus houses, true Node.
Event chart 2. 21st January 2020, 18:00 PM London
BST. Placidus houses, true Node.
Alan R.Wheatcroft BA, DMS.ASTROL has studied
traditional astrology since the age of 30. He has also
studied Vedic, karmic and medical astrology. Alan

64 - ISAR International Astrologer

has developed and teaches astrology according to his
own model — Quantumology — a combination of
depth psychology, quantum physics and evolutionary
astrology. The principles of Quantumology are a
primary feature of his book: Evolution and the
Cosmic Clock.
Biography
Alan is also a past-life therapist and healer
specialising in DMP — Deep Memory Process, and
Quantum Touch for Health. DMP is a safe and
effective form of healing that is used to explore our
own past-life memories and resolve emotional
blockages that can profoundly affect out present-day
health and happiness. DMP works hand-in-hand with
astrology and quantum touch. As a successful writer
Alan has presented many articles, which have been
published throughout the professional and popular
media.
Alan can be reached at: alan.wheatcroft@yahoo.com
References
1: Information source: the Times History Column.
2: Information source: www.about.com/geography
3: For more information about Astro-meteorology I
recommend Kris Brandt Risk’s book: Planetary
Power in Weather Forecasting, published by the
American Federation of Astrologers.
4: Jet stream dynamics and formation on Earth and
Jupiter are studied at the Lyndon State College of
Meteorology, and at: www.space.com/
scienceastronomy/solarsystem/jupiter
April Issue, 2013 - 65
 The Secret History of the
American Federation of Astrologers
by Gary Noel
In 1976, with the release of his book A Man Called
Intrepid, author William Stevenson, who was given
access to secret British documents, revealed that the
American Federation of Astrologers, originally called
the American Federation of Scientific Astrologers, in
spite of its name, was actually created by the British
secret service, also known as the British Security
Council (BSC). In 1930s Germany, much of the
population believed in astrology, including some of
Adolf Hitler’s most famous followers such as his
Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess and Heinrich Himmler,
the head of the Schutzstaffel, also known as the SS, a
group of young men pledged to protect Hitler with
their own lives. Rumors were swirling throughout
Europe that Hitler also believed in astrology.
Anticipating a European war, the British Secret
Service, aware of these rumors, created the American
Federation of Scientific Astrologers in 1938, in
Washington, D.C. The British thought astrology
could be a useful tool to help fight the future war.
Britain’s enemies would expect British astrologers to
predict doom for Hitler and Germany, but such
prognostications from astrologers in a neutral country
such as America could have tremendous propaganda
value.
In 1935, Louis De Wohl, the son of a Hungarian
immigrant, left Germany and arrived in England as a
refugee. There he made a living as an astrologer and
apparently had several satisfied clients. In 1940, De
Wohl offered his services to the British government,
claiming that a neutral diplomat had told him that
Hitler was being advised by a Swiss astrologer
named Karl Krafft, allegedly a strong National
Socialist. De Wohl claimed to have known Krafft
personally and therefore, could tell British authorities
what kind of advice he would be giving Germany’s
Reich Chancellor. Before British officials realized
they were being deceived, they had already made De
Wohl a captain and offered him a salary. According
to the papers of the BSC, De Wohl’s mission was “to
shake public confidence in the invincibility of Adolf
Hitler…”1
66 - ISAR International Astrologer
In 1941, the BSC noticed several articles and letters
in widely circulated magazines such as American
Astrology predicting that Germany would win World
War II.2 The British, believing this material was
being planted by Germans in America, sent De Wohl
to the United States as part of their counter offensive.
When De Wohl arrived in New York, he immediately
held a press conference to point out that Hitler was
born when the planet Neptune occupied the house of
death.
Later that year, the American Federation of Scientific
Astrologers (AFSA) held its annual convention in
Cleveland. The Associated Press reported that
members of AFSA agreed that Hitler’s days were
numbered. Considering the origin of AFSA, it would
have been surprising if they had said anything else.
One of the guest speakers at the convention was
described by the press as the “distinguished
Hungarian astro-philosopher Louis De Wohl,” De
Wohl’s complaint that astrology had too many quacks
made headlines in The Cleveland News. Even though
by now, the BSC was convinced that De Wohl was
the biggest quack of all, he was still considered an
indispensable tool in Britain’s black propaganda war.
Benn Levy, the British playwright, was assigned the
task of paying De Wohl in untraceable American
dollars. Each week, he climbed the fire escape
leading up to De Wohl’s modest Manhattan hotel
room and delivered the money through a back
window along with instructions as to what he should
write in his popular Stars Foretell column. As
William Stevenson has noted, “The only stars De
Wohl ever consulted were in BSC.”3
Nevertheless, De Wohl was well received at the
AFSA convention. He began his address to the
convention by comparing the horoscopes of
Napoleon and Hitler. He called Hitler’s decision to
invade Russia a major blunder saying that it was “the
first major action Hitler had undertaken which could
not have been countersigned by his astrologers.”4 He
noted in particular Karl Krafft, whom he identified as
“Hitler’s favorite astrologer,” would never have
approved of Germany’s venture into Russia. Years
after the war had ended and in spite of evidence to
the contrary, De Wohl insisted that Hitler never made
any kind of political move without consulting Karl
Krafft first. The truth is that Krafft never met Hitler
or worked directly for him and was eventually sent to
the Buchenwald concentration camp to be executed
after predicting Germany’s defeat at a private
meeting of astrologers in 1943.5 Krafft never saw the
inside of the notorious camp, having died from
typhus en route.
De Wohl also told delegates to AFSA that members
of the Geopolitical Institute in Munich analyzed the
advice given to Hitler by his astrologers to determine
if it was sound and then gave their Führer
suggestions of their own. One of those suggestions,
De Wohl insisted, was that Germany should invade
the United States using Brazil as a stepping stone. A
few days later, President Roosevelt in his radio
address on Navy Day, informed the American public
that he now possessed a secret Nazi map showing
how they planned to divide and rule Central and
South America. Hitler scoffed at Roosevelt’s
revelation insisting that such a map never existed. If
such a map did exist, the Nazis probably thought
their plan wouldn’t work without the element of
surprise and decided not to invade after all. Of
course, it’s also possible that Roosevelt’s speech was
part of a coordinated effort of deception between the
White House and the BSC in order to get Americans
to think that war between the United States and
Germany was inevitable. England’s Prime Minister
Winston Churchill wanted the United States to join in
his country’s struggle against the Axis powers and
President Roosevelt was certainly sympathetic to that
point of view. According to Australian author Ken
Anderson, “If De Wohl’s statement followed by the
map falling into the hands of the U.S. president was
not an example of a successful black propaganda
operation, then the coincidence is most interesting.”6
Hitler’s last days, interviewed several witnesses he
considered credible and every one of them dismissed
rumors that Hitler believed in astrology.7
This year the American Federation of Astrologers,
now located in Tempe, Arizona, celebrates its 75th
anniversary. We may never know for sure but the
organization’s involvement in Britain’s black
propaganda campaign may very well have spared the
United States as well Central and South America
from being invaded by Germany.
Endnotes
1 William Stevenson, A Man Called Intrepid,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: 1976, p. 346.
2 Ken Anderson, Hitler and the Occult, Prometheus
Books: 1995, p. 188.
3 Stevenson, p. 347.
4 Anderson, p. 189.
5 Ibid., p. 196.
6 Ibid., p. 189.
7 James P. O’Donnell, The Bunker, Houghton Mifflin
Company, Boston: 1978, p. 96.
Gary Noel is the author of Reinventing Astrology
published by the American Federation of Astrologers.
The American Federation of Astrologers has twice
presented him with the LCDR John Williams Award
for his contributions to Today’s Astrologer. He can be
contacted at alcabitius@gmail.com.

After the war, De Wohl abandoned his astrological

practice, converted to Catholicism, and embarked on
a lucrative writing career. Many of his books,
historical novels about the lives of Catholic saints,
are still in print.

There’s no tangible proof that Hitler ever consulted

astrologers and the most trustworthy historians think
that he probably didn’t. For example, James P.
O’Donnell, author of The Bunker, an account of

April Issue, 2013 - 67

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68 - ISAR International Astrologer

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