At the Lodge - 20th September 2004

Lodge Lecture | Charts Discussion

Lodge Lecture

For our first meeting of the autumn term we welcomed Courtney Roberts to share her researches into Marian Christianity and its astrological correspondences: Visions of the Virgin, an Astro-analysis of divine intervention is the title of her newly published book. While acknowledging that the subject of visions, particularly of the Virgin Mary and that of astrology are not usually put together she went on to point out the many mythological feminine symbols which are quite at home within astrology: Venus, the Moon, Taurus, Cancer and Virgo being the main ones which come to mind. Like everything else, astrology seems to have picked and chosen the symbols it likes and which cause less trouble. There are many myths dealing with ancient facets of the feminine which do not get picked up and in exactly the same way, ancient cults were drawn into more mainstream Christian interpretations of Goddess worship which ultimately culminated in the symbol we know today as the Virgin Mary. Protestant Christianity has pretty much abandoned her but she is very much alive and revered in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity and also within Islam. Perhaps this material doesn't make much logical sense to the English mind? But then we are dealing with the feminine.

Before going on to examine specific examples, Courtney noted that there was an increase in apparitions during the 1930's by children of about 12 - 13. Outer planet movements during this period included Neptune in Virgo and Pluto in Cancer; could this be part of the symbolism stirred up by a vision? It seems that the Moon, Venus and Virgo are the primary symbols to watch. The Moon has another factor: places where visions had taken place became overwhelmingly popular and in more recent time would be associated with lunacy. Courtney then shared two case studies with us and contrasted the nature of the experience and the astrology. The first was that of St Catherine of Labouret. She was a novice in Paris who had expressed a deep desire to know the Virgin, her own mother had died when she was age 9. She was lead to the chapel of the convent by a cherub in the middle of the night and there she communed with a vision of Mary for several hours. Among the things she was told was that the government of France was about to fall and that she and the convent would be protected by the Virgin. She was to tell no one other than her confessor and he ordered her to record her experience which is where the account comes from. The events came true within a few days and despite the danger to religious orders from the Paris populace, her convent remained safe. The astrology of this vision picked up Catherine's chart very tightly and involved lots of Cancer, Capricorn and fourth house imagery; very apt for protecting a house.

The second vision was that of two shepherd children in Switzerland. This time they saw the virgin while in the hills and she told them of her disappointment with mankind and their moral short comings. She gave a detailed list of sins and then changed tone and explained that because the people had fallen short the crops would be affected: moral purity was bound to the bounty of the earth and if they mend their ways then the earth will bloom. They were told to report what they had heard, which they did and there was indeed a poor harvest. Astrologically this vision was full of Virgo energy, as would be expected with so much talk of wheat and harvest, with the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury and Mars all in Virgo. Courtney noted that most places have a history of visions. Every hundred years or so someone will see something as the populace grew to expect that what they saw was the Virgin Mary. The Swiss example had such a history.

She then gave us a modern example: that of Fatima in Portugal. The nature of the visions seems to have changed since the discovery of Neptune, which would not be entirely unexpected. Courtney then recounted the story of the Fatima vision: three shepherd children - Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta had thought they heard lightning, ran under a tree and then saw the Virgin in the next tree. She had then promised to come to the same tree on the 13th of each month until October. The children reported this and the next month, in June, there was a large crowd waiting with the children. She appeared to the children and the various prophesies of Fatima were supposedly given to Lucia, the eldest. Lucia is still alive and is now a nun and authority on Marian Christianity. The other two children perished in the flu epidemic of 1919. The symbolism of the Virgin is very close to the symbols associated with Portuguese identity and the notion of the visions captured the public imagination. The July visitation saw tens of thousands gathered and by October there were reported to be between 70,000 and 100,000 people in the field despite the appallingly wet conditions. After Lucia had seemingly spoken with the Virgin, she pointed up at the sky and said "Look at the Sun". Everyone spun round and saw the Sun apparently spiralling around in the sky; when it was over, they were all miraculously dry. What makes this so mysterious is that there are accounts from other villages which record the same solar phenomenon, which points away from it being a mass hallucination. The first vision took place on 13 May 1917 at around midday. This chart has lots of Taurus and Saturn Pluto and the South Node in Cancer. The final visitation was on 13 October 1917 at around 1.30 and it is appropriate that the Sun is in the degree of its fall. We then looked at the charts of the children, data on the data page, and found all the usual significators: tight Moon Neptune Jupiter conjunctions in Cancer, Sun and Moon in Pisces. This was a fascinating account of these visions and having the astrology there picked out the connections so clearly.

Many thanks, Courtney, for a very insightful evening.

Claire Chandler

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