Spring Seminar 2004

The Foundations of our Art - The Building Blocks of the Tradition

Sunday 14th March

A chance to examine our foundations.

Astrology's foundations were examined today. Although the day commenced with a talk by Claire Chandler, it soon became clear that all the subjects for discussion were linked. Moreover it also became clear that one really needs to know it all from the bottom up. Surprisingly to me it appears that it should start with Horary, of the hour, asking a question - the Moon. It all came down to the six matters fit to be judged.

Mundane Astrology covers the larger cycles of time. We did not look at the outer planets today as this was strictly traditional work. The two slowest moving planets are Saturn and Jupiter. They conjoin every twenty years, but take two hundred and forty years to return to the same element and sixty years to return to the same sign.

Their cycles affect civilisations, countries, Kings and then the people. So we are currently coming into two hundred and forty years of air!. In view of current activities in Europe we checked out the charts of Spain and the first bomb blast in Madrid.

It was concluded that there was a full Moon last weekend, conjunct Jupiter. We also checked the eighth house ruler of death. Other useful hints, such as 'rotating the chart one house per year' from Bernard, check conjunctions, lunar and solar returns and Cardinal ingresses.

Mike Edwards then rose to give a wonderful talk on Horoscopy. It comes in two forms. 1. Natural Astrology where you look at the sky and see what is going on there, for planting, weather etc. 2. Judicial Astrology which is prediction. You check the motions of the planets (revolution of the spheres). The Kosmos, as above, so below. Judicial is Horary.

The Moon is always taken as co-significator. Mercury is the Ruler of Astrology, Electional Astrology, (He quoted from the Japanese Philosopher, Dogan "We are time"). Venus is Natal Horoscopes. It joys in the fifth house. Sun represents the Kings and leaders, Mars represents tribes and and dynasties, the urge to get your family on top - Wars! Jupiter is States and Great Nations (large nations - our religion is the right one) and finally Saturn, Cronos, time, who sits in the archetypal position of time. It rules over the applications of astrology - fateful - figure of time.

Mike then put up charts to look at certain queries and timed at the moment of thought which included a chart for the Grand National of 1985 when he successfully predicted the winner. So he went through the rules of Horary, the Lord of the first house is the querent, co-significator the Moon. The Astrologer sits in the 7th house. Consideration before judgement include a late degree on the ascendant, void of course Moon. If it is written in a book it is considered to be time - but you must consider the chart. If you feel unsafe, don't judge.

Finally he mentioned that a good horoscope to do is a lunation chart before birth. It unravels one of the mysteries of the chart, the part of fortune. A waxing moon will have the Part of Fortune on the Ascendant and a waning moon will put it on the Descendant. That show whether the person will make their fortune own fortune or whether it will come from outside.

After lunch Bernard Eccles gave us guidance for Electional Astrology- this is my future - when is my moment? This is more developed in the Eastern Astrological circles. He gave us a handout with Aphorisms on Elections from Henry Coley's edition of Jerome Cardan. These roughly translated indicated that an election means nothing unless it corresponds with the Nativity. In other words fortify your own Radix. If you want to keep things secret, the Moon has to be under sunbeams.

If you cannot fit the Moon to two planets, then join her to some fixed star that is the nature of them both, If you want to suddenly finish a thing then put the Moon and the significator in a moveable sign, if you want it to last put them in a fixed sign. Elect a good place of habitation. Not all Malefics work badly, it depends on the election requirements.

Obviously you do not want the Moon and the significator to be afflicted. If they are then let a sign ascend that is the house or sign of exaltation of the afflicted planet. Take journeys when the significators are in moveable signs so that you return. It is not good for the Lord of the Ascendant to be in the 6th, 8th or 12th houses. Also check out the Lunar Mansions (Lunar phases chart) the fifth phase is good for marriage.

Bernard then put up some very interesting charts of Abbeys, Cathedrals, the Royal Exchange Building and some other relevant and interesting charts.

A tea break was followed by Marie Angelo, who gave an inspiring talk about the Universe and the Cosmos. Alchemy and Astrology. Matter and what matters. How matter comes into being. She demonstrated this with a series of slides depicting the spiritual and the material, all representing the seven planets. There was so much content in each slide and we took time to meditate and examine each one in detail.

Finally we came full circle with James Brockbank who took us through the considerations before judgement in Horary. His handout was taken from Lilly's 'Christian Astrology', Bonatti's 'Astrologer's Guide' and Maurice McCann's Astrological Essays. These were discussed. Then he put up the charts of football questions to be considered.

The day was long and so much was learned. We would like to thank all of our contributors. We look forward to welcoming you all to our next event.

Carole West