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Lodge Lecture | Class |
Charts Discussion
Lodge Lecture
Garry Phillipson's talk, 'Half way between Heaven and
Earth', directed our attention to the age old question: What are we actually
doing when we do astrology? He began by outlining the thoughts which grew
into the talk; having been asked by a client "but when will this
be over?" It occurred to him that this was not the most helpful question
and that burying your head in the sand until a particular transit was
over was something of a waste of the experience.
The maxim 'As above So below' is incomplete. The full statement continues
with 'As Below So above' which would lead you to conclude that a degree
of participation may be involved.
Moving on from this, Garry considered the two main approaches to God (or
god). You can either have an essentially Deistic view where god is absent
or a Theistic view where god becomes a participant in the world which
you could liken to a busy body landlord. The first approach is that taken
by Ptolemy and the Platonic thinkers: anything of the world is changing
and is therefore uncertain. Our only certainty is this uncertainty. The
truth of a situation is available to us but our condition - as incarnated
beings - gets in the way of our seeing it.
In terms of practical astrology, this view can seem very fated and restricted
to a client. Garry showed us the charts for David Koresh and the Wacko
incident and the symbolism was particularly striking. This approach was
leave the client feeling they are stuck with an unsatisfactory lifetime
and the only way to get through it is to wait it out until you get a fresh
hand of cards.
Theism, by contrast, gives us the idea that something divine is actively
present in the world; that could relate to the world in a creative dynamic
manner which is illustrated by astrological symbolism. Garry illustrated
this with an example given to him by Jessica Adams: during the run up
to the American presidential elections Jessica was asked who would win.
As the astrology was inconclusive she opened a cookbook at random to see
if biblomancy would give her any insight; the page was for Crab Royal.
Given that George W Bush is a Cancer with Leo ascendant she interpreted
this as firmly pointing to him retaining the presidency.
Garry concluded by postulating that the universe may give us enough information
to aid our participation in our future. Like the song says you don't always
get what you want but you might get what you need.
Claire Chandler
Class
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Charts Discussion
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Lodge Lecture | Class | Charts
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