At the Lodge - 13th November 2006

Lodge Lecture | Class | Charts Discussion

Lodge Lecture

Today's lecture was presented by Sid Jeffries who was paying his second visit to the lodge. His work and full text of this talk can be found on his website.

The Mechanics of Rulership: Rulership offers a fascinating insight into the great mystery of how astrology actually works. The movable position of 0º Aries, the 'precession of the equinoxes,' suggests that the overwhelming power of the Sun and his seasons creates the basic template of the zodiac. But the position of the individual rulers (Sign, House and aspects) so crucially influences the effect of everything in that Sign, we have to conclude that the ruling planets materialise these Signs and are thus the actual source of their spirit. Taurus is only realised and materialised through Venus' Taurean nature. The planets appear to materialise the Signs partly in their distinctive physical characteristics but also, as Pythagoras suggested, in their positions in the Solar System, their distances from the Sun. Pythagoras invented the phrase 'the music of the spheres' with the analogy of plucking different notes according to the length of a string, an idea endorsed by Plato, Ptolemy and Kepler.

Does Pluto or Mars Rule Scorpio ? It was suggested to me thirty years ago that Pluto really ruled Sagittarius and my empirical chart work, observing and asking questions, convinced me that Pluto has none of the Scorpio characteristics of feeling, tone, a musical ear, a critical interest, a passionate, motivated nature. Instead he is an explorer, learning by experience, looking for new things, like a traveller, often a bit lost, a stranger in a strange land, prone to mistakes, losing (and finding) things. Pluto transits, particularly with Saturn, often mean travel but can otherwise be profoundly disorienting, rather than filled with Scorpio passions. Encyclopedia Britannica translates Pluto as 'the Rich One' and he was the lord of the distant, strange land of the dead, not of the Scorpionic stroke of death. These are definitively Sagittarian characteristics and we will recognise Pluto much more clearly in these colours. Mars on the other hand demonstrates all the keen, feeling characteristics of Scorpio, as astrologers have recognised for many centuries.

Earth's Rulership Signs: Astrology shouldn't ignore the Earth : we should expect that, like the other planets, she too has her zodiac character. As Earthlings, this should determine our basic nature. The traditional 'Earth Mother' representations suggest an earth Sign and Earth's prodigious topography points towards the splendours of Capricorn's commanding heights. These are strongly evidenced both in the hierarchical structure of society and all the oppressive inequalities of rampant Capricorn capitalism, particularly now in the power of multi-nationals. Above all Earthlings have generally suffered the blind materialism which is solely focused on material wealth and power. Modern materialist science obdurately denies the reality of the spiritual dimension on which we depend for all our real happiness and life, denying both religion and astrology, the most ancient and venerable science of all. Historically even the acceptance of a spiritual dimension in religion has been relatively materialistic, as are the questions most astrologers encounter ! The other great excess we Earthlings demonstrate is an aggressive and competitive Aries instinct which has ever and again destroyed all the wealth and achievements of the years of peace, just as in our own lives, these outbursts of temper, or, equally, Aries 'affairs,' can be devastating. Like the molten volcanoes, the Arian fountains of fire, which demonstrate the fiery heart of our planet. Capricorn and Aries seem to cause us Earthlings the most problems by their excesses, compelling evidence of their predominant roles in our lives. The obvious place for Earth's symbol in a horoscope is at the centre, representing the native. - Sid Jeffries

Class

The Class today was the third in a series on the Nodes of the Moon with Sue Farebrother.

It was a fascinating insight into reading the Nodes in connection with relationships. They are only a soundbite for relationship reading and do not constitute an interpretation of the whole.

Carole West

Charts Discussion

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Lodge Lecture | Class | Charts Discussion