Astrology Institute Newsletter April 2009
Contents: Updates and Courses
“Four Circles and Three Crosses”
Horary Chart Example: “Whither Yankees Pitching?”
By Joseph Crane
Hello Everybody,
We get some pleasant weekend days in New England, strategically placed between winter’s cold and summer’s oppressive heat. These are our few days of spring!
This month we take a break from vitriolic politics, baffling economics, apocalyptical or millenarian prophecies, and the like. We’ll look at an example horary on matters different from politics and economics – more of a pastime.
Updates and Classes
Dorian Greenbaum sent her finished doctoral thesis to the printer!
She comes back to New England soon, returns to England for a last stand at the Warburg Institute for her thesis defense, then the whole thing is over and she returns home in triumph.
Before Dorian began her studies at Warburg, a group of us gathered to say goodbye and to look at her astrology for the upcoming time – which implied that her studentship would be more slow going than we or she wanted it to be. Four years later….
A word about Joseph Crane’s astrology consultation and tutorial work:
As the stock market and 401K’s have ticked lower, the number of people wanting to learn astrology or have astrology sessions have ticked upwards.
At this time much of my work is over the phone or on Skype. People who are closer to where I live and work (southern New England) have the enviable option of an in-person meeting with charts in front of us – just like the good old days!
If this is our first meeting, I send you a questionnaire: I send charts ahead of time; we talk at our scheduled time; I send you a CD of the recording for our time unless you have set up your own.
Topics for our sessions may include
- Ongoing personal issues such as work and love, education and spirituality, family and health;
- Timing for life changes or specific events;
- Compatibility
- Relocation.
My style of astrology mixes modern with traditional methods, attempting to take the best from both. If we do ongoing astrology education work, we first assess where you are in your studies and experience and then sequence a learning plan. In this way our work is individually tailored and flexible to your needs.
Prices are $120 for a first-time session of 75-90 minutes; $85 for yearly or periodical updates; $60 for ongoing consultation or tutorial. For payment, mail me a check or we can work through PayPal (adding an additional $5).
There are some openings and operators are standing by (e-mail or phone).
Spring and summer classes:
This spring my formal teaching is with Kepler College. I am teaching an introduction to Hellenistic astrology and an introduction to Western Philosophy.
For me it’s an opportunity to experience online courses and this certainly gives a sense of what the future possibilities are like, especially since online formats can accommodate anybody, anywhere.
The Hellenistic course gives a chance to study some primary sources as well as my book as secondary commentary – how quickly one forgets what one has previously written! Intro to Philosophy brings me back to some of my old favorites when I was a BA student and more current projects.
If you would like to begin private astrology study sessions, we could set this up during the spring.
Onto the future:
There will be a summer program in Arlington, MA this July and August. Classes will be at the usual place (The Arlington Center) Six Wednesday
Evenings, beginning July 8. 7:30-9:30 PM.
Some of my students recommended that this summer we delve into what we call “astronomy” of astrology. This will be a major part but not all of what we will do this summer.
All astrologers now rely on instantaneously generated computer charts and data sheets. Although this is very convenient, we are often left with a mere conceptual sense of the information we are using.
Directly and indirectly, astrology uses many references: ecliptical, equatorial, horizon, meridian, and prime vertical. (We see these as factors in many quadrant house systems.)
Also -- how does astrology account for changing time? (This affects many predictive systems including progressions and other house systems.)
We also need to look at the dynamics of planetary motion and speed.
What are the principles behind astrology maps, including local space maps?
What are astronomical foundation between symmetries and harmonics?
We will also look at fixed star measurements and the vicissitudes of tropical and sidereal zodiacs. And we will take on a heliocentric view.
I have seen again and again how not knowing this basic information can undermine somebody’s confidence.
This is important but not all we will do. Like last summer, we will alsowork with interpretive skills using the charts of current notables. We can also discuss other topics in astrology depending on group interest.
Dante Continues (and Joseph Agonizes)
Much of my current inspiration for astrology’s astronomy comes from my current writing about Dante’s Commedia. This summer, by some happy coincidence I will be dissecting Dante’s astronomy. Here’s an example.
The lamp that lights the world rises for man
at different points, but from the place which joins
four circles with three crosses, it ascends
upon a happier course with happier stars
conjoined, and in this way it warms and seals
the earthly wax closer to its own likeness.
This glad union made it morning there
and evening here; our hemisphere was dark,
while all the mountain was bathed in white.
(Paradiso 1.37-45 Musa translation)
Dante here chooses the most cosmically auspicious time to ascend to the heavens. He focuses on the beginning of the tropical zodiac – 0° Aries – to accomplish this. Imagine the Sun rising exactly at the spring equinox and you have a confluence of four circles and three crosses. This is similar to some of the material we will discuss during this summer’s course.
All of these newsletters feature some notable nativity or historical figure. This month is an exception: a horary chart. Although most of my work is with natal and predictive astrology, it’s sometimes good to change things around a bit. It keeps things interesting.
“Horary” means “of the hour” and here is an example of pure astrological divination: when a person asks a burning question, the astrologer takes down the time of the question. One reads the chart of the question like one would read a Tarot spread or an I Ching toss – to answer specific questions from the other side of conventional reality. No naturalistic or statistical premises for astrology need apply here.
I use horary astrology when people have questions about romantic relationships, work, money, health, lost items, travel, or family.
There is another kind of horary question: something that concerns a person greatly but he or she is not an active participant. In the seventh century, William Lilly asked questions about the English Civil War. As an anti-royalist partisan, Lilly could ask this question.
The other day an astrology friend who is a baseball fan, a New York Yankees partisan, sent me a question. Here is the inquiry in his words.
Now let's do an important horary, what is it that prevents the New York Yankees from assembling a decent pitching staff? And follow that up with: how much longer can Mariano Rivera pitch at a high level?
I took down the time at which I received his question from him and cast a chart for that moment. Although I generally use whole sign houses, here I follow horary convention and use a quadrant system known as Regiomontanus. This is the house system William Lilly used.
Because the question was specifically about Yankees pitching and not about other aspects of the team the chart should tell us the situation of their pitching staff. I can also use this chart to predict the success of the team, its management and new ballpark. But that is for later.
The angles of this chart are important: cardinal signs are on the horizon and mutable on the meridian: this is a volatile and changing situation. Their recent performance (April, 2009) seems to bear this out.
The degree rising is early Cancer: an early degree rising may indicate that it’s too early to be asking this question. This is only April and with many months of baseball ahead of us. Lately, however, Yankee fans have been in a panic about the condition of the team’s pitching, and attempting to answer this horary seems the only compassionate course of action.
Yankees pitching is the first house and its ruler Moon. The Moon does correspond to the responsibilities of a pitching corps in baseball – neutralizing enemy threats and establishing homeostasis for the team, especially if their hitting falters.
Moon is in the cardinal sign Aries: I sense that Yankees’ pitching staff will be in great flux this season. Moon in Aries, governed by Mars, is appropriate for a group of athletes.
However Moon has separated from Mars in Aries in the tenth house, a planet in great dignity and great position. This signifies that the Yankees’ relief staff is moving away from its previously dignified situation. Moon is also compromised because it is moving into the Sun’s beams. This clearly diminishes its effectiveness for the future. I feel that the current Yankees pitching staff is not on a par with some of its great assemblies even from the recent past.
However, one must also look at Moon’s next application: a very beneficial sextile to Jupiter in Aquarius. Jupiter is oriental – along with dignified Mars and Venus – but cadent. Happily for Yankee fans, it is in a fixed sign that ensures continuity. Jupiter could represent Mariano Rivera, one of the great and durable relievers in baseball and a great benefic (at least to the Yankees). Although his performance will decline (Jupiter’s cadent – literally “falling” -- placement), he will continue to be an asset to his team.
To summarize: the Yankees pitching staff will not be the most reliable part of their team. The staff is not on a par with its former glory and will probably be problematic in the near future. However, Mariano Rivera will continue to be the durable pitcher for the time being and will probably help stabilize the staff with his presence and previous record of success. Yet his performance will decline over the course of the season. This may be augmented by the presence of Neptune on this chart’s Jupiter.
There are two other issues that might be answered through this horary.
“Is the Yankees’ new ball park going to be an advantage for them?”
If the first house and its ruler can represent the Yankees team, the fourth house and its ruler would represent the Yankees’ new home ballpark. This is troubling for them, because Saturn in Virgo is in the fourth.
Indeed, their new stadium has had some problems: because of the current economy, their new high priced seats are not filled, which has been a source of embarrassment for the team. The Lot of Fortune is in the twelfth: this could point to money difficulties. Things should improve, because the ruler of the fourth and the Lot of Fortune, Mercury, has escaped from the Sun’s beams but receives a strong square aspect from Jupiter and Neptune. Since Mercury and Jupiter are in fixed signs, things with the stadium and their financial condition should improve slowly. Neptune’s presence, however, adds an ingredient of some unanticipated situation coming to light, of the nature of Neptune. Could there be an environmental difficulty? Is all the money for this project about to vanish into the ether? Time will tell.
Now onto a topic of great interest to some of us: “will this be a successful season for the Yankees?” Everybody knows that success for this team would be to prevail over its opponents and go deep into the post-season, if not to win the baseball championship.
. If the first house and Moon represent the Yankees, the seventh and its ruler would represent the adversaries of the Yankees – perhaps the “Evil Empire” Boston Red Sox. Pluto is in the seventh with a close opposition to the degree of the Ascendant. Note also that Mars, dignified in Aries and in the tenth house, is approaching Pluto by square. This has the feel of Rocky vs. Apollo Creed in Rocky 1: a punch-the-opponent-until-you-drop endurance contest. Judging from the recent games between the Yankees and Red Sox this appears to be a safe judgment.
But who is the eventual winner of the season? If a planet placed in a house signifies the activity of the matter of concern, the planet governing a house determines its outcome. Pluto may be in the seventh but it is Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn that is important here.
Saturn in Virgo represents the outcome for the opposition and it is not a happy placement for them. But there’s more: using derived houses, the fourth is the tenth from the seventh and can represent the management of the Yankees’ opposition. Saturn is in the tenth house from the seventh. Compare that to the tenth house from the Ascendant, representing the Yankees’ management: Mars is in its own sign Aries and Venus is in its exaltation Pisces.
This becomes an easy judgment: the Yankees would eventually beat out its competition. They will continue to have pitching difficulties during this season, and will have to continually adjust to adversity. Over a long season, however, it is their management’s ability to make the right personnel decisions that can be decisive. Their opponents’ management, represented by Saturn, will be less adaptable and make some glaring mistakes.
With the Pluto-Mars square, the Yankees will be bloodied but unbowed by the intensity of their competition over which they will eventually prevail. It may be, however, as in 2003, they may be too exhausted to take it all the way.
I want to thank Tom Callanan for providing this question and I assume he is very satisfied with the answer. For me, who imprinted on the Red Sox in 1967, it is very bitter.