Summer Program: “Divinatory and Magical Practice in Astrology”
Favorite Astrology Books
Summer Solstice Chart
Profile: Jacques Cousteau

Last September I received an e-mail from Alice Ekrek from the London School of Astrology.  For a research project she was polling well-known astrologers on their “favorite/most influential” astrology books, those they would take on the proverbial “desert island” with them.  Ninety astrologers responded; the full results will be published in the Astrological Associations’ journal by her and Frank Clifford.

            My list and commentary are below. What are your favorite “desert island” astrologer books?

These are the books that have had the most impact on my work as an astrologer, especially the two non-astrology books at the end.

Dane Rudhyar, The Pulse of Life. Convinced me that the zodiac is an orderly sequence; made me interested in astrology as an intellectually coherent discipline.

Robert Hand, Horoscope Symbols. A discerning, thoughtful look at natal astrology. Very well written, a good presentation of astrology's symbol systems. A very smart book.

(I read through both the above books in the same weekend in 1986. They convinced me that I could be an astrologer and intelligent person at the same time.)

Here’s more:

Reinhold Ebertin, Combinations of Stellar InfluencesMy most leafed-through book. Penetrating and pungent aphorisms that sharpen the astrological mind.

William Lilly, Christian AstrologySuccinct explanations, many chart examples of horary. Made me think more like a traditional astrologer and written in an era of a superior English language.

Vettius Valens, The Anthology: Book II Powerful presentation of ancient astrology in action, with many example charts. Themes of general happiness, love and marriage.

Two books have helped me grow as an astrologer and I might bring them to an abandoned island even before the top five:

Dante, Paradiso.  Depiction of an astrological cosmos from a medieval point of view. The only spiritual astrology book you will ever need – you'll just have to spend a few decades trying to understand it!

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.  Basic text on how to live a good life. Indispensible for my consulting work.

… onto less pleasing matters.

Summer Solstice 2010 – a time to forget?

I write this the morning after President Omaba’s speech on the Gulf oil spill that wavered between metaphors of war and illness.  With those metaphors he could also have talking about the US economy.

Below is the chart for the moment of this year’s Summer Solstice, set for Washington DC.  As in many ways it’s been a rather grim spring, one would hope for an upward spike.         

Alas, this is not what one would wish, although there are some intriguing possibilities.  When you use whole sign houses we see a lot of angularity: Sun is in the First and Moon in the Fourth, the potent Jupiter/Uranus conjunction is in the Tenth near the Midheaven degree, and, alas, Pluto is in the Seventh.  This creates a giant angular T-square with Jupiter and Uranus at apex.

In mundane astrology both the Sun and the Tenth House are about leadership and the squares from Jupiter/Uranus to the Sun in themselves can be more potent than problematic.  The conjunction allows there to be creative unorthodox vision – or impulsive grandiosity – to the American Administration.  Mars, dispositor of the Tenth, has no aspect relationship to the Tenth; this inclines me to think that the impulsive grandiosity will indeed be part of the equation. The Tenth “can’t find the boss” and is therefore rudderless.  Sun in the First leads me to think of major initiatives taken by the administration – even in the summer.

This leaves the question of Pluto in the Seventh in adversarial position.  One may think of poison coming up from the deep, themes of betrayal and subterfuge, or an empowered political opposition.  It is probably all three.

Looking for the exact location of the Pluto/Descendant line, it falls in the Gulf of Mexico.  I will not be buying stock in BP anytime soon.

Financial indicators are somewhat grim.  The dispositor for the Lot of Fortune is governed by Mars that is “with” Saturn – that’s a Hellenistic take on the matter.  Venus is in the Second in Leo but Leo and Cancer have no aspect relationship to one another, making the economy rather impervious to management.  Hope lies is the distant trines from Jupiter and Uranus to Venus, indicating that things might get better but nobody’s going to notice it for some time.

The Moon is void of course, indicating a certain futility for plans and projects.  The Moon’s next aspect, however, is a trine to the Sun in Cancer.  But then the Moon has gone into Scorpio, its sign of fall.  I would suggest a long vacation this summer but even that may be a bit intense!

Profile: Jacques Cousteau

Jacques Cousteau, famous undersea explorer, inventor of undersea equipment, writer and film-maker, and advocate for the ocean environment, died in 1997.  A few days ago, on June 11, was the 100th anniversary of his birth.  It is appropriate and ironic to be profiling him during a time in which the ocean environment is in crisis.  Cousteau helped develop the equipment and the techniques of undersea diving that would make an entire world available to exploration.  Today we take scuba diving, shipwreck exploration, and even deep ocean drilling, for granted; Cousteau was at the beginning of all these features of modern life.  He would have been an interesting person to profile at any time but this seems the best one.   Here is his chart.

James Hillman, in his book The Soul’s Code, discusses people who seem to have a particular calling in life – identifiable almost from the beginning -- and fulfilled it completely; Cousteau was one such person.  Even as a child and teenager he was interested in both film and exploration and enjoyed designing now things.  During his lifetime he would continue all these things that he loved and became famous and influential as well.

            Cousteau joined the French navy at the age of 20; his first interest in aviation was cut short after an automobile accident, after which time he brought an injured arm to recovery through swimming.  At that time his exploratory focus turned to the ocean.  He continued in the navy in the information service but had his first experiences exploring the ocean using newly-developed underwater goggles that would later become diving masks.  He worked with the French resistance but during The War was in his first underwater film and helped develop the “aqua-lung” that allowed people to be under water for hours at a time. 

            One must first note that Jupiter is rising in Libra on the Ascendant that would give his “energy” and personality an enterprising nature.  Jupiter, if well-placed, gives self-confidence as well as generosity and he appeared to have both throughout his life.  However, the ruler of his Ascendant is Venus in dignity but in his eighth house conjunct Saturn.  This gives an impression that Cousteau, for his seeming confidence and his public presence to come, would attempt to preserve some solitude and privacy, and there may be more difficult features to his nonprofessional life.  However, with Sun in Gemini and Moon in Leo, and with the Sun being the Moon’s next application, Cousteau would have a great deal of drive and energy (Sun) and also an insatiable curiosity that goes along with the sign Gemini.  (One would have expected a stronger Mercury, however.)

            Any modern astrologer – and yes I am a modern astrologer – would look at his tenth house with Mars and Neptune in Cancer, resulting in an overabundance of water.  Neptune increases in prominence when you notice his midpoints – as a modern astrologer would.  The Midheaven degree is exactly between Sun and Neptune that would bring together sea and film quite nicely.  Considering indirect midpoints from the Midheaven degree yields a square from Jupiter and Ascendant, as is clear from looking at his chart.  I also add that the midpoint of the Midheaven degree and Pluto is 00° Cancer so that the two positions are in antiscia to each other and are strongly connected.  One possibility would be some kind of deep scandal to his professional life; another is that his public persona would make a strong impact on his world.  He certainly fulfilled the latter.

            Toward his midlife to the end of his life, and as fame and films and books followed his work, Cousteau became an environmentalist and advocate for the planet’s ocean systems.  He began a one-person campaign to end the dumping of nuclear waste into the ocean – and won.  Appropriately, he continued to sound the alarm against mankind’s casual and mindless pollution of the seas – just because they seem so vast.  This was a cause he dedicated himself to: "Why do we think of the ocean as a mere storehouse of food, oil, and minerals? The sea is not a bargain basement. … The greatest resource of the ocean is not material but the boundless spring of inspiration and well-being we gain from her. Yet we risk poisoning the sea forever just when we are learning her science, art, and philosophy and how to live in her embrace."

            Onto a Hellenistic style: Cousteau’s Lot of Fortune is in Scorpio conjunct his Lot of Victory (involving Jupiter and Lot of Spirit).  Mars governs these positions and Mars is in the tenth house.  This gives the possibility of a public career as constituting much of his involvement with life.  Cousteau’s Lot of Spirit, however, is close to his Moon in Leo, that is, of course, governed by the Sun.  This can only increase his sense of confidence and initiative (Lot of Spirit) to creatively adjust to changing circumstances (Moon in Leo) in pursuit of his purposes (Sun in Gemini).  

            Venus is dignified in Taurus but conjunct Saturn and in a difficult 8th house.  Saturn also governs his fourth house that is the sign Capricorn.  It is well-known that he had a “mistress” in addition to his wife, with whom he had two children.  After his wife died Cousteau married her and they were together the rest of his life.  Toward the end of his life and as an international celebrity he became involved in a legal imbroglio with his son who endeavored to build a holiday center named “Cousteau.”  There is clearly a dimension to his personal life that is complicated and difficult and there is surprising little information available about this.  Perhaps it is better this way.

            I would like to focus on the year 1948: still in the Navy and between his official duties, Cousteau and two colleagues staged an underwater expedition to retrieve a Roman ruin in the Mediterranean.   This was the first attempt at underwater archeology and publicized its possibilities for those who would follow afterwards.  This expedition became the first film which helped bring Cousteau into the public eye.  Only a few years later he would “lease” the Calypso and fame was assured for his lifetime.

            By secondary progression Sun and Mercury in Cancer would conjunct in mid-year.  This indicated expansion of intellectual or communication horizons, and Cousteau accomplished both during that year.  Other indicators involve Jupiter: by transit Jupiter in Sagittarius was opposite Cousteau’s Sun and Pluto.   His planetary periods from Hellenistic astrology are rather eye-popping.  Using a method known as decennials (see Chapter 12 of Astrological Roots), Cousteau began a major period of Jupiter in March 1942 – when he was developing his craft but also working for the French Resistance.  Major periods for decennials last just under ten years nine months (using a 360-day year) and this would last until October 1952 at which point his fame as an undersea pioneer and publicist were assured.  Within the larger period belonging to the general planetary lord is a specific lord and there will be a total of seven of these specific periods.   During 1948 his general/specific planetary lords were Jupiter/Sun.  They are in trine to one another by sign, both are in planetary sect in his daytime chart, and one is angular (Jupiter) and the other in its favorite place (Sun in the 9th).  When you look at Cousteau’s Quarters, a faster-moving planetary period system (4 times faster), the general/specific lords during this same period were also Jupiter/Sun!  I rest my case – this is pretty significant.  Fast-forwarding to 1953 when the book The Silent World was published (followed by a movie three years later), Jupiter had moved into Gemini during the second half of 1953 and was to conjunct and station near his Sun and Pluto positions; his progressed Sun had moved into Leo the previous year.

Toward the end of his life Cousteau received many awards.  Unfortunately for us, his advocacy of the seas seems most relevant and now more necessary than ever.