Planetary lineup
Personal consultation/education series
Dorian Greenbaum Update
Many autumn offerings
Profiles: Mel Gibson and Marsilio Ficino

In New England the summer has been very warm, rainy lately and hopefully without a hurricane at the very end.  During this time there has been writing, teaching, and planning. 

A Planetary Lineup to Remember – or Forget

For the chart belowI have taken out all the faster-moving planets to highlight the “superior” planets (outside the Earth’s orbit) in their glorious relatedness – except Neptune.    Here is the chart for Mars’ entry into Libra at the end of July 2010.

The planets involved in this lineup pair the two malefics (in late July) in Libra, Jupiter-Uranus in Aries, and sanguine Pluto (I’m kidding) in Capricorn between the two pairs.  The planets are at or near the “cardinal points” (the early degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) and are particularly potent.

So far there have been no revolutions or even insurrections, the weather has been bearable but mostly hot, although the economic news continues to be bleak – in the US and in Europe.  Yet this has been a difficult summer for Russia with a hot spell in a place unprepared for heat waves. China has had massive mudslides. In a catastrophe for that nation, Pakistan has had devastating floods and a good part of their population is now homeless and destitute. 

Parts of this lineup will continue into the future.  In mid-August Uranus went back into Pisces – it’ll be back into Aries.  Jupiter also goes back into Pisces and this planet will also return to Aries.  Saturn, on the other side of the zodiac, is beginning to move quickly through the early degrees of Libra and will be conjunct Pluto this autumn.  In other words this line-up will continue to develop through the rest of 2010 – hopefully not a year better forgotten.

I have also noticed this planetary lineup particularly is potent for charts of clients I have seen, as it seems to have increased the pace of change and, for some, chaos in their lives.  This brings me to our next topic:

Astrology Consultations

Although people often schedule a consultation for general information, more likely they see an astrologer when life is posing challenges beyond their usual ability to understand and work with them. Often people schedule an “update” (a better word than “checkup”) around their birthday. We can meet in person or by telephone.  If by telephone you receive charts ahead of time via e-mail.  In either case you will receive a voice recording of the session afterwards. 

Fees are $130 for a first time session of 75 minutes, $95 for a yearly update of 60 minutes, $70 for additional sessions during the year. Additionally, horary charts are $40 and electional charts are $70, reflecting the time and effort usually involved with them. (We can do location and relationship work as part of a one-hour session.) Payment can be made by check or with PayPal. Cash works fine, too.

People often see an astrologer when they’re facing crises that result in their not having a lot of discretionary money.  For this reason I have always done a sliding scale for clients who have needed it.

For further information, e-mail me at info@astrologyinstitute.com.

Education/Consultation Series

This is for people those who want to work in depth on their chart and predictive indicators: it becomes a means whereby people can broaden their knowledge of astrology or work on important life issues from an astrological perspective.  It’s also a chance for the relative newcomer to astrology to receive basic instruction on astrology using their own chart and life. It’s also an opportunity for others to explore a variety of astrological techniques, including traditional (including Hellenistic) natal and prediction, relationship indicators, harmonics and midpoints and relocation.  This is a five-session program that begins with a full astrological reading that includes predictive indicators.  By individual sessions the total cost would be $435; as a set, the five sessions are available for $335 in two payments.  Again, for further information e-mail me at info@astrologyinstitute.com.

Dorian Greenbaum on her Latest Adventures

 Dorian is working on a few projects connected with astrology.  In addition to her talk on temperament and astrology for the Forum on Astrology e-conference, she is the general editor of a volume on Kepler's astrology for the journal Culture and Cosmos.  She is editing papers for a book on the practice of astrology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, based on a conference she did with her 'doctor father' Charles Burnett at the Warburg in 2008.  She is also heading a translation project for the Sophia Centre at the University of Wales, Lampeter.  Finally, she hopes to be editing her dissertation to be published as a book.  She has two articles appearing in print this year: 'The Role of Egypt in the Development of the Horoscope' (with co-author Micah Ross), in Proceedings of the Conference ‘Social and Religious Development of Egypt in the First Millennium BCE’, Prague 2010; and ‘Arrows, Aiming and Divination: Astrology as a Stochastic Art’, in Divination – Perspectives for a New Millennium, ed. Patrick Curry, London 2010.

Offerings for Autumn

Our summer’s course in Massachusetts, Divination and Magic in Astrology,was very successful.  Many participants were professional astrologers and this helped make for a lively group and some very good discussions.

The program provided opportunities to learn about horary astrology.  This is the most divinatory of all astrological practices and interprets a chart cast for the time of the asking of a question.  We looked at famous horary charts about battles and contests, relationship possibilities, difficult work situations, and even inaccurate natal charts viewed as horary charts.  Sources were William Lilly and Geoffrey Cornelius’ Moment of Astrology. In addition, we examined the boundaries between astrological interpretation and divinatory practice.

The second part of the course introduced the tradition of magic in the West, focusing on some important individuals in the past who contributed to our understanding of the relationship between magical practice and astrology. To what extent do astrologers – knowingly or unknowingly – engage in magical practice with astrology? Nadine Harris added a presentation on Vedic astrology and its traditions of using gems and mantras as interventions to help compensate for difficulties in a natal chart and to strengthen planets that govern a period of time.    In this context we studied some electional astrology that selects the best time for a planned course of action.

This course was recorded and is available for purchase.  Contact me at   info@astrologyinstitute.com 

Dates and Locations to be determined: I have just completed the manuscript tentatively entitled Between Fortune and Providence: Astrology and the Universe in Dante’s Divine Comedy and I am eager to share some of this material.  I am planning a special presentation during the autumn, a program open to astrologers and those interested in arguably the greatest literary work of the medieval era.  Stay tuned.

October 1-3
is the Forum on Astrology that has no location except in front of your computer: it is a full conference available through high quality internet technology.  Both Dorian Greenbaum and I are presenting; we have worked with the software and are very impressed with its ability to offer an interactive educational experience.  Many well-known astrologers are participating, including Meira Epstein, Carolyn Egan (on weather prediction), Lee Lehman (on horary and probability), Chris Warnock (on The Picatrix), Ben Dykes, Monica Dimino (on lunar nodes), and Robert Zoller.  On Sunday Dorian is presenting “Temperament: Astrology’s Forgotten Key.” I follow up with “Planetary Symbolism and the Organization of Dante’s Divine Comedy.” 

See the conference site below for more information and to register: http://www.forumonastrology.com/index.shtml

Wednesday evening October 13:
we are pleased to present the incomparable Deborah Houlding from the UK; among other things, she is an expert on horary astrology and a very good lecturer.  She is also the reigning monarch of the well-known Skyscript website that one of the best astrology websites in the world. http://www.skyscript.co.uk/  Her talk is “Finding Missing Things.”  Location is The Arlington Center at 369 Mass Ave, Arlington, Mass.

This presentation considers both the philosophical basis and practical realities of using horary as a way to discover the whereabouts of missing persons or lost things. The most reliable principles are identified and common sources of confusion are discussed and eliminated, bringing the focus to the best techniques in this particular branch of horary as demonstrated
against a number of interesting recent case studies. (Talk will last 1½ hours and is suitable for astrologers of all levels of experience).

All are invited and to register please contact me by e-mail at info@astrologyinstitute.com

November 5-7
I will be lecturing in the great state of Michigan, in Lansing and possibly in Ann Arbor.   Lecture topics will include Hellenistic natal and predictive delineation and material from my current work on Dante (not at the same time!).  More information is forthcoming -- as it is known.

Profile 1: Mel Gibson: Still Not Ready for Redemption

            Once upon a time (only six years ago) Mel Gibson was a dominant personality in Hollywood and in world entertainment.   In that year he co-produced, co-wrote and directed The Passion of the Christ that made for much controversy and huge profits.  Since then his movies have not been as successful and his personal life has subjected him to a greatly diminished public standing. 

            In 2006 he had a confrontation with the police and went into an anti-Semitic rant against an investigating woman police officer.  At that time I wrote about him in the newsletter in article entitled, “Is Mel Gibson Yet Ready for Redemption?”  http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/Newsletters/news082406.html  At that time he apologized and went into alcohol rehab and I was guardedly optimistic that he might have a better “second act”.   It seems that my faith in human capacity to change hasn’t worked out so far – not for him at least.

            Unless you have been consumed with matters of high culture and spiritual development this summer, you know that Gibson’s former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, with whom he has been involved in a custody battle, had secretly recorded some telephone conversations between them and released them over the summer.  These recordings depict Gibson as demeaning, verbally abusive, bigoted, and also admitting having been violent against Grigorieva.  This public release in early July 2010 coincided with the many planets transiting Gibson’s Moon in Libra.  This has resulted in a flurry of adverse publicity, much of it attempting to find the appropriate psychiatric diagnosis for this famous man gone bad.  There is clearly the possibility of alcoholism; if so Gibson may be giving active alcoholism a bad name. An article about him had this title: “Mentally Ill or Maybe Just a Jerk?”  Here is part of a column by David Brooks of the New York Times, July 15, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/opinion/16brooks.html?ref=mel_gibson.  Brooks identifies narcissistic rage as causing his abusive behavior.

“His self-love is his most precious possession. It is the holy center of all that is sacred and right. He is hypersensitive about anybody who might splatter or disregard his greatness. If someone treats him slightingly, he perceives that as a deliberate and heinous attack. If someone threatens his reputation, he regards this as an act of blasphemy. He feels justified in punishing the attacker for this moral outrage. And because he plays by different rules, and because so much is at stake, he can be uninhibited in response. Everyone gets angry when they feel their self-worth is threatened, but for the narcissist, revenge is a holy cause and a moral obligation, demanding overwhelming force.”

Understanding that there are many fine people with an astrological chart similar to Mr. Gibson, let’s see what we can learn from his astrological chart.

First we look to some general indicators.  His Ascendant is Cancer and its ruler is a rather affable Libra Moon in the fourth house.  We get a first indication of personal charm, together with the spontaneity from the close sextile from Uranus to Moon.  Sun in Capricorn gives a Saturn quality to his character that is no problem in itself.  But when we look at the dispositor for his Sun we find that Saturn is in Scorpio conjunct Mars.  Suddenly we see something more intense and potentially difficult.

Next we look more closely to Gibson’s Mars. Mars is conjunct Saturn, possibly inhibiting Mars but it is more likely that Mars in Scorpio can fend for himself rather well.  Toughness and rigidity are on display, noting Saturn and Mars in Scorpio (governed by Mars) has a square from Pluto, all of which are in fixed signs. (Jupiter, having moved into Virgo, does not effect this combination directly.) Many people have planetary combinations like this one but do not attain his position of fame and fortune that may play into its worst possibilities.  These planets do connect with an important personal planet:

Using 8th harmonic aspects, we find that Pluto is in sesquiquadrate position (square and a half) and Saturn is in semi-square (half square) to Gibson’s Sun in Capricorn.  This makes the planetary combination of Mars-Saturn-Pluto far more particular to him.  This has helped enable Gibson to be a convincing action hero in movies but an equally convincing bully in his personal life.

Because Gibson has been a movie star and there have been questions of alcoholism, we need to look at his Neptune.  Except for a close sextile with Jupiter that is fairly positive, there is not much that is interesting about Neptune.  Yet, following modern style and looking at his midpoints, we see Sun = Neptune/MC.  What does Reinhold Eberin (The Combination of Stellar Influences) say?  “Physical disguise, the putting on an act, the hiding of one’s character by the pretence of qualities which one has not got.”  Ebertin also talks of disillusionment and indecisiveness.  Obviously these traits work well for a career as an actor, but, in his case, they display a wide separation between appearance and reality.  Unfortunately for Gibson the curtain has opened on him.

Now we reconsider Gibson’s seemingly congenial Moon in Libra. In my 2006 article, following a traditional interpretation, I noted that the Moon might be involved in his being bigoted -- out of family loyalty.  I wrote:  “I look toward his Moon in the Fourth, the house of family and the ancient place of one’s father. Gibson has a strong sense of family heritage and in many ways has followed in his father’s footsteps, even if their personal relationship has been a stormy one.”

When contemplating Gibson’s Moon there is a stunning midpoint combination to consider.  Here are the direct midpoints (conjunction and opposition) to his Moon:  Moon = 0 ° Aries = Jupiter/Neptune = Neptune/Pluto = ASC/Node.  All these are within a degree.  Because of the involvement with the “Aries point”, these planetary pairs also form countra-antisia and are linked together even more strongly.  These planetary combinations attest to his importance and self-importance, charm, and grandiosity: here’s a guy who clearly views himself as transformative.  This combination also brings out a spiritual inclination that so far has expressed itself only in a rigid and dogmatic way.  Nonetheless real redemption, and not just the Hollywood version, is possible.  God may not be finished yet with Gibson, but his worldwide audience may be.

Let’s move to Gibson’s predictive indicators.  Again we look at Moon: all the outer planets that have entered cardinal signs have been simultaneously transiting Moon.  Transiting Pluto was in square to his Moon beginning in January 2008.  One year later his marriage broke up and he began seeing Ms. Grigorieva.  Since the end of 2009, Saturn entered Libra, Jupiter entered Aries opposing his Moon, and, most importantly, Uranus entered Aries in May 2010 and hovered at 0° Aries for the next few months before moving back into Pisces.  And, as we saw above, Mars joined Saturn in Libra at the end of July.  This has been quite the assault onto Gibson’s Libra Moon. Gibson’s surface charm and congeniality (represented by Moon in Libra) have completely broken down. 

The next factor was pointed out by Carole Devine in a recent astrology blog, http://caroledevine.blogspot.com/.  She noted that by progression Gibson’s progressed Ascendant has passed Jupiter and is converging on Pluto.  Although the transits to his Moon will begin to fade, Gibson is coming onto even more intensity (dare I say “transformation”?) as progressed Ascendant completes its application to progressed Pluto.  Perhaps we have had a taste of this already, as negotiations with his former girlfriend have become public and his financial wildness has become public knowledge.  Hopefully there is an “up” side to this occurrence.

Not desiring to conclude this newsletter in an unsavory manner, we will close with a rather different character: Marsilio Ficino from fifteenth century Florence.  His work was more interesting than Gibson’s movies and his historical importance is much better established.

Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499): Renaissance luminary

He was an important figure in the early Renaissance who was also important in the history of astrology.  He is a patron saint of sorts for many psychologists like James Hillman and Thomas Moore, and his work is being increasingly studied by astrologers.

Mainstream historical texts cite Ficino as a leading Renaissance humanist whose many scholarly enterprises were bankrolled by Florence’s leading Medici family.  Beginning around the time of Ficino’s birth, many Greek scholars had fled a declining Byzantine Empire. Ancient Greek texts became available – indeed fashionable to collect -- and needed to be translated into Latin.  During his lifetime Ficino translated the complete Plato, the Enneads of Plotinus, other Neoplatonists, and the Corpus Hermeticum.  This allowed the rediscovery of Greek culture by Europe and helped launch the Renaissance.  He adapted Plato’s work to a Christian context, revered the ancient philosopher as a saint, and he conducted the “Platonic Academy” outside Florence.

The son of a doctor, Ficino was also steeped in the medical astrology of his day, to which he joined a Neoplatonic world view and the traditions of magic already in his culture.  Careful to evade accusations of demonic magical practice, he devised remedies to enhance physical and mental health that brought together current medical theory, astrology, music, art, and sympathetic magic that employed astrological “archetypes”.  Astrologers know him for his Three Books on Life and especially its last part, “De Vita Coelitus Comparanda” or “On Obtaining Life from the Heavens,” a work full of basic astrological symbolism.

For more information on Ficino, here’s a link to an article on the Skyscript site:  http://www.skyscript.co.uk/ficino.html#ficchart

We know much about Ficino as a person.  He was strikingly handsome but not interested in women.  He was also prone to depression and his writings on melancholy (as a disease of scholars and similarly deep thinkers) helped fashion the image of romantic melancholic for the next few centuries.  Unlike some of his more daring students Ficino was acutely sensitive to charges of being neo-pagan or practicing demonic magic; he attempted to tailor his ideas so they would cause less offence to orthodoxy.  Possibly to provide himself more cover, he became a Catholic priest in midlife.

Here is an astrological chart in a form that Ficino would have recognized. There are no outer planets in this chart.  When I prepare a chart for the first time I always begin without the outer planets so I see the inner planets more fully.   This helps the personality of the chart arise with fewer abstract concepts to filter out.

This chart and the next use Alcabitius quadrant houses that Ficino would have also used.

Taking a moment to look around his chart, you will notice a Scorpio Sun in the 9th, house, a place of religion.  Mercury follows Sun and is visible as an evening star.  You may also note that Mercury is applying to Mars in the 12th in a square: this can help his mind be focused, yet his Mars also indicates that he is a tougher character than his writings indicate.  Moon is in Capricorn on the cusp of the 12th – and in the 12th sign from the Ascendant, giving us our indication of a disposition toward melancholy.

This brings us to his Ascendant in Aquarius ruled by Saturn in the 1st house.  Ficino would identify himself as a Saturn kind of person and would have the focus, determination, caution, and seriousness that go with the gray planet.  Saturn could cause more difficulties except for its opposition from Jupiter in the 7th: Ficino was not a solitary intellectual but was continually surrounded by others, some of whom were equally brilliant.  He clearly enjoyed his friendships and his wide circle of influence.  One could also cite Jupiter as responsible for his immense good fortune with patrons – no less than Cosimo and Lorenzo Medici. 

You can see Ficino’s Lot of Fortune in the second house that doesn’t look so wonderful, then it looks even worse when we see that its ruler Mars is in the 12th house.  This is one more occasion where ancient astrology is very helpful.  If one counts houses from the Lot of Fortune, the ruler of the Lot is in the 11th house from the Lot, the “Place of Acquisition” according to Vettius Valens.  (The original meaning of the 11th is “Place of Good Spirit” that is the probable origin of this house being about “Hopes and Wishes”.)  Mars has become less problematic than it first appeared.

I save the most interesting traditional indicator for last – his Lot of Spirit or Daemon.  You cannot see it in the chart above.  This Lot, representing the mind more than the body, is always symmetrical to the Lot of Fortune from the Ascendant.  For Ficino this Lot falls on the last degree of Scorpio, conjunct Mercury.  This goes further to account for his translation expertise, his probing but far-reaching intellect, the builder of community and teacher to Italy’s notables.

Now, unless you already looked ahead, here is Ficino’s chart in modern appearance with the modern planets appearing.

More information emerges.  The modern planets are easiest to interpret as they aspect inner planets, and Ficino’s chart displays very potent outer planets.

• Most conspicuous is that his Moon in Capricorn has a partile opposition from Pluto.  This raises his emotional intensity even further.  We also have, from a more personal point of view, insight into his religious orthodoxy in spite of his classical (pagan) affinities.  It’s interesting that Ficino joined the Dominican order, a group renowned as intellectual defenders of the faith and also responsible for the inquisitions of medieval times.  For somebody with many great advantages in life he must have been continuously on his guard.
• Jupiter in the 7th is conjunct Neptune.  To me this tells of Ficino’s affinity with Hermeticism and Neoplatonism:  both are philosophical outlooks with strong mystical elements. 
• Uranus opposes Sun.  Ficino was too saturnine (and careful) to be outwardly rebellious, although he thought of himself as a philosophical innovator and helping replace scholasticism and Aristotelianism with a world view more Platonic, mystical and psychological, and more humanistic.  Ficino was revolutionary in spite of his personal instincts.  Uranus opposing Sun are also in square to the degree of his Ascendant, making for a midpoint combination of ASC = Sun/Uranus.  Ebertin cites this as a combination tending toward excitability.  Although focused and saturnine, being around Ficino was probably an enlivening experience.
• We have not yet considered Venus and I do so in the context of its opposition from Chiron.  Venus is in fall in Virgo and in the rather weak 8th house but is visible as a morning star.  We also know that Ficino pioneered art therapy and music therapy centuries before they became professional disciplines: he used art not as entertainment but for healing.  We see both the Virgo quality of Venus but also its opposition from Chiron.  For me discussing Chiron is outside my range of astrological competence and so I will not attempt to discuss his personal life – what we know of it – using Chiron.  I leave it to others to do this.

In future newsletters I will profile other historical figures that are of importance to astrologers today.  Of particular interest are those who carried the traditions of Western magic farther than Ficino was able to, although his pioneering influence was indispensible.