“Beginner” Series means that knowledge of technical astrology is not required to gain much from these talks, and you can apply the material immediately.

On November 14 we held the first of the Beginner Series with a talk about the signs of the zodiac, their form as discrete signs and their place within the cycle of signs as we’ve come to use them in modern times.  We examined the relationship between the (northern hemisphere) yearly cycle and how we view the signs.  We also reviewed characteristics of signs in detail.  The response, from both newer and accomplished astrologers, was very positive. We have CD’s for this presentation, 3 CD’s and about 3 hours 15 minutes total. You’re welcome to purchase a set for $40 or, if I mail them to you, $48, to cover the envelope and waiting in line at the post office. 

We will also have CD’s available for subsequent workshops: send me an e-mail at josephcrane@verizon.net.

This workshop was first of a series, one per season.  In January we will look at planetary identities and relationships, in the early spring we’ll work with the development of the houses, and in the late spring dynamics of aspects. 

We will host this series in Providence RI. Details for the planetary workshop are forthcoming in the December newsletter.

(If you want a more formal presentation of cycles see my previous article “The Structure of Cycles” that was published in The Mountain Astrologer in 1998. See http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/Articles/cycles.htm.)

“Intermediate” Series means that participants are comfortable with general planetary configurations and transits. In October’s Intermediate workshop we looked at the night sky during the autumn months, we reviewed planetary configurations and ingresses, then we applied all of the above to everybody’s natal charts.  These presentations are more visual and do not lend themselves to recordings -- so if you’re interested you have to be there.

These will take place in Eastern Mass.  Stay tuned for details.

Full Program

This program aims to train the aspiring astrologer in the symbol systems of astrology as they apply to client consulting work, and its emphasis blends the psychological and the situational. 

For people familiar with some other astrology curricula, there are some important differences: the activities consist of primarily e-mail, written assignments, and individual conversations.  There is no chart calculation involved, because this is not a skill that one uses in these present times. If you dislike the “technical stuff”, though, this is no free ride; instead the focus is on the systems of time and space and light – sometimes mislabeled “astronomy” – that are at the root of the symbols of astrology and their natal and predictive application.

One guarantee – there are no parts of our program that do not apply to one’s astrological work.

For further details, see our website at http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/Education.htm.  Take a look at the curriculum and if you’re daring, try the quiz on our website.  And regardless of your “level” of astrological understanding we can put together a program to meet your needs.

1989 – An Important Year

Many of us well remember November 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell in Germany.  This barrier was constructed in 1961 under the cover of darkness to keep the East German and West German zones separate so that the citizens of the east could not escape into the west. The Wall became a symbol of the divide between two entirely different cultures whose people were right next to one another.  The fall of the Berlin Wall began a great all-night party, denoted the beginning of the dissolution of the old Soviet bloc in Europe, and launched contemporary Europe.

From the perspective of twenty years after the fact, the event would seem like a natural outcome of forces already active.  Yet the suppression of Tiananmen Square was earlier in the year and there was enough memory of Russian tanks blasting their way into errant nations with resulting loss of life.  This was no “done deal.”

According to all accounts, the whole thing started by accident.  There had been a clamor in Poland and elsewhere for free movement of population and there was new pressure on East Germany’s government.  There was a press conference.  When the media asked the government press spokesman when there would be freedom of movement, he said that freedom was granted as of now. Word passed quickly on both sides and the government by then was too confused or inept to remedy the situation. By the evening, thousands had gathered on both sides of the Wall.  At 11:17 PM on November 9th, one of the beleaguered guards let some people go through – the party began and the rest is history.  Here is the chart of that moment:

There is nothing is terribly striking about either Ascendant or Midheaven.  Notice, however, that (1) there are four planets in Scorpio in the 4th place of home/homeland – both traditional and modern rulers are there, providing a great deal of strength and dynamism to that area; and (2) there’s a close and strong conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in Capricorn, opposed by Jupiter in Cancer.  Astrologers had been tracking this alignment for some time and there was certainly evidence of dissolution (Neptune) of old structure (Saturn) prompted not by destructiveness but vision (Jupiter). It appeared to be a time especially made for heroic change.  But at this time all these planets – together with Venus and Uranus – were in the cadent 6th and 12th places and seemingly not a factor.            

The Saturn/Neptune/Jupiter alignment is far more prominent when you look at the exact moment of the conjunction between Saturn and Neptune.  Below is a chart of that moment.

Its focus on Germany is crystal clear: the Saturn/Neptune conjunction is the same degree as the Midheaven, meaning that Jupiter opposing at the same degree as the IC.

This becomes clearer when we remember that the fall of the Berlin Wall brought great uncertainty into European politics and the traditional balance of power between the Soviet Bloc and western nations.  Many prominent politicians, notably Margaret Thatcher of the UK, were concerned about a descent into political chaos with very negative results for everybody.  The Saturn/Neptune conjunction denotes the crumbling structures and its resulting uncertainty – the Jupiter opposition at the IC signified that for the Germans this was going to be a great thing and would restore unity to their nation – to the panic of many of the world’s leaders.  For the world community it was somewhat scary but for the Germans it was a benefic stroke worthy of a prominent (and exalted) Jupiter.

Compared with 1989, the year 2012 seems far less important.

Now that the movie 2012 is out – and it’s compelling images about famous places over the world being destroyed -- everybody knows that the Mayan Calendar (or one of them) ends at the winter solstice of 2012.  Since many people think an astrologer would know about such things, some have asked me what I think of it, and I usually reply with a shrugged shoulder and a snide comment.  Let’s straighten out the record.

I think we’ve already had quite a bit of transition in 2008 and 2009; with the prospect of a continuingly worsening economy and an imminent decline of American power and world standing, in the US there’s already a sense of some things coming to an end.  Let’s focus on 2012 for the moment. Below are two astrological maps of the Capricorn ingress for 2012 – this is the moment that the Sun enters Capricorn. (For our purposes here the location is not important.)

I fail to see anything remarkable about this chart.  Not only is it not dire but it’s quite pleasing.  Moon in Aries is in exact trine to Mercury in Sagittarius, there’s a fine combination of Jupiter, Venus, and Uranus to give things some spice.  Neptune is newly in Pisces – and there’s another pleasing (if a bit daffy) sextile to the ingress Sun.  This seems to be a rather benign way to end the world.

Below is a map of the world at the time of the 2012 Capricorn ingress; this shows where all the planets are rising, culminating, setting, and anti-culminating at the moment of the ingress.

I am less than tickled to note that at this time Saturn rises and Mars culminates in the Middle East, and the intersection between the two lines is the area of Israel and Lebanon.  This seems a bit like situation normal….  At the time it is sunrise in Panama and seemingly nowhere else.

At this time there is an intersection between the Galactic Center and the solstice Sun, but this intersection occurs over a long period (36 years) and does not focus particularly on this time.

Far trickier is the middle of 2010, when you get Saturn in early Libra, Jupiter and Uranus in early Aries, and all join Pluto in early – but slightly later – Capricorn.  We will look at this strong and destabilizing configuration as we enter 2010.

Is there something important about our end-of-the-world fantasies that periodically erupt?  Do these fantasies serve a purpose?  We already know they are good entertainment for people and good money for authors and movie producers – the 2012 movie that should do well, and note the brisk sales of the Left Behind series from the previous decade.  But there’s more.  Spiritually there’s something to be gained – “end times” tend to be a manifestation of what we all go through in relation to cultural and individual processes of dying and death and can be a time of spiritual reflection and reorganization of values. 

Okay, enough my punditry: back to astrology!

Born in the (soon-to-be) USSR: Ayn Rand and Dmitri Shostakovich

Aside their common birth place and years, Suns in air signs and Moons in Capricorn, Ayn Rand and Dmitri Shostakovich have little in common.  They took very different lessons from their early life during the Russian Revolution and its aftermath.  We will look at Ayn Rand’s chart first, then wrap up Dmitri Shostakovich’s chart (Part I was in the September newsletter).

Ayn Rand immigrated to America and became so hostile to the Soviet system that she became, though her popular novels, a strong expositor for the free market capitalist system.  She was a woman driven by her ideas and an implacable opponent of anything with the slightest whiff of collectivism.  She and her fictional hero John Galt – the lead character of her magnus opus Atlas Shrugged -- influenced a generation of political thinkers and economists, the results of which reverberate to the present day.  We will look at her natal chart and focus on an important event in her life.

We begin by looking at her chart.

There’s something wonderfully transparent about Rand’s chart – if you use traditional sign rulers.  One thing that comes out strongly is her saturnine character – Mercury and Moon are close in Capricorn, Sun is in Aquarius governed by Saturn that is also in Aquarius.  No, this does not make a conservative but it does illustrate a twofold nature of Saturn – its Capricorn nature and its Aquarius nature.

Capricorn Saturn is hard-working and status conscious – it is also a bit of a cynic in guise of being “realistic.”  Capricorn Saturn is tough-minded and, like the nature of the sign Capricorn, cold.  She called her philosophy “objectivism” but to me it seem close to what we call Social Darwinism – the survival of the fittest, or by her lights, the best.

Aquarius takes Saturn from Capricorn but becomes more the visionary and the reformer.  Aquarius, in attempting to use basic principles and stay true to them, can be as conceptual as Capricorn can be coolly pragmatic.  Three planets are anchored by Saturn in Aquarius that can bestow a high degree of confidence. Sun and Saturn in the angular 7th house makes them a bit more prominent in her chart than they otherwise would be.  (Sun in Aquarius is also the lord of her Leo Ascendant and her Lot of Spirit or Daimon, so it’s hard to avoid the shadow of Saturn.)

There are two aspects that account for her having the strong will that she did: Sun in Aquarius is receiving a square from Mars, also angular (4th house) and in dignity.  Having read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged as an impressionable post-teenager, I do recall a take-no-prisoners approach to the “other side”.  In combination with the heroic renderings of her protagonists, Rand’s works clearly have Manichean “good vs. evil” quality that had made her a very popular writer even if more “sophisticated” literary critics routinely panned her novels.

The other strong-willed aspect is her Moon in Capricorn departing from its conjunction of Mercury in Capricorn and applying by square to Jupiter in Aries.  How Jupiter in Aries adds a pioneering and assertive quality to Jupiter’s fascination with the big ideas.  (You may also notice that Jupiter is in the 9th house – the ninth sign from her Leo Ascendant.)  Mercury is obviously a planet of communication and writing.   In an earth sign Mercury is better known for straightforwardness than its cleverness.  Here is a woman whose life was her ideas, who considered herself a prophet.  Perhaps she was right.

Having discussed so much about Saturn, we need to look at her Venus position, exalted and governed by Jupiter in Aries but in the 8th house.  If one used Ptolemy’s formula for the governess (oikodespotes) of her soul, the planet with most rulership over Moon and Mercury is Venus – by triplicity and term ruler.  This would have much to do with her personal style and for her I would tend to blend in significations of Venus with Saturn.

Venus manifested for Rand in many different ways.  In her novels there’s usually a female protagonist who falls in love with a heroic male in a sexually-charged atmosphere.  (This is more blatant in her novel The Fountainhead.)  In some ways this feature of her work is more like contemporary fiction than what was written during the 1940’s. Rand herself had strong personal charisma and surrounded herself by a close inner circle – mostly of young men.  In 1949, although married, she fell in love with one of her students and had a disastrous affair with him.  This happened when transiting Uranus, in late Gemini, formed a square to her natal Venus and then, entering Capricorn, Uranus opposed natal Uranus: from astrological point of view this seamlessly blended crisis of the heart with midlife transition. 

(There’s an interesting wrinkle using Hellenistic indicators: there’s a lot of “marriage” as a downfall and is an indicator of self-destructive affairs.  It is the distance between Moon and Mars, cast from the Ascendant, and it turns out to be 25 Taurus – governed by Venus and in sextile to Venus and opposed by Mars.  This is a very potent indicator of trouble afoot.)

I will close with a pivotal event in Rand’s life, the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1947. 

Rand insisted that this book be a great transformative novel of ideas and a showcase for her philosophy of “Objectivism.”  In this novel there’s a strike by all the real productive and creative people in the world and, of course, everything begins to collapse.  The hero of the novel is named John Galt, and he has become, even if a fictional character, a patron saint of the libertarian movement.  (Consult your favorite internet search engine.)  In the middle of the novel John Galt gives an address to the world.  Rand worked on this for two years and it is compelling reading – at least when you first read it.  Atlas Shrugged was a very popular novel, has become even more popular during our times of economic distress, and has ensured Rand a place as a character of American history.

Below are her transits for August 1947 – there was a Pluto and Saturn combination opposing her Sun!  This would be the case for most of 1947.  This would be considered a difficult combination except for the saturnine nature of so much of her chart and her attempt to become a transformative person in her society.  This combination does not insure happiness but it is quite potent for having an impact.

It is interesting to note that by the modern system of secondary progressions Rand’s Neptune was stationary direct – perhaps making her even more of a prophet.  Her decennials, a Hellenistic and medieval planetary period system, had a major change in 1947, going from Jupiter/Venus to Mars/Mars!  Yes, she would welcome controversy.  Of course her natal Mars is angular and dignified in Scorpio and being transited by Jupiter itself.  Jupiter already had a strong impact by transit and we can add to that its contribution to her planetary periods.

Evidently there has been talk about a movie based on Atlas Shrugged.  I can’t wait.

Dmitri Shostakovich

We started the profile of Dmitri Shostakovich in the September newsletter; you can review what we discovered thus far at: http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/Newsletters/News09_09.html. 

Shostakovich was a musical prodigy from an early age and one of the twentieth century’s most prominent composers. He simply wanted to be a musician and composer but instead became a pawn of Stalin’s totalitarian regime, often very reluctantly. During his career, he fell out of favor and back into favor a few times.  We can see much of the pathos and tragedy of the past century through the lens of his music. In the September Newsletter we focused on a general account of his birth chart and two important events in his early career: his first ouster from political favor, and the first performance of his “Leningrad” symphony during the German siege of Leningrad. Toward the end of the Shostakovich section are links to two samples of his music in performance.

There are many contradictions in the composer’s chart, such as Moon conjunct Uranus in Capricorn in the 12th house.  This would tend him toward a cautious approach: hidden enemies could strike at any time, decisively– there was no small amount of anxiety and pessimism to his character.  This combination can be linked also with his continuously restless and unnervingly fidgeting behavior.

Like Rand, both his Sun and Moon are debilitated; unlike Rand he has but one planet in an angular house – but that is his all-important Venus in the 10th.  Venus is also the midpoint of many planetary combinations, bringing together his Moon/Uranus pair in Capricorn and his Sun/Mercury pair in Libra.  Venus is also the ruler of his Lot of Fortune and is with his Lot of Spirit or Daimon.  Yes, he has the ability to be not just an ordinary musician but a transformational one.

Now let’s talk about Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the northern sky.  This star was often mentioned by ancient writers, making appearances in the Book of Job, Homer’s Odyssey, and Virgil’s Aeneid.  Ptolemy and others cast Arcturus as the nature of the planets Mars and Jupiter. This is the alpha star in the northern constellation Boötes, called the “Bear Guard” because it seems to get in front of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor – the two Bears.  As a prominent star in the north, Arcturus was frequently used as a navigational star.  Because of this, Arcturus’ astrological meaning has been linked to this quality – as a guide or leader who can direct others.  It is also one of many warrior stars in the ancient sky.

I decided to look at Shostakovich’s paranatella from the program Starlight.  Paranatella, developed in modern times by Bernadette Brady, looks at connections between fixed stars and planets upon angles during the day of someone’s birth.  There’s an anomaly in his chart that is mostly due to his being born at such a high degree of latitude: during the day of his birth Arcturus co-rose with the Sun in Libra and co-set with the Moon in Capricorn!  I could not believe this when I saw it, and surveyed accompanying diagrams to see if indeed this was the case.  Showing Arcturus configured with Sun and Moon also gives an opportunity to demonstrate co-risings (what the word paranatella means).

 Below is the map of the sky when the Sun rose during the morning Shostakovich was born.  Note that the middle of the diagram is due east.          

You will see, in the middle of the diagram, how the Sun is rising right next to Mercury – these two planets are very close, indicating that Mercury had occulted or was about to occult the Sun. Because Mercury and Sun are very early in the sign Libra, they both are rising almost exactly due east on the horizon. (This only happens when the Sun or another planet is near 0° Aries or Libra and the planet is close to 0° of celestial latitude.)  If you look to the left on the horizon – which is north of east -- you will see the constellation Boötes and at the hunter’s knee is the planet Arcturus.  This contact could definitely show strong leadership potential.

Now let’s look at the Moon setting with Arcturus.  Notice that the middle of the diagram is due west: left is toward the south and right is toward the north.

You see on your left that the Moon is on the horizon within the constellation Sagittarius and thus is as far south in the sky as the planet can come.  (Note that the purple line is the ecliptic – where the signs of the zodiac are – and the blue line is the equator. The equator line always connects with the horizon due west – and in this case due west is far away from the ecliptic to the south (left).)

Now look to the right of the equator, toward the north, and there is the constellation Boötes and on the horizon is the star Arcturus.  Because of the far north latitude of Leningrad or St Petersburg, the sky may look very different from what you may see from where you are.

What do we make of this, interpretatively?

Why wasn’t Shostakovich a prominent dissident or moral guide like his near contemporaries such as Andrei Sakharov or Alexander Solzhenitsyn or like Nelson Mandela?  Why was he not for music what Albert Einstein was for science – eminent in his profession and, in general, a leader of his generation?  The first answer is that these pretensions would have quickly earned him a one-way trip to the Soviet gulag and we would have been deprived of his creative output and the loss would have been his -- and ours.  The other two Russians were younger and their careers took place during less dangerous times.

The other factor is astrological – both luminaries that Arcturus connects with (Sun in Libra; Moon in Capricorn) are in debility.  Both are in cadent houses although the Sun in the 9th (in its joy) is far more favorable than Moon in the 12th.  The Lord of his Ascendant is Saturn in Pisces in the 2nd – a fairly weak Saturn placed weakly.  (These positions tells us much about the power of planets in angular vs cadent houses – it was Venus in the 10th that was so powerful and so jealously guarded by him – to the point of allowing himself to become a pawn of the Soviet systems.

Arcturus’ prominence may indicate fame over time: traditionally fixed stars were used as an indication of prominence.  I wonder about the lasting legacy of his music – more than many of his contemporaries, Shostakovich blended harmonic richness with strong expressivity.  (You may find this more in his chamber music than in his symphonies.)  Here are some examples:

String Quartet #3: It was at the tail end of World War Two that Shostakovich wrote this quartet, which is quite a large-scale work for a chamber piece.  Its original titles where about the processes of war from its naïve beginnings to some very moving elegiac music.  Here is the third movement, a wonderful short “all hell breaks loose” piece that is grating and harsh and musically wonderful.  If you have the inclination, do listen to the other movements of this piece, especially its conclusion.  This performance is by the Emerson String Quartet whose recordings of Shostakovich string quartets have been well received and won a Grammy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGecTrhNzG4

Violin Concerto #1, 1st Movement:  The emotional strength and richness of this piece speaks for itself.  The performance was by Leonid Kogan, another prominent Soviet musician.  The visuals of this piece will take you back to a very different era that some of us will remember from our earlier days. This performance is steelier than others; if you wish, check out alternatives YouTube that are much sweeter.  But I really like this one and if you’re interested, the rest of this piece is wonderful also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4oWgBlHIVY

Let’s go back – if we ever got there once – to some popular recording artists.  A newer student offered to help me work on material for the next newsletter – profiles of Bono and Bruce Springsteen.  With her help I can do this. Of course we do not know what other individuals may press themselves – advertently or inadvertently -- onto our collective consciousness.  If so, we will be there.

We will also look at the solstice chart and planetary alignments that occur in the early winter.