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Astrology Institute Newsletter
September, 2006
Autumn Classes – – Final words on Eris and Pluto-- Eclipses and Sun/Mars conjunction
Newsletter written by Joseph Crane.
First, a little publicity:
Autumn workshops by Joseph Crane
Horary and Electional Astrology Sundays, 10:30 – 4, October 1 and 15
Fox Community C enter 175 Mass Ave., Arlington Ma. $60 per session
Horary and Electional astrology, like Natal astrology, are examples of katarche, which are astrological interpretations of beginnings. Horary astrology casts a chart for the moment of asking a question, and can be used to interpret specific events as they happen. In electional astrology, we find an auspicious time to begin a project of personal importance. Both techniques highlight astrology’s usefulness for the ordinary concerns and remind us of the cosmic nature of our daily lives.
In this short course, we will survey the history and scope of these important practices. Through case examples and practice exercises, we will help you gain practical insight and experience. You will also find that your natal interpretative skills improve.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Joseph at (401) 527-2035 or josephcrane@cox.net.
Here is my bio:
Joseph Crane has taught astrology to beginners and professionals since 1990, and is a consulting astrologer with clients in Eastern Mass and Rhode Island. In the 1990’s he completed Lee Lehman’s course on horary and has used horary and electional astrology as strong components of his practice. Authored A Practical Guide to Traditional Astrology
and is completing a second book on Hellenistic astrology.
Discordant Pluto: An Update
First, yesterday’s news: the recently discovered planetary body previously known as Xena, having become one of the newly designated “dwarf planets,” has now the official name Eris. Myth buffs quickly recognize Eris as the goddess
of discord, the bad girl who tossed the apple in the midst of Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, causing them to feud over who was loveliest and to decide on Paris to settle the matter. The Trojan War followed.
Everybody thinks “Eris” is a great name for this new body. Eris became the stuff of controversy from its moment of discovery, being larger than Pluto but much further from the Sun and the ecliptic. Is this a planet? If not, what is Pluto?
As the goddess Eris caused great harm to her mythic culture, the planet called Eris caused, among other things, the demotion of Pluto as a planet. Eris and Pluto, along with the asteroid Ceres, are now “dwarf planets,” not true planets.
In the past few weeks, astrologers have had to respond to Pluto’s demotion, and many of our responses have had qualities of stubborn resentment or defiant indifference
I have three predictions.
Astrologers have understood and used Pluto quite effectively in the years since its discovery. Modern astrologers have used many non-planetary bodies – Chiron, asteroids, even hypothetical “trans-Neptunian planets” – and Pluto simply becomes a member of a group of astrologically significant sky positions that are not conventionally called planets. As many astrologers have also said about themselves, I don’t see my astrological technique being affected by what
some astronomers had decided behind closed doors in Prague.
(Pluto ‘s name and original mythological significance most closely resembles its modern astrological meaning. Our understanding and use of Uranus and Neptune in astrology seem more remote from the gods after whom they were named.)
Secondly, Pluto’s demotion may help to limit the bad habit modern astrologers have gotten into by linking discovered planets to specific zodiacal signs. The day of the announcement that Pluto would be henceforth called a “dwarf planet,” a reporter for the Boston Herald called me, asking what is the impact of Pluto’s demotion on people who are Scorpios. I was taken aback as that hadn’t occurred to me: it has been fifteen years since I have practiced or taught that there was any link between Pluto and Scorpio. In this sense I find Pluto’s demotion a happy occasion: more astrologers may discover or rediscover the traditional sign rulers for Scorpio, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Finally, Pluto’s demotion may embolden more astrologers to work more exclusively with the so-called inner planets, those visible to the eye. In fact, astrologers can put forth their own definition of a “planet,” which happens to be the original one – a body that, season by season, wanders through the night sky. Like most modern astrologers, I use outer planets in my teaching and client work, and plan to continue to do so. Over the past several years, however, my written work has experimented with only using visible planets, and the results have been interesting. As more astrologers use the visible planets only, they may also include other factors such as lots (or “parts” and, for extra-planetary bodies,
the fixed stars. They worked very well for us in our past, and may continue to do so in the future.
Planetary Events of September and October
The occasions I attend to here are the eclipses in September and the close
of the Sun-Mars cycle in October.
As most astrologers know, there are usually two “eclipse seasons” a year. They occur six months about apart from one another. One can always find the times of the year for an eclipse season by looking at the lunar nodes. If, for example, the lunar nodes are in Taurus and Scorpio, an eclipse season will be when the Sun is in Taurus and Scorpio. The New Moon would be a solar eclipse – the Sun gets in front the Moon – and a Full Moon would be a lunar eclipse – the
Earth’s shadow covers the Moon.
The lunar nodes tell us where it is that the Moon crosses the line of the ecliptic. Where the Moon heads north of the ecliptic is the North Node; where the Moon heads south of the ecliptic is the South Node. Therefore, when there’s a New or Full moon near a South or North Node, the Sun and Moon are aligned along the ecliptic by longitude (across) and latitude (up and down).
Although we associate an eclipse with a loss of light, and some eclipses are spectacular, most eclipses do not affect our ability to see the Sun or Moon. Indeed most people would not see either of the two eclipses of this season.
Are eclipses astrologically significant for prediction? Yes they are -- in an unpredictable way. The astrologer who bases an entire prediction on an eclipse is in danger of giving bad advice, for it is often the case that nothing happens with even the most ominous of eclipse configurations. And at other times the eclipse describes a significant event with great accuracy. No two astrologers seem to use the same criteria to determine whether an eclipse is significant. I
tend to focus exclusively on a close conjunction of the eclipse points (the Sun/Moon in a solar eclipse and the Moon in a lunar eclipse) with an important personal position in a natal chart. I also use a ninety-day window after the
eclipse is exact for its effects to manifest.
Let’s look at the two eclipses of this season. The first was a lunar eclipse, occurring when the Full Moon is with the Lunar Nodes. The points activated are 15 Virgo, the Sun position, and 15 Pisces, the Moon position. As this is a lunar
eclipse, the Moon is the more important position. From the chart below you would note that the nodes are ten degrees from the eclipse position: this is a partial eclipse.
Two weeks later, on September 22, coinciding with the next New Moon, we have a solar eclipse. The position is 29 Virgo. The Sun and Moon meet there and the South Node is close by. (There seems to be no difference between a solar
eclipse with the South Node or the North Node.) This eclipse would be total except that it is “annular” – the Moon is relatively far from the Earth so that, if visible, the Moon would not cover the Sun completely; instead, it would appear
as if the Sun were a ring around the Moon. This is nonetheless a powerful eclipse and I would attend one’s natal chart positions that are close to 29 Virgo. Modern astrologers would note that this eclipse is conjunct the “Aries Point” –
positions that depict where the ecliptic crosses the equator.
Our next cosmic occasion is something subtler – the closing of the current Sun-Mars cycle. At mid-cycle we had the long retrograde of Mars in Taurus in late-2005, and consequently the long time that Mars was in Taurus that year.
When Mars went direct in December it was behind the Sun in Sagittarius, and gradually the two planets moved closer together as the Sun caught up on the more slowly moving Mars. Many months later in September 2006, Sun has
moved within thirteen degrees of Mars and the planet is within the Sun’s beams: it no longer is visible in the west after the Sun sets.
As all planets appear to speed up when the Sun gets close to them in the zodiac, Mars is at its fastest now: over forty minutes, two-thirds of a degree, per day. Because the Sun is moving faster, just under a degree a day, the luminary
will eventually catches up with Mars – on October 22, at 29 Libra. Any final degrees of the cardinal signs will be influenced by the transit of Mars, and, on that day, Sun. If your birthday happens to be October 22, you will have an exact Sun-Mars combination in your solar return, describing an entire year of aggressive self-expression.
It is important to take note of the planets and their ongoing relationships with the Sun throughout the year. Many astrological indications are based upon these relationships. With the exception of the Moon, the direction and speed of
all the planets depends wholly on their relationship with the Sun – the principal luminary is indeed the choreographer of the sky. Relevant charts are below.
Next month’s newsletter is due well in the middle of the political season, prior to important races for regional and national political office. As an unrepentant political junkie and professional astrologer, I can hardly keep away from these topics.