christian astrology texts
THE CHRISTIAN ASTROLOGER
To the vast majority of people, a "Christian astrologer" is a contradiction in terms. Astrology, seen by the ill-informed either as trivial nonsense or dangerously manipulative, is even considered anti-Christian; Christians therefore cannot possibly embrace such a mischief, and were astrology indeed a body of truth, surely it must only reflect an aspect of Man's fallen state, the world's essentially evil nature, now triumphantly redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ and rendered powerless and irrelevant. Astrologers themselves, meanwhile, are now often too busy wooing the statistician, the businessman and the scientist, too in love with the technicalities and politics of their discipline, to reflect upon and redevelop its profound spiritual rôle. But this gulf between the two results from a divorce, not from a primary incompatibility. The material evidence can be seen by anyone in many of our churches; no less than four English cathedrals - Chichester, Carlisle, Lincoln and Canterbury itself - incorporate the zodiac symbols, and so do at least 19 parish churches from Kent to the Isle of Man. Written evidence is found throughout Christian history, beginning with admittedly apocryphal works such as the Arabic "Gospel of the Infancy" attributed to St. James, in which Jesus is presented as lecturing the temple priests on "the number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square and sextile aspects, their progressive and retrograde motion; their 24ths, and 60ths of the 24ths, and other things which the reason of man had never discovered... " and from the 1st or 2nd century "The Clementine Recognitions". Here Clement describes to James the brother of Jesus the status of astrology as mathesis - a mental exercise to gain knowledge. Through such study and comprehension of the stars Abraham came to recognise his Creator, while the rest of mankind were yet in ignorance. Clement recognised the complexity and difficulty of the planetary patterns and their interpretation, and how easy it was to misread them; also that the possession of free will leads man sometimes to resist and sometimes to yield to the desires patterned in his heavens. He called the twelve apostles "the Twelve Months of Christ", who was thus "the Year of Our Lord". Early Church fathers probably shared St. Jerome's acknowledgement of the Magi as wise and skilled astrologers who were thus alert to Jesus' Nativity, and with Plotinus would have taken the celestial patterns as signs, as symbols, not as causes - nor as the work of demons as St. Augustine (a previous adherent of astrology) would have it, nor as an evil block to the soul's progress from heaven to earth and back again as the Gnostics saw it. Synesius of Cyrene "considered the study of astrology to be a preparation for the more elevated study of theology", seeing the universe as a whole, its parts all bound together by sympathy. In the 20th century this view was to be echoed and developed by Carl Gustav Jung, and it is all the more valid today when the scientist can show the minute and subtle interdependence of all natural phenomena on the microcosmic and the macrocosmic scale. More and more of our physicists are reaching a point in their understanding where laws of material energy, however rarefied, break down and only the restoration of Mind - spiritual intelligence, God - can ultimately make sense of the universal equations. The materialist who tries to force astrology into a causative mould, who will only allow it to work in the context of the "natural" world (of weather, of agriculture, the earth's flora and fauna, Man's bodily constitution and health) is completely missing the point; and as this was the prevalent view during the Middle Ages in Europe, for a long time actively supported by the Church and its Popes and continuing for centuries among the unlearned populace, "western" society inherits today a massive backlog of astrological misunderstanding and prejudice. In trying to correct this as far as I can, let me briefly describe the working basis of astrology. First of all, it depends on the wisdom, "As above, so below"; meaning is an essential property of the universe, therefore "whatever is born, or done, in this moment of time, has the qualities of this moment of time." (C.G. Jung - "Synchronicity: an Acausal Connecting Principle".) Secondly, astrology depends on the qualitative significance of number and pattern, as found in the varying geometrical interrelationships of Sun, Moon and planets in our solar system and the observable stars, both with each other and with the Earth, at a given moment and birthplace. We know that the geometries of sacred architecture generate natural musical resonances within their structure; so, I consider, does the cosmic geometry resonate within its energy-structures. This may constitute the real Music of the Spheres; and all music is eloquent of meaning. So the patterns of lives and events unfolding on the earth in synchrony with the patterns of the embracing macrocosm reflect its meaning, make the same music. The is a Composer of all this music; and His orchestra is infinite. We, and the Sun, planets, moons, asteroids and stars, are all part of the same orchestra; the more we allow the Composer also to conduct us in our individual themes, the clearer becomes His intention, and the more perfect the universal symphony. The French in fact know the birth-chart as the "thème". What is this chart? It can be understood in terms of a stopped clock, or a slice of Time. The astrologer presents the heavenly patterns on a dial with twelve figures - not numbers, however, but the symbolic sequence of zodiacal images - whose "hands" are the momentary positions of the Sun, Moon and planets in the sky around the Earth, centre of our experience, and the same moment's local horizon and meridian. The latter, known as the Ascendant-Descendant and the MC-IC (Medium and Imum Coeli) form the basis of four major and twelve minor divisions of the encompassing sky, called respectively the Quadrants and the Houses. Broadly, each luminary or planetary body represents a different archetypal energy at work in the world and humankind, the twelve Signs illustrate a series of archetypal modes of behaviour through which these energies are channelled, and the twelve Houses present those fundamental areas of life most strongly in focus at the time and place at which a seminal event occurs - such as a human birth, a meeting, a marriage, a commitment, a treaty - and for which the chart of the heavens is erected. The astrologer understands from the balance of planets above and below the horizon and East and West of the meridian, also by their grouping in particular Signs and Houses to the exclusion of others, and by their geometrical interrelationships from the viewpoint of Earth, the character and possibilities for growth of the life begun in that moment. The astrologer is able to see where, for example, Fire and Water Signs bring an excess of passion, too much Air or Earth holds the risk of coldness and bureaucracy, a badly placed Saturn highlights the issue of discipline, a difficult Mars shows fear and aggression ... and so on. The subtleties of the eternally-changing pattern are continually realised in the complex human condition and its every experience; the capacity for joy, misery, greed and selfishness, sacrifice, cruelty, cowardice or heroism, generosity, doubt, sloth and tirelessness, friendship, creativity. showmanship, spirituality, dependency, skill, bluntness and tenderness - all are there. Thus informed, the old astrologers would make predictions; and there are plenty around today who still do, creating therewith the dangers of the self-fulfilling prophecy, the dependent client, the abdication of personal responsibility through an encouraged fatalism. The Christian astrologer will not do this. Elements of our destiny can not be changed, any more than we can change our genes; we cannot alter our past - that long past of our evolution from an undifferentiated spark of Godhead to our current stage of individual growth, whose fruits are mirrored in the horoscopic pattern - and each of us has to start from the point which we had reached prior to this incarnation, accepting our true nature with its chiaroscuro of spiritual victory and failure; also we must stand by the commitments made on re-entry to this world, and work in our allotted or chosen field. The Christian astrologer knows we may do all this well or badly, and will show the seeker the strengths on which he may choose to build, the weaknesses he must still overcome, where debts from the past may yet have to be paid, and where spiritual refreshment will always be found. More than this, the Christian astrologer will read the chart on two, three or four levels. In addition to the geocentric (Earth-centred) circle of twelve Houses and the familiar Tropical Signs relating to the personal life, there is also the Sidereal zodiac linked to the visible constellations and concerned with our wider cultural rôles, plus the deeper truth of their Heliocentric (Sun-centred) perspectives, as well as another very important zodiac known as the Draconic, which begins its own sequence of twelve Signs at the current intersection of the Moon and Earth orbits, and describes the belief-system, the guiding principles brought by the soul from its past experience into the current life. Every 25,800 years, the Spring Equinox aligns with the beginning of the Sidereal, constellational zodiac; this last happened close to the time of the Christ's presence in the world as Jesus, at that mighty outreach to bind the will of mankind to the Will of God. The Gospels are rich with the symbolism of the cusp of Aries/Pisces, the first and last Signs, tha Alpha and Omega of the heavens, the passing Age and the Age beginning. Aries the Ram is the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd of the flock; the Fishes, Pisces, are the disciples, the Fishers of Men. The net is cast upon the waters, the fish are multiplied to feed the hungry, the Lord is Ichthus the Fish whose secret symbol graces the catacombs; competitive gods and ritual slaughter give way to the Holy Trinity and the mission of Divine Love. We can look at the relationship between our Sidereal and Tropical levels and learn something of how our little human will clashes or blends with a larger Self and a far higher Will. But it is the Draconic zodiac which provides the crucial missing link for the person in spiritual pain; astrology for the Christian is essentially healing work, and most of those who come for help are at a crossroads in their life, utterly bewildered. To varying degrees they feel lost, fearful, inadequate, unhappy, often lonely and sometimes ill. For such people a thorough exploration of their bodily drives and psyche in the Tropical chart is useless if they have no strength or motivation to act, and may leave them feeling even more impotent. But the message of the Draconic zodiac, especially the Signs of the Luminaries - Sun and Moon - and those contacts made to axes of the Tropical chart, is that behind every human life lies a higher purpose transcending personal desire, and it is this that once rekindled enables the lost soul to go forth again in joy and vigour and hope. The astrologer who is thus able to awaken what lies in the seeker's heart of hearts puts him or her back in touch with the long past that built a Conscience out of these cherished principles, lights again the flame of spiritual longing, and gives meaning back to what had seemed an empty life. With the Christ, the astrologer encourages, "Be thou perfect, even as thy Father in Heaven is Perfect." The seeker responds. The Sidereal zodiac challenges us to the vast stars across the gulfs of space; how worthless and small we can feel compared to God's greatness, even though each of us has an indispensible part to play in the history of His universe. The Tropical zodiac holds the mirror up to our common humanity, saying "Man, know thyself!" The twelve Houses tie us even more tightly to our individual interests and environment. These three levels in one pattern might suffice for the non-Catholic, or for the man who expects only one life, one judgement, one heaven or hell - but not for the man or woman whose soul is alive in the body and begins to quicken its journey. Not for nothing does the Catholic Church honour and love Mary, Our Lady, Star of the Sea, crowned with the twelve stars, poised on the Moon; it is she who from God brings us the Christ to live in our opening hearts, it is the Moon which is symbol of Soul, of Spirit taking form, of births, of histories, of the Mother who joins her wandering children back to their Father through the Son. It is the zodiac of the Moon, the Draconic, which helps the Christian astrologer to show those suffering on the cross of matter that it is neither endless nor meaningless. The revelation and reconnection of all these vital but hidden layers of worldly and heavenly self restores in even the most dejected and hopeless the will to live and the will to love. Through Christian astrology, the human instrument can be wholly re-tuned, its true voice and conscious purpose given back again. Beauty of life becomes possible, centred in love, integrity and unselfishness; as the Path of the soul is re-opened. The astrologer should at this point no longer be needed, and quietly step aside, having taught "This above all, to thine own self be true; thus it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man"... nor, therefore, to Christ, nor to God our source and destiny, who in His heavens has given us the keys to His Kingdom. .......................................................................................................................... THE NATIVITY OF JESUS (Written for the Italian Press) Some research in astrology is only possible with a computer. In England in October 1992 the Reverend Pamela Crane used hers to test an idea that had come to her about the birth of Jesus. There are in fact three zodiacs ( Tropical, Sidereal and Draconic ); the first starts with Aries at the point of the Spring Equinox and describes our familiar personality, the second starts at the beginning of the constellation Aries and describes our public identity, and the third starts at a point in the sky where the current year’s eclipses are seen ( this point changes all the time in an 18-year cycle) describing our soul’s deepest principles. All three are usually quite different. But a person born with all three lined up together, only possible 2000 years ago, always practices what he preaches and is no different in private or in public, like Jesus. Pamela Crane discovered a moment in 5BC, on May 7th at sunset, when this perfection was possible - accompanied by astonishing patterns made by the Sun, the Horizon, the Great Royal Stars and the four most spiritual planets, that clearly describe the power, wisdom and selfless love of God’s Son. This is a man of great gentleness, generosity, humour and extraordinary courage. He has a young mother, intelligent women-friends - and will be betrayed. As well as Earth-centred planetary patterns, those around the Sun must be studied, for these show us who we really are, not who we appear to be. In the birth-chart of Jesus, these also have to be perfect. And so they are; they show that His life will focus on deep teachings, divine healing, suffering, and the conquest of death in Resurrection. This birth relates astrologically to hundreds of events and people in Christian history. It was foretold in the lovely March eclipse, the planets’ perfect Star Of David around the Sun a week earlier, and by the arrival of a spectacular comet in the Judaean skies. Now Reverend Crane finds the identity of Jesus confirmed through the way that tiny asteroids with Gospel names are clustered in the most personal parts of the sky. This is truly the Word of God. ........................................................................................................................... BBC BANGOR INTERVIEW THOUGHTS - 2/3/2004 (For 'Beyond Belief' on Radio 4 with Ernie Rea) In his book 'Synchronicity' Carl Jung wrote, ''whatever is born or done in a moment of time has the qualities of that moment of time.'' Astrology ascribes a consistent set of meanings to the positions of Sun, Moon, planets & stars in relation to the local horizon & meridian at the start of a human life. It goes on to describe the developing personality and to time the circumstances that are sent to stimulate inner growth. Astrology demonstrates that you are the state of the cosmos in which your bodily life began. You are a conscious mind that seeks to love. So the characteristics of the cosmos appear to be Mind, consciousness, meaning, love, intent, and must surely manifest the loving omnipresence of God. In this way God is indeed our Father, and we are made 'in His image'. We are the same stuff, but fractional & imperfect where He is complete & perfect. In response to the biblical exhortation, 'Be thou perfect, even as thy Father in Heaven is perfect', our birth-chart is the cosmic pattern of our tiny potential perfection, much like the image carried in individual splinters of a Hologram, or like the uniqueness of DNA in every cell in a mighty body - the body of God. It is up to each of us to fulfil that particular perfection - our true destiny - with God's help and in harmony with His law. Astrology is eternal witness to the reality of God - yet, paradoxically, does it also imply a dismayingly limited God? I believe not. God acting from His own realm can never be limited or constrained. That realm of Consciousness exists at such a high vibrational level that it pervades and directly affects everything that is. But whenever God manifests in His creation, descending to the slow, heavy conditions of matter, He has to work through all the limitations He created to define and characterise it, just as He did through the human body of His Son, Jesus, and just as He does in engaging with our own lives. And in common with the stars that silently bear His Word, God inclines - He cannot compel; His intervention has always been and always will be bounded by the imperishable gift of free-will to us, His wayward, beloved, and growing children. ........................................................................................................................... ASTROLOGY AND GOD As I am one of many who get a buzz out of pushing astrology to its limits, there will be many travellers’ tales - but here are mine. First, and most important: God is not dead! We are constantly told that we live in a post-Christian age and that secularism has won the cultural battle, and at least in Western society this would seem to be largely true. Jesus said to his followers, “I shall be with you until the end of the age”; obedient, romantic Pisces is emphatically giving way to independent and analytic Aquarius, in a global environment that is changing so fast that even the remaining Faith communities will have to adapt or fail. Amongst all this there are few scientists who perceive creation as in any way divine, and the demand for proof in any conceptual context means that astrologers will find it harder and harder to convince the growing armies of sceptics that they are more than a comical relic of a superstitious past. However, when you work with a language that consistently tells you the truth - when day after day you see the geometries of a moment describe exactly what is beginning there, when your experience confirm’s Jung’s welcome conclusion that “anything born or done in a moment of time has the qualities of that moment of time” - then you know that the entire cosmos is suffused with purpose and meaning, and therefore must be the stuff of Mind, and that unimaginably vast Mind (of which you and I and all creatures earthly or alien are part) is what we, each in our language, call God. The limitations of our minds are obvious - they are to the Divine mind as the tiniest shards are to the unbroken hologram, each presenting the most partial and constricted view of the Whole. An astrological chart is the diagram of of a shard of divine life, which despite its littleness is still integral to the Whole, and has its own little life and purpose to fulfil. Remarkably, we have free will... or do we? That argument runs and runs, and I’m not going to speculate here! But we behave as if we do, and yet are tantalised by the possibility of prediction, so we try to hone our astrological skills to be one jump ahead of Uranus, and totally prepared for Pluto (planet or no planet, Pluto always was a power to be reckoned with, from the dawn of history, and always will be!) ........................................................................................................................... THE BIRTH OF JESUS (The full account of the discovery/revelation of the date and time of Jesus' Nativity, and also that of Mary His Mother, can be found in The Draconic Chart - revised and extended edition, Flare Publications 2013, available at Amazon.) The Birth of Jesus Christ has been a subject of fascinated speculation among astrologers and interested astronomers for a large part of the millennium. Much of this has centred on the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, reports of super-novae, historical records, and the few clues offered by the Gospels themselves. That Jesus of Nazareth really lived and died by crucifixion is supported by early historians like Josephus; that something extraordinary happened to his followers is witnessed by their readiness to suffer torture and death for the truth of what they had seen, and by the astonishing spread of his revolutionary teaching throughout the world. Human nature being what it is, the teaching - exoteric and esoteric - has been much corrupted and misunderstood, but still it continues to raise humankind from the brute to the angel. As all avenues of establishment and fringe enquiry have so far borne little fruit, it seemed a good idea to take a radically different approach to the question of the birth-moment for such an awesome figure. Accepting that the man Jesus was the earthly vehicle for that emanation of the Godhead which we call the Christ, and assuming that this exalted being must come into the world free of human karma and with no conflicts between his persona and his spiritual nature, it follows that such perfection requires a perfect moment for its earthly incarnation - a moment that is historically unrepeatable. When might such a moment be? The answer lies not in the search for planetary patterns, nor in the possibility of exploding stars. We only have to look to the Zodiacs for our answer. At 16h23m07s GMT (18h43m55s LMT/ 18h50m37s LAT) on May 7th, 5BC (Astronomical Year for computing, -0004) in Bethlehem, Israel, the Sun was setting conjunct Jupiter in the middle of Taurus "between the Ox and the Ass", just as the Moon's True North Node reached 0deg00'00"Aries, precisely aligning the Tropical and Draconic zodiacs for the first time since three other crucial events occurred - the similar alignment of the Tropical zodiac with the Sidereal, the symbolically important conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces, and a highly significant eclipse in the same Sign on March 8th 5BC. The Persian Magi, watching the heavens for signs of the Christ-child's coming, would first observe the triple conjunction and know that the prophesied time was coming near. "Following his star" they would then have waited for two more signs before they set off on their momentous journey - the Spring Equinox Sun rising in the Dragon's Head (ie eclipses occurring close to the Equinox) and then the heliacal rising of Jupiter after a New Moon conjunct the royal star Aldebaran, "the Watcher of the East". Perhaps this is what was meant by "they have seen his star in the East"?... In any case, with Aldebaran in Taurus 11deg54', the astrologers would have observed its heliacal rising in the East, after the crucial New Moon, as they arrived in Jerusalem, knowing from this that their calculations had brought them to Bethlehem in good time to pay their homage to the child born "under" that royal star before the family left to return home. There could well have been the gift of a lamb by the local shepherds; certainly the flocks would have been back in the hills, and that season's lambs would still have been quite small. What about the gifts of the "three kings"? This story may not refer to the Magi, but in fact to the three great symbols of kingship gathered on the horizon - the Sun, Jupiter, and the Royal Star itself - expressed again in the symbolism of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. At this moment the alignment of the three zodiacs was exact between the first two, and extremely close between these and the Sidereal - whichever of the main contenders for this zodiac you choose. The De Luce is almost exactly aligned, with the Synetic vernal Point at only 01°03'01" Aries; the general favourite (and mine, after long and rigorous testing), the Fagan-Bradley, is only off by 3°17'09". The significance of this triple alignment, intimated above, is that the characteristics of the (Tropical) bodily personality, dependent as it is on that body's metabolic needs and drives, are in total unison with those of the (Draconic) incarnating soul, and almost identical with the (Sidereal) "historic" self that identifies not with its bodily desires, nor with any accompanying karmic drives, but with its duty to the rest of humanity, as far as opportunity affords. The differences that do arise between the Sidereal and the other two zodiacs, allowing planetary cross-contacts from one to the other, bring those other drives and energies into this wider Sidereal scheme. What kind of nature, then, does this uniquely unified being bring into incarnation at this moment in history? For even statistically, someone somewhere was very likely to be coming into the world at the time. The planetary pattern is amazing, and gives the lie to all protestations that "undiscovered" planets are invalid in nativities pre-dating their first observation. The Sun, the focus of identity at every level, is conjunct Jupiter, royal Aldebaran (the "eye of the bull") and the Descendant in Taurus, opposite the other royal star Antares on the Ascendant and the 12th-house Neptune, sextile Uranus in the 4th and in a dynamic tri-octile to Pluto at the Moon's South Node in the 11th - possessing great power, but resisting its temptations and dedicating it to the healing and spiritual enlightenment of others. It also semi-sextiles Saturn in 5th. Also in the 5th house are the conjoined Equinox, Dragon's Head and S.V.P. So immediately we have a figure of tremendous power, sensitivity, originality and spiritual charisma, graced with self-discipline and authority, full of common-sense, generosity, wisdom and humour. His heart goes out to everyone he meets; his path is one of loving and giving on a global scale. The Fagan-Bradley Sidereal brings that wonderful Sun/Jupiter right onto to the Tropical/Draconic 7th cusp to emphasise the importance of one-to-one sharing in this man's principal work. His star, Aldebaran in Taurus, grants him the titles of King of Kings, Prince of Peace. Yet the same Taurus Sun also describes the man Joseph who was earthly father to him, for this man was a carpenter - and in those times if a man worked in wood to build homes and furnishings, he also worked in stone as a mason, a builder. (I learned this on our visit to the Holy Land at Easter, 1994.) This was the trade Jesus himself was to follow until the start of his ministry; the Taurean was to be known as the Carpenter - the Builder - of Nazareth. The Moon in 1 degree of Gemini, still conjunct the Taurus Mercury, describes a young and intelligent mother - but she is semi-square the 5th-house Saturn, though sextile the triple Node, and quincunx a 12th-house Mars... this man can only bring pain to his mother and to any woman in his life, for Venus in Gemini in the 8th also configures the 12th in her sesqui-square to Neptune, and the hidden enemies mean ultimate torture (Sidereal Mars Scorpio) and death. Scorpio rising is strong and silent under stress, whatever the nature it hides. This is a being who came to love universally, and to suffer in silence. Here is a perfect spirit in an imperfect world. Finally, the Geocentric Dwad positions put the Ascendant into Taurus conjunct Sun/Jupiter/DESC, completing the identification of self with neighbour; Venus goes onto the IC - he is rooted and grounded in love. Mercury and Neptune conjoin in the Dwad opposite Uranus and Pluto from 3rd house Aquarius to 9th house Leo, bringing to the picture a visionary teacher; Mars and Saturn conjoin opposite radix Uranus, introducing the experience of violence; the Descendant moves to Neptune, drawing to him followers among the fishermen and the "publicans and sinners." And the Dwad Sun is conjunct Dwad IC in Libra with radix Mars, graphically depicting the end of his selfless life abandoned and in agony. Sidereal Dwad Saturn joins this group; here is "the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief." I have subjected this nativity to almost every test possible; it has been measured Interdimensionally against the Crucifixion and Resurrection of 3rd and 5th April 33AD for progressions, directions and transits, compared directly and in composite with clergy, papacy, saints, martyrs, apostates, faithful, turning-points in Christian history, photographs of the Turin Shroud, and even actors who have played the role of Christ. No matter what I do or how finely the tests are tuned, the resulting patterns behave as though the power, the mind and the love of God are present through the person of Jesus Christ. It will not fall down; I can find no fault in this Nativity, and the supporting research has grown into a book. That womanhood has such a low profile here, and is subject to such limitations, may disturb some of you. But this is still in accord with the received wisdom, now very much out of fashion and "politically incorrect", that woman is somehow less than man. But think about it for a minute - the distress that is present in this pattern comes precisely from the capacity to feel, to respond at a purely human, emotional level, which is after all a woman's special gift. He, being whole, would have this gift, and therefore experience - and cause - emotional pain while living a life in the body. Woman is only "less" than man because the Earth and Moon are only satellites of the Sun, because body and even soul are necessarily "satellites" of the true spiritual Self in every being, male or female. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, "Except a woman become like a man, she cannot enter the Kingdom." What are we astrologers teaching, after all, but this very truth - that individuation, true fulfilment in the search for identity, lies in the reunion of male and female in the psyche; and especially that a woman, who will tend naturally to find her identity through Moon and Venus, has to become her own Sun, her own man, in order to experience her fullest spiritual life. That relatively few women of Jesus' day would have had our opportunities to desire, to approach and to achieve that fullness of life may be one reason why he chose twelve men as his closest companions - quite apart from the symbolic significance of the twelve Sun-signs encompassing their Sun/the Son, which is unlikely to be accidental. Much of the detailed work on this Nativity made possible by my late friend and colleague Jacob Schwartz, with his dedicated work on the many thousands of asteroids and their very specific meanings, sheds even more light on its authenticity. Christa, Yeshuhua, Emanuela, Josefa, Mary, Virginia, Child, Noel, Eucharis, Martir, Anastasia (greek Anastasis - Resurrection) and many other names and concepts associated with Jesus' life, painstakingly and precisely calculated for the charts of His birth and Mary's, the pre-Nativity eclipses and Star, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, are found in tight clusters configured with the crucial axes of horizon, meridian and eclipses to form in the heavens the key phrases that carry the message of the Gospels ... the Words of God. Finally, there is also academic support: in 1995, I discovered a 20-page article in the October '93 SCIENCE AND CHRISTIAN BELIEF, by the same Colin Humphreys who co-authored the paper on the date of the Crucifixion, explaining that the documented appearance of a tailed comet, plus many historical and environmental factors, finally decided his own choice of March-early May 5BC for the Nativity of Jesus. He and I are currently still in correspondence, and hope to meet. Whether or not you are persuaded to believe, on this extraordinary evidence, that Jesus was born at this place and time, and exercised his world-changing ministry, two things are true: one, that something happened to catalyse the extraordinary spread of Christianity, and two, that there was a moment in celestial history that had the power to set an ideal pattern for human growth, a pattern far more important than the little solstices and equinoxes we study to gauge our historic progress over the coming months! Even on these terms, then, the skies of May 7th 5BC repay our study - but to some of us they will now and forever speak of the coming of Christ. .......................................................................................................................... Man and Woman in the Church Aries, of course, is not only the first male type but the first sign on the cosmic template for our collective humanity. The zodiac starts with Aries; I am firmly of the opinion that this is why it is so hard to erase the timeworn image of a masculine God. When Jesus spoke of God he referred to him as our Father in Heaven. His words underline the symbolic truth found in the heavenly Wheel. Even if the reality of God is a mighty spiritual Being without gender. And as my other ‘hat’ is as a Christian Deacon, we can explore the gender archetypes through a look at their place in religious life. Aries Man, identified as the First House sign, puts Sagittarius on the Ninth cusp - collective wisdom and religion - where it fundamentally belongs; so Adam - microcosmic and macrocosmic - is naturally fitted to act as God's priest in God's Church. Leo on the First House cusp puts Aries on the Ninth, giving the mature man natural leadership in Church affairs, as pastor of his flock and - in Christian terms - as earthly representative of the Lamb of God. Here too, Sagittarius is found with the Fifth House, bringing community religion into focus as a powerful source of masculine creativity and self-expression, dear to his heart. (You can see how masculine pride has so often resulted in religious wars.) Bear in mind, too, that Leo itself governs the Ninth House in the Church's own wheel starting with Sagittarius, advising a male priesthood. People who try to justify male ordination by reasoned argument or ancient teaching and precedent are missing the point! They are most likely rationalising a ‘gut feeling’, which can only be rooted in unconscious recognition of the cosmic archetype. Where, then, do women really belong in the life of worship? It is interesting to note that Scorpio Man sees a priesthood of women as entirely desirable; Cancer is on the Ninth. But here we are dealing not with public worship of the Heavenly Father under any of His many names, but of Initiation and Mysteries, of that which is "occult", and relates more to the understanding and effective knowledge of the subtle and spiritual at work in this world, than to its total, redeeming transcendence. Scorpio Man may look on and use the Church and spiritual knowledge as a resource (Sagittarius on the Second House cusp) which ideally should sustain him in his many times of trial and teach him his prophetic and healing skills - but as we know, some types have darker purposes, destructive or self-destructive, which must be forestalled. So -- be watchful; cherchez la femme! Much Mystery work (such as authentic Freemasonry) is profound, valuable and healing, and this deeper, more sensitive Scorpio man is more likely to give full honour to the Divine Mother, exemplified for Christians in Mary the mother of Jesus. However, where the old gods or goddesses are invoked (Cancer on the 4th cusp as our past roots) sometimes there are atavistic practices going on which should have been left behind, and may not be as innocent as they often pretend. The natural partner of Aries is Libra; she and Taurus are both feminine Signs under the rulership of Venus. The Sun is partnered by the Moon, her Sign being Cancer, next to Leo. It is to these three that we look to see where women find their role in the Church. Let us take Cancer first, as we have just found her involved in the Mysteries. Cancer is the Sign of the Mother, the adult woman, and of the infant she has borne and nourishes. Sagittarius falls on the Sixth House cusp, so her role is clearly and unambiguously to serve, to make herself useful in the day-to-day practical matters of the Church, alert to its needs and happiest when she is fulfilling these. Pisces occupies the Ninth; her attitude to God and the Church is an emotional one, ranging from sentimentality to poetic sensitivity to mystical vision and cosmic consciousness. The Church, for her, is her release and spiritual fulfilment, healing and inspiring her. In turn, she may act as a healer, musician or artist in the Church, or fulfil her prayer and service most completely in the self-sacrificial life of a nun. Yes, she may celebrate the Mysteries too - but not as a Priest, not in the same role as a man. Venus is exalted in Pisces, and urges women to be truly feminine in their work of worship, bringing an essential and complementary energy, one of great subtlety, delicacy and beauty, into the Church's celebration. For this purpose, it would be out of keeping for women to wear the same vestments as the men, nor should they behave like them, nor compete with them. Liturgy is meant to be a celebration and fulfilment of symbolic truth, where a masculine woman - in this special context - is clearly inappropriate. The archetypal Libran woman has Sagittarius in the Third House and Gemini on the Ninth cusp; her special function therefore is to preach. The work of reading, singing, dancing, teaching, administering, welcoming, all are hers. The car, the telephone, the newsletter, Church records, meetings, excursions and functions, all are her province and fulfilment. She is the epitome of the good neighbour, intermediary and friend, and can start young. But she may not be a Priest; and she may not enter the Mysteries either except to serve, for Pisces is on the Sixth, and she has not yet become a mother. Scorpio's partner, Taurus, identifies the church with the occult. Sagittarius for her belongs to the Eighth House with all its terrors and secrets. Either she will ally with Scorpio and go into the deep Mystery workings (hopefully avoiding their darker paths), or will steer clear of such matters altogether, preferring to remain ignorant and undisturbed by ideas and activities that seem very threatening to a quiet life! With Capricorn on the Ninth this may lead to a denial of God altogether, or adherence to rigid and predictable forms of worship that add to her sense of security. She will look up to her priest; she may even fear him, and the God he serves. Her attitudes are likely to be old-fashioned and reactionary. But if it is a hard worker you need in the parish, a pillar of strength, a reliable fund-raiser, unwavering moral and practical support who has a genuine concern for the future of the church to which she is attached and the perpetuation of all its amenities and customs, this is your woman! She may have authority ... but she may not be a priest. She is so strange to the subtler things that to her the Mysteries are no more than an odd kind of social function. The very same placing of Pisces on the Eleventh, though, reveals her soft spot for people, and her generosity to her fellow-men and women through charitable work and ready sympathy. There is plenty for a woman to do in the life and work of a church, that is plain. But to be fulfilled in worship there must be more provision than there is nowadays for celebration of the Feminine Mysteries adjacent to the Sacraments. Otherwise we have women leaving the churches, women trying to be men ( and inevitably failing ), women attracted to atavistic ritual and stuck in the Dark, women drawn to Masonic working that has lost its spiritual heart, women frustrated and trailing from cult to cult in a fruitless search for their proper role. And all the while they are fighting what they believe is a female stereotype when they could be dignifying the archetype that lies at the heart of womanliness and femininity. .......................................................................................................................... An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins (I have also written to him personally; but needless to say my letter has never been acknowleged, let alone elicited a response.) Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Dear Richard Dawkins ... ... what would I say to you if we came face to face? You seem desperate to present yourself as a nice man, yet everywhere you go, a hundred hackles rise. First, on the current scientific understanding of evolution I am 100% with you. I have strolled home from Great Orme's Head with my pockets full of fossils, and who could doubt their antiquity? Secondly, I share your admiration and respect for Charles Darwin, and all the pioneers of practical science. But thirdly - how do I not accept and integrate my own experience and that of thousands of other sane men and women who have found their souls to be more than 'a collection of neurons'? I take my hat off to the science teachers who 'stuck to their last' and refused to attack the faiths of their sensitive pupils; these may indeed be indoctrinated by their priests and parents, but however odd, however skewed, their beliefs - like mine - are founded on authentic and disconcerting experience. Now, I cannot personally vouch for that authenticity in most cases, so where I would share your ambivalence toward a particular faith, all I can do is give its adherents the benefit of the doubt - and my respect. But there remain certain incontrovertible facts. 1. The mobility of consciousness. My husband-to-be, in straitened circumstances, was soaking in one of the men's public baths in Sittingbourne when he found himself floating near the ceiling; from this unexpected vantage-point above the partitions he could watch the local vagrants splashing and drinking in the adjoining cubicles. After a few minutes he was looking through his physical eyes again and could only hear the sounds of the men. A close friend was listening to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall; he was so shocked to find himself looking down on orchestra and audience from the ceiling of the dome that he shot straight back into his seat. Another friend was out walking when she saw herself several yards ahead. She followed herself, alarmed and fascinated, for several minutes until she rejoined her body. This kind of experience cannot be dismissed as a dream state - generally in dreams we do not inhabit and navigate the immediate space and time. The above experiences and hundreds of others documented in OOBE research over several decades point to individual consciousness - at least in humans - inhabiting and exploiting rather than arising from the evolved structures of body and brain. 2. Cosmic integration. This is a difficult one for someone like you. Let me begin by stating that for 25 years, since I was 40, I have had to endure frequent and crippling migraines. Trying to coax one's life into some kind of acceptable shape around these bouts of miserable illness is a real challenge (which, for all I know, you may share.) At least I knew when I was at risk; the migraine always came around ovulation and menses, so I steered clear of commitments at these times. But a total hysterectomy at 46 put paid to all that. Neither did it rid me of the illness; instead its timing became chaotic and my life, personal and social, was in ruins. Here's the bit you won't find easy to accept: since my teens I’d had an interest in astrology, and in my twenties began studying it seriously. By my forties I had become a counsellor, teacher, researcher, lecturer, writer and occasional broadcaster on this unorthodox subject, respected by my peers, and still full of delight in its endless intellectual and philosophical adventure. I had always been a bright child; I could turn my hands and my mind to most things with noticeable success - and I had been brought up to value criticism and analysis, so anything that failed to 'do what it said on the tin' would be dismissed as a total waste of time and effectively binned. Astrology, unlikely as it will seem to you, consistently rose to my challenges, decade after decade. As you are probably as unfamiliar with its language as I am with Urdu or Mandarin Chinese, there is little point trying to explain much of its technique; but the fact is that it gave me my life back. It was the only tool I had in 1989 (in the absence of effective treatment, which didn't turn up till 1992) to get a handle on the apparent chaos of the attacks. I will now inflict upon you a little of the terminology ... knowing that the planetary energy of Mars connected with pain, heat and blood-flow, with acute symptoms, strong stimuli, and traditionally with the head, I started watching its interactions with my own birth pattern, both natally and as the sky diagram turned slowly through the days and years in what we call 'progression'. In brief, whenever Mars approached the meridian or horizon, Moon, Sun or inner planets of any of my astrological charts within 2 degrees of arc, even if my circumstances were relatively stress-free the migraine would hit. Several concurrent hits on different charts, a cluster of impacts, would coincide with intensified symptoms. As soon as Mars separated from the vulnerable degrees, the migraine disappeared. I could go through quite a busy and potentially stressful period which in theory should invoke an attack - yet if Mars was not impacting on any of my patterns I would not become ill. A common reaction to such findings is that they are merely self-fulfilling prophecy. I can assure you this is not the case; the studies I made were retrospective, based on my diaries. Soon I had the confidence to plan my engagements around the movements of Mars, and was at last able to keep my promises and stop letting people down at the last minute. I have lived this way for 20 years now quite a decent long-term test of migraine management, don't you think? Notable amongst the planets, Pluto ('demoted' or not!) has an energy which is potentially devastating. When its slow progress against the ecliptic brings it (for between one and three years) onto a sensitive natal degree, life gets pretty heavy. These are the times when the greatest moral dilemmas have to be faced, or the greatest physical challenges. Power - its use and abuse - is often involved. Temptation to take the destructive, selfish path comes at you from every direction. Empathy, compassion, loving-kindness, altruism, are the strongest armour in this spiritual battle. Pluto's purpose is to wake one up to the core values of one's very existence, and sometimes it takes trauma to do this. One can come close to death, as I did, giving birth to my first son by a nearly fatal emergency Caesarian, having to learn to walk again, and then coping with an autistic child. Pluto was in my rising degree. One can become the object of collective hatred for sticking to a principle, as my husband (a Bishop) did in honouring his calling and ministering to a friend who had done something very stupid that landed him in prison for two years. This test of conscience was extremely hard; but he achieved the moral victory. Pluto was on the degree of his Sun. When it made a right-angle (we call this a 'square') to my own Sun-degree, circumstances drew me into the Christian Church - a major step for this free-thinking woman! - and since then I have applied myself to the astrological study of its history. The implications are that human lives (and probably life in general) are inextricably linked to the movements of the Solar System - and ultimately the observable universe - through meanings locked into relative position and orbital geometry. Poetically, we are phrases in a mighty and stirring music; or tiny, vital cells in an immeasurable body. Each human consciousness is a living and possibly eternal fragment of the consciousness of eternity itself, a huge mind comprised of or generating billions of fractal minds, whose totality we might call God. Each mind is itself an evolving thing, and shifts dimension into the material to learn how to grow and improve, using a body that evolution has declared fit for purpose. And because Mind is the over-arching reality, communication between embodied and discarnate minds can take place under favourable conditions to offer guidance to those who are floundering, and aid to people in danger or in pain. You are currently in a very good position to test some of this for yourself, if you have a mind to. Your own natal tropical Sun is in 5 degrees of Aries close to the descending node of the Moon at Aries 1, in a friendly relationship with Pluto at 2 degrees of Leo, and in a tight square to recently 'promoted' Ceres at 4 degrees of tropical Capricorn. Venus is not far back, at 29 degrees Pisces. All these positions are being challenged by the transit of Pluto over the next three years, ( it has already been affecting your relationships and resources through Venus ) with its maximum impact in February-June 2010 ( including very hard work, even struggle ), September 2010-February 2011 ( big opportunity/success here if all goes well ), and August-October 2011, when the personal significance of the previous years' experience should give you pause for thought. It is meant to be a period of conscientious soul-searching - but for you of course this would mean acknowledging that you do not just have but are a soul! On this point let me round off my comments with a brief look at your pattern. To use another image, each one of us is, astrologically, a minute shard of the macrocosmic hologram, specific to our birth-point in space and time. The sky patterns at birth are charged with complex meaning, which reflect both who we are and what we are endeavouring to become. I have seen few patterns as polarised as yours, torn as you are between the passionate science pioneer who wants to be the first and the best and to win every argument by verbal force if need be, and the diametrically opposed soul within who believes on principle in fairness, justice, kindness and balanced dialogue. Driven by a compulsive sense of mission, you can over-heat to the point of arrogance, betraying that gentler, fairer self - and this Aries combativeness is what will inevitably undo all the good that you have achieved, if you insist too often on picking a fight and fail to listen to - and honour your neighbour's point of view. The focus of this inner contest will always be the relationship between nature and time - nothing but the structures of evolution (Ceres in Capricorn) could ever hold such fascination for you. By embracing in your work and in your life the competitive principle, don't forget that ultimately it is only through peaceable collaboration that you will attain real success. All people born with the Sun close to the Moon's descending node have to make sacrifices, and in your case it is that provocative stance and the very drive to win, that can turn friends into enemies and careful argument into incoherent bluster. I respect your passion and your work, and I like the other man I see beneath the determined atheist. I hope he will take to heart a little of what has been said. Rev. Pam Crane .......................................................................................................................... PS - (June 2010) for the sidereally inclined, this chart is interesting: again, we have the SunMC achievement chart, but now of a Piscean with Moon and Mercury in analytical, fixed Aquarius. The setting Ceres of the natural world is fittingly in Sagittarius. What immediately grabs you is that the Moon is lined up with this from a conjunction with the dwad N.Node, constantly seeking publicity. And this Moon rules a great quartet in dwad Cancer, of Mercury, Chiron, Sun and of course the MC. What does this man do all the time? What is his day job? He is an evangelical evolutionist! And Cancer is all about the past, and about growth, and genetic inheritance. Chiron is both the perpetual student and the dedicated teacher. Whether you agree with Richard Dawkins or not, you cannot fault him in these respects. Across the dwad horizon are stretched all three outer planets and once again Ceres; at the dwad IC is a steadily driving Capricorn Mars. The man knows he has charisma and influence; whether he is as aware that it can degenerate into arrogance and self-delusion I cannot say. What he needs to know is that the spiritual dimensions of Life are curled into the great scheme of things like creatures hiding in a child’s picture puzzle, and if he keeps on refusing to acknowledge them he will have wasted a wonderful opportunity. He could be using his God-given intelligence to reconcile material fact with eternal reality, and to teach this with the same fervour that has instead sent millions of us, unwary pilgrim souls, spinning away from the very knowledge we now so desperately need to understand and salvage our place in the cosmos. |