Book Review: Astrology and the Authentic Self

The two most popular systems of calculating house cusps are the Placidus and Koch methods. Both are mathematically rigorous methods, high-tech if you will. (Don't worry if you have know idea what I'm talking about. I'll explain about house cusps later.) But what if I told you that there was a more accurate method that was both older and simpler? Would I sound like a reactionary or an old curmudgeon? Well, there is such a method, and it's used in Astrology and the Authentic Self: Integrating Traditional and Modern Astrology to Uncover the Essence of the Birth Chart by Demetra George. This book uses the Whole Sign method, which is a throwback to the Middle Ages and before. But guess what? I've tried it on my own chart, and it works. Some of the planetary placements in my chart make a lot more sense under this system.

Now for those of you who don't know much about astrology, there are twelve houses in an astrological chart, each corresponding to a different area of life. The first house, for example, corresponds to identity and personality; the second house to money, possessions, and things of value, and so forth. The house cusps are the starting points of each house in the Zodiac. The Placidus and Koch systems start with the Ascendant (the point of the Zodiac that's on the Eastern horizon at birth) and the Midheaven (where the sun would be if it were "high noon") and extrapolate the other house cusps by either space or time. The Whole Sign system just uses the Ascendant, assigning the start of the sign it falls in to the first house cusp, the start of the next sign to the second house, and so forth.

At this point, I don't want to talk about the book (it's good, try it) as much as about the implications of the usefulness of the house systems. If a medieval house system works better than the two most currently used systems, what does that say about the usefulness of astrology as practiced today? Shouldn't there be a clear winner among the house systems? Or if valid results can be obtained with any of them, does it really matter at all?

Book Review: The Art of Predictive Astrology

In the past I've shied away from using astrology to make predictions, partly because of the free will thing, and partly because of the Oedipus Effect: the steps taken to prevent a predicted event are often responsible for enabling it. But mostly for the real reason, which is that I didn't know how to do it. The Art of Predictive Astrology: Forecasting Your Life Events by Carol Rushman may solve that problem.

The starting point for prediction is what the book calls "Natal Promise:" potentials as given by the birth chart. If the potential for a certain event is not indicated by the birth chart, it's not going to happen, so there's no point looking for it. There's a whole chapter devoted to determining natal promise, with an interesting formula for the number of possible marriages.

Two major tools used by the book are progressions and transits. Progressions are computed by rolling the birth chart forward by one day per year of real time; transits use the current position of the planets. In both cases, the planet's positions are compared to what's on the birth chart. The theory is that these positions can activate planets, houses and aspects in the natal chart. Also featured in the book are lunations (new moons and full moons) and eclipses.

I'm going to try the techniques given for a few months. I'll let you know how it works out.

Book Review: Tarot for Everyone

Tarot for Everyone by Hajo Banzhaf is a tarot book geared to beginners. In addition to basic tarot theory, the book presents three basic layouts: the Compass, the Blind Spot, and the Oracle of Love. Descriptions are given of the 78 cards, with specific interpretations for the position the card falls in in each of the three layouts. Twelve additional layouts are given in the appendix. One interesting feature of the interpretations is that the upright and reversed meanings seem to be combined, and one or the other is used based on the position of the card in the layout.

I bought the book a few months ago and tried a couple of spreads with mixed results. I was trying the spreads with a new deck, so that might have had some effect. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up the book again and tried the Compass spread. This time, it just worked. To be honest, I'm not sure why. I got similar results with the Oracle of Love and the Blind Spot.

Based on those results, this book deserves mention as another option for beginners. The sheer volume of information that's needed to do effective tarot readings can be intimidating, and anything that helps get results without memorizing hundreds of pages of information shouldn't be overlooked just because it seems to have a superficial approach.

Book Review:1-2-3 Tarot

I've noticed that the tarot and astrology sections of the bookstores I frequent are starting to thin out, with more space devoted to the paranormal, 2012, and "The Secret" type books. I wonder if this is because both tarot and astrology require large investments of time and energy to attain any proficiency. Or maybe everyone is using the free courses available on the internet instead. Anyway, for those of you who still like dead trees, I have an introductory book for you: 1-2-3 Tarot: Answers in an Instant by Donald Tyson.

The book has a simple but effective method of reading the cards. Each card is given possible meanings as either a noun, a verb, or an adverb, and the combinations create sentences. The selling point of the book is that this method makes it possible to do meaningful readings without knowing anything about the cards. This seems to fit in to the American propensity toward instant gratification, but it actually works if taken as a starting point. The book starts with a three-card spread, then moves on to more complex spreads that form multiple sentences. I've done some experimentation with the method as applied to the traditional Celtic Cross spread, and it yields some useful interpretations.

The verdict? If you're a beginner, buy the book, but don't stop there or you'll miss the other advantages that Tarot has to offer. If you've been reading for a while, the book will give you a fresh approach that you'll be able to integrate into your current methods.

Larry's Notes: Meditations on the Tarot: The Magician

I started reading Meditations on the Tarot again recently, and realized that it was a course of study in itself. As such, it's a perfect candidate for a new series of posts called "Larry's Notes." It's not a summary like Cliffs Notes, but instead I'll talk about key points in books that are helpful to us as recovering materialists.

This book uses for discussion the twenty-two cards of the major arcana from the Marseilles Tarot deck. So first, let's talk about the word "arcana" and what it means. The dictionary lists it as the plural of "arcanum," which means "secret." This book, on the other hand, says that these arcana aren't secrets; they're tools. They are things you need to know to progress along the path. By the way, the path outlined in this book is called "Christian Hermeticism," which is, in fact, the hermetic path that some of us are on, but with Christian (and specifically Catholic) emphasis.

The first point from the chapter that I want to talk about is illustrated by this quote:

Now Hermeticism, the living Hermetic tradition, guards the communal soul of all true culture. I must add: Hermeticists listen to-- and now and then hear--the beating of the heart of the spiritual life of humanity. They cannot do otherwise than live as guardians of the life and communal soul of religion, science and art.

This quote calls to mind the Vestal Virgins, whose job it was to keep the flame in the temple lit at all times. They devoted their lives to the maintenance of the temple and the flame, and their function today has been taken over metaphorically by various writers and occultists. And, what's best of all, because you're sitting there reading this, you're also helping to keep the flame burning.

The next point is that some concept of the essential unity of all things is necessary to even take the first step on the path. The good news is that just holding this concept on an intellectual level is sufficient for starters. After all, if you had continual experience of essential unity, you wouldn't be starting on the path; you'd be close to the end. The essential unity is presented in this chapter in the form of a section of the Emerald Tablet: "That which is above is like that which is below, and that which is below is like that which is above, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing." Again, this is a good starting point, and if you're especially materialistic, you can interpret the "One Thing" as referring to the zero-point energy field, which is from where matter is thought to arise. There's also the "One Mind," but that's a topic for the next post in the series.

The final point is the attitude toward the work:

Learn at first concentration without effort; transform work into play; make every yoke that you have accepted easy and every burden that you carry light!

The attitude should be one of adventure, wonder and discovery; if it's boring, you're doing it wrong. The example of a child at play is given in the text. Children at play can be very intense, but it's still not work to them. There's a lot we can learn from that.

Well, that's it for this installment. Next I'll be talking about the High Priestess. Stay tuned.

Book Review: The Tarot Court Cards

My readings have in general gone well, but I had been having a hard time with the court cards. I recently got a copy of The Tarot Court Cards: Archetypal Patterns of Relationships in the Minor Arcana by Kate Warwick-Smith, and it seems to have helped. The book gives four easy-to-remember keywords for each of the sixteen court cards. I should first mention that this book isn't for beginners. If you're just getting started with tarot, Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners or Tarot Awareness: Exploring the Spiritual Path would be more appropriate.

After some basic history of the court cards, the book gets into the theory underlying the meanings: the four worlds of qabalah. The four worlds are the four steps in creating the universe and everything in it, from archetype down to manifestation. The kings represent the world of archetypes, the queens and knights intermediate steps, the pages the material world. The suits correspond to spirit, love, knowledge and power (in the expected order: wands, cups, swords and pentacles). The combination yields four keywords for each card: two roles, one positive and one negative; and two characteristics. For example, the King of Swords has two roles: adviser and dictator; and two characteristics: pragmatism and ruthlessness. The roles and characteristics also correspond nicely to the positive and negative aspects of the Zodiac signs to which they are attributed (e.g. the King of Swords = Aquarius).

If you are having trouble with court cards in your readings, this book may help.

Book Review: ChristoPaganism

In the minds of some people I know, everything about Christianity is crystal clear. The Bible is literally true and divinely inspired. We can only be saved through Jesus. Some even really believe that the universe was created in six of our days and is about six thousand years old. Astrology is tolerated if it's the superficial newspaper kind, and tarot is right out, what with the risk of demonic possession and all. There's Christianity, and everything else, a.k.a. Paganism, with exceptions for Judaism and possibly Islam. If you happen to be one of those people (and if so, what are you doing here in the first place), you may as well just hit the "Back" button now. What follows will only offend you. Still here? Anyway, you've been warned.

There doesn't seem to be any room in this view for any common ground with other religions, especially under the literal interpretation of Christianity and its Holy Book. But as we grow beyond the literal interpretation, and read about other traditions, we do find some common ground. This is the subject of ChristoPaganism: an Inclusive Path by Joyce and River Higginbotham. The book explores some common factors (and, yes, there are some) between Christianity and Paganism, but mostly talks about people who include elements of both paths in their spiritual practices.

Let's talk about paths for a minute. As most of you who have been following along know, there's just one ultimate goal: realization of unity with the Divine. The Christian Hermetic path, which I'm following, is just one way to reach this goal. The Christian Mystic path is just as valid, as are others. What's more, the paths approach each other as they move toward the top of the mountain.

But back to the book. The most interesting part is the second half, which has interviews with people who are following various combined paths. They talk about their backgrounds, their current path, and how they reconcile the two components. There's an interesting anecdote from one of the authors that I'd like to discuss briefly. She was giving a talk about Paganism to a class in a Catholic school and was asked to explain what immanence meant. She compared it to the Consecration of the Host in the Catholic Mass, which deeply offended the teacher, because the author was comparing the most holy part of the mass to a pagan concept. On reading this, I smelled a rat and did a Google search on "immanence catechism". Sure enough, it was there. The teacher, of course, should have known this. I only mention this because one of my pet peeves is people who have strongly-voice opinions on subjects they know little to nothing about.

So what's my opinion on the subject on the book? It's best expressed by a quote from The 21 Lessons of Merlyn: A Study in Druid Magic and Lore: "the one God has many faces."