Astrology, Astronomy and the Jodrell Bank Telescope

Until the 17th century, astrology and astronomy were twin subjects, and were taught alongside at the great - now oldest established - universities of Europe. Astronomy was more scientific, and was concerned with understanding how the heavens worked; astrology was more philosophical and was concerned with relating the movements of the heavenly bodies to our experience here on earth. The basic tenet was "As above, so below".

Then astrology fell from prominence as science took over, scientific knowledge grew and expanded, and astrology became something of the poor relation, open to ridicule and scorn as it could not be scientifically proved. On the plus side, this is changing, as scientists worth their salt are admitting that some things simply cannot be explained scientifically (Richard Dawkins doesn't fall into this category!).

Any astrologer who is serious about their study will have a good working understanding of our Solar System. Students on the APA Foundation Courses have to do some basic astronomy as part of their training; the twin subjects can't be separated out.

Although I'm not deeply conversant with astronomy, I'm certainly interested in it and have a good understanding of how the birth chart and the Solar System relate to each other. Last week I took a trip to the world famous Jodrell Bank Observatory, home to the Lovell Telescope, the first ever radio telescope. I've visited it many times to see the orrery spheres of the solar system on display, and to enjoy the visual trips to various planets in the planetarium. I was there last week because we had a visitor staying who has started to study astronomy, but I'm always up for a trip there as I find the telescope itself an inspiring and awesome structure. It's visible from many areas of the county where I live and acts as a homing landmark. It's even been featured in a dramatic episode of the TV series "Dr. Who".



In 2007, Jodrell Bank celebrated its 50th anniversary. It was threatened with closure but this threat was averted and more recently it's visitor centre and adjacent arboretum has had a makeover.


Whilst I was at Jodrell Bank I saw a 3-D film about the Sun through the special 3-D viewing specs the audience were provided with. Before the film started, we were told that the commentary was now "wrong" as there are now 8, not 9 planets in the Solar System. Pluto was demoted a couple of years ago and is now classed as a dwarf planet. My hackles only rose slightly at this, because I've yet to meet an astrologer who has stopped using Pluto when they set up a chart! The film was interesting, and the info sheet handed out at the visitor centre gives a good website - The Nine (Eight!) Planets - for those who want to learn more about the planets in our Solar System.

You can see the chart for Jodrell Bank in the post I wrote in August 2007 when it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Aries and the Vernal Equinox

The Sun enters the Sign of Aries tomorrow, on 20th March. This is the Vernal, or Spring, Equinox when day and night are of equal length (equi - equal, nox - night) and it marks the point in the year when the Sun crosses the equator and moves from the southern to the northern hemisphere. The start of Spring in the northern hemisphere marks the start of Autumn in the southern hemisphere.

I've set up the chart for the Sun's change of Sign from Pisces to Aries (also known as the zero point of the zodiac). The chart is set for 06.00 GMT in London, with the Sun just 33 seconds into Aries; at this time it will have been hovering over the zero point and entering Aries for approximately 10 minutes. If you're up and awake then you can welcome the Sun and the start of Spring!

Aries is the first Sign of the zodiac and is associated with go ahead behaviour, leadership qualities, a tendency to rush at things and reflect on them later (that "opening your mouth and putting your foot in it" syndrome!), impulsiveness, an ability to get new things started, lots of energy and enthusiasm and a fearlessness which can allow those with Sun in Aries to forge ahead where others would falter.


The symbol for Aries is the Ram. With head and business-like horns down it can rush headlong at anything which gets in its way, or which it wants to get the better of.

The chart has some interesting features. There is a Double Ambivalence figure which fills a large area of the chart. Quadrangular in shape, it has a security-seeking motivation. One part of it works energetically with that Aries Sun at the "doing" apex of the red part of this figure. At the blue "escape" corner is Saturn. These these two planets are connected on the inside of the figure by a green quincunx endowing awareness and the capacity to learn; Sun and Saturn can work cooperatively if the enthusiasm of the Aries Sun can be tempered by the caution of the Virgo Saturn. The other planets involved - Mars and Pluto - share the same Cardinal qualities as the Sun. Saturn alone in this pattern can provide a Fixed and steadying influence and will help underpin the security which this particular figure seeks.

Photo of the Moffat Ram, Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland

The House Chart

This blog celebrates its 2nd birthday on 4th March. A year ago I wrote a post entitled "Happy Birthday Dear Blog" in which I discussed the colour balance in the chart of the blog's "birth" - 6 red: 0 green: 5 blue aspects. The lack of green aspects in the blog's "birth" chart alerted me to the need to stay very aware to not allowing the energy of the blog (and as it's author, me!) to slip into an either/or, on/off affair which an all red/blue chart can indicate.

It's two years now since I started writing about the charts of people in the news using the Huber Method of astrological psychology, and I enjoy seeing how the blog has grown and has taken on an energy of its own as it has developed and evolved, gaining many readers along the way.

If you are one of these (and that ClustrMaps widget in the sidebar lets me see where you are!) my heartfelt thanks for dropping by, reading my thoughts and sometimes commenting on the charts and other astrologically related matters. I write to keep my own astro-wheels oiled and to hone my interpretative skills, but it's great to know you're out there too!

For this second birthday I'm taking a look at the House chart for the blog. The House chart is unique to the Huber Method. It's the chart which shows the environmental conditioning and expectations that were put upon us, and for an individual it can offer insights into what was encouraged and what was sidelined as the person grew up.



The House chart should always be used alongside the natal chart as it gives an environment's eye view of the person, which can sometimes be very different from the inherited traits and patterns shown in the natal chart. The blog's natal and house charts are a good example of this! On the left is the natal chart, with just red/blue aspects, with an all-red Efficiency/Performance figure and a red/blue Single Ambivalence figure as it's aspect patterns.

The House chart, on the right, shows a different picture altogether, with a ratio of 3 red: 3 green: 7 blue aspects. Green aspects are present - the environment wants and demands awareness, sensitivity and the ability to be aware and grow through this. When looking the House chart alongside the natal chart (and remember, this applies with greatest relevance to the charts of real people - I'm just using the blog as an example here), we can consider if the conditioning of the environment is enriching or diminishing. In this case, I'd say it's almost certainly enriching.

Not only is there green, a Kite aspect pattern has appeared! The Kite is composed of talent triangles, and is often associated with creativity (like writing...!). The pinning planets, especially those at the tail and the apex, are significant. They hold the strong inner strut of the Kite in place and can show what might hold it down, or ground it, as well as indicating where it might want to fly to. The Kite which appears in the blog's House chart has Jupiter (perception, wisdom, experience) at the base, with Moon (reaching out to make contact, touch and engage on a feeling level) at the apex, which is also on the MC and the highest point of the whole chart. Other planets involved in this aspect pattern are Mercury (what better for writing and sharing ideas?) and Saturn, whose presence provides an all-important discipline and framework.

Trouble with Time Zones?

Students of the Astrological Psychology Association working on the beginner's Foundation Module learn about the different time zones across the world. Some of them "get it" right away, others initially find it confusing, feeling as muddled as the presenter sounds in the spoof shown above. This was a birthday card one of my students sent me many years ago (probably because she was feeling a bit like that over the time zones question in her assignment!).

I grew up not far from the Greenwich meridian in London. When I first started to learn astrology I had to orient myself to the different time zones around the world when I discovered that a correction for the local time of birth had to be made to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). And I remember that at first it wasn't easy. I was obviously one of those students who didn't "get it" right away!

I fondly recall from childhood a radio requests programme called "Two-way Family Favourites" (yes, we lived exciting lives in the 50's!) which always started with the presenter saying:

The time in Britain is twelve noon, in Germany it's one o'clock, but home and away it's time for "Two-Way Family Favourites"
At the time, though, I couldn't understand how it could possibly be 1 o'clock in Germany when it was only 12 noon in London and I'd not had my lunch! Was the clock wrong in the BBC studio?

Now that I have family living in Texas, I'm far more aware of time zones on a daily basis. I have to remember to count back 6 hours from the time here in the UK when I want to call them, otherwise I'll wake them up. My 11 a.m. is their 5 a.m. For my student in Arizona it will be 4 a.m, and for another of my students in Taiwan, it will be 7 p.m and they will probably be sitting down to dinner.

Our change in time here in the UK is fast approaching. The Vernal Equinox on 21st March will be followed by the start of European Summer Time on 30th March when the clocks go forward one hour and we lose an hour of sleep. Of course, other time zones in different countries around the world will also be changing. Most diaries now carry a time zone map, you can buy clocks with different time zones marked, and the American and International Atlases of World Latitudes, Longitudes and Time Changes are the astrologer's bibles.

If all else fails, you could always mutter the mantra shown on that spoof card.........!

Pisces rules the feet

The Sun entered the Sign of Pisces today. According to the Ptolemaic astrological system for assigning parts of the body to the twelve Zodiac Signs, Pisces rules the feet. It is the last of the twelve Signs and its symbol is said to represent two fishes swimming in different directions, but forever joined by a so-called “silver cord”. The fishes face away from each other, symbolising the pull between the soul and the personality in the human being. Their vacillation is also reflected in the esoteric seed thought for Pisces: “I leave the Father’s Home and turning back I save”. For Pisces, a key issue in life is the tension between spiritual and physical existence.


Louise Huber says, in her book Reflections and Meditations on the Signs of the Zodiac that the seed thought sums up this double effect of Pisces “We set forth leaving the elevated place of the Soul, we incarnate in the physical body becoming its prisoner and longing all our life to return to the freedom and liberty of spiritual existence”.

Pisceans can be very sensitive people, attuned to energies that others are not aware of, and they seem able to access these and make them manifest. Some Pisceans have healing hands, others bring forth imaginative and creative works of art in the form of images, painting, music. Yet others - and you may well recognise some of these traits - can be vague, ungrounded, disorganised and indecisive. When the pull between the spiritual and the physical gets out of balance, the practicalities of everyday life can fall into disarray. But Pisceans feel for others and have a lot of compassion.

A final fishy thought on a far lighter note - how do you pronounce “Pisces”? Joe Cooper’s poem in “Astroverse” has a few suggestions!

Pronounced Piscean Embarrassment

Of all the ways
Piss Kays
Dismays
The most

Piss Keys
Is pretty thin on the ground
The souns
That is the nice eest
Is Pie Seest

The last t is out of plaice
And very fishy indeed.