The
astrological world has lost a very special person.
Richard
Llewellyn, founder of
the English Huber School (which became the Astrological PsychologyAssociation) passed away on 9th
February. He was 95.
Richard was instrumental in making the Huber Method of
Astrological Psychology available to the English-speaking world.
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Richard with Bruno & Louise
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He had
already studied astrology with
the Mayo
school, and served as
Membership Secretary for the UK Astrological Association. But he
was finding the traditional approach to the subject less satisfying.
In 1981 he was introduced to the work of Bruno and Louise Huber by
Pam Tyler, an American astrologer living in London.
Strongly drawn to
the psychological approach of the Hubers, Richard travelled to
Switzerland to attend several seminars run by Bruno and Louise. He
found the Huber Method - details of which were only available in
German - so significant and important that he decided to create a
school offering home study courses which would teach it in English.
In
1983, he and Pam Tyler founded what was to become the English Huber
School and Richard set about writing up what he’d learned from the
Hubers. Based on the notes he’d made during his visits to
Switzerland, together with insights he’d gained into his own chart
when working with Bruno and Louise, he created a correspondence
diploma course in astrological psychology for the English-speaking
world. The course was launched and the first student enrolled in
1984.
Richard’s
energy and determination made this all happen. I wouldn’t be
writing this now had it not been for him; I was amongst the first
five students to complete the course and gain my diploma from Bruno
and Louise in Zürich in 1987. A brief look at Richard’s chart will
go some way towards explaining where his indomitable energy might
have come from.
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Richard Llewellyn 14.8.1925, 06.19. Sidcup, UK
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With his 12th house Leo Sun conjunct
Neptune he was warm, friendly and fun to be with This was always
coupled with sensitivity but my goodness, watch out for that
unaspected Mars in1st! There was no holding him back when a new
project was taking off.
His
chart, with its high ratio of red aspects, reflects this general
enthusiastic “let’s get things going” motivation. Many students
who attended his workshops will remember this well; Richard was fun
to work with and learn from. But if we look more specifically at the
one complete aspect pattern in his chart, the Provocative Figure,
Richard’s calling and mission become clearer.
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Provocative Figure
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His
chart, with its high ratio of red aspects, reflects this general
enthusiastic “let’s get things going” motivation. Many students
who attended his workshops will remember this well; Richard was fun
to work with and learn from. But if we look more specifically at the
one complete aspect pattern in his chart, the Provocative Figure,
Richard’s calling and mission become clearer.
One
meaning of the word “provoke” is to irritate and annoy, yet it
also means to call forth, awaken, encourage and speak in favour of.
The Hubers, in their book Aspect Pattern Astrology,
speak of how the Provocative Figure might be expressed, “…..the
person authorises himself and has the courage to bring things into
the open that would otherwise remain hidden”.
That
is exactly what Richard
did. Note that Uranus
- one of the planets involved in
this aspect pattern – is
strongly placed in the 8th
house, suggesting that
sharing this unique approach to astrology would
make it accessible
for the good of all,
to
benefit society and the wider world. This
is perfectly aligned with Assagioli’s psychosynthesis, which
underlies
the work of the Hubers together
with the philosophy of the
Ancient Wisdom, as channelled
by Alice
Bailey in
the Arcane School. Bruno and
Louise had been
involved in establishing the
Arcane School in Geneva, and they’d worked with Assagioli in
Florence for three years.
In
my book, Aspect
Patterns in Colour,
I use the Provocative Figure in Richard’s chart as an example of
how this aspect pattern works, mainly because I was able to observe
it in action and understand it better as he was my friend as well as
my colleague. Richard and I cooperated in writing TheCosmic Egg Timer,
an introduction to astrological psychology, which includes many of
the
practical exercises we used in the experiential workshops we
co-facilitated.
I learned so much from working
alongside Richard,
and enjoyed our frequent astrological discussions. Not
only was
he
was a good astrologer, he was a psychosynthesis counsellor too,
bringing
his
skills to the workshops we ran and
helping to guide students to a deeper understanding of themselves. He
facilitated
astrological psychology and psychosynthesis workshops in Brazil,
Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy, as well as here
in
Britain.
More
recently, as his health began to fail, Richard shared reminiscences
of his time spent with the Hubers when
he visited Switzerland ahead of creating the diploma course. He
contributed
new and valuable information about Bruno and Louise Huber for
Piercing the Eggshell,
the biography of their lives
which was published in
November 2020. It’s
satisfying that Richard was able to see this book,
and he was delighted to receive a copy. Without
a doubt it would not have been written had it not been for him.
After
retiring as Principal Emeritus of APA, Richard returned to service
with the Astrological Association and, with partner Elly Gibbs,
helped establish and maintain the AA's huge library of audio
recordings of astrological talks, including those by the Hubers, for
the benefit of all astrologers. In
2013 he received the Charles Harvey award for exceptional
service
to astrology.
This
is a tribute to Richard the astrologer, but I’m writing this
as a close friend as well as a colleague and I have countless good
memories of being with him when we were taking time off from
facilitating residential workshops or attending conferences to give
talks. I remember with pleasure standing with him on a Welsh hilltop
in 1999, in a circle formed by our families, as we experienced the
solar eclipse, sharing walks on Dartmoor and in North Wales, enjoying
visits to concerts and the opera, swimming in the Mediterranean
during time off from teaching in Barcelona and going with him to
receive darshan from Mother Meera in Germany.
Richard
had been living with cancer for some time, yet retained his sense of
humour despite the numerous operations he underwent. We often
exchanged emails and spoke on the phone, and on the few occasions we
were able to meet in the past year during the easing of lockdowns, it
was always a pleasure for us both to reconnect and talk, sometimes
about astrology, but usually about a diverse variety of other things
too.
He
passed away at home, cared for by Elly and close members of his
family.
Thanks for everything, Richard. I’ll miss you.
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With Richard on his retirement as Principal Emeritus
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