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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780877288947 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Red Wheel/Weiser |
| Publication date: | 01/15/1996 |
| Pages: | 160 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x (d) |
Read an Excerpt
Astrology for Initiates
Astrological Secrets of the Western Mystery Tradition
By J. Lee Lehman
Samuel Weiser, Inc.
Copyright © 1996 Samuel Weiser, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-87728-894-7
CHAPTER 1
The Celestial Sphere
In the night if we direct our regard toward the starry sky, we can see, if the weather is clear, an enormous quantity of stars, more or less brilliant, and so overwhelming that it seems impossible to even recognize anything at first. While observing all these brilliant points in the sky more closely, we begin to notice that some of them form distinct groups of stars separate from one another.
How to Recognize these in the Mass of Stars
In antiquity, people formed these groups of stars, figures to which the imagination of the wise ones assigned some shapes. Some are merely geometric, but most often people used the shapes of animals, of people, or of objects. One gave the name of constellations to these clumps of stars, and there are some unique constellations in the Northern Hemisphere which are directly overhead in Europe, and some others unique to the Southern Hemisphere, on the other side the equator.
The Starry Route
One should also note, that besides some stationary stars that appear studded in the sky like so many lights, there are also mobile bodies that promenade through the constellations. These stars are first the Sun, then the Moon. Of the rest, the planets, we will speak later. Let us hold on, for the moment, to the exterior sensations that they produce on the Earth. We will see that a lot of obvious movements are actually due to the movement of the Earth, but we will ignore this at present, because it would interfere with the clarity of our descriptions. Therefore, in observing the sky, people realized that in its course the Sun traversed the constellations, always the same; they noted that the Moon followed the same course, as well as all the other wandering stars, or planets.
The Zodiac
This pathway followed by the celestial wanderers through the sky was called the way of the celestial animals, or the divine starry way or zodiac. This zodiac is composed of twelve constellations, and this study is most important for the astronomer, as much as for the astrologer. We will return to it for more detail later.
Divisions of Sky
All the bodies in the sky therefore divide in two major types; first the stationary stars forming the constellations, then the wandering stars moving through the twelve constellations of the zodiac.
Stationary Stars
The word "fixed" applied to the stars is relative; these stars indeed don't displace individually, this is what differentiates them from the wandering stars. But the sky displaces around the Celestial Pole; behold why the ancients considered the sky like a large ocean, within which the constellations rose or set.
The Celestial Sphere
A set of astronomical observations ancient and modern based on the rising and setting of the constellations.
The Celestial Sphere (According to the Ancient System of Ptolemy)
In order to navigate, people divided the celestial sphere in a very simple and analogous way to the division of the Earth. The celestial sphere has two Poles; a North or Arctic Pole, and a South or Antarctic Pole. Between these two Poles and in the middle of the sphere is the celestial Equator, parallel to the Poles; the zodiac, acting in the sky like the ecliptic on the Earth; cuts the Equator in two places, in such a way that six signs of zodiac are above the Equator, toward the North or Arctic Pole, and six beneath the Equator, toward the South or Antarctic Pole. The accompanying figure will clarify this situation of zodiac and Equator. (See figure 2 on page 4.)
The sign that is the most northern point of the zodiac is Cancer; the sign that
is the most southern, closest to the Antarctic Pole, is Capricorn. In addition to the equator and to the parallel circles in the celestial sphere, there is another circle that passes through Capricorn and is called the Tropic of Capricorn. (See figure 3 on page 6.)
The two signs of zodiac of which we have just spoken, Cancer and Capricorn, forming the extreme northerly point and the extreme southerly point of the zodiac, constitute the line of the solstices; two other signs, the eastern point (Aries), and the western point (Libra), constitute the line of the equinoxes.
These last two signs are exactly placed at the two points where the zodiac cuts the equator. In the starry way, one finds, therefore, the grand celestial cross, defined by the line of the equinoxes and solstices, and constituted by four signs, North-South, and East-West; Cancer-Capricorn, and Aries-Libra.
The astrologers call these four signs, the angular houses, because they occupy the four angles of sky, or the four cardinal points. (See figure 4 on page 6.)
These four angles indicate the beginning of the four seasons. It is necessary now to memorize in order the names of the twelve zodiacal signs. These signs are the following, with the corresponding months, because the astrologers' year begins in March:
These dates indicate the entrance of the Sun in the different signs in 1916.
In order to learn the signs of zodiac in sequence by heart, you may use the following mnemonic:
In small doses, you will manage to memorize the succession of the signs of the zodiac, which is indispensable to memorize for astrological studies.
Each one of the twelve signs of zodiac is composed of groups of stars, which, united together, comprise geometrical figures. All of antiquity assigned to the zodiacal signs the symbolic figures of animals, personages, or objects who resemble their name. Finally, each one of the zodiacal signs is also given a glyph (see figure 4), and we enlist the reader to combine the glyph and the mnemonic formula above.
We will proceed, for the moment, but let's retain what we have learned concerning the zodiac, which will give us the opportunity to discuss it in greater detail later.
CHAPTER 2
The Planets
The zodiac is the road followed by the planets or mobile stars. All the planets traverse successively through the twelve signs of the zodiac, but each one with a different speed. Let us take as our first example the march of the Sun, which served as the basis for the establishment of a mass of allegorical stories in ancient mythology.
We will give some elements of plain astronomy first, and it is only in a following chapter that we will bring back the astrological point of view in interpreting the physical data of the astronomers.
First Hierarchy of the Plants
For the astronomer, the Sun is at the center of our planetary world. (See figure 5, page 10.) If we move away from the position of the Sun, we have the planets in the following sequence:
1) Sun
2) Mercury
3) Venus
4) The Earth and the Moon
5) Mars
6) Multiple asteroids
7) Jupiter
8) Saturn
9) Uranus
10) Neptune
11) [Pluto]
We highly recommend the works of our master and friend Camille Flammarion to the serious student.
Let's summarize the main elements in the following section.
The Sun
To all Lords, all honor.
The Sun is 108 times larger than the Earth, in diameter.
The Sun's mass and volume follow some analogous connections
If the Earth is represented by a head of a pin, the Sun would be a small melon. One sees therefore the enormous mass of this star. For the observer of appearances, the Sun traverses the twelve signs of the zodiac in 365 days and a fraction (0.2564). It moves through a sign in approximately thirty terrestrial days. The Sun travels through a sign of zodiac every month and takes one year to take a tour of the zodiac and to return to its point of departure.
We may note in passing, that the Sun, at the end of the year, doesn't return precisely to the point where it was at the same time the previous year. At the spring equinox, for example, March 21st, the Sun reaches the equinoctial point some time before the same point of the previous year; as a result of precession of the equinoxes, of which we spoke in a previous survey.
Don't forget that it is the Earth which produces all these movements, but, once again, we argue from visual appearances in order to remain clear, when it involves these topics.
The ancients, who placed the Earth to the center of world (see figure 6) saw the Sun arrive March 21st at the beginning of the ascending signs of zodiac, the signs of Northern orientation from Aries to Cancer. In those days, they supposed that the Sun was the greatest force, and the source of all happiness. But let us not anticipate, but remain at present in astronomy and continue our elementary survey.
Mercury
Of all the known planets, it is closest to the Sun; Mercury finds itself always plunged into the solar rays. This planet, which is rarely visible to the naked eye, is the smallest planet and the most dense. Its diameter doesn't quite reach the half of diameter of the Earth.
Venus
Venus is the most brilliant star of sky: its appearance surpasses the most beautiful stars. Venus is sometimes so vivid that the planet becomes visible in full daylight.
Venus has close to the same diameter as that of Earth, but its density is a little weaker. The planet is surrounded by an analogous atmosphere to the terrestrial atmosphere.
The Earth
The Earth has the shape of a sphere flattened a little toward the two poles; it rotates from West to East in a uniform movement around an axis; it is the movement of rotation that defines the length of day. The second movement is the revolution around the Sun, completely accomplished in one year or 365 days.
The great circle that one gets through cutting the surface of the Earth by a plane passing through the line of the poles (or the Earth's axis), is called the Meridian. The length of a terrestrial meridian is 40,000 kilometers. The radius of the Earth is 6,366 kilometers.
Three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by the oceans; the other quarter contains the continents. The biggest area of land mass is situated in the hemisphere which would have Paris for the pole.
The continents are composed of plains, valleys, and mountains. The highest mountain, Mount Everest (Himalayas), has a height of 8,840 meters, that is to say a little more than a thousandth part of terrestrial radius. The unevenness of the Earth is proportionally less appreciable than that of an orange peel.
The deepest known depth in the ocean is 9,425 meters.
The Moon
The Moon is a satellite of the Earth, that is to say, a smaller planet that revolves around the Earth while the Earth revolves around the Sun.
The radius of the Moon is about 3/11 of the radius of Earth, and its volume is 1/50, of the volume of Earth. The density of the Moon is 6/10 of the density of the Earth. The mean distance of the Moon to the Earth is 60 terrestrial radiuses. The Moon accomplishes its revolution around the Earth in 27-1/3 days. The Moon goes around the Earth about thirteen times for one turn of the Earth around the Sun.
The solar inequalities are relatively more pronounced on the lunar globe than on the terrestrial globe.
There is no water on the lunar surface, nor substantial atmosphere.
The effects of attraction of the Moon on the Earth are very appreciable and peak nearly twice a day in the phenomenon known as the tides.
Mars
This planet, of which the diameter is half that of the Earth, is distinguished by its very pronounced reddish hue. Mars has two satellites, Phobos and Deimos, discovered in 1877 by an American astronomer. Mars has a volume seven times less than that of Earth. On Mars, the days are nearly the same as ours.
Multiple Asteroids or Minor Planets
Their revolutions around the Sun are between three and eight years. The first four, ranked by order of seniority of discovery, are: Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta. One knows today of more than 800.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest of the planets, the most brilliant after Venus. Its diameter is 1/10, that of the Sun and exceeds the diameter of the Earth by 11 times; its density is a little superior to that of water. This enormous globe completes a revolution in 10 hours or less.
Jupiter is surrounded by eight moons. The first four were discovered by Galileo in 1610; the fifth by Barnard in 1892; the last three were discovered from photographs in the period from 1904 to 1908. The eighth moves in a retrograde fashion.
Saturn
Saturn is the largest planet after Jupiter; its diameter is equivalent to nine times that of Earth, its density is less than that of water. Saturn is the lightest and the most flattened of all the planets.
The factor that distinguishes Saturn from the other planets is the large and thin ring which surrounds it at a distance from the planet; the ring's width is nearly equal to the diameter of the planet. With a good lens one sees the ring split in two others, separated by an empty space which appears dark by contrast; a very powerful telescope makes out a further detail to the interior ring, with two other rings separated by a dark band.
In 1656, Huygens discovered the existence of the ring that Galileo had seen for the first time in 1610, but without being able to distinguish its shape; the division into two distinct rings was discovered in 1663 by Cassini.
Saturn has ten satellites. The ninth is very distant from the planet, and moves in a retrograde sense, that is to say in inverse direction of movement of the planet.
Uranus
This planet was discovered by Herschel in 1781. This great observer of the sky explored a region of the constellation Gemini with the goal of searching there for double stars; he saw a star with a very rounded contour that he took first to be a comet, but after having followed its movements over the course of years, recognized it as a new planet. Uranus' volume is 70 times that of Earth.
Uranus has four satellites who move in the retrograde direction. The two more distant from the planet were discovered by Herschel in 1785, and the two other by Lassel in 1851.
Uranus
Its diameter is worth about four times that of Earth; it is an invisible planet to the naked eye. Neptune has a satellite that moves in the retrograde sense. A young French astronomer [Urbain Jean Joseph] Le Verrier, discovered Neptune by mass calculation, and the discovery of this planet in 1846 caused a universal sensation.
This brief survey of the planets, from the astronomical point of view, allows us to return to our astrological survey.
We will study successively and synthesize the meanings of the diurnal and nocturnal domiciles of the planets, their aspects of dignity or of fall, their respective positions, each with respect to the other, and we will complete this brief information with a detailed survey of the truly initiatory nature of the planets, according to the scholarly author of The Light of Egypt.
We saw that the astronomers only concern themselves with the Exterior Sky. They study celestial anatomy. Astrologers claim to be able to describe the intimate life of every planet, its friends and enemies, its temperament, its place of strength, and the places where it loses strength; finally its physiology and psychology.
Astrologers also describe the character of each sign of the zodiac, and their connections with planets in a particular manner.
When a royal child was bom, the astrologers attached to the court noted with care the position of every planet in each sign of the zodiac at the precise instant of the birth. The astrologer delineated, by this means, the meaning of the horoscope of the future sovereign, by calculating the strength or the weakness of each planet and the reactions of the signs and some constellations on these planets. One understands that astronomers, alarmed by these pretensions of the astrologers, have considered them like dreamers, and that astrologers, full of mercy for the elementary science of the astronomers, have considered them like black sheep and as profaners of the art.
Our goal is to put the reader in the position to read either the old or modern astrologers without any other expectation.
Two fundamental remarks seem indispensable from the beginning. First: how many planets is it necessary to study in order to understand astrology? The ancient masters of the astrology used only seven planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon.
The modern astrologers, wanting to act scientifically, added Uranus and Neptune. In my personal opinion, this is a gross mistake.
If we wanted to calculate the influence of every moving body of the heavens, it would be necessary to add the asteroids that orbit between Mars and Jupiter to the count'; astrology would become so complicated that all horoscopes would be impossible to prepare. It would be also necessary to take into account some of the comets.
The ancients had divided the sky in seven zones of influences, and while any zone may contain one or more stars, it didn't change the zone count. Uranus and Neptune must be considered to be in the zone of Saturn, as well as placing the asteroids in the zone of Jupiter. But we won't consider Uranus nor Neptune in our exposition.
For a clear understanding of astrology, we must begin, like small children, with the alphabet. Just as we gave a mnemonic method for the signs of zodiac, in the same way we will ask the reader to learn by heart the following mysterious sentence:
SA-JU-MA-SU-VE-ME-MO
It is the order of the planets adopted by astrologers, according to the system of Claudius Ptolemy.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Astrology for Initiates by J. Lee Lehman. Copyright © 1996 Samuel Weiser, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Samuel Weiser, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Translator's Introduction
A Word to the Reader
Chapter 1. The Celestial Sphere
Chapter 2. The Planets
Chapter 3. The Twelve Signs
Chapter 4. Applications of Astrology
Appendix. Astrology and the Calendar
Tables
Translator's References
Index
About the Translator