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“Venus subdues Mars, and Jupiter Saturn” Marsilio Ficino to Archbishop of Florence – Read by Joe Kiernan
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Category Archives: Saturn
De Magnis Coniunctionibus: Tropical Aquarius – Sidereal Capricorn
Saturn, from Guido Bonatti Liber Astronomiae – Nicolaus Pruknerus,
The Winter Solstice this year is like no other that any of us have experienced, I would like to begin by stating in simple terms what the attending Grand Conjunction is and isn’t. One of the central questions explored here is how the conjunction may be interpreted depending on which method is used.
Be advised that I have previously written articles, readily accessible on this blog, on the conjunction itself and merely wish to add some thoughts on the larger picture of the conjunctions in a wider context of interpretation. First off, here is the chart for the exact moment of the Conjunction.
You will notice that this occurs within a few minutes of arc after the precise moment of the Winter Solstice. We cannot read the chart for the Grand Conjunction without considering its timing on the Solstice and we should not attempt to interpret the Solstice without regarding the integral element of the Conjunction.
What it is:
The Grand Conjunctions occur on average every 19.6 years, as Jupiter joins Saturn, due to the combined effect of Jupiter’s approximately 11.9-year orbital period and Saturn’s 29.5-year orbital period.
Since antiquity, these events were held to be of the utmost importance. As the two social chronocrators, they signal the nature of the ensuing two decades and beyond. However, this Grand Conjunction represents a change from the triplicity of Earth to the triplicity of Air when employing the tropical zodiac.
However, it cannot and should not be ignored that great historical astrologers used a sidereal zodiac and chose mean conjunctions. The essential difference between the mean and true conjunction is as follows:
“A mean conjunction in Ptolemaic astronomy happens at precise, regular intervals. It is based on the average length of each planet’s cycle in the zodiac, which is nothing more than the cycles we are familiar with today: the 12-year cycle of Jupiter is actually a rounding-up of the more accurate cycle of 11.86 years. Likewise, the period of the “Saturn return” is 29.4 years. But in Ptolemaic astronomy this period has a technical meaning: it is the length of time it takes for the center of a planet’s epicycle to revolve exactly once around the zodiac. The position of the center of the epicycle is its “mean” position as it revolves at a constant or mean rate.” See Dykes.
So, when we say the current conjunction occurs in Aquarius, we are being true to the tropical zodiac, using ‘true’ conjunctions. With this in mind, let’s examine what the tropical zodiac and ‘true’ conjunctions illustrate.
When the trigons shift to another element, the event is referred to as a Mutation. With the exception of one Grand Conjunction in the airy element of Libra, the Exaltation of Saturn, all others have been in the element of the earth continuously since 1842 when calculated using a tropical zodiac.
The progression of the Firey Trigons which commenced 8 Dec 1603 as illustrated by Johannes Kepler.
The significance is not so much that the triplicity has shifted, but that subsequent Grand Conjunctions will remain it that element until 29 Mar 2199, with the sole exception of a Grand Conjunction in Scorpio. entering 8 Dec 2159. We will be in the Airy triplicity for 199 years. The last time we experienced this spanned 3 Nov 1186 to17 Jan 1405 25 Jan 1405. During this time, there were three deviations – one in Taurus and two in Scorpio.
See the attached calculations of the Great Conjunctions: 5,000 B.C. – 2,500 A.D. Geocentric, Gregorian Calendar. Time Frame: From 1 Jan 5000 BC GC, 12:00:00 AM, PDT +07:00:00 to 1 Jan 2500, 12:00:00 AM, PDT +07:00:00 Location: Greenwich, England, 0w00 00, 51n29 00
The meaning of the Grand Conjunction is integral to core elements in Mundane astrology. It would be ultimately futile to navigate the many cycles within cycles without an understanding of the GCs In simple terms, these events are like the hands of a cosmic clock, demonstrating the nature of the coming epoch. Clearly, a shift from Earth to Air has a myriad of significances. Most essentially, Earth is tangible and material. Air is intellect. But Aquarius is a Fixed Air Sign and contrary to New Age thinking cannot by its very nature be revolutionary. It is after all under Saturn. It can and is, however, adept at innovation – of expressing the traditional qualities of Saturn in novel ways. One such manifestation is the crystallizing of powers in technology and what are now referred to as “tech giants.”
Released from an Epoch of Earth, there will be (and already is) a renewal of the modern version of the Inquisition, which began in earnest in 1231 during the last Saturn-Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius. We are already well into the Aquarian Age in my estimation and this Great Conjunction merely accentuates what I will call the Aquarian agenda.
The Monarchies of Europe are unlikely to survive in their current form. Aquarius is the sign that opposes the Sun. The other Saturn sign, Capricorn, opposes the Moon. This opposition to the lights is largely what defines Saturn. Note also that Capricorn is in aversion to the Sun and Aquarius is in aversion to the Moon.
How much of this would also be true if we were considering Capricorn rather than Aquarius?
What it is not.
There has been a multitude of claims that this GC is a clear signal that the Age of Aquarius has arrived. To make such a statement is to reveal a fundamental ignorance of the clear distinction between an Age and an epoch. If the current GC indicates the Age of Aquarius, then so would any period that began in Tropical (or sidereal) Aquarius. I have at written length elsewhere on this blog regarding the nature and calculations of the Ages and will not rehearse that content here.
The conjunction is only in Aquarius using a tropical zodiac and ‘true’ conjunctions,
Bear in mind also that in Vedic and all other Sideral schools of astrology, the conjunction is in Capricorn and not Aquarius. It behoves us to remember that the masterful Masha’allah and Abu Masha used a sidereal zodiac, at least with respect to all manner of Mundane astrology. De Magnis Coniunctionibus is the Latinized title of a book written by Abu Ma’shar himself, sub-titled “Historical Astrology: The Book of Religions and Dynasties.”
As Benjamin Dyke pointed out, “it is important to know that only a sidereal system will yield 12 conjunctions per triplicity.”
From a sidereal perspective, the current GC is in Capricorn and therefore the element of earth. Still, the sign remains a domicile of Saturn. Below is a chart for the same date and time, using the Persian Sassanian ayanamsa.
Dyke provides a visual image of Abu Ma’shar’s own parameters. Masha’allah’s are also given in §6 of his Introduction to Astrology of the World II: Revolutions & History.
There is another consideration to be made. For most of astrological history, astronomers and astrologers relied on the system of Mean Conjunctions I don’t think it wise to ignore this fact. Dykes fully explains the situation on Skyscript. According to the Mean Conjunctions, we left the Fiery triplicity on 26 December 1980 and will not experience the conjunction in the Ayrey triplicity for 200 years when it will commence in Aquarius on 9 June 2199. Considering this massive discrepancy and the extraordinary success achieved using the Mean system, this ought to give us pause.
To find a useful table of sideral mean Saturn-Jupiter conjunctions from 185 BC to 2219 AD, consult Appendix A in Benjamin N. Dykes. Astrology of the World II
Summary:
This GC does not herald the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Ages are not determined by single conjunctions. From a sidereal perspective, we would view the current GC as occurring in Capricorn. The Mean & sidereal system used by Masha’allah and Abu Masha have us in the first forty years of an Earth triplicity and we won’t shift to an air triplicity for almost 200 years.
It is interesting to note that the 2000 mean conjunction was in Gemini and not Taurus, as we read it using the ‘true’ system.
What we can be sure of is that using either system, we are now solidly in a Saturnine epoch. The element of the trigons will be understood depending on the ayanamsa we employ and whether we use the mean or true conjunctions.
It is clear that early Hellenistic astrologers such as Vettius Valens used both zodiacs, one at least some occasions. There is a prevalent view that the two systems cannot be reconciled, but the fact is they are measuring related but different things. The tropical zodiac is indispensable because it relates to the seasons on earth. Sidereal ayanamsa maintains the connection to the firmament – the actual position of stars in the constellations so that we can never have a case where a star is projected onto a tropical backdrop, in a sign outside of the constellation in which it participates.
The sidereal zodiac works seamlessly with the 13 Lunar months of Vedic astrology, which expresses itself through the Nakshatras. When it comes to describing a seasonal event, such as the Equinox or solstices, the Tropical system is adjusted to be forever in synch with the pivotal points of the annual wheel.
There are solid historical reasons why one would use a tropical or sidereal zodiac, a mean or true understanding of conjunctions. However, the discrepancy is of the greatest significance when it alters the elemental quality of a 200 year series in a given triplicity.
Saturn & Moloch – Spirit of the Age
Moloch at the Colosseum [via twitter]
The article states the following by way of explanation;
“Previously, the Catholic Church had made the Colosseum a sacred site to honor these first Christians martyred for their faith, even placing Stations of the Cross there for the faithful to contemplate their sacrifice. Now it’s guarded by the pagan god Molech, whose demand for child sacrifice has been compared to the modern epidemic of abortion, and the faithful are greeted with a statue honoring a pagan deity whose murderous spirit still seeks to kill children.” (CBN News).
Once in a while, there is a story that has the power to capture the Spirit of the Age or Zeitgeist. We are living in particularly Saturnine times and with the upcoming Grand Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Saturn’s domicile, the already ominous signs beg further analysis. Moloch is Saturn by another name. As the god of money, he emphasizes the materialism of Saturn. More grotesquely, he is known as the god who demanded child sacrifices, consumed by a furnace in his belly.
We live in a world where millions of children are sacrificed to the god of money by their labour in dark mines and backbreaking work of all kinds. Their childhoods have in effect be consumed by the worship of Moloch, aka Saturn. Moloch is without mercy. The current global economic appetite requires the poor to manufacture or mine items that they could never afford for themselves.
William Blake, The Book of Urizen, c.1794.
The image of Saturn as the one who eats his own children is usually interpreted as an allegory of time, that brings into being that which it will then devour. Chronos is time and the illusion of time keeps us enthralled by the material realm. At the speed of light, we can see that the solid, material universe is ultimately an illusion and in the words of William Blake (1757–1827), “energy is eternal delight … and Reason is the circumference of energy” Life is not something that Saturn supports with the enthusiasm of essence, but by creating a structure that often conceals what it tries to describe,
. The pedantic restrictions of Saturn are oppressive to the life force. He is Blakes aptly named “nobodaddy.” – as in, “nobody’s daddy.”
“Glad Day” – William Blake
Blake also invented a character and named him Urizen. Blake was a cockney, so it would be pronounced as “your eyes on” of “horizon.” The gits is that the poet urged the reader to see through and not with the eye. This is a spiritual vision. The idea of the horizon adds the added significance of limitations – especially limited vision.
Saturn is known in Vedic astrology as the “lame one.’ His metal is lead. He sinks rather than rises. He stands for much of what early Christianity holds to be the greatest impediments to spiritual growth, such as greed, materialism, inequity, cruelty to innocence and the epitome of the Jealous god.
[Video – Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Saturn Devouring One Of His Sons, 1821-1823, 143.5 x 81.4 cm (Prado, Madrid) Speakers: Dr Beth Harris and Dr Steven Zucker. Courtesy of Khan Academy.]
This is the context in which we find this strange god placed by the Vatican to guard the Coliseum. I have no
interest in conspiracy theories surrounding this matter, but the image and context are too bold to be ignored. I’m grateful that this has caused us to look a little closer to what is happening and the revelations we now have about the choices we can make. It is all about consciousness.
Consider this succinct passage from Britannica:
“The laws given to Moses by God expressly forbade the Jews to do what was done in Egypt or in Canaan. “You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Moloch, and so profane the name of your God” (Leviticus 18:21). Yet kings such as Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3) and Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6), having been influenced by the Assyrians, are reported to have worshipped Moloch at the hilled site of Topheth, outside the walls of Jerusalem. This site flourished under Manasseh’s son King Amon but was destroyed during the reign of Josiah, the reformer. “And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Moloch” (2 Kings 23:10).”
Yet Judaism is under Saturn, while Islam, for example, is under Venus. It is therefore not unreasonable to conflate Saturn with Moloch.
For our immediate purposes, the juxtaposition of Saturn and Moloch provides us with a means of assessing the nature of the astrological Saturn as well as the shadow, jealous god in the Pentateuch. The Age of Aquarius is the Age of Saturn. Knowing this affords us a warning and presents us with some choices. We won’t be fooled by the tickling of the ear with lies about a perfect New World under one god and one leader.
I must add that this is not simply an issue of Christianity versus Moloch. All true spiritually hold a reverence 
for life and provide admonitions regarding the seductions of materialism. It is therefore unfair to brand Moluch as a “pagan” god. The term Paganism derives from classical Latin pāgānus “rural, rustic.” It is the route of the word peasant as a dweller of the natural world. The terms were however used as a pejorative by Christians who intended the meaning of worshipper of strange or many gods.
It is curious and tragic that nature was too often considered as “other” in the Abrahamic faiths. The Celtic tradition, for example, is nature-based, Life is affirmed and nature is seen not as something other than us, but a spiritual communion of all beings, including what civilized people mistakenly consider to be inanimate.
Ingress – Jupiter in Sagittarius
First of all, allow me to extend wishes for a Blessed Samhain – this time of the year is celebrated in many ways all over the world, but the common thread is reverence of the ancestors and conscious recognition of the process of turning inwards for illumination, The balance of night and day now moves to favour the night, until we reach the Winter Solstice.
The ingress of Jupiter into Sagittarius is, of course, returning Jupiter to his Domicile. Mercury is already in Sagittarius on this date and is auspiciously free of the beams, Saturn is also in his own Domicile Malefics cause less harm when they are at ‘home’ but we cannot ignore the fact that Mars is in Saturn’s Sign. Jovial levity will be a welcome change to a Scorpionic Jupiter. The day and hour of the chart belong to Jupiter, but the Almuten is Mars.
Most of us have felt the tension and the sense of bottled up energy, only increasing as Sun, Venus and Mercury entered Scorpio. However, that has not been the only source of discord. For example, Venus has retrograded back from Scorpio and into Libra. She is in her own sign, but her retrograde state prevents her from playing a strong role. Indeed. the light of Sun and Venus are collected by Mars because Sun and Venus are not in aspect, the Sun is squared Mars, Venus is trine Mars who is the Lord of the Sun in Scorpio, Mars is not in any of the dignity rulers, so the collection occurs.
This isn’t discussed much and may not always be that helpful, but certainly, in this case, Mars becomes very strong, beyond his domination over the Scorpio planets and luminaries. Jupiter has just left the House of Mars, with Mercury in tow. At the time of the ingress GMT, Saturn is in his domicile in Capricorn in the first house, while Mars waxes in Aquarius. Mars with the South Node and the Part of Fortune augers for serious challenges to the collective purse, because the second house speaks of financial matters of the state in Mundane astrology. We have already seen some rumblings, but the period ahead is one which requires wisdom and foresight.
Last but by no means least, we look to the Moon. In our char, we find a New Moon in the Thirteenth Lunar Mansion. This is Altair that is Dogstars, or the wings of Virgo; it is prevalent for benevolence, gain, voyages, harvests, and freedom of captives. The New Moon is associated with beginnings and what is initiated. This bodes well for those associated with those themes. But it does come with a caution.
A series of great conjunctions, an illustration from Kepler’s book ‘De Stella Nova’ (1606)Because all moments are ultimately connected to all others, we need to understand these ingress phenomena from a greater point of view. We are in the last phases of the Superior Conjunction. The last conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was in these ingress phenomena from a greater point of view. We are in the last phases of the Great Conjunction. The last conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was on 19 May 2000 in the Earth Sign of Taurus. You will find a complete list of these Great Conjunctions from 5,000 BC here.
.You could say that the Great Conjunction in Aquarius in effect squares the last one by sign. Some astrologer has suggested that the next one in 2020 will mark the Age of Aquarius. I doubt this for a number of reasons. I have written many articles on the Aquarian Age and have stated that there is every reason to place the beginning of the Age in the early 20th Century.
Nevertheless, I can certainly concur that this Great Conjunction will massively stimulate the Aquarian agenda. We are in a time when there is surprisingly little thought behind the scientific advances and the morass of ethical questions that remain insufficiently considered. Everything we have considered part of being human is challenged at every turn. This is either a time of wisdom or a time of extraordinary decay with the real possibility of mass destruction. The chart imbues an ethical sensibility via Jupiter and other key elements.
With this in mind, the chart is encouraging of the ensuing epoch. the Day and Hour are with the Moon in Jupiterian Pisces. The Moon is also the Almuten of the chart. She is in the final 28th Al Butain. “The Belly. Helps the finding of treasures and retaining of captives. With Moon here, buy and sell but avoid the sea.” (Robson). Venus in Sagittarius is in her Joy in the Fifth House and has an obvious affinity to Jupiter and all he disposits. This is emphasized by Jupiter being in the Decanate of Venus.
Mars in his Domicile of Aries on the MC and in the Ninth House is a source of friction in the realms of religion, clashing philosophical approaches a well as the law. It is encouraging to see Mars in the Decan of Venus!
Please take into account that these charts are drawn for GMT. House placements and another element will vary by location. Much of what has been said applies to all.
On The Melancholy of Marsilio Ficino Part I
A Copy of Ficino’s Liber Da Vita Triplici
It is always a daunting task to interpret the subtleties of Marsilo Ficino’s thought. Not only was he brilliant in an age of brilliance, his interests were as deep as they were impressive in their broad compass. He was ever attempting to reconcile different religions and philosophies in search of the Prisca Theologia. His massive translation projects put him at the vanguard of Italian Renaissance endeavours. His syncretic Ne0-Platanism was at the root of his intellectual pursuits, which gives us one key to systems. However, no matter how prepared, I shall no doubt raise more questions than provide solutions. If nothing else, it is my hope that this short study might lead to fruitful discussions.
His father was a well-respected physician in Florence. When Cosimo de Medici met Marsilio he said “Cosimo, perceiving the genius of the young man and recognizing in him the extraordinary desire for study which set him afire, re-joiced greatly as if he had now fully understood that, beyond any doubt, this would be the man whom he had long since chosen to shed light on the
Marsilio Ficino
philosophy of Plato. And presently summoning Ficino, he exhorted him to take especial care over Marsilio’s studies so that he should not go against his natural disposition. He said that there was no reason to take account of domestic hardship, for he would never neglect him in any matter but would supply everything most generously. ‘You, Ficino,’ he said, ‘have been sent to us to heal bodies, but your Marsilio here has been sent down from heaven to heal souls.’ The Life of Marsilio Ficino by Giovanni Corsi p.6
However, Marsilio was also a skilled physician. With the combined knowledge of medicine and astrology, he was also a magus, philosopher and musician. He certainly knew his way around the complexity of a human being from the points of view of body, mind and soul.
To know anything much about Ficino at all is to know of his life-long project of finding ways to minimise the deleterious effects of Saturn. He was passionate about it. He refers to its influence on himself as the great burden of a Melancholy Humour, otherwise known as an excess of black bile. Ficino was certainly among the brilliant minds of his age and has a reputation of having been a competent astrologer. He certainly knew the humoral system, probably as well as any physician of the time. However, we have Ficino’s birth chart and his comments upon it and they may well give us pause,
He certainly knew the humoral system, probably as well as any physician of the time. However, we have Ficino’s birth chart as well as his comments upon it. Ficino makes numerous comments on his severe Melancholy, but the most succinct passage, dealing with both his chart and humours is as follows in a letter to Giovanni Cavalcanti he writes “Saturn seems to have impressed the seal of melancholy on me from the beginning; set, as he is, almost in the midst of my ascendant in Aquarius, he is influenced by Mars, also in Aquarius, and the 
Moon in Capricorn. He is in square aspect to the Sun and Mercury in Scorpio, which occupy the ninth house. But Venus in Libra and Jupiter in Cancer have, perhaps, offered some resistance to this melancholy nature.”Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life, [Florence 1489] 1989, p. 20
Further in a letter to Rinaldo Orsini, archbishop on Florence, he wrote “Venus subdues Mars and Jupiter Saturn. Letters Vol II. p.15
It was an odd comment to make to Cavalacanti because Ficino didn’t have the salubrious Venus in Libra or Jupiter in Cancer in his horoscope. Venus is instead in Virgo and Jupiter in Leo. This isn’t a minor error. His horoscope would have to have been in the previous year to have the Jupiter he cites. Of course, if Ficino had said or meant that his chart would be better with the impossible planets, we can write this off as an error in communication. No other plausible option occurs to me.
Plato’s natal chart as described by Maternus (Mathesis VI. XXX. 24)
I have no way of guaranteeing the provenance of the chart above but it does closely match his own comments on it. The green planets have been added by an astrologer, noting the disparities between the original, using modern software and Regiomontanus houses, If however we use Porphyry houses the resulting chart is almost identical to the one he describes, with the exception of the impossible positions of the greater and lesser Benefics.
We have seen that Ficino notes that Jupiter in Cancer would have helped the situation, but if Jupiter were at that degree in Cancer, it would set the chart back one year while leaving everything more or less as is..
Instead, Jupiter is very much in Leo It isn’t easy to understand why Ficino would wish that Jupiter were in another sign, because Plato’s horoscope has the same first / seventh house axis in Aquarius and Leo. It is evident that Ficino admired Plato in the highest degree. I think at times the identity of Plato and Ficino got blurred. Further, we can argue that Ficino knew what he was doing, He certainly had extraordinarily wealthy and generous patrons and friends to remind him of the Royal throne of Jupiter.
Marsilio Ficino – 19 Oct 1433 – 1:42 pm – Figline Valdarno. Italy – Porphyry houses
In Book Six of his Mathesis, the fourth century CE Roman astrologer, Julius Firmicus Maternus, gives the following account of the natal chart of Plato, the fifth century BCE Athenian philosopher:
If the ascendant is in Aquarius, and Mars, Mercury, and Venus are in conjunction in that degree; Jupiter is on the descendant in Leo; the Sun is on the anafora of the ascendant in Pisces; the Moon is in the fifth house in Gemini, in trine to the ascendant; and Saturn is in the ninth house in Libra-this chart produces an interpreter of divine and celestial matters. He possesses a combination of learned speech and divine intelligence and is trained by some kind of heavenly power to give true expression to all secrets of divinity. This chart is said to have been that of Plato. (Mathesis VI.XXX.24)
Standard – Oriental – Occidental considered.
2. Oriental and Occidental ignored
Whether or not Plato shared what Ficino considered salient similarities with respect to his own horoscope, Ficino found his own to be problematic because as he stated “Saturn seems to have impressed the seal of melancholy on [him] from the beginning;” His references to this excess of black bile, which he sometimes refers to as scholarly melancholy are ubiquitous. It’s virtually impossible to think of Ficino without recalling his Melancholy humour.
In spite of the challenges in the horoscope, the philosopher has Sun and Mercury in the 9th House disposited by Mars in his sign of Exaltation.
However using traditional methods of determining humor from the horoscope, we see immediately that he actually has more of the Sanguine and Choleric Humour. Sanguine is warm and wet, Melancholic is cold and dry.
So what happened? Did he perhaps feel the leaden weight of Saturn and conclude, considering also the exact Saturnine ascendant, the with the Moon and Mars disposited by Saturn.
At first glance, it appears that his humour is far more balanced than he suggests, with Melancholy taking no more than 16.67% Sanguine shares dominance with Choleric and Phlegmatic takes the same as Melancholy. if we use the classical systems available to us, which take the sign. phase and many other elements into account. If he ignored the Oriental or Occidental significators, he would deduce a Humour that is about 50%. of the Melancholy Humour. This still means the dominant Humour is Melancholy. However, it matters how the black bile is produced. His biographer tells us:
His bodily constitution contained excessive blood which was mixed with a thin subtle red bile. His health was not at all settled, for he suffered very much from a weakness of the stomach, and although he always appeared cheerful and festive in company, yet it was thought that he sat long in solitude and became as if numb with melancholy. This came about either from black bile produced by the excessive burning of bile through continual night study, or, as he himself said, from Saturn, which at his birth was in the ascendant in Aquarius and nearly square to Mars in Scorpio. The Life of Marsilio Ficino by Giovanni Corsi p.46
If we take the considerations or Oriental and Occidental we would have the possibility of “excess blood with thin subtle red bile.” The other calculation renders no Choleric. This is a degree of sophistication that goes far beyond the usual calculations. What Ficino is saying is that how we live affects the expression of our humours. Humours can be altered in the process or their interaction with each other. His penchant for describing his own condition as scholarly melancholy takes on another level of meaning.
There will be a Part II, mostly to tie up one or two loose ends and to discuss his various remedies, including his use of sympathetic magic.
De Magnis Coniunctionibus – An Introduction
The intent of this article is to introduce the phenomena of the De Magnis Coniunctionibus or Great Conjunctions and provide a general overview. A later article will approach the subject in more depth
The Great Conjunctions are those of Jupiter and Saturn. The last Great Conjunction occurred in May 31, 2000,. The next will be in late December 2020. They take place approximately every twenty years. Consideration of the alignment of the two social planets is most widely used in Mundane astrology.
In fact they define what we have come to call generations or epochs. I have generated the Saturn Jupiter conjunctions from 5000 B.C. to 2500 AD in pdf format.
They have been used since earliest times. Combined with other phenomena such as Solar and Lunar Eclipses. Perhaps most important is their relationship to each other
.During the twenty year period between Superior Conjunctions, they will of course square, oppose, trine or sextile one another. This is were things become a great deal more complex and will be addressed in a second article on this subject.
`The great eighth-century Persian astrologer, Masha’allah Atharī (c.740–815 AD) became the leading astrologer of his age. Here’s what he has to say about the great conjunctions and their importance in Mundane divination.
“The principal things happen from the greater kind of conjunction, which is of the superior planets. But these superior planets have other conjunctions, even ones signifying great accidents. For the conjunction and it signifies accidents and sects.
But the knowledge of the accidents from this is had by looking at the Ascendant, and the planets at the hour of their conjunction, and which of them rules the figure. Which if it were a benefic, it will signify good and the fitness of the weather. And if it were a malefic [it will signify] detriment and dryness, and moreover the sterility of the earth, and wars.” (Works of Sahl and Masha’alla “- Trans Dyke. p. 306 )
One of the best ways to get comfortable with interpreting the Great Conjunctions is to study the tables, noting the elements. Invariably, the successive Conjunctions will remain in a given element for a long periods. You can see what happened and when it happened – seeing patterns that follow this phenomena.
Both the thumbnails on the left are the work of Johannes Kepler. If ever the principle of a picture being worth a thousand words were true, it’s right here.
Translation of Albumasar (Venice_1515) De Magnis Coniunctionibus
Quest for the Age of Aquarius.
Astrological ages occur due to a phenomenon known as the precession of the equinoxes. One complete revolution of all twelve astrological signs is called a Great Year or Platonic Year. This takes about 25,920 years. Precession works in retrograde motion; so Pisces follows Aries, Aquarius follows Pisces which in turn is followed by Capricorn.
Would it were so simple: Nicholas de Vore defines Astrological Ages in his Encylopedia of Astrology: “As anciently considered, a period of roughly 2150 years during which the point of the Spring Equinox recedes through one sign of the Zodiac of Constellations. Since the constellations have no precise boundaries, the points of beginning and ending are mere approximations.”
It should be noted that this concept has not been embraced universally by any means. Charles Carter wrote: “it is probable that there is no branch of Astrology upon which more nonsense has been poured forth than the doctrine of the precession of the equinoxes” (Campion 1999) Neil Spencer is of the opinion that the idea of astrological ages is “fuzzy”, “speculative” and [the] least defined area of astrological lore.[ (Spencer 2000) Others have simply given up on the whole idea.
Regarding the date marking the Age of Aquarius, there is no consensus among astrologers. Astronomers have no definitive date either. I’ve seen dates as early as the 15th Century and as late as the middle of the third millennium. Rudolph Steiner believed that the Age of Aquarius wouldn’t arrive until 3573.
David Williams claims that the Age of Aquarius arrived around 1844, with the harbinger of the Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad (1819–1850), who founded Bábism. You can see how many will stake a claim on the beginning of the age based on a singular event.
Courtesy University of British Columbia
There are a number of reasons for this confusion: the constellations are not the same size. The Precession of the Equinox is not perfectly constant. There are dozens of other reasons as well.
I proceed with the tentative assumption that the Great Ages do exist and might be known, among other things, by considering the nature of the age in relation to the unique and agreed-upon traits of the sign.
The passage of Regulus into Virgo, joining the other Royal Stars of Persia in mutable signs (2012) is highly significant; but I’d be reluctant to take that as the single defining event without substantial corroborative evidence.
Ultimately we have to ask ourselves what we mean by the Piscean or the Aquarian Age. How are they most likely to manifest? How are they to be recognized?
I recently read an article by an astrologer who claimed that Aquarius will get rid of greed, selfishness, war and all kinds of blights. But what is particularly Piscean about this list? Another wrote, “The more dominant core values of the Piscean Age of money, power and control must go to make room for the Aquarian Age values of love, unity, brotherhood and integrity.” Where do these attributes come from? Is the mere idea of the Age of Aquarius enough for us to deny everything we know about the signs?
Verttius Valens was less than charitable in his assessment of the sign :
Aquarius is the celestial sign which is masculine, solid, anthropomorphic, somewhat damp, single. It is mute, quite cold, free, upward-trending, feminizing, unchanging, base, with few offspring, the cause of troubles arising from athletic training, carrying burdens, or work in hard materials, an artisan, public. Men born under this sign are malicious, haters of their own families, incorrigible, self-willed, deceitful, tricky, concealing everything, misanthropic, godless, accusers, betrayers of reputations and the truth, envious, petty, occasionally generous (because of flow of water), uncontrollable. As a whole this sign is wet. (Anthologies Bk. 1 p. 5)
To be fair, he isn’t all that kind to Pisces either :
It’s the celestial sign which is feminine, moist, quite wet, bicorporeal, with many offspring, ossy, scaley, sinewy, humpbacked, leprous, two-formed, mute, motile, with rough skin, in conflict with itself because one Fish is northern, the other southern. It is moist, downward-trending, servile, changeable, with many offspring, bicorporeal, sociable/lewd, with some limbs missing, the cause of wandering, varied.Men born under this sign are unsteady, unreliable, changing from bad fortune to good, sexy, theivish, shameless, prolific, popular (Anthologies Bk. 1 p. 6).
Personally, I find both descriptions ludicrous in their hyperbole, but in essence, there is much to reflect upon, once you get past the leprous bit.
It is noteworthy that many cultures speak of a distant Golden Age, set far beyond the mists of time. Many predict a Golden Age in the future, often with no date to mark the ingress. In most cases, humanity has to make the right choices in order for it to occur.
Such is not the case with the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius ” It’s portrayed as a more or less painless transition to Utopia. Can it be that all will be sweetness and light because Saturn rules the Age? The influence of a very popular but astrologically ignorant song, cannot be ignored!
The Moon is in the 7th House for two hours every day. Jupiter and Mars alignments occur often (See this calculation for 1900 -2500) It is not a rare event at all. In a lifetime of 80 years, there would be 36 Jupiter / Mars conjunctions. Such is the power of popular culture if the timing is right: ‘ Perhaps this is a case of life imitating art, but it’s complete fiction. Perhaps it’s little more than a case of successful marketing.
Again It seems the only way we have of determining when the New Age begins or ends is by studying what happens and how people react to it. The 20th Century has often been referred to as the age of alienation and existential angst.
The 20th century saw the dominance of sea power replaced by air power. Revolutions were rife, toppling the Czar and the Emperor of China, both replaced by dictatorial Communism. Feudal Japan was overwhelmed by the country best known for its cult of rugged individualism. The World Wars seem far more Aquarian than Piscean.
The acceleration of technology is unprecedented and few doubt its Aquarian nature. Is chemical warfare a Pisces thing or an Aquarian one? What about nuclear bombs?
Can anyone seriously deny that globalisation has a lot more to do with Saturnine Aquarius than Jupiterian Pisces, particularly when we consider the Aquarius / Leo axis.?
Most writers on the Age of Aquarius are very upbeat. The jargon is usually similar. Pisces bad. Aquarius good. No more oppression. Love will guide the stars and so on.
I find myself agreeing with most of what Robert Zoller has said on the subject. Please excuse the lengthy quote, but we don’t know how long webpages will be maintained and Zoller speaks with considerable authority. You can read the whole article @ http://www.lunatica.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SAA/Documents/Zoller/Archandpredabridged-2.htm
During the Piscean Age, the benefic Jupiter ruled the angles. Jupiter ruled both Pisces on the 1st and Sagittarius on the 10th, and thus, while there was confusion of hierarchical religious institutions and political institutions and while this inevitably led to hypocrisy, the Age was nevertheless one in which truth and philosophy mattered to men. The Piscean Age will, as this Aquarian Age unfolds, be seen as a halcyon period of semi-respite from the essentially malefic and spiritually destructive nature of life. In the Aquarian Age, the malefics once again rule the angles and with them returns the natural severity of worldly life.
The Novus Ordo Saeculorum, the New Order of the Ages, will rule through the power of life and death (Scorpio, which is on the 10th), through behaviour modification, cloning, genetic engineering, mind control and the occult. Might makes right in this New Age. If the preceding Age produced metaphysical materialists, who duped the people through the opiate of religion, the New Age will produce materialist metaphysicians who will make the preceding political power elites look like inept apprentices.
In the Age of Aquarius, religion will be humanistic love of fairness and justice. While feeding the people with Libran platitudes, the Scorpionic rulers will work tirelessly toward the realization of their goal – absolute power over others, as Leo is seen in position on the 7th house. The will of the people will be towards freedom of expression (Aquarius), and they will be encouraged to do their own thing so that they keep their minds off what their rulers do.
Most of what Zoller mentions has already materialized. These trends have all accelerated enormously since 2000. The New Age is synonymous with the New World Order in many respects. The marketing of greed and unprecedented ecological destruction is somehow “serving our best interests.” So are genetically modified foods. The World Bank masquerades as a benevolent force in developing countries. Invariably the nations cannot repay the debt and the bank takes control of the resources. These are all globalist endeavours resulting in personal profits. Technology is touted as the saviour while a third of the world goes hungry.
A Nobel Peace prize was given to a killer of children via that most Aquarian of weapons, the killer drone and, to quote Zoller, “rule through the power of life and death (Scorpio, which is on the 10th)”. There are few things more impersonal than unmanned stealth weapons controlled by a secret agency from across the world. They are so *impersonal* that they kill ten times as many men, women and children as the intended target. None of this seems Piscean to me I don’t see peace and understanding heading the list at this point, but our survival will depend on it.
We are in an age of religious wars. Neither secularism nor fundamentalism will budge. The world is on fire with this conflict, with no easy end in sight. They’re ultimately incompatible and it’s easy to see this as a final conflict between the ages of Pisces and Aquarius.
Alternatively, one might argue that the religious element in not much more than a pretext for the complete control of people and global resources by the greatest plutocracy the world has ever seen. This brings us back to the Leo / Aquarian axis once again.
Ultimately we have to look at the thorny question of cusps. I’m not big on them myself. But even if you were to apply even a very modest orb, it’s fair to say the age probably started around the beginning of the 20th Century.
I don’t entirely concur with Zoller’s dystopian vision for the Age of Aquarius, but his observations have enormous merit. I believe our technology and globalization are a double-edged sword. Just as the invention of the crossbow meant that a peasant could unhorse a knight, powerful computers and other technologies make it harder for tyrants to hide and easier for us to communicate with each other, albeit in a far less intimate manner.
Some afterthoughts
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In 1927 the British philosopher Bertrand Russell delivered as a lecture and then published Why I Am Not a Christian. It was shocking at the time and no doubt still shocks many people. It was supposed to. However, it’s listed in the New York Public Library’s list of the most influential books of the 20th century.
It isn’t just atheism. It’s militant atheism. Richard Dawkins et al have become very aggressive, even confrontational, referring to religion, or anything else that’s non-quantifiable material as a particularly pernicious virus or mental illness. Anything, not material, such as prayer or any form of divination is forbidden.
As noted the Russian and Chinese revolutions were also militantly atheist. This spread through much of the world. It’s really very Aquarian A fixed air sign ruled by Saturn wail expects and desires the uniformity of thought and the individual ultimately sacrificed for the collective. This is the essence of globalism. Secularism has become a religion itself: we are asked to accept on blind faith that which is often patently absurd.
Having considered all these things relating to Saturn, I think a good estimate for the beginning of the Age of Aquarius would be around 1901 and not later than 1918. That is a Superior Conjunction (of Jupiter and Saturn) in Capricorn in late 1901. 1918 is another date to consider.
I have no desire to spread negativity. It’s the opposite. By recognizing what we’re facing we have some choices. If we remain in the illusion that all is sweetness and light, as much of the New Age Movement ironically claims, we are most likely to get blindsided
Part of the confusion, in fact almost all of it, lies with the false connection of Aquarius with Uranus. It’s touted as the revolutionary planet. If we seriously consider the attributes of Uranus, we find a blend of qualities that previously belonged primarily to Mars and Mercury but this has been almost completely ignored. Many of the attributes that actually belong to Aquarius have been pushed aside and something altogether different put in its place and given the same name.
The Classical Astrologer 