Birth of Venus by Botticelli

APHORISMS concerning the positure of VENUS.

If Venus be Orientall, and in Essential dignities, and Jupiter in aspect with her, it Prenotes the Woman will be Master.

Venus in the 2nd, argues the Native marries his Wife for Wealth.

Venus in the 6th, the Native marries a Wife of servile or low condition, &c.

Venus in the 4th, in square or opposition to Moon in Aquarius, shewes the Wife to be light:  if she be in Cancer, it portends the Native will be much given to Lechery.

Venus in the 7th, the Native is long ere he marry, and will love Harlots.

Venus in the 11th, the Native will cohabit with a Woman having Children.

Venus in the 10th, the Native marries a gallant noble soule, if in aspect with Jupiter, the more noble.

Venus in the 1st with Saturn, especially if in his owne house, or else in the house of Venus, renders the Native a Wife that is either dishonest, aged, or a very poor, sneaking Wife.

Venus joyned to Mercury in the 4th, or else in Mercury his house, Saturn posited in the 10th, portend the Native will marry a sordid Woman, or of no Quality:  If she be at the same time in any aspect with Mars, she is strangely evill, and will be suspected of sorcery or poisons; in Cancer or Capricorn, it argues a Whore.

Moon in the 4th, and Venus with Saturn in the 9th, the Wife will have no Children, either by reason of age, or defect of nature.

Venus in conjunction with Saturn and Mars in the 6th, advise the Native to beware of Hornes.

Venus and Saturn in conjunction in the 7th, shewes the Native hath no faculty in, or is impotent to beget children.

Venus in conjunction with Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, gives laborious Wives, good Hous-wives, Women affectionately loving their Husbands.

Mars with Venus denote the Wife full of spirit, movable, an ill Huswife, prodigall, and that the Native is or will be an Adventurer.

Saturn mixing his aspect with Venus, encreases licentiousnesse, filthinesse, immodesty.  Jupiter fairenesse, cleanlinesse, modesty.  Mercury varies many times for good or ill, as dignified or unfortunate.

[Riches of the wife.]

Of Riches attending the Wife, or accrewing by her portion, herein you must consider those Planets whom I have specified before, viz. who did behold the Moon by any good aspect, or were in conjunction with her; for if those Planets be benevolent, and essentially fortified, they declare a rich and wealthy Wife, well descended, &c. if they be malevolent Planets and ill dignified, they argue the contrary.

Wherein I must give you this generall caution, viz. that you consider the quality and birth of the Native, before you rashly pronounce a noble Wife, or one well descended, for let us admit I have a Beggars Nativity to calculate, and that he hath Jupiter in Sagittarius, free from all manner of impediment, to signifie the Wife he shall marry:  I shall then describe the person of Jupiter and his conditions, but I will not say she shall be noble or gloriously borne, but will frame this judgment, That he shall marry a Wife so qualified, &c.  But one well descended, as unto his condition viz. perhaps she may be the Daughter of some Tradesman or Farmer, &c. and this unto him and his Beggery, is as if she were noble borne, considering the difference betwixt a Beggar and a Farmer, and whereas being signified by Jupiter, she ought to be rich, &c. without a doubt a Wife so signified shall have some pretty Portion from her Parents or Friends, and shall reduce this poor man and beggar by this her Marriage, to a better kind of living or substance; for the Artist must not predict impossibilities, but to every one Quoad Capax, &c. but to our former purpose.

Generally, the Fortunes, or either of them in the 7th, especially if strong; argue a wealthy Wife, and well descended: malevolent Planets in that house denote much trouble; if they be potent, perhaps the Wife may be rich, but withall ill conditioned.

The Lord of the 7th in the 10th, or Lord of the 10th in the 7th, promises a good Wife.

Lord of the 2nd in the 7th, or Lord of the 7th in the 2nd, promises the same.

Lord of the 12th in the 7th, or Lord of the 7th in the 12th, Usually predicts a poore Wife, ill bred, and of obscure Parents.

Signes of a good Wife.

The happy aspects of Jupiter to Venus or Moon, with reception in Dignities equivalent, shew a wealthy Wife, and Marriage with a person of great Birth.

Lord of the 7th in the 7th, gives an honest simple wife.

Lord of the 7th in the 8th, if he be a Fortune, argues a rich Wife, and borne to have an Inheritance very ample.

Kingly fixed Stars of the first magnitude, neer the cusp of the 7th, if the cusp thereof be also fortunate, these testimonies argue a rich and good dispositioned Wife.

Signes of ill fortune by a Wife.

Malignant Planets in the 7th very strong, denotes Riches with a Wife, but not attainable without some scandall or trouble.

The Infortunes very imbecill in the 7th, notes Wives, or a Wife, very poore, of abject and sordid condition and birth.

The Lord of the 7th in the 6th or 12th, or on the contrary, the Lord of the 6th or 12th in the 7th, shewes the Wife to be either a servant or very poorly borne.

It’s not good for the Native that either Saturn or Mars be in the 7th, unlesse the Fortunes doe aspect them, and be not cadent from the house, for Saturn doth cause sorrow and travell in the matter of Marriage, and Mars doth shew their death and destruction before the Native.

Venus in square or opposition of Moon signifies prejudice by Marriage.

Venus in the 2nd, in an evill aspect of the malevolent Planets, declares detriment by reason of the Wife.

The Moon Lady of the 7th and posited in the 8th, decreasing in light, denies any great felicity in Marriage.

William Lilly

To The Student In ASTROLOGY

My friend, whoever thou art, that with so much ease shalt receive the benefit of my hard studies, and doth intend to proceed in this heavenly knowledge of the stars, wherein the great and admirable works of the invisible and alglorious God are so manifestly apparent.  In the first place, consider and admire thy Creator, and be thankful unto him, be thou humble, and let no natural knowledge, how profound and transcendent soever it be, elate thy minde to neglect that divine Providence, by whose all-seeing order and appointment, all things heavenly and earthly, have their constant motion, but the more thy knowledge is enlarged, the more do thou magnifie the power and wisdom of Almighty God, and strive to preseve thy self in his favour; being confident, the more holy thou art; and more neer to God, the purer Judgment thou shalt give.  Beware of pride and self-conceit, and remember how that long ago, no irrational Creature obey him, so long as he was Master of his own Reason and Passions, or until he subjected his Will to the unreasonable part.  But alas!  when iniquity abounded, and man gave the reins to his own affection, and deserted reason, then every Beast, Creature and outward harmful thing, became rebellious and unserviceable to his command.  Stand fast, oh man! to thy God, and assured Principles, then consider thy own nobleness, how all created things, both present and to come, were for thy sake created; nay, for thy sake God became Man:  thou art that Creature, who being conversant with Christ, liveth and reignest above the heavens, and sits above all power and authority.  How many Pre-eminences, Priviledges, Advantages hath God bestowed on thee?  thou rangest above the heavens by Contemplation, conceivest the motion and magnitude of the stars; thou talkest with Angels, yea with God himself; thou has all Creatures within thy Dominion, and keepest the Devils in subjection:  Do not then, for shame, deface thy Nature, or make thy self unworthy of such Gifts, or deprive thy self of that great Power, Glory and Blessedness God hath alotted thee, by casting from thee his fear, for possession of a few imperfect pleasures.  Having considered thy God, and what thy self art, during they being Gods servant; now receive instruction how in thy practice I would have thee carry thy self.  As thou daily conversest with the heavens, so instruct and form thy minde according to the image of Divinity; learn all the ornaments of Vertue, be sufficiently instructed therein; be humane, curteous, familiar to all, easie of access, afflict not the Miserable with terror of a harsh Judgment; in such cases, let them know their hard fate by degrees; direct them to call on God to divert his Judgments impending over them; be modest, conversant with the Learned, Civil, Sober man, covet not an cilate; give freely to the poor, both money and judgment:  let no worldly wealth procure an Erroneous Judgment from thee, or such as may dishonour the Art, or this divine Science:  Love good men, cherish those honest men that cordially Study this Art:  Be sparing in delivering Judgment against the Common-wealth thou livest in.   Give not judgment of the death of thy Prince; yet I know experimentally, that Reges Subjucent Legibus Stellarum. Marry a wife of thy own; rejoyce in the number of they friends, avoid law and controversie: in they Study, be Totus in Illis that thou maist be Singulus in Art; be not extravagant or desrious to learn every Science, be not Aliquid in Omnibus; be faithful, tenacious, betray no ones secrets, no, no I charge thee never divulge either friend or enemies trust committed to thy faith.  Instruct all men to Live well, be a good example thy self, avoid the fashion of the times, love thy own Native Country: exprobate no man, no not an enemy:  be not dismayed, if ill spoken of, Conscientia Mille Testes; God suffers no sin unpunished, no lye unrevenged.

B                                 WILLIAM LILLY.

April 2012

Happy glorious April! April the First, All Fools’ Day, starts off on Sunday, the Sun’s day, with the Moon entering Leo. Let this be a month of bright golden moments, and I’m not fooling around. It’s true, we still have a few more days of Mercury being retrograde, but that can add focus as well as slow down the fast pace. The Sun is in the heart of Aries. You can make this month work for you.

Tue Apr 03 the Moon is in Virgo when Venus changes signs and enters the sign of Gemini. For all the rest of this month, Venus is a guest in Mercury’s house. May your writing (and all communications) be at their most beautiful and charming. The Moon also conjuncts Mars today. Take that as an extra dose of energy to pour into  your work. Perhaps it’s a good day to do some hardcore editing. (continue reading…)

Heads Up!

The Writer’s Astrological Almanac

by Kathy Watts

December 2011

Happy December.  As the solar year wanes, the holiday season kicks in.  Mercury is retrograde for the first two weeks, so social interactions may be a bit more scrambled than usual, but that can be considered part of the fun.  Resolve to enjoy this month!

Thu Dec 01 we begin the month with the Moon conjuncting Neptune in the end of Aquarius, then going void of course.   Dreams are rarely as strong as they are now.  Two and a half hours later Venus exactly conjuncts Pluto.  Keep the level of excitement under control, except perhaps in your works of fiction.  An hour after this, the Moon enters the sign of Pisces.  Sensitivity peaks, but remember, Mercury is retrograde so don’t get maudlin.

Fri Dec 02 the Moon is in Pisces all day.  In the very early morning, the Sun exactly squares Mars.  Heads Up.  You don’t have to be impatient with yourself.

Sat Dec 03 the Moon enters Aries, and conjuncts Uranus an hour and twenty minutes later.  The Moon will be in Aries until Tuesday morning, so feel independent and make time to work on some of your own stuff. (continue reading…)

Heads Up!
The Writer’s Astrological Almanac
by Kathy Watts

April 2011
Happy Spring! Congratulations on weathering the storms of March. May there be more sun, warmth, and green growing things in our immediate future! Mercury may be retrograde, but that can be a good thing (yes, you heard me right). Think clearly, carefully, perhaps a bit more slowly (although with Mercury in Aries, how slow can it be?), and deeply. Be grateful for a bit of restraint and a slight curb on what otherwise might be shameless mental mania.

April starts off on a Friday, the day of the week special to Venus and all things charming and lovely. The Moon is void of course in Pisces (and not yet in Aries, for better or worse) when Mars changes signs and enters his home sign of Aries. In a month like this, we could set the world on fire, so be careful and make good choices all month long!

Sat Apr 02 the Moon conjuncts Mars in Aries. Be primed for a high-energy weekend, and remember to take notes, as there may be little time to compose it all properly. Not quite a couple of hours later, the Moon conjuncts Uranus in Aries. This can be more high-energy surprises, some of which best belong in fiction. Don’t let the stunning stuff pass by unnoticed. Writers are notorious for being observant, after all. It’s also the day before the New Moon (yes, in combustible Aries). Drive safely, especially if you’re in a little red car. Be cautious but not paranoid. Heads Up.

Sun Apr 03 is the New Moon at 13Ari. Inspiration is a form of high energy. If you’re not already fired up about your work, perhaps now’s the time to ask for that. Midday, the Moon conjuncts Jupiter, in Aries. This conjunction so close to a new moon makes it even more powerful. Be wide open to massive good luck, and don’t narrowly dictate what form it takes. Two hours later Mars conjuncts Uranus, in Aries. Mars on his alone is combustible. With Uranus, things can be explosive. In Aries (ruled by Mars, don’t forget) it can be more high-yield than “usual” (not that anything about Uranus is usual). I may stay in today and work on my disaster novel. (continue reading…)

Alistair Barr over at MarketWatch warns, today,  that emerging markets may be peaking.

Feb. 15, 2011, 2:55 p.m. EST

Emerging markets may be overheating: Citi CEO

Big banks may struggle to make 20% returns on equity, Pandit says

By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Emerging markets may be overheating and will have to increase capacity and control inflation, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said Tuesday.

Pandit also said big banks may struggle to generate 20% returns on equity in the future, in a speech at the ISI Group 2011 conference in New York.

“Many of the emerging markets are operating at or near capacity and are therefore at risk of overheating – and must deal with the possible consequences of inflation,” he remarked.

Surging food prices show that “there are some countries where you’ve reached close to capacity,” Pandit said, without mentioning specific nations.

Still, the Citi (NYSE:C)  chief noted that this is happening because emerging markets are growing strongly. “Their challenge is to work out how to increase capacity. Central banks on the ground are doing a good job trying to handle this trade-off between growth and capacity.”

Citi has the most exposure to emerging markets of any big U.S. bank. Pandit said Tuesday he’s “comfortable” with the portfolio of loans the company has made in these countries. That’s partly because consumer leverage and corporate-lending penetration is still relatively low, he explained…” More:

http://tinyurl.com/467nh6p

Surely, with the lose monetary policy, we hear all the time, how ‘strong’ the dollar is against the Euro, and the currencies of other developed nations, but what we do not hear much about,  is how zerp (zero interest rates policy) has increased the currencies of emerging nations, especially those with large mining and mineral operations. For example, Australia’s dollar, today trades at 0.9964, pretty much, neck and neck,  with the US dollar.

There is no doubt that commodities have had an enormous run up in the past year. Oil is trading at 86 a barrel, and gold is off the roof in the 1300s. How long can a good thing last, is anybody’s guess, and so, since it’s a question, I am interested in. I feel passionately about markets. It is my business, to know, and it should be yours, too.  So I ask:

Are emerging markets about to hit the skids?

When we look at horary charts, the first thing we do is to look to the ASC. This gives the atmosphere of the question to us. Here we have the ‘quick’ and nimble Gemini, rising. This will a sort of lightness or flexibility to the atmosphere of the question. In other words, it’s a question sort of asked at the ‘spur of the moment’ and so it’s a casually asked question, much the sign, Gemini, which is comprised of two children. In the first house, we see the Dragon’s Tail at the last degree of Gemini. This could portend some downward movement, but at 29 degrees, it may be ‘down the road’ a bit.

The next thing we do in such a chart, is to examine the condition of the planet that governs, or has control of the sign rising on the eastern horizon. In this case, that planet is Mercury.  The first thing we notice is that Mercury  is of the same nature as the sign on that all important cusp, in other words, light and airy in nature because the sign rising, and its ruler,  Mercury are both in an air signs. Air brings a lot of ‘hope’ for the future, and as such, they tend to be bullish.

Mercury is up at the top of the chart. This portion of the chart is called the ‘price’ in ancient charts. So when we see Mercury heading towards the top of the chart. And we all know that old saying, ‘what goes up must come down.’ In this case, Mercury is about 5 degrees from the top. This may buy emerging markets a little time. However, Mercury is also heading straight into the molten bubbling rays of the sun. This is called, combustion. The Sun is just so much bigger and stronger than Mercury, that it doesn’t ake much imagination to figure out what happens, when this happens. In ancient think, this is the sign of trial by fire.  In the question at hand, the all powerful, Sun also rules the house of bottoms, that of the 4th.

What does this mean? Well, in  a nutshell, given Mercury’s upcoming peaking, then falling into the fiery arms of the Sun, not to mention, that depressing South Node in the 1st,  we may, indeed,  see emerging markets go down. But when ???

Well, in horary, angular planets stand for months. Since Mercury is within 5 degrees of the cusp of the 10th,  it may buy emerging markets a few months, but since Mercury is just leaving the antiscion of the parsfortuna, we have a pretty strong bet that the boom days, are over.

We are thrilled to announce that  the internationally renowned astrologer, and force behind the ultimate astrological website, http://skyscript.co.uk, Deborah Houlding will be returning to San Francisco, by popular demand, to give a not to be missed workshop on Saturday and Sunday October 23rd and 24th.

We tend to hear a lot about ‘essential dignity’ and dispositors in traditional astrology, but very little is said about that all important piece of our astrological puzzle, the all ‘dasturiya’ which is the planet that rises directly to the east of any given planet. In traditional astrology, we come to take for granted that the disposing planet, that planet which owns the sign the planet or luminary we are examining. The disposing planet is often called the ‘lord’ because the disposer tends to ‘lord’ over said planet.  Let’s take Venus for example. She is said to be soft, and ever sweet and full of ardor. Place her in the sign, Virgo, and Mercury will act as her director.  Since Mercury is neuter, the person with this Venus may be more  drawn to the library, than to the boudoir.

Disposition, of course, is ‘old hat’ to most traditionalists and moderns alike, but what Abu Massar referred to as the dasturiya, seems to have vanished from the traditional lexicon. Hopefully we can remedy this situation, because the dasturiya, (especially of the Sun) is one of the most potent planets in the entire chart, goading the person to achieve. In a sense, the dispositor acts like a lord, while the dasturiya acts like a nagging wife. You just cannot avoid it! The ancients felt that the dasturiya of the Sun, especially important. According to the ancients, the Sun was the fountain of divine fire, which inspired man to find his purpose in life. To get a fire going, we need a spark. We might say that the dasturiya, especially that of the Sun, will act as a  divine  spark, igniting us to find own special greatness. To find the  dasturiya we need only look just east. In the case of the Sun, we look to the planet or luminary which rises directly previous to the Sun.

For instance, we can look at the chart of Abraham Lincoln, who according to the note in his mother’s bible was said to have been born ‘right at sun up.’  Thus, we notice, his Sun is right at the eastern horizon. Having the Sun here, btw, according to the ancients is one of the  the best places for the Sun, and it alone will give young Abraham the vigor to live a long and productive life. It will add to his ability to ‘get ahead’ because so placed it will enhance his sense of purpose, and most importantly, placed on the strongest angle of the chart, gives him the ability to act.

With the Sun rising, Lincoln will have a healthy ego, but placed in Aquarius, the Sun’s detriment, Lincoln will think in terms of the bigger picture. Such a person will not be what one could consider warm and gregarious, because when the Sun is in Aquarius, it is ruled by the grim Saturn. So Abe will be aloof, and considered even a bit cold. Perhaps given his Aquarius Sun, he might be well ahead of his time, and not afraid (to parody the Apple commercials) ‘think different. Given his times, he might have become a reformer, or even an inventor, one who would go far, because the dispositor or ruler of his beautifully placed Sun, the ringed planet, Saturn is also very strongly placed up at the Midheaven, or the noon position. The combination of the Sun in Aquarius disposed by Saturn in Sagittarius, will give him the zeal to push through is goals.  With Abe’s Sun placed at dawn position, and dispositor at noon, we already have confluent indicators that Abe will be an ambitious and mature young man who will take the long view, and have what it takes to go very far in life.

However, what sets Lincoln apart from other men of determination and ambition is because of his dasturiya. Money is a powerful elixir.They say that ‘power corrupts totally.’ There is a reason for this. Let’s face it, when a person gets to a certain stage in life, it is easier to keep the wheel going. Once a person ‘gets to the top’ it is human nature to try to keep on accumulating; to protect ‘whats mine.’   This is where the adage, ‘the rich get richer’ came from, because once most people get to the top of the pyramid, they spend the rest of their born days, grabbing more and fighting off competitors. It is Lincoln’s dasturiya,  the Moon which at sets him apart,  not just from other successful politicians, who ‘make it’ but from all presidents because she forces him to remember his roots. Detrimented in Capricorn, and also disposed by that powerful 10th house Saturn, it becomes the goad that sparks his altruistic zeal that made Lincoln stand up for every one of his subjects, not just the rich and powerful. When he said,  “that government, of the people, by the people and for the people, will not perish from this earth”   it was his Moon talking. We know from mundane astrology that the represents the common man. Because he did what the Moon forced him to do, take care of everybody in need, black, white and in between. And because of this, Lincoln stands out above all other presidents.

Now mind you, even though the Moon is Lincoln’s royal goad in life, we do not see ‘lunar’ features or temperament outwardly. This is because of ‘accidental’ placement. In charts, when it comes to ‘what you see’ it is the angular planets.  So with Lincoln, we see the overt characteristics like his very dark angular, some would call, Saturnian features (the Sun in Aquarius, angular 1^st with dispositor Saturn in angular 10). And indeed, Lincoln was not what you would call a touch feely kind of a guy. In fact, he was said to have been dumped by his first girlfriend who said he was ‘no gentlemen’ when they had returned from long walk with a pregnant woman, toting sleeping babe in her arms, and had never once offered to carry her load. When confronted with this, he said something to the effect of, ‘well, I figured if she wanted help she woulda asked.”  So instead of seeing a soft and round personage, the lunar dasturiya is placed in the 12^th a cadent, house, and nstead, acts like a subtle voice whispering from the shadows. In addition, like his Sun, Lincoln’s Moon is also detrimented. Since Lincoln is a man, the Moon will represent the women in his life. Mary Todd Lincoln was known to have suffered emotional stress, some said she was unstable. In addition, his mother was considered a ‘lose woman’ because it was said that she cohabited with Lincoln’s dad, prior to marriage.  Thus she was shunned from society, which out in the ‘frontier’ meant company. It was also said that she was a cultured and literate woman, but also a sad woman because of all the isolation. We see this in Lincoln’s placement of the detrimented Moon in Capricorn (the sign opposite its home base of Cancer). I think it in many ways, given that the Moon is his dasturiya, that he was deeply affected by her being an outcast, so that he remembered all the other outcasts and became a president who was ‘of, by and for the people’ not just some of them, but every last one of them.

This post was inspired by the brilliant work of Silva who did an amazing piece on the doryphory at our list Angelicus Merlin. Her astrological work,  each an exquisite lesson in itself, of which I am forever indebted, is not to be missed. Enjoy!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/angelicusmerlin/

Go for it!  Heads Up