Astrologers' Words of Wisdom

Astrologers come in all shades, stripes, shapes and sizes. Something for everyone! My own choice is for the more down-to-earth variety, those who never lose sight of reason and rationality. There are, and have been, quite a few such astrologers. As an occasional feature I'll aim to choose a paragraph or so from the books or websites of some of these. Paragraphs highlighting points which are important to bear in mind, but can be forgotten or overlooked in the excitement of discovering all that astrology has to offer.

First up - snippets from British astrologer C.E.O. Carter's book The Astrological Aspects, first published in 1930; and from American astrologer Grant Lewi's Astrology for the Millions, first published 1940.

C.E.O. CARTER:The difficulties of writing anything reliable and capable of helping the practical student are great. For, while we can understand the abstract significance of the planets and so form a conception of the theoretical meaning of each aspect, it still remains true that when we descend from these abstractions to the effects of the aspects in actual life we find ourselves confronted with a very intricate task. That which is unitary above becomes many below; the trend of manifestation is always towards increased diversity. Thus, even in terms of character, the same aspect exhibits great differences in manifestation according to the almost innumerable possible concurrent circumstances that may arise. When we seek to determine the probable external form of the aspects in the affairs of life, we meet yet greater variation. What is more absurd than to suppose that the same aspect (whether radical or progressed) will manifest in the same way in the case of a convict serving a life sentence, a millionaire financier, a Bohemian artist, or a soldier on active service?

GRANT LEWI:...Consistent observation of planetary effects in a very large number of charts leads me to the conclusion that, whether or not Planets differ in their inherent character, their chief observable difference as they act in the chart is traceable directly to the difference in the rate of motion with which they pass through the Vitasphere (natal chart).....

Because Mercury and Venus remain always close to the Sun, their rhythms are merely slight variants on the solar rhythm, as viewed from the Earth. The Moon's rhythm also has a relationship to the solar rhythm, since the Moon goes all the way around the zodiac in approximately the same time that the Sun, Mercury and Venus are going through one sign.

If we consider you and the house you live in as the Sun, then Mercury and Venus and the Moon are those who inhabit the house with you, to whom you get accustomed and accept as an integral part of yourself and your life.........It is with the things that go on outside the house - that is to say with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - that we are primarily concerned (a) in interpreting and understanding past experience and (b) in projecting... into the future.