Astrologer's Words of Wisdom ~ On the topic of aspects

A few years ago I would do the occasional post under the heading Astrologer's (or Astrologers') Words of Wisdom: pertinent quotes from astrologers' books, articles or print-outs of their lectures. I haven't posted one of these for a while, but on reading once again the introduction to an old book I have on my astrology shelf, I decided to revive that Words of Wisdom idea, once more. The points made are a fairly obvious, once given a bit of thought, but do bear repeating.

From The Astrological Aspects by C.E.O. Carter (published 1930 - 1969)

From the book's Introduction:

 Hat-tip for image to  Astro-wiki

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?

A little further on in the Introduction he writes (or scolds a wee bit):

I must frankly say that I doubt if anything has done sane Astrology more harm than our constant prating about "good" and "bad" aspects, like children talking of "lovely sweets" and "nasty medicine". Such a point of view is debilitating and unworthy, and it implies that astrologers are people whose chief concern in life is to find ease and comfort and avoid hardships. I do not mean that astrologers are of this frame of mind, but our language leads others to this conclusion. We must indeed employ the terms of ordinary language, but there is no need to speak as if comfort were the one good thing, and discomfort the one evil.

INTEGRITY and the Planets

A couple of linked articles earlier this week attracted my attention. Both by Russell Bishop:
Is there any integrity or honesty out there?
And Could impeccability be the missing key to integrity?

Wikipedia defines integrity, when applied to human character:

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy.

How is integrity, personality-wise, indicated astrologically?

In his Encyclopaedia of Psychological Astrology, C.E.O. Carter didn't list integrity or impeccability. His book advises "for honesty see dishonesty". Not an optimistic start! I tried "truthfulness" - yes that's there ! After all one can't exhibit integrity, impeccability or honesty without truthfulness.

TRUTHFULNESS

The regard for truth as an instinct and an ideal is Aquarian and to a certain extent Scorpionic and Uranian, in that both Scorpio and Uranus try to get to the bottom of things and have a contempt for shams. In this latter respect one can associate Aries with them. From these characteristics arise the uncompromising candour and freedom from conventional restraint that are found in Uranus and Aquarius. Libra and Sagittarius are normally truthful, except that the latter easily exaggerates, as does Aries. Saturn in a good position always tends to truth and keeps the native down to hard fact......For deliberate unthruthfulness see Deception. (Not today thank you, we'll stay positive and.... enough copy typing for now!)

Among the comments following one of the linked articles was one that made me ponder. The commenter asked, if one came to a mandatory four way stop in the middle of wheat fields in Kansas and could see for miles in all directions would one nonetheless stop, or just blast through? The commenter asked why would it be right stop. Not to be angelic, he/she thought, but because of good habits. If one ignored the stop sign once, they'd do it again and some day that bad habit's gonna get them killed - the commenter's conclusion.

Interesting thoughts, and the described circumstance has happened to us on more than one occasion, in Kansas and elsewhere. My husband always stops. Always. (Aries Sun, Saturn conjunct Mercury in Pisces), the most law-abiding citizen I've met anywhere. I don't drive, but if I did I probably wouldn't stop in those given circumstances - I'd slow down to a crawl though. But although this is an interesting concept it really isn't a test of integrity - standing alone. It's simply a test of obeying the law. As it happens, my husband does have integrity too, I hasten to add.

What I think the commenter had in mind in the Kansas crossroads example was the idea of "doing the right thing even when nobody's looking" - one proof of having integrity.... and nobody knows this for sure but you!

Here's the thing though - having one's name on a Goody-Two-Shoes list should not automatically imply that "this is a person of integrity". Joseph Wambaugh, American author of several best-sellers, a former police officer has said,"As a cop, I dealt with every kind of bum and criminal. They all have more integrity than some Hollywood people." (I bet he'd willingly add to that "and politicians").

Personally, I doubt that astrology can accurately pinpoint the existence of integrity, or hypocrisy, in someone's character from their natal chart. Integrity is more likely to be something learned from teachers, parents - or experience. The potential for one or other could show astrologically - but I wouldn't rely upon it. Anyone can behave with integrity when it's relatively easy - it's when someone else offers to buy it out that the crunch comes......and

The possession of unlimited power will make a despot of almost any man. There is a possible Nero in the gentlest human creature that walks.Thomas Bailey Aldrich

A glaring example from yesterday's news of how integrity is a hard-to-come-by commodity: "Most of the oil "spilled" in the Gulf of Mexico is gone". Please. Do they think we are completely clueless? Best comment I've seen on the matter - a quote from Jaws:

"I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means 'friendship.'"--Mayor Larry Vaughn, Jaws.

I read the news today - Oh Boy!

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.

SEEING THE FUNNY SIDE

It's not easy to find real-life stuff to laugh at these days. Most of what's in the news frustrates, angers or saddens, rather than amusing us. Yet there's supposed to be a funny side to almost everything.

It's undeniable that infectious laughter and bright smiley faces light up life, make us feel better immediately, even in the face of dire circumstances. We are sometimes told that it'd help to be more child-like in our approach to life. Children laugh easily, I guess because they have little or no responsibility. We have to somehow strike a balance between child-like appreciation of the bright side of life with the serious responsibilities that arrive with maturity and a clearer understanding of the ways of the world.

Perhaps a person's astrological blueprint governs where their funnybone lies, and how sturdy and resilient a bone it happens to be. A well-respected British astrologer. C.E.O. Carter wrote a little on the topic of humour in his "Encyclopedia of Pyschological Astrology". He states that:

"Each sign has its special kind (of humour), but the general astrological indications of this gift are Venus and Taurus, Jupiter, Neptune, Sagittarius and Pisces, Moon Cancer and Uranus. Humour in the strict sense, I put under the Moon and Cancer.

Venus and Taurus seem to have to do with laughter and amusement generally; Moon, Neptune and their signs with whimsicality (which is also noticeable in many Virginians (I think this must refer to Virgoans rather than inhabitants of Virginia); Uranus with incongruity and unexpected effects; Jupiter and Sagittarius with fun and satire. Mercury must, of course, be prominent where the power of humourous expression is involved. Humourous persons, unlike witty ones, have not always the gift of speech.

Wit depends upon a strong Mercury, the quality of wit being determined by the chief aspecting planet. It is often found aspected by Mars, Jupiter or Uranus.

The signs which most commonly lack humour are Leo, Scorpio and Capricorn, as these often produce persons with a strong sense of personal dignity, not to say self-importance. They can seldom appreciate a joke at their own expense, as the Jupiter person can. It is probable that Saturn afflictions to the Moon tend to destroy humour, while Martian ones coarsen it, and incline to horseplay."

I dare not and should not argue with Mr. Carter, but I do wonder about one or two things he has written, especially in the last paragraph quoted above. I've found that it really is not possible to accurately categorise people by their Sun sign, or by a planet, as in "a Jupiter person", as Mr. Carter appears to be doing (but perhaps I'm misunderstanding him, if so, I apologise profusely).

A person with Sun/ascendant and more in Leo could have all kinds of aspects pointing towards humour in their chart, which would completely overcome any over-developed sense of self dignity. In fact, a good dose of Leo is very helpful in presenting humour to an audience.

I've found people with a lot of natal Capricorn to often have well-developed dry humour, which could combine easily with any sense of self-dignity. As for Scorpio - perhaps black humor (dark in content, not skin color) which seems to be gaining popularity, might be a genre natural to a Scorpio-heavy person, or one with Pluto (ruler of Scorpio) prominent.

As far as I can see (and perhaps that's not far enough) nothing in astrology can be set out as "cut and dried" for every individual. One man's hilarious joke is another man's yawn, or even obscenity. And come to think of it, isn't that word "hilarious" vastly over-used these days, at least in the USA where exaggeration seems to be the norm? I've lately heard the most inane or trivial stuff described as "hilarious", which makes me wonder if my own funnybone is suffering from osteoporosis.

Back to my original thought about seeing the funny side of things that in reality are not at all funny. It's a special talent, probably inborn and not easy to cultivate. As the wise old saying goes "if we don't laugh, we'll cry"; for sure laughter and sorrow are close together, on either side of that cusp dividing the normal from world shattering events, personal or communal. I'm going to guess that those people with Sagittarius and/or Jupiter well prominent and without blight from Mars, Saturn or Pluto are those who are most likely to be able to laugh in the face of disaster, with an ability to see through the gloom and into that elusive funny side.

Patriotism

Patriotism, astrologer C.E.O. Carter told us, in his Enclyclopedia of Psychological Astrology, is "a Cancerian trait and most patriots have this sign prominent". I'm not sure that works for me - I have natal Cancer rising, but don't consider myself patriotic - except in regard to the Earth.

He goes on to say "But many who are so called, and who perhaps have even performed deeds of great value to their country, have been actuated by such motives as duty (Saturn), resistance to aggression (Mars) or love of freedom (Jupiter or Uranus). Astrology enables true patriotism to be detected, and at the same time, although few national horoscopes are obtainable, it may usually be judged that a person who has many planets strong in a certain sign will do well for himself when in a country ruled by that sign, and, in turn, may benefit the country."

A variety of astrological charts are used by astrologers to represent the birth of the USA, rising signs differ, but I think that the Sun always lies in the sign of Cancer. I'm not a fan of astrological charts for countries. I feel that a chart set up for an inanimate entity describes a moment in time - nothing more, a moment whose "imprint" has no flesh and blood upon which to imprint itself (except of course upon babies born at that precise moment). I'm not a professional astrologer though, and am probably wrong. Assuming that I am wrong, if the USA's Sun sign is Cancer, and C.E.O Carter was right about the sign of Cancer being related to patriotism, then it's hardly surprising that the USA has always inspired its citizens with great patriotism.

What worries me a lot, as an alien here, is that a good proportion of people in the USA can see no wrong in their country. They see this as patriotism. There's also, thankfully, a growing group of more enlightened folk who see things as they actually are, accept that there are faults, and work towards change and progress. In my book, these are the true patriots.

Last week, at a local concert, a singer (well known country star) performed a self-penned song of praise for America and Americans, written after he'd felt outrage about a news article seen while doing a gig in the north-east. The article in question had criticised current conditions in the USA, and the US administration. At the end of the song the whole audience stood and cheered. If that song had been in protest about the war in Iraq, or likely bombing of Iran by the US, or about the poor in this country who have no social welfare safety net, or the children and families without access to health care.......or about what we are doing to the planet....or.....well, you get my drift....I'd have been on my feet cheering louder than anybody. It wasn't. I sat with my head bowed, feeling deeply disturbed.

When "America the Beautiful" was sung though, earlier the same evening, I had applauded along with everyone else, because the land is amazingly beautiful, it would be hard not to fall in love with certain parts of it.

C.E.O. Carter's assessment of patriotism may have been correct for his own time, and for his own country (Britain). We now live in different times, are considering a different country, with different needs. I'd say the astrological signature for patriotism nowadays would have to include some good Mercury and/or Virgo aspects to enable clear, critical thinking, and a little bit of forward-looking Uranus/Aquarius to enable us as citizens of the world, rather than of any particular country.

I wish America could see itself as part of the wider world instead of a large self-contained world of its own - best of all worlds, which can do no wrong. The plea "God Bless America", to my ears is all wrong! "God Bless the World" is the way forward now, the only way, in fact. If the sensation or emotion we call patriotism were to be be re-jigged, re-aligned to encompass the planet and all its peoples, we might see a flicker of hope for the future of this sad old world.

"The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" (Pablo Casals)

Blogger descends from soapbox.

"By thy mask I shall (not) know thee"

I admire the work of C.E.O. Carter, British astrologer of the early to mid 20th century. Some of his words sound dated now, but it adds to their charm. This quote of his, lifted from the Wessex Astrologer Group site HERE is interesting.

"On the Ascendant as a Mask:
Recently we have heard a good deal to the effect that the rising sign, and in particular the ascending degree, is a mask which the native wears before the world but which conceals his true self.
As I have stated in the Lodge, this proposition does not seem self-evidently true. It seems to derive from the practice, in Alan Leo times, of correlating the Sun with the 'individuality' and the Moon with the 'personality', using these words in their well-known theosophical senses. 'Personality' is further derived from the Latin persona = something one makes a noise through, hence a mask such as actors were wont to wear, with a wide-open mouth. Then, apparently, this idea of a mask was transferred to the ascending sign...
I suggest that it is not the rising, but the setting degree, that is more truly a mask, for it is through this that we contact other people, and unless we have very strong personalities (in the usual, not the theosophical, sense) we do modify our demeanour according to the man or woman who confronts us..." [From an Editorial in The Astrologer's Quarterly, September 1951]


The idea of the ascendant being a mask, or lens through which we see the outer world and it sees us, has never felt right to me. I've come to my own conclusion that the sign on the ascendant is simply one more ingredient in the recipe of a personality, mixing with, sharpening or softening, highlighting or shading other ingredients. This is just my own view, and probably could be put down to how my own astrological makeup allows me to perceive things.

Charles Carter's idea makes a lot of sense to me. Some other astrologers have said that the descendant indicates "what we need", in a partner, or in life. I like Carter's idea much better, and it seems to work in all the charts I've been able to check so far. Admitedly this is not a large number, because times of birth have been elusive in many of my close connections throughout life.

My own descendant is in Capricorn. I've been told more than once that I come over as too serious, solid, reliable = Capricorn. This makes my revolutionary Aquarian Sun bristle! As Mercury lies in Capricorn in my chart I've usually blamed the impression I seem to give on that placement. Capricorn is not the real me, but it could easily be what others see first, when they don't know me. I seriously doubt that anyone sees my rising sign (Cancer). I'm anything but motherly. I've never been a mother, not domesticated (I am house-trained, but barely!) I'm ultra sensitive and emotional but nobody could perceive that unless they knew me very well.

I tried Mr Carter's theory on the chart of HeWhoKnows. He has Leo ascending, Aquarius on the descendant. He has told me many times that when he was young he always tried to be original and different, not to conform with the fads of his contemporaries - in the way he dressed, his hair, his taste in music, the way he spoke. That says Aquarius to me, not Leo. He's matured now, less avant garde in most things, but still Leo remains well hidden, just a part of the mix of his real self, his Moon is there too. When I first stumbled over him on the internet the impression I got was of a school teacher, professor or somesuch. It turned out that he was none of these, but his demeanor was definitely more Aquarius than Leo. His eldest daughter has a similar ascendant and these remarks could apply equally to her.

For me, Charles Carter nailed this. His theory is something I shall always keep in mind.