Showing posts with label Robert Camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Camp. Show all posts

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Thorny Topic of Relationships

Valentine's Day approaches. Our minds turn to thoughts of love and relationships.

Beyond the red hearts and fluffle (my word for what goes on on February 14) there often lies much angst.




"Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Rumania."
- Dorothy Parker

As a rule I avoid writing on the topic of relationships, leaving it to my professional colleagues to tippy toe through that minefield. It's a tricky subject at best, and from personal experience I can confirm that though astrology can be initially helpful, even with all astro boxes ticked, one can still come to grief. Actually that should be "two can still come to grief".

Would-be lovers or participants in relationships of any sort often seek the advice of astrologers. This is a wise move, in my view. Before doing so though, it's advisable to read up a little on the basic principles behind astrological doctrine. If this seems like too much of a chore, the seeker may not benefit as fully as he or she might have done from what the astrologer has to say.

Alternatively, an individual with with the soul of a gambler will trust his/her gut feelings in all matters of love and relationships. In some cases this can be even safer than following an astrologer's advice. Gut-feeling can come from a kind of psychic second-sight, aka intuition. Not always though. A mix of astrology and gut-feeling would cover more ground. There's no totally risk-free method for determining success in matters of love, friendship, or life in general....that's my one absolute truth.

Personally, when it comes to relationship queries I always turn to Robert Camp's book "Love Cards". His system is complex and rooted in the mists of time. The system has astrological connection, and seems to bundle this with some other mysterious ingredient. More often than not, in my own experience, it has been reliable. A glance at some of the customer reviews of the book at Amazon (here) confirms that others share my confidence in Camp's system.

At the end of the book is a section called "Bringing More Conscious Awareness into our Personal Relationships". As part of this section the author lists his "Nine Golden Truths of Relationships" and expands on each of them. I'll list the headings only. They, in themselves, are quite telling, but some do need to be expanded upon to be fully understood.

1. We are the ones who choose our partners, not the other way around.

2. No one can make us stay in a bad relationship but ourselves.

3. Though together, we each choose our current relationship for our own personal and specific reasons.

4. All we can see in our partner is ourself.

5. We cannot hurt others and others cannot hurt us. We can only hurt our self.

6. The best thing we can do to love and help our partner is to love our self.

7. Love always wants more of itself and love always brings up everything unlike itself.

8. Lying destroys imtimacy.

9. Marriage is not forever.

Robert Camp finishes by saying:
"These nine truths can be very helpful in separating the truths from the lies we tell ourselves. They can help us through the maze of emotional turmoil and give us some anchors in reality upon which we can depend. If we remember them in times of need, they will be of help."

Monday, September 15, 2008

Presidential Players

I suspect that more words have been written about the characters in this year's US presidential election than almost any other characters in recent history. This has to be attributed mainly to the widespread use of the internet, mushrooming of blogs, and opening up of news sites to readers' comments.

Almost everything that could be written about the astrology of the leading characters in this tragi-comedy of an election has already been written. As I cast around for a new approach I spied on my bookshelf Robert Camp's "Love Cards". The title sounds trite, and if it hadn't been recommended to me by someone on an astrology message board, years ago, I'd never have given it a second glance, and I'd have missed a lot - it's an intriguing book.

Robert Camp uses a system which originated in another book: "Sacred Symbols of the Ancients". It's based around an deck of playing cards, astrology, and some other mysterious ingredient. I don't know what that ingredient is, but the system can be eeerily accurate in assessments of character and when exploring compatibility potential.

Playing cards are fascinating enough in themselves.Wikipedia explains their symbolism, as well as their origins. The deck widely adopted in Europe many centuries ago, and still in use, is described thus:
"Popular legend holds that the composition of a deck of cards has religious, metaphysical, or astronomical significance: typical numerological elements of the explanation are that the four suits represent the four seasons, the 13 cards per suit are the 13 phases of the lunar cycle, black and red are for day and night, the 52 cards of the deck (joker excluded) symbolizes the number of weeks in a year, and finally, if the value of each card is added up — and 1 is added, which is generally explained away as being for a single joker — the result is 365, the number of days in a year. If the other joker is also added, that makes 366 days, the amount of days in a leap year."

Is it coincidental that the cards relate so closely to our calendar? If so, then it's a rather amazing coincidence. Anyway... back to "Love Cards":

The Birth Card (just the first of many categories explored in the book) is comparable to the Sun sign in astrology. "It is the card that ruled our planet on the day we were born. People born under a certain card's rulership will all share some distinguising traits..... The Birth Card is the strongest and most important symbol of who we are in this lifetime."

All that is needed to consult this system is a person's day and month of birth. Let's see what the cards have to say abut the US presidential and vice-presidential candidates. What follows is an absolute minimum, just to give a flavour, it barely scratches the surface of what can be gleaned from "Love Cards".

Sarah Palin has stolen the headlines recently so I'll start with her. Her Birth Card (11 February) is Ace of Spades. Other birthdays covered by this card are June 13, March 9, April 7, May 5, June 3, July 1. The card is called "Card of Ambition and Secrets", and in some circles is known as "The Magi Card." "Most ambitious and material-oriented card in the deck, but also the most spiritual." The book tells us that these people have a lifelong conflict between material and worldly issues and a deep pastlife spiritual heritage. A card of extremes.
Britain's Princess Diana (born 1 July) had this Birth Card, by the way.

Hillary Clinton's (26 October) Birth Card: 9 of Hearts, and Barack Obama (4 August) Birth Card: 9 Diamonds. Nines in all four suits have something in common (as do all groups of numerical or royal cards). Concerning Nines, the book tells us ,among other things, that these people are "never truly fulfilled unless they find ways to give of themselves to others. Many of them take this to the highest level and become saviours of humanity. Many great spiritual leaders and teachers have Nines as their Birth Cards. In many ways Nine is the opposite of the Ace" (see Sarah Palin, above). "Whereas the Ace needs to be selfish and self-centered, the Nine cannot. Each time the Nine tries to do things for themselves they reap untold misery and pain. It goes against the grain of their soul's essence. Nines can develop strong victim-saviour completes and all of them exhibit this to some degree.....". Sound familiar? Hillary Clinton has been said by some writers to consider herself a victim; Barack Obama is often referred to as a Messiah or saviour figure. I notice too, though, that George W. Bush's Birth Card (6 July) is 9 Diamonds, same as Obama's. Oops! "The underlying message for the 9 Diamonds person is that they arrive on the planet with a host of value-related beliefs, ideas, concepts, needs and personal attachments that must be let go of".

To complete the cast, a word or two about John McCain (29August) Birth Card: 10 of Hearts, and Joe Biden (20 November) Birth Card: King of Hearts.

Re John McCain's 10 of Hearts- "To truly understand the Tens, we must also be familiar with the Aces" (see Sarah Palin above). "The Aces and 10s are very much alike." 10 of Hearts is the "Success With Groups" card: "A leader, not a follower, has much ambition and could stray off the path of truth as a result"

Joe Biden's King of Hearts - "The Loving Father Card" (Jaqueline Kennedy was also of this group). The Kings all have power, naturally! King of Hearts has power with people and personal relationships - charming and very intelligent. "It is not wise to argue with them, their keen minds can always find a response". The VP debate with Sarah Palin should prove interesting!