GLYPHS

When I began to study astrology in earnest one of my first tasks was to commit to memory the glyphs used to represent the signs and planets. To understand a natal chart the first essential is to recognise the glyphs. Sign glyphs are better known than planet glyphs, they often appear in newspaper and magazine Sun sign columns, because of their relative familiarity they were easy to memorise. Planet glyphs are less familiar, but there are only seven major ones to remember, and Sun and Moon are easy-peasy. I used to draw the shapes continually until I had them locked in. It helps in memorising the planet glyphs to have some idea of why they are as they are. They're not simply shapes dreamed up at random. Each part of the odd looking symbols has significance. Astrologer Alan Oken explained this in his book Complete Astrology, from which I started to dutifully copy before discovering that the work has already been done by astrologer Carole Somerville - SEE HERE.

I've wondered about the origin of planet glyphs. There's not a lot of information available. The glyphs are said to date back to at least mediaeval times. About.com has a piece by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D on alchemy symbols. It would seem that the link between astrology and alchemy can still be identified from the planet symbols we use. It's interesting to look through the collection of alchemical glyphs, some are strangely beautiful.
See also Wikipedia's page on alchemy.

When considering these things some years ago an old blog friend of mine, Anthony North, commented:

AN: I've often thought that astrology and alchemy are related, in that they came from a similar pre-science that was shared - a kind of instinctual knowing, I suppose. Now if we could track this beginning from the snippets that are left behind - including Hermetica, for instance - then we'd really begin to grasp ancient understanding of the universe.

I replied...
Yes, though I'm not sure whether they are actually related disciplines or whether it was just that the same people who practiced one also practiced the other, and borrowed appropriate symbols. Wikipedia states (tentatively) that alchemy's roots go back to Egypt - 5,000 BCE. There's a wide flung net of mystery that'll never really be solved. A lot of valuable information was lost when the Library of Alexandria was destroyed

It remain intriguing.

ODDS & BOBS

Is this a glyph I see before me? ~~~
I caught sight of a new poster while surfing around the net, one of a new set created by artist Juan Ortiz for the episodes of Star Trek. This is the poster for the episode titled The Way to Eden:





Is it my imagination or, if turned upside down, wouldn't that be almost the same shape as the astrological glyph for Uranus? If so, any connection to Star Trek would be exactly appropriate, Uranus being the only planet with connection to the future and futuristic technology. I could well be "late to the party" here, never having been a fan of the Star Trek series back in the day - perhaps this Uranus glyph connection has been well-known for decades? Anyone know?



Other posters from the set can be seen HERE, with some comment by the artist. Another poster showing a similar glyph-like symbol is that for The Ultimate Computer episode.



A trio of pearls from astrologer Jayj Jacobs' Codswallop Detector. , which can apply to anyone and anything - not only to astrologers and astrology.

Authoritism: The dual beliefs that if it's in print it is true & that famous people are always right ('authors' are de facto 'famous'). The more famouser the more righter. "If I haven't already read, or heard of them, they are nobody, and know nothing."

Lalalalogy: The belief that more lyrical sounding something is, the truer it is. The prettier the poem, the truer the message. It is assuming that the pleasant prevails, and that "The truth rhymes."

Spuriousism: The assumption that if you can make it seem to work for you once, it does indeed work - and must be used by everyone.


I'm impressed by the quality of some of the murals we see on our travels. Here are a few samples, all from husband's camera. In the first two I managed to insert myself into the shots, which may not enhance them at all, but at least it gives an idea of the murals' scale.

Outskirts of Wichita Falls, Texas.



Muskogee, Oklahoma (as in Merle Haggard's song Okie from Muskogee)



Can't recall in which small town we saw this one




Tucumcari, New Mexico (on Route 66 as was).



Tucumcari, again....



Hot Springs, Arkansas



Columbus, Ohio.






What I suspect will be a must-see movie due for release on 26 October: Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of the award-winning novel by British author David Mitchell. The movie will star Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving among others, and is said to run over 165 minutes.

Cloud Atlas tells six separate stories that span time and place - from an American travelling back home by ship after a sojourn in New Zealand in 1850, to a post-apocalyptic tribesman living in the remnants of what was Hawaii in the distant future. The actors play multiple parts.

From the trailer below it looks fascinating - might have to get me the book in preparation.






My favourite from Husband's vintage photograph collection - it's just a small snapshot around 3 by 4 inches, but special. A commenter on Flickr rightly described it as "a magical capture into a lost world."



Those were the ODDS....here come the BOBS:

I do benefits for all religions - I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.
Bob Hope

It's getting harder and harder to differentiate between schizophrenics and people talking on a cell phone. It still brings me up short to walk by somebody who appears to be talking to themselves.
Bob Newhart

Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight.
Bob Marley

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.
Bob Dylan

Wednesday's "Why?" ~ The Glyphs

When I started to study astrology in earnest one of my first jobs was to commit to memory the glyphs used to represent the signs. To understand a natal chart the first essential is to recognise the glyphs. Sign glyphs are better known than planet glyphs, they often appear in newspaper and magazine Sun sign columns, because of their relative familiarity they are easy to memorise.


Planet glyphs are less familiar, but there are only seven major ones to remember, and Sun and Moon are easy-peasy. I used to draw the shapes continually until I had them locked in. It helps in memorising the planet glyphs to have some idea of why they are as they are. They're not simply shapes dreamed up at random, each part of the odd looking symbols has significance. Astrologer Alan Oken explained this in his book "Complete Astrology", from which I started to dutifully copy before discovering that the work has already been done by Carole Somerville at Suite 101- see Glyphs of the Planets .


In typical Aquarian fashion, I've wondered about the origin of the planet glyphs. Water Carriers accept very little at face value y' know! There's not a lot of information available though, other than that the glyphs seem to date back to at least mediaeval times. I found this interesting page at a site called Purple Hell: "Alchemical Symbols"


It would seem then that the link between astrology and alchemy can still be identified from the planet symbols we use. I found it interesting to look through the whole page at the large collection of alchemical symbols. Some of them are strangely beautiful.