Philosophical
Astrology consists of the links between philosophy and astrology, from
the mysticism of ancient religions and cultures based in part on
astrology to the mathematics common to both astrology, numerology and
Sacred Geometry, and to the curious aspects of astrological Symbolism which have profound philosophical implications.
The Ha QabalaandTree of Life,
for example, are fundamental to Jewish, Christian, and a host of other
ancient, medieval, and modern mystical traditions and/or mystery
schools. Together with Numerology and the Tarot, Astrology describes and identifies the characteristics of the many pathways between the Sephiroth in the Tree of Life. Everything
from the “dark night of the soul” (usually referred to as the 32nd
path) to all the varied manifestations of processes contained within the
Tree come within the purview of the so-called occult arts. Astrology provides one tool for identifying the meaning of the multiple transformations and transitions of life, all a part of The Fool’s Journey – the latter one of the better examples of a philosophy of living.
Astrology’s connection to the Tree of Lifecan also be seen in such things as the Tree’s column of severity, which is represented by the astrological planets: Uranus, Saturn and Mars. Uranus is revolutionary and sudden change, Saturn, limitation and boundaries, and Mars, aggressiveness and war). Meanwhile the Tree’s column of mercy is composed of Neptune, Jupiter and Venus (illusion and fantasy, benevolence and generosity, love and romance). In
essence, the attributes of the Sephiroth reflect what we know of the
astrology of the applicable planet being assigned to the Tree of Life. Saturn,
for example, is about government, citizen responsibilities, societal
rules, boundaries and limits; while the Sephiroth corresponding to
Saturn – Geburah – is about severity and strength, justice, strife,
loss in pleasure, and earthly trouble. Clearly a good definition of earthly trouble can be found in such government troubles as the IRS, FBI, CIA, DOD, ETC! Other
examples include the Sephiroth, Yesod (foundation), which is amply
personified by Mercury (communications, analysis, thinking, and so
forth).
Astrology shows up elsewhere in the cultural and philosophical traditions of everything from
ancient Egypt – where an astrology very similar to modern day
astrology is carved into the Temple of Denderra – to ancient Babylonia
– where Berossus predicted and wielded an astrology sufficient to grab
anyone’s attention. Astrology was
also a primary tool of Nostradamus (1503-1566 A.D.), who used astrology
as the basis for the timing of his many prophecies (many of which
profoundly affected royalty and influential leaders and whose validity
could thus be determined).
On a yet more fundamental level, astrology is based upon Sacred Geometry, which is in turn based on the Golden Mean (represented by the Greek letter, phi). Philosophy
can be written: phi-lo-sophia – wherein sophia (sophy) is “the study,
wisdom, or knowledge”, lo, “the amazing sight” (as in “lo and behold”),
and phi… just phi. Thus philosophy is “the study, wisdom, or knowledge” of “the amazing sight” of… phi! Sacred Geometry may then be said to connect astrology and philosophy. The latter can be said to be wholly within the purview of Sacred Mathematics, i.e. the universe is based on numbers. This
is not a definition of philosophy that many philosophers would accept,
but this is probably due only to their lack of mathematical acuity.
A philosophy of astrology, per se, is less obvious, but can be described by alluding to what are known as “Sabian Symbols.” These
symbols, according to Dane Rudhyar, “take events from the realm of
the fortuitous, the unprecedented, the unique and the incomprehensible
to the realm of ‘universals’.” “Expressed through symbols, life becomes condensed into a relatively few interrelated units of experience. Each unit is a concentrate of the experiences of millions of people.” Symbols
use “an imagery that is close to the foundations of the natural life –
and these foundations are still very real and active in the immense
majority of human beings.” The
Tree of Life, for example, is replete with symbols, and it is those
symbols which constitute its meaning – even when discussion and mere
words prove to be wholly inadequate.
The history of astrology’s Sabian Symbols is critical to their understanding. It
began in 1925, when Marc Edmund Jones (an astrologer) approached Elsie
Wheeler (a clairvoyant medium, who happened to be crippled by
arthritis). Jones had a novel idea. He
provided a deck of 360 cards, each card representing one degree of the
Zodiacal circle (and identified, for example, as one degree Aries, ten
degrees Scorpio, and so forth). In
Miss Wheeler’s presence, Jones shuffled the deck (and reshuffled many
times during the process), and then began pulling one card at random –
without his or her seeing what the card was. Miss Wheeler responded by describing what she saw. Apparently,
a scene flashed in her inner vision, which she quickly described, and
which Jones made a brief pen notation on the card of what she said. Not
only was the procedure entirely aleatory as far as the normal
consciousness of the two participants was concerned, but the amazing
thing was that the 360 symbols were obtained during a few hours in the
morning, and later in a few hours during the afternoon – at a rate of
roughly one symbol every ninety seconds.
What made the resulting Sabian Symbols
so incredible is that while the two individuals had proceeded at
fantastic speed and had operated purely at random, the result was a
series which, when carefully studied, yielded a definite and complex
internal structure. The entire 360 cards matched with one another in geometrical pattern. Dane
Rudhyar, for example, found that the symbols formed, among other
possibilities, a pentagonal five-step process – much in accord with
Sacred Geometry. Apparently, there was some kind of Consciousness at work. For
the symbols were not only operating at both an existential and
archetypal-structural level, but they could be considered as “phases of a cyclic process rather than as isolated images
– that is, when the possible interpretations are considered in the
light of preceding and following phrases in a characteristic five-fold
sequence, and in terms of wider relationships – any ambiguity usually
disappears.”
Possibly
of all the Sabian Symbols, which might garner your attention, is the
symbol for the North Node (aka the “Dragon’s Head”, and which represents
destiny), taken from the chart of 2012 A. D. (i.e. the end of the Mayan Calendar, and potentially the “end of Time as we know it.”) The symbol for this most incredible of all dates is “An X-Ray Photograph.” Rudhyar interpreted this to mean, “The capacity to acquire a knowledge of the structural factors in all existence.” He goes on to say, “The true philosopher is able to grasp and significantly evaluate what underlies all manifestations of life. His
mind’s eye penetrates through the superficialities of existence and
perceives the framework that gives an at least relatively permanent
‘form’ to all organized systems. Thus
if the structure is weak, deformed by persistent strain, or unbalanced,
the basic causes of outer disturbances and dis-ease can be discovered. This
symbol… provides the conscience of the individual who refuses to obey
his society with a depth-understanding of what is wrong in the
situation he faces. Beyond the
powerful feeling quality of ‘peak experiences’, the mind can understand
the great Principles of which they were the manifestations. This is STRUCTURAL KNOWLEDGE in contrast to existential knowledge.”
Interpreted as the end of time as we know it, implies that there may be much to learn in the ultimate “peak experience” of 2012 A.D., a time when Novelty and the TimeWave go to infinity, and the greatest changes of all human experience abruptly manifest! Similarly,
another date – based on the TimeWave theory – is November 11, 2011
(just over 384 days prior to the perceived ending date of roughly
12-21-2012). The Sabian Symbols (and a brief interpretation from Rudhyar) for this critical “beginning of the end” are:
Sun – “A Woman Draws Away Two Dark Curtains Closing the Entrance to a Sacred Pathway – The revelation to the human consciousness of what lies beyond dualistic knowledge. Plunge ahead into the Unknown”
Moon – “A Peacock Parading on a Terrace of an Old Castle – The personal display of inherited gifts. Consumation.”
Mercury & Venus “A Flag turns into an Eagle; the Eagle into a Chanticleer Saluting the Dawn – The spiritualization and promotion of great symbols of a New Age by minds sensitive to its precursory manifestations. (An Eagle is the first living creature to perceive the rising sun.) Annunciation”
Mars – “In a Portrait, the Significant Features of a Man’s Head Are Artistically Emphasized – The capacity to picture to oneself clearly the salient features and the overall meaning of any life situation.
Jupiter – “The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow – Riches that come from linking the celestial and the earthly nature. Communion” [Jupiter always was the Santa Claus of the Zodiac!]
Saturn – “A Butterfly with a Third Wing on its Left Side – The ability to develop, for inner strengthening, new modes of response to basic life situations. Original Mutation”
Chiron – “In a Crowded Marketplace, Farmers and Middlemen Display a Great Variety of Products – The process of commingling and interchange which at all levels demonstrates the health of a community. (…what is stressed is the coming together, in a final experience of community, of all factors previously experienced.) Commerce”
Uranus – “A Woman Just Risen from the Sea. A Seal Is Embracing Her – Emergence of new forms and of the potentiality of consciousness. Impulse to Be”
Neptune – “A Butterfly Emerging from a Chrysalis – The capacity to utterly transform the character of one’s consciousness by radically altering the structural patterns of everyday living and the types of relationships one enters upon. Metamorphosis”
Pluto – “Ten Logs Lie Under an Archway Leading to Darker Woods – The need to complete any undertaking before seeking entrance to whatever is to be found beyond. Threshold”
The more complete interpretation for Pluto is perhaps worth noting. “Number 10 is a symbol of completion; it symbolizes even more the revelation of a new series of activities just ahead. [i.e. Death and Rebirth] Yet
unless the concluded series is brought to some degree of fulfillment,
nothing truly significant is likely to be accomplished by a restless
reaching out toward the as-yet-unknown. Number 10 is a symbol of germination, but the seed (Number 9) must have matured well. No natural process can be accelerated safely beyond certain limits. It establishes a foundation for what will follow.”
It
rather as if we’ll each have about three weeks (November 11, 2011 to
December 3, 2011) to complete all our stuff, toss off all our baggage,
and prime ourselves for the last 384 days of the TimeWave. Or we can begin to do all that shedding, right about now!
The Sabian Symbols are just one aspect of the philosophy of astrology. Determinism and Free Will also play a major role, as does the basics of how anyone interprets the symbolism of astrology. Pictures
– and astrological charts – convey a thousand words, and perhaps more
than most things, demonstrate the limits of language (or rather, why,
perhaps, language is considered a curse during the time of the Kali Yuga). Symbolism, in fact, conjures understandings and emotions far beyond a written sequence of words.
According to Dane Rudhyar, an astrological “birth chart is a person-centered symbol. That is to say, it carries a ‘message’ – the symbolic formulation of the individual’s dharma [destiny]. It suggests how [the individual] can best actualize the innate potentialities of his or her particular and unique selfhood. It is a symbol, a mandala, or logos, a word of power. Astrology, seen from this point of view, is a language of symbols. It implies a process of unfoldment of an idea of feeling-response.” “…a process of unfoldment, as Carl Jung might have said, of ‘individuation’.”
A person’s experiences “basically repeat themselves [Cycles!], even though [the individual] might respond to them differently at each new encounter.” “There are only a certain number of basic meanings
to be gathered by a human being in his or her lifetime, and that these
meanings can be seen in terms of structural and cyclic sequence.” “An
individual, however, acting as an individual and having succeeded in becoming free from collective patterns,
may break through the circle of limitations and tap into a deeper
source of life and consciousness; this indeed is what true occultism is
about.”
Rudhyar goes on to say, “Man should not seek tensely and self-protectively to avoid or control events. Events do not happen to an individual person; he or she happens to them. An individual meets them, and imparts to them his or her own meaning.” “All truly constructive, creative, or redeeming acts are performed through the individual person by a focalization of the whole universe. This is the ‘transpersonal way’ of which I have spoken for many years.” Astrology is thus, in many ways, transpersonal. It is part of the Creating Reality and Intermingled Realities, in which we all have a part.
Astrology can also be used for the most mundane and trivial purposes. But then again, so can all really useful tools in the hands of men and women with limited intentions.
When discussing alchemy, the first thing you must understand is that in relation to modern chemistry, alchemy is relevant only in terms of history. Moreover, the value of the alchemists philosophical system has nothing to do with the literal interpretation of alchemical operations; but rather the message is hidden behind allegories, symbols and formulas. So the essence of alchemy is not the transformation of metals, but rather the transformation of the self.
Alchemists tell us the story of the matter passing through four main states: nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, rubedo. In nigredo, the matter is full of impurities, “unpolished”, so that in the albedo to be “cleaned” divided into two opposing principles. Citrinitas represent the transmutation of silver into gold, or the stage of “wise old man” – according to Carl.G.Jung‘s analytical psychology. Finally, in the state of rubedo the two opposing principles come together (coniunctio), giving birth to the two-headed eagle (Atahnor logo ), which symbolizes the discovery of the authentic self, the last stage of consciousness.
A similar initiatic journey we can find in tarot, as Oswald Wirth notes, where the story begins with the fool, which in French is called Le Fou, resembling Le Feu (Fire), thus referring to the alchemical process of transforming lead into gold. Perhaps the word game may lead us to the principle always reminded by alchemist Theophrastus noted Ph. Paracelsus, who urges alchemists to pass their theories through the fire, i.e. to test, experiment. Fire also symbolizes the active principle, or libido – described by Jung as the [psychic] energy of the individual. Moreover, if we interpret fire as the potency or the will to transform of the individual, we conclude that the fire that burns in Athanor (the furnace of alchemists) is the necessary will that “burns impurities” – the fuel that turns lead into gold. Moreover, even Gaston Bachelard in “Psychoanalysis of Fire” talks about the Prometheus complex, wich is explained to be: “Oedipus complex in intellectual life“ – so fire is engine that makes us want to know more. Paracelsus said that no operation can be done without this fire.
It is reasonable to consider both alchemy and tarot philosophical systems expressed through allegory, which focuses on the hidden potential in every individual (i.e. nigredo, the fool), which with labor and continuous “polishing” is able to discover his authentic self:
„nigredo is the revelation of the incompleteness of substance, that needs processing to become gold. This is why the matter is crying for the help of a man, which, by knowing and understanding, will save its soul from the netherworld.”
Nigredo also symbolizes the shadow of self, or the self [unconsciously] confronting its shadow. In the state of albedo we become aware of the shadow of the self, and impurities (unnecessary, harmful concepts) are removed. Also, we become aware of the opposite concepts anima and animus, that will be joined togheter in an alchemical process in rubedo : the Sun (gold, male) and the Moon (silver, female) come together; thus this operation is also symbolizing the union of conscious and unconscious – the consciousness in its fullness. In this respect some Gnostics, and some psychoanalysts and historians of religions have concluded that The Great Art means combining masculine (Sulphur) and feminine (Mercury) – a process more or less sexual. Mircea Eliade, great historian of religions noticed:
„European alchemy defines the Great Art as the <secret> to combine the <Masculine> with the <feminine>.”
Another thing that Paracelsus and other alchemists repeated was that to fulfill the alchemic operation, each step needs to be done perfectly, in perfect order. This reminds us that we must be diligent, not to deviate from the path, otherwise we will not obtain the rubedo state. The alchemist is somebody that makes order out of chaos (ordo ab chao), and in a sense, I believe that two-headed eagle symbol is representative of the whole process of acceptance, integration and transformation of the shadow in the entire being. The two-headed eagle is anima and animus fusioned, it’s the man aware of its shadow – unconscious becoming conscious.
Oswald Wirth notes that these ancient mystical symbols and allegories used to be a bridge between the conscious mind, and the collective unconscious. As I mentioned above, nigredo can also symbolize shadow or [collective] unconscious – the source of archetypes and symbols. So the moment we get out of the darkness (nigredo) – that miserable state of ignorance and unawarness -, is the moment we become aware of our shadow, when we distinguish subject from the object in the process of shadow projection.
Anyway, the alchemists have used different formulas to write their “alchemical recipes” to keep the knowledge away from the profane. A thing that was pretty common between alchemists was to associate different metals and different stages of processing (e.g. rotting) with various mythological names, thereby converting an alchemical recipe into a story or a myth – or vice versa. For example, Apollo (Sun) corresponded to gold. Jean Marie Ragon goes further and states that in the Greek myth of Apollo killing the snake Python hides an alchemical process, a meeting between coarse material and the philosophical fire. Moreover, many psychoanalysts (e.g. Jung) were concerned with the interpretation of myths in a rather metaphorical way, believing there are hidden meanings behind metaphors, myths and alchemical works (see C.Jung’s interpretation of the text “Consurgens Aurora“) . I
wanted to mention this because most people are skeptical about alchemy
(I am one of them), but I think that in many cases, the skepticism is
due the literally interpretation of alchemical texts/ myths. And it seems clear that D’Espagnets alchemical recipe that included a red dragon and seven or nine clean eagles that turns into a swan, doesn’t ask us to get a red dragon itself (nor claimed it will turn into a swan). And regarding Count Saint-Germain’s The Most Holy Trinosophia, it would be really foolish to think that that fantastic trip really took place (in the physical world).
A conclusion, and also a review could be that alchemy is a complex philosophical system, well-built, revealed in stages. Behind the seemingly chemical formulas or mythological character, there are beautiful teachings hiding, and the ultimate knowledge is reserved to the one with a sharp mind, escaping from the labyrinths built by alchemists. I think that Mircea Eliade concluded very nice his work “Cosmogony and babylonian alchemy“, reminding us that everyone has the potential to become gold, to transform his flaws and troublesome self (lead) into gold:
„Transmutation of metals, which at one point becomes the basic idea of alchemy, has its justification in the belief that any metal can perfect itself to the ultimate stage of matter, turning into Gold.”
~Do not make the mistake of supposing that the little world you see around you–the Earth, which is a mere grain of dust in the Universe–is the Universe itself. There are millions upon millions of such worlds, and greater. And there are millions of millions of such Universes in existence within the Infinite Mind of THE ALL.~ The Kybalion
Human
beings have probably probed the cupola of the heavens in search of
meaning since the birth of ego consciousness. This was a time when
celestial and terrestrial events succeeded one another for reasons known
only to the divine autogenerator of the cosmos, when everything deemed
unconscious and inert could speak its mind, when magic was the world
language, and when the fundamental cohesion of all life was an
acknowledged and unspoken fact. Back then everything on the earth below
was thought to mimic and imitate conditions simulated in the Great
Above; the stars, planets, comets and other celestial bodies were the
shining genies whose words and whispers, actions and reactions,
agreements and disputations might incite minor and sometimes large-scale
consequences for the lives of all corporeal inhabitants. Eclipses,
conjunctions, oppositions, depressions, exaltations and other celestial
events worked like knee-jerk reactions, exacting benefic or malefic
influence, facilitating particular conditions, or awakening
transpersonal formative forces which would work through tribal
personalities. This Platonic-flavoured cosmos in which everything was
Aeolian, alive and functioned through a system of meaningful
correspondences entrenched itself deep in the collective psyche of human
beings and has never quite relinquished its hold.
Hence,
it would not be erroneous to suggest that the religious function of the
human psyche first found voice in archaic astrology, a philosophy which
assumes that the systematic, recurring but sometimes volatile
behaviours of the celestial inhabitants mediate over all corporeal
phenomena and their relationship to human life. Of course the mere fact
that exact situations involving the celestial bodies in the heavens are
recapitulated periodically and can be calculated with mathematical
precision can only mean that the qualities, influences and relevant
conditions that these events are inexplicably connected with are
predictable. If, then, the path of the human condition is foreseeable
through this sidereal divination then the oikoumene must, in
fact, have been hewn by a conscious and creative mind that transcribed
general details relating the fate of all its divine, semi-divine and
mortal inhabitants, as well as its own into the plastic and intangible
“ether” somewhere. Here we get a taste of the spiritual and holistic
origins of archaic astrology, which, when broken down anatomically,
consisted of three primary aims: to descry one’s future for a chance at
changing the trajectory of fate (astrology); for meteorological purposes
that included the prediction of weather (meteorology); and the
transcription of stellar cycles and arrangements whose movements would
have been tracked to determine an appropriate time for the inception of
agricultural endeavours (astronomy).
The
Chaldeans or Assyrians introduced tangible markers for the qualitative
and quantitative assessment of the heavens in the second millennium bce.
The star-gods, genies or divinities governed a pre-established and
insurmountable destiny that vacillated between auspicious and
inauspicious conditions brought on by specific stellar arrangements, and
all of life on earth basically swayed or reacted to the configuration
of these heavenly waters. Each was ascribed rulership over a specific
day or month, forcing a dissection of time. The Chaldeans proceeded to
define the band of sidereal space that encompasses the wheel of heaven
and interacts with the ecliptic orbit; the equinoctial markers, embraced
by the zodiacal signs of Aries and Libra, could be found at the
intersection of equator and ecliptic whilst their polar opposites, the
tropical or solstitial markers, were to be found in in Capricorn and
Cancer. The just mentioned zodiacal signs, twelve in all, were
represented zoomorphically, anthropomorphically or as composite
creatures using motifs derived from Babylonian mythology, and contained
an exact conformation of stars known as a constellation. With respect to
each individual “sign”, the stars contained in one constellation
pervaded the sidereal space taken up by the imagined zodiacal image in
the night skies.
Proceeding
along an analogous line of reasoning, the ancient Egyptians developed a
calendrical system by observing the heliacal rising and setting of
individual stars. In this arrangement the year was divided into
thirty-six ten-day periods known as decans, each heralded by the
heliacal rising of a particular star. The star Sothis or Sirius, a
celestial embodiment of the Egyptian goddess Hathor-Isis, stood sentry
over the thirty-six divisions as the inaugurator of the entire year. In
the third century bce,
when knowledge of oriental astrology and its esoteric philosophy of
astral determinism reached Egypt through a Hellenistic dispensation
enabled by Alexander the Great (356-323 bce),
the zodiacal and decanal systems merged and three decans were
incorporated into each zodiacal sign. A few acclaimed esotericists like René Adolphe Schwaller de Lubicz
(1887 – 1961) have argued against a Chaldean importation of astral
determinism into Egypt, claiming that the Egyptians were holistic
thinkers and believed that each part of the human body was under the
mediation of a different star-god or genie that could be invoked to heal
illnesses pertaining to its respective part. Despite its innovative
potential and viability, the theory is disparately related to the
current discussion and will not concern us for the time being.
A
little before Alexander’s conquest the holistic tradition of esoteric
astrology began to differentiate into subcategories. Meteorology became a
distinct branch but it wasn’t until the time of Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630) that the mechanistic natural protoscience known as astronomy
and the animistic qualitative cosmogony of astrology parted company.
The latter matured fully during the second century ce, a period when Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 ce) penned an astrological treatise entitled the Four Books, or Tetrabiblos
in Greek. It was a comprehensive volume of horoscopic astrology, a
subcategory of the divinatory art that seeks to comprehend meaning and
answer questions using a celestial chart or horoscope which captures an
exact moment in time. The work transcribed the qualities of the
astrological signs, the twelve zodiacal constellations on the wheel of
heaven that subsisted through the ages and remain both meaningful and
functional to this very day.
In
entertaining an esoteric interpretation on the zodiac one sees that the
universe is united as One but at the same time coloured by archetypal
forces or elemental blueprints that originate from a mother membrane and
act upon the existing spectrum of variegated consciousness. Of vital
importance is the acknowledgement of the twelve established signs as
functioning symbols; while our ancestors almost certainly imagined
shapes and signs in cupola of the star-studded night, their choice of
animals and figures , real or imagined, are not as random as some might
believe. As unlikely as it seems, the ascribed zoomorphic,
anthropomorphic or composite creatures exhibit qualities that correspond
dynamically to the inherent nature of the group of stars in their
respective corner of the heavens. To give an example the stars of Cancer
are symbolically depicted by the crab; the latter habitual tendency to
seek and never veer far from the comfort of its home, a trait almost
universal amongst all modes of being born under its section of the sky.
While individual stars may belong to a collective archetype in the
manner that a group of human cells belong to one organ and work in
conjunction with one another to achieve a common aim, their unique
positions, magnetism and gravitational force within the astral
configuration permits a degree of freedom from collective law. This is
why the zodiacal band of sidereal space was sometimes depicted in an
active state of unfurling like a parchment of Nile papyrus.
The name given to this precession of imagined figures that comprise real cosmic phenomenon–zoe-diac,
or circle of life–is wholly appropriate given that the general
archetypal patterns or transpersonal influences of being that exist
manifest through all complex life irrespective of time and space and are
deemed to repeat for all eternity like a broken record. The fiery,
restless, urgent and explosive Martian formative force that wishes to
subjugate, to divide and dissect, to compartmentalize, to create, to
own, to dominate and to ascend the evolutionary ladder, for instance, is
indigenous to the fixed stars of Aries. This energy seeps down into
consciousness, sometimes in copious amounts and sometimes in minute
quantities, depending on the trajectory of the sun’s annual circuit and
its conjunction with the stars of the respective constellation. In fact
the nature of the latter’s influence is determined by the conjunction of
the sun with the stars of the head, of the horns, of the hindquarters,
of the forepaws, and so forth. The bold head of the ram is aggression;
the horns raw abundance and virility; his hindquarters signpost stamina
but sometimes a gross overestimation of strength; his forepaws
vulnerability and restlessness. Notwithstanding its waxing and waning
powers, the Arian sign is ubiquitous and indestructible, an inhabitant
of the timeless zone that subjects and bends everything to its will.
This indissoluble will is why all animation is fated to endure an
endless cycle of everlasting repetition…
The 13 Moon, 28-day calendar is a new standard of time for all people
everywhere who desire a genuinely new world. If the calendar and time
we follow is irregular, artificial and mechanized, so becomes our mind.
As is our mind, so our world becomes, as is our world today: Irregular,
artificial and mechanized. But if the calendar we follow is harmonic and
in tune with natural cycles, so also will our mind become, and so we
may return to a way of life more spiritual and in harmony with nature.
The 13 Moon calendar synchronizes solar and galactic cycles on July 26
correlating with the star Sirius. Each of the 13 moons has a power,
action, and quality which define an annual program to synchronize our
consciousness with the galactic cycles.
As a perfect measure of cosmic time, this calendar is actually a synchronometer,
an instrument for measuring synchronicity. Followed daily, it gives us a
new lens in which to perceive events. In the New Time, synchronicity is
the norm.
The 13 Moon 28-day synchronometer is a harmonic timespace
matrix. It takes the moon 28 days to orbit the Earth; it makes this
orbit 13 times each year. The standard of measure is the 28-day cycle,
called a moon, because it is the median between the 29.5-day synodic
cycle of the moon (new moon to new moon) and the 27.1-day sidereal cycle
of the moon. Hence, it is a measure of Earth’s solar orbit using the
28-day lunar standard. This creates a perfect orbital measure of 13
moons of 28 days, totaling 364 days, or 52 perfect weeks of 7 days each.
Because the 365th day is no day of the moon or week at all, it is known as the “day out of time” – a day to celebrate peace through culture and time is art!
“The Thirteen Moon calendar is an evolutionary tool to assist
humanity in the unprecedented act of uniting itself on one issue
central to its complete well-being: time. The harmonic convergence of
humanity on this one issue, combined with the inescapable order,
perfection and simplicity of following the 13 Moon calendar will lift
the species as a simultaneous whole into the galactic timing frequency
of 13:20.”
José Argüelles/Valum Votan, The Call of Pacal Votan
The coming new era on our planet has everything to do with a change
of timing frequency. The 13 Moon-28-day calendar is a simple tool that
helps us to raise our frequency and gives us a new lens to view both our
day-to-day and planetary events.
Because both the Gregorian and 13 Moon calendars operate with 52
seven-day weeks annually (364 days), the 13 Moon calendar provides a
perfect daily transition tool for hooking back up with the
higher-dimensional order! It is simple to follow day-to-day as it is
marked with the dates of the Gregorian calendar.
The 13 Moon calendar is comprised of elegantly simple cycles.
Namely: The 7-day week and 28-day moon. Unlike the Gregorian calendar,
the days of the moon (month) and the days of the week line up perfectly,
week-to-week and moon-to-moon. This makes the 13 Moon/28-day calendar a
perpetual calendar.
1. We attract what we are. Like attracts like in this universe, when we desire something we must become that which we are seeking and watch it present itself to us.
2. Our vibe attracts our tribe. The people in our lives are a direct reflection of who we are, if we don’t like the people we’re surrounded by something has to change and that something is us.
3. We create our reality. We are multidimensional beings having a human experience, we are here to create, play and have fun. We do this by creating everything we experience based on our thoughts, beliefs & actions.
4. Aligning with our truth. Living in alignment with our true feelings and living authentically will allow us to create the life we love. When we compromise living our truth for the comfort of others we are actively creating a reality based on fear and lies which will only result in dissatisfaction.
5. Let love guide us, not fear. Choosing love instead of fear every time the choice presents itself tells the universe that we are love and we attract more love into all areas of our lives.
6. Our emotional bank balance. The way we feel is directly related to the way we experience life, when our emotional bank balance is high we can expect to attract the people, places & things that make us feel good.
7. Pronoia. When we believe the universe is conspiring to help us we begin to experience life through the lens of positivity. Adopting this belief means regardless what we experience it is positively contributing to our growth.
Tin is a body clean, imperfect, engendered of ARGENT-VIVE pure, fixed, and not fixed clear, being white outwardly, but red inwardly, and of the like SULPHUR. Tin lacks only decoction, or digestion.
Alchemical Tin is the Manipura chakra of the yogis or the Jupiter center of esoteric astrology. In the body its location is approximately at the level of the solar plexus. In the order of “cleanness” it is second out from the Sun center, according to Bacon. It is imperfect. Like its super-conscious expression (Argent Vive), the self-conscious (sulphur) expression through this center is white outwardly but still red within. What Bacon is inferring is that, predominantly, sub-conscious elements are still expressed through this center, or alchemically speaking, tin’s sulphur is yet naturally attached to salt-ish tendencies.
In alchemy-speak when self-consciousness (sulphur) aligns its powers with super-consciousness (mercury or Argent Vive), the combination is called “white sulphur.” When self-conscious expressions are rooted in habitual sub-conscious tendencies or habit patterns, alchemists labeled this “red sulphur.” The effects within the personality complex show up as predominant tendencies toward pomposity, raw materialism, strong pride, and rigid conservatism, to name a few. These are some of the more base expressions exuding from an ill aspected Jupiter in a natal horoscope. This is the equivalent, alchemically speaking, of tin steeped in salt-ish tendencies, or as Roger Bacon says, “but red inwardly.” Bacon suggests that all that is needed to sublimate the finer tendencies within this center is “decoction,” or prolonged meditation. Meditation turns sulphur toward Argent Vive in ALL the metals.
Lead is an unclean and imperfect body, engendered of ARGENT-VIVE impure, not fixed, earth and dross, being somewhat white outwardly, but red inwardly, and of such a SULPHUR in part burning. It has not purity, fixation, color, and firing.
The alchemical metal lead is equivalent to the Muladhara chakra of the yogis and the Saturn force center of esoteric astrology. The following three metals: Lead, Copper, and Iron are very important forces centers. Commentary on these three calls for another adept’s insight into their natures. The mysterious Basil Valentine subsequently described these three force centers in the 1500s, 250 years after Bacon. His word choices are slightly different, but rather similar in spirit with Bacon. He wrote of Lead: “Saturn (Lead) is generated of little Sulphur, little Salt and much gross, unripe Mercury.”
Both sages agree that the Mercury, or Argent Vive, (super-conscious) expression through this chakra is “unripe, impure, gross and dross.” The Saturn Center or Metal in the normal human is of an energy that is mainly concerned with practical, materialistic manifestations. The survival instinct is priority, especially so through those centuries of both authors. Survival is not that less instinctual in these current times, it would appear. For this center to express super-consciousness as a positive influence calls for a combination from the other two, Copper and Iron, to turn Lead. In Lead self-consciousness (sulphur) tends to focus on the sub-conscious (salt) needs for sheer survival where food, shelter, and safety are the primary issues. “Me first!” is the most important.
Copper is an unclean and imperfect body, engendered of ARGENT-VIVE, impure, unfixed, earth, burning, red (not clear), and of the like SULPHUR. It wants purity, fixation, and weight and has too much of an impure color, and earthiness not burning.
Metal copper, equivalent to the Vishudda chakra of the yogis, is the Venus planetary center in esoteric astrology. Notice the “weight” hint again from Bacon connected with this emotional body, the seat of desires. Basil Valentine observed: “Copper is generated of much Sulphur but its Mercury and Salt are in equality.” Again, they both agree. And again, the super-conscious (Mercury, Argent Vive) expressions are not a priority when desires are steeped in selfishness, and ‘wanting’ purity and ‘weight,’ that is, love for anyone but the lower, petty self. Our base desires must be transmuted to be transcended, a difficult task at the very least. Only persistent ‘decoction’ (meditation) can turn this center by gently pulling down super-conscious influence. The steady process of disciplined meditation will affect the desire natire in a most positive way. Base, selfish desires seem to melt away when our passions are abated through meditation.
Of the Nature of Iron
Iron is an unclean and imperfect body, engendered of ARGENT-VIVE, too much fixed, earth, burning, white and red not clear, and of the like SULPHUR. It wants fusion, purity, and weight and has too much fixed unclean SULPHUR and burning earthiness. What has been spoken, every Alchymist must diligently observe.
Metal iron is equivalent to the Svadishthana chakra of the yogis and the Mars planetary force center in esoteric astrology. Notice that Bacon’s descriptions above for lead, copper, and iron are quite similar. Basil Valentine describes the Mars Center:“Iron is found to have the least portion of Mercury but more of Sulphur and Salt.” Iron, or the Mars Center, is the seat of human volition, the will-sex urge, according to Qabalists. In generic humanity this is probably the most virile influence in our daily lives. Our pseudo sense of self importance derives most of its false identity through the misaligned influence of this force center primarily, and from the seat of desires (the Venus chakra, or Copper) secondarily. These two combined energies create most of mankind’s woes, individually and collectively. Our misdirected will-sex urges and desires have brought our planetary environment and ecosystem almost to its knees through our seemingly unconscious need to self destruct. Master Alchemists write of the “Iron Key” in their manuscripts, recognizing the bare fact that to turn the energies exuding from this center is paramount to turning all the others. The squandering of the ‘reproductive force’ must be abated and turned into the healing balm which restores living tissue and musculature at the cellular level. Once again, meditation is the basic healing balm.
All three modes of expression within each of these and the other metals must be balanced, purified, and sublimated by unification. Fully matured, “ripe mercury” (super-consciousness) must eventually flow and express through all seven force centers. When this is achieved, enlightenment may be forthcoming.
The triad of Yin, Yang and Qi (pronounced chee) serves as the basis for the medical theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Entire textbooks have been written about this subject in China, and one could argue that similar mechanisms are found everywhere in the universe, even at the molecular level. For our purposes we are going to simplify this philosophy as much as possible, while describing the terms as understood by TCM doctors. The most essential thing to know is that TCM doctors use these broad general medical terms to orient their medical thinking, diagnose disease and choose herbs. The purpose is to bring these three into balance. In Chinese theory this process is conceived as bringing Yin and Yang into balance with each other, which results in the production of Qi.
Yin represents the nutritive processes and substances of the body. When the Yin is strong, the body is strong, moist, well nourished and fertile. When the Yin is in excess, the body, or the individual organ, becomes sluggish and damp. When the Yin is weak, the body is weak, dry, deficient, and can flare up with heat. There can be sensitivity to heat, weight loss, insomnia, hot flashes, dryness and sometimes dizziness and heart palpitations. This presentation of symptoms is known as Yin deficiency, a very important TCM medical concept. To treat Yin deficiency, TCM herbalists use Yin tonic herbs. These herbs generally nourish and moisten the tissues and increase nutritive forces.
Some of the most commonly used Yin tonics are raw rehmannia root (sheng di huang/Rehmannia glutinosa), glehnia root (sha shen/Adenophora tetraphylla), scrophularia root(xuan shen/Scrophularia ningpoensis), ligustum berry (nu shen zi/Ligustrum lucidum) American ginseng root (xi yang shen/Panax quinquifolium), ophiopogon root (mai men dong/Ophiopogon japonicus) and wild asparagus root (tian men dong/Asparagus lucidis).
Notice that many of the Yin tonics are roots, used by plants to absorb nutrients from the soil. Interestingly, the Chinese use seeds, such as sesame seeds, as Yin tonics. At our clinic I often use nutritive oils such as fish oils, flaxseed oil (Linum usitatissimum) or evening primrose oil (Oenothera biennis) along with the other herbs mentioned above to moisturize and reduce inflammation.
Yang represents the heat and metabolic processes of the body. When the Yang is strong the body is energetic, warm and powerful. When the yang is in excess, the body becomes inflamed. When the yang is weak the body is fatigued, cold and weak, often to the point of exhaustion. There can be symptoms of low back pain, impotence, diarrhea, and weakness in the four extremities. These symptoms are known as Yang deficiency. TCM doctors use Yang tonic herbs to treat Yang deficiency. These herbs are generally warming and drying. Chinese research has shown that many of these herbs benefit the endocrine system (Bensky & Gamble 2004).
Some of the most commonly used Yang tonic herbs are prepared aconite (fu zi/Aconitum palmatum), dried ginger root (gan jiang/Zingiber officinalis), cinnamon bark (rou gui/Cinnamon zeylanicum), deer antler (lu rong (Cervus nipon) and morinda root (ba ji tian/Morinda officinalis).
Qi (pronounced “chee,” and sometimes written as “chi”) represents the vital energy of the body flowing along invisible energy channels. The balance of Qi is dependent upon the functional relationship between Yin and Yang. When the Qi is strong, the digestion is strong, the organs are well regulated, and nourishment and energy flow through and vitalize the organs. When the Qi is weak or blocked, the digestion weakens, dampness accumulates, and the corresponding organs exhibit pain, spasm or irregular functioning. There can be extreme fatigue, poor digestion, diarrhea, muscle atrophy, compromised immunity, or weakness in the lungs. This is called Qi deficiency. When Qi is weak, TCM doctors use herbs that supply Qi, known as Qi tonics.
The most common Qi tonic herbs are ginseng root, astragalus root, codonopsis root (dang shen/Codonopsis pilosula), licorice root, and white atractylodes rhizome.
The easiest way to understand the mechanisms of this triad as you learn is to substitute the word “nutrient” when you hear the word Yin, “metabolism/heat” when you hear the word Yang, and “vital force” when you hear the word Qi.
It may help you remember the triad by using the following analogy found in ancient Chinese medical texts. Think of the stomach as a pot of soup. The Yin represents the nutrients in the soup, and the Yang is the fire under the soup. The Qi is the nutrient-filled steam that rises up from the pot when Yin and Yang work together, This nutrient steam travels through tiny pathways (meridians), carrying its warmth and nutrients to the organs. If the pathways are blocked, the restrictive area becomes painful, and the organs beyond it wither from lack of energy and nutrition. If the blockage occurs in the larger channels flowing up and down between the trunk of the body and the brain, the person becomes depressed, constricted, and less creative. Because “the mind directs the Qi,” one major goal of meditation is to strengthen the Qi energy and use the mind to feel and direct its flow throughout the body.
Occult Aspects 