Friday, December 30, 2011

The Most Beautiful Thing

The most beautiful thing that a person can hear is their own name, and likewise the most insulting thing is being addressed incorrectly. Names have an almost magical power. An interesting study of ancient magic (and even some current practices) reveals that spirits and daemons could be controlled simply by knowing the name of the spirit, daemon or god that one wished to invoke. The Seal of Solomon suggested that the old wise king was able to erect his magnificent edifice through the control of daemons, or magic spirits, simply by knowing their name. Also during this time in history, each town was governed by a Ba'al, or Lord, and each one had its own name - typically the one that the town was named after. When Moses asked the burning bush who he should tell the children of Israel was the God that summoned them back to the land of their fathers, he was not given a name. If moses had told the children of Israel that the name of their God was Baat or Gimmel (if those are even real names) then those same children would erect effigies. And indeed they did when Moses went up into Mt. Sinai and left his brother Aaron in charge. The people demanded a god to worship and he obliged with a statue. Let's bring this a little bit into the future and relate this to hypnosis. Hypnosis deals directly with the subconscious so you'll really need to pay attention and be somewhat clinically objective of yourself. Perhaps your name is Bill, but for some unknown reason your co-worker keeps calling you Bob. Aside from the fact that you've corrected him time and time again, and it being really annoying to have to do so, deep down there's a twinge of hurt. He doesn't recognize you as an individual. How about if someone you think you've never met before approaches you at the shopping plaza? "Hey Bill" she says. You don't recognize her and, aside from wondering where she heard your name before, you're thinking somewhere inside you, "I'm actually important enough for her to have taken the time to find out who I am." Your ego has been fed. Now let's bring it home to hypnosis. If I have a client who seems very resistant to my suggestions, I will subtly drop his or her name into the script. Subconsciously they say, "What was that? He said my name? Maybe I should pay attention. What else will he say?". At that point, I've got them. There is a very special thing that happens when you have someone's suggestibility - their head turns. This is meant to be taken quite literally. The client's head actually turns toward the hypnotist like a flower to the sun. Until that happens, until you have their undivided attention there is a little lack of confidence on the hypnotists part. What we're trying to do is earn your trust. If you turn your back, it means you don't trust us. We work and work and work to try to understand how you trust so that we can learn how you... well, how you learn. If we can't figure it out, then the session fails (not the client's fault at all). Now, addressing someone by name is also a matter of mutual respect and equality. The last name is used as a matter of deference. Yes, Mr. Smith or No thank you Miss Jones. But first names are informal - used by friends, family and equals. It's assumed that in session you're being addressed by the first name. A first name symbolizes vulnerability and vulnerability equals trust. Think of this in a very primal manner. An animal afraid of something will curl up in a fetal position, using his back as protection. In humans, the most resilient part of our body is our bony back. Our front exposes the soft tissue organs, our visceral vulnerability. When we are vulnerable, we let down our filters and guards, allowing more learning or suggestibility. We are literally more open to suggestion. Therefore, we want the client to physically face us when hypnotized and the easiest way to expose that vulnerability is by addressing the client by his/her first name. Told you names have power.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Interview: Christopher Warnock, Esq. Renaissance Astrology (and a free gift)

I was fortunate enough to have a nice long chat with Christopher Warnock, a leading Traditional Astrologer who runs the website Renaissance Astrology and his own blog. After five minutes into the interview, I realized that it was going to be both the easiest and most difficult interview I've ever had to conduct. First off, the man knows his stuff which is refreshing but it also makes my follow-up work a little more taxing and time consuming. I asked him one question and he was off, being overly generous with his knowledge of astrology. I only had 4 real questions for him, simple enough right? He talked for over an hour! Below is only a glimpse of what he shared with me. I just didn't have enough time to transcribe the entire conversation, and to be honest - there's just too much for a single blog post. You really need to take one of his courses to fully grasp some of the concepts outlined below.

It's necessary to point out that before he even begins teaching his students, he claims it's necessary to teach them how to think. They need to change their view of reality before they can begin to contemplate the way real Astrology works. A man after my own heart... er... well, we have the same feeling towards what he calls the modern "world view". First off, if you come to this blog with a staunch belief in Modern Astrology, you will need to go back and read a few of my other posts regarding how the universe really tends to operate. Astrology as we know it today is really only about 100 years old, as Mr. Warnock says, whereas Traditional Astrology dates back thousands of years. There must be a reason its light was somehow kept fueled, if even only dimly.

Without any further ado, here are the simple questions I asked and an overview of the answers he gave. If you want to know more about the interview, feel free to leave a comment and I will gladly respond.

How did you come to study law and astrology?

I studied law first. I went to college originally in the US then I studied at St. Andrews, which is the oldest college in Scotland. It was supposed to be for a year and I ended up staying for three years and graduating from there, so I kind of started to move off the track there - and I actually studied Renaissance history. And so at that point I could choose between studying at Cambridge and get a PhD or go to law school, and I thought "Oh, I'll be rich and powerful so I'll do that". So I went to law school, University of Michigan, and they kind of trapped us into large law firms either in New York or Washington D.C. so I went to D.C.

At the same time I realized that I was interested in following a spiritual path so I decided to look around and read and explore that. Then I had a case involving the definition of a month, and a month is the amount of time it takes the moon to orbit the earth. So I got interested in the study of those types of cycles and that's essentially what astrology is, the study of cycles. So I originally looked at Modern Astrology which is predominately psychological and is very new age. It's fine if you want to look at someone's birth chart and figure out their personality, it works fine for that. If I was a psychologist or social worker I would definitely be doing a chart on every person that came in because it would be helpful, but that's about all it can do.

Modern Astrology is very stripped down in terms of technique, the real problem with modern astrology is that it's trying to graft spiritual science onto this materialistic philosophy. And I was frustrated with that because I would read the stuff and it would seem pretty interesting but then get further into it and there didn't seem to be anything to it. Then I discovered Traditional Astrology, and Traditional Astrology is the Astrology practiced in Europe between 1200-1700. That was much more complex, based on traditional philosophy and is capable of making much more accurate predictions and has much more technique that was lost. I immediately could tell that's what I wanted to do so I started studying that and I had a number of teachers. I learned by correspondence which is essentially the only way to learn it because there's only a few people studying it or teaching it. Unless you happen to live right next door to them, you're not going to be able to find a teacher in your home town.

And then I developed the traditional astrology, and I got into astrological magic and that's kind of my own thing. I essentially had to rediscover that myself. Based on what's called electional astrology, which is choosing time to do things, like get married, you need to be able to know how to choose times for talismans in astrological magic.

Astrology has kind of taken over, and I joke that Law is my hobby.

How Long have you been practicing astrology?

I've been practicing for about 12 to 13 years.

And you were able to reintroduce astrological magic into the common era in that short period of time? I mean, if you do a search online looking for traditional astrology, your name is the first one that pops up.

Yeah, I have a strong web presence which can be a little misleading because there are people that are out there that are doing... first of all there are probably other people out there doing astrological magic that I don't know about, but in terms of the web, I just dominate that, but that's just because in the United States there's not as many professional horary astrologers.

For somebody who is just starting out, and thinks that astrology is a nifty little past time that they want to try to get into, what do you say?

That's fine. But the first question you want to ask is what do you want to get into, modern or traditional or even vedic. There's no more astrology than there is cooking - there's only different schools.

I'm pretty adamant with my students about the philosophy, it's something called their world view. World view is not just your conscious philosophy but its also your unconcsious views of reality - it IS your reality. With world view, we assume there's only one reality and that's our reality and how could there be anything else. So the idea that people in the past thought differently than us, well they were just wrong.

If you have a world view where magic is possible suddenly magic becomes possible. It's important that if you're going to practice Renaissance astrology or any spiritual art or discipline, if your doing it with your philosophy or reality that there is no spiritual realm which is the way most people think these days, its doomed to failure. And that's kind of the canker at the heart of this New Age spirituality and certainly Modern Astrology. It's that if you ask them how it works they can't tell you, or they'll say it's like gravity or sun spots or something which it's not. It's inherently non-sensical.

Since we do live in a very atheistic materialist society and people want empirical evidence that something works, do you have any particular chart that stands out in your mind that lends evidence to the fact that horary astrology does work?

You can't prove something that's impossible. It's scientifically impossible to prove astrology, because in science there is no spiritual realm, so there's no point in proving something that's impossible - so all that evidence would have to be rejected. There's no point in even having a discussion about it. Unless someone is willing to say, "Yeah the spiritual realm exists" - but to say to someone who's a staunch atheistic materialist whether it's conscious or unconscious "Well I can prove astrology" it's like they have to reject it, because they know that no matter what you say they have to say no, it can't work because right from the get go it's impossible. And they say that for extraordinary claims you have to have extraordinary proof. For something to suffice to prove that it's a scientific theorom wouldn't be enough for astrology because astrology is impossible.

How many charts do you think you've done in the 13 years that you've been practicing?

Horary, I'm probably getting up around 3,000 questions. Natal, maybe five, six or seven hundred - maybe closer to six hundred.

And it's funny because I get people who will argue with me and they've done maybe five charts, or they've done their own natal chart, or they read a book on horary - and I'm only now starting to get good at it. I think it takes about 2000 charts to start to get good at it.

The other thing too is that there's a big difference between trying to take a look at your own chart and taking a look at somebody else', because in order to ask a question you need to be emotionally removed from it.

Frivolous questions, or questions just out of curiousity don't work very well either.

So you need to be emotionally involved to ask the question, but you have to be clinically objective to answer it. And unless you're doing it professionally, it's hard to get the experience that you need to really get good at it.

Fin

That's really not the end of the interview, but there's just soooo much that I didn't have space for. And as promised I have a gift for anyone who posts on my blog.

Please visit Mr. Warnock's blog, read his posts and comment something worthwhile. After you've done this, come back and comment on my blog that you have indeed done it and I will e-mail you an e-book on traditional astrology that Mr. Warnock gave to me about a year ago.

Suggested Reading

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

7 Steps to Astrological Prediction: Part 4

Delineation and Prediction are two distinctly different steps, and as Zoller points out, prediction is impossible without proper delineation. Prediction is tricky enough as it is without muddling it up with shoddy delineation.

Step 1 Ask the question
Step 2 Cast the chart
Step 3 Determine if chart is radical or fit to be judged
Step 4 Delineate the condition of each planet and luminary
Step 5 Determine primary significators
Step 6 Observe relations of significators
Step 7 If an outcome is determined, then predict the time it is determined for

Delineating the condition of the planets and luminaries is an essential step and makes delineating the rest of the chart much easier if it's done before looking for the Primary Significators. Lilly has a chart in his Christian Astrology and I highly recommend using it for every chart until it is fully committed to memory. It's an elementary pointing/grading system which will tell you how much dignity versus debility a planet has.

You have to delineate the state of at least three planets in order to determine if the chart is radical or fit to be judged, two of which are your primary significators (Lord of the 1st and the Moon). Why is it necessary to delineate all of them? All planets have to be considered in every question. There is no point at which a planet does not have something to do with the event. They may not have as much bearing on the case as your primary significators, but they still affect the outcome. Not only that, but once you really get into determining an answer, the planets you thought were the primary influence in the matter can quickly change to other planets by virtue of dignity, debility or aspect.

One tip I will tell you to watch out for (and again more experienced Astrologers will tell you it's not always necessary but I like to err on the side of caution) is the Fixed Stars, one in particular is Caput Algol (the head of Medusa). Fixed stars are obviously not fixed in place but they move slowly enough that they seem not to move at all. Caput Algol is somewhere around 25 Taurus. If a planet is conjunct this star, it is considered debilitated.

Lilly's chart for delineating planets can be found on page 115 if you have a copy of the traditional text.

Recommended Reading

Come back tomorrow for a free gift and an interview with the leading Traditional Astrologer Christopher Warnock, Esq.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Acetic Acid Preparation

Some of the prepatory work for alchemy and working with metals is getting your chemicals together. In several sources, I've read that Acetic Acid is used quite frequently in alchemy but I couldn't figure out why... until I started this prepatory work. Acetic acid is used to draw out the salt of a metal - particularly when working with lead. The resultant "Salt of Saturn" is pretty cool.

This is really the first step in alchemy. Ancient alchemists needed some way of being able to break down the metal without just melting it. You can burn flesh and you can burn an herb - but when it comes to working with metals, you can't just put it in fire. All this does is melt it. So we need to break it down somehow - and with an organic material. This is important. It must be organic, pertaining to life (-ic meaning pertaining to, and organ meaning life.) Modern acetic acid is concocted in a commercial laboratory void of real life.

So the easiest way to start out with preparing your acetic acid is to go to the grocery store and buy some red wine vinegar like I did. If you really want to get into it, you can first brew your own wine and let it turn into vinegar, but for all intents and purposes many sources say that grocery brand vinegar is just fine.

I apologize for the sideways pics. As soon as I figure out how to correct that for you I will. If you click on it though, you'll see more pics of the process described below.

In my pictures, you'll see that I started out with just two liters and a third empty bottle. This isn't nearly enough to keep myself well supplied. You'll see why as you get to the end of the slides. Empty half of each bottle into the third bottle so that the two original bottles may be laid on their side without obstructing the the mouth of the bottle. We're going to freeze them this way. Once they have been sufficiently frozen, we're going to place them upside down in glasses. Acetic acid has a much lower freezing temperature than does water, so what happens is the organic material and acetic acid melts first and drains into the glass. What's left over is approximately 50% of the original vinegar. I continued to do this until all of the vinegar had undergone this freezing and draining at least once. Then I did it two more times. By the time I was done, I had less than 25% of the original product left.

But wait... there's more!

This doesn't have to be overly expensive, but to do it properly and without actually killing yourself through improper ventilation, you need to spend at least a little bit of money.

I'm still not done yet. There's more water in that last container, even though it looks really dark. Once it's properly distilled, it's supposed to have a yellowish color and honey like consistency. I haven't distilled it yet mainly because I don't have all of my equipment together. My retort and erlenmeyer flask are at my lab partner's house. Plus I had to go out and buy a candy thermometer because the common food thermometer doesn't measure high enough. I needed something that would measure up to 150 degrees celsius.

My next step is to boil the majority of the rest of the water off, then I will distill the remainder at least two times with my retort. All of this HAS to be done in glass containers as acetic acid will draw off material from metal. That's its purpose, but we don't want it to do that yet.

Considering that I have about a third of a liter, I'm not expecting a lot of acetic acid by the time I'm done but I'll keep you posted.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Trivium

I did a quick Google search for images and came across this one.  Actually, the one I found was a little more simple without as many lables.  In fact, it really only had the three main circles, the planetary symbols and the words Espirit, Ame and Corps (Spirit, Soul and Body). 

The concept is replete throughout history and several religions, but I thought this was quite impressive.  It's relatively simple but still complex.  The Spirit and Soul combine to create the Body, a concept I have posted elsewhere.  Within the circles we see the circumpunct labled "Or", French for Gold.  The crescent is labled "argent" (Silver) and then Saturn is labled "Plumb" for lead.  The Plumb, or plumbum, is Latin for Lead which we derive from the Romans who invented a "plumbing" system.  A Plumb Rule is a tool used in ancient times by dangling a piece of lead from a string and comparing it to a wall or any perpendicular structure to ensure that it is properly upright.  Freemason's use this design as the badge of the Junior Warden in a Lodge.

Around the outside we see the French words for Air, Fire, Water and Earth - the four elements.  Notice that air, the spiritual soul, is at the top.  As we move down towards the earth, fire and water combine to create the body.  Fire is archetypically male and water is archetypically female, and the corporal manifestation of their combination creates earth (ame corporal, espirit corporal labeled along either side of the picture).

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Stock of the Week: December 25th

Ok - before I get onto this week's stock, I want to address my success last week.

Let's consider all of the details. First, I had $500 to start with, less $10 for the purchase commission - so I ultimately had $490 to spend on a stock. DVAX was originally quoted at $3.07 last Sunday, but since it opened at $3.00 on Monday, my trade executed lower, and I actually got in at that lower price. So my total account looked like this:

$477 stock value (159 shares at $3ea.)
$13 cash
Total Portfolio Value of $490 (original $500 less $10 commission)


On Monday, the stock closed up at $3.02, but then on Tuesday it went up to a total share price of $3.23. Multiplied by 159 shares = $36.57 total profit! Wednesday, when the market opened, my order to sell was executed but this time at $3.37. Nice! That's a $58.83 profit!

Since I'm working with such small numbers, I sold on Wednesday because I really don't have the luxury of waiting another day to really follow the trailing stop strategy found here. Not only that, but I've told myself that I want to make a 5% monthly return on my trades. With these profits, I've already hit that mark and with only one trade. Let's see how that works out.

If I had a total portfolio value of $490 and take my $58.83 profit, my portfolio value just increased to a total of $548.83. Now, since I'm selling I will have to pay another commission fee of $10. This drops my total value to $538.83 - I've made $38.83 in two days. That's a 7.766% return. Since I've already surpassed my mark, I could sit back and not invest for the rest of the month. I want to remove emotions from the trade and since I have a goal in mind, I figure its easier to take my profits and live to trade another day - but I also want to continue increasing my revenue.

This week, I'll bank the $38.83, and only trade on the original $500. Less the $10 commission, I have $490 to spend on this week's stock seen below. Same rules as last week. If my portfolio drops by $15, I sell and get out of there to minimize my losses. Worse case scenario, I lose a total of $35 and I still have a portfolio value of $503.83.

So this week I'll be looking at Charming Shoppes, Inc.

I'm not actually going to buy into this stock yet. It doesn't have the right feel. I'm hoping that it will turn around in about two or three days. Notice the engulfing pattern of the last two days. Thursday closed down really low but then there's a nice hammer candlestick on Friday. This looks to be an indicator that the stock will drop a little further. Not only that but the volume of movement looks like it's kind of stagnant. And if we consider the Williams %R indicator, it's still overbought.

Finally, if we consider the two different wave systems, we notice first in the Elliott Wave system that we are most likely heading into wave 4. October 10th marked the beginning of wave 1, and November 25th the end of wave 2.  We should now be at the peak or end of wave 3 and heading into a corrective wave 4.

This seems to jive with Craig's 4 wave swing system. The stock trades sideways in November making up wave 1, then we see a breakaway at the beginning of December into the 2nd wave. We should now be at wave 3 heading into wave 4.

If the cards fall right, we'll swoop down through Craig's wave 4 and then back up into an Elliott Wave 5 - hopefully by the end of this week. We want to watch for the candlesticks to drop into the TAZ, as Craig calls it, Williams %R to drop to a -80 and hopefully also see a spike in volume with a doji or thin range hammer candlestick pattern.

One final reminder about my conservative approach - I've already met my 5% mark this month so if I don't trade any more stocks this month I'm ok with it. Even Craig says on his website that staying in cash IS a trading strategy. So if CHRS doesn't turn out the way I expected.... meh.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Evening Primrose - The Blackfoot Miracle Herb

Ok - so maybe it's not a miracle herb but it's pretty cool.  According to the Smithsonian Handbook of Herbs by Lesley Bremness, it was a food of the Blackfoot tribe.  She goes on to note that when it's boiled in honey it makes a great, soothing cough syrup.  The oil contains gammalinoleic acid which helps relieve symptoms of PMS, lowers blood pressure, and "restores red blood cell mobility in multiple sclerosis".  Dang!

Now, as I referenced my faithful companion herb book, Herbs for Health and Healing by Kathi Keville, I was sorely disappointed to find out that there were no recipes for any tinctures or concoctions using this wonderful health source.  The good news is that since there's no recipes this stuff can potentially be used straight.

Ms. Keville also says that this same gamma linoleic acid helps relieve prostate inflamation, and "can reduce skin inflammation even better than cortisone".

But my all time favorite reason for this herb's oil is the claim that it can potentially help prevent hangovers. Man, I love nature!

Suggested Reading:

Friday, December 23, 2011

I Can't Be Hypnotized...Malarkey!

Ummm... yes you can.

I've noticed that even seasoned professional Hypnotherapists will frequently tell their clients "Just go with it. You're over analyzing the process." That's like nails on a chalk board for me.

Everyone enters the state that is typically associated with hypnosis at least twice a day: once when they're falling asleep, and then again when they're waking up in the morning. It's called the hypnagogic state. Involuntary muscle jerking usually happens during this state. Ever feel like you're just on the edge of sleep, you're mind is wandering, you know you're awake and then all of a sudden you're leg twitches and you realize that you were in fact sleeping? If you had a hypnotist there, they would have been able to help you maintain that state and provide you with suggestions for change.

The key for the hypnotherapist is to help the client into that state artificially, but as we all learn differently, getting the client to that state is different for all of us. If a hypnotherapist is telling you that you're overanalyzing something... find another hypnotherapist. I don't care if they've been in business for 50 years. Find another hypnotist.

In a previous post, I addressed the types of relationship expressions known as Physical and Emotional. The other half of that expression is our suggestibility, or the way we learn. In that post, I addressed the Emotional type's need to analyze information before their subconscious is able to accept and assimilate it. The Physical type is able to accept direct information at face value. This isn't necessarily a better trait to have, it's just not the same as an Emotional type.

There is a 3rd type of suggestibility. This is the Somnambulist. That's a fancy word for "sleep walker", prime candidates for stage hypnosis.

If your hypnotherapist is telling you that you're overanalyzing, it's because he or she has made their living off of Physical types and Somnambulists - over 50% of the population of the world. That's quite a bit of clientele. But instead of accepting that you learn differently than their usual clientele, they put the impetus on you to conform to what they know. And because you analyze all information, it might be natural for your subconscious to then infer that the this hypnotist is telling you that there is something wrong with you. When someone tells you that there's something wrong with you, does that make you trust them more? Are you even comfortable around them? Chances are, probably not.

Let's go a little deeper into this rabbit hole. There is a chemical that is found in abundance in the brain of a nursing mother and child - it's called oxytocin. It's been called the "trust" chemical. It's production helps regulate the circadian rhythm, that rhythm which helps you sleep at night and stay awake during the day. It's also produced by monks and nuns who meditate for long hours, and since meditation is self hypnosis it can also be found in hypnosis clients at the time of the hypnagogic state. If you are on high alert, i.e. mistrustful, then you can't sleep. So if you don't trust your hypnotist, or feel comfortable around him, how are you supposed to slip into the hypnogogic state, that moment just before sleep, if you're around him?

If you're hypnotherapist is telling you that you're over analyzing - don't trust him/her. Find another hypnotist - case closed!

Recommended Reading

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Book of Aquarius - Review

This review will be brief.  I'm not quite sure what the author was intending to do with providing this information for free.  Visit his site here http://www.thebookofaquarius.com/  and download the book if you want to read it. 

The author submitted the book to several Esoteric websites and claimed anonymity for fear of violent censorship, claiming he had (or has) the secret of creating the Stone.  SPOILER: He claims the stone is merely urine.  That's right.  Urine.

Thank goodness the book is free, 'cause I'm not buyin'.

If you're into Alchemy at all, then over the past few months I'm sure you've found a copy of this so I don't think I'm exposing any great secret by providing this information.  Unfortunately, there is someone in several forums who claims to be the author even after the author told everyone not to try looking for him.  I suppose that's not so unfortunate, but what really is unfortunate is the fact that this character is flaming all of the forum's he's going into.  If his "research" held any validity, it was quickly proven as false by his violent verbal outbursts on public websites.

His "research" consists of copying and pasting many quotes from texts found primarily on the Alchemy Website and making reaching connections to conclude that the production of the stone is through urine.  It should be noted that at the beginning of his book he even states that he hasn't yet made the Stone.

I suggest that everyone read the book, but beware - do your own research and don't trust this author.  If the fool in all of the forums starting trouble really is the author, then he is nothing more than a modern day puffer. 
Edit: The person going through the forums stirring up trouble is allegedly someone who "has it out" for the real author because of an apparent mistaken identity. The review still stands. He hasn't completed the work and his research consists of copying and pasting loads of quotes

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

7 Steps to Astrological Prediction: Part 3

Often times people like to challenge the Astrologer and ask silly questions simply to prove that Astrology is a farce. There are, however, ways that the Universe prevents, or rather encourages, questions. I would refer you to step 1 wherein I summarize how a question tends to be inspired. If the question isn't properly inspired it will manifest by producing a non-radical (or un-rooted) chart.

Step 1 Ask the question

Step 2 Cast the chart

Step 3 Determine if chart is radical or fit to be judged

Step 4 Delineate the condition of each planet and luminary

Step 5 Determine primary significators

Step 6 Observe relations of significators

Step 7 If an outcome is determined, then predict the time it is determined for

Step 3 is a prepatory matter for the Astrologer to ensure that the proclamation they make is in fact the best that can be given. Some Astrologers will tell you that you can still judge a chart even without going through this step, but these Astrologers tend to be much more versed and experienced in Astrology. For the beginner, it's best to proceed with this step.

There are several items that need to be addressed. The first being that of the Lord of the Hour. Each of the 24 hours are ruled by a particular planet or luminary. If the Lord of the Ascending sign is the same as the Lord of the Hour, then the chart is radical and can be judged. Calculation of the Lord of the hour is quite simple and I will address it in a later post.

If the Ascending sign describes the Querent, or person asking the question, then the chart is radical and can also be judged. I would recommend picking up a book which fully describes the personalities and physical composition of a person that each sign creates. Commit a portion of that to memory and you will be able to determine at a glance of the chart and your Querent whether the chart is indeed radical and fit to be judged.

The next thing you want to know is the condition of both the Moon and the Lord of the 7th House, are they afflicted or well posited. In Horary Astrology, the Moon signifies the Question and the Lord of the 7th House signifies the Astrologer. If either one of these significators is afflicted then the Astrologer's judgement can be clouded and the Answer may not present itself.

Finally, the last thing you'll want to note is the degree of the Ascending sign. In Natal Astrology, the Ascending sign signifies the time of birth of the Native, and being the cusp of the first house it really describes the personality traits moreso than any other part of the Chart, and which the ancient philosophers described as the native's wit. In Horary Astrology, the Ascending degree signifies the birth of the question, so it describes the fortitude of the native - in this case the question. If the sign is in the earlier degrees of a sign (like the first 3 degrees) or if it's in the last 3 degrees of a sign it can cause the answer to the question to be blurred.

Again, there are several Astrologers who will tell you that you can still judge a chart even if any of these items apply to the chart you're looking at. The main thing to keep in mind is that if you're judging the chart with any of these problems for someone else, give them a heads up that you can judge it but the answer may not be correct due to the problems outlined above.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Red Lion/Green Lion

If you enjoy Alchemy discussion, one of the best forums is Alchemy Forums.com. On this website I found a particular thread regarding a charcoal experiment, which I felt needed to be shared with my readers.

The poster has pictures and videos of his work. If you want to see it, I'm afraid you'll have to sign up for an account at the forum. However, I will outline the work that he did as was promised in my previous post.

First, using plain coal (not charcoal as is suggested in the book to which I will provide a Google link), he set it aflame and the residue that was left was described as a glassy red. So he took a larger piece of coal and set that one aflame for a larger sampling. He dissolved the red residue in water which became in his words "a dark bluey-green". He then filtered it and laid it out in a glass tray to evaporate leaving behind a "salt". A portion of this salt was then calcined and dissolved again, then compared to the other portion of uncalcined salt. The calcined portion became an even deeper shade of green.

Another member of the forum then posted a link to a book which describes the process of making a Red Carbuncle from Charcoal and Sal Mirabile. If the link doesn't bring you directly to the page, look for page 110.

The significance of this is quite intriguing. In several pictures, such as the one I last posted here, there are references made to green and red lions. I welcome anyone to explain the significance in the process of making the Stone to post comments under this post.

Recommended Reading:

Monday, December 19, 2011

La Toyson d'Or


This particular picture is from Adam McLean's Alchemy Website but he doesn't give any insite into the imagery.  And there's quite a bit of imagery to discuss.  In the center, and I've seen this particular image several times, is the wheel of V.I.T.R.I.O.L.  In the bottom left is the philosophic King and Queen, the Sun and Moon below their feet respectively.  To their left we see the Sun with a cross and Christian banner behind...

Holy crow!  There is so much going on in this picture, it'll take me the next week to meditate on it in order to come up with a plausible explanation for the imagery.

One thing that stands out almost immediately is the Green Lion, which I still haven't worked out why there are two lions - Green and Red.  However, I did recently come across a forum post regarding an experiment with coal.  This particular forum poster burned the coal and was left with a red residue which he dissolved, strained and then let stand for the liquid to evaporate.  The salt left behind was greenish.  The exact procedure used and a medieval text explaining what it is will be posted tomorrow.

In the mean time, feel free to comment your own observations of the other images from the picture above.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Stock of the Week: December 18th, 2011

Starting on Sundays, I'll post my stock picks of the week and see how successful I am based on the techniques taught at swing-trade-stocks.com and some tips I picked up at Rock Star Day Trader.com.

I want to try to keep this realistic. Most traders suggest you start off with $2500 but since I don't and won't have that much disposable income any time in the near future, I'm going to attemp an initial investment of $500 (not real money). So that I don't lose too much money and maximize the revenue I will have to use stocks that are at a low price - i.e. anything under $5. This is really high risk trading. The income can get really high really quick, but you can also lose money real quick. So my exit strategy is to put a mental stop on a 7% loss of total capital. This equates to a total loss of $35. Typical online trading companies charge about $10 per trade. So, with purchase and sale trade commissions, we're already at a loss of $20. This means that I can only really let the price of the stock drop for a total loss of $15 and anything more than a $20 gain is a profit. But I want to follow Craig's trailing stop exit strategy.

The amount of shares to buy depends on the price of the stock, and the exit price depends on the number of shares purchased.


 DVAX

This chart isn't a dream chart but the price has dropped into the TAZ and if you look at the volume there's a huge spike with a hammer style - almost doji type candlestick. This can signify a turn around in price. It's on a clear up trend. I have two main concerns with this chart. The first is that it may be at the end of this trend. My assumption is that it is either right in the middle of the second wave or its finishing up the third wave heading into the fourth according to Craig's four wave trend cycle.

However, what makes me think it's in the middle of the 2nd is that if we now look at Elliott Wave theory, the first up spike can be wave 1 of the 5 motive wave model. The first time it drops back into the TAZ in November, I would label as wave 2. Going back up into the middle of November is wave 3 and right now, we should be at the bottom of wave 4. It can't go any lower than what it is right now, otherwise it can't be considered the 4th wave in the Elliott pattern. The next move then should be wave 5 which will bring us up further before we start the down trend of corrective waves A, B and C.

My second concern is that the Williams %R is clearly showing that it's not oversold, but I'm canceling that out with the fact that there was a pretty significant spike in volume.

Now, I'm going to buy in first thing Monday morning and hopefully get in at the quoted price $3.07. If I have to pay a $10 commission, I can only use $490 on the actual purchase. This puts my total shares at 159 shares. If I don't want to lose more than $15 then my exit price will be $2.97. That's a 10 cent loss per share. Not a lot of room for error. Hopefully it will pay off. I'll post the results next week.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Catnip: Not Just For Kittens

Kathi Keville, Director of the American Herb Association wrote a book called "Herbs for Health and Healing: A Drug-Free Guide to Prevention and Cure". In it she offers great recipes which I won't copy here but I did come across some great information on Catnip which I never once considered.

Catnip is a relaxant and great for "sleepy-time" teas. According to Keville, Catnip tea was used in Pre-Elizabethan times as the "beverage of choice" for a relaxing afternoon teatime. She also notes that it "lowers a fever and reduces the eruptions of measles and chicken pox". So because it is a relaxant, it's also great for upset stomaches, nausea, colic and diarrhea. Oddly enough, it can also be used to help constipation. So how does that work? Well she advises the use of a catnip enema as a last resort, but it's essentially because it is a muscle relaxant, helping the digestive systems parastalsis more comfortably and naturally. There are also benefits for PMS - obviously cramping is relieved (not necessarily cured, but relieved) because of the relaxing quality of the herb.

I suggest checking out the product from Nature's Sunshine Products by clicking on the image below.

Suggested Reading:

Friday, December 16, 2011

Where Have All the Hermeticists Gone?

I'm growing increasingly weary of the religiously zealous and so called "Hermeticists". Instead of being able to share philosophy and investigate the Hermetic Arts and Sciences in a down to earth manner, we have to pollute it with "magic" and "ritual" that does nothing to further the understanding of the great work. I blame Thelema and the Order of the Golden Dawn.

I will never deny anyone their religious beliefs, but it is because of people like Israel Regardie, Alaister Crowley and A.E. Waite that the studies of Astrology and Alchemy have been relegated to "spiritual" practices, with practitioners who seem to be flighty and "ethereal" minded. What it boils down to is an improper understanding of the philosophies and practical applications of the Hermetic works.

As a Hypnotist, I can attest that dropping someone into a trance is no more "magical" than stirring cream into your coffee. Having provided mathematical evidence of an actual Quintessence, I can also assure you that there must indeed be a means to create the Philosopher's Stone. And as a student of Astrology who provided you with a case study of a cold reading, I am positive that Astrology is practical and applicable in every day life.

There are three parts of the whole operation of the Sun. Astrology, the operation of the stars and planets; Alchemy, the operation of the bodies below the luminaries; and Hypnosis, wisdom of the depths of the consciousness and subconsciousness of all things. I have already shown that Astrology is representative of the atomic and therefore has predictive properties. Since Alchemy deals entirely with the alteration of the atomic, we can already see the need to understand Astrology as the representative of "that which is below". All we need now is an intermediary to connect the two. This is the consciousness we know as life, and the operation of the consciousness can best be understood through the study of subconscious. For that reason, we use Hypnosis.

I see no need for ritual magic (Theurgy) unless one is willing to concede that ritual is no more than human habit. Consider behavioral modification. It is necessary for any living creature to perform an act multiple times with intention until it becomes habit and through that habit, its life is affected either beneficially or malevolently. This is the same principle as ritual magic but there is no need to relegate it to mysticism and silliness, or require a belief in or homage paid to any Pagan gods.

I guess I'll step off my soap box for now.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

7 Steps to Astrological Prediction: Part 2

After you ask the question, the next vital step is actually casting a chart.

Step 1 Ask the question

Step 2 Cast the chart

Step 3 Determine if chart is radical or fit to be judged

Step 4 Delineate the condition of each planet and luminary

Step 5 Determine primary significators

Step 6 Observe relations of significators

Step 7 If an outcome is determined, then predict the time it is determined for

It would seem like such a simple step, so simple in fact that people tend to do this before they even ask the question. But that's just plain silliness, and since we're real students we're not going to do that.

It is necessary to know the time, latitude and longitude of the question. When I say latitude and longitude, I mean what are the map coordinates of the astrologer at the time that the question is understood? My personal favorite is the ITouch Map. Simply plug in the city that you're looking for and the sexigesimal number for both latitude and longitude are calculated, as well as the actual minutes and seconds if you so prefer.

This is all fine and dandy, but how does this actually help with the chart? Now you need an ephemeris. I like Ephemeris.com. Now that you have the date, time, latitude and longitude, you can enter the necessary information into the appropriate fields and...Voila! The configuration of the planets at the time the question was asked, together with an "R" to signify whether or not the planet is retrograde. As a Traditional Astrologer, I only use the seven original planets and luminaries; Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. All other objects and locations listed in the ephemeris are really of no consequence. The other planets may be useful, but their use in predictive astrology is relatively young compared to the history of the art so there isn't enough information on how to properly use them yet.

So now we need to determine the houses. Most traditional Astrologers will use the Regiomontanus House System because that is what is described in Lilly's Christian Astrology. There are loads of systems that you can use. In Zoller's diploma course, he offers directions on how to calculate the houses using Dalton's tables - which I like but it's very labor intensive. However, for a beginner, and so that you don't go spending mad money on software while you learn, I would suggest visiting the Astrolabe website. They offer a free chart software that most likely uses the Placidus house system and it has a built in latitude/longitude finder.

All of these systems (and there are more) can vary slightly in house cusp degree making a huge difference in interpreting a chart, which is why it's nice to own software that can calculate the several house systems allowing you to compare the differences and come to a more thorough interpretation. For learning, it's worth it just to use the free software.

Recommended Reading:

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

How to Become a Day Trader

I promised I was going to share some insight into trading, though to be honest I'm really not a day trader... yet. I hope you'll join me and share some of your experiences. Here goes. One of the best free sites that I've found is called Swing Trade Stocks.com. The author of the site offers a great basics "course" if you will. The tricky thing is this: even though the overall tendency of the market is predictable according to the Elliott Wave Principle, the daily activity is more volatile. It's kind of like astrology. You look to the stars for signs and seasons to determine the general happenings of things, but to predict something as minute as an atomic shift in space is extremely complicated and pert'near impossible. But our goal as apprentices, is to learn the large circles (or waves) and then work our way inward. So the next step, after checking out the finviz.com to be the best free stock screener with definable fields, then I pull up the charts on stockcharts.com to take a more detailed look at them, and if they look appealing I'll follow them on freestockcharts.com. Finally, we'll need to experiment before we just go and blow our money on something we really don't know a whole hell of a lot about. I found a great stock trading game at How The Market Works.com. I encourage you to try out all of the above and we'll explore each of them a little more in depth in other posts. Good luck and happy trading.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Interpret This Picture

From now on, every Monday will feature a picture that I will offer up for interpretation. I will attempt to give my insight and look forward to reading your replies. The below is a rare picture and it’s one of my favorites.

If you Google images for alchemy, you will find the typical carvings of a dwarfed man holding an upside triangle in front of his body, or a tree with a barrier to the left of it and the inner workings of a clock beyond the barrier. This one is unique. It is a simple picture but speaks so much. Notice the three crowns. This signifies the author of the concept. Serpents, on either side of the alembic, symbols of wisdom, inject their wisdom into the top of the apparatus, as they intertwine themselves like a double helix. Within the crescent made by their tails is a secret fire. Below even this is a starburst and three arms with triangles at the ends of each. The origin of this particular carving is unknown but two simple words can describe the picture and of course I have not completely noted every aspect of its design. Post your interpretations in the comment fields below.

Friday, December 9, 2011

7 Steps to Astrological Prediction: Part 1

The following 7 step process is the method I have adopted for dealing with Horary questions. I have had some pretty good results as well. Mind you, the majority of my work is based on William Lilly and Zadkiel (minus the more modern planets such as Uranus). And as I am still learning, I’m sure Frawley fans will be quite willing to point me in the right direction where I may have erred. In subsequent posts, I will expand on each of the seven steps to try and assist other students if they are looking to begin the exciting study of the Hermetic arts.

Step 1 Ask the question

Step 2 Cast the chart

Step 3 Determine if chart is radical or fit to be judged

Step 4 Delineate the condition of each planet and luminary

Step 5 Determine primary significators

Step 6 Observe relations of significators

Step 7 If an outcome is determined, then predict the time it is determined for

Step 1 can not be overstated. It’s simple yet absolutely necessary in the process. It’s like plugging in a GPS machine and saying “Give me directions”. Well, it can give you directions but the odds are pretty good that it’s not going to give you directions specific to a) your location and b) the location you want to get to. Asking an astrologer or, as the astrologer, understanding the question is essential to a proper reading. It’s also not an instantaneous reading. As you can see from the above, there are several steps involved, and the above is an extremely over simplified method. There are loads of details that the astrologer must consider before s/he can even begin to look at the chart – one of those details is the question itself.

A proper question should be asked, and not simply to “fool” the astrologer to prove that astrology is a fake. Zadkiel and Lilly both record incidences where the chart will actually reveal that this is in fact the case and when the client is pressed, he confesses the truth. If the client waits until a pressing question actually prompts them to ask it of the astrologer then the astrologer should be able to answer it for the following reason. It is assumed that the planets have inspired the question. For a practical application of this concept, please see the post on Prediction.

When the planets have properly aligned, the matters of the earth will also align inspiring those affected at that moment to be troubled by a particular question. This exact moment can be termed the event horizon. I encourage you to read up on light cones to fully grasp this concept. If the planets have prompted the question, then the chart should be radical and the skilled astrologer should be able to give a proper reading and predict when the resolution will culminate. As I have said in another post, there are multiple details to consider, circumstances that must be accounted for so patience is necessary by both the Astrologer and the client.

Once the astrologer has fully delineated the chart he can make his prediction. In general, it is safe for an Astrologer to predict an estimated time. I have only been lucky enough to predict the time within an hour of the event on about 50% of the charts I have read. This is not enough to declare a rule, so I will refrain from providing the math when we get to the post on prediction. Other astrologers have warned me against trying to predict too exactly, so I offer the same warning to other aspiring astrologers.

As a final disclaimer, keep in mind that there are quite a few quality courses out there that teach astrology with one on one tutoring by many people much more versed than I am and I don’t want to do the art a disservice by leading the novice astray. Christopher Warnock is the first instructor that comes to mind if anyone is currently looking for a course. I will however encourage the reader, should they be so inclined, to seek out the Christian Astrology books and attempt to learn on your own as well as seek out an instructor if finances so permit. The language of the Christian Astrology books is Medieval English so sentence structure, and often print quality, makes learning it a practice in cipher decoding.

You can also find other suggested books below.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Harmony: Part 2

The last post about Cymatics was really more of a visual for those of you unfamiliar with the amazing possibilities. I also mentioned the fact that sound is the second part of the trinity which pervades the universe. In the following posts, I will expand on the concept of the trinity and how it applies to not only alchemy, but also astrology and the big bang theory.

Let's first discuss the big bang again.

The tesseract helps explain the closed universe system, as we have seen. Hawking will say, and has said, that the cause of the big bang is irrelevant because a cause would indicate a time before the big bang. The basic logic is simply this: time is unconditionally attached to space. If there is no space, then there is no time. At the moment of the big bang, the universe was completely contained within itself and so there was no space, i.e. there was no time. However, as Einstein had also once mentioned in a letter to the family of a late friend, "the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one." The translation is that he believed, the big bang is occurring now, as it has before us and as it will after us.

But we puny humans are want to determine chronological events. It helps define us. We know how to get home because we have been there before. We understand the universe as cause and effect. If we are hungry then we eat. If we eat, then we will no longer be hungry. Our world would be turned upside down if the anticipated effect did not occur. If we return to the place that we assumed was home and the house was no longer there, we would be confused, angry, unable to care for ourself for a time. So, knowing this, it is only natural to need the answer to the cause of the big bang.

So, humoring Hawing for a moment and agreeing that time did not exist before the big bang, but understanding that something had to occur to separate the four principle forces which caused (time reference) the inflationary period, our question is not what caused the big bang, but rather what caused the four principle forces to separate? The separation of which created space within the universe and therefore time.

Let's digress for a moment to observe the strength of just one of the forces, the weakest of all four - gravity. Gravity is so strong that it can capture protons, light particles. In otherwords, a black hole. So if gravity in a singular location in space can be so strong as to disallow light from escaping its bounds, imagine the strength of the glue holding the universe together when all four forces were combined. My hypothesis is sound.

As the matter of the universe returns to the center of the tesseract it brings all sound with it, or vibrations. This is essentially string theory, the theory that matter is made up of vibrating strings. Aside from the fact that it is a mathematically proven possibility, it is further supported by the Elliott Wave Principle.

Consider Galloping Gerdy for only a moment.

The wave of the bridge was due to vibrational frequency initially caused by wind, but demonstrates the ability of sound to cause complete devastation.

If a vacuum created by the total absence of matter due to the expansion of the universe, known as the Big Rip, causes the universe to collide in on itself, known as the Big Crunch, once again combining the four primary forces, then the vibrational frequency of the entire universe contained within all of that matter would be sufficient to once again separate those forces, recreating the Big Bang.

And yes, all of matter has its own vibrational frequency. But more on that in another post.

Harmony: Part 1

Suggested Reading:

Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time

Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity and Special Relativity

String Theory for Dummies

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Harmony; The Strength and Support of All Institutions

This topic will require a series of posts. Today, we're going to post a couple videos and let the visuals speak for themselves.

I should preclude these videos with a tidbit about just what cymatics is. Cymatics is a branch of science created by an anthroposophist (which most people have put up in the shelves along side modern quackery). I don't know enough about it to make a judgement, but I have read the book on Cymatics, watched the demonstration videos and then made my own manual sounder to demonstrate the effects of sound on matter.

Frater Albertus, one of the most referenced alchemists of our time, said in his book The Alchemists Handbook, that Alchemy is about raising the vibrations. If you don't understand this, then it's time to go back to the drawing board and study until you do. Otherwise you won't accomplish much in the Great Art.

Cymatics is the study of the effects of sound on matter. In all things, we find the holy trinity - in religion we find the Father, the son and the holy ghost, (some pagan religions use Mother, Maiden and Crohn). Masonry references wisdom, strength and beauty. Alchemist philosophers used Sulpher, Mercury and Salt, which they sometimes referred to as the King, Queen and the Philosopher's Child. Robert Zoller called it Universal Intelligence, Universal Soul and Nature. A correspondent that I met in a user-defined forum helped me to define it in a more practical sense. She is actually the one who introduced me to Cymatics.

My dear reader, as you watch the videos, I ask that you keep in mind and contemplate the holy trinity of light, sound - and from the combination of these two things comes form.

Enjoy.

Notice that the higher the pitch, the more complex the design becomes.

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

Harmony Part 2

Suggested Reading:

Hans Jenny's Cymatics: A Study of Wave Phenomena and Vibration

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

First Natal Reading

The below conversation was a very recent discussion I had on what was my first real delineation of a natal chart. I recently joined a website and within minutes of someone seeing my profile page, I was asked to give a natal reading. My initial response was that I’m still studying so please be patient with me and that I would do my best. Notice the native’s response at the end regarding the parental attention and the sign that the native was born under. While I may not have been 100% accurate about the profession, you can see that I was able to tell her about her parents without even knowing her. The significance of this can be related to the astrophysics concept of light cones which I will write about very soon so please pop in from time to time to see what might be new. See Foundations in Hypnosis for more information.
On 15:37:29 Dec 06 2011 (-0 GMT) BennuLugh wrote:
You were born in the month of Taurus, the ultimate earth sign as she is fixed and feminine, receptive and securing. However, your ascendant sign, which should more properly refine your personality, is Leo. Leo is also a fixed sign but it is masculine and a fire sign. This is your primary motivation in life. Your primary urge is to go for freedom of action and power, but you have the underlying need for physical security.
There are three modes of energy in a chart - cardinal, fixed and mutable. The Cardinal signs are an outward expression of energy and the fixed signs are more introverted. The mutable sign is the change between the two. So for instance, Aries is a Cardinal sign and it is the gushing forth of spring time. At this period in the year we recognize the change as being the archetypical Spring. But then Taurus comes around and we feel fixed into that season. We've been in spring and we still have more spring to go before the next season. Finally, the changing sign comes, the mutable sign. The first half of Gemini feels like spring but the further into the sign we move, the more like summer it becomes until we reach Cancer which is the gushing forth of Summer time.
There are also two personality types, according to Dr. John Kappas, and they correspond with the three modes of operation in a chart and personal observation after viewing about twenty charts that all fell into the same category. The Cardinal type is much more of an extrovert, while the fixed is an introvert. The mutable sign, depending on the degree in question, can be either. If in the beginning of a sign then it is introverted, if at the end of the sign then it is extroverted. There is a lot more description in each of these personality types but right now it will have to suffice that these are descriptive enough.
Now, because you are a fixed sign, I’m going to say that your mother was either more physically or emotionally attentive to you than was your father. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good thing. Sometimes being attentive can be abusive. It also has a lot to do with the parent’s presence. You’re mother may even have been emotionally distant from you but if your father was completely absent from your life, than she would by default have been more attentive simply by being under the same roof.
Primary motivations tend to manifest in the person’s 10th house, the house of Profession, how the native tries to primarily occupy his or her time. Your 10th is ruled by Mars but, as Robert Zoller says, position is stronger than rulership. You have an interesting configuration. Mercury is closest to the cusp of your 10th and the ruler of your Ascendant, the Sun, is also in the 10th. Mercury professions tend to be involved with the sciences. According to Dr. Kappas, your personality type would be analytical. You need to process and analyze suggestions before your subconscious can accept them. I will explain to you momentarily why I think that this is further confirmed in your chart.
The Sun is also in your 10th, which is often connected with prophesy. With Mercury and the Sun in your 10th, I’m curious, are you an astrologer?
Your 10th is ruled by Mars, as I have said. Mars in your chart is nestled nicely in his second sign, Scorpio, a fixed water sign, another analytical and receptive sign. Your profession seems to confirm your primary motivation. You may not be currently being paid for your profession, but that’s just your job that you get paid for. A job and a profession are two completely different things.
I apologize, I'm not very versed in Retrograde information. But I'll give it a go. You have Jupiter Mars and Saturn in retrograde. If we look at Mars and the house that it rules, since he is applying to a conjunction with Saturn in retrograde, I judge that your profession faces constant conflict. It looks like it is further confirmed by the Opposition of the Sun with Mars.
As the application of Mars is to Saturn, I would look to the houses that Saturn rules to determine the cause of this conflict. Saturn in your chart rules the sixth and seventh houses. The sixth house typically signifies illness and the 7th is that of partnership. Perhaps a business partner and/or your own illnesses prevent you from realizing your full profession?
Again, I'm a newbie to natal astrology so any feedback is greatly appreciated.
On 16:40:46 Dec 06 2011 (-0 GMT) The Native wrote:
Hello there thank you so much. That was a great read. You seem to know what you’re doing for sure. I'm not an astrologer wish I was lol. I like to read and study the paranormal if that counts for anything. I would encourage you to definitely keep up the good work your going places kiddo :-)
On 17:16:45 Dec 06 2011 (-0 GMT) BennuLugh wrote:
Out of curiousity - the section regarding parental attention. Was I in the ballpark?
The native’s final response
Yes that was the part which I resonated with the most :-)
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Monday, December 5, 2011

God Does Not Exist

I had originally intended to post a topic regarding cymatics and alchemy, but after perusing a few blogs and forums, I find that there is a more pressing concept that needs to be addressed.  This of course is the topic of God, and I’m sure that if the right people read the blog, I’ll receive a bit of fire for the below statements.

The Neo-Judeo-Christian God does not exist in any form save in that of the imagination.  For existentialists, that should then be enough but these neo-Christian-Judeo faithful are not looking for philosophy and self reflection.  They are looking for a concrete definition of God – evidence that there is something outside of the Universe (impossible), and proof that the sum (i.e. God) is greater than the whole of its parts (all of creation).  This includes those bloggers and educationally limited forum quibblers who equate the concept and philosophy of monotheism with the blanket word religion. 

As the definition of this God is given to the three Abrahamic religions in the Old Testament, I will attempt to use semantics to help further elucidate this ancient concept of God. Simply put, God is existence. 

One forum poster hit the nail on the head when observing that the name God is not actually a name but more of a label and I wonder how correct s/he knew s/he was when making this statement.

Names are powerful things.  The most beautiful sound that anyone likes to hear is their own name being spoken.  It feeds our ego, identifies us as individuals.  We might tell ourselves that this statement doesn’t apply to us, but the next time someone addresses you incorrectly, notice even the most miniscule twang of insult creeping up in your consciousness and remember what you’ve read here.  In the time of Abraham, and of Isaac and Jacob, cities were thought to be ruled by individual gods, each having their own name.  And if someone knew the name of that god, with its different attributes, then that god could be controlled and his powers used.

Now, Moses came to the burning bush (this is a myth intended to teach a lesson).  He said to the bush, “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and say unto them, the God of thy Fathers sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me, What is his name?  What shall I say unto them?”  Moses asks for a name, but is sorely disappointed – or is he?   God responds with “I am that I am”.  That simple sentence defined the name of God as succinctly as any could have.  Recognize that in every language, there is a verb which means “to be”, to exist in a certain state.  This myth of the burning bush is intended to illustrate that it is at this point in Moses training as a priest that he begins to understand that God is not simply a strong magical spirit.  Moses has an epiphany that God is everything.  God is the bush, he is the ground, he is Moses himself and he is the air that Moses breaths.  He is all things and yet he is not a thing.  Because God is not a single thing, God can not be named – not out of reverence, but simply because it is impossible.  Could you imagine praying to your god and having to say, “Dear rock-dog-cat-sand-water-salt-mom-dad-sister-brother-bird-tree-leaf-fire….” Age and time would catch up with you before you were done saying the name.

Instead, we have found substitute names.  The Hebrews use the word Adonai, Muslims use the word Allah, and Christians use the word God.

To practice alchemy with any other understanding of the word God is to pursue a false dream, and I would encourage anyone who has a different opinion on the matter to respectfully leave this art to those of us who do indeed understand this.

Suggested Reading
The Old Testament/The Tenach

The Emerald Tablet
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