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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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