A joint publication of: Astro Logos and Zyntara Publications

ISSUE NO. 20

August  2006

The VAN is a free monthly electronic newsletter
dedicated to promoting awareness of the sky to astrologers.

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Introduction
 

Conference Note

18 - 22 May 2007 -  We think is the most special astrological event of 2007. The inaugural Visual Astrology Conference StarLogos - Under African Skies,

Firstly, a five hour train trip north of Cape Town in our own private carriages, this is where we begin to meet each other....  and then four days of intense sky, star, and astrological chart work. You do not need to know anything about fixed stars and the sky before you start, but we promise you that you will know a great deal by the time the conference finishes. This is a real conference... intense learning, hands on, and information rich also as we all stay together as one group you have a real chance to meet and connect with other like minded astrologers.

We are now accepting registrations to this limited place conference. Come and join us in South Africa!

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A Middle East Re Cap

In the June 2006 issue of this newsletter I spoke of Mars moving on to Regulus by the 21 July, and then of the unfolding drama of stars, moon, and sky.

As previously quoted in the June issue the Mesopotamian priest, Nergal-etir, warned of this type of event by writing:

If a planet comes close to Regulus: the
son [of the king] who [lives] in a city on my
border will make a rebellion against his
father, but [will not seize the throne]; some
son of the king [will come out and seize] the
throne; he will restore [the temples] and es-
tablish sacrifices of the gods; he will provide
jointly for (all) the temples [1]. 

Now it has come to pass that on 14 July Israel, provoked by Hezbollah militants, attacked Lebanese airports and since that time the war between Israel and Lebanon has escalated. We all hope for a ceasefire but this is an ancient conflict and, given the mounting sky image we discussed in the June edition, I think there is little hope for many months to come. One of the key points in this sky story is that Jupiter, which is currently standing to one side of the conflict in the stars of the scales (considered a non-aggressive position for Marduk), however later this year (December) Jupiter turns and moves into the stars of Scorpio. Another country, another player will enter the conflict at this time.  

The visual astrology of Mesopotamia is suggesting that the war will continue to escalate and that some of the leaders involved in this conflict will be overthrown or deposed.   

If we ever thought that Mesopotamian astrological thinking was no longer relevant to the modern world we only have to watch the sky and watch the news.

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[1]. Hunger, Herman. (1992). Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. Helsinki, Finland: Helsinki University Press. pg.137

As Above so Below
 Cities in the Sky

Bernadette Brady M.A.

The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus gives us the great metaphysical axiom of "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing."  

We tend to paraphase this to simply as above so below and it is one of the great principles of our subject, but few astrologers pause to think just how literal this statement really is.

As we look up we see the sky above but since the 1960s we have also had the ability to change our perspective and look at the earth from the sky. As we look up at the sky during the day it is full of colours, clouds, sunsets, sunrises and the like. Similarly, if we look down at the rotating earth then as the sun illuminates its surface we also see a parade of colours, oceans, land masses and clouds. But at night both change, the sky to a dome of twinkling lights, the earth also to a ball of twinkling lights. The earth, since the advent of lighting, has slowly been mirroring the starry sky and at night we collectively reflect back to the sky the same sort of images and patterns that the sky has been showing us for thousands of years. We become a ball of twinkling lights to the sky’s dome of light.
 

Within the sky the “first world” or the well-lit region of the globe is the Milky Way which cuts a line of bright stars across the equator (blue line in above figure). It is in the Milky Way that most of the “big cities” are located. The great metropolis of the sky is Sirius the brightest and biggest star in our night sky. Clustered around it and spreading out in an arch, like the great cities of North America or the populated regions of Europe, are many other bright stars, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Castor and Pollux, Capella to name just a few. Outriders or the “frontier new world cities” are the big stars in other places of this starry globe, stars like Canopus, Achernar and Fomalhaut in the Southern hemisphere.    
 

But if we now turn around and look at the earth at night (image above) we see the great cities of the earth also forming a band around the globe, but now the band is running north above the equator and sweeping through Europe and North America, with outriders from the new world twinkling their lights in Sydney, Cape Town, and areas of Argentina, among others.

We are, as we populate the planet and turn on our lights at night, effectively mirroring the night sky; we are reflecting the image of the stars back to the stars. As above so below…

Now given that this probably has no personal astrological meaning for your chart, it is nevertheless an example of the connectedness of all things: how the patterns in one sphere, the sky, are reflected by the patterns being formed in another, the surface of the earth as we populate the planet. Humanity is, aware of it or not, in a relationship with the stars.

Cities in the Sky - Declination

Just as a great city like New York has a location on the earth defined by its longitude and its latitude, so also do the stars in their spheres. A star’s location in the celestial sphere is defined by its declination – which is the same as the latitude of our earth-bound cities, and right ascension (measured in time), similar to terrestrial longitude. Thus for a star such as Eltanin, a bright red star in the head of Draco, the dragon, its declination (latitude) is the same as for London – 51N29, which means that the head of Draco will pass directly over the city of London. In fact, any city or place at the latitude of 51north is “under” the head of Draco. It is interesting to speculate that this bright twinkling red star which shines so brightly over the United Kingdom could offer us insights into the red dragon used as a symbol of Wales.

Similarly the bright star Algol in Perseus the Warrior is located at a declination of 40N59, which means that it highlights a band of latitude which embraces New York City and the northern parts of North America. Whereas down south the stars in the sting of the Scorpion sweep over cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Cape Town, to name a few; indeed the Scorpio constellation as a whole virtually claims the southern continents of Australia and Africa as its own.  

Sometimes countries reflect this special relationship to the heavens by encompassing key constellations into their flags. Both Australia and New Zealand have built their flags around the image of the Southern Cross, a constellation that is visible every night of the sky from those places, while the state of Alaska adopted the constellation of Ursa Minor (the little bear that contains the North Pole Star) as its state emblem in 1959. Brazil on the other hand places the whole starry sky in the centre of its flag, showing its country’s relationship to the equator in the sky. Indeed, of the 246 flags of countries 89 of them incorporate sky elements into their design, which means just over 36% of the world’s national flags are linked to the sky. Here is a sample of a few such flags:

Stars and Moon rising or culminating, representing states or ideological themes; stars, crescents and constellations are major features of the world’s flags.

Now astronomers tell us that we are made of star-stuff, that the physical elements of our world and thus our bodies have come from the stars, millions of them acting like millions of creators, generating the elements of our universe. But we are more than just physically of the stuff of stars, for as we see just from the world’s flags, their images are deeply embedded in our global library of symbols. And furthermore, with the advent of modern lighting it would seem that by happenstance we are also drawing “constellations” with our cities.

As above so below…. the stuff of stars.

Notices about courses and software:

Diploma in Fixed Stars with Bernadette Brady - In August enrolments are open and Bernadette has spaces for four new students. You need to be serious, you need to have at least two years of astrology and have a basic understanding of how to read a chart. Here for more details of the Diploma or you can just buy the course materials.

 A special message about Starlight

We only have 12 of our 35 copies of Starlight left at the special conference prices. At the moment you can buy Starlight for  only £170 or roughly $315 US, that is a saving of £25 or about $40 US.

If you are keen to put the stars back into your astrology... click here for more information.

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The software that allows you to work with the whole sky in your astrology is Starlight and it can be explored on the Zyntara home page where there are also online tutorials.