End of the World?

I was asked if there was anything astrological to support the 2012 APOCALYPSE!!!

Astrologically, nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

As secular humanist as modern Westerners may think they are, we are programmed by 2000 years of Judeo-Christian eschatological thought (google eschatology!) to expect the imminent END OF THE WORLD. Under this view there is a beginning, a direct linear progression and then an end.

My personal preference is more Greek or Asian and their cosmology and view of history is cyclical, not linear.

In any case, as John Greer has detailed in his book, Apocalypse Not, prophecies of the Apocalypse have been continuously made, failed and the failure ignored and then more are made.

Not only is the Apocalypse in our cultural "genes" but it serves a useful personal function as well. Currently our culture has two disparate views of the future, a binary choice between what I call "Star Trek" or "Mad Max" In the Star Trek future, science and technology has solved all current world problems, war, poverty, disease, and we effortlessly zip between the stars. In the Mad Max future a few wretched survivors scrabble for scraps in the ruins of great cities.

The advantage of this binary future is that we can excuse our current wasteful consumerist lifestyle and need make no effort to adapt to future change, after all there is nothing we can individually do to hasten the Star Trek future and nothing we can individually do to avoid Mad Max.

Also, as illogical as it may appear, the Apocalypse is very appealing to people that dislike their current job or life situation. If the world ends tomorrow, they won't have to go to work!

Astrological Software?

I had a poster asking about what kind of astrological software to buy. My response is, why buy expensive astrological software at all?

The difference between the free online software at Astrodienst (use "Chart drawing Ascendant") and expensive, commercial software costing several hundred dollars is pretty minimal. They all give you quick, easy and above all accurate charts, which Lilly no doubt would trip out over. He used to have his charts sent out to be done!

The most popular programs that traditional astrologers use are Janus and Solar Fire. I haven't used Janus, but I've never heard anyone complain vehemently about it and certainly lots of traditional astrologers like Janus and use it. Solar Fire is what I use, but with my special Traditional Page. This page only works if you already have Solar Fire! This is the horary/electional version which is free with my Electional Course, Horary Course and Astrological Magic Course. There is a natal version that comes free with my Natal Astrology Course.

I like the square chart, but it is not to everyone's taste!

Here's the thing. The marketing "hook" for astrological software, stated or unstated, is that if you spend the $300+ then you won't have to do anything else, the program will do everything for you, not only create a chart, but read it for you.

Sadly, this is not so! An astrological chart to an astrologer is like an X-ray to a radiologist. A vital tool, but useless without mastery of the area. I can assure budding traditional astrologers that don't feel they can afford $300+ that they are not missing out on anything essential by not having Solar Fire, Janus, etc. On the other hand, if you do want to spend your money, you are going to be fine for traditional astrology with Janus or with Solar Fire and my Traditional Page.

Must Just be a Coincidence!!!

Guess what? Today the Moon is in the 7th Mansion.

Silver 7th Mansion talisman
White Bronze 7th Mansion talisman
Glass 7th Mansion pendant
7th Mansion mirror


This is my newest talisman and I have been wearing a silver one.

Today turned out to be my biggest day for profits so far this month. Must just be a coincidence!

Tower of the Winds: Ancient Astrological Architecture

I added a new web page on the Tower of the Winds, an ancient building in Athens.

The standard modern view is that it was "scientific" you know a big utilitarian clock tower.

The webpage is a description of the Tower by a 17th century Turkish traveler, who describes a great deal of astrological talismanic lore regarding it. Very interesting and reminiscent of the larger scale astrological talismanic workings in the Book of the Treasure of Alexander. and Adocentyn, the astrological city of Hermes Trismegistus in Picatrix, Bk IV ch 3.

We tend to think of talismans as jewelry, as rings or medallions. In fact, De Imaginibus of Thabit Ibn Qurra clearly is talking about statuettes and many of the Picatrix Bk IV chapter 9 mansions images are also to be made as statuettes, often of wax. Certainly magic mirrors and swords, for example, are part of our traditional view of talismans, but almost anything, up to a whole city, can be created as an astrological talisman. These forces permeate all material things and if we pay attention orient us to the spiritual cycles and forces that underlie everything in the material world.

Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno is a key figure in Renaissance philosophy and magic. A good start is my Bruno page. Bruno is a tragic figure really, Bruno was even more contentious than me and managed to get himself in arguments and difficulties wherever he went. He eventually ran afoul of the Inquisition and was burned at the stake. The Church regarded him as a heretic for his magical views, while moderns have somehow turned him into a "martyr to Science" truly ridiculous, given Bruno's actual philosophy and practice.

See eg Martyr to Science Example

Here's an alternative view

One of the problems with Bruno, for those seeking to follow in his footsteps, is the incredible range of his knowledge. For example, he combined the Art of Memory which we've already mentioned with the Ars Combinatoria of Ramon Llul. Each a whole lifetime's study unto themselves!

My personal interest has been in Bruno's magic of the psyche. It would confuse moderns a bit to call it psychological magic because they tend to think it's all in the mind.

Professor Ioan Coulianu discussing Bruno's psychological magic in his Eros and Magic in the Renaissance notes that magicians have not disappeared in the modern world, "...they have simply been camouflaged in sober and legal guises... Nowadays the magician busies himself with public relations, propaganda, market research, sociological surveys, publicity, information, counterinformation and misinformation, censorship, espionage and even cryptography..." Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, page 104.

The key texts for Bruno's psychological magic are

Eros and Magic in the Renaissance

Bruno Cause, Principle and Unity: And Essays on Magic out of print as a paperback but available in Kindle edition