Dear Friend,

   It may be well to take up the subject of Synthesis at the very start of our study of the meaning of the stellar script, for lack of this knowledge often causes much confusion to young students.

   Contradiction is a fact which early impresses itself upon the minds of young astrologers, and the brighter the mind the keener the feeling of distress and helplessness arising from this source. Sometimes beginners become cynical and skeptical because unable to reconcile one influence tabulated in a horoscope with another of a diametrically opposite import. Suppose, for instance, that we find the Sun conjunct Venus in Leo and Saturn in the fifth house. According to the configuration of the Sun and Venus the person would have an ardent love nature and attract the affections of the opposite sex, but according to the placement of Saturn in the fifth house he would meet disappointment in courtship. At first sight this seems a bald contradiction. When Venus, fortified by a trine from Uranus, designates a person as an angel of purity, it is disconcerting to find that a square from Mars brands him as sensual to a degree. But philosophy shows us the reason of these contradictory omens and the art of Synthesis teaches us how to balance them and extract the kernel of truth from horoscopic symbolism.

   In the first place, if it were possible to find a horoscope without contradictory testimonies, that would mean that the person born under such stellar influences would pursue a certain course through life either wholly good or thoroughly bad. It would be absolutely impossible for him to swerve. If his stars pointed towards the path of rectitude, his integrity would be so impregnable that never for a moment could temptation to wrongdoing find harborage in his consciousness; were his face set downwards, no ray of aspiration in the direction of higher things could ever enter his dark soul. Truly, the horrors of the dreadful theory of election and predestination pale by comparison with such a condition; were this condition a fact, soul growth would be an impossibility, for the man who cannot be tempted to do wrong acquires no merit by goodness, any more than the man irresistibly impelled to evil deserves censure. Choice is the prime essential in soul growth and that comes from the contradictory influences registered in the horoscope; thanks to that puzzling factor and the will, which is above the horoscope, there is hope in even the most afflicted chart; the good is always there to grapple with the bad. And temptations overcome give added merit to the good. Thus the square of Venus to Mars impels to wrongdoing, but the trine of Uranus to Venus gives power to overcome passion and acquire purity. May we use the squares we dread to rise to the trines we prize.

The word "Love" has been used so often to designate that which is really passion that we therefore avoid use of the term wherever possible, and shall use the keyword Affection to express the most salient characteristics of the sign Leo which is ruled by the life-giving Sun. Fraternal, filial, and parental feelings generated under the Taurian ray are cold compared to the ardent affection radiated through the fifth sign, Leo, the sign which has dominion over the heart.

   It has been well said that "of the fullness of the heart, the mouth overfloweth," and the terrestrial counterpart of the fifth sign, the fifth house, rules the avenues through which we express the things we love. Our pleasures, avocation, courtships, and the children we bear beneath our hearts, figuratively or actually, are therefore designated by this house. Please note carefully, however, that the ability to write, teach, paint, or do anything else depends upon other factors, but from the fifth house, the sign which occupies it and the planets posited therein come the love and enthusiasm which impel expression along various lines according to the sign and planets found there at the time of birth. The love of a father and mother for a certain child may be equal, but if the fifth house of the father is well fortified and thus gives him the faculty of expression, while afflictions of the fifth house of the mother deny her the ability to voice her love, the child will grow up in the belief that its mother loves it not a whit. The misunderstood mother may then grieve and break her heart in consequence. Should the child learn Astrology, it would be able to see the hidden reason for the seeming coldness of the parent; compassion in the child would draw from the mother the secret of her love, both would be richer and the child by such use of the science of Astrology would lay up much treasure in heaven. Take another suppositious case, of two young men in love with the same girl. We look to the Sun, as the significator of mental affinity because it is the particular expression of God in our solar system. Mars and Venus, being the planets of passion and the brand of love associated with personality (not the love of soul for soul, which is Uranian), signify moral affinity and the Moon and Ascendant show what physical harmony exists between people intending marriage. Let us now suppose one of these young men to be mentally and morally harmonious to the lady, but not physically attuned, and further hampered by having Saturn, the planet of obstruction in the fifth house. He would then be unable to plead his cause, no matter how deep his affection. If the other young man were physically in accord with the lady and if Venus were in his fifth house at birth, he would be an eloquent and probably successful wooer, while the denial of expression caused by Saturn in the case of his rival might break the latter's heart. Later the lack of mental and moral affinity between the successful lover and the lady is sure to manifest to the sorrow of both; had all known the science of Astrology and been guided by their knowledge, these heartaches might have been avoided.

   As already said: Venus in the fifth sign or house facilitates the expression of love and thus makes the ardent and affectionate wooer, but when the dynamic energy of Mars is poured forth from this angle it produces the fierce, masterful lover who claims the affection of others as a right. The wandering Moon is the vehicle of fecundation; in Leo she makes the heart fickle and fond of flitting from flower to flower. From each she sucks the sweets and leaves it barren. The keyword of Mercury is Reason, and as the ways of the heart are beyond reason and incapable of intellectual elucidation or analysis, Mercury in Leo makes the libertine and cynic who plays with hearts as with marbles. Saturn in Leo or the fifth house obstructs expression of affection, no matter how deep and sincere the feeling, and thus it causes much suffering in consequence.

   Sagittarius is pictured upon the vault of heaven as a centaur (half man and half horse), in the act of shooting an arrow from a drawn bow. Jupiter, the ruler, partakes of the dual nature expressed by the sign. In his highest phase he is idealistic in the extreme. He aims the bow of aspiration so high that few, if any, measure up to his standard. Therefore, when in Leo or the fifth house, he not infrequently misses the real, while vainly seeking the ideal of his affection, but if his search is successful there is an ideal union, a marriage truly "made in heaven." The lower nature of Jupiter accentuates the animalistic phase of Sagittarius, and when that is expressed through the sign Leo or the 5th house the ideals expressed by the higher phase are forgotten, the man goes to the other extreme and becomes a depraved beast. Therefore Jupiter in Leo afflicted is worse than any of the so-called malefic planets; its evil influence is perhaps most nearly approached by Venus when similarly placed, for both tend then to indulgence of the vilest nature.

   As Leo and the fifth house signify the things we love to share with others, this also applies to knowledge, and therefore the fifth sign and the fifth house signify the ability to teach. People with Jupiter there, well fortified, have high ideals and are born teachers of law, philosophy and humanitarian principles. Knowledge of these subjects may be acquired without having Jupiter in Leo or the fifth house, but there is a difference between having the knowledge and the ability to impart it to others; this faculty is given or denied by the fifth house and the planets therein or the rulers thereof. These also indicate the nature of the subjects, if any, a person is best fitted to teach.

   The keyword of Saturn being Obstruction he naturally seeks to squelch ambition to teach when in the fifth sign, Leo or the fifth house. We know people with that affliction having deep and thorough knowledge of vital interest to humanity; one shrinks from the duty and limits herself; one ensouled by a deep desire to impart his knowledge to others becomes ill at every attempt. Leo rules the spinal cord and Saturn in Leo draws this poor man's nerves into knots, as it were, thus literally choking expression. Hard as it may be for such people to overcome the limitation, there is one certainty, however, that if they do, they will be very thorough, particularly when instructing adults in deep subjects. Mars, Mercury, or the Moon in Leo or the fifth house would make indifferent teachers, impatient and superficial.

   Leo and the fifth house are also concerned with publications for books, newspapers, and periodicals are media through which authors share with the public whatever knowledge they have gained along specific lines. Please observe, Leo and the fifth house do not give the ability to write or speak; that comes from Gemini, Mercury and other factors, but the fifth sign and house indicate our success in publishing our knowledge. Some people are able writers and speakers, but Saturn in Leo or the fifth house, or a sign ruled by Saturn on the fifth house obstructs access to publicity, and many splendid teachers and authors are never heard of outside the small circle of friends on account of this limiting influence. On the other hand, when Mercury, Gemini, Leo and the fifth house are well fortified there is ability to write and success in getting the ear of the world by publications. You will understand that my motive is not self-laudation when I cite my own configuration as illustration of this point. I have Venus in the mercurial sign Gemini, sextile to Mercury (in Leo), also to his higher octave, Neptune. The Sun, Moon, and Mercury are in Leo, the fifth sign, and Mercury is also trine to Jupiter in the fifth house, occupied by the idealistic sign Sagittarius. Saturn in Libra, the sign of his exaltation, is sextile to Mercury in the fifth sign and Jupiter in the fifth house. Thus all the stellar forces have combined to give me facility in writing and success in publishing. Had anyone presumed to predict these things five years ago, even my friends and well-wishers might have doubted, for these faculties were largely dormant then; it takes many years to acquire the fundamental knowledge and experience in the school of life without which any writing sounds hollow. Necessarily my innate ability did not show on the surface during that time, yet the stars told the truth; it was latent, and at the proper time became manifest. In this fact lies one of the most important lessons to be learned by the young astrologer. It is this: Believe in the stars; whatever they say is absolutely reliable, no matter how much appearances may be to the contrary, no matter whether they show a fault or a faculty; if the stars say it is there you may depend that their testimony is true regardless of whether the person knows it or not, and in this very fact we have one of the greatest opportunities for the efficient and benevolent use of Astrology. In the next self-study module we shall take up this study in connection with the fifth house, Leo and children.

   The Moon's North Node: the Nodes are points in the orbit of a planet where it crosses the ecliptic, or Sun's path. The one where it crosses from south to north is called its ascending or North node; the other point where it crosses from north to south is called its descending or South node.

   When the Sun is in the East and crosses the celestial equator from the south to the north, it enters its martial exaltation sign Aries as a conquering king at the vernal equinox, and all nature wakens to the life, love and labor of another year. Therefore the point where the lesser Light crosses into the north declination is also subject to a benign life-giving influence, such as that ascribed to the Dragon's Head. It fosters and promotes all matters within its influence.

   The Dragon's Head is regarded as a benefic, its influence being analogous to that of the Sun in Aries, and Jupiterian in effect.

   But in the Fall, Saturn, Satan, or the adversary, stands in his exaltation-sign Libra ready to vanquish with his cold clammy hand the life-giving Sun and usher it across its descending node, leaving the Northern Hemisphere to mourn and die. Therefore the Moon's South Node called the Dragon's Tail, is deemed to be saturnine in its effect and obstructs all things wherewith it is connected.

   The position of the Dragon's Head, (N) or Moon's Node, and the Dragon's Tail, (n) have now to be found. The longitude of the Dragon's Head, the noon nearest to the G.M.T., is found in the ephemeris. The Dragon's Tail occupies the opposite point. These points are to be entered in the horoscope.

   The Dragon's Head (N), and the Dragon's Tail (n) exert an influence in the horoscope only when in conjunction with a planet or the Ascendant. An orb of only two degrees or at most three degrees is allowed.

   As retrograde planets are (apparently) traveling backward in the zodiac, to obtain the travel in 24 hours, subtract the coming noon position from the previous noon position. The result will be the travel in 24 hours..

   Find the logarithm for this travel and then add to it the permanent logarithm (or logarithm of interval). The sum of these two logarithms will give the travel during interval.

   If the G.M.T. is A.M., add the travel during interval to the coming noon position of the planet.

   If the G.M.T. is P.M. subtract the travel during interval from the previous noon position of the planet.

   This is an imaginary point calculated from the longitude of the Sun, Moon and Ascendent. The philosophy is, that the human body is produced by the lunar forces. At the time of conception the Moon may be mathematically demonstrated to have been in the degree which is the Ascendant at birth — at birth it has a different longitude. In one of these positions the Moon may be said to have magnetized the positive pole, in the other the negative pole of the seed atom which as a magnet draws to itself the chemical substance that builds the dense body. The solar forces vitalize the body and as it is constantly decaying, a pabulum is necessary to repair waste. That nutriment and all material possessions, are therefore, astrologically speaking, derived through the combined influences of the Sun and the before-mentioned two positions of the Moon. When the planetary aspects to this Part of Fortune are favorable material success and prosperity follow. When adverse influences center upon it, reverses are met. The nature of the aspecting planet, the sign and house it is in tell the sources whence we may expect one or the other, and thus show us where to direct our energy or what to avoid.

   — Add to the longitude of the Ascendant: sign, degree and minute, the longitude of the Moon: sign, degree and minute.

   — From that sum subtract the longitude of the Sun: sign, degree and minute.

   — The remainder is the longitude: sign, degree and minute of the Part of Fortune.

  The Part of Fortune in the horoscope will be Sagittarius 0°27' (9th Sign)

  (You are welcome to e-mail your answers and/or comments to us. Please be sure to include the course name and Astrology Independent Study Module number in your e-mail to us. Or, you are also welcome to use the answer form below. You will find the answers to the questions below in the next Astrology Independent Study Module.)

  1. In Astrology Independent Study Module No. 9, I asked you to calculate the signs on the cusps of a horoscope for 4 P.M. Standard Time, August 10th, 1912, at New York. Please figure now the places of the planets, insert them in the horoscope and send it to me, that I may see if you remember how to do this work. [Please refer to "Information for Astrology Course" for help with this assignment.] [optional]

Name: Astrology Self-Study Module No. 12
Place: New York City, NY, USA
Lat.: 41 deg. N
Long.: 74 deg. W
Birth Date: August 10, 1912
Birth Time: 4:00 P.M.
(Std. Time)
Std Time: Eastern
(Choose One:
  Eastern
  Central
  Mountain
  Pacific)
True Local Time: 4:04 P.M.
Calc. Sid. Time: 13-19-30
Nearest Sid. Time: 13-21-20
Greenwich Mean Time:
Adj. Calc. Date:

Asc.:Sagittarius 28:20; Capricorn intercepted
2nd House: Aquarius 06:00
3rd House: Pisces 18:00
4th House: Aries 22:00
5th House: Taurus 18:00
6th House: Gemini 09:00
7th House: Gemini 28:20; Cancer intercepted
8th House: Leo 06:00
9th House: Virgo 18:00
10th House: Libra 22:00
11th House: Scorpio 18:00
12th House: Sagittarius 09:00

Cardinal:
Fixed:
Common:
Fiery:
Earthy:
Airy:
Watery:
Essentially Dignified:
Exalted:
Detriment:
Fall:
Angular:
Critical Degree:
Ruler:

Sun:
Venus:
Mercury:
Moon:
Saturn:
Jupiter:
Mars:
Uranus:
Neptune:
Pluto:
Dragon's Head:
Dragon's Tail:
Asc.:
M.C.:
Part of Fortune:

Birth Hour according to Standard Time:04:00:00 P.M.
  (if Daylight Saving Time in effect, subtract one hour): 00:00
Degrees birthplace is East or West of Standard Time Meridian in use at birth :01 degree
Multiply this number of degrees by 4 minutes, equals: 00:04:00
  (Add if birthplace is East of this Meridian. Subtract if birthplace is West of this Meridian)
Gives True Local Time (T.L.T.) of Birth: 04:04:00

Sidereal Time (S.T.) at Greenwich for noon previous to T.L.T. of birth: 09:14:00
Correction of 10 seconds for each 15 degrees of Longitude (10/15 or 2/3 x Long.): 00:00:49
  (Add if West Longitude. Deduct if East Longitude)
Interval between previous noon and true local time of birth: 04:04:00
Add correction of 10 seconds per hour of interval: 00:00:41
Gives Sidereal Time (S.T.) at birthplace at birth hour: 13:19:30
Nearest S. T. in Tables of Houses: 13:21:20

True Local Time of Birth: 04:04:00 PM.
Degrees East or West of Greenwich: 74 degrees
Multiply this number of degrees by 4 minutes equals (74 x 4=296): 04:56:00
  (Add, if West Longitude. Deduct if East Longitude) Gives Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T.): 09:00:00
Interval to nearest noon:
Logarithm for this interval (Permanent Logarithm):

Sign:
Coming Noon Position (after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position (before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
  (Direct planets: add to previous noon position if G.M.T. is P.M.;
  deduct from coming noon position if G.M.T. is A.M. Retrograde Planets, reverse this rule.)
Position of Venus:
House Location of Venus:

Sign:
Coming Noon Position (after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position (before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
  (Direct planets: add to previous noon position if G.M.T. is P.M.;
deduct from coming noon position if G.M.T. is A.M. Retrograde Planets, reverse this rule.)
Position of Mercury:
House Location of Mercury :

Sign:
Coming Noon Position (after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position (before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
  (Direct planets: add to previous noon position if G.M.T. is P.M.;
deduct from coming noon position if G.M.T. is A.M. Retrograde Planets, reverse this rule.)
Position of Moon:
House Location of Moon:

Sign:
Coming Noon Position (after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position (before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
  (Direct planets: add to previous noon position if G.M.T. is P.M.;
  deduct from coming noon position if G.M.T. is A.M. Retrograde Planets, reverse this rule.)

Position of Mars:
House Location of Mars:

Position of Saturn:
House Location of Saturn:

Position of Jupiter:
House Location of Jupiter:

Position of Uranus:
House Location of Uranus:

Position of Neptune:
House Location of Neptune:

Position of Pluto:
House Location of Pluto:

Position of Dragon's Head:
House Location of Dragon's Head:

Position of Part of Fortune:
House Location of Part of Fortune:

Moon in Taurus: The Moon is emotional and changeable, but when posited in a fixed sign, these tendencies would be modified. The Venus nature of the sign would make the native courteous and gentle, yet determined. He would also be sociable and hospitable in family relations.

Moon in Scorpio: Scorpio is a sign that imparts intensity to the nature, and the Moon is an emotional, introspective planet; thus, the Moon in Scorpio will give intense inner feelings, which if misused or uncontrolled will lead to a great deal of discord. However, this intensity may also be applied to constructive efforts, such as healing, resulting in the regeneration of the personality. Intensity of feeling leads to determination causing discord or accomplishment, depending on how this force is directed.

Jupiter in Taurus: The Jupiter ray is always kind, lovable and sympathetic but particularly so in this sign, where he gives a deep seated feeling in the relationships of the family. Taurus, being the second house sign also takes in the influence of the 2nd house affairs, giving firm financial prosperity and a generosity modified by the fixity of the sign.

Jupiter in Scorpio: If the benevolence of Jupiter is added to the Scorpio intensity, the nature will be zealous and dedicated with a strong interest in esoteric research, and a desire to contribute this knowledge to projects the native considers worthwhile. This position, if well aspected, would indicate the emancipator, or an interest in various assistance programs for the less fortunate. A resourceful mind and self-reliant nature is indicated also.

   Venus, feminine and magnetic, is the consciousness of harmony resulting from the alchemy of emotional transmutations.

   Harmony may be defined as the "consciousness of fulfilled union" — the antithesis of Ego-separateness. Through primitive Mars, as individuals, we live in, and for, self; Mars, regenerate, is that expression of self which is based on the courage of individual integrity. A human being cannot "give to others" if he has not established an awareness of what and who he is within, an awareness of his potentialities and the determination to fulfill them. This Mars urge toward self-maintenance is the necessary stage by which the Ego identifies itself with the streams of life through "projection" and the resultant karma. Each of us has one soul body to create; we cannot create it for another and no one can create it for us. Every one of us has — in each incarnation — at least one phase of the soul body to fulfill; we cannot fulfill another's and no one can fulfill ours. That, in essence, is the purpose of the Mars vibration — awareness of individuality.

   However, we find that experiences are the objectifications of our own inner states which are "ignited" by our contacts with other people. When the Mars vibration tends to predominate, we are urged to use our self-awareness to interfere in another's life, to push him around, to subjugate him for our own purposes. This is Mars as a disrupter of relationship; fulfilled relationship is self-expression that contributes to another's good at the same time. The Venus vibration is our capacity to act — to draw to ourselves — in terms of harmonious interchange with other people, in cooperation and assistance, with good will and constructive purposes. In this way our projections are fruitful and mutuality of development is assured. The streams of experience are fed and progressively sustained.

   The title-word "manifestation" may be considered from two approaches. Saturn is Manifestation as physical form, the objectification of Spirit. In relationship processes, Saturn is seen to be "responsibility." There is a heavy, earth-bound, condensed quality about responsibility that perfectly reflects Saturn's essential nature.

   It has been observed, and psychologically proved, that the impulse of love provides the most satisfactory basis for the fulfillments of obligations and responsibilities. When we love, we find resources of greater courage, and deeper faith, the expressions which tend to "lighten the burden." Moreover, fulfillment is made much more completely and satisfactorily when a loving, happy, and enthusiastic attitude forms the basis of effort. Thus, we derive our title — the Venusian consciousness as the basis of perfecting the body of relationship. Saturn's exaltation in Venus' sign, Libra, is the astrological correlative. Further, the experience of relationship (Venus) automatically implies the responsibility (Saturn) of fulfillment.>

   We are told that "Uranus is the higher octave of Venus." The emotional triad is comprised of Mars, Venus, and Uranus. While Mars is the individualistic, male projection, and Venus symbolizes his transmutation and refinement through relationship, Uranus is the "fusion" of the two within the individual. Thus the higher vibratory frequency of Uranus is the blend of masculine and feminine polarities which is known as the "hermetic marriage," and the creative expression of this vibration manifests its fulfillment without the necessity of a partner. We can see, from the study of this process, that Uranus represents the expression of supreme union which is not dependent upon the illusions of emotional relationships; for in relationship, the crisscross of male-female interchange is always evident. The polarities, fused, permit the person to create from his own center, on a higher level of emotional consciousness than either Mars or Venus can achieve singly, or in interchange with each other through two different people. Venus in Uranus' sign, Aquarius, is a transcendent expression of love based on detachment and freedom.

   Venus is in its fall in the sign Virgo. Virgo is mental, analytical, and critical. When you analyze, you pull a thing to pieces to observe the separate parts. This, in the sphere of Venus experience, makes for emphasis on things. Affection is expressed in terms of "right and wrong," "duty," and "fitness," in the superficial sense. Venus in Virgo is seen to be >love as "something to be done" rather than as a source of life- giving and enriching experience which refreshes the heart and illuminates the mind.

   An extended expression of Venus in Virgo may be described as love of one's work, but in lesser phases, or in domestic experience generally, it seems to show as a preoccupation with the practical matters of daily living: a clean, well-ordered home, a talent for good cooking, and the making of lovely things. The redemption of Venus in Virgo will be found in the establishment of harmonious (beautiful) attitudes toward other people. A critical talent is conveyed by Virgo, but Venus urges the expression of tact and courtesy; sympathetic understanding must take the place of spotting — and exposing — the other fellow's faults. A clean, orderly home is a fine and wonderful thing, but a home that also contains a joyous, comfortable, and livable vibration is representative of fulfilled heart experience, the cultivation of Venus.

   Venus, in any horoscope, is the symbol of the esthetic faculty as well as of the love potential. Rhythm, balance, proportion, and taste are just as evident in cultivated relationships as they are in the qualities of things which we call beautiful.

   Venus is the instinctive esthetic response — the result of inner refinement following processes of emotional transmutations. She is thus seen to be our innate ability to perceive and appreciate color, line, modulation, and proportion. She is cultivated taste — the discriminating evaluation.

   Neptune, on the other hand, is our response to contrived beauty — in other words, our capacity for art response. Many people have a keen response to the beauties of Nature and of other people, but, lacking Neptune, they cannot respond to the abstract or symbolic expressions of art forms. Then, there are those who possess a high degree of development — a great talent or perhaps even genius along the lines of some particular art who are unappreciative of beauty in other forms and may demonstrate their "lack of Venus" by uncouthness of personal appearance, unsociability, and deficiency of emotional development and relationship cultivation.

   Venus gives the lovely complexion, or the graceful, well-proportioned body, or the expressive voice that people are born with — they are naturally beautiful. Neptune is the clever use of cosmetics which creates the illusion of beauty; the dancing and singing lessons by which people contrive a greater degree of beauty than they possess naturally. Venus is the instinctive good taste by which a woman adorns herself according to her own personal requirements; the selection of clothes which, by design and color, unify her appearance — she and her clothes are one harmonious thing. Neptune is fashion, vogue, and artifice by which people of unindividual taste follow a contrived, artificial pattern. Being fashionable may be — but often isn't — synonymous with being in good taste.

   Neptune is art — in whatever form, the contrivance of a symbol to express an esthetic idea or ideal. Of all the forms of art, instrumental music and drama are particularly — and peculiarly — Neptunian. The special qualities of Venus are evidenced in the arts of Dance and Song. This statement is made in reference to the "natural basis" of these two arts; both are highly cultivated manifestations of remarkably developed bodily functions. Neptune and Venus, in some combination or relationship, are necessary for the astrological indications of artistic talent. Another planet may indicate a special qualification, but these two form the "esthetic basis."

   In the two signs Libra and Pisces, Venus finds the purest expressions of her essential nature; Libra, the seventh house sign, is the symbol of relationship, and Pisces is the essence of spiritualized love. In Taurus, Venus finds a strong expression of her emotional potentiality, but in more earthy terms. In Gemini and Aquarius she blends with the relationship urges of fraternal and friendship love. In Sagittarius, combining with the Jupiter-ninth-house quality, she is considered very favorable, since an "overtone" of spirituality and idealism is implied. In Cancer she is home loving and motherly, keenly responsive to the needs of loved ones. In Leo she glows warmly and dramatically — Venus in Leo is the arch symbol of romantic love. In Scorpio she is intensely magnetic, the Mars vibration is indicative of love as sex expression. However, this position of Venus is considered unfavorable — for her — because "partnership is threatened by personal desire," and from a physiological standpoint, in reference to the feminine physical organism, afflictions to Venus in Scorpio can threaten fulfillments in sex exchange. However, in higher types, this position of Venus can promise the potential for great transmutations of emotion through consecrated devotion — it can be very spiritual. In Capricorn, as in Virgo, material or practical considerations seem to predominate. An afflicted Venus in Capricorn is relationship — or love, or its pretense — as a furtherance of ambition and position. This depletion of Venus is indicative of consummate selfishness — in the cold, calculating sense of the word. In Aries, Venus is "love as self- expression" — carrying out the egoistic, dynamic influence of Mars.

   The scope of Venus potential in a chart will be found by determining the harmonious aspects as well as the planets disposited by Venus. The latter phrase is important because Venus herself may be unaspected or weak by position or afflicted by aspect; but planets in Taurus and/or Libra are "expressing through Venus" and extend her influence into the chart. Since Venus is passive — the result of transmutative processes — she is afflicted — she does not afflict another planet. Squares and oppositions to Venus — or malefic conjunctions, represent (1) the possibilities of frustration of the urge to union and the expression of love; (2) states of consciousness that are inhibitive to the development of the esthetic and social urges. Venus sextiling an otherwise afflicted planet shows the need for using Venus as an alchemical agency to redeem the other planet from its affliction. Trines to Venus represent flowerings of the soul, the cultivation of inner graces of mind and emotion, the capacities for beautiful and joyous living.

   When Venus is unaspected, we must regard her house position as the focal point of the social urge; her sign position indicates the esoteric potential of the love nature. We can interpret this pattern as representing an incarnation in which alchemical preparation is being made for the future. Though Venus, in this case, gives little "promise of reward" in this life, yet if reaction patterns are established by which self-isolative impulses are transmuted into giving, or devotion to an ideal or work or the cultivation of sympathetic understanding, the process will build in a Venus return in the future. The person with an unaspected Venus may possess a disposition that is not particularly happy or sociable, but if he does something, now and then, to make someone else happy or encouraged, he then expresses energy in terms of Venus — an emanation of good-will which must, inevitably, reap its reward.

   Venus strong by influence but afflicted by aspects is "urge without cultivation;" the gregarious man who can't distinguish friends from acquaintances; the woman who just loves beautiful colors — she wears a red hat, a purple coat, a yellow dress, and pink shoes; the "artist" who will sing at the slightest provocation — his voice distresses all who hear him; the woman who is addicted to collecting "nice things" — her home is a jungle of incoherent bric-a-brac. These are cartoon-like examples of Venus being spilled out all over the place. These persons display a decided lack of discriminative selection or a sense of the fitness of things. Venus is always the "nicest way of doing anything."

   At this point we suggest a synthesis of Venus with the three "primitives" — Mars, Moon, and Saturn. These three form the foundations of experience on the emotional, mental, and physical planes and their relationship with Venus gives us the how and why of her scope and influence in the chart.

   Mars-Venus: This is the pattern of "desire love;" the sex impulse and its refinement through union; the assertiveness of self and its completion through relationship; the projection of dynamic urge and its perfected fulfillment; in martial experience — fulfilled matehood through the integration of male and female polarities. Regardless of the physical sex of the person, the predominance of either Mars or Venus in the chart indicates the predominant polarity tendency. If both are deficient the emotional potentials are low, sexuality lacks fire, and the purely mental or the purely physical expressions of life will predominate in the person's experience. If Mars afflicts Venus, it is necessary to compare carefully the scope of each. Mars strong, Venus weak: predominance of masculinity, dynamic and self- assertive urges and sex desires; Mars weak, Venus strong: femininity predominates, the personality lacks thrust and zest; esthetic response may be highly developed but there is little urge toward work or effort; this pattern is not favorable for men, since the feminine element predominates over the masculine. Mars sextile or trine Venus: promise of sexual mutuality and fulfilled love impulses; a healthy, integrated emotional nature; capacity to enjoy activity and to work cooperatively; in the charts of either men or women this aspect is favorable, since it promises mutuality between the masculine and feminine phases of personality and relationship.

   Moon-Venus: This is the feminine basis of the horoscope. Woman as mother and as mate; the latent feminine polarity in men, indicative of their relationships and experiences with women, generally. Afflictions between Moon and Venus in a woman's chart are indicative of physiological inharmonies, possible frustrations of maternal and wifely impulses; unfulfillments of the affectional capacities. In a man's chart, Moon afflicting Venus is indicative of his feminine karma, inharmonies of relationship with mother, wife and/or female associates. This is the man who is unlearned in the ways of woman-kind — his feminine patterns are in disorder, unregenerate, and promising of disappointment and friction; through "heart ignorance" he makes painful karma for the future. This man needs to cultivate understanding and sympathy; until he does, his consciousness remains, to a degree, brute-like, particularly if his Mars and Saturn are strong, regardless of aspects.

   Saturn-Venus: Inharmoniously, this is joy sacrificed to responsibility, love dominated by duty, or love depleted by introversion, ignorance, or fear; enforced discipline of the esthetic or love impulses as a karmic return from past excesses; Venus otherwise well-aspected and strong, the square from Saturn may indicate limitation of scope for the perfection of quality. Harmoniously aspected Saturn-Venus is expression of love through responsibility; fulfillment of responsibilities is a channel of flowering of the love capacities; love is here seen to be an anchor, an agency of beneficial restraint and direction of energy and work. This is "love which must be made manifest" — the dream must be actually lived. Constancy and fidelity are keywords of this aspect — love goes deep and lasts long. Union serves to stimulate practical talents and the experience of loving forms a solid basis for constructive well-rounded-out living.

   To the planet Mercury is symbolically ascribed the faculty of Intellect by which we interpret, identify, classify, analyze, and evaluate the things of Earth. As the principle of Identification it represents "name-giving," "word creating," and the objectification of thoughts in spoken and written words. It is the symbol of conscious communication and perception. It is our awareness when we are unencumbered by our emotional congestion or sub-conscious-feeling disturbances.

   The substance we call Mercury is heavy, yet its quality is liquescent; our thoughts, when unorganized or unfocused, are also liquescent, fleeting, quickly merging from one impression to another, "up-and- down, "yes-and-no," "now-hot-now-cold." However, when our thought-patterns are organized we have the faculty of deciding definitely and embodying them in some sort of concrete definite out-picturing in single words or in their extensions into sentences. This out-picturing is what we call "language" — the universal faculty of embodiment of thought. The liquescence of Mercury is seen in the many ways by which a specific thing can be identified; its definiteness is seen in the "solidity" with which it is identified in a specific word or sentence.

   Mercury identifies the abstract as well as the concrete. It is through Mercury that we understand the concrete, but it is through other planetary faculties that we understand the abstract. Mercury, however, is the basic root of our understanding-unfoldments, from the most literal of concreteness to the most intangible of abstractness. Let us analyze the planetary symbol: a cross (matter, manifestation, structure, concreteness, incarnation) surmounted by a circle (perfection, completeness) which in turn is surmounted by an upturned semi-circle (instrumentation, receptivity of instruction or inspiration). Synthesizing these symbolic factors, we see that by the exercise of the Mercury-faculty we learn about life principles through their expression in the chemical region of the universe. This symbol might be called "Venus with the horns of Wisdom," and Mercury's air-dignity, Gemini, is the ninth-house sign (Wisdom octave) of Venus' Libra. We are told that the Lords of Venus and Mercury were the Masters who instructed infant Humanity in the principles of language, the crafts, arts, and sciences by which Humanity learned to function with ever-increasing efficiency in the material world. In short, Mercury is the link (messenger) between the gods (principles) and mankind. It is through Mercury that we learn, first, the objective nature and quality of things, and then the awareness of principles opens our consciousness to the subjective reality; on both octaves we are learning but on the first we integrate through identification; on the second we know through experience which yields Understanding.

   Since the symbol of Venus is included in the symbol of Mercury it may be surmised that all of mankind's artistic expressions were founded through the desire to communicate. The up-turned semi-circle which Mercury has in common with Neptune represents a microcosmic form of the instrumentation which is one of Neptune's principal meanings. Primitively, man draws a little picture of something to communicate his thoughts about it to another person. From that level he evolves a system of symbols to communicate his "thought-pictures" — ideographs, letters and their combination into words, thence to sentences. The expression that mankind gives of his concepts, realizations, dreams, and aspirations — distilled from evolutionary experience- -is what we call the fine arts; they are all, regardless of materials or techniques, the Mercury-faculty extended by Venus-Neptune as symbolic communications from the resources of consciousness. Not everyone understands a picture, a piece of music, a poem, or a sculpture; those who do are sympathetically at-tuned to the consciousness of the artist. However, everyone who possesses a normal degree of mentation can understand the relatively "literal symbolism" of language and express himself — at least in speech — by it. To learn speech is something we have all done in every incarnation since the beginning; we do it — and learn it — instinctively. This instinct is symbolized by the mental realm of the Moon-vibration — that which we know or learn through subconscious-memory faculty. Thus speech is seen to be as instinctively natural as walking or sleeping. Reading and writing, however, are extensions of Moon through Mercury. The conscious mind must be trained to understand the symbol-technique represented by the particular language to which one is born. You learned English in your childhood, but you may not have known English in any previous incarnation. You learned to speak in English by instinctive imitation of those around you as a recapitulation of a faculty you have exercised in every incarnation; but it may be that only within the scope of the relatively recent past that you acquired a fluency with the written word and it may be that English, your birth-language, is the only one that you now have any ability to read or write. An outstanding illustration of the "adulthood" of Mercury is seen in the natural talent of learning to speak, read, and write in other languages. The possession of this talent is evidence that the person has exercised his Mercury-potentials for many incarnations; his mind has acquired a receptivity by which he can comprehend a variety of symbol-techniques; comprehension of vocabulary, grammar, etc., have become a specialized faculty that is integrated in consciousness. The "mercurialness" of Mercury is nowhere better illustrated than in the "magic" that takes place in a person's consciousness toward other people when he learns to communicate in their language — or when they communicate with him in his. The "psychological space" that tends to exist between people who are foreigners to each other is thereby, to a degree, disintegrated and a sense of mutual "togetherness" takes its place. From "Mercury as words" we graduate to "numbers," then to abstract symbols. In these three stages, the conscious mind is exercised on three specific levels, the first two being the more concrete and direct channels for learning. It is true that each planet has its special effect on the mental faculties, but, in addition to Mercury, three others specifically refer to "mental octaves." These are Moon, Neptune, and Jupiter. The Moon, ruler of Cancer, is the "instinctive" mind; by this octave we think by "inherited patterns," we "think as the tribe thinks," we think through feeling, fear, desire, prejudice and instinctive security-patterns. Mercury is our "individual choice and selection," "thought free of congestions of feeling or subconscious negatives." Neptune is the psychic mind, the telepathic mind and that part of mentation by which we become instruments. Jupiter is the mind of morality," it is "thought raised to the level of concept," decision that is based not just on expediency but on understanding of principle. Through Mercury we learn by study and observation; through Jupiter we learn from experience from which we distill improvement and growth. All four of these planetary symbols involve the semi-circle which is the symbol of the Moon; Jupiter is "the Moon surmounting the cross of incarnation;" Mercury and Neptune have the semi-circle up-turned but Neptune's symbol does not use the cross — it is the pure symbol of "chalice," "perfect intake," "receptivity that is founded on faith" and it is the symbol of the upper-octave faculty which we call instrumentation.

   We ascribe to Mercury the rulership of two mutable signs: Gemini and Virgo, Air and Earth respectively. As ruler of Gemini, Mercury is exalted (matured) in Virgo because knowledge is matured in being put to use; knowledge, as such, remains in its "childhood" if it is not projected or expressed for the ongoing of incarnation. Only through knowledge can service be fulfilled and material affairs be improved. Anything that is "rightly known" can be "rightly used;" ignorance is the path to "wrong use" and corruption of service.

   Mercury is the most plastic of all planetary vibrations. By this is meant that "he" is most easily affected by — or qualified by — the sign which he is in. Both of the signs of his dignity are mutable signs; one (Gemini) is female-masculine, the other (Virgo) is male- feminine. Mercury, as intellect, is un-emotional or neuter as far as gender is concerned. By sign-rulership he is the root of fraternal relationship patterns and the androgyny of his nature is clearly revealed in the nature of Uranus, ruler of Gemini's ninth-house sign, which is the symbol of creative bi- polarity. The intellect is also a bi-polar faculty since it is one which both sexes must exercise in every incarnation. It, as far as "generic quality" is concerned, is neither masculine nor feminine, but it is not peculiar to either one or the other. One of the evidences of polarity-fusion is the development and exercise of intellect by human beings incarnated as females; just as cultivation of the sympathies represents a "rounding-out" of the nature of males. The mind must be trained to coordinate the conditions of, and give expression to, the powers of emotion, feeling and desire on all evolutionary octaves.

   As the faculty of reason, Mercury represents the root- in-consciousness by which the Law of Cause and Effect is learned. The conscious mind observes the material world, hence an awareness of the out- picturing of inner causes is evolved. In mythology, the wing-footed Mercury was the messenger of the gods to mankind. "The gods" is simply a symbolic way of referring to life principles. When mankind emerges from a purely feeling- reaction toward life and experience he clears the way to unfolding his awareness of the material world and the principles which it expresses and by which it functions. Man learns about an action when he perceives its effect; from that, he learns about his own consciousness as the source of all his actions and expressions The unreasonable person — if one could be entirely so — is so because he refuses to open his consciousness to the voice of Mercury. He does not study himself in relationship to the effects which he has caused. He does not study things and other people as manifestations of law, therefore he does not integrate himself in form. He remains in an unfocused swirling of feeling-reaction; no control, no pattern, no directive. Planetary squares to Mercury represent the person's potential for being un-reason-able. Bear this in mind when you analyze a chart — it is very important. Mercury is the way by which we learn how to disintegrate congestions and fulfill ideals.

   A psychological point that may be of interest: when Mercury's Virgo is on the Ascendant, his other dignity is (usually) on the Mid-heaven. The introversion that is so often ascribed to Virgo-Ascendant is here pictured: Self-development is the focus of ambition fulfillment. Personality complexities of Virgo-Ascendant and Pisces-Ascendant (Virgo and Pisces are the last of the signs of the lower and upper semi-circles) are represented by the polarity of Capricorn-Cancer synchronizing with the fifth and eleventh houses — the houses of creative love. Whenever Capricorn-Cancer are focused in the fifth house, we see the love potential mixed up with parentage-consciousness and these persons are most likely to have emotional complexes of a karmic nature in relationships with their parents.

   Mercury, variable and impressionable, is at the mercy of "too much action," "too much fixity" and "too much adjustability." Since this planet rules the two basic mutable signs, its potential for integration is largely qualified by the relative dynamic-ness or static-ness of the chart, as a whole. Gemini and Virgo each initiate a zodiacal quadrant, therefore they initiate a quadrant of houses totaling together an entire semi-circle of houses or one complete diameter of the wheel. Therefore any congested or frictional aspect to Mercury has the direct effect of impeding the person's ability to learn from the experiences represented by those two quadrants — wherever they are placed in the chart. The particular placement of Mercury, as "focalizer" of the Gemini-Virgo vibrations, shows the department of experience that provides exercise of the mental faculties toward the "rehabilitation" of disharmonies and coordination of mind with feeling. The sign in which Mercury is placed identifies this particular "generic coloring" — dynamic/expressive or absorptive/reflective. A most important factor in the analysis of Mercury patterns is found in the planet which rules Mercury's sign placement. This planet is Mercury's dispositor and has much to say about the way that the person develops — or fails to develop — his "reason-able" faculty.

   "Mind against emotion" is pictured by an uncongested Mercury disposited by a congested planet. The congestions involving the dispositor represent — of course — problems which are ignited by emotional reactions of a negative kind — toward other people, events or whatnot. The clarity of Mercury, uncongested, makes it relatively easy for the person to learn from his experience and to exercise reason-able control of his emotions and feeling-reactions. You can be sure of one thing if Mercury and its dispositor are uncongested: no matter what other difficulties may be pictured in the chart, the person has a natural ability and urge to be practical about learning how to realize his ideals and fulfill his deepest urges, regardless of what the ideals are or what he, in consciousness, terms "fulfillment" or "success." His ideal may be financial abundance, it may be popularity and admiration, it may be professional fulfillment of a talent, it may be power over other people; it may be one of a hundred other things, but the clarity of uncongested Mercury — both by aspect and vibration — makes it possible for him to see his way clearly toward realizing his dream.

   A congested Mercury with an uncongested dispositor promises disintegration of a mental congestion if the principle of the dispositor is exercised in relationship to the Mercury problems. The "virtues" of the planetary dispositor are the "alchemical agencies" by which that particular generic quality of the Mercury may be "purified" and the mental qualities harmonized and organized. Any planetary aspect to Mercury is better than no aspect at all, because every aspect is a "channeling" for the training of the Mercury faculties. Mercury, cardinal, fixed, or mutable must be synthesized with the cross that is most strongly emphasized in the chart, because, for example, a cardinal or mutable Mercury may serve as a very effective counteractive to many planets in fixed signs — and so forth. Cardinal Mercury emphasizes expression, fixed Mercury emphasizes retention, and mutable Mercury emphasizes adjustability.

   For the pursuance of this material we will use a copy of the Great Mandala — a twelve-housed wheel with the zodiacal signs in sequence starting with Aries as the Ascendant; place the planetary symbols in the signs and houses of their dignity. Emphasize the third and sixth cusps because they pertain to Mercury's dignity in Gemini and Virgo.

   The androgynous (bi-polar) nature of Mercury is seen in his attributes of "in-take-ness" (learning) and "out-put-ness" (expression of thought). To learn everything and express nothing is to use only half of the Mercury faculty; conversely people who are mentally unorganized display only "half of Mercury" when they express continually without concentration, reflection, or mental intake. As expression, Mercury cannot put out anything that is valid if the intake is not the result of a concentration and clarification of mental powers. We express ourselves to the world according to our mental picture of the world; viewpoints that are based primarily on congestions of feeling and desire do not — and cannot — "see" the world with clarity or give expression of thought with truth or judgment.

   A square or opposition aspect from a planet to Mercury may act as a stimulus to expression, but the expression itself will tend to outpicture a negative in consciousness. This is what is meant by congestions to Mercury. States of subconscious feeling based on ignorance, disharmony, and so forth divert the Mercury faculties from true perception; consequently what is expressed through Mercury will be a "false messenger" to other people. With reference to the Great Mandala, let us see how Mercury's potentials can be thwarted and corrupted by misinterpretation of other planetary principles. Misinterpretation simply means false knowing — therefore false understanding.

   The "criminality" that is traditionally ascribed to Mars-square-Mercury is due to a mental coloring of negative egotism. "Me first" is the keyword of this combination. The Great Mandala tells us that "I-am" (the awareness of individualized Being) is the keyword of Mars' rulership of Aries. The congesting mixture of the Aries vibration with Mercury, as ruler of Gemini, is a picture of "I think in terms of what is expedient for me — first and last." A criminal is such because he is unaware of, and has no respect for, the "I-am" of the other fellow. So — his Mercury functions accordingly; he figures the angles," "works the tricks," and "plays the game" according to his limited understanding of "I am and I Want." This negative preoccupation with "I am" without consideration of "You Are" does create congestions in thought because we are here to learn how to use the resources of the first three signs for evolutionary expression. The anti-social criminal mind is not very aware of the principle of the sixth sign, Virgo, the Earth- dignity of Mercury, because Virgo is the application of mental powers toward the fulfillment of service-patterns. In turn, service (Virgo) emanates from the heart-center of Leo, and Leo is the first trine (Love-aspect) of the fire- trine initiated by Mars' Aries. The harmonious aspects of Mars-Mercury picture a practical integration in thought. The person can project his thoughts into form and give them objectivity. This is one of the best patterns of picturing the ability to "get things done" because thought is integrated with action and physical expression generally. This pattern emphasizes the masculine areas of consciousness because it adds the dynamic coloring to the thought-processes.

   Venus and Mercury can make only the conjunction, semi-sextile, and sextile aspects to each other. The Venusian vibration, by the sextile, acts as a refining alchemicalization for any congestion of Mercury by other planets. Since Mercury's Gemini and Venus' Libra are trine to each other this planetary aspect points unquestionably to a vibratory resource by which relationship-disharmonies may be adjusted into constructive exchange and mutual good. The sextile from Venus indicates that artistic expression is also an alchemicalization for the harmonizing of mental powers. Venus-Mercury, by conjunction or sextile, adds a touch of refinement to the entire personality which can increase with spiritual maturity. Since Mercury's Virgo is Libra's twelfth house-sign, this aspect between the two planets indicates the improvement of relationship-experiences when service is rendered and the consciousness of fraternity is one of the most significant "adjusters" to all kinds of relationship-congestion or difficulty. This aspect clearly indicates that when the person seeks to learn (Gemini) from relationship he unfolds a sure-fire potential for harmonizing relationship, through the alchemicalization of mutuality. Venus conjunct Mercury squared by a third planet is like a birdling in a nest of thorns. The delicacy and refinement of the conjunction is — to a degree — congested in expression by the third planet; that planet may represent an environment factor or a relationship-factor, but the aspect itself indicates that the person must refine his consciousness toward that situation or relationship and redeem it by expression through Venus. The principle represented by the "squaring planet" must be unfolded into conscious levels by the alchemy of exercising Mercury-Venus.

   Moon square Mercury most certainly activates the mental faculties but the great need shown is concentration. This is the aspect of "scatterbrained-ness." Reference to the Great Mandala is very illuminating: Gemini is Cancer's twelfth house-sign, therefore knowledge and mental organization is the "redemption" of the "instinctive feelings" of Cancer. A chart having this aspect tells us that the Principle of Maternity is one of the important "studies" for the person in this incarnation; the disorganized quality of Mercury in this pattern is due to a weakness in the psychological base of subconscious feeling, and the need is shown to learn the lesson of disciplining the mind against the onslaughts of negatives in subconscious feeling. The mother of this person may have a very pronounced effect on the mind and — since the Moon is the arch-symbol of basic feminine polarity — the aspect pictures a form of negative thinking and expression on the part of the person in a previous female incarnation. So — now, whether male or female, with this aspect the native is susceptible to the mental influences of either the actual mother or to persons who take a mother's place in the life. The Moon is also the "public mind" — the collective instinctive mind of masses of people who are magnetized together through the common denominators of nationality, religion, emotional vibration or mutual activity. The person with Moon square Mercury who seeks to express in public ways must organize his thoughts to be effective. The "mass-mentality" is affected — for good or ill — only by concentration of power. To fulfill such a work-pattern the discipline required for planning, organizing, etc., is the means by which the person is induced to correct the disintegration or "scatteredness" of the square aspect. Mercury's Virgo is third house-sign from Cancer; since Virgo is Earth — and therefore a more concrete expression of Mercury's potentials — the experience-chapter represented by the placement of Virgo in the natal chart may be the most objective channeling for correcting the Mercury square. If Gemini is knowledge, then Virgo is knowledge put to work in practical ways. The instincts represented by the Moon must be trimmed down and focused if knowledge is to be put to practical use.

   The Great Mandala shows Capricorn at the apex of the wheel; its ruler, Saturn, is the Guardian of that gate; he says: "Fulfill your responsibilities to yourself and to others or you cannot pass through into Aquarius and Pisces." In a chart showing Saturn square or opposition to Mercury we see a picture of "organize your mind in this incarnation — or else!" This aspect is a peculiar one because it illustrates, perhaps more clearly than any other, the inherent goodness in a "bad" aspect. Capricorn is Gemini's eighth house-sign; regeneration is through discipline and order. The frustration which seems to be pictured by this aspect is evidently focused in those conditions of the house carrying Gemini, because Gemini is Mercury's mutable sign and, hence, the one that most needs organization. This aspect, in a chart that is primarily cardinal or mutable by planetary placement, is a focus of organization; it "holds back" the Mercury conditions only because the Mercury conditions need to be brought into greater order and clearer system. The cardinal person who just "expresses without plan" or the mutable person who "just floats" needs to be focused on points of needed fulfillment. The fixed person who has Saturn square Mercury can, if he will, use his Mercury to learn about the results of unadaptability. He has, in the past, "buried deep" in set patterns of thought and reaction; consequently when he is timed for "new things" he tends to resist and resent the changing of his conditions. This person can be — usually is — highly concentrated with, perhaps, a wonderful focus of mentality, but he tends to think about everything, or learn anything, from a very set approach. He will, in time, sicken inside himself at the crystallization of his conditions and affairs and seek to expand through change. Saturn square Mercury, in a fixed chart, can picture mental or intellectual fear, and to experience the desire to know more will prove an effective release for the mental congestions and from that level to an improvement of psychological conditions. Any chart with Saturn square Mercury will have to be synthesized and analyzed carefully to determine if the purpose of the aspect is to organize tendencies that incline to be scattered or to observe the results of over-crystallization. Life is a sequence of emanations: the best of the past (Saturn) made its contribution to the best of the present. The person with Saturn square Mercury may tend to resist and resent the past (the old, crystallized, and out-dated) as no longer practical or needed. However, if he uses his Mercury he will study the old to determine its constructive value to the present. This decrystallizes the feeling of frustration and results in turning the combined powers of Saturn and Mercury to good account.

   Further, Saturn rules the cardinal sign which initiates the Earth trine — the third octave of which is Mercury's Virgo. The spiritual lesson is this: since "third octave" means "Wisdom," perfect fulfillment on any level adds to the resource of wisdom — since wisdom is distilled from experience. Book-knowledge (Gemini) is the first step in understanding, but all claims to understanding are put to concrete testings in the processes of living. Therefore, in valid service-contributions we prove whether or not we know whereof we speak. So, with Saturn square Mercury, knowledge must be demonstrated in the kind of living that is true service; this is the evidence of the wisdom-octave of Mercury's vibration.

   Uranus, ruler of one fixed sign and exalted in another, adds a touch of what might be called "implacability" when square to Mercury. Uranus "inspires" Mercury with the genius of inventiveness because Uranus is the symbol of individuality that expresses creatively. But this aspect can mean "lock-jaw" for Mercury because the thought-processes are filtered through an intense resource of emotionality. Immovable opinionatedness is pictured by this aspect — it is the picture of the fanatic mind. A genius may need this deep certainty in order to fulfill his great purposes; he is focused on a great fulfillment and he cannot afford, in many cases, to be too responsive to, or influenced by, the thoughts of others. He must live and fulfill through his individuality however unorthodox or eccentric he may appear. He can be a tyrant or despot, master criminal or inspired scientist, but his mind is revolutionary in its effect; his mental expressions are charged with power — for good or for ill. However, geniuses are few and far between; the average person with this aspect may be evolving a genius-potential, but mental adaptability is one of the things needed in evolutionary processes — we have to be free inside to learn more and more as we climb the ladder. A mediocre person with Uranus square Mercury may feel, "I know it all — don't tell me anything." Life, by activating the Uranus, may elasticize him in radical ways by bringing about changes in such an abrupt fashion that the person's world either expands with life or it disintegrates through resistance to needed changes. Gemini is the root of fraternal consciousness; Uranus' Aquarius is its spiritualized octave; when the two rulers are square we have a possible portrait of a person whose experience in this incarnation is tuning him for the first time to the concept of universal brotherhood and this is an octave of consciousness that is way over the mind and heart of the average person. So, "catching a first glimpse," the person may talk fraternity beyond his ability to realize it and live it — except in a sort of "pretend-way." He may — and usually does — proselytize a great deal on this subject and bash his head against the wall of rock-like conservatism. This aspect is the symbol — par excellence — of the "parlor pink;" it is also the symbol — let's face it — of a person who is contacting astrological or psychological thought for the first time. The Uranus vibration interjects newness of mental perspectives. We may be catapulted into a Uranus vibration during the course of one incarnation but we do not adjust to that vibration except in several incarnations. Uranus square Mercury simply means that in this incarnation the mental powers and the intellectual capacities are encountering a newness that was never known before. Uranus trine Mercury is an established mental adjustment to an impersonal pattern; individuality is here timed for "flowering" and the person expresses naturally in this transcendent vibration that refers to "that which is progressive." This person can learn from the all-over picture — he can think in terms of the race, not the limited conditions of the local group. This aspect, on whatever evolutionary level, is outlet for a potential of genius because, with the trine, Mercury is organized for expression.

   In conclusion, connect the cusps of the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses of the Great Mandala by straight lines; the result is the mutable square, the congestions of Mercury through the defects of Jupiter and Neptune, and the negative potentials of Jupiter and Neptune created by the basis of unorganized Mercury. If Mercury is "talk, tell, and communicate," Jupiter is "teach" and Neptune is "inspire." We give information through Mercury but we radiate wisdom — distilled from our experiences — through Jupiter to ignite the latent Wisdom of our "younger brothers and sisters." Through Neptune we "ignite the souls of people" and this ignition can only be radiated from a consciousness that is centered on true perception; this perception, in turn, is evolved from the constructive exercises of Mercury. The upper octaves of Mercury, when congested, represent potentials for "perversion of truth;" when they congest Mercury then the faculty of intellectual organization is "tampered with" through subtle false concepts that have been built in past incarnations. All conditions represented in a chart by congested Jupiter and Neptune represent a need to gain truthful information from facts that pertain to those conditions and experiences — that means use Mercury objectively, unemotionally, and concisely. Facts, not beliefs; statements, not implications; proofs that are realizable not just blindly and credulously accepted through mental laziness are the Mercury correctives for Jupiter and Neptune congestions. The "base" of the mutable cross is formed by two Mercury signs to give reliable foundation to the truthful realizations of Jupiter and Neptune; they, in turn, are to provide scope on more and more abstracted octaves for the exercise of the Mercury faculties. We understand a literal picture, then a word, then a number, then a symbol, then a concept, then a principle, and then an ideal. To understand the nature of ideals (Neptune) is the flowering of the Mercury-potentials, because in ideals is found the esoteric reality of all manifested life.

— Supplemental Student Material Reference: Studies in Astrology, Elman Bacher

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