#4 Nov Scorpio Ingress 2022
Newsletter
Edited by Deborah Houlding, contributors: Morgan Le Gall • Jason Burns
The Sun is in Scorpio www.skyscript.co.uk/scorpio.html
– Contents – • Intro, News and Announcements • Al-Qabisi’s ‘Nature of Mars’ & Translation Notes • Mars & Iron • The Creative Genius of Earhart Ratdolt • Cardan’s Considerations for Comets & Eclipses • Planetary Themes for November • A Peek at Brunhubner’s Pluto
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WELCOME TO ISSUE 4
What a ride that Libra month turned out to be for those of us living in the UK! In our last issue, Jason Burns forecast a very bumpy period of government controversies, and problems connected to national resources and finances. This was based on both luminaries in the October Full Moon applying to Mars in the UK Libra ingress, which had Mars as MC-ruler and Moon on the 2nd cusp. I have barely been able to keep up with all the shocks and bangs we’ve had since then!
As the last issue of the newsletter circulated on 23 September, there was no inkling that within a few days the UK would have an extremely serious financial crash, which brought the value of the pound to an all-time low. Markets erupted in turmoil and Parliament went into disarray – all in response to a sudden ‘mini-budget’ put together by our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and her new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, to rescue the economy! After a few days, the Bank of England stepped in with drastic measures to rescue the ailing pound, causing huge embarrassment to Truss, and calls for her resignation over a lack of confidence in her strategy. Despite insisting that she would sustain her course, on the day retrograde Mercury stationed, in direct opposition to retrograde Neptune (against a backdrop of retrograde Saturn in partile square to retrograde Uranus), a humiliating climbdown was made and Truss U-turned on plans to give tax breaks to the wealthiest members of society. Truss blamed Kwarteng – it all turned into a confusing mess: everyone talking about holding firm, no one sure what direction to be firm about. Sudden collapse of the pound – the pound started to fall badly on Friday 23 September, and collapsed in turmoil as the markets opened on Monday 26 September. https://www.bloomberg.com/ news/articles/2022-0926/pound-is-bluebay-s-topcurrency-short-as-sees-paritywith-dollar
So Kwarteng got sacked, after only 38 days in the job – it was all about the economy; the Moon on the 2nd house cusp in a mundane chart cannot be more literal than pointing to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (a posh name for the nation’s Chief Financial Officer).
This means Britain has had four Chancellors of the Exchequer in as many months (public exasperation summed up in the Twitter comment, right). As things stand right now, we are poised to have had two monarchs, four Chancellors of the Exchequer and three Prime Ministers in a period of four months!
Jason also warned of UK problems in deals with other nations. Well, every international deal became problematic, because our pound lost its strength. And of course, our political system has been jeered by other political leaders – UK, you OK? Not really, thanks for asking; it feels like things are getting worse.
And still, there was more to come … When Jason submitted his contribution to this issue a few weeks ago, he was quite apologetic that, once again, the mundane outlook seemed woeful. He didn’t want to churn out doom and gloom every month, but was struggling to find the uplift. I told him it was OK (it wasn’t really – in hindsight he should have been adding a lot more doom and a lot more exclamation marks!). As I typeset his piece, I added an observation about not being able to unsee the disturbing effect of Uranus on the MC for the UK lunation. Knowing how this connected to our PM’s natal Mars, and how she was embodying the Saturn-Uranus square of her ‘commencement chart’ in everything she did, I expected her to be forced out during November. You will, of course, roll your eyes when you read that untimely remark now.
I decided to leave the comment in because it demonstrates an issue all astrologers face. Anticipation of astro-effect is always shaped by the context of the situation at hand. I wasn’t examining Truss’s chart but contemplating a likely expression of a mundane map that spoke of disruption in leadership. So that issue remains, whoever is in charge, which makes me wonder what is coming next! I have not yet found time to explore the astrology of the change in Tory leadership – but here are what we know of the charts for the major players in the political saga that is destroying the profits of Netflix, as the British public sit glued to the news, binge-watching one dramatic political horror story after another.
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NEWS & STUFF Art is long and life is short – and since the ingress is now upon us, my introduction to this month’s contribution must be very brief. I mainly want to squeeze in some important notes and reminders for patrons (once again – I thank you for your wonderful support!): 1. Note the eclipse discussion for body & soul members on Monday (details below).
2. Remember: no newsletter next month. The Sun may be capable of perpetual motion, but I am not, so once every five months the newsletter will take a break, allowing me to invest that month’s energies more directly into the website and other research projects. I have a couple of projects close to fruition, and one in mind that I plan to circulate to subscribers in lieu of the newsletter next month (I won’t give details in case something goes awry, and I am forced to fall back on plan B. Just know I will circulate something worthwhile). I secretly hope you miss receiving the newsletter next month and that absence makes your heart grow fonder. We can all look forward to refreshed energies being poured into the winter solstice edition, for an end-of-year finale!
Regarding this issue: it is funny how things come together when you allow yourself to follow an undefined drift. With no particular intention to create this, I now see how the whole issue has followed an embroidered theme of Scorpio, Mars, metallurgy, the development of type moulds, the rise of the press industry, forgotten books and Pluto. (I almost want to insist you read each feature in the order of presentation). How cool to add in an eclipse theme too – something light and fluffy would have killed it. So, I wanted to add a page on Earhart Ratdolt. I knew it would be short, but loved the idea of exploring some lesser-known characters who made a vital contribution to the place of astrology in world history. That page kept increasing as I realised how the life of one astrologer was threaded into the life of so many others, and how it was impossible to give even brief details of Ratdolt’s life without delving into the bigger background story. Trimming this down to a 9-page feature was quite a feat in the end, and I think I did the best I could with the publication deadline looming (as a printer, he would understand).
Ratdolt has now become my inspiration. I’d be embarrassed to tell you how long I spent redeveloping the Scorpio feature on Skyscript this month, wanting the information to be as useful, but also aesthetically pleasing with beautiful artwork. I felt much better after spending time writing about Ratdolt. Life might be short, but art is long for good reason.
And only now I notice how this issue has a strong emphasis on Germans and Nuremberg throughout. That wasn’t intended either – it just came together that way. Auf Wiedersehen for now everyone – I’ll be staying in touch with bits and bobs throughout the month. Deb
SKYSCRIPT ZOOM DISCUSSION
ECLIPSES FOR BODY & SOUL MEMBERS ONLY
“In 1860 a total eclipse of the sun was visible in British America” – Canadian astronomer, Simon Newcomb
Start: 4pm UTC – Monday, 24th October 2022 [check local time on this link]
Get ready for eclipse season with an exploration of historical teachings and uses of eclipses and thoughts on what the upcoming eclipses are likely to be foreshadowing in the world at large.
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THE NATURE OF MARS Al-Qabisi Translated from Latin by Morgan Le Gall & Deb Houlding
Full Latin text available online at https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666822/
MARS: masculine, nocturnal, malefic, producing heat and dryness. It signifies brothers and foreign travels. Of ages, it signifies youth up to the completion of adolescence. Its nature is choleric and of the savours it is bitter.
Of skills, it signifies all professions involving fire or associated with iron and fire, such as beating out swords with hammers.1
0 8 3 6 5 4
If connected with Saturn, it signifies the smiting of iron; If with Jupiter, the smiting of bronze;2
Ï 7& 5
If with the Sun, the smiting of gold coins; If with Venus, the forging of ornaments;
If with Mercury, the smiting of needles;3
If with the Moon, the smiting of lances and scales.4
What we would call a smith (the Old English term derives from the Anglo-Saxon smitan, ‘to smite or strike’). The Latin word eris might mean any crude metal but usually refers to copper or bronze; it is more likely to mean bronze here, the hardest and most durable metal in ancient times, made from an alloy of widely available copper (astrologically attributed to Venus) and the much rarer metal tin (usually attributed to Jupiter). 3 The Latin acuum describes fine implements with sharp points: needles, hairpins, broaches, fishing hooks, etc. Lilly attributes Mercury to ‘implements’ (small tools or utensils, CA, p.354) and being associated with detail work Mercury naturally signifies tailors (CA, p.78); hence the logical association of Mars + Mercury in the manufacture of pins. 4 Association with the lance perhaps portrays the lunar link to everyday objects (lances or spears were used for hunting and fishing as well as war); that of scales portrays measurement (the Moon was ‘the measurer’, most especially of time). 1 2
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And by its own signification, it indicates the work of the medic. If no planet is connected to it, it indicates the drawing of blood,5 [the treatment of] wounds, operations and such things.
0 8 3 6 5 4
And if Saturn is connected, it signifies surgical work to wounds; If with Jupiter, it signifies the application of natural remedies;6 If with the Sun, the treatment of the eyes;
If with Venus, the work of beauticians, like the cutting of hair, beards and nails; If with Mercury, it signifies the ablation or surgical removal of veins.7 If with the Moon, the extraction of teeth and the purging of the ears.
By itself, it signifies wretched offences, the shedding of blood, oppressions by force, highway robbery,8 bouts of anger, military authority, rashness, shamelessness, journeys away from home, unfaithful intercourse and the miscarriage of children, i.e., abortion, middle brothers and sisters, and knowledge in the management and care of wild beasts.
And of infirmities: fevers that are hot and bloody, and the bloody pustules of ‘the red’,9 which is reddening of the body with severe and vile consumption of rotting flesh; migraines; the Holy Fire;10 phobias and horrible thoughts that trouble and disturb men, and even render them inane;11 and whatever comes about through inflammation of heat.
And of the quality of the mind: agitation and mental disturbance. If aspected by Saturn, it signifies hatred and great envy.
Bloodletting, phlebotomies, etc – the text says minutionem, most probably abbreviating the Latin phrase for bloodletting de minutionem sanguinis, but without the reference to sanguinis (blood) this might also mean the draining of any bodily fluid, such as drawing the pus from abscesses, etc. 6 I.e., applying knowledge of temperaments and humours, and using herbs to balance whatever caused a dis-ease. 7 Such as the treatment of varicose veins. This might also suggest general joint rulership of Mars and Mercury over more intricate forms of surgery, as noted by Ptolemy, who tells us that when these two planets jointly signify the profession they indicate “armourers, makers of sacred monuments, modellers, wrestlers, physicians, surgeons, accusers, adulterers, evil-doers, forgers” (Tet., IV.4). 8 The Latin abscisiones viarum literally means to be cut off or interrupted on the streets. 9 The Latin reads alabraha. There is no medical recognition of this term but variant spellings include al-hambra, allabra, and alhabara, all of which derive from the Arabic alhambra ‘the red’, indicating illness characterised by red pustules. The Warburg edition renders this as anthrax, which generates black skin lesions surrounded by vivid red skin; however, the term might have a much broader application to denote any illness whose symptoms produce the effects that Al-Qabisi describes (rubella, scarlet fever, shingles, smallpox, plague sores, ringworm, etc). 10 Erysipelas: first described as ignis sacer ‘holy fire’ by Lucretius in the 1st century and later known as ‘St Anthony’s Fire’ – a fiery bacterial infection of the face and lower extremities which produces areas of bright red swelling. 11 I.e., senseless or unintelligible, as when someone suffers a breakdown in a crisis or a delirium in a fever. 5
Of religions, those in which there is contention, monotheism, speed in changing faith, many doubts and changes from testament to testament; yet all of this under uniformity.12 And some have said that of limbs it has the gall, the kidneys, the veins, the sperm duct, and the back. And of colours it has red, and of savours it has bitterness.13 And the size of its orb is 8°, and of the days it has Tuesday, and of the nights the night of the Sabbath.14 Its firdaria is 7 years and its greatest years are 284.15 The greater years are 66, the mean years are 40½ and the lesser years are 15.16 Its power in the zones of th e zodiac is in the south. And Masha’allah said of human appearance: it signifies a ruddy [complexioned] man with red hair, a slightly rounded face, dishonourable men with saffron in the eyes and a menacing stare, impertinent, evocative, having a mark or disfiguring spot on the foot. And Dorotheus spoke of a sharp look. And of the parts, it has the Part of Boldness17 which signifies perseverance, cunning, arrogance, inconstancy and rapidity, audacity, denials, and sharpness and haste in all things. Of the regions of the world, it has Syria,18 the lands of the Romans all the way up to the west,19 and Turkey.20
Wikipedia Commons maps showing the 11th century understanding of Syria and the lands of the Romans. Mars also governs Turkey: the lands of the Turks.
The rapid switching from one religion to the next, combined with the contention and the need for uniformity gives the idea that whatever religious movement is followed, it is to some extent enforced or intolerant of alternate views. 13 The older sense of bitter as a savour expects harshness, pungency, and a cutting sharpness; hence Lilly says the savours of Mars are “bitter, sharp and burn the tongue” (CA, p.67). 14 I.e., Saturday night. 15 Correcting the Latin typo which says 264, a mistake replicated by Lilly (CA, p.68). The Warburg edition, drawing from the Arabic text, has the correct figure of 284. To test this out: greatest years indicate when synodic phases repeat in a nearby degree at a similar time of year – the next synodic conjunction of the Sun and Mars occurs on 18 November 2023 at 25°36Ü; they will not be joined anywhere around this date 264 years later but will join again near this degree around the same date 284 years later: 18 November 2307: M, 25°30Ü=| c, 26°23Ü 16 Greater years show the total number of terms each planet rules throughout the signs (see Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos I.20). The least years indicate the number of years between successive synodic returns that occur in the same part of the zodiac (at any time of year; as opposed to the greatest years indicating a return to the same place at the same time of year). Mean years simply average the greater and least years; e.g., for Mars, (greater) 66 + (least) 17 = 83 ÷ 2 = 41½. 17 In Book V it is called the Part of Valour and Boldness (pars animositatis et audacie) and its calculation is given: the distance from Mars to the Part of Fortune projected from the ascendant (reversed by night). In formula format: diurnal = Asc + (Part of Fortune - Mars) | nocturnal = Asc + (Mars – Part of Fortune). 18 The Latin text reads Asce which derives from the Arabic aš-Šām identifying the historical region of Greater Syria. Now known as the Levant, this includes present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine and southwest Turkey. 19 At that time, the “lands of the Romans all the way up to the west” included the Byzantine empire in the east, covering the lower half of Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and Asia Minor (Turkey), and the Holy Roman Empire in the west, covering the top half of Italy and most of the remainder of Europe up to the western edge of the kingdom of France. 20 The text reads “the lands of the Turks” so this is principally modern-day Turkey although in 11th century Turkish owned lands covered a vast area stretching from western Anatolia and the Levant to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia down to the Persian Gulf in the south. 12
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Definitions: Principles: Traits:
Appearance:
People/professions:
With Saturn: Jupiter: Sun: Venus: Mercury: Moon: Age: Activities: Minerals/resources: Illnesses:
Anatomy: Colours: Savour: Orb: Days & zodiac zone: Years: Associated Part: Territories:
Masculine | nocturnal | malefic | choleric | hot and dry. Boldness, warfare, controversy, oppression, heated reactions. Courageous and daring but easily angered, rash, shameless, cunning, arrogant and inconstant, with sharpness and haste in all things. More prone to envy or malice if connected to Saturn. Ruddy complexion, red hair, a slightly rounded face, a sharpness about the gaze, a look of menace or impertinence, yellow/saffron in the eyes, a disfiguring mark or spot on the foot. Brothers, especially middle brothers (and sisters); smiths, (industrial men, mechanics); medics, surgeons, phlebotomists; professions involving fire, iron, weapons, fighting, or military matters, or the use of lances (lasers?) or involving the removal of body parts/flow of blood. Also skilled in the taming and care of animals and ferocious beasts. Ironworkers; surgeons, medical trauma (ER) workers. Bronze (or tin) workers; herbalists, practitioners of natural medicine. Minters of gold; opticians (eye surgeons). Ornamental craftworkers, hairdressers, barbers, chiropodists. Producers of needles and small sharp instruments, vascular surgeons. Producers of spears, weights and measures; dentists, audiologists. Youth up to the end of adolescence. Engaging in overseas (perilous) journeys. Iron (to some extent all metals, and all mineral ores forged in fire). Hot fevers, bloody fluxes, inflammations, diseases characterised by red or inflamed or blood-filled pustules, spots, marks on the skin, etc; migraines, phobias and states of high stress or mental agitation. The gall, the kidneys, the veins, the sperm duct, and the back. Red. Bitter (sharp, caustic, pungent, burning). 8°. Tuesday / Saturday night | south. Firdaria: 7 |lesser 15 | mean 40½ | greater 66 | greatest 284. Part of Boldness. Historical Syria, (modern-day Levant), areas covered by the Byzantine and Holy Roman Empires, Turkey (“lands of the Turks”).
MARS – IRON Fire & Blood The two main iron ores:
á pyrite
(from Gk pyr ‘fire’)
haematite â (from Gk haem ‘blood’)
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“He who knows what iron is, knows the attributes of Mars. He who knows Mars, knows the qualities of iron” – Paracelsus War
Thoughts on Iron & Mars by Nick Kollerstom
Adapted from the fuller article: Planets & Metals www.skyscript.co.uk/metal.html
The archetype of Mars is fully expressed both in the red planet in the sky and in the metal iron under the ground. Red storms rage across the planet: its soil is high in iron, and its dust, swirling up into the atmosphere, causes giant storms that last for weeks (quite a problem for craft trying to land there). These storms seem to well express the Mars-quality of anger. Mars has around 15% of iron in its surface soil, thrice its average level on Earth. There must once have been lots of oxygen, as all the iron is in the red, highly-oxidised (ferric) form. Of the seven ‘classical’ metals, iron has a stronger connection with the Earth than any other and is the only one that aligns with the Earth’s magnetic field, in a compass. It is present in far larger quantities in the Earth’s crust; the others – lead, tin, gold, copper, mercury and silver – collectively total no more than 0.01%, although we use them so much nowadays that we forget their scarcity. Iron makes up about 5% of the crust, being the only one which has built itself solidly into the substance of the Earth. Reddish-looking soil is the indication that iron is present (the reason why the planet Mars is red) so the symbolism of Iron-Mars is direct and obvious, with nothing subtle about it. Mars has always been associated with blood and war because of this, but don’t overlook the physiological fact that blood is red because of the iron in it! The main ore of iron is pyrites, ‘fool’s gold’ which has marvellous cubiccrystal structures; the other common ore is haematite, which has a quite different bulbous structure and a dark reddish hue – haem means ‘blood’ and pyr means ‘fire’ – the two ores together give us blood and fire, the two main hermetic connections of Mars!
Of the seven metals, iron is the one that burns. A falling star is burning iron. A meteorite burns brightly as it falls through the atmosphere. Fireworks use the burning sparkle of iron filings, through which we experience the fiery energy of Mars. One is reminded of Hephaestus and Ares by such a demonstration, the two Mars archetypes of antiquity. There first was married to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, while the other had an affair with her. Hephaestus, also known as Vulcan to the Romans, was the Smith, who forged the armour and instruments of war. The fiercely-glowing iron is removed from the furnace and then hammered into shape. Hephaestus was lame, symbolizing an affliction that could befall Smiths from arsenic poisoning.
We become ‘anaemic’ if we lack iron in our blood, and this aligns with a lack of Mars-attributes in the character since anaemia reduces strength, courage and will. According to the Dutch alternative healer Mellie Uyldert if anaemic people eat nettles or spinach, their zest for life returns, these plants being high in iron content. The comic strip character Popeye presents a modern Mars-archetype who regains his strength after eating a tin of spinach.
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As copper and iron are bound together in the Earth, with most copper ores bound up with iron, so do copper and iron interact in the blood, copper helping the iron metabolism – so Mars and Venus are mutually attracted. We also see this in the principle of a dynamo, where an iron-copper interaction takes place to produce the throbbing pulse of electrical energy.
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Within the human body, the fire-energy of Mars is expressed in the metabolic process. Iron plays a key role in the combustion processes within the tissues of the body, whereby food is turned into energy. Blood becomes red as the iron-containing molecule haemoglobin carries oxygen throughout the body. Thereby foodstuffs can be metabolised, as fuel for the organism. This same iron molecule then absorbs the product of combustion, carbon dioxide, so the blood becomes blue, and carries it back to the lungs. In this breathing iron-process, which never ceases while life is present, the restless energy of Mars constantly alternates the blood from red to blue, from oxygen-carrying to carbon dioxide-carrying, moving away from the lungs and then back again. As it does this, the unique iron-molecule haemoglobin continually changes shape. Iron has the property of readily passing from one valency condition to the other as it underpins the rhythmic breathing process.
Today, as we live surrounded by iron and steel, it is easy to become oblivious to the mystery of iron, but iron does have a mystery. Comparing the black hue of your wrought-iron garden gate with the gleaming steel of the car bumper, can they really be the same element? Just a few percent of carbon turns one into the other, reminding us of Iron’s strong connection with the Earth. Carbon the Earthelement makes all the difference to iron, magnifying its strength and turning it into steel. Hephaestus and Ares were warring brothers – the sons of Hera and Zeus. In some myths Hera threw Hephaestus off Mount Olympus because he was born lame, in others, Zeus caused the injury after he protected his mother from his father. He was rescued by sea nymphs who restored his health but his legs were so broken he always retained a limp. Hephaestus is an ingenious god of fire and smithery who rules over volcanos, deserts, forges and metal-working. Both he and Ares fell in love with Aphrodite but she gave her affection to Ares. Hephaestus used his engineering skills to make an elaborate golden throne for Hera which trapped her in the seat. To gain release Hera had to agree that he would be the one to receive the hand of Aphrodite in marriage. Ares and Aphrodite began an illicit affair after the marriage. Eventually they were discovered by Helios who disclosed the secret to Hephaestus. In revenge he crafted a net from the finest metals and snared the couple as they were joined in the act of lovemaking. They could not move as Hephaestus kept them locked in the shameful embrace for two days whilst he invited all the gods to come and view Aphrodite’s nakedness and jeer at the humiliation of Ares (the goddesses had the good grace to decline the scandalous invitation).
Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite but she gave her heart to Ares, for whom she pours wine in this 5th cent. BC temple relief
The Greek god Hephaestus was known to the Romans as Vulcan, whose archaic name spelling Volcanus reminds us of his guardship over fire, volcanos, all molten metals, forges, and smiths. His symbol is the hammer, in Latin marcus, deriving from the same source as makhos or mekhos (tool) from which we get the words ‘machinery’, ‘mechanic’, and ‘macho’ man.
The transmission of Al-Qabisi’s text & the influence of Johannes Muller on
THE CREATIVE GENIUS OF
Erhard Ratdolt
Anyone who spends time exploring traditional or historical astrology texts will acquire a collection of names that become a quasi-familiar part of the furniture in the mind’s mental study palace. Names we get used to seeing, though we don’t trouble to wonder why. Names we half-notice and gloss over, then start to not see at all – just because they appear so regularly, but without anyone stressing their importance. Erhard Ratdolt is one of those names. It appears in the frontispiece of many important astrological texts because it was he who committed them to print. Learning something of his life and motivation gives insight to how the advance of 15th-century print methods catalysed the transmission of knowledge in ways that compare with the development of the personal computer in our own age. Before this, scientific texts, philosophical works and astronomical information were the reserve of the immensely wealthy, or the university or monastic scholar. Mass production by print allowed an explosive distribution of books, almanacs, ephemerides, pamphlets, pictures and newspapers, as well as propaganda circulars; all of which impacted on the understanding of astrology and led to a flurry of new ideas, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, and wars and revolutions. The transmission of Al-Qabisi’s text through Europe 1. c. 950: Al-Qabisi writes his text in Aleppo, Syria; a copy of the manuscript reaches Toledo through the Muslim conquest of Spain. 2. c. 1130: translated into Latin by John of Seville (a.k.a. Johannes Hispalensis). 3. c. 1331: extended edition with additional commentary compiled by John of Saxony; used as a textbook at the University of Paris. This, and Saxony’s updated Alfonsine Tables distributed to other European cities. 4. 1473-1521: print development leads to 13 editions within 50 years making Al-Qabisi’s work the most widely circulated Arabic astrology text of all the printed Latin texts. Ratdolt publishes two editions: the first in 1482, the 2nd, in 1485, includes John of Saxony’s commentary.
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Erhard Ratdolt was born in the district of Augsburg, Bavaria, about 50KM northwest of Munich. We don’t have his horoscope, nor do we have a reliably established year of his birth, with various reports placing this between 1442 and 1460. According to his own account, he was still only a teenager when he established a print company in Venice, in 1476, so the latter appears more likely.1 In any event he was born in just the right place at just the right time to exploit the print revolution that began in Germany in the 1440s. This was when the German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable type printing press, replacing the existing design of screw presses, which could only produce around 40 pages in a 15-hour workday, with new technology capable of producing around 3,600 pages in the same workday period.2
It was Gutenberg’s skill as a goldsmith and his general knowledge of metallurgy that allowed him to improve upon a print method that had long been employed in China and Korea, but without the mould-casting refinement and efficiency needed to become a widely replicated technique. The type blocks he created used a particular alloy of lead, tin and antimony, which allowed quick and precise mouldings, and he also introduced many other technological improvements, including the use of oil-based ink, which was far more durable than the previously employed water-based liquids. Erhard’s own family industry had taught him similar skills in the crafting of natural materials and the creation of mouldings. His father (also called Erhard Ratdolt) ran a business in Augsburg that offered carpentry, wood carving and the production of casts to make plaster figures, and young Erhard is known to have worked as part of that business until 1474, when tax records show him leaving Augsburg.3
Image source: Encyklopedia Poznania
Above and right: illustrations of Gutenberg who introduced printing to Europe with moveable type. Despite the success of his invention he died in poverty, lacking an established network for the distribution of books at that time.
The next two years of Ratdolt’s life are not strictly accounted for – we will return to those later. His known whereabouts emerge again in 1476, when he launched his print business in Venice, Italy, with two German partners: Bernard Maler, a painter/illustrator who also came from Augsburg (and who adopted the name Bernard Pictor which reflects his occupation) and Peter Loslein, who appears to have been a general typesetter and proof-reader and who originated from Langenzen, near Nuremberg (hold onto this detail for later). These three together were filled with creative genius and initiated their business with great skill, careful attention to technical precision, and a wonderful artistic flair that made each page they created a delight to behold.
The right-hand illustration shows the title page of their first book, published in 1476, with the names of all three identified in red ink. The idea of an ornamental title page was a concept they originated, so this is marked in history as “the first book in which the title, place, date, and printer’s name appeared on a separate title page, an innovation that did not come into common use until the early 16th century”.4 Before this, these details, and the printer’s mark, were usually placed at the end of books and never given a separate, prominently illustrated page. The artistic flair of the trio also shines through in how they would often create the list of book contents in the form of a poem, surrounded by elaborate woodblock or coloured print margins.
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The Ratdolt press was also the first to include dates in Arabic rather than Roman numerals, the first to print books in more than one colour, and the first to introduce beautifully coloured astronomical diagrams into printed works, some of which are staggeringly ornate. Initially, they introduced spot colour, then developed a technique to overlay up to five colours simultaneously, and eventually mastered the addition of printed gold leaf. Discussing the quality of the productions, biographer Gilbert Redgrave said of their Appian’s History of Rome “there are few printed books of any age which can be compared with the Appian of 1477, with its splendid black ink, its vellum-like paper, and the finished excellence of its typography”.5 The team of three creatives worked together with obvious love and great passion for their craft – we can only imagine the thrill they felt when they saw the finished products of their artistic vision roll off the press. But something drastic happened after just two years. Ratdolt became the sole proprietor of the press in 1478, after which Pictor and Loslein are never heard of again. It is speculated that his two partners died as a result of the plague of 1478, which wiped out eleven of the twenty-two publishing establishments existing in Venice at that time.1
Top left & middle: pages from the 1477 publication of Appian’s History of Rome.
Top right & front: pages from the 1482 Venice edition of Euclid’s Elements – described by auctioneers Christies as “a masterpiece of early typographical ability and ingenuity”. Image sources: University of Glasgow & Internet Archive
press The illustrations of Ratdolt Gutenberg who inaugural introduced publication was the Kalendarium of the German mathematical genius Johannes Muller, bettertype. known to astrologers as Regiomontanus, the man who lent his name to the printing to Europe with move-able Despite thesystem success of of his invention died in houses thathedominated European astrology for centuries after the publication of this book. relative poverty, lacking an established The house system was not, of course, originated by Muller, and J.D. North explains how network for theRegiomontanus distribution of books at that time. it is described in the 11th-century text of Islamic scholar Al-Jayyani6 who lived in Andalusia during the
Muslim conquest of Spain. Al-Jayyani was himself greatly influenced by the 9th-century polymath AlKhwarizmi. Like Muller, Al-Jayyani had made detailed studies of both Ptolemy’s Almagest and Euclid’s Elements, about which he wrote an important commentary. He was also the first scholar to write a treatise on spherical trigonometry, which played a major part in Muller’s astronomical refinements.
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Muller had a significant influence on the early development of Ratdolt’s press. Born to a wealthy mill owner, his intellectual spark was exceptionally well nurtured, and after being privately tutored, he entered the University of Leipzig at the age of eleven! At the age of fourteen he moved to Vienna to become the personal student of the eminent Austrian astronomer George Von Peuerbach. After gaining his degree at the age of fifteen Muller spent the next ten years assisting Peuerbach in his life work of studying the theories of astronomy and improving its data.
The two worked together as court astrologers for the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, advising on personal, political and military matters. The astrological work was not done begrudgingly, as a task to be performed by astronomers who would prefer to be calculating planetary motions – Muller was passionate about the practical application of astrology and his interest in astronomy was underpinned by desire to improve his available astrological tools. He soon gained a reputation for being one of the most skilled astrologers in Europe, and he had an unquestioning acceptance of astrology’s veracity; if something went wrong with a forecast, he concluded this must be the result of faulty astronomical data. It was apparent that the information in the Alfonsine Tables had become unreliable: he had personally witnessed how an eclipse occurred eight minutes before those tables said it would.
George Von Peuerbach 30 May 1423 – 8 Apr 1461 (JC)
Frederick III relied on his astrologers for social and economic matters, and also to gain insight into the character and weaknesses of his enemies. From this mindset, improving astronomical information was a way to gain political Why was he called power. So Peuerbach was commissioned with various tasks to improve the illustrations of Gutenberg Regiomontanus? who introduced printing to mathematical understanding of astrology, one being to create a new Muller came from Konigsberg which Europe with move-able edition of Ptolemy’s Almagest, drawn from the original Greek. type. But Despite the success of his in German, means ‘King’s Mountain’ Peuerbach completed only half of this text when he died an untimely invention he died in relative (think ‘iceberg’). He wrote under the death at the age of 38, and Muller gave him a deathbed poverty,reassurance lacking that an Latinized form of this toponym as established network for the he would finish the work to the best of his ability. It took Muller several Johannes de Monteregio — Monte at but that years to do that, and it was many years before itdistribution appearedofinbooks print, Regio or Regio Monte, being the Latin time. the Epitoma in Almagestum Ptolemaei, issued under the joint authorship translation of ‘King’s Mountain’. Phillip Melanchthon, in the 16th of Muller and Peuerbach, was to seal Muller’s reputation as the greatest century, appears to have been the scholar in Europe. It is said to have raised science to new critical heights, first to refer to him as to have given Columbus the navigational knowledge needed to sail the ‘Regiomontanus’. Atlantic, and to have allowed both Copernicus and Galileo the enhanced understanding of astronomy required to develop the theory of geocentricity.
Frederick III Holy Roman Emperor (1415-1493)
Right: monument erected to Johannes Muller in his home town of Konigsberg
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Pages from Ratdolt’s 1482 edition of Euclid’s 3rd century BC masterpiece: Elementa Artis Geometriae
Muller established a reputation as the best astronomer/astrologer and mathematician of his era. As he worked on translations of Ptolemy’s Almagest he realised the need for a systematic account of trigonometry to support the study of astronomy, with recourse back to the principles laid out in Euclid’s Elements. This was another text lavishly reproduced by Ratdolt’s press, in 1482, with the innovation of including wide margins filled with illustrative astronomical diagrams.
Muller’s Kalendarium, which launched Ratdolt’s Press, is best described as a combination of ephemeris and almanac: a collection of beautifully laid out pages with astronomical data on one side and details of religious festivals on the other (notable details, such as the days of the Sun’s ingresses are picked out in colour). This is followed by pages of latitudes and time allowances for local time conversion, and fifty years of eclipse data with illustrative diagrams for each eclipse to demonstrate the length and effect. Some pages are embellished with brass hinges and some act as volvelles, with pop-ups and sliding parts to provide working instruments that demonstrate the calculation of the data. The layout of the work is bursting with originality and the whole thing is truly remarkable as the first publication of a new press steered by at least one very young man (we do not know the ages of Pictor and Loslein).
Pages from the first edition of Muller’s Kalendarium, 1476, described by the University of Oxford as “one of the first and most influential scientific books ever printed”.
Muller published his own version of the Kalendarium in 1473, although this was not nearly as elegant as the edition published by Ratdolt three years later. Still, we have to wonder why this project went to Venice, since Muller had established his own press in Nuremberg after returning to Germany in 1471. He did this specifically to handle the production of his calendar and other important astronomical works. Muller’s press goes down in history as the world’s first printing press for scientific texts, as well as the first to print an astronomical textbook (the Theoricae Novae Planetarum by his teacher Peuerbach, published in 1472). He had grand designs for this company; he had even issued a Prospectus announcing detailed plans for the future publication of many carefully edited mathematical, astronomical and geographical texts. Why then, would he hand over the production of his own work to young Ratdolt and his colleagues, rather than seeing this group as a rival press?
Biographer Gilbert Redgrave was the first to wonder about the two unaccounted years in Ratdolt’s life, between his move from Augsburg in 1474 and the commencement of publishing activity in Venice in 1476. He believed that during this time Ratdolt moved to Nuremberg, and in some capacity studied under or worked for Muller at the newly formed publishing company established there. There is no firm evidence to prove this, but the theory has much circumstantial support. It helps to explain how Ratdolt and Pictor, from Augsburg, became acquainted with Loslein, from Nuremberg, and why the three gained Muller’s personal manuscripts for publication, as well as other important astronomy texts known to have been sourced by Muller, such as Euclid’s Elements – one of the works that Muller located in the library of his good friend and patron Cardinal Bessarion whilst living in Northern Italy in the early 1470s.
Muller had established good business connections throughout the south of Germany and North of Italy, and since Venice presented many advantages for the print industry at that time (wellconnected trade port; easy supply of the minerals and materials needed by presses; nodal placement in the major highway between Germany and Italy; free-flowing commercial exchange between the merchants and travellers of the two countries, burgeoning employment opportunities), Muller may even have considered moving elements of his own press there. Certain ink styles in Muller’s publications show a source of materials from Italy rather than Germany.7 In fact, so many German printers moved to Venice in the 1470s that by 1480 there were at least fifty press companies operating in that city, almost all of them run by Germans.1 All of this had given Venice a reputation of excellence in the rapidly developing art of printing, and made it one of the most important centres for book production in Europe.
Above: Muller’s patron, friend and political ally Cardinal Bessarion (1403-1472). A Byzantine Greek scholar, humanist and Neoplatonic philosopher, he was considered for the papacy twice despite orthodox Catholicism having dim views on his mystical inclinations. He established a wonderful library of historical philosophical texts, some of which were later bequeathed to Muller. It was after leaving Bessarion’s service that Muller returned to Germany to establish his own press. Left: Wikipedia image showing the development of the print industry in 15th century Europe. The two black dots show the earliest presses at Mainz and Strasburg, the orange dots show the early presses established by 1480, mostly under the control of German owners.
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So Muller may have intended to develop an arm of his own press in Venice, but in 1475 he was called to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to help in the matter of calendar reform. This was quite an opportunity. As a consequence, Muller was given the Bishopric of Ratisbon by the grateful Pope, an appointment which made him a very politically high-powered Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Not surprisingly, this level of advancement necessitated an end to his manual involvement in the print trade. Or it would have, but for Muller’s sudden death in July 1476. Redgrave suggests that when Muller died “His workmen probably became dispersed, and in this way Ratdolt, if not actually employed by Muller, may have been connected with certain of his workpeople, and have gained a knowledge of the publications issuing from his press at Nuremberg”.3 Other reports propose that Muller called at Venice to commission the publication of his kalendarium with Ratdolt as he travelled down to Rome, where he was residing when he died, one month after his 40th birthday.1 The cause of Muller’s death is unknown. It is possible he died of the plague or some undisclosed illness, but his death came as a shock and was accompanied by rumours that he was poisoned by the vengeful sons of the Italian Byzantine scholar and rival astronomer, George of Trebizond (a.k.a. Trapezuntius).
Trebizond was an ardent Aristotelian and had been an advisor to the previous Pope (also an ardent Aristotelian). He had made a particular enemy of Muller’s Patron, Cardinal Bessarion, who was an eminent scholar in his own right, with a famed reputation as a Neoplatonist. Trebizond had issued a vehement (and badly composed) critique of Plato, and Bessarion countered with evidence of Trebizond’s faulty translation skills and meagre understanding of Platonic philosophy. This, and other controversies had soiled Trebizond’s reputation as a scholar and tutor of philosophy; the academic backlash against Trebizond’s work was such that he was forced to leave Rome and seek protection at the court of Naples. So the dispute was partly philosophical (who is best: Aristotle or Plato?), but would never have become so inflamed without the embedded issues of politics, power, and which advisors were being influential on the rulers of the Holy Roman and Byzantine empires.
After Bessarion died in 1472, Muller became embroiled in the row by announcing an intention to publish a work proving the vacuity of Trebizond’s reasoning, and the worthlessness of the translation Trebizond had previously made of Ptolemy’s Almagest.5 History records no evidence to show the suspicions of murder were verified, but the animosity between two rival astronomers who both laid claims to Ptolemy’s work was enough for a sense of deadly enmity to be perceived. Remember, this was the era of the Borgias, and Muller was an astute enough astrologer to be treasured as a political weapon. There were actually many people who might have liked to see his rising political influence curbed. Conspiracy theorists certainly had enough to suspect the real cause of Muller’s death was knowing too much for his own good.
Wikipedia sourced images showing a 16th century portrait of Georgius Trapezuntius and pages from his controversial Commentary on the Almagest. He wanted to dedicate this work to the Pope, but it was deemed too rushed and too full of errors, so the Pope, Nicholas V, refused the dedication.
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I like to think it was affection for Muller, and sadness over his sudden demise, that motivated Ratdolt and his colleagues to pour so much care and attention into the publication of his text, their first release – an act which bore dividends by establishing the Ratdolt press as one of exceptional standards. Their publication of Muller’s Kalendarium later that same year included another poignant print innovation. An image of Muller ’s face was included within the central artwork of the volvelle, so that Regiomontanus received celestial immortalisation by appearing as the face of the Moon.
The outer positions show planetary transits for noon at Rome on the day of Muller’s death. Primary directions in force at the time included cr Asc, co MC, Asc rM, and irc.
Venus was culminating over his MC by transit, but as the ruler of his 7th and 12th houses, and natally afflicted by Mars, Venus has the capacity to bring harm or represent enemies; Venus is also placed in the degree of an upcoming solar eclipse (5°Ñ19: Aug 1476).
A Full Moon perfected on the day of his death at 23°Ç32, with the Sun and Mercury in partile conjunction with his natal MarsVenus conjunction. Muller must have been aware of these and other hostile testimonies and the dangerous potential surrounding him around that period of time.
Ratdolt remained in Venice for ten years, acting as the sole proprietor of the press following the departure of Pictor and Loslein in 1478. His fame and reputation grew with each publication until in 1486 his stature was such that he was invited back to his home city by the Bishop of Augsburg, to undertake a lucrative commission of printing religious works for the Church.
After re-establishing his publishing house in Augsburg, Ratdolt enjoyed a continuing prosperous trade and persisted in making print innovations, including the introduction of the Italian Rotunda font into Germany, the incorporation of Greek fonts into printed texts, and the first use of a ‘dust jacket’ for books. He published Albumasar’s Introduction to Astrology in 1489, and brought the work of Bonatti into print in 1491. His total output in this later ‘Augsburg period’ amounted to over 200 texts.
Ratdolt’s productivity declined after 1500, and the latest work to bear his name was published in 1516. Tax records show he continued to pay tax on his estate until this duty was taken over by his widow in 1528, which indicates the year of his death. He died a wealthy and highly respected citizen having lived an amazingly creative life in an era of extraordinary intellectual stimulation – and having also done much to protect and enhance the knowledge, repute and artistry of astrology. eDHf
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Pages from the 2nd print edition of Al-Qabisi’s ‘Introduction’ published by Ratdolt (Venice, 1482), currently on sale: £22,200
The Rotunda Font was invented by Ratdolt
“Given his youth when he left Bavaria for Venice Ratdolt’s contributions to the development of early book printing were truly remarkable. Even if his original partners were older and had started this chain of innovation, Ratdolt was still a teenager when they both disappeared from the business (died?) and the innovations continued when he was running the business alone”
§ Gutenberg died penniless, his presses impounded by his creditors. His invention could not become profitable until there was an established network for the sale of books. One reason why Venice was so enticing to publishers was that every boat sailing in and out of the city could act as a distributor. -Chris Thony, Renaissance Mathematicus § 17th-century philosopher Francis Bacon, credited with developing the scientific method, claimed the three inventions that changed the ‘modern’ world were gunpowder, the printing press, and the nautical compass. Muller’s tutor Peuerbach helped develop the latter, and constructed the first folding sundial with an inbuilt compass that considered magnetic declination (difference between geographical and magnetic north) allowing time to be read precisely. § Martin Luther is frequently credited with being Europe’s first best-selling author and mass-media celebrity. According to Luther “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest”. § During the Renaissance the works of eleven Arabic astrologers were made available in Europe: Albohali, Albutater, Albumasar, Alkinda, Al-Qabisi, Haly Abenragel, Haly Rodoan, Masha’allah, Omar Tiberius, Pseudo Almansor, and Sahl. The most popular was Al-Qabisi’s: printed 13 times between 1473 and 1521.
Image source: www.museum-joanneum.at
References: (unless otherwise stated, images are sourced from Wikimedia Commons). 1
2 3 4 5 6 7
Thony, C., ‘Erhard Ratdolt: A very innovative early scientific printer/publisher’, (The Renaissance Mathematicus); https://thonyc.wordpress.com. ‘Printing Press’, (Wikipedia); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press. Gilbert R. Redgrave, Erhard Ratdolt and His Work at Venice (Bibliographical Society of Great Britain, 1894; hereafter ‘Redgrave’), p4; https://archive.org/details/erhardratdoltan00britgoog. Norman, J., ‘Ratdolt Issues Kalendario with First Modern Title Page’; www.historyofinformation.com. Redgrave, p.13. North, J. D., Horoscopes and History, 1986, pp.35-8. Al-Jayyani is referred to by North as ‘Abenmoat of Jaen’. Redgrave, p.9.
CHOICE APHORISMS RELATING TO
COMETS & ECLIPSES From the
SEVEN OF SEGMENTS of
JEROME CARDAN
As published in
Anima Astrologiae by W.C. Eldon Serjeant, 1886
“Earthquakes generally follow close on the heels of eclipses.”—Commander Morrison, R.N., ‘Rules for predicting Earthquakes,’ etc.
1. In an Eclipse it is necessary to consider the strength of the planet then ruling, for his significations will chiefly appear. 2. Eclipses of the Sun have powerful effects, and therefore if they fall upon a very flourishing and promising crop they generally damnify it, so that it scarce comes to any thing near what might have been expected. 3. When at the time of an eclipse the significator of life in any person’s radix shall be within the beams of the anereta or killing planet, or of an infortune not friendly disposed, such native will incur extraordinary hazard of his life. 4. In general, some eclipses of the luminaries at the time or even before they happen raise showers and rain, others great droughts, some violent winds, others earthquakes, some scarcity of the fruits of the earth, others terrible fires. 5. A comet usually foreshows the birth of famous persons in some time after to happen, for he is not said to be born under it (in this sense: who is born during the time of its appearance), but he that is born in that region or country subject to such an angle or figure, and hath his Sun and Moon in its place, or the luminaries and the lord of his ascendant, in cardinal signs, when the comet rises, sets or culminates, and the like. 6. A comet in the East signifies the rise of some eminent lawgiver, in the Midheaven, of some very powerful king, but seldom any such illustrious matter when ‘tis in the West or succedent. 7. Comets when they are immoveable, signify seditions, but when moveable they denote foreign wars, and one nation invading another; in cardinal signs the death of princes and great men; in the ninth house, scandal or detriment to religion; in the tenth or twelfth houses, the pestilence or scarcity of corn; and in the eleventh house, great slaughter and destruction of Noblemen. 8. If a comet appear whilst a woman goes with child, if it be either in the fourth, sixth, or eighth month, such child will prove prone to anger and quarrels, and if he be of quality, to sedition. 9. No eclipse whatsoever can threaten a scarcity or plague to the whole earth, nor can the pestilence continue above four years in one place. 10. Eclipses in the fourth house are more strong and efficacious than in the eighth or twelfth houses, and in the Ascendant more than in the ninth or eleventh. 11. An eclipse of the Moon extends its effects as many months, and of the Sun so many years, as it continues hours. 12. An eclipse has a threefold effect, first powerful by reason of the conjunction or opposition on which it happens; second general, because it slowly cools, in which respect it is extended for a long time. Thirdly power which it has from the lord of the place where it happens and other positions at that time. 13. Eclipses operate more forcibly on cities, provinces, and kingdoms than on particular persons of private condition, or even upon kings and princes, for their effects rather respect the multitude. 14. When eclipses happen or Comets appear in earthly signs they portend barrenness and scarcity by reason of excessive droughts; when in watery signs by reason of too much rain, in airy signs they signify mighty winds, seditions and the pestilence, in fiery signs terrible wars and slaughters.
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PLANETARY THEMES FOR NOVEMBER By Jason Burns
USA:
November arrives with a retrograde Mars, following its station at 26°Å on 30th October. The month as a whole brings focus to critical points in synodic cycles, and the multiple squares to Saturn in early November make for a tense lunar eclipse. Strong themes emerge again in the month’s latter half, with the New Moon on 23rd November accentuating the symbolism of change: note how the luminaries join in an early degree of Sagittarius at the same time that their dispositor, Jupiter, stations direct.
last month Joni Suller took an illuminating dive into the configurations of the US Libra Ingress and November eclipse (check that out if you haven’t yet!).1 A point to note is that the ascendant of the ingress set for Washington falls at 17°Ä, so it is directly activated by this month’s lunar eclipse at 16°Ä. The eclipse occurs on the politically charged date of the midterm elections (8th Nov). Such a direct hit to the all-important angle of the ingress, coupled with the eclipse being visible over North America, show this to be a particularly resonant moment for the country.
The bi-wheel (left) illustrates how the eclipse set for Washington heightens the themes of the current lunation set for Washington (i.e., the new Moon of October 25). From this, we see more clearly why the squares to Saturn show tensions will mar the nation’s financial affairs (the eclipse luminaries fall across the cusps of the 2nd/8th house axis). The asc-ruler – significator of the nation’s mood – is Venus, debilitated in its sign of detriment and combust on the 2nd house cusp. Mercury, the general ruler of commerce and trade, also falls on the 2nd house cusp, whilst cazimi.
Astrologers will debate whether cazimi planets are strong, but it is generally accepted that planets undergo profound change when perfecting a synodic reunion with the Sun. Strikingly, given the circumstances and Mercury-ruled Virgo on the 11th cusp of the lunation, the change suggested by the cazimi/combustion of Mercury also appears to affect matters related to Congress. 1
Inner wheel: New Moon set for Washington, D.C. 6:49 am EDT | 25 Oct 22 Outer wheel: Lunar eclipse set for Washington, D.C. (Regio cusps)
‘Heads up on the November Lunar Eclipse’ by Joni Suller; Skyscript Newsletter, #3 October, 2022; pp.27-9.
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Nodal Quick Tip: Any horoscope with the nodal axis falling close to the Asc-Desc or MC-IC axis (as with the Libra ingress for Washington) gives an immediate prompt to check eclipse activity for that chart, since this shows that surrounding eclipses will land very close to the angles of it.
Regarding how Mercury’s combustion on the day of the lunar eclipse might play out in other scenarios, consider the mundane picture for the UK in the month ahead. As the animator of light, life, and motion, the Sun is the heart of the heavens in astrology – its symbolism in every way points to issues of power. Many astrologers grant the outer planets jurisdiction over specific energy sources (e.g., Uranus: electricity; Neptune: oil; Pluto: nuclear power); still, I believe the Sun represents the core source of ALL power.
UK: November 23rd’s New Moon chart set
for London features a very late degree of Leo on the ascendant, with the Sun placed among a stellium of planets huddled in the 4th house. Jupiter, dispositor of all those 4th house planets, is in the unfortunate 8th.
There has been news of an energy crisis troubling Europe through the winter, and this chart places that emergency directly in the foreground. Perhaps Jupiter stationing direct in its own domicile (just minutes after the New Moon perfects) offers some hope for relief, but it is likely that any respite will come with a heavy or inflated price.
O Already out of date! See editorial note, p.2
* Note by Deb: Jason tends not to focus on the outer planets but I am finding it hard to unsee the prominence of Uranus in this lunation, being aware of how much it featured in the commencement chart of the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss – she has Uranus transiting her natal Mars right now (17°Ä). Remember, this elevated Uranus is right on the degree of the lunar eclipse: it seems Liz will be lucky to survive this month, given all its testimonies regarding the collapse of power! (We don’t have a birth time for Truss, but her date and place of birth is 26 July, 1975, Oxford, UK).
Planetary visibility in October:
After superior conjunction with the Sun (Nov 8th) Mercury transitions to occidental phase. Both Mercury and Venus move swiftly this month, but proximity to the Sun keeps them hidden. Mars, whose heat increases as the Sun moves in to opposition, continues to brighten and is seen through the night. Now waning as occidental planets, Jupiter and Saturn appear every evening and the light of Jupiter remains bright. Eclipse notes:
This month’s lunar eclipse causes the Moon to turn red. In Babylonian tablets and Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos, eclipse colours carry significance. Lilly, more ambivalent, states in his pamphlet on eclipses circa 1652, “I attribute nothing to the colours of the Eclipse, yet wish every man in his nature to follow what he hath found true”, leaving us to wonder what astrologers in 2022 might make of regions where the Moon sets while red and Mars accompanies her in the sky. Regions where the eclipse occurs at dawn or dusk get the opportunity to witness selenelion (horizontal eclipse). This phenomenon, where the luminaries appear together in the sky at opposite ends of the horizon for just a few minutes, is best seen from high-altitude locations with clear distant views. Parts of Brazil, Australia, much of India, and points along the south-eastern Appalachian Trail in North America offer the greatest likelihood of catching this otherworldly optical experience.
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HIGHLIGHTS 5th 7th 8th 8th 9th 9th 10th 10th 11th 12th 13th 15th 15th 15th 16th 16th 17th 18th 19th 21st 21st 22nd 23rd 28th 29th 30th
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For everything there is a season; a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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COMING UP
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Have you heard of Fritz Brunhubner? You should have heard of him. Not many astrologers get to define the meaning of a planet almost single-handedly. When I tell you that Brunhubner ‘wrote the book’ on Pluto I mean that quite literally (this is the cover of it!). I’ve found it impossible to discover significant details about the circumstances of his life, and this is a research project begging for more attention than I can give it. His birth data is recorded by Astro*Databank – contributed by Julie Baum, the translator who made his German text available as an English-language book, which was published by the AFA in 1967. He was born in Nuremberg at 10:46 am on 3 July 1894 and died there on 9 March 1965. The entirety of his entry in Holden’s Biographical Dictionary of Western Astrologers reads simply (p.98): A German astrologer and lecturer who entered the field of astrology in 1926. Ellic Howe says he has identified an article by Brunhubner that appears in the German magazine Zenit in May 1932 as being the prototype formulation of the presently accepted astrological influence of the planet Pluto. Brunhubner elaborated this into a 138-page book two years later. He joined the AFA in 1958. If you want to know more about Brunhubner, get yourself a copy of his book (there’s a few second-hand copies floating around at very reasonable prices for a defining textbook that holds an – as yet – largely unrecognised importance in the history of astrology) because Holden’s entry doesn’t really do justice to the research Brunhubner did on Pluto and the extent to which his personal ideas set a new template in astrology. Even though my own interest in the outer planets is best described as ‘luke warm’ I find this text quite fascinating, not least because of what it says about the world as Brunhubner saw it, as an astrologer noticing the influence of Pluto all around him during the rise of the Third Reich in Germany in the 1930s.
So what can you expect from the book, and why do I argue that if you invest in any book on Pluto, this is the one to get? The copy I have is the AFA revised edition of 1971 (the first edition was published in 1966, as a translation of the German book published in Nuremberg in 1934). This is a very nicelooking hardcover book, especially if, like me, you enjoy books with an authentic feel to them: the type is facsimile monospace with simple formatting, straight off the typewriter. I happen to think the cover is inspired: plain design, dark maroon cloth, with the single word of the title – Pluto – emblazoned in gold. As Brunhubner reminds us, Pluto may be the mythological god of the underworld, but he is also associated with the bounties of the Earth, related to rich ores and mineral wealth.
Two Prefaces commence the book, as written in 1934. The first, by a German colleague, praises the originality of the work and stresses its research value regarding a very recently discovered planet. The second, by the author, explains the previous research he has collected and presented, and why he felt captivated to do so by “this trans-Neptunian, lonesome wanderer”. He gives sensible disclaimers and provisos, stressing that the planet is so new that it has only been observed in one zodiac sign, so it will take generations for its effects to be fully understood. He does not want the book to be considered a textbook, or an exhaustive treatise, but only a “stepping-stone for further investigation” and “a stimulation for further intensive investigation and research”. But all of this must have been lost on his readers because what Brunhubner proposes in this text has been wholly adopted by the modern astrological community, with no noticeable development or alteration. The Table of Contents is as follows:
1. Astronomy 2. Mythology 3. The Symbol of Pluto 4. Which sign is ruled by Pluto? 5. Pluto-Janus 6. The Characteristics of Pluto 7. The Physiological Effects of Pluto 8. Correspondence 9. Pluto in the Signs 10. The Aspects of Pluto 11. Pluto in the Houses 12. Examples of Delineation 13. The Transits of Pluto 14. The Pluto Type 15. Various Observations 16. The Message of Pluto Appendix of chart data Although offered tentatively, Brunhubner’s survey of his subject is both wide-ranging and deep, and it really is persuasive and informative. Chapter 1 explains the astronomy of Pluto’s eccentric orbit and why its existence was calculated before it could be telescopically observed. I am struck by his remark that “The Lowell Observatory, at Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, had been searching for Pluto for several years and it was finally found on 21 January 1930, as an object of the 15th magnitude”. This is not the date of discovery given by modern astronomical sources, all of whom claim Pluto was discovered on 18 February, 1930. Yet, Brunhubner’s research seems careful, and he was a contemporary with a vested interest in getting his information right, so I wonder about this, unsure what to make of it.
He also gives the early explanation of how Pluto got its name: “As reported in ‘Science’, vol.7, 1930, Pluto had been called simply Planet X at the time of its discovery. After publication of the discovery of the planet a little English girl, eleven year old Venetia Burney, of Oxford, submitted the first proposal for the name Pluto. Her father telegraphed this name at once to the Lowell observatory, and as this was the first to arrive, in Flagstaff, it was accepted”.
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January or February
1930 1930
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??
Modern sources date the discovery to 18 February 1930, which is given an A Rodden rating; however, source notes on Astro*Database show that Prier Wintle in Considerations (November 2001) also gave the discovery date as 21 January 1930. So is this week’s solar eclipse falling on Pluto’s natal Moon? And when Pluto ingresses into Aquarius next March will it feel its own effects (Pluto transiting Pluto’s natal Sun)?
Brunhubner considered it very relevant that on the day of its discovery Pluto was opposed by Mars – like two hostile brothers about to fight over rulership of Scorpio: “Unfavourable aspects between them almost always bring unrest, quarrels, strife, deaths and catastrophes”
Fritz Brunhubner (image from Astro.com)
Venetia was born on 11 July 1918, with the Sun at 18°Ç, the degree where Pluto would manifest when discovered in 1930 (so she was having a Pluto transit of her own Sun at that time). In later years she gave an interview clarifying that she chose the name from an interest in mythology (not because Pluto was her favourite Disney character as is so often reported: the cartoon character was ‘born’ the following year). “… I was having breakfast with my mother and my grandfather. And my grandfather read out at breakfast the great news and said he wondered what it would be called. For some reason, after a short pause, I said, “Why not call it Pluto?” I did know, I was fairly familiar with Greek and Roman legends from various children's books that I had read, and of course, I did know about the solar system and the names the other planets have. And so I suppose I just thought that this was a name that hadn’t been used. And there it was.” https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/Venetia_phair.html
There is a discussion on the ideas proposed to form a glyph for Pluto, and what those ideas were based on, followed by an exploration of the mythology of Pluto/ Hades. Brunhubner presents the themes of the myth very effectively, reminding us that “Sometimes Hades-Pluto was called ‘the door-keeper’ and was pictured with a key in his hand”, but he doesn’t rest his argument on myth. There are many original and creative proposals, giving, for example, theoretical reasons as well as chart illustrations of why Pluto appears to have associations with the pineal gland; but what is impressive is the number of case studies Brunhubner refers to, which shows his ideas are mainly shaped by his observation of what people experienced at times when Pluto crossed over sensitive chart points. Many of these are retrospective assessments for times when Pluto’s existence was unknown. He includes details of his own experiences too: his father and younger sister both died under Pluto transits; the father of an acquaintance died when Pluto squared the Moon in the 8th; a comrade was taken prisoner when Pluto opposed his ascendant and aspected the ruler of his 12th house; he suffered a fall off a galloping horse resulting in unconsciousness when Pluto squared his 8th-ruler, Mars.
Having demonstrated beyond doubt his practical skill and good knowledge of astrology, Brunhubner then shares details of visions he experienced whilst fully enmeshed in his Pluto research. He believed Pluto’s triggering of certain elements of his chart made him particularly attuned to its vibration at that time, with a recognition that its appearance came as a warning of devasting and destructive forces about to shake up the world. My own nervous system went cold as I read the final pages (published in 1934), and the strength of the ominous warning he gives there about how the influence of Pluto was about to transplant the whole of international, political and economic life, and bring massive strife and upheaval over the wrestle of change-over and global power. How very sadly right he was on that. One of the few, hand drawn chart examples – many other examples are given and the data for several full charts are included for which the reader is expected to draw their own map. (Brunhubner used Placidus houses). The notes on this chart read: “Director Dahlem, discovered very extensive petroleum and potash fields in Sinngrund and Schippach by use of the divining rod (deep in the earth). Pluto conjunct Jupiter, sextile Uranus, sextile Sun, sextile Mars.
On the day of this discovery, August 28, 1928, transiting Pluto was in exact conjunction with radical Uranus, sextile radical Pluto and Jupiter, trine radical Sun and Mars. Pluto was therefore in aspect with all factors pertaining to divining in the radix horoscope”
Below: Pluto holding his sceptre and key, by Agostino Carraci. 1592; source: Wikimedia Commons.
Places symbolised by Pluto (according to Brunhubner):
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