by
Elman Bacher
Volume I
Second Edition
The Rosicrucian Fellowship
Mt. Ecclesia
Oceanside, Califronia, U.S.A.
Foreword
So much favorable comment has come to us concerning
the astrological articles by Elman Bacher which appeared in our Rays from the
Rose Cross during past years that we feel sure this volume will be cordially
welcomed by all students of spiritual astrology.
Mr. Bacher's profound knowledge of and devotion to
the stellar science, along with an uncanny understanding of human nature, made
it possible for him to present material which undoubtedly places him among the
best of modern esoteric astrologers. As the truth and value of astrology
become more and more generally accepted, his presentations will serve
increasingly to help people know themselves and fulfill their highest destiny.
Before his passing in 1951, Mr. Bacher expressed a keen
desire to have us publish his articles in book form, and although we deeply
regret that he is not here to see the culmination of his desire, we are happy
in knowing that his wish is now being fulfilled.
To the Rosicrucian student astrology is a phase of
religion, basically a spiritual science. More than any other study it reveals
man to himself. No other science is so sublime, so profound, and so all-
embracing. It portrays the relation between God, the macrocosm, and man, the
microcosm, showing them to be fundamentally one.
Occult science, investigating the subtler forces that
impinge upon man, the Spirit, and his vehicles, has charted their effects with
no less definiteness than has academic science the reactions of sea and soil,
plant and animal to the solar and lunar rays.
With this knowledge we may determine the astrological
pattern of each individual and know the relative strength and weakness of the
various forces operating in each life. To the degree that we are in possession
of such knowledge we can begin systematic, scientific character building--and
character is destiny! We note times and seasons cosmically advantageous to
unfolding undeveloped qualities, correcting faulty traits, and eliminating
destructive propensities.
The divine science of astrology reveals the hidden
causes at work in our lives. It counsels the adult in regard to vocation, the
parent in the guidance of children, the teacher in management of pupils, the
physician in diagnosing diseases, thus lending aid to each and all in whatever
position they may find themselves.
No other subject within the range of human knowledge
appears to hold for this day and age the possibilities open to astrologers for
helping people to their own dignity as gods-in-the-making, to a greater grasp
of universal law, and to a realization that we are eternally secure within the
caressing fold of Infinite and Boundless Being.
The Accuracy of Astrology
Millions of words, both printed and verbal, have been
used in argument as to whether or not astrology is "accurate" and
"scientific." The anti-astrology group (the non-students, the uninformed, the
exoterically religious and mentally unadventurous) hold forth with arguments
that serve, in the long run, only as disparaging reflections on the personal
abilities of those who "read horoscopes." They argue that, if astrology is
scientifically accurate, it should be proved so by the perfect agreement of
all astrologers on any given point of the subject. All such argument is
spurious and a waste of time since it does not pertain to the basic essence of
the subject at all.
(A brief pause to inquire of these "antis" if all
Christians agree as to the meaning of their Teacher's message; all musicians
as to the "correct" interpretation of a Brahms symphony; all doctors as to the
"right" treatment of infantile paralysis; all parents as to the "perfect" way
of raising children.)
Every protagonist of astrology varies in ability to
interpret a horoscope from every other astrologer. Each differs from his
colleagues in "approach," in ability to comprehend symbology, in exactitude of
mathematical calculation, in ability to sense the dynamic essence of the
horoscope, in ability to understand the psychological problems represented and
their potentials for solution. This is the "human variant."
Astrology is an exact science because: Every
factor in a correctly calculated horoscope is a symbolic representation of an
exact and impartial effect of a specific cause. It represents the cosmic and
immutable law of cause and effect operating in the conditions and experiences
of a human being on his progress of many incarnations.
Nothing in a correctly calculated horoscope is there
by chance, accident, heredity, or whim of blind fate. Every planetary position
and aspect is one factor of the subject's soul body, one phase of his
consciousness, one milestone on his spiritual path.
To the degree that the astrologer identifies his
horoscopical findings with the law of "as ye sow, so shall ye reap" will he be
able to synthesize correctly the chart in its entirety, will he be able to
reduce past causes of present conditions, will he be able to determine the
potential solutions of difficulties.
Astro-Dynamics
The term astro-dynamics is used to indicate
the study of a horoscope from the standpoint of the planetary influences being
diminished or intensified by the native's reactions to his experiences during
a given incarnation. The cyclic functions of life forces create a periodic
emphasis on each planetary influence and aspect and to the degree that each
emphasis is utilized constructively is the alchemical transmutation made. To
the degree that the negatives are expressed will the positives be depleted and
made less effectual for growth. This is easily understood when we consider
that no human being is ever "cut off" from any part of his horoscope. There is
no such thing as a "stoppage" of planetary influence. Even the inhibitive and
restrictive ray of a heavily afflicted Saturn is still "expressing" in the
consciousness of the person who is expiating such a form of karma.
A practical application of astro-dynamics may be
stated thus: any person who consults an astropsychologist does so because he
is "in trouble." He is in trouble because he has been "living with his
negatives." Without a dynamic approach to interpretation, the reader can
easily fall into confusion if he interprets the trines and sextiles of his
client's chart as "statically good." A trine or sextile is "good" only if it
is put into concrete expression as a counteractive to that which is
destructive or retrogressive in the person's nature. Poverty, sickness,
unfulfilled or distorted love-impulses, fears, and the like are evidences that
the client has not applied the urge to fulfill the promises of his sextiles or
the benefits of his trines, but has expressed his energies in terms of his
squares and oppositions, thus depleting his possibilities for good as life
goes on. A continual expression of negatives will result in depletion of the
regenerative urges and a tighter bondage to the Wheel of Life is created.
In musical parlance, the term "modulation" is used to
indicate a chord or passage which serves as a bridge from one section to
another in a different key or tonality. This term may also be used, in the
astro-dynamic terminology, to describe the purposes of the sextile and
opposition aspects. These aspects, in a given chart, may be considered the
"points of transmutation" when the two planets of an opposition receive the
trine and sextile from a third planet, and when one planet of a sextile is
squared by a third planet. In either of these cases, the planet making the
good aspect to the affliction represents the agency by which the person finds
his "redemption from evil." Thus, through the exercise of that planetary
energy transmutation is made and the power of the square and opposition to
express discord is diminished and neutralized.
The aspects described above represent the "easiest"
form of alchemy. However, others must be considered: In all probability, the
transmutation of an unrelieved square is more difficult than any other
experience in life. This term indicates two planets in square aspect to each
other with no trines or sextiles to other planets. Superficially it represents
an aspect of "heavy karma," indicative of a serious problem through which the
native must learn a much needed lesson. Since each of the two planets
concerned will be activated from time to time by favorable aspects of
lunations and progressed Moon, etc., there is a certain amount of "assistance"
assured. But, because such an aspect indicates the possibility of great sorrow
or difficulty, the native must be instructed as to the basic, positive
qualities of both planets. When the aspect is activated recognizably, the
native must do his utmost to express, to some degree at least, the positive
expression of the two planets, or at least the one that is most directly being
expressed. Since the two planets of the square are continually "hand-in-hand"
they are constantly affecting each other--the negatives of one intensify the
negatives of the other, and the resultant evil breeds more evil in the future.
However if, by spiritual discipline and/or corrective psychology the native
allows only a constructive vibration of each planet to be expressed, then the
good of each stimulates the other, transmutation is made and, in time, destiny
is transcended.
Much the same approach can be made to the unrelieved
opposition, with the exception that the function of fusing the two at once
would apply more practically and more possibly than in the case of the square.
There is such an element of "seesaw" about the opposition aspect that if one
planet is emphasized at the expense of the other, a condition of lopsidedness
could result--hardly a manifestation of harmony or balance! In other words,
the alchemical transmutation demanded by this type of aspect is "expressing
the affairs of each in terms of the other" or "in cooperation with the other."
The most important thing for the astro-psychologist
to bear in mind with reference to adult clients is that, in most cases,
negative aspects have been expressed and experienced for many years of life,
and that many people are not really aware of the best good that they are
capable of expressing and realizing. Humanity becomes so accustomed to its
troubles, fears, bad habits, frustrations, and sordidness that the majority
become reconciled to the attitude, "That's the way I am and I can't do
anything about it." All of which is very foolish and wrong. There is a
solution to be found for every human problem, in so far as a "problem" is only
the result of some form of misdirected energy. But, with the horoscope as the
way-shower, the agencies of solution can be found in all of the benefic
aspects of the chart.
The dynamic approach to astrological interpretation
finds its master-work as a guide for children. The newly incarnated Ego, boy
or girl, comes to parents who have undertaken the sacred responsibility of
guidance. They may have preconceived ideas of what they would like their child
to be, but if they wish to be real parents, they will guide that child
along the lines that are best for him. Such guidance includes much more than
vocational guidance, important as that is. It means that they themselves must
act as neutralizing agencies for the negatives indicated in the child's chart.
No woman whose child has Mars afflicting Moon should allow herself to indulge
in "temper" in the child's presence. Why? Because every time she does, she
emphasizes that discordant vibration in the child's subconscious, his
instinctive irritability becomes intensified, and a "picture of cruelty" is
etched more deeply into the child's vibration-pattern. However, because a
little child reacts to everything that goes on around it, every
manifestation of calmness, poise, kindness and consideration neutralizes, to a
small degree, the harsh impulse of Mars square Moon and makes it possible for
the child to deal with those impulses much more easily as he grows up. In
other words, the mother, in right conduct, emphasizes something that is
harmonious and constructive in the child. She then represents something that
is good, not evil, in its chart--and in its life.
This material is presented for the consideration of
advanced students and astrological practitioners. It correlates the dynamic
factors of alchemical transmutation with the mathematical calculation and
tabulation of progressed aspects.
The title derives from the approach that at no time
does a horoscope "stop functioning." Nature, they tell us, abhors a vacuum;
there is no such thing as "nothing" in manifestation. Correspondingly, there
is no such thing as "nothing," "emptiness," or "cessation of activity" in a
horoscope. There are, to be sure, periods of apparent quiescence, routine
activity, and a general smoothness or monotony of function. These, however, in
their own good time, build to peaks of climax, intense experience, drastic
change fulfillments, and/or seeming descents.
It is the purpose of the astro-dynamic approach to
study the progressed aspects, or cycles, from the standpoint of their
representing a stimulation of not just one planet at a time, but of an entire
"area" of the horoscope.
The nature of planetary vibration allows a "field of
extension" which we call the "orb." This extension of either side of a
planet's exact position allows it to "reach out and take hands" with the other
planets that it aspects. Thus, the "life" of the horoscope is activated.
Ordinarily, in the preparation of an astro-analysis
we list the progressed aspects in order for the current year or two for the
purpose of determining the principal sources of experience in the person's
life at the present time. In astro-dynamics we do the same, except that we
list the progressed aspects by "groups" or "areas." It is this approach which
most clearly indicates the possibilities for alchemical processes. We contrast
the positives and the negatives that are being stimulated simultaneously or in
sequence and thereby determine which factors are available for regeneration of
emotion and redirection of reactions.
Whatever extra mathematical calculations may be
involved for this kind of "treatment" is more than compensated for in the
vivid and vitalized presentation of the progressed aspects concerned. The
whole horoscope takes on added "dimension"--from a picture on a flat piece of
paper it becomes a galvanic representation of a living thing. Attention!
A man requests your assistance concerning a marital
problem. You calculate both his and his wife's charts, tabulate the aspects
pertaining to each and pay particular attention to the mutual conjunctions.
These mutual conjunctions form the basis for your problem-analysis.
In his chart you find Pisces on the Ascendant;
Mercury, ruler of the seventh, is in 9 Aquarius, in the eleventh house. Mars
is in 12 Scorpio, eighth house, square Mercury. You find one mutual
conjunction uniting the two charts. Her Mars is in 10 Aquarius--conjunct his
Mercury--square Moon in Taurus, which is opposition his Mars in Scorpio. The
conjunction of her Mars to his seventh house ruler is the key to a difficult
marital situation, characterized by the vibration of unregenerate Mars. His
alchemical agency is his unafflicted Venus sextile to Mercury. (Get the
picture by putting these positions on a blank chart.)
In tabulating his current progressions, you find that
from the previous Adjusted Calculation Date to the next Adjusted Calculation
Date the Moon travels 13 degrees 38 minutes. By division of twelve the monthly
travel of the progressed Moon is shown to be one degree and eight minutes. The
ACD is the fifteenth of the month. There are thirty-four minutes of Moon-
travel each half month.
Tabulating the monthly positions of the progressed
Moon for this year-period--from the fifteenth of each month--reveals that
during the last two weeks of March, 1947, the progressed Moon makes the exact
conjunction of his Mercury. In early June it makes the exact square of his
Mars. In early August it makes the exact sextile of his Venus. (On the outside
of your practice chart indicate these Moon positions. Tabulate these aspects
and dates, at the bottom of the page. Bracket them so as to impress your mind
with the fact that you are dealing with a "field of stimulation.")
The Mercury-Mars square shows that from late March to
early June the marital problem is going to be stimulated in a very decided
way. (Since you are, in this hypothetical case, dealing only with the man, it
is not particularly necessary to concentrate further on the wife's chart. It
is his reactions that you are concerned with. Whatever the wife may do during
those months will tie in with his aspect.) However, with the conjunction to
Mercury, the sextile to Venus begins to vibrate simultaneously with the square
to Mars, because Venus is in orb of sextile in the native chart. Therefore,
Venus is the alchemical agency for this man to use during this period of a
little over four months. He must counteract the Mars vibration (which in
Scorpio is very strong) with the principle of the Venus vibration It is his
panacea at this time. Using it persistently during this troublesome time will
result in great soul growth and as his marital experience progresses he will
be much better able to direct his part constructively.
A short elaboration on the above: Suppose that both
the man and his wife consult you jointly. Both are eager to learn more clearly
how to harmonize their marriage experience. You then combine the factors of
both charts and find that she has Saturn unafflicted in Gemini trine to her
Aquarius Mars and sextile to his unafflicted Venus. In this case, tabulate her
progressed aspects--by "area" for the same months. Each person provides a
negative stimulation of Mars for the other. But each one has an alchemical
agency to work with. In mutual understanding that each must use a certain
constructive vibration to neutralize and harmonize discord they then can face
the coming period with greater assurance of mutual help and consequently
greater marital happiness. She must counteract a violent disposition (Mars
square Moon) with the patience and poise of Saturn in Gemini He must transmute
the tendency to mental discord through ever deepening affection and outpouring
of love. Each has his own pattern to deal with, but, since they are, together,
a partnership, mutuality of growth and alchemy can be achieved.
The above is a very simple, direct illustration of
this approach. However, the procedure is the same for any complexity of
progressed aspects. The principles of alchemy and transmutation demand that we
look for the solution of the problem, but if we consider each progressed
aspect as "a thing in itself" the solutions may not be so evident. Tie up the
areas in your tabulations and causes. Effects and solutions will be so much
more "livingly" manifested.
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