The Horoscope As Unified Gestalt is Sabian Astrology

Horoscope principles can be used to cast other charts than the standard 12-spoke wheel, such as Marc Edmund Jones’ ladder technique or my own X-Ray Eye technique integrating the linear format of the ladder with the Pythagorean principles of the dice cubes and the hexagrams of the I Ching. The essential defining feature of all horoscopes is that they express the timing context of one unique event.

Horoscopes are not snapshots, not even of the Cosmic images of celestial mechanics. They involve a number of separate symbolic systems all charted upon a single graphic image. One event mapped into one symbolic graphic to reflect the timing for a single pattern or gestalt. It is that unity which paramount since only a unique focus will be useful for interpretation. The clarity of that focus is the essential hallmark for Sabian Astrology.

Hundreds of bones form a single skeleton, yet it is the single unified gestalt of the one skeleton which is essential to identification. A single bone may have an unusual formation. Does that indicate an unusual species or just the unfortunate history of one individual that left terrible effects to that bone? Every detail in a horoscope can be meaningful; however, it is only in light of the overall unique horoscope gestalt that such meaning can be interpreted.

Every horoscope contains every planet, house, sign and degree of the zodiac. Their meaning can only be interpreted in terms of how the unique specifics of the event for which the horoscope is cast is expressed by those astrological details. Mars in Cancer, even in the second house has a definite meaning listed in generalized astrological texts. However, does that detailed meaning express a central theme of the whole chart or a challenging contrast like a beauty mark upon a pretty face?

Horoscope gestalts are likened to skeletons since they express a deep inner structure not revealed by casual observation of the person or event involved. A trained professional—either artist or doctor looks not primarily at the clothing or make-up or even the flesh of a beautiful person. Rather their concern is with the skeleton which controls the gesture and structure underlying and controlling the overall image. Many a beautiful model may not be appropriate to a particular photo shoot if their bone structure will not accommodate the image sought.

The horoscope will not describe YOU as a unique and total individual. It can only chart the timing skeleton you acquired at birth. It is currently in vogue to take note that the children of the Great Depression are as a group totally different from the Post-war Baby Boomers. The context of their childhood experiences and milieu is an important part of their individual character. It is not just generations or a decade that make a difference—it is the precise timing of that first live breath as well as the circumstances the individual is born into which conditions the individual character.

Individuals come of age in a different generation from their birth. The World War II generation was born in the Roaring Twenties, molded by their teen years in the Great Depression before being galvanized by the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor. All these events impacted each of the individuals of that generation in terms of their shared planetary influence of Pluto in Cancer or Ultimate Commitment to Poignant Feelings.

Pluto entered Cancer in the summer of 1914, just as the Kaiser’s dream (from a weekend visit to their grand mother Queen Victoria) of teaching his English cousins a lesson to respect him as the best grand child unfolded in the sets of mistakes and brutal battles of World War I. This Ultimate Commitment to Poignant Feelings, whatever they might be or however irrational they were became the individual hall mark of this new generation that would fight World War II.

All the generals in each of the armies of the great Empires massed at the brink in 1914 knew that any one order of mobilization would bring a devastating World War that would destroy everything they knew and cherished in each and all their countries. Yet as Pluto moved into Cancer they were helpless to stop the momentum they all contributed to build up for years and years when the Ultimate Commitment was to Various Alternatives (Pluto in Gemini).

This World War II fighting generation was born into the Roaring Twenties when poignant personal feelings were expressed with abandon and were teens in the Great Depression when poverty and lack of opportunity focused the most intense and thus poignant feelings upon having a fine meal as a way of life.

Pluto entered Leo in summer of 1938—Ultimate Commitment to Crowning Glory as Hitler set loose his program for world conquest. Americans ignored this European squabble until Japan attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. Then the generation of Ultimate Commitment to Poignant Feelings took their feelings of counterattack to fight and win World War II. Coming home they sought to make real their ultimate dreams of peace, plenty, and a family that had everything they dreamed of but could not have for themselves.

Their children, the Post-War Baby Boomers grew up with everything material; however, like Siddhartha that only freed them to consider how to achieve their ultimate commitment to Crowning Glory and ultimate idealism. There was an insightful miscommunication I witnessed as a college student (when Pluto had moved on to Virgo—Ultimate Commitment to Detailed Expression). My roommate’s father why trying to explain his hopes for his son. He noted he grew up so poor that he spent all his time just trying to find something to fill his belly. He wanted better for his son. The son replied, “Yes, I understand, that is why we are so concerned with protests and seeking more than just material goals.”

The father just looked at his boy and shook his head. It took me a number of years to realize the problem. The Pluto in Leo Son interpreted his father’s story to mean to seek ultimate ideals guided by the Sun way up in the starry heavens, not any mundane concerns with wealth or status. The Pluto in Cancer father meant to look to his studies and success to gain the social status and wealth to be able to seek the finest meals in the best restaurants with the most distinguished people. The words were understood by each in light of their own context of meaning.

Horoscope analysis will illuminate all sorts of understanding when applied to specific questions raised in any context. It is only in light of the integrating chart gestalt that the unique individuality of each person will be expressed. For any individual of a generation, will their shared Ultimate Commitment be a central focus of personal identity, a general background against which they express their individuality, or part of a larger configuration of personal meaning?

That is not controlled by any one planetary position or situation. It is a result of the entire integration of factors in the overall horoscope gestalt. The details of meaning must be explained through the specifics. However, the whole gestalt forms as a image or focus upon the background of the chart as a whole. In practice, this means that the negative space, the areas of the chart which are empty of specifics control the image gestalt that forms.

The horoscope is a single graphic symbolism that conveys the unique meaning of the timing skeleton for the event that occurs at the specific time and location of the horoscope. The wheel graphic is important since it expresses everything within a single circle where all the planets, all the signs and all the houses have their place. However, it is the negative spaces where areas of the wheel have no planets which is the blank page upon which we can read those other areas where the planets, signs, houses, etc are concentrated.

It is the precise planetary position in some degree of some sign in some house in some angle or aspect to another planet which determines the chart interpretation. Planets are the points of light in the night sky, all along the ecliptic that determine the pattern or gestalt of the chart. Everyone has every one of the 12 houses and 12 signs, even each of the 360 degrees of the Zodiac. Each of the 10 planets must be somewhere in the Zodiac in some degree and in some house.

Horoscope analysis starts with these details as bones in a skeleton whose overall gestalt or pattern must be found. That gestalt explains what species this skeleton is the individual example. Then each detail can be explored to whatever depth or extent one may choose. Not every person with Sun in Taurus has that detail as crucial to their personal reality. Whatever their overall horoscope gestalt shows of them as an individual, their Individual Quest to express their innermost Self will be in the style of seeking their own Smooth Path to whatever they decide is their ultimate goal.

Planets Form the Chart Gestalt

In order to form the essential points of light that illuminates the chart gestalt, the planetary position must be located in two distinct and very different cycles. One is the cycle of the Zodiac which is established by the annual motion of the Sun along the ecliptic. The other is the totally separate and distinct motion of the Sun daily from local horizon sunrise through the point directly overhead or the Zenith and on to the local sunset when the sun disappears back under the horizon.

The essential divisions of the Zodiac establish the principles imposed upon the circle of the Houses. Everything is measured from the left-most point called the Eastern horizon or Asc or Ascendant as where the Sun is seen rising to create the daylight. The signs and houses are numbered in terms of the order in which they will rise at the Eastern horizon after that first cardinal event of Sunrise at the Vernal Equinox or dawn of the first day of spring.

The equinox is the beginning point, making clear again horoscopes are not about stars or constellations—rather the Solar based Water Cycle and the seasons of the Northern Hemisphere. What the ancients cared about were the crops that grew in their fields and determined if the people would prosper or suffer famine. These ancient observers watched the relationship of the Sun’s various motions to their weather and situations in their agricultural fields.

Relating these overall patterns marked out by the Water Cycle and the daily and annual motion of the Sun to specific individuals, their character and destiny formed the Global Awareness of the 6th Century BCE. Astrology became reviled when the Medieval European Church and its Scholastic monks objected to its reliance solely upon empirical calculations instead of Christian dogma and Church prayers paid for by donations. Later, it was falsely said that Newton was not fascinated by astrology and that his simple equations for planetary motion made astrology obsolete.

The circle of the Zodiac used to chart the cycle of the Sun’s annual motion marking the seasons is naturally divided in Sabian Astrology by the perpendicular bisectors representing the horizon and the zenith. The horizon is different in each latitude and particular location. The zenith connects the local situation to the universal ecliptic in the Heavens—the same for all the Planet Earth. The traditional house wheel in Sabian Astrology is formed with the house cusps in pairs, three pairs marked from the zenith and three adjusted for the local latitude of the horizon.

We use GPS satellites and complex computers to determine such things. The ancients were aware that any vertical stick would at noon as the Sun passed through the zenith cast its longest shadow of the day at an angle that reflected the latitude upon the globe and pointed to true geographical north unlike a compass which must be corrected for true North (T=V+M+D+C or True North adjusted for variation yields magnetic north corrected for deviation relates to the compass reading). We each make our personal choice—the universal and eternal or the latest technology innovation offered in the market place.

Planets—Timing Dials of the Solar System

In recent centuries, three new planets were discovered, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Also a number of larger asteroids have been identified and mapped. Recently astronomers decided Pluto was too small. However, astrologers continue to regard Pluto as a full planet since it charts extremely powerful changes. For those who find ten planets and a number of asteroids too few details to track Arab astrologers calculated various Parts from the relationships amongst the positions of the planets to add to a horoscope.

The properties to be measured by a planet are the result of pure empirical observation and subjective analysis. First the planet is charted in horoscopes, and then charts with prominent characteristics involving that planet are considered. As a result characteristics are attributed to that planet and applied in all horoscopes. Newly discovered planets were unknown and without influence in the consciousness of those natives. However, they become quite salient to our understanding of that person and their life.

The set of ten planets in general use in Sabian astrology are further grouped into pairs. The Sun and Moon, also known as the lights represent the fundamental energies an individual expresses in their life. The Sun the personal Quest or what the native or individual seeks to express as their core mission in life. The Moon receives its light from the Sun and thus is reflective of other influences. It becomes the Individual Sustainment or emotional response of the individual to the energies and influence in the milieu.

The planets Venus and Mars are the closest in orbit to the Earth. Venus in the horoscope represents the Personal Satisfaction that we grab onto and hug close to us since it is the planet inside the Earth’s orbit. Mars is next outside Earth’s orbit and it expresses our intimate initiative or how we reach out from ourselves to affect our world and effect what we want.

The planets Jupiter and Saturn are the pair at the far distance in terms of what can be seen by the naked eye. They establish a regular conjunction between them every 20 years which was seen as the core structure of time and timing for the ancient world. Jupiter expresses Intimate Involvement or what sparks our enthusiasm and jovial good fortune. Saturn is the Core Foundation or Cosmic skeleton that maintains the structure of our reality and causes us pain if interfered with by careless activity.

These seven planets were assigned to rulerships of the 12 signs by placing them along a diameter to the zodiac circle starting in Leo which was said to be ruled by the Sun since it the sign of the time of summer heat in the Northern hemisphere. The Moon took the next sign of Cancer as they were the pair known as The lights. The other planets in order were each given one sign from each hemisphere formed by the diameter.

Today, astronomers note that the background radiation of the Universe establishes a line from the original site of the Big Bang along the axis of Leo-Aquarius. Perhaps eventually they will figure out the rest of the astrological zodiac and planetary relationships. When new planets were discovered, they were given rulership over one of the pair of signs toward the Saturn end and working backwards. Three new planets have taken the rulership of Aquarius (Uranus), Pisces (Neptune) and Scorpio (Pluto).

Uranus and Neptune are the first two of the newly discovered planets whose orbits are such that they change signs only after a number of years. Jupiter changes sign about once a year thus a higher level or octave of the Sun’s motion. Saturn is slower and more irregular in its sign changes, taking about 29 plus a bit years to complete its orbit thus a higher octave of the Moon. Uranus has an orbit of about 84 years and the others being even farther from the sun cycle the zodiac over centuries.

Uranus was discovered in the late 18th century during the innovations and revolutions of that time. Marc Edmund Jones’ Gemini rising chart for the U.S. Declaration of Independence has Uranus rising in the first house. Uranus represents Creative Genius, the sudden, unexpected bolt from the blue that breaks old bonds and creates new realities.

Neptune was discovered in the middle of the nineteenth century around the time of the Mexican War in the U.S. and the great revolutionary upheavals in Europe. Neptune represents the Mysterious Attachment to ideals, beliefs or tidal waves beyond normal control which come upon us. Like the sea, Neptune indicates what may seem a diffuse, intangible influence when examined objectively—a mere mist or fog that enhances the romantic appearance and obscures hard reality. However it can gather into a great hurricane—then its power is extreme and irresistible—sweeping all along in its path.

The final new planet is Pluto representing one’s Ultimate Commitment or Personal Obsession. It is the outermost of the planets with an erratic orbit, so it is paired with Mercury the innermost planet with so small an orbit that it seems to turn about (become retrograde) and reverse course often. Mercury represents Personal Perspective or one’s individual way of seeing the world, like the personal camera one uses to make your own artistic image of your reality.

To fill out the possible values to be found on a pair of dice (eleven options 2-12) the boxcars or double six slot goes to the Earth itself represented in a chart by the Arabic Part of Fortune which represents the cosmic coin or lucky gift we each are given at birth. The Part of Fortune as a technical matter is calculated as the phase of the Moon converted to a segment of the Zodiac circumference marked off from the Ascendant.

The patterns on the dice cube and fully on a pair of dice are the symbolic expression of the Pythagorean number concepts or eidos which describe all the elements of astrology. The 12 signs of the Zodiac from Aries to Pisces are the most generally known details of astrology. They actually represent the first of the sequence of twelve cyclic divisions through the final or twelfth such division. The ancient Greek names referred to mythological expressions of these fundamental number sequence and their properties.

The Stars-n-Dice perspective is built upon the insight that the patterns on the dice cube express these fundamental Pythagorean principles. In modern math only abstract names for the mathematical sequence are noticed. Ancient number included meaning as well as sequence. Looking at the dice patterns the meaning of the signs can be seen without the usual confusion caused by the different nuance given to description in words with varying connotations.

The universal symbolic circle can be divided exactly by a wide range of common denominators according to the fixed principles of Euclidean geometry. A diameter divides the circle into two equal halves establishing a horizon line (Asc or Ascendant in horoscope terms) between them. A set of perpendicular bisectors divides the circle into four equal parts producing both the line of the horizon and the perpendicular to it, called the zenith, midheaven (M.C. in Latin) or point exactly overhead where the starry heavens are their most universal and least affected by the details of local geography which comprise the horizon.

When the radius of the circle is used to mark off equal chords from each of the four cardinal points, the result is the 12-spoke wheel of the traditional horoscope. These 12 segments or mansions establish the 12 signs from Aries to Pisces or first to 12th House of the horoscope. This also makes the entire circle into a set of three perpendicular bisectors which allows for division of the signs and houses into related subsets as well as their overall ordering by sequence first to twelfth.

The signs of the Zodiac measure the motion of the Sun in through the seasons from the vernal equinox (first day of spring, through the summer solstice, fall equinox and winter solstice. The 12 Houses track the motion of the Sun from dawn at the Eastern horizon, through Noon when the sun passes the local zenith and on through sunset and midnight when the sun is at the Nadir.

The signs of the Zodiac circle take their names from the myths associated by the ancient Greeks to the Constellations as they were seen in their night sky, though they are defined by the totally Planet Earth seasonal connections to the equinoxes and solstices. The Houses are given numbers counted from when they rise at the Eastern horizon, starting with dawn for the first House or Ascendant. The Houses are measured by the 360 degrees of the Zodiac although they are determined by the local horizon based upon the latitude of the exact location of the horoscope event.

Euclid assures us that all circles are similar. The actual three dimensional tracking of these various circles, especially with the tilt of the Planet Earth axis, is simplified by using only one circle and allowing the size of the Houses to be standardized to 30 degrees in the graphical symbolism. For total circle details or the degrees, the whole is divided by all the simple integers from 2 to 10 except for 7 which results in the lowest common denominator of 360. It also leaves the divisor seven for everything that can not be found in integral units, only magical fragments.

Sabian Astrology and all horoscopes use the simple deductive principles of Euclidean geometry of inscribed figures as a rigorous context or Tao upon which to focus the unique gestalt of the timing under analysis. Much of the difficulty academics and objective modern scientists have with astrology arises from their lack of rigorous technical background in the traditional liberal arts.

Modern science is based upon paradigm texts and various mechanical instruments developed by the 18th century to measure readings that can be slipped into the algebraic equations of those texts. The underlying validity of either those equations or the mechanical contraptions built to generate digits to use in them is rarely explored. Instead, from time to time a new best-selling science book is declared the accepted paradigm and all the prior science is declared obsolete.

By the late 1890's experimental observation such as spectroscopy yielded results that could not be fit into the accepted paradigm. Eventually, radiation, electronics, relativity, and quantum theory would develop in the early years of the 20th century. One price Einstein paid for his interim innovations was that he felt forced to abandon the ideas of time, space and Euclidean Geometry as universal concepts knowable by all.

Those concepts remain universal, it was just modern science which had to surrender common sense, retreat from shared human reality to disappear into the private depths of the laboratory relying solely upon the abstract readings of their clocks, telescopes, computers and a host of ever more complicated machinery designed to supply numbers to be plugged into established equations.

This abandonment of objective reality was an innovation of the first years of the 20th century when the new data could not be fit into Newton's equations and no one could imagine a totally new paradigm to replace Newton overall. Instead, in the first years of the 20th century new ideas of Einstein and Quantum theory were adopted as new and thus better and replacing all before--except Einstein's work only works upon the basis of Newton's equations or laws.

Then World War I broke out and finally the 13th century Scholastic monk's vision of piston engines powering vehicles, airplanes and submarines was realized in terrible destruction—so terrible that no one had any interest in questioning the new technology and physics just rebuilding their shattered lives.

These jury rigged partial patches were enough to maintain the dictum of Laplace--backed up by Napoleon's victorious armies of cavalry and artillery--"we now have discovered everything and science explanations are all that matters." Euclidean geometry, time, space and other fundamental concepts just disappeared in the rush to appreciate new technology and its magical powers.

The pristine deductive logic of Euclid's geometry was abandoned with Hume's remark that it was too difficult to see details in a geometrical illustration and therefore calculation in digits was far superior. This is actually a very humorous remark since classical geometry was drawn with sticks in sand. The precision was in the logical deduction appreciated within the geometers' mind.

Other pages of this website explore the limitations in the objective judgments of modern science and its avoidance of the unique, the personal, the subjective or the individual. Sabian Astrology appreciates science and precise calculation as part of important work. However, Sabian astrology also understands the limitations involved when living humans ignore themselves and their subjectivity in a futile attempt to imitate the pages of the books in the official academic library.

Signs As 12-fold Division of the Solar Year
Houses 12-fold Division of the Day

Leo is the fifth sign, represented by the quincunx simple which means in Latin fifth of a set of 12. It is the most famous of the dice face patterns where the four corners of the four now have their central point clearly marked in as well. This is the sign of Crowning Glory or the cherry atop the sundae or the crown upon the human head which makes the person a prince as long as everyone else accepts that symbolism and status.

Virgo is the 6th sign which adds an additional dot to the box pattern; however in so doing it eliminates the overall pattern altogether. Virgo is Detailed Expression with the details all spelled out and exactly place though as a result there is little overall organization. This completes the first half of the zodiac and all the patterns that fit upon a single dice face.

Seven is a prime number which is not one of the many factors of 360 so it represents what is inside the cube rather than displayed upon its face. These next signs refer to the dice cube as a whole. Libra is the 7th sign representing Harmony and Beauty. The numbers along a line through a dice cube all add to seven. It is the central point within the cube that balances and organizes it all. Scorpio is the 8th sign. There are eight vertices or corners to the dice cube which control its form by containing everything else. Scorpio is the sign of secrets, power and passion.

The next set of signs are described by the pyramid of 10 dots—that is a row of four then a row of three, then two and a final completing dot on top. They can also be seen in the dice patterns of four and five, two fives, five and six but that takes a bit more imagination or practice to understand. The ninth sign is Sagittarius or the Open Channel or Clear Expression. It is the pyramid without its final completing dot so that it becomes an arrow charging forward to find its last remaining piece. The 10th sign is Capricorn which has all its dots in order or Firm Control with a place for everything and everything in its place. The 11th sign is Aquarius or Objective Understanding. It has an extra dot floating above the pyramid of ten where it has no involvement in that group but an excellent vantage point to objectively observe everything.

The 12th and final sign is Pisces or Feeling Tones and represents the primordial ocean of emotions out of which the single centered focus of the first sign or Aries will eventually arise. However, at this stage there are all feelings everywhere which may be totally intimate with anything or anyone at one moment and totally distant when focused intimately somewhere else.

At any time or timing situation observers would find each planet located at one specific degree of some sign which would be in some specific house of the horoscope chart. Every chart has all 12 signs in order from Aries to Pisces, 12 houses in order from first to final or twelfth, and ten (or eleven with the Part of Fortune) planets. How the planets are arranged or related to one another as well as how many signs or houses contain planets and how many are empty are what forms the individual gestalt of any chart.

One of the innovations by Marc Edmund Jones in his Sabian Astrology was the attention to negative space in the gestalt pattern of a horoscope. The specific details of planetary position by sign and house deal with what is positively seen on the horoscope. The overall gestalt pattern is determined by the open spaces surrounding those specific points of light. It is the areas of the horoscope wheel where there are no planets that are the most powerful in forming the background upon which the chart gestalt comes into play.

There are 10 planets in Sabian Astrology distributed somewhere in the 12 signs and 12 houses. That means there must be at least some of the houses and signs which do not have any planets in them and must be open space. Usually there is far more open space in a chart than detailed filled space, especially as Mercury and Venus are unable to get very far away from the Sun due to their close orbits to the Sun as Solar System center.

The Signs of the Zodiac are named for the Constellations as seen in ancient skies and the myths associated with those imaginative patterns; although they are precisely defined by the equinoxes and solstices of the four seasons created by the tilt of the Planet Earth to its celestial orbit around the Sun. Horoscopes do NOT refer to stars at all. They are psychological expressions of the community of possibilities defined by the Water Cycle and the seasons (in the Northern hemisphere). It is just easier to observe the changing details of the twinkling lights in the night sky than explain the concept of timing.

In a horoscope, all twelve signs are present, though their size relative to the 30 degrees of arc standard in the horoscope wheel may vary greatly. The sign position of the house cusps and the house position of the planetary location by degree and sign matter greatly. Whether some of the signs stretch across a number of house cusps or none at all is a matter of little importance. Everything is clearly noted in the numbering by degree and sign for each house cusp and planetary position while within the standard wheel form.

The horoscope is a geometrical graphical symbolism built upon a circle divided by perpendicular diameters and further subdivided into an equal 12-spoke wheel of 360 degrees. The patterns of planetary positions and open spaces within this wheel form the overall gestalt which is the foundation of Sabian astrology analysis. All circles have 360 degrees, the signs of the zodiac have 360 degrees, but the houses in the 12-spoke wheel always are shown as an equal 30 degrees whether in fact they mark a span of 15 zodiac degrees or 80 degrees.

Any horoscope is cast for a specific location upon the Planet Earth. The horizon based upon the latitude of that location determines an entire separate circle of symbolism. Just as the Sun travels through the Zodiac signs throughout the seasons of the year, it also rises at the Eastern horizon, through the midheaven or Zenith and then on to sunset and the Nadir at local midnight.

The Houses of the horoscope in Sabian Astrology represent the various venues and situations in which each and every person lives their lives in human society. The simple analogy is a stage set for a play or movie. We can only see what is lighted by some light or planet. Each planet with its light is colored by the gel filter or signs which it has at that moment. This lighting shines upon a theater or movie set or social situation called a House in Sabian Astrology.

The planets in their signs represent universal psychological styles. They are intrinsic to individual character. The Houses in Sabian astrology are determined by the exact time and place of the horoscope. The Houses anchor the personal psychology of character into the scenarios of social interaction. The linear ladder technique or the X-Ray Eye variant separates the horoscope from the Sabian Astrology character psychology.

The twelve Houses of the horoscope take on a number of sequences depending upon the symbolism involved. First and foremost, the represent four cardinal points beginning the first, fourth, seventh and tenth houses. The first house is the Ascendant at the far left of the horoscope wheel representing the Eastern horizon where the signs and planets first come into sight. This gives the first house the place of honor as the unit of the horoscope, what defines what all is about. It is the house that represents the thing in its self, its corpus or how it appears to objective society.

The fourth house begins at the bottom of the horoscope at the Nadir. It is the deepest, private location or the Home or private refuge. The seventh house is across from the first house at the point of reflection of Self. Therefore it is what one sees in the mirror of objective society, one’s spouse or opponents in court or in battle. The tenth house is at the top of the horoscope, directly across from the private depths of the fourth house. It is our place in society, our career achievement and our public life.

The other houses get their meaning from being either the house after one of these cardinal houses, carrying on its perspective or the house before the next cardinal house which has to mediate between one perspective and the next. After the first house of one’s body and social appearance comes the second house which is one’s clothing and accessories that one is wearing or all things used to make one appear socially as one wishes. This would include money and assets that can make you ‘somebody’ although you do not wear them on your sleeve. The third house is just before the cardinal horoscope house of the private Home yet it is also the final house of the quadrant of the self. It represents how one executes one’s chores and accomplishes your daily activities, before you retire home after an active day of business.

The fifth house in the horoscope relates to children, hobbies and leisure activities since it is the next house to the home and thus how one fills their home with what most expresses who you are and what pleases you. The sixth house is between the expression of Home and the quadrant of The Other. This house is the dividing line between leisure at home and commitments out in society. Traditionally, in the horoscope it represents work and illness those obligations which control when you stay home and when you are available out in the world.

The eighth house of the horoscope is the extension of personal commitments to others. This is the house of sex and death, the controlling factors of our personal, passionate obligations. Here are the legacies and assets obtained by wills as well as the personal relations that comprise the activities of marriage. One way or another, the eighth house are important and personal benefits that are not under your own exclusive control but must be accepted as being in another’s pocket where they decide what will be your portion.

The ninth house of the horoscope is the background to the social status or career of the 10th house and quadrant which is still an expression of the ultimate expression of what one finds confronting Self in the world. It is traditionally described as the horoscope house of science, philosophy, religion, long voyages and ultimate education. Here is where one reaches out beyond the native village to some distant shore to learn about the world at large to make one’s fortune and return home to success and local honor.

The eleventh house extends one’s place in your community (10th house) toward the local horizon. This is not where one travels but where one focuses upon what is arriving from the distance over the horizon into your village. It represents friends and developing projects which are just distant possibilities now but may grow in importance later. The twelfth house is the background to the emergence of Self in the first house. As such it is the entirety of things beyond individual control which come from the Cosmos to establish and direct your personal reality and individual Self. Here are the institutions and cultural mores which form the cradle from which your Self has been born. It is the total background at the farthest limits which will suddenly become the context or Tao of your individuality in the first house.

The Houses of the horoscope may also express societal situations in terms of the distance from our own body in a continuing spiral from our skin to the Cosmos.The first house is our body itself and our appearance. The second house is the clothing we wear upon our bodies or other props or possessions we use to make us appear as we wish to be seen. The third house is what we keep at hand not worn on our bodies but on the desk or in the drawer for use as needed. In the same metaphor it is the clothing in our dresser drawers, the things we do to execute our plans, and the nearby relationships we use to promote our personal agenda.

The Fourth House, another cardinal point and the Nadir in the chart is our private home and more exactly the bed we retreat to and pull the covers up over our head for ultimate seclusion and privacy. It moves from the quadrant marked by the Eastern horizon to that marked by the Nadir or lowest point of the horoscope wheel.

The fifth house is our display and our offspring. Children, entertainment, hobbies are all fifth house expressions. The sixth house is where we are obliged to lay things on the line and prove our commitments. Traditionally, health issues and work obligations are part of this stage scene where our lives are played out in the drama of our reality.

The seventh house is another cardinal point at the other end of the diameter of the horizon across from Self. It represents our image in the mirror of social expectation most commonly one’s spouse.

The eighth house is what is controlled by others. It is in an equivalent position to 6th house of illness and work. The 8th house represents what we receive from other sources and how we work with what we must respect and cannot in any way control. The ninth house is further from us still, the ideals and ultimate goals that we pursue, moving on toward the upper quadrant of what is clearly objective or public.

The 10th house is the other end of the perpendicular between home and community, the Zenith where we find our public place in society. The 11th house is focused further along in terms of what is appearing at the horizon and may become important eventually. This is the place of friends rather than relatives.

The final 12th house is the background context out from which our individual identity emerges. In its own terms it is furthest from Self that can be—the things unseen from the Cosmos. They are further than the furthest star which we might explore in the 9th house.

The twelfth house in Sabian Astrology is the context or Tao of our existence, the things that come into our awareness as being behind our head where they can afflict and affect you but cannot be controlled or even clearly seen. These are the issues of institutions and social structures that create the world we live in. Out of this generalized context our personal identity will come next as the first house returns on the wheel.12 signs and 12 houses are a simple sequence around a circle, though each individual sign or house has its own unique meaning based upon its exact position in that sequence. Each position is part of a system of relationships and interconnections which express the complex, detailed skeleton of timing and Cosmic symbolism.

Temperament Types and Chart Gestalt of Sabian Astrology

The other Temperament types are determined by the various possible groupings within a circle determined by the balance of negative space and detailed planetary clusters. In Sabian astrology there are two main perspectives—the perpendicular and the equilateral triangle or trine. If all the planets are clustered within the arc of a trine it is called a Bundle Temperament where the native sees his life as a concentrated bundle of his favorite close connections and ignores the rest the reality of the total circle of life. George W. Bush is a classic bundle temperament with the spotty life story to match.

If there are planets all around the wheel except for an open space of a trine, generally with planets clearly forming that 120 degree aspect, this is called the Locomotive Temperament Type with the momentum of that trine driving the temperament into the open space available. The other trine Temperament type is when there are three groups of planets to the chart, this is called the Splay. It is as though the Splash type has been cut to allow three open spaces to give more momentum to the life.

The other Temperament types form along a diameter or perpendicular. There can be a chart forming two groups of planets either around an opposition or at least across the chart from one another. This is called the Seesaw Temperament type where the gestalt requires balancing two competing perspectives. This type requires two groups of planets with at least two planets together. If there is a single planet it stands out too much to balance the other group in a simple Seesaw.

The other two Temperament types are defined by having all (or all but one) of the planets in half the chart. This is called the Bowl temperament and may be strengthened if there is an actual opposition forming the rim of the bowl. This is a very self-contained temperament doesn’t generally miss the open half of the chart. There is directionality to this temperament type where the planet leading clockwise into the open space takes on especial importance and dominance. The planet trailing at the other end of the bowl, also has a special importance, although only to the native themselves. Everyone else sees the leading planet in the native; they feel the need to keep together with their trailing planet.

The seventh temperament type is where nine planets are in one half of the chart and the tenth is basically perpendicular to the rim of the bowl. This produces a Bucket temperament type where the Bowl type has a high-focus single planet handle. The nine planets in the Bowl portion of the chart are balanced by the single planet in the handle. Thus there is a bit of the Bowl and the Seesaw in the Bucket.

In specific individual horoscopes it may well be a subjective judgment which temperament type to use. It is more a matter of finding what makes sense for the overall gestalt of the chart. The entire quest to find the chart gestalt involves looking at the chart as a whole and finding what details form the vital skeleton of the whole. That will point to the gestalt and from there each planet and aspect (angle between planets) or other detail will find its context and explanation in light of that gestalt.

Sabian Astrology Has No Stellar Influence Notion!

Let me explain what is not any part of Sabian astrology. Ptolemy wrote in Alexandria of his work in astronomy including four books of what he could understand of astrology called The Tetrabiblios. He wrote about the mythological and imaginary images seen outlined by the stars in the sky and called Constellations. Modern astronomy follows Ptolemy using the Constellations although we now know they are just temporary apparent groupings as viewed from Planet Earth including stars from many different arrangements and distances from us.

Ptolemy also stated this illogical syllogism to explain how he misunderstood that stars could influence humans: Stars influence the weather. The weather influences people. Therefore, the stars influence people. From this astronomers assumed foolishly that astrology was a belief in “stellar influence” coming from the planets and stars to control human destiny. Astronomers aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed to believe such stuff just because their traditional paradigm from Ptolemy put it in his book.

There is one major stellar influence which everyone upon the Planet Earth recognizes though modern science doesn’t appreciate it much. That stellar influence is called sunshine and it is pretty well proven to cause sun tans and sun burns in humans. Sunshine itself is never included in any horoscope. Whether it was daylight or evening, night time, foggy, cloudy or glaring hot and sunny are never noted in any chart in terms of the solar flux of the sunshine.

In the late 18th century, when science was a hot topic and folks like Benjamin Franklin an international celebrity for his work with electricity—Hershel who discovered the first new planet of the Solar System Uranus—also discovered that Jupiter emitted electromagnetic radiation. This enabled Mesmer (better known for his work in hypnosis or Mesmerism) to obtain his Ph.D. with a dissertation explaining this electromagnetic radiation as the stellar influence that powered astrology. Astrology became the trendy new scientific fad of the time.

Horoscopes actually map timing in terms of the cycles of the solar system without any direct reference to the fixed stars at all. The Zodiac sign of Aries begins with the vernal equinox and Aries refers to the spring ram born at that time in the Northern hemisphere. The solstices and equinoxes are determined by the interaction of the tilted Planet Earth in its orbit around the Sun. They are closely tied to the Water Cycle which determines weather and growing seasons and pretty much all aspects of traditional life on Earth based upon agriculture. Not generally studied much in modern science; however essential to the ancients in the great civilizations that developed Pythagorean Dice, astrology and the I Ching who realized timing was everything and they needed to be able to map and study timing specifically.

Marc Edmund Jones stated that the planets have the greatest importance in the horoscope due to gravity, that they were substantial masses orbiting according to gravity and expressing the timing within which we live. Newtonian gravity was recognized by Newton to appear like medieval superstition of magical forces operating without specific mechanical connection or force. Today with the Big Bang theory and our post-modern realization that Einstein’s work from the first years of the 20th century was still fundamentally thinking like Aristotle with the limited universe and bedrock terra firma.

When put in contemporary context of our being on a speck of the explosion debris of the Big Bang that is in complex (though quite regular and stable) swirling motion which settled out into the planets and asteroids of the Solar System as everything in between of that nebulous debris cyclone flew away. The dynamics of this arrangement of some solid planets forming while the rest of the cloud of debris drifted away are still only vaguely understood but its regularity known by the equation called Bode’s Law.

Sabian astrology describes the unique reality of any particular timing, such as the birth of an individual or any specific event in terms of the objective, regular cycles of the Solar System. Timing which requires a system of regular, objective absolute cycles is mostly unknown academically except for automotive spark plug repair. Time is an illusion marked out by a single approximately regular cycle of some mechanical clock.

The connected cycles of the orbiting planets are what form the timing indicators upon which horoscopes are based. One there is a reliable set of timing cycles that can be corrected to a specific location (the local horizon and zenith) it becomes possible to map timing exactly. Given timing maps that can be studied and compared and empirically tested against objective experience horoscopy or Sabian Astrology is the natural evolution of the understanding.

Sabian astrology involves two integrated studies. The first is the use of horoscope charts to map and explain specific events including the birth of a person. The other is the generalized symbolic study relationships of astrological details and systems. In terms of our Planet Earth, a person is an aggregation of matter from the surface biosphere which has developed the complexity to become conscious of itself as an independent entity or child. Like a marble sculpture which has some properties from the work of the sculptor, there are many properties of that sculpture which are determined by the internal details of the block of marble used.

The development of a person from the molecules of the Planet Earth is called human biology. What is truly unique to each of us as an independent, conscious entity is sought in philosophy and theology and personal spiritual quest. Sabian astrology deals with those general structural ingredients determined by the timing of our independence consciousness marked to the time a newborn baby utters its first cries and creates its own contribution to the world.

The power of the horoscope in Sabian Astrology is that gives a clear analysis of the general timing relationships of our beginning. How we each work with this innate timing material is unique to each of us and has no expression in our horoscope. I interpreted the chart for one client who in his sixties retired to his ideal personal art colony which he operated as a convention center business and also his personal sculpture studio. I noted from his chart that it showed an intense struggle to balance his private life and his work situation. At that point he interrupted me saying, “Oh, no! That was during my business life. Since I retired to this personal paradise I have that fully resolved!” I replied, “Well, this is a horoscope based upon your time of birth. It remains the same all your life and doesn’t take into account any adjustments made eventually.”

The interaction of the geometry of inscribed cycles, angles and points with the symbolism of the ancient myths and Pythagorean eidos forms the abstract technical basis for Sabian astrology. The power of the original deductive science of Euclidean geometry offers a rigorous background upon which the subjective personal artistry of the Sabian astrologer comes alive and allows a creative portrait to take on its special liveliness.

Clearly delineated fundamental structure forms the skeleton and gesture of the artistry that then drapes flesh, costume, props and color upon the chart analysis in Sabian astrology. The basic geometrical details may be the same for every horoscope cast upon a particular nativity. Each astrologer comes to their own personal portrait that is as much a product of that astrologer as well as the time and situation in which the analysis was done. Before computer software, Marc Edmund Jones noted that the Sabian astrologer should cast their own charts since any mistakes made might be useful to improve the Sabian astrology analysis at that specific time.

There is no objective, mechanistic right analysis determining the proper horoscope analysis result in Sabian astrology. It is a subjective art and creative enterprise which uses the precise details of the geometrical construction as a background to come to a personal analysis. When I have met astrologers deeply committed to mathematic precision and exact, scientific methods in astrology it has always happened that in our interaction something would occur to prove that their mathematical precision was an illusion. The rigor of the system and the deductive logic of geometry and occult philosophy simply provides a clear and clean background drawing to be filled in my the creative subjectivity of the Sabian astrologer.

Aspects or Planetary relationships or Angles

What changes from chart to chart and reveals the unique personality and character YOU were born with is only the particular planetary positions of your birth time and thus the relationships between these planets. Some relationships are determined graphically by the points within the horoscope wheel. Many planets in one sign or house or quadrant of the chart creates a gestalt relationship in the horoscope.

Most planetary relationships arise from the angle between two of them called an ASPECT. These are named and receive their meaning from the geometry of the angle involved. Two planets in the same zodiac degree are called conjunct. Few charts have exact aspects, so there are in Sabian Astrology orbs or the number of degrees from exact in the aspect.

If two planets are 180 degrees apart (within the exactness of the orb used) they form a line across the chart which can be an important whole chart formation. This aspect is called the opposition. The other aspect formed from the perpendiculars is the 90 degree or square aspect. Conjunctions are the simplest, oppositions balance their influence across the whole chart and squares put two planets as a sharp corner that requires attention but offers clear power from both planets making themselves felt by the native. In Sabian Astrology these are aspects are awareness.

Traditional astrology from Ptolemy recognized two other aspects which were considered helpful or easy. One was based upon the angle of an equilateral triangle called the trine. The other was exactly half that angle or the sextile. In Sabian Astrology these are considered aspects of momentum with their tendency to indicate things flow of their own accord which may be useful or difficult depending whether one appreciates the momentum or finds it interferes with personal action.

There are three other planetary angles or aspects in the horoscope though of less importance. One is the quintile or angle of the pentagon or 72 degrees. This notes a natural artistry expressed through the planets involved. The next is the quincunx aspect Whose names means five of twelve from the ancient measuring convention using the same degree number in the sign and five signs or 30 degrees less than the opposition or 150 degrees in our mathematics. This aspect is a combination of a square and a sextile which results in both a momentum and a difficult awareness combined generally to cause the native Cosmic frustration of personal expectations. The final aspect is the septile or an angle formed by dividing 360 by 7 or 51.43 degrees. Its lack of simple integer basis gives it the traditional basis as representing Cosmic destiny or fate.

Sabian Astrology Fundamental Principles

There he came to the realization of the universal humanity expressed in the overall community of exceptional individuals and exaggerated characteristics living one reality for public consumption and a quite different reality as a group of mostly low-status misfits in terms of the general society and the suspicions of their landlords and other Establishment types. Later with the general public he found the opposite extreme—folks with exceptional and distinguished horoscopes living the most ordinary of lives. There drama with staged within the limitations of the situations and community expectations of their families and their workaday obligations.

Sabian Astrology is character psychology describing individuals in reference to their community. Some things are universal to humans in community that are focused in different styles or within various situations in each individual. The analysis of what is unique to a particular individual developed from a specific emphasis of standard community components enables the Sabian astrologer to study symbolism in general yet describe exactly a particular character.

Marc Edmund Jones used his Sabian astrology as an alternative to Freudian psychology which he didn’t believe or accept the sole emphasis upon infantile sexuality. Instead he found his own insights based upon his clinical experience with his clients and his understanding of the meaning of the traditional texts that he studied. As he read traditional texts he realized that what others had taken literally, he saw as simply the subjective, poetic expressions of working astrologers. Having prior personal experience with the analysis of horoscopes in terms of actual living clients enabled him to appreciate the poetry being expressed.

The magic of the texts was not all like the special effects of the film studio. It was a description of how powerful and moving poetry would be observed by simple, concrete-minded servants watching every detail of their employers’ life to try to understand what was happening in their world. One of the great insights of Sabian astrology is that what has been taken as occult or magical was actually the retelling of events as seen by the kitchen servants to the children playing in the kitchen. A magical parchment with the power to strike terror or joy was actually just a written message only understood by the emotional response of the person who knew how to read and only seen by the children and illiterate kitchen servants.

The essential difference between his Sabian astrology and others was that he did not slavishly take the texts he read literally. Rather, he assumed they were poetic descriptions done by folks who were personally involved and excited by their work. Having his own background experience as a Hollywood film community scenario writer and astrologer gave him a unique insight and perspective. There is an infinite difference between what you think you know by just reading a new and unknown text as your first acquaintance with something; and what you know already know well when you read about a colorful, poetic description by a colleague who shares your experience and enthusiasm.

However, those who have the practical experience of some field easily understand and appreciate the additional insights of others also working on similar projects. This is the ultimate and absolute difference between those who write from experience and those whose only experience is reading books from the official academic library. A silversmith came to our history of technology class to explain his work. He mentioned how he held the silver goblet he was working on just so to “capture the fire into the silver.” Afterwards our professor took awhile to figure out how to explain what he had done in terms of modern materials science engineering.

What clearly looked like the silversmith had magically collected the fire into the surface of the silver to replace its dull finish with bright and sparkling highlights turned out to be carefully holding the silver surface into that part of the flame which was rich in unburned gas and thus a strong reducing environment. This would then turn the surface coating of silver oxide back to metallic silver which was fresh and shining. The silversmith’s magical explanation exactly described what action he had taken. However, experience with metal working gas flames could interpret the engineering chemistry involved and explain what was truly happening.

The power of Sabian astrology through the horoscope is quite practical although unintelligible to those academics whose prior prejudice blinds them to simple reality. The essence of Sabian astrology is the mapping of timing in terms of universal cycles and symbols that then explains the particular details that form the context of an individual’s perception of their experience.

Academic science has no theory of timing, no means to map anything relative to a set of timing cycles, and ultimately no understanding of anything except mechanical clock time. Therefore, the first step in appreciating Sabian astrology is to accept that not only crops and weather, but also all human activity are arranged in cyclic patterns based upon the celestial mechanics of the Sun and Solar System.

Sabian astrology is a totally different perspective from the mechanical clocks and other symbolic instruments developed to give precise readings in accord with the set of equations and theories of the currently established paradigm. Only readings of these instruments that can be repeated by anyone at any time are considered appropriate to empirical observation in modern science. Horoscopes use geometry and symbolism, ‘modern science’ is based in algebra equations.

Everything personal is unique, subjective and only available for analysis of its meaning not its outer objective instrument reading. It is like trying to find the appropriate electronic meter reading to explain the personal pleasure of reading a moving poem. There is no conflict between Sabian astrology and the various sciences; they are just totally different and distinct. Horoscopes can yield insights into the timing and meaning of an event including a person’s birth. Objective ‘modern science’ does not even recognize either timing or meaning.

Of course, currently psychology theory has been sidelined as all those from the middle decades of the 20th century have been objectively disproven. The human relationship and interaction of psychological counselor and client still are found beneficial, but why the various specific techniques are useful no longer connects to the old theories. Those were found to be idiosyncratic to the personal backgrounds of those pioneers and unable to be maintained past their immediate disciples.

Sabian astrology is based upon geometrical construction within a framework of timing analysis built into the observed positions of the planets at a specific time. This is not the imagined positions of the planets as they careen through space in their Solar System orbits. Rather this is the concretely observed positions relative to the ecliptic and the local horizon. Empirical fact rather than astronomical theory like the constellations.

In addition to the overall temperament in Sabian Astrology, determined by the open spaces between the planets in the individual horoscope, there is also the opportunity for a general alignment of the chart to a certain natural disposition. This is a patterning across the diameter of the horoscope which gives order to the entire gestalt in Sabian Astrology.

If there is a single opposition, two planets across the chart forming a straight line diameter (to the limits of the normal orb or play in the angle of 180 degrees for the opposition) this gives the native a clear tendency or disposition to see the world in the style of those two signs.

Two signs in Sabian Astrology across the zodiac from one another can only share the same style, in terms of being either cardinal, fixed or mutable. That means the individual with that natural disposition will see life in terms of actions and crises (cardinal), ideals and positions (fixed) or social interactions and relationships (mutable).

Not everyone has an opposition in their charts. Their gestalt lacks this one simple staple or diameter to organize their life. Next one looks for some major complex aspect that covers the entire wheel. A Grand Trine or Square or other such exceptional combination of aspects may also provide the central focus of an entire horoscope. Often there is an opposition with one planet square to each of the planets in opposition forming a T-square. Here the power of two squares and an opposition are all packed into one major whole-chart focal determinator. It is also possible that some charts even with oppositions don't get a simple Natal Disposition in Sabian Astrology.

Those who don’t have one opposition with both planets in the signs of the same ilk can have a number of alternatives. Some like me have no oppositions and thus no natural disposition to see things in just one way. This would include those with one or more oppositions where the planets do not fit neatly into the same type of sign. Usually this comes about from having an opposition that is within orb over the line of a different sign than expected.

The other possibility is that there are two oppositions of the same quality of sign each. Thus the person has oppositions which individually would qualify them so two different natural dispositions. The result is that the person develops what is called a negative natural disposition of the third type. This again is an expression of the negative gestalt image. There is only so much emphasis that can be had, more than that produces its opposite some way.

These gestalt principles of Sabian Astrology are very similar to those of the Tao and I Ching. If there is an opposition of two cardinal planets and another of two mutable planets this creates a negative natural disposition in the fixed style. This is not the same as a positive fixed natural disposition; rather the person feels the lack of fixed ideals or positions and is motivated to correct that somehow.

Once the Sabian astrologer has determined the complete gestalt of the chart, every detail can now be related to that overall pattern. Finding the unique gestalt for an individual horoscope is a bit of personal magic by the astrologer. Sabian astrology gives a number of techniques; however, it is in the artistry of the astrologer’s designation of the overall gestalt that true measure of the astrologer is seen.

The details of the horoscope, the position of each planet in its sign, house and specific degree is the typical stuff of astrological texts with their lists and interpretation paragraphs. The Stars and Dice material gives interpretation of each of these details of astrology with the general illustration of the appropriate dice-face pattern associated with each of them.

The most detailed and yet the most poetic form of horoscope interpretation is the use of the Sabian Symbols for the exact degree of each planet, and house cusp. To use these symbols correctly it is necessary to realize the precise degree must be found in their geometrical magnitude, not the modern algebraic calculation of our astrological computer software.

We tend to think that there is only one mathematics for all situations and what we were taught in elementary school is truly God’s official language for constructing the universe. Modern science has assumed our mathematical formalism must be the universal language suitable for relating to space aliens. Actually, our mathematics is a derivative of our brain architecture and our genetic epistemologies as Piaget outlined them.

There are different number systems for the various branches of mathematics. Algebra equations use the real and imaginary numbers. Geometry used the natural numbers. The major difference is that geometry is based upon magnitudes and not abstract numerals. A magnitude must have a specific unit that is the measure of that magnitude.

In Euclid, a number is defined as a number of units. Therefore, geometrical number has a first unit and then the numbers start with 2. The Sabian Symbols do not make any distinction between the unit and the other numbers. They do count their numbers as natural numbers, integers starting with 1 and without any zeros except as the final digit like 10, 20, 30 degrees to a sign or 60 minutes to a degree.

What algebraic astrological software calculates as 0 degrees Aries00 is in geometrical horoscope analysis 30th degrees of Pisces. That 30th degree to be equal to all other zodiac degrees must have a full 60 minutes to its span. 30 degrees of Pisces 60 minutes would be the same in algebra notation as 0 degrees Aries minutes which are the same when you convert it step by step as 1 Aries 00 minutes.

Therefore Marc Edmund Jones originally specified that the degree for a Sabian Symbol begins at 1 degree 1 minute. The 60 seconds before 1 degree 1 minute that is through 0 degrees 59 seconds belongs to the proceeding 30th degree of the prior sign. Later editors couldn't imagine geometrical numbers that start with 1 and put the infinite fractions or decimals before 1 as ratios not part of the counting number system. One must either convert all zeros to their preceding unit--30 for degrees or 60 for minutes or accept a modern 0 based zodiac.

This is true with each degree, what our computer software calculates as 10 degrees 0 minutes and 59 seconds is still in the 10th degree Sabian Symbol. It may seem a trivial or overly complicated technicality and in modern terms it is. Geometrical number is different and not given to multiple decimal places.

It would seem the poetry of the Symbols would be pretty general and applicable to anything one way or another. However, when you follow the exact rules for their use they work out much better. There will be a different Sabian Symbol to be used, and two Sabian Symbols next to each other are still very, very different.

Of course the more you are able to understand of the deep structure underlying the poetry of the symbolism the more you can appreciate the exact importance of each Sabian Symbol. This is not possible just from the words used, especially as each author uses different wording in each edition.

Only by the correspondence of degrees of the Zodiac to the lines of the I Ching and the 6-faces of the dice cube is it possible to divine the deep structure underlying them all. The fundamentals of this triangulation of ultimate meaning are given here.

Examples of interpretation of horoscopes for the candidates for U.S. President now from the perspective of Sabian Astrology appear in the Campaign 2008 page through the Nav Bar since that is how I do horoscope analysis. A text link to the horoscope analysis of George W. Bush's Bundle chart appears as part of the story of horoscope analysis of this recent political campaign to replace him. Also on this Politics '08 page is the opt-in for my Ezine Fresh Rolls (of Stars-n-DICE) where the meaning analysis of current events is explained.

Also available from that page is the description of world events as Pluto changes sign marking an intense shift in the Ultimate Commitment of the World to a new style. World War I, World War II, Sputnik of the Cold War Space Race, Watergate, etc occurred with some of these sign changes.

The U.S. appeared in the world in its first draft of the Declaration of Independence with Pluto in Capricorn, and between the election in 2008 and the inauguration in January 2009 Pluto will move back into Capricorn again. This recent election was not just politics as usual it was the transition from the modern millennium to the future reality of our Planet Earth.

The Stars and Dice first edition from 1984 is available through the Home Page Link or through the Stars-n-Dice perspective on the Nav Bar and also at Google Books which offers a preview of original 1984 Stars and Dice book text as published then.

Horoscope analysis by the gestalt perspective of Sabian Astrology and the Stars-n-Dice perspective is the simplest and best access to understand the meaning of these new and unprecedented interesting times we all now live in. From the

Good luck to us all!

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