Stars And Dice Book
by Frank R. Kegan ©1984
Breaks Open the Portal
to Pythagorean Mysteries
Stars And Dice Book by Frank R. Kegan ©1984 was the trail marker for a new approach to metaphysics. This book was just the first step in developing the Stars-N-Dice perspective with its initial insight that the 12 signs of the Zodiac could be illustrated and explained by the 12 Pythagorean Eidos or dice-face patterns.
The Dice Face patterns eventually unfolded to become the portal to understand the Global Awareness of the 6th century BCE embodied in the combined symbolism, mathematics and philosophy of Pythagoras, Lao Tzu (Taoism and I Ching, and the individual horoscope developed in the Fertile Crescent.
This original insight emerged accidentally in a long process of discussion and development. This started with my casting I Ching Oracles with three pennies at conventions of the Sabian Assembly. The middle step or antithesis was the development of Astro-Dice by Jim Gross as an objective, Western alternative to create an oracle based upon 12-sided plastic dice and astrological terms.
The ultimate synthesis, which became just the initial Stars and Dice Process insight was to expand and improve on an Astrological Oracle from the Astro-Dice by using common dice cubes. The dice-face patterns, also called Pythagorean Eidos by some in the Sabian Assembly, turned out to explain the meanings of the Zodiac signs in their sequence from the first sign Aries to the 12th Pisces.
Learn the meaning of the Zodiac Signs from the Dice Face Patterns
Working with a pair of Dice in the Stars And Dice Book developed a tool for casting an astrological Oracle began to develop an entire range of insights. The Planets and houses could also be explained by the same set of dice-face number patterns. The houses by their traditional number sequence. The planets by their order in terms of daily apparent motion.
A pair of dice only shows the numbers 2-12, since there is no zero on a pair of dice. These fit exactly the astrological planets from moon as 2 to Pluto as 10. For the Stars And Dice Book a complete set of 12 options somehow need to be developed.
The Sun is a special case which fits well to the meaning of Eidos 11 as one beyond the complete set of the Tetraktys. The Sun is the center of our Solar System and its motion shows the actual movement through the Zodiac of our Planet Earth.
The number 12 in circle geometry of the horoscope, is the last number and is followed by the first, and is the equivalent of the open channel that is the Ground of Being of the Zodiac system. For the Stars And Dice Book, this was easiest to correlate the the Arabic Part of Fortune which has the symbol of the Earth and is calculated from the position of the Ascendant and the phase of the Moon relative to the Sun.
When both a sign and house is chosen by two rolls of a pair of dice, they cannot yield directly a result of either the first house or the first sign Aries. However, by their combination they do establish for every combination of sign and house, an additional value of what house holds Aries and which sign is rising.
This became the basis of the original Stars And Dice Book by Frank R. Kegan 1984 which is on preview through Google Books.
Much of the original text and its explanations are available through this indexed preview.
Stars and Dice by Frank R. Kegan at Google Book Preview
The original Stars and Dice insight developed into a for more general and universal way to explain not just the terms in Astrology but also the timing analogs such as the I Ching. The structure number patterns of the dice face explained the details of the overall structure of the I Ching hexagrams. Eventually also explaining the King Wen Sequence through the Pythagorean Tetraktys.
The clear insight of the Stars And Dice Book by Frank R. Kegan 1984 was that they explained all facets of astrology directly from their graphic patterns. This produced an intriguing illustration of the meanings of the planets, signs, houses, aspects and orbs. It also made it possible to find a non-verbal metaphor to express astrological thinking.
Marc Edmund Jones (MEJ) noted his published books the limitations of language to convey the precise technical implications of astrological jargon. Astrologers not only find it difficult to communicate their views with the general public, they also argue with each other. Rarely do two astrologers agree upon the meaning of any facet of astrological jargon.
One of the first discoveries from the dice-face patterns in the Stars and Dice Book was to resolve one such argument. The two astrologers were going at it hot and heavy, their intensity magnified as they knew absolutely they were right. Neither of them could figure out what the problem was with the other that he failed to agree. A spat like this can easily escalate to near war since there is no real disagreement that could be resolved to end the fighting.
My sun in Libra could see each point from each side. They did not contradict each other; their two views were quite complementary. It was like the story of the blind men examining an elephant. One felt the legs and said it was a forest of big trees. One felt the tail and said it was a rope. One felt the trunk and said it was a snake. They argued and argued, each one only knowing his own small part of the elephant, unable to imagine what the others were talking about.
Fortunately, I could also explain each view with the same dice-face graphic from the Stars And Dice Book by Frank R. Kegan 1984. I showed both astrologers the illustration of the relevant dice face. The view of one could be illustrated by the number pattern for that sign. The others view was quite different, but also easily illustrated by the same dice face.
They immediately recognized their view in the pattern and the argument was settled. The discussion continued, however, now they were assisting one another. “Yes, your view is very good and it fits neatly into my view as well,” they both could tell each other and continue on to lecture at length about their view.
The back cover of the Stars and Dice book gave this description of the dice oracle:
Every roll a Natural.
3 Rolls Tells it Like it is
6 Rolls the Whole Enchilada
Answer any Question with 6 rolls of a pair of dice. [10 dice are rolled, some of the six rolls use a single dice cube]
Planet=== Who
This is not a name or person, it is the aspect of the personality. Who within your character or the dynamic of the situation is the subject and active author of things.
E.g. individual quest (11) or personal satisfaction (4)
Sign===What
This is a specific thing. E.g. A smooth path (2) or firm control (10)
House===Where
How far along from your inner Self out to the universal cosmos is this all taking focus.
E.g. At Hand (3) or Face to Face (7)
Aspect=== The Angle
The astrological aspects are derived from Euclidean angles and they give psychological meaning to these angles. The oracle sentence will form by the combination of the Planet, Sign, and House slogans. That sentence has an angle or slant that it is expressing.
E.g. focal point (1) or magic pentagram (5).
Orb===The Play. The orb in general describes the exactness of the angle forming the aspect. It is the degree of freedom allowed in the situation. Is this a definite and controlled "Three-point landing" (3) or the "Almost Perfect" situation where the tiny gaps to perfection may annoy you greatly.
The overview, not mentioned specifically on the back cover gives a single pattern to indicate what is the overall context of the entire answer.
An Overview of:
One is Impact. The oracle is giving you the straight shot of insight.
Two is Context. The oracle is giving you background for your understanding of the whole situation.
Three is the Scenario. The oracle is laying out the line of development, where things are headed or the two possible choices you face. One line involves two points, you can either continue along that line or put yourself at the center and make a choice as to which way along that one line of development you will proceed.
Four is the open space. The oracle is describing the boundary points which opens up the vulnerable personal turf inside to explore.
Five is Craft. The oracle is giving you the complete picture as you have organized and completed it. There is always a choice and you may either frame this complete picture if you are content to have it as your portrait or you must start all over to make something new.
Six is the Channel. The oracle is giving you the details neatly lined up and pushed to the outsides to allow an open channel for what may develop next. What is now will be the seed pod for an unknown future.
A number of examples are given in Stars And Dice Book by Frank R. Kegan 1984 and I will use one now on the question of how to explain the dice oracle in this brief exposition.
The 6 dice rolls yielded the numbers:12,9,and 6 for the basic oracle slogan sentence. Then 2,9,6 for the whole enchilada
12,9,6 is The Part of Fortune in Sagittarius in the 6th House orLucky gift's clear expression on the line.
The dice oracle is noting that this is an example for the general public of the utility of these oracle technique and its ability to generate a meaningful slogan sentence.
The qualifying and explaining aspect, orb and overview yielded:The Angle is: A line of Development, the step after a simple focal point but before an entire image develops. There is an implicit choice in a line of development, which way will YOU take it? However, this is not a totally free choice. A single line of development has been specified, it just has two rays along which you may travel.
The Orb or degree of freedom is eight--the whole thing. The 8 vertices define the boundary points of the Cube and thus describe the whole thing, not in detail but in outline.
The overview is 6 or the Channel the number of many details lined up and packed up as a seed pod opening a channel for new development in fertile soil elsewhere.
There is one more interpretation element explained in the Stars and Dice Book: when a horoscope is cast with a particular sign on the cusp(beginning point) of a particular house, this also determines which house will have the sign of Aries and what sign will be rising. These of the ones of the sign and house which can not be cast with two dice cubes.
If the 9th sign is on the cusp of the 6th house then the first sign, Aries sign will be on the (6-9 or 18-9 plus 1) or the 10th house. Aries is the root of the matter or the cause, if it is in the 10th house that is In the Community or making a public statement.
If the 6th house has the 9th sign then the rising sign or sign on the first house will be (9-6+1)the fourth sign or Cancer, Poignant Feelings. The rising sign is the body of the matter or the appearance of things to society. The appearance of poignant feelings or strong feelings. From the Stars and Dice Book description of Cancer: "Poignant Feelings are pregnant with meaning..." The example of the dice oracle has many possible implications but may also"...give birth to pains and demands as well as ultimate bundles of joy."
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