Studies in Astrology
by
Elman Bacher
Volume IV
Chapter VIII
The Horoscope Abstracted
This approach to "abstracting" a horoscope is
presented in the hope that it will help students to clarify and focus their
understanding of the elements that comprise horoscope-structure and horoscope-
delineation. We know that a horoscope is a symbolic picture of human
consciousness as it expresses in the triune dimension of incarnation; it is
also a picture of cosmic principles as they manifest through the entity called
Humanity. These principles are, compositely, the Life of the Universe--they
manifest on all worlds and on all planes.
Astrology depicts the "Brotherhood of Mankind" in
a sense that all horoscopical elements are common to all human horoscopes;
everyone has Sun, Moon, eight planets, and so on. Every horoscope is
constructed by the same calculation patterns, which are essentially the
sidereal and zodiacal elementals translated into reference to the place and
time of incarnation. In other words, we are all made of the same vibratory
stuff; we differ only in our individual particulars as variations of the great
abstract horoscope, the basic horoscopical pattern.
The structure of this pattern is a circle
activated by two diameters--one vertical, the other horizontal; these lines
form compositely, two pairs of two semi-circles each and four quadrants. The
quadrants, in turn, are activated by division of three equal parts; thus the
"Life" of the circle is seen to be twelve-fold; these twelve houses of thirty
degrees each are the departments of experience by which, and in which human
evolution is generated. This structure design is static; it does not change
because it is the frame-work in which--and through which--the vibratory life
of the horoscope takes place.
The vibratory essence of the great abstract
horoscope is found by placement of the zodiacal symbols outside the circle in
such a way that zero of each sign falls on one of the twelve cusps; zero of
Aries coincides with the cusps of the first house (the Ascendant), zero of
Taurus on the second cusp, zero of Gemini on the third, and so on around the
wheel. The sequence of signs is invariable--Leo always follows Cancer,
Capricorn always follows Sagittarius, etc.
The magnitude of scope shown by this pattern is
seen when we recognize the reason for placing the zodiacal sign symbols
outside the wheel, they are cosmic--universal--the levels and realms that are
not "just solar system" but which pertain to realizations of evolving life-
expressions. They play on Humanity from the Great Without; we are their
agencies or instruments for expression on this particular planetary status. To
place the zodiacal symbols inside the wheel would imply that God-consciousness
is not related to the Life Principles of the universe at large; the principles
expressed would then represent something which pertained only to the human
expression of Life.
The expression, in human terms, of these zodiacal
signs is found in the placement of the planetary symbols inside the wheel. The
interior life of the human consciousness is thus portrayed by the patterns of
the planets in relationship to each other and the rhythmic cyclic activation
of those patterns. The belt of zodiacal signs is analogous to the etheric
bodies which form the matrix of our physical body; the house structure of the
wheel is analogous to the dense physical body itself; the planets within the
wheel in composite are analogous to the cellular and organic life of the body
as a specific Life expression. Then if humanity (human entity) is a
specific Life expression it is an archetype; we, as individual human
entities, are expressions of "variation of the archetype." Our individual
status as a variation of our archetype at a given moment in our evolution is a
specific variation of the natal horoscope which archetypes this incarnation;
our natal horoscope, in turn, is a momentary expression of the abstract
elements which comprise the overall vibratory design--the Great Abstract
Horoscope--which is the Horoscope of Humanity. It is made by a wheel with the
houses numbered; the signs placed appropriately, starting with zero of Aries
on the first cusp; the symbols of the planets placed in the houses and signs
of their dignity.
The suggestion is made, here and now, to every
Astro-Philosopher who reads this material to keep on hand a neat, well-done
copy of the Great Abstract Horoscope for daily meditation. A continually
renewed impression of the vibratory and evolutionary meanings of each factor
in this design provides a continual reminder of the spiritual purposes of
astro-philosophical study. This meditation impresses the mind with: pattern
and form; sequence; archetype; unity-which-expresses-through-diversity;
polarity; and vibrational sexuality. It also makes a deep impression on the
heart consciousness because it pictures the brotherhood and sisterhood of all
men and all women to each other. The meditation on this mandala is a
devotional exercise of great power because it opens the consciousness of the
Astro-Philosopher who follows it and practises it with a "lifting" that has
great regenerating effect. The Great Abstract Horoscope makes no reference
whatever to aspects--good, bad, or indifferent. It has nothing whatever to
say about good or evil karma, lucky or unlucky days, males and females,
enemies, open or secret, and so on. It is simply a symbolic vibrational
portrait of Humanity revealing its Ideal Self in symbols. Evolution
is depicted in the astrological wheel by tracing a line from the cusp of the
first house--the Ascendant--counter-clockwise through the wheel and back to
the Ascendant. Because we utilize a flat surface in horoscope design, this
line appears as a circle--returning apparently to the same point from which it
started. We must realize that if a life is evolving the picturing must
represent upward, onward, forever; consequently we recognize that the
flat surface of the wheel is, itself, an abstraction of a three-dimensional
concept. The flat surface represented by an astrological wheel is really a
cross-section of a sphere which has been sliced through the center; it
represents space, not only north, south, east, and west from the birthplace on
the earth's surface, but above and below the birthplace. This is the physical
representation; the action of the wheel is depicted in abstract symbol by the
spiral; this spiral does not show on the two-dimensional surface of the wheel,
but Astro-Philosophers know that the line starting at the Ascendant,
travelling through the wheel and back to the Ascendant, is really the journey
through an evolutionary cycle in which spiritual unfoldment is made; when the
circling line gets back to the Ascendant point it has reached a higher level
and starts the next cycle from that point. The starting point of each cycle
would have to be depicted above the surface of the paper on which the
wheel is drawn in order to present the picturing of the three-dimensional
concept of the cyclic rising into higher and higher levels. Since a flat,
two-dimensional surface is our medium of symbolic picturing, we do not create
a three-dimensional symbol; the three-dimensional symbol is portrayed,
abstractly, by the continual circling through the two-dimensional wheel. A
"plain astrologer" may be satisfied with thinking two-dimensionally; an Astro-
Philosopher interprets a horoscope dynamically, in terms of life processes
being represented by the horoscopical symbol. This "spiralling" will be
strongly impressed on your mind if you try the following simple experiment:
place the point of your pencil on the point where the Ascendant line conjuncts
the circumference of the wheel; let the pencil point travel around the
circumference of the wheel in such a way that at the cusps of the fourth,
seventh and tenth houses it is raised a little, each time, above the surface
of the paper; when it gets back to the Ascendant point after circling the
wheel, the pencil-point will be, for example, about an inch above the paper;
lift the paper so that the surface touches the pencil point. If it were
possible to hold the paper steady, you could, a second time, circle the wheel
in the same way and raise the wheel an inch or so again. This is a three-
dimensional representation of the wheel and it presents to our minds the
evolutionary process which is abstractly depicted by the two-dimensional
wheel.
The spiralling around the wheel not only
represents the travel of a human consciousness through the chapters of
experience on different levels but it also represents the abstract pattern of
each planet's travel from the sign of its dignity through the twelve zodiacal
signs; the dignity sign of each planet--in relationship to the planet--is
analogous to the Ascendant in its relationship to the wheel; each is a
starting point for a cyclic journey in experience and in consciousness. The
Ascendant (starting point) of the wheel is also analogous to the conjunction
of the two planets which, as is indicated by this aspect, are starting a cycle
of relationship patterns to each other. So we see that the circle of the wheel
is, itself, an abstraction of the orbital movement that takes place within the
wheel in the inter-relationships made by the planets to each other and to the
structure of the wheel and to the zodiacal belt outside.
The first step in abstracting your natal horoscope
is to create a wheel with thirty degrees of each sign for each house, starting
with Aries on the Ascendant. (This is, of course, the sign placement of the
Great Abstract Horoscope). Then, without using the degree number, place your
Sun, Moon, and planets in the right sequence, according to their placement in
your chart, in this wheel--all planets in Aries will be in the first house,
all planets in Virgo in the sixth house, all planets in Aquarius in the
eleventh house, etc. No aspects between planets are, as yet, indicated. Study
this wheel in terms of how the planets are grouped in quadrants and
triplicities; how they are related to the lower and upper semi-circles and the
eastern and western semi-circles; how they are related to the signs of their
dignity to determine how far they have travelled in their own journey through
the signs. For example, the Moon in Libra is in its own fourth house sign--
its dignity, Cancer, is one, Leo is two, Virgo is three, and Libra is four. It
has, in this position, a fourth house relationship to its own dignity. Venus
in Capricorn is in its own fourth house sign from its dignity in Libra, and
its own ninth house sign from its dignity in Taurus. Mercury in Aries is in
its own eighth house sign from its dignity in Virgo, and its own eleventh
house sign from its dignity in Gemini. Interpret these cyclic placements by
key words according to the house sign represented. List all of your planets in
this way--create order and pattern in your synthesizing always.
The next step is to create another similar
wheel; but this one will include the numbers pertaining to the sign-degrees on
the cusps and the degree and minute placement of the planets according to your
chart. (In a horoscope with no intercepted signs, just turn the chart so that
the Aries cusp becomes the Ascendant and you have the same picture; however,
the second wheel permits you to write in your symbols and degrees so that they
are easily readable). A horoscope with intercepted Signs simply has zero of
those signs on the appropriate cusp. The point is that the sign placement of
your abstract horoscope must coincide--in pattern--to the Great Abstract
Horoscope; every house must be covered by its appropriate sign. The second
wheel now represents:
Your horoscope divested of the complexities of
incarnation; it is your vibratory consciousness--regardless of your physical
sex and all the complications pertaining thereto. This abstraction of your
natal horoscope tells the story of your vibratory perspective of the basic
chapters of human experience and every house is interpreted by the basic
keywords of the planet which rules it abstractly. Thus the second and seventh
houses of all abstract horoscopes are ruled by Venus--the principle of
equilibrium and perfect exchange; Mars as the ruler of Aries, is the ruler of
all abstract horoscopes--the basic key-word of interpretation is self-
awareness, the initiating point of all experience cycles. And so on with the
others; Moon is the Mother, Saturn is the Father; Mars is the native, Venus is
his (or her) complement; the Sun, as ruler of the fifth house through the sign
Leo, is will power and love power; Uranus, as ruler of the eleventh through
Aquarius, is impersonalized love and the principle of decrystallization--
analogous to the sextile aspect relationship between planets; Neptune, as
ruler of the twelfth house, through Pisces, is the principle of redemption
through incarnation; in the abstract horoscope its placement focalizes where
we must learn to make attunement to spiritual powers and ideal pictures in
order to release the images of selfishness accumulated through the previous
incarnation; Jupiter is the teacher, the religious or philosophic
consciousness, the principle of improvement through unfolding understanding;
Pluto is the focalizing of the deep resources of the desire nature, the sex
urge and the essential source of all regeneration to be made through
constructive action by the redirecting of the Mars vibration; Mercury as ruler
of the third house through Gemini is the essential symbol of basic, or
elementary fraternity--also the conscious intellectual faculties; as ruler of
the sixth it is fraternity extended into the level of fellow workers; it
represents, through rulership of Virgo, your ability, or consciousness, to
work and serve either as labor or as an expression of releasement of the
fifth-house Leo vibration of creative love. The composite of the parentage
pattern is shown, of course, by the relationship and positions of Moon-Saturn,
the rulers of the fourth and tenth houses in the abstract chart--the two
planets represent your essential parentage consciousness.
In applying the findings of the abstract chart to
your natal chart you perceive the occult process of your consciousness being
dipped into matter, and its patterns translated into your requirements for
experience in incarnation. Your abstract chart shows what you express in
incarnation; your natal chart shows how your consciousness interprets
incarnation and through which agencies of relationship and experience this
consciousness is to be unfolded and perfected.
"Planets Are People:" in cultivating your inner
perceptions of the people in your life, apply the rulers of their natal charts
to yours and see how they appear in your incarnation; then relate those points
to your abstract chart and perceive your inner consciousness of those people.
Any person, male or female, who is identified by your Saturn is a factor of
your father picture, in your consciousness; other planets of theirs conjunct
your Saturn show that they are, to a degree, sub-variations of your father
picture. And so on, with the rulers and planets of other people conjunct your
various planets. You will-or can-gain a remarkable elasticization of your
astrological consciousness by study of, and meditation on, your abstract
horoscope. It has a wonderfully impersonalizing effect on your mind and
feelings, making you aware of vibrational patterns which the complexities of
the natal chart, alone, obscure. You will, as a result of such study and
meditation, unfold another remarkable realization: human life as an expression
of esthetic principles of pattern, design, rhythm, color, line--in short, all
the essential elements which are common to artistic representations. You will
perceive yourself to be, essentially, a dynamic factor in the overall drama,
dance, and song of life.