Filename: RC2017.TXT
Source: "Simplified Scietific Astrology" by Max Heindel

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                   A PHILOSOPHIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASTROLOGY:

ACCIDENTAL DIGNITY:

   When a planet is placed in an angle its effect is much more powerful than
in the succeedent or cadent houses.  In this respect a position in the Tenth
House is strongest on account of elevation (see Elevation),  the First House
is next, then the Seventh, and the Fourth House is weakest.

ADJUSTED CALCULATION DATE:

   A date at which the noon positions of the planets culminate when used  in
the Progressed Horoscope.

   It  is obtained by a simple calculation,  and with it predictions may  be
made in any horoscope for life,  without further mathematical  computations;
for  a  full  explanation the student is referred to  "The  Message  of  the
Stars."

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AFFLICTION:

   A planet is afflicted when it is parallel, conjunction, square or opposi-
tion to Mars,  Saturn,  Uranus or Neptune, or in square or opposition to any
of the other planets (See COMBUST).

AIRY SIGNS:

   Gemini,  Libra and Aquarius are called Airy signs.   Their  influence  is
mostly mental and intellectual.

ANGLES:

   The First, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Houses.

   The Eastern angle with Aries,  where Mars is the ruler,  suggests the Sun
rising to the material activities of the day.  As the Sun,  denoting spirit,
is under the cross denoting matter,  but rising toward it,  therefore it de-
notes  the  beginning of Life in the material world,  and Mars,  the  ruler,
stands for the desire nature, which draws the spirit towards material exist-
ence in order that it may conquer matter.

   The Southern angle,  Capricorn,  with Saturn as ruler,  suggests the  Sun
crossing  the meridian as it does at noon.   It has traversed half its  pre-
scribed  journey across the heavens, therefore the half-circle  is  omitted,
and the other half-circle is retained under the cross in the symbol of  Sat-
urn.   Hence Saturn denotes persistence, mechanical ability,  etc.,  and the
Tenth House the worldly achievements of the human being.

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   The Western angle with Libra in the balance where the material activities
turn to the spiritual, divides the day from the night;  the busy summer from
the inactive winter.   It turns the waking hours devoted to the active mate-
rial  life,  into the night where man contacts the unseen world.   Therefore
the circle, spirit, is above the cross of matter, the desire nature has been
conquered,  and the symbol of Mars turned upside down so that it becomes the
symbol  of Venus,  the planet of love which rules this house,  and which  is
therefore also the house of unions, of partnerships,  the house that denotes
the one nearest and dearest to us.

   The Northern angle,  with the sign Cancer, marks the time when the Sun is
at its lowest point.   The sign consists of two suns, with the line of force
proceeding from each one, but in opposite directions.  The line from the sun
which  points  to the East denotes the direction in which the  physical  Sun
moves.   The sun with the line of force going towards the West  denotes  the
path  in  which  the spiritual influences turn after the  physical  Sun  has
ceased its activity.   This angle,  therefore, is the angle of mystery,  oc-
cultism,  and of the dark and unseen side of man's nature;  therefore it has
for its ruler the orb of night, the Moon.

ANGULAR:

   A  planet  is said to be angular when it is placed in the angles  of  the
horoscope.  This position strengthens the influence of the planet  consider-

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ably for good or ill according to the nature of the planet and its  aspects.

ANTARES:

   See "Fixed Stars".

APPLY:

   When a swift moving planet approaches an aspect with a slower, it is said
to  apply to a square,  trine etc. of that planet.   As the applying  planet
must be speedier than the one it applies to, it is evident that the Moon ap-
plies  in turn to the aspects of all the other planets each month  when  she
passes  around  the zodiac,  but Saturn who takes thirty years to  make  the
circle can only apply to Uranus which uses eighty-four years, and to Neptune
which takes a hundred and sixty-five years.

   That rule holds good when the planets move DIRECT in the Zodiac (from Ar-
ies to Taurus etc.),  but if the slower moving planet is RETROGRADE  (moving
from Taurus to Aries etc.),  both the planets may be applying to the aspect.
(See DIRECT and RETROGRADE.)

   The  influence of the planets is always stronger when they  are  applying
than when they are separating.

ASCELLI:  See "FIXED STARS".

ASCENDANT:

   The  degree  of the zodiac which is on the eastern horizon at  a  certain
time.  A new degree rises every four minutes, a new sign about every two

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hours,  and  the twelve signs rise in every place on  earth  in  twenty-four
hours.   Whatever sign is on the Ascendant is called the RISING  sign.   See
"Hyleg".

ASCENSION:

   Under  this  heading will be grouped, Signs of Long Ascension,  Signs  of
Short Ascension, Right Ascension and Oblique Ascension.

   Signs of LONG ASCENSION are:  Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sag-
ittarius.

   Signs of SHORT ASCENSION are:  Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus
and Gemini.

   They  are  so called because the signs of Long Ascension rise  slowly  in
Northern latitudes, taking a much longer time than the two hours required if
all  the twelve signs rose at a uniform rate during the  twenty-four  hours.
Leo takes about two hours and forty-five minutes in Lat.  40 North where New
York is,  and Pisces and Aries, two signs of Short Ascension,  take only one
hour and ten minutes.  The reason lies in the obliquity of the Ecliptic, see
page 49.  The effect is that most people in the Northern Hemisphere are born
under the signs of Long Ascension.

   In the Southern Hemisphere the signs listed as of Short Ascension in  the
foregoing classification,  are signs of Long Ascension,  and most people are
born  under them, while the Northern signs of Long Ascension rise quickly in

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the  South and relatively few are born under them.   Thus the people of  the
opposite hemispheres are also opposite in their inner natures, and show dif-
ferent characteristics.

   RIGHT  ASCENSION and OBLIQUE ASCENSION are not used in the system of  As-
trology  generally in vogue,  except in the calculation of the houses,  with
which  the  average student has no concern.   Longitude is measured  on  the
ecliptic or Sun's path from the first point of Aries, but Right Ascension is
measured on the equinoctial or celestial equator.

ASPECTS:

   The distance apart of planets,  which determines their influence for good
or ill.

   The  SQUARE is 90 degrees and the OPPOSITION is 180 degrees.   These  are
called evil aspects.

   The SEXTILE is 60 degrees and the TRINE is 120 degrees.   They are called
good aspects.

   The CONJUNCTION occurs when two planets are in the same degree of the Zo-
diac,  and the PARALLEL is the position of two planets in the same degree of
declination, regardless of whether they are both North or South of the Equa-
tor, or whether one is in North and the other in South declination.

   These aspects are variable.  If between benefics (the Sun,  Venus and Ju-
piter),  they are good,  or if the planets of variable nature (the Moon  and
Mercury),  are  aspected  by conjunction or parallel with the benefics it is

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good,  but if the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Jupiter are in conjunction or
parallel with one of the malefics (Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune),  it is
evil;  the conjunction of two malefics is more so,  but the parallel of  two
malefics is exceedingly strong in its detrimental influence.  Conversely, of
course, the parallel between two benefics is extraordinarily fortunate.

AXIS:

   If we were to pierce an apple through the centre with a  knitting-needle,
that  would  be the axis of the apple, and on this axis it may  be  rotated.
The earth's axis is an imaginary line on which the earth rotates,  and  this
motion  of  the earth on its axis produces the phenomena of day  and  night.
The  axis of the earth always points to a certain star in the  constellation
Ursa Minor,  which on that account is called the pole star;  the only one in
the heavens which seems never to move.   It is not quite stationary however,
but  has an exceedingly slow vibratory motion called NUTATION,  causing  the
pole star to change in the course of milleniums.  See 'Nutation' and 'Intel-
lectual Zodiac.'

AXIS, INCLINATION OF:

   The axes of all the planets are inclined to their orbits.  See page 8.

AXIAL ROTATION:

   All  the  planets rotate upon their axes the same as the earth,  but  the
time in which they make a rotation differs widely.  See "diurnal rotation of

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the planets,".

BARREN or UNFRUITFUL SIGNS:  Gemini, Leo and Virgo.

BENEFICS:

   The Sun,  Venus and Jupiter.  For a thorough synthetic explanation of the
terms "BENEFIC" AND "MALEFIC," see "Good" and "Bad".

CADENT:

   The third,  sixth, ninth and twelfth houses are called cadent, and so are
planets  placed  in these houses.   This position weakens the  influence  of
planets,  so  that benefics are not so helpful and malefics not  so  harmful
when placed in cadent houses.

CARDINAL SIGNS:

   ARIES, the Eastern sign entered by the Sun at the vernal equinox; CANCER,
where the Sun reaches its highest degree of Northern declination at the Sum-
mer Solstice; LIBRA, the Western sign where the Sun goes into South declina-
tion  at the Fall equinox;  and CAPRICORN, where it is in the  lowest  South
declination at the Winter Solstice.

   The  Cardinal Signs are promotive,  they further activity in whatever  is
undertaken under their influence.

COMBUST:

   Any  plant  within  three degrees of the Sun is said to  be  COMBUST,  or
burned up by the Sun's rays.  If Mercury or the Moon are so placed, it weak-
ens the mind:  if Venus or  Jupiter,  it takes away their help and if one of

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the malefics (Mars,  Saturn,  Uranus or Neptune) is so placed,  it is  evil.
See "Affliction."

COMMON SIGNS:

   Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.  They are flexible and vacillating
in nature.

CONJUNCTION:

   When  two planets are within six degrees of each other they are  in  con-
junction.  See "Aspects" and "Orb".

CRITICAL DEGREES:

   See table and description of Critical Degrees on page 81.   These degrees
mark  approximately  the end of each day's travel of the  Moon  through  the
twelve signs.  The Moon occupies about 27 1/2 days in its passage around the
Zodiac,  averaging about 13 degrees each day.  Thus, starting with the first
degree  of Aries,  the first day's travel will end at the 13th  degree,  the
second  day's travel at the 26th degree and so on.   Following this out,  we
find  that the Critical Degrees are the 1st,  13th and 26th degrees  of  the
Cardinal Signs, the 9th and 21st degrees of the Fixed Signs, and the 4th and
17th degrees of the Common Signs.

CULMINATE:

   When  a  plant reaches Zenith it is said to culminate,  for it  has  then
reached  its highest altitude and then begins to descent toward the  Western
Node.  This expression is also used concerning aspects.  When a planet comes
within  orb  of  another  the  influence  is  at  first weak, but it becomes

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stronger  and stronger the nearer the applying plant comes to the exact  as-
pect, and at that time it culminates or reaches its maximum strength.   Then
when the plants begin to separate and the aspect is gradually dissolved, the
influence is correspondingly weakened, and finally ceases altogether.

CUSP:

   The first degree of a house or sign.  When the Sun leaves the 30th degree
of Cancer and is in Leo 0 degree,  1 min.,  it is said to be ON THE CUSP  of
Leo,  the same with respect to the other signs.   If Aries 10 degrees is  on
the  MIDHEAVEN,  as the cusp or dividing line between the  ninth  and  tenth
houses is called, and Neptune is in Aries 9 degrees 55 minutes, it is placed
in the Ninth House ON THE CUSP of the tenth.  If it is in Aries 10 degrees 5
minutes, it is placed in the tenth house ON THE CUSP.

   As the influence of planets having direct motion is always FORWARD in the
Zodiac,  a planet on the cusp of a house will always have a stronger  influ-
ence on the affairs signified by that house than a planet which is placed in
the latter degrees of a house.

DECLINATION:

   The  distance a planet is north or south of the Celestial  Equator.   The
highest north declination of the Sun is 23 degrees 27 minutes,  which it at-
tains at the summer solstice the 21st  of  June,  and at the winter solstice

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on  the 21st of December it is in the corresponding degree,  23  degrees  27
minutes south declination.  Mars, Mercury and the Moon reach declinations 27
degrees north, and on rare occasions Venus attains 28 degrees, but the other
planets,  Jupiter,  Saturn,  Uranus and Neptune, have approximately the same
declination as the Sun.

   Astronomy teaches that the declination of the Sun is due to the  inclina-
tion of the earth's axis.

DEGREE:

   A degree is the 360th part of a circle.   There are 30 degrees in each of
the twelve signs of the Zodiac,  and the motion of the planets through these
signs  is stated in degrees and minutes of LONGITUDE,  commencing  with  the
first degree of Aries.

   The Sun's path is called the ECLIPTIC, and is taken as the standard  line
of  celestial motion so far as our solar system is concerned.   The  planets
zigzag along the ecliptic sometimes a little to the north of the Sun's path,
at  other times a little to the south.   The distance of a planet  north  or
south of the Sun's path is called LATITUDE, and is also measured in terms of
degrees and minutes.

   For an explanation of degrees of declination, see "DECLINATION,"  and for
the use of degrees to measure RIGHT ASCENSION, see "MIDHEAVEN."

   The foregoing explanations embody the use of the DEGREE as a unit of mea-
surement to fix the position of the planets on the celestial sphere contain-
ing the fixed stars; but degrees are also used in geography to determine the

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exact  position of any city or place on the surface of the earth.   Latitude
is  then reckoned in degrees from THE EARTH'S equator,  which has 0  degrees
latitude,  to the poles,  which have respectively 90 degrees North and South
latitude.

   LONGITUDE  is measured along THE EARTH'S equator,  180 degrees  East  and
West from the MERIDIAN OF GREENWICH,  which was accepted as a starting point
in 1884 by delegates from all leading nations, France excepted.

   For the effect of distances measured in terms of longitude on the  influ-
ence of the planets see "ASPECTS".

   For the influence of Latitude and Declination on the effect of the  plan-
etary aspects, see "LATITUDE".

DESCENDANT:

   The opposite of Ascendant, the point on the western horizon where the Sun
and the planets set, so called, because from thence the heavenly bodies com-
mence their "descent" towards the nadir of the celestial sphere.

DETRIMENT:

   The opposite of "Dignity," which see.

DIGNITY:

   A planet is said to be in its dignity,  or to be "ESSENTIALLY DIGNIFIED,"
or to "RULE," when it is in certain signs which agree with it in nature, for
then the power of the sign and the power of the planet  are compounded.  The

-----
NOTE:  France accepted the Greenwich Meridian, March 10, 1911.

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influence of the planet is thus strengthened.  Conversely,  a planet is said
to  be in its detriment when it is in the sign opposite to the one it  rules
for  then  the  nature  of  the  sign and  the  nature  of  the  planet  are
incompatible and antagonistic,  and as a result the influence of the  planet
is weakened.

   The  Sun is the center of our solar system,  the giver of life and  heat,
and  the Moon is (so far as our earth is concerned),  the collector and  re-
flector of its vitalizing rays.   The solar ray attains its greatest  inten-
sity in midsummer* when the Sun is in Cancer and Leo,  during June and July,
and so Leo,  the lion, being a masculine sign of a fiery nature is in essen-
tial agreement with the nature of the Sun and therefore helps to dignify and
strengthen it.

   The  effect of the feminine Moon on the earth's tides shows its  inherent
affinity  for  water,  which brings it into  essential  agreement  with  the
feminine watery sign Cancer.  On that account Cancer is its home where it is
strongest and most dignified.

   The keyword of the Sun is LIFE, and that of the Moon is FECUNDATION.  The
germ  of  life which comes from the Sun is planted and watered by  the  Moon
which measures the period of gestation and brings all things to birth.  Sat-
urn  is  the  planet  of  obstruction  and decay, the reaper with hour-glass

-----
*This applies to Northern Hemisphere only.

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and scythe who cuts off the life given by the Sun and fostered by the  Moon,
when his hour-glass shows that the fruits of life's experience are ripe  for
harvest.   Thus he is the planet of death, and moves in an orbit on the out-
skirts of the solar system, which is the boundary of Chaos, where all things
are  dissolved and transmuted by spiritual alchemy to finer and  finer  tex-
tures.

   Therefore  Saturn is in essential agreement with Capricorn and  Aquarius,
the signs occupied by the Sun during the cold months of mid-winter, December
and January.   When placed in these signs his cold, clammy hand makes itself
felt  as a powerful force that crushes life and joy,  that covers  the  life
with the gloom of death.

   Between  the  orbits of Saturn and the Sun are the orbits  of  the  other
planets, and when arranged in order of their distance from the Sun, with the
signs  of  the zodiac so placed that Leo and Cancer are in the  center  with
their rulers,  the Sun and Moon, and Saturn's signs, Capricorn and Aquarius,
one on each wing it appears that--

   Jupiter  whose  orbit  is inside Saturn's, rules th  two  signs  next  to
Saturn's, namely Sagittarius and Pisces.

   Mars'  orbit is inside of Jupiter's, therefore he rules the signs next to
Jupiter's, namely Aries and Scorpio.

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   Venus  is inside Mars'  orbit,  so she is dignified in the signs next  to
Mars' signs, namely, Taurus and Libra.

   Mercury,  which is nearest to the Sun,  rules the signs between those  of
Venus and the Sun, namely Gemini and Virgo.  See "EXALTATION".

DIRECT:

   When  planets  move  with the order of the signs (from  Aries  to  Taurus
etc.),  they are said to be direct, but when they appear to move contrary to
the  order of the signs (from Aries to Pisces),  they are said to be  retro-
grade.   In the ephemeris a capital "R"  at the top of the monthly  page  is
placed  with  the degrees and minutes of the planet's longitude on  the  day
when it begins to retrograde, and at the top of its column while this motion
continues.   When the planet resumes its direct motion, this is indicated by
a capital "D", but there are no "D's" at the top of columns in the ephemeris
to indicate that the planets are "direct" for that is their natural line  of
progression.  The 'R's' are only used to mark that which is an anomaly.

   THE SUN AND MOON ARE ALWAYS DIRECT in their motion,  they are never  sta-
tionary or retrograde. 

DIRECTIONS:

   When  a  child is born it is immersed in an atmosphere charged  with  the
stellar vibrations peculiar to that moment, which are stamped upon each atom

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of  the sensitive organism by the air inhaled with the first  breath.   This
planetary baptism is the basic cause of all the child's characteristics  and
idiosyncrasies; it gives certain tendencies which remain through life.  This
is  the RADIX or RADICAL HOROSCOPE which we carry about in our  bodies  and,
whether we know it or not, it is the root of all events in life.

   But  the planets do not remain stationary in the positions they  occupied
at the time of our birth; their PROGRESS is eternal as is that of our Father
in Heaven, and in time they form aspects other than those which they made at
birth.  These progressed configurations are called Directions, and they mark
the time in life when events are due to occur.

   Directions are of two kinds, PRIMARY and SECONDARY.

   PRIMARY  DIRECTIONS are formed between the progressed planets  and  their
positions at birth.   If,  for instance,  the Sun was in no degrees of Aries
and Jupiter in 25 degrees of Leo at the birth of an individual, then, as the
Sun moves forward in the Zodiac at about one degree a day,  it will be trine
with  Jupiter about twenty-five days after birth.   The system of time  mea-
surement of the planetary progression in general use reckons each day  after
birth  equal  to  a  year  of  life.  Thus  the  said  individual  will meet

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with a very fortunate event in the twenty-fifth year.

   Aspects may also be formed between two progressed planets;  to follow out
the example given in the last paragraph,  Jupiter would progress one or  two
degrees  in the twenty-five days.   It would then be in 26 or 27 degrees  of
Leo,  and after the Sun had passed the trine with the RADICAL Jupiter and it
would come to the trine of the PROGRESSED Jupiter and this would prolong the
fortunate  influence for several years,  though it should be borne  in  mind
that  the effect of aspects between two progressed planets is not so  strong
as when the configuration is between a progressed and a radical planet.

   SECONDARY DIRECTIONS are formed by the progression of the Moon to aspects
with the planets,  PARTICULARLY THE RADICAL.  These lunar aspects are of vi-
tal importance,  for UNLESS THE PRIMARY DIRECTIONS ARE SUPPORTED BY  ASPECTS
OF THE PROGRESSED MOON WHICH ARE OF A SIMILAR NATURE,  THEY COME TO  NAUGHT.
To illustrate by reference to the example of the Sun trine Jupiter.   If  at
the  time when that culminated,  the progressed Moon had been in Gemini  25,
sextile to both the Sun and Jupiter, that would have given a wonderfully fa-
vorable  impetus to the event signified by the direction,  but had the  Moon
been in Taurus 25,  square to Jupiter it would have prevented the event  and
caused trouble instead.  Had there been no secondary lunar direction  at the

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time the event would have remained latent until the next lunar aspect of the
progressed Moon either brought it out to life or withered it.

   Lunations (New Moons) are also powerful factors in energizing directions,
particularly  if they are eclipses.  See "Lunations"  and  "Eclipses,"  also
"Transits".

DOUBLE BODIED SIGNS:

   Gemini,  Sagittarius and Pisces.   So called because in the pictorial Zo-
diac  Gemini is represented as a pair of twins,  Sagittarius as  a  Centaur,
part  man and part horse,  and Pisces as two fishes.   They are of  a  dual,
acillating nature,  and it is remarkable that events in the lives of  people
having these signs prominent are repeated.  They marry several times,  their
misfortunes  never come singly,  but their good fortunes also come  in  mul-
tiple.

DRAGON'S HEAD:

   The  Moon's North Node.   The Nodes are points in the orbit of  a  planet
where it crosses the ecliptic, or Sun's path.  The one where it crosses from
south to north is called its ascending or North node;  the other point where
it crosses from north to south is called its descending or South node.

   When  the Sun is in the East and crosses the celestial equator  from  the
south  to the north,  it enters its martial exaltation sign Aries as a  con-
quering king at the vernal equinox, and all nature wakens to the life,  love

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and  labor  of another year.   Therefore the point where  the  lesser  Light
crosses  into the north declination is also subject to a benign  life-giving
influence,  such as that ascribed to the Dragon's Head.  It fosters and pro-
motes all matters within its influence.

   But  in  the  Fall,  Saturn,  Satan, or  the  adversary,  stands  in  HIS
EXALTATION-SIGN  LIBRA  ready  to vanquish with his  cold  clammy  hand  the
lifegiving Sun and usher it across its descending node, leaving the Northern
Hemisphere to mourn and die.   Therefore the Moon's South Node,  called  the
Dragon's  Tail,  is deemed to be Saturnine in its effect and  obstructs  all
things wherewith it is connected.

DRAGON'S TAIL:

   The Moon's South Node.  See Dragon's Head.

EARTHY SIGNS:  Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.

ECLIPSES:  See "Lunations".

ECLIPTIC:  The Sun's path among the constellations of the firmament.

ELECTION:  See "Horary Astrology".

ELEVATION:

   The zenith which is occupied by the Sun at Noon,  is the highest point in
the heavens.   The nearer that position a planet is, the more ELEVATED it is
said to be.  Thus a planet in the Eleventh House is  elevated  above another

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which is in the Twelfth House,  and a planet in the Tenth House is  elevated
above all other planets.

   Elevation is very important, for it adds considerably to the influence of
a planet for good or ill.   If Mars,  the planet of dynamic energy,  is  el-
evated and in its own sign Aries,  it endows the person with an almost inex-
haustible  fund of energy and an indomitable courage,  which will  be  found
lacking if he is placed in a weak sign and position like Virgo and the Sixth
House.  Similarly with the other signs and planets.

EPHEMERIS, PLURAL EPH-E-MER-I-DES:

   An  ephemeris is a twin sister of the Almanac,  and gives the  GEOCENTRIC
Longitudes and Declinations for the current year.   It is absolutely  neces-
sary in astrological calculations.  But just as it is necessary to get a new
almanac for each year to see when the Moon is NEW and FULL,  when it is Eas-
ter or Christmas, etc., so also is it necessary to have an ephemeris for ev-
ery  year  when we want to cast horoscopes for people.   True,  the  planets
circle about the Sun,  but each has its own specific speed,  and they do not
come into the same position relative to one another that they have while you
are  reading this,  until a period which is called the Great  Sidereal  Year
(25,868 ordinary years),  has elapsed.  Therefore all horoscopes,  even  the
horoscopes of twins differ, and it is necessary to have an ephemeris for the

[PAGE 778]

birth year of any person before you can cast his horoscope.

EQUATOR:

   The  earth's equator is an imaginary line in a plane at right  angles  to
the axis of the earth, and midway between the North and South poles.  It di-
vides the earth into two hemispheres, the Northern and Southern.   If a pole
hundreds  of millions of miles in length were thrust through the earth  from
the equator to the center of the earth,  the outer end would inscribe a line
on  the firmament,  when the earth rotates on its axis,  and this  imaginary
line  is called the CELESTIAL EQUATOR, OR EQUINOCTIAL.   The latter name  is
given  it because when the Sun is at the points where the ecliptic or  Sun's
path crosses the celestial equator we have the equinoxes, the times when the
days and nights are of equal duration.

EQUINOCTIAL:  See "EQUATOR".

EQUINOX:

   The  equinoxes occur on the 21st of March when the Sun enters Aries,  and
the 21st of September when the Sun enters Libra.  At those times the day and
night are of equal length all over the earth.   See "Equator,"  and "Preces-
sion of the Equinox."

ESSENTIAL DIGNITY:

   A  planet is strengthened or essentially dignified when it is in  a  sign
which  agrees  with  its  own  nature.  This  is  thoroughly explained under

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"Dignity," which see.

EXALTATION:

   It  is  explained under "Dignity,"  that when a planet is in  a  sign  of
similar  nature,  it  is thus strengthened or DIGNIFIED,  but  when  another
planet of the same nature as the ruler enters that sign it compounds its own
qualities with those of the ruler and the sign,  and becomes EXALTED or pow-
erfully strengthened.   For instance,  Aries is a dry,  fiery sign.   It  is
ruled by Mars,  a dry,  fiery planet, and when the Sun,  the source of heart
and the giver of Life enters this sign it is exalted to the superlative  de-
gree of power,  and forthwith Life begins to manifest in all departments  of
nature.   The point to be borne in mind concerning what constitutes  exalta-
tion is that it requires the compounding of THREE similar natures.   Scorpio
is  also a martial sign,  but it is water and not in as  complete  agreement
with the nature of the Sun as Aries,  therefore the Sun could not be exalted
in Scorpio as it is in Aries.

   As the Lord of life and heat, the Sun, is always opposed by Saturn in the
rulership  of their signs,  Leo and Aquarius,  so also the cold and  deathly
Saturn opposes the Sun from its exaltation-sign Libra.   Venus and Mars  are
the planets of attraction from the point of sex,  and as all that is  gener-
ated  by  sex  is  under  the  sway  of death, Mars has thus a right to rule

[PAGE 780]

Scorpio,  the eighth-house sign denoting death;  it is also properly exalted
in the Saturnine sign Capricorn, and Saturn, the Lord of Death is justly as-
cribed exaltation-power in Libra, the cardinal masculine sign of Venus.

   Cancer, the moist and feminine sign ruled by the Moon is next to Leo, the
hot  and dry sign ruled by the Sun.  It is therefore required by the law  of
analogy  that the exaltation-sign of the Moon should be next to that of  the
Sun, in Taurus.  Venus, the planet of Love, offers an avenue for the expres-
sion of the lunar forces of fecundation, and the moist feminine and fruitful
sign  Taurus is in entire agreement with these tendencies,  hence this  sign
offers  the most powerful expression for the force working though the  Moon,
and she may therefore rightfully be called exalted in Taurus.   Venus blinds
us  in  the bonds of love for the perpetuation of the race,  therefore  that
love  is essentially selfish,  hence productive of sorrow.   Who  has  loved
much,  has suffered much, hence the tear-stained Venus is exalted in the wa-
tery twelfth-house-sign Pisces, the sign of sorrow.  There, by the purifying
effect of grief,  the earthly,  sensual love is transmuted to Altruism under
the benefic ray of Jupiter,  the ruler, for it is not the will of our Father
that we should suffer beyond what we can bear,  but He will with every temp-
tation provide a way of escape.

[PAGE 781]

   Cancer was pictured on the ancient Egyptian Zodiac as a beetle or scarab,
which  was their emblem of the soul,  and it is an esoteric truth  that  all
souls enter terrestrial life through the sphere of the Moon,  Cancer.   Con-
ception depends upon the place of the Moon and the angle of its ray.  Sagit-
tarius,  the Centaur, is the symbol of aspiration, the man coming out of the
animal, and pointing his bow heavenward.  This sign is ruled by Jupiter, the
planet of Benevolence,  which is now the seedground where our future home is
being prepared,  where we shall sometime dwell when we have learned the les-
sons  to be taught in the Earth Period and are ready to take up higher  work
of the Jupiter Period as taught in "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception".

   Thus, as the solar forces reflected through Cancer and the Moon result in
generation, so the spiritual ray of the Sun reflected through Cancer and Ju-
piter  act as a regenerative power strengthening the psychic  and  religious
nature, and therefore Jupiter is truly said to be exalted in Cancer.

   Mercury is a planet of a variable nature; it takes on the color and char-
acteristics  of any sign or planet with which it is configurated;  therefore
it  has no particular affinity with any of the other planets or signs  ruled
by the other planets, and hence must seek exaltation in its own signs.   And
as Gemini is masculine it is not so  well  in  accord with Mercury as is the

[PAGE 782]

listless  negative sign Virgo,  hence that is the sign of Mercury's  exalta-
tion.

FALL:

   When  a planet is in the sign opposite its exaltation-sign it is said  to
be  in its "fall,"  for that sign, its Lord and exaltation-ruler are all  of
exactly the opposite nature.   Thus,  when the glorious Sun which is exalted
in Aries, is in the opposite sign Libra where the cold and dreary Saturn has
domain, it is weakened and afflicted thereby.  Conversely, when Saturn is in
the sign Aries, the Sun's exaltation-sign, it shrivels and shrinks under the
heat rays.   When the benefic amiable Jupiter, exalted in Cancer,  is placed
on  the  opposite  sign Capricorn,  the sign of the surly  Saturn,  and  the
exaltation-sign of the brusque Mars it is surely afflicted and in its  fall.
Similarly with the other planets.

FEMININE SIGNS:

   The feminine signs comprise the six signs with even numbers:  Taurus, the
second sign,  Cancer the fourth sign, etc.   This includes the earthy signs,
Taurus,  Virgo and Capricorn; and the watery signs, Cancer,  Scorpio and Pi-
sces.   Earth  and water are the two attributes of 'Mother'  Nature.   Given
them she is able to bring forth,  and so the signs which have affinity  with
these essential elements may well be called 'feminine.'   Even Virgo,  which
is essentially barren is perhaps the most important  of  the  feminine signs

[PAGE 783]

for when the Sun is in Virgo during September, the spiritual wave of rejuve-
nating life commences its descent into the earth where it centers at Christ-
mas and then commences to radiate the germinal life which springs forth  and
blooms at Easter.*  Then the Savior having given his life once for all, once
more ascends to the Father.

FIERY SIGNS:  Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.

FIXED SIGNS:
   Taurus,  Scorpio,  Leo and Aquarius are called 'fixed' signs because when
they  are  on the angles of a horoscope and many planets are in  them,  they
make the person very 'set,'  and give him an unusual amount of  perseverance
so  that he will nearly always achieve whatever he attempts to do if  it  is
humanly possible.

FIXED STARS:
   The twelve constellations of the Zodiac are composed of a large number of
stars, and all over the firmament we see clusters of luminous bodies,  which
seem  to  preserve the same position relative to one another,  differing  in
this  respect from the Sun,  Moon and planets which we see moving among  the
star clusters.   Therefore the star clusters composing the zodiacal constel-
lations are called 'fixed stars.'  It is a matter of knowledge however, that
their immobility is only apparent because of  their  vast  distance from us,

-----
*Six months later in the Southern Hemisphere.

[PAGE 784]

and that they are really rushing through space at an enormous speed.

   In astrology we deal principally with the twelve constellations of  fixed
stars composing the Zodiac.   There is no doubt that other fixed stars  have
an influence on human affairs, but our minds are still too weak to grasp the
full  significance of zodiacal signs,  the planets and houses in  all  their
multitudinous  combinations,  and if we attempt to mix in  the  other  fixed
stars and their aspects we shall surely be lost in the maze.   Therefore the
student  is advised to consider only the following fixed  stars:   PLEIADES,
located in 29 degrees of Taurus; ASCELLI, in 6 degrees of Leo;  and ANTARES,
in 8 degrees of Sagittarius.  These stars, it has been observed,  have a de-
cidedly detrimental effect upon the eyes.   When the Sun or Moon is in these
degrees and afflicted by one of the malefics, or when one of the malefics is
in one of these degrees, and the Sun or Moon afflicted anywhere in the horo-
scope, trouble with the eyes result.

FIGURE:
   The horoscope,  or map of the heavens cast by astrologers is usually spo-
ken of as a 'figure.'

FRUITFUL SIGNS:
   Cancer,  Scorpio and Pisces,  the signs comprising the watery Triplicity,
are the particular vehicles of the fertilizing function in nature.  When the
Moon is in these signs she pours out with specially free  hand  the Water of

[PAGE 785]

Life,  the  fecundating principle,  and it is a matter of  observation  that
seeds  planted  when the Moon is in these signs bear more  bounteously  than
when planted under less favorable conditions.

GEOSCENTRIC SYSTEM OF ASTROLOGY:
   When  Copernicus  proved  that the earth and the  other  planets  revolve
around  the Sun,  he is said by scoffers and sceptics to have  exploded  the
system  of Astrology which regards the earth as the center around which  the
Sun, Moon and planets circle.  That is a mistaken idea, which may perhaps be
shown  by  an illustration.   We still continue to say that the  Sun  RISES,
though  we know that it is the earth that moves while the Sun  remains  sta-
tionary; but whether the Sun moves in a circle around the earth, and illumi-
nates each portion of its surface in turn,  or the earth moves upon its axis
and  thus exposes one part after another to the rays of the stationary  Sun,
the  effect upon the earth is the same,  namely,  we get light and  sunshine
during part of the twenty-four hours.  Similarly with the other planets, AS-
TROLOGY  JUDGES  THEIR  EFFECTS WHEN IN CERTAIN POSITIONS  RELATIVE  TO  THE
EARTH,  regardless of how they came there.  Besides, it is so much more con-
venient  to speak from the geocentric standpoint and say "the Sun  rises  at
six,"  than  to say "the axial rotation of the earth will bring us  in  line
with the Sun's rays tomorrow at six o'clock."  Even the most arrogant ranter

[PAGE 786]

against  the so-called geocentric fallacy would probably balk at taking  his
medicine in that way.

GOOD AND BAD:
   "Good" and "bad" are terms one often hears applied to HOROSCOPES, ASPECTS
AND PLANETS,  and it therefore seems necessary to emphasize that in  reality
all is GOOD.   In the Father's Kingdom,  the Universe,  there can be nothing
permanently "bad," and that which we so designate is really only good in the
making.

   It may also be said that a horoscope is not necessarily good because  the
aspects of the planets are by trines and sextiles.  Sometimes it is the very
reverse,  for it is in the struggle of life that we develop  strength;  very
few are strong enough to stand prosperity.   Chances are that in a horoscope
full  of good aspects there lurks the snare of indolence so that the  person
does  not exert himself and becomes driftwood upon the ocean of life,  while
another who has what we call a very afflicted horoscope is roused by the ad-
verse conditions generated by squares and oppositions, and by sheer force of
will conquers his stars and masters his destiny.   In that case,  and  there
are many,  the "bad" horoscope is surely a greater blessing than a good one.
It  is no use to have an automobile if we are too lazy to keep it oiled  and
cleaned, for it will give us a lot of trouble, and unless we keep the wheels
of fortune oiled by constant attention  to  the  opportunities of life,  the

[PAGE 787]

horoscope will not help us no matter how "good" it is.   But if we have what
is  called a 'good'  horoscope and do our part,  it will prove  a  triumphal
chariot in which we may ride the royal road of life.   And the best axle oil
is  called helpfulness.   The heavier you load your car down with  lame  and
weary ones, the easier it will ride.

   And Saturn!   Yes, it is true that he is responsible for most of the whip
lashes of fate, but HE CAN GIVE US NOTHING THAT WE HAVE NOT EARNED,  and the
purpose  is not vengeance,  but education.  The moment we realize that  deep
down in our hearts, we shall cease to murmur, and ask:   Why is this happen-
ing to me,  what have I done to deserve it?   Then,  seeking prayerfully for
the reason, that we may learn to mend our ways in that respect and so escape
kindred trials in future,  we shall draw nearer to our Father,  and learn to
kiss the cross.  Thus, instead of being an unmitigated evil, the visitations
of Saturn are opportunities to correct our wrongdoings and learn wisdom.

   It  is similar with the so-called Malefics.   At present their  influence
seems  evil to us because we have not learned to work in harmony  with  them
for the highest good.

   But even today,  the aspects of Saturn to the Moon and Mercury give depth
to the mind and power of concentration, which are decidedly  good.  Mars  in

[PAGE 788]

aspect with these planets energizes the mind and makes it more alert; Uranus
in aspect to them gives a spiritual perception to those who can express this
faculty, but they are very few.

   On the other hand,  the so-called good planets may be decidedly detrimen-
tal  by fostering self-indulgence,  and therefore the appellation 'good'  or
'bad' is ambiguous.  The true esoteric student will carefully cultivate this
mode  of mind with regard to the factors in Astrology,  and always base  his
judgment on this conception of the planets and their aspects.

   A malefic that is well placed and aspected will prove of more help than a
benefic that is weak and afflicted.

GREAT SIDEREAL YEAR:  See "Intellectual Zodiac". 

HELIOCENTRIC ASTROLOGY:
   A system introduced by certain modern astrologers in an effort to conform
to the Copernican conception of the solar system with the Sun as the centre.
It is not satisfactory however,  for while those who practice geocentric As-
trology  have the records and observations of past ages to guide  them,  the
votaries of the new system have mainly speculation.

HORARY ASTROLOGY:
   The  science of judging how a certain matter will turn out from a  figure
set up for the time the question was asked.  The philosophy is that the same
stellar  influence  which  makes  a  person  sufficiently anxious to ask the

[PAGE 789]

question  contains also the answer.   Therefore, if the person who wants  to
know  is  an astrologer,  he erects a horoscope for the time when  he  first
thought of consulting the stars.  If a person who cannot set up a figure ap-
plies personally to an astrologer,  the latter sets up a figure for the time
when  the  question is asked of him, and if the question comes  through  the
mail, he casts a horoscope for the time he actually read the question in the
letter.   THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT,  FOR IF THE FIGURE BE SET UP FOR  A  WRONG
TIME,  THE JUDGMENT IS CERTAIN TO BE WRONG.   It sometimes happens that  the
matter asked about has not reached such a state of completion that the issue
is settled,  and a definite answer can be given.   Therefore the first thing
to do after the figure has been cast, is to see if it is "RADICAL,"  and can
be judged.

   If  the first or second degree of any sign is rising,  or if one  of  the
three  last degrees of any sign rises,  or if the Moon is in the last  three
degrees of any sign,  or void of course, it is not safe to judge but the in-
quirer should wait a more favorable time and ask the question again.

   When Saturn is on the Ascendant or in the First House he always obstructs
the  matter,  and if he is in the Seventh House  the  astrologer's  judgment
fails.

   If none of these things hinder, the figure may be judged by the following
method:

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