|
The DK Foundation Karma and New Directions Preface This
book has come into being as a direct result of seven years intensive
client work and teaching undertaken in various parts of Britain from the
mid - 1980's. The
intention in writing this book is not to offer a definitive study of the
planets in the houses but rather to offer in handbook form information,
which may help practicing astrologers and astrology students to identify
from their planetary distributions, the disposition and circumstances of
people born into contemporary Western societies. This
work concerns itself unashamedly with form and events. The psychological
orientation of Western astrology is making it increasingly difficult for
students of astrology to come by this kind of information. This
is an unhelpful tendency given that we live in a world of form and even
if we wish it otherwise, most of us are affected deeply, at one level or
another, by events throughout the course of lives. If we know how to
read them, we can discover ourselves in the events we draw to ourselves. Another
unhelpful tendency is the evasive treatment so often given in astrological
works, especially those published in the USA, to the planetary
placements and aspects, which produce trauma and difficulty. Life is
difficult and to suggest anything less is disingenuous.
If anything I have been at pains in this work to identify the
negative expressions of certain planetary placements. My years as a
practicing astrologer have left me in no doubt that it is negative
experiences which send people in search of astrological guidance; and
perhaps one of the finest services an astrologer can perform for a
client is to offer an explanation of a traumatic occurrence which
challenges the hypnotic view that misfortune ‘just happens’. In
this work it is assumed that the purpose of life on earth is the
transformation of energy. Humankind can transform energy with or without
consciousness. If we undertake our role with consciousness then we can
better help our planet and ourselves, and in an individual’s coming to
consciousness, crisis has an enormously important part to play. Since
the discovery of Pluto, we need to have this awareness if we are to take
advantage of the opportunities now available to us. In
my own astrological career I have been helped greatly by the writings of
the astrologer Sepharial. My own approach owes a lot to my admiration
for his blunt, unapologetic presentation of what he had observed. The
things that are the hardest to hear are often the most valuable in the
longer term. Suzanne
Rough Brighton
1993 My
heartfelt thanks to Megan Baierski for taking on the laborious task of
editing this work, which I wrote over a decade ago. S.R.
Brighton
2004 INTRODUCTION Understanding
Karma Things
are what they are. Sooner or later we have to come to accept this. Past
lives, in a manner of speaking, were what they were. To judge the
quality of past life experience using the standards and perceptions of
the present is unhelpful. Each
being that ceases to incarnate has become one with its true own nature.
Once this state of consciousness has been attained there is no need for
further incarnations. A
life is useful in as much as it brings the consciousness of the
incarnated being closer to this knowingness. This is the only meaningful
criterion for an astrologer. The
repository of experiences incarnation is the ego or causal body, created
on the mental plane by the individuating process. The ego is informed by
the soul and provides the continuity between lifetimes. The
process of re-incarnation does not require us to apprehend it, although
each of us can assist it by conscious co-operation. Each incarnation
ensures that some imbalance is redressed - even if others are created -
by virtue of the experiences, which the ego, through its personality
form, attracts to it. It is self-interest and the partial view, which
release the forces of dis-equilibrium, which then have to be met with
equal and opposing forces. This is karma. Our
morality, beliefs and imperfect understanding tend to make us view the
karmic process as a system of rewards and punishments, when in fact it
may be likened to the swinging of a pendulum. Few would suggest that the
swing to the right is a punishment: it balances the swing to the left.
It is what it is...and so is the karmic process, which redresses
imbalances over many lifetimes. It is the mechanism by which
consciousness is developed. Our morality, belief systems and experiences
of pain and pleasure exist within this process and may help us deal more
skilfully with its imperatives but the process is not encompassed by
them. Experience
develops awareness. If this were not so then the karmic process would
not be the loom of consciousness that it is. If
awareness can be made to precede experience then the experience may
become unnecessary. When
we talk about co-operating with the karmic process this is what is
meant: developing awareness in order to reduce the number of experiences
the incarnated being needs before it attains equilibrium. New
Directions With
each new personality, consciousness is opened up to new experiences, and
the opportunity to deal from a different vantage point with situations,
which have produced imbalance. Natal
astrology gives us insights into all these areas. The planets through
the signs and the houses they occupy and through their relationship with
each other provide us with tools with which to analyse the personality
in which the soul has incarnated. This enables us to identify the kind
of experiences it will attract to itself and this, in turn, affords us
an insight into the nature of the imbalance to be corrected. With
this function in mind the following definitions are offered. 1.
The Planets The
Sun - current identity / consciousness By
House position:
Indicates the area of life, which gives the ego identity in the
current lifetime. There is a developmental need for a person to be
active in this area for the experiences, and thereby the awareness it
is able to give him. By
Sign:
Indicates the perspective and the modus operendi brought to this area
of life. The
Moon - the soul/ the emotional nature/ the unconscious By
House position:
Indicates the area of life in which awareness has been developed in
other incarnations. By
Sign:
Describes the quality awareness resulting from those
experiences and which forms up the emotional nature. Mercury
- communication By
House position:
Indicates the area of life from which Mercury gains the impressions it
then supplies to the Sun. If Mercury occupies a different house from
the Sun a person’s sense if whom he is influenced by two different
areas of life. By
Sign:
Indicates the perspective a person brings to this area of life. Venus
- love / values By
House position:
Indicates the area of life in which a person finds what he loves and
values. By
sign:
Indicates the way a person loves and orders his values. Mars
- assertiveness By
House position:
Indicates the area of life in which a person projects himself for fulfilment
and recognition. By
Sign:
Indicates the style of assertiveness and what he seeks to gain from
achievement in this area. Jupiter
- expansion By
House position:
Indicates the area of life in which a person experiences himself as
least restricted and in which he feels most capable. A person’s
‘luck factor’ may be said to work through this area of life. By
Sign:
Indicates the manner in which a person expresses his sense of
unboundedness. The element will indicate whether he views it as a
spiritual, intellectual, emotional or material condition. Saturn
restriction / specific area of Karmic redress By
House position:
Indicates the area of life in which a person has the developmental
requirement to struggle against limitation in order to rectify a
karmic imbalance. Before the Saturn problem is mastered - and
potentially this is an area in
which
there may be mastery and outstanding ability awareness is created
through situations which cause difficulty and suffering. By
Sign:
Indicates the qualities, which need to be brought to bear in order to
overcome the problem. Initially, at least, these qualities will not be
easy for a person to express. Uranus
– liberation
(Higher Octave of
Mercury) By
house position:
Indicates the area of life in which a person has to sever attachments
for developmental purposes. Uranus operates, if necessary, without the
co-operation of the conscious mind. In which case, the liberating
conditions appear from the outside as events. By
Sign:
Indicates the nature of the liberating conditions the personality will
attract to itself. The element indicates whether liberation needs to
take place at the spiritual, intellectual, emotional or material
level. Neptune
- transcendence of the ego perspective
(Higher
Octave of Venus) By
House position:
Indicates the area of life in which a person’s personality perspective
is weakest. This area, therefore, offers a person an opportunity to go
beyond the partial view with its inherent imbalances. By
Sign:
Indicates the way in which the ego-less perspective expresses itself.
The element indicates the level affected by the selfless perspective: spiritual,
intellectual, emotional or material. Pluto
— transformation
(Higher
Octave of Mars) By
house position:
Indicates the area of life, which is the medium used
over many
lifetimes for the development of the emotional nature. The energy of
Pluto can manifest either as power used against or as power used by a
person. By
Sign:
Indicates specific qualities of the catalystic activities of Pluto.
The element indicates whether transformation is to affect the
spiritual, intellectual, emotional or physical level. Retrograde
and Stationary Planets Retrogradation
inverts the planetary energy so that it works on an inner rather than
on the physical level. When
a planet is in a retrograde condition in a natal chart it is an
indication that the energy of that planet has been used excessively or
irresponsibly in other incarnation. By making its energy difficult to
project, retrogradation ensures that the planetary energy will be used
with more awareness in the current lifetime. All
the planets except the Sun and the Moon go retrograde for varying
periods each year. It is possible therefore for a person to have many
retrograde planets in his natal chart. Where there is extensive
retrogradation a person experiences difficulty in interfacing with the
world: he is usually unable to accept the values of his society or
respond to the goals and rewards, which motivate the majority of his
contemporaries. Unless he can find an alternative system of values by
which to live he is likely to become disillusioned and alienated by
the time of his Saturn Return. A
stationary planet gives considerable emphasis to both the energy
principle and the area of life, denoted by the house in which the
stationary planet is found. A planet in this condition indicates that
there is a pressing developmental need for a person to focus on both
the energy and the area of life. It may be that it was given
insufficient attention in other incarnations, or that it was primed
and is now ready to be given creative expression. 2.
The Houses The
houses of the horoscope denote the various areas of life experience.
When they are tenanted natally, or subsequently by transit or
progression, that area of life has a particular importance for the
outworking of the life. Yet
it is only when the soul through its many personality forms has had
experience in all areas of consciousness that it can come to an
understanding of its true nature i.e. both individual (Personal &
Relative consciousness) and constituent (Universal consciousness). In
the houses of Universal consciousness the incarnated being learns to
work with both aspects of its nature. These
houses are a preparation for the next stage of the spiritual journey,
in which the two aspects become one. Areas
of Life Experience House
I - Personality - personal - self-image - physical appearance Awareness
through self-projection and personal effectiveness House
II - Values - personal resources - money - material possessions Awareness
through consolidation and material responsibility House
III - Rational mind - the
written & spoken word - education & places of learning - the
environment - brothers & sisters - communications systems - transportation Awareness
through communication House
IV - The collective unconscious - the individual unconscious - the
cultural roots - the childhood - the mother - the home - real estate -
personal
past Awareness
through the experience of continuity House
V - Being - individuality - creativity - sex as self-expression -
conception of children - recreation Awareness
through the exercise of creative energy House
VI - Work - vocation - service - health - physical constitution -
domestic pets Awareness
through the exercise of functional energy House
VII - Relationship - balance - partnerships with commitment - business
associates & clients Awareness
through relating House
VIII - The astral plane - death - sex as conjunction - dealings with
partners - shared resources - inheritance Awareness
through emotional and sexual experience
House
IX - Knowledge - the law - religion - philosophies
- other countries & cultures overseas travel Awareness
through the quest for meaning House
X - Authority - the establishment - the career - the father Awareness
through the experience of recognition & authority House
XI - Ideals - fellowship - groups - communal activities - friends -
children after birth Awareness
through communal endeavour House
XII - Universal consciousness - self-transcendence - the impartial -
sacrifice - places of withdrawal & seclusion Awareness
through the experience of non-separation 3.
The Areas of
Consciousness Each
area of life, denoted by the houses, belongs to one of three areas of
consciousness. The
position of the Sun in a person’s chart indicates in which area of
consciousness a person is working in the current incarnation; the
position of the Moon indicates the area in which there has been experienced
gained through other incarnations. Each
area of consciousness has a specific focus, which stamps a person’s
approach to life and gives him his terms of reference. The
three areas of consciousness are: Personal Relative Universal Personal
Consciousness:
Focus:
Self Relative
Consciousness:
Focus:
Self in relation to other Universal
Consciousness:
Focus:
Self in the context of a higher order …………………………………………………………….. The
soul in its many personality forms gains experience in each area of
consciousness. Whilst there is a sense in which there is progression
through the houses of Personal consciousness, to those of Relative
consciousness, and then onto those of Universal consciousness which
reach their apotheosis in XII House, it would be extremely unwise to
attempt to assess the level of soul development from the area of
consciousness in which the Sun is found. The subtle process of
reincarnation eludes such rigid classification. The
Aspects The
section which follows, is devoted to identifying the way in which each
of the planets is likely to express itself when working through each of
the twelve houses. All the planets have the capacity to be influenced by
certain of the others. The rule being, that-the slower moving planet
will influence the faster moving one. The
aspects cast will have considerable bearing upon a planet’s (a
significator’s) performance within a house, something that needs
always to be kept in mind when using the delineations offered in this
section. The
following considerations are offered as guidelines: ¬
Planets aspecting the significator from
the semi-sextile (30 degrees); sextile (60 degrees); and trine (120
degrees) will co-operate with the significator and support its
expression. ¬
Planets aspecting the significater from
the semi-square (45 degrees); square (90 degrees); and opposition (180
degrees) angles have a frustrating and inhibiting effect. ¬
Planets aspecting the significator with
the conjunction (0 degrees), especially if this occurs within the same
house, will either heighten the expression or suppress it according to
the nature of the conjoined planets. ¬
Planets aspecting the significator from
the quincunx (150 degrees) & the
sesiquadrate (135 degrees) angles will produce overreaction. ¬
When the significator is an inner
planet, Saturn in conjunction, square or opposition is most likely to
suppress a planet’s expression and make the description seem inept. In
sextile & trine aspect Saturn will moderate and give discipline to
the expression. ¬
When the significator is aspected by
Uranus, Neptune or Pluto from the square & opposition angles the
expression will be exagerated and eccentric. The
expression of the conjunction depends upon how well the energy of the
significator can blend with that of the outer planet The house in which
the conjunction occurs will also have bearing on this matter as some
areas of life will prove a more accommodating medium for energy of this
potency than others. When
the aspects cast by these planets is from the sextile and trine angles
the expression will be distinctive and original. The
Houses Each
of the systems popular in the U.K and USA: Equal House, Placidus, and
Koch when used in the Northerly latitude will produce significantly
different results. How
important is this? It
is the nature of the information, which the astrologer wishes to access,
which should be decisive in this matter. |
