Tag: hellenistic astrology

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Destinies of Kings and Queens: The Power of the Four Royal Stars

There are four stars which light the way to the greatest of destinies. These stars are Regulus, the King, (5*5’ Leo Babylonian Zodiac – Fagan Allen sidereal) Aldebaran (15*0’ Taurus Babylonian zodiac – Fagan Allen Sidereal) Antares (15*5’ Scorpio Babylonian Zodiac) and Fomalhaut (9*05’ Aquarius Babylonian Zodiac). For births in the 20th century, add approximately 24.5degrees to the sidereal position to find its tropical location. So, Regulus is around 29*35’ tropical Leo and so on for the other stars.

Many people know of these stars but know absolutely nothing about how to use them in astrology. Considering these are the four most important stars in the sky, it’s about time we rectified that!

These are the stars of the most famous destinies – however how can they manifest? There are certainly a lot of people with one of these stars within 2-3degrees of their ascendant or MC and they’re not all extremely famous or influential people! In fact, there are even more people with a planet close by to these stars, so what’s the deal with them?

There are a lot of questions to be answered and important principles to be clarified and I will not be able to address them all in one article. However, I will address the main ones and hope you each can take away the most important points! These will include the importance of the 5/6/7 Hylegial places or places of life, the necessity for exactness and the nature of each star.

So, what are these Hylegial places? They are the places of most importance in any chart which need to be analysed thoroughly. These are the ascendant (Easter horizon), midheaven (Arc of the meridian), the descendant (West horizon), the Imum Coeli (IC/Lower meridian), the Sun, the Moon and I will also add the pre-natal Syzygy (full/new moon before birth). These are the most important places to begin interpreting in any chart and in fact more than 90% of the information about a chart is found in these places and their aspects. Astrology is simple when you know what you’re doing! If any of these positions are in exact conjunction with a royal star you will find a most famous and notable, lucky destiny.

What do I mean by exact conjunction? I would say an exact conjunction is exact to the degree and the minute. However, since I have never seen this in a chart and neither will you because it is so rare, for this sake an exact conjunction will be within +/15 minutes from a royal star. This is 1 quarter of a degree either side – very exact! However, we can extend this to 30-45minutes +/-the star in question, however the further away we get the weaker is the influence and the influence drops quickly!

I will illustrate this with some example charts:

Shia Labeouf: Descendant 13minutes from Regulus

My own Chart with the East horizon 20-30minutes from Regulus:

The chart of my Teacher Rumen Kolev with the sun 2.5degrees from Antares:

Pablo Picasso’s chart with moon 10minutes from Antares:

You can see the difference in power by just a few degrees or even less. Of course, my own destiny has barely even begun, but nevertheless the difference of only 15-25minutes with Shia LeBeouf is curious indeed. My teacher who is one of the primary astrological scholars of this age compared with Pablo Picasso’s chart. Obvious you all know Shia LeBeouf and Pablo Picasso… how many people know of us humble astrologers! I think I’ve made my point. Of course there is much more going on in these charts than just the royal stars, however they are good examples for this article.

Lastly are multiple conjunctions with one star. Say someone is born with a royal star in the ascending degree or close by (even within ten degrees) AND the sun or the moon is in the ten-degree zone around the powerful star, this creates a powerhouse chart. Each royal star will produce individual effects, but their energy is amplified by the power of the luminary in an angle. I will show some charts below which illustrate this.

Yogananda (author of autobiography of a Yogi): Moon+Regulus in Ascendant.

Pablo Escobar: Sun with MC and Antares

J.R.R Tolkien – Author of the Lord of the Rings: Moon with Fomalhaut in 7th house

Napoleon Bonaparte: Sun with Regulus near MC

I have yet to come across a chart with a luminary and Aldebaran in an angle, so I can’t share any here. However, each of the other royal stars is illustrated so you can get an idea of what they indicate. Antares can be criminal – kings/queens of the underworld – Regulus is royal – kings/queens or royalty in the literal sense. Those who mingle in high society – and Fomalhaut is artistic – kings/queens of the artistic world.

Now onto the characteristics of each royal star.

Let’s start with my favourite, Regulus. This is the star of royalty and in Mesopotamia was called ‘Lugal’ which means king. He is literally the star of the kings, queens, and nobility. I have read for several modern day ‘aristocrats’ who had Regulus in MC or AC conjunct the moon! Also, one of my personal friends was born with the Sun only 5minutes from Regulus in the fifth house and her father is an incredibly rich tech-company owner – modern day aristocracy!

Regulus is a kingly star, of leadership and inspiration for many followers. There are many astrologers who have this star because all the stars of astrology are also in Leo. If you have a Hylegial place near Regulus, even within several degrees, you will be successful, a leader, wealthy, entrepreneurial, with a certain amount of fame and a good reputation in your given field. Regulus falls under the influence of Jupiter and Mars – the planetary combination for great leaders!

Aldebaran is the primary star of wealth in the zodiac. Hermes states it is the luckiest of the lucky and the richest of the rich. Natives with star are wealthy, enjoying luxury and material ease in their life. All billionaires are connected to this star in some way or another – it is uncanny. This is the star of America, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Bruce Springsteen, and many others who I will name in another article specifically about Aldebaran and how it appears in different charts. It is under the rulership of Venus and Mars – so anyone with Aldebaran will also enjoy many love affairs and many suitors. People with Aldebaran will have many love affairs – the women will beautiful and the men magnetic.

Antares is the least fortunate of the royal stars because it is a restless star of war, conflict, and rebellion. Of course, natives with Antares powerful will be as influential and powerful as those with regulus or Aldebaran or Fomalhaut, but they take a more difficult path. Their work is in the shadows, often hidden from sight and they face many dangers and challenges along their road. They do not walk the paths set out by society and they’re often outcast from the mainstream. Antares makes great scholars and researchers, great truth seekers, fighters and even criminals. He is ruthless, restless, in the end successful and rabble-rousing. Comes up against great obstacles and overcomes them against the odds. This is a powerful star for those on a spiritual path – as we all know if we seek the truth, we must find it on our own, not even our own master or the greatest angel can help us. Such is the wisdom of Antares. However, if the irascibility of this star is not counteracted by a strong spiritual inclination it will create criminals. This star is under Jupiter and Mars, with an emphasis on Mars.

Fomalhaut is the star of artistic spirituality. This star doesn’t necessarily make people rich, but it makes them deeply spiritual and creative. They will be imbued with a deep creative talent which comes from visionary inspiration – Fomalhaut is the star of divine inspiration. These people have well developed psychic centres, especially if the sacred zone of Aquarius is also activated. They channel through music, images and writing to express their experiences and understanding of the divine world’s above. Fomalhaut is a pure star under the rulership of Venus and Mercury making it a priestly star.

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Heliacal Phases: the Many Gods in Our Sky

Figure 1: Babylonian Seal – Mythological Depiction of Sunrise Between two Mountains

In order to understand the magical world of our ancient ancestors, we must understand the way they saw the world: as a realm under God’s creation in which all things exist, demons, angels, gods, animals, kings, criminals, magicians, warriors, love, betrayal, defeat, victory and so on. All of these different beings were present on earth AND in the sky in the form of planets, constellations, individual stars, stellar phenomena etc.

So each planet is associated with more than one divinity – and each of these divinities is shown through the planets heliacal phase. Roll credits.

Just kidding. This is a big topic which requires a lot of technical knowledge and remains an incomplete field, however I will do my best to elucidate these mysteries in this post.

The term ‘heliacal’ refers to the name ‘Helios’ the ancient Greek name for the Sun. So heliacal means, ‘to do with the Sun’. So a heliacal phase refers to the relationship of a planet’s position in the sky to the position of the Sun. The inner planets (Venus and Mercury) have different heliacal phases than the outer planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn); this is too complicated for me to explain here, it is enough just to know it for now.

The main two phases that the planets have are as ‘evening stars’ or as ‘morning stars’. Imagine you are an ancient priest who is watching the sky – how are the planets going to appear? They will look like rapidly moving stars! When the planets change phase they will either appear in the morning (before sunrise) or in the evening (after sunset), hence the term evening or morning star.

The way to understand this astrologically is illustrated in figures 2 and 3 below. If a planet is earlier than the sun in the order of the signs (sun is in Taurus and Venus is in Aries), then it is a morning star. If it is later in the signs than the Sun (Sun in Taurus and Venus in Gemini), then it is an evening star.

Figure 2: Sunrise in Blue Circle, Morning star(s) in Red
Figure 3: Sunset in Red Circle, Evening Stars in Blue and Morning Stars in Green

Keep in mind that the first house and the seventh house are the horizons and anything beneath them is beneath the earth and cannot be seen, but anything above these two houses can be seen. In figure 3, Jupiter Mars and Saturn won’t be seen until they rise above the horizon in 6-8hours, whereas Venus and the moon will be seen above the sunset for several more hours before sinking below the earth.

So now that the basic concept is out of the way what does it all mean???

Venus: Morning star is Athena – masculine, forward moving, loyal in love, victorious/warlike. Ruling in Leo.

Evening star is Aphrodite – feminine, unstable in love, focus on beauty, romance and sex, magnetic. Ruling in Taurus.

Mercury: Morning star is Apollo – artistic, right brain, poetic, storytelling, creative, divine inspiration. Rules in Virgo?

Evening star is Hermes – intellectual, left brain, analytical, detail oriented. Rules in Gemini

Mars: Morning star is Hephaestus – Victory in war/conflict, athletics, forging/building, controlled passion, channeled anger.

Evening star is Ares the God of bloodshed – destructive, chaotic, unrestrained anger, issues with police, criminals or military, war.

Jupiter morning star is Zeus – social advancement, acquisition of riches, glory and fame, entering high society .

Evening star is Hera – Charitable, advancement to ‘give back’, helping the unprotected or needy.

Saturn morning star is Ninurta, the dark hero – Mature, serious, strong boundaries, desiring power/control, controlled fears, slow progress

Evening star is Anzu the Devil-bird – Suspicious, hateful, holding grudges for a long time, ruthless, insecure, fearful

This is a good introduction to the different phases of the planets. In the next post I will cover the invisible planets and what each one indicates and how to identify it in a chart. Until then, go with Apollo and Athena at your back!
Julian

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Conjunctions in Ancient Astrology

Figure 1: Artistic Drawing of the Babylonian Astrolabe (5500BC)

The beauty of the ancient system is in its simplicity. Every piece in ancient astrology is a perfectly sculpted brick which looks boring and even childish on its own, but once they’ve been stacked properly and melded together with the right mortar, they make an incredible structure which towers over all others!

For this reason, I want to provide each of these building blocks one by one and today I will cover the conjunctions and what they manifest in a chart. This is also a clue into understanding what occurs when two planets are mixed by any aspect. The best start for the conjunctions is through the teaching of Hermes on the fixed stars where each star is ruled by a combination of two planets – apart from pollux which is only under Mars.

The stars of wealth are ruled by Saturn and Jupiter

The stars of leadership are ruled by Jupiter and Mars

The stars of spirituality are ruled by Venus and Mercury

The stars of nobility/manners are ruled by Venus and Jupiter

The stars of scholars or liars (depending on day or night chart) are ruled by Mars and Mercury

The star of greatest luck is under Venus and Mars

The stars of artists and writers are under Mercury and Jupiter

The stars of secret knowledge and astrology are under Venus and Saturn

The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, therefore, gives wealth.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Mars – leadership.

The conjunction of Venus and Mercury – spirituality.

The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter – high ethics.

The conjunction of Mars and Mercury at night gives scholars and, in the day, gives liars.

The conjunction of Venus and Mars is sexual or “horny” – a quality of the wealth star Aldebaran, the only star under Venus/Mars.

The conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter creates artists and eloquent speakers/writers.

The conjunction of Venus and Saturn gives a love for spiritual knowledge (astrology).

Remember the Hays of each planet as well – in other words is the chart a day or night chart – and we gain more insight into the influence of the stars/conjunctions for the specific individual.

Saturn and Jupiter at night is worse because these are day planets, and the wealth is delayed by approx. 1 Saturn return (30years). In a day chart, the native is born into wealth.

Mercury and Mars are better at night because they are nocturnal (night) planets and creates scholars. Whereas the day mars/mercury gives liars, con-men and people who forge documents.

I will continue with the rest of the conjunctions below drawing from the ancient text “mathesis” by Julius Firmicus Maternus as well as my own experience and interpretation. You should go and test this teaching for yourself and find out the many hidden secrets I cannot share here, for they are many!

Saturn and Mars: They create people of a perfect temperament, seriousness, morals and restraint because the stars are opposite in nature, and they balance each other out. However, it takes them a long time to decide if they ever do and they often give up on projects before they are complete.

Saturn and Sun: Creates enmity from the native towards their own father. In a night chart it may kill the father or see him fall from grace. makes farmers who gain wealth over time from increasing harvests. A melancholy and boring personality.

Saturn and Venus: Astrologers. Misfortune in marriage, marriage and children later in life.

Saturn and Mercury: Genius, hearing or speech impairment, rigid opinions, and a silent nature.

Saturn and moon: at night: Great fears, destruction of the mother and the mother’s possessions – bad Saturn manifests in the emotions. By day however, good Saturn will manifest in the emotions (seriousness, maturity, ambition etc.).

Jupiter Mars: leadership, fame, glory, inspirational, authority, high positions, military command.

Jupiter Sun: if Jupiter is visible, good fortune from the moment of birth bestowed from their parents. If Jupiter is invisible, trouble with sponsors, religious and political struggles.

Jupiter Venus: Charm, manners, faithful friendships, “those who observe the commandments of all religions with an upright faith.” Benefits from notable women and a fortunate, faithful marriage.

Jupiter Mercury: Good advisors, eloquence, wisdom, noble minded and revered in public, glorious public speakers.

Jupiter moon: Greatest good fortune without limit (especially in day births).

Mars Sun: destruction of the father, loss of his wealth and assets, wounds from iron, fire, sharp objects or in the eyes. Can cause madness if it’s a strong conjunction in an angle (powerful house) with no aspects from good planets.

Mars Venus: Passion, sex, relationships, many suitors, strong sex drive, worst case scenario is accusations of infidelity and public scandals because of this (day chart, bad aspects, powerful house).

Mars Mercury: men of great learning or liars and fraudsters., if Venus is added to the mix it can create homosexual charts.

Mars and Moon: rash and brave individuals who reach success quickly but live a short life.

Sun and Venus: If Venus is invisible, relationship karma, misfortunes and confusion in love, difficulty with employment or obsession with money. If visible in the same sign as the sun, fame and good reputation and an easy life so long as Venus is morning star in a day chart and evening star in a night chart.

Venus and Mercury: spirituality, priests, those who predict the future, sweet and charming words and speech, lyrical musicians and poets. In the best case, divine inspiration.

Venus and Moon: beautiful and virtuous individuals who attain a high position through friends. Unstable marriages

Moon and Mercury: great teachers, quick and skilled learners. Natural talent for wisdom and study especially if mercury is visible. A wise mother who experiences scandals from her choice in men. Best if the moon applies to Mercury.

I will provide example charts in future blog posts whom I know personally and who illustrate the validity of this technique. I will write beneath each chart the aspect and the real story keeping each person anonymous of course.

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Life or Death: The Most Important Teaching in Ancient Astrology

DayNight
SaturnMars
JupiterVenus
SunMoon
Morning MercuryEvening Mercury
Table Showing Which Planets Belong to Which Sect

This teaching goes by two names, and they mean the SAME thing. Often it is called “sect” but can also be called “hays”. You will hear ancient astrologers talk about whether a planet is IN sect/hays very often – if it IS in hays, it is showing its best self, if it is OUT of hays, it is showing its worst self.

There are 6levels of Hays. The first level is the most important and accounts for 70% of the hays of a planet. It is whether the chart is a day chart or a night chart. This is very easy to see – you simply look at where the sun is in the chart. If the sun is above the first house and the seventh house shown in Fig1, it is a day chart. If the sun is beneath the first house and the seventh house, it is a night chart as shown in figure 2.

Figure 1. A Day Chart   
            Figure 2. A Night Chart

The second level of hays which is about 10% is the quadrant of the chart the planet falls in. If the planet is between the ascendant and the MC it is in a day quadrant, between the MC and the seventh house (DC) it is in a night quadrant as illustrated below in figure 3.

Figure 3. The Hays of the Quadrants

The other levels of hays are much more difficult to represent graphically, but I will explain them here for those who are interested. You may also ask me any questions you have on my Instagram or by email at admin@olympus-astrology.com.

The third level of hays is which SOLAR quadrant the planet is in. This is a more advanced technique, but only accounts for approx. 5% of the hays of a planet. In principle it is the same the second level of hays, except you use the sun as the ascendant and divide the zodiac into 90degree segments. From the conjunction with the sun to the first square is day, from the firs square to the opposition is night etc.

The fourth level of Hays is whether the planet is on the same side of the horizon as the sun. If it is a night chart (the sun is below the horizon), so if a planet is also below the horizon WITH the sun, it is on the day side of the horizon. If the sun is above the horizon and a planet is also above the horizon WITH the sun, it is on the day segment of the horizon. This is about 5% of the hays of a planet.

The fifth level of Hays is whether the sign is a day or a night sign. The signs alternate, the first sign Aries is a day sign, the second sign taurus is a night sign and it continues like this. This comes to about 5% of the hays of a planet.

The sixth level of Hays is whether you are a man or a woman. Men belong to the day sect and women belong to the night sect. This also comes to about 5% of the hays of a planet.

Now that your brain has been fried with details, let’s simplify this system and look at some practical examples. Below you will find two charts, figures 4 and 5. The first is the chart of my teacher, Rumen Kolev. The second is a chart of an anonymous character given in a lecture who spent 5years in prison!

Figure 4: The Chart of Rumen Kolev

Figure 5: Anonymous Chart of a Man Convicted to Prison

What you will notice about both these charts, is that both charts have Mars close to the MC. This is their defining characteristic. However, one chart belongs to one of the most notable astrological scholars of modern times and the other to a convict!

If you have learned this system of hays, you can recognise this difference immediately. Let’s find the sun! For chart 1 it is below the horizon but for chart 2 it is above the horizon! If you like, you can analyse the other levels of hays as well, however the most important is simply whether the chart is day or night. You only need to go the other levels for a very deep analysis.

In the ancient texts (firmicus maternus, mathesis, book 3 translated by James Herschel Holden) mars in the tenth house or MC is described as follows:

“If it is in a night chart, in its own domicile or a sign of Jupiter it will make the native exposed to many dangers and swindled in different ways. But nevertheless, it will make governors, generals, lords of life and death, and great magistrates over provinces and cities… but if it is found in the tenth house or MC by day, it makes ineffectual men who are hindered in many ways in everything they do; it signifies great damage and loss to their personal wealth. It makes natives who are judged as outlaws or persecuted by the law. It indicates burden of travel; compels some to flee or makes them exiles; it makes some to die abroad or in exile from their homeland.”

In general: By night, Mars in the tenth house gives leaders and courageous people who encounter dangers and swindling in their life but are still great and successful. But during the day it makes criminals and people who will face mostly misfortune.

Another example: below is my own chart, figure 7, the chart of J.F Kennedy in figure 8 and the chart of my mother, figure 9. You will notice all the charts are characterised by a powerful Saturn in the ninth or tenth house on the meridian (MC). To illustrate the power of hays let us read what firmicus says about Saturn on the meridian (equal to the tenth house) and then tell the real stories. It reads as follows:

“Saturn in the tenth house or on the MC by day will make emperors, military commanders or captains of the imperial bodyguard… it will give great assets, glory and inheritances from great people most especially if mars does not make aspect… if found in the tenth or MC by night it will cause the loss of inheritance, it will deny marriage, it will deny children, however if a good star makes aspect (Venus or Jupiter), the native will have in some part, children, marriage and inheritances. However, often Saturn in an angle at night kills the marriage partner, ruins the children and causes bitter pain and loss.”  

Figure 7: Saturn on MC by day (me!)

Figure 8: Saturn on MC by day – J.F. Kennedy

Figure 9: Saturn on MC by night (my mother)

Saturn in the tenth by day is very clear in its manifestation especially in the chart of JFK – it literally made him a king as described in firmicus. In my own chart… we will have to wait and see! I will discuss the omens of my own chart – as they are a great testament and example of practical ancient astrology – in another blog post.

My mother’s chart is a very interesting case! As you can see it is a night chart, Saturn is in the MC. However, Saturn also has a wide trine with her Venus – which is incredibly powerful – and a conjunction with Jupiter. We can interpret that she WILL be married and she will have children, however they will only come after great delay and there will be complications in their health which they will survive. Saturn creates the delay and the troubles with children.

The real story: Her inheritances were not ruined as Firmicus described, in fact they grew and are still growing today. We can thank the conjunction of Jupiter and trine of Venus for this! Also the wealth star Rukbat on her MC with Saturn indicates good income. As for marriage and children which Saturn so cruelly denies at night: She did not marry until she was 38 years old! Saturn delayed it greatly. Her first child (me) was happy and healthy. However, her second child was born 5 days before a solar eclipse! As you can imagine, disaster struck. My brother became sick with meningitis when he was five months old! 5days-5months. He did survive (thanks to trine from Venus and conjunction of Jupiter), but he became deaf as a result!

As you can see, the omens were quite accurate! It is lucky my mother had the aid of Zeus Jupiter and Venus to bring her through a trial which may have been much more tragic than it already was. Saturn gave her many delays and trials when it came to creating her own family, finding a partner and having children, however these things did come eventually, but were tainted with grief just as Firmicus describes.

Now you have a good understanding of the technical and practical side of the use of Hays in astrology. May it change your life forever and bring you great peace and the bliss of Olympus!