Gryphon Astrology Blog

Besieging a Castle: How Not to Do It.

If you haven’t yet read Bonatti’s On War, you owe it to yourself to do so. This is not so much because it will come in handy in your daily life (note: if you routinely lay sieges as part of your workday, you may need a new career), but because it is a fascinating firsthand account of a “field” astrologer in the 13^th century Bonatti had participated in many military expeditions, and there are several stories of his astrological prowess saving the day (check out Holden’s History of Horoscopic Astrology) The text is also an excellent illustration of the fact that even then, the commander did not always listen to his astrologer’s advice!

In this post, I will examine a chart from 1261, when Bonatti went on an expedition with the then-podesta (a type of military commander) of Urbino, Guido di Montefeltro. By way of historical context, Guido was one of the Ghibelline faction and was consigned to Hell by Dante Alighieri in Canto XXVII of his Divine Comedy. Guido was apparently quite a character; he ran Urbino for over thirty years, no small task in those unstable times, and at the end of his long life became a Franciscan monk, presumably to atone for his sins. As an astrologer, Bonatti earned a place in Hell also, though Dante gives every indication of possessing quite advanced astrological knowledge himself! In our chart, Guido and his army were besieging a castle, and the commander wished to know whether they would take it or not.

Technical Details: I am using Robert Zoller’s translation of On War, which I would recommend highly to interested readers. Though the place, date and time for the chart are not given, the closest approximation I could find is October 11, 1261, 9:05 am GMT, Urbino, Italy. Interestingly, the Sun and Moon for this chart are where they should be, but several of the other planets are in different degrees from Solar Fire’s calculation.

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Email your horary questions to nina “at” gryphonastrology.com by Friday to be published on Sunday.

Question: “Will my boyfriend and I get back together?”

Background: The Querent was dating a man with some psychological issues, and the two enjoyed a long-term relationship. The boyfriend left the country for a few months, promising to return and resume the relationship. However, when he returned, he had a relapse of his former problems and told the Querent that he was not in a state to continue the relationship. The Querent wished to know if they would be reunited and if so, when.

Short answer: Not in the foreseeable future. The chart shows very clearly that as of the date of the chart, he was about to somehow do himself ill, that is, he would start acting against his interest. Certainly, rejecting a positive and constructive relationship would qualify as harming oneself. What is most interesting – and unusual – in this chart is the level of interest that the two people have in one another. Most relationship questions only get asked once the affair is on the rocks; here, there is strong mutual interest. It is his propensity to act against his own best interest that gets in the way of his feelings for the Querent. There is no connection shown between the two people in the near future, however, and so the Querent has two choices; she can wait for him to get his life and health together, or she can move on.

The astrology: The Querent is symbolized by the Moon, Lord of the 1^st house, and her biological “I am woman” needs are shown by Venus. Her boyfriend is shown by Saturn, and his biological mate-finding prerogatives are shown by the Sun. We can immediately see the mutual love between the two shown by Moon in Aquarius, Saturn’s sign and triplicity; and Saturn in Cancer, the Moon’s own sign. He loves her, she loves him, so there is no problem so far. Note, however, what is going on with the Sun and Venus, their respective biological urges. Both planets are in Pisces, Jupiter’s sign. Clearly, both people are strongly under Jupiter’s power. Jupiter itself is angular in the 4^th house, and retrograde. While it is strongly positioned to act due to its angularity, it is in Libra, the sign of the Sun’s fall, and so harms the Sun. Jupiter rules the boyfriend’s 12^th house of self-undoing; his tendency to make less than wise choices controls his urge to be in a relationship. Jupiter is retrograde, implying that his problematic tendency is returning.

Saturn exalts Jupiter in Cancer, showing the boyfriend’s attachment to making less than wise choices. There is no applying aspect between any of her planets and any of his planets, showing that while the mutual inclination is there, there is no opportunity to resume the relationship; the occasion simply is not shown. Finally, the Moon is about to trine Juipter, indicating that the Querent will soon run into her boyfriend’s self-harming tendencies.

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As traditional astrologers, we love our malefics, Saturn and Mars. Not when they act on us, of course, and we find ourselves caught in a Saturnian vise or a Martial tempest. Nonetheless, we pride ourselves on understanding these two planets are meanies to some degree and given half a chance, they will do their utmost to ruin our glorious designs.

However, according to Traditional thought, it is not Saturn and Mars we should really fear, but rather the Sun and Mars, the two Hot and Dry planets. For traditional metaphysicians, passion and pride are the most serious obstacles to spiritual pursuits. Pride is the ugly side of the royal Sun, and passion quite simply is Mars. Frithjof Schuon, in his Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism, speaks of the problems associated with each vice.

Astrologically speaking, we can discern what these problems are and how they operate in us. We can also watch for the two planets’ operation in natal charts. Pride is said to be a particularly insidious sin, said St. Augustine, because it is the only vice that attaches itself to virtue, rather than fleeing from it. This is very true in any chart: imagine that you have a perfectly lovely Venus in Libra in the 10^th house, such that you simply overflow with the milk of human kindness and can share it easily with the world.

Now imagine that this Venus is uncomfortably close to the fallen Sun in Libra, which, in this particular chart, likes to claim accomplishments it knows it does not deserve. And so, where before we had an unadulterated strength, the Sun’s merciless rays turn it to a weakness. Just as no planet is safe from the Sun; no virtue is immune from pride’s destructive tendencies.

Schuon says that passion causes two chief problems: attachment and insatiability. Here, we turn to Mars’s dignities and debilities to understand the difficulties Mars can cause. Mars is strong in its own signs, Aries and Scorpio, and in its exaltation, Capricorn. It is important to remember that though Mars is personified in the following explanation, the application of this is not liimited to natal charts; sign placements in horaries and electional charts are extraordinarily revealing as well.

In Aries, Mars is strong because it remains unattached; the quick-moving cardinal fire sign will not permit Mars to dwell too long on any given desire. The dark side of this placement, however, is the weakness of insatiability; in its eagerness to conquer everything and lose no time, Mars’s hunger for new experiences produces a lack of focus and the drive to pursue an impossible quest.

The converse is true for Mars in Scorpio, a fixed water sign. Water is the desire nature, but fixed water (ice!) forces Mars to slow down and move cautiously and deliberately in pursuit of its passion. Such slow-moving passion is just another word for attachment, this placement’s weakness. Mars is Scorpio is slow to adopt the new and slow to let go of the old.

Finally, Mars in Capricorn is disciplined and given firm boundaries by Capricorn’s ruler, Saturn.. Mars’s unrestrained passion becomes very focused and controlled. However, as a planet in exaltation is not quite as strong as in its own sign, Capricorn does not fully address Mars’s innate tendency to attachment and insatiability; it merely puts Mars into something of a straitjacket.

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Dear Readers,

I am so excited to be back to blogging and posting the Weekly Horary. My life has been through many wonderful changes recently, and only now have I settled into a routine. The good news is that I have been reading a great deal of fascinating astrological and philosophical material that I am eager to share with all of you. In the next few days, expect a new Weekly Horary and a new “food for thought” article. Thank you for all your support and emails!

Nina

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