A client’s teenage daughter arrived home from a night out on the town seriously worse for wear. This was the first time it had occurred and when told that her drink had been spiked (drugs are dissolved into the drink to reduce inhibitions and often used for date-rape), her mother believed her as this had never happened before. However, she had always warned her daughter that should she ever arrive home intoxicated she would have her medically tested for intoxicants and drugs. The mother wanted to know if it was neccessary to subject her daughter to this, hence the horary question to me.

While most of us prefer to blame others or our circumstances for the restrictions placed on our potential, it is often we who are the wardens. There are most certainly those who are born into, or placed in dire circumstances which are almost impossible to overcome, but this does not hold true for many of us. The late Leo Buscaglia sums it up succinctly when he says "get out of your way", a phrase we would all do well to heed.

The message for 2011 is about balance between what has gone before and what is yet to come; we will need to strive for equilibrium between what is tried and tested and which has stood the test of time, and that which is new and innovative and which may be more beneficial or effective. The adage of not throwing the baby out with the bath water will hold true for 2011, with the baby being either the old, with its firm, solid and secure parameters or the new which possibly still has to define its boundaries. 

The horary astrologer is the practitioner to consult when life's events make no sense: you are unable to see the wood for the trees or you have reached a crossroads; far better to know the pitfalls and propensities that lie ahead in order to choose the appropriate course of action.

The Solar Return chart, together with other directed charts used by the astrologer, provides a personalised annual forecast. It is completely unnecessary to launch yourself into either a new 'birth' year, or a chronological New Year, devoid of the vital tools required to make prudent decisions.

This section contains articles on a variety of topics - from relationships and health to politics and sport - which provide enough scope to be of interest to a broad spectrum of people. These articles should instil a respectful attitude towards the craft as it is meant to be applied, as well as pique the curiosity.

Medical astrology is an ancient methodology used to determine the cause and treatment of existing conditions (as well as the efficacy of prescribed treatments and attending physicians) and to formulate individual wellness and lifestyle programmes to achieve optimum health. Therapies derived from planetary signatures are prescribed such as Gem Stone Therapy, Tissue Salts, Essential Oils and Bach Flower Remedies. Individual nutrition, weight loss and exercise programmes are derived from the temperament (humors) as well as treatments for existing illness. A body work programme based on Polarity Therapy is offered: all of these assist in the facilitation of healing; the efficacy is heightened as the programme is derived from the individual birth or horary chart – it is not one size fits all.

The quality of our minds, combined with our emotional natures, determines our outlook on life and our interaction with others. We are all predisposed to certain moods and conditions, be they upbeat or depressant, and using knowledge gleaned from the nativity, we can enhance the positive elements while securing assistance for the negative ones.

“To honor the self is to be in love with our own life, in love with our possibilities for growth and for experiencing joy, in love with the process of discovering and exploring our distinctively human potentialities.”- Nathaniel Branden, Honoring the Self

Introduction

In the hand of cards we are dealt, we all have a winning combination and a losing one, and how we play the game of life depends on our free will. In every hand there is one exceptionally good card, and in the natal chart that planet is called the Lord of the Geniture. This simply means the ruler (Lord) of the chart and is the planet that has the most essential dignity. Every planet enjoys varying degrees of dignity or debility in each of the twelve signs through which it traverses, and the one with the most essential dignity gets to wear the badge of Lord of the Geniture (LoG). There are the few exceptions where the native does not have a LoG as none of the seven planets in the nativity have any essential dignity. Even though this may appear pretty dismal at the outset, the skilled astrologer can still find a positive and helpful way forward for the person, but this is done without the assistance of the biggest ally in the chart, the LoG.

In the chart we find 3 unfortunate houses, the 6th, 8th and 12th. Of these the 12th is possibly the most misunderstood due to the facets of human behaviour that it rules. We are also prone, as a species, to averting our eyes from our own folly and avoiding the word “sin” as it causes distress and challenges our belief systems. The modern age in which we live tends to focus on the “mind over matter” principle where Grace is not required, and on reincarnation.

The word “sin” has therefore become redundant to those who subscribe to this philosophy - we receive numerous chances to improve ourselves over the course of many lives, there is no eternal damnation, and we are the masters of our own destiny. What is often overlooked is that the cultures from which the belief in reincarnation springs, not the modern western version of it, all subscribe to the word karma which in Biblical terms is interpreted as “what ye shall sow, so ye shall reap.” There is no room in this model for behaviour which has carte blanche over misdeeds, which means that even in those cultures, the word sin exists, albeit labelled, interpreted and applied in different ways.

The word fertility is immediately associated with conception, but to an astrologer the term provides broader connotations as well as applications. There are many areas where fertility is applicable and understanding the basic astrological premise on which fertility is based is essential to its application: investments, careers, relationships and health are but a few examples.

Modern medicine happily dismisses this ancient knowledge - but if we think that our ancestors went to the doctor for remedies that consistently failed to work, we can only conclude that they were seriously stupid. Ancient tradition also views illness as necessary to burn off the bad humours which are afflicting the person, and illness is thus a form of alchemy, if seen in that light. It is with this mindset that the traditional astrologer approaches a medical chart, and this approach provides one of the reasons why the illness, which possibly cannot be determined by the physician, may be found.

“It is better to hide my pain from pretentious physicians, perhaps I will be cured from the ‘Treasury of the Invisible’.” The Persian poet Hafiz.

The ‘Treasury of the Invisible’ referred to in the quotation is with reference to the “Divine Order” where the archetypes of all manifestation are to be found. It also refers to the vertical cause in contrast to the horizontal causes with which the ordinary physician is concerned.  As we know natural medicine, just like astrology, is concerned with the vertical causes – “the inter relation between the domains of the spirit, the soul and the body”.  Two of the most well known remedies available to treat the body on a vertical level are the Bach Flower Remedies and tissue salts – both of which have a direct correlation to the craft of astrology.

The essence of true healing is not simply to remove the physical suffering; it is to assist the person to come to terms with the cause of the illness, on all levels of the vertical plane, and to understand the significance of the illness as a result. This is precisely what astrology offers – a natal chart in the hands of a qualified and skilled astrologer can yield insights relating to this vertical plane that very few other crafts are able to do.

The word stress is synonymous with modern times, so much so that we tend to forget that it is nothing new. Certain stressors may have changed over the centuries, we do not need to run away from the very animal that we are hunting for food, nor do we have to deal with constant exposure to the elements anymore, but these stressors have been replaced by more modern ones. There are two types of stress, identified by the endocrinologist Hans Selye, published in 1975 – that of eustress and distress. Eustress is the stress that enables us to react in a positive way, and is labeled as such when the stress enables us to function positively. Responding to deadlines, thus having to work that little bit harder and having to dig deep on a physical level when participating in a sporting event, are but two examples. Distress is persistent stress that is not resolved through coping or adaptation, and manifests in various ways both physiologically and symptomatically, such as in anxiety, high blood pressure, increased blood sugar, irritability, headaches and so on.

A number of medical organisations use the rod of Asclepius as their logo. This rod, which consists of a serpent coiled around a staff, is associated with astrology and with healing the sick through medicine. The staff symbolises the “good shepherd” who is a dignified person in a position of authority, and the serpent represents the homeopathic adage “nature can overcome nature”. What is not commonly known is that pre 1700 (the Age of Enlightenment) medical practitioners who were not qualified as astrologers, were not considered sufficiently skilled if they did not at least have an understanding of the sacred science. This knowledge was essential to their diagnostic skills as even the vulgar (common man) had a basic understanding of astrology - it was, in ancient times, the language of the people. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was himself proficient in the craft.

I was chatting with a friend who is also an astrologer and we came to the conclusion, based on our experience in this field, that what all of us really want to know is when will we meet someone who will love us just the way we are, and when we do, will they stick around once they discover our faults? That same day I received an email written by someone who runs a dating agency, and they mentioned how so many people who attend these arranged singles evenings spend the entire night complaining about how poor the quality of people is they are meant to meet and fall in love with.

A friend of mine recently returned from a lengthy holiday abroad. To say that she has been depressed and unhappy since her return is to put it mildly – I believe that she has experienced panic attacks and her senses are heightened causing an over reaction to negative situations that she views in her immediate surroundings.

Travelling to other countries that do not share our levels of crime and “flavour” of stress can do this to you – although in my travels, even to the most first world of countries – all that I have ever wanted towards the end of my trips was to come home. We are all affected differently and in pondering the reasons as to why this is so, I deduced that it was a question of philosophy.

The myth of Mercury

The son of Maia the coy daughter of Atlas, and Zeus, the father of gods and men, Hermes was conceived in secret during one of Zeus’ many clandestine affairs. (1)

Hermes was active and precocious from the outset. Born at midday in the deep cavern in Mount Cyllene where his mother resided, he immediately set about inventing the celestial-sounding lyre from a tortoise shell. By nightfall that same day he was already bored with his toy and so ventured forth into the meadows where he proceeded to steal fifty of Apollo’s best cattle and subsequently hide them in a high ceilinged cave near the Alpheios River. Craftily he erased the trail he had made, retraced his steps home, donned his swaddling clothes and climbed back into his crib. His mother spying the infant god entering the cave, prophesied “trouble you are going to be to the gods and men”.

A student recently presented me with lemons and grapefruit that had been grown organically in her garden, and at the same time my mom brought back avocado pears that had been plucked from trees in her family's garden during her visit to KwaZulu-Natal. A variety of organic produce is not yet readily available in South Africa (in the shops) and you have to make the time and the effort to bypass your favourite supermarket to locate an organic market if you wish to eat these foods regularly. When you do, the pleasure that these foods, in their original and uncorrupted state provides, surpasses convenience shopping and you wonder why you don't invest the time to source them more regularly.

An understanding of the basics of traditional astrology and the premise on which it's based, affords the public a glimpse into this ancient celestial science and its true efficacy as a superior, profound and invaluable navigation tool for life. Application of this knowledge assists in pin pointing the potential for abundance in all areas of life and astrology offers insight on how to maximise this; it is able to address all facets of life and to offer practical solutions for the individual and for groups of people.