The "feminine" type of aggressiveness (what has astrology taught me)!

(photo courtesy: "Psychology Today" magazine -  "Bullying in the female world" by Ditta M. Oliker)

DISCLAIMER: I do not endorse any kind of violence or aggression! I am just wondering why people go to great pains in order to create a rather "meek" and "aggression-less" public image (while some develop a guilt complex about their own aggression). Overall, aggression is considered something "bad" in our societies! The fact is though that everybody is aggressive, to some shape and form! Some people are overtly aggressive and some others are covertly aggressive! Many people are aggressive towards their own selves! Being aggressive is a natural thing to us humans (you see, we all have a planet Mars or Pluto, or the sign of Aries, Taurus, Scorpio etc in our charts). Thus, the more we deny our aggressive side the more we feed it, the more power it has over us! The "feminine aggressiveness" I am examining here even more so...

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Feminine aggressiveness! Well, that's a term you probably never heard before (there is a chance you might know it as "passive aggression"). It might even upset some of you. How can one characterize aggressive the energy that we all know as maternal, receptive and tender? And how can the feminine energy be "mean" and aggressive? Furthermore, how can it be as "mean" and aggressive as the masculine one? You see, loving and caring as it might be the feminine energy, there is also a "dark side" to it - as there is to everything else!

Personally, I was not fully aware of this kind of "feminine aggressiveness", until I stumbled upon it as I was doing some investigation on the field of astrological "energies" and "polarities"! In particular, some ten years ago I was writing an article on the six zodiacal "Pairs" (which was published in 2004 on the historical "American Astrology" magazine. You may read it here). As I was beginning to conceptualize this article I realized that there is in nature a particular "feminine selfishness" that is equivalent - but not identical - to the masculine one. And consequently there is a feminine kind of aggressiveness corresponding to the masculine one! They both are of the same intensity but are somehow developing in "different phases" (I am explaining this further on)!

Astrology might be of help to us here, because the very zodiac is somehow built upon this "masculine - feminine" pattern. You probably know that the zodiac is symmetrically composed of six masculine and six feminine signs. Aries is a masculine sign, Taurus is a feminine one, Gemini is a masculine sign, Cancer a feminine one and so on.

On my aforementioned "American Astrology" article I was depicting the masculine signs as "mountains" and the feminine ones as sort of gorges or "ravines". Thus, we might picture the masculine aggressiveness as a "mountainous" one and the feminine aggressiveness as a "concavely" one!

Imagine a person crossing with his/her jeep a desolate landscape, on a clear day. That person will easily spot the mountains around him/her, because they are prominent, obvious and explicit! Similarly, we can all perceive easily and IMMEDIATELY the masculine type of aggressiveness! Just picture a person shouting loud at you or violently pushing you, in front of other people. That's masculine aggressiveness alright! What about the feminine aggressiveness though? What would they be its key characteristics?

I began my quest on this subject by considering the feminine aggressiveness as a "ravine" kind of aggressiveness. So, in the aforementioned scenario it would be much harder for the person crossing the desolate landscape to spot any eventual ravines lurking below his/her horizon. And if this person is careless enough s/he might even fall in one, before even realizing it that there was a ravine in front of him/her!

This means that the feminine aggressiveness is somehow invisible to our social environments. And although it is equavalent to the masculine one (they are both equally aggressive but they don't seem so, because their "phases" and "polarities" are ever divergent), it's not easily perceived and thus is not evaluated as an acutely aggressive energy! In reality the feminine aggressiveness (called "passive aggression" in psychology) works in rather IMPLICIT ways, moving across "behavioral corridors" that are well hidden and behind the curtains. Thus, the feminine aggressiveness is somehow "silent", apparently "idle" and does not leave its "trails" externally!

We need though to clarify something here: when we talk about the "feminine energy" we do not refer exclusively to women. Many men (even the allegedly "macho" ones) have prominent "feminine" energies in their charts and thus they may resort to feminine aggressiveness!


                           The "Ego" drive (as defined by astrology)

It is imperative for each person to be  unique, self-sufficient and secure, to have stamina and momentum, to impose its own interests and to dominate as much as it can the people and the situations around it. If the average Joe/Jane lacked an elementary strong "Ego" then s/he would be "crashed" by the multiple external pressures we all receive in life. This process of building and strengthening a human being's "Ego", of achieving his/her individualization and "diversification", is supervised by the first two signs of the zodiac: by Aries (a "masculine" sign) and by Taurus (a "feminine" sign).

The secret now is that the aforementioned process is handled by the signs of Aries and Taurus "in tandem" - by splitting that is the process in half and by assigning to Aries its masculine "phase" and to Taurus its feminine "phase"! The signs of Aries and Taurus (and all the adjacent "odd - even" numbered signs, for that matter) are in reality astrological "Pairs", a kind of small "wholenesses", two equal but opposite - complementary "polarities".

Regarding Aries, we can easily understand why it is considered the sign of "Ego", the sign impersonating the overt aggression: it is a masculine sign ruled by the belligerent planet Mars. What about Taurus though? How can a "low key" feminine sign - ruled by the docile planet Venus - be so selfish and eventually belligerent? Is there indeed a feminine ego? Astrology is telling us that there is - and that it is as acute as the masculine one! If the masculine Ego is manifested through overt aggressiveness - by being i.e. an all too clear "bully" - the female selfishness is mostly manifested through INERTIA and self-protection, through hidden and somehow "manipulative" behaviors and actions!

Feminine aggressiveness entails the art of "invisibly acting". Also, the art of "remaining inert" in any situation not yielding some kind of gain (emotional, financial etc.) to the individual! Actually, when a "feminine Ego" is feeling insecure and threaten it might fudge things up, resorting to a skillful "imbroglio", to a smooth "withdrawal" and "absenting" from any "perilous" activity - every time it faces an inconvenient / threatening situation!

The sign of Taurus is representing - in the most archetypal way - this kind of "feminine Ego"! Don't get me wrong though here. Not all Tauruses are by definition "femininely aggressive" (and certainly not to the same extent). We should not forget here that there is in literature the notorious "feathered Bull", representing a very spiritual, elevated human being! In reality, the raw, unrefined kind of Tauruses are the ones that tend to be extremely egotistical and consequently "femininely aggressive".

The feminine "Ego" is somehow urging the person to act "invisibly", "behind the curtains", to promote his/her own "plan" while keeping at a minimum level the expenditure of energies (sentimental, financial ones etc.) - especially when forced to participate in non desirable activities that seem unprofitable to the individual.

An individual partaking to the "raw, unrefined Taurean type" (a prominently individualistic, over self-nurturing, introverto-covert individual, that is) is usually avoiding to employ overt acts of selfishness and aggression. If there isn't around some crucial reason s/he will religiously abstain from any kind of activity that might visibly upset the energies in his/her environment (not necessarily out of  "goodness" but because s/he is aware that s/he will be immediately targeted by the people around him/her - and that would mean a lot of hostility and aversion from the part of his/her omnipotent social environment). The feminine energy is "ever self-protecting, ever preserving its own self and clan" - meaning that the people impersonating it are fully aware of how important it is to act silently and behind the curtains, without overtly provoking the people around them.

Thus the "raw Taurus" type of individual is generally displaying a meek and polite face outwards. But if it encounters a situation that ultimately jeopardizes his/her own personal interests (i.e. if s/he must financially assist someone or house any needy people) then most probably such an individual will attempt to skillfully withdraw him/herself from the "acting stage" without being noticed - so that s/he ultimately protects his/her own interests and does not suffer losses or "damages". And s/he will do this without apparently squabbling nor displaying any explicit aggressiveness or violence towards anyone. Simply, s/he will skillfully withdraw him/herself from any "perilous" to his/her own interests activity...

This kind of withdrawal though, this "silent refusal" to partake i.e. in a charitable activity is a sign of strong selfishness - and therefore of aggressiveness towards the people involved in that activity. Of course the "raw Taurean type of individual" did not swear at someone, nor s/he violently pushed anybody. Indirectly, however, s/he behaved as if s/he had sworn at them or as if s/he had violently pushed them away! Actually s/he did behave aggressively towards the people around him/her but without offering them any tangible "handle", without leaving any visible "trail" so that they promptly recognize how aggressively s/he behaved! That's "feminine aggression" in a nutshell !


                       The art of maneuvering without leaving trails

The fact that the "feminine Ego" works in implicit ways - meaning that it cannot be easily spotted as aggressive by the others - does not automatically render it inoffensive and less "mean"... In reality it is as powerful and "mean" as the masculine one, as the "raw Ariettid" kind of selfishness. Let's make a "thought experiment" and set two individuals - each of them representing a "polarity" - in a controlled (i.e. business) environment, with identical provocative stimuli. An "astrologically masculine" individual will react to the negative stimuli most probably by shouting loud, by over-gesturing or even by overtly behaving violently. But in such an instance the prominently masculine individual would have totally exposed himself, disclosed his/her intentions and attracted hostility from the people around him/her!

Instead, the prominently feminine individual would have more methodically and carefully promoted his personal interests - without overexposing himself/herself and without attracting too much aversion and hostility. Such a person (even if physically present) will be skillfully "absenting" any situation not yielding a meaningful benefit to himself/herself  - no matter how critical this situation might be to some other people. Only in time - and only by those who delve deeper in human interactions - the full extent of the incident will be revealed and only then the participants will realize how selfishly the "raw Taurean type of person" behaved!

Therefore, we should define as selfish and aggressive not only those people who are overtly behaving in an aggressive manner but those people too who are intentionally "withdrawing" and "absenting" in critical to their fellow-humans situations, all those individuals who are not there when the people around them need them the most. Any person not helping his/her fellow humans - in the name of not minimally jeopardizing his/her own personal interests - should be considered a selfish and aggressive person!

Whenever someone remains silent and uninvolved is front of a critical situation, of an emergency, of an injustice committed in his/her own vicinity, then that person is actually displaying a "femininely aggressive" behavior! Whenever i.e. a wealthy person is not assisting the needy people around him/her - for example the unemployed ones who cannot afford even their daily bread - then this wealthy person is employing a "feminine aggressiveness" towards his/her fellow humans (and society in general). The feminine aggression is not easily spotted by third parties as the "perpetrator" might employ highly manipulative behaviors.

How many times i.e. have you been confronted with a person who has (directly or indirectly) wronged you (or wronged somebody else), who has behaved in a acutely selfish manner (although covertly, so that nobody recognizes it as such) and who not only is stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his/her wrong doing but is skillfully trying to reverse the situation, by putting you down and leading you into an disadvantageous, defensive state (adding thus insult to the injury)...

In front of such a person - and his/her humongous hypocrisy - you might lose your temper and start yelling and gesturing. And then YOU will be the one looking aggressive in the eyes of the people around you! In such a way the "prominently feminine" person will have managed to doubly victimize you - while thanks to his/her own "manipulative" skills s/he will be projecting a "goody two shoes" image to the people around! This kind of behavior is immensely aggressive but in a convert, feminine manner! Meaning that it might not look aggressive in the eyes of any third party - who may ultimately target you as the aggressive person!

To put it in the words of the clinical psychologist and "Psychology Today" author Ditta M.Oliker: 

"What struck me as I was watching the film "The Help" is how it also dramatically and effectively captures the emotional and psychological violence of social aggression, including the sting and cruelty of the verbal "weapons" women use. The words now associated with female aggressive behavior include: excluding, ignoring, teasing, gossiping, secrets, backstabbing, rumor spreading and hostile body language (i.e., eye-rolling and smirking).  Most damaging is turning the victim into a social "undesirable". 

The behavior and associated anger is hidden, often wrapped in a package seen as somewhat harmless or just a "girl thing". The covert nature of the aggression leaves the victim with no forum to refute the accusations and, in fact, attempts to defend oneself leads to an escalation of the aggression.  What the film doesn't show though is that the effects of social aggression can be longer lasting and more damaging than physical aggression. Since the "weapons" have a stealth nature to them, there is less possibility of anticipating the specifics of an attack and fewer actions to defend against an attack."

Of course, what I personally call "feminine aggressiveness" is not limited just to women but it extends to the "astrologically feminine men" too. If this is still a "neologism" to you, here is my definition of it: An "astrologically feminine" person is someone having in his/her chart as many as possible of the preconditions described below (the more such preconditions s/he has the more "astrologically feminine" s/he is. Points 1 and 2 should be considered the most critical):

1. A predominance of feminine signs. 
2. An emphasis on feminine houses
3. The "feminine planets" in the angles of  the chart
4. The feminine planets particularly "strengthen" in the chart. In addition, those planets forming as many as possible aspects with "debilitated" masculine planets

(Note: the term "astrologically feminine" does not coincide with the term "effeminate". In reality, there are many "astrologically feminine" macho men out there...)

Undoubtedly, we are all  familiar with the bitter "taste" of feminine aggression, as we are experiencing it - more or less - often  in our everyday lives. It is a particular kind of methodically structured and veiled aggression that is not easily perceived externally. And that's exactly what makes it dangerous, the fact that it is an extremely sharp and corrosive type of aggression that our societies have not still fully acknowledged!

Mysteriously, the "feminine aggressiveness" seems to be generated by the "venusian" sign of Taurus, which is the "leader" of the feminine duality in the zodiac. It doesn't stay though in Taurus but it spreads all over the feminine polarity (diversified in each case by each sign's attributes). Think i.e. of a feminine sign like Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio etc. They are all capable of "tuning" themselves to "femininely aggressive" frequencies alright (either by making their fellow-humans feel guilty, manipulate them etc.)! And as I have repeatedly pointed out, the "feminine aggressiveness" is not limited just to women but it equally extents to all men having predominantly "feminine" energies in their charts!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

P.S. You may read Ditta M. Oliker's article "Bullying in the female world" here

An astrological analysis of Robin Williams' death

Popular actor Robin Williams was found dead on August 11th, 2014. This came as a surprise to many because Robin Williams - as far as we know - was not suffering  from any fatal illness... And the surprise got even bigger when we read that the "Jumanji" man commited suicide! Well, he was fighting a long battle against depresion and substances addiction but apparently he was doing well with rehab. In any case, there are out there millions of people living under similar conditions - or much much worse under a financial point of view - and most of them DO NOT commit suicide! What went wrong then with Robin Williams? His natal chart (and the transits/progresions in it) might offer us some clues.

To begin with, Robin Williams has a very "watery" chart. Apart from being a Cancer and having a Scorpio Ascendant he has a PISCES Moon too in the FOURTH House! This watery over-emphasis endowed him with an "audience charisma" (he had a very special way of "touching" emotionally the audience)! On the other hand, with so much water in his chart he was way too sensitive! And this sensitivity of his has been exacerbated recently by transiting Neptune touching his over-sensitive Pisces Moon in the Fourth House!

Meanwhile, his progressed Moon was currently moving in his Eighth House and was about to form a square aspect to his natal Saturn! His progressed Sun too was still forming a conjunction to his natal Saturn! So we are getting here a particular configuartion that denotes very well his pre-mortem state of mind: both his progressed Luminaries are forming a major aspect with Saturn - that we might call a "double-whammy" configuration! Add to this transiting Saturn on his Ascendant/ in his First House and you see "restriction" coming out big time in Robin's life! And a sense of "heaviness" as well, of aging rapidly and not getting much satisfaction out of life...

Apparently, Robin was an ultra sensitive person going now through an ultra Saturnian period (and as Saturn in Psychological astrology is considered a major depresion agent we get a better picture now of what Robin Williams was experiencing in these last days of his life)! He was a "Puer" that all of the sudden had to become a "Senex"... But as he was an eternal "Peter-Pan" symbol a "Senex" could never become! You see he endeared himself to the audiences for being the "Anti-Senex" symbol par excellence! And with so much "water: in his chart that kind of "endearment" he could not afford to lose...

Thomas Gazis

Jupiter in Leo (an "unhyped" interpretation...)

                                                        (Courtesy: Bill Attride)

There has been too much hype over the entrance of planet Jupiter in the sign of Leo - a few days ago. Supposedly all things are going to get better now and the optimism will sky-rocket among the people! But how can this be? According to the astrological tradition Jupiter was in a far better position in the previous sign, in Cancer where it is EXALTED! This means that from the moment Jupiter left Cancer and passed in the sign of Leo it was somehow "demoted" energetically - since Jupiter neither rules Leo nor is exalted in this fiery sign!

Undoubtedly Jupiter is not in its most privileged position when in Leo. On the other hand it is not in its most inopportune position either ... You see, according to the Hellenistic astrology (and to the Medieval / Renaissance one) Jupiter is the nocturnal ruler of the fiery triplicity (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius). Consequently, it acquires in Leo certain titles and offices. Not though the ones most astrologers are thinking of. If you noticed before, I wrote that Jupiter is the nocturnal ruler of the fiery triplicity. Which means that in the sign of Leo it exhibits somehow distinctively its properties but ultimately in a different - "esoteric" I would dare to say - manner. And in any case not so exuberantly and visibly as many would expect. This is pointed out by the law of "Tao" as well: The extreme "Yang" energies (the combined ones of Jupiter and Leo) are converted - from some point on - into "Yin"ones!

The main "obstacle" for Jupiter in Leo to manifest its exuberant side stems out of its most archetypal / fundamental property: the one of "opening up" and "expanding", the ever going on process of "dilatation and expansion". Such a property though is not particularly compatible with the sign of Leo, which generally works in favor of the "centrality" (Leo is ever promoting the "centralization" of all things). Therefore, there can never be a true"expansion" in the essentially "centripetal" sign of Leo, which is pushing the energies from the periphery to the center - and not from the center outwards, as  the expansive planet Jupiter desires. The often narrow minded, stubborn and inflexible nature of Leo offers anything but a breeding ground for the spiritual and idealistic Jupiter, which needs a lot of dialogue, movement, freedom and open-mindness in order to flourish!

Jupiter somehow stands for the "complexity" while Leo opts for the "simplicity" (Jupiter ever interrelates isolated ideas, composing out of them complex and advanced concepts - and this mecchanism lies at the foundations of philosophy). On the other hand Leo is removing the more complex layers in order to get to the very core of a situation. Thus the two work at crosses purposes here. In addition, Leo (together with Virgo) is the sign of "purification". It wants to purify things out of any "spurious" element. But it is imperative to define first here what is a "spurious" element according to the Leonian perspective - because what exacly is "spurious" is often debatable. And what might seem spurious to the sign of Leo might seem quite indispensable to Jupiter so that it makes a "conceptual interconnection" and extrapolate something "higher" out of various randomly lying and apparently unrelated ideas.

On a "mundane" level Jupiter has to do with goals, belief systems and ideals (the ideals of a certain society, of a state, country etc). With the presence of Jupiter in Leo the social / national ideals might fluctuate and become more rigid and authoritarian - permitting thus extreme ideologies to surface. And as Leo is a conservative sign (remember that in the zodiac it is diametrically opposed to the "radical" sign of Aquarius) it is now likely to trigger a more rigid spirit worldwide. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the first "tsunami" of conservatism / monetarism in the Western world appeared in 1979 - when Jupiter was in Leo again - with the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of England.

Despite the fanfare of many astrologers the periods of Jupiter's presence in Leo have not been the brightest in human history! In March 2003 we had the American-British invasion of Iraq (who can really forget the hysterical Bush's and Blair's cries / calls to war?). In January 1991 we had the war in the Persian Gulf, with the Americans leading both the liberation of Kuwait and the invasion of Iraq. While in June 1967 we had the "six days of war" between Israel and Egypt that almost sparked an international armaggedon. All these major wars were conducted in periods when Jupiter was in Leo! And the two wars in Iraq were apparently "justified" by the pretense that the Americans had to impose their own "democracy" upon Iraq (how much "Jupiter in Leo" is this thing - enforcing my own "democracy" upon others? No true democracy is ever enforcing anything to any one!)

On another level, perhaps it is not so surprising that the unusual and deadly heat wave that swept Europe in 2003 (that has allegedly caused more than 70,000 deaths) took place under the dominion of Jupiter in Leo (representing the somehow excessive manifestation of the "fiery element", of the "heat").

Clearly therefore, a lot of energy is released globally when Jupiter is "transiting" in Leo. But the question is how to manage all this exuberant energy, because if it is diverted in warfares - like in the periods mentioned above - no creative results can be obtained. Obviously all this "excess energy" is better channeled  in activities like sports (which are consistent with the spirit of Leo), in recreational purposes and in "games". Also, with Jupiter in the sign of "spectacles" there will be a "booming" in film industry, fashion and in "spectacles" in general.

However, with Jupiter in Leo ​​some historical peace efforts were made too (such as the famous "Camp David" treaty  in 1978 between the Egyptian President Sadat and the Israeli Begin, the nuclear disarmament agreement of 1979 between the U.S. President Carter and the Russian Brezhnev and the historic west/east Germany unification in 1990). Perhaps this unifying trend stems from what I mentioned before as the "esoteric" aspect of Jupiter in Leo.

Ultimately that may be the best gift Jupiter in Leo will bestow upon us: the ability to work "esoterically" with ourselves and find our true inner core, our "center" so that in all purity we follow our hearts!

Thomas Gazis

What is a patronage made of ? (the Da Vinci's - Duke's of Milan Synastry)

                                                     (Ludovico Sforza - Duke of Milan)

To the best of my knowldge, there has never been a thorough study revealing the extent to which the natural attraction or repulsion between two casual individuals that are interacting (professionally, financially, socially etc.) affects the quality and the outcome of their interaction! According to my own experience, how people feel about one other profoundly affects the course of their interaction! Often, it is the spark of sympathy among the participants in a given setting that transforms i.e. a job interview into a cozy talk, that results in unexpectedly successful partnerships, collaborations, and enterprises (and the other way around)! Thus, if we wish to have a positive interaction between two individuals, we must examine first how harmonious their intrinsic "frequencies" (their "Synastries") are.

When Hades reached the top of the firmament (the "dark" 2010 - 2020 decade)!

As you most probably know Hades is the mythical god of the underworld. Therefore Hades (or Pluto) should be normally dwelling under our feet, within the farthest depths of the earth. How would you feel then if I told you that Hades has actually left his gruesome kingdom and is currently residing high above our heads, on the top of the sky and over the very "Zenith of the world"? If I told you that Hades is currently hovering over our heads, invisibly exerting its tight grip on our societies?

Having a crush on society! (Jupiter - Sagittarius - Ninth House)

Most astrologers are describing Jupiter as a "beneficial" planet of "wisdom", a planet that is "magnifying and expanding" things and situations. Furthermore, Sagittarius (the sign ruled by Jupiter) is generally described as the sign of "religion, higher education and distant traveling". I always thought that these interpretations were somehow weak and fragmentary, not shedding much light to essential facets of the archetypes that they are supposedly illustrating! There are some other important dimensions to Jupiter / Sagittarius / Ninth House and we are apparently ignoring them. Thus, we should start thinking “out of the box” in order to get the wider possible spectrum of meanings out of the afore-mentioned archetypes!

As you probably know, the zodiac is a "dynamic" entity! Each sign in it is representing an "evolved" stage of the preceding one. In this respect, the sign of Sagittarius is located immediately after the two so-called "unifying", "pairing" signs (Libra - Scorpio). Consequently, the main trait of Sagittarius should be the one of "uber" UNIFICATION! But not that much on the interpersonal level. You see the "Archer" is located  just a "click" before the "universal" signs (Aquarius - Pisces), which are more concerned with the "collective". Therefore, Sagittarius is actually representing a highly unifying "intermediate step", a stage where the individuals should move past the "romantico-sexual pairing" (which tends to isolate the two individuals, driving them often into a state of "gridlocked stagnation") and thrustingly open themselves up to society!

This is a vital dimension to Sagittarius (and to the Ninth House) that we often neglect: its impetus towards sociability! In other words, the trend to enthusiastically open up to the "unknown others" and to unconditionally mingle and interact with the people and the groups around us! Those individuals having in their charts a strong Sagittarius, Jupiter or Ninth house emphasis are somehow under the spell of this unique "geist", which we might call "a crush on society"!

The Sagittarian energy  is thrusting us forward, beyond the often "petty" and claustrophobic company of our "buddies", of "our own people". It is enticing us to open up to the wider world, to indiscriminately socialize, to become good-spirited, elevated human beings. It advises us to overcome our narrow horizons, our selfishness, the "Samsara" of our micro-routine and gradually ascend to the higher state of becoming a "universal being". It is at that state that we feel ourselves twinned with our unknown fellow-humans, ultimately enjoying their company instead of merely being annoyed by it!

Thus, the sign of Sagittarius is inducing a major "consciousness shift", urging us to go beyond the (often raw and immature) "pairing" or the "we are buddies!" thing,  to move onto the broader and more mature stage of "socializing"! In other words, to start experiencing our intimate "likeness" to our totally unknown fellow-humans. But this is something extremely difficult for an "average Joe/Jane" to achieve,  unless s/he has in his chart elements conferring to him this kind of "social crush" quality! That is why the "geist" of Sagittarius (Jupiter and Ninth house) is ultimately so important to our society! As much as a classical Scorpio is longing to meet his/her much desired lover, a Sagittarius is longing to meet an unknown to him/her group of people (and the more unknown the people around him/her the more s/he longs to get to know them and exchange energies!)

So the "Archer" is a collectively unifying force, a very strong, cohesive, elevated / elevating "societal link"! In order now to be sociable, to be able to comfortably stand beside unknown individuals, one should have an open, elevated mind and display a rather friendly and benevolent attitude to his/her fellow humans! You see, the over-sensitive people, the touchy, immature, suspicious ones tend to be anti-social (as they somehow fear the contact with any kind of people they don't know). Thus they usually enclose themselves within "petty-groups" and environments they are familiar with! This kind of people are automatically set to a rather phobic mode when found in an "open" social environment. So, each time an opportunity arises for them to go out and meet unknown people they mostly overlook it thinking: "why should I go to an alien environment, full of people I don't know, who might put me down, hurt me etc."...

This mentality is characterizing an awful lot of people who are ending up being "couch potatoes", watching TV or "procrastinately" surfing on the net (losing thus valuable opportunities that their participation in a social event might have given them - i.e. to find a good job, a lovely partner etc.). So, we need to overcome this anti-social trend, which is by default prevailing to an average individual. The energy now needed to overcome this "social inertia" is provided to us by the sign of Sagittarius (and on another level, by the sign of Aquarius, whose Sagittarius is somehow a "proto-form", an early "fiery" version)!

Most people do not possess in their charts a surplus of Sagittarian, Jupiterian or Ninth House energies  and thus they lack this kind of openness to their unknown fellow-humans. People, in general, have a tendency to "close in" and mistrust those who do not make part of their own regular company. This means that our societies are largely composed of isolated groups/companies of people, who do not readily exchange energies and do not fully communicate with each other (thus these groups are easily degenerating into fractions, cliques etc.).

Such a situation is not producing a healthy social fabric at all! Where narrow minds prevail people tend to isolate themselves in small groups and then the vital "societal energies" do not flow freely - they get "coagulated" instead - creating within the social fabric all kinds of gaps and "polarizations". Consequently, the society as a whole cannot function properly and is ultimately driven into decline and collapse. 

This is the case of our modern western societies, which over the past decades have somehow collapsed and led us to the current  mega-crisis (a crisis that is not just financial but largely a social/ethical one)! We may detect at the core of this social crisis a deficit of sagittarian "social crush" geist! Actually, this seems to be a major problem in our contemporary western / westernized societies: the peoples' lack of a guileless opening to their unknown fellow humans (without aiming that is at any kind of monetary, professional etc. gains). You see, this unconditional, trustful (but not gullible) "opening up" to our neighbors is imperative, in order to produce an "unclotted", uplifted, full of possibilities collective environment around us!

Thus, the stronger the presence of Sagittarius, Jupiter and Ninth house in our charts the more we have a "crush on society", the more we open up to our fellow humans, the more we feel attracted by the large and unknown to us groups of people! In such a way, we ever more partake in the collective life and in the powerful energies flowing in it - ultimately contributing to the shaping of a more congenial, progressive and elevated society!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazes

This is a newer version of a Thomas Gazis article that was published οn the December 2013 issue of the Greek magazine "Astrologiki Pyxida" ("Astrological Compass").

The Grand Cardinal Cross of April 2014. Αn historical event!

The crucifixion has been the central theme these days within the christian communities. As we speak though a unique "Cosmic Cross" is ever more precisely formed in our skies - climaxing to the April 22nd perfect (partile) Cross configuration between the planets Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars (all of them being exactly at the 13th degree of the corresponding sign. And it is interesting to know that both the USA's natal Sun and the Russian President's Vladimir Putin Sun stand at the 13th degree of Cancer and Libra respectively)!

Seventh and Eighth House: the mating "niches" in our charts!

Please join the (free) online Thomas Gazis lecture "SEVENTH AND EIGHTH HOUSE: THE MATING NICHES IN OUR CHART!" on Sunday March the 9th, at 10 pm GMT (Greenwich Time).

You don't need to have some special software or equipment. Simply click on the "GoTomeeting" link below and it will take you straight there. If it doesn't, it means that I am not there yet (very possible), or it is simply too early.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/683577213

If it is the first time you have been to a GoTo room, you will be asked to download a bit of software first. It only takes a few minutes and is very small and quite safe.

Don't forget these days you need to be early if you want to get a "seat" in the lecture, as the room does only hold 24 people and these days it fills up fast. If you are too late, keep trying as people do leave early, and you may get in if there is a vacant seat left.

If you don't know what time 10:00 pm GMT is in your area, go to

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Enter 9 March 2014, 10:00 pm into the time and date, make sure the Time Zone is GMT (click on Time Zone, then GMT). If your town is not already entered into "place to convert to", click on other locations, click on your country, then find either your city or a town in your state or Time Zone,
click on it, then click on "convert time", and voila!!!

- You will be connected to audio using your computer's microphone and speakers (VoIP). A headset is recommended.

Meeting ID: 683-577-213

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Deciphering astrologically "the most beautiful suicide" mystery!

The above photo has profoundly impacted millions of people. It shows a young and apparently beautiful woman, a few minutes after she committed suicide falling over the top of the Empire State Building! It is somehow an eerie image. The woman seems placidly and peacefully sleeping, not dead at all! But the violently crashed car under her - that somehow has taken her body shape - attests otherwise!

I saw this picture just recently (my friend Theo Phalieros sent it to me in an e-mail) - although it is out there for more than 50 years...And being an Astrologer the first questions that came to my mind were: what kind of natal chart Evelyn McHale (her name) had? What kind of transits she were receiving to commit such a deperate act? If I only knew her birth data! But how? She was not a celebrity - although she somehow became one after her death! Fortunately, there is nowadays a "Genie in a bottle" that is called "the internet"! Thanks to it I found a lot of info on Evelyn McHale (there are even a couple of facebook pages created in her memory).

Evelyn McHale was born on September 20th, 1923 in Berkeley California (we don't know her time of birth but given the adverse conditions that's probably too much to ask). She was a Virgo (her solar sign) with Moon in Aquarius! My first thought was: Oh! she must have had a lot of Scorpio and Pluto in her chart. But that's not the case, as you may see in her natal chart (conventionally set for midday) below:

She wasn't much of a Scorpio (she had just Jupiter in Scorpio) nor she had any major aspects between her "Lights" and Pluto. She was rather a low profile, discrete Virgo. Of course - since we don't know her time of birth - she might have had i.e. a strong Eighth House emphasis (if her Ascendant were Aquarius - Pisces then a planetary stellium would "fall" in her Eighth House. Although something like that is very plausible, apparently we have no way to ascertain it). In any case, not only she had an "electrical" and anti-comformistic Aquarian Moon but a very rebellious and disruptive Mars - Uranus aspect too!

The "beautiful suicide" took place on May 1st, 1947. So, let's see in a bi-wheel the major transits Evelyn was receiving on that fatal day (the inner wheel is Evelyn's natal chart and the outer wheel the planetary transits of her "long jump"day):

Well, the aforementioned "Pluto factor" is triumphantly entering the scene here, since transiting Pluto is (probably tightly) aspecting her Moon in Aquarius (by an opposition aspect). Transiting Saturn as well is beginning to aspect her Moon - not to mention transiting Uranus her Sun! And that's heavy because the Moon represents our soul, our feelings, our mood! On the other hand Pluto and Saturn are considered the toughest, the "darkest" and most "malignant" planets in Astrology. We begin to understand now that Evelyn was going through a very tough, extreme, depressive and "dark" period of her life in the period she killed herself!

But that's not all! Evelyn was engaged to Barry Rhodes and they were about to get married. By sheer serendipity I found out her fiance's date of birth too! The day before she committed suicide they celebrated together his 24th birthday! So, apparently he was born on April 30, 1923! You may see his chart below (of course no time of birth is provided).

It strikes us right away the fact that both his Sun and Moon are forming ultra-discordant square aspects to Evelyn's Aquarian Moon! Barry might have been a great guy otherwise but definitely Evelyn was not feeling happy with him! She was probably perceiving him as a too single - minded, possessive and oppressive person, as someone who was taking away her liberty. Although a Virgo woman and a Taurus man traditionally go well together, in their case her Moon (in the beginning of Aquarius) was tremendously clashing with his respective "Lights" in Taurus and Scorpio. Meaning that their relation was often getting into a very awkward ground, making her utterly unhappy! And him as a young man was not perceiving this so much as she was! And ultimately (as a Virgo) she took the blame of it!

They were about to get married in June 1947. But with her Aquarian Moon - and with her Virgonian "I cannot split from him now, people will criticize me bitterly!" attitude -  she chose to perform the tragically liberating act of jumping to her death!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

Scorpio's "quantistic" nature!

Scorpio is a mysterious sign, representing certain "oddities" and situations that apparently do not seem to be compatible with life itself. And as we will see here, it bears in its nature a somehow "quantistic" dimension!

To make you realize what I mean, just take a look at the painting above. It is made by a Scorpio painter, the Belgian Rene Magritte. It is a rather bizarre image...It shows a woman riding a horse in a forest. But it is not a "realistic" image, because the woman and the horse are crossing the trees in a rather "quantistic" manner...They themselves are "split" and they are crossing the trees on several planes...

I don't know whether Magritte had studied quantum physics or not, but this painting of his is a very good metaphor for what happens in the microcosm (on the sub-atomic level). The particles there are apparently "splitting" and crossing simultaneously different dimensions and planes...Scorpios - being "tiny" and representing the paradoxical nature and the power of the tiny and invisible things (i.e. of the subatomic, of radioactivity etc.) - are instinctively aware of this quantistic dimension of nature...

So, we might say that the sign of Scorpio represents certain "quantistic" fields of our lives. Take death for example. If you go downtown in the city you live and you walk among the generally careless crowd you will realize that death - although a powerful human phenomenon - seems to be totally absent in such a social context (unless some tragic event has occurred). And yet, just a few meters from where you are walking people might be dying in the private settings of some house, clinic etc.

Sex is  another "quantistic" activity associated with Scorpio. When we walk downtown or we find ourselves in some specific social (professional etc.) context then we realize that sex - although omnipotently dominating the human nature - is actually absent there. Every person around us is dressed and behaves "decently", avoiding any acute reference on this subject, which all in all still remains a taboo. And yet most of these seemingly "unscathed" from sex men and women - whom we see standing strict, proud and dignified in the everyday social contexts - they are having sex like frenzied steaming engines, once they find themselves with their usual or casual partner (or partners) in the privacy of an apartment, a hotel etc. This is what I call a "scorpionic quantum paradox" ...

It is not so hard to understand why death is a "quantistic" phenomenon in our lives. Meaning that it exists alright but at the same time "it doesn't exist"! Obviously, this "quantistic" dimension of death is somehow convenient and comforting to us humans. Eschewing death as some procedure that has nothing to do with us right now but constantly postponing it to some fuzzy and remote place and time in the future, certainly out of the reality plane we are living right now, that's an extremely convenient thing to the phenomenon of life! Otherwise, the ominous overwhelming heaviness of death would be constantly crushing us, every single day and moment, not permitting us to live, to feel good, to do things.

Alright so far. But why is sex "quantistic"? Because it actually is our ultimate resort against death! Through sex we become ONE with our partner, we experience the ONENESS of everything, of the entire Universe and we thus overcome the fragile destiny of the mortal individuality we are "entrapped" in! Not to mention that it is through sex that we somehow "multiply" and immortalize ourselves, that we propagate our species. And the undeniable fact is that the "quantistic" dimension of sex, its "social hypocrisy" and "dirtiness" adds a lot of fascination and power to it, it makes sex far more important and special to us!

Just picture what would happen if there was no "quantistic" dimension to sex and various passerby's were freely falling upon you the very moment you were getting our of your house - or walking on the street -  in order to have sex with you right on the spot! Wouldn't that be - as soon as the initial "bacchic libertinity" phase would tear off - a nightmare? Wouldn't that weaken sex? And the fact is that we human beings need sex to be unique, "dirty", fascinating and powerful, because ultimately we need a powerful antidote to death!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

Mercury astrologically - Striving to restore Unity

I am a Gemini man living in Athens, Greece. The ruler of my solar sign is Mercury. So, you understand why I love getting out of my house and going on shopping…The task to purchase the daily groceries provides me with the opportunity to justifiably go out of my house, to change environment and experience at first hand what’s going on in the “world”, to walk towards the market and interact with so many and diverse people

The street where I am buying most of my daily groceries - and I am having a cup of coffee too - is called “Hermes”. Actually “Hermes” is the Greek name of Mercury. So, I find it very appropriate that the central street of my neighbourhood, the one with the most intense commercial activity and social interaction is named after the ancient god of commerce and communications. I even conceived the content of this article in between my daily purchases and social interactions in the “Hermes” street…

In this daily itinerary of mine (and yours) to the market place several key functions of the Mercurian archetype are prominently present: getting out of our house, being on the move, experiencing the sights and sounds of our neighbourhood, meeting new things or persons, engaging into a (somehow superficial) conversation with our neighbours or any acquaintances we casually meet in our short itinerary to the market place or in it, exchanging money for goods. There is a lot of Mercury in all these activities, as this is the god of change and mobility, of communications, of reasoning and dialectics, of itineraries, of crossroads, interactions and commerce.

Names say much…Thus, we may deduce a lot of  Mercury’s astrological nature just out of its English and Greek name. Mercury has to do i.e. with the element mercury (quicksilver), with a strange metal that is fluid and is ever changing its form. There is even the word "mercurial" in the English language meaning "changeable, volatile, erratic, quick-witted"! And of course Mercury has to do with the word "market" (they both share the Latin radix "merx")! A "market" is a place where many and diverse people gather, where you can trade something, where you can deal in, sell and buy things and services.

The Greek name Hermes might not ring any particular bell to you. It will though if I tell you that the English word “sermon” is related to it! Thus Mercury has to do with a talk that has been properly methodized and structured, a talk containing irrefutable arguments so that it directs the audience to some specific, desirable conclusion. Under this point of view we all give small “sermons” everyday to the people around us so that we convince them for something, so that we achieve something out of them…

You see the Mercurian archetype is highly individualistic. It mostly takes care of our own personal interests. But its individualism has a gentler aspect too, as Mercury is constantly striving to restore some Unity between us and the others, to maintain a contact between us and the Wholeness.....

The Greek language will help us further to understand the astrological properties of Hermes / Mercury. The Greek verb “hermenevo” is tightly related to “Hermes” and it means “to interpret”…The “interpretation” of something, of a sentence, of a situation, behaviour etc. their “deciphering” and rendering in a clear, lucid and comprehensible manner is quintessential to Mercury - and absolutely essential to every human being.

To explain what I mean let me write you a sentence in Greek:

«H νόηση, η κινητικότητα, η αλλαγή, η διασύνδεση είναι κάποιες από τις βασικές ιδιότητες του Ερμή».

No doubt, that's “all greek” to you…You are suddenly “in the dark” here…You probably look at the above phrase but neither can you read it nor make any sense out of it. You might even feel confused and disorientated about it, urgently needing some "interpretation". Thus, most probably you will open a “Google translate” page and copy - paste the above phrase from Greek to English. You will get then something that goes like this:

"The cognition, mobility, changing the interface are some of the basic properties of Mercury"

This definitely makes some sense to you now. Of course the phrase "changing the interface"  is not very clear. The "Mercury in you" is immediately alerting you that there might be something wrong about it. Actually, the google's translation has not been very accurate in this case - it hasn't done a very good "interpretation" of the Greek phrase (I can see this thanks to my own Mercury). What I actually wrote in Greek is:

"Reasoning, mobility, change, interconnections are some of the basic properties of Mercury"

What you just experienced with the Greek phrase you actually experience constantly, everyday, almost at every single moment of your life: you try all the time to decipher things and situations around you (and in you), to figure them out, to make sense out of the innumerable and diverse instances and situations you encounter in your life: from the very moment you wake up in the morning and try to figure out where you are and what time it is, to you walking to the kiosk to buy a newspaper and to chat a little bit with the newspapers man, to the shortcut you take while driving with your car in order to get faster to your destination e.t.c. In all these instances you strongly activate your Mercury, trying to reason what's going on, trying to figure out how can you better adapt in your environment and take advantage of the circumstances around you in order to establish a good interconnection with the things and the persons around you and thus more easily and fully achieve your personal tasks.

Thus, a major Mercurian function is to bring things and situations into consciousness and to “reason” them out. Actually "to reason" is to try to understand a situation or a person, to make judgements upon it based on practical facts and situations you previously experienced. Meaning that a good "reasoner" must be curious and observant, a discerning person collecting and accumulating data and judgements over a wide spectrum of situations and facts. And that entails that s/he should have developed a multitude of virtual "information shelves" in his/her brains where s/he has inserted and catalogized those judgements and conclusions. Furthermore, s/he should be able to readily retrieve and combine - under any circumstances - the proper information, in order to smoothly interconnect with his/her environment and efficiently carry through any possible situation s/he encounters!

But where from do things spring out to our consciousness? Out of our own unconscious! Out of the “underworld”! And Hermes / Mercury has a lot to do with the underworld (and consequently with our unconscious). You see, according to Greek mythology he is the god who escorts the souls of the deceased to the underworld! Thus, we might say that he stands at the very threshold between consciousness and unconscious. He somehow partakes of both. He stands high on the Olympus but he comes often down to earth - visiting regularly the underworld too! This mobility and flexibility of his - and his acute reasoning - is rendering Mercury the most suitable god to bring things into consciousness (out of our vast unconscious) and into the Light, to "decipher" the things (the situations etc.) and make them clear, comprehensible, understandable.

Hermes is an Olympian God but a somehow particular one. He does not have a permanent abode in Olympus (heavens) as the other eleven gods have, nor in the underworld. He is rather constantly  on the move. And he actually permeates all the three levels of existence: the heavens, the earthy world and the underworld (as we mentioned before he goes often "down under" as a "psychopompos", as the carrier of the souls). Actually he doesn't enjoy a very high status among the gods of Olympus as he carries the rather undignifying job of being their messenger - meaning that he is the one that most often gets in contact with the mortals. But exactly for this reason Mercury was much worshipped by the plain people. They were feeling that Mercury was better supporting and protecting their personal interests! He was even a trickster god (he stole Apollo's cattle) and he was thus favouring any kind of tricksters, like the merchants (they still trick us alright, at least most of them...).

Mercury is the youngest of the Olympian gods and he has thus to do with youth - and more precisely with adolescence. Adolescence is a transition stage between childhood and adulthood. And Mercury has a lot to do with transitions, crossroads and ambivalence in general. Mercury is ever seeking to reconnect us to Wholeness, to somehow return us to the state of absolute Union. You see during the first months of our life we innately carry within us this sense of "Union with everything", as we descend  and incarnate in our earthy bodies. But we loose this sense later on in our infancy and we then experience a very painful and traumatic sensation of “fragmentation” (which actually is the very first step in the process of us becoming fully conscious and independent individuals). The only "remedy" for a child to restore some sense of Unity with its parents and environment is to develop communication skills. By developing communication skills, by even rudimentary speaking and exchanging information with its parents the child develops a sort of cognitive “tenticles” that somehow interconnect it with the huge world around it and thus elementarily restore his/her lost sense of "Unity with Everything"…

Strange as it might sound, the astronomical hierarchy of our Solar system says a lot about the properties of each planet. Mercury is the first planet in that hierarchical order, barely out of the Sun. It is showered by the torrential "consciousness" energies of our Luminary but crucially it resides just a bit out of the Sun so that it doesn't get totally blinded by it! This fact has a major astrological implication: planet Mercury is able of "peeping" through the blinding "solar curtain", taking thus a glimpse of the rest of the solar system and of the dark, immense space lying beyond it! And while the somehow "autistic" Sun is totally absorbed by its own existence Mercury realizes (thanks to the strong "consciousness" energies he receives from its nearby star) that there is something beyond the Sun, something proportionally powerful and meaningful! Thus, Mercury is trying to reason over this world that lies "beyond the Sun", to understand its nature and to establish connections with it!

This stage, of Mercury becoming aware of the existence of non Solar words actually corresponds to the stage of the child loosing its primordial sense of "Unity with everything". They both are fragmenting and traumatic stages. So, what immediately does Mercury in order to "remedy" the fragmenting experience is to attempt restoring some sense of unity with those "alien" to the solar kingdom words. Mercury stands at the very boundary between these two worlds and it somehow has to bring them together, to interconnect them. And to achieve this he has first to understand the nature of these "newly found" non solar worlds and consequently spot any possible "dialoguing" elements between them and the solar kingdom he serves. That is why properties like "reasoning", "dialectics", "interconnection" are ultimately so important to Mercury! There are mere means to the end of restoring some sense of unification between the partial and the whole, between us and the vast "world out there".

Under this point of view, Mercury seems to be an earlier stage of Venus. Venus is aiming to bring  together similar (or complementary) things and to unify them. Mercury on the other hand is striving to achieve some elementary "dialogue" between any kind of disparate elements...

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas Gazis

RECOLLECT THE ASTROLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE YOU INNATELY POSSESS!

(An "International Academy of Astrology" online course by the IAA's instructor Thomas Gazis)

Since I was a kid I had an intellectual fond for the “bearded guys”. I mean I loved the 1960’s hippies alright but I had a very special kick for the ancient Greek philosophers. Some great philosophers were living almost next to my house in Athens. And they were speaking a language very similar to the one I was speaking. So, from early on in my life I felt a particular connection to them. My little adolescent “getaways” consisted of me visiting the ancient “Agora” (forum) under Acropolis - a vast area full of ruins lying below the majestic Parthenon - day daydreaming there that I was suddenly meeting on a street turn Socrates and that I was engaging on a conversation with him…

Back then little did I know that the Greek philosophers (and mainly Socrates, Plato and Heraclitus) would come very handy to me later on in my life, when I started teaching Astrology. You see the major complaint of my astrology students is that astrology consists of so many diverse and disparate elements that the student is hardly able to memorize the properties of each one of them, let alone proceed to a proper synthesis of all those disparate elements, and thus to an effective natal chart interpretation! As an eternal “parroting” adversary I am totally sympathizing with my students. Personally, I have always been a fervent advocate of the “critical thinking” and even of the “sentimental approach” to knowledge.

From the “bearded guys” I knew that true knowledge means inter-relating the disparate elements and unifying them instead of fragmenting them. But back then - on my late twenties - I did not know any available method that would help me to unify the so many and apparently inconsistent astrological elements.

Then an epiphany occurred to me! I started studying thoroughly the teachings of the foremost humanistic astrologer Dane Rudhyar. Rudhyar helped me enormously realize how unifying the astrological knowledge is and how much is based upon principals that in reality are not just astrological but universal. And I knew from the aforementioned great philosophers that those principles are somehow “implanted” in every human being’s brains! Actually, Socrates and Plato advocated the thesis that we human beings harbor inside us a primordial “super knowledge” of all things - although on a somehow fuzzy state. Thus, the only thing we have to do, in order to get “knowledgeable” on some field is to bring into focus and make conscious in our brains the respective fuzzy knowledge we already possess!

That was it! Suddenly I realized that I didn’t have to “impose” any kind of “knowledge” to my students. I just had to become a sort of “intellectual midwife” and simply assist them in delivering on their own the astrological knowledge they already possessed! And that meant that I had to work with them in a totally opposite way, “from inside out”. I had to avoid at any cost the “academic teaching” (to present them stuff that they should uncritically accept and memorize) and help them “give birth” to those astrological principals they already possess! And consequently expand and “build” upon those principals, which the students carry “incorporated” in them. Because whatever is “unconsciously incorporated” in us carries the potential of becoming crystal clear to us at some point - if properly “triggered”!

My firm conviction is that students don’t have to “be taught” astrology, they don’t need to painstakingly memorize hundreds of properties, qualities and attributes of signs, planets and symbols! They already know astrology and the only thing they have to do is simply “recollect” it!

To read more please visit the IAA website to read the syllabus as well as to register for my new course.

Thomas Gazis

Astrological Concepts in Ancient Greek Folklore - The "Keares"!

The ancient Greeks were energetic, optimistic and fun loving people. They were very pious and spiritual as well! Their attitude towards destiny was an advanced and rather modern one. Not only they deeply believed in destiny but they had developed some elaborate theories, myths and overall a particularly rich literature about it! When we come down to astrology, they did not conceive one, but they amazingly conceived certain so-called "proto-astrological" views.

Actually, the ancient Greeks were using a very descriptive and fascinating term for destiny. They used to call it: «HEMARMENE». Well, that's a term we cannot easily render in English. You see, the word «hemarmene» is the present perfect participle of the verb «Meiromai», which means: «from a dividable whole I am taking a particular portion that has been exclusively allotted to me». «Hemarmene» then is «that particular set of experiences that has been predetermined to occur to each one of us, for some deeper purpose».

This deeper purpose was defined by the Greeks as «NECESSITY» ("Ananke" in Greek). The law of ananke - necessity was above every other law. "Even the gods don’t fight against ananke" they used to say. But if the law of «Necessity» was omnipotent, man was powerful too (and this fact alone differs «Hemarmene» from «Kismet» or from any other kind of "destiny"). To the Greeks, each man was a unique, autonomous, highly valued «unit», a unit that almost rivaled the Gods!

Man however was but a part of a greater whole, a part of a process in evolution. Necessity is an almighty power that imposes specific, individual destinies to each man, so that the totality of these destinies pays tribute to the evolution of the «Whole». We indeed encounter here some original and advanced ideas, which are largely shared by our modern astrological worldview too. Thanks to these ideas the road was somehow open to astrology, in the ancient Greek world. Maybe we begin to understand now the fact of the rapid diffusion of astrology in Greece, soon after the military expedition of Alexander the Great in Mesopotamia.

The way was already paved centuries ago, as the Greeks profoundly believed in a predetermined by a superior force destiny - from the very beginning of their history. They would not take any important step unless they were first assured that the "geist" was propitious to them (and by "geist" I mean the moment, the place, the people, the overall conditions etc.). Thus, they were continuously studying the omens to find whether destiny was in their favor or not. And they were so obsessed with it that they often journeyed hundreds of kilometers, in order to reach the two famous oracles of "Delphi" and "Dodona" and learn about their future. Predicting the future somehow became a holy art to them.

So, even if astrology was not indigenous, the soil in Greece was fertile for its diffusion. Actually, the widespread concept of «Hemarmene» immensely facilitated the introduction and diffusion in Greece of a doctrine that apparently was worshiping the stars - and thus was initially regarded by the rational Greeks as barbaric. But astrology soon became rife in this ancient land, bringing forth radical changes in Greek culture. Already in the 3rd century BC the Stoics were regarding «Hemarmene» as an astrological rather than as a religious - theological concept.

All in all, the Hellenistic Greeks had developed a very propitious to astrology philosophical frame and an "astrology-friendly" general outlook on life. And this they achieved having no actual astrological background at all, led only by their advanced awareness and penetrative logic!

Before proceeding, I have to admit here that this is a new field and much research has to be done in the future. I personally drew my conclusions mainly out of the work of the famous English archeologist and author Jane Harrison. Harrison studied attentively some secondary figures in ancient Greek folklore called «KEARES» («KEAR» in its singular form). Some «Keares» are represented on ancient Greek pots and urns and most of them look like fast-paced feathered women, like ugly fairies or some sort of giant bees bearing a human face. Very similar to the Keares seem to be the so-called "Harpies".

A pair of  Harpies

The ancient Greeks had a very strong tendency to «anthropomorphize» everything! They were actually attributing human characteristics to their gods, to invisible entities, even to abstract concepts!  No surprise then that they had "anthropomorphized" even the viruses and the "bad vibes"!

For instance, when someone was falling seriously ill in ancient Greece people would say: "s/he has been possessed by the "Keares"". And with the word "Keares" they did not mean some kind of demons. They rather meant microorganisms or viruses! Surprisingly enough, the Greeks had invented a virus concept two thousand five hundred years ago!

Furthermore, the Greeks had «anthropomorphized» even the vibrations of each elusive moment! According to the ancient Greeks, when we experience some dark, "heavy" and bad moments it is because the "Keares" have intruded the place we are in, festering the atmosphere! And as long as they are present, every ongoing moment becomes unpropitious and adverse and things get really precarious!

The Keares are not necessarily bad. Good Keares exist as well. We might say that the Keares somehow represent the good or the bad astrological influences of the moment. There is ample testimony of this in certain preserved ancient pots and urns with Keares depicted on them. These depictions elucidate pretty well the nature of the Keares.

Hercules slaying a Kear

The figure you see above is easily recognizable, I think. He is the famous hero and semi-god Hercules! As you can see, he is about to slay a strange creature, which actually turns to be a Kear! This Kear has a grotesque, ugly face and can be taken either as a virus or a "bad vibration", a bad moment. In both cases, Hercules eliminates the virus - or the negative vibration.

There is often an interchange between the "Keares" and the "Harpies". The following representation (taken from a vase)  is depicting a scene from the famous banquet that the blind prophet Fineas held in honor of the Argonauts. According to the story, everything was flowing smoothly at this banquet when suddenly some "Harpies" invaded the hall and festered the atmosphere. You can notice Fineas on the very right, lying stunned on his couch, while two good daemons (or "Boreads") are chasing away the Harpies, brandishing their swords.

The famous Fineas banquet (with the "Harpies" on the left chasen away by the Boreads)

Luckily for us, the ancient Greeks were one of the most civilized and cultured ancient people. They bequeathed to us a plethora of works of art and literature, so we have today a clear picture of their culture and folklore. And sometimes, as we browse their enormous inheritance, we stumble upon true "gems". You may see below, for example, an amazing scene hinting to astrology. It is a scene painted on an ancient Greek vase and it depicts one of the most dramatic scenes of  the famous Homeric epic of Iliad. Achilles and Hector are dueling to death, while god Mercury stands amidst them balancing on a scale the influences of the fleeting moment, in order to decide whose soul he should escort to the underworld!

God Mercury weighing the fate of each warrior

If we observe well this picture then we will notice that on the plates of the scales (held by god Hermes/Mercury) there aren't the usual weights but two Keares instead! These Keares represent the current Hemarmene of each hero, the way he is fatally related to the "spirit" of the ever shifting moment (that now becomes victorious and now becomes deadly to him). Thus these two Keares on the scales might very well represent the natal charts of the two heroes and their current "transits"!

Apart from the Keares, another astrology related figure in ancient Greece might be the wine god Dionysus. Historians and archeologists agree that Dionysus and Orpheus (with the latter probably being another  personification of Dionysus) are the most enigmatic gods in the Greek Pantheon. We know for sure that Dionysus was the god of nature's «Augmentative Force», the god that was assisting beings and plants to grow, prosper and thrive. Thus, Dionysus personifies life's vital forces. The remarkable thing is that the Greeks used to represent Dionysus in four distinctive forms: one as a bull, one as a lion, one as a snake or an eagle and one as a drunken, joyful man!

Tim Shaw's modern sculpture of a Dionysian frenzy (Dionysus depicted as a Bull)

Now, obviously, these four representations have something to do with the four zodiacal signs of the fixed cross (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. The Eagle stands for Scorpio since it is his alternative occult symbol while the slightly drunken - and thus somehow transcendental - and euphoric man stands for Aquarius).

What is the deeper meaning behind all this? Today we know that the determination of the year’s duration was of paramount importance to ancient people (think only of Stonehenge). In remote antiquity, equinoxes and solstices were taking place in the constellations of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. Thus, these four constellations were considered by the archaic people as the four «portals» that are opening the respective seasons.

The concept of the «four portals» is central to the teachings of the prominent 20th-century astrologer - philosopher Dane Rudhyar, as well! Rudhyar posits that the four fixed signs represent the release of the four fundamental universal powers:

«the power released toward the formation of an individual being (Taurus), the power released by the individual being (Leo), the power released toward the formation of the universal being (Scorpio) and the power released by the universal being (Aquarius)».

My own hypothesis is that Dionysus personifies these four distinctive universal powers, so depending on the occasion he is represented by one of the aforementioned "zodiacal" images. Oddly enough the same theme of the four fixed signs is repeated in the gospels and in Byzantine icons, with the four apostles taking, in this case, the part of Dionysus.

The four "beasts" of the gospel

With what we have said so far, it becomes obvious that the Greeks had developed a philosophy and a religion that comprised many astrological (in essence) concepts. Although astrology was not rife in Greece until the third century BC we have indications that certain Greeks were thinking astrologically already back in the so-called archaic period!

Take Homer, for example. In many of his verses (written around the 8th century BC) he emphasizes the fact that the destiny of each man is predetermined. But what really surprises is us is a particular verse, where he literary makes a rather astrological statement!

Homer actually writes:  

«Then among them, wise Polydamas was first to speak, the son of Panthous; for he alone looked at once before and after. Comrade was he of Hector, and in the one night were they born: howbeit in speech was one far the best, the other with the spear»!

(the translation courtesy of  the "Perseus Tuft" project)


Although I do not exclude the possibility of this "same night  birth" of Hector and Polydamas having some simpler, "hemerological" connotation (people born on the same calendric day sharing same fates), it seems an astrological statement to me. You see, Homer was born in Ionia, Asia Minor, in an area that had straight ties with both the Middle East and Mesopotamia (where astrology was rife).

This Homer's "astrological" statement is not the only one we encounter in the archaic Greek literature. The Orphic Hymns (written even before Homer’s epics - but comprising certain subsequent additions) include several astrological hints. In the «Hymn to the Stars» for example, there is a verse that goes:

 «Oh stars, you that determine the fate of everything!»

Don't you think that this is an astrological statement? A statement made more than 2500 years ago...

The important fact is that the Greeks - although they never developed a proper «astrological body of knowledge» - they had conceived astrological concepts long before astrology’s official diffusion in Greece.

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis


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(This article is an excerpt from the lecture that Thomas Gazis gave at the international Astrology conference of Arousa - Spain in June 1998).