LVX – The Light of Creation in Traditional Astrology

Five windows light the cavern’d Man; thro’ one he breathes the air;
Thro’ one, hears music of the spheres; thro’ one, the eternal vine
Flourishes, that he may recieve the grapes; thro’ one can look.
And see small portions of the eternal world that ever groweth;
Thro’ one, himself pass out what time he please, but he will not;
For stolen joys are sweet, & bread eaten in secret pleasant.
(W. Blake, Europe A Prophecy)

Light plays a crucial role in Traditional astrology. And here I am not only thinking of light emanating from the sun, making the seven planets of Traditional astrology visible to the naked eye. First and foremost I am talking about the light of creation, or divine light, of which our sunlight may be seen as an important but distant relative. Light has long been recognised as a most important factor in many cosmologies and creation myths.

One typical example is the Lightning Flash of Creation depicted on the Tree of Life: 

 

Here the divine light emanates from the void beyond Kether to manifest the physical Earth (Malkuth), passing through all the other sephirot on the way. This process of creation has to be seen outside of time and space as it creates time and space itself.

Another cosmological model is the Tetraktys:

John Dee states in his Monas Hieroglyphica, published in 1564:

Besides, the kabbalistic extension of the Quaternary according to the common formula of notation (because we say one, two, three, and four) is an abridged or reduced form of the Decad. This is because Pythagoras was in the habit of saying: 1+2+3+4 make 10.

With this quote, Dee shows his knowledge of Plato’s cosmology and the Tetraktys. The triangle of Ten is nothing else but the depiction of the creation of the universe. The Monad, the point at the top of the triangle, splits into two, implying that creation can only be a division in the first place. Here we see the division of the One into Two, light and darkness, male and female (2). The next step after this scission is addition (1 + 2 = 3) and after this addition the first multiplication (2 x 2 = 4 ) takes place. This process of creation can be expressed as 1+2+3+4 equals 10. 

At this level Ten, manifestation begins in the form of the four elements. These four elements, Fire, Air, Water, and Earth are the building blocks of everything tangible. Each of them consists of two of the four basic principles hot, cold, dry, and moist. These four elements are sometimes called the Cross of Matter.

To see how the divine light permeates creation, we can turn again to John Dee and his Monas Hieroglyphica, wherein he states:

As is evident from the sixth theorem, FOUR right angles can be considered to be in our Cross, and the preceding theorem teaches that the sign of the Quinary can be attributed to each one of them, the right angles of course being arranged in one way, but maintaining another position. The same theorem explains the production of the hieroglyphic symbols of the number FIFTY. Thus, it is very clear that the Cross generally denotes the Denary; and that in the order of the Latin alphabet, it is the twenty-first letter (whence it was the case that the wise ones called the Mecubalists signified the number twenty-one with the same letter); and finally, it can be considered very simply to be seen as one sign, no matter what kind of, and how much, other power it has. From all of these things together, we see it can be concluded by means of a very good cabbalistic explanation that our Cross can signify to initiates, in a remarkably shortened way, the number TWO-HUNDRED-FIFTY-TWO. Namely, FOUR times FIVE, FOUR times FIFTY; TEN; TWENTY ONE; and ONE, add up to TWO-HUNDRED-FIFTY-TWO; which number we can deduce in still two other ways from our previous statements. Thus we recommend to cabbalistic Tyrians that they scrutinize this same number, studying it in such a brief space, concluding the varied, skillful production of this Master Number to be worthy of the consideration of philosophers. I will not conceal from you here another memorable initiator to the mysteries. Our Cross having suffered itself to be divided into two different letters, and as earlier we considered their numerical virtue in a certain way, we will now compare in turn their verbal power with that cross, because from this may be born LVX (LIGHT), a Word we perceive with the highest admiration, finally and magisterially through the harmony and agreement of the Ternary in the unity of the word.

 

Dee clearly shows the all-encompassing importance of the divine light, being manifest in the elements and shining through all the worlds.

Having established the four elements, representing the different combinations of the four qualities, we can have a look at the next level, the zodiac. Here we find our four elements in three different modes. We call them ‘moveable’, ‘fixed’ and ‘mutable’, but other systems may recognise these modes as ’sattwa’, ‘rajas’ and ‘tamas’, or ’sal’, ‘mercury’, and ’sulphur’. This leads us to the 12 signs of the zodiac, which, together with their mundane counterparts, the mundane houses, are the representation of all of creation.

We have seen how the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are symbols of the creation of the world, resulting in the wheel of the zodiac (3 x 4). If we move one step further into the world of manifestation, we find that the number 5 is the number of the planets used in the tradition, except the lights (sun and moon). Together with the sun and the moon, the number of the planets increases to 7 (3 + 4). John Dee shows this perfectly in his Monas Hieroglyph.

 

 Being the source of everything, the monad divides, adds and multiplies in the constant creation of the universe. Although unknowable, it is essentially pure. Only when manifestation takes place, the essence splits into several different parts. This can be compared to light, splitting  into the colours of the rainbow when shining through a prism. We may note here that a prism is of triangular shape, another indicator for the threefold nature of creation.

Our seven planets, being in a more manifest stage on the path of creation, symbolise these seven parts of divine light or essence. As these planets exist on the material plane and therefore change their positions in time and space, the astrologer can find out how well their essential natures are expressed at any given point. This is known as essential dignity or debility.

 

 The illustration here shows the table of essential dignities of the planets published in William Lilly’s Christian Astrology, 1659, 2nd edition.

By assessing the level of essential dignity of each planet, the astrologer tries to establish how much of their essence, or their individual part of the divine light,  is available at a particular moment in time. This information enables the astrologer to give accurate judgment. 

The Tradition Library

This is a new project provoding interested astrologers with the work of the authors of the Western Predictive Tradition in the form of transcriptions of their works (entire or in part), commentaries on these works, historical birth data with original horoscopes where possible, and various smaller pieces on these themes.

Highly recommended and to be found at: http://thetraditionjournal.com/library/

Monster of Ingratitude

The article “Monster of Ingratitude”, concerned with the relationship between William Lilly and John Gadbury, has now been published in the Tradition Journal. To download this latest issue, including the mentioned article, please go to: http://www.thetraditionjournal.com/current.html

“Monster of Ingratitude” – The Relationship between William Lilly and John Gadbury

Sue Ward and I have just completed a paper entitled “Monster of Ingratitude” which will be published in the forthcoming edition of “The Tradition” journal (due to be released in September).

Scholarship into the history of astrology has improved over the last ten or fifteen years and has brought us a huge amount of information regarding astrology’s development from many perspectives. However, biographical information about those who practiced astrology in centuries past is not of such a high standard. There are several reasons for this, not least an apparent lack of autobiographical material. It was from this point of view that Sue and I examined the relationship between William Lilly and John Gadbury.

This rather large piece of research has taken several months to complete, but still leaves many questions unanswered. However, what we did discover was that those few biographies of William Lilly are markedly flawed. Most researchers rely upon Derek Parker’s “Familiar to All” which, whilst it presents one of the earliest biographical texts about Lilly and which hasn’t been bettered, presents very few sources as grounds for the author’s opinions. Nonetheless, it is those opinions that we find most frequently in subsequent biographies of the astrologers of 17th century England, particularly those of Lilly and Gadbury. Indeed, much of the personal detail regarding Lilly’s life found in Parker, can be found nowhere else. It may be that Parker had access to material unknown to us, but there are no references with which to follow this up. (It may be that a full and detailed review of “Familiar to All” is required in order to test the assertions made there against known sources.)

We have attempted to address these, largely unsubstantiated, opinions and present source material which leads to alternative, and often very different, conclusions. As an example, the main theme of our paper is the infamous contention between Lilly and Gadbury and our research shows that it has been misconstrued by historians throughout. This study has brought to light a number of other doubtful areas relating to Lilly’s contemporaries, too, but our remit precluded going very far with that; we had already far exceeded our original intentions.

The paper contains:

• brief biographies of the two men;
• the beginning of their acqaintance and how it came about;
• how the enmity began, developed and ended;
• the rather one-sided pamphlet war;
• others involved in the contention;
• a study of the published material;
• all sources of information;
• alternative conclusions based on the above.

We hope to draw the attention of astrologers to an area which requires far closer attention than it has attracted hitherto, and perhaps encourage others to proceed in this research. Furthermore, we hope to demonstrate that Gadbury’s work is far from reliable and could easily be replaced by that of a better qualified author of the period, such as John Partridge. That is, if astrologers want to investigate the art as it stood post-Lilly and as it collided with the new science.

An Explanation of Horary

If you have watched Sue Ward’s presentation about God, the Universe and Everything,  you may want to watch her new presentation, An Explanation of Horary. It gives a fascinating insight into the mechanisms of the art and should be of interest to any horary practitioner.

William Lilly and the Cabala

Sue Ward’s web log entry about the Primary Problem with Venus, which is supplemental to her recommended presentation God, the Universe and Everything, raised the important issue of the intrinsic interconnectedness between astrology and the glyph of the cabalistic Tree of Life. Some of the readers of my web log may know that  this glyph was extensively used by magical orders of the 19th and 20th century, but what is of interest here is the importance of this knowledge to the traditional astrologers and especially to William Lilly.

Ramon Lull (1232 – 1315) was the first writer and philosopher who introduced the Cabala to the West. He was followed by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463 – 1494) who studied the Cabala as well as the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, which became known as the Hermetic Mysteries. Mirandola believed he could, through the revelations of the Cabala,  unify Christianity with the teachings of Plato and Pythagoras.

John Dee (1527 – 1608) the famous astrologer and mathematician of the Renaissance condensed all his knowledge into one glyph, the Monas hieroglyph.

It is said that his writings on astrology, Cabala and the hermetic arts buildt the foundations of the 17th century Rosicrucian movement. 

In 1614 a manuscript with the title Fama Fraternitatis: The Declaration of the Worthy Order of the Rosy Cross was anonymously published in Germany, followed by Confessio Fraternitatis and The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz in 1615 and 1616. These manuscripts were drawing their information from a range of sources, including John Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica. His glyph was to be found on the front page of the Fama Fraternitatis. The publication of these books triggered the beginnings of a vast Rosicrucian movement in Europe. William Shakespeare was linked to the movement and important personalities like Robert Fludd and Elias Ashmole identified themselves as Rosicrucians.

We know that Ashmole and William Lilly were both deeply interested in all aspects of the hermetic arts and especially in the writings of John Dee. As Sue has so rightly pointed out in her presentation, it was this spiritual bond that made the friendship between these two men possible. But can we be sure that Lilly knew about these secrets and used them in his astrology? As in many cases, the thorough study of his masterpiece, Christian Astrology, provides us with an answer, as Lilly writes:  

 ”It is a recieved, general Rule amongst those Artists that know the Cabalistic Key of Astrologie, that  if one Planet be the Lord of the ascendant and twelfth house….” (CA, p464) 

 This quote shows that, at least in my opinion, Lilly knew about the cabalistic correspondences and used them in his daily work, if the necessity arose to do so. Another revealing piece of information can be found in Lilly’s Merlinus Anglicus Ephemeris for the year 1680, where he writes:

“But We must owne the assistance of our Friend Mr. Henry Coley herein; of him We have had experience for several Years past, and to him shall communicate many Secrets in Art, not know to the Vulgar Astrologer;…” 

I hope I could outline how cabalistic teachings were integrated in the Western Mystery tradition and became an intrinsic part of the lore. Astrologers like William Lilly were well versed in the symbolism through their studies of the hermetic arts. For them astrology was only one expression of the mysteries which enabled them to get closer to the Divine. 

A depiction from the Syriac New Testament, Vienna 1555, illustrates this beautifully.

 

God, The Universe and Everything

If you, dear reader, never had the fortune to attend any of Sue Ward’s lectures on the subject of the philosophy of astrology, you might appreciate  to know that she has put a movie presentation based on a number of her lectures on her website.

This highly recommended presentation with the title: “God, the Universe and Everything” can be accessed here: http://www.sue-ward.co.uk/ (to be found under Articles)

William Lilly’s Precious Stones

When William Lilly wrote his Christian Astrology in 1647, he included chapters on the seven planets and their significations in the introductory part. These chapters include, amongst a lot of other material, the correspondences between planets and precious stones. What is of interest here is the source material Lilly used for his book.

The bibliography appended to Christian Astrology gives us some information as to where his knowledge came from and in the following I want to shed more light on this subject.

One of Lilly’s main sources seems to be Cornelius Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia, written between 1509 and 1510 and printed for the first time in 1533. Lilly does not provide us with much detail about the edition he used, only that its format would be octavo and that it had been printed in Lugduni. There was indeed an edition printed in 1543 in Lyon, which might be the one Lilly had in his library. I used the first English translation from 1651 for my research, an edition published just a bit too late to be used by Lilly for his Christian Astrology.

Another book Lilly might have used as a source to establish the correspondences between planets and gemstones is Johannes Schöner’s Opera Mathematica, Nuremberg 1551, which is as well included in Lilly’s bibliography.

Although he claims that Schöner’s book would not be methodical, Lilly calls it a good one and it seems to have been hugely popular at the time. Nicolaus Rensberger, for example, copied the information about gemstones and planets for his Astronomia Teutsch straight out of Opera Mathematica.

 The following tables show the possible sources of  Lilly’s correspondences and I have included some explanatory footnotes.

 

Saturn	Agrippa	Schöner	???
			Lapis Lazuli
	Sapphire
	All black and ugly stones

 

Jupiter	Agrippa	Schöner	???
		Amethyst
			Bezoar*
			Crystals**
	Hyazinth
		Sapphire
	Smarage (Emerald)	Smarage (Emerald)
			Topaz

 

*Al Biruni says about the Bezoar Stone:

“The early authors have said that a well-known stone is so named, although they have omitted to mention its characteristics and features.

As a matter of fact, this stone should have been the costliest among
stones, for, whereas jewels are things of the body and adornment, and
are of no use in bodily ailments, the bezoar stone guards the body and
the soul and saves them from being harmed. We did not describe it
before all the other stones, thinking it more logical that it should be described along with stones belonging to its genus. Muhammad bin
Zakariya Razi says:

“The kind that I saw was soft like the Yemenite alum. It scattered

and broke into pieces. I am filled with amazement at its wonderful

effect”.

Abu ‘Ali ibn Mandawayh says that it is pale with white and green
hues mixed with it. Hamzah and Nasr both say that it is primarily
associated with India and China. In the Kitab al-Nukhab it has been saidthat its mine is in the mountain of Zarand within the boundaries of Kirman.

Hamzah and Nasr have described fine kinds of the stones. These are
white, yellow, green, dusty and abrasive. Nasr has, however, selected
the dusty kind. He has prescribed a dose of twelve barley grains for the
poisonous kind. The author of the Kitab al-Nukhab says that one kind
of it is beet green and pale, while another kind is reddish-white. One
kind is thin and has something filled inside it. It is called the snot of
Satan and the Warlock’s thread.”

 

**John Maplet describes Crystals as Follows: “The Cristall is one of those stones that shyneth in everie part, and is in colour waerie. Isidore saith, that it is nothing else then a congeled Ise by continuance frosen whole yeares. It groweth in Asia and Cyperus, and especially upon the Alpes and highe Mountains of the North Pole. It engendreth not so much of the waters coldnesse, as of the earthinesse mixt withall. His propertie is to abide nothing in qualitie contrarie to it selfe: therefore it is delighted only with colde.”

 

Mars	Agrippa	Schöner	???
	Adamant
	Amethyst
	Bloodstone*	Hemanites*
	Jasper	Jasper
	Loadstone**
	Touchstone***

 

*Bloodstone is these days a name for Jasper which is dotted with red spots of iron oxide, but it is as well a name for Hematite, which could be indicated in Schöner. Rensberger has altered it to Hematite in his Astronomia Teutsch.

 

**John Maplet describes the Loadstone as follows: “The Lodestone commeth from Indie, and is almost Iron colour like. It is founde most rife amongst the Trogloditas people, in the furthest part of Affrick, beyond Aethiopia, who are saide to dwell in Caves, and to eate Serpents flesh. It draweth Iron to it, even as one Lover cueteth and desireth an other. The common people therefore having sometime seene this so done by secret and unknowne working, have iudged and reputed ye Iron lively. There is another kind of Lodestone in Thessalie, that is of contrarie set and disposition, which will have non of Iron, nor will meddle with it. But for the other that is reckned principall and best, which in colour is blue. Saint Augustine saith, that if any man put under any vessel eyther golden or brasse, or holde under these any peece of Iron, and lay above the vessels or upon them this Lodestone, that even through the verie motion or moving of the stone underneath, the Iron shall move up and meete with it as nigh as the vessell wil suffer at the verie top.”

 

***Touchstone is a hard dark siliceous stone, such as basalt or jasper, that is used to test the quality of gold and silver from the colour of the streak they produce on it.

 

Sun	Agrippa	Schöner	???
			Adamant
	Carbuncle*
	Chrysolithe
	Etites**
	Hyacinth	Hyacinth
	Ruby

 

 *John Maplet’s description of Carbuncle: ”The Carbuncle is a stone very precious, so called for that (like to a fierie cole) it giveth light, but especially in the night  season: it so warreth with the pupill or the eiesight, that it sheweth manifolde reflexions. It has as some say. xv. kindes: but those most precious that come nigh the Carbuncles nature: it is found in Libia.”

 

**Sometimes called Echites, Maplet says: ”Echites is a stone both of Indie and Persia, which in the shore and Sea banckes of the Ocean, in the verie bosome of the Indian and Persian Sea, it is found: it is in colour Violet like: And there is a paire of them, Male & Female, and be most commonly found both togither in the Eagles nest, without the which the Eagle can not bring forth hir yong: and therfore kepeth them, as most necessarie in this behalfe alwaies in hir Nest. These stones bound to a womans bodie, being with childe, do hasten childe birth. And Iorach saith, that if any man have these or one of these, and put it under that mans meate or trencher that he suspecteth to be in fault of any thing: If that he be guiltie, he shall not be able through this to swallowe downe his meate: If not saith he, he may.”

 

Venus	Agrippa	Schöner	???
			Beryl*
			Chrysolite**
	Cornelian
	Lapis Lazuli
		?Margarit***?	Margasite***
		Sappire (sky coloured)

 

* Maplet talks of a green Berill, colour of Venus, which seems apt.

 

**Chrysolite , also called Olivin or Peridot is of green colour, fitting for Venus.

 

***Lilly calls it a Margasite, it is ‘Margarit’ in Schoener and ‘Margaret’ in Maplet, who describes it as follows: “The Margaret of all Gemmes, those which be in their kindes white, is esteemed the chiefest: as Isidore consenteth, with others herein. Which kinde he will also have thus named, for that is founde growing in the meate of certain shell fishes, and those of the Sea, as in the Sea Snaile, and in the greatest Oyster, and such like as have their shell. It is engendred of a certain heavenly dewe, which in a certaine time of the yeare, both the Sea Snaile and the Cockle doe take and drik up. Of the which kinde of stone certaine are called Vnions, for that by one and one, they be founde, and never above one: there be some of these also seene sometimes yellow, but the other are the verie best.”

 

Mercury	Agrippa	Schöner	???
	Achates
	Marchasite
	Topaz

 

Moon	Agrippa	Schöner	???
	Selenite
	Crystals	Crystals

The House System Poll Discussion

After my initial comment on the House System Poll the discussion has moved to Sue Ward’s web log. To view the latest comments follow the feed on this page or go straight to :

http://sue-ward.blogspot.com/2009/06/house-systems.html

The House System Poll – A Comment on its Results

In recent months the Academy of Astrology and  The Tradition journal  conducted a House System Poll. The detailed results of this poll can be found in The Tradition News, summer09, which can be downloaded for free at: http://thetraditionjournal.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/the-tradition-news/ .

At a first glance it seems that many of the participants tend to integrate Traditional methods into their Modern way of practicing.  This has to be seen as a positive sign and a motivation to continue the efforts to make Traditional teachings available to the interested student.

If we continue to have a closer look at the results concerning the participants identifying themselves as purely traditional practitioners, the picture becomes a different one. Nearly one third of them are mixing two or more systems. Furthermore 21% claim the usage of Placidus and 4% even state that they use the Koch system in their work. This comes as a surprise and saddens the Traditionalist in me immensely.

In my opinion,  astrology has to be integrated in its cultural and spiritual context. In the case of Traditional astrology this means that we have to look at the historical background and  try to take the worldview of the astrologer into consideration. Traditional astrology was an integral part of a wider system which we call the Hermetic arts and it should not be seen in isolation. If we try and isolate astrology from this complex system by application of modern ways of thinking, we are simply destroying it. The modern world seems to suffer from what I would call pathological compartmentalisation, something the ancient Masters would neither have agreed with nor understood. The first and foremost  thought of the Traditional astrologer was that every action had to be for the glory of God. With this aim in mind he could at the same time be philosopher, magician, alchemist or all of it together. It all stemmed from his desire to serve and it could all be reduced to one single focal point, one single truth. This is the reason why it would have never occurred to the true traditionalist to use more than one technique to establish the house cusps. They knew and used the system which manifested the underlying philosophy by mathematical means, and this was enough.

I can only urge the students of Traditional astrology to try and immerse themselves into the philosophy and world view of the ancient masters. Any modern approach decorated with a fashionable fassade of Traditional technique will not bring the desired results.

I leave the last word to the master astrologer William Lilly, as nobody could have said it better: “In the first place, consider and admire thy Creator, and be thankful unto him, be though humble, and let no natural knowledge, how profound and transcendent soever it be, elate thy minde to neglect that divine Providence, by whose all-seeing order and appointment, all things heavenly and earthly, have their constant motion.”