Dec 14, He dedicated his life to ancient astrology, and especially hellenistic astrology; Born on December 22, , Robert H. Schmidt obtained a.
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By using our site, you agree to our collection of information through the use of cookies. To learn more, view our Privacy Policy. Log In Sign Up. Chris Brennan. The Planetary Joys and the Origins of the Significations of the Houses and Triplicities Chris Brennan Abstract The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of a previously unknown scheme underlying the foundations of Hellenistic astrology. I will demonstrate how this scheme ties together a number of early astrological concepts, ultimately appearing to act as the motivation for some of the significations of the houses, as well as the rationale for the assignment of the four elements to the signs of the zodiac.
I would also like to recognize Robert Schmidt for his early suggestive comments about the triplicity lords and angular triads. The only author who appears to follow a different scheme for the joys is Manilius, who will be discussed below. Instead of referring to these houses by their number relative to the rising sign e. The names for the 10th, 7th, and 4th houses are purely descriptive, in terms of the astronomical location of those three houses. However, the names for several of the other houses are not astronomical in nature, but instead they appear to be associated with the planet that is said to have its joy in each of those houses.
For example, the 9th house is said to be the house of God, and the 9th is the house where the Sun has his joy. Opposite to that is the 3rd house, which is called Goddess, and this is the house where the Moon has her joy. The two benefic planets, Venus and Jupiter, are associated with the two good houses, which are the house of Good Fortune and the house of Good Spirit, respectively. The joys appear very early in what survives of the Hellenistic astrological tradition. The two earliest datable references are found in Thrasyllus and Manilius, two contemporaries who wrote their texts sometime around the first few decades of the 1st century CE.
When mentioning some of these house names, Thrasyllus cites another text attributed to Hermes Trismigestus. Since we know that Thrasyllus died in the year 36 CE, we must assume that the text he was drawing on that was ascribed to Hermes was written sometime earlier, probably in the 1st century BCE. Holden, 2, 6. Emphasis added. Holden, 2, 7.
Rhetorius makes similar statements in chapter 57 of his compendium.
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Petrus Boudreaux, Lamertin, Brussels, , pp. The first is related to the Hellenistic doctrine of sect.
There is a daytime or diurnal sect that is led by the Sun, and a nighttime or nocturnal sect that is led by the Moon. The classical planets are then divided evenly between the two sects, with each sect receiving a benefic and malefic. Jupiter and Saturn join the Sun as diurnal planets, while Venus and Mars join the Moon as nocturnal planets. Mercury is said to be neutral, capable of joining the diurnal sect when he is a morning star or the nocturnal sect when he is an evening star.
This appears to be tied into a separate sect-related doctrine where the diurnal planets are said to rejoice when they are above the earth by day and below earth by night, whereas conversely the nocturnal planets are said to rejoice when they 10 The chief sources for direct references to the joys are Paulus, Introduction, 24; Olympiodorus, Commentary, 23; Firmicus, Mathesis, 2, ; Rhetorius, Compendium, For indirect references to the joys via the names of the houses associated with them see Sextus, Against the Professors, V: , Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 3, 11; 4, 6; 4, 7; Hephaistio, Apotelesmatika, 1, 12; Michigan Papyrus, Col.
See Schmidt, Facets of Fate, p. Porphyry, Introduction, 4. These will be discussed below. Mystery Surrounding the Elements and the Signs For the past 20 years there has been something of a mystery surrounding how the four classical elements came to be assigned to the specific signs of the zodiac that they are associated with in the Medieval and Modern traditions of astrology.
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He does so in a way that makes it seem as if he is he was getting the associations from an earlier source, though, since Valens appears to take the associations for granted, as if they were common knowledge in his time. Schmidt, ed. Hand, p. These are the triplicity or trigon lords, which are usually arranged in the following way: 21 Thus, while many astrologers did group the signs into four triplicities, and did associate each one with a set of planetary rulers, they did not all associate these signs with particular elements.
Instead they associated the triplicities and their rulers with the four winds, which are connected with the four cardinal directions, north, south, east and west. Rhetorius definitely mentions the scheme in his compendium, which was written towards the very end of the Hellenistic tradition in the 6th or 7th century CE.
Carmen 5, 2; 5, ; 5, , he appears to be using a different system from the one that would later become common. This alternate system, which has to do with the images associated with the constellations, was also mentioned in other authors such as Manetho e. Apotelesmatika, 5: ; 6: and Olympiodorus e. Commentary, 38, p. Firmicus, Mathesis, 2, Their association may represent a later addition, or perhaps something which not all astrologers agreed on.
The latter seems more likely, since in the case of Valens and Ptolemy we see one astrologer using the associations, while his contemporary who lived in the same time period and the same location, did not. Holden flags this material as having interpolations from Ptolemy in the preface of his translation.
See Rhetorius, Compendium, trans. Holden, p. The two flanking houses consist of one cadent whole sign house that is moving away from the angle, otherwise known as a declining house apoklima , and one succedent house that is moving towards the angle, otherwise known as a post-ascension epanaphora. When the joys are viewed within the context of the angular triads, we see that they fall into place according to the triplicity lords see Diagram 2. The Sun and Jupiter, which are the two principal rulers of the triplicity that consists of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, are in two of the houses that comprise the angular triad around the 10th house.
Saturn and Mercury, which are the two primary rulers of the triplicity that consists of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, are in two of the houses which comprise the angular triad around the 1st house. Next we find the Moon and Venus, which are the rulers of the triplicity that consists of Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, in two of the houses that comprise the angular triad around the 4th house. Finally, the last planet that is left over is Mars, which is one of the primary rulers of the triplicity that consists of Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, and we find it in one of the houses that comprise the angular triad around the 7th house.
We may be able to find some textual support for this connection between the joys and the angular triads in the work of the 2nd century skeptic Sextus Empiricus. This is probably not an accident, but instead may imply that this was based on a commonly-known relationship between the joys and the angular triads in the 2nd century CE. He discussed the angular triads more recently in Definitions and Foundations, p.
Burry, slightly modified so that the terminology for the houses is consistent with the conventions used in this paper. My observation is as follows: the joys are arranged so that the Sun and Jupiter, which are the two planets that later came to be the principal rulers of the fire triplicity, are at the top of the diagram, clustered around the angular triad associated with the Midheaven or 10th house see Diagram 3.
Saturn and Mercury, the two planets that came to be the primary rulers of the air triplicity, are positioned over on the left side of the diagram, in the angular triad associated with the Ascendant or rising sign. The last remaining planet, Mars, which came to be one of the primary rulers of the water triplicity, is over on the right side of the chart, in one of the houses that comprise the angular triad that is centered on the descendant or setting house.
The result of this arrangement is that the planets associated with the element of fire are at the top of the chart, the planets associated with earth are at the very bottom, the air planets are on the left, and the water planet is on the right. According to Aristotle, 32 each element has a natural tendency to move either upwards or downwards, either towards the center of the cosmos or away from the center of the cosmos, with the Earth at the center.
Fire rises up to the highest region, while earth moves down to the lowest region. Air rises upwards and settles in a position just below fire, while water settles down and rests on top of earth. The hierarchy of elemental layers is therefore: 1. Fire 2. Air 3. Water 4. Earth This ordering of the elements in terms of the positions they were thought to hold in the cosmos was later taken up by the Stoic and Hermetic philosophical schools, and so it would have been very 32 Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption, 1: When viewed in this context, the arrangement of the joys represents a depiction of the doctrine of natural place with the planets themselves representing each of the four elements in their proper place in the cosmos.
The placement of the air planets here is clever because it creates a situation where air is symbolically being pushed upwards, towards the element of fire. The placement of the element of water here makes it so that water is being pushed downwards, towards the element of earth. The end result is that fire and earth form the upper and lower extremes, while air and water have middling positions, but the diurnal rotation pushes air upwards towards fire and water downwards towards earth.
If we take this arrangement as deliberate, which it would be hard not to, then it provides an original basis for the application of the four elements to the signs of the zodiac. Presumably the signs themselves were already grouped into triplicities and associated with certain planetary rulers, but it was this scheme which allowed the triplicities to be associated with each of the four elements.
Adoption vs. Lack of Adoption of the Elemental Scheme The assignment of the four elements to the triplicities was already known to Valens in the mid-2nd century CE. One would assume that it was probably known to Ptolemy as well, since both men lived in Egypt around the same time period, and may have drawn on similar sources. For the Hermetic tradition, see the cosmogony in Corpus Hermeticum, 1: 4 p. Copenhaver Hermetica, p. Schmidt, p. Ptolemy had an inclination toward Aristotelian philosophical and cosmological doctrines in his astrology.
Conversely, earth is primarily dry, and it is opposed to air which is primarily moist. If the zodiacal assignments were to follow the Aristotelian scheme then the fire signs should be opposite to the water signs in the zodiac, and the air signs should be opposite to the earth signs. This strange aversion that the astrological community has to this material is the reason why I named this site "The Lost Horoscope X-Files" so many years ago.
I am among a small group of people who've received direct tutoring from Robert Schmidt over the years. There were others too, but this was my circle of acquaintances. Apologies to anyone I may have left out who were original OG's. Schmidt helped Demetra develop their Hellenistic astrology curriculum. From this a new wave of students emerged, most notable are Maria Mateuse and Chris Brennan.
I arrived in Oct and stayed for about a year. I was familiar with Cumberland having been in and out of Ellen's house on some weekends for various workshops over the years from the mid 90's up through Robert Hand left the project early on after having participated in it's founding. Robert Zoller was also a founding member of Project Hindsight and returned to Cumberland in spring and stayed until after I left in Oct He stayed in the room just down the hall from me on the west side of Ellen's mansion.
Unfortunately most of the best material is hard to find on the web because it's buried in forums or blogs whose page indexes go too deep which may cause the material to rank lower due to the linear link structure if it's found at all. This is far from a complete account of my writings, but I've preserved some of the best of what I've written here.
This has philosophical implications as to whether as Schmidt says "one gets ones due".
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Here we see whether a planet is able to bring it's effects to bear on the natives life effectively angular or whether it's effects are deflected away cadent or whether it's effects are eventually brought to bear succeedent. These three categories have different Greek names kentron, apoklima or proanophora, epanophora. If a planet is conducive to business, it's effects will be more readily noticible, whereas cadent planets will generally be less effective or manifest peripherally to the native.
Schmidt said that this is one of the reasons why malefics joy in the 6th or 12th Mars and Saturn , is because they direct their maleficence away from the native while being connected to the native. This is not always the case however for reasons we'll explore later based on eminence. Metaphysically if the planets are cadent, then one is not "centered on the world" because such places are considered "metacosmious" literally meaning "between worlds".
Here we see one of the composite concepts so common in Hellenistic astrology. Ideally a planet should be able to "rise up" and not be in a stumbling state either moving backwards or hiding in some way as to go unnoticed. Direct and visible is the ideal here which indicates that the planets manifestation is less encumbered. This plays heavily into fitness later on when a planet is judged capable of being the captain of one's ship aka chart ruler in what is known as the "nautical metaphor".
If a planet is direct and visible, it has maximized it's potential on the planetary level. Here we see on what potential significations a planet is most likely to manifest. If this is one of the malefics and it's an alien place as shown above, it can't bring about any of it's own significations in favor of the native, but instead trashes the significations of that place.
So for instance if Saturn by night happens to be in the 2nd house in an alien place, then it trashes the significations such as finances, making defective ones possessions or loss, and theft, diminishing what supports the native. But if in their own places, it will bring out more positive potentials effecting from its own significations in this case, one who is miserly and conservative financially, one fortunate in antiques, etc.
In this case we find how motivated a planet is to produce its effects whatever they may be. Sometimes planets are very capable but not motivated, other times they can be very motivated, but lack ability. If we imagine someone who is a musician, the first case where planets are in their own places might indicate a highly gifted musician, but if that position is cadent, they're playing in a local bar.
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If the reverse, then we have someone prone to get an engagement above their ability who gets to mess up their performance at Carnegie Hall, or of course somewhere in between. While the last consideration closely relates to venue due to its terrestrial connection, this again has more to do with the strength of the testimonial accounts between the planets, whether they are shouting in their aspect relations or whether they are speaking softly. The planets that speak the loudest are more likely to make a noticeable impact. This consideration was largely speculative by Schmidt, but I think that when planets are in their own "winds" the promise at the level of heimarmene is one of greater eminence and far reaching impact.
This is a higher realm and just as is the case in the sky, winds close to the ground tend to be slower and don't move as far, whereas those higher up eventually reach the jet stream going very fast. Within the context of the nautical metaphor explained below we'll see that such planets make the native go far in life when they're in their own winds, but a planet in a contrary wind has to struggle upstream. We can think of this level as the last stop in the long chain of events as to what happens when it becomes active as a time lord.
Some promises can't be kept, while others are delivered at the appropriate time. In the technique known as zodiacal releasing, it is the angular fortune houses that deliver it's effects most strongly. This completion level determines whether there is something in the promise that is held back in some way before it even reaches completion manifestation. Because the Moon is closely related to the terrestrial sphere it is just above considerations that have to do with the houses.
It is said that the Moon is responsible for moderating the other planets and sending its "effluvia" to the terrestrial level.
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This is where the messages regarding testimony and witnessing at the planetary level get sent. It represents the final verdict at the level of the cosmic courtroom Schmidt's legal paradigm. This last type of completion has to do with the end result of the manifestation, whether the results are lasting solid zoidia , changeable mutable , or tapered strong beginning but not lasting and also whether the results are duplicated many or just singular.
For instance if a planet responsible for marriage or children is in a double bodied sign, it indicates multiple marriages, multiple children, etc While the former sections were about the ability of the planets to conduct its business, the remaining sections have to do with whether that business is favorable or unfavorable for the native. In this case if a planet is in a place configured to the ascendant, then it promotes life for the native. If it can't see the ascendant by ptolemaic aspect, then the business of that planet goes against life. Within the context of the nautical metaphor, Schmidt says that the places configured to the ascendant are places where "ropes" are attached to the helm so that the life can be steered away from danger, while the 2nd, 6th, 8th and 12th have no ropes to pull on.
This consideration has to do with sect, especially the idea of political affiliation similar to the democratic and republican parties in the USA. One group of planets is in charge and has power whereas the remaining planets are contrary to that power. Within the context of the cosmic courtroom, this level shows whether the planet is in your defense or whether it's prosecutorial, whether that planet speaks well or ill in the cosmic courtroom.
In this case we find whether the planets "political office" or situation enables it to do good or bad. These represent largely circumstantial conditions that contribute to a planets ability to effect it's own business. When it's in its own places, it can effect from its own significations and even if malefic it will do so in favorable ways for the native.
These circumstantial conditions also play a strong role in elevating the eminence of an individual, so planets in their own places here tend to deflect trouble away from the native even if contrary to sect. These are the classic joys of the planets according to house position i. This is a more general consideration compared to the above which checks the house position. Here a planet simply wants to be in the right half of the sky above or below the horizon depending upon the sect of the chart.
If it's a day chart, then the nocturnal planets want to be below the horizon, whereas the diurnal planets want to be above. The Sun by definition has to be above. When the Sun goes below the horizon, the nocturnal planets prefer to be above the horizon. It seems that only Jupiter and Saturn take being near the Sun well unless it's combust.
This condition is similar to the effect that the nodes of the Moon have. In this case we see that the Moon is in a contrary wind to the Sun. The Moon is in Gemini in this case so it's in the north wind, but the Sun in Leo is in the south wind, hence this result.