Tradition is not what it used to be

(Sorry for not having written anything last week. Life got in the way).

One of the astrolabels I abandoned a while ago and feel no need to ever use it again is “traditional”.

The reason is: the word is being used in the wrong sense. “Traditional astrology” is just normal astrology.

What sets modern astrology apart is a matter of worldview, not technique.

Moreover, the need to establish definite periods, and fixed sets of rules, each of them belonging to a corpus with a tag, is a modern obsession. Traditionalist astrologers — and not only astrologers, but that’s another story — are a modern invention.

What sets modern from traditional is not time (Luke Dennis Broughton and Alan Leo were contemporaries), nor technique (Lilly repeatedly said he was presenting new things; Morin wanted to reinvent the craft), nor trying to preserve a distant past (Ptolemy, Bonatti, and Lilly were trying to present the then-current state of astrology), and certainly not uncritical reverence to old texts (see Culpeper and Ibn Ezra for funny examples).

Tradition is the transmission of a worldview, more than just a set of practical techniques (which were also transmitted, of course).

I understand the need to market one’s work in some way or another; I understand the need to emphasize that what one does is time-tested, and has connections to things that demonstrably worked. On the other hand, I understand the modern appeal to label oneself as modern, or as progressive.

I just don’t want to do it.

****

There is a Catholic devotion called “The 14 Holy Helpers”: saints whose intercession was believed to be highly effective against diseases. It originated in Rhineland, in the 14th Century.

At the core of this group, there were 3 Virgin Martyrs, St. Margaret of Antioch, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Barbara.

There was a German mnemonic for them, which, in English, reads as follows:

Margaret with the dragon,Barbara with the tower,Catherine with the wheel,those are the three holy maids.

St Margaret (called “St. Marina the Great Martyr” in Ortodoxy) was swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, and escaped alive. That’s an image of beginnings, of rebirth.

St. Barbara lived in a tower, locked away by her father, for most of her life. That’s an image of endurance.

St. Catherine was to be killed on a spiked breaking wheel, but it shattered. An image of ending cycles.

(The three of them were beheaded, if you’re wondering why they are called “Martyrs”).

Beginning, endurance, end: the three modes, cardinal, fixed, mutable?

Perhaps. The other Holy Helpers were 11 - seven plus four. I have no ideia whether there is a correspondence between them and the seven planets and/or the four elements, but in case anyone wants to try their hand, or just pray for their intercession, here they are:

Saints Acacius, Blaise, Cristopher, Cyriacus, Denis, Erasmus of Formia, Eustace, George, Giles, Pantaleon, and Vitus.

***

The passion fruit (called “maracujá” in Portuguese) was introduced in Europe in the 16th Century; so, it is not mentioned in the most common herbals.

However, the appearance of the flower is quite Venus-like; it is not called “passion” out of nothing. It is a vine, it clings to trees and walls, and its fruit has a beautiful outer and inner color. The fruit’s flavor is sweet but stingy; some of them are sour.

The leaves are somewhat dark, and the ripe fruit has wrinkles.

If I had to classify it in terms of planets, I’d say it has a Venus-Saturn signature.

… it is used as a sedative and has a calming effect. Is not recommended to pregnant women because it induces contractions. It is used against erysipelas and skin problems.

***

Is there a signature for autism in the birth chart? Can we predicting just by looking at it?

No.

Can astrology help with autist kids?

Yes.

Why? Because that’s how astrology works. It identifies patterns in the person, not medical tags.

***

I recently recorded a course on the basics of the celestial mechanics: the spheres, the circles, the motions, how they’re related, what and where are the signs, what and where are the houses.

It had a decent success. Not a huge one, but quite a few people watched it, and everyone seem to have liked it.

So: would you, English-speaking person that have read thus far, be interested in such a course? Please tell me (either respond to this email, or say something on social media — on my Twitter account, mvsmonteiro, or on Instagram, marcos.astrology, or even in this new Notes thing here on Substack).

And, feel free to subscribe.

Have a nice week!