HOW TO LEARN ASTROLOGY


Chapter Six

THE MEANING OF THE TRIANGLE



The horoscope not only reveals the stresses and strains in experience, through the relations set up by the "cross" in the circle, but also the cooperation which the triangle similarly indicates and symbolizes. The triangle is the geometrical figure by which points are emphasized as they tend to help rather than oppose or block each other. The triangle divides the circle of the astrological chart "around" the quarter points; it sets up relationships independent of the quarter points, or the squares and oppositions which always indicate an essential difficulty.

The classification of the signs by quadrature has disclosed the square and opposition relationship between the planets, subject of course to the orbs of influence. A further classification by "triplicity," so called because there are three signs in each grouping, will provide the similar indication of a possible triangle relation. Astrologers term this relation a "trine" aspect. It is measured in the same way as the others, and is accepted according to the same planetary orbs.

Parenthetically, the planets in the same triplicity may be in conjunction rather than trine. Also it is necessary to remember that any aspect may be formed across the lines of a sign when the planets are near either edge.

The easiest way to learn the triplicities, as well as the significance of the trine aspect, is through the special emphasis given by a configuration known to astrologers as a "grand trine." This is an arrangement of the planets around the circle so that two of them, trine to each other, are both trine to a third on the other side of the circle. The first example horoscope for the grand trine is Mahatma Gandhi.

If an equal-sided triangle is inscribed in the zodiac here, with one point at Aries 18°27', or at the position of Gandhi's Neptune, the two other points will be found at the same degree and minute of Leo and Sagittarius. These three signs constitute the "fire" triplicity. Since Gandhi has his moon within 1°46' of Neptune's trine point in Leo, his Saturn within 6°5' of this same trine point in Sagittarius, and his moon and Saturn also within 7°51' of an exact trine to each other, these three planets constitute a grand trine.

Gandhi

The grand trine in Gandhi's horoscope supplements a much stronger cosmic-cross in fixed signs. This latter pattern indicates that the mahatma lives in a world of potentialities. It reveals his task in establishing values or dealing with motives, and links him with J. P. Morgan. This parallel to the American financier's case gives the beginner a foundation for understanding the career of the East Indian saint, and also presents another illustration of the fact that the meaning derived from any one part of the horoscope will never properly contradict or modify that derived from any other. Whatever the fire grand-trine signifies will be true in all instances, irrespective of what else the chart may reveal.

A triplicity consists of one sign from each of the three quadratures, just as the quadratures in turn include one from each of the four triplicities. This can be seen clearly in the table below. The cardinal or most important quadrature sign is the key member in every triplicity. It gives the triplicity its meaning through the relationship set up with the tour seasonal points of the zodiac circle; i.e., the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices.

Fire-Sign Emphasis

The spring equinox is the "fire" point because it indicates the beginning phase of experience. It represents the pouring of life, or the fire of self, into the various functions of nature. A chart with a distinct fire emphasis is marked by some outstanding effort to put this life-giving spirit into whatever affairs are of momentary concern. Gandhi's chart is an excellent example because his leadership in India is primarily "spiritual," or fire-like. He is far more a religious than a political figure in his manifestation of this high exaltation.

Horoscopes with either a cosmic cross or a grand trine will always indicate an individual with some particular intensified quality in his character. He may put this to great advantage, as illustrated by the mahatma, or he may equally be lost in a broad diffusion of his own energies. The general tendency of the grand trine, like the x-cross in the quadratures, is towards the scattering temperament. In consequence, the older astrologers always classify it as "bad," although trines otherwise are taken as the very extreme of "good." In Gandhi's case, in support of this tradition, it may be noticed that despite all his achievement under the dynamic idealism of his fixed cross, he has consistent difficulty in consolidating his gains.

In the cosmic cross of the "t" variety there is always a planet at the short "leg," to be taken as the focal one of the group, but in a grand trine the determination of a focal planet must depend on other factors. The cardinal sign is primary in a triplicity's meaning, but not necessarily in its functioning. Gandhi's chart is helpful to the beginner because the moon lies in both the grand trine and the cosmic cross. This alone would make it focal for the grand trine, but in addition it is placed at the short leg of the cross, greatly increasing its influence in both patterns. The result is that Gandhi's career, focused under the moon, is centered in his feelings, or his warmth of relations with others. He is very like Sir Richard Burton in this one detail. A moon emphasis calls for a public life, or a broad humanitarian interest of some sort. With this planet in the tenth house, the necessity for a rather spectacular career is indicated. The sign Leo, which contains the moon, shows how Gandhi must dramatize his high ideals on every occasion.

The other planets in the grand trine complete the picture of his fire emphasis. Neptune in Aries indicates the sense of social obligation which gives Gandhi his deep motivation, or the practical direction of his activity, and its place in the sixth house accounts for his persisting desire to serve his fellows, and enlist their services for his cause. Saturn or his sensitiveness lies in Sagittarius, and this indicates a real distributive or executive ability in his adjustment of his vision to realities. The place of this planet in his second house reveals his essentially spiritual resources in meeting the problems of his long crusade.

If the beginner has any difficulty at this point in following these delineations of the example horoscopes, or in understanding the source of the observations made, it will repay him richly to go back and review the information already given in connection with the meaning of the houses, planets and signs in order. There is much to be added by way of new details in interpretation, and hopeless confusion will be the only result when progress is crowded, or when the mind is asked to build on incomplete foundations.

The planets in any grand trine are cooperatively linked in a special manifestation of the basic quality which each triplicity represents, and in the mahatma's horoscope his feelings, his sensitiveness to experience, and his obligation to the race or society as a whole are all three continually fused together in the "fire" or inspiration of his great work. The moon, Saturn and Neptune are each what they are on their own account, and together they are also something more.

A single trine blends its members together in the same fashion, but not in any special exaggeration of the given triplicity as in the grand trine. The manifestation of the single trine is more obvious in the terms of a general cooperation. This is active through the phase of life which the planets in trine will represent jointly. Thus the fire trine of Mars and Venus in the horoscope of J. P. Morgan, where no grand trine is found, and taking this one out of his several trines from Aries to Leo, gives him an extraordinary facility for picking up (Mars) and putting down (Venus) the various interests with which he dealt. This single trine shows how largely his power was based on a complete freedom of outer action, so that he could always move in quick response to the inner or "idea" pattern established by his fixed cosmic-cross.

Lord Byron, the modern romantic poet, is the convenient example chart for the grand trine in "air."

Air-Sign Emphasis

Libra is the sign of the autumnal equinox, expressing the definite turn of life to its inner or ideal values, and the grand trine in air is an overemphasis of this effort to bring everything to a quick harvest. Neptune in Libra, at this cardinal point in Byron's horoscope, provides a parallel to Gandhi's case, where Neptune was in the cardinal sign of the fire triplicity. This shows how effectively the dynamic compulsion felt by both of them has arisen in their sense of current social limitation on human lives, and in their appreciation of the need to do something about it. Gandhi's fire emphasis led him to direct action, whereas the air focus led Byron to an essentially intellectual attack. Here is one root distinction between fire and air, and it is dramatized to the last detail by the difference in the achievement of these two men.

Byron

Lord Byron's grand trine is completed by three planets in Aquarius and Jupiter in Gemini, so that Libra and these two signs constitute the triplicity. Venus, taking one of the three in Aquarius, and Jupiter reveal respectively his keen desire to break up an old order of things, or to establish a better basis of human satisfactions, and his determination to expand this effort in new directions. They give a rather superficial indication in contrast with the deeper stirrings shown by the moon and Saturn in Gandhi's chart.

Intercepted Signs

The beginner now encounters another factor in astrology. If he will turn back to the chart of Annie Besant, comparing it with Byron's, he will notice in both that the twelfth and six houses stretch across more than 30° of the zodiac. This may happen quite commonly to any pair of the houses, and it is a situation that can now be observed in seven of the earlier charts even as they are given in their simplified form.

The explanation begins with the fact that the first house cusp is established by the horizon, and the horizon must necessarily tilt up towards the north or down towards the south whenever a person is born anywhere except at the equator. It is a complication to which a second must be added. The whole circle of the houses is tilted away from the circle of the signs permanently, and for quite another reason. Here is the astronomical fact which causes the difference between summer and winter. However, the beginner only needs to understand all this in the most general way; he will find it of no particular value to master the celestial mechanics involved, except for very specialized work.

As a result of these two complications, whenever the "ascendant" or first-house cusp of a horoscope is away from either Aries or Libra, the houses in general, in the terms of their indication by signs and degrees of the zodiac, will become more and more irregular as the birth in turn takes place increasingly towards the north or south poles on the earth's surface. If a house is elongated in this way, again in terms of the zodiacal signs and degrees on the cusps that bound it, a sign may often lie between the cusps on each side. In such a case the sign fails to have any primary relationship with any house, and it is said to be "intercepted." When this happens, any planets contained in the sign are also said to be "intercepted."

Interception is regarded as an indication of weakness. It means that a planet's activity is more subjective, or psychological. In consequence, the activities it rules are more difficult to identify on the one hand, and to subject to conscious direction on the other. Thus the intercepted situation of Jupiter in Lord Byron's horoscope is a testimony against its primary influence, a point of value in determining which of the grand-trine planets is to be taken as focal.

Retrogradation

Again, the beginner will note that Jupiter's symbol is marked with a special "R," and by turning back he will see that Saturn is marked this way in J. P. Morgan's chart, Mercury and Neptune in Elbert Hubbard's chart, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto in Gandhi's, and a total of six planets in Annie Besant's; together with three others in the present example. The "R" indicates that a planet is "retrograde" or that, as its motion is seen from the earth, it is slipping backwards or moving clockwise in the heavens.

The phenomenon of retrogradation is due to the fact that the earth's motion in its own path, at a time when the angle of observation permits, causes the planet to be overtaken momentarily. It is the same proposition, in effect, as when a faster train, passing a slower, makes the latter seem to be backing. All the planets other than the sun and moon are retrograde at fairly regular intervals. The meaning is much the same as interception. The planet's activity to some extent is turned around, or is brought to indicate a primarily reflexive, subjective or psychological experience.

Byron's Jupiter therefore, on two counts of weakness, is rejected as a possible focal planet in the grand trine. Moreover, it is in a cadent house in comparison with Neptune in a succedent one. This is important because angular position is stronger than succedent and succedent is stronger than cadent. By the same token, cardinal position is stronger than fixed or common; and of these latter the common position is taken as the stronger because it is more concerned with human values. This holds despite the fact that common signs have a superficial correspondence to cadent houses, and it is a detail of astrological practice that sometimes leads to considerable confusion.

The beginner may find it hard about this time to keep this new astrological vocabulary straight in mind, especially in view of the rapidity with which it must be expanded. The glossary in the back of the book should now serve him well. He will do much better looking up the words, if necessary over and over, than trying to force them all into his memory before they have any real or living meaning for him. This procedure will provide a species of continuous review for him, and review is one of the genuinely royal roads to knowledge.

Venus in Byron's chart, while neither intercepted nor retrograde, is cadent like Jupiter, a count against its dominance. Also, it is in a fixed sign in comparison with the common placing of Jupiter and the cardinal position of Neptune, a second adverse testimony to its basic importance. In view of this, and the relative weakness of Jupiter, Neptune must be taken as the focal planet in this grand trine, and hence as the fundamental clue to Lord Byron's life.

The same indication is given, in striking confirmation of these deductions, by the fact that Neptune is placed on the short leg of a cardinal t-cross. This indicates the great extent to which the poet was involved in the issues of his day. The fact that Neptune is in the fifth house suggests that Byron centered his life activity in some form of self-expression or artistic effort, such as his poetry, and the fact that it is in Libra indicates that he had to stimulate human experience wherever he went, as is shown by his romantic idealism in general and by his efforts for Greek independence in particular.

Many readers will have no idea what is meant by the phrase "efforts for Greek independence." They simply will not know that Byron took any actual part in the revolt of the Greeks against the Turks, or that he actually gave his life to the cause. This possibility points to the great value resulting from at least a brief survey of each example life, in connection with the study of the text; and especially when the beginner turns to a further analysis of these charts for practice in delineation.

Water-Sign Emphasis

Goethe, known for the universal quality of his genius, is the example chart of the summer triplicity, and a particularly apt one because "water" is a symbol of practical universality, and a grand trine in that triplicity will call for a particularly intensive struggle for universal harmony.

Goethe

Again Neptune lies in the cardinal sign of the given triplicity, which here is Cancer; and again a given career arises in protest against the unnecessary compulsions on human life. Saturn in Scorpio and the moon in Pisces complete the grand trine. The three signs are thus identified as the water group. In estimating the focal planet along the lines laid down in the preceding cases, it will be observed that Saturn is cadent and fixed in its situation, hence eliminated at once from consideration. The moon is angular, and in a common sign. While it participates in a curiously loose cosmic-cross, this brings diffusion rather than strength to Goethe's life, and the moon does not lie at the focal leg, so that the relation is of no present consequence. Neptune is succedent by house, and cardinal by sign, just about balancing the angular-common placing of the moon.

However, Neptune is given a particular strengthening by Venus, a point to be explained immediately. The moon and Saturn are each strengthened in this same way, but in neither case with the same close degree of relation and importance which marks the Neptune-Venus cooperation. Thus Neptune becomes the key to Goethe's chart. The planet, which indicates the extreme sense of social obligation in any life, is here found in the self-centered sign Cancer, giving every benefit from Cancer's emphasis on inner growth, and in the eighth house, where the rulership of regeneration, self-reconstitution and rediscovery is a clear indication of the special creative quality which Goethe exhibited in writing Faust.

The Sextile

Reference has been made to the "particular strengthening" which Venus gives to Neptune in Goethe's chart. This introduces the beginner to the sextile, or the last of five major aspects. The sextile is quite accurately a "half-trine," and its indication is the trine's cooperation in a lesser degree, or in a relationship of simple "assistance." It is called a "sextile" because it is a sixth instead of a third of a circle. Its significance follows from the fact that the fire and air elements have a kindred origin at the equinoctial points, somewhat analogous to the east and west house-angles, and that the water and earth triplicities are similarly associated in origin through the summer and winter solstices, on much the same pattern as the complementary relations of the south and north angles.

The nearest earth sign to Cancer is Virgo in one direction and Taurus in the other, and the sextile point of Neptune in either of these would be 24°30'. Venus lies within 2° of this in Virgo, and so forms a very strong sextile. It gives vital assistance to Goethe by equipping him with the power to complete his drama, and its great revelation of the moral compulsion on man. The place of Venus in the tenth house assisted the final and universal recognition of Faust, while the situation of Neptune in the eighth house compelled his continual refinement of the poem, and so led to its consequent ultimate perfection.

Earth-Sign Emphasis

One of the most famous of British generals, Charles George Gordon, more familiarly known as "Chinese" Gordon, is the example chart for the winter triplicity. "Earth," as the complementary quality to water's universality, is the greatest possible resort to particular, immediate and practical self-responsibility, and a grand trine here will indicate an overemphasized sensitiveness of this special type.

Gordon

Neptune again lies in the cardinal sign of the triplicity, which is Capricorn. Mars in Taurus and Saturn in Virgo complete the grand trine, and identify the three signs of the group. Because Saturn is intercepted, retrograde and cadent, Gordon's sensitiveness is entirely a subjective or private affair. From this it might well seem that Saturn is not the focal planet, and its claims would be dismissed at once in a tentative first analysis if it were not an obvious and powerful singleton. There is an exact parallel to the life of Havelock Ellis here, and Saturn cannot be pushed aside.

Mars and Neptune are no better than succedent by house, so that neither has an outstanding house emphasis. The cardinal place of Neptune gives it a precedence over Mars in a fixed sign, but this is not conclusive testimony to its focal importance because it certainly must be possible for a grand trine to have its emphasis through its fixed sign. A further examination of the chart shows that Jupiter and Venus are placed in the water sign between Mars and Neptune in earth. Jupiter is exactly on the sextile point of both; indeed, the chart is remarkable for the exactness of the aspects among the four key planets. Venus is also well within orb of the sextile point. Therefore Jupiter and Venus give strong assistance to both Mars and Neptune, but in such a fashion that neither of the latter two is strengthened or given prominence above the other.

Here is a mode of judgment that is difficult only at the outset, because it is unfamiliar. When two out of three related points are strengthened equally over the third weaker one, the weakness at this third point becomes the active focus of the matter. More simply, this is the obvious proposition that whatever is most significantly different is most important. The idea is that while the Saturn of this grand trine is made subjective on three counts, in the life of a man who superficially seems an extremely practical person, yet the real emphasis in his life was entirely reflexive. This was especially indicated in his religious fervor, his quixotic temperament, and in the fact that he won his greatest successes when loaned to governments other than his own, or when executing realities that belonged to someone else. The case shows how definitely a horoscope will correct merely surface or "taken for granted" judgments about people.

The singleton Saturn tells the same story as the grand trine focused at the sensitiveness of that planet. From either point of view the assimilative necessity of Virgo, and the stress on service provided by the sixth house, give the true picture of Gordon's life. There is no contradiction of his everyday practicality (the earth grand-trine) in his deeper obligation to conform always to the convenience of others (a hemisphere emphasis in the west).

The focal importance of Saturn is shown further by its exact-to-the-degree opposition to Jupiter. With its equally exact trines to Neptune and Mars, Saturn builds the whole configuration into a special planetary pattern sometimes known as a "fanhandle." This is an arrangement, adequately described by its name, in which the effect of a singleton planet is practically redoubled. Saturn's influence here fans out through all these other planets.

The Stellium

Of all the common patterns in which the planets will be encountered, only one more has an easily recognizable form. This is the "stellium." Louis Pasteur, French genius in the investigation and control of disease germs, is the example chart.

Louis Pasteur

The stellium is the presence of four or more planets, at least two of them other than the sun, Mercury and Venus, in one house or one sign. It indicates an exceptional emphasis of the life in the terms of the given house or sign. Here the stellium is by both house and sign. The third-house emphasis shows the degree to which Pasteur was able to control the real functioning of his immediate environment, even to the point of locating and controlling microscopic life, while the emphasis of Capricorn indicates the extraordinary creative resource by which he gained his scientific immortality.

Summary

In summary, what has the beginner learned in this sixth chapter? He has been introduced to the "trine" and "sextile" aspects, and to the triplicities or "elements" of fire, air, water and earth. He has seen how it is possible, on the basis of these distinctions, together with the ones he has had before, to get at the focus of every human activity through the special emphasis given to one or another planet in the chart. He has approached the study of life in terms of its free cooperations, as in contrast with the strains and stresses revealed through the cross and its functions. He has had a further detailed drill in the use of many factors already placed in his possession. In passing, he has encountered the phenomena of "interception" and "retrogression," and has given some attention to their significance in the horoscope.

THE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS
 
SymbolNameDegrees of Separation When Aspect is Exact
conjunction Conjunction
sextile Sextile60°
square Square90°
trine Trine120°
opposition Opposition180°
 


PRINCIPAL OR KEY DESIGNATIONS OF THE SIGNS
 
NameSymbolRulershipQuadratureTriplicity
AriesRamHeadCardinalFire
TaurusBullThroatFixedEarth
GeminiTwinsLungs, ArmsCommonAir
CancerCrabStomachCardinalWater
LeoLionHeartFixedFire
VirgoVirginIntestinesCommonEarth
LibraScalesKidneysCardinalAir
ScorpioScorpionPrivatesFixedWater
SagittariusArcherFlesh, ThighsCommonFire
CapricornGoatSkin, KneesCardinalEarth
AquariusWater-carrierAnklesFixedAir
PiscesFishesFeetCommonWater
 


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