Sensitive and spiritually magnanimous, watery Pisces is represented by two fish bound by a cord, representing the duality implicit in this mutable sign.
Leonardo da Vinci Rectification
Mounting the copper orb on Florence Cathedral’s dome, a sodomy charge and a letter from Milan’s ambassador help to ascertain Leonardo da Vinci’s exact birth time.
Hellenistic Astrology: Rationalizing Fate
Merging Babylonian star worship with indigenous Egyptian astronomy and Greek mathematics and philosophy, Hellenistic astrologers crafted the fourfold technical structure of astrology that weathered two millennia to survive as the foundational elements of modern astrology today.
Mercury: The Messenger
Speedy and unpredictable, the twinkling planet Mercury has long represented reason, commerce, and the pursuit of knowledge, and is distinct in its openness to the influence of other heavenly bodies.
Mars: The Lesser Malefic
Mars, the blood-red warrior, blazes across the night sky, the harbinger of death, destruction, and strife. But the lesser malefic is not all bad: if dignified, the martial planet becomes the protector of the weak, the signifier of a courageous struggle, a victory against all odds that brings many rewards.
The Fault in our Stars: Marcus Manilius and Western Astrology
As the Roman Empire rose, absorbing the trappings of Hellenistic culture, one writer penned the oldest surviving complete treatise on the art of astrology. Part poetics, part mathematics, Manilius’ Astronomica offers a glimpse of the core concepts and Stoic philosophy underlying both Hellenistic astrology and the beginning of modern Western science.
Astrology, Power and the Roman World
In the Roman Empire, knowledge of the stars could get you killed—or help you kill others. Discover how the science of reading the heavens became a powerful political tool in the Roman world.
Capricorn: The Goatfish
The profound wisdom of Ea, the ancient “antelope of the ocean”, and the influence of rule-loving Saturn give this sign its staid and hardworking nature as the steadfast Capricorn climbs ever higher up the mountain peak of life.
Saturn: The Greater Malefic
The cold, dry ruler of Aquarius and Capricorn, the furthest of the visible planets represents limits and strife, the march of time, and the inevitability of death. But, when faced with dignity, even the darkest saturnine theme has the potential to teach profound lessons.
The First House
As the house on the eastern horizon, the first house concerns the vitality and primary motivations of the native, with planets in the first house, the houses they rule, and the placement of the ruler of the first house unlocking everything from a native’s physical characteristics to the expression of their talents.