BEGINNERS' LESSON ONE: THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE

I present the first lesson as an allegory. The allegory takes the form of a cosmogony. I draw some inspiration from the Babylonian creation epic, Enuma Elish ("When Above"), part of which appears in modified form at the beginning of the book of Genesis.

The story is designed to introduce you to the basic constructs of astrology: the polarities, triplicities (elements), quadruplicities (modes/qualities), signs, luminaries, planets, rulerships, aspects, and houses. These will be treated in more detail and related to birth charts in later lessons by me and other astrologers. But even to introduce all of these constructs together will take some time, so this first lesson is a long one. The astronomical information in the lesson is often idealised or metaphorical and should not be taken literally. I have left out astronomical details that are usually irrelevant to the astrologer.

And now the requisite warning: Each astrologer has a unique understanding of the elements, signs, planets, rulerships, aspects, houses and so on. The views presented here are mine. They share much with those of other astrologers, but they should not be taken as *standard*. (I am not even sure there is such a thing as a standard view.) My views on aspects are especially eccentric, and for the higher harmonic aspects in particular, my views are experimental at this point. I am hoping that follow-up contributions from others will present a sufficiently diverse set of views that a "gestalt" will begin to form in your mind for each of the basic constructs. Each of you will have to find your own way of understanding.

In this story, the Creator is Us, all of us collectively, and is referred to as "we." Let us commence.

In the beginning, there was the will to consciousness. This will permeated the waters, the etheric field of energy, that filled the universe. The will and the universe were one. No consciousness existed yet because all was undifferentiated; consciousness cannot exist without differentiation, without content. But the will to consciousness existed, and it manifested itself as a single great division of the universe into two poles. The waters were divided into those above and those below, the light set against the dark, the positive against the negative, the masculine against the feminine, the yang against the yin, the revealed against the occult. With this one contrast present, consciousness was born. And we looked upon the two poles, and we saw that this was good.

But the will to greater consciousness led us to further differentiate the universe, and so we took the negative in our left hand and divided it into two, Earth and Water. Simultaneously, we took the positive in our right hand and divided it into two, Fire and Air. These are the four ELEMENTS. The Earth formed itself into a sphere upon which we could stand. This was the first PLANET. The Water flowed upon its surface, sometimes rushing downward, sometimes swishing to and fro rhythmically, and sometimes sitting peacefully in still pools. The Air surrounded Earth, denser close to the ground; sometimes it rushed forward violently, occasionally even crashing into itself coming from a different direction, or swirling madly in circles; sometimes it moved gently in every which way; sometimes it stagnated. Fire burned at the core of Earth and danced around on its surface, coming and going as it pleased, feeding on the Air, vapourising the Water, and sometimes pushing Earth from the core of the sphere to its surface. And we looked upon the four elements, and we saw that this was good.

Earth is material and sensual. Water is emotional and intuitive. Fire is spirit and energy. Air is mental and verbal.

The four were created by a doubling of the two, but in this creation of the four was created also consciousness of the number Three; prior to the creation of the four only Two existed in consciousness. Two was the maximum number that consciousness could comprehend. Three was the first prime number created, and the first odd number created; One existed prior to creation.

We divided each of the four elements into three. And thus were the twelve created. One third of the twelve are Cardinal. One third are Mutable. One third are Fixed. These are the three MODES or QUALITIES.

The Cardinal initiates change. The Mutable adjusts to change. The Fixed is the preserver of the present and persists in the face of change.

Standing upon Earth at what we call its Northern pole, we took the twelve and laid them around Earth in a circle. The order we chose ensured maximum differentiation; no two adjacent ones were the same polarity, the same element, or the same mode. In laying them out, we named them one by one. The order was thus, counter-clockwise as we looked from above:

POLARITY ELEMENT MODE NAME

Positive Fire Cardinal Aries Negative Earth Fixed Taurus Positive Air Mutable Gemini Negative Water Cardinal Cancer Positive Fire Fixed Leo Negative Earth Mutable Virgo Positive Air Cardinal Libra Negative Water Fixed Scorpio Positive Fire Mutable Sagittarius Negative Earth Cardinal Capricorn Positive Air Fixed Aquarius Negative Water Mutable Pisces

And these are the twelve SIGNS, and the circle is the ZODIAC. The signs consist of four triplicities or trigons (sets of signs of the same element) or three quadruplicities (sets of signs of the same mode). The triplicities are:

Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius (the Fire triplicity) Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn (the Earth triplicity) Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius (the Air triplicity) Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces (the Water triplicity)

The quadruplicities are:

Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn (the Cardinal quadruplicity) Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius (the Fixed quadruplicity) Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces (the Mutable quadruplicity)

And we looked upon the zodiac, and we saw that this was good.

The signs divided the circle of the zodiac into twelve equal sectors. We marked each sector with 30 divisions, so that the circle had 360 divisions in all. We called these the DEGREES of the zodiac. We then marked each degree with 60 divisions. We called these the MINUTES of a degree. We then marked each minute with 60 divisions. We called these the SECONDS of a minute. The circle was thus marked with 1,296,000 divisions so that we could specify a position in the zodiac with an accuracy of 1/1,296,000.

We then created two bodies to represent the positive/negative polarity in the heavens and to shine light upon us. We turned our face to the boundary between Cancer and Leo, Cardinal Water and Fixed Fire. With our right hand in Cardinal Water, we fashioned from the Cancerian energy a massive body with Change as its essence; with our left hand in Fixed Fire, we fashioned from the Leonine energy a giant ball of fire with Fixity as its essence. With our left hand we fixed the ball of fire at a distance from us and with our right hand we placed the smaller Cardinal body between the Fiery ball and Earth, adjusting the distances of the two bodies until the closer body just blocked out the light of the ball of fire. And this was the first solar eclipse and the first new moon. And this is how we created the two LUMINARIES, the Sun and the Moon. The Sun, being made of Leonine energy, we called the RULER of Leo. The Moon, being made of Cancerian energy, we called the ruler of Cancer. And the relation of the Sun to the Moon we called a CONJUNCTION. This was the first ASPECT. And the conjunction is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by one. And the character of the conjunction is that of the union of Sun and Moon. It is a mingling of essences. It is a marriage. It is a unity.

We then created an invisible sphere around Earth, its diameter equal to the distance between the Moon and Earth, and we set the Moon in motion, spinning along the surface of the sphere so that it would move through each of the signs in turn in a counter-clockwise motion as viewed from the North. The direction of spin was the same as the direction of movement, and the axis of spin was perpendicular to the body's plane of orbit. We made the time the body took to complete one orbit of Earth equal to the time it took to complete one revolution around its axis of rotation so that it would always present the same face to Earth, perpetually hiding one of its sides from us in keeping with its occult nature.

We rested until the Moon had moved to a position on the other side of Earth from the Sun, to the sign of Capricorn. The Moon now appeared bright across its entire visible surface. When Earth was directly between the Sun and the Moon, Earth blocked the light of the Moon, which was a reflection of the light of the Sun. And this was the first lunar eclipse and the first full moon. And the relation of the Sun to the Moon we called an OPPOSITION. This was the second aspect. And the opposition is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by two. And the character of the opposition is that of the opposition of the Sun and Moon. It is a polarisation of essences. It is a separation. It is a duality. It acts as a mirror. When it is exact, each essence ceases to be reflected in the other and becomes isolated from the other. It connects bodies in signs of the same polarity and mode, but of a different element. Such signs are complements.

We rested until the Moon had passed from Capricorn to Aquarius, from Aquarius into Pisces, and through Pisces to the beginning of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac.

Having created a body of Cancerian energy and one of Leonine energy, we then created a body from the energy of each of the remaining 10 signs.

The Moon was created from Cardinal energy, and the Sun from Fixed energy, so we began by creating a body from Mutable energy, the energy of Sagittarius, Mutable Fire. The body we fashioned was large and expansive, more gaseous than solid, its Fiery spirit flowing freely (Mutably) across its surface. We named this body Jupiter. Being made of Sagittarian energy, it is the ruler of Sagittarius. And this was the first JOVIAN body. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun, its diameter much larger than the distance between Earth and the Sun, and we set the body spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere, with the same direction of spin and movement. And from its original position in Sagittarius, it was one-third of the circle from the sign of Aries, where the Moon resided. And we called this relation of the Moon and Jupiter a TRINE. And this was the third aspect. And the trine is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by three. And the character of the trine is that of Jupiter and Sagittarius. It is expansive, and energy flows through it easily, unhindered, in Mutable fashion and with the spirit and optimism of Fire. The energy can flow in either direction, or not at all, for Mutability does not contain an impetus. Any impetus must come from the planets in trine to one another. It connects bodies in signs of the same element (and polarity). Being in the same element, they have an affinity for one another.

We rested until the Moon had passed from Aries to Taurus.

We then created a second jovian body. We turned to the sign opposite Leo where the Sun resided, the sign Aquarius. From Aquarian energy we fashioned a giant body whose essence of Fixed Air was electric like the air before lightning forms within it. Air cannot flow smoothly when Fixed, and so its movement is unpredictable. It sometimes breaks through suddenly with great force and friction, and sparks and bolts of lightning shoot forth. We named this body URANUS. Being made of Aquarian energy, it is the ruler of Aquarius. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun with a diameter much larger than that of the Jupiter sphere, and we set this body in motion spinning along the surface of the sphere. But we reversed the direction of spin on this body, and we rotated its axis of spin so that it was in line with the plane of orbit. The eccentric nature of Aquarian energy demanded this odd way of spinning. From its position at the beginning of Aquarius, Uranus was one quarter of the circle from the Moon in Taurus. And we called the relation of the Moon and Jupiter a SQUARE. This was the fourth aspect. And the square is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by four. And the character of the square is that of Uranus and Aquarius. It is Fixed Air periodically breaking through with great force and electricity. It brings change suddenly and with disruption. It connects bodies in signs with the same mode, but opposite in polarity; the two opposing poles create the electric field that characterises the square. It bursts forth with unexpected energy and bolts of lightning.

We rested while the Moon passed from Taurus to Gemini, and then into Cancer and Leo. When the Moon was 12 degrees into Leo, one degree for each of the signs, we created a neutral body, one that could serve as a mediator for the positive and negative energies of the Sun and the Moon (and which would figure prominently in later times among the alchemists). This body we created from Gemini energy because it needed to be Mutable to fulfill its role as mediator between the two poles, and its energy needed to travel through Air between the Sun and Moon. As we formed the body, it slipped and slid around so that we could barely keep it in our hands, and its appearance was constantly changing. We named this body MERCURY. Being made of Gemini energy, it is the ruler of Gemini. After Earth, this was the first TERRESTRIAL planet, being solid like Earth. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun, and we set this body spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere so that it was in orbit around the Sun, with the same direction of spin and movement. We noticed that the Moon was one-fifth of the circle from Mercury at the beginning of Gemini. We called this relation of the Moon and Mercury a QUINTILE. This was the fifth aspect. And the quintile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by five. And the character of the quintile is that of Mercury and Gemini. It is Mutable Air, flowing freely, but with its direction and velocity of flow determined by the bodies involved. It sometimes connects bodies in signs of the same polarity but different mode, and it sometimes connects bodies in signs of different polarity but the same mode. In the former case, the body in a Cardinal sign or with a Cardinal nature (if one exists in the pair) will determine the course of the flow. In the latter case, the body in the sign of Positive polarity or with a Positive nature will be the source of the flow. Thus its character, like that of Mercury, is changeable and depends on the bodies and signs involved. In itself, it is neutral like Mercury. It operates on the mental plane.

And we rested until the Moon had passed from Leo through Virgo, Libra and Scorpio and just into Sagittarius. We began to sense the harmony of the universe.

We then created a second terrestrial planet. We fashioned the body from Libran energy, Cardinal Air. Air heats up when its molecules are in rapid motion because of the Cardinal essence. The body was thus warm and radiated love. There was great beauty to it, and we felt its attractive power. We named this body VENUS. Being made of Libran energy, it is the ruler of Libra. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun with a diameter larger than that of the Mercury sphere, and we set the body spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere. We made its direction of spin the same as that of Uranus, opposite to its direction of movement, but unlike Uranus its axis of rotation was perpendicular to its plane of orbit. From its original position in Libra, it was one-sixth of the circle from the Moon in Sagittarius. We called this relation of the Moon and Venus a SEXTILE. This was the sixth aspect. And the sextile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by six. And the character of the sextile is that of Venus and Libra. It is the essence of Cardinal Air, and it allows energy to flow freely and rapidly. Energy moves through the sextile more actively than it does through the trine, which is Mutable, and so the sextile brings greater potential and opportunity. It connects bodies in signs of the same polarity, so there is no tension of opposites as there is with the square.

And we rested while the Moon passed from Sagittarius to almost the 9th degree of Capricorn.

For some strange reason, we were mysteriously drawn at this very moment to the energy of Pisces, without knowing why. We fashioned from Piscean energy a jovian body with the essence of Mutable Water. Its surface flowed with cold blue oceans of methane. Its character was hidden from us, impossible to fathom. It seemed to absorb whatever energy surrounded it and manifest itself according to the nature of the energy. We named this body NEPTUNE. Being made of Piscean energy, it is the ruler of Pisces. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun, with a diameter even larger than that of the Uranus sphere, and we set the body spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere, with the same direction of spin and movement. With a sudden inspiration, we realised that this body, at the beginning of Pisces, was one-seventh of the circle from the Moon. We called this relation a SEPTILE. This was the seventh aspect. And the septile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by seven. And the character of the septile is that of Neptune and Pisces. It is Mutable Water, flowing freely but without any impetus of its own. It absorbs the character of the planets it connects and of the signs in which they reside. It connects bodies in signs of different polarity, element, and mode, or else bodies in signs of the same polarity but different mode. In the former case, it brings into contact essences of entirely different natures, with surprising results. This is the contact with the unknown. In the second case, the bodies connected are in harmony as with the sextile, but there is not the impetus of Cardinality that exists in the sextile, so the effect is more subtle. It creates an intuitive link between bodies. The septile is present in moments of inspiration.

And we rested while the Moon passed from Capricorn to the mid-point of Aquarius. We became very serious and felt like working harder at the business of creation.

To complement the expansiveness of Jupiter and the trine, we next created a jovian body from Capricornian energy, Capricorn being the sign adjacent to the Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius. This body of Cardinal Earth was large because its force was to be great, and around it we placed a series of rings to represent the constriction inherent in the Capricorn energy. It took great perseverance and patience to fasten ring after ring to the huge body, but the energy radiating from the body gave us the discipline to complete the task. We named this body Saturn. Being made of Capricornian energy, it is the ruler of Capricorn. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun with a diameter larger than that of the Jupiter sphere but smaller than that of the Uranus sphere, and we set the body spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere, with the same direction of spin and movement. When we set it in motion at the beginning of Capricorn, it was one-eighth of the circle from the Moon. We called this relation of the Moon and Saturn an OCTILE. This was the eighth aspect. And the octile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by eight. Being one-half the square, it may also be called the SEMI-SQUARE. And its character is that of Saturn and Capricorn. It is the essence of Cardinal Earth. It forces change in that which is most solid. Like an earthquake or an avalanche, its force can be awesome. It connects bodies in signs of different polarity, element, and mode, or else in signs of the same polarity but different mode, like the septile. Unlike the septile, it has a strong impetus inherent in its Cardinality, and forces the energies of the bodies together. It creates crises that force us to abandon old structures, the Earth under our feet, and move to higher ground.

And we rested as the Moon passed through 5 more degrees of Aquarius, but suddenly became impatient and couldn't sit idle any longer.

We took into our hands some Aries energy and fashioned a terrestrial planet to complement Venus, ruler of Libra, the sign opposite Aries. As we molded the Cardinal Fire, it became red with heat and burned our hands, so we spent little time working on it. We named this body Mars. Being made of Arian energy, it is the ruler of Aries. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun with a diameter larger than the distance of Earth from the Sun but smaller than the diameter of the Jupiter sphere. We quickly set the body spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere, with the same direction of spin and movement. From its position at the beginning of Aries, it was one-ninth of the circle from the Moon at 20 degrees Aquarius. We called this relation of Mars and the Moon a NOVILE. This was the ninth aspect. And the Novile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by nine. And its character is that of Mars and Aries. Its essence is Cardinal Fire. It creates dynamic energy between the bodies it connects, which are in signs with a different polarity, element, and mode.

And we took a long rest, allowing the burnt flesh on our palms to heal. We watched as the Moon passed all the way from Aquarius to the 24th degree of Virgo.

We then created another terrestrial planet from the energy of Scorpio. The Fixed Water rapidly became cold in our hands like ice, and its fixity prevented it from reflecting much light as moving Water might do. Being fixed in nature, the emotional power of Water within it built up to an incredible pitch; it was not dissipated as it would be with a Cardinal or Mutable essence. To limit its overwhelming power, we decided to make it very small and place it far from Earth. We handled it for a long time, as if under its spell, so compelling was its power. It caused a great passion to well up within us. We named this small, dark body Pluto. Being made of Scorpian energy, it is the ruler of Scorpio. We created an invisible sphere around the Sun with the largest diameter yet, and we set the body spinning in motion along the surface of this sphere far away; the direction of spin and movement were the same. This body at the beginning of Scorpio was one- tenth of the circle from the Moon. We called this relation of Pluto and the Moon a DECILE. This was the tenth aspect. And the Decile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by ten. And its character is that of Pluto and Scorpio. Its essence is Fixed Water. It creates a static emotional or psychic interplay between the bodies it connects.

We rested as the Moon passed from Virgo to the beginning of Libra, just before 3 degrees. During this time, we found ourselves curiously obsessed with details, and we kept track of every degree, minute, and second through which the Moon passed.

Having created four jovian bodies and four terrestrial bodies, we next fashioned a body from Virgo energy. As we molded the Mutable Earth in our hands, it began to come apart in pieces. No matter how we tried, the pieces of Earth would not stick together. It was as if they each had their own essence, and refused to combine with one another. This is how Earth remains Mutable, by falling into separate pieces like grains of sand or gravel. We named the pile of rocks the Asteroids. We created an invisible sphere with a diameter larger than that of the Mars sphere, but smaller than that of the Jupiter sphere. We set the collection of rocks spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere, and they quickly spread throughout the zodiac. When we first released them at the beginning of Virgo, they were one- eleventh of the circle from the Moon. We called this relation of the Asteroids and the Moon an UNDECILE. This was the eleventh aspect. And the undecile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by eleven. And its character is that of Virgo. Its essence is Mutable Earth. It relates to practical matters, and its manifestation depends upon the planets and signs involved.

Feeling particularly lazy, we rested as the Moon passed through half the zodiac, from Libra all the way to the beginning of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac.

Finally, we stirred ourselves from our placidity and created a body from the energy of Taurus, Fixed Earth. The feel of it in our hands was so sensual that we took our time in forming it. We named this body Pan. Being made from Taurean energy, it is the ruler of Taurus. We created an invisible sphere larger than all the rest, and we set Pan spinning in motion along the surface of the sphere. But we have temporarily forgotten that we did this. When we set Pan in motion at the beginning of Taurus, it was one-twelfth of the circle, one sign, from the Moon. And we called the relation of Pan and the Moon a DODECILE. It might also be called a SEMI- SEXTILE because it is one-half of the sextile. And the dodecile is equal to the division of the zodiacal circle by twelve. And its character is that of Taurus. Its essence is Fixed Earth. It creates a static and materialistic interplay of the bodies it connects, which are in adjacent signs with a different polarity, element, and mode.

And we looked upon all the planets we had created, and we saw that this was good.

The distances of the planets from the Sun were arranged so that they followed this law: moving outward from the Sun, each planet (if we exclude Earth and Neptune) is roughly twice the distance from the Sun of the preceding planet. In music, a tone twice the frequency of another is exactly one octave higher in pitch. The distances of successive planets are thus higher octaves of one another. This relation creates harmony in the music of the spheres.

As we watched the planets and the Moon moving through the signs, we noticed that the Sun was the only fixed point, still at the beginning of Leo. To let the Sun pass through the signs, we created an invisible sphere around the Sun, its diameter equal to the distance between Earth and the Sun. We would later set Earth in motion along the surface of the sphere. We also prepared to set Earth spinning on an axis of rotation perpendicular to its plane of orbit. But we had some work to do first.

We imagined an invisible plane that passed through each point in Earth's orbit and through the Sun. We called the circle where this plane intersected Earth the ECLIPTIC. The signs of the zodiac divided the ecliptic into twelve equal sectors. We imagined another invisible plane parallel to a plane tangent to the point on Earth where we stood but passing through the centre of Earth. We called the circle where this plane intersected the surface of Earth the GEOCENTRIC HORIZON. Before Earth began to spin, the Eastern geocentric horizon, above which bodies would rise, intersected the ecliptic at 0 degrees Aries, and the Western geocentric horizon, below which bodies would set, intersected the ecliptic at 0 degrees Libra. We called the Eastern point of intersection the ASCENDANT, and we called the Western point of intersection the DESCENDANT. Directly between these points we imagined an invisible plane running north and south perpendicular to the geocentric horizon and passing through Earth. This plane contained all the points above our heads and all the points directly underneath us on the other side of Earth. It passed through 0 degrees Capricorn at the ecliptic on one side of Earth, and through 0 degrees Cancer at the ecliptic on the other side of Earth. The point at the beginning of Capricorn, which was in line with the point at which any planet would culminate (reach its highest point in the sky) when Earth was spinning, we called the MIDHEAVEN or MEDIUM COELI (MC; "middle of the sky"). The point at the beginning of Cancer, which was in line with the point at which any planet would reach its highest point in the other hemisphere when Earth was spinning, we called the IMUM COELI (IC; "bottom of the sky"). These are the four ANGLES. When Earth began to spin, the angles began to move through the signs, but they always retained the character of the Cardinal points, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. The angles divided the surface of Earth into four regions, two above the geocentric horizon, two below the geocentric horizon, two on the East, and two on the West. We divided each of these regions into three smaller regions, one for each of the signs originally in that part of space before Earth began to spin. And each of these twelve regions we called a HOUSE. And each house governs the affairs associated with the sign that originally sat in that house before Earth began to spin. Having created the houses, we set Earth spinning around its axis. Each full rotation of Earth on its axis we called a DAY. And we divided the day into twelve HOURS of light and twelve hours of darkness. As we did with the degrees of the zodiac, we divided each hour into sixty minutes and each minute into sixty seconds. And we noticed that the time was 10 pm (22 hours). But we still had one more job to do before the day came to a close.

At last, we set Earth in motion along the surface of its orbital sphere. Each full orbit of Earth around the Sun, through all the twelve signs, we called a YEAR. When the Sun was at the beginning of Aries or Libra, there were 12 dark hours and 12 light hours in each day. And these times we called the EQUINOXES. When the Sun was at the beginning of Cancer, the light hours reached their maximum in the Northern hemisphere and their minimum in the Southern hemisphere. When the Sun was at the beginning of Capricorn, the dark hours reached their maximum in the Northern hemisphere and their minimum in the Southern hemisphere. These times we called the SOLSTICES. The Sun's position relative to the four Cardinal points thus defined the SEASONS of a year.

This was the end of our act of creation, and it was complete by midnight of this first day.

By realising the twelve element-mode combinations four times as signs (fixed places), planets (moving objects), houses (moving places), and aspects (relations among the moving objects and the moving places), and by allowing these to interact to create new complexes of essences, the amount of differentiation in the universe became effectively infinite. We had created a universe in which consciousness could grow.

This ends the story of the creation of the universe of discourse. In subsequent lessons, I will summarise and expand upon what we have learned about the signs, planets, and houses, and we will explore the full set of harmonic aspects.