buylotrogold

http://www.sky_script_.co.uk/happiness.html

Excellent article by Ben Dykes. There is a chart so if you cannot see
it and are interested, click on the _link_ to read on-line.

Shelley






"The
issue of the right state of mind is one that touches on the issue of
counseling, because it demands that advice be given on how to deal with
life."


Modern astrology is
often vague and confusing when considering how the
strengths and weaknesses inherent in the nativity reflect upon
emotional states such as personal happiness and the potential for
contentment and satisfaction. In this article Benjamin Dykes PhD
describes some of the ways by which medieval astrology addresses these
issues, and shows how they are actually fundamental to any attempt to
gain psychological insight from the birth chart. In demonstrating a
technique currently taught by Robert Zoller,
and in grounding the medieval approach through ancient philosophy, Ben
reveals that, far from being outmoded and inappropriate, the
sophistication, clarity, and applicability of the medieval methods and
philosophy stand the test of time, and offer real advantages to modern
astrologers working in any kind of advisory capacity to their clients.




Happiness in the Ancient World

Nowadays we speak of "happiness" in two central ways: as an emotion
(being in a "happy" mood), and as a broad statement of how well or
poorly someone is faring (she is "happy being a lawyer"). Ancient
thought emphasized the latter. The ancient consensus was that happiness
was _object_ive, _base_d on the different natural needs beings have: it was
a matter of realizing potentials and achieving a kind of excellence,
and demanded the right state of mind.


Ancient people believed that happiness is _object_ively definable and
judgeable, since different types of beings have different needs. If
one's needs and potentials are fulfilled, then one will live well,
flourish, and be "happy"; if not, not. This further means that a
certain type of life is natural for a given type of being: drawing
nourishment from the soil and receiving sunlight is the natural way of
life for a plant. If a plant does this, and does it consistently well,
then the plant is fulfilling its role as a plant and is "happy." If the
plant is somehow impeded in these functions, then the plant's life is
unnatural and it is "unhappy." The same goes for humans: as humans, we
have certain needs which, if fulfilled, will allow us to live a life
natural to us, and we will be happy. Unhappy people are prevented in
some way from realizing their proper roles, functions, and skills in
life.


Philosophers disagreed on exactly what sorts of potentials needed
to be realized. Some (especially Aristotelians) thought that
conventional goods like money, status, and so on were key (but not the
only) ingredients in a life of happiness: homeless and anonymous people
are unlikely to be happy, whereas successful and wealthy people are
more likely to be. Others like the Stoics said that one could be happy
whether "on the throne or in chains" - we have to make choices about
things like money and status, but poverty and riches themselves have no
effect on the happiness of the wise person.

This notion of happiness does not exclude personal, subjective
feelings. The ancients emphasized that being happy (in this _object_ive
sense) is very pleasurable - flourishing feels great! But happiness is
not identical to personal feelings. For example, suppose you are a
lawyer for indigent clients: it is your calling, you are good at it.
But some days you will probably be angry at the injustices of the world
and will go home in a bad mood. Still, even though you are angry over
some particular issue, you can still affirm that you are living well -
you are doing what you are meant to do, it is exciting and you can't
imagine doing anything else. You are _object_ively happy, and feel
subjective pleasure about it, even though you have a negative emotion
at the moment. So having a feeling of pleasure is not the same as being
happy.


In this way, the needs of happiness dovetail with having the right
values and state of mind. One's own knowledge about the world, values,
emotions, people, and how to deal with them, are where the real work of
happiness takes place. It is not enough simply to do the right thing or
have the right conventional goods: to be happy we must also have the
right attitude towards them. Someone who feels much distress at not
having a second dessert cannot be as happy as someone who feels little
or none. For the Stoics, negative emotions like anger were pathological
signs that your values were mixed up and corrupted - think of someone
being devastated by a trivial event.

The issue of the right state of mind is one that touches on the issue
of counseling, because it demands that advice be given on how to deal
with life. In the introductory philosophy courses I teach in college, I
use techniques and advice from Aristotle, the Stoics and others, and
help students learn how to improve their lives even if they do not
always improve their external circumstances.

Broadly speaking then, these are the issues that were covered in
ancient psychology (excluding discussions of perception and language,
which were ongoing). An ancient therapist would have asked: What is the
client's social status? Does he or she have friends, and of what sort?
What sort of balance is there between the client's emotions and
appetites, and rational faculties? Does the native have conventional
goods like money and health? What values does the client have, and how
do his or her beliefs trigger emotional reactions and affect his or her
ability to cope with life?




Conventional Happiness and the Natal Figure

So happiness for the ancients required certain types of knowledge
about the world, the right values and state of mind, knowledge about
ourselves and how we fit into the big picture, along with certain
conventional goods and behaviors. This is pretty much the basis of the
idea that in order to live better via an astrologer's advice, a client
needs to know who and what he is - information gotten through the natal
figure. Prediction adds the need for another component: how can the
client understand him/herself, and life, so that when predictions come
to pass, he or she can accept both good and bad?

Now just as the ancients also emphasized that we have plenty of roles
and positions in life, medieval astrology shows there are several
levels to a happiness analysis of the natal figure. Here I will list
the major traditional ones before moving to a more recent one.


For one thing, we can flourish as human beings in the most general
way possible: with a maximum of ease and opportunity, and a minimum of
hardship and obstacles. It seems to me that having strong benefics and
luminaries, unafflicted and direct, weak malefics, and so on, is a
general indicator of this idea. If benefics and the luminaries aren't
strong and in/ruling key houses (like the angles), but rather the
malefics are, then central areas of life are fraught with struggle and
difficulty.


Another role we have is as rational beings. Usually in the ancient
tradition (excluding the Stoics) this meant having strong rational
faculties (manifesting as honesty, cleverness, and sound judgment) that
were in harmony with the emotions. In ancient and medieval astrology,
this delineation tends to be taken from Mercury (rational) and the Moon
(emotions, irrational). If they are in good condition and in good
aspect, the native is cheerful, smart, calm, and honest. The more they
are afflicted, in bad aspect or no aspect, the more mentally and
emotionally unstable the native is. Reason and the emotions can be in a
struggle, or one may overpower the other. Here, authorities differed
slightly in their procedures. Ptolemy uses Mercury and the Moon; Abu
'Ali uses Mercury; Schoener Mercury and the Moon and their dispositors;
Lilly emphasizes Mercury more than the Moon. But note that this
delineation is not really a personality indicator: it is supposed to
show the native's mental balance and harmony, not the richness and
quality of character. That role was generally reserved for a special
planetary significator (see below), although in the authorities listed
above the two were considered in tandem.


The Roman Stoics said that we also live as people with a certain
social rank and set of responsibilities (our "offices"). For instance,
the rank and responsibilities of private citizens differ from those of
elected officials; or a philanthropist's from a small business owner's.
It seems to me that the traditional delineation of fame or dignity
attempts to show this, as it measures the native's social class and
influence in society, along with some of the types of actions he or she
will be known for. This delineation, which is found in Ptolemy ("Of the
Fortune of Dignity," Tet.
IV.3) onwards, uses primarily the Sun as a general significator of
fame, the 10th house, and the general outlook for life's obstacles
through the condition and relation of the luminaries, benefics, and
malefics. This was also the area in which signs of personal or family
slavery were examined. Extremely weak benefics and luminaries, combined
with powerful malefics, indicate struggle, hardship, and obscurity.


These same Roman Stoics added that we have roles as people with our
own special talents and skills. This is reflected in the delineation of
the Professional Significator, a planet that can list what the native
does for a living, but can also show what the native is really good at.
For instance, one native I know has Venus as her professional
significator. She works for a computer company as her day job, but for
years she has had a consuming passion for Middle Eastern and Indian
dance, which she pursues as part of a troupe. In Michael Jackson's
natal figure, Venus is the professional significator, but the signs of
fame and entertainment in his chart make it more likely -as is the case
- that he actually sings and dances for a living. This delineation
tends to look for Mercury, Venus, and Mars strong in one of the angles,
and whichever wins will show by its nature and aspects what the special
skill is. See for instance, Ptolemy's "The Quality of Action," Tet.
IV.4, or Lilly's professional delineation in his book on nativities in Christian
Astrology.








[ As part of a demonstration
of technique, the author has given a detailed medieval-_style_
delineation of Michael Jackson's nativity in the forum, which is
available as the 3rd post down on this _link_.
This explains why Venus is taken as the significator of Profession. The
forum post remains active and discussion regarding the medieval
approach to MJ's chart may be continued there. ]






Plato suggested in his dialogue Phaedrus that, prior to
earthly incarnation each individual's soul was in the service or
following of one of the gods, which he represented as a planet-derived
procession of divinities across the heavens. According to his myth,
this association with a particular god manifests in life in terms of
certain needs and attitudes, but in our earthly ignorance and darkness
we are often unaware of these attitudes' source. This idea is reflected
in the calculation and delineation of the Almutem Figuris, a
powerful planet in the natal figure whose spirit or angel acts as the
native's special _link_ to the Divine. The Almutem Figuris is
a spiritual astrological delineation, similar to but not the same as
Lilly's the "Lord of the Geniture." But like Lilly (and Plato), the Almutem
Figuris
was taken to affect the native's thoughts, beliefs and character.
Spiritual enlightenment can demand that we open our eyes to this
particular planet and use it to access the Divine. Significantly, this
is a function that many modern astrologers now attribute to the sun
sign.


Ancient medicine added a further idea. For centuries after his
death, Plato's notion of an immortal, immaterial soul distinct from a
material world was a minority view. Most philosophers and doctors were
largely materialist, and believed a person's chemical/bodily
composition predisposed him or her both to certain diseases,
personality traits, and qualities of excitement and outlook. This is
pretty much the dominant view in medicine today: if you are healthy,
your outlook, energy, and personality all improve. In medieval
astrology we see this in two areas.

First, temperament. For the medieval astrologer, the first house is not
the "persona" or a face we show to the social world - that is more like
the 10th house (reputation, deeds, showing what you are by how you
act). The Ascendant and the first house show the body and bodily health
- and by extension, certain personality dispositions and skills.
Delineating the native's temperament uses the primitive qualities of
the rising sign, its ruler or almuten, planets in and aspecting the
Ascendant. By adding up whether these qualities are hot, wet, cold, or
dry, the astrologer figures out where the temperament of the native is
weighted: if cold and dry, the native is melancholic, which adds an
energy level that is more subdued, and outlook that is more serious or
even gloomy.


Second, astrologers looked for a special planetary significator
that conferred certain physical and character traits: if Saturn, the
native's body and personality were colored by Saturn's characteristics.
Like with the Mercury-Moon differences above, authorities differ as to
how to find this significator: Ptolemy and Schoener use the rulers of
Mercury and the Moon (along with other considerations), Abu 'Ali the
Lord of the Ascendant, Lilly has a ranking system for finding a planet
that will signify "manners." But note that Abu 'Ali allows either
luminary to be the significator, whereas Ptolemy, Schoener, and Lilly
do not. Again, modern astrology has exchanged this planetary
significator for the sun sign, giving both the spiritual
function of the Almutem Figuris and the earthly personality to
the same zodiacal sign.


If we were to paint a picture of the ideal happy person in antiquity,
we would be looking at someone who has few obstacles, has a balanced
and clever mind with a benevolent emotional life, fulfills his or her
proper social functions and responsibilities, successfully attends to
his or her special skills, and has good health. Add to this the
cultivation of a special _link_ to the Divine through a particular cult.
By matching astrological techniques to these levels we get a (a)
complex and sophisticated delineation of the character and life of the
native, that (b) follows a disciplined procedure and little guesswork,
and (c) prepares the astrologer to offer advice in areas that are
impeded and might be obstacles to happiness. Just as in real life, the
medieval natal figure shows how a single personality can embrace many
different needs and characteristics: you could be an obscure and
low-income person (low dignity/status), with a high and dynamic energy
level (choleric temperament), skilled in laboratory sciences (Mars as
profession), but with an imbalance of reason and emotions (afflicted
Mercury-Moon), a vague sense of guilt and shame about life (Saturn as Almutem
Figuris)
and a witty, clever mind that seeks explanations (Mercury as planetary
significator). Aside from social standing, these are features of the
native's mind and psychology, and all of them factor into whether the
native is _object_ively happy, whether he or she is faring well or
poorly. Clearly, medieval astrology was not crude or lacking in
subtlety when it came to happiness and psychology!




Personal Happiness and the "Prime Motivation"

A more recent technique dealing with happiness issues, but _base_d on
medieval principles, is called "prime motivation." It was taught by
Zoltan Mason and is now taught by his student Robert Zoller, who passes
it on in his medieval astrology courses. It is a good way to make some
accurate statements about the native's pursuit of what I call "personal
happiness," and because it uses the rising sign and Ascendant (as to
many above) it cuts across some of the traditional areas of
delineation.


The phrase "prime motivation" undoubtedly comes from the
Aristotelian notion of a celestial "prime mover," (i.e., God) who has
first and ultimate responsibility for all change and movement in the
universe. So a native's prime motivation is some prime and ultimate
need or interest that moves him or her in life on earth. According to
the conventional understanding of happiness, everyone needs money,
friends, a balanced mind, and so on to be happy. But individuals also
have needs and interests that are more or less particular to them:
these features help shape our individual personalities and say who and
what we are.


Put briefly, the prime motivation is shown by the rising sign. The
house location of its domicile ruler (and/or the strongest ruler) is
the area of life in which the native seeks to realize it. Planets in
the 1st house and aspecting the Ascendant add further information. The
nature and condition of the planets and aspects, and the strength and
location of the rulers testifies as to whether and how the native can
achieve this prime motivation.


For example, let a native have Scorpio rising. What primarily moves
the native in life is a Scorpionic need. If the need is fulfilled, the
native will be personally happy. So what is the motivation? Scorpio is
a watery, feminine sign: the native needs (feminine) emotional (watery)
security (feminine). Add in all the other connotations of Scorpio: the
native needs emotional security by a kind of acquisition of knowledge
and energy (fixed sign, et cetera).
What this means is that the native's happiness will be realized if he
can feel secure and safe, protected, and so on - if things don't feel
safe and secured, he will be anxious and unhappy.

Please note: even though at some level everyone needs to feel "safe",
not everyone has it as an overriding need, and not everyone's
unhappiness manifests as a feeling of insecurity. If the native has
Gemini rising, he is motivated to seek interaction with others, he
needs to be free and active and all of the other basic things Gemini
indicates. Unhappiness is caused by, and manifests as, being hemmed in,
isolated, restricted.


Moreover, people can achieve their prime motivation through
different means, which is where the domicile ruler (or the strongest
ruler) of the Ascendant comes in. In medieval astrology, the domicile
ruler is the primary ruler responsible for realizing the affairs of a
house, and the affairs of a house will tend to gravitate towards the
house that ruler is in. Let the same native with Scorpio rising have
its domicile ruler (Mars) in the 10th house. This would mean that the
native seeks to realize his need for emotional security and so on
(Ascendant) through reputation, achievement, action (10th), and through
Martial action at that: taking others on, doing surprising and bold
things. In other words, when the native is active, attending to his
reputation and achievements, then he feels like the world is right, he
is emotionally secure, he is happy. When he is unknown, not achieving
or acting, he will feel rootless, insecure, anxious, and be unhappy.
Abu 'Ali says that Mars in the 9th indicates a lover of horses, wars
and wine, so if Mars were in the 9th, he might seek his sense of
security by joining the army or otherwise pursuing worldly travel and
glory. So the nature and location of the ruler says what will realize
the native's personal happiness, and the native's interest in happiness
will lead him to pursue those very things.


Already this delineation gives us 144 different types of prime
motivation (12 signs of motivation and 12 houses of realization). But
note that if a ruler is weak or afflicted, it will have trouble
performing its job. Let this same native have Mars in the 7th, in
Taurus, squared by Saturn in the 10th. The native seeks his happiness
through relationships. What kind of relationships? Probably marriage,
but generally speaking in relationships that are Martial. Now, Mars is
strong by being in the 7th. If he were in a great condition, then we
would be looking at exciting, dynamic, confrontational relationships,
but ones that would still give him a sense that the world is right
despite any anger and volatility. But by being in detriment and
afflicted by a square from a strong Saturn, Mars will perform badly and
violently. He is unstable. If we were to look at his 7th house to see
what kinds of relationships he has, we would say, "The native makes
enemies; if he gets married, the marriage will probably be bad."


What this means for the native's happiness is that he will probably
keep trying to get into romantic relationships as well as adversarial
situations, because his need for security is leading him into
interpersonal relations through Mars in the 7th. But he will not
succeed. If he came to the medieval astrologer, I imagine he'd say,
"I'm unhappy and miserable. My relationships fail, I'm angry at people
all the time."


One strength of the medieval methods is that multiple levels of
rulership offer multiple avenues for realization: other rulers of the
sign can show where the native should put effort. It is true that the
native will gravitate towards the house of the domicile ruler (7th).
But if that path is afflicted, the astrologer can suggest alternatives.
Scorpio has no exalted ruler, but it has three triplicity rulers (using
Dorotheus's system), a term ruler, and a decan ruler, of which the
triplicity rulers are the more influential. If Venus (a triplicity
ruler of Scorpio) is exalted in the 5th house in Pisces, then she is
relatively strong (the 5th is a succeedent house) and is well-dignified
(exalted in Pisces). She can perform her job as a ruler of the
Ascendant. The astrologer can suggest the native cultivate Piscean and
Venereal forms of having fun. If she were in the 4th, perhaps home
improvement would be something to pursue. The native needs to feel
emotionally secure in life in order to be personally happy, no matter
if he has money, a balanced mind, and the other conventional forms of
happiness. The prime motivation or personal happiness technique is
therefore a quick and easy way to personalize and individualize
happiness needs.


Medieval astrology is sometimes accused of being indifferent to
happiness and psychology. This array of techniques shows that happiness
and psychology not only matter in medieval astrology, but that it (a)
has a multi-faceted analysis of them, that (b) speaks to the
individuality of the client, and (c) has a built-in advice-giving
function in the form of multiple rulers. The medieval astrologer is
able to suggest alternative, productive courses of action and
experience (represented by multiple rulers) that could help the client
thrive _object_ively and so be happy. This includes spiritual matters,
which I have only been able to mention briefly. The real difference
between medieval/traditional and modern astrology on the issue of
happiness lies in the fact that medieval astrology combines these
delineation techniques with an emphasis on prediction and some form of
fate. Such emphases demand different approaches in counseling. Ancient
Hellenistic philosophies especially have well-formed and interesting
views on these matters, which will be explored in a subsequent article
at another time.







Ben Dykes received his Ph.D.
in Philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
where he concentrated on contemporary European philosophy (especially
Hegel), and ancient ethical philosophy. He frequently incorporates
ancient therapeutic techniques into his college courses, teaching
students how to improve their lives by using principles of
philosophical counseling. In the near future, his course materials will
be available for purchase and he will take on clients for individual
consultations.


Ben Dykes, who lives in Minnesota, USA, has over 10 years' experience
in the Golden Dawn system of the Western Mystery Tradition, in addition
to experience with Thelema and Wicca.
After many years studying modern astrology, he began studying medieval
astrology under Robert
Zoller and is now an advocate of medieval delineation and
predictive techniques. For more details of Benjamin's work and
consultation services visit his website at at http://www.bendykes.com.









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