Mark C wrote that in Buddhism there`s no soul or eternal essence is recognised. That is not correct. The soul is eternal and continues to reincarnate till the soul purifies itself.
The human soul consists of the eternal essence(the spirit), the mental body, the emotional body and the physical body. The physical cannot exist without the spirit; we can`t separate the two. Matter is also the spirit (energy) but vibrating at the lower/slower rates. It`s only the difference in vibration. Everything is energy and one(interconnected). Buddihist`s view is that each incarnation is like a school where we learn raising our lower vibrating aspects in our personality.
Therefore I think that the whole natal chart expresses the individual soul , not just one particular planet or two.

There seems to be a vested interest in our being right, and everyone else being wrong. I'm getting a strong sense of that here.

Oh, I'm not so sure about that! It is true that there are sometimes difficult and challenging debates, but I think the majority of us are serious students who consider the debating to be healthy, rather than simply about 'being right', much like discussions of philosophy. Perhaps it's a bit like religion, where, after debating, you haven't changed your mind about your *own* beliefs, but come to an understanding of why other people's beliefs differ from your own. Typing things on a screen is different than discussing 'in person', so sometimes tone of voice is misunderstood, or someone takes umbrage at someone else's opinion, etc. But this is a very human thing; some people are more sensitive to disagreement. I for one find the debates (when they're not way over my head, like Harmonics discussions are! ) to be very instructive, and I have changed my opinions on many things in astrology, after a particularly good discussion amongst differing viewpoints!

I think doublegem has nailed it for me; I think the *entire chart* shows the 'soul's journey', as I view the natal chart like a roadmap one is given at birth, with the ultimate 'goal', if there is one, being the best possible expression of the configurations laid out in that map.

Oh, I love this forum!

With regard to the Dorian Greenbaum papers, the one I referred to will be published ?soonish? in Culture and Cosmos. I don?t know when ? towards the end of the year I imagine. Yes, it was the paper for the talk she gave recently at the Warburg Institute that I referred to, although I know she has been exploring this in other papers also, as part of her PhD research. I will let you know more details when I have them myself.

On the suggestion of views being forced here, I can?t say that I?ve noticed any of that. There have been quite a few different views put forward, but all have been offered calmly without any sense of trying to monopolise opinion. I was also grateful for the reminder about Ptolemy?s views, and personally incline towards the view expressed by doublegem; but I still like to know what has been written elsewhere on this issue, and why.

Doublegem wrote:

Mark C wrote that in Buddhism there`s no soul or eternal essence is recognised. That is not correct. The soul is eternal and continues to reincarnate till the soul purifies itself. The human soul consists of the eternal essence(the spirit), the mental body, the emotional body and the physical body. The physical cannot exist without the spirit; we can`t separate the two. Matter is also the spirit (energy) but vibrating at the lower/slower rates. It`s only the difference in vibration. Everything is energy and one(interconnected). Buddihist`s view is that each incarnation is like a school where we learn raising our lower vibrating aspects in our personality.

First off I better make clear I do not post here to get into religious debates about which view of life, the universe and everything is 'correct' or 'wrong'. If you mean't by not correct you don't accept that view then fair enough. Many religious traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism etc would come close to your perspective.

However, if you were stating my understanding of Buddhist teachings was incorrect I must beg to differ. All the main Buddhist traditions: Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana would accept what I said about the soul. That doesn't make my perspective or Buddhism any more correct but it does accurately reflect what those traditions teach.

In any case in Buddhism practitioners are encouraged to explore teachings for themselves rather than just accept what other people tell them. The 'an-atta' or no-soul teaching of Buddhism is something people explore through meditation practice and day to day awareness practice. There is a view of eternity in Buddhism described as the 'unborn, unoriginated , uncompounded aka nirvana. However, the Buddha's teaching is that this can can only be realised when we let go of attachment to the sense of a separate, eternal self. That view combined with grosser states such as greed and hatred establishes the psychological conditions for our re-birth not just just after death but on a moment to moment basis here and now.

I am not asking you or anyone else to accept this perspective, only to acknowledge that there are other takes on existence that deserve equal respect to your own passionately held views.

Mark

Could the 9th house of a such chart represent the higher meaning of the querent's life, like the soul mission in life?

How about the tenth? It is after all the very zenith of the chart and so must embody one's ultimate destiny. The ninth being the step into the tenth would show the nature our knowledge or talent to get there.

The Part of Spirit, so often ignored, would surely have something interesting to reveal about one's spiritual mission? Particularly it's main despositor or almuten.

The Sun, being the centre of being, source of light and core purpose.

The North Node and it's despositor or almuten, revealing the direction that must be taken in order to proceed.

Jupiter, the greater benefic, concerning destiny and opportunity and maximisation.

The zenith, Fortune, North Node, the Sun and Jupiter all pertain to destiny and increase, revealing the way to go and how to get there.

Thier opposites, the nadir, South Node, Moon and Saturn reveal our fate, the bounds within which we must operate.

Mark C
I apologise for the word 'incorrect'. I realise it wasn't the right word as I do respect differrent perspectives. Nor was my intention to speak for Buddhism. The view above comes from esoteric spiritual teachings which some Buddhist teachings and others including the ones you mentioned share. I'm not a Buddhist but have a Buddhist background and it came as a shock to me to read that it teaches there's no soul. Reading your reply now I think you mean the ego by it, or the ultimate oneness of all beyond the level of individual souls, or it may mean something else to you as the definition of the soul is multiple and diverse. I realise that it's different from the way I understand the term soul.
Best wishes
d

There seems to be a vested interest in our being right, and everyone else being wrong.

And sometimes so little interest in being interesting - which, of course, does depend on our vested interests ( I read that once - might have been some Russian guy).

"does depend on our vested interests ..."

which may also be reflected by one's vestments?!
Jupiter has a connection with the second house as does Taurus ... which also has a connection with Buddhism, along with fixed stars Antares & Aldebaran (pole stars on ecliptic once used to mark fiducial).
They're at around 15th degree - or middle - of Taurus-Scorpio axis if taking initial bearings from the stars and using the vernal crossing to measure what Age Earth's in in the scheme of a World year [full cycle of earth's precession].

Somewhere along the line I seem to recall 15th degree of fixed constellations/signs being associated with an "avatar" degree ... if these two stars configured with angles or planets in natal chart it seems tr Mars may be initiating some opportunities for new levels of understanding.

It's all good.

I guess I'd like to take this back to the original gist of the question, which for me would be, can horary astrology answer such questions? I'm having an argument on another site about this, as I personally don't think that horary is an appropriate vehicle for such questions. It's a question much better suited to natal astrology, IMO, since if there is a 'life purpose', surely it is written into the natal chart, whereas horary is a matter of 'aspects du jour'. So although we've wended our way around the houses, axis points, and fixed stars, it still bears the question: can horary astrology answer such questions in a valid manner?

Sign me: Doubting Gunhilde

Your remarks made me smile, Southern Writer, as I am one who will leap to the defense of something I believe like a tiger on a deer! However, you have to remember that what we need to respect is the other person's right to an opinion, not their opinion. After all, if I truly respected another point of view, then I would think it was correct and take it for my own, right? Anyway, I feel these discussions are great, and allow us to test our beliefs against the strength of eachother's arguements, and I think it's a great forum.

On the subject of this thread: yes, the whole chart tells the story, but since Siraxi is probably seeing the horary as a thin slice of reality at that moment, something about the "soul's purpose" should also be reflected in that bit of reality. I wish him luck.