Tienka Atema wrote:Hi all,
Tania: there is an interesting article on the site of Darrelyn Gunsburg where she explores the use of antiscia in relationships. She uses an orb of 5 degrees and that is what I do as well. So in this example the Moon is within 1 degree orb on the contra-antiscion of Saturn and Venus is within 2 degrees on the contra-antiscion of Mercury. Although that mercury seems to be unconnected to other planets in his horoscope, through this contra-antiscion relationship there is a powerful interaction with the lord of his MC and with the lord of his ascendant. Not always easy, but powerful!
That does explain, to my opinion, why that Mercury was so important in his life.
And isn't the 12th house the place "Where the wild things are"? That was the title of a lecture by Joy Usher of Astromundi and I think that is a lovely expression here.
regards,
Tienka

I was unable to read this article, although I may have done so previously. My hazy memory of the contra antiscion idea is that it was seen as less supportive than the antiscion? If so i'm still struggling to understand this attempt to give Mercury more weight.

What is the traditional view(s) on why he wrote so much, his internet archive mentions more than a 100,000 letters.

The 'modern' perspective would focus on Mercury being unaspected(autonomous), in the 12th (unbounded), the Mars/Pluto opposition (compulsive) as well as Mars near/in the 3rd (communication).

Hello Tarnia,

Re: "What is the traditional view(s) on why he wrote so much, his internet archive mentions more than a 100,000 letters."

I don't have a "traditional view" on why he wrote so much, but will very briefly show why I would have expected this to be the case...

If you look at Jupiter, Mercury and the Node, you will see that they are all in aspect. (Jupiter sesquisquaring both Mercury and the Node, which square each other) This increases the "importance" of this particular midpoint picture, since it is not just a midpoint picture, but one formed by planets also in aspect with each other.

This gives Jupiter = Mercury/Node

Amongst other things, Ebertin (COSI) equates this positioning with "Cultivation of social contacts, a person who conducts lively correspondence with others..." [I consider 100,000 letters written to be pretty "lively."]

I believe Sun = Mercury/Jupiter as well as Mercury = Sun/Asc to also give a proclivity towards much written correspondence.

In a more "direct" way, I would see his prolific letter writing as his resolution of his T-Square involving Mars, Saturn, and Pluto-Neptune. (This also indirectly shows his deathly intestinal cancer through Saturn in Virgo and through Virgo's relationship with the 12th House, including the (classically) unaspected Mercury.)

Peace

Atlantean

Hello Tarnia,
I think that the contra-antiscion relationhip between Venus and Mercury, gave him a tool to express his creativity. Mercury is a commanding sign, while Libra is an obeying sign; that could be important here, it seems to suggest that Mercury is the leading party, so to speak. What is also important, I think, is the sextile of Mercury to the MC: he was able to express his Mercury in the world.
regards,
Tienka

Hi Tarnia,
Heer is a quote from the article written by Darrelyn : "Contra-Antiscia points describe how one defines one?s expression in the world without the catalyst of another individual. If they are filled by a planet in the natal chart, then
it implies you are doing something for the whole world.
I hope this helps?
Regards, Tienka

Hi Atlantean
Some potentially interesting midpoint arrangements here. Without more knowledge of the what, how, why, where........ of this correspondence I feel it?s hard to pinpoint what astrological factors are generating the behaviour.

Hi Tienka
I'm afraid you've lost me with this commanding (did you mean Virgo?) and obeying jargon, and Darrelyn's quote leaves me wondering as to its meaning(s).

Hi, Tarnia

I'm afraid you've lost me with this commanding (did you mean Virgo?) and obeying jargon, http://www.skyscript.co.uk/antiscia.html

there are in the hellenistic tradition a concept of commanding vs obeying signs, so Tienka probably meant virgo.

If you are really interested in the antiscia concept, I would suggest the text of our own Deborah Houlding http://www.skyscript.co.uk/antiscia.html .

I don?t feel that the text of Darrelyn?s is a good source as traditional astrology can have very subtleties that modern astrologers are not aware of. Deb?s text will give you a firmer grasp without all the speculation.

best regards

yuzuru wrote:Hi, Tarnia

I'm afraid you've lost me with this commanding (did you mean Virgo?) and obeying jargon, http://www.skyscript.co.uk/antiscia.html

there are in the hellenistic tradition a concept of commanding vs obeying signs, so Tienka probably meant virgo.

If you are really interested in the antiscia concept, I would suggest the text of our own Deborah Houlding http://www.skyscript.co.uk/antiscia.html .

I don?t feel that the text of Darrelyn?s is a good source as traditional astrology can have very subtleties that modern astrologers are not aware of. Deb?s text will give you a firmer grasp without all the speculation.

best regards

It is an idea I have looked at now and then over the years and recall reading this article before. I don't immediately see anything in it that suggests to me this contra antiscion relationship between Mercury and Venus is something worthy of more consideration.

A blur here, for me a least, is that Venus is strong in this chart , it conjuncts the ascendent, is the ruler in a sign it rules, forms a grand air trine with Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune and tightly sextiles Mars which in my view is the main player as regards his writing inclinations.

Hi Yuzuru,
I do not think Darrelyn is just a modern astrologer, she is very much aware of the classical traditions. And if you happen to have Lehman's book, Classical Astrology for Modern Living, we find the same explanations of the antiscia. I wouldn't call Lehman a modern astrologer
regards,
Tienka

I do not think Darrelyn is just a modern astrologer

If you like it, but I wouldn?t call Darrelyn a traditional astrologer either.

tarnia wrote:
What is the traditional view(s) on why he wrote so much, his internet archive mentions more than a 100,000 letters.

The Moon is in the first in an air sign. The Moon represents thoughts and emotions, in an air sign (especially a cardinal one) the native will have a tendency to vocalize their opinions and emotions, in the first sign this tendency is emphasized. The truth is he wrote more "correspondences" than letters and this is also under the rulership of the Moon.

MarkC wrote:Sadly I knew who it was from the basic data so I wasn't able to play and I didn't feel like pretending to be brilliant!

Some very astute comments on the thread I agree.

Anyway, another biography on HP Lovecraft. The wikipedia commentary seems utterly obsessed about Lovecraft's discrminatory views on other ethnicities. http://www.hplovecraft.com/life/biograph.asp

One thing nobody mentioned in the thread that I think is quite interesting is that Lovecraft has the fixed star Algorab in close proximity to that prominent Venus. Algorab is in the constellation of Corvus the Crow. According to Ptolemy it is of the nature of Saturn and Mars. This star has an association with death and was on the ascendant of the Twin Towers event chart. In Babylonian belief this constellation was known as the Raven and symbolised the bird carrying the souls into the underworld. A nice link considering the macabre and supernatural themes Lovecraft wrote about.

Mark

Fixed stars were always most interesting thing to me in astrology. When i was born, two crows were on the hospital window in my room. Then i found out that my Sun is on Algorab.

Very interesting. Thank you for this post.

Estebon_Duarte wrote:

tarnia wrote:
What is the traditional view(s) on why he wrote so much, his internet archive mentions more than a 100,000 letters.

The Moon is in the first in an air sign. The Moon represents thoughts and emotions, in an air sign (especially a cardinal one) the native will have a tendency to vocalize their opinions and emotions, in the first sign this tendency is emphasized. The truth is he wrote more "correspondences" than letters and this is also under the rulership of the Moon.

Looks like the Moons meanings have shifted considerably over the years.

Would you expect this type of behaviour from anyone with the Moon in the 1st in Libra, going to be an awful lot of people with this!?