| Dion Fortune - The Stars and The Goddess |
|
|
|
Dion Fortune - The Stars and The Goddess delivered at The Avalon of the Heart Seminar by Naomi Ozaniec Glastonbury - 2nd September 2006
We are met in the 60th year after the death of Dion Fortune. So much of her life is a matter of record that I have wanted to look for some unturned stone, so I have chosen to look at her work through the patterns of the life blueprint in her natal horoscope. I have used the methods of both traditional astrology and Fixed Star astrology. Fixed Star astrology is more ancient and less familiar, it is a system which does not use the more recently discovered planets and provides its own method of analysis which will be described in more detail as we meet it. I can still remember the moment when Dion Fortune came into my life, I was 14. As a precious reader with far too strong an interest in the occult to be normal, I was already working my way along the occult bookshelf at the adult library when I found a copy of The Cosmic Doctrine, I thought it was wonderful and when it was due back I renewed it again, and again and again….. I wondered about the name Dion Fortune - well surely no-one could be born with a name like that – and of course she wasn’t. With the certainty that one should share a good thing, I even tried to get my father to read it – not a good idea – “What kind of name is this?” – “Some made up nonsense that’s for certain,” - and he suggested I use my mind more profitably. This brief incident was indeed a microcosmic moment. I had found DF by chance aged 14, but as we know, so many such moments are not chance but the hand of some unseen destiny at work. Not only did I find the book but as I read the words- understanding opened. Somewhere deep inside me, I recognized this language. I wrestled with the concepts in The Cosmic Doctrine when I was 14 not realizing that other better, older more mature minds were also wresting with the same text as it formed part of the teaching material for the Society of the Inner Light. When the book spoke of an inner communicator, a light went on in my head: it all seemed perfectly sensible to me. My father’s reaction showed me something that took me a lot longer to really grasp - his response was genuinely representative of the majority view. He tried to read it- he could not understand what it was trying to say – he did not speak this language, and nor did the vast majority of people. This was an esoteric book – a work for the few - the many would be doing much more interesting things. What I took to be a fascinating text most worthy of my mind’s work, my father as representative of the group mind took to be a waste of time. What I wanted to share, my father dismissed - and here in this little capsule, was exactly what the soul who came into incarnation 6th December 1890 - would have to face on a grand scale- how might a dismissive group mind, deaf to esoteric vocabulary be awakened. There is no doubt in my mind that the soul charged with the purpose of waking a generation, was already aligned with the work of the hierarchy. Taking incarnation on the 6th December at Llandudno provided a natal horoscope equipped with the tools for the job. Turning first to Fixed Star astrology, (which does not require the exact moment of birth), we find new insights on offer. This analysis begins with the stars which rise and set on the day of birth. The Rising Star, recently returned from the Underworld, brings gifts from the land of the past, the family and ancestral genetics. The Setting Star just returned from the realm of the Immortals, brings gifts from the soul, private goals, motivations, and the silent name of the personal spiritual pathway represents the doorway between the worlds and holds the template of destiny. In DF’s chart the Heliacal Rising Star is Spica. Establishing a tone for the entire chart, Spica, as the 14th brightest in the sky brings its special theme, laying the foundation for a personal philosophy and setting the course for a vocation as yet unrealised. Holding this significant office, this star is a gift, a jewel entrusted at birth from ancestral genetics and family line: DF’s mother was a Christian Scientist, a trance medium and registered healer, family friends included Kitty Pole, who along with her sister discovered the Glastonbury Cup in 1907, Kitty’s close friend Alice Buckton who later purchased Chalice Well in 1912 and Maiya Curtis-Webb (later to become Maya Tranchell-Hayes) of the Alpha and Omega temple. Entitled A Gift from the Goddess, the star Spica brings the desire to use one's talents for the greatest possible good. This star shines in the wheat-sheaf carried by the maiden goddess, Virgo. Her gift is an earthy practical knowledge of cultivation and all its attendant skills and gifts. Spica brings gifts of harvest and bounty to humanity. Nowadays, it is easy to overlook the cultural significance of such basic necessities, but so fundamental were grain, bread, wheat and wheat in the psyche of our forebears that these everyday commodities acquired symbolic meaning as the staff of life. At the Mysteries of Eleusis, it is strongly suggested the ultimate initiating revelation of immortal life was conveyed through the sacred showing of an ear of wheat. DF came into incarnation bearing the gifts of Spica, the wheatsheaf. This is a star which shows a potential for brilliance, an innate talent, skill or ability which is out of the ordinary. It is the mark of a gifted person who truly does have something to contribute to the world, through a talent or an insight that may be quite special. The Rising Star is partnered by the Heliacal Setting Star which brings the gift of personal destiny from the Immortals. For DF, the star, Alcyone in the Pleaides held this office. The contemporary astrologer Bernadette Brady calls this The Third Eye and describes it’s purpose as To Seek Inner Knowledge. But at the same time she also describes the nature of Alcyone as The Mystic that can be Ruthless. Alcyone brings a strong, indeed an inescapable desire to seek inner knowledge. Its placement indicates that personal identity will be tied to strong spiritual and visionary needs and will be expressed through artistic and creative avenues. Linked to the Fates and the judgement of the dead, Alcyone can also manifest as ruthlessness when dealing with those who have not met certain standards. DF’s Ascendant lies in Virgo and is in conjunction with the Moon – the placement is entitled Unconscious Attunement. The fusion of these two energies brings deep appreciation of the power of the unconscious and of instinctual behaviour. Square to Mercury, this challenging placement to the Ascendant is called The Messenger. It brings talents in the field of information and communication. This placement perfectly equips the role of the Messenger with natural intelligence and the desire to be informed and up-to-date on all the latest developments. In relationship to Jupiter, the Ascendant simultaneously brings a placement called The Counsellor. Not interested in trivia, but seeking some kind of overall meaning, this placement brings an expansion into philosophical horizons and an ability to understand in depth the things that move people’s lives. This placement points to recognised success and the ability to exert considerable influence through the power of unusual opinions and good judgement. Moreover this placement indicates a larger than life character with strong views on most issues and a deep interest in spiritual issues. DF’s accomplishments and real life struggles can be set against the outline of this blueprint: emerging from latent potentiality to become physical actuality. She became The Counsellor and The Messenger. She drew upon her special giftedness, a natural understanding of the unconscious and aligned herself with the inner compulsion to explore spiritual issues. She came to embody the image of the figure bearing a wheatsheaf; she seeded a magical current and brought a plentiful cornucopia in the barren wastelands of the twentieth century. Born in 1890 DF was not typical of her generation: a free spirit interested in psychology when it was a new science, interested in hypnotherapy when it was in its infancy, interested in occultism when it was hidden. The society in which she grew up was rigid, hidebound, class conscious, puritanical, orthodox, conservative, immune from outside spiritual influences and straightacketed by religious conventionality. It was her self appointed task to plant the seeds of a spiritual revolution, to seed the subconscious mind of the race with possibilities. This was her destiny, the promise offered in her own natal blueprint. She allows one of her her fictional characters to say: It was my task to bring certain new concepts to the mind of the race, not to the conscious mind, but to its subconscious mind and this is done by living them, it was not my task to lecture or write or appear in the public eye as is done by those who speak to the conscious mind of the race. (1) Of course DF lectured, wrote and to an extent appeared in the public eye but this same goal of seeding change would not be accomplished except through much more subtle means, not information but invocation. Politicians and law makers bring change consciously by working visibly in society but DF was to seed another revolution altogether. Working behind the scenes of society in the engine room of the group mind, she recalibrated the system from within. This is the role of the adept. Returning to the natal horoscope once more, Fixed Star analysis provides a new perspective by assigning stars to three periods of life. Accordingly in youth, DFwas blessed by the star Antares called, The Heart of the Scorpion. This is the Royal Star of Persia and is associated with the god of the dead. Known as The Watcher of the West - curiously a title that might suit DF remarkably well, its alignment with the Sun in her chart brings intensity, focused and the determination to complete a task. Its downside brings the potential to be obsessed, to seek drama for its own sake, to arouse intensity even when it is not required and to go to extremes, intentionally or unintentionally; the stuff of power games walks hand in hand with the gifts of the royal star. It brings success, worldly or otherwise through the generation of a cleansing life-and-death experience – the classic initiatory sequence. It also carries the power to see the dark and the light of situations, to see the God and the Devil in things, and in this manner produces strong reactions in others polarising their support either for or against. Also in the period of her youth DF was blessed by the star Castor, one of the twins of Gemini, Castor and Pollux. Aligned with Mars, Castor as the dominant active star in DF’s youth brings the capacity to favour the bright side of the story or situation. The twins together represent the universal play of cosmic polarity, a theme which was to loom large in DF’s thinking. Castor singly brings the gifts of planning, of thinking, of solving problems mentally. It brings a love of mental challenge, the mental knot, the puzzle, even the crossword and a mind designed for investigation and research. According to Bernadette Brady, the eternal struggle between life’s polarities enacted by the twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, produces writers, most especially the story-teller who blends good and evil, over-lapping them with until both are changed and both are whole. The final star to have a place in DF’s youthful period is Sualocin, also called Rotanev. Aligned with the Sun it brings skills in a particular field. As the alpha star of the Dolphin, it represents a kind of intelligent playfulness, which is also mastery, and confidence in the environment. (Curiously its discoverer was also playful, he named the star after Nicolaus Venator, an assistant and successor to the Italian astronomer Guiseppe Piazzi, but he reversed the letters of the name and hugely enjoyed the private joke as generations struggled to pronounce the unpronouncable !! Not one of the strong stars, ‘Nicolaus reversed ’ acts in support of other more important players. But its gifts of physical talent, vitality and above all curiosity about one's environment, can be directed towards other specific aims and goals. Belonging to the early developmental period, this star influences childhood, but since it is also signified in the prime period, its second appearance suggests that attitude, hobby, or passion from childhood is carried and matured into adult life. The influences of the two significant stars from the youthful period became visible as the natal pattern unfolded in real life. Her writing was first published 1906 when she was 16. But DF was to go onto greater things. Not only did she became the storyteller but she turned an esoterically trained eye to national story, our Arthurian legacy and in doing so seeded a cultural and spiritual movement which still inspires. Story holds the template of our deepest and most inaccessible patterning held in mythic themes. DF was among the first to explore this mythic territory as spiritual blueprint by unfolding its inner vistas so that others might share in the vision too. It is not surprising that in her quest to seed the group mind with new ideas, DF chose to present esoteric truths through story, knowing that this is a certain pathway into the group mind and a direct route into the vast storehouse of living energies that make up the collective mind. Written with deliberate intent, a prerequisite for any magical act, the novels were designed to speak, ‘directly to the subconscious by the method of imagery, which is the only language the subconscious understands.’ (2) Not only did DF write for the subconscious but she wrote from the subconscious, ‘my novels … they are not written they are lived and recorded. Everything is seen and heard as exactly as if I were watching a play at the theatre. (3) This kind of engagement should be familiar, it is the stock in trade of creative consciousness, a detached witnessing part of the mind as a drama unfolds beyond its remit. Quite where that drama originates might be open to question, as part of the individualised mind or as part of the greater mind reflected locally. Nevertheless this experience is commonplace arising in both meditation and imaginative creation. Occult fiction served as a vehicle for the same concepts that also appeared in the didactic works but allowed the reader more freedom to consider such ideas while being carried along with the narrative. Her characters: Ursula Brangwyn, and her brother, Ted Murchison, Hugh Paston, Mona Freeman, Victoria Mainwering, Rupert Malcom and Wilfred Maxwell were the spokespersons for her ideas. "I am interested in the remoter branches of psychology,” says Brangwyn in The Winged Bull. (4) He continues, “There are a lot of things in the subconscious than are dreamed of by our mutual friend Dr. Freud.” (5) Ursula says, “My brother thinks that there was a great deal more in the old pagan faiths than is generally realized and he is investigating them from the psychological point of view.” (6) nd Brangwyn asks: Did you ever hear of the tradition of lost Atlantis?” (7) DF used the novel format as a display case for occult ideas. Her many interrelated themes, reincarnation and karmic consequence, pagan deities gods, sexual repression and ancient mysteries were invariably wrapped in a single package: that of magical, sexual and magnetic polarity between a man and a woman serving as priest and priestess. She endowed this singular polarity with a romantic potency which is probably unattainable in reality. Nevertheless, she was without stating it, introducing eastern concepts of Tantric worship to a western audience still recovering from Victorian ideas of sexual modesty. In The Winged Bull, she says of the rite performed Ursula and Ted Murchison : ‘That was all there was of it upon the physical plane but inwardly there was much more going on. They were two forces, not two persons, he was the sun in heaven bringing life to the earth. She was the earth absorbing it hungrily.’ (8) DF understood the importance of the imagination for both the occult student and the engaged reader. Knowing that readers lives out a good story in the imagination, she deftly included several invocations, perhaps silently inviting the reader, ‘to have a go’ just like the characters in the fiction. She dropped in real techniques, innocuous to the innocent but primed to trigger the curious. In the Winged Bull Brangwyn says to Ted : ‘Put the palms of your hands against hers and enter into it imaginatively. (9) – an innocent enough invitation but one designed to awaken the circuits of magnetic polarity that DF hinted at so often. With a throw-away line, DF told the reader what to expect: ‘a tingling in his palms and a sense of growing warmth that was spreading slowly all over him.’ (10) She drew the reader into these imaginary worlds with deliberate intent and skilled use of words, both precipitating and expecting an emotional response from the reader, ‘in proportion to his powers of imagination and his sympathy with the divine character portrayed.’ (11) This oblique, open ended, permissive approach as any hypnotherapist knows, permits the reader to respond freely and personally. Her weaving of familiar real places and utterly unfamiliar ideas as a single tapestry was a bold act creative act. She included genuine occult practices, trance work, the assumption of the god-forms, establishing the sacred space and included invocations and even scripted magical rituals. It might be said however that such fictionalised occult endeavour was glamourised, consciously or unconsciously belying its real life counterpart. Nevertheless the charm worked, the novels are still in print and they still fascinate. The DF novels followed in the same tradition as the classical Golden Ass by Apuleius, in her own words, ‘in fact each story is the story of an initiation’. (12) As DF of course knew, sacred drama and magical story are natural bedfellows. So she presented the eternal intiatiatory themes: suffering, death and resurrection in the palatable twentieth century form of the novel, thereby replacing actual physical ritual with empathic imagined identification without which no initiation can succeed. Indeed it is the ability of the candidate to identify with the central divine person which precipitates the ‘profound emotional experience.’ ‘This empathic quality, alive and well in receptive persons, will produce something of the same results as are produced by the experience of going through a ritual initiation’ (13 ) - a mighty claim and exalted aspiration for occult fiction. The three novels The Winged Bull, The Sea Priestess and the Goat Foot God, individually and together present the reader with initiatory themes - in fact with the imaginative encounter of an initiatory experience. In this seemingly innocuous manner, DF as adept wrote to inspire, intrigue, inform and ultimately precipitated the mass initiation of a generation. DF said, ‘ I have tried to make use of the dramatic form as a vehicle for mystical and cosmic interpretation.’ (14) The star Castor not only gifts storytelling but it also brings a love of mental challenge, in the form of puzzle and riddle. DF was therefore perfectly equipped even destined to face up to the challenge of the Qabalah, the ultimate secret symbolic code. In her classic book The Mystical Qabalah, DF took the heart of a closed mystical system and brought it lovingly to a different audience. She even linked the intellectual content of it with the imaginative content of the novels being both storyeller and codebreaker. Each of the novels was expressly related to a single Sephiroth on the Tree of Life; The Winged Bull to Tiphareth, The Sea Priestess to Yesod and The Goat Foot God to Malkuth. The intellectual structure of The Mystical Qabalah coupled with the imaginative engagement of the novels, served to awaken the intuitive perception of the reader. This dual thrust was quite deliberate. She wrote, The 'Mystical Qabalah' gives the theory, but the novels give the practice. … Those who study the Mystical Qabalah with the help of the novels get the keys of the Temple put into their hands.' (15) The seeds planted in the phase of her youth, the mental agility bestowed by the star Castor, the focus and intensity gifted by Antares were carried by the star of The Dolphin to mature in the fullness of time and life. Together the initiating novels and her specific teaching works together formed a comprehensive corpus. Where the teaching texts gave explanations the novels immersed the reader in new experience, soaking the imagination and feeding the subconscious in magical correspondences. Of all the novels, DF is surely best remembered for Moon Magic . When I first read it many years ago, it sent my mind spinning, its images haunted me like some half remembered dream. Occultists, by virtue of their trade, do much to cross the threshold between levels of consciousness. DF was especially gifted in this way but she was not immune from the unpredictable nature of the imaginative toolbox. The subconscious as Freud, Jung and DF knew is a potent place, both a storehouse of forgetting and a reservoir of psychic energy. ‘My subconscious as all subconscionsess must, contains a great deal more than I realised was there till it rose to the surface in the course of the writing.’ (16) In the introduction, she said, ‘I wrote it to find out what it was about.’ So if the novel appeared more by way of an extended automatic writing in surrender to the subconscious, it should be no surprise that in DF’s psyche there lurked a powerful constellation of female authority and magic. Whether by imaginative creation, artistic inspiration, or the power of evocation, Lilith Le Fay made her presence known. Whatever its source, wherever it originated, DF’s most enigmatic compilation, alter- ego, possibly even separate identity, spoke as the antidote to the acceptable role for women in the early twentieth century. She voiced sentiments that must surely have echoed in DF’s own life: "The law by which I live is so strange." (17) "Those of whom come in thus have been trained and made in a previous life and I have always been a priestess of the great mother." (18) "So I came back to the world once again as the priestess of the great goddess bringing with me the memory of forgotten arts, one of which is the art of being a woman. I came because I was sent. There was that needed that which I had to give." (19) It was in Moon Magic that the earlier themes of reincarnation, karmic consequence and magical polarity were indelibly stamped. Incomplete at her death, it arose from the Isis workings she conducted during that period and it was in fact completed only after her death through mediumship. Although the book contains no historically accurate descriptions of Isis worship, DF succeeded in powerfully glamorising her audience through magical invocation and the evocation of the Black Isis, the Prima Materia, the Great Mother, Binah in her dark underground temple. It is no wonder that some contemporaries thought she had said too much, revealed too much Moon Magic in its pages. These deliberate transgressions were all part of DF’s pioneering spirit. Like any physical pioneer in a new land, she was redoutable and tough minded. With the star Phact - The Bow of the Argo aligned to The Cross of Matter (Ascendent, Descendent, MC. and IC.) in her natal horoscope this should be no surprise. This star used to be part of the Argo, on the top of the bow, crashing through the waves in waters uncharted. It brings the gift of risk taking and of exploration in new realms which so characterised her life’s work. This willingness to take risks is exemplified in the novels by her choice of theme. She wrote repeatedly about reincarnation and its karmic consequences when such ideas still held shock value. She wrote about the misery of a dutiful but empty and marriage at a time when divorce held a stigma. She wrote about the empowerment of women long before feminism and introduced the persona of a priestess when most women were happily engaged with knitting patterns and behind everything, the spirit of Atlantis lurked. These were her chosen themes, her carefully placed seeds that were skilfully planted not by great intellectual discourse and analysis but neatly and deftly woven into fanciful stories of everyday life and magic. As youthfulness faded and DF moved into the prime of her life, so she came under the influence of Aculeus - One of the Stings of the Scorpion. Aculeus and its partner Acumen, form the tail of Scorpio. Aculeus brings the sting of the scorpion as verbal, mental or even spiritual attack Aligned with Mercury, the god of business, contracts, paperwork and communication, its placement indicates voices raised in opposition, behind the scenes talk even gossip. DF was no stranger to controversy – her spats with Moina Mathers are well documented. But Aculeus brings the kind of irritation which serve only strengthen resolve and determination. As a weapon is hardened in fire, so this endurance tempers the mind and provides the staying power to tackle hard intellectual subjects and face real challenges presented by writing and communication. The influence of this star comes from the very foundations of personal life, from family history and curiously from, ‘the roots of the tree of your life.’ DF was well equipped mentally for her task: Mercury in Sagittarius provided an extremely active mentality, with the desire to seek new mental horizons and a delight in learning for its own sake. Entitled, Inspire Others, this placement needs variety, movement and intellectual challenges. Placed in the third house, Mercury here brings a constant desire to learn, to expand mental horizons and create contacts with people. Communication and teaching are of paramount importance, the placement called, Gather and Disseminate Knowledge brings natural secretarial abilities and an ability gift for putting ideas across. Such mental prowess of course can be quite intimidating to others not as blessed. Diplomacy does not come naturally for someone with a strong opinion on anything on everything however. The star Aculeus added a new dimension to her already powerful mind she did endure the sting of the scorpion – the vengeful words of others and an extra ability to face intellectual rigour was surely channelled into the challenge of The Mystical Qabalah. The second star significated during her prime is Betelgeuse, called The Right Shoulder of the God, this is one of the great stars of the sky and it brings unbridled victory without complications. Betelgeuse is effective, brilliant and successful. As the right hand, or shoulder of the god, the star represents that which is clear and strong. Aligned with the Moon, in her horoscope, Betelgeuse, brings the qualities of caring, compassion and empathy. This placement belongs to An Empowered Person who is Concerned with the Quality of Life. It brings emotional fulfilment as the fruit of personal labour to help others or the environment. Betelegeuese brings a rare gift, the ability to make a difference, either it locally or globally. DF also received the influence of the star Capulus during her prime. This is the Sword of the Warrior, its alignment with Mars only serves to intensify its nature. This nebula is identified with male sexual energy: focused, direct, and penetrating in action. Its energy is clear and decisive at times, brutal and even violent. Understandably this is considered to be one of the most difficult stars in a natal chart. In DF’s natal chart the star is Circumpolar never touching the earth. This places the star’s influence at a high spiritual level. DF had no hesitation wielding The Sword of Perseus in defence of the nations and its allies. She joined the war effort and the weekly letters sent out to students stand on record. She wrote, The initiation of the Sphere of Geburah is that of Aeptus Major only one of the greater adepts can use the power of the sword and unless he can use it, he is not a great adept, the world cannot be ruled by love alone. (20) DF was well equipped in all ways to wield the sword and through the shred meditations of her group, she did so with the words: When wielding the sword of Geburah gaze into the shield of Hermes and not upon the face of the adversary. …………It is well to rely upon the methods of Perseus and let the sandals of swiftness keep you out of harms way by virtue of the penetrative power of thought which discerns the directions of the attack and evades it. (21) Wielding the sword of the warrior, the power of Capulus, DF wrote - ‘there is a grade of initiation wherein the initiate must enter the sphere of Geburah and abide therein and learn its lessons and the less of Geburah there is in him, the longer he must abide there. There are times of crises and emergency when even those who have passed on to the sphere of mercy may be recalled to man the ramparts of Geburah'. (22) Her words are recorded in the book, Dion Fortune - The Magical Battle of Britain. This book serves as a powerful testament to her work and beliefs. Written to her students not members of the public and without the glamour of the novels; these war letters are a mine of occult wisdom. In DF’s natal chart, Mars played an important role providing drive and energy for her many activities. DF was naturally endowed with the warrior mentality. Quite apart from the star Capulus, Mars Trine to the MC is also called The Warrior. This aligns personal power to purpose and gives the ability to eat up conflict on the way to the top. It also provides a robust even aggressive attitude whenever needed. Mars in Aquarius is called Create Tomorrow Today – which she did. In complete contrast to such abundant male energy, DF also received the balancing influence of Ras Alhague - The Healer. This star brings an interest in spreading, investigating, or studying methods of healing. Ras Alhague belongs to Ophiuchus, the great healer who holds a serpent in his hands. Aligned to Mercury it symbolises the desire to bring the knowledge of healing, and to spread this type of information. This impetus would have reinforced the position of Mercury in the 3rd House, called to Gather and Disseminate Information. When DF married a doctor, Thomas Penry Evans, it brought new inner influences to the group resulting in a five year dialogue with an inner plane Master of Medicine. This produced ambitious plans for a healing centre employing esoteric healing at spiritual, emotional, magical and physical levels. Although their personal plans were never realised, the subsequent spread of holistic medicine in its many faces affirms the veracity of this vision The Bow of the Argo, Phact reappeared in conjunction with the prime years, but now in conjunction with Mercury it carried the acid test for the eccentric and idiosyncratic mind - posing a challenge - is this The Life of an Original Thinker or just a Foolish Mind at play? DF exemplified this dichotomy. For some of a like minded persuasion, she is an original thinker, a lateral creative thinker, while others see only weak minded nonsense in the same words. Fixed Star astrology does not employ the positions of the more recently discovered planets. But it would be a pity to not to avail ourselves of both systems. Accordingly it is worth looking at the influence of the transpersonal planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The placement of Uranus which describes the nature of personal originality, may throw some light on the question just posed. In DF’s natal chart, Uranus is placed in the 2nd House bringing Humanitarian Values based on a radically different set of values compared to others. Trined with Mars, Uranus exerted another forceful push in an already established theme, that of Experimentation. Bringing a need for excitement and originality this placement carries personal dynamism, the ability to achieve under pressure, a taste for untraditional work, interests in consciousness-raising. But its underlying theme is the freedom to experiment and learn from experiences. Team work carries little appeal, restrictions, orders and imposed authority produces violent opposition which can come across as rebellious. Instead this placement brings a natural ability to come up with the surprise factor, an angle nobody else has thought of before and the ability to earn a living through developing an unconventional talent. This desire for experimentation brings a natural disinclination to comply with authorities but serves the pioneer like an invisible compass. Uranus sextile to Mercury confirms the same drives bringing Inventiveness and a natural ability to integrate radical new ideas without causing grave offence or shock. It brings the desire to understand the workings of the mind. Coupled with an instinctive sensitivity to signals in the environment which go over the head of the average person, this placement serves the inventive and experimental spirit, bringing a real opportunity to be a driving force for renewal it also brings some delight in being provocative and carries some impatience as slower minds fumble with old concepts and ideas. So DF’s originality was deeply rooted in her natal chart, it was genuine, authentic, humanitarian and karmic. Uranus Semisquare to the S. Node is called The Lightning Rod. As its name suggests, this is a powerful force bringing the ability and destiny to galvanise groups, organisations and individuals into action. The office of the Lightning Rod channels a message of inspiration or even revolution. It naturally attracts groups and people on the fringes of society and may even carry an element of personal extremism. Uranus Semisquare to Saturn brings the ability to establish a bridge from the old to the new. Called Structural Renewal, this placement offers the possibility of connecting established values and its corresponding social structures to the seeds of an incoming but nascent current. The old has outlived its usefulness, the new is fragile; this placement reaches back into the past and forward into the future simultaneously. Jupiter, the principle of expansion is highly active in DF’s natal chart. In the 5th House this brings Personal Expansiveness, a larger than life personality a generous nature and professional recognition. Sextile to the Sun, the placement is called Insight and it brings the desire to learn and communicate. This placement reaffirms the search for personal wisdom and endows the inspired person with a wonderful capacity for positive thinking and looking on the bright side of things. This placement brings the need to find a mentor or wise person but at the same time few people measure up. Trine to the North Node, Jupiter conveys a sense of personal destiny: this placement is called Wisdom in Emptiness. In conjunction with Mars, Jupiter brings strong personal character traits- considerable optimism and energy, a dynamic nature and positive attitude to the future. It gives personal courage and a pioneering spirit. Called Ebullience, Mars conjunct Jupiter brings a fighting spirit to matters of philosophy and religion. It can lead to disagreements with superiors, or a fight for justice. In Aquarius, Jupiter brings a natural openness towards untraditional subjects and the inevitability of an explosive spiritual awakening. This placement is called Awaken Others. It brings a strong orientation towards the future with an emphasis on personal growth. Jupiter trine Pluto is entitled Transformation of Beliefs, something that DF did continuously making herself open to new insights and possibilities. This placement may also bring an obsessive need to be right, or a consuming hunger to acquire insight, both rather exhausting for close relationships. It also brings the need to develop considerable psychological insight which may be of benefit privately and professionally. Jupiter trine Neptune is called Expansive Dreams. This collective effect is related to knowledge, the intellect and social influence. Personally it brings a talent for marketing or selling a dream or vision combined with a personal drive to evangelise on a social, religious or political level. Motivated by altruistic ideals and identified with some kind of vision or dream this placement brings transcendence of all personal dreams. DF was not without significant challenges in her life which we might review through the placement of Saturn representing restriction and obstacle. Saturn Square the North Node is a powerful aspect a major feature of the chart, called Old Karma, this placement brings an aura of authority and the ability to influence the groups and organisations. It carries a sense of responsibility towards society and gives the qualities to effect lasting changes in its structure and personal drive can become the channel for such structural change. This assertive placement conveys the feeling of destiny, making the hand of fate seem to appear behind every step. In conjunction with the moon, Saturn brings a placement called Self-Sufficiency which endows a responsible, dutiful and motivated person determined to live up self chosen commitments to society through work which might involver formal relations with the public in some way. In the 12th House, Saturn’s placement is called Spiritual Discipline - a challenging aspect which makes it difficult if not impossible to achieve ambition in any traditional way, it demands that a solid professional foundation can only be gained understanding life's purpose. Imitating the success or ambitions of others will prove fruitless since this placement requires the surrender of all false goals. Success comes when status and prestige are relinquished in favour of unselfish dedication even if this means working in a field isolated from the rest of society. Turning now to Neptune often called the mystical planet, since it represents transcendence. In DF’s chart another transpersonal influence was highly significant. Retrograde in Gemini, this placement is called Mental Relativity. Touching a whole generation, this brings new sensory and spiritual awareness, and greater compassion. Connected with Gemini from 1889 to 1902, it brings the ability to develop a subtle awareness of the nature of mind and some unusual communication talents. It also brings, ‘ Extraordinary events connected with events which render you helpless in some way - may have a profound influence on your ideas.’ And I cannot help but be reminded of DF’s enounter with Lilias Hamilton, the warden of Studely College which became a pivital moment in her life. Placed in the 9th House, Neptune’s here is called Dreaming the Truth, it brings unusual perception of what constitutes truth, and how people's beliefs are influenced. This can give some talent for swaying the minds of others - particularly on a collective level. Neptune trine the Moon provides many spiritual talents - working with dreams or the unconscious in some way. This placement is called Develop Intuitive Sensitivity and it gifts a supremely sensitive and impressionable person with a creative and caring nature with great capacity for sympathetic and understanding, Moving finally to Pluto’s as the significator of transformation both personal and transpersonal. Pluto placed in 9th House is called Ideology. This placement brings strong ideological convictions and a willingness to fight for them. It brings the intensity and determination required to getting a difficult message across with the psychological capacity to change other people's ideas through the power of your own beliefs. This is the mark of a convincing and natural communicator keenly focussed in areas of faith and belief. In Opposition to the Sun, Pluto here hints at difficulties in relationships. Entitled Transformation of Identity, it suggests that there is a tendency to overwhelm others and to be dominating even in intimate relationships. Needing a partner of equal intensity, can bring disappointment when the idealised other does not match up in strength. In conjunction with the North Node, this placement brings profound upheavals and staggering transformations which change the course of life at key times. This placement may even bring moments of naked vulnerability to destructive forces in society, or to the inner demons of fate and this may force ruthless decisions to ensure survival. Entitled Survival in Extremity it may even bring archetypal memories of death and destruction DF did indeed speak of the troubling experience of seemingly Atlantean memories which arose as dreams at about the age of four. Nevertheless although this placement brings a familiarity with loss it also brings the strength to move forward and start again. In Opposition to the South Node, Pluto brings a fated quality, handing out a personal role at times of great upheaval; to preside over or witness forces of change which are completely beyond the control of normal institutions at a time when the hand of fate crushes the safe structures in society. It brings an aura of power in your social relationships, and an involvement in groups or organisations of a secretive nature which exert a powerful yet hidden influence over the masses in society. It too is called Survival in Extremity. It brings a fated quality, an aura of power in social relationships, an involvement in groups or organisations of a secretive nature which exert a powerful yet hidden influence over the masses in society.!!
Dion Fortune - whose name means ‘God not Luck,’ was indeed a daughter of Fortuna. She was fated through the stars themselves as agents in some much grander and wiser picture beyond our limited knowing. She lived out a short life dying unexpectedly from leukemia at 56. She might have wished to do more but what she left continued to seed itself into a bountiful harvest as I am sure she knows. She left a complete corpus and lived out her destiny to the very full. The initiate who incarnated between 6th Dec 1890 and 8th Jan 1946 and became known to us as DF chose to the path of the occultist dignifying this special calling by stressing its service to humanity first and foremost. Nowadays, the ‘O’ word is relegated to the historical record or to dubious intentions. In our politically correct, democratically tuned mindset, even the term ‘esoteric’ has faded into disuse as it favours the few above the many - holistic spirituality is now the buzz word and lofty universal goals have given way to personal ones of well being and wholeness. Magic, or multiple definitions of it have become so accessible that anyone and everyone is encouraged to release, ‘the inner magician.’ But this analysis of DF’s natal chart shows clearly that real magicians are born and not made. Nowadays much of DF’s terminology and thinking may seem outdated to a self professed New Age audience. Yet these anachronistic terms, quaint concepts and outdated values were the exact tools with which she and others of like minds consciously worked across the divide between the planes and opened the floodgates to the Age of Aquarius. According to Fixed Star Astrology, the stars which belong to the later part of life summarise achievement, indicate legacy or reputation. DF was blessed by two stars in this period. Fittingly her life’s work was crowned by The Diadem, a symbol of royalty. This star does not seek glory or personal fame. Aligned to Jupiter in the chart, it brings a self-sacrificing generosity which gives unstintingly to a cause. This stellar combination is the metaphysical equivalent of tithing, give unselfishly and your gifts are returned a hundred fold. It is undeniably about feminine strength. This star is the gift of the goddess. Finally completing the circle of her life, the star Spica, her birth star returned and was aligned to the Moon. In a final wonderful piece of cosmic synchronicity, the goddess of the harvest returned to reap a rich reward. DF’s life was suspended between the two doors of birth and death, each was guarded and gifted by the goddess herself.
Imagine the following scene: You walk upon barren hillside in a gently rolling landscaper. The ground is parched by heat, the trees seem stunted by harsh winds; the ground feels hard and lifeless. You hear the sound of singing and in the distance a figure walks alone, as she approaches, see that she carries a wheat-sheaf nursed under one arm like a loved child. Slung across her body is a seed bag, As she walks she broadcasts seed over the land. A breeze sprigs up and takes some whirling away to more distant places. She approaches and you see that she wears a plain white robe and a garland of wheat is plaited onto a simple headdress. Now she reaches where you stand and as your eyes meet, she pauses. In this moment of shared stillness, you may reach out and ask for a blessing on any special project nestling deep in your heart or simply make yourself open to the seeds of inspiration. The moment is brief, she does not stop long but continues on her way casting good seed upon the land. You find yourself wondering what will become of these seeds - spread in so poor a place. Bending down and touching the earth, find a seed for yourself and take it into your own care. Now you are alone, the figure has completely vanished from your sight, You begin to walk down the hillside. The skies unexpectedly darken and warm summer rain begins to fall softly onto the land. The rain passes almost as soon as it has begun, the skies still remain grey in colour and there emerging from the special combination of water and light, a double rainbow fills the sky with its twin arches. With childlike delight, you try to see where the rainbow ends wondering where the fabled crock of gold might be hidden. Seven lights hover over a glade of trees, and while still wondering if this is the place of rainbows-end, you see that a figure emerges from within the glade. No sooner has she emerged than she begins to run, almost gliding on the air as if her feet do not quite touch the ground. She runs effortlessly up the hill and on reaching you, she gestures with her outstretched arm, motioning for you to look behind once more. You turn to see that the hillside once bleak and barren is now a meadowland of spring flowers. Trees are white with apple blossom and the ground is a riot of colour, red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, indigo and violet, the gentlest and most subtle colour of all. As you turn back to her with some amazement, you now see that a single diadem of white light radiates from her brow surrounding her presence with scintillating prismatic colour. Now she turns and walks away down the hill, you watch her depart - the sun is setting on the distant horizon and as she finally disappears from your view it seems to you that she has walked into the west merging with the sunset and its rays of golden light.
References Books and References |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|