Download The Testament of Astrology

The Testament of Astrology
Dr. Oskar Adler (June 4, 1875 – May 15, 1955)
Translated by Mrs. Zdenka Orenstein, © Copyright 2001 by Amy Shapiro
Table of Contents
First Sequence
General Foundation of Astrology – (Seven Lectures)
1: General idea of “Astrology as Esoteric Knowledge”... What is esoteric knowledge? …
Natural Science and esoteric doctrine; Man and the universe ... The human body and
number as bridge to the cosmos ... Astronomy and astrology … The “Self” as key to
esoteric knowledge.
2: Living community between man and universe ... Macrocosmos and microcosmos …
One-ness and the number One … Suffering and sorrow as a further link to the cosmos …
The idea of fate … Natural law and moral law.
3: The enigma of evolution in the light of esoteric wisdom … The zodiac.
4: Evolution and alchemy … The four elements … Their relationship to inner life and to
the road of development of man … The riddle of the Sphinx.
5: Cosmic numbers and human development … The numbers 4, 7 and 12 … Zodiac and
planets … Periodicity and the law of rhythm … Planetary symbols and digit-symbols.
6: The three cosmic perspectives … The cosmic importance of the moment of birth …
Heredity and Self-development … The “Second birth”.
7: Zodiac-segments and Zodiac-symbols … The precession of the vernal point …
Eternity and temporality … The road to the “neighbor” … the road to one’s own Self.
Second Sequence
Zodiac and Man -- (Seven Lectures)
1: The problem of character …Psychologic and astrologic teachings … The Zodiac as
spectrum of life … The “experience of the circle” … Vernal point and human sacrifice …
Life and death.
2: The arrangements of the Zodiac, its structure, the twelve segments, the four elementary
worlds.
3: The four human types: “Earth”-man, Water-man, Air-man and Fire-man … Earth-man
in general … Capricorn-, Taurus- and Virgo-man in particular.
4: “Water”-man in general … Cancer-, Scorpio- and Pisces-man in particular.
5: “Air”-man in general … Libra-, Aquarius- and Gemini-man in particular.
6: “Fire”-man in general … Aries-, Leo- and Sagittarius-man in particular.
7: The precession of the vernal point and human development (An expedition into the last
6000 years.)
Third Sequence
Part One: The World of the Planets and Man-- (Ten Lectures)
1: The experience of world rhythm as messenger between time and eternity … The
women of Radak … The planets as mediators between Zodiac and man … Planetary
clockwork and cosmic building plan … The Pythagorean triangle and music of the
spheres … The doctrine of the music of the spheres from Pythagoras to Schopenhauer.
2: World-memory … Between non-being and being … Overtones of God’s word … The
numbers 3, 7 and 12 … The curtain before the inner sanctum ... Caduceus and
Rosicrucian cosmogony … Geo-centric and helio-centric viewpoints … Polarity and
sexuality in the world of the planets and in music … Zodiac-places of the planets, their
dignities and weaknesses … Exaltation of the Sun and Moon.
3: Planets and cosmic sense-organs … 1 = 3 = 1 … Polarity and relativity … Definition
of the functions of the seven holy planets … The phoenix –bird.
4: The teachings of Ptolemy … The planetary symbols … Essence and value of the
symbols … Man’s wandering through time … The planetary experience as gradation
experience … From here we have no continuing city.
5: The individual in the concert of the starts … Sun and Moon as representatives of the
two poles of the Self … Conception and birth … New-Moon- and Full-Moon-man …
Solar and lunar eclipses … Maja – Maria.
6: The Moon phases … The 24 quarter-moon positions and their importance … The
burden of the cross.
7: Moon in the 3 Fire-signs in relation to Sun.
8: Moon in the 3 Air-signs in relation to Sun.
9: Moon in the 3 Water-signs in relation to Sun.
10: Moon in the 3 Earth-signs in relation to Sun.
Third Sequence
Part Two: The World of the Planets and Man-- (Eleven Lectures)
1: The ancient scheme of planetary rulerships … “ Elevations” and “ Falls” critically
examined … The recently discovered planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, and the ancient
system, comprising only seven planets … General remarks about the functions of Uranus
and Neptune … Transcending and imminent planets … The theory of Forster.
2: The planets and tones … Once more the problem of Uranus and Neptune … Uranus
and the school of life … The seven year periods of human development ... The cosmic or
eternity-background of everything transitory (Neptune) … Self-concentration and Selfimmolation.
3: Analysis of the function of Mercury … Mercury as copula between subject and object
… The function of perception … Hermes Trismegistos and the Smaragdine Tablet … As
above, so below … Logos and human logic … Four ways of logical thinking: inductive,
deductive, artistic (creative) and moral and in relation to the Sun … Dignities and
weaknesses of Mercury … Aspects between Mercury and the Moon.
4: Analysis of the function of Venus … Venus, one of the poles of the Mars-Venuspolarity … Empedokles’ doctrine of friendship and quarrel as poles of World-sexuality ...
Eris and Eros … Creative impulse and the instrument … Bliss to be chosen an instrument
... Scale of Love and the sacrifice-idea … Taurus and Libra as locations of Venus’ power;
Pisces as place of exaltations … Venus in the four categories and the twelve signs in
relation to the Sun … Aspects between Venus and Moon, Venus and Mercury.
5: Analysis of the Mars-function … The male form of energy … The moment of
decision … The drawn sword and the shot arrow … Sword and plough … Puberty and
Mars-development ... Circumcision Bow and lyre … Aries and Scorpio as site of Mars’
strength, Capricorn as site of exaltation … Mars in the separate categories and signs in
relation to the Sun … Mars-aspects with Moon, Mercury and Venus.
6: Analysis of the Jupiter-function … Polarity between Jupiter and Saturn … Wordless
perception and those bound to the word … Faith and Knowledge ... Faith as inspiration of
knowledge … Excursion into the realm of Music … Planets and sounds, the polarity
between major and minor (Zarlino) … Hexagram and the tonal system … Dominant and
subdominant … Again Jupiter and Saturn as contrasts … The above and below of the
Smaragdine Tablet … The below a reflection of the above … Law and order … Justice
and mercy … Hybris … Sagittarius and Pisces as locale for Jupiter’ s strength, Cancer as
place of its exaltation … Jupiter in the signs … Aspects with Sun, Moon, Venus and
Mars.
7: Analysis of the Saturn function … Ptolemy and the planets’ cycles … Polarity between
Sun, Moon and Saturn … Moon the geometric medium between Sun and Saturn …
Between Past and Future … Saturn according to the teachings of the Rosicrucians … The
publican at the bridge-head of the future … The formation of necessity into freedom …
The struggle with the adversary ... The anti-ego ... The borderline between Capricorn and
Aquarius as the regions of Saturn … The burden of the past and vice … Overcoming the
burden … Saturn in the separate categories and signs … Aspects with Sun, Moon,
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
8: Analysis of the Uranus-function … The Uranus-problem … On the border between the
“ here” and the “ beyond” … The stability of the total horoscope and test of its inner
compactness … Self-relation … Ego-logistic attitude … Know thy Self … Uranus and
the old system of astrology; this not shaken … Index of dangers of the Uranus-function
for people not yet awakened to Uranus-maturity … Uranus in the separate categories and
signs … Aspects with Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
9: Analysis of the Neptune-function … History of the discovery of Neptune … Beyond
the limit of Saturn’ s orbit … The reflected Jupiter, as Uranus is the reflected Saturn …
The cosmic and the transcendental experience of the Self … Self-immolation … The
planet of “ meta” =: Metaphysics, meta-psychics, meta-logics, meta-ethics … 4 forms of
meta-logics … Ego-logic and cosmologic attitude … Neptune in the separate categories
and signs … Aspects with Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and
Uranus.
10: The Uranus-Neptune aspects as significators of the temporary “ Weltanschauungen”
in the respective generations … Characteristics of the generations from 1860 to 2000,
according to the relative position of Uranus and Neptune.
11: The Pluto-problem … Esoteric remarks about the Pluto function … Pluto, the
reflected Mars … The planet of conscious, purposive Self-development … Past and
future in changing relation … Decision of man … Janus … Pluto in the separate
categories and signs … Aspects with the rest of the planets.
Fourth Sequence: Man and Earth
Part One: Twelve legends of Man’ s Wanderings on Earth
Rising Signs -- (Six Lectures)
1: Earth as human habitat … Earth and heaven’ s “ geography” … The Zodiac’ s projection
upon Earth … The horizon as equator … The 12 so-called “ houses” … Above and below
the horizon … Celestial and terrestrial heredity … Old traditions in the light of modern
thinking … Interpretation of the individual houses according to our theory … Man’ s
Wanderings on Earth.
2: The general legend of human life … Another analysis of the separate houses in
analogy to the analysis of the signs of the Zodiac … The points of intersection between
Zodiac and horizon … The meaning of the ascending sign … The “ Ascendant” Position
of the houses in relation to the Zodiac … Esoteric significance of the Ascendant.
3: The general “ formula” of earthly life, according to the position of the Ascendant …
Twelve images of life … The Ascendants: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.
4: The Ascendants Libra, Aquarius and Gemini.
5: The Ascendants Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
6: The Ascendants Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo.
Fourth Sequence: Man and Earth
Part Two: Between the world of the Planets and Earth:
The planets in the Houses -- (Fifteen Lectures)
1: The three perspectives once more … First, second and third Zodiac … Mutual
relations … Hierarchic rulership of the Zodiac … New explanation of the houses in
regard to the second Zodiac … The four elements in the third Zodiac.
2: Continuation … Psychological meaning of the houses … Human roots in Earth
… Man’ s attitude concerning his terrestrial work-field.
3: The functions of the planets, experienced from Earth-perspective … The “ Earthcoefficient” of the separate planets … The aspects in the light of the Earth-perspective …
Mundane aspects … Opposed house-groups and their meaning.
4: The First House … Planets in the First House.
5-15: Houses Two to Twelve and the planets in them.
Fourth Sequence: Man and Earth
Part Three: Fate and Destination – (Eleven Lectures)
1: Essential association between fate and destination … Readiness for fate and external
occurrences. Fate-involvement dream experiences ... Connection between certain areas
of life (houses) in the individual horoscope … The problem of the “ accidental” … What
is accidental … The rulers of the houses … The “ Ruler of the Horoscope” … General
remarks about the rulers of the twelve houses.
2: Causality and fatality … Three conditions of the soul, as: hammer, anvil, and
submission … Their coloration in the four elements … “ Genius” of fate … Paracelsus’
and Schopenhauer’ s views about this genius … The meaning of the hour of death.
3: Intelligible and empiric character … The ruler of the horoscope as master of
personality … The individual planets as rulers of the horoscope, in general … Function
of the ruler of the horoscope in the houses one to six.
4: Its function in the houses seven to twelve.
5: The ruler of the Descendant and its general meaning … Hammer, anvil and submission
with regard to descendant … The four elements once more … The function of the ruler of
the Descendant in the houses one to six.
6: Its function in houses seven to twelve.
7: The ruler of the Tenth house and its general importance.
10: Its function in the houses.
11: The rulers of the remaining houses in the four edge houses.
Fifth Sequence: Man in the Concert of the Star
The Tenet of the Aspects – (Twenty-five Lectures)
1: Construction and Constitution of the horoscope … Constitution of the human organism
… Eukrasy and Dyskrasy … Astrological constitution … “ Good” and “ evil” aspects …
Order of the aspects … Theory of Kepler … Apects and musical intervals … Concavemirror theory … Isolation and forming of complexes.
2: Individual psychology and astrological theory of the aspects … The essence of the
individual aspects … Secret aspects … Parallel aspects … Three special parallel aspects.
3: The conjunction … Conjunction Sun/Moon in every individual sign.
4: Sun/Jupiter conjunction in the individual signs … Sun/Saturn conjunction in the
individual signs ... Sun/Mercury conjunction in the individual signs.
5: Sun/Venus and Sun/Mars.
6: Sun/Uranus and Sun/Neptune.
7: General remarks about the Moon conjunctions … Moon/Mars … Moon/Venus.
8: Moon/Mercury … Moon/Saturn.
9: Moon/Jupiter … Moon/Uranus … Moon/Neptune.
10: General remarks about the conjunctions of Mercury.
11: Mercury/Jupiter … Mercury/Saturn.
12: Mercury/Uranus … Mercury/Neptune.
13: The conjunctions of Venus … Venus/Neptune.
14: Venus/Jupiter … Venus/Saturn.
15: Venus/Uranus … Venus/Neptune.
16: The conjunctions of Mars … Mars/Jupiter … Mars/Saturn.
17: Mars/Uranus … Mars/Neptune.
18: The conjunctions of Jupiter with Saturn and Uranus … the so-called “ great (platonic)
conjunctions” … Jupiter/Saturn in general … The last Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions since
1861 … Jupiter/Uranus since 1872.
19: Jupiter/Neptune conjunctions since 1868 … Saturn/Uranus 1986-1998 and 1914-1943
… Saturn/Neptune 1881/1882 and 1917/1918.
20: The aspect of opposition … The opposing Zodiac-signs … 6 groups and their
meaning … Above and below the horizon … Individual oppositions … Mars-Venus,
Jupiter-Mercury, Sun-Moon, Sun-Uranus, Moon-Saturn, Moon-Uranus.
21: Continuations … The oppositions between Mars and Saturn, Mars and Jupiter,
Mercury-Neptune, Mars-Uranus, Venus-Jupiter, Sun-Jupiter, Moon-Venus, VenusSaturn, Moon-Jupiter, Venus-Neptune … The “ big” oppositions: Jupiter-Saturn 19521930 … Uranus-Jupiter 1965-1933/34.
22: Square, trine, sextile … Complementary aspects: semi-square and sequare, halfsextile and quincunx.
23: The parallel aspects.
24: The Moon nodes … The so-called “ hyleg” .
25: Sex and the horoscope.
Sixth Sequence
Movement of the Stars and Course of Life – (Thirteen Lectures)
1: Possibility of prediction of fate based on the rhythm of the stars? … The problem of
prophecy … Three kinds of prophesies: that based on mathematics, natural-scientific
prophesy, and moral prophesy … Astrological prophesy a combination of these three
ways … Ancient and modern concept of the fate idea … Superstition and science … On
the border between both.
2: The three ways of prophesy once more: their astrological translation into the doctrine
of transits and directions, the doctrine of consecutive natural periods of life in connection
with the stellar rhythm, man’ s fate-maturity as expression of his moral development …
Individual-and-mass-fate … General remarks about the essence of transits; four different
forms of transits … Review of some older teachings about the planetary rhythms.
3: The fourth form of transit … The daily transit of the Sun through the twelve houses …
The Sun’ s yearly orbit through the Zodiac … Solstices and equinoxes ... Ascendant and
individual vernal point … The Sun reveals … The yearly travel of the Sun through the
twelve houses … The monthly rhythm of the Moon and its way through the twelve
houses … New Moon and Full Moon.
4: The old theory of the so-called planetary hours … The solar transits of the individual
planetary locations … Mercury’ s wanderings through the twelve houses and over the
places of the planets.
5: Wanderings of Venus and Mars through the twelve houses … Transits of Venus over
planetary places … Transits by Mars … Jupiter transits.
6: Saturn transits … Special importance of its transit over the Sun … Wanderings through
the twelve houses and above the places of the planets.
7: The planet Uranus treated in similar fashion.
8: Transits of Neptune through the houses and above planet-locations … Ascending and
descending Moon-nodes … Their interdependence … Wandering through the twelve
houses.
9: Transits over aspect-places … Critical periods, critical days and critical points …
Demonstration on a special horoscope … Warning regarding false conclusions …
Reverence to a higher law of maturing, of fate-preparedness.
10: The doctrine of the so-called progressions … A day equals a year … Astronomical
reasons fro this key … Progressive wanderings of the ascendant through the elements
following that of birth … Wanderings of the ascendant through the three modii following
the modus of birth … Three tables of human development … Uranus-table of the twelve
times 7-year period change of elements, change of modality … Progressive movement of
the ascendant through houses 1 to 4, and the places of the planets there located: Moon,
Mercury, Venus, Mars treated similarly.
11: The ascendant moving through houses 1 to 4 and over the places of Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune … Movement of the Medium Coeli (Mid-Heaven) through the
elements and modalities … Movement of the Medium Coeli through houses 10 to 1 and
accidental planetary locations.
12: Similar treatment of the Immum Coeli (Lowest Heaven or Nadir) regarding its
movement through houses 4 to 7 and the planets located there … Movement of the
descendant through houses 7 to 10 and over the planetary locations therein.
13: Continuation … Progressive transits of Ascendant and Medium Coeli over the
Moon’ s nodes.
Seventh Sequence (Appendix)
Work on One’s Own Horoscope – (Ten Lectures)
1: The treasure hidden in the vineyard … Value and vanity of the knowledge of one’ s
own horoscope … Wandering and transformation of man through the school of life …
World development and individual development … At the crossroads Hermes, master of
change … The four falling houses: 3, 6, 9 and 12 … Ways of man’ s rising above his birth
constellation.
2: The rulers of the falling houses in general … The progression of the houses and man’ s
natural change in the course of life … Plan of the following examination.
3: Correspondence between houses and signs of the Zodiac … Transformation of the
Sun; the relations between the solar position of the nativity and ascendant … Analysis of
the sixteen possible cases.
4: Moon-transformation … Relation of the Moon-position in the nativity and the second
house … Sixteen cases.
5: The sixteen cases of Mercury-transformation.
6: Venus-transformations.
7: Mars-transformations.
8: Jupiter- transformations.
9: Saturn-transformations.
10: Supplement.