Saturday 27 January 2001
Liz Greene, Zürich: The Troubles with Trines
This seminar will explore the group of aspects usually known as "good" - trines, sextiles, and semisextiles ­ which are often interpreted in a simplistic way without the context of the complexities of human psychology. The undoubted gifts and aptitudes reflected by these planetary configurations need to be viewed together with the more difficult dimensions of the horoscope to understand why they are so often undeveloped, or linked with serious problems, and why transiting planets in trine or sextile to natal ones frequently do not reflect the cosmic bonus that astrologers anticipate. Particular focus will be given to ways in which we can work with and develop the "benefic" aspects with greater consciousness.

Saturday 10 February 2001
Liz Greene, Zürich: The Joker in The Pack
Mercury is often equated with "intellect", or with "communication". But there are many kinds of perception and understanding, not all of them intellectual. Recent debates on the nature of intelligence and the appropriateness of intelligence tests highlight our increasing realization that the human capacity for understanding is far more complex than simple intellectual aptitude. In ancient and medieval alchemy this planet was the chief symbol of integration and the unfolding of the inner process of development. This seminar will explore Mercury from mythological and psychological perspectives, in the birth chart and by transit and progression, and also from the mundane perspective in terms of the infamous "retrograde Mercury" cycle which so often seems to correspond to confusion and difficulty in particular collective spheres.

Saturday 20 October 2001, Liz Greene, Zurich
The Psychopath - Astrological Signatures
The much-hyped return of Hannibal the Cannibal to the box office signals our continuing horror and fascination for what is know in clinical circles as psychopathy. We tend to associate psychopathic behaviour with the florid and deadly characters of films such as The silence of the Lambs, or historical figures such as Hitler, or criminals such as Charles Manson.
Yet there are many degrees of psychopathy, some of them subtle and alive and well in suburbia; and perhaps there are even elements of it in all of us.
This seminar will explore the possible astrological signatures of psychopathy, raising not only the question of wether particular chart configurationes can reveal or hint at such a personality pattern, but also the much-debated issue of wether psychopaths are born or made. Example charts as well as extensive psychological and mythological exploration may help us to get a clearer picture of this most disturbing, frightening, and yet all-too-common human condition.
Seminar participants are welcome to bring any charts which they feel might be relevant.

Saturday 15 December 2001, Liz Greene, Zurich
Trust No One: The Saturn-Pluto Cycle
We are currently experiencing the half-point of the present Saturn-Pluto cycle which began in 1982-83 when the two planets conjuncted in the last degrees of Libra.
This important and transformative cycle reflects the emergence and development of new forms of the most fundamental human survival mechanisms, involving an often unwilling revelation of the deeper and darker elements of human nature and a sense of confrontation with fate. Yet the fundamental meaning of these two "heavy" planets is not in itself negative. Although as individuals and as a collective we are often, under Saturn-Pluto transits, required to face what we fear most in ourselves and others, the capacity to survive, endure, face emotional truths, and function efficiently as independent entities requires the grit and honesty of these planets.
This seminar will explore the present Saturn- Pluto opposition from Gemini to Sagittarius, in collective and individual terms, as it is reflected as a transiting configuration in individual birth charts and as it is embodied worldly events and trends. We will also examine the special psychological perspective of those born at the critical phases of the cycle, when the planets are in sextile, trine, square, opposition and conjunction. Participants are welcome to bring their own charts on transparency.