Constellation News
Astrodienst has had a cooperation with Constellation News, from 2018 to 2021, when the magazine could not be continued. The magazine featured the original and innovative research of the speakers at the Institute for Vedic Culture (IVC) conference in Kolkata India in January 2018. The work of these astrological researchers has truly opened the gateway between East and West.
"Constellation News" was a part of the Alexandria Project of Kepler College.
November 2021
In the summer of 2009, I persuaded my mother to watch Julie & Julia with me. As a kid, I was fascinated with Julia Child and I’d faithfully watch her on television. I didn’t understand what she was doing but I loved the way she did what she did with such passion. By the time she died, just a few days before her 92nd birthday, I still hadn’t understood her unique contributions to fine cuisine. Julie & Julia changed all that.
September 2021
With the Davison chart, you can find the average of the birth times to come up with a date and time. The same goes for the place. We can study a group using the Davison chart. Let’s take the Beatles, for instance. The Sun is in the 12th house of self-undoing, and the Beatles were the cause of their own demise.
June 2021
Particular sciences such as ‘philosophy of Nature’ and cosmology made an enduring impact on the wisdom that was predominant between 10th-12nd centuries in the Islamic world. Ikhwan al-Safa, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina could be counted amongst the prevailing authors of Islamic art and sciences. These authors would give us a good idea about the school of Hermeticists and Neo-Pythagoreans, mathematicians, historians, and scholars, the Peripatetic and indirectly the Ishraqi and Sufi conception of Nature. Their doctrines, when examined carefully, provide the basic understanding behind the Islamic cosmological doctrines.
May 2021
The ‘Center of your Universe’ is you! The moment you pick any point of reference, that point becomes the prime axis of everything else. The greatest consequence of the cosmological principle is that it implies that all parts of space are causally connected. You may think of yourself as a separate finite being; you are in fact, infinite.
March 2021
The sign in which Pluto is located marks out generational themes of historical significance. It brings deep transformation and upheaval to matters associated with its sign placement. Owing to Pluto’s elliptical orbit, these turbulent periods of history span between 13 to 33 years. In 2008 Pluto shifted into Capricorn and the global financial crisis hit. Since then, we have witnessed tremendous turmoil across the political and economic spectrum. Now we are entering a new era of social revolution that will shake the foundations of the global community in new ways.
February 2021
The starry skies fascinate us since prehistoric times, not only for their sparkling splendor and seemingly immutable order, but also for the significance we offer them: all astrological systems are based on the exposure of a mysterious link, mainly made up of meaning, which associates our lives with celestial geometry. The interpretations and uses we make of this link assist our lives in many ways. Astrology illuminates all areas of existence and greatly expands our self-knowledge, helping us to dispel our fears and realize our aspirations.
December 2020
Much of western tropical astrology focuses on our external actions and inner psychological interconnection. Humans are far more complex than these two arenas. It is my belief that it is the journey of a human's life to explore all facets of experience; both our social selves and our animal selves. Much of these deeper human realms can be found in the use of Antiscia points.
November 2020
Asterisms, clusters, galaxies and nebulas are among the most fascinating objects that the deep sky offers to the amazed eyes of stargazers. In spite of their beauty, they generally get a bad press, since they are often related to eyesight problems, blindness, accidents and even violence by ancient astrological sources, and not without reason. However, as poet Sarah Williams wrote, those who really love the stars cannot be afraid of the night, nor of their dark side. Let’s examine them better.
October 2020
Astrology and palmistry are 'sister' arts, meaning that they are very closely related, like siblings. In the West, astrology dominates with many more practitioners, and palmistry is seen as 'a poor cousin' and is little understood. This article seeks to throw light on the intimate links between astrology and palmistry.
September 2020
Born in Stockholm, Sweden on October 26, 1862, (no exact birth time) abstract artist, Hilma af Klint requested in her will that her art not to be shown publicly until twenty years after her death. It would take forty-two years for the public to view her vibrant, mystical, some 10 x 8 feet tall paintings at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in Los Angeles, California in November of 1986. She firmly stated that her art would not be understood by the public during her lifetime.
August 2020
The Tribal Teachings recognize that we are One with all aspects of the Creation Story. Individual psychological growth cannot be separated from that of the collective, nor from the consciousness of the Earth, her Elemental Teachers and the rhythms of the solar/lunar calendars. Indigenous people have long recognized the rhythm of the natural world in concert with the lunar and solar cycles.
July 2020
In modern astrology, everything that belongs to the boundless, the unfettered, the selfless--is said to belong to Neptune's realm. Neptune is the God principle and the creative Muse--that elusive thing we call magic. This profound energy is deeply embedded in the human heart, which flees from the ordinary, and seeks to dream. And for that purpose--we have the cinema.
June 2020
The doctrine of sect, or division of the astrological chart into a diurnal and a nocturnal one, became one of such rediscovered doctrines. Brennan points out that the concept of sect was one of those innovative doctrines, which appeared in Hellenistic astrology and demonstrated that Hellenistic astrology was becoming more complicated and disconnected from the earliest astrological tradition.
May 2020
In this article I shall discuss the important role played by Lilith-Dark Moon in our astrological analyses. I have researched the effects of Lilith-Dark Moon for many years; I now regularly include the study of Lilith-Dark Moon in my daily astrological practice. In my view, it is important to consider Lilith-Dark Moon’s role in a wider sense: not only as a symbol of feminine empowerment and transformation, but also as a useful indicator of our unfulfilled wishes, lacks and areas of our lives which need to be more carefully addressed.
February 2020
As schoolteacher, it was my privilege to teach the Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein . As I listened to my pupils discussing the themes of the novel, it struck me how the defiance and inventiveness of Victor Frankenstein seemed to match the astrological themes found in Uranus and the themes of death and resurrection seemed to match those of Pluto.
January 2020
What is “astrology”? What does it mean to each person who studies it, practices it, profanes it or denounces it? You might think this would be a simple query that is easily answered but as many of us in the field of astrology know, there is no uniform or simple way to address this question. Is it art, is it science, is it a form of spiritual discipline or is it a trailhead to understanding the pathway to our higher potentials?
December 2019
We know that astrological Mercury represents mind, thoughts and communication in our horoscope. The mind is where our sensory perceptions are processed in the brain and our perceptions are reflected in our thoughts. As we think, we rationalise, assess, form judgements, make decisions, learn and solve problems. We also form beliefs, ideas and opinions which we express through our actions and communications.
November 2019
The transit of the planets through the actual sidereal and symbolic tropical zodiacs represents different, but complimentary views of human understanding. In the context of the 25,860 Great Year cycle from and to the coincidence of two zodiacs, the transits of Pluto though Capricorn in both comes at times of major structural social change.
October 2019
As seekers of astrological wisdom, we are often confronted by the bigger questions of “why does astrology work?”. We know it works, we see it working in our lives, in our clients lives and in the world around us in so many varied and profoundly interesting ways.
September 2019
We can think of Mercury as the planets’ little brother. He is often seen as less important when talking about the planets since he doesn’t have the power and reputation of the big boys. He is known by many names: Hermes, Thoth, the Lord of holy words, in Norse he is Loki, the Native Americans call him Coyote, He is Raven to the Inuit, and Lugas, (god of trade who gives things back and forth) to the Celts. The Hellenistic astrologers called him “the twinkling one”. Vedic mythology sees him as “the prince”. He is Jung’s puer aeternus, the perpetual youth. He has a quality of agelessness.
August 2019
We are born into cycles and needless to say, the lunation cycle plays an important role in understanding the major themes unfolding in our lives. The Sun and the Moon, the lights, are our cosmic father and mother. Their rhythmic conjunctions and oppositions through the Zodiac seem like patterns of tapestry behind our natal charts. Indeed, our natal chart itself is just an instant in the infinity of this cosmic interplay. However, we usually skip this fundamental information and jump directly to our natal chart which in fact is only the tip of the iceberg.July 2019
To properly understand an astrological point and be able to more accurately interpret it, we astrologers must, as a basic principle, take into consideration the astronomical perspectives of such point. So, let us look into the celestial mechanics and its astro-logics, before we enrich our understanding with considerations of mythology and other sources of knowledge on this fascinating subject.
June 2019
Although contemporary astrologers don’t typically consider themselves dream analysts, the fascination for dreams and the need for their interpretation stretches back to the earliest days of astrology. It is sometimes surprising to learn that astrology has a full set of tools ready to deal with dreams and decode their mysteries.
May 2019
In the study of astrology, we inevitably have to learn how different planetary pairs will combine and interact. Whilst all the possible combinations are important, some produce particularly significant, complex and challenging results. The combining of grim old Saturn and radical Uranus, is one such a pair. I hope here to share with you some ideas and examples regarding the relationship between these two that I have found enlightening.
April 2019
Every child has its favourite fairy tale. Mine was “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid who is willing to give up her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul. I particularly loved the part where the mermaid’s grandmother talked about soul:"We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water. We have no immortal souls, we shall never live again. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever..."
March 2019
On the 26 June 1992, as Mercury was conjunct the Sun in Cancer, the first in a seven-part series of Harry Potter books - originally written for children - was published. Some people might say the literary world has never been the same since: magic, wizardry and obscure Latin phrases enchanted Muggles in a way no other books have. J. K. Rowling was instantly transformed from destitute single mother to globally-acclaimed author. To date over 500 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide.
February 2019
Gifts and talents, shadow and light, are rarely equally distributed in a family. The shadow can be cast by a larger than life personality, a parent, a grandparent, a mythic ancestor, or by a sibling. When an individual appears with exceptional gifts, beauty or brilliance, others may find themselves less attended to. A bright light may be a gift for a family, a source of pride on many levels. And yet others may feel left out, hidden, or unimportant.
January 2019
Rectification is the correction of the time of birth until it correctly predicts the life events of the client. Why should we bother with checking the times? Most countries of the world record the time of birth on the birth certificate. Canada and many parts of the US fall behind in that the only record is kept at the maternity unit, assuming one is born at a hospital.
December 2018
For thousands of years Saturn was the planet that set the boundary for our solar system. With the advent of telescopes in the early 1600’s, it became possible for star gazers to see farther than ever imagined. Neptune was the first planet to be observed by Galileo, but at the time he didn’t realize what he was looking at and Uranus became the first official outer planet to be identified in 1781. This was followed by a confirmation of Neptune in 1846, and the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
November 2018
The archetype of the mandala and the rich meanings connected to it encompass all of my themes today, thus the title of this lecture: The Inner Life Of The Astrological Mandala. Using the archetype of the mandala, I hope to speak to dimensions that unite us all as astrologers; a psycho-spiritual exploration of the power of our art, our divine science. In particular, a non-verbal level of the power of astrology.
October 2018
Raylene met Jacques when they were both nineteen years old and at university together. He proposed to her when she was twenty-four and they decided to try to conceive straight away. As a consequence of recurring teenage acne, Raylene had been on the contraceptive pill, since the age of thirteen. She was justifiably concerned about her fertility, but during the months leading up to the wedding, her acne returned and she starting taking the pill again until after the ceremony in June 2005. In June 2006 they started trying a little more seriously to conceive.
September 2018
Both Western and Indian astrology acknowledge the Sun as a giver of life, but its light and heat are so intense it burns those who dare to get too close. A planet in this situation is made invisible and loses strength and influence. Hence the idea that being under the Sun’s rays is one of the worst accidental debilities. A planet within 8° in longitude from the centre of the Sun is said to be combust, that is, burnt and totally invisible.
"Constellation
News" was the magazine featuring the
research of the speakers at the Institute for Vedic Culture (IVC)
conferences in Kolkata India.
Constellation News was published by Gopal Bhattacharjee and edited by Alex Trenoweth. Gopal Bhattacharjee founded the Institute of Vedic Culture in 1988 and in 1998, Gopal founded KIA. Since 1990, the school has hosted the IVC conference and in 2014, it welcomed its first Western astrologers as lecturers. Alex Trenoweth divided her time between the US, UK and India. In 2015, she won IVC's "International Astrologer of the Year" and later became IVC's International Secretary General and Vice Principal of KIA. Both she and Gopal worked tirelessly to bring astrologers to India for friendship and scholarship.
