memberletter · kaye shinker, education director, [email protected] leigh westin, chapter...

National Council for Geocosmic Research, Inc. March-April 2010

memberletter

Chart Reading Moon’s North Node Scholarship Bill of Rights and more

See inside .

please turn to p. 14

A World of Make Believe:Congress’ Financial Crisis Inquiry

by Neil Grossman

Planetary Revolution:Resounding Success

please turn to p. 4

.

Our conference Planetary Revo-Revolution: Geocosmic Alche-my II was an amazing success

with a record attendance of about 500people (including attendees, faculty,staff, and vendors), even amidst snow-storms in New England and the AtlanticCoast. Some comments include:

Monica Hable Dimino: The NCGR con-ference in Boston was absolutely thebest conference I've attended in 10years, if not more. In the 20 years that Ihave been living in the U.S., I rarelymiss a conference. I'm always lookingfor new ideas and new speakers. Thisconference had it in all categories. I'mhappy to say that after working withastrology for 50 years and counting.Thank you, and everyone that made thisevent possible. Janet Berres: The con-ference was both a brain-fest and love-fest! Good energy, good food, goodpeople! And a good time was had byall! Mike Gilroy: I thought overall itwas well run, good inspired speakers. Iwould have liked a little more basic as-trology. I thought it was very very in-spiring.

Please check conference reports on pp.11-12, and check our websitewww.geocosmic.org for MP3 recordingsfrom the conference. If you could not bethere, or if you were there but missedgreat lectures and workshops, the re-cordings are the next best thing to beingthere. Thanks to everyone who at-tended, and helped make this conferenceNCGR’s best. Keep posted for informa-tion on UAC 2012.

Building Community Through Research and Education

IN MAY 2009, CONGRESS DIRECTED

the formation of a bipartisan body(Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act,

May 20, 1999) to examine the causes ofthe financial collapse of 2007-08. Dubbedthe Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission,its mission is to conduct hearings and toissue a report to President Obama byDecember 15, 2010. The commission hasbeen compared to the so-called PecoraCommission of the Great Depressionyears that investigated the causes of the1929 stock market crash and subsequenteconomic chaos, and made recommenda-

tions which, once they were enacted intolaw, successfully regulated the Americanbanking system and prevented financialpanics for decades to come.

During the time in which these and otherNew Deal era banking laws were in fullforce, Great Depression style bank runs,in which a fear of imminent bank failurescaused depositors to rush to banks towithdraw their money, came to seem likecurious phenomena of the distant past.The new system, economist Paul Krugman

Using Sidereal Calculations forWestern Astrology Interpretation

by MaryFrances Clinton

COMPUTERS HAVE SO-LONG-SINCE

changed our way of practicingastrology we don’t even need to

look at the sky any more! Or do we?

Deborah Houlding’s fascinating article on“The Venus Cycle” in the February-March2010 issue of The Mountain Astrologerspeaks of the visual impact our ancientsresponded to in what they saw in the sky.To them, brilliance suggested more power.Higher in the ether correlated with a planetbeing subtle and soul related whileplanets closer to earth seemed likely to

pass their virtue into the more worldlyconcerns of earth (p. 77). To their eyes,the evening occidental rising of Mercuryand Venus emphasized fresh and activefeminine energy. They viewed a morningoriental rising as more masculine, harder,drier, and less tender… more assertiveand demanding, seeking to lead inrelationships (p. 82).

Those interpretations were necessarilyprojections of their human feelings ontothe planets our ancients saw in their skies.

.

Message from the ChairNCGR Board of Directors

Elected Officers Madalyn Hillis-Dineen, Chair,[email protected] Warren Kinsman, Treasurer,[email protected] Joyce Levine, Clerk, 2353 MassachusettsAve., #91, Cambridge MA 02140, 617-354-7075, [email protected]

Elected Directors Lynn Koiner, International Liaison Director,737 Easley Street; Silver Spring MD 20910,[email protected] A.T. (Tad) Mann, Publications Director, 215Allen Street, Hudson NY 12534, 518-822-0882, [email protected] Kaye Shinker, Education Director,[email protected] Leigh Westin, Chapter Affairs Director andSIGs Coordinator; Editor, Geocosmic Journal,P.O. Box 207, Waskom TX 75692, [email protected], [email protected].

Appointed Directors Jagdish Maheshri, Research Director,[email protected]. Priscilla Costello, Advisory Board Chair, 25St. Mary Street, Apt. 1511, Toronto, Ontario,Canada M4Y1R2, 416-929-1810,[email protected]. Mark Kuenzel, Media and CommunicationsDirector, 1135 Makawao Ave. #305, MakawaoHI 96768, 202-277-9666, [email protected] Frank Piechoski, Marketing and PromotionsDirector, [email protected] Mark Wolz, Membership Director, 486 NinthAvenue, New York NY 10018,[email protected]

Staff Liane Thomas Wade, Executive Secre-tary, NCGR Headquarters, 531 Main St.,#1612, New York NY 10044, Ph-Fax, 212-838-NCGR (6247), [email protected] Chris Brennan, Editor, Research Journal,4529 Bloomingdale Ct., Byers CO 80103, 303-822-5346, [email protected] Ronnie Gale Dreyer, memberletter Editor;P.O. Box 8034, FDR Station, New York NY10150-8034, [email protected] Ken Irving, Webmaster,[email protected] Arlene Nimark, Advertising Manager, 1242East 8th Street, Brooklyn NY 11230, 718-377-0482, [email protected]

Advisory BoardPaul Bottigliero, Bernadette Brady M.A. (UK),JoeAnne Bridge Ph.D., Nicholas CampionPh.D. (UK), Gary Christen, Bradley V. ClarkC.P.A., David Cochrane, Michael Erlewine,Mónica Escalante-Ochoa (Mexico), MadelaEzcurra, Linda Fei, Steven Forrest, Irene E.Goodale, Robert Hand M.A., Charles Hannan,Baris Ilhan (Turkey), Babs Kirby M.A. (UK),Arlene A. Kramer, Alphee Lavoie, MichaelLutin, Vivian B. Martin Ph.D., Michael Munkasey,Arlene Nimark, Bill Sarubbi (Austria), Maria KaySimms, Gloria Star, Richard Tarnas Ph.D., DonnaVan Toen (Canada), Lorraine Welsh (Brazil),Donald Wharton M.D.

Hello Everyone,

Take time to visit the NCGR Website: www.geocosmic.org

OUR NATIONAL CONFERENCE, PLANETARY REVOLUTION: GEOCOSMIC ALCHEMY II was a great success!Over 475 people attended some or all of it. There are so many people to thank for

their efforts and I am afraid that if I list them, I will forget someone. But, I’ll try anywayand, if I forgot you, please feel free to let me know so I can make it up to you.

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who attended and took a leap of faith toattend a conference in the middle of winter in New England in this economy. I am in aweof all of you. Because this was my last conference as Chair, many of you took the time tocome up to me with your words of gratitude, praise, and appreciation. I can’t tell you howmuch that meant to me and how you filled my heart and spirit with your love andaffection. You have given me much more than I have given you.

Thanks and praise must go to Liane Thomas Wade for her excellent job as Registrar. Thechoices and bundles for this conference were abundant, and Liane pretty much kept it allstraight and in order. Many thanks also to Gloria Star who managed to have the staff ofthe Hyatt in the palm of her hand–they simply couldn’t do enough for us. And, myheartfelt appreciation goes to Warren Kinsman, who was constantly at his post collectingmoney and keeping our finances in order, and to Tad Mann for the beautiful conferenceprogram guide.

Thanks also to the following: Misty Kuceris, faculty liaison; Joyce Levine, speaker selection,PR, and hospitality; Demetrius Bagley, monitors coordinator, as well as all the monitorsand recording volunteers; Mark Kuenzel, recording coordinator; Kaye Shinker, NeldaTanner and Leigh Westin, t-shirt, journal and raffle sales; Sally Pellicia, Sherry Campbell,Chris Flischer and Liz Rozan of the Boston Chapter, along with Janet Berres, Beth Wilson,and Doug Dineen for their help at the Registration desk; Arlene Nimark and SuzanneKeating for their work in the trade show; Ronnie Dreyer for PR, Ken Irving for creatingthe live blog, along with bloggers Anne Ortelee, Nadine Harris, and Frank Piechoski;Nadine Harris for roommate sharing; Nancy Demetrius, Frank Piechoski, and EvelynRoberts for the Chapter signs for the Geocosmic Tea Party; Lynn Koiner for organizingour International Tea; Shirley Soffer for organizing the beautiful Level IV graduation;Grace Morris for coordinating the PAA Workshop, The Working Astrologer; and ChrisBrennan for coordinating the History of Astrology Seminar, Moving Forward, LookingBack. Many people felt that symposium was the highlight of the conference. Congratulationsto Chris and to all those who presented!

And, finally, I want to thank my dear friend Michael Lutin for his outstanding performancecalled Don’t Kill Yourself Yet. He and his cast, Frank Piechoski, John Rose, Alex Smith, andGloria Star put on a show that was funny, entertaining, and uplifting. Michael’s brilliance,wit, generosity, and love shone through…we are so lucky to have him as part of ourcommunity!

At our welcoming ceremony, the Geocosmic Tea Party, I presented a tongue-in-cheekAstrologer’s Bill of Rights, which was overwhelmingly agreed to by all those present. Manypeople came up to me to ask me to publish them and so they are included here (see p. 3).At the conference closing, we divided up into our elements and asked each one to create awish-hope for NCGR and its members for the coming year. Fire wished that we keep theflames of inspiration burning. Earth asked for sustainable abundance. Air offered communicate,cooperate, and connect. And, finally, Water wants us to flow like a fountain with love andcompassion.

The conference may be behind us but the work continues. I want to congratulate KayeShinker on her election to the Board. Kaye will serve as Director of Education. ShirleySoffer leaves her post as Education Director on the NCGR Board to serve as EducationDirector for NCGR-PAA. I can’t thank Shirley enough for her hard work and dedicationto our Education program. I also want to thank Janet Berres for her years of service onthe Board and for always sharing her two pentacles. They will both be missed. The

Madalyn Hillis-Dineen NCGR Chair

A

Joanna Shannon and Julian ArmisteadScholarship for Astrological Education

and Community Service

JOANNA SHANNON AND JULIAN ARMISTEAD were great forces behind the certificationprocess and prominent members of the astrological community in the New York

City Chapter of NCGR. She was Education Chair and President for many years, and hesat as Vice President for just as many years.

To honor the memory of their service to the community and their contribution toastrological education, as well as to encourage education and service from up andcoming astrologers, their estates have created a scholarship in their names.

Once a year, $1000 will be awarded to an astrologer or student who is a member of NCGRand in the process of becoming certified by NCGR-PAA. The winner of the 2009scholarship was Jill Pitts, Rocky Mountain (Denver) Chapter.

The requirement is simply to write an essay of no more than 2000 words, includingyour credentials, your experience in astrological education and service to the astro-logical community thus far, your aims in your work with astrology, and how thescholarship would help you in your study of astrology.

The scholarship can be used for anything that will facilitate the winner’s study, i.e.books, computer software, classes, conferences, etc. That will be at the recipient’sdiscretion. Finally, at the end of the year, the winner should submit a brief essayevaluating his or her experience of that year’s study and service.

Submissions should be sent in a Word document to John Marchesella,[email protected] by June 30, 2010, and he, in turn, will submit the candi-dates’ applications to the NCGR Board.

The winner will be selected by the NCGR Board and announced in the September-October 2010 issue of memberletter.

John Marchesella

Elected Board voted to reappoint MarkKuenzel and Mark Wolz to their respectivepositions as Media and CommunicationsDirector and Membership Director. Theyalso appointed Frank Piechoski to theposition of Marketing and Public RelationsDirector and Jagdish Maheshri as ResearchDirector. Chris Brennan was appointedEditor of our annual NCGR ResearchJournal and his first issue, expected thissummer, will be a collection of articlespresented at the History of Astrology pre-conference. Blessings to all,

An Astrologer’sBill of Rights

AT OUR RECENT NATIONAL CONFERENCE inCambridge, the Chapter Delegates

and astrologers present overwhelminglyapproved of this Bill of Rights at ourGeocosmic Tea Party.

We have the right... 1. to keep calling Pluto a planet. 2. when lecturing or writing a book, toonly include those charts that illustratethe point we want to make and ignore theones that don’t. 3. to hold conferences under bad aspectsand think that if we somehow name theconference using the keywords for thoseenergies, it will somehow make it better. 4. to ignore the advice for ourselves thatwe’d give to clients. 5. to believe that the house system andtechniques we personally use aresuperior to all others. 6. to get married on a void-of-courseMoon or start a business or blog orpublish a book when Mercury isretrograde. 7. to NOT get married on a void of coursemoon or start a business or blog orpublish a book when Mercury isretrograde. 8. to categorize people as a type, sign orenergy, as much as we damn well like. 9. to dress any way we want.... includinglike a normal person. And, finally, 10. We have the RIGHT to be WRONG.

Madalyn Hillis-Dineen(with a little help from her friends)

The ballots were counted Sunday,January 17, 2010 by Joyce Levine,

Sally Pellaccia, and Sherry Campbell ofthe Boston Chapter. Because the votewas so close, we waited to see if anyoverseas ballots would come in (dated byDecember 31) after the votes werecounted. None came in. There were 466votes. Four were disqualified for votingfor two Directors.

Treasurer. Warren Kinsman 417 votes Terry Lamb Write-in. 2 votes.

NCGR Election Results

Director. Kaye Shinker 106 votes Carolyn Egan 105 votes Frank Piechoski 85 votes Jan Warren Allen 64 votes Jagdish Maheshri 56 votes Gene Shaw 46 votes Jackie Slevin Write-in.

1 vote

Congratulations to Warren Kinsmanand Kaye Shinker who were elected tothe Board. Thank you to all whoparticipated in this election.

Joyce Levine

Connecting the Dots in a Chart Reading by Bill Priest

I REMEMBER AS A CHILD HAVING one of those books, like a coloring book, that had page after page of dots in patterns

for me to connect. The result was pages ofanimals, trees, buildings, and people allmade live by me when I connected the dots.This seems to me a lot like what my clientsdo when I present a pattern of planets,signs, houses, and aspects, and then helpthem to make sense of it all.

It also occurs to me that, while I have beendoing this kind of dot connection all mylife, most people are not very proficient atit. It takes a certain willingness to see thesignificance in the details of life, while atthe same time seeing the details of one’sown significance. Doing a chart reading ismuch like writing poetry, only you’re doingit with someone else, and they’re providingthe metaphors. When I was a teacher ofEnglish in high school, I often struggledwith getting teenagers to connect with

SIDEREAL CALCULATIONS cont’d from p. 1

But those instinctive meanings for brilli-ance, for high and low placements, morn-ing and evening risings–and many, manymore–can still tantalize our feelings todayas their same magical and mysteriouswanderers move across our nights andmornings. Even though Mercury and Venusare often lost in the tender edges of today’slighted and polluted skies, knowledge ofthose ancient projections can niggle at usin subtle ways as we connect ourselves tothe highs and lows of Luna’s journeysacross our nights and days.

In this rural area of Southern Arizona, starsare the only lights I see outside my houseat night, allowing me to believe they reallyare my nearest neighbors. In their ancientway, they teach and tease and delight me.Each year’s greatest thrill comes with thelate winter promise of spring brought byScorpio’s first early morning rising. Butwhat I saw in 2006 changed everything!

As Jupiter brilliantly rode that morning Scor-pio into and right on through that year’s

summer, all the astrology journals and mag-azines I so eagerly read shared their inter-pretations of Jupiter in (You’re kidding!)Sagittarius. Their chorus of gloom and anx-iety swelled with dread at Jupiter’simminent approach to the Galactic Centerthrough the looming last degrees ofSagittarius.

Not so! Jupiter was obviously inScorpio! Worse, in early Sagittarius,right where it nudged up againstScorpio’s double-stingered tail, I couldsee that very break in Milky Way cloudsI’d already read about and recognized asthe astronomical Galactic Center.

Struggling with the conflict I couldn’tdeny between computer and skyastrology, I watched my sky all alonethrough those next several months asJupiter neared Scorpio’s tail. With relief Ithrilled at its easy traverse of those firstdangerous degrees of Sagittarius,smoothly slipping under and past thescattered cloud breaks at the galacticcenter above me.

An Answer Bringing More ThanI’d Bargained ForTo the rescue came that little button in myastrology program offering the alternativeof sidereal chart calculation. Easing myeyes and mind, it virtually verifiedJupiter’s summer transit across Scorpio.I’d discovered that button several yearsearlier when a client insisted I do her chartin its sidereal form. As I innocently andnaturally interpreted that other chart inthe same way I’d always worked withregular charts, both she and I feltimmense satisfaction at the validity shesaw in her chart.

However, until my 2006 sky experience, ithad never occurred to me to run my ownchart in that other form. To my amazement,the sidereal recalculation from a ScorpioSun to a Libra Sun earth-shakinglychanged my lifelong perception of my realself as difficult and dysfunctional.Instead, the (Libra) person who’d alwaysbeen unexplainably at home with andappreciated by everyone else wasamazingly validated. I’d always known

poetry. I discovered that some of themgot it immediately, some of them wouldvery likely never get it, and the vastmajority were somewhere in between,where it wasn’t making sense to them.Maybe later they would have an ahamoment that would be important to them.Doing an astrological reading is differentin that the client is paying for the result,has some inclination toward astrology,and is usually more mature. But I thinkthe essential struggle is the same—trying to get something meaningful froma pattern of words presenting imagesand stories, and connecting them toone’s own life.

So how do we as astrologers help peopleto make the connections? Like each ofus, I suspect, I have certain pitfalls Ihave learned to avoid—not overwhelm-ing clients with information, for example,or not forgetting to make them comfor-

table before starting the session. I have somuch of the teacher in me (I’m a Sagit-tarian after all), that it has taken me a longtime to learn to stop trying to teach astro-logy in every session. I remember severalpeople leaving my earlier sessions withdazed expressions on their faces from allthe information I gave them. This is partlybecause I have always done a great dealof preparation and the information iscircling in my head like a hawk by the timeI sit down with the client.

I have to force myself to simplify mypreparation. I make one exception to thissimplification: I always check transits,progressions, and solar arc directions forevery client, whether they have asked mea specific question, or we’re doing a firstbirth chart session, or whatever. This isbecause I think it’s important to know theenergy pressures that they are currentlyunder. I can’t tell you how many times

that difficult person of me appeared onlyat the point of deepest (Scorpio)involvement. But until then, I’d neverguessed there was any value at all to thewarmly accessible other person people(and I) had always enjoyed!

In the years since then, I’ve shared thisother chart with my clients, consistentlygiving them their birth charts in bothtropical and sidereal calculations toexplore and compare. In the process I’vehad to find validity in both charts. Is itpossible one of them is wrong? Surelynot!

It wasn’t far from hand for my kind ofscientific person to make the connectionto the 26,000 year polar wobble I alreadyknew had shifted our earth-to-sun angleinto and through the Ice Age 10,000 yearsago.

I also quickly saw the connection to theancient navigational problem every 1600years or so of a pole star alarmingly andconfusingly no longer guiding sailors

north. We celebrate that same zodiacalshift as moving our current civilizationinto today’s Aquarian Age.

Our zodiacal angle continued its steadyshift during the early Christian era whenastrology was banished as embodyingPagan ways. After dark centuries ofsadly losing our sky connection we re-discovered Greek writings from just beforethe Christian era. Inadvertently, we alsoused their sky calculations. Until I madethat earlier Greek connection, I’d had noidea the word Tropical actually indicateda calculation method–or why Aries wasconnected to the Spring Equinox.

From that historical perspective, I’veoffered my clients the suggestion thattheir tropical chart calculation may showthe person shaped within our longheritage of Western culture. On the otherhand, the current sidereal calculation verylikely matches them with the sky theywere individually and actually born under.In exploring their old-new differences, I’vesuggested my clients are also seeing their

personality freed from expressing an odd-numbered masculine and outer-yang Sunto now consciously actualizing an even-numbered feminine and inner-yin Sun. Orvice versa, as in my own case. To thosewhose 24-degree sidereal shift doesn’tchange signs, I’ve explained thedifference in the decanates of theirexpression of that same Sun Sign theyalways have and still can identifythemselves with–but differently now.

In my recent Personal AstrologyWorkshops series, I had before me 10individuals all working together, sharingtheir charts and making sense of thosenew kinds of people they were seeingthemselves as. These folks voiced thevery discovery I’d experienced and hadseen others after me also experience.Across that group, each person’s othersign was their easier, truer, more recog-nized and natural self. One of the work-shop participants who works in humanresources made the most interestingcomment of all. She linked that easier selfwith the new development she was

just noting something like a progressedMoon or Saturn transit, or especially thecurrent position of the planet I consideredruler of the chart, has yielded some specialnugget for the client.

One of my simplifications for preparationrelates directly to helping clients makemetaphorical connections to their lives. Iprepare a story that dramatizes thearchetype of their Sun sign. For example, aScorpio, born at a time when fallingleaves and death in general are part ofthe human consciousness, sets out indarkness to find the source of mysteryand magic. She is never content with theeasy surface explanations of her turmoilabout sexuality and death, and a boringlife of ease will never do.

At this point I might add something aboutseeking a partner. I might have noted thatVenus is in Sagittarius in the chart andadd something about seeking a partner inforeign lands or one who enjoys thewoods. Or Venus might be in Libra and theScorpio is smitten by a handsome face.Anyway, the idea is that, as they say inthe news business, tell them a story. I find

that by projecting this story on a separatescreen, as it were, away from the client’slife, it allows her to be selective about thesituations or words that evoke aresponse; then clients don’t feel asthough you’re trying hard to impress themwith an exact description of their innerstory. I specifically focus on the Sun signarchetype because I believe that it is stillthe most powerful one. We can see manythings in a chart that counteract the Sunsign archetype, but I think they willalways be a diversion from somethingmore basic. Capture the Sun and you willbegin the broader illumination.

Another technique I often use is telling abrief story from my experiences with otherclients whom I never, of course, name. Imight mention that I have seen a clientwith a similar Mars in Virgo, who, when hegets angry, begins to clean everythingaround him as a way of channeling hisenergy. This is an actual example thatseveral people have connected to. But ofcourse the deeper examples of thistechnique arise from discussions of theouter planets, especially Saturn. A natalSun, or Moon square Saturn has many

stories in my mental archives of clients—stories where invariably the client chafesat the interference of some authorityfigure. Here I try to select a story thatrelates to the same or similar (e.g., bothmutable) signs. I have had manysuccesses with connecting clients to theirown lives through similar stories fromother clients.

I have also used my in-depth knowledgeof my own chart and those of people closeto me, to evoke a connecting response inclients. When I want a client to connect tohis own experience during his first Saturnreturn (in order to get a feeling for howSaturn works for them), I tell the story ofhow I lost my teaching job, my firstmarriage broke up, and my father died allin the same year. I share what it felt like toface responsibilities on a level that I hadnever had to before. Almost always thisevokes a sharing about their Saturn returnyears that begins a heartfelt dialogue.

These are just a few approaches that workfor me. I know when an approach worksbecause it invariably begins a dialoguethat continues to evoke other symbolic

Birth Date Sun SignsBeginning Tropical Zodiacal Signs Beginning SiderealDates Dates

March 20 Aries April 14April 20 Taurus May 15May 21 Gemini June 16June 21 Cancer July 17July 22 Leo August 17August 23 Virgo September 17September 23 Libra October 18October 23 Scorpio November 17November 22 Sagittarius December 16December 22 Capricorn January 15January 20 Aquarius February 13February 19 Pisces March 15

connections, often ones that triggersomething else that you ran across inyour preparations. Also, although it maysound dramatic, I can’t remember asession that I thought went well in whichthe client (male or female) did not havetears well up.

This is a difficult business touching thesoul where it connects with the larger life,so we need to know when to pause and letthe silence dictate the direction ofdiscussion. I hope this article gives yousomething to think about or, better yet, toshare. You can reach me at the emailbelow. Thanks.

BILL PRIEST has a Bachelor’s Degree inEnglish and Philosophy from McGillUniversity in Montreal. He has spent mostof his life in the software development andapplication industry in the United Stateswhere he was born. For five years beforethat, Bill taught English at the high schoollevel. In the same year he began hissoftware career, he also took up astrologyand has studied and practiced that art forthousands of clients. Bill has developed awebsite for his business, named TheWeather Within, and you can email him [email protected],www.theweatherwithin.com.

These are calculated for 2010-2011 for Midnight GMT usingFagan-Allen Ayanamsa.

seeing in human resources practice offinding the ability her employeessucceeded in more naturally, instead oftrying to improve their performance inareas where they experienced lesssuccess.

It was a rich experience for me to see theunderstanding I’d already personallydeveloped of my own other self nowarrived at as a consensus of 10 uniquelyindividual workshop attendees. Havingthat understanding strikingly topped offby the observation of our humanresources participant took my sense ofwhat I was offering my clients to a wholenew level of validity.

Beyond Sun Signs: Other QuestionsAnd Larger UnderstandingsEven with so much making sense fromwithin my personal astrology practice, I’mpainfully aware of being quite literally aloneand an unvalidated voice in the outer

wilderness ofastrology. Afterunsuccessfullysearching forcompanion soulsduring severalastrologyconferences, thesuggestion offorming a SiderealSpecial InterestGroup (SIG)finally–anddaringly–madesense!

To my surprise,strong supportcame forwardfrom NCGR! Asingle noticedrew a small butrefreshingly avidresponse. Someof those astrologers had worked withclients and their birth charts in similarways to mine. Others regularly usedsidereally calculated event charts, horarycharts, and solar returns in their practice.A bit more searching turned up partici-pants with deeper interest and richerexperience in researching siderealastrology than I’d ever expected.

Put to the question, I can imagine today’sastrologers–and this SIG–taking a sidereallook at the September 2008 beginnings ofour financial crisis, teasing new under-standings from Saturn energies sidereallyacting in a Leo mode as well as tropicallyworking in a Virgo mode–and from Jupiterenergies sidereally expanding in aSagittarius mode as well as tropicallyconstrained in a Capricorn mode.

Are there both cultural and individualcharacteristics in those differences? Doeither of those energy modes give a clear-er understanding of that difficult time? Ordo they together give a richer and deeperunderstanding of its full dynamic?

Our recent series of earthquakes offersanother experience in fascinating tropicaland sidereal chartings. How might a HaitiEarthquake Sun sidereally in Sagittariustell a different story of that event from aSun tropically in Capricorn? Or how mighta Haiti Moon also in Sagittarius, but

sidereally in its 1st decanate differ inmeaning from that Moon tropically in its3rd decanate of Sagittarius? Would asidereally Cancer Mars tell a differentstory of that Haiti earthquake from a Marstropically Leo? How would the meaning ofa sidereal ascendant in Gemini at that timediffer from one tropically in Cancer? Isthere a cultural connection to the tropicalinterpretation? Is there a gravitationallygeocosmic meaning to the sidereal inter-pretation? Do they tell the same storydifferently? Or different stories?

Never Changing But CosmicallyShifting?In each case above, the sidereal calcula-tion exactly mirrors the tropical arrange-ments of houses and planetary aspects,each charting the same earth angles toSun and planetary orbits. Only zodiacalsigns are sidereally shifted into ourcurrently adjusted earth angle of galaxyview. What can our changing orientationto galaxy signs tell us about events in oursolar system world? Must we choosebetween old and new meanings? Or dothey combine to give us a fuller picture?

It’s such a stretch, I’ve never fully deve-loped the thought of actually treating ourtropically calculated birth charts as a cul-tural natal chart allowing our sidereallycalculated birth charts to be viewed as asort of cultural solar return relating

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Haiti EarthquakeJanuary 12, 20104:33 PM ESTPort Au Prince, Haiti18N32, 72W20Tropical, GeocentricKoch, True Nodes

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Haiti EarthquakeJanuary 12, 20104:33 PM ESTPort Au Prince, Haiti18N32, 72W20Sidereal, GeocentricKoch, True NodesFagan-AllenAyanamsa

our unique energy as current individualsto that founding culture. On the otherhand, we almost do something like that al-ready. Although both are now calculatedtropically, we align our 1776 United Stateschart with centuries-later current UnitedStates events. Might the persistently shif-ting angle of our earth view into the gal-axy surrounding our solar system serve asa timing of the progress of our historical andcul-tural development? Might exploring thatsidereal shift bring richer depth to our prac-tice, new illumination of ourselves? Or not?

Brought into the dynamic of a thoughtfuland responsible Special Interest Group, anunproven and possibly off the wall idealike that one would either fly or die. If itwarranted (and could then bear) seriousconsideration, that process might be verylong–or it might be very short. Sidereally please turn to p. 20

related questions likeany of those above, orones you’ve thought ofyourself, may intrigueyou for research inastrology–or beapplicable for yourpractice of astrology. Ifso, please contact me.Moreover, if yourexpanding explorationof astrology mightthrive in the fertilespace of an NCGRSidereal SIG you’d bewarmly welcomed–andyou could certainlyexpect to find goodcompany (see p. 13 forSIG information).

PUBLICATIONS ANDADVERTISING DEADLINES

Deadlines for article submissions andadvertising copy:

November 15. Jan.-February issue January 15. March-April issue March 15. May-June issue May 15. July-August issue July 15. Sept.-October issue September 15. Nov.-December issue

To submit an article, please query beforethe deadline to Ronnie Dreyer, Editor.Please see left for publications guidelines,and topics of interest.

Classified Ads. You can take out a classi-fied ad of 30 words for $50.00.

To place an ad, please contact ArleneNimark to inquire about rates and reservespace by the above deadlines: 1242 E. 8thStreet, Brooklyn NY 11230, 718-377-0482,[email protected]. All advertisers geta link on our website at www.geocosmic.org/links. To advertise in the GeocosmicJournal, contact Arlene Nimark at theabove address.

NCGR PUBLICATIONS

• Research Compendium (from Geo-cosmic Alchemy Conference). $20.00• Essentials of Intermediate Astrol-ogy. $15.00.• Back issues of NCGR Journal $7.00and $10.00

To order: Add $5.00 S&H domestic,$3.00 for each additional, and $8.00foreign in U.S. funds. Visa andMastercard accepted. Mail to: NCGRPublications, 531 Main St., #1612, NewYork NY 10044, Ph-Fax, 212-838-NCGR,[email protected]. Order onlineat www.geocosmic.org. Checks payableto NCGR Publications.

NCGR Conference MP3sAvailable Now

NCGR STATEMENT OF PURPOSEThe purpose of NCGR shall be to provide anenvironment to foster and publish research ofa geocosmic nature and to pursue educationalprograms in various interdisciplinary fields re-lated to geocosmic studies with a view to grant-ing certification recognizing individual achieve-ment in such fields. The term "geocosmic" isdefined as "of or pertaining to the study ofcorrespondences and cycles involving earthlyphenomena and cosmic (celestial) events." Thispurpose is implemented by • disseminating information through NCGRpublications, including journals, newsletters,books, monographs, and website; • providing financial and technical assistance,guidance, or professional help to individualsor groups for approved research projects; • formulating a curriculum and the essentialsof a course of study leading to competency ingeocosmic studies, sponsoring appropriateeducational programs; • educating students and researchers to vari-ous levels of competency, chartering regional,semi-autonomous chapters of NCGR havingthe same goals and purposes; • promoting and encouraging the highest pro-fessional standard and ethical behavior amongits membership.

NCGR memberletter is a bimonthly publicationof the National Council for Geocosmic Research,Inc., a nonprofit, tax-exempt, education and re-search organization. Copyright by NCGR, Inc.All rights reserved. Authors retain copyrightto their own material. All articles reflect theviews of the authors. Publisher assumes noresponsibility for articles or material containedtherein, or for goods and services advertised.Publication Guidelines: Please query withoutline or article proposal by emailing editor,[email protected]. Once accepted,articles must be sent electronically in MSWord, or text file according to writer’s guide-lines, which will be provided. No hard copy orCDs. Send complete references, bibliography,and birth data (no actual charts) with datasource. We reserve the right to edit all materialfor sense and space.

NCGR DUES STRUCTURE

• Basic Membership: $55/year; $150/3-year• Couples Membership (one set ofpublications): $75/year; $210/3-year• Canada/Mexico Membership: $60/year;$165/3-year; Couples: $80/year; $225/3-year• International Membership: (except Canadaand Mexico) $65/year; $180/3-year;Couples: $85/year; $240/3-year• Lifetime Membership: $900/$1300 cou-ples; Canada/Mexico: $1000/$1400 couples;Rest of world: $1100/$1500 couples.To join NCGR, or renew, send a check orcredit card information to Liane ThomasWade, or join at www.geocosmic.org.

Have you moved recently? Has youremail address changed? Are you get-ting your “E-News from NCGR?”Please send address, telephone, andemail corrections to Liane ThomasWade, Executive Secretary (see p. 2).You can get our weekly “E-News fromNCGR” if we have your email.

Do you want to write for NCGR?Our bimonthly memberletter needs

articles of about 2000 words that range fromcurrent events to interpreting the horo-scope of a famous person to illustrating atechnique. All astrological systems, tech-niques, and research results are welcome,especially good chart profiles. We inviteall NCGR members to contribute articles,and let us know which topics you want tosee covered in future issues. Please queryfirst before sending a full-length article.Short pieces, letters to the editor, and in-teresting facts are also welcome. If you areinterested contact [email protected]. See left for submissionguidelines.

Leigh Westin, Editor of the GeocosmicJournal, is always looking for longer con-tributions to the bi-annual publication thatmay be too lengthy for memberletter. Ar-ticles can tackle any astrological or relatedsubject, including chart analysis, tech-niques, research, or anything that suits amagazine format. Contact us for submis-sion guidelines at [email protected]. Remember, NCGR publications reachover 2000 astrologers. It’s a great way toget exposure.

If you are interested in advertising, con-tact advertising manager Arlene Nimark,[email protected], 718-377-0482.

NCGR memberletter is printed by RollinsPrinting and Publishing Inc., 150 GrandStreet, Waterbury CT 06702.

Over 300 lectures from past NCGR confe-rences (including Planetary Revolu-

tion, Boston 2010, and Geocosmic Alchemy,Baltimore 2007) are now available asdownloadable MP3 recordings in our websitestore (see p. 11 for conference list). You canorder online at www.geocosmic.org/lectureswhere you will find complete catalogue. If youwish to order a CD, they are $12 each. Ship-ping and handling: add $5 for the 1st CD, $2for each additional CD. For delivery outsideof US, S & H charges vary. Visa, Mastercard,and American Express accepted. Allow 3 weeksfor delivery of CDs within the U.S. Make checkspayable to NCGR Publications, and mail toLiane Thomas Wade, 531 Main St. #1612,New York, NY 10044, 212-838-NCGR,[email protected], .

page 8

THE MOON’S NODES STAND FOR YOUR

reincarnation cycle. They are thethread of your life. The southern

Moon’s Node means general past life me-mories and the northern Moon’s Node isyour life’s destination. One is connected tothe other. You get your life’s destination as aresult of your past life experiences. Thedragon’s head (northern Moon’s Node) isthe direction of your life. There you increaseyour consciousness. The dragon’s tail(southern Moon’s Node) is the backside ofyour life story. It stands for an array of be-haviour patterns and habits from past lives.

The essence of the Moon Nodes is apredetermined plan, a script of life, waitingfor you at your birth. Part of this plan isthat you will eventually die. Once you dieyour soul leaves your worn out body andgoes to the hereafter. There you get aclear picture of what went well and wrongduring your lifetime. Sometimes you getcleaned (healed) from nasty experiences.

Next you may stay there for a while.Invariably it is very pleasant over there. Butthis does not last forever. There will come amoment you have to go back to the worldinto the flesh. In the hereafter lots of soulsare afraid to return just as a lot of peoplehere on earth are afraid to die. Life is adramatic experience and a lot can go wrong.

So whether you want to go or not, you geta message about your main purpose in thenext life and there you go. This message isexpressed by the northern Moon Node.This message is always a loving message.Next your soul slides in the womb of awoman. Nine months later you are bornand you start a new trip in a fresh bodythrough space and time until you die.Then again you go to the hereafter andmake up the bill of how much youaccomplished and where you failed. Lateron you get a new message for the next life,you get born again and at the end of yourlife you eventually die to go to thehereafter. This goes on and on until itends. The spiritual process of the souland your script of life are divided intothree phases. First you try to live out the

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positive messageyou just received inthe hereafter. Asevents develop youfind out you are notthat successful. As akid you do not havethe power yet andthere is a lot youhave to learn aboutthe culture you areborn in. So therecomes a momentyou get disap-pointed andyou give up. Thismoment is easilycalculated, being thefirst progressed newMoon in your birth chart.

This is the start of the second phase. Youhave seen a lot of dreams being brokenand you ask yourself what you are livingfor. You give up your life’s destination andyou decide to trust the qualities of thesouthern Moon’s Node instead. Youdecide for an egocentric attitude, lastingtwo seven-year cycles. In this secondphase you are more or less caught in asurvival struggle and spirituality issomething for dreamers.

The third phase starts at the progressedfull Moon. By that time you more or lesshave secured your position and you findthere is no more growth in this way ofbeing. You have your job, your house,your spouse, and children, and again youask yourself what you are living for, andwhat you are doing it all for. You start toremember your original life’s destinationas a longing deep inside. If you have notbeen that successful you’ll conclude youdid not get very far and you will alsodecide for a reorientation.

You refocus on the northern Moon’sNode. In the beginning this is a slowprocess based on a vague feeling, butlater on you get more and more self-assured. Often you start taking somespiritual courses finding out the spiritual

meaning of (your) life. Sometimes youchange profession or you even divorce.Reaching your life’s destination is a zigzagpath full of potholes and obstacles.

The breakthrough comes during or afterthe square of transit Pluto with your natalPluto between the age of 35-45. Then youjump. You dare to live completely accord-ing to your heart and your life’s destinyinstead of being a slave to your situation.Eventually that is the utter joy andhappiness and still very serious. When youare on track with your life destiny (i.e.yourself) everything will go your way asthough you have gotten help from above.Life becomes easy flowing and veryworthwhile. All the planets that make outyour personality will turn into your favor.

How this works for every position of theNorthern Node is written in detail in mybook The Northern Moon Node: TheMessage from the Beyond.

Bastiaan van Wingerden is a Dutchastrologer and reincarnation therapistHe also has written a book about theBlack Moon Lilith and a book aboutCracking Pluto, which have not yet beentranslated into English. Bastiaan can bereached at www.lillalith.com,[email protected].

NCGR NewsAround the Board

Welcome to New Members

NCGR welcomes the following new and returning members (along with their chapters) who joined between December 30, 2009-March 28, 2010.

Annapolis. Nancy Sommers; Boston. Carline Coppinger, Dahlia Dawood, TishGadsby, Michael Gilroy, Margaret Gubbins, Steve Hodsa, Jenny Hong, Pete Lawton,Jeff Milette, Meg Murley, Kimiko Nakmura, Caroline Rains, Dominique Sutherland,Ellen Tadd, Matthew Underwood, Adam Vojcovec, Cathy Walker, Linfan Xu; FloridaAtlantic. Dianne Fecteau, Pamila Williams; Gulf Coast. Suzanne Inkofer; LongIsland. Judith S. Giannotti; Los Angeles. Michele Logan, Laura Vance; Member-at-Large. Thaddeus Fenner, Maxine Acola, Nicholas Polimenakos, MichaelMcCormick, Barbara Murphy, Judy Jibb, Sharon DeVoll-Johnson, James Rodgers,Tom MacLaren, Elena Kozlova, Darri Murphy, Ellen Longo; Mid-Hudson. BarbaraHochfield; Minnesota “STARS”. Duncan Metzger, Curtis Burns, Michael Ryan,Corrine Kenner; New York City. Frances Desmone, Elisa Jimenez, Majdoline Bashir;Northern Illinois. Vincent Pisha, Sandy Rodeck; Ohio Valley. Eileen M. Vogel; SanFrancisco Bay Area. Shannon Stearns; Southern Oregon. Andrea Gehrz; Tokyo.Kyoko Iwaibana; Turkey. Yurdahal Topdemir.

Report of the Meeting of theNCGR Board of Directors

March 1, 2010, Cambridge MA

The meeting was called to order byMadalyn Hillis-Dineen, Chair. The

following Board members were in atten-dance: Madalyn Hillis-Dineen, WarrenKinsman, Lynn Koiner, Mark Kuenzel,Joyce Levine, Jagdish Maheshri, A. T.Mann, Frank Piechoski, Kaye Shinker,and Mark Wolz. Staff in attendance:Chris Brennan, Ronnie Dreyer, KennethIrving, and Liane Thomas Wade. Chair’s Report (Madalyn Hillis-Dineen).This was Madalyn’s last face-to-facemeeting as Chair. The next UAC will be heldin 2012. Madalyn has been working withGiselle Terry of ISAR and Linda Lehman ofAFAN. It was decided to put $2,000 in theUAC account by March 21 and to inviteACVA/CVA to participate in UAC again. Clerk’s Report (Joyce Levine). TheExecutive Committee approved $400 forRenata Varmall’s retainer, $215.67 for InDesign Software for Ronnie Dreyer,$519.99 for Adobe CS4 Design PremiumSoftware for Leigh Westin. Electionresults: Warren Kinsman was re-electedTreasurer. Kaye Shinker was electedDirector. Treasurer’s Report (Warren Kinsman).As of February 15, 2010, bank accountbalances were as follows: Capital OneMoney Market Fund $80,529, Capital OneMM Fund (Titunik Fund) $12,850, PettyCash $0, Bank of America Checking Ac-count $72,688. A complete financial reportwill appear in May-June memberletter. Secretary’s Report (Liane ThomasWade). Conference registration has takenup most of Liane’s time for the twomonths prior to the conference. Journaland Study Guide orders are being fulfilled.Old NCGR Journals are going to bescanned and put up online. Publications Report (A. T. Mann). Taddesigned the program guide for theconference. The Study Guide errors will befixed in the next printing. The ResearchJournal should be out late June or earlyJuly. Memberletter Report (Ronnie Dreyer).Deadlines for memberletter are the 15th ofthe month for features. There will be aResearch and Education Corner in eachissue. Mailing and printing costs have

skyrocketed. Advertising revenue hasfallen since the recession started in 2008.To save on costs, there will be an opt-outfor print and perhaps reduction of pagesand size change. Geocosmic Journal Report (LeighWestin). A new printer was found for thejournal. Scott Silverman served asAssistant Editor for the Winter 2009Journal on the theme of Lunar Nodes. Thetheme of the Winter Solstice Issue 2010 isto be announced. Webmaster Report (Ken Irving). Amember area will be up on the website.Amember pro software is being purchasedfor use on the website. There will be anopt-out for memberletter. Members will beable to opt-out or read memberletter onthe website. Chapter Affairs Report (Leigh Westin).15 chapters have completed the require-ments of the IRS to update their bylaws toinclude specific wording. The Volunteer ofthe Year program, which recognizes anoutstanding volunteer from each chapterand gives them 2 MP3s, has been a greatsuccess.This program will be extended.The Madison Chapter has closed. ASidereal SIG is being organized. Membership Report (Mark Wolz). Thechapter with the highest percentage ofnew members was Tokyo. The highestpercentage of renewed members wasMinneapolis. The Austin chapter did notregroup. A members blog section on thewebsite is under discussion. International Liaison Report (LynnKoiner). A group affiliation guide and an

application has been developed. Newinitiatives are being put in place to topromote NCGR internationally. Education Report (Kaye Shinker). Kayejust took over as Education Director.Work will be done on promoting testingand writing strategies to help teachers andto develop an NCGR education program. Advisory Board Report (Priscilla Cos-tello). New initiatives will be put in placeto add more international members, anattorney, people to work on ethics issuesas they arise, to the Advisory Board. Media and Communication Report(Mark Kuenzel). MP3s of the conferenceare the next project. Research Report (Jagdish Maheshri).Jagdish just joined the NCGR Board. Thefocus of research will be explainingastrology in scientific terms. ChrisBrennan will remain Research JournalEditor. Public Relations Report (FrankPiechoski). Frank just joined the Board.Joint PR committee with Ed Snow, ISAR,and AFAN will be undertaken, as well aswork on Facebook.

Old Business UAC. The Chairs of NCGR, AFAN, ISARwill serve as UAC coordinators. TadMann is the additional UAC represen-tative from NCGR. NCGR funding $2,000to the UAC account by March 31st wasapproved. It was also approved for ACVA-CVA to join in UAC. The profits andshares are as follows: two each for NCGR,ISAR, and AFAN, one for ACVA-CVA.

Kepler Scholarship. A $500 scholarshipwas approved for fiscal year 2010. PR Committee. A joint PR Committeewith ISAR and AFAN was approved towork with Ed Snow.

New Business The Executive Committee will becomprised of Mark Wolz, Joyce Levine,and Tad Mann. Warren is ex-officio. LianeThomas Wade was reappointed Secretary. Election Nominating Committee. LeighWestin and Joyce Levine will worktogether to find a chapter to serve as thenominating committee. Fundraising. New fundraising ideas are tobe investigated. Possibilities include funds.com and Amazon.com affiliate program. Membership Outreach. Kaye Shinker willwrite up a description that can be used formeetup.com. Other ideas include a reward ofthree MP3s for every person who brings in anew member. A referred by or sponsored bywill be added on the web-site. This programwill go from June, 2010 and then again forDecember, 2010. New ways of enticingyoung members is also being investigated. E-News. The Calendar goes to 5,000people per issue. Requests will be madeon the NCGR Yahoo group for articles. Storage of Journals. Ira Rubin offered toscan journals into PDF format. There arePDFs going back to the spring of 2006. T-Shirts. The chapters will be offeredthe T-shirts for sale to their members. Next Board Meeting. The next Boardmeeting will be in July by telephone.The meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM.

Submitted byJoyce Levine, Clerk

NCGR Conference Reports

The following reports summarize someof the prominent events, which took

place at the Boston NCGR ConferencePlanetary Revolution: GeocosmicAlchemy II, February 24-March 1, 2010.

History of Astrology Pre-Conference Workshop. The pre-conference

History of Astrology Research Sympo-sium Moving Forward, Looking Back,which took place on Thursday february25, 2010, and was organized by ChrisBrennan, attracted over 60 people, andproved to be a treasure trove of fabulouslectures and impeccable research. Speak-ers and topics: Mesopotamian astrology.Rob Hand; Hellenistic astrology. Chris

Brennan; Indian astrology. Ronnie GaleDreyer; Medieval and Renaissanceastrology. Benjamin Dykes; Modernastrology. Richard Tarnas; Uranianastrology/Cosmobiology. Gary Christen;Asteroids/mythology. Demetra George;Transit theory and data collections. NickDagan Best; Modern statistical andscientific research. Ken Irving; Closingstatements. Rob Hand. The NCGR Re-search Journal, which should be publishedthis summer, will contain articles by thesepresenters based on their talks.

NCGR-PAA Pre-Conference Work- shop. On Thursday February 25, 2010,

NCGR-Professional Astrologers' Alliancegave its first pre-conference workshop tointroduce its programs and benefits tothose who hope to build an astrologicalpractice. Joan Kellogg gave a presenta-tion on consulting skills including exer-cises for effective communication tech-niques. Madalyn Hillis-Dineen, MistyKuceris, and Grace Morris offered ideason how to build a practice. Gloria Stargave some tips on how to present to themedia and make the most of self-promo-tion, and Joyce Levine provided helpfulinformation about publishing and expand-ing a clientele. Joe Polise spoke aboutastrological education, the importance ofcertification, and public speaking. WarrenKinsman, NCGR-PAA Treasurer, offeredsome practical information about thefinancial end of an astrological practice,such as tax matters. And John Marchesel-la spoke on the merits of mentoring. Forfurther information about NCGR-PAA,including its purpose and history, pleasevisit www.astrologersalliance.org.

NCGR International Tea. On February26, 2010 at the Boston Conference,

Gloria Star and I hosted the First Interna-tional Tea. Astrologers from Mexico, SouthAmerica, the Middle East, the Far East, Eur-ope, and Canada were in attendance for tea,my homemade milk chocolate fudge, sociali-zing, and meeting Board members. I ex-plained my job as Liaison (which involvespromoting international membership andacting as liaison between international ast-rologers and the NCGR Board), the benefitsof membership, and the new Study GroupAffiliate membership, which was designedfor groups of astrologers in small coun-tries who cannot afford the individual int-ernational membership. One person re-ceives one copy of each publication toshare with the group members. Memberbenefits are otherwise the same including

Do you want to opt-out of receivingprint memberletters and only receivethe electronic version? If so, pleaseemail [email protected] and put NO PRINT in the subjectline, and in the body of your email putyour name and zip or postal code.You will no longer receive the printmemberletter beginning with theMay-June issue.

receiving all publications. The Study GroupAffiliate membership requires a special linkthat can be obtained if you email me directly.We encourage all inter-national members tosubmit articles or short commentaries to E-News from NCGR and memberletter. If youare held back due to English-writing skills,you can submit articles to me for editing [email protected]. Otherwise submitto E-News at [email protected], andto memberletter at [email protected]. Please consider the won-derful opportunity that NCGR publica-tions provide for exposure. As International Liaison, I will personallyhelp any international astrologer with anyof their concerns or needs. It is evenpossible for me to visit your group as Itravel to Europe every November, visitingastrologers in many countries. For 20years, I have been visiting these coun-tries, bringing books, recordings, andshareware to astrologers. Remember, myjob is to represent you, the internationalastrologer, to NCGR.

Lynn KoinerInternational Liaison

Chapter Delegates Meeting. Delegatesor Presidents from 27 chapters and

SIGs were feted with a delightful buffetbreakfast as they met with the NCGR Boardon Saturday February 27,2019 to shareconcerns and ideas. As the representativesaround the room spoke about their statusand progress, two issues were consistentlymentioned: encouraging membership andmaintaining costs in these trying economictimes. Even so, the resourcefulness of ourgroups shone brightly with the followinginnovative methods: The Baltimore Chapter offered a 25% dis-count in member’s classes to new stu-dents who join the chapter: 10 memberswere gained. Another chapter raised thenon-member fee to attend lectures to$55— the NCGR membership fee—andthereby gained new members. The

Around NCGR-PAA

The NCGR-PAA continues to developits education and mentoring programs

with a successful pre-conference work-shop, The Working Astrologer. All NCGR-PAA Board members took part in facilitat-ing this event, which focused on how tobuild a solid professional practice inastrology. The workshop highlightsincluded presentations on the consultingtechniques for astrologers, tips on how toset up a business, and ways to develop aclient base. The consensus is that to be asuccessful, self-employed astrologer, onemust have not only the knowledge andskills in astrology, but also the ability tomarket one’s practice and a willingness toexcel in several areas simultaneously.

Education and Certification News.Congratulations to the following

NCGR members (including their Chapters)who recently attained proficiency in alevel of NCGR-PAA testing: Level I. AstroMexico. Mariza Rios Diaz;Istanbul. Tulin Gunseli Gumuscapa, GulcanYilmaz; New York City. Barbara Gordon-Smith, Dawn Harrison; San Francisco BayArea. Maria Kydonieus, Audra B. Stenger; Level III. AstroMexico. JosefinaGonzalez Barney; Leticia MizrahiChouchleb; San Francisco Bay Area.Joseph F. Kaminski.

I want to thank Monica Escalante-Ochoa, Baris Ilhan, JohnMarchesella, and Linea Van Horn,for proctoring the above-mentionedexams. I also want to thank JosephPolise for administering a Level IIIproctored exam in the Chicago area. It is also my great pleasure toreport that we had a marvellousgraduation ceremony for the newlyNCGR-PAA Certified Astrologers,Luiza Azancot and Yuriria Robles deMiranda at the recent NCGR Confer-ence in Boston. At the same confer-ence, Joseph Polise administered teststo 12 candidates in proctored Levels I,II, and III. Joseph also lent his goodservices to prospective test-takers byproviding a brush-up and reviewsession beforehand. Soon, NCGR andNCGR- PAA will establish additionalguidelines for chart calculation andother math need to take the exams. Fora list of all NCGR-PAA certifiedastrologers as well as information onour certification program, please visitwww.astrologersalliance.org.

NCGR-PAA Mentoring Program News.Adding to great selection of informativeessays on the profession of astrology,John Marchesella, Director of Mentoring,has posted a new article, The Merits ofMentoring on the NCGR-PAA website. For

Suburban Southwest Chapter will raisefunds via an all-day workshop, donatedby a well-known member. The FloridaChapter negotiated with the meeting-place hotel for a cost-effective lunch andfree parking so that all day workshopscould be offered at a reasonable cost. TheBoston Chapter lowered their costs bychanging from a print to an emailednewsletter. As outreach for new members, severalgroups reported success using Meetup.com. Many emphasized good old hospi-tality, as well as offering housing andproviding meals to encourage out-of-townspeakers, especially NCGR members. Othersuccessful ideas presented to eitherencourage membership or raise fundsincluded: The personal touch—phone calls tomembers prior to their renewal date and tonon-members in the area to join theChapter; Special events—picnic, potluckor star-gazing get-togethers; Offering adoor prize, as well as book and bake

sales; Silent auction—quality donation ora member-donated reading. We had an enjoyable, productivemeeting offering many workable, creativeideas--and as Eileen McCabe, New YorkChapter President, said, it was wonderfulto catch up with our astrological family!

Leigh WestinChapter Affairs Director

SIGS Coordinator

Around the Chapters-SIGS

Every year, International AstrologyDay (IAD) officially takes place on the

Spring Equinox. Although founded byAFAN (Association for AstrologicalNetworking) as part-fundraising and part-astrological awareness, IAD has taken ona life of its own as well. The followingsuccessful events were held by NCGRChapters. San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. Inter-national Astrology Day 2010 in SanFrancisco on March 20 was a huge

information or questions about mentoring,contact John through our website.

Submitted by:Joseph Polise, C.A., NCGR-PAADirector of Education Outreach

Shirley Soffer, C.A., NCGR-PAA Director of Education

success. Co-sponsored by the SanFrancisco Bay Area Chapter and the SanFrancisco Astrological Society (SFAS),the daylong event had the followinglectures: Jessica Lanyado: Understandingand Maintaining Health throughAstrology, Georgia Stathis: Real Estate:Your Home or Your Life?, Jonathan Pearl:Investing with Astrology. Investing withAstrology, Linda Rose: Why Was I Born?Honoring Your Child’s Life Purpose, KTThe Astrologer, formerly known as KelliFox: What is Astrology?, Greg Bogart:Astrology and Conscious Relationships,Jessica Murray: America’s Money Karmabased on the United States chart. Therewere 57 paid attendees plus staff andspeakers, all of whom left satiated after aday of learning, social networking, goodfood, and fun. A modest financial profitwas shared by both sponsoring groups,the speakers, and a donation of $177 wassent to AFAN. For MP3 or CD recordingsof the event, email [email protected]. Plans are already in the

Challenges of Research in Astrology

Around the Community

Astrology and Academia. Kepler Col-lege. The following statement is taken

from Kepler’s website.Kepler College is morphing into a newform. The impact of today’s financial cli-mate on the College and its studentsmeant that Kepler needed to suspendWinter term...At this point, Kepler Col-lege cannot meet Washington State

TYPICALLY THE STEPS INVOLVED in carry-ing out scientific research pertains

mostly to physical sciences, such asphysics, chemistry, etc. The process be-gins with observations, defining the re-search problem, and proposing the hypo-thesis. The important step that follows isthe recognition of assumptions (or limita-tions) on which the hypothesis is based.These assumptions must be clearly statedand properly understood.

The next step then is the testing of thehypothesis subject to the stated assump-tions and limitations. Research in physicalsciences is always objective. The findingsare applicable all the time (of coursesubject to the limitations as stated), andanyone should be able to independentlyverify the hypothesis, which may thenbecome theory or principle when itsuccessfully withstands the scrutiny ofthe verification process.

But for research in other sciences such aseconomics or medicine one doesn’t have aluxury of employing the research process

as that for physical sciences. Economicsmore or less is a social science; whilemedical research heavily depends onclinical testing, which can be sometimesvery subjective, and due to a large numberof limitations or assumptions involved,generally has limited scope.

Astrological research is even moresubjective. First of all the basis of astro-logical predictions are extremely difficultto defend if not impossible. The researchis almost exclusively inferential, meaning itis based on the past history, the patternrecognition, and subject to many condi-tions, constraints, or assumptions.

For example, if I make a statement that the5th house Jupiter is likely to bless a per-son with many children, inherent in thisstatement is a large number of assump-tions, namely: the characteristics ofJupiter, the characteristics of the zodiacalsign occupying the 5th house, the defini-tion of fifth house and its characteristics,the association of Jupiter with other



works for International Astrology Day2011 in San Francisco which will be at thesame location on March 19, 2011.

Steve PincusPresident

New York City Chapter. Thanks toMeira Epstein, New York astrologer, whogave a brilliant presentation on Uranus:The Passage from Pisces to Aries at theIAD Celebration for the New York CityChapter on Friday evening March 19,2010. In her natural masterly way, amongmany other points, she shared facts aboutthe history of the planet's discovery, itsastronomy, and Uranus through Piscesand Aries, not only for the present time,but also in previous versions, and aglimpse into the future with Uranus inAries. The event was very well-attendedwith old faces and, happily, also with thenew. In honor of IAD, we kept the traditionof raffling memberships to AFAN andNCGR-NY, and now NCGR-PAA. The luckywinners are Arlene Nimark, P.A. Riso, andAnne Ortelee, respectively. On SaturdayJune 5, 2010, Karen Hamaker-Zondag willpresent an all-day workshop Rhythms ofLove: The Astrology of Relationships.

John MarchesellaEducation Director

Boston Chapter. NCGR-PAA certifyingexams for Level I, II and III will be held inthe Boston, MA area on Sunday, June 6,2010. Hosted by Pat Taglilatelo, the exambegins at noon. Because space is limited,please register by May 25. Preparatoryclasses are offered in the Boston area.Level I: Saturday, April 24, 2010. 1-5 PM.This class will prepare you for a largeportion of the exam: the calculation byhand of a birth chart for anywhere in theworld. No advanced math skills are re-quired. Level II: Saturday, May 1, 2010.1-5 PM. This class covers secondary pro-gressions, solar arc directions (also cal-culating them), finding the ACD, East Pointand Vertex. No advanced math necessary.Level III: Classes scheduled according toneed. Information and registration, contactPat Taglilatelo, pmtag@ comcast.net.Space limited for each class.

Pat TaglilateloEducation Director

Sidereal SIG Forming. Heads up, thoseof you who are fascinated by the

additional possibilities of chart interpreta-tion emerging from a tropical astrologychart additionally run in a siderealcalculation. Who among you could help

explore the use of this easily availableoption in our variety of astrology tasks,horary, prediction, synastry and everykind of personal counseling? Who couldhelp find meaningful linkages in the shiftfrom tropical to sidereal interpretations?Who could help bring this little-usedchoice to life and into practical use in ourwestern astrology practice? Let me knowif you have thoughts, ideas, experiences,even curiosity, in any of these areas. Nowthat Mars is direct, I’d like to start shap-ingthe first bare bones of a new SIG (SpecialInterest Group) dedicated to creating aneffective working space to explore thisspecial area of our modern western astrol-ogy practice (see article on p. 1). Thisproject could be fun. It will certainly beinteresting. Talk to me!

MaryFrances [email protected]

Uranian Society SIG. The UranianSociety (a SIG of NCGR) is hosting

the 5th International Conference of theInternational Uranian Fellowship onOctober 23-24, 2010 at the Source of LifeConference Center, 352 Seventh Avenue,New York City. Partial list of speakers

include: Penelope Bertucelli, Dr. LiettaCatoni, Gary Christen, Meira B. Epstein,Michael Feist, Arlene Kramer, BillMeridian, Francine Rasenberg, MariaKay Simms, Dr. Winai Ouypornprasert,Nona Gwynn Press, Liane Thomas Wade.More details to follow. For information.http://tinyurl. com/UranianConference2010, or email [email protected].

Contact information for all the chapterscan be found on our back pages (pp. 26-27), as well as on their websites, whichare listed on our back pages. If you wishto lecture, or attend one, this is a greatplace to start.

FINANCIAL CRISIS cont’d from p. 1

has written of the regulatory regimeimposed under President Roosevelt,protected the economy from financialcrises for almost 70 years (Paul Krugman,The Return of Depression Economics andthe Crisis of 2008, New York: W.H. Norton& Co., 2009, p. 157) .

Beginning in the early 1980s, however,and continuing on into the new century,the financial services industry beganattacking these laws, not because theyhad failed to achieve their goals, butrather because they were achieving themall too well. Bankers contended that muchof the regulation to which they were sub-ject was unnecessary. They and theirlobbyists argued that banking rules weretoo strict, and unduly limited bankingprofits and what they called innovation.Some, including Alan Greenspan, whoheaded the Federal Reserve Bank formuch of this period, urged that the finan-cial market itself and the self-interest ofmarket participants were the best regula-tors of market behavior. By the end of the20th century, much of the 1930s regulatoryedifice had been dismantled. Additionally,some of the regulations that remained onthe books came to be enforced onlyindifferently by regulatory agencies.

There followed a series of financialdebacles and government bailouts—thedot.com bubble and bust of the late 1990s,the 1998 bailout of the giant hedge fundLong Term Capital Management that wasdeemed too big to fail, Enron’s collapse in2001, the subprime mortgage bubble andbust of 2007, the astounding Madoffscandal, and most dramatically, the failureor near-failure in 2008 of numerousfinancial services giants, includingLehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, FreddieMac, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, Country-wide Financial, Citigroup, and AmericanInternational Group (AIG). TreasurySecretary Timothy Geithner has charac-terized this financial crisis as a classicbank run, the same evil that the nowdefanged regulatory laws of the 1930shad successfully prevented for so long.

There is no need here to describe thedramatic negative effects of this bankingcollapse on the world economy. You aresurely suffering from them and already knowmore about them than you care to know.

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Pecora CommissionApril 11, 193210:30 AM ESTWashington DC38N53, 77W02Tropical, GeocentricPlacidus, True Nodes

Inquiry CommissionJanuary 13, 20109:00 AM ESTWashington DC38N53, 77W02Tropical, GeocentricPlacidus, True Nodes

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The Financial Crisis InquiryCommission is supposed toaddress the current crisismuch as the Pecora Com-mission addressed the crisisof the 1930s. Will theInquiry Commission proveas successful as its prede-cessor? Astrology’s answer,alas, is an unequivocal no.

The planetary alignmentsthat were present when thePecora Commission beganits work offered anythingand everything anyonemight reasonably want froma federal investigative body.Hearings opened at theSenate Office Building inWashington, D.C. at 10:30AM on April 11, 1932 duringthe last year of the HooverAdministration (Congres-sional Record, April 11,1932, www. gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html). Somemonths later, PresidentHoover appointed a lawyernamed Ferdinand Pecora toserve as chief counsel forthe Commission, the actualname of which was the U.S.Senate Committee onBanking and Currency. ThePecora Commission, as itbecame popularly known,soon became the scourge ofcommercial, investment andprivate bankers (JohnKenneth Galbraith, TheGreat Crash: 1929, Boston: HoughtonMifflin Co., 1961, p. 156).

Looking at the chart, it is not hard to seewhy. The 1st house of the Pecora Commis-sion chart represents the Commissionitself, its public face, and its generalapproach towards its task. Here we findPluto, showing that the Pecora Commis-sion would use main force to achieve itsgoals, and would probe the depths ofwhatever it encountered. Moreover, thisPluto forms a nearly exact square aspectwith Mercury, the planet of information,and with Uranus, Mercury’s higheroctave, those two planets being separatedfrom one another by only two minutes ofplanetary arc.

They are also in close conjunction withthe Sun. This dramatically precise aspectpattern bespeaks a relentless and aggres-sive ferreting out of information.Nor is that all. The Moon, the chart’sruling planet, lies in the 12th house,showing the Commission’s focus ondelving into things that are hidden. The10th house of government contains anAries stellium that includes Mars in itsown sign and the Sun in exaltation: thePecora Commission thus embodiedaggressive governmental action, with theplanetary dignities guaranteeing that suchaction would prove effective.

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The comparable chart for our modern dayInquiry Commission hearings, which ac-cording to the transcript of the hearingsbegan in Washington D.C. on January 13,2010 at 9:00 AM., is far more benign (http://fcic.gov/hearings/pdfs/2010-0113-Transcript.pdf). In place of the PecoraCommission chart’s rising Pluto, the In-quiry Commission has Neptune, the planetof make-believe, conjunct its ascendant.Neptune is both deceptive and easily de-ceived, and can’t tell the false from thetrue. Having Neptune rising is accordinglybeneficial in artistic fields, in which factand fantasy are mingled together. PaulMcCartney was born with Neptune risingand has successfully charmed the worldfor decades. But this same position is ahuge hindrance where it is necessary todistinguish between fact and fiction, or toestablish one’s credibility.

Another Neptune rising native, Bill Clin-ton, is generally viewed as a liar (evenamong his supporters), albeit a charmingone, who fully merited the nickname SlickWillie he acquired early in his career. Hewas later impeached based on allegationsthat he had committed perjury, and fam-ously sought to defend himself from thosecharges in purely Neptunian fashion, by

claiming to be able to find different shadesof meaning nobody else saw in the word is.

The Neptune rising native’s inability todistinguish truth from falsity, or to careabout the difference between them, is amost unfortunate handicap for an investi-gative body such as the Inquiry Commis-sion whose mandate is to determineprecisely what occurred. Moreover, theCommission, like Bill Clinton, is not goingto be trusted, whatever conclusions it mayeventually reach. Rather, with Neptune onthe ascendant, the Commission is going tobe viewed as having been duped (accept-ing fiction as fact), as having issued adeliberately false report (making fictionlook like fact), or both. Nor will the InquiryCommission take effective action the wayits predecessor did.

While the Pecora Commission’s 10thhouse, which charts both its own achieve-ments and relevant governmental action ingeneral, is packed with Aries planets thatinclude their ruler, Mars, the Inquiry Com-mission’s 10th house is completely empty.Moreover, the Inquiry Commission’s Marsis both retrograde and unaspected, sug-gesting that any action the Commissionmay take will be misdirected and will not

actually affect anything. Worse, the chartsuggests also that the Inquiry Commis-sion is somehow in cahoots, consciouslyor otherwise, with the financial servicesindustry it was formed to investigate.

That industry, because it is concernedwith other people’s money— loans, mort-gages, debts, insurance and the like—isgoverned by the empty 8th house and itsruler, Venus. The industry may also be go-verned by the 7th house of open adver-saries and its ruler, the Sun, because theindustry is the object of the Committee’sinvestigation and is hence the Commit-tee’s ostensible adversary. These two in-dustry rulers, the Sun and Venus, are innearly exact conjunction at 23° Capricorn.Now the 1st house, governing the Com-mission itself, is co-ruled by Uranus andSaturn. So the relationships between Ven-usand the Sun on the one hand and Uranusand Saturn on the other ought to provideinformation about the relationship betweenthe financial industry and the Commission.

That relationship appears to be one soeasy and cozy as to arouse the envy oflovers everywhere. Venus and the Sun(the financial industry) are tightly sextile


March 1, 2010. Mercury enters Pisces.8:26 AM EST. March 7, 2010. Venus enters Aries. 7:33AM EST. March 10, 2010. Mars stations direct.12:09 PM EST. 0° Leo 17'. March 15, 2010. New Moon. 5:00 PMEDT. 25° Pisces 10'. March 17, 2010. Mercury enters Aries.12:11 PM EDT. March 20, 2010. Sun enters Aries. 1:32PM EDT. March 29, 2010. Full Moon. 10:26 PMEST. 9° Libra 17'. March 31, 2010. Venus enters Taurus.1:34 PM EDT. April 2, 2010. Mercury enters Taurus.9:09 AM EDT. April 6, 2010. Pluto stations retrograde.10:35 PM EST. 5° Capricorn 25'. April 7, 2010. Retrograde Saturn entersVirgo. 2:51 PM EDT. April 14, 2010. New Moon. 8:28 AMEDT. 24° Aries 27'. April 18, 2010. Mercury stationsretrograde. 0:07AM EDT. 12° Taurus 37'. April 20, 2010. Sun enters Taurus. 0:29AM EDT. April 25, 2010. Venus enters Gemini. 1:05AM EDT. April 28, 2010. Full Moon. 8:19 AM EDT.8° Scorpio 6'. May 11, 2010. Mercury stations direct.6:27 PM EDT. 2° Taurus 40'. May 13, 2010. New Moon. 9:03 PM EDT.23° Taurus 09'. May 19, 2010. Venus enters Cancer. 9:04PM EDT. May 20, 2010. Sun enters Gemini. 11:33PM EDT. May 27, 2010. Uranus enters Aries. 9:47PM EDT. May 27, 2010. Full Moon. 7:07 PM EDT.6° Sagittarius 32'. May 30, 2010. Saturn stations direct.2:09 PM EDT. 27° Virgo 49'. May 31, 2010. Neptune stations retro-grade. 2:49 PM EDT. 28° Aquarius 42'.

Celestial EventsMarch-May 2010 Book Reviews

by Donna Van Toen

Astrology’s Magical Blends, by TerryLamb, Inner Edge Human Technologies,P.O. Box 2496, La Mesa, CA, 91942-2946, www.inner-edge.com, 2008. Paper.206 pp. $22.95

The author believes that your chart isyour blueprint for happiness. She also

believes that everything is energy. In thisbook, Terry Lamb looks at sign blendsand how their energies combine. So, forexample, you can look up your Sun-Moonblend and discover what it offers you interms of both strengths and challenges,and how to refine it if it isn’t operating atoptimum level.

There is a brief section discussing eachblend in terms of your health, in addition togeneral psychological descriptions. Thenyou are offered a number of healing optionsranging from activities to herbs, oils,gemstones, colors, Bach flowers, and evenhomeo-pathic remedies. Clear instructionsare included for creating your own magicalblends, including information on self-dialoguing and creating a treasure map.

While the book is geared to beginnersand those with little or no knowledge ofastrology (there are even instructions forgetting your chart and birth time),seasoned astrologers will have no troublefine-tuning this information to work forthem in a more sophisticated way. Andwhile I am personally a little leery of self-medicating with homeopathic remediesunless you know what you’re doing, Ihave worked fairly extensively withgemstones, oils, and color in balancingenergies and can say that Lamb’srecommendations are good ones.

There isn’t a lot of depth here in terms ofexplaining the whys and wherefores of thestones or oils, but this is an excellentstarting point and does allow people tointuitively choose from these lists withoutbeing overwhelmed by the technicalitiesof house positions, over-under-utilizedplanets, and all else.

The bibliography and resource list isheavy on books on healing and medicalastrology, with only one basic astrologytextbook (The Inner Sky by Steven

Forrest) listed. Given that this book isaimed at beginners, I would have liked afew more options listed, just in casepeople can’t find this one. And since shementions that charts can be obtained fromthe internet for free, I would have likedwebsites listed rather than just a plug forher own chart service.

But despite these quibbles, I have to say Iloved this book and found it, well,magical. If you see astrology as a healingtool, you might too.

Primary Directions: Astrology’s OldMaster Technique, by Martin Gansten,The Wessex Astrologer, 4A WoodsideRoad, Bournemouth, BH5 2A7, UK,www.wessexastrologer.com, 2009. Paper.193 pp. 13.50£

The ancient technique of primary direc-tions was used by Ptolemy, Ma-

sha’allah, and William Lilly among others.For years, it was referred to but rarelyused because it required mathematical skillat a level that was intimidating for manyastrologers and students. Additionally,there was very little existing literature thatexplained the use of directions in a clearand readable way.

That hasn’t changed in recent times untilthe arrival of this book, even thoughsoftware is now available for theircalculation. The result is that they’vefallen into disuse. Now, with the revival ofclassical astrological techniques, Ganstenhas set out to remedy this, and does avery good job. He starts out by definingprimary directions and explaining thebasics, then moves on to offer a briefhistory of the technique. Then it’s on todirecting planets to angles andintermediate house cusps, and Ganstennotes that misunderstandings of as tohow house systems operate has led tosome errors in existing software programs.He tends to favor real-time Alcabitiushouse cusps, which he explains.

Then it’s on to discussing zodiacalaspects with and without latitude, andmajor and minor directions. Profections,

Listings are calculated according to theTropical zodiac and Eastern Time. Tocalculate the Vedic (sidereal) positionswith Lahiri ayanamsa, subtract approxi-mately 23°59’ from tropical positions.

FINANCIAL CRISIS cont’d from p. 15revolutions (solar returns), secondarydirections (progressions), tertiaries,transits, ingresses, and diurnals are alsodiscussed. At the end of each chapteryou’ll find a summary of key points alongwith a listing of references andsupplementary information.

A useful appendix contains reviews ofsoftware offering primary directions,including Solar Fire, Janus, and severalfreeware options. Gansten doesn’t mincewords in his reviews, though several ofthe programs appear to pass muster. Thereis also an appendix including those ter-rible mathematical formulae should you bebrave enough to try to hand-calculatethese yourself. A bibliography, a thoroughglossary, and a good index round out thebook. Charts showing salient points underdiscussion, including the chart of RiverPhoenix, are included.

If you’re a serious astrologer, this is abook worth looking at.

The I Ching: The Sequence of Change,by Robin Armstrong, self-published,www.the wakingdream.com, 2009. CDebook, approx. 3000 pp. $55 CDNincluding North American shipping.

First of all, no that’s not a typo. Thisbook, download, will run close to 3000

pages including the numerous diagrams.Second, if you’re wondering why I’mreviewing an I Ching title, well, this is noordinary I Ching book. It’s actually asynthesis of I Ching and astrology. It’sbeen in the works for about 45 years. Theauthor is a professional astrologer withextensive knowledge of Easternmysticism, including the I Ching.

The book begins with a solid history ofthe I Ching from ancient to modern timesand some discussion of the differencebetween ancient, Confucian, and Buddhistschools of thought and usage. This isfollowed by an explanation of divinationusing yarrow stalks, Chinese coins, or asingle coin. The arrangement of the textand correspondence of the hexagrams isthen covered, including a discussion ofthe correspondences of the signs anddegrees of the zodiac to the hexagramsthemselves. In essence, this systemcomes up with a system of 64 divisions,each with a unique hexagram, and eachcorresponding to a degree of the zodiac,

which can then be correlated with yourchart or used in connection with transits,lunations, or anything else you might careto look at.

The material is clear and well-presentedand, while complex, easy enough to useonce you get the hang of it, though I mustsay that if you’re doing much of this work,downloading the ebook is essential sincethis format makes it well-nigh impossible toflip back and forth.

Appendices list the hexagrams for planets,angles, and North Node of 1037 people.Data ratings are not shown, but many ofthese are recognizable from Astrodata-bank, Clifford, or both. Data is extensiveand covers people ranging from CottonMather to Kurt Cobain. While I wish eachI Ching chart was given a separate pagerather than having to wade throughseparate listings for 1037 Suns, Moons,etc., the format does make it easy to doresearch based on Sun signs, rising signs,or whatever.

I have worked with this system and foundit extremely insightful. If spiritual purposeis something you find worth exploring,this ebook is one of a kind and will giveyou much food for thought as well asanother way to look at charts.

DONNA VAN TOEN is an astrologicalconsultant, teacher, and author of “TheAstrologer’s Node Book” and “The MarsBook.” She coordinates the annual State ofthe Art (SOTA) Conference, and speaks forgroups and conferences throughout theworld. Donna has served on AFAN’sSteering Committee in a variety ofcapacities, most recently as its PresidingOfficer. She serves on NCGR’s AdvisoryBoard, and was co-coordinator of UAC2008. Donna can be reached forconsultations at 91 Bowmore Road,Toronto, Ontario M4L 3J1 CANADA,www.donnavantoen.com, 416-466-2258,[email protected].

If you want your book reviewed in mem-berletter, please send a copy to Donna VanToen at the above address. Send Vedic ornon-Western astrology texts to GaryGomes, 854 Brock Avenue, New BedfordMA 02744. Mark For NCGR Review. Wecannot guarantee if and when a review willappear. If we do not provide a review, we willmention it in our Books Received column.If you are an NCGR member, you can alsosubmit a description of your book to the

Book Nook, which appears in E-News fromNCGR. Send to [email protected].

Uranus (the Commission); still moretellingly, Venus (the financial industry)and Saturn (the Commission) are in mutualreception, suggesting that the industryand the Commission are in some wayactually working with one another.Likewise, Saturn’s presence in the 7thhouse suggests that the Commission isunder its adversary’s control. Will theInquiry Commission, like the PecoraCommission before it, become the scourgeof bankers? I hardly think so.

Nor are we likely to see any bankers ex-pressing remorse or acknowledgingwrongdoing with anything more thanempty lip service. On the contrary, thesefolks are proud of themselves, and arelikely to testify that they and their institu-tions have behaved wonderfully and hero-ically. They have indeed already taken thisposition by awarding themselves madden-ingly huge bonuses and by claiming pub-licly that these bonuses are not only well-deserved but necessary, to enable thebanks to retain the best and the enragedand furious; the Moon-Pluto combinationindeed suggests the feeling of havingbeen ravaged. This triple conjunction liesin the 11th house, which is the 8th housefrom the 4th: thus the fury of the public(4th house) is focused upon 8th houseissues, i.e., the financial industry.

Mercury retrograde shows that the publicdoesn’t understand what occurred andwants to find out; in combination withPluto, this desire is revealed to be moreakin to an obsessive need than to a merewish. Mercury was also retrograde in thePecora Commission chart, but there Mer-cury, as a 10th house planet, functionedas a significator of the government, show-ing the government’s desire to understandthe calamity and to work out a solution.In the current hearings, it is not the gov-ernment but rather public anger that pro-vides the impetus for investigation. Thesquare aspect between this powerful tripleconjunction and the Inquiry Commission’ssignificator Saturn shows the Commissionbeing forced to deal with the public’s rageand demand for answers.

Yet this Pluto-Moon-Mercury tripleconjunction is ruled by Saturn. Astrologi-cally, the public is thus ruled by theCommission, and it follows that theCommission will be able to keep publicoutrage in hand.

Indeed, a cynical but still objectivereading of the Inquiry Commission chartwould hold that the Inquiry Commissionwas formed precisely for this purpose,with the agreement of financial leaders(Saturn and Venus in mutual reception,working together). The Commission’s jobis not to actually investigate the crisis,but rather, to assuage public anger bypretending (Neptune rising) to do so. Thehearings, in short, are all for show.

The Inquiry Commission’s theatricalcharacter has already been remarked uponby The New York Times, which, onJanuary 17, 2010, only days after thehearings had commenced, ran an editorialentitled The Show Must Not Go On,complaining that the Commission had notyet issued a single subpoena forcinganybody to provide it with any documentsof any kind. Rather, the Inquiry Commissionis so far contenting itself with only thosedocuments that witnesses provide voluntar-ily. The Times editorial stated the obvious

A thorough investigation requiressource documents that reveal whatpeople were thinking and doing at thetime of the events and that illuminate,buttress or contradict testimony...Giventhe stakes, the chances seem remote thatWall Street will voluntarily hand overthe papers that could get to the bottomof it all.

In contrast, the New York Stock ExchangePresident, the very first witness called bythe Pecora Commission, testified thatcomplying with the subpoena served uponhim necessitated sorting through 20,000-30,000 individual reports and will requireone full working day for a forceof at least 175 men. The tabulation of thedata, after the sorting is complete,will require the services of 25 trainedmen for three full business days (Congres-sional Record, April 11, 1932).

But not only are the Commission’s meth-ods and sincerity suspect; so is the verypremise that the recent crash was causedby mysterious and unknown factors thatcan only be uncovered through investiga-tion. In fact, we learned long ago how toprevent crises of this type from occurring,through the work of the Pecora Commis-sion and others. The rules preventing

bank runs did not stop working; rather,they were deliberately repealed. It wouldseem obvious that the current crisis wasable to occur only because of that repeal,and that future crises might be preventedsimply by restoring the time-testedregulations. Some efforts of this kind arein fact underway, with bills hav-ing beenintroduced in Congress in Dec-ember 2009seeking to restore the protections of the1933 Glass-Steagall Act, which effectivelybarred banks from using depo-sitors’funds to speculate in stocks until it wasrepealed in 1999.

The Inquiry Commission’s chart suggestthat all such efforts are likely to happen onlyin spite of the Inquiry Commission, and notbecause of it.

Chart Data Pecora Commission Hearings. April 11,1932, 10:30 AM EST, Washington D.C.,38N53, 77W02. Source: CongressionalRecord, www. gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html. Financial Crisis Inquiry CommissionHearings. January 13, 2010, 9:00 AM EST,Washington, D.C., 38N53, 77W02.Source: Transcript, http://fcic.gov/hearings/pdfs/2010-0113-Transcript.pdf

Remembrances of Jacob SchwartzMay 24, 1932-January 13, 2010

Jacob Schwartz and I met over 30 yearsago at, I believe, an astrology confer-

ence. We shared our love of, and workon, the asteroids then, and whenever wemet again, usually at conferences.

Jacob was born May 24, 1932, at 4:22 AMEST in Philadelphia, PA, according to achart he sent me many years ago. He wasa man of many accomplishments, who hadan A.B. in psychology from Temple Uni-versity (1950), an M.A. in communicationsfrom the University of Chicago (1958), anda Ph.D. in communications from the Uni-versity of Illinois (1963). According to hisson, he was an active CIA agent duringthe Korean War (1950-53). Later, he had asuccessful career in market research for 12years, until 1974 when he gave up thatcareer to become a full-time astrologer,lecturer, teacher and writer.

His book, Asteroid Name Encyclopedia(St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1995) is awonderful compendium of the namedasteroids at that time, as well as what theywere named for and their other associ-ations. Jacob’s book is now out of print,but his computer program, AsteroidSignatures, with 12,000 asteroids, their

coordinator (co-president) with DemetraGeorge, its founder, from 1993-96; andwith me, one of its founding members,from 1996-2008. He stepped down then,after 15 years of service, because of illhealth due to diabetic neuropathy.

Jacob Schwartz died January 13, 2010,from complications of diabetes. He hadbeen living at his home in Glenside, PAbut developed an infection in his foot. Hedied in the hospital.

Jacob’s death is a great loss to theastrological community, and particularlyto the Asteroid SIG, which he supportedso long and so well in its efforts to spreadthe word of the asteroids to all astrology-lovers.

Nona Gwynn Press

Thanks to Nona Gwynn Press forallowing us to reprint this article, whichfirst appeared in GAIA newsletter.

CLASSIFIED

Need accurately rectified Natal Chartsof couples to do a study on co-depen-dence in relationships. Will note re-sults in future memberletter. Send to:Gregory Calhoun, P.O. Box 5535, Elgin,IL 60121.

For information on how to take out aclassified ad, please turn to p. 8.

MARYFRANCES CLINTON’s discovery ofher (Tropical) Scorpio Sun Sign in theearly 1970s began her study of astrologyas her perfect path to personal under-standing. When the student was ready,computers and a teacher in the 1990sstretched that study to exploration bey-ond sun signs and finally, even beyondher own chart. With stars above herhidden home steadily timing her nightsand seasons and years, MaryFrances hasfound their blessing ever new and fascin-ating in her own chart as well as in thoseof her clients. If you have any commentsor questions, or are interested in thesidereal sig, you can reach MaryFrancesat [email protected] or at 520-366-1104.

Bill Clinton, August 19, 1946, 8:51 AMCST, Hope, AR, 33N40, 93W36 Source:Mother’s Memory from Lois Rodden’sAstrodatabank. Paul McCartney, June 18, 1942, 2:00 PMBWT, Liverpool, England, 53N25, 2W55.Source: From Memory from LoisRodden’s Astrodatabank,

Bibliography Galbraith, John Kenneth, The GreatCrash, 1929, Boston: Houghton MifflinCo., 1961. Krugman, Paul, The Return of DepressionEconomics and the Crisis of 2008, NewYork: W.H. Norton & Co., 2009.

NEIL GROSSMAN is a lawyer and alongtime member of NCGR’s NorthernNew Jersey Chapter. He can be reachedat [email protected].

zodiacal positions and what they werenamed for and their other associations, isavailable from www. AstroSoftware.com,as well as on Kepler and Sirius.

Jacob was a marvelous astrologer whoused many asteroids, including the oneswith personal names beginning in 1990-93on trips to the former Soviet Union. InAcknowledgments, in his Asteroid NameEncyclopedia, he wrote that it was dur-ing the working visits to St. Petersburgand on tour in the Ukraine and Uzbek-istan when I first connected personalasteroid names with human experi-ence…In his book, he also acknowledgedthe astrono-mers, who meet periodicallyto name asteroids—they are the world’smost sensitive channelers of bothphysical and metaphysical wisdom.

In 2000 he predicted, with the addition ofthe asteroids whose names had a similarsound to candidates’ names, and toplace-names (such as Washington), thatwhile Albert Gore would win a majority ofthe popular vote, George W. Bush wouldbecome president by winning a majorityof the electoral vote, causing the nationto be bitterly divided, and the SupremeCourt to receive intense pressure tooverturn the votes of the electoralcollege…. (“Bush or Gore: What theAsteroids Say,” August 31, 2000, NewVisions, October 2000). (This may havebeen one of the most phenomenalpredictions in astrological history-Ed.)

Again using the asteroids with names thesame as, or close to, those of thecandidates and places, he correctlypredicted the reelection of George W.Bush in 2004 (“Predictions: Terror Attackand Election,” GAIA, Vol. IX, No. 2,August 2004) and the election of BarachObama in 2008 (“Election: The AsteroidsStill Favor the Obama-Biden Ticket,” Vol.XIII, No. 1, September 2008). Jacob’s website, www.jacobschwartzastrologer.com,has other articles of his.

Serving the NCGR Asteroid SpecialInterest Group (SIG), Jacob was co-

SIDEREAL cont’d from p. 1

planets (and their planetary characteris-tics, and zodiac sign characteristics—andto make matters more complicated—thetype of zodiac—tropical or sidereal). Andfurther, the credibility (accuracy of birthinformation) and sample size (how manycharts were the included in the research)of data employed make it almost impos-sible to objectively carry out the research.Perhaps that is the reason predictions ofastrologers can vary over a wide range.

In my opinion, astrological research can bedivided in two broad categories: Subjec-tive and Objective. Subjective researchwould typically include a host of impliedassumptions and limitations. However, itis still important to carry out such researchto gain more insight into astrology. Anddiscussing these results with total open-ness and inquiries with no prejudice orjudgment will certainly result in advancingastrology in a more meaningful andpositive way. The objective researchwould stay away from making assumptionsor minimize them as much as possible.

For example, a good topic is one that doesnot require a chart analysis; a topic thatstays away from zodiac sign characteris-tics, or has very little preconceived basis.Although I’m not spending as much timeas I would like to on my own project, mycurrent research interest has been (for last2-3 years) earthquake predictions ofmagnitude 7 or higher—only the likelydays, not locations—yet. The basis of thisresearch is the orientation (or angle) bet-ween two planets with respect to the earth.I have also been constantly pursuing mycuriosity with subjective research—chartanalysis. But I tend to employ it when Ifind it useful, and enjoy sharing it withothers sometimes.

As a research facilitator, I would like toinvite all the chapter research directors ortheir designees to openly participate inindividual or collective research activitiesby letting me know their area of interestand ideas on how to proceed. I would liketo see us all meeting in cyberspace onceevery few months discussing and sharingour ideas and findings. Of course, if youare not a chapter member, you are alsoinvited to participate. Please contact me [email protected].

Jagdish MaheshriResearch Director

...

RESEARCH CORNER cont’d from p. 13

requirements for authorization to grantdegrees...The Board and faculty unani-mously voted to move forward to peti-tion for a teach-out of our current pro-grams. In this option, Kepler Collegecreates a course of study that allowsstudents to complete their degrees...Ourcurrent students will have until March9, 2012 to finish their AA, BA, or MAdegree. This degree will be authorizedby the State of Washington...I hope thatboth individuals and organizations willcontinue to contribute to scholarhipsfor these dedicated students so thattheir desire for a degree can be fulfilled.While we finish this phase of Kepler'sexistence, we will be working to createa new authorized and accredited pro-fessional Associate of Arts program.Please check www.kepler.edu for up-dated information about the above andthe community center, webinars, and,workshops.

American College of Vedic Astrology(ACVA) offers online courses and certi-ficate programs in Vedic astrology. Thenext Level and Level II online classesbegin June 2, 2010. Information,www.acvaonline.org. Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmol-ogy in Culture at the University of Wales,Lampeter. For information about degree-granting distance learning program, con-ferences, contact Nick Campion,www. lamp.ac.uk/sophia, [email protected]. ac.uk. Upcoming events: April24-25, 2010. Imagining Astrology: PaintedSchemes and Threads of the Soul, Univer-sity of Bristol; Saturday, July 23-Sunday,July 24. Astrologies. Bath Royal Literary andScientific Institute, Bath UK.

SOTA (State of the Art) 2010 Confer-ence. October 21-25, 2010. Adams Mark

Hotel, 120 Church St., Buffalo NY. One, two,and three hour lectures, luncheon lectures,and pre-conference workshops with Mada-lyn Hillis-Dineen: Astro*Carto*Graphy;and Michael Lutin: It's Saturn and Ecstasy.Speakers include: Robin Armstrong, EllenBourn, Cassandra Joan Butler, Joan AnnEvelyn, Dorothy Figg, Bon Rose Fine, Les-ley Francis, Kathy Hanley, Madalyn Hillis-Dineen, Brad Kochunas, Michael Lutin,Janet Markham, Marion McMillan, FrancoMinatel, Alanna Morgan, Grace Morris,Samuel Reynolds, Julie Simmons, EvaSmith, Sylvia Jean Smith, Bryan Trussler,Donna Van Toen, Patricia Walsh, andTamara Wizinski. Info: [email protected], www.donnavantoen.com.

NCGR NEWS cont’d from p. 13

Congratulations to Annapolis Boardmember Linda Furiate, on becoming

the new Media Director for the Interna-tional Academy of Astrology. Linda'sprofessional background includes themedia —hosting her own television show,writer, teacher, sales and marketing, plus asix year tour of duty in the military. Con-gratulations as well to Maria DeSimone,Long Island Chapter Vice-President, forpartnering in an exclusive video syndica-tion deal with www.tarot.com. We wishMaria the best with her weekly videohoroscope.

Condolences to Edith Chuhta on thepassing of her husband Steven

Chuhta, who passed away on January 26,2010. Edith and Steven were longtimeAnnapolis Chapter members and active inthe Vedic Astrology community. We hopeto have a longer tribute in the next issue.Donations may be sent to the MyositisAssociation, Washington D.C.,www.healthfinder.gov/orgs/hr2679.htm.

For listings of international conferences, online newsgroups, newsletters, etc. goto www.astropro.com. If you’re a conferenceorganizer, send in your listings.

Send tidbits about members of our commu-nity, media reports, and news about births,marriages, promotions, honors, passings,recognition, etc. to: [email protected].

Twitter Alerts

To keep up with the latest on avail-ability of MP3 recordings from theBoston conference, and otherNCGR news, check the Twitter feedon the home page at www.geocosmic.org, or follow the feedat twitter.com/geoalchemy.

I apologize for the lateness of this issue.As you see we are in the process of cut-ting down the number of pages, and then,in the coming months, changing the size.However, with less ads, and the informa-tion about the NCGR conference behindus, there may be less pages, but there real-ly are the same number of words. The nextissue will be timely and back on schedule.

Ronnie Gale Dreyer memberletter Editor

and/or economic issues in relation to the domi-nant aspects of the next several years. A lec-ture-study groupformat, that encourages greaterparticipation on the part of members and attend-ees, will be used. All are welcme. 3/14. JanetBooth. Looking at Eclipses; .4/11. John March-chesella. The Infamous T-Square of 2010: HowDo We Counsel our Clients?; Veronica Willson.The USA Sibly Chart, Part II.

FLORIDA. Florida Atlantic Chapter. RichardNelson, President, Miami, FL 33143-6647, 305-275-6555, [email protected]. Mimi Alonso, VP,Parkland FL, [email protected], www.ncgrsouthflorida.org. Enthusiatic Astrologersgroup at www.meetup.com/astrologers. Mtgs &Workshops held Oct-May. Fort Lauderdale Air-port Hilton, 1870 Griffin Road, Ft. Lauderdale,Dania FL 33004. 3rd Saturdays. Socialize andregister: 10:30 AM; Lecture only. 11 AM-1 PM.$15. Continue on with the Workshop and ex-amples with attendees’ charts. 11 AM-5 PM (orlater) $50; incl.lunch and parking. Send in chartinfo if you want it used as an example. 3/20.Debra Rozek. Surgical Elections; 4/17. MadelineGerwick. Financial Astrology; 5/22. CarolynEgan. Long Range Weather Forecasting.

ILLINOIS. Northern Illinois Chapter. Judy Johnson,President, 7807 Eleanor Place, Willowbrook, IL60527, [email protected], 630-303-3187, Janet Berres, VP, janetberres @sbcglobal.net. Mtgs from March through December, 2ndTuesday 7:30 PM at the Dance Building, 1330Webford Avenue, Des Plaines, IL 60010. $8members and $10 non-members. 4/13. DorisHebel. Intercepted Houses; 5/11. Joan Kellogg .Bipolar Disorder: Research of AstrologicalCycles and Timing; 6/8. TBA Southwest Suburban Chicago Chapter.Pat Hanus-Dussman, President, 6501 PatriciaAvenue, Tinley Park, IL 60477, 708-444-8323,[email protected]. Mtgs. held 1st Friday.7-9 PM. Palos Heights Recreation Center, 6601W. 127th St. Palos Heights. Members $5.00; Non-Members:$10.00.3/5. Arlene Tilghman. The ThreeFaces of Mercury Retrograde: Astronomical,Astrological and Esoterical. 5/7. Jane Lasser.Building Wealth With Chiron's Help, It's Per-sonal Application; 6/4. Dave Gunning. The Eso-teric Moon.

MARYLAND. Annapolis Chapter. Lynn Koiner, President,301 589-2074, [email protected]. RoseO’Hara, 410-768-1404. Mtgs. 2nd Sat. 10:30 AM-12:30 PM. The Sheraton Annapolis Hotel, 173Jennifer Rd, Annapolis, across from AnnapolisMall (same location as our Yuletide Luncheon).Members. $5/Non-Members. $8. After the meet-ing enjoy lunch with the speaker at The ItalianMarket.3/13. Adam Gainsburg. TBA.4/10. PriscillaCostello. Solar Return Charts; 5/8. Linea VanHorne. Declination: Why should You Care. Baltimore Chapter. Kitty Hatcher, [email protected], 410-433-5064;Carolyn Lewis, VP, [email protected], 410-728-0413, www.ncgrbaltimore.org.Mtgs. 3rd Tuesday. Sept.-May. First ChristianChurch 5802 Roland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21210.Meeting starts at 7:00 PM with a 45 minute Be-ginners Round Table presented by Helmut Licht,Educational Director. Lecture begins at 8:00 PM.

CHAPTER CONTACTSwww.geocosmic.org/chapters

CALIFORNIA. San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. StevePincus, President, P.O. Box 4834, MountainView, CA 94040; 415-558-9614, Fax: 650-968-9433; [email protected]; www.ncgrsanfrancisco. org. Meetings TBA Weekday eve-nings, 7:30-9:30 PM; Workshops 10:30-5:30 PM;Fort Mason Center, Building C. San Francisco.Advance Reg.$12 NCGR Members/$15 non-members. Day:$15 Members/$18 non-members.Workshops: Advance $50 Members, $60 non-members. Day: $60 Members, $70 non-members.Sat. 3/13. Bernadette Brady and DarrelynGunzburg. Delineating Charts-Skies, Planetsand Houses. Sat. 3/20. IAD Celebration. Wed.4/21. Lance Carter. Planetary Patterns, HighFocus Planets and 3D Astrology Using TrueBody Spherical Aspects. Thurs. 5/13. RioOlesky. How Your Horoscope Supports and In-spires Your Spiritual Development; Fri June 4.Glenn Perry. Pluto In Capricorn, Uranus in Ar-ies, The End of Political Correctness; Sat. 6/5.Workshop. 10:30 AM-5:30 PM. Knockin’ onHeaven’s Door: Aspects to the Outer Planets. Los Angeles County Chapter. Jack Taube,President, 6333 Canoga Ave. #391, WoodlandHills CA 91367,818-716-1765, Ed Helin,[email protected], http://ncgrla.blogspot.com.Mtgs. 3rd Thurs.for dinner, 6:30 pm, Carrow'sRestaurant, 18355 Ventura Blvd., Encino CA.Lecture starts 7:45 PM. No fee for members.Visitors: $3. 4/15. Laura DesJardin. Midpoints;5/20. TBA; 6/17. TBA. San Diego Chapter. Pam Ciampi, President,PO Box 232542, Encinitas, CA 92023, 888-727-6478,[email protected], Jill Estensen, Pub-licity Director, [email protected],www.ncgrsandiego.org. Mtgs.Saturday severaltimes per year. Location: Mira Costa College atthe San Elijo Campus in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA.We sponsor The Aquarius Cafe, a free astro-logical discussion group, that meets 2nd Satur-day of every month, 1-3 PM, Study Room A,Encinitas Library. Free New Moon Meditationsat Soulscape in the Encinitas Lumberyard eachmonth. Anyone interested in astrology is wel-come to join in the fun. Sat. 5/1. 10:00 AM- 12:00PM. Laurie Baum. Your Celestial Name.

COLORADO. Rocky Mountain (Denver)Chapter. Karen Anderson, Presdent, P.O. Box328, Rollinsville, CO 80474; [email protected]; 303-258-7258; Mtgs. Generally1st Fri.7:00 PM, Nic Nac Nook, 4280 Morrison Road,Denver, 303-922-9063. 3/5. Jill Pitts: Ancient As-tronauts. 4/2.Marguerite Hafeman. An Astrolo-ger in the Mystic British Isles; 5/7. Mary Jayne.Current Event Charts; 6/4. Lucien Mone. TheSymbols of Astrology

CONNECTICUT. Berkshire-Fairfield Chap-ter. Veronica Willson, President, 297 Nod HillRd., Wilton CT 06897; 203-762-7408; Fax 203-762-2456, [email protected]; Lynne Forte,VP, [email protected], 203-261-3158.www.ctastrologers.org. Mtgs 2nd Sun, 2-5:00PM. $20. All Lecture-Study Groups at TheWestport Woman’s Club, 44 Imperial Avenue,Westport, CT.Fall 2009- Spring 2010 season hasa year-long theme focusing on current social

$5/members,$8/non-members. 4/20. Mary SheaPsychological and Spiritual Potential Innate tothe Outer Planet Transits: Uranus, Neptune andPluto; Sat. 4/24. Fundraiser Workshop, 1:00-5:00 PM, contact Lucky Sweeny for locationand to register:410-467-7114; 5/18.JudithGoldberg. Imaging the Chart.

MASSACHUSETTS. Boston Chapter. JoyceLevine, President, joycel@ oycelevine.com, 617-354-7075; Monica Hable Dimino, 617-923-6424;[email protected], www. weathersage. com/ncgr. Doubletree Guest Suites, 400 Soldiers FieldRoad, Boston, MA. Reg. 12-12:30 pm. Meeting12:30-5:00 pm 3/20. Carolyn Egan. Mirror, Mir-ror on the Wall, What Reflects Me Most of All?4/17. Pat Taglilatelo: Coupling, and Dorothy Oja:The Davison Relationship Chart-The Birthdayof a Relationship 5/15. Mark Wolz. The InsideSpin: Astrology, the Chakras, and HealingThrough the Energy Body. For classes inprepartation for exams contact Pat Taglilatelo,Education Director, [email protected].

MICHIGAN. Southeast Michigan Astrolo-gers' Round Table. (SMART). Bon Rose Fine,President. 734-434-4555; [email protected]. Astrologers and Friends WeeklyGathering, a casual get-together Thurs., 6:30-9:00 p.m., Cafe Luwak, 42 E. Cross Stt., Ypsilanti.Sunday lectures, 2-4:30 pm, $8 members/$10non-members. Location: Lighthouse Center inWhitmore Lake. 4/25. Darri Low Murphy. Astro-logical Timing Using Phases We usually gatherfor supper at a nearby restaurant after our lec-tures. All are invited to join us.

MINNESOTA. STARS Chapter. Carmen Freire,President, 5635 Xerxes Ave. S, #201, Minne-apolis MN 55410-2606; 612-242-4093,mitzvah22 @yahoo. com, www.mnstars.com.Mtgs. Usually 3rd Sunday. Mpls. Lund’s Commu-nity Room, 1450 W. Lake St; or Twin Cities FriendsMeeting House, 1725 and Ave., St. Paul. $6members, $8 non-members. Sat. 4/17. 10:30 AM-4:30 PM.6th TC STARS Annual Meta-physicalFaire and Booksale: Sun. 4/25. 2:30-5:30 PM.Sally Blumenfeld. The 4th House: the power ofone's chart, the power of one's soul; Fri. 5/21.and Sun. 5/23. (workshop Sunday): Weekendevents with British evolutionary astrologer: MarkJones; Sun. 6/20. 2:30-5:30. Tony von Arx.

NEVADA. Las Vegas Stargazers Chapter.Gayle Kirk, President. [email protected], 702-565-0957, Gayle Parker, 702-221-6275. Monthly mtgs. held on the last Thurs.,7 PM, Eldorado Estates Clubhouse, 4525 W.Twain, Las Vegas, Gate code 405. Interestedin speaking? Contact Gayle.

NEW JERSEY. Northern New Jersey Chaper.Joanne Castro,President, PO Box 244, Leba-non, NJ 08833, 908-418-0365, [email protected], http://astrojo.blogspot.com. JackieSlevin, 973-7445347, [email protected]. Friday evenings 7:30 PM at various loca-tions. Fees: Members $15, Seniors $10, Non-members $20.3/19 in Ridgewood, NJ. JackieSlevin: Cupid.Home of Jackie Smith, 268 IvyPlace, Ridgewood, NJ; 4/16. Pete Phoenix. Ev-ery Degree Tells a Story: The Richness andBeauty of the Sabian Symbols. Home of Jackie

Almuten; 5/27. Brad Kochunas. Elemental Spiri-tuality.

OREGON. Southern Oregon Chapter (SONCGR). MaryPlumb, President, 141 Crocker St., Ashland OR97520, 541-488-3048, mary@ maryplumb. com,www.astrology iinshland.org; Mtgs. 3rd Mon-day, 7- 9 PM, Rogue Valley Metaphysical Li-brary, 258 A Street, Ashland; $6 General, $5 Se-niors 62+, $4 NCGR Members. To get on emaill ist of announcements send message [email protected].

TEXAS. Gulf Coast Chapter. Cinda Johnson, Presi-dent, [email protected], 713-664-9781Mtgs. 4th Friday of month, Body, Mind and SoulBookstore, 4344 Westheimer on Mid Ln.,Westheimer Oaks Village, Houston, TX 77027.

VIRGINIA. Richmond Chapter. EdnaMatthews, President, PO Box 8412, RichmondVA 23226, [email protected],or Ruth Barrett, [email protected], 804-740-1133. Mtgs. Sat. 2:00 PM. at the WeinsteinJewish Community Center, 5403 Monument Ave.,Richmond. Dates and times subject to change.4/10. 2:00-6:00 PM. Vedic Astrology vs. West-ern Astrology; 4/24. Lynn Koiner. Beginning andEnding Planets. 2:00-6:00 PM. $15.00 NCGRmembers/guests pre-registered by April 22.$20.00 at the door. Sat. 5/15. 2:00-6:00 PM. CaroleDevine: Astrology and The Media.

WISCONSIN. Milwaukee Chapter. Nancy Simpson, Presi-dent. 940 W. Heritage Ct #208 Mequon WI 53092-6070, [email protected]. Mtgs. 4th Monday,7:00 pm. Solcare, 305 W. Silver Springs Dr., Glen-dale, WI 53217 Fee: Members $7, Non-mem-

bers $10. 3/22. Shari Tikusis. Venus. 4/26. DebRosen and Nancy Simpson.The Future of TigerWoods.

STUDY GROUPS FLORIDA. Gainesville, FL Study Group. Con-tact: Phil Reitz, 352-495-1738, [email protected]. OHIO. Columbus, OH Study Group. Contact:Leigh Randolph, 614-451-4766,[email protected]. PENNSYLVANIA. Pittsburgh, PA StudyGroup. Contact: Vince Curtis, 6520 Wilkins Av-enue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, 412-521-1388,virgo.moon@ gmail.com.

INTERNATIONAL CHAPTERS JAPAN. Tokyo Chapter. Terumi Kondo, Presi-dent. JANet Inc. /JANet School of Astrology, VillaModerna 1-3-18, Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo,150-0002, [email protected], 81-90-7823-6159. Fax:03-3406-8608; www.astrology.jp;discussion group:http://groups.yahoo.co.jp/group/ncgr_tokyo. Meetings 3rd Sunday. MEXICO. AstroMéxico Chapter. Mónica Escalante-Ochoa, President, Cerrada de Miguel Noreña #23 casa 2, Col. San José Insurgentes, CP 03900México DF, México, Tel. 525 651-6598,[email protected]; www.astromexico.com. Wise Men); 4/18. Luis Michel Fox.Astrología médica. Casos prácticos; 5/16.

Smith. Sat. 5/15.2 PM. Linea Van Horn. TheGalactic Embrace.Denville, NJ.

NEW MEXICO. New Mexico “Enchantment” Chapter.Sandy Bryan, President. 505-255-5001;[email protected], www. swcp.com/~nmncgr. Mtgs. 1st Wed. at 7 PM. 721 JeffersonNE, Albuquerque, NM.

NEW YORK. Long Island Chapter. Lenore Grafmuller,President, 8 Eustace Dr., Commack NY 11725;631-543-0228; [email protected]; AngelitaDeChristopher, Secretary, [email protected], www.lincgr.com. Mtgs. 2nd Thurs.7:30-9:30 PM, 302 Sycamore Ave, Merrick, NY;Members $10, Non-members $15. 3/11. JohnCook and Deb McBride. Oracles and Visions.4/8. Mark Wolz. Managing Your Lunar Returns;5/13. Robert Cook. Symptoms: The Voice of theAstrological Chart; 6/10. Oracle Quest.: Groupreading for Nadia Mireau. Mid-Hudson-Upstate Chapter. SusanCampbell, President, 48 Elm Street, Saugerties,NY 12477, [email protected], 845-246-2062, www.midhudsonupstatencgr.net.Mtgs. Mondays, 7:30-10:00 pm. Home of SusanCampbell (address above). Members $10, Non-members $15. 4/19. Rackelle Rodden. Women,Feminism and Astrology; 5/17. Linea Van Horn.The Galactic Embrace; 6/21.Sola Storm. TheTrinity of Hermetica: Astrology, Tarot and TheKabbalah. New York City Chapter. Eileen McCabe,President, 212-431-9834, [email protected]; John Marchesella (classes and work-shops), astrojohn@ earthlink.net; NCGR Hotline:212-255-3236. www.astrology nyc.org, Mtgs.Monday 6:30 PM, Joanna Shannon Library, 395th Avenue, New York City. $5 members/$10non-members. Sat. 6/5. Annual Spring Confer-ence. Karen Hamaker-Zondag. Rhythms of Love:The Astrology of Relationships.

NORTH CAROLINA. Queen Charlotte Chapter. Hazel Isaac,President. 704-795-5890, cell [email protected]. Mtgs held 3rd Sun-day 2:00 PM at Black Lion in Pineville, NC. Network Triangle Raleigh-Durham Chap-ter. Elizabeth Wilson, President, 919-602-6507,[email protected], Nancy Dimitrios, VP &Membership Director, www.ntastrology.org.Mtgs. 3rd Thurs. Sept.-May, 7 PM. The DancingMoon Bookstore, 1840 Wake Forest Road,Ralegh NC, 919-833-8081.3/18. Bernie Ashman.Secondary Progressions: Magical Blue-PrintDescribing Your Present and Future. 4/15.Rebecca Ann Compe. Electional Astrology:Choosing that Date. 5/20. Kelley Hunter. TheFour Faces of Lilith.

OHIO. Ohio Valley Chapter. Victoria Rogers, Presi-dent. 3029 Marshall Avenue, Cincinnati OH75220-2511, 513-861-8103, [email protected] Sharpshair, Secretary. [email protected]. www.ncgr-ohiovalley.org. Mtgs. 4th Thursday 7-9 PM, Maderia Mu-nicipal Building (corner of Euclid and MiamiRoads) unless otherwise noted. Free for NCGRmembers; $5/ non-members. 4/22. Joe Simon.

Charts used are generated by Solar Fire 6,and used courtesy of Astrolabe, Inc. Eachchart is drawn to the author’s specifications.

Want to form a Study Group, Chapter, orform a SIG? Send proposals to LeighWestin, P.O. Box 207, Waskom TX 75692,chapters@ geocosmic.org.

Send chapter events and contact listings formemberletter to: Ronnie Gale Dreyer,memberletter@ geocosmic.org.

Send chapter events and contact listings forelectronic Around the World with NCGR andfor E-News to Liane Thomas Wade,execsec @geocosmic.org.

Catalina Anton. Las profecciones; 5/16.Profeccions; 5/22-23. Margarita Cobo. Curso denumerología; 6/13. Linda Sacal. Mayanprofecies. Mexico City Chapter. José Manuel Redondo,President. San Francisco # 1212, Col. Del ValleC.P. 03100, (55) 5536 6196, [email protected].

TURKEY. Istanbul Chapter. Baris Ilhan, Av.Sureyya Agaoglu Sok. 12/5 Tesvikiye, Istanbul8 0 2 0 0 , b a r i s i l h a n @ s u p e r o n l i n e . c o m ,www.ncgr-turkey.com.

SIGS (Special Interest Groups)

AST SIG (Asteroids). For information, contri-butions to newsletter (GAIA) and sample cop-ies for $1.50: Nona Gwynn Press, 77-35 113thSt. Apt.4A, Forest Hills, NY 11375; 718-263-8084, [email protected]; www. geocosmic.org/astsig. Membership send dues $15; $24overseas to: Richard Wright, 16 Deerfield St.,Norwalk, CT 06854, 203-982-1653,phoenyx_us5 @hotmail.com. For asteroid posi-tions or ephemerides: Roxana Muise,roxanamuise@ comcast.net., 360-456-7836.

DECL SIG (Declination). Nelda L. Tanner, Presi-dent, PO Box 153, Chino Valley, AZ [email protected], or Lois Hannan, Cor-responding Secretary, [email protected],www.declination.org. Dedicated to declinationapplication and research, it publishes The OtherDimension, a 16-page quarterly journal. To sub-scribe, send check or money order made out toDeclination SIG, $18 U.S.,Canada and Mexico,$25 elsewhere (all in US$) to Treasurer, MarthaRamsey, 400 Avenue D, Roswell NM 82203.Send author contributions to Leigh Westin, Edi-tor, [email protected].

THE URANIAN SOCIETY SIG. (Uranian/Cosmobiology). For information,back issuesand contributions to the Urania Journal, LianeThomas Wade, President and Editor, 531MainSt., #1612, New York, NY 10044. [email protected],www.geocosmic.org/uransig.For membership, send $25 U.S./$35 others toMeira B. Epstein, 119 E. 83rd St., Apt. 6B, NewYork, NY 10028. 10/23-24. Uranian Astrologyconference. New York city.

Non-profit Org.U.S. Postage PAIDWaterbury, CTPermit # 500

NCGR -- National Council for Geocosmic Research, Inc.

Liane Thomas Wade, Executive Secretary, 531 Main St., #1612, New York NY 10044

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Financial Crisis Inquiry p. 1Using Sidereal Calculations p. 1Planetary Revolution Success p. 1Chair Message p. 2Shannon-Armistead Scholarship p. 3Astrologer’s Bill of Rights p. 3Election Resuts p. 3Connecting the Dots p. 4Northern Moon Node p. 9NCGR News p.10New and Returning Members p.10Opt out of Print p.11Conference Reports p.11PAA News p.12Research Corner p.13Celestial Events p.16Book Reviews p.16Jacob Schwartz Tribute p.20Fnancial Statement p.21Chapter Contacts p.22

Ken

Chapter Contacts p.22

memberletter · kaye shinker, education director, [email protected] leigh westin, chapter...

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