Symmetrical Astrology is a modern framework for astrology comprising the work of Arthur Blackwell, Alfred Witte, Rob Hand and Gary Christen. It affords astrology the possibility of a truly structured form with common rules, observations and methods in keeping with modern times. Please note that this course only references Uranian Astrology and uses the Uranian System as a departure point for the structural integration of future astrological possibilities.
Symmetrical Astrology can be distinguished from anything else that has come before it. It breaks from the past without losing the conceptual basis of astrological practice.
Symmetrical Astrology is a work in progress spanning close to 100 years. While the core technique of Uranian Astrology is widely practiced all over the world, Alfred Witte, the principle designer, could only re-conceptualize what was available in his era and more discoveries in our field have been made since his time.
Many practitioners think that his ideas mainly concern funny dials and non-existent planets and such opinions are wrong. Witte thoroughly examined all the available ancient sources (and prior to WW1 these sources were considerable), creating underlying principles that conceptually tied together previously unrelated material. However, he wasn’t exposed to any knowledge of the emerging discoveries of pre-Greek astrology.
Witte didn’t study Mayan or Babylonian sources as most didn’t exist or weren’t accessible in a useable way during his era. His development of a language of astrology and other viewpoints were based on planes and the Greek concept of the horoscope as a point in time – very two-dimensional. Arthur Blackwell conceived of the Babylonian direction early on as the translations of the cuneiform texts became available to the scholarly public. Blackwell introduced three-dimensional, very practical ways of looking at the heavens. His concepts combined with Witte’s core elements opens up an amazing amount of data and possible research possibilities.
Rob Hand has suggested that astrology is a dangerous knowledge that, by its very existence, threatens the current worldview and scientific paradigm. He provides the spark to make our work have great meaning and purpose. I consider these concepts to be his greatest contribution to the field.
In this course, we will learn these underlying principles in a practical, useful way. You should, by the end, be equipped to help build new and modern astrological forms to bring what was known in the past into the new cultural world that is emerging and transforming everything.
Topics include: The personal points and their use in delineating the horoscope; connections and planetary pictures, the 360 degree dial, variations of planetary pictures, introduction to difference theory, working with solar arc, working with oblique angularity and the polar azimuthal equidistant project format, 3-D planetary pictures, integration of aspect and house frameworks, working with event charts, natal analysis and predictive techniques, reconsidering the philosophy and implications of symmetrical astrology.
Requirements: This is not a beginning course. Students should have a strong grounding in the basic astrological symbols and natal interpretation. E510 is highly recommended because this course assumes students have a basic knowledge of the principles involved in symmetrical astrology.
The Uranian system of astrology, also known as the Hamburg School of Astrology, had its origins in the early part of the twentieth century. It was first established by Alfred Witte (1878-1943) and his student and colleague Friederich Sieggrum (1877-1951), both well-known German astrologers.
Uranian astrology, and its offshoot Cosmobiology developed a specific set of highly useful techniques. Most well known are midpoints and the 90 degree dial, which have gained wide usage. But there is far more to Uranian astrology than just these two methods.
The techniques of Uranian astrology are precise and specific in both their natal interpretations and their application to pinpointing events.