by Frederick Baker | Mar 15, 2022 | Default
FIVE NEW YEARS
For a more complete understanding of the Alchemical Tantric Arrangement (ATA), it will be formative to take a look at the
FIVE major New Year times:
1. New Year based on the Capricorn or Winter Solstice point (in the northern hemisphere);
2. New Year January First;
3. ATA or Hermetic New Year;
4. Lunar or Chinese New Year, based on the beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere; and
5. New Year based on the beginning of Aries, first sign in the natural order of the zodiac, at the March Equinox.
1. Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere is the first starting point, accenting the return of the light from the darkest time — the center of winter. Winter Solstice makes a good beginning for the New Year because of its resonance with Christmas as the symbolic time of divine birth. Being in December and Capricorn, the emphasis is on how the new is related to the old.
2. New Year in the western calendar occurs at the first instant after midnight between December 31st and January 1st, so the astrological chart for this popular beginning time will show the Sun near the nadir (lowest point) at around 10 degrees of Capricorn. (Capricorn has an affinity with the number 10) Fortunately, this makes Libra the rising sign, and therefore Venus becomes the overall ruler of the New Year chart. Looking at the symbolism of midnight, close to mid winter in the northern hemisphere, this New Year also strongly suggests the return of the light from a period of darkness.
I have named this point around 10 degrees of Capricorn, the “Morpheus point” after the Roman divinity of sleep and dreams. Morpheus is a shape shifter and carries some of the flavor of the New Year’s Eve masquerade ball, with an emphasis on Venus since the custom is to kiss the person you are with at the exact beginning of the New Year. I have found it instructive to watch the transits over this Morpheus point each year. Recently (roughly between the years of 2011 through 2014), Pluto, fittingly the divinity of the underworld, has been transiting this point, and thereby coloring the bottom of each New Year’s chart for the last few years with the apocalyptic symbolism of Hades and Persephone. Capricorn’s rulership by Saturn, with this serious sign’s connection to the alchemical metal, lead, and to the first or root chakra, produces a heavy and grounding symbolism. Dec-ember once again emphasizes the number 10 although it is actually the twelfth month of the year.
The month of January adds the presence of the Roman two-faced divinity, Janus, looking back over the past year and forward to the new year. At the end of 2017, Saturn entered Capricorn and, in 2018 and 2019, transited the Morpheus point. Jupiter did the same at the beginning of 2020. It is instructive to compare the transits of these three, Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter, as they crossed over the Morpheus point.
3. The ATA or Hermetic New Year has been added to the list because it is the yearly time when the Sun moves from Capricorn into Aquarius and over the potent Chiron/kundalini portal, a prime time for kundalini rising. This is actually an important chart for looking at the New Year and what I am calling the ATA or Hermetic New Year because it emphasizes Alchemy and the Tantric Chakras. It represents a huge yearly solar shift from the completion of wintery Capricorn to the most subtle, yet clear, beginnings of the return of the light in Aquarius. In terms of the Tantric chakras, it is a most auspicious time for awakening the kundalini serpent at the base of the spine, and in alchemy, it represents the shift from inert lead (related to Capricorn and Saturn) to radioactive uranium (related to Uranus, ruler of Aquarius). The planet Uranus was especially accented in the ATA New Year 2022 Chart, being newly stationary direct and conjunct the mid-heaven.
4. Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year begins at the first stirrings of Spring, the first cross-quarter time after the winter solstice. It is usually celebrated at the new moon of Aquarius, so that both the Sun and the Moon are at the beginning of their cycles. The solstice points, being the times of longest day and longest night, are clearly the mid-points of summer and winter. Likewise, the equinoxes, half way between the solstices, are therefore the center points of spring and fall. Hence, the cross-quarter times at the mid-point of the four fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) are the natural beginnings of the four seasons. Traditionally, these cross-quarter times were celebrated by earth-oriented folks as: May Day or Beltane, May 1st; Lammas, August 1st; Samhain, October 31st; and Imbolc, February 1st. This time is especially important for AstroYoga because it resonates with the ATA beginning sign, Aquarius, and the first or root chakra, beginning the upward/accumulating path of the Tantric or Hermetic zodiac.
5. The March equinox and center of the season at the first degree of the tropical sign of Aries, is the beginning of the natural order of the zodiac, and is especially fitting if we look at Aries’ primal role in the upward/accumulating path of the ATA. Fiery Aries is the first and foremost sign, of cardinal fire; followed by earthy Taurus, most fixed of the fixed; then by the most mutable sign, airy Gemini; and again cardinal, this time in the fourth element of water, Cancer. Before we reach the uppermost crown chakra in Leo, we will have passed through the four most archetypical elemental signs. The New Moon in Aries could also be examined in this series for another look into how the year will continue to unfold after the Sun is well into the year.
These five or six New Year times, being especially pivotal, have the potential to produce a very revealing view of any New Year. The addition of Hermetic alchemical and tantric chakra perspectives promises even clearer spiritual insights.
by Frederick Baker | Feb 9, 2022 | Default
An Easy Introduction to Alchemical Tantric Astrology
Each sign of the natural zodiac has a planet that is most similar to the meaning
of that sign and is called its “ruler”. The traditional ruling planets of the 12
signs of the zodiac come in pairs, e.g., two signs, Gemini and Virgo, are both ruled
by the planet Mercury. Five pairs of ruling planets are arranged in their natural
order; two signs are each ruled by Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. When the Moon and Sun are added that makes the 7 traditional planets.
The key to Alchemical Tantric Astrology is the rotation of the 12 signs of the zodiac so that this order of traditional ruling planets runs from the 2 signs ruled by Saturn, Capricorn and Aquarius, at the bottom of the circle, to the two signs, Cancer and Leo, at the top. This puts the 7 planets in their proper order from Aquarius to Leo with 5 signs completing the circle of 12 from Virgo to Capricorn.
In Alchemy each planet relates to an alchemical metal, so the 7 traditional planets correspond in order from Saturn to the Sun: lead, tin, iron, copper, mercury, silver, and gold. The alchemists utilized the same symbols for the 7 traditional planets and the 7 alchemical metals. This transition from lead at the bottom of the ATA chart to gold at the top is like the popular understanding of the alchemical opus or work: transforming lead into gold.
Amazingly, it so happens that this seven-fold alchemical and planetary order aligns perfectly with the 7 chakras of the Tantric yoga system. Other astrologers have known about this correlation; however I arrived at it the long way, trying to make sense of why so many significant transits pointed to the sign Capricorn for the ending of the cycle.
The new planets discovered with the help of technology, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, also conform to the ATA arrangement, correlating perfectly with the 1st, 2nd
and 3rd chakras in order. This arrangement is especially revealing when we recall that at the base of the 1st or Root Chakra is where the powerful transformative kundalini serpent is said to reside. Hence when planets transit this cusp between Capricorn and Aquarius, it is reasonable to conclude that kundalini, the energy of super transformation, will be awakened.
This association of the Root Chakra at the cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius with the kundalini serpent, allowed me to predict that the years 2019 and 2020, when so many planets transited this highly charged cusp, that major transformation was highly likely. And these intense times are likely to continue and perhaps even intensify over the years 2023 and 2024 when the final outer planet, Pluto, divinity of the apocalypse, makes FIVE transits of this pivotal cusp that I now call “The Kundalini Portal”!
As presented in my book, Alchemical Tantric Astrology, and in my blogs on the ATA website, many other revelations follow along after one understands the ramifications of the Alchemical Tantric Arrangement. Not the least of these revelations is learning to follow transits around the ATA cycle with an appreciation of the spiritual cycle symbolized by making Alchemical Gold and raising the kundalini energy up through the chakras towards ultimate enlightenment. Many forms of astrology have a spiritual potential; however, Alchemical Tantric Astrology demonstrates the spiritual processes and goals in a remarkably clear fashion.
by Frederick Baker | Feb 9, 2022 | Default
As I was contemplating Pluto moving slowly through the end of Capricorn and approaching Aquarius, it became clear that Pluto/Hades’ archetypal meaning as ruler of the underworld is resonant with the end of Capricorn as the deepest point from the perspective of Alchemical Tantric Astrology (ATA). Note the correlation of the two lowest signs, Capricorn and Aquarius, and their two ruling planets, Saturn and Uranus with the first or Root Chakra in the Tantric seven chakra system.
(See Opening Image of THE CHAKRAS and their associated SIGNS and PLANETS according to Alchemical Tantric Astrology)
This arrangement further suggests that the end of Capricorn is the end of each cycle and therefore Pluto is nearing the end of his 248 year cycle that is strongly connected to the American Revolution, meaning that we are closely approaching Pluto’s position at 27 degrees of Capricorn in the U.S. 1776 Sibley chart.
Apparently the effects of Pluto transiting through Capricorn have an even more radical meaning, likely related to its position at the bottom of the ATA chart, an effect that we might call “Evolution.”
To understand why I say “evolution,” we need to go back one more cycle of Pluto. We can turn to Bruce Scofield’s excellent article in the June/July 2019 The Mountain Astrologer, “Saturn Conjunct Pluto and the Return of Quetzalcoatl,” where he demonstrates how “Previous Saturn-Pluto conjunctions occurred during times of extreme cultural and territorial shifts.” He uses Cortez’s invasion and destruction of Moctezuma’s Aztec Mexico around 1520 as a prime example. Although the addition of Saturn to the mix, being the ruler of Capricorn, is no doubt exceptionally powerful, when we look at the period around 1776 when Pluto was last in Capricorn, although Saturn did not overlap Pluto, we can still see a similar theme of the beginning of the end of the North American Indians. From the standpoint of the American Revolution, we might interpret this period in time as gloriously positive; however, from the standpoint of indigenous people it can be viewed as the beginning of horrible genocide.
During the most recent transit of Pluto in Capricorn by a truly amazing number of accompanying transits including the South Node, Jupiter, and Saturn, I think it is no wonder that the results in 2019 and beyond were absolutely mind-boggling.
And, I believe that we can expect more massive worldwide destruction and transformation, when Pluto, divinity of the apocalypse, makes FIVE conjunctions with the end of Capricorn in 2023 and 2024, with perhaps a final coup de grace to the USA Constitution. As they used to say in the Navy, “Batten down the hatches, a storm is coming.”
How about AFTER Pluto enters Aquarius for good in 2024?
The “Onward and upward” springtime energy should become obvious, with all the major outer planets on the upward side of the ATA zodiac, however, how it feels will depend upon which team you are on, the Invaders or the Indigenous.
And what can we say about why Pluto transiting through Capricorn is so disruptive?
Looking at it from the perspective of Alchemical Tantric Astrology, it seems obvious to me that Capricorn, being the final ATA sign, brings with it the need for the old to die so that the new can be born. The transition from wintery Capricorn to springtime Aquarius contains other major shifts: rulership from conservative Saturn to radical Uranus; stable alchemical metal lead to radioactive uranium; and from the downward to upward path in the ATA zodiac.
Chart
In terms of tantric yoga, the related First or Root Chakra contains the Svayambhu Lingam around which the powerful serpent Kundalini is said to be coiled. The three primary nadis or subtle nerves meet at this point and it is said that when the two channels, Ida and Pingala, are in balance, then the third central channel Sushumna and kundalini are activated. Kundalini is a powerful spiritual energy for evolution and, in the form of a serpent, is further symbolically associated with the double helix DNA. It is my intuition that the approximately 125 BILLION miles of DNA in our bodies contains encoded and awaiting activation amazing knowledge and unimagined potential for transformation. It seems reasonable that transits to this major transition point can be powerfully activating. Sometimes the intensity of awakening kundalini is acceptable and at other times it can be overwhelming, both for the individual and the society.
And so, Yes, for all these reasons and more, I believe that Pluto deserves to be considered a co-ruler of Capricorn, with the last degree as the most critical.
by Frederick Baker | Jan 31, 2022 | Default
A prime maxim of Alchemy is, “As above, so below.” This maxim is demonstrated beautifully in the way that human breath, subtle energy channels, astrology, and sacred rivers are symbolically united.
Three holy rivers of India: the Yamuna, the Ganga, and the mystical Saraswati converge at the site of the sacred ceremony called the Kumbha Mela held every 12 years (the cycle of Jupiter, the Guru planet) in the city of Prayag. I relate these three holy rivers with the three primary channels or Nadis of Tantric Yoga.
In this system the left side of the human body is related to the Ida Nadi and is called the Lunar channel. The meaning of “Ida” is “Comfort.”
The right side is related to the Pingala Nadi and it is called the Solar channel. The meaning of “Pingala” is “Tawny.”
The central channel is named “Sushumna,” which means “most gracious.” It is sometimes also called the “Saraswati Nadi.”
I envision Krishna and Radha as the divinities connected to the river Yamuna and the Ida Nadi; Shiva and Parvati are connected to the river Ganga, which is said to originate from Shiva’s matted hair; Brahma and Saraswati are connected to the central channel and the subtle river Saraswati.
Turning now to the breath during meditation . . . we can visualize the energy rising up the left side of the body and through the seven signs of the zodiac from Aquarius to Leo flowing like the river Yamuna with Krishna meeting the Gopi girls as dakini playmates. Krishna meets his sweetheart Radha in the Heart Chakra and they go together to the Crown Chakra. Here I like to visualize them sitting together in a swing while the breath is held, perhaps for the count of seven.
Then beginning the exhalation, shift to an image of Shiva and Parvati as loving partners in their Himalayan mountain abode as the breath flows down the right side of the body like the river Ganga through the signs from Leo to Capricorn. With each descending sign I imagine Shiva and his consort getting more severe so that by Capricorn, when the breath is held out completely, fierce Kali is his partner.
With the next inhalation we can visualize turning the flow of supercharged energy up through the central channel associated with the river Saraswati, visualizing the upward flow through the chakras starting with
the Root Chakra and the planet Uranus;
to the Sacral Chakra and the planet Neptune;
to the Navel Chakra and the planet Pluto;
ending with the Heart Chakra and the planet Eris or Venus.
The breath is held while in the central bindu of the Heart Chakra, and at the next exhalation the energy is returned to the starting point in the Root Chakra.
The complete cycle, up Ida, down Pingala, up Sushumna, down Sushumna, is accompanied by the mental mantra of “Yamuna, Ganga, Saraswatiay, Namaha.”
This cycle can be repeated as many times as wanted, perhaps a multiple of nine. (-:
A final form of the Cosmic Breath visualization could involve bringing the Saraswati inhalation all the way up to the central channel to the Crown Chakra and then exhaling back down to the Heart. Then when the Heart Chakra is reached, rather than returning to the Root, continue to stay focused on the bindu in the Heart Chakra while following the breath.
As with the alchemical maxim, “As above, so below,” I find it very lovely that the three sacred rivers, the three tantric nadis, and the Hindu Trinity of Brahma/Saraswati, Vishnu/Lakshmi, and Shiva/Parvati function synchronistically with the Alchemical Tantric Astrology (ATA) arrangement of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Adding together seven traditional planets and four outer planets, plus Chiron (associated with kundalini at the base of the Root Chakra) equals twelve.
(7 + 4 + 1 = 12)
Inhaling up the accumulating side of the ATA zodiac and exhaling down the distributing side, finally up the central channel to the Crown and back into the central bindu where the many become One.
Written on this day of the balance point of the Libra Equinox 9/22/2021 = 9.
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by Frederick Baker | Jan 31, 2022 | Default
AGES IN TRANSITION
Wintertime is when the Sun and inner planets transit the last and first houses of the Alchemical Tantric Arrangement at the cusp between Capricorn and Aquarius, which I call the Chiron/Kundalini Portal.
I have pointed out that the purification of the seven alchemical metals from lead at the first or Root Chakra, up to the gold of the seventh or Crown Chakra and the ascent of kundalini energy upward through the seven chakras. This movement correlates with the ascending signs from the cusp of Aquarius to the cusp of Leo. HOWEVER, when we focus on the flow of the breath, there is both an inhalation upwards, AND a return exhalation as we descend through the signs from the cusp of Leo at the top of the breath to the cusp of Aquarius at the bottom.
Hence, similarly it can be said that the cycle of every planet follows this same pattern of the breath around the twelve signs of the zodiac, inhaling up to the top of the ATA chart and exhaling back down to the bottom. This puts a special emphasis on the role of Capricorn as the twelfth Hermetic sign and the sign where exhalation is completed.
Thus, Capricorn is a key player in the ATA cycle. It falls on this sign of the Seagoat to complete the cycle – to completely empty the lungs as it were, so that they can be adequately refilled with new fresh air in the sign of Aquarius.
Zen Master Suzuki Roshi presents it this way:
Calmness of mind is beyond the end of your exhalation. If you exhale completely, without even trying to exhale, you are entering into the complete perfect calmness of your mind. You do not exist anymore . . . We feel free to express ourselves because we are ready to fade into emptiness. Not always so, p. 5-7
The sign Capricorn also stands out because it happens to contain the south node of three rather notable planets, all of which just happened to transit through Capricorn in 2020: Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto!
One more fun fact about Capricorn relates to the myth of the Seagoat Pricus, the image related to this sign. Pricus with his family of highly intelligent Seagoats lived near the shore. They liked to go ashore, but when they spent too much time on land, they lost their intelligence and became regular goats. Pricus, being a child of Cronos, had an ability to manipulate time, and he would set back time so that his children would be returned to the sea. But alas, they continued to return to land, and finally Pricus gave up and was placed in the heavens as the constellation Capricorn. I read this myth as a reference to Capricorn’s special connection to evolution/de-evolution, time, and the necessity of change.
Pluto
Perhaps being a double Scorpio (Sun and Moon) I think Pluto is a very large elephant in our present living room. Pluto is transiting the end of Capricorn, completing the American Revolution cycle of 250 years before moving into Aquarius. Like the 2020 transits of a large gang of planets through this sign of the Seagoat, Pluto’s transits in 2023-2024 will likely correlate with another huge evolutionary quantum jump related to the Chiron/Kundalini portal of ATA. Pluto is the planet of the apocalypse, a word that means “to take off the masks!” I sometimes view Pluto as related to the Hindu goddesses Kali and Durga, who like their partner Shiva, need to destroy the old so that the new can be born.
I think it is safe to say that Pluto’s entrance into Aquarius will add considerably to the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius,” especially since gigantic Jupiter and Saturn have recently transited this same cusp. All of the outer planets will then be on one side of the ATA chart, the in-breath accumulating, Ida Nadi side of the zodiac. Whatever is the exact beginning of the Age of Aquarius, it will surely occur in this next 250 year cycle and most likely in the next half cycle of 125 years, when Pluto will reach Leo at the top of the ATA chart.
In terms of the prevalence of Aquarian symbolism, it is clear that the transition between the Great Ages from Pisces to Aquarius is well underway and Pluto’s entrance into Aquarius is a sure sign!
Neptune in Pisces
Guess what folks . . . looking around I notice that there are TWO huge elephants in the living room!! Pluto and Neptune are working together (sextile). Pluto is a final actor in the transition into the Age of Aquarius, and Neptune’s transit through the end of Pisces is likewise resonant with the ending of the Age of Pisces. Between now and when Neptune leaves Pisces in 2025 we can fathom some of what the remainder of the Age of Pisces will look like. 2026, for example, has a huge impressive stellium in fiery Aries featuring a Chiron Return in the U.S. Sibley fourth house that may represent the Age of Pisces going out with a bang. Certainly there are indications of the waning of Piscean symbolism in tandem with the rise of Aquarian symbolism, both worldwide but especially in the U.S.
When Neptune leaves Pisces, the Boomer generation and several other generations will have experienced the full transit of all the planets through their home signs — Pluto first entered Scorpio on 5 November, 1983, and Neptune will finally leave Pisces on 26 January, 2026. I think this is a meaning-full part of the transition of the Great Ages!
Perhaps we have been lucky that Pluto and Neptune have been sextile to each other for many years. Hence, they have been pointing an impressive transformational Yod or “Finger of God” around much of the zodiac. They are pointing at my natal Jupiter near the end of Leo these days with their mid-point therefore moving through the end of Aquarius. Anyone with planets at the end of Leo and Aquarius or the beginning of Virgo and Pisces can expect to feel the profound effects of God/Goddess pointing at you over the next few years!
Double Whammy Plus!
Both Neptune and Pluto are making rare major aspects to the U.S. Sibley Chart. Neptune, not known for clarity, is exactly opposite to the U.S. Neptune in Virgo, and Pluto, will be making an exact Pluto return to the U.S. Pluto position at the end of Capricorn. Of course, for all the many reasons cited above, the symbolism of Pluto, divinity of the Apocalypse, making FIVE passages over the potent portal at the end of Capricorn is, at the very least, ominous!
Do we dare mention the upcoming 2022 and 2024 U.S. elections with both elephants and donkeys in the living room? In addition to Neptune and Pluto, add several more significant transits in the U.S. Sibley chart including the U.S. Nodes, Moon, and Chiron/Saturn opposition including the Chiron return mentioned above in 2026! It appears that the “Living Room” may soon qualify as a zoo! Ha!
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