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Bruno and Louise Huber: The Huber Method


Bruno Huber, 1930-1999, was a Jesuit-trained simpleton who, presumably under the spell of C.G. Jung (both men lived in Zurich) wanted to be a psychiatrist and then wanted to use astrology with his work. Problem was, Huber wasn't that bright and by his own account, found the study of astrology beyond him.

But persistence paid off in the end and he eventually devised a system remarkably free of much of any astrology at all. The twelve signs were reduced to the four elements and then color-coded, planets were reduced to nice and not nice, houses were transformed into a rigid forecasting model. If you are 36, for example, you are having your seventh house. Notably in the Huber system, signs are subordinate to houses (the opposite of the Hellenistic whole-sign approach, which has opened so many doors), and angles are no more important than any other house cusp. Aspects - color coded - exist independently of the planets that compose them. You might think this means whole-sign aspects, but Huber has no signs, only elements. So in the Huber system, nice blue aspects form between signs of the same or similar element, and, in red, between signs of conflicting elements. Aspects that jump between those two are green. Aspects have orbs (a bit tighter than usual) but the planets that make up aspects are pretty much interchangeable.

The result is not only very simplified, but highly judgemental, and, with the Age Point of the Lifeclock, fatalistic. Huber gets around this by citing Alice Bailey and by saying we are all evolving spiritual beings, but that increasingly sounds like a sop to me. Aside from the Age Point, the Huber system is not very specific. There's not a lot you can do with it, except claim you're spiritual because you use the Huber system, and to note where in the 72 year cycle you happen to be at the moment. Having devised a rigid 72-year life scheme, Huber was obedient to it, dying at age 69. If you take up this system, don't you be so silly.

His system appeals to those who have no idea what astrology is, but feel that it's important and are satisfied with some sort of sketchy system. It is unfair to call them all simpletons, though not unfair to note that in years past a number of astrological heavyweights have endorsed the Huber method. I suspect there are many Huber students who would gladly take up a study of real astrology if they could only find it. Perhaps, in stumbling upon AstroAmerica, they will.

Shown is a typical Huber chart, in a style which you have doubtless seen elsewhere.

All the Huber books have a dual by-line: Bruno and his wife, Louise. Reading the books (okay, okay, skimming them), they feel as if they were written by Bruno alone. I regret I am unable to find out much of anything about Louise.

These books will appeal to those who want a certain sort of philosophical construct in their lives. Which is most clearly expressed in LifeClock. Get it, see how you get on with it, and then come back for more. The Aspect book, for example.

These are enough introductory remarks. Here are the books. Many of these were originally published, in English, by Samuel Weiser, in the 1980's. They are now published by HopeWell, in Cheshire, England.


THE COSMIC EGG TIMER: An Introduction to the Huber Method - Joyce Hopewll and Richard Llewellyn, $15.00

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Astrological psychology in context
3. The five levels of human existence
4. Looking at the whole chart
5. Aspect patterns
6. The planets and psychological drives
7. The signs
8. The houses & the environment
9. Nature vs: nurture
10. Life clock
11. Psychological and spiritual growth

Bibliography
Index
Contacts

Comment:

When I didn't exactly give rave reviews to the first three Huber books, I was contacted by the publisher, Barry Hopewell, who suggested I give this book a look. And so, here it is:

Chapter 3, The Five Levels of Human Existence, the key to the entire Huber system, is already given in Hubers' own books. It is repeated here, on pg. 16. They are:

Level 1: The central core, the soul, about which nothing may be said
Level 2: Aspects, the unconscious motivation
Level 3: Planets, the psychological drives
Level 4: Signs, the inherited qualities
Level 5: Houses, the environment
Keep in mind, these are simplifications. Simplifications are like analogies. They are descriptions of reality, but not reality itself. They enable us to grasp things that are otherwise out of our reach. Within limits, they can be helpful. The best analogies / simplifications are those which are intuitively obvious. In the Huber system, aspects are motivators, planets are drives (or drivers), signs are inherited, houses environmental. Taken as a whole, this set of analogies becomes a formal structure. Which is an entirely different thing.

In the Huber chart (shown above), these five radiate out from the empty circle in the center (level 1). From the center outwards, we have the Empty Space, the Sphere of Aspects, surrounded by the Circle of Planets, the Circle of Signs and finally the Circle of Houses. We work from level to level, from inner to outer, from higher to lower.

As a structure, the Huber method enables us to discover who "we" are. The Huber method is a way in which we can dig down to our very core. We leave the clutter of the environment behind, we accept what we have been given by our ancestors, we try to understand our drives, and then, by coming to terms with our unconscious, arrive at last at our true essence, our Center.

Is this it? Is this the Huber Method?

The catch with this method, the catch with all invented methods, is that one must first accept it as appropriate to our individual circumstance. The 20th century invented a great many of these systems, some better than others. Acceptance of the method, belief in the method (whatever it is), helps us to organize our lives. It helps us to explain ourselves to ourselves, it gives us "something" to hang on to in hard times.

Which makes the Huber Method, along with virtually all psychological constructs (such as those of Freud, Jung, Adler, Chomsky, Fromm, Kinsey, Leary, Skinner, etc., including astro-psychology itself), neo-religious belief systems. There is no escaping this.

Astrology - the real stuff - is not a belief system, but rather, a language system. It is both external to us, as well as internal in us, it describes in as much detail as we care to examine, it tells us what we chose to let it, it changes according to our own ability to discover and use it. Which is precisely what we may say of language itself. Like all language systems, astrology itself is neutral. It is neither "spiritual" nor "materialistic", not "modern" nor "old fashioned". It simply is.

In religious systems, details do not matter. Acceptance of the system is the critical factor. For example, in the Huber system, grand trines are known as Large Talent Triangles. They are described as,

The related Large Talent Triangle, again all-blue, comprises three trine aspects.

Its motivation is similar in nature, but the potential for expressing the talent involved is already developed and in place

However, people with this pattern often do not bother to use the talent they have been endowed with, so it can be neglected and under-used, or it may simply be lost for lack of attention and expression. (pg. 43)

Close examination of this shows two contradictory beliefs. One, that grand trines are "good" and bestow many talents. Second, that despite the abundance, grand trines do not amount to very much.

So what do astrologers themselves think of the grand trine? Here is one of the best, Charles Carter:

It sometimes happens that two bodies are in trine and a third body is in trine with each. Such a configuration was considered very evil by medieval writers and unfortunately this view appears to be often correct. Often there seems to be too great dependency upon others. (The Principles of Astrology, pg. 32)
In this way, one may go through the Huber Method in detail. If Huber was better read, he would have made a better system, or perhaps, in discovering the difference between language and belief, he might not have invented any system at all. (Few if any astrologers have invented much of anything. Language systems, such as astrology, are not "invented", but used.) I cannot emphasize strongly enough that to be great you must be greatly well-read, or forceful in action. (It is rare to see both.) I do not know of a third way. Huber appears to be the latter.

If you are looking for astrology, you should look elsewhere. If you are looking for a philosophy of life, the Huber Method could be of interest. When I was younger I tried many such systems. I eventually failed with all of them, which is one reason why I drive so hard with astrology. It's one of the few systems that can stand up to intense use.

Hopewell, 186 pages.


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ASPECT PATTERNS IN COLOUR - Joyce Hopewell, $24.00

Contents:

Introduction
The aspect figures

Achievement triangle (mutable T-square)
Achievement square (mutable grand cross)
Talent triangle, large (grand trine)
Talent triangle, small (trine with two nested sextiles)
Ambivilence triangle (opposition with trine and sextile)
Cradle (opposition with three nested sextiles)
Kite (grand trine with opposition & nested sextiles)
Righteous rectangle / mystic rectangle (two sets of oppositions, in trine and sextile to each other)
Irritation triangle (opposition with nested semi-sextile / inconjunct)
Irritation rectangle (two inconjuncts, semi-sextile to each other)
Information triangle (a sextile with two nested semi-sextiles)
Projection triangle / Finger of God / Yod (two inconjuncts, with one end conjunct and the other in sextile)
Search triangle (yod with nested semi-sextile and trine)
Decorative figure (opposition with nested trine/sextile, and nested inconjunct and semi-sextile)
Learning triangle, dominant (interlocking inconjunct, trine and square)
Learning triangles: Large (inconjunct with nested square and sextile)
Learning triangles: Medium (trine with nested square and semi-sextile
Learning triangles: Small (square with nested sextile and semi-sextile)
Shield (trine with projected semi-sextile, sextile and semi-sextile)
Streamer (opposition: On one side a nested trine/sextile, on the other, a nested inconjunct/semi-sextile)
Telescope (inconjunct with nested trines on both ends, or inconjunct with nested squares on both ends: same)
Microscope (Same as telescope. The difference is how it's oriented.)
Trapese (a trine that connects to a square that connects to a sextile that connects to a square that connects to the initial trine)
UFO (inconjunct with nested squares)
Animated figure (T-square with trine and sextile projected from the opposition)
Arena (opposition with t-square projected from one side, inconjunct/semi-square from the other)
Double ambivalence figure (T-square with trine and sextile projected from the other side)
Provacative figure (T-square with inconjunct/semi-sextile projected from the same side)
Detective (trine with nested sextiles and nested square/semi-sextile)
Model (a Yod with nested square and sextile on one side)
Recorder (an inconjunct with nested square and sextile, with the square having a nested sextile and semi-sextile)
Representative (grand trine with inconjunct projected from one corner and a square from another: Bruno Huber, by the way)
Bathtub (inconjunct with nested sextile-square-sextile)
Bijou (inconjunct with nested sextile-trine-semi-sextile)
Magic cap (square with three nested semi-sextiles)
Megaphone (opposition with nested trine and sextile, the sextile having nested semi-sextiles: Barack Obama)
Oscillio (a yod with nested trine and square projected from one of the inconjuncts)
Stage (opposition with nested semi-sextile, trine and semi-sextile)
Striving figure (a yod with an opposition running through the middle of it)
Surfer (inconjunct with nested square and sextile, with two semi-sextiles nested in the sextile)
Trampoline (inconjunct with nested semi-sextile, square and semi-sextile)
Trawler / Vacuum cleaner (a trine leading to a square leading to a trine leading to a semi-sextile leading back to the original trine)
Pandora's box (a square leading to a sextile leading to a square leading to two sextiles: this makes a five pointed star)

Alphabetical index
Pictorial index

Comment:

Printed in color on every page, this is a thorough working out of the Huber method. Break your chart down into the essential Huber aspects: Semi-sextile, Sextile, Square, Trine, Inconjunct and Opposition and then work through this book to find out what "type(s)" you are. In the list above, I have added the material in the parentheses ( _ ). By "nested," as in, "opposition with nested trine and sextile," I mean that two planets are opposed, with a third that is trine to one and sextile to the other. I have omitted other aspects that may form in the process. So, for example, Stage, an opposition with a nested semi-sextile, trine and semi-sextile, also has two inconjuncts, formed by the semi-sextiles.

Continuing with Stage as an example, here is its complete delineation:

The Stage contains two green quincunxes crisscrossing inside like struts. This quadrilateral has fixed motivation but with four green aspects there is considerable flexibility within. Green aspects form two sides and there are green aspects inside. This is where the bulk of thinking, searching, doubting, questioning, sensitivity and awareness will take place. With theatrical connotations, the Stage is a base from which the individual can perform, and is the platform from which they can learn, understand and connect with others, using the green aspects to pick up all manner of messages and clues about human interaction and behavoir, with the blue aspect storing this information. In Aspect Pattern Astrology the Hubers say that people with this pattern "try to talk away differences and to create a unified picture." [green = semi-sextile or inconjunct - Dave] (pg. 76)
Okay. Here is a delineation of the chart of Nelson Mandela, born July 18, 1918, 2:54 pm, in Umtata, South Africa. He has a Stage in his chart:
Nelson Mandela's chart contains a Stage pinned by Sun, Moon, Venus and the Moon's Node [north - Dave]. The Stage is a relatively rare figure which can act like a bridge which connects opposing sides and viewpoints. It spans the chart and has the ability to resolve the opposition which it contains. Venus is opposite the Moon's Node, on the 6/12 house axis, which would suggest conflict on the theme of service and existence. However, the time of birth is unreliable, so caution is advised about seeing too much signficance in this.

Drawing on both Sun and Moon, which connect the blue aspect of this figure [blue = trine - Dave], Mandela would have the capacity to use both rational (Sun/mind) and emotional (Moon) approaches to issues which call on expression of the Stage. Venus adds discrimination and the ability to harmonize and build bridges. It is worth considering the role of the Moon's Node in this figure too. If the person has not consciously started to develop their activities and awareness of the house where this is positioned, it is quite likely that this part of the figure will act like a dumb note, not functioning - which is unlikely in the case of Mandela. (pg. 77)

As I've come to expect, psychological astrology (regardless of school) does not do a great job of describing the individual. Mandela was a political activist (of royal birth, in fact) who was arrested at the age of 44, spent 27 years in jail, before being released and installed as a figurehead president. Will the Huber analysis tell us anything of the actual Nelson Mandela? Well, no. Not much.

The Huber method is very good at finding how we, as individuals, are uniquely "special." For example, she is a UFO. He is a Model/Detective (yes, you be two at once). Their son is a Projection Triangle, their daughter is an Irritation Triangle, etc. The reason I don't care for this, the reason I gave up aspects as a whole, is because some people had this and some people had that, some people had "good" things, some people had "bad" things, some people had a lot and some didn't have much of anything at all. If you're one of those who got "shortchanged" you won't find this very fair.

I wanted an astrology where everyone had everything, each in their own way. By using rulers, using dispositors, following the trail of dispositors, I, like Morin did indeed find that everyone's Sun was important, that everyone's Moon was important, that everyone's ruler of the ascendant was important, that the relations between the various planets and signs were more complex than simple aspects, that details, all the details, mattered, and that an exact, and unique, description could be made.

If you are working with the Huber system, you will find this book, with its comprehensive listing of 37 basic aspect patterns, to be essential. Each of them is illustrated, in color. The graphics are beautiful and nicely displayed. The color codes are easily learned, as I, in fact, was able to translate them into standard astrological terminology with little effort.

HopeWell, 91 pages.


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THE LIVING BIRTH CHART: Astrological Psychology: A Practical Workbook - Joyce Hopewell, $20.00

Contents:

Dedication
Acknowledgements

1. Introduction. Overview of the Huber method: The development of astrlogical psychology. The five levels of the chart. The aspects. The planets. the signs of the zodiac. The houses.

2. Seeing the whole person: Chart image. Aspect colours and motivation. Chart shaping and motivation. Chart direction and motivation. Public or private? "I" and "you" sided charts. Aspect patters: The ambivalence triangle, the trampoline, the recorder, the dominant learning triangle.

3. Integrating the personality: The threefold personality - the ego planets. Position of Sun, Moon and Saturn. Sun and mind. Moon and the feelings. Sataurn and the body. Practical work with Sun, Moon and Saturn in the chart. Aspects to the ego planets. Ego planet positioning.

4. Integrating with the environment: The family model. The energy balance - planets in houses. Innate qualities and environment. The house chart and evironmental influences.

5. Reconciling past, present and future: Using the three charts. Moon node and natal charts. Age progression in the Moon node chart

6. Following the spiritual path: The levels of the planets. The transpersonal planets. The nodal axis and the Moon's nodes. Sun sign, ascendant sign.

7. Working with the three charts: Example 1 - Claire. Example 2 - Clara

Bibliography
Contacts and resources

Comment:

Books such as this are best left to speak for themselves. From Chapter 3, Integrating the Personality, on the position of the Sun in the chart:
The Sun is ideally positioned somewhere in the upper hemisphere of the chart where it can shine and be seen. When it is here we can more easily express qualities of leadership, goal-oriented behavior and the drive to become an automous individual, especially if the Sun is on the MC or in the 10th house. Positioned in the lower hemisphere, the Sun will not shine so readily or be seen to shine: the individual has to work harder at asserting themselves [sic] and gaining recognition. Placed on or near the AC [ascendant - Dave], the Sun tends to express itself differently. It may be more secretive, private and shy, reluctant to broadcast achievements and blow its own trumpet if it is in the 12th house. This could change if it is in the first house, where there is a strong sense of "me first". On the DC [descendant - Dave] it will be more accessible and assertive as it is readily available to meet others and can push itself towards them with confidence and a sense of purpose. This will be far easier if the Sun is above the DC; if it's just below the DC this could demand greater effort. (pg. 49)
So that's the Sun in the 10th, the 12th, the 1st and the 7th. It's also an intensely masculine, alpha male delineation.

Let's have a look at houses. Using the same birth data, the Hubers reconstruct a separate house chart, which is to be read alongside the standard sign (natal) chart. In practice, the difference is that in the sign chart there are twelve equal divisions, each one representing a sign. In the house chart, there are twelve equal divisions, each one representing a house. Which is sort of "moving the goalposts."

"What does the House Chart show?"
The house chart shows what the world tried to make of us in our formative years. It contains the influences, expectations and conditioning that were laid upon us during our early years. This would have come directly from family, friends, teachers and the community we grew up in. The influence of this conditioning is likely to remain with us until we are well into our teens and until we begin to assert ourselves using the qualities inherent in our natal chart. . .

By the time the mid-teens are reached, young people can feel that they are what the environment has educated them to be. The values and attitudes learned from the house chart begin to weaken as the person gains a growing realization of who they really are and what they feel themselves to really be. The potential of the natal chart is awakened and they start to grow into it. If there is a big difference between the natal and house charts, there will be a period of discomfort and upheaval as the young person seeks to discover their identity. Teenage years may be edgy and turbulent, with rebellious behavior and a general kicking back against the expectations of the environment. This will manifest through behavior, dress, language, choice of music and friends and taste in general. If there is a smaller difference this experience will be reduced and any adjustments will be easier and less fraught. (pgs. 106-7)

I would be curious to see an example of this transformation, from a house-centered child to a sign-centered adult. On pg. 110, the author uses her own chart as an example of this process: Joyce Hopewell, September 19, 1945, 2:30 am, Tadcaster, UK. I very much dislike the author using her own chart to illustrate basic concepts, for it usually means she does not understand what she is trying to present. There is almost always a better example. It is also true that we tend to do a poor job of reading our own charts, being too eager to excuse our weaknesses and promote our strengths. Joyce Hopewell, for examaple, has Pluto in Leo exactly on the ascendant (to the degree) opposed to a Moon in Aquarius in the 7th. Mars and Saturn are both debilitated in Cancer. Saturn is in the 12th. Mars is just outside and wants to join him. There is an exact, to the degree, Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in the 3rd. The chart is intellectually weak (Jupiter-Neptune), cunning (debilitated Mars in 12th), domineering (Moon-Pluto opposition), with an intellectual facade (ruling planet Sun in Virgo in the 3rd, with Mercury in Virgo going in the same direction).

So here is how Joyce describes her natal/sign vs: house charts: Visual: Similar. There is a sail billowing in the wind (I kid you not!) Chart shaping/motivation: Both charts dynamic. "No big discrepancy. . ." Colour ratio: In shifting from the natal to the house, Joyce loses reds (square, opposition) and greens (semi-sextile and inconjunct) aspects, and gains blues (sextiles and trines). What Joyce is trying to express, but does not have the technique to do so, is that houses relate to each other by means of the signs of their rulers. The proper technique, one that has been lying about ignored for 2000 years, will neatly conflate the two charts. Enriching or diminishing: Gaining blue was enriching. If not, Joyce would have become ill from overwork. Cohesion and the space filled in both charts: The house chart has a greater emphasis on the lower hemisphere. She was encouraged to "fit in." Differences in aspect: Somehow by magic the natal inconjunct from Moon to Mercury disappears (orb: 3 degrees), while a house-based quincunx between Moon and Saturn (orb: 5 degrees) magically appears. By house and sign, Moon and Saturn are inconjunct, whereas by house Moon and Mercury are trine. (Beware of those who invent whole cloth.) Growing up Joyce was in competition with her mother to be "top dog." Gee, with Pluto rising, are you surprised? Changes in aspect patterns: In the house chart, Joyce lost the Ear/Eye or Information triangle, but then she has no memory of ever having had it.

Overall, to my surprise I think Joyce Hopewell gives a better presentation of the Huber method than the Hubers did. I'm just not really sure there's a lot here. Not when you can power through Morin or Patti Tobin Brittain's marvelous Planetary Powers or survey the wonderful On the Heavenly Spheres by Avelar and Rubeiro. Real astrology simply slaughters astropsychobabble. The Hubers are an artifact of the second half of the 20th century. Which already seems so far away and long ago, at least in astrological terms.

HopeWell, 216 pages.


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ASTROLOGICAL PSYCHOSYNTHESIS, Astrology as a Pathway to Growth - Bruno Huber, $25.00

Contents:

About the author
Foreword, by Louise Huber
Introduction (overview of the Huber method)

Part 1: Intelligence in the horoscope:
What is intelligence? Looking for intelligence in the horoscope. The three classical planets for intelligence: Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter. The three personality planets and intelligence. Indicators of intelligence. How the aspect structure depicts intelligence in the chart. Signs and houses. The three modes of thinking: cardinal, fixed, mutable. The temperaments and intelligence.

Part 2: Personality and integration:
Introduction. The three major planets and personality. The ego as threefold personality. Strong and weak positions of the ego planets. Age progression and the stages of development. The family model. Role model and self-awareness. Aspects between ego planets. Examples. Astrological psychosynthesis. Horoscopes without their transpersonal planets. The transpersonal planets and role models for mankind.

Part 3: Love and relationships in the horoscope:
Introduction. Basic motivation. Sensousness and sexuality. Our threefold nature (the position of Sun, Saturn, and Moon). The position of the sensitive planets in the cardinal, fixed and mutable houses. Relationship attitudes and areas of the chart. Our innate ability to form relationships (the Moon by sign and aspects). Mars, Venus, Moon and Neptune in the 12 houses. Partnerships.

Bibliography
Contacts and resources

Comment:

Here is the back of the book:
Astrological psychosynthesis is a holistic approach to astrology, bringing not only greater self-understanding but also growth in consciousness. Based on the work of Robert Assagioli, the founder of psychosynthesis, it follows the premise that every human being has a soul - a higher self - which is at the root of all developmental processes.

Astrological psychosynthesis aims to help people to find their own true self and work consciously towards integration and wholeness. The horoscope is used not just as an analytical tool, but also as an instrument to enhance the processof self-realization and transformation.

I found the book abstract, but it might be that I'm not using it right. So let's try it out on me, see how I do.

Part 1: Intelligence. The Hubers have an aspect-oriented astrology. I have Saturn-Moon in sextile. Which is a Saturn-Moon, described on pgs. 33-34. Saturn's influence on the Moon can either very dampening and can thwart the Moon's joy in forming relationships and showing affection (the Hubers easily go off topic like this), or Saturn could give the Moon much needed structure and stability. Yes, all this is true, it's just not very specific.

Pg. 35, the three ego planets give best intelligence when well-integrated into the rest of the chart. Degree of effectiveness: Well, my Sun-Moon-Saturn are in aspect to each other, but so far as with the rest of the chart, Saturn and the Moon are in aspect to Mercury and Jupiter, but the Sun is not. Middle region of the sign (12 degrees): Only Jupiter and Mercury, the rest, no. Planet near a house cusp: Sun and Moon. Quality (house position): Sun at the top of the chart, yes. Moon in houses 12, 1, 6, 7: no. My Moon is in the 3rd (the 4th to Huber), which makes it hypersensitive and dependent (pg. 36). My Moon craves to be popular. Saturn: In houses 3 and 4 are best. Mine is in 5, a house the Hubers do not mention at all. Which I think means a 5th house Saturn is unremarkable.

Indicators of intelligence, pg. 39. Academic intelligence is Saturn-Jupiter-Mercury in any kind of trianglar aspect. Got that. Productive intelligence is a Jupiter-Mercury-Sun triangle. The only way Sun and Mercury can be triangulated is if they are semi-sextile, which is rare. Not me. Feeling intelligence is a Moon-Mercury-Jupiter triangle. Got that. Common sense is Moon-Mercury. Got that. Philosophical is Saturn-Jupiter-Sun/Mercury. Got that. (I am using Huber orbs.) Saturn-Jupiter conjunction is philosophy. No, don't have that. Aesthetic thought: Sun oppose Moon, Sun semi-sextile Venus (rare), Sun-Moon-Venus in aspect to Jupiter. Don't have that. Creative intelligence is Uranus-Jupiter-Mercury. Don't have that: Uranus is out of orb. Intuitive intelligence is Jupiter-Neptune-Mercury, with Sun in aspect to Neptune only. Don't have that. My Sun and Mercury are in conjunction, Jupiter-Neptune are out of orb. Intelligent will is Jupiter-Pluto-Mercury. Don't have that, either. Pluto is out of orb.

In the paragraph above, I count ten types of intelligence. I have four, and since mine are towards the beginning of the list, it would seem that my intelligence is of the ordinary kind. I am Academic, Feeling, Comon-sense and Philosophical. I am missing Productive, Philosophy (not the same as philosophical), Aesthetic, Creative, Intuitive and Intelligent will. The Hubers do not give a scorecard, so I do not know if they would think of me as smart, or not.

Note the Huber method does not care what kind of aspects, only that there are aspects. Trines and sextiles are calm and harmony, they are resources. Squares and oppositions are tension and inner stress. I have a good mix of both.

Position by house is sketchy. The Hubers pick up on the 3rd/9th polarity. Third house planets show collective thinking. Planets in the 9th want to be original thinkers. I have the Sun in one and the Moon in the other, which to the Hubers are unremarkable. Mercury in the 9th is an advantage.

The three modes, cardinal, fixed and mutable: The Hubers apply these to signs and houses equally. I have Jupiter and Saturn in cardinal signs (political thinking), but not cardinal (angular) houses. Since on balance the Hubers like houses more than signs, I am not a political type. Fixed thought is functional thinking. I have Sun, Moon and Mercury in fixed signs, but as they are in mutable houses, I think I should skip this and go to Mutable, which is artistic or philosophical thinking. And that's me. I see the whole world of life as being one giant web of interconnections from everything to everything else. Guys like me talk endlessly about love or, at a lesser level, sex And that's me to a T. Sex-crazed. I should learn about love! The philosophy of love, of course.

The next section puts us firmly into cardinal, fixed and mutable signs. In which I am firmly cardinal and fixed, both in the Huber method, and in the larger world of astrology as a whole. The Hubers discuss this for nearly two pages (pgs. 53-55) but never get beyond Cards do it this way vs: Fixed do it that way. The conclusion:

Such thought patterns are characteristic of these two personality types under pressure: the cardinal with one-upsmanship, trying to impress everyone [GUILTY!!!] and needing to make sure they are one jump ahead all the time; and the fixed, who are suspicious and anxious because they reckon that the world is out to get them. (pg. 55)

The final section on intelligence is temperament: Fire, Earth, Air, Water. I have a strong air chart, so I will look at air. I am argumentative (true), prone to be faulty (no), want to force my views on others (only if you want to go on reading this), look for opposing views (wrong: that only applies to oppositions) so I can take sides (only my side, thank-you very much), are unable to make decisions (no), are know-it-alls (not true of Libra), feel insecure under duress. By comparison to earth types, air types are better authors, but this is comparing apples to oranges. (Water makes for the best authors.) Air types never revise (wrong), air types have excellent vocabulary (sometimes).

The conclusion to this first chapter, on intelligence is of interest:

We must feel convinced that all types of intellect, be they Water or Fire, are equally valid [?], and must be allowed to function each in their own specific way. We should have the courage to say 'Yes' to ourselves, by recognizing and accepting the individual building blocks which, for better or worse, make up our personality. This is the best way for us to develop our potential to the full, and to learn to live at peace with ourselves.

If we allow people to pigeon-hole us, to strait-jacket us and to censor us, we'll have no chance to be true to ourselves, to find our own way, to fulfil our own potential.

And this after all is the greatest gift Astrological Psychology has to offer: to learn to know ourselves, make the most of our available energies, and to feel in charge of ourselves. Only then are we really capable of appreciating others, to understand them and accept them for who and what they are, and to help them forwards. (pgs. 65-66)

In the excerpt above is the inherent contradiction in astro-psychology. After one judgemental prononouncement after another comes the bland concluding statement that we are not pigeon-holing you. The author is strangely obsessed in using intelligence to establish relationships. Intelligence is inherently destructive. Intelligence is powerful precisely because it destroys established thought, separates one from another, and sows discord as a result. In Matthew 10:34 is the famous statement, I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword. This is not about violence, but about intelligence. Intelligence is the sword that cleaves all, that is mightier than any sword of steel. The Jesuit trained Huber should know this.

I am glad I took the time to work through this. I now understand Huber much better. As a stand-alone method, Huber is dreadful, but as a supplement to Sakoian and Acker or Robson, the Huber method will give many valid insights in their limited areas of interest. In other words, the Huber method will work very well if you already have a good grasp of the planets, the signs, the houses and the aspects (the Huber aspects are primitive), or good references to consult. These are, alas, precisely the areas of astrology the Hubers spurned. Which you will find in the Bibliography. There are sixteen entries. All but one of the eight astrology book entries are to other books by the Hubers. The one exception is Alice Bailey, which hardly qualifies as a book on astrology. The Hubers were not well-read.

HopeWell, 227 pages.


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LIFECLOCK: The Huber Method of Timing in the Horoscope - Bruno and Louise Huber, $32.00

Contents:

Foreword

1. Introduction to Age Progression: Basic observations; Prognosis & psychological problems; Structure & technique of age progression; The fuction of the Life Clock

2. Application of Age Progression: Rules for the application of the age point; The course of life through the twelve houses; Age point progression through the signs of the zodiac

3. Life phases and cycles: Rhythms in nature and life; Division of horoscope into different life phases; Division by four; The four life phases development of form; The three-part division: development of personality; Division by six: social process

4. Rules of interpretation

5. Age point aspects: Age-point aspects to the ten planets and to the lunar nodes

6. Age progression in counseling

7. Life's time table: The age point in the twelve houses

8. Example horoscopes: Age progression in the horoscope of C.G. Jung; Age progression in the horoscope of Jimmy Carter; Further example horoscopes

Appendix: The Huber Method: A short introduction to astrological psychology

Bibliography
Index
Contacts and resources

Comment:

As is illustrated on the cover, the Huber Age Progression starts at birth at the ascendant, and goes around the chart, in the order of houses, at the rate of six years per house, up to the age of 72, when, if you live so long, the system starts over. Bruno Huber himself lived to the age of 69. A system that postulates 72 years as the end of an overall life cycle has got to make you feel the years creeping up on you, but I digress. The house system used is Koch, the reason, as I read it in The Astrological Houses, is murky. Huber repeats Dr. Koch's claim that only Koch houses are "birthplace", when in fact all quadrant systems are birthplace-specific.

So, in the Lifeclock / Age Point system, everybody changes at the ages of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, etc., according to the signs on the cusps of their houses. The keywords:

  • 0-6 The formation of the "I"
  • 6-12 Creation of life & possessions
  • 12-18 Learning and educational
  • 18-24 Separation from parental home
  • 24-30 Experience and testing
    - etc. - (from pgs. 44-45)
The twelfth and final phase is the Phase of introversion and loneliness. With a name like that, it's going to be a tough one to get through. Like all the others, it has three subdivisions, which are: 66-68: Life completion, reduction in personal striving; 68-70: Health crisis, physical decline, isolation; 70-72: Find new life style, new orientation. (And you tell me this isn't fatalistic? It all but screams, "DIE NOW".)

I searched the book to see if this cycle was qualified in any way by the signs of the zodiac, but they are not. There is an elemental bias (air, earth, fire water, etc.), in that the first house is fire, the second is earth, etc. That the actual signs on the cusps are rarely the same as those on the natural chart is noted (pg. 62) but not developed. The Age Point is to be calculated precisely: Determine the number of degrees in each of your houses (Koch). Divide by 6. Count from birth to your present age. That's your exact Age Point. Whenever it makes a conjunction or 30 degree aspect to any planet, it gives an Age Point transit. When it changes from one sign to another a change in attitude takes place. How severe this is depends whether the sign(s) are in basic harmony with the house's natural sign, as there is no other way to interpret this:

The question - is the quality of the sign in harmony with the quality of the house? - becomes very important. If, for example, an angular house is occupied by a cardinal sign, the changes are not so obvious. However, if a sign change takes place in the middle of a house, as, for example, the change from Taurus (fixed) to Gemini (mutable) in the third house, the sign change will be felt quite clearly. (pg. 62)
In other words, in the Huber method, the second house is the second house, from the very second of a minute of the degree on the cusp, to the very second of a minute of the degree on the next cusp. The house controls and conditions the signs it contains. I puzzled over this and came to exactly the opposite conclusion, that houses are conditioned by signs, as have all those who advocate for "whole sign" houses.

You are wondering what happens to those who fail any of the necessary steps in life, such as getting married before your Life Point has arrived in your 7th house of partnerships, at age 36. On pg. 39 we have something of an explanation, where the authors say, As discussed earlier, the age point does not indicate events as much as experiences which have impressed us. Events, seen in a daily context, often impress us not at all. Which I think means that at the age of 36 you wake up one day and marriage and/or partnerships just hit you out of the blue, you having never thought about them before. The age point comes to the 5th house between the ages of 24 and 30. At this time of life we can expect professional existence, love crisis and maximum physical performance. (pg. 45) But not children! Children are presumably not significant events. Not even for women. (????) So, presumably, if you are precocious you have left the Huber system behind, whereas, if you are slow, the Huber system leaves you behind. I presume that being precocious means you burn out (die) prematurely, whereas if you wait until you are 50-something to get married (20 years late), like I did, you automatically have those 20-some years added to your life. Hooray! I will live past 90!

While the underlying idea is simple and perhaps good, the system itself is rigid. I wanted to like it.

HopeWell, 317 pages.


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ASPECT PATTERN ASTROLOGY: New holistic horoscope interpretation method - Bruno and Louise Huber, $35.00

Contents:

Acknowledgements
Foreword

1. Concept of wholeness & synthesis: From analysis to synthesis; Bruno Huber's research work; The horoscope in its five layers

2. Aspect theory: Introduction; What are aspects?; Calculating the aspects; The seven major aspects; Aspect system; Aspect influence according to color; Influence of planets on the aspects; Four dimensional aspect interpretation

3. Aspect pattern astrology: Holistic astrological methods; Traces in the sands of time; Basics of aspect pattern astrology

4. Aspect pattern analysis: 1. Static and dynamic; 2. Position, emphasis, direction; 3. Coherence: closed or divided aspect structure; 4. Aspect pattern coloring; 5. Life motivation

5. Building blocks of aspect figures: Interpretation rules; Single colored aspect figures; Red aspect figures; Blue aspect figures; Two-colored aspect figures; Red-blue aspect figures; Red-green aspect figures; Blue-green aspect figures; Three-colored aspect figures

6. Variants: 10 new aspect figures; 16 aspect quadrilaterals; 7 opposition quadrilaterals; 4 talented trapezoids; 5 rare quadrilaterals; Small aspect patterns

7. Sample horoscopes: Roberto Assagioli, founder of Psychosynthesis; Michail Gorbachev

Appendices:
Pictorial index of all aspect figures
Alphabetical index to aspect figures
Example horoscopes
Bibliography
Contacts and references

Comment:

In the Foreword it says, This books is founded on the revolutionary discovery that aspect patterns (triangular, quadrangular and polygonal) in themselves (i.e. without planets), have an important motivational significance. (pg. 1) Despite the implied whole sign aspects, such as the sign Aries squaring the sign Cancer, Huber aspects have orbs, which are a bit on the tight side (table, pg. 28). Neither signs nor planets are that important, which makes me wonder how you have aspects at all in such a system.

Aspects are limited to conjunction, semi-sextile, sextile, square, trine, inconjunct and opposition. No others are considered.

Each class of aspect has its own color. Red for squares and oppositions, blue for sextiles and trines, green for semi-sextiles and inconjuncts. Conjunctions seem to have no color at all, you can make up your own (hint: conjunctions are not aspects). Methinks that as conjunctions can be physically seen, and as they are very close, there really isn't space to put a "tie" between the constituent planets.

Each aspect has four possible stages. First, physical awareness. Second, conflict. Third, understanding. Fourth, transformation. So here are the four levels of a conjunction: First, inner strength. Second, egoism. Third, energy. Fourth, inspiration. (pgs. 55-57). These rules apply for all conjunctions, from Venus and Mars, to Moon and Pluto, to Mars and Saturn, to name a few. Since you asked, Squares on four levels: First, energy. Second, unbalanced. Third, tension. Fourth, you can "convince dissenters", which is to say, you can walk on water. Opposition: One, polarized. Two: victimized. Three: argumentative. Fourth: stability and inner strength. The Huber keywords do not seem to agree with their extended descriptions.

Since aspects have individual colors, there is a proper ratio of those colors. For every green aspect (inconjunct/semi-sextile) there should be two red aspects (square or opposition) and three blue aspects (trines or sextiles): 1, 2, 3. (pg. 123). Aspects make pictures. Here is Mike Tyson's, born June 30, 1966, New York, time unknown:

This aspect pattern looks like a tornado. It has an opening to the sky (gap between Jupiter/Sun and Venus). The unaspected Mars lies in the centre in the eye of the storm asa master of ceremonies. The Moon lies at the foot of the tornado on the earth. The other aspects are scattered, as though they have been swirled around by the storm and then sucked out. This is the horoscope of the boxer Mike Tyson, known for his aggressive and erratic behavior both in the ring and in his private life. (pg. 96)
Huber says to not make aspects to the angles, which he lumps in with the house cusps themselves. If there were aspects to angles there would have to be aspects to cusps, too, or so he implies. So not having birth times doesn't upset him very much, which means that so far as aspects are concerned, house systems do not really matter. He says that nodes have aspects, which upsets him as his (frankly materialistic) astrology does not like admitting nodes.

The book continues on like this. If Mr. Tyson came for a reading, Huber would tell him he was a tornado? That's a lot to charge for. The book is quite maddening, actually, as nothing is ever said about anything.

HopeWell, 285 pages.


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MOON NODE ASTROLOGY: The inner compass of evolution - Bruno and Louise Huber, $30.00

Contents:

Note to the reader
Introduction

Part 1: Structure and function of Moon-node astrology, by Bruno Huber:
1. The function of the Moon's nodes
2. Aspects to the Moon's node
3. The Moon's node in the houses
4. The Moon's node in the signs
5. The Moon-Node horoscope
6. The three horoscopes
7. The Moon's node and the Age Point

Part 2: The Moon's nodes and esotericism, by Louise Huber:
1. Esoteric connections
2. Reincarnation and archetypes
3. Practical rules for interpretation
4. Personality planets in the Moon-Node horoscope
5. Consultation work using the three horoscopes

Bibliography
Index
About the authors

Comment:

Huber, a materialist, was coerced into the nodes, you may read the story in some other book than this. ("Nodes are invisible, therefore they do not exist," or some such.) He found the nodes worked quite well and, as so often happens, personal interest resulted in exceptional work.

To Huber, the house the node falls in is the most important, followed by aspects to the node, and then, lastly, its sign. So as a cookbook, how does he do?

So far as houses, this is by far his best writing about the houses. Rich, meaty, detailed. Far better than what you will find in his book on houses (below). So far as delineating the node in the houses, so far as my personal node in the 11th, the text was abstract. Eleventh house node, I am to carefully select my friends, and develop a system of ethics. Like much of astro-psychology, this is vague, as well as moralistic.

The delineation for the node in Pisces, the sign my node is in, was good. Huber has a real grasp of houses as separate from signs, which is rare. This is perhaps the only book where he demonstrates that.

So far as aspects to the nodes, here I am in a bind. While my chart is richly aspected, there are NO aspects to my nodes. Not with wide orbs. Not with fancy, weird aspects. None. And it was because of this contrast (too many aspects here, no aspects there) that I eventually degraded aspects to the minor things they really are. Huber says that people with unaspected nodes are full of self-doubt and that opportunities pass them by. Which, as a cookbook delineation, I'm okay with. Bruno worked quite hard on this book, the results show.

Huber introduces the Moon-Node horoscope. Put the north node on the ascendant, use equal houses. As the node runs in reverse (retrograde), number the houses clockwise, i.e., backwards. The 12th house becomes the 2nd, the 11th house the third, the 10th house the 4th etc. Make the signs go counterclockwise, as they usually do. This is a bit tricky but makes sense when you see it.

Which, while an interesting idea, is completely undeveloped. Which surprised me. In my chart, I have Sun-Mercury in the Moon-Node first house, with Mercury as the radix chart ruler. That's about as significant as a first house can get. Here is Huber:

A character steps out from behind the curtain and says, "Hi, I'm here!" He is the play's hero. His gestures are expansive and he does his best to make a favorable impression. This is the archetypal figure of the 1st house, who can appear in various guises according to the planets occupying that house. The part of our actor is taken by the planet or planets, and the stage setting in which he appears is represented by the astrological house. In the 1st house, this setting is nothing more than the curtain in front of which the actor steps. We can imagine, for example, that Virgo in the 1st house would be equivalent to a curtain of plain hand-woven cloth, while Aquarius would be pure silk [?], Cancer a jazzy colored fabric, and Leo a thick satin or heavy velour. The setting is decided by the nature of the sign. Now, if we take a look at the 1st house in the Moon-Node horoscope - remembering, of course, that the Moon-Node houses run clockwise, so that the Moon-Node 1st house occupies the same position as the radical 12th house - we can analyze it along the above lines. If the sign sets the scene, any planets in the house will represent the player. After the stage entry (so to speak), the audience takes notice of the backdrop and of the appearance and gestures of the player, and listens to what the latter has to say for himself or herself.

Whole histories can rise out of the unconscious in pictorial form (pictorial because often they are beyond description), and this resurfacing of images and experiences occurs as we study the Moon-Node horoscope. To be of any use to us, the experiences must be factual. If nothing happens in a given house, we should leave it and move on to the next. It is better not to linger, otherwise the unconscious will feel compelled to produce something for our benefit, and will come up with a fantasy - and what would be the use of that? (pgs. 93-4)

Which, so far as I can tell, said nothing whatever about the Moon-Node first house, while managing to ramble off the topic towards the end. This is what is frustrating about Huber. When he has the bit firmly in his teeth, he's fairly good. (Not great, mind you: Good.) But otherwise he so often comes across as spinning daydreams in the air. Will somebody please tell me what the crap is the unconscious ? Is it not an idiotic catch-all designed for the sole purpose of judging and subjugating undesirable people? Or giving know-it-alls an unlimited excuse for their behavior?

This is really two books in one. The first half, on astro-psychology, is by Bruno, the second half, on esoteric astrology, is by his wife Louise. So let's look at it:

It is Louise, not Bruno, who delineates the Moon-Node horoscope, in terms of probable previous lives. Chapter 2, on Reincarnation & the Archetypes, isn't terribly well organized, but if you seek out the houses with your Sun and Moon, you might get a general grasp. I am the monastic type, and while that is true in a general sense, my last two lives, if not my last three, have been out in the big hurly-burly world. The axiom on pg. 172:

Whatever we have strongly developed in former lives is deactivated, and whatever we have neglected is activated.

is wrong in all respects. Free will is not abrogated merely because we have died and come back to life. If we have had enough, then we may decide to turn away, but it will be a conscious (not unconscious) choice. Such is what my research tells me. (Turning away from previous talents is fairly rare, it seems. What was important in your last life is still important in your present life.)

The displacement of planets, from the radix chart, to the Moon-Node chart, is noted, but the discussion is gibberish. Vertical axis to horizontal axis. I wanted to know specifically about the displacement of the Sun and Moon. Louise merely says we must "develop" the Moon-Node houses they fall in. Which is, again, superficial if not judgemental.

The introductory chapter, and much of the subsequent detail, are taken straight from standard metaphysical literature. Like virtually all metaphysical writers, Louise Huber has done no personal work in this area whatsoever. She has instead taken what she has read and blindly overlaid pet theories. The results are erratic. The merest effort to connect abstract theory with actual experience, while hard, will produce the most astonishing results. So few even know to try.

Hopewell, 238 pages.


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THE ASTROLOGICAL HOUSES: A psychological view of ourselves and our world - Bruno and Louise Huber, $19.95

Contents:

Foreword
Author's note
Symbols

Drawing the horoscope
Introduction
The psychological significance of the horoscope
The house system: technical specifications of the houses
A fundamental look at the houses
The inner structure and dynamic of the house system
Rules for the analsis of the houses
Detailed demonstration of the houses as space structures
The quadrants
The laws of houses, zones and axes
The polarity of the axes
The intensity curve
Psychological horoscope analysis

Index
Resources

Comment:

On pg. 7, the Hubers describe the houses as:
The houses represent real and tangible life situations and the areas of their detailed experience and activity. In contrast to the unique cores structure of th individual (aspects, planets, signs), the houses are an exterior, not a primary influential configuration reference. The house-formation begins only with birth, and the individual deals with it all his life.
The text is highly abstract. We get delineations of the Sun in the various houses simply to give us a flavor, as there are few other planet delineations. Houses are not well-delineated generally, we get vague sketches. Huber says there is a "low point" or weak spot in each house, he tells us how to calculate exactly where that is, which is .6 of the distance from one cusp to another. Each house also has a balance point, which is about .4 of the distance between the two cusps. These two points divide each house into thirds. The first third of each house is cardinal, from the cusp to the balance point, the second third is fixed, from the balance point to the low point, while the third and final section is mutable, from the balance point to the next cusp. This also refers to the transiting Age Point (see Lifeclock, above).

Here is the result, from the example horoscope, pg. 102:

The main planetary pattern is decidedly in the 4th quadrant, the being quadrant, that strives toward conscious self-realization and "I" formation, always aligning itself with inner ideals. The Moon-Neptune opposition on the thought axis acts as a barrier to the other planets. This indicates an introverted base of consciousness.

This human is predominately interested in mental things. The concentration of planets around the 11th cusp suggests humanitarian endeavours, progressive ideas, and an idealized image of man.

The Sun, positioned in the earth sign Taurus, open to material enjoyments, is held back at the low point and, additionally, plays a smaller role due to its relatively unattached position within the whole aspect picture. This can present a problem. Unaspected planets work out as "independent mechanisms" when they are not recognized in their functioning capacity. Since the Sun is the central organ of self-awareness, we would want to take a closer look.

But, regrettably, not me.

HopeWell, 111 pages.


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THE PLANETS AND THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL MEANINGS - Bruno and Louise Huber, $35.00

Contents:

Acknowledgements
Foreword

1. The functionality of planets: Introduction, Planetary symbols, Planetary table

2. The seven classical planets: Introduction; Three ego planets: Sun, Moon, Saturn; Four tool planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter; Attribution of the planets

3. The three spiritual planets: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto; Transpersonal essential forces; Chart "amphora"; Transformation of the personality: Personal & spiritual psychosynthesis; Initiation & transformation; Esoteric astrology

4. Rules for interpreting the planets: Introduction; Planetary rulers in the signs of the zodiac; Interpretation rules; Aspect colors on planets; Two-colored aspects; Planetary connections; Planetary interpretation on three levels; The four quadrants

5. The planets in the houses: Sun, Moon, Saturn in the horoscope hemispheres; Sun and Saturn in the twelve houses

6. Planets in the zodiac signs, using the example of the Moon: The man in the Moon, or the Moon in the Man, by Bruno Huber; The Moon as our feeling nature, by Louise Huber; The Moon in the zodiac signs; The Moon in the cardinal signs; The Moon in the fixed signs; The Moon in the mutable signs

7. Special planetary positions: Planets & ascendants; The family model; Exposed planetary positions

Data for example horoscopes
Bibliography
Contacts & resources

Comment:

Bruno Huber was born November 29, 1930, at 12:55 pm in Zurich. With 0 degrees of Pisces rising his birth time would be murky, but that his intense use of color in a chart is a Piscean trait. Pisces loves color. Sun in Sagittarius in the 9th, Moon in Pisces in the first, chart ruler Jupiter conjunct Pluto in Cancer, late in the 5th. This is not a strongly intellectual chart. Sun in the 9th has promise, but in Sagittarius takes up ideas based on how exotic they are. The third house is empty, the cusp is Taurus, which is a love of knowledge for its own sake. Ruler Venus is debilitated in Scorpio on the 9th house cusp. It wants to be in the 3rd but, debilitated, tends to tear ideas apart without actually producing anything of value. Moon in Pisces, Huber uncontrollably takes on the emotions of everyone in the room. In the first house, it's obvious that he does so. Intellectual planet Mercury is debilitated in Sagittarius (the biggest idea wins). Mercury in the 10th house is good for public speaking but may tend to ramble. Charts like this convince their owners they are smart, but, sensitive to the environment (Sun and Moon both mutable, the Moon obviously so), they habitually hide so as to never find out they're really not. Which is a trait of writers in general, that they hide away. (I do.) Venus / Sun in the 9th is religious/esoteric, which is an underlying theme in Huber's books. 9th house ruler Mars is in Leo in the 10th house from the 9th, which, I presume, gave him a proud swagger when preaching. Pictures I've seen, he sure looked proud of himself.

I offer these introductory notes because I simply cannot find a book in this book. The only planets dealt with in any detail are Sun, Moon and Saturn, presumably as stand-ins for the rest. The Cosmobiology/Uranian school obliterates houses & signs, but they keep planets, as they're useful. Huber obliterates planets. Even in a book on planets. So far as that goes, Sun and Moon are not planets, they're luminaries. We only term them "planets" when we lump them together with the rest. So in a book on planets, we have Saturn.

I simply do not know what to do with this. Open the book at random, have a look:

Purification
On this level we are constantly thrown off balance and fluctuate between underestimating and overestimating ourselves. Many are seized by a nagging doubt as to whether what they want is really right. This process is a purification by fire of the self motivation. The initiation crisis are running continuously in the consciousness and on the mental level. That is why we should not stop believing in our spiritual goal and should continue to climb the mountain fearlessly and confidently. As on the Way of the Cross with fourteen stations, we drag ourselves along joyless, discouraged; we would often just like to give up. But we are mercilessly chased on and can never rest. Sometimes the blows come from outside ourselves, sometimes from within. Exhausted, we finally reach the mountain peak. Here is the light of the Sun that controlls the mental space and lets us see everything in a new light. It allows us to see everything important, refines our ability to differentiate and reveals the simplicity of all things. This is the initiation of the transfiguration, where everything is illumined, everything appears in order and in divine harmony.

Transformation Goal
After the third initiation, the mental body is purified and fully developed. . . (pg. 116)

Much of this book concerns the five initiations of Alice Bailey. Not astrology and not the planets. Please believe me when I tell you that initiation concerns death. Any treatment of initiation that does not stress the critical and essential role of death is rubbish. (You think initiation is worth having? What will you give for it? Remember that you may expect to get nothing if you give nothing. If initiation is a "new life", then is it not logical that you must first give up the inadequate and inferiour and undesirable life you now have? Oh. I see. So your present life is not so bad after all, eh?) If the Hubers had titled this book, Initiation you would have passed it by, like you pass by all the many neo-Bailey books. Call it Planets, suppress the grim details of the real subject, and they can hope you might buy it by mistake.

Like all of you, I was once impressed by this sort of thing, but then one day I hacked my way through and discovered there was nothing there. This applies doubly to books that are mistitled, such as this one. The weak intellect, the phony intellect, dazzles us with all manner of convolutions and fancy words, page on page, on and on, but without simplicity, without directness. The great intellect is always a simple one. It is a hard standard, one I myself so often fail.

Hopewell, 313 pages.


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Astrology and the Seven Rays, by Bruno and Louise Huber

ASTROLOGY AND THE SEVEN RAYS - Bruno and Louise Huber, $25.00

Contents:

Editor's Preface
Foreword, by Louise Huber

1. Introduction
2. What does esoteric mean? Esoteric thinking. Seven rays. Seven planes. Questions
3. The entity of the seven cosmic rays
4. Finding the rays in your chart. The personality rays. The soul ray.
5. The effect of the ray on the personality. Psychosynthesis typology. The threefold personality
6. Transformations
7. The law of the triangles in the signs
8. The spiritual planets and spiritual growth
9. Questions

Notes and references
Index
Contacts and resources.

Comment:

I had overlooked this book, a caller brought it to my attention. I open the book at random and found Bruno talking about the personality ray, and the mental, astral/emotional and physical bodies. Back in the 1990's I did rays better than I did astrology, I was impressed.

Then I had a quick scan of the table of contents (above) and I wasn't. So let's have a detailed look:

In the Preface we learn the book was given as a series of lectures in 1998, which makes it contemporary with my own studies. This is hopeful. This was Louise and Bruno's last joint lecture, due to Bruno's subsequent death a year later. Which is called "untimely," though I believe it was in keeping with Bruno's own time framework, see above. Unlike some transcriptions, these were edited into a readable book.

The first chapter, the introduction, by Bruno, is largely theoretical and need not concern us one way or the other.

The second chapter, on esoteric thinking, also by Bruno, is largely theoretical, like the first. So far as what rays are, what they do, what sort of person they make, there is nothing here, so this need not concern us.

The third chapter, The entity of the seven cosmic rays, is by Louise. The diagram on pg. 35 is the first concrete thing in the book. In it, the three primary rays (1, 2 and 3) relate to cardinal, fixed and mutable, while the four rays of attribute (4, 5, 6, and 7, all descending from the 3rd) are each qualified by one of the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Which is still academic and theoretical, but nicely associates astrology with the rays. I have not seen this done before, but I confess this is the first promising book on rays and astrology that I have seen. Aside from this one table, chapter 3, like the two previous, is abstract. Many people like abstract metaphysics.

In the fourth chapter, Finding the rays in your chart, the table on pg. 50 is explicit. The personality ray is determined by the four angles in the chart. If all four angles in your chart are cardinal signs, you have a first ray personality (power). If all four are fixed, second ray (love-wisdom). If all are mutable, third ray (activity). If one axis is cardinal and the other fixed, that's 4th (harmony/conflict). If one is fixed and the other mutable, that's 5th (science). If one is mutable and the other cardinal, that's 6th (religion/devotion). And if all four angles are at the ends or beginnings of signs, that's 7th (magic-organization). Bruno gives himself the sexy, new age seventh ray personality, a term which is vaguely defined

Continuing with chapter 4, the mental ray is defined by the house placement of the Sun. If the Sun is in an angular house, your mental unit is ray 1, 2 or 3. If your Sun is in an angular house and a cardinal sign, your mental unit is first ray, if your Sun is in an angular house and a fixed sign, your mental unit is second ray, if your Sun is in an angular house and a mutable sign, your mental unit is third ray. The mental ray is "how you think," which is as far as Bruno defines it. This is a slippery term, as most people think with their gut. If your Sun is not angular, then you are to take its element, where water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) are fourth ray, air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) are 5th ray, fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) are sixth ray, and earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) are seventh ray. Do the same for the Moon, which gives the emotional body, and Saturn, which gives the physical.

Bruno's example is Albert Einstein. Huber gives him a 6th ray personality, 2nd ray mental, 6th ray emotional and 6th ray physical: 6-2-6-6. By way of contrast, Benjamin Creme, who has worked extensively with rays and has given the ray structure of around a thousand (Maitreya's Mission, in the Appendix), says Einstein had a 2nd ray soul, 2nd ray personality, 4th ray mental, 2nd ray emotional and 3rd ray physical. Which is (2) 2-4-2-3. As Huber and Creme were exact contemporaries, as Creme lectured and spoke widely about the rays (he's still alive), it is strange that Mr. Huber does not reference him. This book was initially given as a series of lectures in Exeter, which is in extreme south-west England. Travellers must go through London, which is Creme's home address.

The fifth chapter, by Louise, is about the effects of the rays. The title of the chapter says this is to be about the "personality" but the chapter in fact covers the various rays on all four of the bodies.

On the personality level, Creme and the Hubers are in basic agreement. The personality is your essential character. You can be forceful, eager to please, busy, crazy, scientific, devotional or organized (my wording, not theirs). Creme's definitions are sharper, but the Hubers will do in a pinch.

Regrettably, the Hubers are lost with the physical. They confuse it with the personaliy. A first-ray physical, according to the Hubers, is forceful. A first ray physical is in fact a body-builder, or a US Presidential candidate. First ray physicals have great stamina.

As this is an excuse for me to parade a bit of what I know about the rays, I will continue. To the Hubers, a second ray physical is timid and kind and caring. Regrettably, this has nothing whatever to do with the physical. Creme points out that as the physical is the seventh and last and most dense of all the bodies, it vibrates strongly to the three odd rays and does not do well as a second ray physical, which are often dead by the age of 30. Schubert, according to Creme, had a second ray body.

Third ray bodies, according to the Hubers, are smart, because they are intelligent. Which confuses mental-personality with physical. According to Creme - as well as me - 3rd ray physicals are compulsively active. They are no smarter - or dumber - than anyone else, as intelligence is found elsewhere. They, and seventh ray physicals, constitute the majority of physical bodies.

Fourth ray bodies, according to the Hubers, are constantly worried about things, about presenting the right appearance, etc. Which confuses the physical ray with the (very common) 4th ray astral/emotional. Fourth ray bodies, according to Creme, and from what I have personally observed, are gymnasts. They tend to be smallish and very, very supple. Charlie Chaplin was a 4th ray physical.

Fifth ray bodies - again, we are talking of bones and muscle and flesh, nothing else - are, according to the Hubers, equipped with great minds and a refined appearance. They are like Virgos. In contrast, what Creme gives - and what you can work out for yourself, if you learn the rules, fifth ray physicals tend to be physically clunky. They often have "beetle brows." They are often just a little bit spastic, as I once had one at close range. Thomas Edision was such.

Sixth ray bodies, according to the Hubers, are physically beautiful and want to be Temples of God. According to Creme - and, again, what you can confirm for yourself, 6th ray bodies are large and flabby and fleshy. They are reasonably stable and so live average length lives, but tend to appear and disappear in groups. Most of the bloated nudes painted by Titian were 6th ray. Since WWII, many 6th ray types have been born in America. If you have a sixth ray body, dieting will not help.

Seventh ray bodies, according to the Hubers, are willful and perverse. Tell them to do something and they will do something else, to spite you. This - again - confuses the physical with some other body, in this case, a 4th ray astral/emotional, which, according to Creme and me, is bi-polar. Seventh ray physicals are organized in some deep, fundamental level. Their desk may look like a mess, but they invariably know where every single thing is. (By contrast, I have known third ray physicals to keep detailed lists, as their busy lives are inherently scattered.) Creme notably says their skin is dry and mineral-like, as the 7th ray relates strongly to the mineral kingdom.

The Hubers' definitions of the emotional/astral bodies are purely imaginary. There is no point. Of the 700-odd individuals given in the back of Maitreya's Mission, only one or two had a 1st ray emotional body. There were no 3rd, 5th or 7th ray emotional bodies. These are extremely rare, presuming they have ever existed. And this because, as with the physical, the astral/emotional vibrates so intensely to the sixth level, where it is found, that it precludes odd rays altogether.

Because I am driven and because I am stupid, in the early 1990's I was inspired to enter 800 of Creme's individuals into a computer, so that I could sort the various rays, their points of evolution (i.e. standing among the four great initiations), their occupations, etc. (Creme used to give additional individuals in his monthly magazine.) And while some of my associates thought Creme's work was "fishy," (that they could not quite say why they thought it fishy I did not hold against them), when I sorted the results, I found they worked on nearly every level. And I can throw a lot of crap at things, as my readers know well. Thinking back on Creme's work today, I am still largely in agreement with it.

You should know that Blavatsky, Bailey, Creme - and myself, the least of them - are in agreement that rays cannot be determined astrologically, that they supercede astrology. On pg. 47 Bruno dismisses Alice Bailey (In fact Alice Bailey had no notion of astrology. . . She had the wrong definitions.). As Bailey was merely the secretary to the Tibetan, this is the same as saying the Tibetan was an idiot. Who in fact wrote an entire book on esoteric astrology, the one that is still held to be the standard. One ought to be more careful with one's opinions than that.

In my grade school classes there was once a dunce, an unlikeable, unloved kid who looked completely spastic. He had no friends. He was not smart in any way, he compensated by boasting to anyone who would listen long enough to hear. But I once saw him throw a football, with great skill and accuracy. He would have made a fabulous quarterback, if anyone had liked him. What happened to him I do not know.

I had that poor kid in mind as I looked through this book. That, somehow, the mentally addled Bruno Huber, if he found a subject he could call his own, might rise to the challenge and write an extraordinary book. Alas, the Hubers have written a book about the rays that is in keeping with their other books.

If you want a treatise on the rays, get Maitreya's Mission vol. 1 (I have the 2nd edition, from 1990, I do not know if there was a 3rd, etc.) and go to pgs. 219-249. The rest of the book, on the new age and the reappearance of the Christ, is a mixed bag. It appears to me the new age has failed. Which, if true, will have tragic consequences for all of us.

Hopewell, 200 pages.


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ASTROLOG I: Life and Meaning - Bruno and Louise Huber et al, $25.00

Contents:

Introduction

Part 1: Astrological psychology:
Astrological psychology - Bruno Huber
The meaning and value of a horoscope reading - Louise Huber
Psychosynthesis and astrology - Bruno Huber
The Moon in the twelve houses - Louise Huber
Lean years - Bruno Huber
Pluto and the Transneptunian planets - Harold Zinlau
Is Pluto a planet? - Bruno Huber
Pluto's transformation - Wolfhard Konig

Part 2: Life and meaning:
Career, vocation and the meaning of life - Louise Huber
Searching for the myth of life - Gabriele Gertz
The trinity - ideality, reality, hope
Moon node - ascendant - Ruth Schmidhauser
Sagittarius Sun and AC signs - Bruno Huber

Part 3: Age progression:
The journey through the zodiac in the Age Point - Rita Keller
Age-Point biography - Michael A. Huber
The zero point of the zodiac - the Pisces/Aries border - Louise Huber
The cosmic fissure - zero point experiences - Dr. Hans-Martin Domke
Transits of the spiritual planets - Brigit Braun

Part 4: Growth and transformation:
Astrological transactional analysis - Detlef Hover
Learning to let go - Dr. Reinhard Muller
Light and shade in astrology - Detlef Hover
Our lady's child - Christian U. Vogel
Pluto in the twelve houses - Bruno Huber

Contacts and resources

Comment:

In the Introduction, we learn that Bruno and Louise Huber founded the Astrological Psychology Institute (API) in Zurich in 1964. In 1981 they began a bi-monthly magazine in German, Astrolog, which still exists. In 1983 Richard Llewellyn and Pam Tyler established a Huber school somewhere in England, possibly Grantown-on-Spey, in Scotland, which is where the Huber school is located today. (They have a London branch.) Over the years, English students have translated many of the original German articles. This is the first compilation, from 2008. The translations are by Heather Ross, the book was edited by Barry Hopewell.

This book will be of interest to Huber students, as there are many unique details and points of view not available in any of the other books. There are also many illustrations.

HopeWell, 316 pages.


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ASTROLOG II: Family, relationships and health - Bruno and Louise Huber et al, $25.00

Contents:

Introduction

Part 1: The family:
The family model - New perspectives - Wolfhard H. Konig
Family secrets - Harald Zittlau
Family counselling - Angelika Kraft-Boehm
The family reflected in the horoscope - Brigit Braun

Part 2: Children and upbringing:
The child's horoscope as an aid to upbringing - Louise Huber
The child's horoscope - Holger Ochmichen
Children's horoscopes - Rainer Bauer
The horoscope as an aid in the teaching of gifted children - Karen Goebel

Part 3: Relationships:
Some thoughts on relationships - Harald Zittlau
Relationship as a developmental process - Louise Huber
A life not worth living - Verena Bien
The transformation of the heroine - Dr. Reinhard Muller
Snow White - Ruth Schmidhauser

Part 4: Health and therapies:
The language of the body - Bruno Huber
I am my own doctor - Louise Huber
When the psyche makes the body ill - Agnes Hauser
When sweet things in life make us ill - Birgit Braun
The tarot and astrological psychology - Ruch Schmidhauser
Images of man - Christian U. Vogel

Contacts and references

Comment:

As with Astrolog I (above), this book was translated by Heather Ross and edited by Barry Hopewell. The Introduction is identical to that in Astrolog I, except for minor changes at the end.

In Part 4, the essay on Sweet Things is subtitled, Diabetes in the Horoscope (pgs. 259-266). This is from September, 2005. As I think the Huber method is barely competent to deal with medical matters, I had a close look. True to form, Birgit Braun first cites Rudiger Dahlke's idea, that diabetes is not receptive to romance; desire to enjoy sweet things and the dolce vita, together with the the inability to accept love; not accepting the sweetness of life or allowing it to enter one's innermot being. . . (pg. 260).

Next, Braun cites Jane Ridder-Patrick, that diabetes has to do with Jupter/Venus. (Which is just about all that Ridder-Patrick has to say about it, in fact. I have the book, I checked.) Braun then gives five examples:

Example 1: Female, type 1 diabetes. Went blind age 24. Cause: Opposition between Venus and Jupiter at the Low Point of the Encounter Axis in the Irritation Triangle with Uranus. Moon in square to Neptune in different quadrilaterals. Chiron near the ascendant. Data: June 5, 1947, 4:31 pm, Salt Lake City.

Example 2: Female, type 1. Conjunction of Venus and Sun, opposition to Pluto and north node. The location of the "love" planets, Moon and Neptune, at the LP could indicate "frustration experiences", as in Example 1. Data: April 6, 1977, 4:24 am, Ottawa, Canada.

Example 3: Female, type 1. Venus strongly aspected by Neptune and Moon, as well as Mars/Uranus and Pluto/Moon Node. Moon at midheaven, inconjunct Neptune. Jupiter on ascendant sextile Saturn. Data: January 31, 1944, 7:00 pm, Vancouver, Ottawa, Canada [?]

Example 4: Male, type unspecified (presumably type 1): Venus is in a linear figure with Uranus, detached from the rest of the aspect pattern. The Moon depends on a wide conjunction with Sun/Mercury. . . However, there is a wide conjunction between Jupiter and the rising Moon Node and Neptune, both of which have an expansive effect, and could indicate an excess of Jupiter. They are grouped around the 11th house LP and again denote rather introverted forces . . . Data: April 17, 1958, 9:54 pm, Washington DC.

Example 5: Male, type 1: Ascendant sextile Venus, opposed to Uranus/Neptune conjunction in 8th. Sun-Venus conjunct at 12th house cusp in "one way" trine to Uranus/Neptune and "one way" square to Saturn forming a retrograde Learning Triangle. Moon-Jupiter in the 4th, Mars in aspect to Jupiter and the Moon. Data: May 12, 1992, 7:42 am, Richmond, VA.

At the very top of this page I described Bruno Huber as a simpleton who was not smart enough to learn astrology, and so invented a pastiche instead. Also, above, in notes on a bibliography, I noted the Hubers were not well read. In Brigit Braun's essay on diabetes we see the result of this willful ignorance. It's not that she's wrong, but that she is so vague as to be useless. She has given us an analysis of a disease that can be, not only crippling, but fatal as well. (I lost a cousin to it, type 1.)

Charles Carter wrote on diabetes. His book, An Encyclopaedia of Psychological Astrology was first published in 1924, the final edition was 1954. I have sold it since 1995. I ship world-wide, including to German speaking countries, I have been on-line since January, 1996. When supply of a mid-1970's edition was exhausted, I myself reprinted it in 2003. It has always sold well. I do not know if it has ever been translated into German, but it is certainly well-known to all who will take the trouble. Carter is much better known than Jane Ridder-Patrick, for example, which is not to disparage Jane. Here is Carter on diabetes:

Diabetes. So far as my examples go, there is no disease which shows the value of specific areas better than this, the particular region in diabetes being about 17 Cancer - Capricorn. In one case the planets fall (Moon conjunct Venus) in 17 Aries. Planets in Aries - Libra are common. Typical planetary configurations are: Sun will be found in affliction with Uranus. Sun is less commonly in affliction with Neptune. Jupiter is afflicted by Uranus and less frequently is in strong aspect with Mars or one of the other majors. Mars, Saturn and Neptune, or two of them, are in strong aspect. Mercury is in affliction with Mars, showing the nervous condition which often goes with this ailment, just as the strong aspects usually held by Jupiter indicate the fatness to which the victims are prone. (pg. 69)
Let us review the five cases.
Example 1: Sun conjunct Uranus (in Gemini). Sun trine Neptune. Jupiter inconjunct Uranus, trine Mars. Mars/Saturn square. Mars/Neptune inconjunct. Saturn/Neptune sextile. Mercury/Mars sextile. Jupiter/Venus opposed. Neptune in Libra.

Example 2: Sun-Venus at 16 Aries. Pluto 12 Libra. Sun trine Neptune. Jupiter square Mars, Jupiter sextile Saturn, trine Neptune. Mars square Neptune. Mercury sextile Mars (wide). North node in Libra.

Example 3: Mercury 16 Capricorn. Neptune in Libra. Sun trine Uranus. Sun trine Neptune. Mars/Neptune trine. Saturn/Mars conjunct.

Example 4: Moon at 16 Aries, with Sun and Mercury also in Aries. Jupiter in Libra. Sun in opposition to Neptune (out of sign). Jupiter sextile Pluto. Jupiter sextile Saturn. Jupiter opposed Sun/Mercury. Mercury sextile Mars (air and fire).

Example 5: Uranus 17 Capricorn. Neptune 18 Capricorn. Mars in Aries. Sun trine Uranus, Sun trine Neptune. Jupiter/Mars inconjunct.

The Huber people should stick to their vague mumbling. Braun's essay on diabetes is preceded by an essay by Agnes Hauser on psychosomatic illness. Braun is followed by an essay on tarot and astrology. Lots of variety in these two Astrolog essay collections. We will presumably see more.

HopeWell, 306 pages.


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