complained. “They’ll just break sooner or later!” The optimistic child was placed in another room which was
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completely filled with horse dung. Undaunted, he seized a shovel and commenced to dig. When asked why by the
scientists, he said, “All this dung has got to mean there’s a pony down there somewhere!”
Diane’s reference was to my [and her and Anton’s] dogged faith in the ultimate consequence and merit of the
Church of Satan despite its many growing pains. Satanism was a concept smothered in popular misconceptions,
absurd myths, and general bad craziness. Somewhere down there was a pony, but to find it sure required [and still
requires] a lot of digging.
Astrology is a similar pile of dung, equally high and equally smelly. Sitting atop it are hoards of quack
astrologers who enjoy the smell and make a living out of selling bags of dung to people walking by the pile. Nearby
stand the Carl Sagans, who try to convince the people not to buy the bags. Most, however, buy at least a small bag.
And a few buy great big sacks, which they lug around for the rest of their lives, huffing and puffing with the strain.
Near the base of the pile, comparatively unnoticed, stand Robert Zoller and a few other brave souls, armed with
shovels.
What are some of the objections the Carl Sagans have to astrology? Well:
(1)
The constellations are out of synch with the signs (“precession of the equinoxes”). This means that
astrological techniques which appeal to their “ancient origins” for validity are astronomically
inaccurate.
(2) Twins have significantly divergent lives. [Sagan harped on this in the Cosmos series & book.]
(3) A horoscope requires a “beginning” point in time. Why should this be birth? Why not conception?
And what is the “moment” of birth, since the average birth takes 1-2 hours? If “radiation from the
planets” is supposed to be the factor, it affects a child in the womb as much as a born child, either
directly or via the foetus’ dependence upon the life-rhythms of the mother.
(4) Even assuming that astrology does have an influence over an individual, how strong or weak is that
influence vs. the multitude of social/personal/ etc. influences that will affect his/her life? Is it so weak
as to be of no practical importance?
(5) Medieval astrology was based on the presumed influence of light/heat rays. This applies to the Sun
and Moon, to be sure, but not to the planets. The sum total of heat and light reaching us from them is
less than that of a single light bulb. [Not until 1954 were the planets (Jupiter & Venus, at least) known
to be emitting EM radiation.]
(6) Astrologers base their interpretations of planetary influence on the mythological characteristics of the
planets’ namesakes, not on the physical characteristics of the planets themselves. Same complaint
concerning the zodiac. It is no answer to say that the gods might have been named after the planets,
since the original Egyptian and Babylonian gods attributed to those planets/decans had significantly
different characteristics than those of later astrological tradition.
(7) Astrological angles are not precise, since most horoscopes use only 8 out of the possible 360°. And
how does one measure the Sun’s angle vs. the Moon as 90° since at the limits of their spheres they
may be separated any~here from 76°30’ to 103°30’?
(8) What happens to the influence of planets/stars when said influence must bore 8,000 miles through
the Earth [because the source happens to be on the other side of the planet from the birth in
question]?
(9) What about the influence of the bunches and bunches of other stars, systems, comets, nebulæ,
quasars, pulsars, galaxies, novæ, supernovæ, etc.? For that matter, what about planets in this system
not yet discovered when the astrological traditions were being ennobled by centuries of application [or
just now discovered, like the one beyond Pluto]? What about the Mars/Jupiter asteroid belt? What
about the satellites of the planets?
(10) Since the entire Solar System is revolving around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at 200 km/sec,
and since everything in the cosmos changes its position vs. everything else continuously, how can
astrology use any “constants” at all?
So where’s the pony? Actually there are two of them. The first pony is, as Anton LaVey suggested, astrology’s
suitability as a Lesser Magical device. Under the cover of its colorful ooga-booga language, charts, and books, you
can tell someone anything you want to - and astrology will help get him/her to believe it and/or do it. Since it is so
disorganized a discipline, no two astrologers can “disprove” or “expose” one another. So commercial astrology is just
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one more trick to part people from their money for nothing and make them go away happy, like commercial Tarot-
reading, crystal-ball-gazing, tea-leaf-reading, head-bump-feeling, etc.
The second pony is, from the Order of the Trapezoid’s perspective, far more interesting. Watson touched on it,
but the definitive discussion of it to date is in Playfair and Hill’s The Cycles of Heaven. The second pony is that the
Sun, Moon, and planets exert far more influence on both the Earth in general and human beings in particular than
most suspect. Only recently has conventional science begun to study this. Astrologers who really want to make
something of their avocation are in an excellent position to sink their teeth into this area of inquiry, with the goal of
producing guidelines which people can use for the prediction of moods and behavior in themselves and others.
What kind of forces are actually moving between the Sun and planets of our Solar System? Two: gravity and
electromagnetic (EM) radiation. The gravitational force of the other planets has near-negligible influence upon
Earth; our tidal phenomena are overwhelmingly from the Moon and Sun (which has 99% of all mass in its system).
But the gravity of the various planets does seem to have an interesting influence on the Sun itself.
To understand why, consider that the Sun does not “hang motionless” in the center of the Solar System. It
changes its position relative to those of the planets around a common Center of Mass (CCM) which [as in the years
1977-1984] may be outside the body of the Sun altogether.
U.S. Air Force scientist Paul D. Jose has theorized that the Sun’s motion relative to the CCM is directly related to
the maximum and minimum periods of Solar flare activity. He has calculated an 11.08-year cycle, with most current
maxima in 1984 & 1995. During a Solar flare there is an increase of X-rays and UV radiation into the so-called Solar
wind, a stream of high-energy particles ca. 1 million Kelvin ejected at about 1 million mph from the Sun’s corona and
traveling to Earth through the spiral arms of the Sun’s own magnetic field.
What happens when such bursts of EM radiation reach Earth? We are shielded from their direct effects by the
Van Allen belts, but EM “storms” are produced which do nasty things to Earth’s radio communications systems.
More insidiously, the radiation causes an increase in atmospheric ionization. Because the negatively-charged Earth
repels negative ions, we get a heavier than normal dose of positive ions near the planet’s surface. Pos-ions, as all
Setians should know by now, make you nervous, grouchy, angry, and unhealthy. Neg-ions are good for you and
make y
ou feel great.
The Moon’s role in all of this, apart from oceanic and atmospheric tidal effects, may boil down to its increased
reflection of W/X-ray radiation to Earth during its fuller phases. Full Moon = maximum pos-ions = all the agitation
associated with full Moons, up to & including lycanthropy. This theory would require the Moon’s reflected radiation
to be “added to” the direct radiation produced by the Sun, thus crossing a kind of “human tolerance threshold”.
Hence, through this intricate connective chain, the positions of the planets may very well affect Earth-dwellers -
here and now, and based not upon woolly things like birth dates and Greek-god myths, but upon demonstrable but
not well-known or finally-proven laws of quantum mechanics.
Again as most Setians know [reading list #19J], the human body is a-quiver with its own EM fields and EM-field
detection systems. The less one is grounded, the more one is sensitive to atmospheric EM disturbances. Most of us
live in a jungle of electrical wires and currents, some (such as AC current) in the ELF-range. In addition to needing
more precise information about atmospheric EM activity, then, we need similar information concerning conditions
on this planet that either enhance, retard, or shield that activity.
Haunted house Dept.: Researchers of West Germany’s Verein für Geobiologie search, among other things, for
buildings with “uncomfortable” mixtures of EM radiation. Lest it be thought that this is a German eccentricity, I
recently ran into a San Francisco electronic instrumentation firm handling the same sorts of problems for bay area
companies. A vibrating air-conditioner on the roof of a skyscraper can cause infrasonic resonance throughout the
entire structure, making some people ill and setting others at co-workers’ throats. But the German VfG carries its
EM detective-work one step further. Its “geobiologists” theorize that the surface of the Earth is criss-crossed by a
network of “active strips” about 2m wide. The junctions of such strips are called “geopathic” zones, since they can
cause mental and/or physical discomfort.
Electrical resistance of the Earth can be measured by driving spikes into the ground and passing a small current
through the ground between them. The geobiologist, H. Petschke, has stated that when this was done within a
geopathic zone, a maximum of conductivity was found corresponding exactly to the position of the “active strips”.
Such a difference in conductivity could influence air ionization over the zone, as well as the flow of air and ground
currents. Perhaps we have here the first real clue to “cursed” spots, such as buildings in which people feel extremely
uneasy [or become “possessed” ].
“I ain’t afraid of no EM!” Dept.: Dr. S.W. Tromp of the Biometeorological Research Centre in Leiden, the
Netherlands has found that dowsers (persons so sensitive to EM disturbance that they react to the weak current
created by the passage of water underground) are able to detect the presence of IR radiation and electrostatic fields
from another human body - without its having to be present. A measurable “electrostatic aura” generated by one or
more living bodies in a room can remain there for hours or even days after the individual’s departure - as long as it
has a non-grounded object (such as a bed or chair) to cling to. Grounding the item in question will cause the “EM
shadow” to vanish. Advice to amateur ghostbusters: Take a water-pistol with you. In the case of heavy ghost
infestations, a water-submachine gun modeled after an UZI is available from Edmund Scientific Corporation.
All of which is to say that the Temple of Set is ready for some Parastrologers, and it looks as though the first one
is here, Geiger counter in one hand and UZI in the other.
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Book Review: The Lost Key to Prediction by Robert Zoller
NY: Inner Traditions, 1980.
- reviewed by Michael A. Aquino VI°, GM.Tr.
Let’s start with the synopsis from the book jacket:
The book is divided into three sections. The first, in order to answer the question “What are the parts?”,
searches for the primary aim of the astrological art in the greater question “What is man?”. The essence of
what is called karma in the East and fate in the West is to be found in the esoteric nature of number and in
the parts, a system of predicating fate. It is from this point that the author shows how the various
astrological causes arise and how they act on the macrocosm and microcosm.
The second section is the author’s translation of an important Latin text on the parts by Guido Bonatti,
considered the most influential astrologer of the 13th century. Bonatti explains how to derive over 100
parts, from the mundane to the esoteric, covering all areas of life represented by the 12 houses. In this major
work Bonatti is seen to take his rightful place as one of the great sages of Western astrology, equivalent in
rank to Farashara and Varahamihira in Indian astrological history.
In the third section the author illustrates the practical use of the parts through his own experience and
practice as an astrologer, in natal, horary, and mundane figures. Among other examples he uses the parts to
reveal startling insights into the Watergate scandal, and to construct an original astrological guide to
commodities speculations. Zoller’s understanding of the parts and their place in a comprehensive
interpretation of any horoscope is breathtakingly unraveled for the reader, who is able to see step-by-step
the fascinating revelation of the parts.
As a historical text this is a first-rate work. Zoller is obviously not the usual cocktail-party astrologer, but rather
someone intensely curious about the medieval roots of modern astrological principles. The notes [especially in
Section #1] and bibliography evidence exhaustive research into primary sources. Zoller’s explanations and
speculations are carefully and thoughtfully presented and illustrated.
Zoller’s end-run around the scientific fallacies of conventional astrology is ingenious. He does not try to justify
cosmic bodies’ direct influence on a human being. Rather he contends that the study of cosmic bodies should be
considered a “study of the soul writ large” [in much the same way that Plato’s Republic was a study of man’s political
character “writ large”]. Says Zoller:
The “stars” and planets” employed in astrology are therefore within - in the heart of the world when we
are dealing with mundane astrology, and in the native’s heart in genethlialogy. We deal with the material
globes in astrology only insofar as they are used to time the movements of the inner “planets” and “stars”
that lie hidden at the center of man’s being. Herein lies the true difference between the astronomer and the
astrologer; and until this is fully apprehended, the more subtle astrological doctrines - such as the parts -
will remain unintelligible.
This instantly raises the problem as to (a) whether there is in fact a psychic “microcosmos” of planets and stars
whirling around in our minds, and (b) if so, whether there is any true cause-and-effect relationship between that
microcosmos and the external macrocosmos.
Materially and objectively the answer to #a is obviously no. We are not talking about a sort of HO-gauge
miniature solar system, however, but rather the ability of the psyche to conceptualize the cosmos as a
thought. In that sense, Zoller is on soli
d [and, I think, evolutionary] ground.
Materially and objectively the answer to #b is also no. I can create a thought-image of Jupiter whenever I wish
to, but that image will have only the most superficial factual connections with the macrocosmic planet [unless I
happen to be an astronomer who is intimately familiar with the planet’s actual characteristics, locus, etc.].
Subjectively the answer to #b becomes yes - in a Lesser Magical context. Jupiter has significance for me to the
extent that I feel it does, whether or not the macrocosmic planet gives a damn about me [which I rather doubt it
does]. Jupiter’s psychological significance for me may be as a consequence of my own opinions - or as a
consequence of opinions created for me by astrologers. I presumably want to please myself. Astrologers either want
to please me or control me, either for harmless “entertainment” motives or for exploitive/financial ones.
So if Zoller’s premise is correct, he has exploded the balloon of conventional astrology’s insistence upon the
physical influence of the macrocosmos on humanity. So why does he then, in Section #3 of his book, give us several
chapters of conventional horoscopes? One would prefer to think that this is merely to illustrate the historical
principles identified in Section #2. But the reader’s intelligence is scarcely flattered by a succession of tabloid-tricks
such as “after the fact” astrological explanations of Watergate and the commodities market. Perhaps a bit of snake-
oil was thought necessary to help sell the book to the tabloid-astrology market.
The analytical power that Zoller demonstrates in Section #1 is re-evidenced in the book’s concluding chapter, in
which he focuses on the essential issue of his study:
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Yet it was said that to the degree that we expand our observation away from ourselves and out toward
the manifested Creation, to that degree we may see that every aspect of the world except for One
participates in cyclic mutation. What is this One thing which is immutable, the same, always present? What
indeed, other than the Self, the observer of the change, whose uncovering is the aim of spiritual counseling?
This alone is the thread which strings together the pearls of experience. This is the fountain, the spring from
The Temple of Set II Page 92
