Editor ’ s letter
Prince Charles and astrology
First , my congratulations to the graduates with an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology who on 8 July met HRH The Prince of Wales at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David . Astrology was indeed publicly honoured ( see our report by course director and Sophia Centre chair Dr Nicholas Campion on page 9 ). The Prince visited the university ’ s Lampeter campus to take part in a special ceremony celebrating his commitment to “ sustainability and harmony ” - core objectives of his philosophical mission so routinely mocked , misrepresented or ignored by mainstream media . So , this is a good moment to offer a very brief amplification of the Prince ’ s worldview or Weltanschauung , and astrology ’ s part in it .
“ We no longer live in a world of mystery . Yet at the heart of astrological practice and teaching lies a process that defies the strivings of the mind and is itself profoundly mysterious : how to ‘ see ’ symbolically .”
Angela Voss , ‘ From Allegory to Anagoge : the Question of Symbolic Perception in a Literal World ’
Back in 2006 Prince Charles gave a video presentation to the Sacred Web Conference ( Sacred Web calls itself a “ journal of Tradition and modernity ”). In it he drew attention to the philosophical education charity the Temenos Academy of which he is patron . He said : “ From the beginning , the Temenos Academy has been both committed to the perennial philosophy and to the notion that Man is , at root , a spiritual creature with spiritual and intellectual needs which have to be nourished if we are to fulfil our potential ”.
A couple of explanations may be helpful . ‘ Perennial philosophy ’ holds that no matter the diversity of world religions each is rooted in one universal truth - a view adapted from Plato . There is an essential unity of faiths . As for the Temenos Academy , this was launched in 1990 and originally housed in the Prince of Wales ’ Institute of Architecture in Regent ’ s Park . In a 2006 speech at a Temenos event the Prince wondered why he was drawn to the Academy ’ s work when so few other people are . He said that it was because of his “ excessive fascination … with the knowledge and experience of older people ”. He also disdained the Enlightenment notion that the “ science method alone was the path to knowledge ”.
If we step forward to this year : Temenos ’ 2016 summer term programme included a talk entitled ‘ The Hermetic Imagination ’ by practising astrologer Dr Angela Voss which , inter alia , addressed the question of whether “ divinatory practice ( i . e . astrology or tarot ) can regain a spiritual authority through the dynamic of symbolic interpretation ”. As for Sacred Web , among its published essays , do look up one by Dr Rodney Blackhirst : ‘ Above and Below : Correspondence in Astrology ’.
Astrology is not central to the teachings of Sacred Web or Temenos but most certainly is accepted by both in their espousal of unity through different spiritual faiths , practices and perspectives . It ’ s fair to say that the Prince was among fellow-travellers in his warm meeting with Nick Campion ’ s graduates at Lampeter .
Cover : Cat Keane
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Brexit
I make no apology for the space allocated to this topic . I should confess that the EU referendum result did not please me at all - I voted Remain . But there ’ s no doubting that one indisputable winner was astrology . Both trads and mods did the legacy of John Dee proud and prophesied the UK ’ s flight from Brussels . And given the importance of Brexit - one of those rare tectonic shifts in the nation ’ s direction - it is only right that we opportunistically use this event to showcase a variety of techniques in mundane astrology . Astrologers may have differed wildly in approach as they reached the same conclusion , but the 23 rd degree seems to have been a common theme . The 23rd degree of what ? Well , read our Brexit package . All is explained . www . facebook . com / AstrologicalJournal
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Victor Olliver Editor
The Astrological Journal Sep / Oct 2016 3