Gryphon Is Back!

Hello everyone, I am very excited to be back after a longish pause of almost four months. During this time, much has happened, but I have certainly not given up on traditional astrology! On the less-momentous scale, I got a much-needed update of my AstroDatabank software (which I heartily recommend to anyone with an interest in natal astrology. They have now added a few features especially nice for a traditional astrologer).

Past and Future Astro-Adventures of the Fearless Gryphon.

A more thrilling escapade (more thrilling than updating my astro software, even) lay in store a few weeks ago, when I went to a fantastic workshop with John Frawley in San Francisco. The workshop was two days. The first day consisted of discussions of natal astrology, while the second day focused on fixed stars. It was a wonderful experience, both because it was super educational (where else can you get a traditional perspective on the astrological links between George W. Bush’s chart and that for Baghdad?), but also because the caliber of the attendees was simply top-notch. Many of the attendees came from outside the Bay Area, the farthest being a strange land known as New Jersey. I was impressed with everyone and my only regret was that I didn’t get to spend a few hours talking with each person there.

My next astro-adventure is John Frawley’s conference in Fulda, Germany in early May (you can read about it on his website), which promises to be great fun. The two lecturers are John himself, and Branka Stamenkovic, a traditional astrologer from Belgrade. My understanding is that Fulda has at least one Internet café, so I plan to blog the conference from there with some pictures of the proceedings (watch in amazement as John and Branka fearlessly tame a stable of wild and dangerous antiscia!). I really look forward to meeting the European contingent of traditional astrologers as well. Not to mention the shopping in Germany (insert Homer Simpson drooling noise here). Needless to say, if you’re going to Fulda for the conference, send me an email and introduce yourself.

Future Blog Articles

So, what’s ahead for us here on the Gryphon Astrology blog? Last time we ended with some talk about the Fixed Stars. I have since gotten deeper into this topic, and have acquired a few books on mythology to better help me understand the underlying myths. I have even begun reading a few of the said books. I will talk more about a few major Fixed Stars from a mythological perspective, to better clarify the relationship between the myths and the stars’ use in a chart. Since last November, I have accumulated a few horaries I would like to share with you as well, so I will bring those out as time permits. Finally, I have been doing a lot of reading of the ancient Greek philosophers, courtesy of that prolific and incredibly gifted 18th-century translator, Thomas Taylor. The Greeks spent a great deal of time thinking about spiritual matters, as well as the unseen world in general. One of the things I found fascinating, especially within an astrological context, is the existence of what the Greeks called “Guardian Daemon,” which was co-opted into Christianity as Guardian Angel. Finding the nature of this entity in a chart poses an interesting challenge, and I look forward to addressing it in an upcoming article. In the meantime, stay tuned and once again, it’s good to be back.