a note on ficino

Whether or not we are acquainted with the deeper form of astrology, nearly all of us are familiar with the occasional mention (albeit superficial) of the twelve symbols in day-to-day conversation. "What sign are you?" Or someone complains about a boastful and self-centered boss..."Ugh, he's such a Leo". It might be about their serious "capricorn" friend, who wouldn't buy them an extra drink but will VERY happily throw money at an expensive brand of shoes because..."well these shoes will actually last.'' Even on the surface, these symbols are well established. And what for many starts out as a fun game of stereotypes, ends up as a much more intricate goose-chase of why we are the way we are. The rise of astro chatter on the web has made even the loudest and least-equipped ranter inch towards some detail. With the amount of astro-blogs or gram accounts dedicated to zodiac-related jokes, chart readings and natal aspects, you'd have to tape your eyes shut and put cotton buds in your ears to remain clue-free on the subject.

Now, more nuance has appeared: we see someone post a rage about how they were blanked by their gemini ex! Or your phone breaks because mercury has finally "gone into retrograde." This all seems like new talk but of course, astrology has already stood the long and strange test of time. No matter how far it may swing in or out of fashion, the angles and patterns apply:

-the joys of complaining- To those of you who enjoy a bit of a whinge about your difficult moon sign, it may come as a surprise that nearly 560 years ago, a man named Marsilio was doing just that. In a series of pretty chatty letters to his friends and colleagues across northern italy,  Marsilio Ficino makes mention of the heavy and rather depressing effect of his natal moon in capricorn, giving his temperament a most "unfortunate melancholia". He also praises the patience and spectacular achievements of his patron, Lorenzo di Medici, (Capricorn Sun) the rich benefactor of Florence at the time. Marsilio was aware of the power and ever-present nature of the transits, and he reassures one of his younger friends that Jupiter will soon bring him better luck (even noting that such a transit might lighten his own depression!). Ficino was one of the towering yet more obscure scholars behind the 15th Century Italian Renaissance that would give new life and new light to a Europe stuck in the Middle Ages.

Ficino himself located and translated a great many ancient texts from the Greco-Roman Era (including most of Plato's works). He had a particular eye for classical astrology, and seems to have plucked it from the gutter of the dark ages: he certainly rated the subject highly despite the confusion of his contemporaries. He was even accused of heresy, but the Pope acquitted him, since Ficino, a theologian himself, well defended his case for astrology as a holy and natural study on the clockwork of the sky and an elegant window into the harmonious workings of the world. This laid the precedent for others like Gallileo to later on study the heavens in a more physical and detached way, giving birth to early modern science. But Ficino himself remained very alive to the symbolic significance of the planets and their motion, which according to the ancient interpretation, weighed on everything: our moods, our opportunities, our very spirit.

Thanks to Ficino's respect for the indefinable nature of an ancient art, the integral absurdity of astrology remains a little more intact: At a crucial interval in history, he was probably one of only a few people in Europe who carried the strange torch on from antiquity to the next era. It was and still is a very ripe ground for fraud, hocus pocus and all manner of cheap variations, whereby the lazy practitioner presents the great unknown and expects to be paid for it. But there will always be prudent minds that are interested in, and retain enough humility to consider, the neat mystery of a natal chart...

-definitions- The character of time for one moment: The snapshot of the sky when we were born. Somehow, it really has an uncanny amount to say about our potential. Nothing will convince anyone of this except experience, patience and exploration of the subject. For that reason, realising its actual value happens gradually and almost despite ourselves and our intervening. This cross over from silly to serious is difficult territory, because according to the proud human mind, the sky really shouldn't carry such insights at all. But when we step back, and look at it, the natal chart resembles a unique fingerprint of degrees. These placements taken together represent the tensions and angles of the planets at the time of birth. I repeat these definitions to let a curious fact sink in: the natal chart is much more like a photograph or blueprint than anything else.

To be fair to bad astrologers everywhere, it takes an enormous time to learn how to read a chart well. Some people say it takes over half a lifetime to become a veteran astrologer. This makes more sense when you consider the size of the language, angles, aspects that all have to be interpeted to give someone a decent reading on their potential and their pitfalls.

Back to Ficino... However miserable his low moods, Marsilio was a remarkably erudite and broad-minded personality for his time. Although of course literacy was low in 15th century Italy, It is not common, in my view, to read any texts from this era that are as sharp and self-aware as his letters are. He worshipped the idea of developing one's personal wisdom and good character, stressing the importance of friendship despite, and especially during, the hardships of life. In his letters you can often sense his use of genuine gratitude and  of praising the good in others in order to encourage even himself out of long held sorrows. Later, The 17th century English astrologer, William Lilly, set down major works that are still read today. He also had the moon in Capricorn. (It is worth noting he was respected enough to be consulted by Lords and members of parliament). These were some serious and careful personalities and their toils are not to be dismissed. A large part of the western astrological tradition has rested on their painstaking work, which no doubt many of the more mercenary astrologers and fortune tellers of the day had neither the time nor the patience to do. Cap moons tend to be builders like that.

A passing mention on moons: Whereas the rest of us would build a house and be proud of it, a cap moon will build a house, rent it out and then write a manual on how to build houses. For our music, on the other hand, we usually depend on the opposite approach, (that of the opposite sign) The crab moons, who savour and feel every joy and every pain to the fullest extent. For this reason they make successful musicians: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Page, Tom Waits, Kurt Cobain and Taylor Swift. Actors must also feel the moment (for example, the expressive faces of Sean Penn and Miranda Kerr). For new ground, the sign of the restless wanderer, Sagittarius, crops up. Renown for never taking anything for an answer. (Composers Mozart and Rameau were Sagittarius Moons for example, as well as the tireless inventor Edison and the near unstoppable Einstein). All explored with fire and flair things that had not been done before.

Of course such generalizing is usually a no-no, because the whole chart is necessary for anything like a judgement: but the symbol-based patterns above do hold sway, remarkably often, and i think a simple study of the moon signs is always very instructive.

Many feel boxed or labelled by such language. "I'm a this. Oh He's a that." But really, it's up to your maturity not to hold the badge so tightly. Consider what it is saying about you. The signs and symbols only describe tendencies: nobody's soul identity is under attack - and once we understand the language, we don't get so attached or so threatened by what the chart might spell out to us: oftentimes it's humorous. The chart is almost like a list of the clothes we wear.

In my fairly long study of such madness, having misread charts and then recorrected them, and then relearnt entire concepts, I can certainly affirm the old saying: getting it wrong taught me the most. I maintain at this point, that the enigma of astrology, (older than the lighthouse of alexandria) is best understood as an affectionate sketch, and best used as a tool to understand one's own potential. The natal chart becomes less abstract when you notice that you too, are a walking mystery.