CONTENTS Preface by Charles Harvey Introduction Part One: MERCURY Tricksters, Thieves, and Magicians: The Many Faces of Mercury in Mythology by Howard Sasportas Interpreting Mercury: Mercury in the Horoscope by Howard Sasportas Part Two: VENUS The Great Harlot: The Mythology and Psychology of Venus by Liz Greene The Law of Desire: An In-Depth Look at Venus by Howard Sasportas The Psychology of Erotic Love: A Discussion of Venus and Sexuality by Liz Greene Part Three: MARS The Warrior and the Womaniser: The Mythology and Psychology of Mars by Liz Greene The Henchman of the Sun: Mars in the Horoscope by Howard Sasportas Part Four: CHART INTERPRETATION Venus and Mars in Chart Interpretation: A Discussion with Examples by Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas Part Five: CONCLUSION Group Discussion: Questions and Answers About the Centre for Psychological Astrology PREFACE At the bar of history, contemporary judgements seldom prove reliable. Yet if one can be certain of anything it must be that Howard Sasportas will feature prominently in any list of the key figures involved in the reemergence of astrology as a major formative force in Western culture. It is no small tribute to the impact of the man and his work that at his death in London, England, at 17:11 BST, May 12, 1992 (as Pluto crossed his MC and the Sun his IC), Howard Sasportas became the very first astrologer in the history of the British Press to be honoured by a full length obituary. On the day of his funeral, this 1 appeared on the Gazette page of The Independent , complete with his smiling face. It was published alongside the Court Circular together with celebrations of the lives of two other outstanding souls: Marshal Nie Rongzhen, the last of Mao Tse-Tung's generals, and Sylvia Syms, described by Frank Sinatra as “the world's greatest saloon singer”; a juxtaposition of diverse human greatness that Howard's Venus in Gemini humour and his Mars with Saturn and Pluto in Leo aspirations would have richly appreciated. Howard's claim to fame and honour-beyond the relatively closed world of professional astrology—lies in the very fact that he was not content to let astrology blush unseen, unused and unconsidered by the larger world. He was determined to put astrology on the map of human consciousness in the service of humanity, and for the self-realization of individual souls. He was to give himself totally to this task with a zest, vitality, courage, wit, love, compassion, and wisdom that none who met him will ever forget. That today around the world a growing number of psychologists, therapists, counsellors, and others in the helping professions take astrology seriously as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool is in no small measure due to the labours, enthusiasm, and concern of Howard Sasportas. In this work, Howard's pivotal achievement was his visionary founding, together with Liz Greene, of the Centre for Psychological Astrology, at the time of the Saturn-Pluto and Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions of 1983. Their centre set out a rigorous professional training program designed to cross-fertilise the fields of astrology and depth, humanistic, and transpersonal psychology, with students being expected to undergo their own personal therapy as an integral part of their training (for further details, see About the Centre, p. 330). From the outset, the curriculum also included a deep concern with mythology and the study of the principles of kabbala and the tarot. With this potent combination, Howard and Liz created a crucial aquaduct between the rivers of depth and height psychology and the already swelling stream of renascent astrology. The riches that have flowed from and through this confluence are now apparent for all to see. Under Howard and Liz's inspired direction, the Centre for Psychological Astrology has gone from strength to strength, attracting to it some of the finest and most enquiring and imaginative minds in both fields. In the process it has generated directly, and indirectly, an incomparable wealth of astro-psychological literature, one precious volume of which you are now holding. The present transcripts, like the three preceding volumes in this Seminars series, give a taste of the breadth and depth of understanding that Howard brought to his work as a teacher, and the fiery vitality and enthusiasm of his presentations and dialogues with the Centre's students. As always, here we see his probing, lively, intuitive mind ever eager to bring out the inner life of the planetary gods, bringing new and profound insights to the commonplaces of astrology, and yet at one and the same time educing and drawing out the students' own inner understanding. So where, we may ask, was Howard coming from? He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, USA at 1.46 A.M. EST on April 12, 1948. Students will find endless instruction in the contemplation of his birth chart with the sheer power and vitality of all of its Fire and Earth which he lived and enjoyed to the full as pioneer, consolida-tor, and nourisher. But, as always, we can learn much from placing the man and his chart in its family context. Howard's parents, Max and Edith Sasportas, were from a long line of devout orthodox Sephardic Jews; and though he was later to become open to all dimensions of the spiritual life, these primary roots were undoubtedly of great significance to him. The Sephardim, the Jews of Spain, have always been noted for their cultural and intellectual achievements, and some, like Maimonides (1135–1204), played central parts in the return of the ancient wisdom tradition to Europe. It was, for example, Arab and Sephardic Jewish astronomer-astrologers who were engaged by Alfonso X of Spain in the 1250s to prepare the Alfonsine Tables of planetary movement that were so crucial to the development of astrology in Europe. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, they dispersed throughout Europe and North Africa. One of these Sephardim, Jacob Sasportas (born in Oran, Morocco 1610, died 1698), a direct ancestor of Howard's, was to become London's first Rabbi in 1664. The Sasportases later moved on to Amsterdam and, in due course, to the USA. Whether it was consciously or unconsciously, this great creative Sephardic tradition undoubtedly informed an important level of Howard's life. In 1973, Howard moved to London, England, perhaps subliminally drawn back to Europe by these ancient and illustrious roots. Here he was soon to become involved in the emerging astrology movement that was focused around the independent Faculty of Astrological Studies. The FAS had been founded in London in 1948 by the great Charles Carter, Edmund Casselli, Margaret Hone, and Lorenz von Sommaruga for the purpose of advancing the understanding of the astrological tradition and producing practicing astrologers of integrity. In 1979, Sasportas was awarded the Gold Medal for the Faculty of Astrological Studies' Diploma Exam, its highest honour, and the same year became a tutor for the Faculty and began to establish himself as an immensely popular teacher and speaker there and with the Astrological Association. As someone who believed that education is a way of life, Howard continued his exploration of psychology and spiritual studies, as well as astrology over the following years. He was a graduate of the London based Psychosynthesis and Education Trust, which focuses on the very broadly based psychological theories and methods of the Italian psychologist Roberto Assagioli and also of the highly influential Centre for Transpersonal Psychology founded by Ian Gordon-Brown and Barbara Somers. The evergrowing breadth and certitude of Howard's inner spiritual vision was undoubtedly also assisted by his lifelong practice of Transcendental Meditation which he had taken up while still at college. Sasportas was not only a superb teacher and counsellor but also, when he could find time from his endlessly active teaching and therapeutic practice, a fine writer. In addition to the transcripts of his seminars at the Centre, his books, such as The Gods of Change and The Twelve Houses, are models of clarity and have all the freshness and humour of his brilliant and engaging lectures. The Gods of Change, like most of his writing, is a classic in its field. It illuminates the profound transformative significance of the cycles of the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in the unfoldment of a human life. In it, his own wealth of personal experience, study, and client work shines through as he teaches us how we can learn to collaborate with the inevitability of change and find the deeper meaning and significance behind the periods of pain and crisis 2 in our lives. Just as he constantly encouraged students to grow and fulfill their own unique potential, so too as series editor of Viking-Penguin's Arkana Contemporary Astrology Series from 1987 to 1991, he seized an opportunity to bring real astrology to a much larger audience and was responsible for encouraging his fellow astrology writers to give of their very best for astrology, as I was myself privileged to discover. In that series, he put together a superb collection of books by some of the world's leading astrologers, such as Liz Greene, Judy Hall, Michael Harding, Melanie Reinhart, and Jane Ridder- Patrick. This widely available series has perhaps done as much as anything to transform the public's perception of astrology and to show it to be a subject worthy of serious study by all those concerned with better understanding the human psyche and the profound mysteries of our intimate relationship with the Cosmos. Howard was full of vibrant fun, a warm, eloquent, loving soul, radiating light, who was both vital and dynamic, and even at times wildly outrageous— yet always humble, human, and ever ready to make himself available to anyone who sought his help and counsel. Like many of the finest teachers, Howard was a man who was in touch equally with his femininity and his masculinity; he was able to bring both qualities to his work, thereby sensitively educing the inner wisdom from his students, that personal wisdom which he knew was the essential prerequisite of every real psychologist and astrologer. In many ways Howard was the archetypal Hero Soul depicted by Joseph Campbell. He was the Seeker who journeys ever onward, overcoming all obstacles in the quest for self-discovery and self-realisation. Howard's triumphs are for all to see. What will be unknown to those who did not have the privilege of meeting him in his later years was his constant battle with chronic ill health. During his last years, he bravely endured two major back operations undergone in an attempt to correct a congenital spinal disorder. These operations were to virtually cripple him, while, at the same time, he had to face the remorseless progress of AIDS to which he finally succumbed. Yet none of these trials prevented him continuing to live life to the utmost, not only with his Centre and therapeutic work, but voluntarily giving much of his time and energy at the Oasis Centre in North London for AIDS sufferers. Although wheelchair bound in his last year, he continued to travel and lecture worldwide to fulfill his vocation of showing how the ancient planetary and mundane gods are still alive and well and working in each one of us. His final triumphant lectures at the Easter 1992 UAC Conference in Washington, DC, which he gave from his wheelchair between blood transfusions and nights in hospital, marked a fitting culmination to his noble and truly heroic life. His enthusiastic committment to life and self-realization against all odds was endlessly uplifting for his many friends and students. Howard's work lives on through his books and tapes and will continue to inspire and enthuse generations of astrologers yet unborn. Read and study his life and work and you will have an example, friend, companion, and wise counsellor for life. Charles Harvey August 11, 1992 1 The Independent, May 18, 1992, p. 15. 2 For those readers who wish to read more by this key figure in twentieth-century astrology, Howard Sasportas's main opus is contained in seven books, including The Twelve Houses (1985); the Seminars in Psychological Astrology Series with Liz Greene containing The Development of the Personality (1987), The Dynamics of the Unconscious (1988), The Luminaries (1992), and The Inner Planets (1993); The Gods of Change—Pain, Crisis and the Transits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (1989); and The Sun Sign Career Guide, with Robert Walker (1989). Howard wrote few essays, but three were published in The Astrological Journal of the Astrological Association of Great Britain. Copies of recordings of his UAC lectures are available through AFAN, ISAR, or NCGR. Finally, for additional appreciations of the man and his work by colleagues and students, please see The Astrological Journal, vol. XXXIV, no. 5, September/ October 1992. INTRODUCTION Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. —Erich Fromm When I say “I,” I mean a thing absolutely unique, not to be confused with any other. —Ugo Betti The inner or personal planets — Mercury, Venus, and Mars — are understood by many astrological students and practitioners to be somehow superficial or “lightweight” in nature. They may appear less powerful than their bigger fellows; they are often dismissed with a few simple phrases such as “the aggressive urge” or “the urge for relationship”; and they are apparently not as relevant to inner development as are, for example, Saturn or Pluto. They are so personal, after all, and not concerned with serious issues like unconscious complexes and individuation and spiritual evolution. It might even seem as if they are not really very important in an in-depth psychological birth-chart analysis, except in terms of self-gratification — which, as we are perpetually being told by our more evolved colleagues, is such a very selfish motivation. This is a very curious view of what is important. Yet those in the helping professions, of which psychological astrology is one, are sometimes prone to adopt it unthinkingly. If a human need is too intimate, too concerned with subjective pleasure and happiness, then it cannot be cosmically meaningful in this dawning Aquarian Age. Personal fulfillment, especially if it means refusing to put others “first,” may not accord with what many of us would like to believe is the higher or deeper purpose of our lives. Statements like that of Erich Fromm — “Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is” — are generally understood as applicable to core identity and purpose, not to personal tastes and needs. Yet this is a great misinterpretation of