Early astrology knew nothing of the outer planets. As they were discovered and added to the zodiacal lexicon, astrologers had extra tools for interpretation, expanded further by the addition of Chiron. In recent times Fixed Stars like Algol, Scheat, Alphard, have come back into vogue as helpful tools. And now asteroids are also coming to the forefront (despite Richard Idemon’s witty dismissal of them as ‘cosmic detritus’.
My software lists 81 asteroids which is an overwhelming number were they all to carry cogent information and raises a suspicion they could be used an an explanation for almost anything.
Despite my Virgoan misgivings, I read with increasing appreciation a new ebook out on Pholus – Cults, Intoxication and the Divine by Ben Belinsky, the first of a series of four on the centaurs. The author explains that the major planets e.g. Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn etc have rulerships and a specific job description. Whereas the centaurs of which Chiron was the first to be discovered, are identified with their narrative. Chariklo, Nessus and Asbolus are the others.
Pholus was the guardian of a flask of wine, gifted by Dionysus, Greek god of fertility, religious ecstasy, ritual madness and drunkenness. When the divine legacy of Dionysus is released as the flask is opened it can lead to:- a mad stampede, a volley of poisoned arrows, religious ecstasy or poetic inspiration. It takes us beyond the rational mind so the Pholus ‘experience’ can be transcendental, angelic or psychotic.
Pholus is connected to panic, herd mentality, fanaticism, (fan is a shortened version of fanatic), possession by a god or demon, ‘a religious maniac’, ecstasy, mass hysteria, intoxication by alcohol or drugs, a state of emotional excitement, elation, or exhilaration, the loss of sense of individuality in a mass or collective. Cults. Mobs. Mind-control. To enslave.
Atavism – the tendency of reversion. Those who “look backwards, feeling deprived of a real or imagined past” and relates it to the rise of populism.
Ancestral legacy – the wine that Pholus had guardianship of was gifted four generations before.
The author Ben Belinsky, a practising London astrologer with a background in Jungian psychology and a degree in Comparative Religion, points up why Pholus is so relevant to our time.
He quotes: Gustave Le Bon, ‘The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind’. “The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them.” “Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”
And Joost Meerloo, ‘The Rape of the Mind.’ “Logic can be met with logic, while illogic cannot – it confuses those who think straight. The Big Lie and monotonously repeated nonsense have a more emotional appeal… than logic and reason.”
His insights into both Pholus and the present mindset in certain quarters are helpful. “In a cult, what we project onto the leader is our own sense of divinity, in other words our divine self. We become worshippers, devotees, they become our saviours, our protectors; in effect they become gods. And through them we achieve religious ecstasy.”
Two thirds of the book are chart examples of which cult leaders are most illuminating. Jim Jones of the suicide cult has Pholus on his Ascendant. Marchall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate (extra-terrestrials) had Pholus on his Midheaven. Timothy Leary, early advocate of psychodelic drugs also had Pholus on his Ascendant. Ron Hubbard, who invented Scientology as a smart way to make money had his Jupiter in Scorpio and South Node conjunct Pholus in a Water Grand Trine.
Of the others I might have expected more obvious connections in Hitler and the Germany charts. Though both Hitler and the 1871 Germany chart has Pholus in the 5th perhaps hinting at the Third Reich’s popularity through grandstanding displays of pomp.
The USA 1776 chart has Pholus conjunct the South Node exactly which could point to the country’s reversionary need to hook into conspiracy theories, televangelists and populism. Donald Trump? His Pholus is opposition his Saturn and exactly opposition his Venus/Saturn midpoint. Oddly enough his Pholus falls in the 5th house of entertainment as well – so there may be a nugget of insight from that.
Of the other charts, my slight impression is that Pholus in aspect to the Moon or Venus is a frequent occurrence amongst notables.
Though the area is so new that much more research is needed.
Ben Belinksy’s book is extremely readable, with gripping illustrations of the old myths and their modern relevance, and psychologically perceptive.
It is, in a odd way, reassuring to be able to nail down the modern madness. Fandom of any variety – global, political or sporting – may not be arguable with but understanding its irrational kink does make it (marginally) easier to hack.
The ebook can be ordered from Amazon
See also: https://moonletter.co.uk/e-books/#pholus
The post Pholus – mobs, madness or inspiration first appeared on Astroinform with Marjorie Orr – Star4cast.
