Notes on Virgo (Garth Allen)

[Jim Eshelman]

Up On Things
(from "Your Powwow Corner" by Garth Allen, American Astrology 8/59)

Something mighty interesting, even fabulous, has already emerged from the early high-altitude studies of the sky by rocket-borne instruments. In November 1955 the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory sent a far-ultraviolet radiation recorder some 90 miles aloft, and brought down the news that there were celestial sources of this type radiation other than the Sun. Refinement of apparatus and improvement of ascent plans resulted in the send-off of an Aerobee-Hi rocket from the White Sands Proving Ground on the night of March 28, 1957. Purpose: To map the ultraviolet distribution in the night sky. Result: Success with surprises.

Biggest surprise of all was the discovery of what is called the Spica ultra-violet nebula, though it was established that the star itself is not the source of the excitation necessary to account for the amount of radiation being emitted. The Aerobee rotating mapper recorded patches of ultraviolet nebulae here and there about the sky, though most were concentrated in or near the plane of our galaxy. There was one out-standing exception, and that was a region of radiation having a sharp peak of intensity just one degree east of the star Spica.

And you know what? This is the very point which siderealists claim to be the zero point of the true zodiac! In the earliest years of Fagan's restoration of the original astrology he used the star Spica as the fiducial point of the sidereal zodiac. In 1949-50 Fagan made his momentous discovery of the origin of the exaltation degrees of the planet, which finding made him shift the fiducial point just one degree east of Spica. Not even the most painstaking statistical work has been able to improve on this determination by more than one-tenth of a degree. The narrowed-down point, as most readers know, is now referred to as the Synetic Vernal Point to distinguish it from other ayanamsas, all of which should have identifying names. Comes along a team of Navy scientists, now, with their report (published in detail in the November 1958 issue of the Astrophysical Journal) that this same point in the sky is the generating point of an invisible radiation so intense that all known theories are at a loss to explain its source. The core of the radiation is at 0° sidereal Libra, the pivotal point of the zodiac. It is well to remember that siderealists use this point, its opposition point and squares thereto, as the basic marking lines of the divisions of the zodiac, and our solar and lunar ingresses are actually transit phenomena in relation to this point. It could be a coincidence, this wholly unanticipated finding by our government wizards, but an astrologer can hardly suppress a chuckle at the statement made by one of the scientists: "The origin of this surprisingly intense radiation poses a difficult problem." For astrologers, the only riddle is whether the ancient founders of our science and its zodiac had abnormal eyesight that was sensitive to ultraviolet light, leading them to select this glow as the pivotal point in the sky. Or perhaps they had devices, unknown to modern technicians, which pointed to this radiating core in the heavens – and drew the correct conclusion.

[Jim Eshelman]

Virgo's Gift of Gab
(by Garth Allen from American Astrology 7/56)

The questions put to a syndicated newspaper Information Service was, "Who is considered to have been the greatest linguist who ever lived?" The published answer was, "Cardinal Joseph Gaspar Mezzofanti, who was born in Bologna, Italy , September 17, l774, is considered to have been the greatest linguist who ever lived. He spoke fluently 39 languages and in addition to these he spoke 11 more or less fluently and could understand though not speak 37 dialects."

What was it Manilius wrote about the constellation Virgo? "...Piercing thoughts and winning eloquence; with words persuasive, and with rhetoric strong they rule, and are even monarches by their tongue." From astrology's very beginnings, Mercury-ruled Virgo has been associated with a penchant for languages, so it seems only a matter of course that a native of the constellation Virgo would be honored as the greatest in this way by scholastic historians.

[Jim Eshelman]

The Veritas About Vino
(from "Your Powwow Corner" by Garth Allen, American Astrology 12/63)

In astrology's "mystical literature, there has always been a kind of symbolic coupling of the grapevine and wine with the constellation of the Virgin. In fact, we recollect once reading something to the effect that the reshuffling of the calendar so that January would be the first month was partly due to the wish of the symbol-minded to make the ninth month of the year equate to the Sun's transit through Virgo, the sign of the Harvest Maiden. The allusion, of course, is to the nine months of human pregnancy climaxed by the deliverance of the Wine of Life in the divine winepress of the celestial Virgin. The cult of the god of the Vine, the Divine Child of the sacrament whose hair is adorned by grape clusters, is of course of Dionysian vintage. This myth became inevitably intertwined with Christian symbolism by virtue of the Last Supper of the gospel story, and to this day Christendom's theologians can't agree on the point where the mystery religion of Bacchus ends and the communion of Christ begins. Most of them have felt that the best way to handle the problem is to forbid any writing or reading on the subject so that the laity, not knowing about it, will thus not ask any questions.

The connection between wine, per se, and Virgo has been all but lost down through the centuries of astrological literature, except among the occult-minded whose fascination by symbology has prevented its lapsing into total obscurity. Even now, some students of astrology may find it difficult to link the imagery of Mercury-ruled and Mercury-exalted Virgo with the threads of the mystery of the wine dispensing boy-god and his virginal Mother. Neutral, skittery Mercury just doesn't seem to "fit" somehow, nor does the standard list of 6th house rulerships suggest the implied heart of the matter. The dual dignity and exaltation of Mercury in Virgo simply epitomizes the Madonna-child embrace which is the central motif of much religious art.

At this point, a couple of sidelights about this wine-Virgo theme are worth mentioning. Apart from Spica, the constellation Virgo's most famous star is Epsilon Virginis, commonly known by its Roman name of Vindemiatrix, the Grape-Gatherer. Interestingly enough, Egyptians knew the star as Tasha Nefre, the Beautiful Boy. In ancient times, as Cyril Fagan has pointed out, the heliacal rising of Vindemiatrix marked the festival of the grape harvest. Centuries later, even Shakespeare got into the act - in Act 4, Scene 3 of Titus Andronicus to be exact – by referring to an arrow being shot up to heaven to the "good boy in Virgo's lap," clearly proving the persistence of the imagery down through the corridors of time. Something possibly pertinent to the wine-Virgo motif is the "melothesia" involved. If modern scholarly reconstructions of original astrology are correct about the zodiacal rulerships over the parts of the human anatomy, the perennial association between wine-making and feet may have reinforcement in Virgo's rulership of feet.

All that we have just mused about amounts to a prologue to the more practical matter we have been leading up to. This, simply, is that the transit of the malefic planet Mars through Virgo, in the sidereal zodiac, from July 18 to September 3, 1963, has coincided with economic disaster in the most famous vineyards in Europe. It may well prove to be the worst year for the wine industry.

During the past summer Saturn, the planet of cold and inclemency, has been in conjunction with the exaltation degree of Mars in sidereal Capricorn. Appropriately, the weather the world over has been abnormally cool all summer to the point where most European resorts suffered serious financial setbacks. and even the United States, according to the Weather Bureau, had its shortest growing season on record. Snow fell in Europe in August at places where even wintertime snow is often scarce. Corn, flax, wheat and flower bulb interests in the Low Countries end the summer with wails over the cruelty of the weather.

[SteveS]

Jim, every time you have a glass of your fine wine, toast your Sun Sign Virgo. Beautiful!

[Jim Eshelman]

Jim, every time you have a glass of your fine wine, toast your Sun Sign Virgo. Beautiful!

I do remember that Virgo is the vine.

I have been curious whether somms are traditionally Virgo, The field has changed so dramatically in recent years with the wine explosion and the rising of non-traditional groups selling certifications, so I suspect the character profile is different now than, say, 25 years ago.

But historically wine is the only persistent thing in human culture that brings both the senses and the acute intellect together - the analytical aspect of wine appreciaton being fun damental to the event. (In recent years, other prodcts - craft beer, chocolates, and more - have begun to focus on the same senses-plus-analysis characteristic of the experience.)

[SteveS]

A couple of wks ago, my wife and I & friends spent a half day wine tasting all the venues in the Smokey Mountains, and I was thinking of you with your much finer taste and appreciation for those par-excellent California grapes.

[Jim Eshelman]

The closest truly premium wine area to you, Steve, is inland Virginia. (I know it by reputation mostly, but its reputation is excellent.) Thomas Jefferson's lifelong quest to figure out how to produce quality wine in the New World (something he never learned - success came decades later) has resulted in a fine region around Monticello and the larger region.

Where in the Smokeys did you go? (Wine is now produced in every state, and some of it is even good <g>.)

[SteveS]

Jim asked:

Where in the Smokeys did you go? (

We stayed in a place called Wears Valley. Our friends have a second home there, which borders the Smokey Mountains National Park. If you and Marion ever find yourself in this area, I am sure I can arrange free boarding in our friend’s house. They have offered to my wife and I free anytime we want to go to the Smokey’s with advanced notification.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wears_Valley,_Tennessee