Hubs, Spokes, and Rims - interpretation resources

[Jim Eshelman]

"The zodiac can be likened to a vast wheel with a rim, spokes, and a hub." - Cyril Fagan, Astrological Origins

HUB constellations viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36#p169
SPOKE constellations viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36&p=168#p170
RIM constellations viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36&p=168#p171

[Jim Eshelman]

HUB CONSTELLATIONS
("Fixed, Kerubic, Solid, Foundation" - Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius)

Metaphor: The hub is the most interior part of a wheel, a stable center about which the world turns or organizes itself.

Best Expression: Child-like self-honesty. Strength and confidence from having a solid anchor in their own center.

Worst Expression: Childish. Rebellious, disobedient, will not listen, closed off to input from others.

Other Traits:

• Introspective, reflective. Create their own paths: not impressed with other people’s plans for them, conventional thinking, or others’ conclusions (must confirm these for themselves). Therefore, may seem rebellious, disobedient, or revolutionary (though rarely antisocial).
• Precocious: Usually starts early on an independent life course.
• May serve as a pivot to a new (creative, political, or cultural) direction, the avant-garde of their time or community. Often pivotal in their families and groups, a hub (focus of activity or authority) around whom others gather. More often originators than responders. (Great schools of thought and cultural movements with enduring impact tend to arise from Hubs.)
• Unusually good psychological health (high frustration tolerance) unless forced into conditions contrary to their natures. (Then they become contrary!) Thrives best under the least regimentation (e.g., statistically uncommon for physicians and military leaders, while common for racecar drivers and actors). When under intense pressure or distress (crisis), needs to be (and can be) led like a child.
• Greatest capacity for self-honesty. Instinctively understands the rightness and relevance of things. (Their judgement is more dispassionate.)
• In relationships as in most things, values depth (seeks deep connection). Mindful of essence more than substance (looks past people’s actions to see identity).
• Characteristic massiveness or density in their writings or compositions.

Note: Nicholas Copernicus, who did more than any other person in history to redefine what “center” meant, was a double Hub.


STATISTICS:
MOON (+): Long lives, Nobel physicists, Indianapolis 500 drivers, actors, chess players, heads of state
SUN (+): Indianapolis 500 drivers, actors, chess players, clergymen
SUN (-): Medical doctors, heads of state, military leaders

[Jim Eshelman]

SPOKE CONSTELLATIONS
("Mutable, Common, Bicorporal (two-bodied)" - Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces)

Metaphor: Spokes shoot out in every direction for multiple interests and endeavors. Facilitates translating concept (Hub) into action (Rim).

Best Expression: Strong on service, curiosity, thought, and versatility.

Worst Expression: Divided attention (scattered, distracted). Complainers, whiners, touchy about criticism.

Other Traits:

• Thoughtful, reflective thinkers with diverse interests. Minds easily drawn in many directions, to one new interest after another. Often well informed on many subjects.
• Superior thinkers and talkers. Strong on expression, usually has important things to say. (As academics, writers, ambassadors, and generators of ideas, Spokes often are stunning.)
• But they rarely inaugurate action. They may be the most important voices of their time, but rarely drive movement or doing.
• As idea people, often have significant impact; however, schools or centers of thought do not form around them without a Hub luminary. (The spokes of the wheel may spin by too fast to be seen.)
• Serve better in support functions (service) than leadership. Better as employees than employers (leads from the middle).
• “Important voices” may extend to include singers: Spokes often are among the most singular, important music voices of their time.
• Even the psychologically healthy can seem obsessive, more absorbed in their inquiries than in other people, and needing increasing solitude for balance (they introvert when injured). These traits escalate in the more neurotic with more data-intensive forms (e.g., obsessive-compulsive, paranoid, or autism spectrum conditions) and self-medication.

Note: The five double Spoke U.S. presidents all fare poorly in history: Two more or less inherited the role (like their names) from their fathers; the other three were vice presidents who inherited the office when the president died. History rates all as less distinctive and effective than average. Some were among the least respected presidents in history.


STATISTICS:
SUN (+): Boxers, explorers, military leaders
SUN (-): Clergymen

[Jim Eshelman]

RIM CONSTELLATIONS
("Cardinal" - Cancer, Libra, Capricorn, Aries)

Metaphor: The Rim moves fastest (speed, motion: converting primary energy from the hub into driving energy). It is the outermost part (surface).

Best Expression: Drives movement, sets things in motion. Manages, directs.

Worst Expression: Shallow, rigid. Poor frustration tolerance (raw, exposed nerves). Gets in the most trouble with the law, others, or themselves.

Other Traits:

• Keeps the wheels turning: Sets events, projects, processes, or people in motion. Supports, implements, and often shapes the status quo (the objective operative state of things).
• Motivates, empowers, dispatches, or drives others more than being active agents themselves (but keeps a strong hand on the helm).
• Therefore, natural managers and executives (busy-ness is business).
• Finance-minded. Instinctively feels an identity of money with motion (energy). May try to accumulate or manipulate it or shape the financial landscape. (Even Rim criminals tend to be finance criminals.) Politics is one form of shaping economic and control agendas.
• Prefers conditions where motion, change, and outcome are readily visible (surface, outermost, what is in front of them).
• Yet often least flexible in their point of view (obstinate, headstrong).
• Understands “identity” to mean behavior (whether others’ identity or their own). Therefore, usually has little ability for deep, reflective self-understanding (though the exceptions are stunning).
• Loyal in their commitments to partners, friends, and others.
• Judges success of a relationship from seeing their partner in motion, and by their own ability to have an impact or make a difference. (However, often satisfied with relationships of convenience.)

Note: The many double Rim U.S. presidents all had to manage tough economic and other recovery times, which most did effectively. Monarchs and other significant political figures often have built or significantly reshaped their nation, much as if they had been its founder.

...people who are born with the Sun and Moon in cardinal constellations... tend to have the most rawly exposed nervous systems... so they are surer targets for Moon-phase influences than most other people. (Statistics show that such "cardinal types" have penchants for getting into trouble, not only with the law and the people around them but with themselves as well.)

NOTE: Rim also means any outer edge, border, or margin. The Old Norse rimi, its likely antecedent, meant a raised strip of land: a ridge.

STATISTICS:
MOON (+): Have boy children; convicted murderers; short lives
SUN (+): Nobel physicists, lawyers
SUN (-): Explorers

[Jim Eshelman]

How does this "wheel" metaphor of Rims, Hubs and Spokes help us with better understanding cardinal, fixed and mutable attributes of "signs?" Dave

Fagan's metaphor focusses on the most important (salient) traits of the three sign-groups. In particular:
* Rims are the fastest moving part.
* Spokes shoot out in every direction.
* Hubs are the stable centers about which the rest of the world turns.

[Jim Eshelman]

What about Double Spokes?

As a generalization, spokes are idea people and work best in service to others - to oversimplify, Spokes are the support staff of the zodiac.

This is obviously not to be taken literally or in too limited a way. Even if we limit this to double Spokes, there are other factors in the chart to consider. However, it's a fairly accurate generalization.

Among famous people with double Spoke luminaries, it is, indeed, easy to find mounds of "also rans" and "second stringers;" but one them also finds no less than Sir Isaac Newton, Pavarotti, Queen Elizabeth I, and Otto von Bismark. The latter two are atypical of politicians, most of whom are not historic first stringers (government in the power sense not being what Spokes are made for), but Liz and Otto had other strong factors in their charts. And it is as "idea people" (going back to Newton) that Spokes really flourish.

Among politicians, we find quite a few U.S. Presidents, though most of them got there "second hand," either inheriting the office having been elected Vice President, or by parentage. The whole list is John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, Chester A. Arthur, Calvin Coolidge, and George W. Bush.

We find numerous Nazi horror-mongers and high-ranking leaders, but all of them were second stringers compared to Aries Hitler: Adolph Eichman, Heinrich Himmler, Josef Mengele. Think of Tessla who, brilliant as he was, went almost utterly ignored for a century, and Ross Perot who succeeded in one field and then was a recurring "also ran" in politics.

Other politicians do best when they are true servants of the people, e.g., Gov. Jerry Brown, VP Al Gore, Benazir Bhutto, Konrad Adenauer. Among the fallen is Crown Prince Albert Victor, and among the suspicious is Sen. Ted Cruz.

In music, they are really strong (though a lot of this comes from Pisces, or from the Virgo theme of "voice of the common people") - think Irene Cara, Olivia Newton-John, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Della Reece, Leon Russell, Bruce Springsteen, Luciano Pavarotti, Phil Spector.

As writers, academics, and generators of ideas, they are stunning: Charles Baudelaire, Herman Hesse, Simone de Beauvoir, William Faulkner, A.E. Housman, Sir Richard Burton, Alois Alzheimer, Erich Fromm, Samuel Johnson, Erica Jong, Upton Sinclair, Algernon Swinburne, Emile Zola, Arthur Schlesinger. (Add Newton back to this list.)

A few others to consider, especially in terms of being of service to others, idea people, and support figures: Eleanor Roosevelt, Merv Griffin (his second career was luxury hotel ownership), Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and Heidi Fleiss.

[Veronica]

What do the + - characters denote for the Sun and moon?

[Jim Eshelman]

What do the + - characters denote for the Sun and moon?

Pro or con. That is, statistically significant frequent occurrence (+) or infrequent occurrence (-).

[By Jove]

So reading all the double spoke stuff, it seems my ideal job would be someone who comes up with ideas and does management in the background. That's fine since I don't like the spotlight anyway. I like the idea of having a double identity: boring office guy at day, creative artist guy at night. At the moment I cannot reconcile my creative loves with the trends of the outside world.

Having so much Sagittarius in my chart bums me out a bit. My chart is so unbalanced and has little diversity (regarding the signs at least).

I'm still mad at history for what happened with Tesla and Edison. Tesla was the "true" genius who was way into the future. Edison was a businessman who tinkered other people's inventions to improve them, then presented them as all his own idea.

[Veronica]

Your chart is not unbalanced.
Your chart is a map and maps cannot be unbalanced...that would be like S.N.E.W. instead of NEWS (acronym for North ect ect).

Your condition is not unbalanced but I might think that concidering your age is unfocused.

Im a double hub W a scorpio stellium but Ive never thought I needed anything that wasnt in my chart. I may wonder what a taurusness could feel like but when you concider how the planets move around and around over time all those subtle aspects are felt.

Unbalaced is looking at your chart and not accepting the blessing of life you have been given an opportunity to expuerence and take to the next level. Dont restrict yourself and say your chart/you are wrong to be.

[Jim Eshelman]

One thing I noticed is more general among Rims. They tend to be faster, more aggressive, and flashier in their behavior and work. Probably I know this best among chess grandmasters and their playing styles.

Rim grandmasters, especially Libras Alekhine and Tal, were very brilliant and aggressive players. Their games involved big sacrifices and convoluted positions that utterly dominate their opponents. Capricorn Spassky also exerted this power over Aquarius Fischer during the early rounds of their world championship match.

Hub grandmasters are the opposite. Each one I know (Taurus Steinitz and Karpov, Scorpios Capablanca and Carlsen, Aquarius Fischer) focus more on positional subtleties. They're comparatively "boring", but their calm endurance of even the most treacherous positions is incredible. Opponents tend to peter out and make small mistakes that Hub grandmasters chip through; this especially applies to Scorpio Carlsen.

[Jim Eshelman]

Adapted from another thread... part of another discussion that probably would serve here:

The more it seems that Taurus is the proper "first sign of the zodiac" not just symbolically and historically but in ways that matter to the structure of the zodiac (e.g., Noviens counting from 0° Taurus, not Navamsas counting from 0° Aries), it stirs the question of why Rim constellations should be the pivotal ingresses. Why not Hub? (And yet, having run Hub and Spoke ingresses for categories of event with nothing to show for it, we know it is not the Hub constellations but, rather, the Rims.)

Over time, I've settled into the idea that this is because the Rim constellations are (at least in some small way) like angles: Their nature is action and, especially, the Rim is the outermost part of the wheel. The starting point or origin of the zodiac may indeed (as it seems to be) be Hubs, and it makes much more sense for the constellations to go Hub, then Spoke, then Rim - from the inmost point of the wheel to the outermost - so the final stage of expression, action, movement is naturally Rim.

Of course, this is all a theory. It's all interpretive symbolism, so there's no way to prove it's a real thing. But I'm comfortable with it and, in particular, it explains to me why Rims are the basis of the ingress model in mundane astrology. It also does a jiffy job moving us from the old "Aries is first" idea because Rims are obviously the LAST of the three groups in the sense of being the outcome, or outermost, of that impulse which started at the inmost center of the Hub.

Ah... and there is another spin on the old metaphors: It's not just that the hub is the center of the wheel, but the impulse has to begin at the inmost center of the hub - the bull's-eye - where the zodiac was first anchored. Not just any old place in the hub but the inmost center of it at 15°00' Taurus.

A 9th harmonic wave, the foundation of the Novien and something that increasingly seems important, may be part of the mathematical structure defining the zodiac because a 40° wave, though going nine times around the zodiac, catches up with itself - laps itself - not every 40° but every 45°. An origin not at 0° Taurus but at 15° Taurus - the inmost center of the Hub - spikes at every 15°00' Hub AND every 0°00' Rim.

[Jim Eshelman]

In case it's useful in the future... with the most saliant traits of each sign reduced to three key concepts that give a realistic, accurate take-off point for Sun or Moon in that sign, do these show enough "set consistency" to spill out interpretation clues to the quadruplicities? Let's see.

First, the polarities. I've noticed that the opposing sign keywords are useful in understanding each sign even when they don't seem to align or polarize with each other as word pairs. For example, it says a lot about Scorpio to know that freedom, combat, and sex are its three strongest themes. It then adds to this understanding by looking at the Taurus words and seeing that Scorpio is not necessarily charming (in contrast to combative), devoted (in contrast to freedom), or erotic (in contrast, in this case, to sexual). These are second tier. In any case, here is the list we might work from. - For polarities, though, we are more interested in clear commonly held themes or polarities, and these aren't easily seen: They require work.

Sun in TAURUS: Charming, Devoted, Erotic
Moon in TAURUS: Reflective, Tender, Sensual
Sun in SCORPIO: Freedom, Combat, Sex
Moon in SCORPIO: Tough, Volcanic, Independent
(Eros-sexuality has always been an obvious theme of this polarity, as well as certain basics of the Venus-Mars polarity especially as it expresses in the shifting dynamics of relationships. One strong example emerging from these particular words are the swings between settled, devoted connection vs. freedom and independence. -- The challenge, then, is to articulate these polar differences as single principles so that we can say the Taurus-Scorpio polarity speaks to that specific principle or topic. I don't yet see how to do this without expressing it as polarities.)

Sun in GEMINI: Reason, Play, Pluralism
Moon in GEMINI: Curious, Playmate, Multiplicity
Sun in SAGITTARIUS: Elevation, Heritage, Tribe
Moon in SAGITTARIUS: Rank, Rightness, Community
(Characterologically, it's easy to see the contrast of these signs, one being aristocratic ('myself elevated exclusively') and the other democratic ('myself as part of the many, inclusively), one being all grown-up and sophisticated and the other holding to childhood themes, and of course the traditional contrast of early foundation learning vs. advanced education. -- Looking at the individual words, what do I see? It is hard to find single, non-polar words, though there is a clear relationship to social modelling forging community. I suppose curious and reason stands in contrast to rightness. Otherwise, regrettably, I don't see truly bridging individual themes.)

Sun in CANCER: Imagination, Emulation, Mystery
Moon in CANCER: Imagery, Feeling, Expression
Sun in CAPRICORN: Independent, Discontent, Wild
Moon in CAPRICORN: Playful, Primitive, Dark
(These signs have at least one common theme to which we can always turn: They both refer to SECURITY and, interwoven with that, to parent themes. Shadow is a theme of either, but in quite different ways. -- But what else can we see if anything just from these words? I mostly see variations of those themes, e.g., emulation vs. wildly pursuing an independent, wild path of their own.)

Sun in LEO: Centricity, Dignity, Perfection
Moon in LEO: Strong, Stately, Entertaining
Sun in AQUARIUS: Scientific, Unconventional, Inclusive
Moon in AQUARIUS: Holistic, Futuristic, Eccentric
(Similar to Gemini-Sagittarius, there are themes of nobility vs. democracy and exclusivity vs. inclusivity, dignity vs. social eccentricity, all especially in the sense of one Sun amidst the infinite circle of stars and everything that can spin out of that. One end has the gravitas of the center about which all orbits; the other is the unconvention of infinite diversity. One is a person; the other is the people. One is the heart; the other is the whole. One is enduring institution; the other, continuing revolution. -- But for single themes of the polarities? I don't have words that might express it.)

Sun in VIRGO: Strategic, Analytical, Curious
Moon in VIRGO: Curiosity, Service, Analysis
Sun in PISCES: Theatrical, Mysterious, Romantic
Moon in PISCES: Imagination, Actor, Explorer
(Reason-unreason is always the first clear polarity to come to mind with this one, and it might be the model for learning to articulating the other five more easily. Curiosity (needing to learn what's really so) vs. imagination (needing to invent what's so) and mystery (needing to live in not knowing what's so) may be a close variant. We find mythic and other themes in common (e.g., variations of service and the bound maiden), but I think this on main idea catches what's there.)

Sun in LIBRA: Beauty, Enticement, Justice
Moon in LIBRA: Magnetism, Justice, Design
Sun in ARIES: Contrary, Libertarian, Imperial
Moon in ARIES: Bold, Independent, Pragmatic
(As with Taurus-Scorpio, we find swirling, re-equilibrating relationship dynamics, but of a very different kind. The main idea seems to be the contrast between peace and war, between appeasement and compromise vs. solitary interests and autocracy. All the so-called positive signs have a variation of the contrast between democracy and autocracy. Libra needs to light up someone's eyes, while Aries needs to be important per se. -- But what of these words specifically? We have enticement or magnetism vs independent and contrary (a variation of attraction-repulsion and the couple vs. solitary theme). Something along these lines is probably the most basic.)

[Jim Eshelman]

That didn't get very far. (Things learned and articulated, but few examples of narrowing to one or two themes of a whole polarity.) This makes me skeptical we'll find easy convergences in the cross-axes of the quadruplicities; but let's try.

TAURUS: Charming, Devoted, Erotic / Reflective, Tender, Sensual
SCORPIO: Freedom, Combat, Sex / Tough, Volcanic, Independent
LEO: Centricity, Dignity, Perfection / Strong, Stately, Entertaining
AQUARIUS: Scientific, Unconventional, Inclusive / Holistic, Futuristic, Eccentric
My Taurus-Scorpio and Leo-Aquarius paragraphs above don't merge easily. Traits common to these four signs are more subtle than these polarities (not the polarized polarities I'd hoped to see). The stark differences of Taurus and Leo from Scorpio and Aquarius stand out boldly, more than common themes of the four.

Summarizing notes above, Taurus-Scorpio themes are eros-sexuality, shifting relationship and passion energies, and devoted connection vs. freedom and independence. Leo-Aquarius themes are noble exclusion vs. democratic inclusion, dignity vs. social eccentricity, the one within the context of the many, and enduring institution vs. continuing revolution. These seem unrelated except that there is great passion in all of them. Taurus-Scorpio seems much more personal in its themes, and Leo-Aquarius more societal.

It might not be an exaggeration to say - consistent with the HUB symbol - that these two polar sets are things that are deeply central to us, in many ways more important than the other quadruplicities' shared themes.

GEMINI: Reason, Play, Pluralism / Curious, Playmate, Multiplicity
SAGITTARIUS: Elevation, Heritage, Tribe / Rank, Rightness, Community
VIRGO: Strategic, Analytical, Curious / Curiosity, Service, Analysis
PISCES: Theatrical, Mysterious, Romantic / Imagination, Actor, Explorer
If you ask me to start summarizing Spoke themes, I can do it - and they all start either a mental-conceptual theme specific ideas of diversity and multiplicity. It's not hard to swing my mind around all sorts of patterns that weave among all of these signs. But - the task of the current exercise - do these exact theme words give us some articulatable common theme for the quadruplicity?

Of the two axes, Virgo-Pisces is clearly reason-unreason or curiosity vs. imagination & mystery. Gemini-Sagittarius, in addition to the pretty pronounced exclusive-inclusive or aristocratic-democratic polarity, seems to relate a lot to ideas, like Virgo-Pisces. There is also a dominance-submission theme I didn't mention above and, across the board, all four spokes are known as the centers where sexual dominance-submission (etc.) rests. There are all sorts of interweaving ideas among the four of the dominance of actually knowing what's so vs. the right to think whatever one chooses more or less disconnected from fact. -- I don't have the final words for it, but the ideas are pretty clear.


CANCER: Imagination, Emulation, Mystery / Imagery, Feeling, Expression
CAPRICORN: Independent, Discontent, Wild / Playful, Primitive, Dark
LIBRA: Beauty, Enticement, Justice / Magnetism, Justice, Design
ARIES: Contrary, Libertarian, Imperial / Bold, Independent, Pragmatic
Let's start with the easy one: Cancer-Capricorn signifies security themes inseparably intertwined with parent matters and perhaps from contentment-discontent. As we will see in Libra-Aries, there is a form of connection, emulation, being mindful of commonalities among vs. independence, individuality, etc. (but there is a form of this in all six sign-pair axes).

Libra-Aries strains at related but also quite different themes. For example, the issue is not so much security as justice, a little more rulership than mere nobility or entitlement, personal relationship vs. collective participation. It's all ultimately attraction-repulsion, partnership-solitary, plus the rhythmic changes and cycles Libra-Aries theme I forgot to mention above (horizontal equilibrium vs. vertical equilibrium). As with the Hubs, Cancer-Capricorn seems more personal and individually necessary, while Libra-Aires has a societal or cultural element. There MAY be a migration from earliest home context (parents) to social participation in institutions of an adult home (partnership); or maybe that's just the surface and there is something more fundamental we can learn by not getting stuck in the traditional quasi-housiness. -- As with other groups, it's easier to see the many swirling themes spiraling through these four individual signs than to find either a single theme or a clear polarity of polarities.

The security (and parental) plus attraction-repulsion and partnership-solitary themes show much of the outer structure of most people's lives. This view may simply be a left-over from how angular houses are historically discussed, though.