Magick Without Tears

164 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS Put together similar horoscopes; e.g. a dozen which have Sagittarius rising, another lot with Jupiter in the mid-heaven, and so on; see if you can find a similarity in their lives with what the books will have led you to expect . Don't be afraid to criticise; on the contrary, do some research work on your own, and find cases which seem to contradict tradition . Instance: Saturn in the M.C. is said to cause a spectacular rise in a man's career, ending in an equally notable crash. Examples : Napoleon I and III, Oscar Wilde, Woodrow Wilson, Lord Northcliffe , Hitler. Look for figures with Saturn thus placed, whose natives have jogged along equably and died in the odour of sanctity. Find out why what worked in some cases failed in others. By the time you have studied (say) 500 nativities you will be already a fairly competent judge. Work your bloody guns! as Kipling says; get a friend-just this once I allow you human intercourse-to set up for you figures of historical importance, or with some outstanding characteristic (e.g. murderers, champions of sport, statesmen , monsters, philanthropists, heresiarchs) without telling you to whom it refers. Build up the character , profession, story from the nativity. It sounds incredible; but more than a score of times I have been actually able to name him! By the time you have got good at this game-and a most amusing game it is-you may call yourself a very competent astrologer . Sometimes , even now, you may assign the figure of the Archbishop of York to Jabez Balfour or Catherine de Medici; or mix up Moody and Sankey with Brown and Kennedy : don't be discouraged; perhaps there may be something to be said for you after all! I believe, as I hope, that you will be surprised at the speed with which you acquire proficiency . All this time , moreover, you have not been wholly idle. You will have been running about like a demented rabbit,