Symbolic Directions in Modern Astrology

By Charles E.O. Carter (1887 - 1968).

88 Pages | First published in 1929, second edition 1946, reprinted in 1984 | Softcover | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | ISBN: 722951450.

In a sense of course, all Astrology is in part astronomical, for astronomy furnishes at least some of the symbols, which we use in the most abstract system, to wit, the Sun, Moon, and planets, and to some extent the Houses and the Zodiac, which begin from astronomical datum-points. But when we desire to progress the natus or radical figure and study its changes as indicative of the development of a human life, an acute difference may arise as between an astronomical method and a symbolic one. In both cases it is true that the measure of time is symbolic, be it a day to a year or the passage of a degree of right ascension over the meridian to a year. But in the primary and secondary systems, the movements of the planets are not symbolic but actual, whether denominated real or apparent. In the symbolic methods the movement is a mere arbitrary assumption, used for the sake of practical convenience.

From the Introduction (p. 11):

" In time, simplicity and completeness may be combined in one. Thus, we may look forward to the construction of a complete and harmonious system of Symbolic Directing, founded on basic but simple principles. However, it is well to recollect that the material plane can never perfectly reflect the Ideal Realm, and, therefore, such a system may require supplementing for practical purposes. This may well be the function of the astronomical methods, such as secondaries, transits and lunations. "