The Best Book About Ancient Astronomy that isn’t about astrology, per se

One of the best books I can recommend to anyone interested in learning how and why ancient peoples kept track of sky markers is one that has nothing to do with astrology. The book is “America B.C.” by Barry Fell, who is a bit of a renegade when it comes to attributing ancient peoples with the ability to make notations of the important stuff like the spring equinox.

One of the most interesting and exciting parts of the book are where he explains the translation of the strange markings above a rock doorway in old New England. First I have to explain that Mr. Fell is a bit of a radical in that he believes that peoples from ancient Celtic and Mediterranean lands were able to reach North America and left written records on stone markers and monuments. But he has shown that the attempted translations of these markings result in coherent astronomical or historical statements.

2012 in review — the Annual Report, summarized

WOW!!! My blog here is closing in on 100,000 views! That is peanuts to a lot of big-time bloggers, but to a small operation like mine that started from nothing and with no publicity or networking, this is amazing. Thanks to everyone who helped to spread the word. Below is a summary of my WordPress Annual Report. — MWM

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 30,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 7 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Moon Void of Course List for the Rest of 2012

Supposedly William Lilly wrote about the Void-of-course moon in the 1600s in his book “Christian Astrology”, but for some reason astrologers stopped talking about it and it became a lost secret. Revived by Al Morrison centuries later in a lengthy campaign that more resembled a siege, it finally regained a measure of its former glory.
People wrote in to Mr. Morrison with their experiences using the moon sheets provided by Morrison. Supposedly a banker used it to decide whether to grant loans or not; he refused to grant loans if they asked during a void-of-course moon. He asked for more information from the applicants. And supposedly that banker became a vice-president of the bank because of his sterling loan management success. We will never know if he would have become vice-president anyway without the moon charts, but those are the breaks in the astrology biz.

The Secret Meanings of the Names of the Planets

by Milky Way Maid

The esoteric meanings of the planets’ names is mostly a lost body of knowledge. Even very good astrologers have no idea what the names of planets or even of the zodiac signs mean. But the ancients had very clear meanings attached to all of these. By drilling down to the traditional meanings of the phonemes that make up the names, we can begin to understand more about what values and ideas they attached to these symbols.
Jupiter — “the ever-existent Father” The French je means ever-existent; it also occurs in Jahweh or Jehovah, in Jove, and in the Finnish Jumala (All Father). He is identified with wind, rain and thunder — and of course the thunderbolt. The zigzag of lightning was believed to be Jupiter herding the other planets about.
Venus — from Vannus, meaning a fan or shell. The terms are equivalent because they refer to her shell-like or fan-like car which is pulled by doves. This is also why her emblem is the dove. Incidentally, the Paphians worshipped her as a white pyramid.
Uranus — Ur-ray, “the Light of Ra” Also, as Kronos it resolves into Ak-Ur-On-Os, “The Great Fire” or “The One Light” Ur is the Semitic root meaning fire or light. Shouts of Hurray or Hurrah greet the sunrise. Ra, the Egyptian sun-god, would seem to be linked to Uranus, but the root syllable is found in several cultures. Sanskrit for a prince is rajah. The Semitic Ra means Time, or the Ancient of Days. The Mayan Ra or La means “that which has existed forever.” Ra appears in our English words ray and radiant.
Earth — Ea, mother of Ishtar
Mercury — “Fire of Merak” (Merak was the Great Mare). Mercury’s emblem the caduceus is encompassed by a winged horse or mare. Mercury was symbolized by a variety of animals: the lizard, the cock, a pregnant sow. Also the hare, because it makes regular trails in the meadows it frequents. Mercury is the god of ways (roads or streets), and many statues of Mercury marked the crossroads. So numerous were these markers where three roads intersected (tri-via) that the word took on the meaning of commonplace. Mercury as the god of commerce and the market has his name as the root of related words: market, merchandise, merchant, commerce. The Greeks symbolized Mercury as a square stone.

Saturn — Saturday, or Seaterdag, means day of the Seater or Sitter, the day when the Great Workman sat himself down and rested. Saturn was linked to Stonehenge, which was also known as Caer Sidi (the seat or fort of Sidi). Caer resolves into root syllables meaning Great Fire. Saturn, or the sitter, therefore seems to have made Stonehenge his throne. Note the design of Stonehenge which incorporates not only circles but an inner horseshoe-shape which perhaps outlines his throne seat. In the words of the Wlsh poem Taliessin: “Perfect is my chair in Caer Sidi,/ Plague and age hurt him not who’s in it./ About its points are oceans’ streams,/ And the abundant well above it,/ Sweeter than white wine the drink in it.”

Mercury Retrograde through the Houses

I have had lots of experience with Mercury retrograde. Perhaps because I was born with Mercury retrograde in my chart, I have taken more notice of its effects.
Please do not dread these weeks while Mercury is retrograde. I have tried to note ways that it may be positive in each house, as given below. Mercury retrograde can bring problems to light, so that they can finally be properly fixed. You may find out the truth about a company, person or issue by chance or by checking things out on the internet. You may have made a search before, or asked the same person before, but at last you ask in a way that elicits the desired information.
And lastly, Mercury retrograde can be a fine time to travel memory lane. Pick up the photo album. Talk about the great times you had as a kid. Play that CD or DVD again, or re-read that classic novel and discover new layers of meaning.