EXPERIMENTAL ASTROLOGY/ CERES part 1

EXPERIMENTAL ASTROLOGY

CERES and negotiation skills!

Do you drive a hard bargain and use strong arguments to back your claims, or give up at the first sight of difficulty? Do you sacrifice everything to achieve your goal, or do you know how to compromise to avoid losing everything?

By Vasiliki Konti

Astrologer

The almighty goddess that rules nature and consequently life on earth was Saturn and Rhea's daughter. She taught mankind how to grow wheat and for that, breadstuffs are called cere-al. A conservative deity, modest and quite remote, she had forsaken her divine home on Mt. Olympus and habituated areas near temples where sacrifices were offered in her honour. Zeus fell for her, but her shy and proud nature forbade her from immediately surrendering to his advances. He courted her in a number of ways and finally managed to seduce her. The offspring of their union is Ceres' beloved only-daughter, Persephone.

As legend goes, the King of the Netherworld, God Pluto, fell in love with Persephone and abducted her into the depths. Desperate and inconsolable over the loss of her only-child, Ceres cursed earth to stop giving seed. Suddenly, the land dried up and nothing was left to feed men who suddenly found themselves in danger of dying from hunger! In trying to come up with a solution, Zeus convinced Pluto to keep Persephone in Hades for half the year – during the winter – and allow her return to her mother on earth for the summer. This is how people used to explain the change of the seasons. Summer was attributed to the goddess of agriculture’s pleasure - whereby earth gave fruit, while in winter her tears turned to rain and lack. 

(Negotiation) SKILL and COMPROMISE

Astrologically, Ceres identifies with the Female Principle corresponding to Pluto’s Male; she is the one who breaks the powerful lord of Hades’ rules and confines; with her strength stemming from compromise, she manages to negotiate her daughter's stay on the world. 

Thus, the asteroid symbolises a person’s bargaining power and considers significant any target that finally leads to settlement.  She pulls the strings in a specific way and would do anything necessary to help the other person.

POSITIVE MANIFESTATION

-Ability to negotiate against all odds

-Interest in nature and animals

-Interest in children and child-bearing

-Positive mother-daughter relationship

NEGATIVE MANIFESTATION

-Bargaining despite height of stakes (one may commit murder in order to attain their goal)

-Excessively compromising nature just to ensure it engages in negotiation

-Prevents others from opening up and revealing their hand

-Difficult relationship with the mother and women in general

CERES in the 12 starsigns, and the zodiac’s negotiation abilities

Aries

She displays great need to control others, and tries to come up with solutions through intense conflict. Independence is desired both within relationships and partnerships.  Perpetually seeking new experience, it is hard to anchor anywhere, as she also tends to pursue relationships with people that have commitment issues.

Taurus

Money and relationships merge – not always in the best possible manner. She finds comfort in financial gain and pursues autonomy and social credit. She refuses to be with people that are financially less fortunate than her.

Gemini

Dialogue can be attributed greater significance than the problem itself.  She comes up with numerous arguments despite that many of them are meaningless. Often, she tries to fool others in compromising, and believes everything is worth responding to.   She is Chameleon-like, constantly changing her negotiation stance.

Cancer

She has a great need to take care of others and becomes jealous when somebody messes with her care-taking tasks! She feels neglected and isolated when she is prevented from looking after somebody. Although she desires marriage above all and knows when to compromise, she often surrenders too easily when someone hurts her.

Leo

She is usually unwilling to view reality as it is and adopts an extremely romantic – emotional strategy. In order to win, she has the ability to focus solely on the positive and risk much. Her routine needs fun and she remains forever young.

Virgo

Health and diet matters are of extreme importance here.  She engages in gardening and enjoys working outdoors. She is obsessed with the detail of everyday routine to a degree that others find hopelessly tiresome, and finally leads them to yield.  She misses the meaning of negotiating, over menial details.

Libra

Her strength is always in 'others’! If she is in a relationship, she drives a hard bargain. If not, she gives up pretty easily. Often, she misses her target and lets others control her. Partnerships play a central role in her life and she likes to ‘preach’ in order to convince her opponents.

Scorpio

Before she proceeds in any transaction whatsoever, she thinks and analyses things in depth. She is a tough negotiator, especially when given an emotional basis (Plutonian environment). Sarcasm comes easy to her, and she effortlessly goes to extremes to hit her target. She acts therapeutically for her environment and will offer anything to her family.

Sagittarius

She cuts straight to the chase omitting unnecessary back and forths!  Despite her often unrealistic goals, she is capable of seeing far and wide. Optimism is her main characteristic, and she would do anything to save the entire world if possible, as she has the acute need to experience spiritual fulfilment through her goals.

Capricorn

Nothing is left to chance as she always operates according to a well thought out plan. She adopts a responsible stance and likes solving other people’s problems, helping them out in their time of need. Despite shunning the need to be taken care of, she is fixated on looking after her people. Personal life is often neglected.

Aquarius

There is a strong preference to act as part of a team rather than individually. Group work gives her strength and will drive her to fight tooth and nail for what is best. Friendships are also of great importance here. Her greatest disadvantage is that she keeps losing precious time by waiting for the ‘right’ moment to act.

Pisces

Peace should be kept at any cost! She loses herself in expectation - often unrealistic - and displays strong tendency towards illicit and forbidden love. She searches for perfection in love (why she looks for it outside marriage), and is a difficult parent.

Alan Leo, 7 August 1860, 5.49 pm, London. Placidus.

Natal chart of the famous astrologer, author, publisher and founder of the Theosophical and Astrological chamber of London, Alan Leo. Although he is considered father to Esoteric Astrology, his greatest success was creating mass-popular interest in Astrology through the magazines and simple astrological textbooks he offered in trying to communicate Astrology’s immense knowledge to the public.

Alan Leo’s Ceres is found in the tenth house conjunct Uranus, and precisely illustrates his bargaining skill in transferring – in a Mercurial way – Astrological knowledge to the public (or the society of his era) by creating countless arguments through the books and magazines he published.

Ceres (negotiation and nurturing skills) conjunct Uranus (astrology)

Gemini (communicatively)

Tenth house (recognition of his social credit)

We ignore the precise details of his relationship with his mother, but we are assuming that – since he lost his father at age nine and his mother brought him up by herself – he must have been perceiving her as absent most of the time (conjunction with Uranus)

Source: Asteroid Seminars Series

Alpheeschool of Astrology

 ISAR, Certified Astrological Professional