INTRODUCTION

Charting Your Course In Life

It has often been said that what matters in life is the journey, not the goal. That may be true, but is it not more inclusive, and perhaps more true, that both the journey and the goal matter? That they both can matter? If that is so, it is worth asking if there could be a map for the journey, custom-made for your individual path in life, and perhaps even presenting a view ahead to the destination, the goal?

Astrology has survived through the ages in many lands and cultures. This enduring popularity is due to the belief that it is a unique tool for understanding one’s destiny. The astrologer who reads a horoscope must interpret a set of patterns derived from complex permutations of four factors: houses, signs, planets, and aspects. Ideally, if the astrologer is competent and correct, these patterns can reveal, not only personality traits and complexes, but also directions toward personal goals. At best an astrological reading can reveal the destiny of an individual, presumed to be written in the stars.  After all, destiny derives from the Latin de-sidere, “from the stars.”

Astrology can work on its own terms. It can serve as a tool for guidance in personal growth and definition of goals, but it has its limits. And it has nothing to do with the stars.

The Horoscope Contains No Stars

Except the Sun!

The belief that human destiny is somehow written in the stars is perennial. Its historical origin cannot be dated. The earliest accounts on record, found in  Babylonian star lists from 3400 BCE, show that astronomy and astrology were joined at the hip like Siamese twins; but over time they separated. Few people in the world today, including most professional astrologers,  know that conventional Western astrology has parted from astronomy and no longer involves the stars. The typical horoscope (below) may appear as obscure as a Babylonian cuneiform tablet, but it is not difficult to decipher. It shows positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets in twelve regions of the sky, the signs,  distributed across twelve spatial divisions around the birthplace, the houses, plus the aspects, a set of angular relations between planets (shown by colored lines). Calculated by arcane rules of spherical trigonometry, both signs and houses are geometrical sectors of the sky surrounding the place of birth. Both sectors exclude the actual panorama of visible stars.

Horoscope of Don Mclean,  American singer and song-writer,
known for “Vincent” and “American Pie”

What you are seeing: In the outer circle, the twelve uniform 30-degree divisions of the sign zodiac indicated by their symbols. In the inner circle, the interfacing twelve non-equal divisions of the houses, numbered counter-clockwise, 1 – 12. On the left,  the AC, short for ascendant. This is the sign rising sign to the east at the birthplace at the moment of birth: 20 degrees of Virgo. Notice the planet Venus in 10 Virgo in the 12th house, just above the AC. Below it, there are four planets in a tight group in the 1st house. The lines show angular relations between pairs of planets, called aspects. Every horoscope comprises these four basic components: 12 signs, 12 houses, 10 planets (including the luminaries, Sun and Moon, which are not planets), 9 principal aspects, plus other minor features. Do the math: (12 X 12) X 10 X (9 aspects X 10 planets in 45 pairs). The total possible unique permutations in a single horoscope runs into over 100,000. A horoscope is a very complicated affair.

The event of any birth is recorded first in a calendric notation. For Don McLean, born on October 2, 1945 at 4:15 AM in New Rochelle, New York, USA, the notation is 10/2/45/4:15 AM.  (American style places the month before the day). This calendric notation is an exact match to astronomical data. Anyone using an on-line tool such as Stellarium.org can enter the birth information and visually see the astronomical data that matches it. The starry cosmos records every birth in a precise array of Sun, Moon, and planets in the sky. But that is not what you see in the horoscope above. Why not?

Because the horoscope format does not show real-sky locations. Instead, it shows locations in the two circles of signs and houses, as explained above. This display is a virtual stereometric projection based on arcane rules of spherical trigonometry.  The horoscopic  rendering of the calendric notation 10/2/45/4:15 AM entirely ignores positions relative to the observable star-patterns in the sky. The twelve astrological signs do not and have never represented star-patterns. A sign is a starless, invisible sector of the sky, like a time zone pictured without the landscape beneath it.

Celestics introduces the difference between signs and constellations. A constellation is a visible pattern of stars. Signs are invisible. Very few people who take interest in astrology know this, and even professionals who practice it cannot explain the difference. In Quest for the Zodiac (1999), I stated that astrology is not wrong on its own terms — indeed, I practised it professionally for over three decades — but it is wrongly defined as “the language or science of the stars.” The only star in the typical horoscope is the Sun. In reality, there are two zodiacs: the starless format used by astrologers, and the format of observable star-patterns, variously called the constellational, stellar, or real-sky zodiac.

The real-sky panorama is the format of Celestics. It is called forensic astronomy because it investigates the hard data encoded in the pattern of celestial bodies distributed in the real-sky constellations.

Conversion to StarBase

StarBase, the software custom-designed for Celestics, converts the calendric data directly into a graphic format with all celestial bodies in the horoscope projected into their actual locations in the surrounding sky  — in the real-sky zodiac, not the starless astrological zodiac. To make this conversion, StarBase generates the Rimsite. This is a graphic model of the set of constellations surrounding the earth located (sited/sighted) on the rim of the ecliptic. In all there are 88 named constellations in the total celestial sphere, but most of them are located above or below the defining line of the ecliptic which is a circular grid of 360 degrees, like a protractor.

Read more about the ecliptic and longitude here [ADD link to DD page Ecliptic from MP Need to Know].

The Rimsite shows the accurate positions of background stars and the visualisations associated with the star-patterns, and places all celestial bodies in those mythological figures.

Table of Systemic Data

The term manifold indicates that the astronomical data pictured in the Rimsite includes more than Sun, Moon, and planets (including Earth) which are all celestial bodies. The total of diverse entries in this data display is:

1 Sun (a star, central body of the solar system)
2 Earth (the home planet)
3 Moon (satellite orbiting Earth)
4 & 5 the lunar nodes (features of the lunar orbit intersecting the ecliptic line)
6 & 7 the lunar apsides (far and near points of the Moon on its orbit)
8 & 9 Mercury and Venus (inner planets between Earth and Sun)
10 & 11 & 12 Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (outer planets beyond the orbit of Earth)
13 & 14 & 15 Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (outermost planets beyond Saturn)
16 Chiron (a cometary body that orbits between Uranus and Jupiter)

There are sixteen entries in the manifold, nine of which are planets. And yes, it includes the home planet, Earth! Notice that Earth in McLean’s Rimsite is close to the nine o’clock position on the left in the constellation of the Fishes. More precisely, it is stands at the tail of the Fish that swims along the ecliptic path of the zodiac (clockwise), contrasted to the other Fish that leaps up and away from that line. Notice also the cord that connects the two Fishes. They do not swim in opposite directions as the conventional symbol for Pisces shows. They swim at right angles. Such details are significant features of the data encoded in the graphic display of mythological images in the Rimsite. In Celestics, the Fishes are also called Whales. This constellation does not equate or correspond to the starless sign Pisces.

After the nine celestial bodies, the other seven entries in the manifold are a star, a satellite, four points on the lunar orbit, and a cometary body. Scan the Table above again to be sure you get the information right.  There you have a complete and correct description of the solar system, something that can be taught, and should be taught, to children in grade school.  It is the basic astronomy to be learned in Celestics. It is called systemic data because it describes the organization of the solar system. (McLean’s Rimsite also shows the projection of the AC, rising sign, and Mc, midheaven. These are stereometric orientations relative to the birthplace that can be set aside for the moment.)

See more HERE: Manifold DD under need to Know

So, what you are looking at in the “optics” of the Rimsite is crystal clear. But what are you seeing? Here is the Rimsite with the figures named in the vocabulary of Celestics.

Do the complete tour:  three animal forms (Ram, Bull, Lion), four human forms (Virgin, Manitu, and Twins, counting at two), a crustacean (Crab), an arachnid (Scorpion), two fishes joined at their tails by a cord (Whales), two chimeric figures, the centaur (Archer) and the seagoat (Goatfish), and one mechanical object (Scales, or Balance). Is this a “circle of animals,” the standard translation of the Greek zodiakos kyklos?  Clearly not. The only animals are the Ram, Bull, and Lion, so how can the zodiac routinely be described as a circle of animals? The meme from Alice in Wonderland applies here. Upon introduction to the mythological images of the real-sky zodiac, the topic gets “curiouser and curiouser.”

And there is more. Did you notice that the count above only goes to twelve images? But there are thirteen in all.  The Rimsite includes a male figure that looms over the entire round. How can he be ignored? He stands central and uppermost in the graphic display. Traditionally named Ophiuchus, this star-pattern is called the Snaketamer in Celestics. Yes, you may have the Sun, Moon or another entry of the manifold in the Snaketamer! With that figure included, there are 13 principal constellations on the Rimsite.

And there is more again, See

ZODIAC Rimsite 16 >> link

The Celestial Source Code

Both the astronomy and the math involved in Celestics are eminently clear and simple. With the Table of Systemic Data in your mind and the full round of constellations on the Rimsite before your eyes, you already have the two essential components of the system. Now do the math: 16 entries in the manifold and 16 real-sky celestial locales where they can occur: 16 X 16 = 256. This is the magic number of Celestics. It is the total number of code-lines in the OS of forensic astrology.   All the possible variations of manifold entries in the constellations compute to that number. The entire system works on 256 lines of source code. This is a huge reduction  compared to more than 100,000 permutations in a horoscope.

But hold on, it gets better, and easier. The 256 lines of source code is not the number generated from individual birth data. The calendric data in the manifold of Don McLean, and everyone else,  selects only 16 lines out of the total sum of permutations. At each minute of every day of every year, the cosmos deals out a sequence of 16 unique code-lines like a lottery ticket with 16 figures. That is the readout of your astral blueprint  encoded in the celestial script.  Forensic astronomy is the investigation of this 16-line selection of code.

Those 16 lines are like the 16 numbers on your celestial lottery ticket. But what makes it a winning ticket?

If  Celestics catches your interest, you will certainly wonder what a code-line in your manifold might look like.  You will find instructions on the 16-base source code and how to read it  on free-access pages on this platform, with advanced material available to members. The richness, novelty, and sheer amplitude of  this method demand careful dosing of the instructional material.  The limits of this portal page only allow for a brief glimpse of the source code. You may be disappointed that I don’t translate a code-line here to illustrate the method by example, but hold on. (PS: I do elsewhere on this platform.)  What you learn next may surprize you.

The Pleasure of the treasure hunt

There is nothing arcane, obscure, or complicated about a code-line in the manifold of StarBase. Technically, each line consists of a simple two-factor formula: manifold entry > locale in constellation. For example, one code-line in the manifold of Don Mclean is Venus > Lion. For Marilyn Monroe, Saturn > Scales. For J. K. Rowling, lunar perigee > Crab. For Bruce Lee, Sun > Scorpion. For JLL, Mercury > Snaketamer.

I can, of course, decode any one of those formulas for you. Doing so, I would start with my own: Mercury > Snaketamer. In this practice everyone starts with their own manifold before looking at other cases who may be people you know, people you don’t know living today, or people who lived in the past (called exemplars). The method is the same for all cases: you investigate each two-factor formula, also called the prime algorithm. Suppose I were to do that for you, merely in one case? Or suppose I show you how to do it for yourself, using your own manifold?

To decode even one prime algorithm above I would first have to set out the systemic table of assets and define their functional values in this way: Mercury = to inform, Venus = to please, be pleased, appreciate, Earth = to stand on truth, and so on. These abbreviated terms of the functions of the 16 assets are called prescriptions. StarBase software included them out in the printout of the manifold.

Next, I would have to show you a summary page of all 16 constellations and define how each one represents a range of options for developing and mastering the 16 assets. This rich and extensive material comes in doses here and there on this platform, beginning with Zodiac on the menu page. This inventory of the 16 constellations is called the mythography.

Then, and only then,  could I match one asset to one constellation. For example, Marilyn Monroe: Saturn > Scales. In doing so,  I would need the biographic evidence of that individual to show how the Saturn asset situated in the frame of the Scales constellation came to be demonstrated in the life of the individual, for better or worse.  I would have to know Monroe’s biography  to prove how the method works. Biographic study is an important accessory to Celestics. Fine, but whatever such studies you may undertake, the first and foremost case is your own biography, isn’t? You are the expert on your own life. You compose your own life-narrative. It is an open-ended script that unfolds day by day and over the entire course of your life. Whatever the interest you might have in the life-narrative of another individual — say, someone in history or current events that you admire — your own life story holds primary importance , doesn’t it?

Now, return to the analogy of the nautical compass and the treasure map. If I tell you that the way your compose your life-narrative leads you to the treasure — an essential premise of Celestics — then tell me, do you want to discover that treasure on your own, or be led to it by someone who reads the map for you? An astrologer typically reads the map for the client, but the celestician shows you how to read it for yourself. The tools and techniques of forensic astronomy enable you to plot and direct your life-narrative in ways no other method can. Put simply, there are two stages of discovery facing you at this Portal: you discover what Celestics is, and you use it to guide you, yes, like a compass, on the path of self-discovery that only you can take.

Here comes the suprise. I can happily assure you that there is nothing obscure, esoteric, or complicated about a code-line in StarBase. The construction of each line aligns to a simple truth of common sense.  All human behavior runs on a three-point progression: ONE: You dedicate an innate talent to a particular task to achieve a certain goal > TWO:  By undertaking the task, you prove that you can express that skill or talent in a consistent way > THREE:You align each proven asset with others so that they merge and cooperate toward a chosen goal. 

Isn’t that exactly what everyone does all the time, even merely to get through the day? Obviously it is, and the same process applies over the long term in the entire course of your life.  Call this the trajectory of purpose. Celestics source code reveals how to plot this trajectory of your life-narrative both  in short-term and long-term perspectives. To do so, it uses the prime algorithm:  asset > constellation. Another way to write this algorithm is: innate talent to be developed (asset) > practice, demonstration of the talent (constellation).

Remember that  asset means any entry in the manifold, be it a planet or not. Each asset of the 16 manifold entries (the “Sweet Sixteen” in Celestics slang) is innate talent or skill to be developed. Each constellation encodes a range of themes, options, and interests for the practice of that talent. Remember the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.” Well, no one is or can ever be perfect, but with focus and determination it is possible to reach the optimal expression of one’s innate gifts, in whatever field they may apply. EX marks the spot. EXcellence  in scripting and living out your life-narrative is the objective of Celestics.

I can’t emphasize enough the common sense truth of  the trajectory of purpose that you can undertake with Celestics. This method does not involve you in an elaborate system of interpretations that get in the way of seeing and leading your life as it unfolds, here and now.  It merely gives definition and direction to what you are already doing in your life. It does not confer on you any power of self-determination that you don’t already have, though perhaps not working at its optimal level of satisfaction. It enhances the adventure of self-discovery that leads you to a voluntary, self-directing course in life.

To conclude, I will cue the much-discussed “Mandela Effect” in the lyrics of the BeeGees:  “How deep is your love? Do you really want to know? Or do you really mean to learn?” How deep is your love for your own life-story? How much does it matter to you to hold the command of your own destiny? If you heard that there is guiding system for taking command, are you ready, willing, and able to look into how it works?

Look at the SAMPLER to see what this platform provides for at the novice level of  Celestics. Be advised, the Sampler  does not offer not a pre-formatted, ready-made interpretation of the manifold such as an online astrologer offers for a horoscope reading. Like a DIY kit, it provides the directive codes, tools, terms and techniques for a journey in self-discovery with you in the lead role. It is an excellent navigational guide, but you are always at the helm of the journey.

Peruse the free-access pages on this platform to learn about how Celestics works and how it can work for you.

Thanks for taking a moment to look this way!

John Lamb Lash, author, mythologist, and visionary teacher, originator of StarBase,  the source code of Celestics

contact: mail@celestics.org