Van 24 tot en met 26 februari 2017 vond in Porto de eerste internationale astrologieconferentie in Portugal plaats, met sprekers uit diverse landen. Ik heb op deze conferentie een lezing en een workshop verzorgd.

Lecture

Finding (the) soul in the birth chart: exploring Plato’s notions on soul and elements

The question of soul frequently pops up in discussions between astrologers. Can we find ‘it’ in the chart? Do we look for specific planets or points? And how do soul and incarnation relate to each other in a chart? In this lecture the idea of soul and its place in astrological chart interpretation is briefly explored, before focusing on Plato’s tripartite notion of the soul and how this can be related to the three ‘highest’ elements in the birthchart: fire, air and water, the movable elements. Earth, the immovable and thus unsouled fourth element, represents incarnation.

Mini Course

Elements and change: The alchemical potential in the (birth) chart

The medieval science of alchemy was based on working with the four elements of matter: fire, air, water and earth. Carl Gustav Jung turned this old science into soul theory when he equated the four elements with the four psychic functions of intuition, thinking, feeling and sensing. Both classical and Jungian insights on elements are very useful in understanding the notion of change in a (birth) chart. This mini course explains the basic ideas about change through elements and applies these to astrological chart interpretation. The first hour is used for instruction, during the second hour this material is illustrated by discussing (some) charts of attendees.