Uranian astrology
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Uranian astrology is a modern form of astrology based on teachings of German surveyor/astrologer Alfred Witte (1878-1941), founder of the Hamburg School of Astrology. Witte revived and further developed the use of mathematical midpoints for precise astrological analysis and prediction. He was also an avid independent student of astronomy.
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[edit] Explanation
Along with extensive midpoint analysis, Uranian Astrology incorporates the use of 16th-harmonic angles/astrological aspects, singled out for their correlation with dynamic energy manifestations. These include the conjunction (0°), opposition (180°), square (90°), semi-square (45°), and sesqui-quadrate (135°), as well as all other multiples of 22.5° angles (67.5, 112.5, 157.5). (See the article on the astrological aspects for more information)
[edit] Early development
In his early writings in the 1920s, Witte experimented with numerous historical astrology techniques, including the astrological houses, planetary formulae similar to 'Arabic parts', and planetary rulership systems. His approach to astrology was to verify or deny assumptions by means of observation rather than rely blindly on astrological traditions. Witte also proposed the existence of trans-Neptunian objects, which are considered essential to the practice of Uranian astrology. He truly sought to approach astrology scientifically, but was also a frontier scientist open to exploration of new ideas.
The Transneptunian objects proposed by Witte and Sieggrün are as follows.[1][2] Cupido is likely to be what we now classify as a Plutino. Recent astronomical discoveries indicate that there are a number of transneptunian bodies interspersed among these, many with highly eccentic and/or eliptical orbits, and not necessarily validating or invalidating them until further astronomical research is conducted. Some Uranian Astrologers believe that these might possibly be gravitational centers among asteroidal belts rather than actual planets by definition, but are have demonstrated through research that their effect on Earth is substantial.
OP=Orbital/Revolutionary Period in years, rounded to first decimal
AU=Distance from Sun in Astronomical Units, rounded to first decimal
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CUPIDO: OP 262.5 per Witte/Brummund/Neely: AU 41.0 per Witte/Brummund/Neely
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HADES: OP 360.6 Witte/Brummund/Neely: AU 50.7 Witte/Brummund/Neely
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ZEUS: OP 455.6 Witte/Brummund/Neely: AU 59.2 Witte/Brummund/Neely
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KRONOS: OP 521.8 Witte/Brummund/Neely: AU 64.8 Witte/Brummund/Neely
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APOLLON: OP 576 Sieggrün, later 589.4 Brummund/Neely: AU 70.4 Brummund/Neely
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ADMETOS: OP 617 Sieggrün, later 631.7 Brummund/Neely: AU 73.7 Brummund/Neely
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VULCANUS: OP 663 Sieggrün, later 679.0 Brummund/Neely: AU 77.4 Brummund/Neely
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POSEIDON: OP 740 Sieggrün, later 765.3 Brummund/Neely: AU 83.5 Brummund/Neely
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[edit] World War II
Witte was considered an enemy of the German Third Reich, and committed suicide shortly before he was supposed to have been being interned in a Nazi concentration camp, in 1941. During the Third Reich, German physician and astrologer Reinhold Ebertin took Witte's core teachings, but rejected the trans-Neptunian objects because of the controversy over them, and renamed his derivative of Uranian astrology "Cosmobiology". After World War II, Witte's work was resumed primarily by the German astrologer Ludwig Rudolph, who had also been interned by the Nazis. He continued to develop and refine Witte's methods while resisting the efforts of some colleagues, including Hermann Lefeldt, to re-emphasize traditional astrological methods.
[edit] Early- to mid-20th century developments
Richard Svehla, an Ohio astrologer, was among the first to translate German materials from the early experimental years of the Hamburg School of astrology into English, in the 1940s. Later, Hans Niggemann, a German naval officer and proponent of Hamburg School astrology, who had immigrated to New York, translated more of the earlier German astrological texts from the 1940s and 1950s, including those of the traditionalist Hermann Lefeldt, and these led to an enthusiasm in New York and Massachusetts for what American astrologers called Uranian Astrology at that time. Ilse Schnitzler, in Germany, assisted Hermann Lefeldt in the laborious task (before computers) of alphabetizing the astrologically-significant historical findings of Witte and Sieggrün in a book called Lexikon für Planetenbilder (published in 1957) and Niggemann translated this book and presented it as the Key to Uranian Astrology in the 1960s. Both books were based on the 1946 edition of Witte/Lefeldt's 'Regelwerk'. Among Niggemann's contemporary enthusiasts was Charles Emerson. In the 1970s, a new shift in the Hamburg School of Astrology, from which Uranian Astrology originated, put more emphasis on critical testing rather than parroting or perpetuation of historical methods and teachings, and a new generation of literature appeared. Sorting, testing, and prioritization or techniques, based on practical research, was led by Ruth Brummund in Germany. Karl Ambjornson, in San Francisco, produced original writings conveying techniques based on the more recent research in Germany and the United States of that time.
[edit] Current developments
In the 1970s, German astrologer, psychologist, and chemist, Ruth Brummund, a student of Ludwig Rudolph, began developing new methods in the Hamburg School based on the more recent research during the time that she was Vice-President of the Hamburg School. Ms Brummund published a new Regelwerk-Neufassung (could be translated as Revised Rulebook) in 1979, and a substantially expanded second edition in 1990. She also published a new Lexikon-Neufassung, which included the newer findings from Hamburg School research, including psychological correlates, in 1982 -- and this book has been further updated to include the findings since 1982 in electronic format (in both German and English) in a Uranian software program published in France, developed in cooperation with Ms Brummund, and used by her to teach current Uranian methods. As Hamburg School traditionalists regained organizational control and sought to resurrect the teachings of Lefeldt, Ms Brummund went on to form the school of Uranische Astrologie in 1993 to maintain the focus on the more research-proven efficient methods of midpoint analysis, discarding the unproductive experimental techniques used by Lefeldt-Niggemann. While the term "Uranian Astrology" has been used by some American astrologers to include the historical teachings disseminated by Lefeldt and Niggemann (propagated primarily on the Atlantic coast of the United States and among émigrés from there), many of the Lefeldt-Niggemann methods are considered to be speculative and functionally obsolete, and no longer a component of Uranian Astrology as defined by Ms Brummund's German School of Uranische Astrologie, and which more closely correlates with Uranian Astrology as generally practiced on the Pacific coast of the United States by astrologers studied and trained in the more recent developments. One of the main differences between those defining Uranian Astrology differently is historical sentimentalism versus ongoing progressive scientific analysis of methods and comparison of methods for effectiveness. The traditionalists tend to emphasize the immutable truth of historical texts, while the progressives emphasize that newer references tend to be based on more recent research are more comprehensive, objective, and based on longer experience. The differences are not unlike those between fundamentalist and progressive scholars or scientists in other fields.
[edit] References
- ^ Alfred Witte & Friedrich Sieggrün: Immerwährende Ephemeride, Witte-Verlag, Hamburg.
- ^ Ruth Brummund: Transneptun Ephemeride, Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg.
- Ambjornson, Karl: "Delineation of Mundane Events", San Francisco, 1974.
- Ambjornson, Karl: "Handbook: the 90 Degree Disc", San Francisco, 1974.
- Brummund, Ruth: "Brummund Rulebook" (in electronic format), Special Uranian astrology program, Aureas Software, Paris, 2006.
- Brummund, Ruth: "Brummund Lexicon" (in electronic format), Special Uranian astrology program, Aureas Software, Paris, 2006.
- Brummund, Ruth: Regelwerk-Neufassung 2.Auflage, Eigenverlag Ruth Brummund, Hamburg, 1990.
- Brummund, Ruth: Uranische Techniken Hamburger Astrologen, Eigenverlag Ruth Brummund, Hamburg, 1994.
- Schnitzler, Ilse and Lefeldt, Hermann: "Lexikon fur Planetenbilder", (derived from 1946 Regelwerk fur Planetenbilder by Witte-Lefeldt, and translated by Hans Niggemann as "Key to Uranian Astrology"), Witte-Verlag, Hamburg, 1957.
- Witte, Alfred: Regelwerk für Planetenbilder (translated as "Rule/s/book for Planetary Pictures" by Richard Svehla and Hans Niggemann), Ludwig Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg, 1959.
- Witte, Alfred: Der Mensch, (actually a collection of articles by Alfred Witte and colleagues from the 1930s) Ludwig Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg, 1975.
