Uranian astrology

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Uranian astrology is a relatively recent methodological approach to 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. Prior to 1970, elements of psychological astrology in Uranian astrology were sparse; however psychological astrology is today integrated by many Uranian Astrologers, who recognize that other psychological, social, genetic, and free-will variables operate in tandem with astrological indicators, and continue to affect how energies will ultimately manifest.

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)

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 transneptunian planets, 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. These astrologically derived transneptunian factors have as of 2009 neither been proven nor disproven to be among what astronomers have generically labeled Trans-Neptunian Objects, or Kuiper Belt, Scattered Disk, or Oort Cloud phenomena. ^[1]

The Transneptunian factors proposed by Witte and Sieggrün are as follows.^[2][3] Witte’s transneptunian hypothetical planets were, Cupido, Hades, Zeus and Kronos. Later in 1924, fellow Uranian Astrologer, Friedrich Sieggrün, expanded the list of transneptunian hypothetical planets to include Apollon, Admetos, Vulkanus and Poseidon. Witte disagreed with Sieggrün’s additions and endeavored to confirm only the validity of the four transneptunians he originally proposed.^[4] However, other Uranian Astrologers adopted and used Sieggrün’s additions to the transneptunian grouping. Cupido is possibly what we now classify as a plutino, although this yet to be verified or discounted. Other of the factors may eventually be identified with astronomical categories yet to be considered or identified. Uranian astrologers today simply consider that the effects are verified, regardless of the precise categorization of the causal factors, and since astrologers use midpoints between planetary factors as well as planet-like bodies themselves, it is not an impossibility that they are midpoints or nodes.

Recent astronomical discoveries indicate that there are a number of transneptunian bodies interspersed among these, many with highly eccentric and/or elliptical orbits, and not necessarily validating or invalidating them until further astronomical research is conducted. Some Uranian Astrologers (many of whom have insisted on a much more scientific approach to astrology than do most astrologers) believe that these might possibly be gravitational centers among asteroidal belts rather than actual planets by definition, but have demonstrated through research ^[5][6][7] starting with Witte's, around 1920, and continued largely by the Hamburg School of Astrology and the School of Uranische Astrologie, that their effect on earthly affairs is substantial.

Transneptunian factors posited by Witte and Sieggrün

Name		OP	AU		Source	Earlier data
Cupido		262.5	41.0		Witte/Neely	262.5 estimated by Witte in 1923
Hades		360.6	50.7		Witte/Neely	360.66 estimated by Witte in 1924
Zeus		455.6	59.2		Witte/Neely	455.6 estimated by Witte
Kronos		521.8	64.8		Witte/Neely	521.8 estimated by Witte in 1924
Apollon		589.4	70.4		Neely	earlier estimated at 576 by Sieggrün
Admetos		631.7	73.7		Neely	earlier estimated at 617 by Sieggrün
Vulcanus		679.0	77.4		Neely	earlier estimated at 663 by Sieggrün
Poseidon		765.3	83.5		Neely	earlier estimated at 745 by Sieggrün in 1934

OP=Orbital/Revolutionary Period in years, rounded to first decimal.

AU=Distance from Sun in Astronomical Units, rounded to first decimal.

Note that the values established by Witte were proven to be quite accurate by ongoing research since the 1920s, while the values posited by Sieggrün required minor adjustments to correlate with later research results.

World War II

Witte was considered an enemy of the German Third Reich, and committed suicide shortly before he was supposed to have been 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 factors 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. Rudolph continued to develop and refine Witte's methods while resisting the efforts of some colleagues, including Hermann Lefeldt, to re-emphasize traditional astrological methods in order to give his work more popular appeal.

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 1930s. Later, Hans Niggemann, a German naval officer and proponent of Hamburg School astrology, who had emigrated to New York, translated more of the earlier German astrological texts from the 1940s and 1950s, primarily those of the traditionalist Lefeldt, and these led to an enthusiasm in New York and Massachusetts for what American astrologers called Uranian Astrology or the "Uranian System" at that time. Ilse Schnitzler, in Germany, assisted 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. Roger Jacobson's "Language of Uranian Astrology" reflected quite closely the perspective and methodology presented by Lefeldt in his 1962 German text "Methodik der Astrologischen Häuser und Planetenbilder", along with some original insights by Jacobson. During the 1970s in Germany, 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, increasingly distinct from the earlier English translations and derivatives dubbed "Uranian System". A renewed drive for continuation of Alfred Witte's emphasis on critical contemporary research via sorting, testing, and further prioritization of techniques 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.

Late 20th-century and 21st-century developments

In the 1970s, German astrologer, psychologist, and chemist, Ruth Brummund, a student of Rudolph, began re-formulating a Uranian Astrology methodology based on the more recent research during the time that she was Vice-President of the Hamburg School of Astrology. Brummund published a new Regelwerk-Neufassung (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 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, 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. Brummund has emphasized the importance of using the term 'transneptunian factors' until such time as their astronomical nature is fully understood, to emphasize the importance of validating their effect in astrological paradigms rather than dismiss them because of questions over their status in traditional astronomical terms. 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 Brummund's German School of Uranische Astrologie, which has gained greater popularity on the Pacific coast of the United States and in East Asia, particularly in Thailand, since the 1990s. One of the main differences between those defining Uranian Astrology differently is historical fundamentalism 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, and are thus more likely to be comprehensive, objective, and based on longer experience. The differences are not unlike those between fundamentalist and progressive scholars or scientists in other fields.

Recent American variants

One highly popular Uranian Astrology variant in the United States was begun by Emma Belle Donath and further developed to a much larger degree by Martha Lang Wescott. This approach integrates extensive use of midpoints involving other astronomically-verified small-body asteroids and centaurs along with transneptunians, and substantial use of techniques from paradigms outside those of the traditions of German Uranian Astrology, including solar and lunar returns (which Jacobson also advocated in earlier years). The work and approach of Wescott places significant, but not exclusive, emphasis on the psychological aspects of astrology and includes numerous factors in chart analysis.

References in alphabetical order according to author

1. ^ Remo, John L. (2007). "Classifying Solid Planetary Bodies". AIP Conference Proceedings 886: 284–302. doi:10.1063/1.2710063. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AIPC..886..284R.
2. ^ Alfred Witte: Immerwährende Ephemeride, Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg.
3. ^ Ruth Brummund: Transneptun Ephemeride, Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg.
4. ^ Blake Finley “ALFRED WITTE: AHEAD OF HIS TIME IN 1941” updated October 26, 2008 http://www.uranian-institute.org/
5. ^ Alfred Witte: Der Mensch, eine Empfangsstation, Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg.
6. ^ Hamburger Hefte (German-language journal 1960-2008), Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg.
7. ^ Uranian Institute for Astrological Research: www.uranian-institute.org .

• Ambjornson, Karl: "Delineation of Mundane Events", San Francisco CA USA, 1974: text on techniques of mundane/political analysis.
• Ambjornson, Karl: "Handbook: the 90 Degree Disc", San Francisco CA USA, 1974: fundamental explanation of the principles and use of the 90-degree dial/disc.
• Brummund, Ruth: "Brummund Rulebook" (in electronic format), Special Uranian astrology program, Aureas Software, Paris, France, 1990: current and comprehensive interpretations for the planetary pictures.
• Brummund, Ruth: Uranische Techniken Hamburger Astrologen, Eigenverlag Ruth Brummund, Hamburg, Germany, 1994: text of uranian astrology methods which withstood 50 years of testing for comparative validity and functionality.
• Donath, Emma Belle: Asteroids in Midpoints, American Federation of Astrologers, Tempe AZ USA, 1982: Brief interpretations for planetary pictures involving both the Witte-Sieggruen transneptunians and the 4 major asteroids.
• Jacobson, Roger: The Language of Uranian Astrology, Uranian Publications, Franksville WI USA, 1975: textbook of both historical methods and those current as of 1975.
• 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"), Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg, Germany 1957: Alphabetical, dictionary-like book of everyday-life functions and situations along with planetary pictures deemed to be related as of 1957.
• Sherman, Sylvia, and Frank-Manske, Jori: Symphony of the Planets, American School of Astrology, West Orange NJ USA, ca 1985? (date not indicated in text): Interpretation keywords for planetary pairs found in astrological charts, including the 8 Witte-Sieggruen transneptunians.
• Taub, Martha: Uranian Astrology: Tools and Techniques, Uranian Consultants, Washington DC, 1981: Textbook of uranian astrology methods used by Ms Taub.
• Wescott, Martha Lang: The Orders of Light, Treehouse Mountain, Conway MA USA, 1993: Textbook of methods used by Ms Wescott along with substantial interpretive text for pictures involving the 8 Witte-Sieggruen transneptunians, as well as various asteroidal bodies.
• Witte, Alfred and Lefeldt, Hermann: Regelwerk für Planetenbilder (translated as "Rule/s/book for Planetary Pictures" by Richard Svehla (included only 4 of Witte's transneptunian factors, not all 8), later by Hans Niggemann, and then Curt Knupfer), Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg, Germany, 1959: The standard reference for uranian astrology interpretations for many years, current in 1959.
• Witte, Alfred: Der Mensch, (very early German-language articles by Witte and colleagues dated 1913-1924) Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag), Hamburg. Germany, 1975: an anthology of early articles by Alfred Witte and colleagues, many referring to experimental techniques largely abandoned since that time by both Witte and his students. Primarily a historical source reference.