Paperback | 5.5 x 8.5 | B&W | Illustrated | 243 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-473-41688-1
Auckland · Rubedo Press · 2017
now AVAILABLE
$39.00
Price listed in New Zealand Dollars.
Approximate price in other currencies:
GBP £21.00 | EU €24.00 | USD $28.00
Hermetica Triptycha
The Mercury Elemental Year
Gary P. Caton
HERMETICA TRIPTYCHA is a new series of astrological grimoires that explores both the deepest traditions and furthest frontiers of astrology through the lens of the planet Mercury.
Messenger, trickster, psychopomp, Mercury’s myriad forms belie a genuinely complex character. And yet to most modern astrologers he remains a relatively one-dimensional figure. Caton’s Hermetic triptych is designed to ground you in the actual observation of Mercury as a living planetary phenomenon, and to bring the lessons of this planetary divinity back to the world of applied astrology.
Before the Common Era, Mesopotamian astrologers knew the intricate movements of the visible planets and could accurately predict their movements. This gave birth to detailed ephemerides and symbolic facsimiles of the sky, but ironically, it also gave rise to an astrology that could be practiced in isolation from the vast temple of the living heavens. In Hellenistic times, astrologers subsequently lost touch with their observational roots, and, like prisoners in Plato’s cave, they mistook the shadows of things for the luminous realities.
Mercury’s dynamic phases, his nodes and transits, the shapes of his retrograde loops, and his propensity to spend more time in one elemental triplicity than all the others combined—have critical applications in practical astrology. Going far beyond sign, house, and aspect, they provide the crucial contexts for understanding the meaning and purpose of Mercury at any given moment. Each volume of the Hermetica Triptycha explores a unique dimension of this multifaceted planetary divinity, bringing ancient knowledge to life for a modern audience.
Volume 1: The Mercury Elemental Year
Even before the advent of western tropical astrology, Plato recognized that the Sun, Mercury, and Venus all complete a full circuit of the Zodiac in about a year. However, while it is true that Mercury traverses the Zodiac in this period, he does not spend an equal amount of time in each sign. Rather, Mercury shows decided preferences, spending as much time in the three signs of one Elemental triplicity as the other three combined. An extended stay of such a speedy planet represents an ideal alchemical environment where the volatile is made fixed. Tuning into the themes of the Mercury Elemental Year, you become naturally resonant with the symbolic currents of the times in which you were born, and those in which you live, work and grow. 125 years of ephemerides, additional commentary, and lessons are included.
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction: A User’s Guide
Section I: The Mercury Elemental Year in the Birth Chart
Chapter I: The Astronomy of the Mercury Elemental Year
Chapter II: Delineating the Mercury Elemental Year
Section II: The Mercury Elemental Year as a Transformative Process
Chapter III: Animism, Magic, and Myth – Read Online
Chapter IV: The Alchemy of Transformation
Chapter V: Elemental Magic
Chapter VI: The Twelve Elemental Returns
Section III: Appendix: Mercury Elemental Year Ephemeris
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Gary P. Caton is a multidisciplinary astrologer who embraces an organic, process-oriented approach to spiritual growth and transformation via engagement with the living sky. Initiated into astrology via a dream of the Sun-Venus conjunction, he has since devoted his entire life to refining his vision. An accomplished stargazer and astro-photographer, Gary possesses the unique ability to combine the experiential power and dynamic images of the living sky with classic horoscopy and metaphysics—an alchemical blend of bleeding edge modern research and pioneering technique. You can catch Gary online via the popular Hermetic Astrology Podcast, or live on one of his frequent lecture tours across the US and abroad.