Advanced Astrology Part One: Elements and Quadrants

Course Description

Three courses comprise the advanced level. They can be taken independently. They are:

Part One: Elements & Quadrants
Part Two: The Sun and the Moon in the Quadrants
Part Three: The Ascendant and its Ruler 

In all three advanced courses Alexander circles back to the fundamental themes laid down in his previous courses. The advanced courses show you how to use the keys to the core of astrology. With these themes in your tool box you´ll be able to quickly open up a chart and get to the essence of planetary correspondences with personality traits and the soul’s mission.

In this advanced course, “Elements and Quadrants”, Alexander will unfold the relationship between the missing element in each quadrant of the chart with the personality traits that develop there.

Each quadrant mirrors the growth of the human from newborn to adolescent to adult to elder. Each quadrant has its own life themes and tasks that support or challenge the others. Three of the four elements (fire, water, earth and air) appear in the three houses of each quadrant. One element is “missing” in each quadrant. The absence of this particular element is what allows the necessary traits of the quadrant to develop. Alexander dedicates one class to each quadrant, exploring how the missing element shapes the psychology of that phase. 

As a musician, Alexander knows the importance of never losing the rhythms of the quadrants that structure the chart. As a painter, he knows how the colors of each planet make new tones and hues when they land in different houses, quadrants and signs. With artistry, Alexander turns birth charts into portraits in motion of people you know, perhaps even yourself. 

Come up close to the canvas of a birth chart. Learn how to catch and get in synch with the subtle secrets of the inner cosmos.

 If you’re new to astrology, we suggest you take either “Astrology for Beginners” or the somewhat more advanced course “A Deeper Look at Astrology”. Both courses are also with Alexander Von Schlieffen, and reveal his particular perspective on astrology

This course is ideal if

• Continue your studies in astrology with a talented, respected and original astrologer. (This course will be difficult for newcomers to astrology.)
• Use astrology as an adjunct in your coaching or therapy practice
• Sense the organic structure of the birth chart through the lens of the quadrants
• Get a feel for the constructive and destructive power of earth, air, fire and water in the quadrants
• Understand yourself, your family, colleagues and friends better

Course Overview

Class One: The First Quadrant: Me or  “The lonely wolf”

To understand the quadrant framework it’s important to distinguish between the mundane chart and an actual birth chart. The mundane or natural quadrant framework exists as a general structure that underlies all individual charts. You can think of the mundane quadrant framework as the outer wheel to your birth chart. Another way to imagine it is as a universal skeleton that we all fill out differently in our birth charts. The zodiac signs associated with the houses in the mundane quadrants will most likely be different from the signs in the quadrants that appear in any individual chart. 

In the mundane quadrant wheel the first house is Aries, second Taurus, third Gemini, progressively to Pisces in the 12th house. Each zodiac sign is associated with one element; fire, water, earth or air. The elements associated with  the signs do not change from the mundane chart to the individual chart.

We all share this same underlying skeleton of signs and elements associated with houses and quadrants.  In contrast, when a personal birth chart is created any zodiac sign can land in any house.  It’s even possible that the element that is missing in the skeletal mundane quadrant we all share is brought into the same quadrant of a birth chart by the individual’s birth time and location.

For example, water is missing is everybody’s first quadrant of the mundane wheel. But If your ascendent is a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces) this will create a more complicated dynamic, since the first quadrant is about forming boundaries, defining yourself and water blurs boundaries.

The most urgent task in the first quadrant is to develop autonomy in order to survive.  In the formation of the physical individual, water is dangerous because it blurs boundaries. Unclear limits threaten the stability of the individual. The psychological habits developed to achieve the needed independence can range from healthy autonomy to an almost autistic rejection of intimate relationships.

Class Two: The Second Quadrant: We/The Tribe or  “The eternal child”

The missing element in the second quadrant is air. The developmental task of this quadrant is to create an inner, emotional identification with the tribe.  Air creates a mental distance, a distance that would prevent identification with one’s tribe. This is the place where we develop our personality as a part of a group and social skills by trial and error. While joyful playfulness grows here, the danger is that it can lead to a childlike rejection of responsibility and necessary structures. 

Class Three: The Third Quadrant: You/partner/Project  or “Be my mirror”

The missing element in the third quadrant is earth. In the third quadrant  we choose our partners and life projects. The task here is to form strong yet flexible commitments to the people and vocations we love. The element earth is dangerous to forging commitments because earth is possessive, it impedes freedom and doesn’t allow the other to move autonomously. We cannot possess a person, a thought or a feeling. Strong planetary influences in this section of the birth chart can evoke a fear of losing one’s partner.

Class Four: The Fourth Quadrant: World/Network or “The eternal adult”

In this quadrant the missing element is fire. The fourth quadrant symbolizes the results of our decisions and our responsibility towards society and the Zeitgeist. In the formation of a network and collective principles the fire of individuality is dangerous to the group interest because it tends to project private issues on transpersonal themes. In this part of the chart, everything transcends the personal realm.

 

By the end of this course you will

• Understand the developmental task of each house and quadrant in a birth chart
• Know what element is missing in each quadrant and how that element would undermine the task to be done in that quadrant
• Appreciate the subtlety of the interplay of the planets and how that corresponds to the evolution of human personalities
• Sense the joy of possibilities in approaching a birth chart