In episode 73 I talk with astrologer Demetra George about her life and career in the field of astrology, as part of a new series of biographical episodes.
Demetra has been active in the astrological community for over 40 years, and is perhaps most well-known for her work on the astrological meaning of the asteroids, and then more recently for some of her pioneering work on the study of ancient astrology.
Demetra is doing an intensive on Hellenistic astrology this summer from July 11–15, 2016. You can find out more information about her work on her website at Demetra-George.com.
Below you will find the show notes, followed by links to download or stream the recording of our discussion.
Episode Outline
Here are some of the topics we covered during the course of the episode:
- Place of origin, family background, growing up.
- Born July 25, 1946 at 06:22 a.m. in Chicago, IL. Natal chart.
- Background in mythology.
- College, career path as math major, switched to philosophy major.
- Travels in Europe, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan 1969.
- Moves to live on Commune in Southern Oregon in 1970.
- Starts to read astrology and metaphysical books brought to commune by others.
- Early studies in astrology.
- Self-taught chart calculations, Oceanside Rosicrucian correspondence course, reading charts for other people on the commune.
- Goes to first astrological conference in San Francisco in April of 1973, meets Eleanor Bach, receives asteroid ephemeris.
- Background on Eleanor Bach (1922–1995).
- New York based astrologer.
- Had just published first asteroid ephemeris three weeks earlier.
- Research on the asteroids during the 1970s.
- Begins writing book on asteroids in 1980/81.
- Completes manuscript in 1984, then shops it around.
- Published Asteroid Goddesses (ACS) in June 1986, one week before UAC.
- Attends and speaks at the first UAC. June 1986. Last minute cancellations resulted in her getting a speaking position.
- Had a trade table with Douglas where they gave asteroid readings.
- Career as an astrologer takes off.
- Almost goes down path of becoming computer programmer.
- Publishes Astrology for Yourself in 1987, with writing partner.
- Busy period in astrological practice, teaching, conferences, tours to Greece, etc.
- Mysteries of the Dark Moon 1992. Finding Our Way Through the Dark 1994.
- Thinks about going to graduate school by the late 80s/early 90s.
- Regression that foreshadowed Hellenistic astrology connection April 1993
- Became the first Project Hindsight subscriber in April 1993
- Hand and Schmidt formally announce Hindsight at NORWAC in May 1993
- Meets Zoller at AFA conference in Chicago 1994.
- Attends second and third PH conclave 1995, 1996.
- Goes back to school in mid-90s. 1997–2000, University of Oregon.
- Decides to study classics, to deepen mythological research.
- Learns Greek and other languages (reading proficiency in French) while studying classics.
- Approached by Kepler College to teach midway through graduate school
- Develops a stronger foundation in the history and transmission of astrology while at university
- Completes translation of Manuel I Komnenos as part of MA thesis; graduate with M.A. Classics June 2000.
- Kepler College gets authorization, begins teaching July 2000
- Becomes part of the faculty of Kepler in the first class of students.
- Teaches history and other topics at Kepler.
- Symposium at end of first year coincides with NORWAC. May 2001
- Alan White gives impromptu lecture about Hellenistic astrology one night.
- Goes to study Hellenistic astrology in Cumberland, MD following winter 2001–2002.
- Studies with Robert Schmidt and Alan White to develop Hellenistic astrology course at Kepler.
- Begins teaching Hellenistic astrology at Kepler spring 2002
- 2002 received Regulus Award in Theory and Understanding.
- Teaching Greek at Kepler.
- Leaving Kepler 2006.
- Publishes Astrology and the Authentic Self in 2008.
- Continued research in reconstructing Hellenistic astrology.
- Translations of medical texts, work on Thrasyllus, Antiochus aspect doctrine.
- Mentorship and direct teaching.
- Bringing some of that to completion with the forthcoming Hellenistic book.
- Intensive workshop this summer to present the summation of work on HA:
- Hellenistic Astrology Applied: A Practical Guide to Interpretation
- July 11-15, 2016 in Portland, Oregon.
Astrology teachers Demetra studied with (in person or by correspondence): Oceanside Rosicrucians, Virginia Dayan, Joanne Wickenburg, Zip Dobyns, Tony Joseph, Robert Zoller, Robert Schmidt, Alan White.
Transcript
A full transcript of this episode is available here: Episode 73 transcript
Listen to This Episode
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According to the internet, Day Light’s Saving Time in Chicago IL in 1946 was between April 28 and September 29, 1946.
http://www.timeanddate.com/time/change/usa/chicago?year=1946
Just curious, how does one justify standard central time if born in July 1946?
This is an excellent idea – to capture accomplished astrologer’s life paths and contributions. I had the good fortune to hear Demetra lecture on asteroids and on hellenistic astrology. Her knowledge is amazing even when it’s a bit scary to learn more about whether or not a planet can deliver the best of what it has to offer. It’s better to be more realistic about what’s working in ones favor than be led astray by compulsions that can be illusions. Collecting in-depth interviews and bios on influential astrologers in one place is valuable.
Chris, I believe Lauren has asked a good question about the proper time zone used for erecting Demetra George’s birth chart. We all want to know that charts we study are based on accurate calculations.
At first I thought the timeanddate.com website might be inaccurate so I checked my Time Changes in the USA by Doris Chase Doane which for many years was the ‘bible’ for time changes. It agrees with timeanddate.com that Daylight Savings Time was in effect during the summer of 1946 for Chicago (though it might have varied by “local ordinance”).
Then I went to astro.com to calculate the chart to see what its time changes database says. I was surprised to get this message during the chart calculation:
“automatic time zone” = “Usually, it is not necessary and not recommended to select the time zone manually, because this computer program knows which time zones apply to which places for what times, and has complete information about daylight saving time.”
time zone:
6 h west, Standard Time
ATTENTION: We assume that birthtime was registered lawfully as CST
I’ve never seen this message before on astro.com. What could it mean? Did a Chicago birth time have to be “registered lawfully as CST”? If this was a common, or a lawful practice, it was not mentioned in Doane’s book so anyone referring to it would believe that when given a Chicago “summer” birth time, for cities and years listed in the book, that a chart time would be adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. How odd.
I’m sure Demetra George can tell us about how birth times were handled in Chicago when she was born, so please ask her to tell us why the chart she uses shows CST instead of CDT and a different rising degree than a CDT chart would show. Thank you both.
You guys are going to have to contact Demetra and take this up with her, as I have not researched the issue. I assume that she has though, as she seemed to give the timezone very deliberately in the interview.
Good biography. Interesting time zone controversy. Good catch, Lauren & Marlene.
[…] we recorded a biographical episode about Demetra’s life, but our goal with this discussion was to provide a solid introduction to her work on the asteroids […]