Hi All,

I thought it would be of interest to the group to know I have 3 talks in the UK coming up, from late March to early April. I will also be at the International Astrology Days in Istanbul, with Deb Houlding and Glen Perry!

To save you a step, I'm pasting the information on the talks here from my website. For links to contactpersons at the various venues, please visit http://bendykes.com/news.php.

Best,
Ben Dykes

International Astrology Days: Istanbul, March 20-23

Benjamin Dykes will be a featured speaker at the International Astrology Days events, hosted by Oner Doser. On Thursday, March 20 he will give a free public talk on free will and determinism (45 minutes). On Sunday, March 23, he will give a practical workshop on basic concepts and techniques in traditional astrology: basic rules for interpretation, dignities and counter-dignities, aversion, basic predictive techniques, and several ways of identifying the ruler of the chart and deriving the name of its Angel (with instructions on how to construct an image of the Angel).

Edinburgh Workshop on Distributions, Saturday March 29

This special, hands-on workshop hosted by the Scottish Astrological Association will show how to use "distributions," an ancient and powerful predictive technique, in both natal and solar return charts. Distributions (sometimes called directing through the bounds/terms) divide the life up into chapters, in which various issues will arise in life. Special rules govern when these affairs will be more intensified. When applied in a solar return, they can yield a year-long story with events that are accurately predicted to within a week or a day. We will focus on distributions of the Ascendant, for general themes in life. Few contemporary astrologers have learned how to use this technique or been exposed to its application to solar revolutions.

This workshop also works best if attendees submit their (confidential) birth data to the organizer (Mark Cullen), so we can provide everyone with their own personal printouts and charts adapted to these techniques. Attendees are also encouraged to bring a scientific calculator.

For more information, see the SAA website and contact Mark Cullen (KarmicCelt@aol.com).


Bolton Astrological Society: An Evening of Lots and Conversation, Tuesday, April 1

This evening's talk will be practical and conversational. We will begin by learning how to interpret Lots ("Arabic Parts"), focusing on family-oriented Lots: the Lots of parents, marriage, children, and perhaps friends and action. All of these Lots may be interpreted using the same approach, which attendees can use on their own with ease. We will also informally discuss general questions and advice about traditional astrology: how to practice it, what its contributions are, etc. Attendees are encouraged to come to the talk with their own natal charts (or those of family members), with the following parameters: whole-sign houses, no planets beyond Saturn (or other bodies), and the Lot of Fortune calculated with the day-night distinction.

For more information, contact Jennifer Staveley-Hall (boltonastrolsoc@yahoo.com).



Bath, England: Treasures Before Lilly: Medieval Contributions and Techniques, Sunday April 6

This workshop will teach a mixture of history, concepts, and practical techniques for astrologers of all backgrounds, stemming from the ancient and medieval (particularly Persian-Arabic) periods in astrology. Topics will include original meanings and practical uses of counter-dignities like detriment and fall, "aversion" (which nowadays includes some minor aspects), and how to understand and interpret Lots, such as the Lots of the Father, Mother, and Marriage. If time permits we will also learn basic ideas in Persian mundane astrology.

For more information, including location and price, contact Jodey Collerick (jodeycollorick@btinternet.com).

Just to advise that the Bolton evening event with Ben Dykes has now sold out.

We still have some places available for our annual conference with Darby Costello as the guest speaker on Saturday 12th April.

All enquiries about our annual conference or about our group please email boltonastrolsoc@yahoo.com

Just to also confirm that due to high demand bookings for the Edinburgh Workshop with Benjamin Dykes are now closed.

Thanks

Mark