迪米特拉‧喬治將於2017美國NCGR占星研討會中，演講〈象牙之門，犄角之門：9宮與夢的解析 (Gates of Ivory, Gates of Horn: The 9th House and Dream Interpretation)〉。以下為主辦單位針對迪米特拉‧喬治的個人專訪。
問：你會如何描述你的占星專長或是研究的領域？
答：回想起來，我把那當作是我與古典文藝的關聯，與帶領我鑽研占星學的提示—我小時候的床邊故事是我的希臘祖母說的神話故事，這些記憶幫助我更容易理解小行星，從那時起，原型的占星解讀方式乃至於去聖地旅行都影響著我。而現代希臘語是我的母語，這也引領了我協助「Project Hindsight」翻譯古代占星典籍的計畫。在這個階段結束前，我學習古希臘，在開普勒學院教授占星史，並參與希臘時期占星學的重建計畫。四神星神話和傳統占星學兩者都是我畢生的工作，同是源自於我母系的影響。
問：在你學習占星學時，有受到哪些書籍的影響？你能告訴我們那些書籍是如何影響你的？
答：我在1971年讀的第一本書，是由Llewelyn George所著，說明如何繪製星盤的《天宮圖製作者與描繪者ABC》；接著是Dane Rudhyar的《個性占星學》以及Alice Bailey的《奧秘占星學》，那拓展了我對占星學的宇宙觀與哲學架構。1973年時，Eleanor Bach給了我一本她新出版的《小行星星曆：穀神星、智神星、婚神星、灶神星》，開啟了我對小行星的研究，最後集結成我在1986年出版的《四女神星》；1974年我讀了Dane Rudhyar 的《月相週期》，這成為我在《暗月之謎》與《穿越黑暗之路》兩本書中，教授月相方面的基礎架構，我至今仍保有Alan Oken的《同上如下》以及我在書緣的註記；在1996年時，Robert Zoller建議我讀托勒密的《四書》，從那之後幾十年，我開始鑽研所有希臘占星家的著作，包含Antiochus、Valens、Porphyry、Dorotheus、Firmicus Maternus、Hephaistio of Thebes以及Rhetorius⋯⋯而班傑明‧戴克翻譯的中世紀占星師Guido Bonatti《天文學研究》一書，則名列帶到荒島上的書單。
問：你能跟我們聊聊關於你的老師嗎?
答：1972年至1973年間，透過加州歐申賽德市的「薔薇十字會」獎學金，函授課程的弟兄姊妹們是我最早的老師們；1973年至1974年波特蘭占星中心的Virginia Dayan，透過Dane Rudhyar的著作以及Marc Robertson的教導為我在人文占星打下了基礎；在1970年代，Joanne Wickenburg在我透過函授向她學習現代心理占星的過程中，扮演著極重要的角色；Zip Dobyns是另一個早期的影響，我曾參加他在蒙大拿州的羽毛笛農場舉辦的夏季密集課程；Robert Zoller、 Robert Schmidt與Alan White在指導我傳統中世紀與希臘占星學中都是極有幫助的；我在開普勒學院教書那幾年，與Nick Campion、Rob Hand、Lee Lehman以及Dennis Harness一同教學的團隊中激發出相當多的想法，並且從中獲益良多；還有James H. Holden，他一直支持我，解答我的疑惑——發現例證，提供模糊或難解字句的翻譯，並解釋手稿等。
問：要如何學習占星呢？
答：
- 花時間學習計算星盤。你會了解更多行星運行的方式，那是從電腦產生的星盤所永遠無法理解的事。
- 拿本星曆表，每天早晨喝咖啡或吃麥片時，花個幾分鐘閱讀、了解一下哪個行星現在在哪兒，以及在你過去的重要時間點它們的位置又在哪，並且在現在以及長久未來它們的位置會在哪？
- 盡可能閱讀更多的書，以獲取對占星學更大範圍的概念，並去發現在眾多領域中哪一個最強烈吸引你的。
- 參加一個系統課程—可以是線上課程，透過書籍、函授、面授或是在某人家中客廳的小型課程，或透過電話、Skype的個人指導，你可以依據不同組織、學習順序，並在你的學習過程中評量你的能力。
- 與其他占星家接觸—參加你們所屬語言的社群、線上讀書會、研討會，去發現別人在學習和研究的內容，加入國際占星團體，這是占星世界中帶來生命喜悅的來源之一。
- 剛開始先從你的朋友和家人的星盤解讀起，你不需要等到覺得你夠好。你不一定要收費，但必須在他人的同意下練習解盤。把那週你學習到的，拿來應用在你的親友上。你解盤的對象是你最好的老師，因為星盤是他們的人生，他們是讓你檢視星盤意義最好的對象。
關於 DEMETRA GEORGE
迪米特拉‧喬治(Demetra George)，碩士，視古典文明為啟發她在神話原型占星學及傳統占星學技巧等前瞻性研究上的靈感，並一面翻譯古希臘占星文獻。她著有《占星認識你自己》、《四女神星》、《暗月之謎》、《穿越黑暗之路》、《占星與真我》以及《古代希臘占星學理論與實務》。目前住在美國俄勒岡州，到世界各地演講，並領團前往聖地朝聖。她提供占星諮詢，以及擔任各階段占星學教育的導師。
原文出處：2017美國NCGR國際占星研討會 活動網站
譯者：Rosa Wang
相關文章閱讀：
行星喜樂：月亮女神的第三宮
古典占星的首要五步驟－作者：Demetra George
迪米特拉‧喬治-希臘古典占星-線上工作坊
書籍情報：
《占星與真我》
《四女神星》
《四女神星》占星播客專訪
原文請見第２頁
Interview with Demetra George
Q: How would you describe your astrological focus or area of study?
A: In retrospect, I see that it is my connection to classical antiquity that has informed my areas of focus and study in astrology. My Greek yia yias’ (grandmothers) told me the tales of the gods and goddesses as my bedtime stories. These memories connected me to how I would come to understand the meanings of all the mythic asteroids, and from there the archetypal approach to astrological interpretation that led to the sacred site tours. Modern Greek was my first language and this guided me to support Project Hindsight’s translations of the ancient astrological texts. Before this phase would be over, I would learn ancient Greek, teach the history of astrology at Kepler College, and participate in the reconstruction of Hellenistic astrology. Both parts of my life work, the mythic asteroids and traditional astrology, emerged from the same lunar matrix.
Q: What are some of the books that influenced you in your study of astrology? Can you tell us a little about how they were influential?
A: My very first study book in 1971 that explained how to cast a chart was the ABC Horoscope Maker and Delineator by Llewelyn George. This was followed by Astrology of Personality by Dane Rudhyar and Esoteric Astrology by Alice Bailey that gave me an expanded perception of astrology within cosmological and philosophical frameworks. In 1973, Eleanor Bach gave me a copy of her newly published The Ephemerides of the Asteroids: Ceres Palls, Juno, Vesta which began my research with all the many asteroids to follow and culminated in the publication of Asteroid Goddesses in 1986In 1974 I read The Lunation Cycle by Dane Rudhyar and this was the foundation framework for the lunation phase teachings I included in Mysteries of the Dark Moon andFinding Our Way through the Dark. I still have my copy of Alan Oken’s As Above, So Below with all my notes in the margins. In 1996 Robert Zoller had me read aloud The Tetrabiblos by Ptolemy and from there I skipped onto the works of all the Hellenistic astrologers over the next decade, including those by Antiochus, Valens, Porphyry, Dorotheus, Firmicus Maternus, Hephaistio of Thebes and Rhetorius. Ben Dykes translation of the Book of Astronomy by medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti is on my list of book’s I’d take to a desert island.
Q: Can you tell us about your teachers?
A: The brothers and sisters of the Rosicrucian Fellowship in Oceanside, CA were my first teachers via a correspondence course in 1972-73. In 1973-74, Virginia Dayan at the Portland Astrology Center grounded me in humanistic astrology through the writings of Dane Rudhyar and the teachings of Marc Robertson. During the 1970’s Joanne Wickenburg also played a major role in my understanding of modern psychological astrology in the correspondence course I took with her, and Zip Dobyns was another early influence in the Summer Intensives at the Feathered Pipe Ranch in Montana.
Robert Zoller, Robert Schmidt and Alan White were all instrumental in teaching me traditional Medieval and Hellenistic astrology. During my years at Kepler College, I benefited from tremendous cross fertilization of ideas in team teaching with Nick Campion, Rob Hand, Lee Lehman, and Dennis Harness. And, at the base is James H. Holden who was always there to answer my questions, find the citations, offer his translations of obscure or tricky passages, and explain the manuscripts.
Q: How to Study Astrology?
A:
- Take the time to learn how to hand calculate the chart. You will understand so much about planetary motion that you will never figure out by just looking at computer generated charts.
- Get an ephemeris and most days spend a few minutes looking at it with your morning coffee or cereal. Come to know where the planets are now, where they were at critical times in your past, and what is in the immediate and long distance future.
- Read as many books as you can to get a big picture of astrology and discover which of the many areas call to you most strongly.
- Take a structured course – this can be online, someone’s program presented in a book, via correspondence, in person, in a small class in someone’s living room or individual instruction by phone or Skyeso that you have some organization, sense of priorities, and evaluation of competency in your learning process.
- Connect with other astrologers – in your community, online, at conferences so you can practice speaking the language, find out what others are studying and learning, and become part of the international tribe of astrologers. This is one of the joys of a life in the astrology world.
- Read Charts to your friends and family from the beginning. You do not have to wait until you think you are good enough. You do not have to charge, but practice on whoever is willing. Whatever you learn that week, try it out on someone you know. The people to whom you read are your greatest teachers because that chart is their life and they are the best people to verify what you think it means.
ABOUT DEMETRA GEORGE
Demetra George, MA, looks to classical antiquity for inspiration in her pioneering work in mythic archetypal astrology, ancient techniques and history, and translations from Greek of primary source texts. She is the author of Astrology for Yourself, Asteroid Goddesses, Mysteries of the Dark Moon, Finding our Way through the Dark, Astrology and the Authentic Self, and Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice. She lives in Oregon, lectures internationally, and leads pilgrimages to the sacred sites in Greece, Italy, Egypt and India. She offers personal astrological consultations and mentors individual students in all level of astrological education.