three liliths by sue

THE THREE LILITHS

1. LILITH THE ASTEROID

The glyph for Lilith the asteroid is a straight horizontal line with 4
small vertical lines sticking up from it, sort of like an upturned
rake head, and then on the right below the horizontal line is a very
small mark like a capital L (or in some cases a V). Some say it is an
upturned hand. When you are writing about the asteroid you can just
say Lilith. It takes about 5 years for Lilith to travel through all
12 signs, since it does retrograde a lot. On computer
programs just go to the Asteroid section and look for Lilith. On
Solar Fire, have a chart on the screen, click on Reports, then on
Asteroids.

An asteroid ephemeris generator is at http://asteroid.lowell.edu/
Click on ASTEPH.

Most computer programs have lots of asteroids but if you want an
asteroid ephemeris in print, Martha Lang Wescott's website,
http://www.treehousemountain.com, sells 2 ephemerides with 16
asteroids in each volume. They are called Asteroid Mechanics, vol. 1
& 2. Lilith is in vol. 2. $16.95 each.

The following books contain material that help to interpret the
asteroid Lilith in a chart:

Demetra George, Asteroid Goddesses, p. 189-190.
J. Lee Lehman, The Ultimate Asteroid Book, p. 76-8.
Martha Lang-Wescott, Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids. Contains
more info on Lilith than in the George and Lehman books. Has
interpretation of aspects of Lilith to other planets and asteroids.
Not available in bookstore chains but from her website at
http://www.treehousemountain.com or from Astrology Center of America
at http://www.astroamerica.com, which gives a good description of the
book. Martha's website also gives short meanings of a large number of
lesser known asteroids.

Phone & fax: Treehouse Mountain: (413) 369-4680, FAX (413) 369-4200,
Astrology Center of America: Orders only: (800) 4752272, FAX (212)
868-9221, phone (212) 868-9200

2. BLACK MOON LILITH

What is BML? Black Moon Lilith is a point in the moon's orbit. It is
not a body in the sky. It is the lunar apogee, the farthest point
that the Moon gets from Earth. Black Moon Lilith moves 40 deg 40 min.
per year, or about 3 deg. 23 min per month. It takes about 9 years to
complete one pass through all 12 signs.

Glyphs for BML: When you are writing about it you can spell out Black
Moon Lilith and then use Black Moon or abbreviate BML. If you just
say Lilith you are referring to the asteroid. The glyph is a black
third quarter Moon with a black cross below. The tips of the black
Moon point to the right. The glyph on Win*Star is reversed. The
points of the Moon face west instead of east. Win*Star gives the true
BML. The Win*Star programmer says they started using this reversed
glyph years ago as a way to distinguish between the Swiss true
position and the more commonly available mean position. However,
Win*Star is the only one who uses this version of the glyph.

Software: Solar Fire and most other software, including Astrodienst,
gives the mean position. Halloran's software gives both true and mean
positions. Win*Star gives the true position. On Solar Fire, it is
called the Black Moon. You can add BML to your charts the same way
you add or delete other points. On Solar Fire go to main screen,
click on Chart Options, then Displayed Points, hit Edit and select
Black Moon. See below for ephemerides.

Mean vs. True: The mean postion of BML is it's average postion. The
true position is where it actually is. This is similar to the
difference between true and mean positions of the nodes of the Moon.
The difference between BML true and mean positions can vary up to 30
degrees, so sometimes the mean and true will be in different signs or
houses in the same chart. The mean does not retrograde but the true
does. The true position can move up to 4 deg per day or it can stay
at the same degree for several days. When using the true it is
important to get an accurate calculation. The only way to do that
without software is to use the Swiss ephemeris test page, directions
below.

Swiss Ephemeris online: To find the true position of BML for your
birth date and time, go to http://www.astro.com/swisseph/swetest.htm
and follow these directions.
If you have any trouble please let me know.
1. Start Date: Convert birth date to European style: May 3, 1958
becomes 3-5-1958. Enter this in Start Date.
2. Steps: Enter 1 to get the BML position for only the birthdate in
question. Entering 30 will give you 30 days worth of data.
3. Step size: Enter 1, that gives you each day.
4. Planet Selection: Enter AB. This gives mean lunar apogee (mean
BML) and osculating lunar apogee (true BML).
5. Leave Swiss Ephemeris selected.
6. Output format: Enter: tPZS
7. Convert the birth time to Universal Time. Ex: A birth time of 8:01
AM Pacific Daylight Time (+ 7) would be 15:01 Universal Time.
Enter this under Other Options as: -ut15:01. If you have a rectified
time that includes seconds you can add that as: -ut15:01:15. Don't
forget to correct the date if the universal time is after midnight on
the following day. That's all you need.
8. Optional step, adding elevation: You don't need to enter the
coordinates unless you are using the topcentric system, where the
elevation above or below sea level is taken into account. To do this
use a decimal point between degrees and minutes and preface with a -
sign if it is western or southern and a + sign if eastern or northern.
Use meters for the elevation, not miles. Example: If the place
coordinates are 135w15, 57n03, and the elevation is 12.42 meters you
would enter it as: -topo(-135.25,+57.05,12.42) To enter the time and
coodinates together enter: -ut15:01:00 -topo(-135.25,+57.05,12.42)
To convert miles to meters, 1 meter = .062137 miles, so 20 miles would
be 12.4274 meters. Don't enter the coordinates without the elevation
because the program will assume you are in Zurich, elevation 400
meters, and that will give you incorrect results.

Why bother with the true? It does seem to be more accurate. I
started using BML in my charts after listening to Verena Bachman's
tapes (below). She uses mean BML and I have Solar Fire, which gives
the mean, and over the next 2 years I found it was a very important
negative place. Verena uses very wide orbs. I think the reason you
need to use wide orbs with the mean position is that the true is
really what is working and by using wide orbs you get the true more
often without knowing it. A few months ago I got a true BML
ephemeris and since I was in the process of interviewing people by
e-mail about the meaning of BML in their charts as preparation for
writing an article, I started using both true and mean in the
interviews to see which worked better. Every time true has worked
better. And the orbs seem to be very small. At present the orb
seems to be no more than 3 degrees. Using the true also brings up the
question of what BML Rx means. Since BML is a negative place my guess
is that the Rx postion might give a special gift to the sign and
house as well as the usual negative meanings. It has worked in a few
cases but right now I don't have enough data to know if this is
always true. The article will be posted at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3Liliths If you received this by e-
mail, you will receive the article automatically by e-mail when it is
posted.

BML TAPES:
Verena Bachman has 2 tapes from UAC 98 on Lilith the Black Moon.
1. Lilith: the Great Goddess in Everyday Life (#41HG) and
2. Lilith, The Great Goddess in Relationship (#42HG).
Listening to these tapes in 1998 was what started me using Black Moon
Lilith in my charts. She uses the mean BML position.
Available from Audio Master, 85 Queen Anne Dr., Mableton, GA 30126 ,
Phone 770-948-2475, FAX 770-948-8005, $9 per tape + $3 shipping for
1st tape and .50 each additional tape.

Tapes from NORWAC:
Demetra George, The Enigma of the Three Astrological Liliths.
M. Kelley Hunter, Lilith Speaks: The Dark Goddess of Our Time
You can order these tapes at http://www.astrologyetal.com/norwac.html
Click on Download Past Tapes List. I have not heard either tape. If
you are thinking of ordering the Kelley Hunter tape you might want to
check out her article first at:
http://www.mountainastrologer.com/hunter.html

BML ARTICLES and WEBSITES:
Mountain Astrologer Magazine has a 2 part article by Claude Weiss
called Black Moon Lilith Through the Houses, which is very good. Part
1 is in the Aug/Sept 1999 issue and part 2 is in the Oct/Nov 1999
issue. You can order back issues from them at
http://www.mountainastrologer.com

M. Kelley Hunter also wrote an article for Mountain Astrologer in the
April 1999 issue in which an ephemeris for Black Moon Lilith (mean)
for 1900 - 2006 is printed. The article is not helpful in actually
interpreting BML in the chart, but if you want the ephemeris you can
find it with the article at
http://www.mountainastrologer.com/hunter.html It covers 1900-2006.
The Mountain Astrologer ephemeris uses the mean BML from Solar Fire 3,
while Solar Fire 4 uses mean BML calculated in a slightly different
way, which makes a difference of about 1 degree.

Another online ephemeris of mean BML positions, 1900-2009, is at:
http://water.fce.vutbr.cz/~pepa/lilith/lilith_e.htm

An article on BML in the signs, written by Marie Dominique Villard
is in English at http://www.xs4all.nl/~jakimowa/
Note Marie D. Villard uses the true position. This site also has
other articles on BML but see note below in Dark Moon section.

Villard also has posted other info about the meaning and symbolism of
Lilith on a Yahoo egroup called 8th house:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/8thhouse/message/2906
After clicking on this, enter Lilith in the Search Archive window.
Messages will appear in reverse chronological order, from most recent
to oldest, so you might want to start at the bottom of the list and
work up. In any case, to go further back in time, click on the Next
link; to go forward in time, click on the Previous link.

An egroup on the Black Moon and related subjects is at:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jakimowa/egroup.html

BML BOOKS AND EPHEMERIDES IN PRINT:

In the U.S., The Black Moon Book by Santoni, George & Suyterman, Sum
Press, $12. It includes an ephemeris, credited to Santoni, which
gives both mean & true positions, 1910-2010. The time is not listed,
it is probably midnight GMT. Includes notes about the Black Moon by
Lee A. Suyterman. Available online from Astrology Center of America
at http://www.astroamerica.com/planet4.html

For those in Europe, The New International Ephemeris, 1900-2050, gives
true and mean daily positions of BML. Also available is Ephemerides
of True Black Moon, 1910-2010 by Francis Santoni, in French. Both
are available at http://www.aureas.com Prices are in Euro dollars
with a link to a conversion table.

These are 2 French books which might be translated into English:
1 - The Return of Lilith, The Black Moon, by Joelle de Gravelaine
2 - The Nodes of the Moon and the Black Moon in Astrology, by
Marie-Thérèse des Longchamps

3. DARK MOON LILITH

This is a "second moon" to the Earth. It is a non-reflective body
(hence the name Dark Moon) that orbits the Earth about every 119 days.
It was first sighted in the 1600's. Dr. Georges Waltemath, a German
astronomer, was the first to document it in 1898. His calculations
are the correct ones and can be found in Solar Fire as Dark Moon
W'math. To find it, have a chart on the screen, click on Reports,
then on Other Bodies.

The glyph is a circle or zero with a diagonal line like a forward
slash, cutting through it. In writing use Dark Moon Lilith at first,
then Dark Moon or DML to avoid confusion.

Some people don't believe the Dark Moon is a planetary body because
the orbit is too regular. It could be some type of equipment, but
since it was first sighted in the 1600's, it is nothing modern. Some
people think it is a ball of space dust, which would explain why it
doesn't reflect the Sun as other Moons do. For this reason a lot of
astrologers will not use it. But if it works in the chart and it is
not a planetary body, then that means that all kinds of space debris
could have some influence. Every once in a while someone on the
internet comes up with the thought that the Dark Moon could actually
be the asteroid Cruithne but it isn't. The orbits are vastly
different.

Don't rely on any ephemeris for Dark Moon Lilith that Delphine Jay,
Mae Wilson-Ludlum and Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson have in print. They all
use an erroneous calculation originally from Sepharial, which also
shows the Dark Moon orbiting every 119 days but the sign and degree
are different than the Waltemath calculations. Win*Star also uses the
erroneous Sepharial calculations.

If you find an ephemeris for Dark Moon and are wondering whether it is
correct or not, Bill Clinton's Dark Moon (Waltemath) is at 7Libra25,
parallel Venus and conj. Neptune, using an orb of 1 degree. Delphine
Jay's ephemeris shows his Dark Moon at 27Libra53, making no aspects.
George W. Bush's Dark Moon (Waltemath) is at 5Gemini57 in the 10th,
Delphine Jay shows it at 15Gemini00 in the 11th. If you find an
ephemeris other than Solar Fire that gives the correct Waltemath
positions please let me know so I can include it.

A website with articles on the 3 Liliths is at:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jakimowa/articles.html
An article at this website on Black Moon by Jeannine Akimowa of the
Netherlands says that says the correct time that it takes the Dark
Moon to orbit the Earth is 3 hours, 20 min and at that rate would
always be in eclipse. She doesn't say where she got this information
but it is not correct. A small body circling the earth at this rate
very close to the earth's surface has been sighted but it is not the
Dark Moon. Details are at
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/hypo.html Click
on The Earth's Second Moon. This article also contains a complete
history of the attempts to locate other Moons, including the Dark
Moon, and includes a bibliography.

The following are books on Dark Moon Lilith:

1. Delphine Jay, Interpreting Lilith, $16, newly revised, AFA. This
gives explanation and cookbook definitions for Dark Moon Lilith
placements. Oddly enough, even though her ephemeris gives incorrect
placements, her interpretations work using the correct calculation
of Dark Moon Lilith. 181 pages.
2. Delphine Jay, The Lilith Ephemeris 1900-2000 AD. Don't buy this.
The calculations are wrong.
3. Ivy M. Goldstein-Jacobson, Dark Moon Lilith in Astrology, $17.50.
If an ephemeris is included it is wrong.
4. Mae R. Wilson-Ludlum, Lilith Insight: New Light on the Dark Moon,
$18, AFA. Don't use her ephemeris if there is one.