Astrologer Gabriel Rosas Has Stories To Share
talktalktalk on reviving ancient astrology, determining one's length of life & more.
Gabe Rosas came to Astrology over 20 years ago as a skeptic. In the time since, it’s turned into a life passion. He’s studied with some of the most important figures in the revival of ancient astrology, and he’s even studied Greek and Latin to aid in his personal understanding of source texts.
If his name’s unfamiliar to you, that’s not surprising. Gabe’s one of those rare characters who’d rather pursue knowledge than promote himself.
The following interview was conducted through email correspondence in early 2023.
CV Henriette: Let’s start with an easy question. Pretend I’m a stranger at a party. What’s Astrology? How’s it work?
Gabriel Rosas: It’s a way to make sense of life by looking at the sky and applying divinatory logic. How does it work? Take your pick of reasons. It doesn’t matter.
CVh: Why is it useful?
GR: You can finally see just how weird the world, and consequently your own life, really is. Plus you’ll find out the why and how of the nonsense you’ve been dealing with.
CVh: Who were your teachers? Tell me about them.
GR: First was Robert Zoller, who initiated me into the world of traditional astrology. A true Aquarian wonder. After that, it was Robert Schmidt, who made the astrology and philosophies of the Hellenistic period come to life for me.
CVh: The length of life technique. What is it, and is it more useful than frightening?
GR: Length of life shows potential times that may be inimical to a person’s health and vitality. In the olden days this would probably mean death. Nowadays it often points to more acute, or chronic, illness and injury. It’s useful unless you want to pretend bad things don’t happen.
CVh: I hear you have a personal story around this technique….
GR: This was the main stumbling block doing Zoller’s course. It was in the middle of the lesson plan, and I dropped out twice when I hit that one. Got over it eventually.
CVh: Again, pretend we’ve never met.This time I’m some casual astro fan who follows randoms on TikTok. What are these things called houses? How do they work?
GR: Houses are the places where the universal themes of the planets come down to earth and to your life particularly. This is where we can see how you, your relationships with others, your impact on the world (and its impact on you) manifest concretely.
CVh: This question is from our dear friend, KristaLyn: what is your preferred house system? Why?
GR: There is only one. LOL.
But seriously, focused on Hellenistic astro as I am, the house system I use is based on using “whole signs” as the fundamental element, with equal divisions modifying it and then quadrant ala “Porphyry” for determining a predominator in the chart.
CVh: What was Project Hindsight? Give me the who, what, where, when, why and how.
GR: The translation project that brought Hellenistic astro to light, along with highlighting other traditional practices. Formed in 1993 by the three Bobs—Robert Schmidt, Robert Hand, and Robert Zoller—out in Cumberland, MD, USA. Hand and Zoller were the established astrologers of the group. Schmidt was brought in through Michael Erlewine’s recommendation, as Schmidt was proficient in Greek and a long time independent scholar of ancient mathematics and philosophy at the time.
Without them we probably wouldn’t have much of a traditional revival, if any.
CVh: What was your personal experience at Project Hindsight? How did your time there shape your relationship to Astrology?
GR: I got involved very late in the game, around 2008, when Bob Schmidt and Ellen Black began to do workshops on specific topics, like the Hermetic Lots. The plan was to ramp up work on some books that would have framed Schmidt’s theories on the development of Hellenistic astrology, but alas, it only got so far before health concerns overtook Bob.
Basically going there and being a student of Bob’s pretty much felt like being given a taste of the Real Thing, and it’s been the inspiration of my practice of astrology ever since.
CVh: Saturn in Pisces? Thoughts? Predictions? Ways to prepare?
GR: We’re all doomed, as always. I think many will become very disillusioned with how things are, and this will create a ferment of movements, cults, and the like. Some will go deep and into the past and bring forth new insights, others will go off the deep end. Please, be vigilant and not credulous.
CVh: You're giving a lecture at NORWAC, yeah? Do tell. I want to know all.
GR: Yes, I’ll be giving a talk on sign-based profections, following the example of Paulus of Alexandria, though I’m sure some Valens will creep in there. People mostly use them for yearly forecasting, but exploring monthly and daily levels should prove useful and interesting to people!
CVh: What am I missing?
GR: My glorious presence obvs. What do you think?
WHERE TO FIND GABE
Visit Gabe’s website to study with him and book a consultation
Follow Gabe on Instagram & Threads
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