by Robert Wilkinson
I recently spoke with Rick Levine and Doc Benton in a 24 hour span and my work with the 11th harmonic series came up both times. The 11th harmonic aspect (I term it “Elftile”) series shows us non-rational spiritual phase relationships within the cycle where these occur. It is where chaos is introduced into the process requiring us to master some form of duality through generating types of faith. Today we explore the various aspects in the series and their potential function as I’ve seen it operate for almost 50 years.
Though I originally offered you this material many years ago, I gave you an updated article on the 11th harmonic aspect series, along with the 7th and 9th harmonic aspect series and the glyphs for each, in Astrological Aspects – The 7th, 9th, and 11th Harmonic Series Aspects and Their Symbols. As I offered in that article,
Back in the 70s, when doing charts by hand, I needed a way to notate the various aspects in the Septile series, Novile series, and 11th harmonic series.... When I began to explore these aspects, I found there are no other glyphs for these aspects anywhere, as there was nothing published on that series in any way, and extraordinarily little on the Septile and Novile series aspects.... I began to explore the 11th harmonic aspect series in the late 70s, and after some time using them and seeking to understand how they fit into the whole system of aspects on the 360 phase wheel, I got some very interesting revelations. These are the aspects in the mis-named “undecile” series.I realized this series had to be re-named, since there is nothing related to a “Decile” in these aspects. Deciles are the 10th harmonic series, and include the Decile (aka semiquintile, 36 degrees), Quintile, Tredecile (108 degrees), and Biquintile (144). I’ve explained in numerous articles that the 5th and 10th harmonic aspects are related, and manifest as various types of specialization, personal gifts, unique qualities and circumstances, interactive gifts, and serendipity....
... I believe that any name involving “Decile” is unacceptable for nonrational aspects belonging to another harmonic, so I chose the name “Elftile” for the 11th harmonic series, since the word “elf” is German for 11. No problem breaking free of the Greco-Roman names! In this series we have the Elftile, Bielftile, Trielftile, Quadrelftile, and Pentelftile. Each of these involves non-rationality, as well as the dualities represented by the number 11.
Over the years, I’ve only hinted at the meanings of the Elftile series aspects in my articles. As they are based in 11, and 11 as a "Master Number" represents a number of potential mastery by overcoming some form of duality, we can expect that all 5 of the aspects in this series involves overcoming duality to achieve a form of mastery.
Because of the nature of this challenge, I’ve also found that it takes a certain level of faith in the process of dealing with dualities to master them. So each of the 5 different aspects in the Elftile series represents a phase of dealing with duality through making leaps of faith that help us transcend and master that particular type of irrationality or duality. And due to the degree value for each of the aspects, we find that the Elftile and Bielftile are personal, whereas the Trielftile, Quadrelftile, and Pentelftile are always interactive.
While Rick sometimes calls them “Eleventiles” and just as often “Elftiles,” we both agreed that when naming aspects, simple names with glyphs which indicate how the aspect works is the best way of identifying them. The glyphs for all the aspects in the 7th, 9th, and 11th harmonic series are at the bottom of this article as well as the above linked article.
There are Irrational Phases in All Experience
When dividing the circle by the first 12 integers, we find 10 which result in a whole number, and 2 which result in non-whole numbers. When we divide by 7, we get the Septile series. As I elaborate in the above article and others, these are points in the Whole Cycle when an irrational factor (chaos) is introduced into the process. The same is true when we divide by 11, giving us the Elftile series. The aspects in these series are associated with irrational behaviors and situations, as well as points where crucial choices must be made, even if nothing makes sense. I would term all points in an irrational series as phase relationships which introduce a factor of chaos into the system.
Chaos represents phases when “nonrationality is entangled with rationality,” or when “potentiality is entangled with actuality.” Each of us have points in any process when an element of “the unknown” becomes “entangled” with what IS at that moment in our experience. At those points we confront the inevitability of adapting our understanding to the chaos we confront.
Each irrational aspect brings the next phase of “chaos” to the unfolding process. Learning to adapt to and master moving through chaos is part of attaining a higher awareness which cannot be destabilized in chaotic circumstances. Compassionate equilibrium is a spiritual necessity. Irrational circumstances also challenge us to realize that reason or rationality may not be the best means to deal with chaos, and that sometimes we just a) have to choose which fork in the road we’ll take, and B) sometimes we must make a leap of faith to get through some situations.
Whereas the Septile, Biseptile, and Triseptile are phases where chaos makes it clear we must choose wisely how we want to “disentangle” the past with the present to release a potential to fulfill Dharma/Tao, the Elftile series introduces chaos in our trajectory related to overcoming or transcending some sort of duality. What follows is how I see the Elftile series operating.
The Five Stages in Any Unfolding Process
In terms of assigning function to this series, I relied on a numerical evolutionary system introduced by Dr. Marc Edmund Jones in his work The Sabian Symbols, also picked up by Dane Rudhyar in his masterwork An Astrological Mandala. In the phenomenally precise structure of the Sabian Symbols, everything is based on 5 degree sequences.
In that structure, the first phase is the thesis, or unitary expression of a theme, while the second phase is the antithesis, counterpoint, or contrast to the initial theme. The third phase in the evolving theme involves the synthesis into a realization built by the two preceding phases into a broader awareness. So we get a realization, and then a counterpoint to that realization, and then a synthesis of those prior realizations into a broader awareness of the unfolding process.
The fourth degree or phase in the 5 step process is a technique. This is the result of the organic nature of the number 4. It is the number of Nature, with four seasons, four elements, and even four realms of observed life, those being mineral, vegetable, animal, and human. Four is dynamic and the means to make real what has been theorized or experienced in the first three phases of the process.
The fifth phase is one of fulfillment of the process, where our ability to manipulate matter in the fourth stage demonstrates the “quintessential” quality of human-ness. To paraphrase Rudhyar, our spiritual task is to raise the “animal human” vibration, Nature’s “four-ness,” to the specialized shaping made possible by the human mind, represented by the number 5.
A Deeper Dive Into the 11th Harmonic Aspects and How they Work
So why do I associate 11th harmonic aspects with phases where we must resolve some form of duality to achieve “spiritual mastery” in some area of our life? My reasoning is that in western numerology, 11 is a master number where we confront duality and the need to transcend the conflict, chaos, and confrontation associated with the letter/sound of “K.” We know that the 11th harmonic are points of irrationality, and as 11 is a prime number, it is irreducible to any other number than itself. That gives it a unique quality all its own as a foundation number for a system derived from itself.
The 11th harmonic series aspects are where we hit points of “spiritual chaos” requiring us to confront, and “master” the irrationality of that circumstance. As there is always an element of faith needed to move through chaos knowing we can transcend whatever dualism we confront, I see the Elftile aspects as phases where we must make leaps of faith to transcend that specific duality or dualistic situation or view.
The Elftile (32d 44m) and Bielftile (65d 28m) work from the hemisphere of Self, so they are always personal and internal. The Trielftile (98d 12m), Quadrelftile (Or Quadraelftile) (130d 56m) and the Pentelftile (163d 40m) all work from and through external “non-self” events and interactions. This holds true for both waxing or waning aspects, with the waxing series more involved with “below the surface” tests of transcendence through faith, and the waning series more expressive in the public realm. While I usually allow wider orbs for all the other aspects, I give each aspect in this series a 1 degree orb.
The Elftile is the initial point of “spiritual chaos” which emerges after the Semisextile and before the Decile. As the cycle isn’t yet clear at the waxing phase, and is buried at the end of the old cycle at the waning phase, these tests of dealing with duality are entirely personal, whether in a 2nd house relationship (waxing) or an 11th house relationship (waning).
The Bielftile is the counterpoint to the initial challenge of dealing with the specific “transcending duality lessons” of the Whole Cycle. As with all second phases, we get a contrast, in this case a phase of chaos involving either a 3rd house issue (waxing) or a 10th house issue (waning). In the waxing phase of the process, we have to transcend a dualistic perception or understanding of the larger process leading us to a form of mastery, and in the waning phase of the spiritual process, have to transcend a dualism related to some fulfillment or public issue related to the process.
The Trielftile is the synthesizing phase, where we’ve practiced faith in overcoming two previous forms of duality related to the third which require that we combine, blend, or in some way connect the dots within the irrationality of this phase of the process. This is where two prior spiritual responses are incorporated into a broader understanding of that particular process of spiritual realization as a new yet familiar form of chaos is confronted.
This is the third step in the unfolding spiritual process in its waxing phase, showing a 4th house issue, or a 9th house issue in its waning phase. So the waxing Triefltile could involves mastering a duality we learned when we were young, or a duality related to a parent, or even the current “root” of whatever spiritual realizations accompany this 11th harmonic set of “chaotic spiritual pulses.”
The Quadrelftile (also Quadraelftile) is the phase where we must learn or demonstrate a technique. While all the previous phases were points where we had to deal with a duality to master those specific “phase tests,” this fourth stage is one where we find a way to take what was synthesized and consciously realize a “meta level” technique for mastering ALL the dualisms confronted so far.
As with all these phases, we again face “the inevitability of adapting to the chaos” but this time, having the understanding of “local and global techniques,” we can now adapt our methods we’ll use in future spiritually chaotic situations. The waxing Quadrelftile is a form of 5th house chaos and faith, while the waning Quadrelftile is a form of 8th house chaos and faith.
The Pentelftile is the fulfillment phase, where the “4 vibration” of the fourth stage is raised to the “quintessential” level of individualized fulfillment as a result of the synthesis of the first three phases being challenged to become grounded in the organic fourth phase. In the process, that which is synthesized into a form of understanding at the third phase interacts, or “becomes entangled” with the organic “chaos” of the fourth phase and is raised to a specialized expression in the fifth phase.
This aspect is always in a 6th or 7th house relationship within the Whole Cycle relative to the original need for leaps of faith to transcend some worldly dualism. Any sixth stage of a 12 stage process implies implies some sort of adjustment to prepare for the expression at the 7th, and the 7th house implies the surfacing of some sort of ideal, or opportunity, or relationship awareness of “Self-not self.” That implies the waxing Pentelftile involves some transcendence within the context of “the health of the realization cycle” and the waning Pentelftile would often show in that which encourages faith or opposes faith while still requiring a leap to overcome a duality in a 7th house relational context. A question to ask when a Pentelftile is operating is "How serviceable or how ideal is this circumstance which requires a leap of faith?"
Waxing and Waning Aspects to Planets
These 5 phases are active in all cycles of spiritual unfoldment involving moving through or overcoming duality. And just as the Elftile, Bielftile, Trielftile, Quadrelftile, and Pentelftile represent the first 5 stages in any cycle of generating faith to move through a period of “entanglement” of the rational with the irrational, of inertia with chaos, so the waning phase repeats the first 5 stages in reverse form, whether in realizations of other dualities or opportunities to demonstrate the techniques and responses we learned in the waxing phase.
We have the subjective response to chaos in the waxing Pentelftile mirrored and adapted in the public expression of the response to chaos at the waning Pentelftile.This leads to the chaos of the Quadrelftile which follows the crisis of action at the Sesquisquare and precedes the stability of the Trine. From there we go through the turning point at the waning Biseptile, followed by the resolution of duality at the Trielftile preceding the waning Square.
The waning Bielftile falls between the waning Quintile and Sextile, and the results of how we responded to points of spiritual chaos in the cycle are incorporated in the seed forms created at the waning Septile. These are responses are incorporated by the waning Elftile as seeds of potentiality related to faith and duality which will sprout anew at the next Conjunction.
Wherever there is a need for us to make a leap of faith, you will find an Elftile series aspect at work. Though these can express in countless ways, this may provide some guidelines: It could be a leap of faith relative to one’s self-awareness through aspects to the Ascendant; it could be a leap of faith relative to one’s enlightenment or heart love through aspects to the Sun; it could be a leap of faith relative to one’s feelings and day to day experience to transcend a duality associated with our Moon.
Aspects to Mercury involve leaps of faith in perception, coordination, or being led to our Soul. Aspects to Venus involve leaps of faith in our relationships, likes, and vanities. Aspects to Mars involve leaps of faith in our ability to execute an action or respond with focus and precision to a circumstance.
To Jupiter, these phase relationships introducing chaos in that planetary function may involve overcoming dualities in finding truth, vision, potential futures, and reaping an abundant harvest of some sort. To Saturn, look for moments requiring leaps of faith to overcome dualities in fulfilling our Dharma/Tao, or leaps of faith to overcome a burden, an obligation, a duty, or a fear. 11th harmonic aspects to Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all involve “invisible” factors in awakening, unifying, or purifying within the larger spiritual field, whether our personal spiritual field in our natal chart or the larger spiritual field within which we live.
While this is not the final word on the 11th harmonic series aspects, it is hoped that this article will help you understand the mysterious workings of the aspect series which brings chaos requiring us to express forms of faith to overcome something related to the dualities of the human condition. Here it’s important to remember that there are 12 “Frequency zones” of human existence, and we’re learning to master our responses in all 12 areas.
In the material, emotional, mental or spiritual levels across the personal, interpersonal, or transpersonal dimensions of human experience, there are countless points in each of these where we must make a leap of faith to overcome a duality. The 11th harmonic aspects are our roadmap through these points in our evolution, just as the 7th harmonic aspects involve Dharma/Tao and the 9th harmonic aspects involve spiritual realizations resulting from gestation (rather than chaos, as per the 11th harmonic.)
For your reconsideration, the aspect glyphs of the 7th, 9th, and 11th harmonic series.
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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