Chaldean Calculations

Inspired by the film 'Prospero's Books' by Peter Greenaway

Vatican considers astrology to be superstition, and yet a threat
to it's concept of god and christian ideology.
There exists under the Vatican a hidden treasury few have
access to : western astrology's most ancient teachings.


Like Prospero's tempest
pages of words rained down
hand-drawn symbols cosmic calculations
penned by pagan scribes in solitary isolation

learned astrologers who charted
vast journey's of stars saw nature's imprint
mirror the spun-web universe
measured the orbits of wandering planets
known to bring harmony or discord
depending on the aspect

but stolen these starry volumes
fallen into the clutches of devious priests
who misteach mythology who use
open minds naked to persuasion
easy prey to shallow
affirmations imposed from above
from the ordered mouths
of deluded theologians

all the Caesars and their dutiful wives
consulted these sages demanding
to know the path of Mars their prospects
his part whose aspect renders one
in jeopardy to enemy or merely
smitten with love's rosy insanity

but those who delve too deep
the mind of warrior Mars
know loyalty soon turns
when Venus throws
playful shadows
of gentle confusion
over minds' clear thinking
bending the head space
being no room there
for logic's narrow stare
for where'ere the earthly passions
of Venus dwell aphrodesia's
subtle senses displace
everything straight

but we touch upon a secret language
esoteric occult only for the eyes
of a priestly elite and not for me
to whisper mystical Chaldean
calculations secluded under lock and key
in cavernous crypts below vatican's
gilt-edged splendour

these priceless waxen parchment tomes
are not privy to a prying mind
such as mine



Pamela Sidney 1999