Thanks again go to the matriarch of mundane astrology, Judith Cowell, who prodded me into looking at the now-infamous Opus Dei “lay and clerical organization.” As it happens, the temporal signatures of the group swan-dive (pun intended) nicely into my thesis in On The Exaltation of Mars.

Some very juicy astrology awaits us, but first, I want to start with the symbolism, because that’s where the gist of the essence of the beliefs are communicated. The Opus Dei [hereafter OD] symbol seems innocuous enough, just a circumscribed cross in gold coloring. From whence does this come?

Also, this gives me a chance to discuss the book and film by Dan Brown that brought OD into the mainstream consciousness – The Da Vinci Code – where Rosslyn enters the plot for the remaining 20% of the film.

But, first things first.

• astrology
• Knights Templar
• Opus Dei
• Rosslyn Chapel
• Star of Bethlehem