I wanted to work with people and support them in discovering their potentials. I began to work with astrology because it provided me with information that no other modality offered. I have studied many books on psychology, on philosophy and on religion. I have never experienced a body of knowledge that could provide so accurate a picture of the way in wich an individual is psycho-spiritually constituted as the astrological system.
In the years that I worked on mastering my subject, I discovered that most of the general public is misinformed on what astrology is and how it works. I encountered so many people who condemned the subject, while simultaneously admitting that they had never investigated it. They immediately deflected the idea that it had any merit, saying that they were skeptical and did not believe in astrology. Often, the reason they gave for rejecting the subject was that it was against their religious beliefs and it was unscientific to boot.
A statement I read in a book said, “It is not that people do not believe in astrology; they are afraid that they do.” I think that when people do not understand a group of ideas, they tend to invalidate
them.
So let me start at the beginning and offer my insights into the study of astrology.
Astrology is a language that is based on the premise that the universe has a means of communicating with us. When each of us is born, the components of the solar system (stars, moons and planets) at the moment of birth appear to us on earth to be arranged in a particular configuration. This formation is determined as well by the geographical location one is viewing it from, as people in different places on the earth see a different arrangement of patterns in the sky. The sky patterns in Australia, for example, are positioned opposite to those in North America. Thus, astrology’s reference point is the appearance of the sky rather than what is actually there. Astrology is a language of the sky. It is a communication and not a cause.
The arrangement of the patterns in the sky at a moment in time, as viewed from the location of the birthplace, corresponds to the nature of an individual’s energy endowment. When each of us is born, we inherit the energies prevailing at that time. All life is given the energy of the Sun, the Moon, the stars and the planets and this energy comprises the inner solar system. Truly, life on the Earth is made in the image of creation. The system of astrology is one of correspondence that states that what we see outside is also inside. We are all a part of a universe that includes and connects everyone. This is how each of us is able to relate with the world we
perceive.
The creative life force did not place the celestial bodies in the space around us for the sole purpose of having us measure their physical dimensions. Each body in space represents an indestructible energy that has a spiritual meaning. The entire cosmic dance of these bodies tells a story, a story that changes slightly with each passing moment.
When an individual comes into this world, the story the patterns in the heavens tell at that moment communicates the potential that the newborn has been given. The cosmic energies are tools to support the growth of each individual in his or her journey through time and space. They are the spiritual equivalent of the DNA in the human gene. They support the evolution of consciousness, just as the DNA
supports the growth of the body.
All physical matter is essentially the crystallization of energy. Matter is literally the energy of a star (such as our Sun) that has become dense. What we call life (the material world) is eventual death. Once energy is converted into solid matter, it is subject to the scientific law of entropy. This law states that nothing in the physical world lasts forever. What does last is the imperishable energy, the progenitor of all material crystallization. It is energy that has eternal value that nothing in the world can destroy.
Astrology states that energy has a consciousness and that consciousness is the source of experience. Therefore, essence precedes existence. The scientific cause-and-effect paradigm states that matter is an essential precursor to experience. Therefore, existence precedes essence. Both positions are correct. In human terms, existence precedes essence; in cosmic terms: essence precedes existence. Science and astrology both operate in the context of human truth. Astrology, however, also operates in a cosmic (all-encompassing) context that attempts to transcend the human condition and view life from a metaphysical perspective.
The approach science takes in addressing life’s mysteries is more exacting than astrology because it is more restrictive. When a theory is narrowed down and made as precise as humanly possible, it becomes more understandable and apparently more controllable. The scientific revolution has made the cause-and-effect paradigm the ultimate determinant as to what is real and provable and what is not. The idea that every material effect has a material cause appears to be so convincing exactly because of the limits imposed by the standards of scientific thinking. The genius of science rests in a power that comes from restraint.
Currently, most human beings do not see, touch, smell, taste or hear energy (some claim they do). The way our society defines energy is to say that it is the ability to do work. Thus, our society’s collective definition of energy is a verb, rather than a noun. This concept is an anthropomorphic one that assumes a human being must be present and active for energy to come into play. Actually, it is the other way around. Energy must exist so that the physical world and all that is in it can continue to manifest. Energy does not need matter to exist; matter does need energy to come into existence.
The subtle energies the system of astrology describes emanate from a common source, much in the way various frequencies of light waves emanate from one source of light. These energies are arranged in a variety of patterns. Each of the patterns corresponds to the configuration of our solar system at a specific time. The astrological body of knowledge, referring as it does to invisible energies, communicates about the enduring, yet incorporeal essence within every form of matter. What we call death (the invisible world of pure energy that is without form) is the origin of life, as this is the part of us that never dies.
There is nothing in the physical world that has the power to directly cause anything to happen. The cause of every effect is energetic in origin. The astrological technique puts forth a group of principles describing the quality of the various energies in the universe. These energies operate in a co-creative process with all material beings.
Since human beings use energy to create results on the physical plane, it is the use of that energy rather than merely the energy itself that leads to a specific result. All effects in the material world are a combination of energy and the ways and means that the energy is used by living forms. Astrology does not preclude free will. It shows that free will is a potential given to every human being, as each individual can choose how they are going to develop and work with their energy endowment.
The technique astrologers use is not a pure science, even though its principles are consistent when put into practice. In order to be effective, the astrological technique needs the skills of an experienced practitioner trained in synthesizing all the factors involved in the interpretation of a chart. The practitioner must be grounded in the principles of astrology–no easy task. It takes decades of concentrated study before one is able to correctly blend together all the components of a birth chart and interpret the chart accurately. There is always the possibility of human error in interpreting a chart, as there is with anything else.
The practice of astrology departs from the path of science by introducing another element to the equation–the factor of intuition. Intuition is a process of human consciousness that is not fully understood. Decades ago, it was consider an attribute belonging primarily to the female of the human species. Today, that sort of thinking is archaic. Males can be just as intuitive as females, yet they may not choose to be because they might consider it unmanly to be psychic. Intuition, however is not the same as psychic ability.
Psychic impressions are a function of feeling.
Intuition is a function of mind; it is an advanced capacity of the mind to receive and become conscious of information without employing the analytical process. Everyone has this as a potential, yet often it remains a dormant one.
The study of astrology awakens and cultivates the power of the mind to intuit information. An astrological practitioner may begin the study of the subject, learning it according to an established protocol. Subsequently, the study opens and activates new channels in the human brain. Through much effort expended by the practitioner, the intuitive process is set into motion and expanded.
The answers we receive in life are based on the questions we ask. If we seek to impose our established frame of reference on the world and allow merely our acquired system of logic to determine what is real, we will perceive only what we already have accepted as true. If we choose to remain skeptical, we will block the flow of intuition and miss out on information that cannot be accessed any other way. If, instead, we open up our minds and allow for the possibility of something that we have not previously understood, we expand the potential of our knowledge and can discover there is more to existence than we thought. We do not necessarily need proof of something existing to experience it.
The universe is vast and we are small. It is as if we dwell in a bubble, thinking that the bubble is all that there is. Today, a common expression tells us to think outside of the box. Boxes! Bubbles! They are words to describe the limitations of our intellects, limits we impose upon reality to gain a sense of control. Are we in control–or, is there not a reality beyond the box and outside of the bubble that has the ultimate authority? Here we enter the domain of religion. The concept of an ultimate authority rests largely on a foundation of faith. What some might label religious however, this writer describes instead as spiritual. Religion is a collective belief. Spirituality is an individual one. It is possible to accept a religious system handed down without ever questioning it. Spirituality, however, demands that an individual has a personal experience of a belief. One may have a religious experience that is indeed personal, yet the experience is nonetheless inspired by an established collective concept. A spiritual experience, however, is a purely original one, unique to the individual person who has opened up to it.
Nothing new can be perceived, unless one first believes that its existence is possible.
The astrological technique pertains to individuals. It indicates that each of us has our personal agreement with existence. Our apparent need to establish a rigid collective mind-set has all but invalidated the creatively fluid nature of the life force. It has furthermore diminished the potential capacity of each individual to shape and form this force to fulfill an individual purpose. The birth chart is the map that provides a foundation for individual creativity. It is not a reality to begin with; it is a potential.
A human being is the reality–a living promise that some new creation can emerge and contribute to the positive and progressive unfoldment of life’s possibilities. Each newborn is an opportunity for all of humanity to move forward on the path of evolution. One can, out of a need to be in control, take all that is beyond this world and put it in a book, a box or a human body, making the form what life is all about. It may feel safe to adopt such a limited vision, yet in the long run too many questions go unanswered. Those who suffer greatly in life may turn their back on God because they feel God turned away from them. Perhaps if they changed their perspective and viewed God in a different, less anthropomorphic light, they would experience a personal connection to the universe that is uniquely their own and no longer be afraid of what they could not analyze or measure. Perhaps then they would realize that we live in a world of free will and that nothing, not even God, is going to intervene and disrupt the process of living and learning to make responsible choices.