|
|
|
ASTROLOGY,
WHY NOW?
As a practicing astrologer
I have found that the perspectives and insights gained through astrology
have promoted positive change in my life and the lives of many others.
As I work with people to explore their birth charts, or deepen their understanding
of astrology through experiential workshops, I have learned that this
cosmological viewpoint can provide a useful perspective for understanding
both our individual lives and the changing times.
Most of us will agree that we live in a time of planetary turmoil, ecological
crisis, spiritual distress, economic uncertainties and
Political polarizations.
We also live in an exciting time, where many of us attend to our present
world situation and accept new responsibilities in response to these times.
There are endless opportunities to actively participate in creating changes
that are an effective response to these crises.
Moving between hope and despair, I personally focus on the positive and
listen to the hopeful and insightful voices of our times. For example,
when the Dalai Lama was asked how he sees the new millennium, he described
it as the century of dialogue. I thought about the different dialogues
we need to have and I pondered upon the one important, yet forgotten dialogue
that, if revitalized can benefit us all: a dialogue between our dominating
scientific worldview and the astrological worldview.
For the last few hundred years we have sought to liberate ourselves from
the bonds of nature through the development of human intelligence and
will. As part of this process of individuation and differentiation, we
created a deep schism between human beings and the world of nature. Our
modern mind saw nature as mechanical, mindless and unconscious; we viewed
it simply as matter to be manipulated and controlled for our benefit.
With our detached rational understanding, we objectified and emptied the
world around us from any capacity to communicate and to express meaning
and purpose. We allocated all psychological and spiritual qualities exclusively
to human beings.
Under this worldview, we humans flourished and empowered ourselves, bringing
our minds and creative capacities to new heights. We reached out to the
farther segments of the universe and dove into the interior world of the
human soul and spirit.
Yet at the same time, we alienated ourselves, lost the intimacy we had
with nature, and became the indifferent and logical masters of a disenchanted
universe devoid of the sacred. In the process, an ancient tree fell to
good lumber, and the mythic magic of Venus was reduced to a beautiful
star.
The astrological worldview is very different. Astrology acknowledges the
spiritual dimension of existence, and appreciates the role of symbolic,
mythic and archetypal meaning of human experience. It suggests that the
cosmos embodies meaning and purpose and isn’t indifferent to our
spiritual quests. On the contrary, this meaning-permeated cosmos is Earth
focused, and human experience is viewed as having a co-creative capacity
with the universe.
Human beings can participate and communicate with the interior life of
the natural world and cosmos, recognizing the depth and significance of
the relationship. This is perhaps best described in the words of Richard
Tarnas, “For the deepest passion of the Western mind has been to
reunite with the ground of its being, … to recover its connection
with the whole, to come to terms with the great feminine principle in
life, with the mystery of life, of nature, of soul... The telos, the inner
direction and goal, of the Western mind has been to reconnect with the
cosmos in a mature participation mystique.”[1]
Therefore astrology makes explicit and conscious our deep connection and
interrelationship with the cosmos, nourishing the human spirit, and providing
a response to the yearning for meaning and belonging.
Astrology moves us to approach our exterior world with reverence and awe,
motivates us to observe and celebrate the cyclical patterns of the seasons
marked by the summer and winter solstice and the equinox in spring and
fall. It calls to our attention the mystery and significance of the morning
star, a full moon or the journey of the planets across the night sky.
Perhaps the most important gift of astrology is that it connects the cycles
of our individual lives to the cycles at the planetary and cosmic levels,
providing a way to trace the common patterns and discover the meaning
embedded within. We discover anew our commonality, solidarity and interdependence
with the matrix of life.
Astrologers learn to read the symbolic meanings of these patterns as they
are expressed in our birth charts. In the words of Carl Jung “We
are born at a given moment, in a given place, and we have, like celebrated
vintages, the same qualities of the year and of the season which saw our
birth. ” It is this meaningful story that is captured in our astrological
birth charts.
This suggests that our lives are intimately interweaved in the cosmological
matrix. An interpretation of the birth chart will tell us what “kind
of wine” we are and will teach us about the complexity of the elemental
interactions that makes us who we are. It will attempt to answer some
of the ‘whys’ in our lives and the knowledge gained will free
new energy within us to help bring forth our true selves.
For example, my youngest son was born when Pluto and Mars align in the
sky. The planet Mars represents Eros, the god of desire and the principal
of energetic force with a tendency towards aggressiveness and anger. Pluto
is the principle of “the broiling cauldron of the instincts.”
Thanks to this astrological insight we don’t try to repress his
bursts of energy but to redirect them into sports and our latest purchase
was a drum set!
In another instance, I had two clients who were born within ten days of
each other, and both had the planet Uranus in “hard aspects”
to their Moon, meaning the energy of the planet can be much more intensified.
Uranus is associated with the principle of change, separation, rebellion
and an unexpected breakup of structures; it is also an awakener to hidden
potential in a person. The Moon in the birth chart represents your emotional
self, the inner tides of feelings and moods, it also represent the mother
in our life. In short, I told them both to expect changes in their relationship
to the mother within and without, and to pay attention to emerging desires
to create change in their emotional life. One of them decided to leave
an unsatisfying job and go back to school in the area of women’
studies. The other person reevaluated her old relationship with her mother
and moved back home to care for her.
In his recent book Cosmos and Psyche, Richard Tarnas foresees a new way
of interacting with the universe with the aid of astrological knowledge.
He describes it as the “potential empowerment of a co-creative [person]
self-consciously participating in an archetypally structured unfolding
of life in an open universe…The outer planets possess universal
archetypal principles that inform and encompass the observed synchronistic
pattern of meaning…Knowledge of upcoming world transits, like the
knowledge of one’s personal transits and natal chart, can open the
possibilities of a more informed and creative response to the archetypal
forces at any given time.”[2]
As an example, when Saturn and Pluto align in the sky, astrologers interpreted
the mythical and archetypal meaning of the two planets in the following
way: Saturn as the furthest of seven planets visible to the naked eye
(Saturday) is the ruler of time, of boundaries and limits, of finitude
and endings. Saturn is the ringmaster who teaches through the experience
of being present to your responsibilities in the moment. It can be a source
of frustration and a conveyer of hard truth.
Pluto- embodies the powerful forces of nature that are emerging from it’s
chaotic depth. Pluto-Hades, the ruler of the underworld, symbolizes cycle
of death and rebirth and the process of transformation through a decent.
In 2001 these two planets align in the sky and many astrologers were trying
to speculate how these forces would manifest on the Earth. Historically
their alignment meant a time of turmoil and political unrest. Two previous
alignments of these planets in this century occurred in August 1914 and
in September 1939 (First and Second World Wars). The unfortunate events
of September 11, and the reaction to it, corresponded with the symbolic
interpretation of this alignment.
Therefore, to enter into a dialogue with the astrological worldview we
need to expand our perspective and radically change our cosmological understanding.
It is very challenging to our modern minds to even entertain this, but
new conceptions of reality currently emerging in the fields of science
and biology affirm the multidimensional nature of reality and the holistic
understanding of parts and whole. This is very exciting, and I foresee
the possibilities of the two worldviews interacting and benefiting each
other, bringing forth a new creative synthesis.
If we open ourselves to this act of intelligent imagination we can become
witness and participant in the unfolding of some of the deep mysteries
of the universe and contribute to bringing about a collective spiritual
awakening, one that can benefit all on this planet.
ALL BLESSINGS, ALL LOVE, ALL OF US.
[1] Richard Tarnas (1991) Passion of the western mind.
(New York, ballantine)
2Richard Tarnas (2006) Cosmos and Psyche. (New York, Viking)
[1] Richard Tarnas (1991) Passion of the western mind. (New York, ballantine)
[2] Richard Tarnas (2006) Cosmos and Psyche. (New York, Viking)
|
