nature's zodiac

There is a widespread disdain for astrology. I feel it rise up in myself and I’ve dedicated nearly half of my life pondering the zodiac.

The offense that is taken is one against the human spirit, a force that sustains itself greatly on the use of free-will. The Socratic oath of ‘do no harm’ seems neither here nor there in the minds of many seasoned astrologers. So infatuating is the clear link of star movement with the movement within us that the power to ‘see into the future’ intoxicates and blots out basic rational thinking. It is simply irrational to see human beings as passive creatures, contingent to the sweeps of happenings around them.

The best use of this knowledge is in the poetic and imaginative generative power that we possess. The planetary line-up, in the current sky or at the moment of one’s birth, serves as a springboard for conjuring up potent imagery that can stir up feelings that empower and refresh the nervous system.

Psychologist Edward Edinger said that symbols carry ‘living meaning’ because of their ability to affirm life. When I feel my Leo sun come out from a cloud because of a sweet smile from a child, I can nearly triple that good feeling just in that symbolic anchoring.

Edinger distinguished symbols from signs which don’t carry living meaning. Instead they carry abstract meaning. A creature with four legs and a trunk is recognized to be an elephant. A traffic sign that is red and eight-sided is recognized as a stop sign.

The problem with many teachings of astrology is that the symbol has been rendered to a glorified sign. Instead of the limitless living meaning that is available to the individual who can find that right wavelength of life-affirming resonance in relating to a symbol, there is instead a spoon-feeding of abstract meaning. Scorpios are sexy, Virgos are orderly. The cosmos are closed, replaced by an over-priced gift shop.

Worse yet is when the astrologer messes with the clients sense of future by predicting an event, even a good one! The future and the individual are almost the same phenomenon. One’s future is alive in their connection to it, otherwise it doesn’t exist. When an astrologer predicts that something will happen to them, they make a muck out of this natural tension that creates simultaneously both individual and future.

This isn’t to say that there is no place for looking at the future planetary line-up. It is to say that nothing happens to someone. Passivity is what renders reality less real.

A better approach from the astrologer would be to encourage their client to use the upcoming planetary transit as a springboard for generating ideas, plans or even poetic visions.

This is the essence of celebration. It is what holidays are built around. There is a large archetypal pattern, and from it comes many billions of ways to connect and celebrate our connection with it.

The cosmos can take better root in you. But they can’t just happen to you. The cosmos can support you and guide you but they can’t steer your ship.

It is the same with looking over past transits. Seeking some support from the archetypes in terms of past events has the potential to gather up and make stronger vital energies. You can’t change the past, but you can change your connection and relation to it. Once again, the archetypes can be a springboard of generating new understanding or meaningful imagery that no longer thwart your current direction. As chemist Lee Cronin puts it “you have to reinterpret your past so that it aligns with your goals.”

We want our engines running smoothly. The past can drain our battery, the future if too closed will drain it too.

A battery needs the dynamic interplay of positive and negative charge. In the language of the psyche, this is a dynamic balance of objective and subjective life. Eyes on the road but don’t forget to dream.

Where we go wrong with astrology is that we lose sight of the psychic physics at play. This is a subject so widely unexplored. It belongs mostly to the life of the poet or the psychological and phenomenological studies of the existentialist or philosopher.

Astrology is so alluring in its neat and tidy assembly of elements and modes. The opposites, the many shapes that emerge and the mandala wholeness that the circle projects emits an air of simplicity. The eager astrology learner rolls up their sleeves and anticipates a quick mastery of all that is.

And it is simple. It is simple in its elegance. But within the simple elegance is, true to form, a universe of possibilities. This can only be reconciled by the use of the human imagination and ability to look forward to the future; creating ideas and solutions to problems. We are as big as the universe in this capacity to ‘see’. But without a natural attitude, which is rooted in optimism, our eyes are not yet open.

Featured Art: Salvador Dali’s The Waves Book Sailboat