Category: Philosophy

Letting Death Back In

Modern astrology, like much of our modern culture in general, does not welcome open talk about death. It is sometimes even taboo to use the word.

Never mention death when delineating a chart – some astrologers consider that immoral to mention – obscene might be a better word.

Always say something positive!

Death is a strong word, and a strong, emotionally charged topic, and yes we need to proceed with care and concern when we discuss it.

But – leave out talking about death – and you are excluding people who are dealing with, or have dealt with, the death of a loved one.

There is a pain in their heart they are not allowed to talk about, which adds a sense of isolation and even uncleanness to the hurt.

In earlier posts in this journal – for instance, this post on my two saturn returns – I mentioned that my wife died of cancer in November 2009, so I know this hurt and isolation firsthand.

I need to talk about Death here, out in the open.

Continue reading “Letting Death Back In”

Multi-Cultural Astrology

I grew up in New York City, in a kind of run-down, lower middle class neighborhood. From the time I could be outside and relating to other kids, I was surrounded by people with different cultural backgrounds – German, Mexican, Irish, Italian, Chinese, and some others I didn’t know how to pronounce. We had different values, different religions, different family models, so part of our job as kids was to figure out a way to find common ground despite those differences.

I grew up surrounded by multiple models of reality interacting together, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes not.

Continue reading “Multi-Cultural Astrology”

Opposed and Embracing

Take an opposition aspect.  It relates to the symbolism of the number two, so it is complementary pairs, it is partners – but it is also adversaries, opponents. It can be experienced as a split, or as a dance.

A lot of the purpose of this Site, and of a book I’m working on,  will be to look at pairs of opposites that we have set in antagonism to each other, and find a way to include them as part of a larger complementary whole.

Here I want to look at a pair of opposites, a split, that many, many creative people in our culture go through – the experience of being an Outsider, someone outside the pale or unwelcome in society, and hence in opposition tension over against it.

Continue reading “Opposed and Embracing”

That’s not what Malefic means

I am in the middle of reading Stephen Arroyo’s excellent book, Astrology, Karma and Transformation.

Here is the opening sentence of the chapter on Saturn, which starts on page 71.

“Until recent years, the planet Saturn was usually referred to in most astrological books as a “malefic” influence, a dimension of experience that most people would rather not face but which merely had to be endured for no positive purpose whatsoever.”

That is all well and good, except for one minor problem:

That is not what “malefic” means!

Continue reading “That’s not what Malefic means”

Stoicism and Mental Hygiene

Changing to the practice of traditional astrology, is part of an overall shift in worldview that has been going on in my life for some years now. In order to really explain, I need to share some personal background.

I became increasingly serious about my study of astrology during the period that my wife of 24 years was dying of cancer. Continue reading “Stoicism and Mental Hygiene”

But Why Stoicism?

I had a rather unpleasant interchange at an astrology discussion group this week. We were talking about different ways of understanding doing astrology, and I was talking about Stoicism.

Stoicism, which was a very prevelant philosophy when astrology was first developed in the West, views the universe as structured and largely if not completely deterministic or fated. Reading an astrology chart is an attempt to divine that order – to find out the will of the Gods for you – so that you can work with that order.

When I finished my sentence someone turned to me and said,

“But why?”

Continue reading “But Why Stoicism?”

Good, Evil, Positive, Negative

Older astrology is sometimes criticized as being overly negative, or fatalistic, or judgemental.

Maybe.

It seems to me that some modern astrology has gone too far in the other direction – in the name of being ‘positive’ it can become unrealistic and unbalanced.

It might be true to say that there are no ‘good’ or ‘evil’ planets, or transits, or aspects.

Maybe. Continue reading “Good, Evil, Positive, Negative”

Astrology and Rational Order

Part of my study of astrology has been a quest to find, and understand, the philosophy or world-order that makes sense of it.

Most modern astrology that I have seen does not clearly address this issue. Implicitly, the question is dealt with in a number of ways.

1) It’s ignored. That doesn’t work, since astrology makes no sense within the context of the current scientific – materialist mainstream worldview.

2) It tries to make astrology ‘scientific’, by weeding out all that is ‘superstitious’ about it, and working with analytic tools like statistical studies. Continue reading “Astrology and Rational Order”

Astrology and Re-Enchantment

Like most people brought up in our American urban industrial culture, I grew up in a world that assumes a disconnect between the inner world of my thoughts and feelings, and a meaningless, dead and random outer world. The outer world is ‘scientific’; it has no inherent meaning or significance.

That’s painfully obvious to me when I walk in a neighborhood where there are mostly factories or business buildings. It is obvious that the landscape was ripped up and re-ordered with no sense of aliveness, or reverence, or meaning. There was a job to be done, and the land here was Meaningless Stuff to be moved around and re-arranged to get that job done. Continue reading “Astrology and Re-Enchantment”