Journal

I was a philosophy and religion major in college, and that shaped my perspective on the world. Whenever I examine any subject at all, there is always a part of my mind that is standing back, observing and asking all kinds of questions.

What kind of worldview does this imply? What kind of ethical values does it hold up as desirable, and what is considered undesirable?

In working with astrology I am fascinated by asking the same kinds of questions of our astrology tools and language. We use sets of words and concepts here – what kind of value system do those words imply?

It is very, very important to me to attempt to become aware of the assumptions and implications of the language I use.  I want to make sure that the message I am giving really matches the kinds of values I hold.

The tools we use in our astrology imply a worldview, and that changes as our tools change.  For instance, when the three outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, were added to the pantheon of the Sacred Seven, this was more than just the addition of three new rulers to divide up among the sign rulerships.

This is a whole new world, a whole different cosmology – and, a whole different set of values.
Continue reading “A Change in the Cosmos”

This is the fourth in a series of posts, in which I am examining the implicit mind/body dualism in our modern world, and ways to move towards a more consciously integrated set of values that affirms the worth of our mortal selves.

Last week I talked about reclaiming the spiritual value of the body along with the mind, matter along with spirit, emotions and desires along with the detached and dispassionate parts of our minds.

That was framed mostly in terms of being alive – the incarnation, the feelings, the passions, the movement.

This week I need to consider the necessary other half of the process. When we reclaim our connections with our bodies, desires and emotions, we need to recognize and reclaim our experience of sickness, decay, decline, mortality,  and death.
Continue reading “Reclaiming Mortality”

In the two previous posts in this series I have examined the way that our astrology has inherited a value system based on a mind/body, spirit/matter dualism. The purpose is to become aware of the language that we have inherited, and the values that it assumes.

In this post I want to look at places that we can see the development of a different, body-affirmative kind of approach to spirituality and values, and how that affects the language we use in doing astrology.

Over about the past half century I think we can see the seeds and roots of a new point of view that re-integrates the sacredness of the body, of our emotions and desires,  and of the  earth. I see evidence of this new worldview in a couple of different areas.

Continue reading “Reclaiming the Body”

In my previous post, I looked at the implicit mind-body split that is assumed in much of our modern culture, and in our astrology.

This post is about the influence of the Theosophy movement on modern astrology, and how that movement shaped the value system implicit in our modern astrology.

The roots of twentieth century psychological astrology, with its emphasis on character rather than prediction, can be traced back to the overwhelming influence of a single man, Alan Leo.  Leo is responsible for asserting that Character determines Destiny, and that the stars Impel, they do not Compel.

It is really interesting – if you look at astrology books published prior to Alan Leo, and then after his work, there is a very marked difference. It is a completely different world, and books prior to Leo feel antique.

Leo was British, and a member of the Theosophical Society when it was at the height of its influence. The language and values of Theosophy, which drew heavily on Hindu and other Indian sources,  became part of the language of modern astrology through Leo and his many influential books, which are still mostly in print today. Thanks to Leo, our modern astrology looks mainly to Asian sources for its spiritual underpinning, rather than to our own Western spiritual tradition.
Continue reading “Leaving the Body Behind”

This will be the first of a series of posts. I want to examine some of the ways that our western astrology mirrors some fundamental splits in human consciousness today, and think about ways we can become aware of them, and move our minds more towards wholeness.

If we go back to the era of the birth time of western astrology in the Hellenistic empire, we have a kind of beautiful and precarious balancing and mingling of different threads of consciousness. On the one hand there is the still vital connection to the Gods, what we in the west tend to label the “mythical” side, but without the reductionist connotations of that term that we have in the modern world.

Along with that we have a beautiful flowering of the Greek development of the mind, the reason, and of geometry, mathematics, philosophy – and of course astrology, which feels like the system that ties it all together into a living whole.

However, also during that era, I think that we have the beginnings of a series of splits in consciousness taking place, where we were distanced from our bodies, our emotions, our desires – and from the Gods.
continue reading…

This is a sequel to my previous post on Comforting Fate, where I talked about a situation where the concept of fate, a larger order outside of my control, could be very positive, comforting and supportive.

In this post I want to examine the complementary position, thinking in terms of free will and the power of choice and attitude to shape our experience.

This is an issue that I’ve been wrestling with for a very long time. Sometimes the traditional stoic attitude of accepting fate makes the most sense, and sometimes the whole modern astrology attitude of consciously working with intent to cooperate with it, as a way to shape it to manifest in the best way, makes the most sense.

I’ve experienced both.

Continue reading “Fate and Free Will”

This meditation is about Fate, and about Free will, both. I happen to think both are useful concepts.

Feel free to run for the exit now if you want; I know a lot of modern astrologers react to any mention of Fate like touching a hot iron. It runs against the grain of our modern affluent American culture.

With the modern, optimistic view of astrology there is a very heavy emphasis on choice, and on people being able to choose how they deal with the energies in their charts, and how they live their lives. The power is yours, the responsibility is yours, to make of your life what you will.

Encouraging and comforting, yes?

Well, No – not always.

Continue reading “Comforting Fate”

In my previous post I wrote about those times when the astrology symbols jump out at you and make perfect sense.

I want to talk about the opposite experience, which also happens, but which is a bit harder to recognize and deal with.

This is where the astrology just doesn’t seem to fit.

Continue reading “Sometimes it Doesn’t Fit”

When you’ve been studying astrology for any length of time you start to realize that there are so, so many symbols, so many ways of interpreting charts, so many points, aspects, angles, midpoints…

Do you try to use them all? I can’t, at least not all at once.

And yet… in astrology it often happens that exactly the one I need right at this moment is there, ready to jump out at me and say, Hi, Notice Me Please.

So very often it may be just exactly some new technique you have been studying or focusing on – and there it is, just in time to explain that one little part of the chart you need to notice right now.

Continue reading “Jump Out at You”