Dane Rudhyar's Astrology. Aphorisms and Rules of Life. Margarita Referee

and determined the development of astrology in the 20th century in its connection with psychology.

      Rudhyar belongs to the branch of astrology, whose representatives consider celestial science as a symbolic language, as a method that makes it possible to understand human nature. From the point of view of symbolist astrologers, astrology is a response to the human desire for order, it is an attempt to bring harmony into the chaos of daily life by correlating internal experiences and external events with the observed cyclical movement of celestial bodies.

      1. Astrology is a technique for the gaining of wisdom through the understanding of the order in human nature and in all phenomena perceived by man: a technique in understanding.

      It does not mean that astrology cannot be used for prediction (for example, with the help of horary techniques), but for forecasting an astrologer must have not only technical skills, but also a developed human understanding. As Rudhyar said:

      2. Knowledge, in astrology, in medical or psychological therapy, is not enough. Wisdom is needed. It can only be acquired through actual living, through pain, through the discharge of responsibilities, through the courageous and honest putting forth of the whole of oneself in whatever experience is seen as significant.

      Wisdom, according to Rudhyar, is based on the purposeful use of mastered knowledge. Therefore, when studying astrology, it is necessary to clearly understand its nature and purpose.

      Astrology uses a certain set of astronomical data, which are considered as indicator symbols and are used to analyze "organic wholes", i.e. living organisms (cells, plants, animals, people), a country, a company, a group of people forming a “one whole”, etc.

      3. The main subject-matter of astrology is the individual human person considered as an integral organism including bodily, psychic, mental, social and spiritual activities of many types and at several levels.

      Every organic whole has a set of functions. They can manifest themselves both on a physical and psychological level. Functions are interconnected with each other and with the whole, like organs in the human body. At the physical level the integrity of the organism is achieved subconsciously, but at the psychological level people often face the problem (especially In the modern world with its social and political upheavals) of integrating the personality and its constituent structural elements and functions into a single whole. When a person integrates his personality and lives in harmony with himself and the world around him, he begins to gain wisdom.

      4. The basic purpose of astrology is to bring order to the apparent chaos of man's experience, and thus help the individual or the group to achieve a greater degree of integration, health and sanity.

      Humanity is a small part of a Planet, of a Solar system, of a Galaxy. Transpersonal level of existence means that a person can be open to the influence of the larger Whole and thus become an active conductor of its intentions.

      5. Astrology is a discipline of thought.

      Astrology does not say what will happen to a person or a country when some planets conjunct in the sky, but only indicates the possibility of a certain type of event. Astrology interprets the connection between the movement of the planets and changes in the life and consciousness of people. At the same time, the nature of this parallelism, the correlation of "what is above with what is below," is of interest to astrology only from the point of view of philosophy or metaphysics.

      6. Astrology deals with strictly individual and unique situations and this differentiates it essentially from science which is primarily intent upon establishing classifications which exclude the non-generalizable facts or features, and "laws," which are postulated to be valid everywhere and at all times.

      The human society, building its civilization, strives to make its existence orderly, rational and predictable, to reduce the number of "accidents". This desire led to the emergence of astrology.

      7. It is because astrology was man's original attempt to formulate the order of the universe and to draw from it a sense of relative security that astrology has been called "the mother of all sciences”.

      Astrology can be academically and legally accepted. It can happen when astrologers agree on the terms they use and on the place of various methods in the whole system of astrology.

      8. Astrology can fulfill a significant function for individuals, but only if it faces the future and does not look back to the past, especially the European past.

      It must be remembered that astrology deals with the whole. This means that, considering the character and behavior of a person, the meaning of the planets and other astronomical data in horoscopes must be correlated with the whole personality, considered in the context of the whole life of a person.

      9. Astrology does not predict "events" but only phases in a person's development.

      According to Rudhyar, the ways in which each person develops and evolves are universal. This is due to the fact that all representatives of Homo sapiens have similar biological and psychological basis, and they all come through similar phases of human development.

      10. Astrology deals first with human nature in a generic sense; and this gives the astrologer a basis for prediction. Yet no astrologer should stop there. He should seek to define and understand the "individual equation" in his client.

      When an integral person attains true individuality, he can exercise free will and go beyond the limits of collective generic structures.

      The horoscope is a symbolic "name" of an integral personality and sheds light on an individual’s aspirations and capabilities. A person must wisely connect parts of his personality into a single whole, and thus to voice his “name”, to express the full potential of his horoscope.

      11. All the words in the language of astrology are symbols that focus the possibility of experience but not necessarily an actual event. A symbol doesn't cause events.

      The astrologer must understand how the client reacts, and how he can react to crises in his life. This requires interpreting the horoscope as a whole. Astrology can show the way to the integration of personality and gaining personal freedom.

      The basis for any judgment in astrology is a chart, a horoscope. The set of elements in a chart is the same for all people, but in each person they form a unique combination, affecting temperament, behavior, character.

      12 An astrological chart can be understood as a kind of chemical formula in which planets and the like represent the simple and basic "elements" which, in their varied combinations, are the subject-matter of the "chemistry" of personality.

      At the same time, an astrological chart is not exactly a "formula", it resembles a musical score in many ways. You can not understand it with intelligence only: an astrological chart must be felt as a living symbol of the Universe. To feel it, you need to use your creative imagination and intuition.