Astrology studies the arrangement of planets in the solar system at a particular moment in order to determine the potential of an individual or other entity born at that moment.
In terms of current Western thought, this seems utterly irrational. Viewed holistically, it is entirely reasonable, for the universe is not only a unity in itself, it is a unity of unities. And, as the Platonists pointed out, ‘all unities are identical in essence’. In this way, as the legendary Hermes indicates, ‘the miracle of the Unity is perpetuated’.
The Cosmos itself, and each part of the cosmos including we human beings, is ‘made in the image’ of the ONE, the ‘God Thought’ which thinks creation into existence. In this way, the essential pattern of the ONE is both literally and metaphorically present in every part of Creation, from super-galaxy to solar system, to man, to a cell in the body, to an atom and to the last and least of things. Everything, in this sense, is a metaphor of the primary music of the One and the gods, the original Word.
These sound like very elevated ideas, and one might ask how we get from this sublime oneness down to the rest of the mundane world. That question belongs in another book, but suffice it to say that the ONE expresses itself at each level of creation in very different ways. We see this principle at work in genetics. Hence the possibility of cloning and the re-creation of an entity from a single cell of the original whole, an idea which was exploited to such dramatic effect in the film Jurassic Park. Every cell in an organism contains the instructions for making the whole organism. A blood cell and a skin cell and a hair cell contain identical genetic information, although their actual manifest functions are quite different. At the most basic level, they are each made ‘in the image of the one’, and yet each just gets on with its own job. The ‘wholeness’ of the body needs each cell to do just that.
Likewise, in the life cycle of, for example, a butterfly, it is impossible to see any obvious resemblance between a butterfly’s egg, the caterpillar, the dried-up brown chrysalis, and the colourful new butterfly. Yet each phase leads on in an ordered, intelligent way to the next, and finally to the flowering of the whole organism; genetically each phase contains identical information.
By analogy, a galaxy and a solar system and a man or woman may look very different. But in real terms each is a different expression of the same basic ‘God Thought’. This is what is meant by such cryptic statements as ‘man is made in the image of God’, ‘man is a solar system in miniature’, ‘microcosm and macrocosm are identical in essence’, and what Origen (AD 185–254) meant when he said ‘Thou art a second world in miniature, the Sun and Moon are within thee, and also the stars.’
This invisible bond between Above and Below is invoked every day around the world in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.’ This is the key to astrology. By studying the orderly movements of the planetary ‘gods’ of the solar system, which contains Earth and all its life, the astrologer is studying the conditions of the Above, in order to understand what is going on Below in the individual ‘cells of consciousness’, such as you and me.
MIND AND MATTER
‘In the beginning was the Word.’
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN, OPENING WORDS
Astrology describes the ebb and flow of the primary, divine, creative ‘ideas’, the ‘mind stuff’ which shapes and informs all of life and consciousness. For everything in the cosmos is essentially ‘mind stuff’. All around us we see matter which is embodying particular ideas. Whether we are looking at a book or a flower, we are looking at the effect of ideas.
We can readily see this with human creativity. From making a dress to building a house, a railway or a computer game, each project starts with an idea in someone’s mind. This idea is then translated into some kind of raw material. The materials are always vitally important to the end product, but nevertheless they are secondary to the idea. It is always the idea that in-forms the materials, and never the other way round. Destroy every last car in the world and the idea of a car is sufficient to create a new one. No amount of raw materials will ever create a car without the concept. And the creative, in-forming power of ideas equally applies in nature. A rose starts life as an idea written in genetic code. The DNA code then in-forms the raw materials of earth and water and sunshine and, voila! You have a rose bush.
The same is true in human lives: the thing we want to make, that finished creation visualized in the mind, is always the last thing to be manifested. Anyone who has done any creative cooking knows that the finest meal, whilst being prepared, generates a great deal of apparent chaos as raw materials are chosen, peeled, chopped, cooked, mixed with herbs, and so on. Creation is messy, and we have to keep our gaze – the mind’s eye focused – on that final creation, not to mention the recipe, if we are to believe that all the parts will come together in the right way.
Our personal lives can seem very chaotic, too, if we cannot see the underlying plot. This is what astrology provides – a sense of the plot. The birth chart, as John Addey suggested, is a kind of ‘contract with time and space’; and referring to the contract to remind ourselves of the overall game plan can help us to turn chaos into cosmos. Through studying the birth chart, we find out that what feels like chaos is really overemphasis or imbalance in certain areas – too much water (emotionality), too little earth (not enough practicality), an angular Mars (fullsteam ahead all the time) – and we then are in a position to make more informed choices which further the plot intelligently. Another analogy is the picture on a packet of seeds: it helps to know ourselves from the horoscope’s view of wholeness – are we a delicate fritillary, or a ceanotha which doesn’t like too much sun, or a camellia that hates lime, or a hardy honeysuckle that is happy anywhere? By knowing what suits us we can better grow and flourish and actualize our potential.
Astrology is an algebra, a symbolic language which enables us to read the contract, understand the plot, and imaginatively view that unique picture on the packet of seeds which is our life. By engaging imaginatively with the gods within us – the miniature cosmos – we are better equipped to inform the ‘matter’ of our lives, to grow up and blossom in the way that is best for us. In an essay entitled ‘Civilization’, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) expressed a sentiment very close to the idea that astrology encourages. He wrote:
Now that is the wisdom of a man, in every instance of his labour, to hitch his wagon to a star, and see his chore done by the gods themselves. That is the way we are strong, by borrowing the might of the elements … If we can thus ride in Olympian chariots by putting our works in the path of the celestial circuits, we can harness also evil agents, the powers of darkness, and force them to serve against their will the ends of wisdom and virtue.
TIME AND ETERNITY
Time is the flowing image of the Eternal.
PLATO, TIMAEUS
Time and space define the field of our existence. They constitute the dual matrix of our astrological calculations. Astrology’s perennial questions are: When and where were you born? When and where did this happen? Paradoxically, the astrologer plots out a picture of the cosmos for a particular moment of space-time in order to study the pattern of the primary and eternal archetypes for the moment.
One image that conveys a sense of the relationship between the temporal and the eternal is the phenomenon of a video tape. The tape contains the whole picture, complete with soundtrack, special effects, the lot. It is all there. But in order to experience the video, we have to unfold it frame by frame at a particular speed. Time is the medium through which we experience the unfolding of what is already all there. The big difference is that the cosmic video (i.e. your life) is unfolding potentialities for each moment. It is for us to express and experience those potentialities. The more conscious and aware we become, the deeper and richer and wiser will be that expression. So yes, there is a strong element of predetermination about this model. But no, it is only the music that is predetermined. How we dance to it, in and through time, is up to us.
SOUL