The Life cycle in Astrology

Early Man felt a connection

between himself and the life all around him.

He saw himself as part

of a Greater Whole in which he played a part,

although insignificant.

2As Man's intellect grew,

so did his sense of importance and separateness.

He fell into competition

with the life forms around him

and sought to control them to suit his needs.

Man lost his sense of interdependence with life, and

astrology/religion became just another tool

for trying to control life.

But astrology, which had once

represented holism, can represent it again.

3We need to return to the sense of wholeness that we once had.

To do this, we will have to

reintegrate the lost part of ourselves

that provided this sense of wholeness and harmony:

our spiritual Self.

In fact, if we don’t do this,

the human race may not survive.

Our current direction is

destroying our most basic resources and the earth itself.

If we continue, there will be little left.

4Maybe this is what it will take before we realize

that we can only survive by working together.

What role can ...” one's chosen spiritual path”...... play in this?

First, it can provide the philosophical and spiritual

underpinnings that are missing.

Second, it can provide guidance about how to fulfil our soul's Plan,

chosen path for this lifetime.

Fulfilling our Plan is important to the Whole.

First, let's examine

these philosophical and spiritual underpinnings.

5 Astrology reveals the cyclical nature of life.

It demonstrates that we are part of an orderly universe:

the moon circles around the earth,

the earth circles around the sun,

one season follows another.

Our lives imitate these cycles,

being a microcosm of the great macrocosm.

We can hardly

notice these patterns and cycles

without also conceding to the existence of

a Higher Order,

an organizing

if not creative force—a Logos.

6“Astrology” also suggests that life continues beyond death.

what meaning would our lives have if they

were not part of a larger process of evolution?

Reincarnation explains many of the mysteries of life:

why people are different,

why suffering exists, and

why some people suffer more than others do.

Reincarnation also explains many things about the chart

that cannot be explained otherwise:

some signs in our charts are more developed than other signs and

some patterns run deeper than

just one lifetime could explain.

7Astrology also offers us a glimpse

of the perfection and wonder of the universe.

For anyone who

has used astrology for many years,

it is its own proof

of the existence of something higher.

It verifies the unseen like an oracle,

providing a bridge

designed of symbols

between the spiritual realm and the earthly one.

the archetypal realm

the realm of the Sun moon and planets

the realm of unity of brain hemispheres

unity consciousness

union of ego and superego

dare I say soul and supersoul?

Atma and Paramatma?

Unity and diversity simultaneously that is

Achintya bheda abheda tattva

Astrology is the esoteric translated into symbols.

Astrology also teaches us of holism,

that all of life is interrelated and interdependent.

In a holistic universe,

the parts synergistically combine to form a whole.

Just as we are part and parcel

of the whole.

In quality identical

but in quantity minute in proportion.

The whole is more than the sum of the parts,

and each part is indispensable to the whole.

So it is with our charts. At the same time, the

whole is reflected in each of the parts:

“As above, so below.”

The individual entering life

reflects the energies present in the universe

at the moment of birth.

The energies of that moment can be read

in the sky and are represented in the chart.

Thus, the chart

is a picture of the energies of that moment,

which the individual born at that moment personifies.

8These energies are like a costume

donned for one lifetime to experience the lessons and develop

the talents of those energies.

Still, we are more than these energies;

we are more than our charts.

We are the sum total of all our previous lifetimes of experiences

and their energy patterns (charts).

In many ways, we are like actors on a stage:

we know that we are more

than the character that we are playing,

but for the time being we dress up in our costume and play our part.

The difference is that the actor has no freedom

to choose his lines and actions, and we do.

This is an important difference.

While the actor lives the script written for him,

we create the play as we go along.

We have no direct script.

Our future, our story,

is created by our choices.

But is that all? Is it all choice?

9Let's explore this further.

Just how much of our lives is predetermined

and how much is created by our choices?

Many of us believe that some events in life are predestined,

such as certain meetings.

Nevertheless, although some events may well be prearranged,

how and when they take place can’t be.

This is determined by the circumstances

and events that we create by our choices.

Free will and predestination interweave in our lives.

The few events in our lives that are predestined

are woven into the fabric of life

created by our choices and by the choices of those close to us.

If you stop a moment to think

about the many possible choices

you and others could make,

you can only conclude that

the specifics of the future are not predetermined.

The lessons that our soul sets out to teach us

must therefore be worked into the framework

already created by our choices.

The soul has to "play it by ear"

and wait for suitable opportunities to deliver its lessons.

As a result, predicting the future is

precarious, to say the least.

Therefore, the Plan described in the chart can only be very general.

More will be said about reading the Plan in the discussions that follow.

Solstice

Fri 16 Dec – Thurs 29 Dec 2011

Sun in Sag/Cap (22^nd) solstice; Merc in Sag; Venus in Cap/Aqu (20^th); Mars in Virgo; Jupiter dir 25^th

Have you been utilizing the current transit of the Sun and Mercury through Sagittarius to examine and explore your philosophy of life? Now, as the Sun aligns with the Galactic Center on the 19^th, and then arrives at his most southern point on the Solstice of Dec 22^nd, we have a fine opportunity to focus our consciousness with clarity on the goal of our individual lives as well as align ourselves with our true centre internally as well as with whoever or whatever embodies our belief system externally. The Christian calendar does this automatically (although perhaps unknowingly or unconsciously for most) three days after the Solstice on Dec 25^th, which is the exact point at which the Sun begins his return from the apparent depths of darkness after a three day pause there, as seen from the northern hemisphere, to rise again towards a slowly lengthening of daylight visibility. Watch the documentary “Zeitgeist” if you want to hear more about the fact that Christmas is originally based on (amongst other things) the astronomical movement of the Sun at the Solstice.

As for aligning ourselves…who do you accept as spiritual authority? What qualifies them to be such? Usually we accept someone by what they say, but what if their words or ideas are beyond our comprehension or ability to realize? We could end up discrediting them simply because we are not realized enough to comprehend them. Perhaps we should accept someone as an authority by their actions. After all, actions speak louder than words. However, the same logic or reasoning could apply – we may not be aware enough to comprehend their actions either and may be judging them according to our limited frame of reference. Of course on the ultimate level even the act of judging - accepting or rejecting - is merely a product or function of the mind, and not a matter of transcendence. Yet at the same time paradoxically we have to accept some things over others which we reject; so with all these contradictions and layers upon levels of realization how do we get anywhere or get anything done at all? Surely discrimination is needed, which implies making a judgment. Which brings me back to my question of whose standards are you using for your yardstick. On one level it depends on time, place and circumstance - what is appropriate according to your time in history, your geographical location or the socio-cultural circumstances in which you find yourself. However, on another level some things, particularly when discussing spiritual truths, are meant to be absolute, or eternally valid regardless of the temporary shifts in society, culture and history. For example even the teachings of Buddha, Shankara, Christ or Mohammed all have a starting point in history, before which the teachings were irrelevant. That is on one level, while on an absolute level certain spiritual truths taught by those teachers and others are timeless because they deal with our eternal spiritual natures or because they apply to all people under all circumstances for all time. Truths such as the concept that driving our temporary material body is an eternal spiritual spark of consciousness, and that one can uncover that spiritual self, and indeed should, by certain techniques which have always worked and always will, regardless of who tries them and when in history, because they are transcendent or absolute. This is apparently what is meant by one’s “Dharma”, the actual translation from the Sanskrit being “eternal constitutional nature or position”, regardless of time, place or current socio-religious circumstance. For example the dharma of fire is to burn, the dharma of sugar is to be sweet, and the dharma of the living entity is to be an eternally blissful conscious person (sat chit ananda), even though housed in this current temporary material body. So as Jupiter apparently goes direct or forward again on Dec 25^th after several months of retrograde motion, take the opportunity to wish yourself and all others a merry Saturnalia and a blessed year of real consciousness awakening on all levels.       

Who eclipsed your consciousness?

Fri 18 Nov – Thurs 1 Dec 2011
Sun in Scorpio/sag 22^nd; Mercury in Sag (R 24^th); Venus in Sag/Cap 26^th; Mars in Virgo.

On the 22^nd when the Sun joins Mercury (going retrograde on the 24^th) and Venus in Sagittarius, we shall have all our primary planets from the Sun to Mars in mutable signs. These are the planets that move the fastest and thus change signs rapidly, thereby indicating the predominating trends and mood of the day. Jupiter spends a whole year and Saturn up to 2.5 years in one sign. The Moon of course changes signs so quickly – every 2.5 days – that its influence is fleeting, though not to be underestimated; just not mentionable in a forecast such as this. Except, for example, when there may be an eclipse, like the solar eclipse on the new moon of the 25^th; curiously only really visible from my place on the southern coast of South Africa if you want to pop round for the breakfast show just after 08h00 local time; or you can catch it in New Zealand too. Although only a partial eclipse of 87%, it is the largest or brightest this year.

How amazing is it that eclipses even occur at all. The Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon, and the Moon is 400 times closer to Earth than the Sun, this means that the two effects cancel each other out with the Moon and Sun both appearing to have the same apparent size in the sky. They therefore look the same size to a viewer observing from Earth’s surface. So when there is an alignment during a solar eclipse, the Moon fits exactly over the Sun, blocking all sunlight while still allowing the beautiful corona to be observed. Now if this precise degree of ratio and proportion all happened by accident or coincidence then I’ll eat my ice cream cone. It seems more likely to me that the Great Consciousness behind it all, of whom we are all part and parcel, was being quite deliberate in this cosmic manifestation. And these are precisely the topics of focus during the current Sagittarian alignment of planets – topics of vast, expansive, universal or cosmological import. Sure, the Sagittarian theme is currently potentially more fired up, festive and fun-loving than the previous rather introverted, intense or introspective Scorpio flavour, but it is also a perfect time to raise the ceiling, explore the vast outer realms of space and it’s origins, as well our place in the grand scheme of things. Thinking big, going large and expanding the realms are all possible now. After all, the precise relationship between us and our satellite Luna are extremely rare. Most planets have much smaller moons, so the fact that ours is just the right size and distance between the Sun and us to create an eclipse which is occasionally so exact that the one heavenly body is totally hidden from our sight, practically to the millimeter (from our point of view) makes you think that someone was behind it, someone with a sense of humour, or at least an artistic flair. The chances of it being pure blind accident are about the same as if all the monkeys in the world, given all the time and all the laptops, were able to come out with Shakespeare’s complete works. They could, but the chances of it are infinitesimal. And this unique manifestation of precision and proportion between the Sun, Moon and Earth is only one of countless other manifestations of such harmony, beauty and life-supporting precision that anyone who still can’t comprehend the notion of Consciousness being at the root of it all, must be quite dull. Lets forget about the numerous concepts of God presented throughout the pages of history and just refer to the source as Consciousness, leaving the details until later, or to poets and mystics, and already we will have to rethink life, the universe and everything. Think about it.