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.