Living Astrology - Taking Off
May 10, 2004 11:16am

'Flight attendants, please take your seats and prepare for takeoff.' Even the most seasoned traveler feels a shot of adrenaline upon hearing these words, indicating that the plane is on the runway and preparing to go airborne. The sound of the engines engaging, the short rush of acceleration, and moments later you are in the air, watching the buildings and cars get smaller and soon, piercing cotton puff clouds that hang in the air like an elementary school science project. Soon after, the trajectory smoothes out and you are flying high above the clouds, hardly a bump or ripple to indicate that you are moving at 600 mph. For many people, this experience has become as routine as riding in a car.

Actually, riding in a car is no small thing, especially when you first begin to understand what is really happening. Since most of us ride in cars from infancy, we barely understand that we are even moving at first. It is only later, as we experience riding a scooter, a skateboard, or a bicycle that we begin to understand just how precarious, powerful and at best exciting is the feeling of being in motion. At one point in my life, I understood that I would someday drive: at that point cars went from being an involuntary box moving me and my family from one place to another to the ultimate 'moving machine' that I would someday be able to direct and control.

Like sitting in a fast moving car, we inhabit the Earth as it spins on its axis at close to 1000 miles per hour at the equator, a mad dance of speed that, amazingly, would be unnoticeable to us were it not for the Sun and stars moving through the sky. Everyday life can also have this quality of hurtling along at high speed. As we grow in awareness, we begin to get a sense that we can have some effect on what happens, on how our decisions turn out. Like learning how to drive, we learn to make continual adjustments to respond to the actions of others, to be willing to learn from the results of our decisions. As we grow in maturity, we learn how to maintain an attitude of patient awareness and responsiveness that gives us the best chance of arriving safely at our destination. While Earth life does have moments of peaceful contemplation, these usually come after some process of learning mastery over motion or interaction, of resolving challenges and difficulties.

Astrology is one of the technologies that Humans have developed over the last 3+ millennia for dealing with the sometimes dizzying rush of influences and choices that are part of Earth existence. While human life can appear to have a certain kind of 'stillness', like being inside a car or being on the Earth's surface, to the body, mind, and emotions of an individual person, the everyday rush of sensory experience, of feelings, and of social information can be overwhelming, until we learn some skills to be able to respond appropriately. This process of learning to navigate experience, to find meaning in the rush of events, and ultimately to integrate patterns of experiences into a sense of overall Purpose is the function of the part of us that 'drives' and directs us through life, what religious traditions have called the Human Soul.

Forgive the generous use of driving metaphors: my wife Aliah taught comedy defensive driving for a number of years and we often use driving as a metaphor for life and relationship. Part of this is because I had a very positive experience of being a student in traffic school. It was an opportunity to be reminded of the complexity and importance of something I was doing more or less unconsciously on an everyday basis, reawakening some of the initial awareness I had when I first learned to drive. Astrology can catalyze a similar kind of reawakening: by becoming aware of the metaphysics of some of the interactions we carry on everyday, we can improve our ability to be successful in those interactions, to get what we want and need. Life traffic school, everyone learning Astrology is already interacting, already experiencing, already making sense of their lives. Also like traffic school, it is a way of helping to 'get a handle' on interactions that, while they may seem routine at moments, can massively effect our lives in an instant if we are not aware of their importance in the bigger picture.

Back to the Soul. I use this term cautiously (my road sign) and hope you will meet me in the middle by being willing to understand what I mean without conflicting with whatever you may have associated with this word. On the one hand, there are a wealth of stories, mostly religious in origin, whose purpose is to help individuals to assist the Soul in its function: to find meaning and purpose in everyday life. My problem with these stories is they tend to be somewhat 'canned' or prefabricated, 'one size fits all'. Nonetheless, I have at times made use of some of these stories in my own life. And for those who also have benefited from the direction of religious insight, I want to make it clear that Astrology is not meant to substitute for religion anymore than science is (though science has done just that in many people's lives). Rather it is meant to offer some additional information. To use the driving metaphor, your experiences of and beliefs about the Universe are equivalent to where you are going and why; Astrology is like a map to help you get there more reliably and quickly. While it may have been more closely associated with 'New Age' or other belief systems, the foundations of Astrology can be applied to any spiritual practice and are no more in conflict with religion than the belief that the Earth is round or that the Sun is at the center of our Solar System.

In contrast are those who cringe at the word 'soul' because they are embattled by the historical game of 'King of the Hill' played by institutional religions. These individuals prefer to either come up with their own version of what motivates human beings or remain content with none at all. If this describes your views, I ask you to please put aside the history of this word for the moment and recognize my underlying meaning for 'soul”: something in Human Beings that keeps track of what each of us cares about beyond the rush of everyday experience and instinctual reaction. If you are scientific rationalist, you might see the human mind as performing this function. If you are a pantheist or pagan, you might see the human body and emotions as the essential element. Astrology is indifferent to the explanation: it just recognizes that people find meaning in their lives and that symbols are the language of meaning. Astrology is not the only source of these symbols, but it is one of humanity's most ancient and time-tested techniques for symbolizing and getting a perspective on human life1. Just as each of us moves without the aid of physics, each of us is already 'living' and moving within the field of experience that Astrology symbolizes. Just as physics might help us design a safer car, Astrology can help you find meaning in your life.

AstroCosmos: 12 stages of the journey, 12 chapters.

Aries: Birth: the rush of experience, instinctual action reveals purpose. The man finds himself as an infant in the jungle, no time to think, just act & survive. The urge to live motivates action.

The Courage to Be

“Astro” From the beginning of time, man has watched the stars, the ultimate symbol of the vastness and majesty of the Universe, so grand that in many cultures, the sky was pictured as the abode of the Gods themselves. Clock and calendar time are the simplest form of Astrology, based on the relationship of the earth and moon to the Sun. The ancient art of Astrology recognizes a connection between human events and the cycles of the other planets in our solar system. While Western science does not yet have an explanation for the forces at work, there are countless striking 'synchronicities' between planetary positions and human events. Astrology offers us a glimpse into a part of the 'implicate order' behind human life.

“Cosmos”: while this Greek word is often used as a synonym for 'Universe', it has a different shade of meaning, literally 'beauty and order'. Cosmos implies participation in creation and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all parts of the Universe. In ancient thought, the Earth itself and individual Human Beings were seen as a 'microcosm' ('tiny Universe') that contains and reflects the 'macrocosm' or Universe as a whole. The word Cosmology reflects both of these perspectives, referring to the scientific enquiry into the origins of the physical Universe as well as religious/cultural views of the Creation. As the root of the word 'cosmetics', Cosmos reminds us that as we connect with the beauty in creation, we find beauty within ourselves.

AstroCosmos: Your Individual Universe of Meaning

Each person is a veritable 'universe' of their own, with a unique set of energies and methods of understanding. By connecting with the underlying fabric of events and interactions, Astrology helps us to tune in to the intelligence of the Universe: not just in general, but in particular, a personal message for each of us in a language tailored to our way of being. While I have learned many other methods for attuning to my inner source of guidance, Astrology is one of the best ways I have found for stepping back from my life and myself and assessing what I am experiencing from a macrocosmic perspective.

Astrology and the Evolution of Culture

The products of culture, from books to works of art, are collective forms of expression, whether they are made up of personal experiences, interpersonal interactions, or abstract symbols. As personal as the experience of culture may seem to the person receiving it, cultural products (like this book) must undergo a process of selection, refinement, and synthesis of their subject matter in order to make them accessible to a wider audience over a longer period of time. When you are reading, listening to music, or watching television, you are interacting with collective symbols that form the context for your personal experience of the world. The recent trend towards 'reality' television shows reflects the public's interest in gaining insight into what has most often been behind the scenes: the sometimes ugly process of 'natural selection' that goes into the making cultural products. The collective wants to understand itself.

This trend also reflects another key point of evolution in our current culture: technologies such as the Internet and cable/satellite television are allowing a much greater level of diversity than was previously possible. Shelf space or picture catalogs required companies to limit the number of products they carried; Internet businesses can keep 'virtual inventory' and provide access to a nearly unlimited number of products. In addition, the Internet's ability to create information networks has allowed new points of view to be expressed and enabled 'information seekers' to go further than previously dreamed possible. The 'Big Three' network television stations of the 20th century have bloomed into hundreds of channels and video on demand. While these technologies are new and have not been fully utilized (and the networks will continue to fight for dominance), the face of culture will never be the same. If we use it wisely, this technology can expand our choices and enable a new level of diversity in all aspects of our lives.

This shift in culture also affects our social institutions. Different skills are needed to be successful. Appreciation for diversity has evolved from a liberal ideal into a social reality. Thus there is a growing need for social systems that recognize and develop individual diversity. Humanistic Astrology is one such technology, unique in its recognition and appreciation of individual differences in both style (how I do things) and substance (what I do). Astrology has great promise for improving the quality of life for both individuals and groups through improving understanding and communication. While subject to the same challenges as any cultural system - someone will get left out, some quality will be misunderstood - it starts out with a significantly higher standard of accuracy, of subtlety, and of sensitivity than most current systems of human psychology and development. It can help serve as a bridge from our current hierarchical and competitive mindset to a more fluid, more inclusive one.

However, in order for Astrology to fulfill its promise of social and spiritual evolution, it must also undergo the evolution that is taking place in all aspects of culture. For me, this means Astrology must become more Universal, not just by improving its accuracy and objectivity, but by widening its field of vision and renewing its premises. As scary as it may seem to some Astrologers, for me this means realizing that the essential archetypes of Astrology are not just independent of individuals, but are independent of Astrologers.

Humanistic Astrology

Actually, Astrology has been undergone a major evolution in the last century. Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985) was one of the 'founding fathers' of new psychologically and spiritually based Astrological paradigm known as Humanistic Astrology. Part of what made Rudhyar so persuasive is that he understood Astrology's potential while keeping it in the perspective of other branches of human knowledge.

To a perfected intuitive man, no particular system of symbolism is necessary; and astrology is of no special value. But he cannot communicate his intuitions to others. Communication necessitates a system of interpretation; a set of symbols which can serve as spatial-mental bridges between the wholeness of the moment and all perceivers. It thus needs a language. Astrology is such a language, just as the series of hexagrams of the Chinese I-Ching is such a language. And it is in the formation of and use of such a language that what we called holistic logic and the principle of functional coherency come into operation.. 2

Rudhyar's work laid the groundwork for a whole generation of Astrologers that saw the purpose of Astrology as the improvement of human life rather than the prediction of events.

While re-reading some of my favorite Astrology books a few years back, it struck me that most individuals, particularly those seeking counseling, would be impressed by the spiritual intensity, intellectual depth, and clarity of these authors. The accuracy of information they gave was less important than the fact that their study of Astrology had inspired them to an extraordinary level of insight about human life and experience. The inspiring vision presented in these books of Astrology's implications for individuals and society was more persuasive than the sections about specific application3. I found myself re-reading the theoretical and visionary sections and skipping the particulars. How could I address this issue?

My answer to this internal question came during an introductory lecture when I was explaining my approach to Astrology. I told the audience that I preferred to learn about the archetypes from the people who lived with them before I tried to explain them. Though I had found it very interesting and enlightening to develop abstractions that could help me to understand the other 110 sign placements (other than my own 10) and up to 270 possible major aspects, I found it more interesting to find out how real-life individuals had applied these archetypes to their real-life situations. Obviously any good Astrologer has to combine both of these approaches, receptive and active. Yet this insight went further for me: it's not just that individuals represent a particular application of the archetypes, but that each person has their own unique form of Astrology: different issues, different ways of understanding, and different purposes for using it. I realized consciously what I had practiced for many years: that I preferred to help each individual to gain awareness of their own Astrological Cosmos rather than impress them with mine; actually, to share both of ours with each other in an act of 'communion', the root of 'communication'. Thus one of my own most powerful 'existential proofs' is when the person I am communicating with explains their approach to life, revealing a unique and original way of applying Astrology.

Planetary Sojourns: the Edgar Cayce Readings

While Astrology is an 'existential fact' to those who study its application in their own lives, the mechanics of Astrological forces are not yet understood by conventional science. Thus it is particularly helpful to find alternative sources of information to help us understand the nature of how these forces work. The life readings of Edgar Cayce are one of my favorite sources for this information4. Cayce (1877-1945) was known as the "sleeping prophet" because his readings were done in a deep trance state. He was perhaps the best documented and most accurate psychic in recorded history, with a library of over 14,000 stenographic transcriptions of individual readings available to the public (www.edgarcayce.org). Cayce was judged by a New York City court to have legitimate psychic abilities and had articles written about his abilities in na