 The Tardis, Doctor Who's Time Machine How does Astrology work?
Consciousness in Action...
In this part of the "What Is Astrology" series, Rob Tillett writes that our bodies react to the world in ways which are still barely understood. He says we constantly interact with our environment on many levels, from the sub-atomic to the metaphysical. These physical, mental, emotional, even spiritual, levels of interaction vary in depth and intensity according to our character and training, but they are truly real. Our world is really much more like a marvellous mind than a mere machine! The evidence from interested researchers – such as our very own Energy Doctor, Stephen Kane, as well as kinesiologists, chinese medical specialists, feng-shui experts, herbalists, yogis and mystics of all hues – suggests that our bodies are not mere flesh and blood, but are more like sensitive broadcasting and receiving stations. We constantly interact with our environment on many levels, from the sub-atomic to the metaphysical, responding to a broad spectrum of radiant frequencies, not all of which have yet been catalogued by science. Bear in mind it was not so long ago that the very idea of radio, movies, x-rays and televison signals would have been consigned to ridicule at best – or, more ominously, to the stake with the witches.
The traditional view still upheld by many astrologers, especially in India, is that each planet is literally the body and expression of a spiritual being or entity (deva; asura; god; goddess; guide). These spiritual beings are expressions of the life-force, planetary avatars whose job it is to affect and guide the destinies of life-forms on this planet. This process is ultimately designed to bring self-awareness and redirect our karmas to higher planes, despite some bumps along the way that can be alleviated by remedies: gems, herbs, rituals, talismans and the like.
Planetary Energies, or Symbolic Links?
Some astrologers believe that planetary energies themselves generate events in our lives – and given recent advances in quantum mechanics, they may be right. In physics the idea of disconnected particles set into an empty space and affected by quanta of energy no longer explains the universe and what happens in it adequately. Dark energy and dark matter, antimatter and other more arcane features in nature, such as string theory, Zero Point Energy and the Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter challenge the accepted view that there are only four basic forces (strong nuclear; weak nuclear; electromagnetic; gravity) and that there can be no action at a distance.
Others believe, following Carl Jung, the great psychologist, that planetary positions are synchronistically connected with our lives – meaning that environmental influences generating reactions in human beings may be tracked in the positions of the planets, although the two may not be causally related. This view is associated with the mystical idea that symbols are real energy-generating patterns which may mark, or even stimulate activity in the human organism, as well as revealing the inner workings of the soul.
Organically Connected with the Cosmos
This writer believes we are organically connected with the cosmos, just as seemingly unconnected islands in the sea are connected by the invisible sea-floor. Whatever happens to any part of the world affects us to some extent as individuals, even in ways which may be quite invisible to the casual observer. History shows us that we react en masse much more noticeably to environmental factors, which may be more or less insignificant at the individual level. Is the world an interactive being with patterns of life within its field serving as consciousness-generators which help bring it (and us) to full consciousness? The evidence is compelling.
As human beings and spiritual entities, it is important to understand our place in the world. At the deepest level, all major events in our lives are governed by our karma, the product of what we have been in the (sometimes distant) past. Karmas are given to us in order to create the conditions necessary for us to awaken from the "sleep of ages" and to achive self-realisation. Since the universe reflects the energies of the cosmic mind, so too do our lives. Astrology is a timed map to the expression of these energies.
Freewill and Destiny
Astrology is not generally a way of foretelling inevitable fate (though it can be under some circumstances). Paracelsus, one of the world's greatest astrologers, remarked, quoting the ancients: "The stars incline; they do not compel" (Astra inclinant non necessistant). He meant that while planetary influences create the groundwork and basis for action in any set of circumstances, there is still the element of free will in us all. We become masters of our own destinies to the degree to which we are no longer subject to the mechanical influences of the conditioned world. We can use the techniques and insights of astrology to make sense of our connection with each other, with the universe at large, and with our own inner selves.
Astrologers, like all good scientists, must use their knowledge in combination with a developed intuition. A personal horoscope (birth-chart) does not so much reveal a clear fate as a set of probabilities, often operating on many levels simultaneously. These can be reviewed via progressions and transits to the natal chart, along with other more arcane methods such as alfridaria, profection, dasha/bhukti periods and so on. There is much discussion among astrologers as to just how much free will we really do have, but that is a moot point. The astrologer must clarify these probabilities, karmic strands, or kleshas, and place them in perspective.
My view is that the stars have a deep influence on us, but since the world is more like a being than a thing, we too can influence them. For more on this concept of the Nexus of Probability, please click here. In astrology, as in medicine, the science is intimately bound up with the art.
 Return to the start of the series, What is Astrology.
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