Astrology: Astrology's Archaic Truths

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Dear All, The following write-up is from: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Astrology/id/35180 Love and regards,Sreenadh===============================Astrology:

Astrology's Archaic TruthsBy Jeff

JawerAstrology's

Archaic Truths

One

of the challenges for astrologers is to find a meaningful place for astrology

in our modern world. In this so-called scientific society of ours, astrology

often looks like a rube, an ignorant fool left over from some bygone era.

Astrology may seem quaint as it attempts to describe reality through a world

view that has been surpassed by the scientific discoveries of the past 500

years. Our Ptolemaic earth-centered view of the universe is seen as naive at

its best and downright charlatanism at its worst. But, once we step back from

the dogmas of modern science we can rediscover astrology's truths, truths which

are essential to the healing of our shattered world.

 

The

expression "shattered world" may seem melodramatic, but what else can

we say about our civilization? We have broken with nature, we have synthesized

and automated, sped up and electrified ourselves out of contact with the planet

on which we live. It is not simply our technology that has contributed to this,

but the underlying philosophy of science which has wrenched us out of our

senses into a reality far different from our direct experiences.

 

In

the book Mystical Astrology According to Ibn 'Arabi (Beshara Publications), the

author, Titus Burckhardt, reminds us of the price we have paid for Copernicus's

heliocentric revolution. By placing the Sun in the center of the solar system,

where none of us lives, our very sense of reality has been dealt a damaging

blow. We are taught that what each of us experiences daily is not true. We are

told that we are not the center of the solar system, but simply the inhabitants

of a relatively small and unimportant planet.

 

As

a result, we have become alienated from our senses. We see the Sun move through

the Zodiac throughout the year, we feel ourselves to be on a solid, stationary

planet, but that is not the truth. Science conflicts with experience and we pay

dearly for this. We become alienated from our senses, which we can no longer

trust, and we are distanced from our bodies as they become unreliable sources

of information. It is this disassociation (or cognitive dissonance in

psychological terms) which is crazy-making. No wonder we are destroying species

and landscape at an extraordinary rate. No wonder we use our technological

riches to push us to work harder and harder with less and less satisfaction.

There can be no sanity when our senses lie to us.

 

Each

day we see the Sun, Moon, and planets rise in the east and set in the west, but

we've learned that this is not the truth. The truth is that the earth is

rotating on its axis, creating the illusion of rising and setting bodies. Once

again, science shows us an objective truth which goes against the grain of our

own observations. These scientific truths are very useful in understanding our

universe, but we as individuals, and humanity as a whole, are left with less

power. Power comes from trusting ourselves, from having a grip on reality and

being able to move through different layers of experience with confidence in

our sensory equipment. When truth comes from external authorities, scientific

or otherwise, and does not coincide with our internal experience, we lose power

in our lives.

 

Astrology,

then, is a means by which we can reclaim our power. (Of course, as I've written

elsewhere for TMA, astrology has its disempowering elements as well.) It is a

system that reflects the reality of our direct experiences. It tells us that

our senses are not damaged and that there is an order in the universe which

corresponds with an order in us. It is a human science, one that places us

squarely in the middle of our lives re-establishing the sense of belonging

which is essential to our mental health. The vast, unknown cosmos is brought

into order, the earth having its proper place in the center. This is what

healing is all about.

 

Reclaiming

the power of subjective human experience from objective scientism will promote

a return to balance. Astrology is not some silly old thing, a superstition or

pseudo-science, but a real science of human experience. Its symbols leave room

for the vagaries of human behavior, that which can never be reduced to simple

and absolute formulae. This very humanness of astrology threatens the bloodless,

soulless order so treasured by conventional science. If astrology is true, then

no experiment can ever be perfectly replicated because the skies are always

changing. Such a dynamic universe does not easily fit into today's scientific

order. The very notion of cycles is something so basic to human experience, but

not part of general scientific education.

 

The

point here is not to make a devil out of science, but simply to remind us that

astrology stands on its own merits, and that trying too hard to fit it into the

present scientific model is not necessarily a great idea. It is not astrology

that has to change to fit into the modern world, but rather the modern world

which can benefit by including astrological ideas in its reality.

 

Returning

us to the center of our universe brings cohesiveness to the psyche, soothes the

soul, and produces an order of a higher kind. Alienated humans, like

miscalibrated instruments, will make distorted measurements. Alignment of the

inner and outer selves, the objective and subjective, is not only possible, but

is necessary for our evolution and survival. If you think it contradictory to

include two such different perspectives, I'll remind you of what the great poet

Walt Whitman once said: "Contradict myself, of course I do. I contain

multitudes." Whitman was a Gemini.

 

Jeff Jawer is a founder of www.StarIQ.com. He has been a professional

astrologer since 1973 and is well-known as a writer, counselor and lecturer in

North and South America, Europe and Australia.===============================