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Astrologer's Notes: |
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Thinking Magically and Critically : Contemporary Astrology and what it can do for you
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by Erin Sullivan |
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THINKING MAGICALLY AND CRITICALLY:
Contemporary Astrology and Divination
"The seeds of future events are carried within ourselves. They are implicit in us and unfold according to the laws of their own nature." -- Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet: Cleo
Today more and more people are using astrology to understand themselves and their relationships. They want to maximize their potential and realize their goals, but most importantly, they want to know what is going to happen to them and when. To what degree can astrology address these natural concerns?
There is still no coherent answer to the question of how astrology 'works', but the solar system itself is an ideal metaphor for the ever-changing interactions among people. If I can have a relationship with another person, why can't a planet have a relationship with another planet? If Gaia is considered to be an organic entity, then why not Mars or Saturn? People form systems of small collectives, constellating around an idea, a family, a cause -- always in motion, always in flux. Similarly planets are also constellating around a focus -- the sun. They too are in constant motion, changing their relationships relative to some fixed point -- such as the backdrop of fixed stars (as seen from our Earth perspective) or the zodiac -- and to each other.
The word 'horoscope' comes from the Greek horoskopos, whose roots mean 'looking at the hour'. To divine or predict an outcome requires a beginning, an origin. Ancient astrology had such a concept, which still prevails: the katarche. Katarche is a Greek word which, loosely translated, means an auspicious moment or beginning. It is from the origin of anything that its behavior and outcome can be predicted. Every second is a new beginning, and inherent in that beginning lies its pattern of maturity and fruition.
A horoscope is a fixed frame of spatial and temporal experience. It is a starting-point from which a systematic and predictable set of planetary movements can be plotted. For example, if a planet is a 1 degree Leo, we know it will be at 2 degrees Leo at a specific time in the future. If it is the moon's motion we are considering, it would be at 2 degrees Leo in a couple of hours; if the sun, in the next 24 hours; if Mars, then in a few days; if Jupiter, in a about 10 days; and so on.
We can also predict when the planet will return to the same point in the future. The moon will return to the same point every 27-1/2 days; Mars, every two years and two months; Jupiter, every 12 years and a few days; and so on out to the furthest known planet, Pluto, which returns to the same zodiacal degree every 245 years! On the other hand, since each planet has its own unique return period, the odds of two or more planets repeating an exact pattern are not great. Moreover the vast number of variables in this intricate planetary system means that the entire pattern in the sky never repeats itself exactly.
The planetary system is reflected in the individual psyche. Compartmentalizing the psyche, we can speak of the unconscious, the shadow, the imagination, the anger function, eros, archetypes, and so on. Just as the solar system as a whole never reproduces the same pattern twice, no individual returns to exactly the same point again in his or her own life. The components remain the same; their arrangement is infinitely changing.
The most important point to understand about natal or horoscope astrology is that it is a system unto itself; thus it is verifiable only within its own context. We can certainly predict -- to within seconds of arc -- when a planet will be in a particular place in the sky. But are we able to predict exactly what will occur because of that position? The element of divination in astrology lies in the elusive quality of a moment in time. The mechanics are intricate and the magic is implicit. An astrologer employs both the magical and critical mind in his or her work.
Good professional astrologers are somewhat easier to find these days than they once were. Inquiry, word of mouth, and recommendation will help you find one. There are few rigorous standardized qualifications for astrologers, and even if there were, they would guarantee only technical competence rather than the quality of their advice.
Because astrology is still in the realm of caveat emptor, it is important to make sure you feel comfortable with the astrologer's reputation, background and manner in both astrology and counseling. Now there are several schools of astrology; some are run by individual astrolgers, though a few have a faculty of experts attached to them. Some of these schools involve astrologers who have published books establishing their credentials in the field.
Many of the 'older' astrologers (those 45 and older) are brilliant autodidacts but have no published works to serve as credentials, even though they have founded their own schools of thought and study. The grandfather clause should apply here. Nor does publication always guarantee that a particular astrologer will be a good counselor. As with physicians, psychotherapists, lawyers, or indeed with any professional, you will need to find one who suites your needs and temperament.
Prediction and Divination
The branch of astrology that perhaps most resembles divination is horary astrology. It is based on the premise that the answer is implicit in the question. A client can ask such questions as "Will I get the job?"; "Will the deal go through?"; "Is the house I am considering buying the right one for me?"; "Will the trip be successful?" The astrologer then casts a horoscope for the precise moment the question was asked and interprets for an outcome. In this way a good horary practitioner can produce remarkably accurate results.
A close relative of horary astrology is electional astrology, where the astrologer elects a time for beginning anything -- such as a project, a marriage, or a journey. This is a way of making one's life agree with the heavesns, a means of alighing oneself with the cosmos by selecting the best positions of the planets for the venture.
Some astrologers feel that when clients ask for prediction or timing of an event, they are somehow reverting to Stoic fatalism or, through some weakness, are seeking answers 'outside' themselves. But ultimately a chart is not about externals. The planets don't "do" anything to a person; rather their relationship with an individual's past, present and future represents a natural affinity between inner and outer worlds. Predictive work can be helpful in encouraging a person to examine his or her strengths and motives when facing serious life challenges or standing at a crossroads.
On the basis of an individual's personal history, experience, and potentials (including past responses to astrological cycles), a sensitive and experienced counseling astrologer can predict how trends in the future will unfold. For example, if we are looking at a Saturn transit now, we look back to previous Saturn transits to see what their history has been in that person's life, thus determining their future effects. Transits refer to how the positions of planets in the sky at a given time relate to the planets in the natal horoscope; for example, if at present Jupiter happens to be at the same degree of the same sign as the sun in your natal chart, Jupier is said to be transiting your natal sun.
Using traditional methods, the astrologer can assess how the client will manifest the action symbolized in the horoscope; in this case a Jupiter-sun transit would have to do with how Jupiter, classically the planet of growth and expansion, relates to one's sun, the essence or core of one's being. There are many finely calibrated predictive techniques, literally hundreds in the history of astrology. Some of the more recent ones include secondary progressions, solar arc directions, and midpoint structures.
One predictive psychological tool involves comparing charts of people in a relationship. Once the horoscopes of the two individuals are compared, they are then blended to create a third chart called a composite. The composite chart is the meeting point of the two individuals' charts, creating a unique picture of the relationship as a living, breathing third entity with its own intent, personality, needs and demands.
The alchemy of this mysterious meeting of two psyches is reflected perfectly in the composite. Not only does it illuminate the relationship, but understanding it can also reduce the stress on each person to fill all the partner's needs. The composite is alive, and by looking at its aspects and transits we see what the relationship is undergoing and how each individual might respond to its needs. Couples find this work exceptional for understanding what they are undergoing and what they are likely to encouter in the future of their relationship as it evolves.
On Being Made of Our Future
As Durrell says in his quote at the beginning of this article, the seeds of our future lie implicit in ourselves. And implicit in the natal chart is the seed of that person's future, which the transits explicate and constellate.
As was said earlier, the natal horoscope is a map of the planets at a fixed time and location, while transits reflect the planets as wee see them now, in current time. Transiting planets are an extension of the natal chart. As soon as a person is born, the planets begin to move away from their natal placements, providing an external measurement of growth and development. Just as the infant, cut from the umbilicus, begins is physical and pyschological existence separate from the mother, after birth the planets 'separate' from the natal horoscope and begin to synchronously harmonize with the infant's experience of its new external world.
We are made up as much of our futures as we are of our pasts. We are drawn on toward what is normally considered an unknown future --e ven though it is not completely unknown at all! Often what is oging to happen is crypitcally evident. The future is enciphered in planetary symbolism; deciphering and rendering it in plan language is the work of astrology. We can see the transiting planetary positions for specific dates weeks, years, decades ahead. An astrologer may see that in two years' time a configuration of one or several aspects in the heavens will be in intimate relationship with natal planets in a horoscope. From this knowledge he or she can articulate the quality and character of the time.
The soul knows this as well; it knows what it is to become. Rather like an orange pip knows it is to become an orange tree and not a grapefruit tree, so does the soul grasp its own destiny. We are always in a state of becoming, of individuation, and astrology is in many ways the best method of divining what is constellating on the horizon and how to get there. The astrologer can lead an individual to the edge of perception, showing him or her that which was imperceptible before.
Although coming transits don't force action, we are impelled forward by what lies ahead. It is rather like looking forward to a journey or a special event. We unconsciously prepare for the advent of an experience. Everyone has a story about how they "knew" something would happen, and retrospect has often shown how we have unconsciously prepared for a moment in time, whether of opportunity, completion, or even tragedy.
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Erin Sullivan,
Astrologer
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Erin Sullivan is one of the brightest lights in contemporary astrology. She has been integral to the growth of today's astrology, having founded many groups, run symposia, taught for over thrity years and presented at international conferences around the world.
She is Canadian born, and has lived in many cultures - in 1989 she moved to London England where she took on the position of Series Editor for Penguin, Arkana's prestigious Contemporary Astrology Series. Her tutoring for the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London gave birth to two of her books: Where in the World?Astro*Carto*Graphy and Relocation, and Venus and Jupiter: Bridging the Ideal and the Real.
Erin returned to North America in 1998, and continued to teach, write and consult with clientele from all nations. Her three other books are published by Samuel Weiser (now RedWheel/Weiser Publications):
The Astrology of Family Dynamics (a best seller)
Saturn in Transit: Boundaris of Mind Body and Soul,
and her masterpiece, Retrograde Planets: Traversing the Inner Landscape.
Her company, "Southwest Contemporary Astrology" publishes unique personalized astrology profiles - reports - available online on her website's secure shopper!
She now lives and practices and writes in her Rio Grande riverside home in Northern New Mexico.
Erin Sullivan
SOUTHWEST CONTEMPORARY ASTROLOGY Reports online at:
www.ErinSullivan.com
"As the World Turns: Your Personal Solar Return Profile" - a 60+ page booklet with predictive timing and trends for your solar year - fully illustrated with calendars, beautifully written.
"Your Personal Heroic Journey" - a 70 page booklet, illustrated with full interpretations for a lifetime of Saturn Transits - your cycles of growth and development.
1008 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, #255
TAOS, New Mexico,
87571-6412 USA
Tel: ( 1 ) 505-758-1931
Ext. 1 for SCA
Fax: ( 1 ) 505-751-1353
www.ErinSullivan.com
for Southwest Contemporary Astrology
Erin Sullivan
erinsullivan@newmex.com
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