Astrology: Reflections in Astrology Part 3

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: Reflections In Astrology
Part Three - Ways Forward

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Reflections

At this point it might be interesting to digress and look at the word "reflect" which has cropped up here several times. If the Earth and the heavens reflect one another, then the use of the word "reflect" to mean "contemplate" is particularly interesting. It's a reflection in wyrd expressed in language... The word rather reminds me of throwing ideas about and bouncing them off other people - but this time, one bounces the ideas off the wyrd. It simply illustrates how everything is contained within everything else, at different levels of the wyrd.

Regarding this commitment to one's views, and speaking from a personal point of view, I don't like confrontation. I don't like having to defend myself but I equally dislike being laughed at or criticised for believing in what I do. Astrology is a part of that but it's only worth defending for as long as I remember to respect the other's views. I can only then hope that they will respect mine. It's too easy to let it all become a personal crusade while losing sight of the bigger picture: quite simply, that it takes all sorts. Sometimes I realise that what I'm really disliking the most is not the fact that someone disagrees, but that I am not getting the same level of tolerance back that I'm giving. But I also find that, if I stay clear on what I believe, the respect eventually finds its way back to me. One reaps what one sows, after all: it's a feature of the wyrd. The signals you send out come back to you in an appropriate form.

One, the other, both?

Astrology reflects cycles. The wyrd brings cycles, repeating the same ideas over and over until we finally get the picture and learn whatever that particular lesson is. Just as humans and places change, the night sky and the aspects change, reflecting what we have done. It is possible to encompass both the scientific and the non-scientific viewpoints. We are not required to reject one or the other, though many would maintain otherwise. This rather reminds me of discussions in one of my favourite books, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

To me, a birth chart is rather like a tarot spread. There are any number of ways of interpreting it, but some impressions spring to mind more readily and those are the ones I use. Somehow, that chart captures the potential of the person, his or her birth moment into the wyrd. But not every element of the chart will be expressed, or allowed to flow, because of that individual's choices. If, for example, we take an opposition aspect, this can mean either an objective flow of energy, increasing the potential of wherever it lands in the chart, or it can mean a conflict between two opposing poles. This is why the argument against astrology that people who are born under the same configurations are never identical fails. Of course they aren't the same! They each make their choices in the wyrd, with the collection of energies they have at their disposal, and develops according to those choices. Astrologers understand that, but those who criticize without sufficient knowledge do not always take the trouble to wait for an explanation.

This is also why astrology can seem so incredibly daunting to the newcomer and needs to be treated with great caution and respect. I should imagine that the student of astronomy has similar thoughts and feelings. Will I ever master this? Will I choose the right interpretation? But of course it's possible, once the right set of mind-tools and mind-sets are implemented. One cannot learn astrology by rote; it must be said that the same applies to astronomy. Both require an open mind and a retentive memory in order to make those connections, but the way the connections are made are different.

Light skies

I've always enjoyed stargazing, on rare moments when it was mild or dark enough to allow this, or I had sufficient patience. I've seen nebulae and constellations and craters on the moon. My first glimpse of the Milky Way was not in childhood, but whilst cruising in an open-topped M.G. Midget and the vastness of what is above us is a truly humbling thing. The flavour of patience which allows me to just sit back and watch the sky has increased over the years and contemplating the nature of the universe is quite beautiful, and peace-inducing. It is by watching the night sky that I learn to be a human being, and not a human doing. I allow time for things to happen within me - like the quiet understanding of some of my studies which comes when I stop staring at a page and let my mind open instead. Just like watching stars, in fact: the more you stare at one star, the more it vanishes. As above, so below.

It's also amazing how, lost in all that space, one's emotions and intuition flow and let you know where you truly are, without the distractions of logic, fear and other people. It's a good way of gaining perspective: and perspective is a better platform from which to practise any discipline.

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