Astrology

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Astrology is the study of the movement of the stars and planets through the heavens and how their energies affect us from birth to death. Ancient sources tell us that all the other sciences are outgrowths of astrology, including astronomy, thus being the oldest science known to man.

It is an applied science, insofar as it is based on astronomy, an exact science, insofar as its judgements are based on mathematical calculations; and an empirical science, insofar as its deductions are based on data gathered over the course of time. Its method is a horoscope, which is a diagram of the heavens at a particular moment of time in a particular place and read according to well-established rules free of divination derived from thousands of years of observation.

Like all sciences, astrology is a complex of symbols and principles of interrelationships. And like all science, astrology is based on experience and observations and on assumptions about the nature of reality and the universe. It shares with all sciences the assumption that there are discoverable laws of nature that are invariant, at least over long periods of time. In light of Theosophical understanding, astrology is a science requiring all the rigor, intense observation and complex principles that any science must possess. And like any science, its observations are grounded in a philosophical worldview. Fundamental to this world view is the ancient Hermetic axiom “As above, so below”, teaching that analogy and correspondence are methods of fundamental to understanding the relationships between microcosm and macrocosm, self and the world.

Astrology and Theosophy

Theosophy teaches that all life, whether in mineral, plant, animal or man, is the One Life. This One Life, long before it begins its work in mineral matter, differentiates itself into seven great streams, each of which has its own special and unchanging characteristics. These fundamental types are known as the Rays. These seven types are to be found among men, and we all belong to one or other of them. Fundamental differences of this sort in the human race have always been recognized and astrologers classify men under the names of the planets as Jupiter men, Mars men, Venus or Saturn men, and so on.

When the primordial matter or spirit, which in the future was to become ourselves, first emerged from undifferentiated infinity, it issued through seven channels, as water might flow from a cistern through seven pipes, each of which, containing its peculiar coloring matter, would so tinge the water that passed through it that it would forever after be distinguishable from the water of the other pipes. Through all the successive kingdoms, the elemental, the mineral, the vegetable, the animal, the Rays are always distinct one from another, as they are also distinct in man, though in the lower kingdoms the influence of the Ray naturally acts in a somewhat different manner. Since in them there is no individualization, it is obvious that the whole of one species of animals, for example, must be on the same Ray.
Theosophy further teaches that everything is radiating influence on its surroundings, and these surroundings are all pouring influence upon it in return. Sun, moon, stars, angels, men, animals, trees, rocks - everything is pouring out a ceaseless stream of vibrations, each of its own characteristic type, not in the physical world only, but in other and subtler worlds as well. Our physical senses can appreciate only a limited number of such radiations. We readily feel the heat poured forth by the sun or by a fire, but we are usually not conscious of the fact that we ourselves are constantly radiating heat.

In addition, the dynamic dilemma of duality – the tension of opposites – is revealed in the cosmic structure of our solar system. The planets represent the interface between the inner and outer worlds, between the force of the stars streaming down through the planets in a centripetal motion toward the Sun spiraling out through the planets to our space. These are the involuntary and evolutionary forces respectively. H.P.Blavatsky makes a related statement regarding the journey of the soul:

”The planetary origin of the Monad (Soul) and its faculties was taught by the Gnostics. On its way to the earth, on its way back to the earth, each Soul is born in and from the ‘Boundless Light’ and had to pass through the ‘seven planetary regions both ways’.”

The seven sacred planets in their geometric relationship represent both the cosmic (solar system) antenna receiver attuned to greater networks of kosmic (galactic) information or radiational nourishment, and the planetary structure of solar emergence which is the order of unfoldment and release of potentials.

ANALOGY OF PLANETS AND THE SEVEN RAYS

PLANET	RAY	KEY WORDS
Sun ☉	First Ray	Will or Power: The monadic will to focus, center, lead or come to be
Venus ♀	Second Ray	Love-Wisdom: The sharing soul of unselfishness, inclusiveness, intuition
Mercury ☿	Third Ray	Active Intelligence: The personality or exoteric face of problem solving in civilization
Earth and Moon ☽	Fourth Ray	Harmony through Conflict: The balance and harmony between the inwardly directed rays (the first three rays) and the outwardly directed rays (the last three rays), the artist. Balance between the manifest and the unmanifest
Mars ♂	Fifth Ray	Concrete Science: The matrixing of information and hardware technology which attempts to conquer nature. Science and concrete knowledge.
Jupiter ♃	Sixth Ray	Idealism and Devotion; The inspirations and aspirations of the mystic, self-sacrificing service to the world.
Saturn ♄	Seventh Ray	Ceremonial Order: a) Rhythm and harmony within orderly structure, b) Establishing foundations and facilitating emerging nuclei or matrices of new age activity, c) Synergetic synthesis of ideals and their physical manifestation.

The planets are thus a natural system of knowledge, which organizes and orders information, linking inner-space with outer-space, and resolving the tension of opposites in a seven-fold synthesis.

History

The existence of Assyrian tablets inscribed with texts relating partly to astrology and partly to astronomy was made known to the world in 1865. The excavations on the site of Nineveh - an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located on the outskirts of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq - discovered large slabs covered with bas-reliefs and cuneiform inscriptions. The majority of the cuneiform inscriptions proved to be prophecies by the royal astrologers based on observations of the heavens. Mesopotamia and the civilization of Chaldea, in itself the foundation of those of Babylonia and Assyria, show a complete picture of astronomical observations and astrological interpretations.

Work is still being done on the dating of the earliest times records and observations. Earliest dating of the remains in the Mesopotamian kingdom could be 4698 B..C; and a more favorite dating for coherent recordings that of a little more than 2000 B.C. But the reign of Argon, one of the earliest of the Sumerian kings, is fairly well authenticated and is said to have begun in 2872 B.C.

Thus, since the ancient times, stargazing or astronomy has been closely linked with the attempts to understand earthly events. Assyrian tablets during the reign of Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BC showed reports from court astrologers on the position of the planets and their implications on human affairs.

As in ancient Chaldea, astrology, astronomy, and religion went hand in hand in ancient China. The astrologer who was also an astronomer, was part of the official government service. Most of the records were written under the Han and Tang dynasties referring to events between 3000 and 4000 BC. but their basis is legend and not historical fact.

Ancient Hindu astrology is not so well authenticated. For some time, it was considered that Indian astrology was inherited from the Greeks and has some link with the conquests of Alexander the Great in the third century BC.

Ancient Egyptians knew something of astrology, since in the 12th Dynasty, about 2000 BC, recognizable horoscopes were on coffin portraits and temple ceilings. Early Republican Rome ignored astrology but flourished during the first two centuries AD.
The most comprehensive early work on astrology, Tetrabiblios, was written by the astronomer Ptolemy – who lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt under the rule of the roman Empire - in the first half of the 2nd century BC.

Prior and during the Middle Ages, astrology was the principal science in Europe. Every king had his astrologer. Nostradamus predicted future events using astrology, as well as a crystal ball. Astrologers cast birth charts of royal children; children were betrothed based on their birth charts. Special astrological charts were cast to foretell the outcome of events. These early astrologers were primarily interested in using astrology as a tool for predictions.

Thus, astrologers have been employed throughout history by both governments and religious groups. The early Roman Catholic Church used astrology and the US government employed the services of an astrologer during World War II.

There was renewed interest in astrology in the early part of the 20th century and astrology has undergone a remarkable resurgence and is now – as Carl Jung predicted – knocking again at the doors of academe. Astrologers are attempting to verify traditional doctrine by scientific methods. In a number of countries, astrology is once again being taught at the university level.

Carl Jung was responsible for bringing astrology into psychoanalysis. Astrology was for Jung the summation of all ancient knowledge of psychology. Intuitively, the twelve signs of the zodiac worked as a compendium of psychic realities. They configure what Jung called “archetypes”, which are psychological patterns or models that inhabit the collective unconscious. >

That astrology is legal in all fifty states of the United States is thanks to Evangeline Adams. She was able to prove to an attorney that astrology was real and convinced the judge by providing a personality analysis of the judge’s son which she did with an accuracy that the judge threw the case against her out of his court.

Casting the Birth Chart

Astrologers believe that an individual’s personality traits and the general direction of life are revealed in the positions of the stars and planets at the moment of birth. To interpret the potentials of a person and to advise how these potentials might be developed, astrologers depend on the birth chart. A completed birth chart is a diagram of the heavens as they appeared on a particular date at a certain time, and from a specific place.

Thus, the birth chart is a blueprint of one’s character and character is destiny. Still, everyone can change by changing attitudes and patterns of behavior and herby changing one’s destiny. In addition, the chart shows one’s spirit. An understanding of planetary influences allows everyone to take his life into his own hands and intelligently use the planetary influences that will help in one’s evolution.

Interest in astrology is a necessary part of humanity’s progress towards enlightenment, for true astrology is the science of the soul. Understanding of the planetary forces playing on the souls and of the soul’s lesson in incarnation, can be a great help to those seeking spiritual enfoldment.

The Soul Lesson

The soul lesson is shown primarily by the element of the sign in which the Sun is placed at birth.

WATER ELEMENT: Water teaches the lesson of peace and the control of the astral or sensational body. The command of this element is essential before any progress can be made on the spiritual path.

Cancer: Learning to still the turbulent emotional side of one’s nature and to seek continually that place of inner peace where heavenly truth will dawn upon the soul.

Scorpio: The soul has to recognize and control the hidden fire within one’s own being, the creative or destructive fire of the intense desire nature.

Pisces: The soul is learning especially the lesson of inner peace; it’s important to control one’s thoughts and to still the restless seeking mind.

AIR ELEMENT: Air teaches control of the mind. The air signs are all concerned with close relationships to others.

Gemini: The soul lesson is the understanding of the brotherhood of the spirit. They need to develop powers of concentration and steadfastness. Controlled breathing and meditation help.

Libra: The soul’s lesson is to learn to be absolutely true and loyal to one’s own inner light, to raise one’s mind above all the conflict and to find the point of balance in one’s heart.

Aquarius: The soul’s task is to awaken to the consciousness of the world of spirit and of the spiritual laws which govern life.

FIRE ELEMENT: Fire signs have returned to the physical life to learn the lesson of love and teach the soul how to work divine magic through the creative power of love.

Aries: Teaches the lesson of love in action; the soul learns to think before acting and becomes aware of the feelings and needs of others.

Leo: The soul has to develop the heart-center, learning how to use the mind in the heart. Souls with the Sun in Leo need to learn to govern wisely the output of energy.

Sagittarius: The should learn to touch the plane of creative thought. They have the urge to find truth and discover the secrets of the universe. They should train the mental, emotional and physical body to become tranquil.

EARTH ELEMENT: Earth is associated with the physical life and the practical side of existence. The special lesson of souls with the Sun in the earth element is that of service.

Taurus: The soul learns to understand the responsibility and spiritual significance of money. They have to be careful not be too strongly attached to possessions.

Virgo: The soul’s mission is some kind of service; it comes to earth to learn to serve with wisdom and discrimination. These souls are true seekers of wisdom, longing to find the elusive secret of perfection.

Capricorn: The soul is learning the lesson of active service.

Basic Principles

The study of astrology must start with an understanding of the planets, signs, house, aspects and other energies.

Planets are the energies. ”What” is operating.

Signs are ”How” the energies operates. The planets in the signs indicate character – the individual pattern from other lifetimes. The signs show how the energy (the planets) is conditioned and how it operates. The planets in the signs show one’s capacity, ability or power to achieve what is indicated by the nature of the planets.

Houses show “Where” the energy will work; the circumstances. Houses indicate the environmental pattern where one will work out his destiny. They also indicate the opportunities offered by that environment.

Aspects (the flow of force between the planets) show one’s use or abuse of the energies operating in every person’s magnetic field. They show dispositions and the predispositions to action and reaction.

Thus, the horoscope is an X-ray of the personality, it shows how a person operates within his magnetic fields. We are miniature universes.

Planets

The Solar System is a unit and each body in it is therefore a constituent of that unit. Each planet performs a specific function or represents particular principles in relation to the whole. The name of each planet gives a clue to its nature, for each is called after the gods or goddesses of mythology.

The Moon takes about one month to go through all twelve signs, the Sun takes a year. It takes Mercury approximately one year to go through all of the twelve signs. Venus travels in a sign approximately 23 days to a little over 2 months depending on its motion. Mars takes about 2 years to go through all 12 signs, staying in one sign for about 1.5 months. It takes Jupiter about 12 years to go through the 12 signs, staying in one sign an average of one year. Saturn takes approximately 29 1/2 years to go through all twelve signs, staying in one sign for about 2 1/2 years. Uranus moves through all twelve signs of the Zodiac in approximately 84 years, staying in one sign about 7 years. It takes Neptune about 165 years to go through all 12 signs, staying in each one for approximately 14 years. Pluto takes approximately 248 years to go through all 12 signs, staying in each one from 14 to 30 years.

PLANETS

PLANET	URGE	KEY WORDS
Moon ☽	to change	fluctuation, emotionality, response
Mercury ☿	to communicate	communication, mentality, transport
Venus ♀	for love and beauty	harmony, love, beauty
Sun ☉	for self-expression/to shine/to manifest	power, vitality, self-expression
Mars ♂	for aggression	energy, heat, activation
Jupiter ♃	for expansion, knowledge, wisdom, compassion	expansion, optimism, preservation
Saturn ♄	for discipline	limitation, constriction, foundation
Uranus ♅	for rebellion/towards rebellious freedom	unexpected, sudden, disruptive, revolution, change
Neptune ♆	for deception and self-deception; toward art and the non-material, the non-confined, the mystical, the spiritual	nebulousness, impressionability, inspiration
Pluto ♇	for rebirth/regeneration; to quickly eliminate things not wanted	renewal, regeneration, elimination

The Signs

In astrological terminology, a horoscope is called by many names: natal chart, map, wheel. However, the signs of the Zodiac always follow an unchanging pattern. The dividing line between two signs is called a cusp. Each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac represents certain unique positive and negative characteristics of human behavior and development.

SIGNS

SIGN	STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS	KEY ATTRIBUTE
Aries ♈ - C	I am	assertively
Taurus ♉ - F	I have	enduringly, possessively
Gemini ♊ - M	I think	communicatively
Cancer ♋ - C	I feel	protectively, cautiously
Leo ♌ + F	I will	creatively, joyfully
Virgo ♍ - M	I analyze	critically, detailed; analytically
Libra ♎ + C	I balance	harmoniously; unitedly
Scorpio ♏ - F	I desire	passionately, penetrately, secretively
Sagittarius♐ + M	I perceive/seek	philosophically, widely, deeply
Capricorn ♑ - C	I use/utilize	prudently; aspiringly
Aquarius ♒ + F	I understand/know	coolly, detachedly; scientifically
Pisces ♓ - M	I believe	nebulously, inspirationally, confusedly

The signs are also grouped into two more fundamental arrangements determined by the geometric layout of the Zodiac. There are four triplicities or elements - fire, earth, air or water, which deal with the tendencies of the temperament.

ELEMENTS

Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)	Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)	Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)	Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)
Energetic	Practical	Intellectual	Emotional
Courageous	Skillful	Social	Intuitive
Passionate	Down to Earth	Thoughtful	Romantic

There are three quadruplicities, also called <qualities> dividing into the areas of cardinal, fixed and mutable, and each of these contains four signs. Cardinal houses represent the initiation of news plans or projects, fixed houses are stabilizing influences for the implementation of those plans, mutable houses provide the ability to follow through on the project.

QUALITIES

Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn)	Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius)	Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces)
Interested in crisis/activity/what is going on	Interested in values and ideas	Interested in people and relationships
Independent	Persistent	Adaptable
Impatient	Consistent	Flexible
Go-Getting	Reliable	Mercurial
Efficacious	Focused	Harmonizing
Self-starters	Determined	Pliable

The Houses

The area of the birth chart between the Earth at the center and the surrounding ecliptic is divided into sections called houses. There are twelve houses, and unlike the twelve signs of the zodiac, which revolve around the chart, the house positions are fixed. Depending on the systems, the houses occupy twelve equal segments of 30 degrees each (Equal House System) or each house has a different size and the system (e.g. Placidus, Koch) determines the size of the house. The houses are numbered, starting from the ascendant – always the beginning, or cusp of the first house – and proceeding counterclockwise. The descendant is always the cusp of the seventh house.

HOUSES

HOUSE	SIGN	ATTRIBUTE
1	Aries ♈	Self (interests), personality, natural disposition, worldly outlook
2	Taurus ♉	Wealth, memory tract, financial affairs, possibility of loss or gain of things
3	Gemini ♊	brothers and sisters, journeys, mental inclinations, neighbors
4	Cancer ♋	Mother, home environment, old age, conditions at the end of events/relationships
5	Leo ♌	Creation, recreation, procreation, children, games and gambling, speculation, hobbies
6	Virgo ♍	Sickness, service, servants; work, hygiene, living wealth, small animals, limitations caused by partnerships
7	Libra ♎	Marriage, open enemies, partnerships, general public, friends in foreign countries, mentality of one’s children
8	Scorpio ♏	All matters concerned with death, legacies, astral experiences, other people’s money, tax; gains through marriage, occult
9	Sagittarius ♐	Higher education, philosophy, law, long journeys; foreign countries, spiritual tendencies; dreams; key methods of expanding one’s consciousness
10	Capricorn ♑	Father and authoritarian figures; one’s profession; the house of destiny, government, honor and fame; the rewards of Karma
11	Aquarius ♒	Friends and associates, aspirations, hopes; organizations
12	Pisces ♓	Heaven and hell going, self-help and self-undoing; unexpected or unforeseen trouble, confinements, seclusion, exile, secret sorrows and/or enemies; hospitals, large animals; house of worries;

An additional level of information are the two energies, masculine and feminine, also called yang and yin. A strong preponderance of planets in masculine signs – all the fire and air signs - indicates a self-propelling person with positive aggressive tendencies. The feminine signs include all the earth and water signs and indicate passivity. If a strong preponderance of planets occurs in passive signs, the person might not manifest him- or herself aggressively but can possess great strength in terms of passive endurance.

The Aspects

One of the most important factors used in astrological interpretation is the “aspect,” or the angle between two celestial bodies from the point of view of the earth. Thus, when two planets are in 120° of each other, they are said to be harmonious, that is, beneficially compatible. When on the other hand, they are 90° to each other, they are said to be inharmonious, that is, the qualities of the planets clash and create conflict. Natal astrology is strongly based on interpretations of the aspects.

The major benefic aspects are 120° (trine), 60° (sextile) and 30° (semi-sextile); while the major inharmonious aspects are 180° (opposition), 90° (square), 45° (semi-square) 135° (quinqunx), and 150° (inconjunct). The conjunction (0°) is said to strengthen the combined qualities of the planets. The strength of the harmony or conflict will depend upon the type of celestial body and “orb” or the exactness of the angle. Thus, aspects involving the Sun and the Moon have greater weights compared to those of Mercury or Venus.

Additional resources

Articles

• Astrology at Theosophy World.
• Astrology, Numbers and Destiny by H. P. Blavatsky
• Stars and Numbers by H. P. Blavatsky
• The Dawn of Aquarius: The Turning of the Great Ages by Ray Grass
• Astrology Verified by William Q. Judge
• The Outside Lands: Astrology and Taboo by John P. O'Grady

Reading lists and bibliographies

• Bibliography on Astrology from the Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library.

Video

• "Stars, Cycles, and Psyche - Psychological Aspects of Astrology" by Alice O. Howell and Ray Grasse. Exploring the relationship between Jungian psychology and astrology. 1991.