Astrology as an imaginative practice

by with 2 Comments Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

As I listen to a birds song’s playlist I ponder about the importance that imagination plays in interpreting astrological symbols.

The more I explore and think about the subject of astrology the clearer it becomes to me that imagination is a fundamental faculty that needs to be used in order to get insights. And because imagination can hardly be quantified and tested in a scientific way it creates confusion amongst us astrologers and people interested in astrology in general.

We are coming from a world view that overemphasises science and rationality as the only true way to access valid information, and as we are conditioned by this mindset in a very fundamental level, it becomes very challenging to let go and recognise that imagination is an important and necessary function, as much as rationality is.

Everything has its place!

I saw a post the other day on social media with someone saying that after this quarantine we will finally understand and value artists, because if it wasn’t for music, films, etc, we would not be able to get through this tough time. I agree on that one.

And this brings me back to the idea of imagination being a fundamental part of ourselves and a valid way of engaging with reality.

Once I started thinking about the role of imagination in the interpretation of astrological charts I began to relax with the horoscope image for longer before making any judgement.

I feel that perhaps a successful astrological interpretation has a strong connection to the capacity that the astrologer has to stand uncertainty and let go of rationality a little bit, for a little while anyway.

I see the astrological chart as a painting, something to be felt as well as interpreted. So next time when you look at a horoscope, what if you didn’t rush into making assumptions and searched for reasoning? What if you also used this moment to get in touch with and to train your imagination?

Unless you’re a writer or something like that, in our educational system we are generally encouraged to dismiss imagination, and I feel that astrology can be such a powerful tool to befriend our imagination again, and perhaps, a tool to help us being aware and staying with the mystery that being alive entitles without rushing into explaining everything.

Astrology can help us engaging differently with the world so maybe there is no need to try and fit into a cookie cutter rational mode to be justified or respected as a subject.

Stellium in the 3rd

by with No Comment Astrology and meProfessional Astrologer

Interesting to think about the amount of spare time that we all suddenly have at our disposal, and the job that we are all probably having to redesign our routines at the same time.

Everything seems to be a little disorientating at the moment.

The multiple conjunction between Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn seems to be reflecting very well our current situation. The polemics created by some of our leaders trying to prioritise the economy over ‘a small number of deaths’, the collective response to the situation, if any. The general panic shopping around the world, and someone observed, I think maybe Lynn Bell, the interesting connection between the conjunction of Pluto with the planets mentioned and people stockpiling toilet roll…

Pluto is connected with purging and detoxing, release, defecation… Richard Swatton used to call Pluto the ‘cosmic toilet’.  There you go. Astrology in manifestation once more.

All of these big transits happening in the 3rd house of my horoscope and the MA Im currently doing seems to be connected because it sure is bringing me a lot of food for thought.

These days I’ve been, for the first time in a long time (maybe ever to be honest), questioning my desire to continue defining my career path as an astrologer. Quite shocking at first, as I always had that certainty. But to be honest, my certainty remains in the fact that astrology is my passion. What I am not so sure anymore is perhaps astrology as a profession.

Im working on an essay about the decline of astrology in the seventeenth century and it is bringing me a lot of questions regarding my profession.

According to Patrick Curry there are 3 types of astrology, high astrology, middling astrology and low astrology. Sounds quite simplistic putting in this way, but I feel that this being my blog, differently from my essays, I don’t necessarily need to go much deeper into it.

High astrology is the astrology of the scholars and theologians, the big philosophical questions about the universe and how the planets affect terrestrial affairs; the middling astrology is judicial astrology, reading charts to clients for example. The last one, low astrology, is connected with the popular horoscopes written in the newspapers, etc.

According to Curry what happened in the seventeenth century was a decline of both the high and middling, and the rise of its popular version, low astrology, which was highly criticised by some astrologers, scientists and the church as well.

With that in mind, we start to have an idea about the complexity of astrology’s history and process of development.

In addition to this picture, we also have a myriad of techniques, and types of astrology practiced around the world. Perhaps even because of that astrology has failed in producing a professional organ with cohesion, at least in the seventeenth century.

During this quarantine I’ve been questioning myself and my choices regarding profession. At least I’ve been realising the frustration in having to decide on so many intricacies within my profession because I need to explain to people what is that I do.

And what is that I really do?!

(Do I believe in fate? Do I believe the stars are causing something or are reflecting something? Can I foretell the future? Is there any positivity in telling someone about the future? Do I psychologise astrology too much so it fits within the capitalist/secular paradigm? …)

 

Astrology, Symbolism and Fluidity

by with 3 Comments Astrology and meProfessional Astrologer

February has been an interesting month for me so far.

The latest journey (Im realising more and more that there is always a journey within a journey within a journey…), the one connected with this month’s unfoldment, has been very much related with astrological work and symbolism for me.

I’ve had around 12 clients this year and the more I work with astrology the more it mesmerises me as something that is totally alive and mysterious.

What is behind the astrological symbolism communicating with us? Who is IT, or even, is there a who? The universe? The cosmos? God? I have no answer. And yet every single time, I feel something grand happens when Im reading a horoscope, and the connections that I can make afterwards also.

In the book ‘Cosmic Loom’  Dennis Elwell says:

‘For the non-mathematician 196 and 2744 seem unconnected, since they have not a single digit in common, but the mathematician recognises them as the square and cube of the same number. So there is a language of mathematics whereby hidden relationships are revealed, and there is a language of astrology which connects things that might seem unconnected’ (pp. 10 – 11).

I really like that he uses mathematics as an example to explain the hidden language encoded in astrological symbolism as well.

Symbols are a wonderful and elusive thing at the same time.

It never ceases to surprise me and I’m inclined to give it space to communicate rather than rush into putting it inside interpretative boxes.

Out of these 12 clients that I’ve mentioned above, more than half are currently dealing with a Pluto transit/progression to natal Venus/Moon, and my Solar Arc Venus has just conjoined my natal Pluto a few months ago. There is something about this archetypal union between the feminine and Pluto, the God of the underworld, that has been trying to communicate with me. I feel honoured that with each one of my clients I had the opportunity to explore a different dimension of this combination, in a different context, with a different life story.

Im in awe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jupiterianism and the academia.

by with No Comment Astrology and meProfessional Astrologer

This is a strong Jupiterian time for me.

Transiting Jupiter is making an exact conjunction to my ascendant, while transiting Saturn is conjunct my natal Jupiter.

Interestingly, my Solar Arc Venus has just moved into Scorpio and is forming a conjunction to my natal Pluto in the 12th house. I have been aware of this change for a long time and wondered what would that be reflecting in practical terms.

I thought maybe a crisis in my relationship, falling in love with someone else, an obsessive passion of some kind, perhaps my partner would fall in love with someone else.

It turns out, at least for now, that the obsession that Im getting myself into is actually researching the esoteric in the academia!

Jupiter in my chart rules the 2nd, 5th house and the South Node and I remember in 2009/2010, when transiting Pluto was conjunct my Jupiter, I had a sort of “awakening” regarding my interest in the occult.

I started researching it more deeply.

It was when I learned how to read tarot cards, when I got in touch with Jungian ideas for the first time, when I started understanding astrology with more depth.

Both Saturn and Pluto in Scorpio (the sign connected with the Occult) are placed in the 12th house in my chart and I think about Gaquelin’s connection of Saturn in the 12th with research (he says this placement is common in Scientists).

I have started a master degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (slowly, as a part time Postgraduate certificate student first) and the amount of (academic) reading that I have done already is quite incredible.

Transiting Pluto, after the last hit to my natal Moon (which, by the way, rules the 9th house of higher education in my chart), made its way to my 3rd house (of reading, writing, ideas, etc) and it is going to be there for quite a while now. My progressed moon has moved into the 3rd also and transiting Saturn will move there sometime next year.

I can sense how much the intellectual stimulation, by exposing myself to academic work on the esoteric and the classics (Im currently reading Plato’s Timaeus for this week’s discussion in class), will have an impact on how I think and communicate, without even mentioning the impact on my work as an astrologer.

I know this journey is going to be really powerful and it is so exciting that a lot of the time I feel like screaming inside.

I think this is a good sign…