Post by Allan on Aug 8, 2007 22:03:48 GMT -5
Intro: Is Astrology a tool of Divination?
by Lady of the Harvest
One of the things that stumped me when I started learning astrology is what it can and can't
do. Now it seems kind of obvious, if you think about it. We read the horoscope. Why? Don't
you read it to see what kind of day you'll have? Me, too. That is what I thought it was for.
Truth is, astrology doesn't really tell you the future so much as decipher the past or at
least give you a look at yourself, so you can decipher your own past.
Astrology is like the Meyers-Briggs test, you know. You took one of these type tests in high
school if you were college bound--most of us did, anyway. It was supposed to help you to see
what your major should be or what direction, what job you would be well suited to go into.
Astrology does the same thing. In a funny way, you can fool the Meyers-Briggs test, by
filling in some answers after you "second guess" yourself. Then your results wouldn't be
truly accurate. But with astrology there is no fooling your birthchart! Well, not unless you
lie about your birthday! If you put in your birthday, place and time, you get a picture that
you really can't tamper with -- the true you. It doesn't mean you are predestined. It
doesn't mean you are going to have bad luck if you have some difficult placements in your
birthchart, either.
That would be like saying you have no free will. We do have free will and you can change the
way your life turns out basically by using your birthchart to help you avoid big mistakes.
Your birth stars give you a clue as to when big decisions will come along in your life. Your
free will allows you to handle them well and wisely and make the most of what you have.
So what does astrology do? Basically it gives you a couple of things: first, your
personality pluses and minuses. The placements of the planets in the houses and signs tell
you about your strengths of character and weak areas. Whether you will have strong
commitments toward your goals or have a hard time finishing projects, etc. Whether you have
a tendency to be happy-go-lucky or to be a perfectionist who keeps tinkering with things
till they fall apart.... the tendency to become addicted or to be easily tempted to go to
extremes. All this is in your birth chart.
Secondly, it can alert you to when the major life events will take place or major changes
will be coming. For example, when you get to a certain age, you have a 'reckoning' of sorts
that helps you to establish your place in life. You make decisions at that point that affect
your career and ultimately your earning power for the rest of your life. It usually happens
in your twenties. You can see it coming by noting the positions of some of your birth
planets. It doesn't mean you can avoid it.....probably not, but you can prepare. The same
kind of thing will happen in your late thirties to settle your direction for the rest of
your life. A kind of rite of passage into middle age, so to speak. It will make you deal
with your personal goals, like what do I want to do before I die? Have I done it yet? Am I
doing it? Been there, done that, so I can tell you, you can't avoid that one either. But if
you see it coming, you can plan to make the best decisions possible to keep yourself from
getting sidetracked. In your late fifties you go through another of these 'events' --yes,
they are all connected to astrological placements, but more about that later on-- and
usually it involves, not career, but your personal health and your original family
structure, meaning that if it hasn't happened already one of your parents may die or may
become ill so that you have to get involved.
Basically, to sum up, I would say that is the reason why people call astrology a road map
that you can read in the stars. Because you get a picture of what raw material you have,
where it can take you and when various 'bumps' in the road are coming. There is even more it
can tell you, but even if that were all, wouldn't that be something?!
After you get your birth chart, look for the three biggies, including the two major players
--Sun and Moon, and also the Rising Sign or the Ascendant. It is marked ASC on your chart.
The Sun is a circle with a dot in it. The Moon is an obvious crescent shape. If you have
trouble reading the glyphs, go to www.zodiacal.com and find the toolbox. There should be
some help there. If you have trouble, please let me know.
Once you find those three, you can begin to see where the vast majority of your personality
traits are coming from. And to do that you have to know a little bit about all the signs. So
that is where we will start. Please keep these notes until next week when you will add on to
them with an introduction to the Zodiac Signs. By now, you should have an Astrology Journal.
If you don't, you will need to get one before next week. There are a lot of handouts and
while you may not want to print out all of the History of Astrology article, most of the
rest of the handouts you will want to keep. A journal will make it possible for you to
organize your notes in a more efficient way so that you can find materials easily when you
need them.
by Lady of the Harvest
One of the things that stumped me when I started learning astrology is what it can and can't
do. Now it seems kind of obvious, if you think about it. We read the horoscope. Why? Don't
you read it to see what kind of day you'll have? Me, too. That is what I thought it was for.
Truth is, astrology doesn't really tell you the future so much as decipher the past or at
least give you a look at yourself, so you can decipher your own past.
Astrology is like the Meyers-Briggs test, you know. You took one of these type tests in high
school if you were college bound--most of us did, anyway. It was supposed to help you to see
what your major should be or what direction, what job you would be well suited to go into.
Astrology does the same thing. In a funny way, you can fool the Meyers-Briggs test, by
filling in some answers after you "second guess" yourself. Then your results wouldn't be
truly accurate. But with astrology there is no fooling your birthchart! Well, not unless you
lie about your birthday! If you put in your birthday, place and time, you get a picture that
you really can't tamper with -- the true you. It doesn't mean you are predestined. It
doesn't mean you are going to have bad luck if you have some difficult placements in your
birthchart, either.
That would be like saying you have no free will. We do have free will and you can change the
way your life turns out basically by using your birthchart to help you avoid big mistakes.
Your birth stars give you a clue as to when big decisions will come along in your life. Your
free will allows you to handle them well and wisely and make the most of what you have.
So what does astrology do? Basically it gives you a couple of things: first, your
personality pluses and minuses. The placements of the planets in the houses and signs tell
you about your strengths of character and weak areas. Whether you will have strong
commitments toward your goals or have a hard time finishing projects, etc. Whether you have
a tendency to be happy-go-lucky or to be a perfectionist who keeps tinkering with things
till they fall apart.... the tendency to become addicted or to be easily tempted to go to
extremes. All this is in your birth chart.
Secondly, it can alert you to when the major life events will take place or major changes
will be coming. For example, when you get to a certain age, you have a 'reckoning' of sorts
that helps you to establish your place in life. You make decisions at that point that affect
your career and ultimately your earning power for the rest of your life. It usually happens
in your twenties. You can see it coming by noting the positions of some of your birth
planets. It doesn't mean you can avoid it.....probably not, but you can prepare. The same
kind of thing will happen in your late thirties to settle your direction for the rest of
your life. A kind of rite of passage into middle age, so to speak. It will make you deal
with your personal goals, like what do I want to do before I die? Have I done it yet? Am I
doing it? Been there, done that, so I can tell you, you can't avoid that one either. But if
you see it coming, you can plan to make the best decisions possible to keep yourself from
getting sidetracked. In your late fifties you go through another of these 'events' --yes,
they are all connected to astrological placements, but more about that later on-- and
usually it involves, not career, but your personal health and your original family
structure, meaning that if it hasn't happened already one of your parents may die or may
become ill so that you have to get involved.
Basically, to sum up, I would say that is the reason why people call astrology a road map
that you can read in the stars. Because you get a picture of what raw material you have,
where it can take you and when various 'bumps' in the road are coming. There is even more it
can tell you, but even if that were all, wouldn't that be something?!
After you get your birth chart, look for the three biggies, including the two major players
--Sun and Moon, and also the Rising Sign or the Ascendant. It is marked ASC on your chart.
The Sun is a circle with a dot in it. The Moon is an obvious crescent shape. If you have
trouble reading the glyphs, go to www.zodiacal.com and find the toolbox. There should be
some help there. If you have trouble, please let me know.
Once you find those three, you can begin to see where the vast majority of your personality
traits are coming from. And to do that you have to know a little bit about all the signs. So
that is where we will start. Please keep these notes until next week when you will add on to
them with an introduction to the Zodiac Signs. By now, you should have an Astrology Journal.
If you don't, you will need to get one before next week. There are a lot of handouts and
while you may not want to print out all of the History of Astrology article, most of the
rest of the handouts you will want to keep. A journal will make it possible for you to
organize your notes in a more efficient way so that you can find materials easily when you
need them.