At the same time we are told that we live in an objective world, any meaning we may ascribe to our objective experiences being the result of trying to comfort ourselves in the face of utter and complete random coincidence of the physical world, we are simultaneously told that the predictable clockwork cycles of astronomy cannot in any way shape or form have ANYTHING to do with the human experience to which it is linearly, objectively, and predictably linked.
By this I mean that when we look at the full moon in the sky and experience beauty, awe, or wonder, woe be unto us that we should ?expect? to feel those same feelings again ON THE NEXT FULL MOON.
Note my sarcasm.?Because this is what astrology does – sometimes as tangibly as with the Full Moon, other times through patient research and study.
Astrologers NOTICE the consistent correlations between human experiences and astrological symbolism described in the language of the archetypes (the planets), their expression (the signs they are in), and their relationships (aspects). Astrology OBSERVES that the experience of being alive is not devoid of meaning. Astrology DESCRIBES the meanings we ascribe to, our feelings about, and the ways we individually experience the supposedly random, causal, linear world that we are in. Astrology PREDICTS what we will experience based upon the calculable cyclic changes in the observable, measurable universe.
The objective world is the random interaction of forces that behave in complicated ways to generate a complicated state of theoretically completely predictable physical outcomes. Picture a pool table. The balls on the pool table do not experience feelings about one another. They are not attracted to other balls nor do they avoid other balls based upon anything other than the arbitrary interaction of physical forces imparted upon them. In theory, we can calculate the final position of all the balls based upon the precise knowledge of any physical forces interacting with them.
If the balls were to have feelings, ascribe meaning to their experiences and interactions, and have an innate inner programming that tells them whether or not they have achieved their ultimate purpose in life; in my humble opinion this would be an interesting thing to notice. If the experience of the balls was not simply arbitrary coincidence, it seems to me as though this would be useful information to have.
Because if human beings are the balls on the pool table, we most certainly do have an emotional investment in something ? whether it is the final positions of the other balls, our own final position, or the quality of the contact we make with the other balls. Or perhaps the continued existence of the pool table itself.
Again, astrology does not create the experience of meaning by the balls on the pool table or the Humans living in the Arbitrarium. It NOTICES that there are additional factors that are not being accounted for in a linear, mechanical worldview.
If we live in an Arbitrarium, that means that our feelings, the meaning we ascribe to events, and any sense of purpose are all irrelevant. That would be fine, except it results in depression or worse. Without purpose, we lose our will to live. Which is fine in an Arbitrarium because there is no meaning. But as a species we would probably not last long. Which is also fine in an Arbitrarium.
But it makes a lousy story.
Astrology goes beyond our current understanding of the physical world. It describes something more than the random coincidence of interacting physical forces. It recognizes that there is a purpose to our lives and a way of measuring whether or not we have achieved that purpose. It recognizes that the purpose, and the method of achieving it, is different for each one of us.
Astrology is a new paradigm. The evidence of astrology mandates that we look for a more comprehensive explanation than the one that has us living in an Arbitrarium. Its consistent correlations between archetypal symbolism and human experience can be seen in predictable cycles and patterns, and it pushes us to stretch our understanding of the physical world to embrace a world that has purpose and meaning.
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? Marina Ormes 2012. All rights reserved.
