WHAT IS ASTROLOGY?
If you look up the word "astrology" in the dictionary, it will probably say something like "the study of occult influences of stars on human affairs", and the word "occult" will probably be defined as "hidden from view, secret, mysterious, magical".
So, does this mean that Astrology is the study of the mysterious and magical influences of the stars on human affairs? The stars may well be a source of mystery and wonder to us, and although it may not yet be fully understood exactly how astrology works, we could hardly call it magical! Astrology is not really about the influence of the "stars" since most astrologers only take account of the planets in our own solar system, together with the Moon and one Star - our Sun - and astrologers always refer to these two heavenly bodies as "planets". At least the dictionary doesn't suggest that astrology has anything to do with fortune telling!
Astrology is, in fact, a wonderful tool to help us understand ourselves and others better. Using astrology, we can find out more about what makes us tick as an individual, where our innate strengths and weaknesses lie, what our potentials are and how we can best develop these and put them to use. Once we have discovered these treasures for ourselves, and have enriched our own lives, we may then wish to share some of our precious skills, talents and abilities with others and enrich the world around us.
Astrology has a history
Astrology has been known and used since the earliest days of civilisation, and up until about 400 years ago, it was an integral part of astronomy. Astronomers not only observed and recorded the patterns of the stars and planets but also looked for the relationship between these movements and the events in their life in earth. So the history of astrology and astronomy grew alongside and were considered to be twin sciences, astrology being the more philosophical, and astronomy more scientific.
How can Astrology be of use to me?
Astrology can be a valuable tool in helping you understand yourself better, and it can give you a clearer idea of your life path and potential. Most people are familiar with names of the twelve Sun Signs used in western astrology, and often know something about the characteristics associated with their own Sign. An Aries may be enthusiastic but impatient, a Taurus practical yet stubborn, a Libran artistic but indecisive and so on. You can read more about this further on, but remember - there is much more to astrology than Sun Signs!
What is a birth chart?
A birth chart is rather like a snapshot of the positions of the Sun and the planets in our solar system as they appeared at the time and date of your birth as seen from the place where you were born. So if you were born, for example, in Ramsgate, England, the "view" of the planets would differ from view that you would get of them from Rangoon in Burma.
A birth chart contains all the planets in our solar system, including the Sun, and each planet represents a different part of us. For example, there is that part of us that likes to talk and share ideas with others, perhaps gather information from the Internet just as you are now, and to read newspapers, books and magazines. This part of us is represented in the birth chart by the planet Mercury, which concerned with different forms of communication. All ten planets in the solar system represent and symbolise different parts of us when used and interpreted in an astrological way. Read more about this in the section on planets and how they symbolise our psychological drives.
Different uses of Astrology
Astrology has many different branches, in much the same way as there are different branches of scientific study, artistic expression, or medicine. Mundane astrology is concerned with the charts of nations and governments and looks at what they can tell us about world affairs. Medical astrology combines the use of the natal chart with healing remedies, both ancient and modern. Horary astrology is concerned with finding the answer to a specific question, and the chart used will be the one set up for the time that the question is asked. Financial astrology traces the current movement of the planets alongside fluctuations in the stock market, and seeks to predictchanges in the market.
Traditionally, astrology was used in ancient times by Kings to help them rule and to guide them in their decision-making. Astrologers made predictions, based on the movements of the planets and their interpretation of what this might mean. Today, some people still ask astrologers to make predictions for them to help them live their lives, but this takes away the power of the individual person and gives it all to the astrologer if the question asked is "What does the future hold for me?" Using astrology in this way is perfectly valid, but it can be rather like sitting in the passenger seat of your life, with the astrologer in the drivers' seat, at the wheel, telling you where to go!
Modern Psychological Approach to Astrology
Over the past 40 years or so, much research and development has taken place in the field of astrological psychology, most notably at the Astrological Psychology Institute in Zurich. This approach to birth chart interpretation does not use prediction. It goes beyond the usual "key words" found in many astrology books for the planets, signs, and houses.
Astrological psychology is concerned primarily with the self development of the individual, and focuses on mental, physical, emotional and spiritual growth. It addresses such questions as "What can I do to reach self-realisation?" It is interested in the whole person, and looks at how that person can begin to integrate the different parts of their personality and overcome the inner conflicts and blocks which may stop them from realising their full potential. Astrological psychology seeks to put people in the driving seat of their lives, making their own choices about what they should do and how they would like to develop their lives.
What follows was written by Bruno Huber for inclusion in his 'Astrological Glossary' and was translated from the German by Agnes Shellens.
Astrological Psychology is a branch of psychology which uses Astrology as a diagnostic tool. It is primarily based on the insights of depth psychology, but also on humanistic and transpersonal psychology. In concept it is closest to Robert Assagioli's Psychosynthesis. Astrological Psychology starts from the concept of a living, self-regulating and inherently healthy being and not, like most psychologies, from the standpoint of pathology. "You are sick only for as long as you think you are" and to find the causes for our feelings of dis-ease is the central tenet of astrological psychology.
The basic purpose of Astrological Psychology, through its teaching, advisory or therapeutic approach, is to increase our understanding and to stimulate our own thought processes. It is not to dish out ready made recipes, nor to offer easy solutions but, in short, to offer us a useful instrument for self-discovery so that we can learn to accept ourselves for what we are and what we may be, as this will enable us to live freer, happier and more creative lives.
First and foremost it offers a holistic approach to our human condition. This does not just apply to psychological concepts, as it includes our choice of astrological techniques. The methodology of Astrological Psychology therefore has to comply with the prerequisite that all its constituent parts have to work together to form a coherent whole. It is therefore, a method complete in itself, but it does not have to be closed to further developments or refinements. Even so, it was for this very reason unavoidable that some techniques of traditional astrology had to be excluded because, although logical and valid within themselves, they did not fit into the whole picture. For example, techniques not used are those which depict man as being dependent and without free will, plus those which create a "loop" effect and thereby distort the whole picture.
Above all there are the various techniques of foretelling the future, which are largely reductionist, and usually deal with events which are perceived as happening to us from the outside. It is the state of our inner being which determines the nature of our reality, how the available energies affect us, which external events make an impression upon us and how we experience them, evaluate them and respond to them. This reactive world in Astrological Psychology is expressed and interpreted by the Age Point and Age Progression. This is a steady progression through time which shows how we work our way through our chart and thus, in the course of a life time, experience all the various facets of our character.
The choice of techniques employed has been influenced by an important organic principle: Simplification. Today's method of using our intellect is predominantly linear and logical, the cause and effect approach which proceeds via precise analytical steps. It has the tendency to divide a whole organism into its individual constituent parts, and thereby leads to fragmentation and over-complication, until in the end we lose sight of both means and aims. A multitude of techniques doesn't actually help us to arrive at a valid chart interpretation; in fact it only succeeds in making it more difficult.
It is often maintained in astrological thinking and teaching that an interpretation can only be valid when it has been confirmed by a variety of techniques. In Astrological Psychology we think the opposite; if we feel we have to make a number of parallel pronouncements in order to achieve clarity it simply means that we haven't sufficiently exploited the primary information at our disposal. That is why we state very clearly the basic tenets of our method; they were discussed by Ptolemy.
The following are the four fundamental tools:
1) The aspect figures - all aspects are multiples of 30° - they show motivation
2) The 10 planets and the North Node - the tools at our disposal
3) The 12 Signs of the Zodiac - our genetic makeup, the archetypes.
4) The 12 Houses, or fields - our conditioning, learned behaviour.
This fundamental information is utilised to the utmost advantage, in great detail and with precise definitions depending on position in one of the four major areas of the chart - the Quadrants.
THE FIVE LEVELS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
A Horoscope Analysis, as practised by most Astrologers, implies an individual study of Aspects, Planets in Signs and House, House and Sign Rulerships, etc, usually each in isolation. This makes it very difficult to perceive which are the most relevant significators for the individual and which are of less importance. This could be compared, in some way, with trying to make up a puzzle in darkness.
It is as if the puzzle came in a box with no complete guiding picture on theoutside, and the only thing we could do was to put every piece on the table and try to find how each of them fits another, without seeing what we are doing. The least we can say of this is that can be a difficult task. Now, imagine yourself doing the puzzle in a well-lit room with a clear diagram of what you want to achieve on the box.
Using Astrological Psychology techniques it is possible to see the Birthchart as the diagram on top of the puzzle box and thus be aware of the wholeness of a human being before starting with a detailed horoscope analysis. The nucleus of psychological energy in the center of the Chart is the Axis around which move the four levels influencing motivation and conditioned behaviour in the external world.
Going back to he previous analogy, if you look closely the diagram in the external side of the box, you will be better able to understand how the different pieces in the puzzle fit together. In spite of being brief, the descriptions are very important since they describe in simple tems the basic structure of the HUBER Method.
These are the four basic tools:
1. Aspect figures. all the aspects are multiples of 30 and show the Motivation
2. The 10 Planets and the North Node, the tools at our disposal
3. The 12 Signs of the Zodiac: our genetic inheritance, the archetypes.
4. The 12 Houses of fields of life experience: external conditioning, learned behaviour.
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