What Is Astrology Today?

Predictive Astrology

This is what most people, and most dictionaries, regard as astrology, that is ‘the art or science of predicting events through studying the movements of the sun, moon and planets’ - or words to that effect. So the predictive astrologer would be somewhat fatalistic, predict the event, and more or less leave it to the individual concerned to either wait in gleeful anticipation of good fortune, or, prepare themselves to deal with a negative occurrence in a way they saw fit, in terms of their aims and disposition. Or with respect to predicting the ‘planetary influences’ for a planned occasion, such an astrologer would set out the pros and cons for that time and situation.

This is rather like the king who is advised about the astrological conditions prevailing during a battle and is therefore better equipped to fight it – or not fight it, as the case may be. A comparatively recent version of such predictive astrology is what now infests the ‘horoscopes’ and ‘stars’ of mainstream media, and is an entirely hit-and-miss affair. However, an authentic predictive astrology, be it for the individual or the collective, is trying to make a comeback of late. But apart from its lack of a practical way of meeting and managing some unwelcome situation in an only too modern and complex world, its reputation rests rather too precariously on predicting events accurately.

If astrological predictions of actual events were even as reliable as weather forecasting we would by now, as a civilization, be using it at a governmental and cultural level. So for example, even though a few astrologers did actually predict the attack on the World Trade Centre for September 11th 2001, they weren’t about to be listened to because of the track record of such astrology. And even if they had been, putting on alert fighter planes in the skies around New York City to meet an attack predicted by a few stargazers does rather stretch the imagination. Nevertheless, the popular conception of astrology remains as this predictive kind, and books on the spurious predictions of Nostradamus - arguably the most famous predictive astrologer of all – still sell very well. The reason for this strange state of affairs is largely because human beings have been led to believe that they are as sheep, slaves to what fate and the system dish out.

The case for Predictive Astrology is that it equips one with a means to plan one’s life, to prepare to meet the bad times, and to be reassured by the prospect of the good times. And although at the lower end of its spectrum it can make one quite neurotic as one lives in dread of something awful that might happen but in fact does not, or holding one’s breath until that ‘bad influence’ is past, at the higher end of its spectrum it can attune one to life’s cycles and meanings in a quite extraordinary way. But in any event, because of all this, it then became necessary to investigate the nature of the beast that was actually being subjected to these predictions, influences and cycles - the individual human being – with a view to having some say in the matter.

Psychological Astrology

This is the astrology largely employed in The Instant Astrologer, wherein the ‘prediction’ side of it takes the form of defining potential (what you have the power to be) or suggesting future possibilities, or providing confirmation of your own feelings and intuitions. The modern or ‘psychological’ astrologer is one who uses a Birth Chart to investigate and reveal one’s essential nature, the effect of one’s past upon one’s present, what and who one attracts, and how one ‘works’. He or she can therefore put at one’s disposal a more conscious choice as to the kind of life one leads, and would advise his or her client on how to meet or handle an adverse influence from or to, say, the Planet Mars, in another manner entirely to the predictive astrologer. This could be done by viewing it as a reason or opportunity to get more in touch with, or be wary of, their ‘Mars energy’ (as described in the Mars Profile of the Personality Profile) and of the possible ways it could manifest in their life – rather than predict how it would manifest purely as some fated event.

Then progressively one could learn to express it better and avoid its pitfalls. ‘Mars energy’ is the nature of one’s own, or someone else’s, powers of assertion or measure of anger (which is basically self-assertion that is distorted due to it previously being thwarted). It is also, among many other corresponding qualities, one’s sense and experience of masculinity. Alternatively, negative Mars could manifest as some thing, like an aggressive animal, a fever, an inflammation, or anything fierce, hot, sharp or dangerous. Or just as an internalized feeling such as sexual desire, impatience or restlessness. Seeing how many ways Mars’s effect can be experienced goes to show that predicting an event accurately is largely down to the predictive astrologer’s intuition rather than a purely technical or scientific method. And as some wit once said ‘Intuition when it works is brilliant, but when it doesn’t it’s plain stupid’.

It can be useful just to know that the hot and uncomfortable grip of Mars’s negative influence can be alleviated to some degree by simply counting to ten and/or just sticking it out. But again that would be more the ‘predictive’ approach, that you were caught up on the conveyor belt of some immutable fate and could do little or nothing about it. Alternatively – and this is very important in these days of victimhood and abuse – a negative Mars can all too often be experienced as someone or something else attacking or intimidating one (as alluded to above). But the astrological fact would be that such a negative Martian experience would be seen as a negative Mars in one’s own Birth Chart! The Personality Profile (see book/software) would reveal this quite clearly, as it would anything important and significant. It will also, where possible, indicate how to remedy attendant problems and transform them into something positive.

The growing importance of Psychological Astrology since its beginning in the first half of the Twentieth Century stands as a testament to the accent astrology now places upon the gaining of self-knowledge and the assuming of self-responsibility as a means of living one’s life and thereby having some control over it, rather than merely predicting a path through it as if one had booked some kind of terrestrial package tour, or as pointed out above, as if one were a slave to fate and the system.

The case for Psychological Astrology is a strong one because it is saying that it is useless and fanciful to predict what lies ahead upon the road of life if you have no knowledge of the vehicle that’s travelling down it – that is, you. For example, if you break down, you’ll have some idea of how to fix it. And if you are headed in a direction that is not appropriate for you as an individual, then you will know it and not waste time and energy going that way. Most importantly of all, self-knowledge teaches and promotes self-control. As the Chinese saying goes ‘A moment’s loss of self control can ruin a whole life’.

Furthermore, the predictive aspect of astrology is incorporated into Psychological Astrology by forecasting not so much actual events but rather the kind of ‘psychological weather’ that lies ahead. As you will see in The Timeline Profile (see book/software) all ongoing planetary influences are there to inform you of something, like a meteorologist would inform you of the strength and direction of the wind. Equipped with this astrological intelligence, you become the informed and seasoned sailor of life’s oceans, as opposed to floundering helplessly or struggling against the tide, and possibly winding up ‘shipwrecked’ or ‘drowned’. With respect to Timeline Profiles, the psychological astrologer should constantly remind himself or herself that they are in aid of understanding what is happening and what could happen, not predicting what will happen.

With regard to relating and relationships, as you will see in The Relationship Profile, Psychological Astrology very much interprets human interaction in terms of what a relationship is saying about you as an individual, that they are there (or not there) to teach one more about life, relating and yourself, and that in the end any ‘other’ is really an extension or projection of oneself. All this serves to enrich a relationship and put it into a healthy perspective through gaining a greater understanding of why you are with, or without, someone in your life.

Why Astrology Works

Practice

The most obvious, but purely anecdotal from a scientific viewpoint, reason for saying that astrology works is because it is seen to do so by an ongoing study of it, as neatly encapsulated in the words of Sir Isaac Newton, the father of material science, that are quoted above. That he believed in astrology and other metaphysical subjects such as alchemy is little known mainly because it suited the world at the time to settle upon his theories that appertained to a more concrete, and therefore seemingly controllable, version of Nature and reality. So, all that can be said is ‘See for yourself!’ through using The Instant Astrologer.

Synchronicity and the Cosmic Clock

Synchronicity, a term coined by the genius psychologist Carl Jung, is the concept that says that time is not merely linear – i.e. one thing occurring after another and causing another thing to occur – but that things happen together because they somehow correspond to one another. Or as Jung simply put it, ‘because they like happening together’. It is all part of the cosmic pattern of it all. Everything is connected. The word ‘universe’ does after all mean ‘the whole turning’, one thing happening.

So the movements of the Sun, Moon and Planets – and the Stars behind them – can be seen as the ‘hands’ of a Cosmic Clock. The astrologer is someone who has learned to tell the ‘cosmic time’. Through reading a horoscope, meaning ‘view of the hour’, he or she can divine the nature of what or who is happening, and when further ‘influences’ will occur, and what they mean. But, in this context, the word ‘indication;’ is actually more appropriate than ‘influence’. This is because clocks indicate the time, they do not in themselves influence what is happening or make things happen. And the most potent moment in cosmic time is when someone or something comes into being – birth. Hence the importance of your Birth Chart, for that is truly ‘your time’, and all other ‘times’ are related to it, as we shall see later.

The Solar Wind

Electromagnetism and Resonance

The above theory is greatly augmented and expanded upon by the work of astrophysicist Dr Percy Seymour. The reader is therefore directed to his book The Scientific Basis of Astrology (Quantum) in which he explains in depth and at length how we, as electromagnetic beings, are resonating - via the Earth’s magnetic field - with the Solar System and beyond. This makes quite literal the ancient idea of the Music of the Spheres, which sees everything as part of a cosmic symphony where everything is ‘playing’ with and upon everything else. Furthermore, ‘musical themes’ played at certain times resonate with earlier themes. One earlier theme that is particular memorable is, of course, the one played at one’s birth. Consequently, ongoing astrological influences through life are related to one’s own particular ‘opening stanza’. Amongst the many other areas he explores, Dr Seymour also explains how such electromagnetic influences also affect the embryo in the womb. This could be likened to the orchestra tuning up, or, more intriguingly, to an overture where the themes to be played are run through in preparation for life. In astrological terms this concerns the Twelfth House which shall be explained later.

Dr Seymour’s work paves the way for a reconvening of science and mysticism, and thereby the realisation that we truly are cosmic beings, intrinsic parts and co-creators of Life within the arena of Nature and the Universe – not masters of it.

Astrological Renaissance