What is Astrology? - By Tim Metcalfe
 

 What is Astrology? It seems after years now of delving into the subject and talking with others who have been astrologers for many decades, no-one can find a definition for what can only be described for me, as the queen of sciences. It is indefinable, as it is in fact itself attempting to be a definition. But a definition of what? This statement has shades of “A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams where the earth was defined as a calculator that knew the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything to equal the numeric value 42, but its primary goal was to work out the question?

 It is a definition of truth, in all its universal glory! It seems to me that there can only be one truth. Each of us have our many different perspectives on what that truth is and are each made up of a complex of energies which when all moulded together take us back to the beginning of the universe where there was one single consciousness composed of all that is. As the universe expands so do its materials and energies some of which we know now to be calculable by our wonderful systems of science and mathematics and some of which are still way beyond our comprehension, working on levels that we would shudder to comprehend, possibly in a place reachable by our intuition, which itself is guided by our innate abilities that we only fathom through our art, poetry, creative endeavours and of course our emotions.

 As this process evolves and expands we are left here on this physical plane on our beloved planet earth wondering what’s out there, and that there must be more than this. Of course there is, but how do our tiny minds, in relation to the size of the universal consciousness, rationalise and compartmentalise this enormous paradigm that is everything. We break it down. We calculate. We give parameters where there are no boundaries in order to understand our surroundings. The truth is that we are components of the universe as a single living organism, but we must take this on board in bite size chunks in order to grasp our existence and make sense of it.

 So let’s get back to the original question. What is Astrology? In my opinion Astrology successfully provides us with a system that gives meaning to celestial movements and their consequential shifts in universal energy. Astrology as we know it provides us with an understanding of the solar system that we are in and the swirling energies within it. A question I often asked myself whilst empathising with the view of a sceptic was “What would happen if we could physically travel to another solar system?” How would Astrology work then? So I propose that in three dimensional space where time is linear at a single moment in time, anything born at that moment takes on the qualities of the energetic influences placed upon it. This for me works on a universal scale no matter which planets, nebulae, or other universal phenomenon are applying those energies.

 You may or may not be able to tell from what I have already written that I have Neptune on my Midheaven and am ruled by Uranus with Aquarius rising, however for me the question whether astrology is an art or a science depends upon your perspective. I have already proposed that the truth is all that is, science and art definitely come under ‘all that is’ and so in everything there is an art, and yet can be rationalised and materialised through science. We have all most likely heard someone utter the words “well, he has a flare for mathematics!” Therefore, I believe the zodiac to be a structured forum whereby the energies of the solar system, as a subset of the galaxy and consequently the universe, can be reasoned into our conceptual understanding of the material reality that is our experience here on earth. The way however in which you manipulate your own personal understanding of this structure, your own Astrology, is down to your own perspective on what Astrology is and what the universe means to you.

 This is why, I believe, that Astrology has stood the test of time. Science and religion both rely on an ordered set of rules, occasionally we have a scientific breakthrough, normally as a result of some ones strangely creative thinking outside of the structured scientific box, and on the occasion religions undergo reform. Astrology is ever changing, as our perspectives on the worlds around us change. Historically we looked up to the heavens and saw the stars, in those stars we saw reflections of our gods and deities and made up stories based around the constellations of stars that we saw. Those constellations to modern people don’t look like the images placed upon them by our ancestors, but that’s because our perspective has changed. Again, historically, when our human lives were far more simple the stars and our astrology reflected the seasons, and the times of harvest. Now our lives are much more complex, so we draw from the stars a myriad of complexities in our psychological interpretations of our birth charts and the intricate relationships and complexes that affect our daily lives.

 Modern science reflects astrology in that astrology definitely has its own structure. it gives meaning to astronomy and celestial mathematics, which is after all in my opinion the language of the universe. Religion also reflects astrology in that as astrologers we are in search of a divine truth, however I like the fact that we have a much more open-minded approach to that truth. Astrology isn’t really to me a system of divination. It is a system allowing us to give meaning to our surroundings. We all have our own free will and perspectives, astrology allows us to do this, yet also gives us definition of the energetic influences we are exposed to, and therefore allows us the choice to act accordingly to whatever our perspective of those energies are. For example, a Mars transit may be aggressive to one person and assertive to another, it depends upon the individuals’ perspective and their own complex. It is a useful tool allowing us to stop banging our heads against a brick wall and stop for a breath. I have already stated Astrology to be indefinable as it is an art, a science, a philosophy, a religion, an order; and is in fact all that is, a definition itself of the ultimate truth of the universe, used here on earth, geocentrically of course as this is where we are, to understand the energies affected upon us by the movement of the celestial bodies through the energetic vibrational areas of space occupying our solar system. To be somewhat subjective I have to say that Astrology is utterly fabulous!

  by Tim Metcalfe