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Letting Go of Astrological Prejudice
It’s always interesting, if not amusing, to hear people talk about astrology…the perspective they’ve developed around the zodiacal signs and the corresponding characteristics that are woven into the traits, psychology and behaviors of the people they’ve known and interacted with in their lives. For most, these accumulate and form a growing body of “evidence” about astrology that is randomly collected over time.
Naturally, this will be limited to “Sun Sign” material, the common standard when discussing astrology and the usual limit to what we learn about others unless we have a real interest in this rather obscure and complex art/science.
Though significant, the Sun Sign is but a small piece of a person’s astrological make-up. I’d like to suggest a metaphor…We are as in the dark about a person’s astrological reality by only looking at this one piece in the same way that we would be limited to studying over time, the little finger of an individual, in an attempt to reach a conclusion about what they physically look like based on this feature alone.
Rather than go into the vast astrological complexity of anyone’s chart and how it is something to be unraveled and deciphered over years, I would like to address the notion of quality and degree of information that one can actually gain by looking at a single astrological feature alone.
What we often take notice of in others are characteristics and traits that get our attention. Often times, perhaps most of the time, these things might be termed “negative”. When left with no other reference point, many start to make associations between the Sun Sign of an individual and their behavior, especially if the person in question is a family member, friend, co-worker or significant other. We start dumping material into the bag that is “Leo” or “Virgo” or “Capricorn” and so forth without realizing that we’ve probably been witnessing under-developed or un-evolved relationships with Leo, Virgo or Capricorn energy. It would be the same as observing some of the destructive and wasteful things that others do with money and concluding that money is a dark and negative thing. It isn’t…it’s what we choose to do with this form of energy that gives it its ultimate value.
If we take this a step further, we begin to learn that whatever we see and experience “out there”, especially in others, is a reflection of something that we have projected…something that we need to witness, own and transform about ourselves or our beliefs - personally or collectively. We can begin to get a glimpse of what our relationship with any astrological identification is by examining the contents of that bag.
Unfortunately, the positive stuff, or higher manifestation of these energies, doesn’t get as much attention and can often be excluded from the repository that contains the evidence we’ve been gathering about a particular zodiacal sign. It’s not unusual for me to sense the venom behind the determinations made about a former partner being a Gemini and the ensuing condemnation of superficiality and a lack of grounding. Well, perhaps, if that person was over-identified with the Gemini energy in their chart and used it as a way of avoiding depth and stability. But even then, their life experience would continually prompt them to anchor that Gemini energy, and evolve it into its higher manifestations…which are full of radiant vitality that is the outcome of an insatiable curiosity, the stimulation that comes from the freedom of keeping one’s options open and a willingness to follow the brightest spark.
Invariably, the darker elements are woven together with the illuminated presences in every sign, energy and person. They hold each other up, but not in a way that has to be rigid or static. We are prompted to evolve all of the astrological energies in a unique and personalized way that involves our own karma, free will and timing. It’s an ascending spiral of evolution without end.
In the end, all prejudice is similar when it’s based on partial information that’s projected onto an outer symptom in someone else that we take to be a prevailing, immutable identity. Stereotypes vigorously play into and reinforce this tendency. And, indeed, stereotypes exist because many willingly contribute to them. When we are unwilling to cultivate an independent and authentic identity (Self), collective elemental energy – stereotype – is available as a default stand-in that we access through our racial, religious, national, political, philosophical, financial, sexual and other group associations.
In the end, you can leave astrology to the astrologers or you can educate yourself and learn more about the higher and lower values of each “sign”, the dark and the light. You can introduce yourself to more of the complexity of the true dynamics that are operating ”behind the scenes” in everyone. These involve not only the issue of which planets are in which signs in which houses and the relative angles (aspects) they are all making to each other, but also the more sensitive study of where you or another are with your growth and development of each.
I therefore invite you to utilize some of the resources that I’ve included in this web site. Go to “Resources”, then “Essays and Documents”. Click on “Forces” (planets), “Styles” (signs) or “States” (houses). I have written these to describe as much scope and depth as possible given their brevity. They should also be digestible for the layperson. If you don’t possess a copy of your natal chart (or the chart of a person you would like to know more about), I will e-mail one to you at no charge. You’ll quickly begin to see that you have not been connected to the broader dynamic reality of what astrology actually is and perhaps have fallen prey to what so many naturally and forgivably have…its superstition.
Robert
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