|
Astrology
by Hand Week 10
Astrological
Polymorphism
Last
week, I argued that astral determinism cannot be an explanation
for the correlations seen in horary astrology. There are just too many
errors made by astrologers. And I don’t think that the errors of astrologers
are the result of the failure of the basic astrological idea, that is,
the idea that there is a constant and reliable correlation between
the motions of the heavens and events on Earth.
If anyone who is open-minded looks at predictions that have failed, or
even at statements about the natal chart that seem to be wrong, he or
she will see that these errors are due to what I am going to call astrological
polymorphism (very big words here).
Polymorphic
simply means that something has many shapes or forms. Astrological symbolism
has that quality. For example, the Fifth House in modern astrology can
signify children, gambling, gaming, amusements in general, speculation,
love affairs, creativity and self-expression. Several of these are ways
of having fun. But there are still many different areas of life signified
by the Fifth House.
Now suppose
we have Saturn in the Fifth House. Does this mean having difficulty with
children, having difficulty having children in the first place, having
difficulty having fun or expressing oneself; or does it mean that all
of these are done in a very disciplined and regulated manner? The answer
is that it could be any or all of these things and more. How do we know
which one it is, if it is going to be just one of these?
Well, to
some extent we do this by cross-referencing every combination of symbols
with other combinations that pertain to the same or similar issues. We
look at a wide variety of factors and we attempt to deduce a possible
combination of events or manifestations that express the symbolism of
the chart more or less completely. But the fact remains, no matter how
many factors we take into consideration, it is seldom that the components
of a chart eliminate all but one possible manifestation. The single most
common cause of astrological error, assuming that the astrologer is well-trained
and competent, is that some combination of events and manifestations that
we did not expect, but which fit the symbolism equally well with the ones
that astrologer has proposed, happened instead of the one that was expected.
Environment
a Factor
Now it is
assumed by a small number of astrologers that such errors are due entirely
to overlooking something. The chart, properly read, they claim, could
have told us exactly which manifestation to expect. I deny this. I have
seen no evidence that it is always possible to determine which of a set
of equally probable outcomes is going to occur. I believe that the level
of awareness of the person whose chart it is can affect the type of outcome,
and also there are environmental factors to take into consideration.
Take the
following example: In Hindu astrology, there are planetary combinations
that indicate whether a person goes about on foot, on a horse, in a sedan
chair (seen many of these lately?) or on an elephant. Well most of us
live in places where there are no elephants. And most of us also do not
travel on foot, or horseback. Now of course I realize that these combinations
are really more about determining social class from the chart than they
are about the mode of transportation. To bring this into accord with our
culture we might want to substitute “large limousine” for “elephant” for
example. But all kidding aside, astrological manifestations are seldom
literal, and different environments will cause different manifestations.
But to get
back to the central point, when a dispassionate observer who is trained
in astrology looks at events that come together with various astrological
combinations, he or she will see that something almost always occurs that
fits the symbolism very well, even when it was not exactly the first thing
that might come to mind. Astrological “influences,” whatever they may
be, seldom fail to manifest completely.
Now it could
be charged that this only seems to be true. It could be argued that our
“reasoning” is so flexible that we can always find something that fits
the symbolism in the events. And I have to admit that I have seen a lot
of that kind of looseness in reasoning among astrologers. But I maintain
that a good astrologer uses sufficiently tight reasoning so that he or
she can tell whether events are, or are not, proper manifestations of
an astrological pattern. So given that events almost always do manifest
astrological patterns in an appropriate way, and that there is always more
than one mode of manifestation that fits the symbolism equally well, I
have to say that instead of astral determinism, what we really have is
a high degree of astral indeterminacy.
There is
only one thing that is fated, and that is that on a certain date you will
have certain transits, progressions, directions etc. in effect. This is
not negotiable! But what the manifestation will be is not determined. It is affected by the level of awareness,
environment and possibly even chance as well as by whatever lies behind
astrological symbolism.
Next
week, I will talk more about the strength of the mind’s intention and
how that relates to the chart.
|
