Astrologicalmind

The magic of astrology explored

Tag: Soul

  • Astrology and Flower Essences

     

    Each of us possesses a totally unique natal horoscope which is our personal map to our soul’s journey in this incarnation. Inherent within this map of our psyche is our past, our present and our future. Like all maps it shows you where you are and where you want to go. It shows you the various roads you could take to get to your destination. It may also show you the detours or side trips you may choose to make and indicate some of the things you may encounter along the way, but what the map does not and can not show you is how you will experience your journey.

     

    When you look at your astrological natal chart, your personal map, you see a mandala of symbols, which is in fact an imagined snapshot of the cosmos from the particular point in time and space. Your natal chart illustrates the unique facet of cosmic intelligence that is imprinted on your body, soul and psyche as you inhaled your first breath. Each planet in the chart represents an aspect or core urge of your psyche. The zodiac signs the planets are in represent how you express those urges. The study of your chart can tell you where you are likely to go out of balance and fall into dis-ease and how you can reharmonise your life in order to regain health.

     

    What are Flower Essences?

     

    Flower essences are a form of vibrational medicines that bring together the four elemental building blocks of life: earth, water, fire and air. They are made from the flowers of plants bound to the earth, releasing oxygen into the air, fed by the fire of the Sun and the water of the atmosphere. Flowers are the ultimate and most creative expression of a plant and carry the positive patterns of conscious living energy of that plant. These patterns are captured in a liquid medium, water and potensized by the Sun. They derive their beneficial powers from the inherent life force within the plant and convey its distinct imprint or etheric pattern.

     

    Flower essences address directly the subtle realm of the human psyche where thoughts and feeling emanate. They are one of the few direct methods of therapy that directly work of the soul. Flower essences connect us directly with the balancing wisdom of nature, the same balancing wisdom of the soul.

     

    When you contemplate a flower, you see its physical composition; experience its scent and beauty that may trigger a feeling or sense of knowing within you. This is when you are connecting on the level of creation, because the same energy that runs through you, runs through that flower. All life is in constant motion looking for balance. There maybe something about your unique connection to that energy that vibrates in synch or in sympathy with that particular flower.

     

     

     

     

    How are Astrology and Flower Essences related?

     

    Astrology is a symbolic language that describes a living energy pattern, which is manifested in the bodies and movement of our Solar System (star system). This living energy permeates everything in our universe; it is the living force, the creator’s will, the quintessence, God consciousness, Divine law. It is called many names and has been recognized by mystics throughout the ages. It is that which binds the Universe and connects all things seen and unseen.

     

    All roads lead to this mysterious and all encompassing power. Everything in the Universe is a reflection of this living force that is constant and yet never expresses the same way. The patterns in the sand, the shape, colour and growing habits of plants, the movement of the planets, the cycles of life and the human psyche as well as the symbols and archetypes we have conjured. Our creative power comes from the same source as that of the Creator.

     

    An oak tree is composed of thousands of leaves each carrying the basic form we recognize as oak-leave. Yet no two oak leaves are the same, each is a unique expression of oak-leaf, which in turn is an expression of oak tree, of vegetation, of earth, of solar system, of universe, and so on till we get back to the Divine source.

     

    Similarly, each human being is a unique expression of the Divine life force. This is evident in our physical form, as well as our relationships, experiences, thoughts, emotions, imagination and dream life. This is what can be seen and reflected back to us in our astrological birth chart. The symbols held within a chart are powerful expressions of life energies to which we are personally influenced and connected.

     

    Like with the oak-leaf, all astrological charts have recognizable similarities: the same planets, signs and house will appear, yet no two will be exactly the same. And because we exist on multi-levels the combination of influences shown in the natal chart is endless.

     

    The chart, as a representation of our unique connection to the living force, works whether we are aware of it or not. We are like small and yet infinitely complex cogs in a larger wheel. The cycles continue to move and influence us; it is only our personal ego that stays unaware of the part the bigger picture plays in our life.

     

    By working with astrology we gain an awareness of the energies with which we are personally made and connected to. A conscious knowing enables us to avoid certain ego tendencies or at least lessen their hold over us. But we exist on many levels, most being unconscious. Flower essences can come to the rescue as they function on that purely energetic level there is no need for the thinking mind to be involved.

     

    Living with certain plants will also gives us a harmonizing boost of which we may never be aware. Like astrology, plants work with or without our conscious awareness and like astrology they are in a constant state of motion, through their growth and death cycles. This is why different essences are needed at different times. Flower essences work whether we are aware of them or not, but we empower both flower essences and astrology by choosing to consciously work with them.

  • Classical Astrology

    As Soul descends through the planetary spheres on its way to incarnation it is bathed in the sleep of forgetfulness. As it awakens, fully inhabiting its new vehicle for experience, the body, it has forgotten from where it came. Time in now its new reality: nothing existed before and nothing will be after.

    So where did we come from? And what are we made of? These are the questions that great minds have grappled with for eons. To seek understanding of classical astrology is to engage in these quests in order to gain wisdom.

    Beginning my astrological study all those years ago I was motivated by the desire to know my fate. But what I found in contemporary astrology was not so much an understanding of my place in the scheme of things as a very concise view into my psyche. As interesting as this was for a short while, I sensed that there was mote. Then I discovered classical astrology (astrology as practiced up until 1700).

    I learnt that the astrology that had been around for thousands of years bears little resemblances to its modern namesake. The foundation of classical astrology is the Hermetic wisdom inherent in the saying “As above, so below” and the acceptance that all emanates from a Divine genesis. The cosmos do not effect or cause events on earth but rather the cosmos and earthlyl realms reflect each other, for ultimately we are all part of the same Divine expression. In classical astrology it is our relationship with the Divine that is of utmost importance rather then the relationship with our parents and peers.

    The biggest criticism hurled at classical astrology is that it is events based, overly focused on prediction and that it lacks the multi-coloured shades of our modern understanding into the process of growth and evolution. But contrary to this popular belief, to be immersed into the astrology of old is to discover the rich essence of Spirit in our life.

    Story of the three realms

    As understood by our forefathers reality is divided into three realms. The highest realm is the realm of the Divine, the realm of first principles. In this world everything is constant; there are no cycles, no decay, no corruption and no form. This is the world of essence, purity and unchanging nature. In this world nothing dies, nothing is born, nothing is created and yet all of creation emanates from there.

    The lower realm is the one we are most familiar with, it is the world we live in. It is the realm of matter, corruption, decay and cycles. It is the world of constant change, creativity, beauty and infinite variety, as well as the realm of certain death. Nothing is constant and everything will change, end and begin again. This is the realm of Earth.

    The middle realm is that of the twilight, the in-between world we may enter into during our dreaming, spiritual disciplines and meditations. This is the realm that shaman travel in their healing quests. In classical astrology this was understood as the planetary realm, or the realm of the planetary spheres, through which the souls descended on their way to incarnation. The final sphere and the one closes to the earth plane was that of the Moon, known to be both entirely of the material and of the spiritual.

    The Descend of the Soul

    From the classical period it was understood that souls choose their life and then fall into matter in order to live out the chosen life. Plato (450 BCE) tells a story in the Myth of Err about souls waiting to be born. An angel, messenger of the Divine comes along with a number of lives from which the souls impetuously grab one, with little regards for the consequence of their choice.

    Taking their chosen life to the three Fates, they would wait while the Fates checked the spindle of life around which the stars, sun, moon and planets spun and make sure that everything lined up to allow the life chosen to unfold and end as it should. Only when everything lined up properly was the soul thrown down into incarnation to live out their chosen life. Falling into incarnation the soul had to pass through the seven planetary gates or spheres. At each gate they would take on qualities and gifts both good and bad that would help shape their temperamental nature.

    The soul’s descent through the planetary spheres begins with Saturn the most distant of the visible planets where they take on structure and authority. Here the soul also takes on grief, the grief of being restricted by the matter and time, the physical reality they so readily jumped into.

    At the gates of Jupiter the soul gains the desire to rule, to give and receive honour as well as the impulse for wealth and the power to act. Envy is the down side of Jupiter’s gifts. Mars gives the soul bold spirit as well as impulsive and reckless daring. Here the soul also acquires discernment and is given the ability to cut through the dross, but with these new found gifts also comes the propensity for aggression and cruelty.

    In the sphere of the Sun the soul acquires vision and the sense of perception. With these gifts comes pride and in the extreme, arrogance. Venus the next planetary sphere through which the soul passes, offers the gift of love and the impulse for passion. Beauty, luxury and the arts are also gifts of Venus, as is her negative expression, lust.

    Mercury gives the soul the analytical faculty of the mind and language with which to communicate. But he also gives them the ability for evil plotting, a yearning for money and greed. The final sphere is that of the Moon, which imparts to the soul its body and the ability to change and grow. This is where the soul acquires hunger and its pains. Gluttony is one of the Moons not so pleasant offerings.

    This journey down through the planetary spheres is most profound for it begins with Saturn ruler of Capricorn which is the point of the winter/summer solstice and ends with the Moon ruler of the summer/winter solstices. Astrologically the Moon is a symbol of the infant and so it should that the soul is born into this plane of existence as an infant.

    On the way out of this life the soul again passes through the planetary spheres in the reverse order, but this time it releases the qualities and gifts back to each planet, finally giving up structure, authority and grief at the gates of Saturn. Astrologically Saturn is the symbol of the old man and death, a fitting end to the incarnated life.

    The beauty of classical astrology goes far beyond the psychological analysis of the individual into the understanding of the soul and its relationship with the earth plane. Through the placement of the planets in our chart we can come to understand the gifts we took from the planetary sphere and the lessons they provide us with. Classical astrology is an art that connects us with our philosophical and spiritual roots and allows us a glimpse at our place within the Divine plan.