The Astrology of Consciousness
It is amazing how a single sentence can take root in your energy field.
In that moment, a seed planted deeply in the womb of your consciousness changes
your life forever. For me, it happened in 1991, when I attended a lecture
on the historical cycles of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Our presenter mentioned
that these three planets conjoined relatively recently, in the year 577 BCE.
He noted that these planets had not conjoined for thousands of years before
that date, nor would they conjoin again for thousands of years into the future.
Astrologers recognize the importance of conjunctions; and this was a particularly tight joining of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in Taurus; Uranus and Pluto at 11º Taurus and Neptune at 12º Taurus. Historically, humans in the 6th Century BCE had no knowledge that Uranus, Neptune and Pluto existed as intimate members of the Sun’s family. These planets were not discovered until 1781 (Uranus), 1846 (Neptune) and 1930 (Pluto). Individuals living in the 6th Century BCE could not have known that the development of Western Civilizations, collectively and individually, was to be profoundly changed as this cosmic seed unfolded.
Planetary conjunctions tell us that cosmic seeds have been sown. Until the seed grows and blossoms, we do not know what it will become. Surely, a singular joining of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in the sign of Earth had to be extraordinarily important for unfolding human life and consciousness. As if to underscore the importance of this unique conjunction in Taurus, in May 2000 CE, the seven classical members of the Solar System conjoined in Taurus. Once again, astrological research tells us that this is the first such joining of the classical planets in Taurus.
During this Taurus cosmic moment, our home planet received profound information about Earth, its importance to the evolution of human life, human consciousness and the urgent necessity for humans to make a quantum leap into self-awareness. More perplexing has been the revelation to us that Earth is a living entity within which we are but one part. As an integral living part of the cosmos, Earth has meaning, purposes and possibilities that include, but are not limited to, human activities and desires.
Birth moments reveal potential complications and joys for what will consciously awaken in a lifetime. Earth’s birth moment in our consciousness took over 2,500 years, from 577 BCE to 2,000 CE. How does one begin to know what has arrived after this many years? What has emerged thus far is that Gaia is not just an archetype, it is one name we have for the living entity we call Earth. Another meaning emerging from this Taurus seed is our identity in this universe: We are Earthlings; we are spirit incarnated as Humanity, as individual Humans; we are the universe beginning to know itself as Earth.
For twelve years I meditated on this Taurus conjunction. My meditations led me to study cosmology, quantum physics, the origins and history of consciousness, while delving deeper into astrological studies. What emerged from these meditative studies I call “Astrology of Consciousness.”
Humans have evolved from primitive to sophisticated cultures, from simple, primal awareness to managing complexities unknown to our ancestors. The years from 577 BCE to the year 2000 CE appear to mark the rise and fall of our capacities to know and manage life through the use of what we call the rational mind. For 2,500 years, our rational minds have been evolving, dominating and directing the development of and the magnificent achievements of Western Civilizations. Despite great successes, however, our complex, mysterious, apparently rationally oriented minds cannot answer our deepest questions. The mind cannot tell us who we are or what purposes we have in these lifetimes. Nor do our emotions or physical bodies seem to be able to unveil the mystery of our own identities and purposes. At this time in our development, it seems that only the elusive part of our nature we call “consciousness” possesses knowledge of who we are and why we have incarnated.
Consciousness is not equivalent to the activities of the mind, the emotions or the body. How then does consciousness function?
Briefly, I believe that alongside what we call the physical evolution of this universe from the “Big Bang” to now, there exists simultaneously another evolutionary process bringing forth a series of non-visible organs—organs composed of what we might call physical, emotional and mental energies. We call these organs “subtle energy organs.” Consciousness is able to “present itself” in this lifetime through coordinating the activities of these subtle energy organs. Only under the direction of a conscious coordinator can these three separate subtle energy organs function as a complex, coherent presence.
Since its emergence and blossoming in the period from 577 BCE to 2,000 CE, the subtle mental energy organ has dominated developing Western cultures. This dominance was achieved by sacrificing vital information from the emotional and physical energy organs. While humans have manifested great and wondrous achievements using the mental organ, it is increasingly obvious that this organ has serious deficiencies, deficiencies that weaken the health of all life and the planet Earth.
These weaknesses arise from two sources. First, the mind tends to suppress feelings in order to catalog data and create discrete categories; above all, it “prides” itself in being objective and logical in the use of the data and categories. Second, the mind tends to cling to the mistaken belief that the physical world is composed of dispensable “stuff”. This has allowed the mind to use Earth’s resources carelessly in serving human wants.
Centered in the mental organ we tend to give analytical and factual descriptions devoid of sensitivity or feeling. Centered in the emotional organ, on the other hand, we tend to be more fluid, filled with lots of feelings and sensations, less interested in factual information and more inclined to infuse facts with color, flavor, and opinion. These tendencies to separate information from feeling or feeling from information leave us fundamentally polarized in either the mental or emotional organ of consciousness.
However, we require wholeness in order to live and function effectively as human beings, to be fully conscious. To that end, another subtle energy organ has been “called” into being. We know it by many names: integral, holistic, holographic. Centering our identity in this new subtle organ seems to make it possible for consciousness to become aware of its existence within but also apart from the activities of thoughts, feelings or the physical body. We can then develop self-awareness, able to be more fully present in the time we call “Now.” Only through the creative will of the Self can energies be generated for healing imbalances in the mind/emotion/body system.
Today, we are called to be active co-creators of this newest subtle energy organ. When the Self (Consciousness) is centered in the integral subtle organ, the Self becomes the observer. It can observe the mind/emotion/body complex in action; it can observe the personality/ego-structure in action.
Observing the personality in action, the Self is able to recognize that ego-centered behavior reflects the limitations of cultural and ancestral experiences. With this awareness, the Self becomes free to create changes necessary for breaking through automatic templates conditioning behavior and life possibilities. Successfully emerging through these templates allows us to express who we really are, to generate new possibilities and pathways in harmony with our Soul’s purposes and passions.
Over the years, it has become clear to me that astrological charts describe inherited patterns of consciousness. The horoscope uniquely portrays habits and patterns of behavior that replicate our ancestry: biologically, culturally, socially, religiously, historically and cosmically. Our evolutionary purposes impel us to emerge from those ancestral patterns intact in our own energy fields, allowing us to live as our own Selves, while also able to honor our ancestors. We must be humbled by and grateful to our ancestors whose journeys in life have made possible our own. For me, evolving means becoming “what wants to be next” in the soul’s journey, without dishonoring or denying our inheritances.
Birth charts are amazing portals into all that has already been before and the infinite potentials of what might be coming. Charts are dynamic energy fields; and I, as an astrologer, am privileged to assist clients in becoming familiar with their own energy fields as they sort themselves out from family and cultural patterns that do not “fit” them. Negotiating the complex holograms of our birth charts is an exciting, rewarding and often mystifying experience for those who choose to penetrate deeply into their personal cosmic journeys.
