Every blog must have a 'beginning' – like ones first love letter, or awkward poem, that hovered in a nervous and agonizing state of suspense, awaiting its voice. I toyed with ‘Bob’s Blog’ for this initial offering. Catchy and truly cringe-worthy! For reasons that I may get to outline down the track (when familiarity is established!) ‘Bog’s Blob’ was considered. In the end I settled for the more benign ‘In the beginning’
And this particular beginning was seeded………… in the stars.
At around age seven I first ‘looked up’. I was struck not only by the beauty of the night sky but by a sense of mystery. This was my first ‘aha’ moment……… a feeling of a much, much bigger world. I had of course looked often at the stars, as children do, but in this there was a more conscious sense of connection.
Seven is a special age. It is a time when a developmental shift or awakening takes place in regards our sense of self. The number itself is esteemed in many cultures and was particularly revered by the Pythagorean Mystery School due to its association with the musical scale and the color wheel, among other phenomena. Years later I would learn that seven years (and multiples of seven years) are closely associated with the cycles of Uranus, Saturn and the Moon
My affection for the starry worlds ebbed and flowed as the activities of youth drew my attention; a time of swirling distractions, highs and lows, and all manner of weird and wonderful impressions that coursed through my consciousness! But every now and then I would stop for a few moments and look up……. and wonder.
During my early twenties a renaissance of sorts took place, when I was propelled by a great urge to learn. This would make up for most of my school days, when the desire had lain seemingly dormant and un-stimulated. Thirty odd years later I am still on the path of learning. And my ongoing ‘education’ has been strongly influenced by a rekindled affair with the stars…….
While it is true that we can’t physically leave the earth (except if you can afford a flight on one of Virgin’s space shuttles!), there is little preventing our hearts and minds and imaginations from travelling ‘across the universe’ – seemingly as far as our hearts and minds and imaginings wish to go!
To astronomy we owe a profound debt for assisting our wanderings. The development of the telescope, especially the Hubble, has allowed us to look upon a vast and amazing cosmos. And with radio, infra red and other high tech telescopic equipment we continue to pinpoint new and more remote worlds. In tandem with the ‘new’ physics, astronomy has opened us to the majestic fabric of life, to the mysteries of black holes and dark matter; and to a tantalising sense of the beginnings of the universe.
In an altogether different yet equally important way, artists, writers and musicians have also given us a glimpse of the stars. Their ‘mode’ of investigation, by word and by phrase, by color and by tone, has also led us through the starry night and into the heart of mystery. For millennia mystics and story tellers have broken into our imaginations and confronted us with the wonders of the universe and our place in it!
For me astrology is an almost perfect blend of art and science. Not science in an empirical, cause and effect, replication of ‘proof’ type of way, but as a science of meaningfulness. Not a quantitative science but a qualitative science, based on a time-honored theoretical foundation.
As we transit into this new age we approach a quickening of the potential marriage of science and art, of fact and meaning, of mind and heart. I personally feel that astrology can contribute positively to a dissolving of barriers; where it is recognized that man’s life and life experiences function in two departments that don’t fit readily into each others’ ‘models’, but when taken together make for a more complete (and interesting) whole!
And astrology is all about the whole. If we were to limit ourselves to just one precept it would surely be the ancient but timeless ‘As Above So Below’ - which conveys two powerful things to us: One, that the laws that operate at the level of galaxies also apply to suns, planets, all living forms (including man), and within the tiny world of the atom. And two, because of this affinity, all galaxies, suns, planets, living forms and atoms are intrinsically linked.
This is the basis upon which astrology draws connections between planetary cycles and patterns, and circumstances on earth. Through an elegant mix of mathematics, symbolism and language, and through its archetypal ‘scope’, all things and all experiences (inner and outer) are embraced by astrology. There is nothing that we can know or imagine that isn’t included.......which makes our subject a truly holistic one!
How this ‘works’ is an altogether bigger question, which is beyond the time and space (excuse the pun!) available for this initial piece………but stay tuned.
In closing might I exclaim my passion and respect for astrology? For me it has been life changing and life enhancing. It continues to be a font of mystery and wisdom, at once logical and wholly intuitive. Most often I feel I am standing only at the beginning of what it has to offer.
I hope in the coming weeks, months (and hopefully years) that you can join me in exploring significant and enriching astrological and related themes as we travel ‘across the universe’
………and a special thanks for being with me on this maiden voyage!
Cheers
Bob
Note
The name of this site was inspired in part by the Beatles song ‘Across the Universe’, penned by John Lennon. The song is thought to be drawn from John’s experience with meditation (and probably other practices!), during the Beatles contact with the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi – the founder of Transcendental Meditation. Through its evocative language and dream like melody it has taken millions of people on a ‘journey’. It is at once profound and elusive, just like astrology!
The final verse is especially beautiful:
“Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing
Through my open views inviting and inciting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
Million suns, it calls me on and on
Across the universe”
The beginning of the chorus – “Jai Guru Deva Om” is roughly translated as “I give thanks to my ‘heavenly’ teacher” – quite appropriate for a humble student of astrology who seeks to comprehend the message of the stars
Finally, the repeat line ‘nothings gonna change my world’ seems at first to cut across what much of astrology is about, alluding as it does to celestial patterns aligning with terrestrial events. But in a delightfully synchronistic way it makes a fundamental and most important point; that the role of individual will and hence freedom of choice is the key ‘influence’. It is our ability to respond creatively and consciously to challenges and opportunities, as indicated by the planetary configurations, that makes astrology truly unique and valuable.
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