Amongst all the wonders of human development, the story of the Sky remains the most fascinating. The history of Astronomy/Astrology is tied to the evolution of humans and their development into so called 'consciousness.’ It appears that we have been gazing upwards observing the heavens for many thousands of years.
From the primordial cosmic forces of life dependent Water, to the life necessities of Earth, one million years ago Man’s essential journey into concisenesses began. This epic moment in man’s evolution was his discovery and harnessing of Fire, (Creativity) together with the essential ingredient Air, (Thought). This astonishing breakthrough lead him to understand that he had a certain control over his density and more importantly gave him “Time” to ponder, to think, and in so allowed him to camp out under the Stars and gaze upward, hence his journey into conciseness began.
Ancient astronomical/astrological custom is one of extraordinary length and richness, from star and planet observations by the Egyptians, Babylonians and Indians in the third millennium BC to the astronomical revolution of the sixteenth century.
In today’s lecture, we will be following the path from ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece and India to sixteenth-century Europe, and its greatest emphasis on the Greek period, when astronomers developed the geometric and philosophical ideas that have determined the subsequent character of Western astronomy.
The acronym “As above so below’ describes the essence of this work. Astronomy/Astrology underwent two major changes in the course of some 3,000 years, the first of these changes occurred sometime between 400BC and 200AD.(Hellenistic) This first epoch of time saw the advancement of technical theory and the refinement of practical application. The second epoch occurred around the 14th century through to the 17th century. (Renaissance)
These two passages of “Time” had a mark contribution to 21st century, were now we stand as no other Civilisation has before in recorded history on the ‘Frontier of Space Travel’.
The Australian aborigines, we are told by archaeologists and anthropologists, occupied the continent of Australia some time before 40,000 years B C E. A nomadic people who observed the southern skies and developed stories and myth around the Milky Way. Their dreamtime stories are littered with references given to the Milky Way. The tribes observed the sky and it embodies some 40 different native birds, animals and dancing men. The use of these celestial bodies not only aided them in seasonal migration and the gathering of food but had an important role in the development of laws and cultural beliefs and the growth of the soul into consciousness.
In China’s early development the northern skies were observed with the same vigour, entwining their cultural evolution with many stories and myths. All of human history as we know it today is littered with documented evidence of these obsessions. The ancient Egyptian culture of the Nile have left the pyramids with their celestial orientations and messages, the Druids of England are believed to have constructed Stonehenge in their search for the relationship between the heavens and earth, the Aztec civilization gave us its’ calendar. From India, Babylon and Persia there is an incredible body of knowledge having recorded the ways to understand the heavens. From the monks of’ Ireland to the great civilization of Greece and Rome the list goes on.
The acronym “As above so below’ describes the essence of this work. There are as many diverse forms of Astrology as there are cultures, each having distinct rules for understanding the logic. This it should be said does not in any way detract from the underlining principle of what Astrology is. The essence remains unchanged. What is important is the fact they we are reaching out to discover this unknown force.
Astrology or “Star logic” has a long history and can best be explained by the title known as the Comic Forces Of Nature. First there was the matter; this then gives rise to form represented as Fire, (heat, combustion) and Air, (wind, movement}. These two Elements are the building blocks of creation. From these two principle elements of nature arose life, as we know today
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Our planet Earth like every other body in the Universe contains these building blocks. The elements are the basis that gives rise to formation of our planet Earth. Fire and Air are the creative forces that give birth to Water, which then furnishes life. This relationship that exists between all cosmic energies is what astrology recognizes. We are looking at more than the heavenly cycles of the body’s, we are looking at their composition... These three elements are then synthesized creating the foundation for life “Earth”. It should be said here that Astrology is a long journey with a need to proceed slowly to gain a full comprehension.
Astrology is a way to incorporate all, the intangible and tangible, the visible and non-visible. Light and darkness intertwine each overlapping the other, each element is part of the other. What is made of one is it not made of the other. What is made must contain with in it that of which it is made from. The Sun contains within itself parts from which it was made. The Galaxy in which the sun exists contains within parts from which it was formed. Within all that exists there are parts that exist from another. Can that which is made from another not be influenced by that which it contains? The sun exerts its force upon that which it comes into contact with and that which it energizes is then found to contain a part from which it has come. The universal thread running through “space” and time carries this, and in the cycle returns it to its origins again. These are the principles that Astrology derives it concepts from.
Throughout our human evolution, philosophers have been wrestling with the commonly asked question. Do the heavenly bodies influence events here on earth? Let’s extend this to include the whole of the cosmos. Of course the answer is “Yes”, from physical to the metaphysical. Sir Isaac Newton when asked to reply to this question answered with, “Within fundamental knowledge there is a truth, a knowing that exists without need of explanation.” There are other countless collections of philosophical doctrine, oral teachings and of art forms depicting the multitudinous viewpoints. Yet all of these works carry within them the common seed uniting the whole.
The seed has a name; the cosmic force, the cosmic energy. An unobserved, unforeseen force unnoticed by many yet very noticeable to observer. This force inherent in the whole flows through all that has been and all that is present and all that is to come. How this flow spreads is determined through its interaction with the whole. The interaction can be observed in all forms the subatomic, the microcosmic to the whole, macrocosm.
We can begin to understand Astrology as the interaction of these cosmic forces observed in all forms. Astrology is the expression of this whole, this force that is operating within the whole. Astrology is an art form giving expression to the study of all studies, the study of the cosmic whole and all its threads.
