Other professions and their impact on astrology!

[Cosmiccradle]

Jung is an psychiatrist/psychologist, Cayce a psychic, Gauquelin a psychologist/statician,Vinysa has added Claude Levi-Strauss for symbolism.

I remember long ago I read a work by Jung over relationship astrology I can't remember the titel of the piece, but I do remember that I found it quite good. And even though I read it more then 20 years ago, I do remember that it had something to do with seating arrangements and statistics.

How far should we go in accepting the thoughts and insights from other professions, when their foundation lays elsewhere? Can we attach as much importance to their findings and thoughts as we would of someone that has dedicated their whole life to the profession of astrology?

[Cosmiccradle]

It's interesting - when I first read Rudhyar, I knew he'd studied structural linguistics with Saussure, as did Marc Edmund Jones, Roman Jacobson, Claude Levi-Strauss, a few other names you might recognise. That's when the philosophy of language took primacy over everything (if you've studied philosophy in any western university over the past 40 years or so, you've probably noticed this).

But astrology stands on its own. When it becomes an adjunct to psychology, or linguistic studies or semiotics - it's no longer a field in and of itself.

I think too many people forget that - especially since Jung. Who tried, and I can't remember what it was I was reading by him, but it hit me that as far as he was concerned, sentient life didn't start until the Protestant Reformation. The man had no grasp of history. Which is much the problem of astrology today - and I'm not sure that's coincidental.

The man had no grasp of history. Which is much the problem of astrology today - and I'm not sure that's coincidental.

Could you express that in a different way, I don't follow. What is the problem of astrology today?

[Cosmiccradle]

The largest part of astrology today is a form of psychology. Which makes it an adjunct, and not a profession in its own right.

Other people study astrology as semiotics - a symbol system.

Both of those are in there, but astrology, really? It's the closest we get to glimpse of God's word, because God wrote that in the stars.

At least that's how it started out. During the 'Enlightenment' and even more during the Protestant Reformation, time stopped being circular, and it stopped being sacred. It became a secular thing, and we began to talk about progress, and 'the arrow of time'. Astrology couldn't fit within that paradigm. The criticisms of astrology before then mostly concentrated on its morality. Christianity legislated free will by fiat - if you think about it, without free will, the Christian religion falls. But it didn't say astrology didn't work, and it never objected to things like meteorological or medical astrology.

After the Enlightenment, astrology became incomprehensible. After the Reformation, there was no where left for it to fit in this new world view.

So for 250 years, there was pretty much - nothing. And when it awoke, we got theosophy and Jung, neither of whom had any understanding, even any concept, of what had gone before.

And so astrology became not astrology, but an adjunct to psychology and semiotics.

Historically speaking. The astrologers who rejected ancient astrology misunderstood it - to a one. At least all the ones that were published. Most of the works weren't available, and by then, it wasn't routine to learn Latin or Greek, and the musty old past had nothing to show us anyway.

Which, to me, seems tragic. To some, it's liberating.

But that's what happened. The short version, of course.

Thankyou Olivia, certainly coming across some high quality astrologers here. It's a pleasure to meet people like you and Dr. Farr, it's always a pleasure to learn and listen. I see that you mostly post in Horary. I agree with you that astrology has become mainly psychology.

[athan]

The thread is very interesting!

Olivia, you totally expressed my personal thought!!!!


In the interests of full disclosure, I am a rabbi, but I don't consider myself especially spiritual - I don't even know what the word means.

What do you mean you are a rabbi?

[athan]

Great!!!
I have a feeling that I was Jewish in another life. In this life I am trying to learn the Hebrew language.