Karmic astrology - Retrogrades and reincarnation
by Martin Schulman
Retrogrades and magnetism:
There is nothing in the universe that doesnt have magnetic qualities. thought itself is known to attract similar thought.
Each individual has his own magnetic energies based entirely upon how the makeup of his own planetary horoscope arrangement is used. All configurations attract certain things and at the same time repel others. Thus, the whole world is in a positive and negative condition at the same time.
In the individual horoscope some planets are positioned in a point of radiation where they constantly give out their energies to the world. Others are positioned as points of absorption through which the individual is able to assimilate the understanding he needs of the universe.
Truly, it is how the individual uses his planets which will determine their magnetic qualities at any particular moment above and beyond the basic magnetic quality of the planet. Thus, even planets which absorb can radiate, depending upon how the individual himself is polarized at any particular moment.
When a person is experiencing a great deal of energy, beyond what he needs at the time, most of his planets act as radiators and he becomes a giver to others. In the oppposite condition, when a person is experiencing less energy then he needs to function, his planets become absorbers, drawing from others the energy he his lacking.
Man has the ability from moment to moment to actually control his own magnetic field! to see this, consider the planet Venus, which itself is negatively magnetized and is generally thought of as an absorber. Yet, when an individual has, through all his other planets, more energy then he needs at any given momnet, he will use his venus to radiate love to others. the same applies to Mars, often thought of as aggressively masculine and self centered. In the same circumstances, when an individual has more energy then he needs, he uses his mars to energize others. This occurs with all the planets. From moment to moment and day to day, each planet is in part a radiator and an absorber.
It is to what extent one holds dominance over the other at any given point in an individual's life that astrology concerns itself. And the astrologer tries to the best of his ability, to teach individuals how to use their planets in both ways.
When an individual is able to usa all of his planets as radiators and absorbers, switching their polarity as is needed, he does not need a horoscope reading. But, there is rarely an astrology reading in which this is so. Usually, the individual is either absorbing or radiating too much or too little in terms of how he combines and blends all the planetary ebergies in his chart. To the layman, this is defined as having personal problems that one does not know how to cope with. To the astrologer it is only a polarization or magnetic energy and, as soon as the individual can be brought to understand and to develop control over his own magetic for fields, much of his personal problems miraculously disappear!
There is no question that Retrograde planets create quite a different force field for the individual to deal with than planets in direct motion. It has been the general lack of understanding of this forcefield that has caused so many individuals to experience so many personal difficulties in this area.
The general tendency is for the individual to try to use his retrogrades in exactly the same manner as he is using his planets which are in direct motion. And when this doesn't work he starts dividing himself into various unrelated states which can result in general misery.
With planets in direct motion it is very easy for the individual to switch the emphasis of the planetary energy within himself from moment to moment as his own total energy pattern rises and falls. However, when he tries to do this with his Retrograde planets he runs into quite a different situation.
Firstly, he is at any given time going through part of a threefold Retrograde Process. He is.
1. Jumping ahead of himself trying to live the future now.
2 In the process of living out the future, experiencing the feelings that he has already been there,
3 Repeating in mind the first phase, so that he is actually reliving the looking forward to a future that has already occured.
When the individual is in Phase 1 (jumping ahead of himself into trying to live the future now) it is nearly impossible for him to employ the retrograde negatively, fore he is trying to use all his energy for the propulsion of forward motion. Thus, during this phase he radiates outward so that he can magnetize himself towards all people and conditions which will bring about the future experience.
During phase 2 (when he is actually living out the experience) he is often unaware of phase 1 where he actually brought it about. but je does experience more deja-vu feelings than direct motion planet individuals. In other words he has the snse to know that he has experienced this before, but he doesnt know exactly how, when or why. It is this ambivalence that creates a cross vibration where he is operating negatively and positively as the same time. Part of him is positively radiating his desire to complete the experience, while the other part of him is negatively seeking to absorb the understanding of why the experience feels repetative to him. Naturally, it is during this phase that the individual is least understood by others.
Finally in phase 3 where he is repeating in mind the looking forward to a future thay he has already lived through, he becomes completely out of time synchronization with the rest of the world as he attempts to reabsorb the individuals and circumstances which will bring him back to the past. he is more understandable during this phase, but he is also more of an energy drain on others because he is radiating practically no outward energy.
It is interesting to note that phases 1 and 2 -the attept to live the future and the cross vibration of future-past, are so private to the individual that astrology hardly notices these as characteristics of the Retrograde. Instead, it has always been phase 3 of the Retrograde process (the past lingering or reteating characteristic) that has always been the most noticeable. Perhaps this is because this final phase is where the individual not only spends most of his time but also reacts in a more observably different way than society at large.
Retrogrades and the time factor:
Because of the threefold Retrograde Process, the individual experiences his life in different time sequences than those individuals with direct motions planets. In fact, the parts of his life that he experienced by Retrogrades are quite different than the parts of his life that he experiences though his own direct motion planets.
When the sequence of events in his mind is running in contrary motion or changing direction away from the sequwnce of events in his life, he is actually breaking the time barrier. Depending upon which phase he is in, he is living at least part of his life in a different type of time warp. Here in this amazind transcendence of time through Retrogrades is the major key to Karma.
Retrogrades and Karma:
Not only do Retrogrades cause the individual to regress back to yesterday, last month and last year, but they also induce regression back to former lives whose memories carry strongly into the present incarnation. these memories represent specific events or individuals that were meaningful enough in another life to still have a hold on the person now.
Whenever a Retrograde planet appears in the horoscope, the individual does not come forward in time sequence along with the rest of his chart. Instead, he keeps trying to resolve the earlier circumstances which still appear unfinished.
In these specific areas of his life there does not seem to be a demarcation between one life an another. His memories are so vivid that he doesnt even reconize then as memories. But rather they seem to him to be the present. Nevertheless he is living a dulled phase of another time zone whose irresistable magnetism seems even more important then his current life."
Retrograde Mercury Karma:
The individual with retrograde mercury is here to experience an unresolved karma in relationships. He has a tendency to react to others as if they symbolize people from his past. Thus, he has difficulty keeping the full focus of his consciousness in the "here and now."
Usually this manifests as difficulties with family and relatives. But the question of relationships goes beyond how one communicates with people. It also involves one's perception of the univers as a whole. Often there is a problem inherent in the retrograde mercury in terms of seing what might be called an inverted reality. the individual has difficulty understanding the very basic relationship between cause and effect. He questions the very essence of life itself, yet he cannot often see most simple links between things, circumstances, and people. Losing himself in thought which is beyond comprehension he must learn to be content with the very basic simplicities upon which life is founded. so intent is he on discovering that which is beyond understanding that he nearly always misses the obvious.
From a karmic point of view then, this individual must learn how to focus his attention on the reality of the present rather than losing himself in all of the transparent overlays he percieves. Once he can do this, he will be able to establish a firm reference point in the here and now through which all of the discoveries he makes can be expressed to the outer world.
Retrograde Venus Karma:
When Venus is Retrograde, the individual is carrying with him a great misunderstanding about love in a past life. Usually there was such intense hurt, that he now cuts himself off from fully experiencing the richness of love because he fears being hurt that much again. Whether male or female, there is much present life difficulty in relationships with the opposite sex.
While trying to live in the present, he endlessly recreates a past memory of love in a former incarnation which still keeps eluding him. He reacts to the present as if he were actually living in his past. In this sense he is fixated at a point in time, and no matter what he does there hardly seems to be forward progress that he says he wants.
In the charts of males, this sometimes indicates Larma related to homosexuality. But even homosexuality has its degrees, ranging from outspoken male who tries politically to sell homosexuality to the world down to the male who would not hear the word in his presence, is marries, but seeks every possible opportunity to avoid females while proving his masculinity. This latter type of male is the kind of individual whose life revolves around his male friends, using the guise of association, clubs, hobbies, and so on as an excuse for his avoidance of women. He can function respectably in society, but he is still a latent homosexual. Less often, we find similar reactions in the female with retrograde Venus.
The most noticeable Karmic pattern is that the individual, whether male or female has a powerful tendency to mistrust most offers of love, feeling that the individuals making these offers usually have ulterior motives.
Retrograde Mars Karma:
When mars is retrograde in the horoscope, all the actions of the individual in the current life are recreations of the past.
The individual tries to find people in this life who symbolize all those who fulfilled him in past incarnations. In his mind he throws them into the roles of these no longer existent figures. With them he tries to act out all that he could not previously express. He tends to over-react in an attempt to forcibly move them into the imaginary roles he has conceived for them. Thus he comes on too strong and sensing rejection but not understanding why, he pulls back into himself never fully experiencing his current life relations in the present moment.
He tends to center on a time from his past which represented a force he had to deal with. Now he unconciously vibrates to that exact same force, be it anger, revenge, hostility, or misdirected action in every person in the present. In some cases he may be carrying a former life grudge which makes him mistrust other people's actions. In at least one past life he has lived through suspicious or deceptive actions on the part of others. the residue of this in the current life weigh heavily on the present behavior.
Retrograde Jupiter Karma:
The karma in the retrograde Jupiter always deals with introspection through the higher mind. the individual must be able to justify himself to himself in order to feel that he is truly worthy of the respect and honor that Jupiter promises.
In some former incarnation there had to be a high regard for some religious or spiritual principle which the individual has seen violated. In the current life he feels even more determined to restate the value of this principle in his mind.
He has to guard against being judgmental of others as he sees an outer world vibrating to rules he cannot fathom.
still he must have patience with others, if he expects them to listen to the expression of his inner truths.
On another level, there is a tremendous amout of deja-vu experiences inherent in the Retrograde Jupiter. Times and places fromt he past all blend into a continuous present, such that at any given moment or in any given place, the individual is in touch with generalizing that time or place, the individual into all like times and places he has experienced. Thus, his conciousness expands through these two dimensions simultaneuosly, and often without limitiation. He does not know how to bind him mind totally inward to a fine point focus. Instead he absorbs the symbols of his thoughts from his environment, ultimatelly to learn that anywhere is home, and anytime is now!
The more these outer symbols represent the truths he learned in a former life, the more comfortable he becomes.
Retrograde Saturn Karma:
Retrograde Saturn always indicates a continuing Karma from past incarnations. Whatever the lesson, the individual is unusually slow in bringing it to completion. Thus, in this life he needs to carry the extra weight in his soul of a former life so that when the two ultimately combine there will be enough evidence for him to fully understand his true mission. Much of what he does in this life is a repeat of what his saturn already stands for. But now he faces circumstances and situations that are slightly different. the Retrograde action of the planet can make him feel its retrictive force, particularly if he tries to escape the weight of its lesson. But, if he flows with it, understanding that through the patient guidance he is recieving, he is slowly being led to identification with something higher than he may have imagined, he can truly appreciate the workings of god's beautiful universe through this planet.
Saturn is one's teacher and when it appears retrograde, the individual has experienced similar teachings before this life. As the years unfold there is an enormous amount of wisdom that steadily pours from the retrograde Saturn.
Of all the planets, it is the most natural and comfortable in its retrograde position, for it affords the individual a kind of second chance to improve on the relationship formed between his soul, the circumstances he was faced with in a past incarnation, and how these were understood. Now under the gentle guidance of Saturn, he is able to put into form all that he has learned int he past.
Retrograde Uranus Karma
On a personal level, retrograde Uranus plays havoc in human relationships. The individual experiences an inner changeability that often makes him hypocritical to himself. his mental and emotional levels often fight each other so that he may know certain things which should lead him in the direction which his knowledge points to, but at the same time, he feels other things which may lead him in an entirely different direction.
He is living a Karma of learning how to express the inner freedom that he brings into this life. And, he must not be bound by trying to make sense at all times to others, or even himself. A free spirit does not always appear to make sense, nor should it. The fact is, that a logical continuance of common sense in an individual is more of a saturnian trait, bound by the rigidity of order, discipline, and the pointing of oneself towards specific goals. But the individual with Retrograde Uranus is not living such a Karma.
In order to explore his inner being, as well as so many other realms of understanding that mankind as a whole has not yet reached, his path is often long and crooked. He darts this way and that seeking the formulas that make the world work. Still, he knows that his quest is a never ending process, for each new discovery leads to still another question. He can be extremely happy so long as others do not try to force him into molds of thinking and behaviour patterns that he has already transcended due to the meaningless roles they play in his perception of the grand scheme.
He has learned how to be independent in former incarnations, and now he must use this independence to rediscover and understand the reason he originally wanted it.
Retrograde Neptune Karma
The individual with Retrograde Neptune is living through the Karma of learning how to sort out that which is real in terms of his ideals, and that which gives the appearance of fulfilling his dreams. He knows what he needs but has difficulty finding it in the external world. Constantly living one dream after another, he often winds up running from imaginary shadows, while chasing unrealisitc fantasies. Still, he must find his ideals int he world of "no form" which has such a strong hold on him. He sometimes makes the mistake of projecting past dreams into present situations. This does not allow him to see the reality of the present clearly. He is highly intuitive, and through the different Retrograde phases he is often able to know the outcome oa situations long before he gets into them. But until he learns how to cope with the subtle flow of Neptunian energy that he feels within himself, he does not easily trust his intuition.
These individuals must learn how to integrate their senses with the ideals and dreams that they bring into this life. Instead of trying to distort perceptions in order to make the present fit the past, there must be an awareness of what parts of the present truly symbolize the parts of the past that are karmically incomplete.
Retrograde Pluto Karma
The individual with retrograde Pluto is living through a Karma of experiencing mass consciousness within himself. He feels the impact of world thought, and is conscious of how it relates to world though throughout the ages. Not always expressing outwardly what he knows, he tends to see other individuals as part of a larger and more inclusive whole rather than on a constant one-to-one basis.
In his personal life, it is far less important what he does whan what he thinks about what he does. Much of the time he lives within is conscience, sifting through the great multitude of feelings and experiences within himself.
The spiritual growth possible with retrograde Pluto is limited only by the individuals conscious mind. He can literally rise above much karma of his entire race if he chooses. Interestingly enough, if he tries to avoid elevating his Karma, he will feel the lower karmas of others around him anyway. Thus, if he chooses to elevate himself, he truly can begin to live the parable of "being in this world but not of it." In order to eventually achieve this he goes through temporary withdrawls during the first half of life, until he learns how to be impersonal with the intensity of the world he senses outside himself, so that he ultimately reaches the point at which he no longer feels it acting within himself.
and now here it is... I am thinking it is a basis for many books on the nodes. 
). Thanks for posting. 
