The Mental Map

I had a new dog, a husky a year or two old I picked up at the pound. We went for a walk among the old lava flows south of Pocatello. At one point I left the trail and climbed a vertical lava face (class 5 climb) about 20 feet high; I wanted to see what the dog would do. I saw a silver streak flash upward and the dog was waiting for me when I topped out. We walked on for a mile or so, then headed back by a different route. Soon we picked up the trail, and as we neared the place where we had climbed up the lava the dog broke from my side and beelined for the exact spot where we had gone up. He wanted to do it again.

My question is about the astrology of the mental map in the dog's mind, and in mine and yours.

Neither the dog nor I had been in that country before; it was a totally new landscape. We approached the spot of the climb, when the dog asked to do it again, from the northwest; our first approach had been from southwest, a different perspective.

All animals, even bacteria, carry within them a mental map of their territory. It is a matter of survival. The map contains the pinpoint location of everything within its compass, as well as the lay of the land here and there, ease of travel....memories associate with place....there is a sense of time as well. I have seen it in Blue Crabs in the Gulf of Mexico.

I think we can call this "an acute sense of spacetime". Because it exists and is well-developed even in the most primitive sorts of life, it must be hard-wired. The mental map moves easily into a drawn map, between the actual situation on the ground and the paper map in your hand. The mental map is closely tied to what I call the intuitive mind; I have watched them cooperate within me. The map seems to be stored in a region of the mind that is below consciousness, but readily available to it.

I have a hunch that the same processes involved in the mental map also conspire to guide us in our daily lives, leading us to be in the right place at the right time so that we can meet our fate. Maybe we could think of this mental power as "the power of orientation".

"The map seems to be stored in a region of the mind that is below consciousness, but readily available to it."


I've wondered if that area is also the 'collective unconscious' holding area.

Is it connected to the outer planets and to the water houses maybe?

ESP is ruled by Neptune. Animals and other natural born earth creatures are more in tune and observant than humanity. By using all of their senses they are more capable than humankind of finding their way to where they want to be.

I would use Neptune, Uranus and Mercury astrologically.

And Sirius part of the Canus Major constellation. As well as the othe Canus stars. For canines.

Opal said:

ESP is ruled by Neptune. Animals and other natural born earth creatures are more in tune and observant than humanity. By using all of their senses they are more capable than humankind of finding their way to where they want to be.

I would use Neptune, Uranus and Mercury astrologically.

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Neptune because it is second sight and intuitive knowledge.
Mercury because it is communication on all levels.
Uranus because it is on a level that is not usually considered.

And....any aspects betwixt them.....

Well, it is clearly inherited, innate...hard wired. That is the Moon's turf.

And I share this power equally with dog and bee. The Monarch butterfly migrates thousands of miles...over several generations...between Michoacan and Ontario. Racial memory, Katydid, the collective unconscious. Moon.

greybeard said:

Well, it is clearly inherited, innate...hard wired. That is the Moon's turf.

And I share this power equally with dog and bee.

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Maybe you do.....but for the many humans that are rescued from the wilderness every year because they are lost, they do not have this innate power that you inherited......for humans it is mostly taught and learned and passed down by word of mouth and writings.......most humans would not learn to live off the land if stranded and alone in an environment, especially if it was a harsh environment.....they are taught........bees are instinctive......ruled by Venus, myth says that they and their honey are from Venus.......a dog domesticated, may or may not survive, if stranded and left alone......much would depend on the breed of dog and the environment it was stranded in...... some are taken in by a clan of wild dogs or wild canines.......and taught.......and accepted.....others would just die of exposure to whatever elements it was stranded in.......a wild dog is taught, the pups don't come out knowing all, they are protected, and taught by their parents and pack......

greybeard said:

Well, it is clearly inherited, innate...hard wired. That is the Moon's turf.

And I share this power equally with dog and bee. The Monarch butterfly migrates thousands of miles...over several generations...between Michoacan and Ontario. Racial memory, Katydid, the collective unconscious. Moon.

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Insects and arachnids are not taught.....for them it is as you say with the moon......their parents do not raise and nurture them

A human raised in the barrio knows how to move through the barrio. Yes, the barrio is "taught", learned. But it is the underlying substrate of mind that is capable of organizing all this information of which I speak. And all creatures capable of movement have it, certainly including humans, all humans.

Greybeard......I wish that we all had a mental map.......intuitive, is not something that I consider to be learned.......some people are intuitive, others aren't......I watch nature, always have, and they watch me......the crows, ravens, hawks and eagles are my personal favorites, yes they are intuitive, and some of them follow a migration......my crow friends will be heading south with their new babes, that they have taught.....they use me to teach their babes......first they use me to teach them to squawk at danger......because the adults know I am safe.......then they use me to teach them to start to eat on their own, to gather their own food.......the others don't migrate, but they do teach their young where to go seasonally.......and what to eat in the different seasons, and where to shelter from the storm.......

The Mental Map, I would say it is a combination......I feel that Uranus has to be there, for the electrical impulses/magnetic field......Neptune and the Moon for the intuition.....and Mercury for the communication of them to us and theirs.........

I do not see just one entity in action.......

I don't see one entity in action either. I just chew my food slowly.

Moon is the primitive brain. The mental map must be located here, because all animals seem to have this ability...perhaps, in some shellfish and other sedentary forms of life, it is weakly developed; I don't know.

The Monarch challenges your theory of teaching (which in some species is an important component of the mental map, agreed) because the one-way trip requires several generations of butterfly to complete.

It is the ability to compose this map that is so striking.
And as I said earlier, I have hunch that these same processes are at work in our social relations; we "map" them too.

Probably all of the planets are involved. But I don't even know if this question has any astrological importance.

greybeard said:

I don't see one entity in action either. I just chew my food slowly.

I do too......

Moon is the primitive brain. The mental map must be located here, because all animals seem to have this ability...perhaps, in some shellfish and other sedentary forms of life, it is weakly developed; I don't know.

I agree, mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and arachnids are all affected by the moon instinctively.

The Monarch challenges your theory of teaching (which in some species is an important component of the mental map, agreed) because the one-way trip requires several generations of butterfly to complete.

I have witnessed the monarch migration. It is beautiful. As is in the same area the migration of the Canadian Goose and the other migratory birds. It is divine.

I put insects, reptiles and arachnids in a different category as they do not nurture their young. I see them as ruled by instinct. Yes, the moon is a large part of their being. But also, the electro-magnetic field....Uranus.......just in a different way......

I do think that all earth creatures have the capacity to communicate on a telepathic level, I feel that all the creatures that visit me communicate with each other with their differences. Most of the community works together. All of them that nurture hate cats. They tolerate dogs. The larger birds and squirrels warn the smaller creatures, they hide.....The crows and magpies chase away and work together to protect their community.......

It is the ability to compose this map that is so striking.
And as I said earlier, I have hunch that these same processes are at work in our social relations; we "map" them too.

I agree, it is just that we are not very adept anymore at recognizing it. We have exchanged our senses for our electric, modern world of TV's, stereo's, cars, heated homes.....electricity used as we do is not as Tesla meant it to be......it was not meant to be like this......we are losing our "map" we will find it again eventually......

Probably all of the planets are involved. But I don't even know if this question has any astrological importance.

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I also agree with the above statement. It is all of the planets. If it is all of the planets, or one of the planets, and we are discussing it, then does the cosmos not think that it is of astrological importance......? Or why would it create the thought in your and my mind, to discuss it in an astrological way........

Arachnids care for their young, spiders and scorpions among them. So do the reptilian crocodiles.

Humans are mammals, in the family of apes, attested by vast plantations of bananas in Honduras. Everyone knows apes love bananas. And we grow and eat more bananas than any other species on Earth, de facto proof we are apes.

greybeard said:

Arachnids care for their young, spiders and scorpions among them. So do the reptilian crocodiles.

Humans are mammals, in the family of apes, attested by vast plantations of bananas in Honduras. Everyone knows apes love bananas. And we grow and eat more bananas than any other species on Earth, de facto proof we are apes.

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Okay, okay...... I will give you the reptiles and such.....Funny I defend your stance to my husband ......and then follow his talking to you.....

Yes humans are mammals, but our base instincts are being disturbed or disrupted by man made disturbances......electricity......petrochemicals......

All creatures in my humble estimation are affected by the moment they take their first breath.

Opal said:

Okay, okay...... I will give you the reptiles and such.....Funny I defend your stance to my husband ......and then follow his talking to you.....

Yes humans are mammals, but our base instincts are being disturbed or disrupted by man made disturbances......electricity......petrochemicals......

All creatures in my humble estimation are affected by the moment they take their first breath.

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And another huge disruption to our finer senses......Refined Sugar

greybeard said:

Well, it is clearly inherited, innate...hard wired. That is the Moon's turf.

And I share this power equally with dog and bee. The Monarch butterfly migrates thousands of miles...over several generations...between Michoacan and Ontario. Racial memory, Katydid, the collective unconscious. Moon.

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Yes, the Moon, That's why I said the 'water houses.'
4th/8th/12h=Moon/Pluto/Neptune

You said well.

Moon.

All abstraction lies in the lap of Mercury. He rules all manner of charts. Mercury, along with Moon, holds dominion over our perceptive faculties; he controls how we gather information about our surroundings. What goes into the map as well as its form belong to Mercury.

I just saw the end part of documentary on Octopi. I was surprised to see that after their birth they are on their own. I have in the past read that they are one of the most intelligent creatures on earth. I presumed wrong that they would be nurturers.

Fascinating creatures!

I see everything about them as instinctual. The moon would be strong, affected by the tides. But, as they are instinctual with hunting as well, Mars.