Astrology is a symbolic language. Its alphabet is made up of symbols. Its context is mythological. Its content is metaphorical. For sure, it uses a lot of math and statistical data. Astrological analysis, however, is intended to transcend the data through its symbolic imagery.
In Man and His Symbols, C. G. Jung wrote: “Thus a word or an image is symbolic when it implies something more than its obvious and immediate meaning. It has a wider ‘unconscious’ aspect that is never precisely defined or fully explained. Nor can one hope to define or explain it. As the mind explores the symbol, it is lead to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason.”
Scientists and lay people alike spend an enormous amount of their precious time in debunking and invalidating astrology by insisting that we speak a language of measure and mean. If it cannot be qualified or quantified, and by definition made to fit within the “strict limitations of the scientific methods,” it cannot be valid. As an astrologer, who speaks a symbolic language, I feel a bit like the Native American child who gets his mouth washed out with soap for speaking his own language. A symbolic language is not A language of measure and mean, but one of myth and metaphor.
On the subject of mythology, Jung wrote, “Myth is more individual and expresses life more precisely than does science. Science works with concepts of averages which are far too general to do justice to the subjective variety of an individual life.”
There is a huge problem in the way we define myth in our culture. The connotation is that myth is synonymous with a lie or a childish fairytale. Mythology is the metaphorical essence of who we are collectively as well as individually. Myth and metaphor ways to speak of the essence that is more than can be defined. Mythology is a symbolic language that finite consciousness can use to communicate the transcendent nature of our Being.
When we meet someone for the first time we say, “How do you do?” and before long we ask, “What do you do?” We seldom ask, “Who are you?” It doesn’t take long to define our self in terms of what we do and how we do it. Who we are cannot be defined – simply because the whole is more than the sum of its parts and the parts are the only things that can be defined. Each of us is more than can be described. Therefore, each of us is an indescribable Being.
If a man says, “I am a Texan,” he is identifying with the mythology of Texas – and I don’t mean Texas history. His Texas accent is the tone of the Texas spirit. That essence is a huge part of his self-expression. He is identified with “something larger” than his finite Being and that something larger is only part of his “personal” mythology.
To illustrate astrologically: Once upon a time, there was a young lady who had been raised by upper middle-class parents. Her parents made sure she had everything she needed and that she got a good education. After college, she married a good man, bought her own house and had a beautiful baby boy. Everything was perfect according to the only worldview she had ever known. One day, while looking out her window at her perfect child, perfect husband and perfect car, she was wondering why she wasn’t happy. She went to see an astrologer.
After a while, the astrologer said, “Oh, I see. You have limited yourself to living out of a prescribed stereotype instead of your personal mythology.” The astrologer told her there were strong indicators in her chart that she was a frustrated researcher with a powerful spirit for adventure. The spirit of adventure is to go beyond the known world. The astrologer said, “There is a wide world out there full of enthusiastic researchers of like mind. Go find them. Go play with them.” She did. She later said, “I knew there was something better, but what I found is beyond the scale of what I thought was possible.” This is a true story. It is also a true myth because she is still living the life- affirming adventure prescribed by her personal mythology.
The only way to know the indescribable Being that you are is by recognizing your capacity to transcend the limitations of a prescribed stereotype.
Astrology is a language that uses symbols as metaphors for every aspect of life. Here every aspect of life takes on an imagery that “lead[s] to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason.” You are here to live out your own mythology not someone else’s. You can identify yourself as an “American consumer” if you like. You are far more than that.
If you wish to explore the depths of your being by expanding your awareness of your personal mythology, Depth Astrology can help.
-Bill J. Fleming
ShadowLight Consulting Services 