The difference between Depth Astrology and Mundane or Predictive Astrology is that the latter tends to approach the individual from the point of view of how the personality interacts with the external events in one’s life. In Depth Astrology, the focus is on the internal psychology of an individual and how that affects the perception of external events.
The planetary aspects at the time of our birth could be likened to the ingredients of a chemical or alchemical experiment. Baked in the caldron of life, these ingredients (aspects) are experienced as fate in the outside world. However, this so-called fate is in actuality the by-product or reflection of our internal reality. Most people come to astrology out of a desire to manipulate their fate. They assume if they can understand the external planetary influences, they can control – as if by magic – the environment in order to get rich, healthy or laid. The focus of Depth Astrology is to understand our fate, not cheat it – to gain mastery not control.
From the perspective of the individual, she/he is the center of their universe. The universe, the zodiac, is the matrix we are born out of and return to. The Webster’s Dictionary describes matrix as: (L. womb) something within which something else originates or develops. The individual develops out of everything they are not. In the final analysis, we are stardust. It could be said, this individuated human form is the divine offspring of heaven and earth. From that perspective, the melodramas of the collective value system shrink into insignificance. Excessive ego involvements and control issues become childish in the light of the authentic self.
We all are on a mission of self-discovery whether we realize it or not. The search for the pearl of great price, the treasure beyond measure, the divine child within, is the point of Depth Astrology. The individual astrological chart is looked upon as a treasure map leading to the deepest authentic being, the Self, that always has been and always will be. The self that is here to manifest, not here to live up to anyone else’s expectation, is our destination. The individual chart is a personal navigation device to assist the pilgrim on this quest.
All this is nothing more than a utopian ideal unless we are willing to do the hard work of stripping off the mask of socially accepted pretense and its attendant self-deception. That is an extremely hard row to hoe.
For something to live, something else must die. Physically, for us to live we must eat. What we eat is another’s life. We often hear, “This place is teeming with life.” Our selective memory allows us to ignore the fact that for a place to be teeming with life, it of necessity must be teeming with death. Similarly, on a psychological level in order to sustain a series of attitudes and beliefs, with their attendant facades, something else in the psyche must die. That may be well and good as long as the cost does not exceed the payoff. However, if we have become identified with a façade, the price is certain to be our authentic self-expression. It is amazing that we humans are so concerned about appearing to be self–centered when the fact is we are not nearly Self-centered enough.
The so-called “hard aspects” in the chart of an individual represent the psychological stresses that most people try to ignore, avoid or suppress. “Hold on pilgrims.” There be treasure here. The hard aspects indicate the areas in life that something should die or be let go of in order for something more appropriate to manifest. This is inevitably experienced as frightening at first but after a time begins to feel like a daring life affirming adventure.
When we operate out of the assumption or belief that we can manipulate or control others, we are unconsciously affirming that others can control us. That notion produces a powerful resentment in the deeper stratums of the psyche. As this resentment increases, we become more and more entangled in the power trips of controlling others while resisting being controlled. The fact is we have very little control over others. However, we have the potential for complete mastery of ourselves. The pity is as we continue to fight these losing battles we are losing a winning battle.
We are the darlings of the universe with an incomprehensible capacity for un-conditional love. All we need do is learn how to let go of the conditioning that separates us from our true self. Depth Astrology can help.
Bill J. Fleming
“This above all: To thine own self be true, and it must follow – as the night the day – thou cans’t not be false to any man.”
~From “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare
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