A Short Treatise on Astrology's Purpose
Astrology is a valid study.
Its foundation is based on the fact that anyone
who is conditioned is in essence predictable.
There is a story about this, from Gurdjieff.
He was walking, with four of his students, and one
of them began to speak to him about
astrology, asking him to explain if it was real or not.
Just then, Gurdjieff dropped his walking cane.
After a second, one of the students picked it up.
He replied "this is astrology."
The students were confused, and asked him to explain.
He asked the student who picked up the cane why he did that, and the other three why they did not.
The one who picked up the cane said that he just saw it and picked it up.
The others gave their explanations - one had not noticed the cane fall, another saw it, but by the time he thought
of getting it the other student had already retrieved it, the third saw Gurdjieff drop it but thought Gurdjieff had done it on purpose
and was confused by that.
Gurdjieff explained: all of these were conditioned responses, the conditioning of each of the four students, their past circumstances and present conditions as they were walking was what led each of them to act or fail to act in the way they had.
Astrology is the ability to examine, through symbols, the underlying natures of an individual's conditioning.
When used on a non-initiate, astrology helps
explain one's conditionings.
When one is initiated, and thus capable of transforming and transcending one's conditionings, it is then Esoteric (rather than Exoteric) astrology that comes into play, and astrology becomes a tool to help one transcend the nature of one's conditionings through understanding what techniques and practices can help one to overcome the limitations set by your background.
Note that in neither case does astrology have
anything to do with the literal planets.
The symbols of the planets and the signs are just
that, symbols, which have deeper esoteric meanings.
Just as in Alchemy the symbols of "lead" and "gold" have nothing to
do with the literal elements, in astrology
"venus" or "mars" have nothing to do with the actual planets.
The other consideration of astrology is that the
more advanced one is as a mystic, the less useful astrology becomes as
a predictive tool.
As you transcend your conditioning, you become
less and less predictable.
The more natural you are, the less predictable you are.
Astrology is a diagnostic tool for unconsciousness.
Thus, Maria, while I feel it is excellent for you
to work with astrology, it is important for you to consider
its context ideally, you should be using astrology to understand your
own conditionings, and how you relate to others and their
conditionings.
Also, you should try to use this understanding to
help you overcome your conditionings.
But astrology is of no use in comprehending the
nature or actions of masters.
They are no longer bound by the very
conditionings astrology is meant to examine.
For any who are interested in studying more of
this, I recommend the following books:
For exoteric astrology (for non-initiates):
Stephen Forrest, "The Inner Sky"
For esoteric astrology (the astrology of initiates):
Alice Bailey, "Esoteric Astrology"