The Way To Freedom

THE WAY TO FREEDOM

Using the example of astrology, I have tried to make clear the concept of fate and the correct way to work with it. Astrology was only an aid to better understanding of fate. We could equally well have reached the same result by other means.

There remains only the question of predestination and freedom of will. Any attempt to answer this question can easily end up in a cul-de-sac if one ignores the law of polarity.

Determinism and free will are two poles which condition one another and belong together and which are not mutually exclusive as is widely believed. As with every polarity our understanding finds it difficult, if not impossible, to grasp how these two poles can exist simultaneously. Yet one cannot live without the other and vice versa. They depend on each other like light and darkness, breathing in and breathing out. Therefore the way to freedom is through the accomplishment of the law of fate.

The paradoxical truth is: only by submitting to law can one be free. Yet the majority try to achieve freedom through arbitrary wilfulness, not realizing that this way leads to loss of freedom. Suffering is merely the friction that arises between the human being and the laws of the world. To fulfill the law means to no longer experience friction. These then are the golden rules for attainment of absolute freedom:

1 Know thyself (the microcosm)

2 Recognize universal law (the macrocosm)

3 Know that this law is good (and thus be in harmony)

4 Place yourself voluntarily and completely under it.

He who takes these four steps will reach the Quinta Essentia which is called: freedom. He who places himself voluntarily under the law becomes one with the law, becomes himself the law – there is nothing more above him that can hinder him. Thus Crowley writes: “Every human being should be like a star and follow his own path”. A star is free so long as it follows its trajectory. The loss of freedom only begins with departure from the path.

Likewise every human being has a path to follow in this cosmos of ours. But one must recognize it in order to avoid the friction that comes from following the false path. Thus we advocate neither activity nor passivity – only the two together can create a rhythm. A person must begin by being still and listening in order to become aware of his path, but after that he must actively follow it. Such activity arises from trust, not from the egomania of “I will, I do”. A human being attains his highest freedom when he can speak the words:

“Lord, not my will, but Thy will be done”.

Illness As Information

ILLNESS AS INFORMATION

In the same manner illnesses and problems which have already manifested themselves can be resolved. A therapy which looks at things in this way always begins by asking: what is the illness trying to teach the patient? What is it that this person still has to learn? A therapy always has to replace the learning process, which was originally aimed at by the illness – otherwise it cannot heal.

We shall see that this requires a homeopathic attitude. (More about the “simile” principle when we look at homeopathy in the next chapter.) Therefore it is useless to try to amuse or distract a depressive patient. He would do better to confront the Saturnian principle actively – black colour, solitude, death and so on – if he wants to be healed. But nowadays we are constantly going against this basic law. The patient is given a colourful, friendly sick-room and humorous books to read, which is as inappropriate as trying to amuse a person in mourning by cracking jokes.

In all matters we oppose the will of fate instead of supporting it. Some methods of therapy happen to obey the law of analogy, but those who use them are unsuspecting. They usually fabricate complicated theories in order to explain the effectiveness of the method which in fact merely obeys the law of analogy. The principle of Neptune signifies that which is veiled and unconscious, the dissolution of all that stands, concrete and tangible, in the foreground. Its chain of analogy contains, inter alia the following things: alcohol, drugs, poison, deception, water, the colour bottle-green, feet, dreams, visions, mysticism, esotericism. This chain explains, moreover, why on the one hand the public finds it difficult to separate deception and illusion from esotericism, and on the other hand why in esoteric circles cheating and deception, of both oneself and others, is so common.

When the Neptune principle becomes prominent in a person's life it highlights the background of experience and gives access to the unconscious. But for this to happen the foreground, with its consciousness, logic and intellect, must temporarily weaken and become permeable. This state also brings slackened concentration, day-dreaming and the like.

Faced with this unaccustomed surfacing of the unconscious the individual begins by going to his doctor, who prescribes certain drugs. These will help a little because they are “poison” and therefore belong to the same chain of analogy. At a later stage he may, perhaps go to a psychotherapist for treatment. Here, at last, he is able to do what Neptune is trying to teach him: confront the unconscious, the dream world, the irrational. But what helps him is the mere contact with these levels rather than any explanation that psychoanalytic theory can offer. A holiday by the sea or the reading of an esoteric novel would do the same thing as would footbath treatment or colour therapy with bottle-green light.

Such examples can be multiplied ad infinitum, but what should be underlined here is the importance of having a matrix of reality which enables us to recognize the structure of astrological and, in the widest sense, esoteric correlation.

The Accomplishment Of Fatec

THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF FATE

Astrology is not a means of cheating fate but a tool for accomplishing it. The Romans and Greeks still looked upon the planetary principles as gods. Each primal principle was personified and its characteristics were portrayed as attributes of a particular deity. The Olympus of antiquity was, like astrology, a system for illustrating reality. At this point it is worth mentioning en passant that the Bible is also firmly built on the seven planetary principles, but this will be dealt with in a separate chapter.

The Greeks knew a simple formula for avoiding friction with the gods: as long as sacrifices are made to the divine powers they do not harm man. If no sacrifices are made the godhead snatches a victim by force. This formula is still valid and is actually the key to astrology. In fact it is closer to reality to imagine the primal principles as gods than to see them as dead heavenly bodies.

The concept of “sacrifice” means to allow space for a primal principle within one's own sphere of experience, to integrate it into one's consciousness. The various principles will confront a human being at different times in his life, and each will demand its due, challenging him to come to terms with it. But he who locks the door when he hears the gods knocking and refuses to allow them in can be certain that sooner or later he will be forced to make the sacrifice that he has refused to yield willingly. He who meets that challenge by letting the godhead into his personal sphere and becoming familiar with it need not fear it.

The path of a human life should lead to completeness; every advancement in learning, however small, makes the human being more complete. We move towards completeness when we add that which is still missing, when we integrate the as yet unknown. Thus, in accordance with the laws, a human being is always confronted by fate with those principles which he has hitherto not realized, those which have remained alien to him, those which are still missing from his experience.

This is the dangerous point where so many people make the mistake of closing themselves up and resisting the sacrifice that is demanded of them. This is where the fight begins between fate and the individual, with fate's victory as a foregone conclusion. As the loser, the individual complains about how he has been ruined by the wickedness of fate, overlooking the fact that he was the one who refused fate's invitation.

This is where astrology comes into its own. Astrological counseling should show the human being which study plan he has to accomplish in this incarnation and should explain to him the particular principles with which he has to come to terms. The astrologer, if he does not want to steal his client's own development, should not tell him the future. But he can inform him when a particular godhead will knock at his door and which attitude is required in order to get to know and love this god. Unfortunately we all too often forget that everything which we really get to know well we also automatically learn to love. To hate something invariably means not to know it.

Vertical thinking makes it possible for the astrologer to show his client the possibilities that exist on various levels for assimilating whatever principle has to be encountered for resolving the corresponding configuration of planets. Genuine astrological counseling never involves warning someone against a principle or its configuration. Rather the aim is always to give advice and encouragement in the confronting of it.

Herein lie the possibilities of a true “astrotherapy”. This form of therapy, as I have developed and consolidated it in recent years, uses as its basis a “reality-matrix” of the kind which I outlined at the beginning of this chapter. This enables us to translate the ten primal principles and their various configurations on to many different planes. We have seen how problems and diseases are examples of the way in which a configuration on the primal plane will claim its due on some other plane such as the mental or physical realm.

It is the task of every illness to acquaint the human being with some particular principle which he has not willingly tried to assimilate. With the help of a reality-matrix it is possible to make an illness superfluous by pointing out other planes on which the same principle can be assimilated, provided one stays on the same vertical alignment in moving from one plane to another. With this method there is no need to fight against a symptom. Indeed the symptom itself becomes superfluous, since the confrontation with the corresponding principle takes place on another plane. This is what we might call conscious vertical symptom-displacement.

Let us take another example to illustrate what has been said.

It is possible to calculate that somebody will shortly enter a Saturn phase; in other words, that a configuration featuring the planet Saturn will become manifest in his chart. I choose the Saturn principle again for two reasons: first, because it is considered particularly “bad” and is therefore generally feared; secondly because we have already become acquainted with this principle to some extent as well as with its analogous correlations on other planes (see matrix on page...)

Many an astrologer would warn a client about this configuration and the things that it implies: loss, restriction, accidents, illness and so on. Such a warning does not help the client in any way, who will only be frightened and feel victimized by the apparently malign planet. In fact the impending Saturn configuration means only that the time is ripe for getting to know the principle of Saturn better, for integrating that principle into one's life, for assimilating the Saturnian god in order to become more complete.

In order to make this process easier and reduce the client's resistance, we should first explain the principle and make clear that it represents an ingredient in the structure of reality and has its own justification. Following that we would give our client several pieces of advice as to how he or she can actively translate this principle into living experience. These pieces of advice might, in the beginning, sound a bit odd, but our matrix helps us to illustrate their significance. They might be as follows:

During the next few weeks try to reduce any activities of an expansive, outgoing nature. Avoid parties and social gatherings, amusement and lavishness. Try during that time to wear predominantly black clothing and go for frequent walks in cemeteries. If at all possible organize a room where you can retire and be alone. This room should be sparsely furnished, containing only essentials, and should be painted either all white or all black. Place on the wall, if you wish, the thirteenth Tarot card (death) and on your desk a skull or an hour-glass. Retreat as often as you can to this meditation room. Read the Tibetan Book of the Dead and certain passages in the Bible. Avoid copious meals – you could try a macrobiotic diet or, better still, fast. Drink, preferably horsetail tea. Suitable medicines would be lead or calcium taken in homeopathic form in a single dose of high potency. Listen to serious, classical music. Pay great attention to orderliness in everything you do during this time. Try to restructure many areas of activity in your life. Learn to know and love the blessings of quietness and solitude.

It is easy to see that all these recommendations come from the vertical chain of analogies belonging to the Saturn principle: structure, lead, horsetail, the colour black, cemeteries, symbols of death, and so on. The possibilities can be extended to many other planes and can be adapted to the individual in question. If our client follows a reasonable number of these recommendations he or she will inevitably learn to know and understand the Saturn principle. One simply cannot do these things without experiencing a change within.

Because our client is doing all this voluntarily no resistance will be produced and he will learn to love, in all its meaningfulness, the Saturnian attributes of limitation, renunciation, structure and reduction to bare necessities. Afterwards he will realize that by putting himself in touch with such problems as death, loneliness and stillness – which he so painstakingly avoided before – he has made himself more mature and aware of new dimensions of reality. He was able during this period, to do actively what he needed to do: namely to learn how to assimilate an aspect of reality hitherto unfamiliar to him. He accomplished his study plan and solved the problem.

If he does not follow these recommendations because he thinks renunciation, reduction and solitude are “not for him”, if he rejects such things and continues in his habitual way of life, then the Saturnian configuration may become for him a “bad” one. It will claim its “victim” by force. This could mean our client ending up in hospital owing to an accident. Here he is obliged to do without parties, social gatherings, copious meals, entertainments – all the things that we have recommended him to give up willingly! His hospital room is reduced to the bare essentials – the sort of room we advised him to organize for himself. Every now and then he witnesses how dead patients are wheeled out of the corridor, and he himself is absorbed in the thoughts of how close to death he was in the accident – we, too, advised him to reflect on the subject of death. He is alone a great deal and has time to think.

As we see, the end result is the same. We have said earlier that what has to be learned is already determined. The difference lies in the choice, in “how” we learn, whether willingly or by force.

 

Astrology And Reincarnation

ASTROLOGY AND REINCARNATION

Let us return to our natal horoscope. We have seen that it represents a person's study plan for life and as such reveals a person's fate. The course of a person's life is already evident at birth. In living out his life he is merely bringing a latent pattern into realization. In human life there is no coincidence.

The question arises whether someone would have had a different study plan and therefore a different fate if he or she had “by chance” been born a few hours earlier or later. The answer is yes, for a different time would be of a different quality and would therefore indicate a different course of life.

My readers may think that we have gone to a lot of trouble to eliminate chance from human life only to encounter it again in a concentrated form at the moment of birth. Can the chance factor of the moment of birth determine a person's fate? Let us not forget that nothing in this world happens by chance and that therefore the event of a birth is also subject to higher laws.

Every event is only a formal expression of some inner content. Form and content must correspond. From the form one can recognize the content and vica versa. A typical error of youth is to imagine that, in looking for meaningful content, one can neglect form. A birth is a formal event which takes place at a moment of a certain quality and which expresses the content of that moment. So what is this content?

At this point we must jump ahead a little to the subject of reincarnation. A new-born individual is not a blank sheet of paper, that is to say a pure and virgin soul, as we imagine children to be, dependent only on the fortune of his moment of birth. If we look backwards through the biography of a person's soul, we find, as we shall see later, that it has a long chain of earthly existences behind it. In each new life it was confronted with a specific study plan which it was free to tackle properly or not.

When a person dies it is rare for him to have fully grasped and fulfilled all the demands and tasks presented to him by fate. Nearly always something remains unredeemed and unassimilated. This can be compared with a commercial balance sheet where the bottom line shows a debit which is carried over. This figure is, as it were, the soul's code number. This code number is indicative of the soul's degree of maturity and therefore of the quality it possesses at any given time. A soul can only reincarnate when the quality of the moment corresponds to its own quality.

Earlier I said that if an event is to manifest itself it can only do so at a moment when the time quality is commensurate with the latent content of the event. The same is true of a soul. The time quality is the gateway to material reality and will only open when the soul's quality of content corresponds to it. Such is the law of resonance! The moment of incarnation is the moment of conception. But, according to the law we have already studied, there is a correlation between conception and birth. Hence we can say: the quality of the moment of birth is expressive of the nature of the incarnating soul.

The horoscope is nothing but an intermediate reference, showing the stage that an individual has reached on the journey through their series of earthly existences. It is therefore neither random nor unjust. The horoscope shows us the individual's karma – it is the study plan that has become necessary for his present incarnation.

Here it becomes apparent how fundamental is the connection between astrology and the doctrine of reincarnation. Without reference to reincarnation astrology is untenable nonsense. No astrologer can deny reincarnation and give a satisfactory answer to the question of why one person's horoscope should be different from another's. Without reincarnation the horoscope would become a product of chance occurrence or of fate's capriciousness. But if we accept that fate is random and arbitrary our preoccupation with astrology becomes senseless because we can then use it only to calculate the patterns of chance occurrence.

The horoscope represents what each of us has acquired through his or her deeds. One cannot complain about it. There are no good horoscopes or bad horoscopes, but certainly there are tasks which can be more easily or less easily accomplished.

Unfortunately more and more erroneous ideas are spreading among astrologers because of a tendency to mix up astrology with the mechanistic thinking of our age. And thus there is an increasing danger that a person who seeks advice in astrology will come to more harm than good. A particularly dangerous notion is that the planets exert an influence, for this encourages people to turn the heavenly bodies into a new kind of projection screen for their feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Previously it was the environment, the family, the profession or the state that served this purpose. Now it may be Saturn who is the scapegoat. The victims of this attitude blame all their difficulties in life on the fact that they have “bad horoscopes”, and they envy successful people for their “good horoscopes”.

When astrology drops to such low standards we should not be surprised that accusation of superstition are still heard. This fundamentally wrong attitude gives rise almost automatically to what is probably the most widely disseminated error among followers of astrology: namely that astrology is a method for correcting one's fate. Almost universally astrology is used with the intention of outwitting fate a little to the advantage of the astrologer or his client.

As a result of this attitude there are consultations where people are, for example, strongly recommended to be extremely careful for the next few months, not to undertake anything important during that period and, if possible, to stay in bed on three particular days, because at that time a wicked and dangerous configuration of planets will be operating. However, the astrologer goes on to add, his client need not completely despair because six month later Jupiter will be in trine with the Sun and things will be looking much rosier. This is the time for carrying out projects; anything undertaken then should meet with happy and profitable results.

Better no astrology at all than thus misleading mankind! This sort of thing produces astrology addicts who, before taking a decision or even making a car journey, have to consult the astrologer in order to hear whether the planets are favourably inclined or not. Astrology should not be evaluated by the aberrations of those who use it – otherwise it would soon have to be classified among the worst addictions.

Mankind is fascinated by the idea of cheating fate and each of us tries it his own way: doctors with their intensive care units, astrologers with their charts. The same gulf that stands between orthodox medicine and true healing also separates modern-day astrology from true knowledge of the starts and planets.

Polarity And Learning

POLARITY AND LEARNING

All this gives rise to the questions: to what extent is fate, or rather the fulfillment of these tasks, a matter of determinism? And to what extent are we free to alter things? These are very difficult questions, but we can approach the answers step by step.

As regards the learning plan, this is undoubtedly determined and must be carried out. Yet, within the determined framework, the law of polarity still applies. It confronts us with the choice of how to carry out the learning plan, which path to tread as apprentices and how to solve the problems that we are set. So, a distinction must be made, between the problems themselves, which are fully determined, and the manner of their solution. Here the law of polarity gives us two possibilities:

1 Conscious learning. This possibility requires of a person that he should be constantly ready to meet the challenges of fate and to resolve willingly and actively every problem that should arise.

2 Unconscious learning. This comes automatically into force when a person fails to resolve a problem consciously.

The majority of mankind restricts itself largely to the second possibility. Unconscious learning, however, is always accomplished through suffering. As long as a person is ready to question old standpoints and fixations, to risk new experiences and to keep extending his consciousness, so that he masters all the tasks brought to him by fate – as long as he is ready to do these things he need fear no great illness or blows of fate. But as soon as he pushes problems aside and tries to escape or deny them (in psychology this would be called either repression or suppression), fate begins to push him into the unconscious learning process. He becomes the victim of a situation in which he is forced to resolve at least part of the problem through experience. In such situations the learning process is usually incomplete because the resistance of the sufferer is too great. Not until a person is reconciled to a situation can he fully grasp its meaningfulness. Thus the unresolved remnant of a problem will necessitate another hard lesson. Here is an example:

Let us suppose that a person's horoscope contains the aspect which, in astrological terminology, is called “Saturn square Mars”. In technical terms this means that the planet Saturn formed an angle of 90 degrees to the planet Mars when the person was born. This Saturn-Mars aspect is, however, just a symbol for a particular task that has to be accomplished as part of the learning process. The reader will remember the keywords that are linked with the Saturn principle: resistance, structure, restraint. Mars, on the other hand, we associated with energy and thrust. If in a horoscope these two primal principles form the aspect that we call a “square”, it means that, in the case of this individual, energy and restraint are coupled and cannot be separated. This can be summed up in the term “energy-restraint-syndrome”. Whenever this individual is about to expend energy he simultaneously comes up against restraint.

Such a person will complain bitterly about the world around him and believe that malicious forces are constantly hampering him. The more he projects “blame onto the environment the less he will solve his problem. It is quite true that the environment is the medium through which these restraints operate, but the problem lies with the person concerned because of the tendencies in him which, by the law of affinity, contact the corresponding parts of the environment. One can even say that he is unconsciously seeking part of himself. In reality he needs these restraints, since without them his energies could never be stretched. Such individuals grow in proportion to the obstacles they encounter, and this can lead to a search for ever-increasing restraints.

The aspect in question represents a task. In itself it is neither good nor bad. It is there merely to be translated into reality by the individual and thereby resolved.

Let us suppose furthermore that this person is in the habit of rigorously suppressing the problem. Wherever he encounters it he projects it outwards and unloads the responsibility onto the environment, but he himself does nothing to resolve it. He does not consider it as “his problem” at all.

In astrology there exist certain techniques by which one can determine the moment when a particular aspect is activated for the individual. Most astrologers are inclined to designate some aspects as bad or dangerous and would urge anyone seeking advice on one to take particular care around the time when the aspect in question is triggered off. Regardless of any such (quite senseless) advice, our individual will now find himself in a situation where he experiences as a victim the “energy-restraint” problem that he has been avoiding. To use an analogy that corresponds to the same primal principles, it is as though he were to drive at 100 miles an hour against a tree. If he did this he would experience what energy (100 miles an hour) and restrain (tree) mean. He would have learned directly what these primal principles are.

From such events lessons are learned, even if not always with the desired thoroughness. A happening of this kind appears to justify astrologers in speaking of dangerous and negative aspects in a horoscope. But in reality what has happened in a case like this is that a completely neutral aspect has become dangerous because the task which it indicates has not been consciously fulfilled by the person concerned.

What would the conscious solution be in this case? It would mean looking for an activity or occupation in which the principles indicated (energy and restraint) could be continually realized on some level of reality. For the person in this example, the sport of karate would be a possibility. In this sport one learns how to deal blows of high intensity and at the same time how to control the force of a blow with great exactitude if one wishes to avoid killing the opponent. The enormous forces exerted in this type of hand-foot-combat are demonstrated by the fact that a karate expert can shatter a brick or thick wooden board with his bare hand.

Thus, the two salient characteristics of this sport are the use of powerful blows and the precision with which these blows are controlled. Karate therefore aptly corresponds to our Mars-Saturn aspect. The otherwise undirected energy of Mars is brought here into unison with the structured nature of Saturn. If the individual we have been considering were to learn this sport he would, through his daily training, be constantly expressing his particular Mars-Saturn combination. By experiencing and confronting the problem he would come to understand it better. And this understanding would transfer itself naturally to the other levels of his being.

This person would then need to have no fear in regard to the working out of his configuration. He would not hit a tree even if he did drive his car at 100 miles an hour. Certainly this configuration will manifest itself for him at the appropriate time, but it will not endanger it. For instance, he might at that moment win a karate contest or gain a new dan.

This example should make it clear to what extent the fulfillment of the task is determined and to what extent there is a choice between the conscious and the unconscious part. Fate has to do with the end result not with the way leading to it. What is important is the completion of the learning process, not the amount of suffering that a person burdens himself with en route by continually refusing to learn.

This example should also throw light on the question of the exactitude of astrological prognosis. Astrology works with the exactitude on the level of the principles, but these principles can be manifested on any number of different planes. The determining of the plane of manifestation is to a large extent impossible for astrology. I say: “to a large extent” because it is, in fact, possible to recognize the dominance of particular planes, and it may be that a refinement of this possibility will come as astrological techniques develop further. Modern astrological systems can to some extent determine the plane of manifestation but the multi-leveled nature of such systems makes the application of prognosis practically impossible. It should be made clear, however, that this is not due to a lack of exactitude, but is a consequence of vertical thinking. As fate does not care about the specific plane of manifestation we should not give it too much importance either.

Later we shall see how this very interchangeability of planes opens up valuable therapeutic possibilities. It may, of course, seem strange to the layman that for the astrologer the car crash should be equated with the practice of karate, but precisely this way of thinking makes it possible to discover entirely new interconnections within reality.

Illnesses and blows of fate nearly always represent the passive aspect of a lesson that has not been learnt voluntarily. To put it in a nutshell: he who does not learn, suffers. We human beings tend to make peculiar demands on life and fate. We behave as though we had the right to be fortunate, rich, healthy and happy. What a grotesque misconception of reality! What entitles us to make such a claim?

We are not incarnated into this world to idle in the sunshine but to develop ourselves and to serve the world to the best of our abilities. The person who does this consciously will also find happiness. What I have said is not intended to be life-negating but merely to set the priorities right.

Man is continually in search of happiness. This is not only his birthright, but the deepest motivation of his actions. Yet the paths that he chooses are generally the least likely to lead him to his goal. Man chases after happiness without having any precise conception of what this happiness really is. Thus he identifies objects of one kind or another in the outer world with the longed-for feeling of happiness and believes that only when he possesses these things will he be truly happy.

Now begins an endless and senseless chase. For as soon as he attains the desired objects he finds that they reveal themselves as incapable of bestowing the promised fulfillment. A hungry man believes he will be the happiest man in the world when he has eaten his fill. Give him enough to eat and he will believe that his happiness will only be complete when he has somewhere to live. Give him somewhere to live and he will long for his own house and garden. Give him these and he will want fame and recognition. When he has attained these aims, he will find that a chronic illness stands between him and happiness. Cure the illness and he will feel lonely and will now only need company to make him happy. “Happily” death at last releases him temporarily from this exhausting pursuit of happiness.

His mistakes lies in the belief that happiness is dependent on outside things. Man overlooks the fact that external objects are only alluring as long as he does not possess them. One cannot chase after or possess happiness. One can only be happy. Happiness is a state of consciousness, a condition of the soul. It is fully independent of the outside world. It takes root where individuals are in harmony with the universe; it blossoms when they are conscious of their task and recognize the grace of being able to serve.

Suffering is the polar opposite of happiness and therefore, in the last analysis, the same thing. “Happily” for mankind, suffering is there to make sure that we do not remain wandering forever on false paths. Suffering prevents stagnation and ensures that we do not give up the quest. Suffering is always a roundabout way – yet it is a way.

The Horoscope: A Study Plan For Life

THE HOROSCOPE: A STUDY PLAN FOR LIFE

The horoscope shows in symbolic form the quality of the moment at which an individual enters the world, in other words, how the primal principles are weighted and interrelated at that moment. This horoscope is his task and study plan which is there for him to carry out during the course of his life. Every so-called constellation (by which astrologers mean a grouping of principles) embodies a particular task or problem.

At this point let me make a few observation about the term “problem”. In reality there are no problems. A certain situation only becomes a problem for a person when he cannot integrate it into his consciousness. Multiplication, for example, is a great problem for a six-year-old child, but by the time a person has reached the age of thirty he will have learned how to multiply with ease. Every learning process is also an extension of consciousness enabling us to fulfill a task. Every time we solve a problem it ceases to be a problem and becomes an accomplished task. This process has the consequence that the accomplished task can never again present itself as a problem.

Let us never forget that a problem only represents the gap between a given situation and our level of consciousness. It should therefore be seen as a way of challenging us to bestride the gap by extending ourselves. Unfortunately in everyday life most people behave as if problems existed “per se” and were a condition of the environment that could simply be removed.

We said earlier that each constellation symbolizes such a problem and that the horoscope is a study plan for a person's life. All these constellations are there to be made manifest in life and transcended through apprenticeship and early participation. Constellations are still “problems” at the time of birth but the aim should be, if possible, to have transcended them by the end of one's life. Life is a learning process – though for many of us this is unfortunately not as self-evident as it should be.

What is the essential trait, common to all things in nature? It is that they develop. For esotericism as for science, evolution is the goal of all life. But whereas science tends to regard evolution as a product of “chance” mutations of genes, esotericism sees it as a development towards a definite goal. Both parties are agreed, however, that everything which lives develops. How does this development occur? Only by a process of learning. This is just as true of a worm as it is of a human being.

Learning can only take place through the solving of problems. But as this is always a strenuous process, human beings do not usually seek problems out, they have to be confronted with them. Seen in this light, problems emerge as the driving wheels of evolution.

What we call “fate” is the force which continually confronts us with problems and ensures that we never stop learning. And, since our horoscope reveals the study plan for an incarnation, it is said that in the horoscope we can read the fate of an individual. This sounds as though each individual were fitted with a strait-jacked of fate. But if we think in terms of a study plan or an allotment of tasks we discover a little more of the underlying meaning.

The Horoscope As A Measuring Instrument

THE HOROSCOPE AS A MEASURING

INSTRUMENT

Astrology is not the belief in the influence of the heavenly bodies on human beings, but rather a system for illustrating reality. Other systems do the same thing. Physics, for example, uses numbers and letters as its symbols for illustrating reality, but no one is asked to believe that a formula made up of these letters and numbers actually influences, shall we say, the force of gravity.

A horoscope is a measuring instrument gauged to register the quality of a given moment. It works with varying degrees of accuracy, depending on certain technical factors, but the measurability of the time-quality itself is not in question. The situation is the same as with the quantitative measurement of time, which is likewise dependent for its accuracy on our technical capacity. When we only had sundials we could not measure nearly as accurately as with a modern atomic clock, which can record time to an accuracy of one millionth of a second.

Similar discrepancies can be seen in astrology. In its practical application astrology is often a rather crude instrument and leaves much to be desired as regards accuracy. But any improvement in accuracy depends on the technical skills of astrologers and the further development of the measuring instruments. Thus any limitations exist in human capacity rather than in astrology itself.

Unfortunately some sheer nonsense is to be found among the statements that have been appearing in astrological textbooks for generations. Take, for example, the dictum that “the planets create inclinations, but they do not compel”. This statement, which is usually intended as an expression of moderation and seriousness, contains several errors of thinking. First of all it would be more correct to say that the planets do neither of those things. When the mercury in a thermometer shows 30 degrees one cannot say that it indicates an inclination towards this temperature, which may, nevertheless, not be reached.

The heavenly bodies neither compel nor incline. They indicate how reality is constituted at a particular moment, albeit with compelling accuracy. If the sentence I have quoted were true it would be a waste of time to devote even five minutes to astrology, for every astrological statement would have a probability factor of 50 per cent – in other words it might be true or it might not. The same result could be obtained much more easily by tossing a coin.

Another claim of equal absurdity is that human fate is a combination of inherited characteristics, upbringing, environmental influences and cosmic factors. This again shows confused thinking. The first question it raises has to do with the nature of these “cosmic factors”. What is meant by this term? How does a person experience the working of a cosmic factor? What events in their destiny does it effect? They would have to be events in which the environment played no part, otherwise we would be talking about environmental influences.

A statement of this kind is based not so much upon mature considerations as on a desire to conform to scientific theory and somehow to smuggle astrology into the precincts of science. A moment's reflection reveals that upbringing and environment are merely concrete levels on which the primal principles are manifested. The environment is the organ without which these principles could not be carried out; for how can a person experience a “cosmic factor” (our “primal principle”) if not through the medium of the environment? How could anyone be run over if there were no cars, or fall ill if there were no viruses, or get murdered if there were no murderers? Yet these environmental factors are never causes. They are nothing more than “executive officers” of fate.

Inherited factors are again another plane of reality on which one can find representations of the primal principles. On the level of information carriers in the cells we can read reality just as we can on the heavenly plane. Human geneticists and astrologers are really colleagues if they only knew it. And if even astrologers believe in a casual influence from the planets, we cannot easily hold it against experts in human genetics when we find they are adamantly convinced that genes are the “cause” of inherited characteristics. A human being carries his or her “horoscope” in each individual cell, for the whole is always to be found in every detail, just as the plant is to be found in the seed.

This is demonstrated vividly by acupuncture, which began with the body as a whole, then discovered the entire human being reflected in the ear. Later it made the same discovery about the nose, the hand, the foot and so on. Similarly each person carries his horoscope in his eye, in his foot, in each cell of his body. The symbolic language is different, but the message is always the same, for it is the same single reality that is being illustrated.

It is not without reason that in former times astrology was known as the “royal science”; for astrology embraces the whole of reality and can be applied to all levels with equal success. In a word, it is universal. It is also not without reason that Kepler wrote a book with the very significant title: A Warning to Opponents of Astrology. Nor is it without reason that Paracelsus declared that any doctor who did no know astrology was a charlatan and a quack. But all of these testimonies refer exclusively to a form of astrology which was still firmly rooted in the esoteric world-view and which was still the true celestial knowledge – not the all-too-familiar caricature which passes for astrology today.

True astrology was and is a path of initiation which leads via self-knowledge and knowledge of nature to knowledge of God. Thus true astrology finally makes itself superfluous. True astrology is a form of philosophy and has nothing to do with delving around in other people's future. In order to understand astrology one must learn it for oneself. True astrology teaches us to approach the world and our fellow men with an understanding of the cosmic factors proper to each individual situation and thus be inwardly at peace with everything and everyone around us. How can we be angry with a person if we really understand them? Real astrology teaches us to perceive a new dimension of reality.

In natal astrology a horoscope is cast for the moment of birth, or more precisely the first breath. Here, as with any other process, the beginning contains the pattern of unfoldment – in this case of a human life. The horoscope evaluates the time-quality under which a life begins and thus indicates the path of that life. A natal horoscope shows three different things:

1 It indicates what psychologists call character- or personality-structure.

2 Add to the character-structure, which is a static thing, the dynamic factor of time, and you arrive at the course of the individual's destiny. The time factor tells us at what point in a person's life a particular problem area is activated.

3 The natal horoscope also indicates the actual course of labour and delivery in the birth of an individual.

This third aspect has often been overlooked – which is surprising when one considers what far-reaching consequences are attributed to the events of delivery. The same horoscope is valid for both the birth event and the course of the individual's life. In other words someone's life is merely their own birth writ large. Everything that is to happen in a person's life must already be present by analogy in the birth, which is a telescoped version of the entire life.

Looking at it the other way round, this means that nothing can happen in the life of an individual (be it positive or negative) that has not already been present in the birth process. This way of looking at things, however, goes against the idea that we can find “causes” for illnesses and other events in a human life. In fact with the right methods it can be shown that every problem in a human life can be tracked back to the birth even. For in every beginning the end is already present.

The Quality Of Time

THE QUALITY OF TIME

In order to learn to understand astrology better as a measuring instrument, we must consider another, less familiar, concept. When we speak of time we usually think in terms of quantitative measurements. We ask how long something has lasted, how long ago an event took place, how much time has elapsed. In other words we are accustomed to considering only the amount of time. According to the law of polarity this quantitative aspect of time must have, as its opposite pole, a qualitative aspect. The Greeks called these two aspects respectively chronos and kairos.

Time has not only quantity but also quality. But very few people today can form any conception of what is meant by the quality of time. In ancient times the situation was reversed. Then people observed only the quality and neglected the quantity aspect. Quality in this context has nothing to do with duration. When we speak of the quality of time we mean that each moment or section of time, whether it be a second, an hour or a century, possesses a definite quality, so that only events commensurate with that quality can occur.

To put it another way: at any given point of time only those events can be realized whose qualitative content corresponds to the quality of the moment. What time does is to create openings for latent tendencies, enabling those tendencies to enter reality and manifest themselves. An aeroplane crash, for example, will only take place when the prevailing time-quality allows it to do so. Time is also a plane of reality, and therefore time-qualities are simply expressions of our primal principle. Thus any given point in time is “ruled” by a particular principle or rather a mixture of principles.

There is another law which was known to the ancients but which, in the meantime, has unfortunately been forgotten: “Every beginning carries its own end within itself”. This law states that at the moment when something begins, its future course and ultimate end are already laid down. We cherish the idea that it is possible to intervene in a sequence of events and influence its outcome. But in each beginning the end is latent, just as in each seed the complete plant is latent, including the new seed.

Having this knowledge, the men of former times laid great emphasis on the importance of beginning an undertaking “at the right moment”, for every undertaking unfolds according to the time-quality under which it was begun. Thus, if one desires an undertaking to follow a particular course and to have a good outcome, one must seek a favourable moment for its beginning. In ancient times the determining of this time-quality was one of the tasks of the priesthood. When they were asked a question the priests would examine “the hour” in order to find out its quality. Hence the word “horoscope”, meaning a “looking into the hour” (from the Greek hora = hour, and skopein = to look). A horoscope is thus nothing more nor less than a snap-shot of the sky at a particular point in time.

Such horoscope-casting was originally concerned primarily with events and with important undertakings such as declarations of war, the concluding of treaties and so on. So-called natal horoscopes, dealing with the birth of an individual, are a somewhat later development and are by no means the most interesting aspect of astrology.

We should remember that looking at the sky was not the only method by which the priests determined the quality of a given moment. They also scrutinized entrails, examined the flight of birds and watched the feeding behaviour of sacred hens. In these examples, which we know from the history of ancient Rome, instead of the sky, they took the animal kingdom as their field of observation from which to determine the dominant principles at a given point in time.

In the history of mantic techniques we find many different levels being used for this purpose, all equally valid since they all conform to the law of vertical analogy. Thus the laying out of Tarot cards for divinatory purposes is no more “unscientific” or “superstitious” than the casting of a horoscope. Because mathematical tables are involved in drawing up a horoscope, many astrologers insist on the “scientific” nature of astrology and distance themselves from all “unserious” systems such as Tarot and the I Ching. Such a posture is ludicrous. All mantic and divinatory systems work on the same principle, and the planes of reference are interchangeable.

The only criterion for judging the seriousness of a system is whether or not the person using it can take what he learns from his chosen plane of observation and translate it to other planes. This translation process, which astrologers call “interpretation”, is the most difficult part of any system. Numerically, in fact, “unserious” practitioners outweigh “serious” ones, whether in laying out cards or in astrology.

Returning to the subject of astrology, we have seen that a horoscope is a graphic representation of the situation in the sky at a particular point in time and with reference to a particular place. Thus each horoscope is a time-place equation. A horoscope always relates to the place where the event under consideration takes place, and it examines the sky from this point of view.

Here we should answer the common objection that astrology works within a geocentric view of the universe. This is just as it should be, since for human beings a geocentric universe is the only appropriate one. In terms of our lived experience a heliocentric universe is wrong, for if we ignore the calculations of astronomy we find that each day the sun rises up in the morning and goes down in the evening. For the human psyche this experience is much more important than the objective knowledge that the earth orbits the sun. This fact cannot be experienced by man in the depth of his psyche and is therefore totally irrelevant to him.

Thus the heliocentric view is correct for astronomy and for astronauts. But for humanity in general and for the astrologer in particular it is only the earth that can be taken as the central point of reference. It is there that human life takes place. Bonn is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, but that is no reason for me, as a resident of Munich, to put a Bonn address on my visiting card. Every human being experiences himself as the center of the universe. If he does not do this, he loses his “standpoint” and becomes spiritually uprooted. Herein lies the deeper reason why the Church for so long opposed the heliocentric view of the universe.

The Heavenly Bodies As Representatives

THE HEAVENLY BODIES

AS REPRESENTATIVES

This system, which teaches the seven primal principles and studies their effects on the different levels of reality, is called astrology. In astrology, when we speak of Saturn we really mean the primal principle that Saturn stands for. Only in purely practical work does the astrologer resort to observing the actual planet in the sky. Astrology is about primal principles, not about stars and planets. The planets are a practical vocabulary, though not the only possible way of expressing the principles. Someone who knows astrology very well will find that in time he hardly needs the planetary level any longer, since he will have learnt to recognize the principles on all levels.

At this point we should dispose of some of the most common misconceptions about astrology. Opponents of astrology deny that the heavenly bodies can have a concrete influence on mankind. By now it will be clear to the reader that this objection is not pertinent to astrology which does not, in fact, assume a direct influence on human beings. But confusion has arisen from the fact that there are still astrologers who believe in an influence of this kind. Some of then even consider themselves particularly progressive and scientific and are fond of quoting discoveries and correlations between planetary movements, sunspots and so forth on the one hand and the electromagnetic fields of living cells on the other. Nobody doubts this correlation, but a correlation is not the same as an influence. These facts only confirm how, as we saw earlier, the same principles operate analogically on different planes. It is easy to correlate things but that does not prove a causal connection.

So let us not talk any longer about astrology being the study of celestial influences on our lives. Many astrologers cast horoscopes for the founding of states, the signing of contracts, the laying of foundation stones and so on. In such cases what is the use of clever talk about electro-magnetic influences on our cells? Much of an astrologer's work deals with theoretical planetary positions which cannot be traced in the sky at the times when they come into effect (transits, progressions, solar return and so on). Let us sum up as follows:

1 Astrology deals with archetypal principles which on the plane of ideas represent the primal constituents from which reality, in all its manifestations, is formed.

2 These primal principles run vertically through all planes of manifestation. Thus chains of analogy are formed, whose individual components belong to different levels but are linked by a common principle.

3 An observation on one plane can, with the help of analogy, be transformed to any other plane. The plane of reference for astrology is the sky.

4 The primal principles in astrology are called Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The planets bearing these names are merely representatives of these principles.

In more recent times astrologers have worked with three further principles, namely: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

5 There are no causal connections between the heavenly bodies and the various levels of reality.

6 The planets are a scale on which we measure reality with relative exactitude. But they do not influence reality any more than mercury in a thermometer produces a temperature.

7 Astrological thinking is vertical, according to the esoteric axiom: as above, so below.

This verticality is typical of all esoteric systems and is the main reason why esoteric thinking appears so nonsensical to outsiders. Outside esotericism there is only horizontal thinking. Yet with the help of our vertical chains of analogy many otherwise incomprehensible connections suddenly become clear. Here are a few examples:

It is a favourite habit of our interior designers to deck living-rooms in black and chrome, as one can see by looking through a few magazines devoted to home decoration. Without exception all rooms decorated in this way will feature a parlour palm. Naturally this is attributed to the unerring stylistic flair of the interior designers. In fact, they are unconsciously following the Saturnian chain of symbols. A black room embodies the principle of Saturn, and only a plant which also represents this principle is felt to be suitable for such a room.

Let us take an example from everyday speech which might be more readily grasped. We use the expression “wise old owl”. Unless we know the chain of analogies, this idiom is difficult to explain, but for someone versed in astrology the connection is obvious. On the animal plane the owl represents the Jupiterian principle, which is also strongly associated with the quality of wisdom, because Jupiter is, among other things, the planet of study and philosophy.

As another Jupiterian example, let us take the expression “touch wood”, which we say to ensure the good outcome of an expectation. Wood, as a material, belongs to the Jupiterian principle. Hence, by touching wood, we invoke Jupiter, which is also the planet of good fortune.

As a final example consider the expression “as cunning as a fox”. The fox is part of the symbolic chain of Mercury, the planet of cleverness, adroitness and quickness of wit.

These simple examples will, for the time being, suffice to suggest to the reader the value of a vertical way of thinking. Later, when I come to the subject of astrological therapy, I shall deal with the practical uses of our matrix.

Primal Principles Of Reality

PRIMAL PRINCIPLES OF REALITY

This second procedure, which in the case of the periodic table is valid only for the material plane, we shall now apply to the whole of reality. Here again we start from the realization that behind manifold reality lies a limited number of units. But as we wish to encompass the whole of reality with our system, we must find units which apply to all realms: animal, vegetable and mineral, and to all planes: material and psychic. We spoke in the first chapter about how matter always needs information in order to acquire form. Thus it is the idea rather than the form which is primal and real.

Unfortunately, in our materialistic age it is the opposite view which has established itself. Thus it is believed that the stone comes first and that subsequently mankind, in observing it, develops the concept and invents the world “stone”. In reality the reverse is true. Without the idea of stone a tangible stone can never manifest itself. Concepts and language are always present much earlier than their material representatives. (“In the beginning was the word...”)

An artist wishing to paint a picture first forms an idea and then translates it into material reality. It is not the picture which creates the idea but the idea that condenses into the picture. Thus if we wish to design a “periodic table of reality” our hypothetical units must be archetypal ideas.

Such primal images must exist as the basic constituents of reality, but access to the world of pure concepts is very difficult for man. So for the time being, what we have to do is to formulate purely hypothetical units and give them abstract symbols. It is not important at this stage which symbols we choose. The symbols x, y, z for example, would be appropriate for our time. Here x stands for a certain basic concept in the realm of ideas. But since this realm of ideas is reflected in our visible and perceptible reality the primal concept x must also be present in the manifest world.

To put it more precisely, our primal idea x must have a particular representative on every level of reality. Thus we shall find among animals, plants, minerals and human beings some concrete example that represents x on the plane of reality. If x cannot be found on every plane then it does not deserve the title “primal idea”. On this basis we can construct a matrix consisting of the various levels which run vertically from the primal ideas or principles.

Primal Idea x y

Primal principles

nature of principle structure, hindrance energy, impulse

resistance, time

sky ? ?

mineral lead, calcium iron

plant ivy, thistle, horsetail stinging nettle

animal raven, goat predator, rodent

body skeleton, teeth muscles, arterial blood

illnesses hardening of the arteries inflammation, injuries

degenerative diseases,

gallstones

locality prison, monastery smithy, battlefield

old people's home, cemetery

area mountain, cold desert volcanic area

social category miner, old person soldier

colour black, dark blue red

In this matrix we already find some representatives of x and y on different levels of reality. The sense or justification of this arrangement will not yet at this stage be clear. For the time being it will be enough to accept these correlations, for their accuracy is not yet the subject of our consideration.

Rather let me make it clear that a primal principle runs vertically through all levels of manifest form. The number of planes is, in fact, unlimited; those shown here are only a tiny selection and can be extended almost indefinitely by the addition of other categories such as types of vegetable, shares in the brewery companies, musical instruments, architectural styles ans so on. Returning to the questions posed earlier in the chapter, some readers will have already recognized the examples from question (b) in the column x of our table.

Now it will be apparent how questions (a) and (b) differ from each other. Question (b), however, contains various examples from a single plane, namely the animal kingdom. This is something that all of us have been trained to recognize. Question (b), however, contains concepts arranged in a vertical chain of principles whose common factor lies in the as yet undefined principle that we are provisionally calling x. In trying to answer question (b) we should recognize that we are not accustomed to thinking vertically and are therefore not aware of any common factor although such a factor is present, as we shall discover by and by.

It is important to understand that there are horizontal categories as well as a vertical chain of principles. The first is used almost exclusively in science, the second almost equally exclusively in esotericism, for the axiom “as above so below” leads inevitably to a vertical way of thinking. Thus the scientific and esoteric systems of thought diverge from each other by exactly 90 degrees, which is why we should not be surprised that both parties almost invariably talk at cross purposes.

Further conclusions can be drawn from the matrix which we have outlined. For instance: if a primal principle were to be modified in some way then this modification would have to become apparent in all its representatives on the different levels of reality. Similarly any interaction or mutual influence between the principles would have its analogical effect on all planes of the physical world. Just as we can observe representatives of a given principle on any level of reality so, by the reverse process, these correlations make it possible for us to draw conclusions about otherwise inaccessible primal principles.

To be more concrete, every primal concept must have its counterpart in the world of animals. If I know the correlations I can take an animal representing each principle and put all the animals together in a zoo. By observing how animals behave towards each other we can learn about the plane of primal principles and about all other planes.

The prerequisite for such a procedure are an exact knowledge of the vertical correspondence and the ability to translate concrete observation analogically from one plane to another. Thus theoretically one could from observing draw conclusions about plants, social conditions or the fluctuation of brewery shares. This way of thinking we call deduction by analogy and it has absolutely nothing to do with causality.

To put it in terms of a banal example: if I know from experience that every Sunday I must go to church an that every Sunday there is roast pork for lunch, then I can deduce that if today is a day for going to church then it is also a day for roast pork. This conclusion is correct although the going to church has nothing whatsoever to do with lunch and there is no causal connection between the two things. In fact, the correctness of the conclusion has to do with a common factor, namely that both events are linked with Sunday.

Let us return to our “matrix of reality”. Basically it does not matter which plane I take as the point of departure for an observation and onto what plane I translate it analogically. In practice, however, not all planes are equally suitable. So, for most practical purposes, I would not advise anyone to carry out the experiment with the zoo which I mentioned earlier as an example. But we shall see later that there is hardly any plane of reality where such correlations have not been explored at some time of history.

One plane, however, that seemed particularly suitable when man was looking for the ideal plane to observe, was the starry sky. The celestial plane is not mixed up with other planes, and the behaviour of the heavenly bodies, being mathematically calculable, offers a reference for past and future without necessitating constant observation. As the sky with its stars and planets is a plane of reality like any other it was concluded that there, too, could be found representatives of all primal principles. Therefore the heavenly bodies were given names corresponding to the principles they represented.

We now return to the principles that we provisionally called x and y. Ancient man did not, of course, use x, y and z; he employed signs that were not chosen at random but already existed as hieroglyphs representing the principles.

To understand how these hieroglyphs were framed we must remember what was said at the outset, namely that everything in nature consists of three components: body, soul and spirit. In antiquity the circle was used as the symbol for spirit, since it was felt to represent the unity and perfection of the spiritual principle. For soul the ancients chose a semi-circle or cup, suggesting the receptivity and retaining quality of the soul principle. Finally for body they used the cross which, being a four-fold symbol, represented the essence of matter. By putting these three basic symbols (circle, cup, cross) together in different ways it was possible to form the glyphs representing the primal principles.

The wise men of antiquity were able, through considered observation, to discern seven primal principles. It would be a digression to discuss here how these seven were arrived at, but it is worth remembering that there are seven colours in the rainbow, seven days in the week, seven parts in the Lord's Prayer and so on, and the people of antiquity knew seven heavenly bodies. Although in more recent times these have been extended to ten, this has not devalued the classical seven.

The Sun has come to represent the spiritual principle and has been given the symbol of a circle with a dot in the middle: (). The Moon represents the receptive soul principle: (). The cross +, as the symbol for matter, does not stand alone, as matter is not viable without the other two principles. The symbol for Mercury, () shows us that all three principles are here united in harmonious balance. The symbol for Mars, (), (this is the original glyph although today the cross has been replaced by an arrow to avoid confusion with Venus: () ) shows us matter dominating spirit but being motivated by spirit from below. Venus is exactly the reverse: (), with spirit clearly dominating matter. In the case of Jupiter, (), the soul dominates matter, but the Saturn glyph, (), clearly shows matter weighing down on the soul.

Thus we know that in ancient times the seven primal principles were assigned to Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Each of these seven principles was linked with a heavenly body which was given the same name. Furthermore they were personified and depicted as deities. Therefore we must fill out our matrix as follows.

Primal principle x (Saturn) y (Mars)

Idea

Definition structure, hindrance, energy, impulse

of principle resistance, time

Sky Saturn Mars

Astrology - A Metaphor For Reality

IV

ASTROLOGY

• A METAPHOR

FOR REALITY

Even as the sun and planets stood, to salute one another, on the day you entered the world – even so you began straightaway to grow and have continued to do so, according to the law that prevailed over your beginning. It is thus that you must be, you cannot escape yourself – the Sybils and Prophets said the same thing long ago; and no time or power can destroy the shape that has been impressed upon evolving life. - Goethe, First and Last Words, Orphic: Destiny (Translated by David Luke)

IF WE NOW EXAMINE astrology in greater detail it is for the following reasons:

1 Astrology is the esoteric system best known to the public. The debate between supporters and opponents of astrology is continually flaring up with renewed passion.

2 Most conceptions about astrology found among laymen are basically false, and this stands in the way of a true understanding both for supporters and opponents.

3 Following the Zeitgeist, astrologers have been increasingly attempting to sever astrology from its esoteric origins and to adapt it step by step to the scientific way of thinking in the hope that this would bring recognition from official science. This process has resulted in the original astrology being degraded to a mere technique.

4 The original astrology is, in its inner structure and way of thinking, a typical esoteric discipline. It therefore serves here to represent all other mantic techniques. From the philosophy that lies at the root of astrology we shall develop further considerations to do with fate and illness.

Before we proceed to certain abstract considerations that may help in giving us a deeper understanding of our theme, I would ask the reader to try the following tests:

Find the overall factor common to the following: (a) dog, starling, ant, crocodile, bear, elephant, trout; (b) lead, goat, teeth, ivy, monastic cell, miner.

There will be certainly no difficulties in answering question (a), for the overall category “animal” will immediately occur to everyone. Question (b) will be somewhat more difficult since the examples given appear to have little in common. Let us now look step by step at what lies behind these two questions.

When we confront the multiplicity of forms in the world of appearances we feel the need to bring order into this multiplicity. All systems of philosophy and science arise from this fundamental human wish. Yet from the beginning there have been two entirely different ways of bringing order into this daunting multiplicity:

The first way is to create overall categories (e. g. plant, animal, miner) into which we can fit individual phenomena which have characteristics in common. In this way there emerges a division of reality into levels (such as the animal -, vegetable -, mineral kingdom).

The second way is to seek units from which multiplicity arises through a varied mixing of the basic ingredients. Both the doctrine of the four elements and the presocratic atomic model are based on this approach. The most impressive modern example of this way of thinking is the periodic table of the elements. Such systems make it possible to reduce the manifold forms around us to a few basic qualities. Thus we are enabled to make more sense of the structure of the manifold reality around us, a reality which is produced by things interacting in different mixtures and proportions.