Contemplations on Spirit
'In this blog I contemplate the means to understand one self and the motivation that moves us to unfold in heart and soul.'
The Astrological framework pt.1
That we encounter an immense polarity with the ordinary rational is due to the convey of inner experience, which transcends all words, and yet needs language.
D. T Suzuki
We encounter an immense language conflict. We want to, in one way or another, speak about the structure of atoms. But in ordinary language there are no words to describe them.
W. Heisenberg
The quotes I shared above are copied from the Dutch version of Tao of the Physics by Fritjof Capra* and translated (to the best of my ability) by myself. The reason why I share these quotes is because they have, like Fritjof Capra points out, great resemblance. Apart from this they describe the trouble that physics as well as spiritual teachers encounter when explaining their work.
Dra. Karen Hamaker- Zondag, my teacher and mentor contributed monumental work in detangling the scattered past of astrological heritage and found coherence with the work of C.G Jung and the Tao Teh Ching. Astrology is one immense form of Life expression, in all its varieties. Handling a number of variables of that one Life form, with at its roots the foundation of polarity. Like the Tao says, "Tao births One, One births Two, Two births Three and Three Births All of the Universe." * Due to polarities we become conscious. When experiencing darkness, one can recognize light. When we study these polarities we can find that they are in fact two sides of the same thing; oneness.
Each sign of the zodiac, each planet, each astrological house, each aspect yes, every single bit of astrology has these two opposites united at its root.
I understand, like most of us, that earth is one of the planets in our galaxy in orbit around our Sun. When observing the galaxy form the perspective of the Sun, we talk about an heliocentric image. In Astrology we work with a geocentric image, meaning that Sun, Moon and planets are observed as visible form Earth. One of the great historical Astronomers Ptolemaeus created the image on the top of this page that shows this constellation.
"North and South of the ecliptic, stretch two belts of 8 degrees of arc and this whole belt we refer to as the zodiac. The zodiac is divided in twelve equal sectors of 30 degrees that are called zodiac signs.
Each sign has its own name, derived from the star constellation in ancient times. A zodiac sign is something different than a star constellation. The star constellations of immemorial differed in size. The zodiac signs eventually are equal in size as they are signs which humans related to with their experiences." writes Dra. Karen Hamaker- Zondag in her book Psyche en Astrologisch Symbool (p22).**
Astrology is, in the first place, a symbolic language that rests on synchronicity, better yet on "a statistical probability of occurrence of synchronistic phenomena." according to Jung*. We observe the seasons and stages in nature rather than the astronomical constellation. For instance the astrological time Sun in Aries, marks the beginning of Spring. When nature bursts out after a long period of hibernation. Leaves start to grow again and the first sings of spring flowers are showing.
"We can say that the zodiak is divided in two groups, both forming one polarity: active and re-active, at which we can distinguish three archetypal i.e. primal directions of psychic energy (cardinal, fixed, mutable) that express in four psychological functions and the corresponding types that are astrologically symbolized as the four elements." Writes Dra. Hamaker- Zondag in her book Psyche en Astrologisch Symbool (p. 26) **
In the following blog I will continue this journey trough the Astrological frame work with you. Thank you for reading this.
Source:
* De Tao van de Fysica, Fritjof Capra ISBN 90 6019 874 3
** Psyche en Astrologisch Symbool, Dra. Karen Hamaker- Zondag ISBN 90 6378 001 X
Images
Top: système de ptolémée, eduscol, education France
Middle: Diagram of I Ching hexagram, owned by Gotfried Willhelm Leibniz 1701
Bottom left to right: Aries woodcut; artist unknown, Lentil sprouts; own work, Sprout; free image on mijndomein artist unknown, The Sun UK.
