Question: Something that seems pertinent is an emphasis on the theology and mythology of the planets, signs, and astrology in general.
Do you have any guidance on where I could begin reading about those topics? This knowledge seems essential to truly understanding charts and consistently making sound judgments.
Felipe: The myths are very important if we wish to study the psyche. They are an integral part of astrology.
As for theology, the concept of God is not a condition for using astrology unless, of course, the inquiry concerns God. If one has a personal preference for including it in one’s studies and thought process, one is certainly free to do so and see how it relates to and helps one.
Question: Are you an atheist?
An atheist entertains an idea of God and then disagrees with it. The atheist believes God does not exist, while the believer believes it does. It is all in the mind. They are two sides of the same mental-emotional phenomenon: belief. There is no absolute truth in either, and those beliefs require that the person be conceived as separate from God.
I do not hold either of those beliefs. Nevertheless, I have to say that astrology can have the effect of producing awe; of the kind that makes us question what we think we know.
Astrology can demonstrate that there are laws governing our psyche and the world that are beyond what materialistic scientific logic can fathom. Thus, it can bring a sense of “godliness” to life or a sense that “there is something bigger than me.”
On the other hand, the concept of God can bias astrology. For example, I have read somewhere that death means “going back to God”; therefore, a funeral is a house 9 matter.
That conclusion is based on belief, not based on the understanding of the essence of a house and the essence of the phenomenon ascribed to that house. I wrote an article about what house a funeral belongs to in an attempt to clarify this point.
If astrology is a tool that allows us to tap into truthful information, then I think we have to be extra cautious not to let our beliefs bias astrology. A step further would be to use horary astrology itself to investigate whether our beliefs are sound or not. That is a House 9 matter, and horary is perfectly capable of shedding light on the state of our knowledge.
As far as the myths are concerned, they help us tap into deeper and specific areas of the psyche and human experience in general.
In the study of the psyche, myths reveal the essential theme of the experience being investigated. If the concept of God, the search for God, or the experience (insight) of truly “Understanding” God is part of the investigation, then there will be a myth or symbol that will depict that experience or state of mind.
The astrologer can thus interpret how that experience or state applies to the querent’s or native’s life challenges, fears, desires, beliefs and hopes, and his/her possible/likely future.
I wrote an article titled Astrology and Enlightenment elaborating on my view of what could be the closest thing to the idea of god, which can be investigated using astrology.
For the myths, I highly recommend any material John Frawley has published on the “Fixed Stars” and several of his audio materials.
