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Sep. 6th, 2006 01:16 pmMore from Rob:
PLUTO: SAME AS IT EVER WAS
The astrologers I respect don't believe that Pluto, or any heavenly body
for that matter, emits invisible beams that somehow manipulate human
beings as if we were puppets. Rather, the spheres orbiting the sun are
signs in the sky we read as omens that help illuminate the ebb and flow of
the rhythms of life here on earth.
As Richard Tarnas points out in his epic work *Cosmos and Psyche,* the
role of the heavenly bodies is comparable to that of a clock: The clock
tells time but doesn't cause time. Likewise, the heavenly bodies show us
big-picture truths about our lives but don't cause them.
That's why as an astrologer I say ho-hum to the International
Astronomical Union's decision to downgrade Pluto from a planet to a
"dwarf planet."
First, let's put the change in perspective: Only a tiny portion of the
world's astronomers voted for the change (428 out of about 9,000).
There's already a movement afoot among the majority to overthrow the
IAU's decision.
Second, for the last few centuries, since the days when seminal
astronomers Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei blended astrology with
their practice of astrology, the two disciplines have diverged.
Today, astrology is not a science. It's a symbol system. When used with
integrity, it engenders poetic approaches for deepening one's connection
to life's great mysteries, not predictions of literal events. It's meant to
open our minds to the mythic patterns that underlie the surface-level
interpretations of what we're all about, not compete with scientists'
rational, logical analyses of why things are the way they are.
We need both: the mytho-poetic and the logically analytical.
Five percent of the world's astronomers can juggle definitions about the
nature of the heavenly bodies, but their province is different than the
astrologers'. In our arena, Pluto is still the symbol of the underworld--the
heavenly body that speaks to us about our connection to the underside
of life, to the soul's perspective, to the secrets and hidden depths in any
situation, to the realm of dreams and death and altered states.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Recently, less than five percent of the
world's astronomers voted to demote Pluto from a planet to a "dwarf
planet." Some Scorpios were alarmed, since Pluto is the heavenly body
that traditionally rules your sign. My opinion? Don't worry. I agree with
mythologist Roxanna Bikadoroff, who says there's poetic justice in calling
Pluto a dwarf planet. In fairy tales, dwarves are often magicians who
possess hidden storehouses of riches and act as agents of creative
transformation. They typically live beneath bridges, which are symbols of
transitional thresholds, and are masters of in-between states. They
bestow blessings on anyone who is able to pass their demanding tests.
This is an apt symbolic description of you at your most potent, which I
expect you to be during the coming weeks.
PLUTO: SAME AS IT EVER WAS
The astrologers I respect don't believe that Pluto, or any heavenly body
for that matter, emits invisible beams that somehow manipulate human
beings as if we were puppets. Rather, the spheres orbiting the sun are
signs in the sky we read as omens that help illuminate the ebb and flow of
the rhythms of life here on earth.
As Richard Tarnas points out in his epic work *Cosmos and Psyche,* the
role of the heavenly bodies is comparable to that of a clock: The clock
tells time but doesn't cause time. Likewise, the heavenly bodies show us
big-picture truths about our lives but don't cause them.
That's why as an astrologer I say ho-hum to the International
Astronomical Union's decision to downgrade Pluto from a planet to a
"dwarf planet."
First, let's put the change in perspective: Only a tiny portion of the
world's astronomers voted for the change (428 out of about 9,000).
There's already a movement afoot among the majority to overthrow the
IAU's decision.
Second, for the last few centuries, since the days when seminal
astronomers Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei blended astrology with
their practice of astrology, the two disciplines have diverged.
Today, astrology is not a science. It's a symbol system. When used with
integrity, it engenders poetic approaches for deepening one's connection
to life's great mysteries, not predictions of literal events. It's meant to
open our minds to the mythic patterns that underlie the surface-level
interpretations of what we're all about, not compete with scientists'
rational, logical analyses of why things are the way they are.
We need both: the mytho-poetic and the logically analytical.
Five percent of the world's astronomers can juggle definitions about the
nature of the heavenly bodies, but their province is different than the
astrologers'. In our arena, Pluto is still the symbol of the underworld--the
heavenly body that speaks to us about our connection to the underside
of life, to the soul's perspective, to the secrets and hidden depths in any
situation, to the realm of dreams and death and altered states.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Recently, less than five percent of the
world's astronomers voted to demote Pluto from a planet to a "dwarf
planet." Some Scorpios were alarmed, since Pluto is the heavenly body
that traditionally rules your sign. My opinion? Don't worry. I agree with
mythologist Roxanna Bikadoroff, who says there's poetic justice in calling
Pluto a dwarf planet. In fairy tales, dwarves are often magicians who
possess hidden storehouses of riches and act as agents of creative
transformation. They typically live beneath bridges, which are symbols of
transitional thresholds, and are masters of in-between states. They
bestow blessings on anyone who is able to pass their demanding tests.
This is an apt symbolic description of you at your most potent, which I
expect you to be during the coming weeks.
