I am now looking to introduce my Enchantments of Life map to fellow professional astrologers. About 10 years ago, I cut off from the astrological community, stopped reading astrology books, took on board the criticisms of the ancient art of astrology and got rather cynical about the clichés. This coincided with a pretty much full-time exploration of psychology and Integral Theory. I read all of Ken Wilber and everything I could find by Dr Clare Graves, as well as about Spiral Dynamics, and looked at Jean Gebser and many others. What did I find?
Astrology all over again, on another turn of the spiral.
My astrological research continued throughout this time, as did my consultancy work. My research went ‘out of town’ into the Trans-Neptunians, Centaurs and other minor bodies. From 1994, I was heavily into Chiron and then by 1997, Pholus and Chariklo. I was experiencing the holographic nature of the energy field in my daily practice, a visceral and literal connection to the old adage, ‘as above so below’. I knew that the explosion of planetary discovery meant that, like the astronomical view of our Solar System, astrology had access to not just a lot more information, but a whole new order of understanding that information.
Tuning into Chariklo opened the door for me to the holographic nature of the plasma field or the plasmic ocean we call space. My Enchantments of Life model emerged from my experiential awareness of the fractal relationship of my Aura, the Planetary Aura and the Solar System (the Sun’s Aura).
The Enchantments of Life adds a whole new contextual understanding to astrology, without negating the traditional art or the modern neo-Jungian perspective.
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A New Map of Reality and Therefore a New Reality
The staggering implications of the new view of our solar system
Astrologers are uniquely privileged with an insight to reality that no other paradigm or socio-psychological mapmaker possesses. The flip side is how to convey the mysterious four-dimensional language of astrology to nonastrologers.
Everyday language and linear-mind explanations always fall short of the experiential nature of astrology.
As alien and complex as astrology can be to the lay person, the astrological paradigm itself is being challenged by an enormous leap of understanding. How can we accommodate the newly discovered planets and large rocks, of which there are now hundreds of thousands, into the ancient system of astrology? Traditional astrology is based on an altogether different astronomical view of the population and makeup of our solar system.
Astrology follows astronomy; the astronomical view of the solar system has been revolutionized. We now see a vastly populated, chaotic space around the Earth, teeming with thousands of planetary bodies. Despite this, the central tenets of astrology—‘as above, so below’ and the ‘quality of the moment’—not only hold good, but are all the more relevant. If what is above is a reflection of life on Earth, and as an astrologer I say it is, then the implications of the new astronomical data are extraordinary, not merely for astrologers.
Astrology is the meta-map of reality and what the map now suggests about the direction of human progress is totally mind blowing. So come with me now into the heart of the mystery...
The three points that I want to introduce here are:
Multiple Levels of Astrology
1) Classical astrology utilized only seven bodies (the two luminaries, the Sun and the Moon; and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). This system still holds true to a degree; in fact, some skilled astrologers can say a lot about an individual and their reality simply from the Ascendant and placement of the Sun and Moon.
Modern Jungian-style astrology has grown to include the planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, often some asteroids and, increasingly, Chiron. Jungian astrology is more complex than Classical astrology and has a greater truth as it adds depth. Jungian astrology opens the door to the soul and its reality within the world. The rise of modern astrology parallels the upsurge of nontraditional spirituality, such as Theosophy, the New Age, mind–body healing and so on, which is in marked contrast to traditional religion or material scientism.
The new revolution in astrology being proposed here negates neither traditional astrology nor Jungian astrology—it just adds another level of astrology. This new paradigm is a recognition of the levels of astrological perception, as well as the evolving levels of reality and consciousness.
Archetypes Are Not Fixed
2) Planets are evolving principles that we are co-creating, rather than fixed archetypes disconnected from the human domain. The planets are gods who live amongst us and whose expression is flavoured with human creativity.
Astrology teaches us that our natal chart is a template which describes who we are; astrology teaches us that there are archetypes which we will encounter during transits and progressions. I am introducing a subtle but profound adjustment to this astrological cosmic view. The gods, the archetypes, are enduring and consistent, but they are not fixed—they are fed by us and mutate through us. The Greek and Roman archetypal myths are still relevant, but new levels of their expression are coming forth into existence on Earth. As you proceed with this study, especially through the Enchantments of Life, you will see this for yourself.
Orbital Realms and Levels of Consciousness
3) Planets are also levels of reality. They have different orbits; this obvious fact has not been fully incorporated into the present astrological paradigm. It is worth repeating—planets have their own orbital parameters; they travel at different distances away from the Sun and not all in the same plane.
When we look at the planets in the night sky from Earth, they appear to travel in a flat plane on the ecliptic and this is how they are represented on an astrology chart, as if they move within the same circular parameter. This is adequate for our understanding of the archetypal dimension of astrology. However, to understand the revolution in astrology, we need to take the orbital realms into account.
The orbital parameters of the solar system represent levels of consciousness. The revolution in astrology is a shift in awareness to accommodate the vast number of planetary bodies that populate the inner solar system, as well as the outer solar system way beyond Pluto.
The knowledge of our solar system beyond Pluto, which has only truly come to the forefront since 1992, reflects the expansion and the radical evolution of consciousness. Over 1,000 planets whose orbits move beyond Neptune, often called Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), have been discovered in the Kuiper Belt alone since 1992. To this we add the Scattered Disc objects (SDOs), whose orbits are vast, plus a whole family of Centaur-like objects, whose orbits intersect those of many of the main planets.
This new map of the solar system reveals that the expansion of consciousness is an expansion into novelty and complexity.
Integral Astrology: A New Adventure Awaits You
I remember feeling the thrill of adventure when I first opened the door to archetypal astrology—a vast mysterious and rich landscape appeared before me. The mythic terrain is a seemingly never-ending enigma of the universal mind, full of evocative beings whose lives are played out through us.
The traditional astrology of karma and fate with its fixed mechanics was expanded to epic dimensions with the esoteric and Jungian approaches that began with Alan Leo. Liz Greene’s approach then further developed and extended the terrain.
Could there possibly be more than that?
Indeed there is. I invite you as an astrologer to open another door into yet another enormous mansion of the divine kingdom and to join me in the quest of understanding the multiple levels of human existence and beyond.
Astrology now takes a quantum leap with what I call Holospheric Astrology and the Enchantments of Life, which can be described as a form of integral astrology. The genius Dane Rudhyar was perhaps the first to stand at the door of an emerging integral astrology. I now propose a new landscape is emerging and is awaiting you, starting here on this website with the Enchantments of Life.
Take the next step in the journey and go to the Enchantments of Life page.
More astrological explanations to follow in time....
