I have lately been putting my astrology studies to a very hard test: a thorough analysis of how my own personality has developed and how it will develop in the future. This includes, of course, the extraction of workable information for my own development and daily Tantra practice. But on the front of introspection, it’s been a process of seeing how much of who we are is determined. I know a lot of magicians and Westerners broadly really hate the thought of determinism, so let me say that I don’t mean that everything is 100% determined; rather, free will is contoured and channeled by many factors of which we are often not conscious, and even when we are made aware of them we can’t do that much about them except respond to them more intelligently.
In the present reality of alarmingly divisive party politics in the United States of America — divisions which go very deep into the hearts of the country, of local communities, of families, and of individuals — it is interesting as an astrologer to ponder why we each think and feel the way we do and how and why our opinions change as we move through different stages of life. I can very clearly see, looking back at my own astrological developmental phases, which planets impacted my beliefs at any given time. Seeing this, I can tease them apart and see why I believe what I do now, and how much or little those beliefs serve me and those around me. Here’s an example of where properly guided free will can find its place to play. I can see in my chart, for example, how I have always been naturally inclined toward conservatism, but that conservatism doesn’t often serve my own ideals. Moreover, when I would change my mind, it would swing wildly to the opposite extreme — about which I would again become conservative. So as I have aged and Jupiter has gotten more play, I’ve begun more and more to question what is really worth conserving. This has brought more flexibility to my thinking; rather than ping-ponging as I am convinced of different ideas, I can be selective, taking what seems to really work about a given idea and figure out how to build it into other ideas rather than feeling like I have to reject or accept whole hog.
Of course, the character of a nation or community has its own karma. This is usually read not only with its own natal chart, but also with an annual mundane chart cast from the capital or seat of the collective body in questions for the day and time of the entrance of the Sun into Aries. From this it is possible to read the course of the community for the next twelve months. From such a chart, we can view the cleavages among the people and their leaders. In this year’s mundane chart for the United States, for example, we can see Mars exalted which would bode well for the ruler (in our case, President Donald Trump), except that Mars falls in the 3rd house of difficulty and is conjunct a strong Saturn in his own sign, a debilitated Jupiter, and the southern lunar node Ketu who brings perversion. I could go on with a variety of other details in the chart — from Mercury’s debility to the Scorpio ascendant.
I recently chanced upon the reading of this specific mundane chart by a well-known occultist, and his interpretation was extraordinarily different from my own. I don’t wish to name names; astrology is hard, as is writing for the public, and I don’t want to put anyone on blast for either. But it is notable how much of his own political biases he, often gleefully, injected into his reading. He saw the debilitated Mercury and Jupiter, for example, as a sign that the “complaining class” — which he seems to think simultaneously includes the entirety of those who have criticisms of Trump’s presidency as well as all political elites, as if the only people who could possibly take issue with Trump’s behavior and policies are the rich and powerful — would have no power this year. My own reading, and what we seem to be seeing in reality, is our leadership’s failure in areas of compassion, communication, wisdom, policy, and the capacity to bring joy to the people. Since the US isn’t a monarchy or a dictatorship, the mundane chart isn’t just about a single ruler or leader, but about the whole federal leadership — both houses of Congress included, regardless of party affiliation. The lack of wisdom and incapacity to communicate and reconcile differences is not limited to a single party or special interest but stands as a broad indictment of our entire government. Exalted Mars when the lagna is Scorpio could indicate a capacity of the national leadership to protect the nation’s vulnerable spots, but Mars’s residence in the 3rd house of difficulties, disease, and enemies and conjunction with a strong Saturn (who already rules disease and discord) indicates a coming to the surface and exacerbation of our national weaknesses. Ketu’s conjunction with Mars and Saturn but residence in the 2nd house extends the whole dynamic also into our national wealth. Here is a fine summary of what we’ve seen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in our country, the Black Lives Matter movement, and plenty of other factors making headlines. Mars and Ketu together with Scorpio lagna have also done a fine job of increasing violence, physically and rhetorically, in such a way as to specifically target our national weak points. We could go on with details for days, if we wanted. The point is less about the mundane chart itself and more about how our biases play into our free interpretations of the data. The parallels with people politicizing the facts of the world amidst current events in rather dangerous ways needn’t be mentioned…
When I read a chart — for an individual or for a nation — I must always be aware of myself first and foremost. It’s been said that the greatest value of astrological practice is what the astrologer learns about themselves in the process. And in doing astrology for others, we see that in practice: the more we unwind our own habits of thought, the better we are able to see the other person’s chart for what it is rather than for what we’d prefer it were. A good astrologer should be able to read for a client regardless of that client’s beliefs about the world, and should equally be able to read for the world regardless of the beliefs of the people in it.
Astrology, properly understood, is a form of Yoga. In the context of Jyotish — commonly called “Vedic”, “Indian”, or “Hindu” astrology but literally “having to do with light” — it is a process of learning what I do and do not have control over and where to surrender. This topic deserves a discussion to itself, but it’s worth stating in brief here because it pertains so directly to the how and why of the Jyotish worldview. In relation to the present topic, it would be a mistake to surrender to the planets themselves. In Jyotish we refer to the planets, inclusive of the two lunar nodes, as grahas which translates as “grasper”. A graha is an intelligent force (a “god”) who takes hold of us at various points and pushes, pulls, and manipulates us into various actions. While all of the grahas have some claim on us all of the time, each one will at various points have primacy and our lives will take on the character of that graha. Exactly how to examine this gets into deep territory, but understanding the principle is important.
An example from my own life might be helpful: I went through a very rough few years not too long ago. Externally, my life looked fine. There were some of the usual ups and downs, but nothing too stressful. But for some reason, I responded with extreme frustration and anger; I felt frustrated even when things were quite good and comfortable. It was a strange and emotionally difficult time despite outward circumstances. Looking at my own chart, I was able eventually to spot precisely which planet was causing the trouble and I started to do some remediation work to improve my relationship with that planet (also a topic for another entry). It didn’t take long for my emotional equilibrium to return — though I’m a little ashamed to say how long it took me to have the thought to look at my chart to figure it out!
The key to all remediation, though, takes us back to surrender. When we chant a planetary mantra, when we make an image or yantra according to an appropriate election, when we wear a planetary gem, we are fundamentally admitting that we cannot handle the situation ourselves. Many magicians may not see it that way, but it’s precisely what is behind these actions. All of these actions are really a sort of prayer for help in a case which is too big and overwhelming for us.
None of this, however, absolves us of responsibility. Even the decision to surrender, to ask for help, requires a decision on our part. No matter our astrological make-up, we can make this choice. Moreover, we can make the choice to look at our own make-up — whether astrological, genetic, societal, or according to any other reading of destiny we care to claim — to see our individual strengths and failings for what they are, and to do whatever we can about them. We can choose to cultivate detachment which grants us perspective and mental freedom, but we can’t choose apathy because for as long as we are here life is going to come at us. Our decision is not whether to engage but how. As I’ve tried to emphasize before, no one else can dictate that how, but astrology is, for my money, the best way to learn it.
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