SPHERE OF ESENSE OF astro DESCRIPTIONS

EXCERT FROM ASTRO.COM Copyright Astrodienst AG 2000. All rights are reserved. Each of the sections above describes planetary patterns which will be shared by other human beings. But the timing and distinctive expression of your constantly changing growth pattern is unique to you.

 INTRODUCTION THE MEANING OF THE TIME
  Many people assume that astrology is used to predict events, and that a recognition of astrology's validity implies an acceptance of fatalism and a denial of individual free will. Over the centuries, astrological prognostications have certainly played an important role in the lives of world leaders and the fate of nations. But predictability, and the fate which it implies, are far more complex issues than simply a destiny written "in the stars", about which the individual can do nothing. In the following pages, your birth horoscope is analysed according to the planetary movements which are occurring over the next year. On one level, it is a "predictive" analysis. But its purpose is not a foretelling of concrete events. It is an exploration of the inner changes and cycles which occur in every individual and which often mysteriously coincide with events in the outer world. These planetary movements will not tell us what WILL happen. They describe the stage the individual has reached in his or her life, and what kind of responses can be expected to external situations which might occur at any other time, but mean something special because of the special time at which they are occurring.
The German poet Novalis once wrote, "Fate and soul are two names for the same principle." This profound perception of the identity of inner and outer worlds is often difficult for the person unfamiliar with the deeper psychological dimensions of astrology to recognise. Carl Jung echoed Novalis' sentiment when he said that a person's life is characteristic of the person. We are complex creatures, made up of many facets, and all the different dimensions of the human psyche will seek, sooner or later, to find their place in the light of day and achieve expression in the outer world. But some aspects of the personality are inherently in conflict with other aspects. Some will elbow others out of the way because we identify with these at the expense of other, less developed attributes. Human development, like that of any other living thing, proceeds in stages, in an elaborate dance of interwoven themes. When the time is right, certain aspects of the individual will strive for expression. In order for us to achieve that expression, we may need to create, or find ourselves drawn to, external situations which make us conscious of what we were unaware of before.
Some life events are not the expression of any individual need, conscious or unconscious. They reflect great collective movements into which we may all be swept up. Wars, plagues, famines, and holocausts may supercede any individual effort at self-awareness or choice. But in those spheres where our lives are our own, and not merged with the collective, we may have many levels on which to fulfill the expression of our individual horoscope patterns. We cannot be certain whether particular events are inevitable, or whether, with foresight, they might be avoided or transformed. We cannot be certain of the extent to which we are required to act out or redeem conflicts which have been part of the family psyche over many generations. These things contribute to what we loosely call "fate". Also, the choices we make at any point in time may have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences on the kind of events which occur later on. Cause and effect may play more of a role in "fate" than we realise. What is clear from the study of astrology is that no outer event is devoid of meaning, or unconnected with individual psychological issues. "Good" luck and "bad"luck are not luck at all, but reflections of what in ancient Greece was known as kairos - the right moment.
Analysis of the year's planetary movements by computer is necessarily limited, primarily because no computer can ascertain what an individual has learned from experiences which have occurred in the past. Every stage in life is processed by individual consciousness, and the degree to which we are self-aware, and have some understanding of our deeper needs and conflicts, may have a powerful effect, not only on how we respond to events, but on the events themselves. Consciousness, rather than fate, may determine whether we are able to turn a painful or difficult time into one of inner strengthening and self-knowledge, and whether we can take advantage of the right moment to develop abilities or pursue goals which previously we might not have realised were possible. Our choices may be circumscribed by our genetic inheritance on the physical level, and by social and collective factors which place limits on our possibilities for growth. We may also be circumscribed by our own self-doubt and blindness, and wind up fating ourselves through reacting blindly to the emotions which a particular situation stirs in us.
The paragraphs which follow only sketch in the barest fashion the possible areas in which outer events might occur, according to the year's planetary movements. They focus primarily on the inner developments, conflicts, changes and realisations which reflect the real meaning of the time. We perceive the outer world through deeply subjective eyes, and interpret events in accord with our own highly individual psychic constitution. One person might look at a glass of water and say, "Ah, it's half full, there is plenty for me to drink." Another might look at the same glass and declare, "Oh, it's half empty, there isn't enough for me to drink." One person might view rejection by a loved one as a reflection of the other person's failings. Another might view it as an opportunity for a deep examination of his or her expectations and assumptions in matters of love. When a group of people describe the same event, they describe it in as many ways as there are people in the group. What matters in the end is the meaning of the time for each of us as individuals, and what the time can offer us in terms of the greater unfoldment of the essential self.

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