I have a friend who's interested in astrology. He's had a lot of readings over the years and has found it useful. His own knowledge consists mostly of familiarity with Sun, Moon, and Rising signs. Recently he's expressed an interest in going deeper and learning more. He asks insightful, probing questions, and I enjoy the challenge of answering them. He expressed the concern, however, that maybe his brain is a little too old to absorb so many new facts. Since he's a bright guy and the same age as I (late 50's) this gave me pause, but yeah, I can relate. I found aspects of massage therapy school while in my 50's harder than the course work for computer science while in my 20's. Now really, which is tougher? I don't mean to diminish the body of knowledge required of massage therapists--in Illinois we have to be nationally certified--but a bachelor's degree in computer science is a "tad" more rigorous. However, while in my 20's my brain was a sponge; now it functions more like an umbrella. "Hey! Those rain drops rolling off were things I wanted to remember!"
Nevertheless, I don't think astrology has to be approached as a body of facts. Yes, it's a vast, complex, and intricate subject, but I think it can be learned as a language. My friend isn't aspiring to practice astrology professionally, or even to read charts (yet), and certainly not to pass certifying exams, so I think he can approach it in a way that isn't so much about learning facts as absorbing vocabulary, the way we learned to talk, comprehend speech, read, and write as children. Come to think of it, that's how I learned astrology in the beginning, and it's still I how I approach it.
I emphasized to him, too, that it would be less daunting if he thought of it as slowly absorbing vocabulary, a little bit each day, rather than memorizing a list of vocabulary words for a quiz, and I gave him some examples of how this had worked for me.
I had just started studying astrology formally while Pluto was still in late Scorpio. I was just learning the "nuts and bolts," descriptions of the signs, planets, houses, and aspects, not yet into integrated chart interpretation, when Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered in June of 1994. Was that not a Scorpionic drama? Sex, lies, secrecy, murder, conniving, behind-the-scenes manipulation, jealousy, obsession...
But by the time OJ went to trial during late winter, early spring 1995, Pluto had entered early Sagittarius. As a result of OJ's trial and the attendant publicity and media attention, TV programs about court cases and legal issues came into vogue and there was a whole new level of public awareness about laws, courts, dramatic cases, and the legal system. Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project in 1992, and one of OJ's attorney's stepped into the limelight and created awareness about his work. Groups like Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful Convictions came into being. DNA testing began to free more and more wrongfully convicted people. The death penalty came under scrutiny. Here in Illinois, our governor George Ryan commuted the death sentences of all Death Row inmates to life without parole.
One of Pluto's roles is that of reformer, and Sagittarius is one of the signs associated with the legal system, especially as it pertains to laws and the idea that laws exist to create a level playing field for everyone, the idea that laws exist to give people freedom from anarchy. Sagittarius also rules courtrooms and legislators and is associated with the rules for games and sports. Another principle associated with Sagittarius is truth and truth-seeking. Wherever Pluto is by sign, there's upheaval, reformation, exposure, and probing into matters related to that sign.
After a few years of seeing all this drama related to the criminal justice system play out while Pluto has been transiting Sagittarius, the associations have become firmly entrenched in my brain. No memorization, no studying, no rote learning, just absorption of what's happening on center stage while being aware of the outer planets, in this instance, Pluto (transiting) in Sagittarius.
"So," I wrote to my friend, "when you start to become aware of these examples right off the pages of newspapers, the Internet, and TV--and yes movies, too, you realize that dramas with underlying astrological themes are being played out around us at all times. You begin to soak it up, and gradually it becomes part of you. It's not so much a matter of learning a new subject as it is seeing the world through new lenses. You just need to get started." He already reads several newspapers every day, so I suggested reading a book like Cosmic Trends by Phillip Brown as a good way to stick his toes in those waters. He's done that and now he's asking more questions.
Nevertheless, I don't think astrology has to be approached as a body of facts. Yes, it's a vast, complex, and intricate subject, but I think it can be learned as a language. My friend isn't aspiring to practice astrology professionally, or even to read charts (yet), and certainly not to pass certifying exams, so I think he can approach it in a way that isn't so much about learning facts as absorbing vocabulary, the way we learned to talk, comprehend speech, read, and write as children. Come to think of it, that's how I learned astrology in the beginning, and it's still I how I approach it.
I emphasized to him, too, that it would be less daunting if he thought of it as slowly absorbing vocabulary, a little bit each day, rather than memorizing a list of vocabulary words for a quiz, and I gave him some examples of how this had worked for me.
I had just started studying astrology formally while Pluto was still in late Scorpio. I was just learning the "nuts and bolts," descriptions of the signs, planets, houses, and aspects, not yet into integrated chart interpretation, when Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered in June of 1994. Was that not a Scorpionic drama? Sex, lies, secrecy, murder, conniving, behind-the-scenes manipulation, jealousy, obsession...
But by the time OJ went to trial during late winter, early spring 1995, Pluto had entered early Sagittarius. As a result of OJ's trial and the attendant publicity and media attention, TV programs about court cases and legal issues came into vogue and there was a whole new level of public awareness about laws, courts, dramatic cases, and the legal system. Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project in 1992, and one of OJ's attorney's stepped into the limelight and created awareness about his work. Groups like Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful Convictions came into being. DNA testing began to free more and more wrongfully convicted people. The death penalty came under scrutiny. Here in Illinois, our governor George Ryan commuted the death sentences of all Death Row inmates to life without parole.
One of Pluto's roles is that of reformer, and Sagittarius is one of the signs associated with the legal system, especially as it pertains to laws and the idea that laws exist to create a level playing field for everyone, the idea that laws exist to give people freedom from anarchy. Sagittarius also rules courtrooms and legislators and is associated with the rules for games and sports. Another principle associated with Sagittarius is truth and truth-seeking. Wherever Pluto is by sign, there's upheaval, reformation, exposure, and probing into matters related to that sign.
After a few years of seeing all this drama related to the criminal justice system play out while Pluto has been transiting Sagittarius, the associations have become firmly entrenched in my brain. No memorization, no studying, no rote learning, just absorption of what's happening on center stage while being aware of the outer planets, in this instance, Pluto (transiting) in Sagittarius.
"So," I wrote to my friend, "when you start to become aware of these examples right off the pages of newspapers, the Internet, and TV--and yes movies, too, you realize that dramas with underlying astrological themes are being played out around us at all times. You begin to soak it up, and gradually it becomes part of you. It's not so much a matter of learning a new subject as it is seeing the world through new lenses. You just need to get started." He already reads several newspapers every day, so I suggested reading a book like Cosmic Trends by Phillip Brown as a good way to stick his toes in those waters. He's done that and now he's asking more questions.
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