MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH -- FATE AND FREE WILL

And God said, prophesy to the wind,
to the wind only for only
The wind will listen
               T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday, 1930

We have resolved the paradox (or haven’t we?) that only on the spiritual, or archetypal level is there true unity of time and space.

Here the past, present and future combine in one timeless moment. Watch that word – ‘timeless.’ Which is the state of ‘suchness.’ If we could attain this state then we could see the future as we can see the present, according to Gregory Zsanto of the London Faculty of Astrology. He writes about the Philosophy of Astrology in his book ‘Marriage of Heaven and Earth‘ and he is not new to us inasmuch as we have at times incorporated him in my previous posts (just at the latest time in my article “Approaching the Fifth Dimension”) in my blogging on the state of ‘suchness’ -- when we see the future on rare, mystic occasions. 

Can astrology predict the future? We should now be in a position to answer this question. As we have seen, this question is not as straightforward as it originally appeared to quote Zsanto. First, he states there is the general question as to whether it is possible to foretell the future. Second, there is the specific question as to whether astrologers can foretell the future, assuming the first question is answered in the affirmative. But as T.S. Eliot, in his poem “Ash Wednesday,” alludes to the mystery of fate and free will, you might as well pose the second question to the wind, and not to a human being who has the free will to say no, while the wind will listen and obey its Creator.

The wind is energy, and in Astrology, we study and learn that Everything is energy, there’s nothing between Heaven and Earth but energy. Energy carries the law and the law regulates energy. In the event a horrendous tornado wipes out a human settlement within a radius of three miles, one can say in fear and trembling that the Divine has assuredly allowed the wind to speak in terms of fate and freedom, in the work of cleansing and purifying our selves of material greed. Peoples are out in the streets (in many parts of the world) crying for more caring, healing, opportunities to believe and to trust in their governments. These days of the Great Shift -- the Arab Awakening-- how much freedom do we have to embrace the Light of Truth, Faith, Justice and Protection for our women and children who have been subjected to criminal abuse, trafficking of women and children forcing them to sexual slavery, which is tremendously horrifying in their discovery, abortions, new life denied acceptance, genuine caring and love?  That's probably why the Moon symbolic of the mother, the unconscious in man is going to be a full moon Super Moon on  June 23, 2013, to make its presence closest to Earth called perigee for humans to make sense of the meaning of life in those areas just mentioned. 

We humans can see the future on rare, mystic occasions. Thus, science and mysticism ought to unite in this case of alleviating human suffering and material destruction. The assumption that the universe obeys definite laws disappears completely at the sub-atomic level for it is clear to science that the fundamental particles, if indeed they exist, do not conform to definite rules. As Norbert Wiener put it: “Thus chance has to be admitted, not merely as a mathematical tool for physics, but as part of the warp and weft.” Physical phenomena as we see them exist in the way we interact with the pattern of universal life. We see a part of it as physical manifestation because we are tuned into a certain frequency, we hear another part of it because we are tuned into another frequency. In this division of opinions, or viewpoint, we have seen that one of the assumptions made by scientists has been abandoned. The tangible basis of matter is no longer accepted by all scientists, and indeed Einstein can cast aside in his field theory when he states that there was no longer any room for both the field and matter. But a compromise can be reached here.

Although certainty breaks down at the sub-atomic level, but at everyday level a pattern can be seen. The structure remains intact, although the individual goes his own way as he chooses. Free will is evident. The assumption that a thing can only be one thing at a time is so firmly rooted in the scientific mind, that it has become a mental block. This is the final assumption that the world of matter has proved to be more insidious. Thus the basic tenets of scientific research continues on this basis – the separation of the world ‘out there’ and those who observe it. Thus causation and synchronicity go into the root of the dilemma. For if one thing is caused by another, then separateness is assumed. For example: in Yanbu Saudi Arabia, I heard of a car accident where the unfortunate victim, a foreign worker, was blamed by the assisting native police, thus saying: Think, man, if you were not passing this way, this couldn’t have happened to you .


THE VIEW OF THE MYSTIC AND SCIENTIST

Because they have found no tangible basis for the world, these scientists have concluded that the world is an illusion; it is something which we have dreamed. And thus they have sought to equate physics with mysticism. But according to his studies on the philosophy of astrology Gregory Zsanto there is a vital difference between the view of the mystic and that of the physicist. The physicist believes only in tangible reality and when he finds that the basis of matter is insubstantial he concludes that the world does not exist. But the mystic according to our opinion (astrologers in union with Gregory Zsanto) believes
that the intangible is everything. At the beginning of Chapter 1 in his book, Zsanto alluded to the primal symbol of Astrology which is the circle with a dot in the center … draw it please.

 The tendency is for scientists to view the world from the outside, from the circle. And this is natural enough for science to be wholly concerned with the material world of tangible forms. Although the scientist and mystic have both reached the Void, for the scientist it is the end, while for the mystic (particulary the mystical astrologer) it is the beginning. Yet other scientists accept that there are different laws in the sub-atomic world from those that appear to govern the everyday life. Thus they live in a divided world where the center is separated from the circumference . They fail to appreciate the basic truth that the world consists of two levels. Spirit and Matter.  Conscious and Unconscious combine in the soul of each individual.


The danger of the astrologer basing his views on those of the scientist should now be apparent. They both end up in the same blind alleys if the astrologer and scientist make the same assumptions. This is not to impugn science in itself, says Zsanto. The work that scientists have done and the discoveries that they have made are as fascinating as they are necessary. And without the help of science the basis of the physical world will not be discovered. Science was originally called because its methods were needed/ They are still needed. But they are needed not in isolation but in conjunction with a wider understanding and it is a mistake to think that science is based on objective fact. As Karl Popper has written in "The Logic of Scientific Discovery “ "Scientific discovery is impossible without faith in ideas which are of a purely speculative kind, and sometimes even quite hazy, a faith which is completely unwarranted from the point of view of science and which, to that extent, is metaphysical.”

Jung was once asked if he believed in God. ‘No.’ he began slowly, ‘I do not believe in God.’ .This was met with stunned silence, before he continued. ‘I know.’ On the Absolute level, when we experience Union with God, we have a vision of totality when existence becomes one and we are no longer in doubt. I know that my redeemer liveth. Anyone who has had a mystical experience like this, simply knows even if he cannot explain it that the following mandate is true:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.
      Romans 13. 1-2


A SCIENTIST’S CASE FOR THE AFTERLIFE

Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr Eben Aleander was one of these scientists/ A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness/ The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion—and in essence makes us human --shut down completely. For seven days he lay in coma. Then as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back. Although he resisted the idea of leaving Heaven to go back to Earth. Heaven was all that incredibly beautiful, and it was all that he wanted. All the detail given here is taken from the blurb of his book, Proof of Heaven. Alexander’s recovery is a medical miracle. But the real miracle of his story lies elsewhere. While his body lay in coma, he journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. There he met, and spoke with, the Divine source of the universe itself.

Dr.Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon, had no time or interest as a brain scientist to know who is his God, if ever he went to church, it was rare, only at Christmas and Easter, as he was a baptized Evangelical. His story is not a fantasy. Before he underwent his journey he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. Today Alexander is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition. The story is remarkable no matter who it happened to. That it happened to Dr Alexander makes it revolutionary. No scientist or person of faith will be able to ignore it. Reading his book, Proof Heaven, will change your life. .

Speaking of free will and freedom, we cannot tell which path a person will choose in the physical. On this level, we have the freedom to decide our future/ Jesus had the freedom to change his destiny and avoid the Cross. He might have become a temporal ruler of a free Israel, speculates London Faculty of Astrological Studies astrologer Zsanto, then the Romans may have arrested him, crucified him just the same for his political activities such as making miracles, claiming he is the Son of God were subversive to the state of the Romans. He would have ended up on the cross in any event, and God’s ordinance had still to be fulfilled, because the world had to have the Cross as its redemptive symbol.

There is no doubt that the astrologer like the astronomer, can tell us without any doubt precisely where the planets will be in the sky at any particular moment in the future. In this sense, he can predict. There is not the slightest doubt that on January 26 1989, Uranus will occupy the area of the ecliptic known as 3 degrees 12 minutes of Capricorn which is directly opposite Saturn’s place in his Horoscope (Figure 1.1 in his book ‘Marriage of Heaven and Earth’)Any astrologer can tell us this, and that mundane prediction, unless the solar system is disrupted in the meantime, is incontestable, affirms Zsanto. But the trouble arises when astrologers attempt to interpret the material phenomena. And it is precisely at this point that it is vital to appreciate the meaning and purpose of Astrology if the art is to be used correctly.


If the astrologer tries to run away from the problem and leaves the prediction alone as some astrologers have done, it is useless to say that the future cannot be predicted. We know perfectly well that in January 1989 Uranus would have been 90 degrees from Saturn in the horoscope of another Mr Y as illustrated. What the client wants to know in both of these cases is the significance of the planetary contacts to Mr X and Mr.Y. What most astrologers do in practice, continues Zsanto, however is something quite different. They look for some general proposition which may or may not have any relevance to the actual client they are considering.


What happens is that astrologers look for some general principle based on past statistical evidence. They look at thousands of Uranus contacts that have occurred in the past and that the most common occurrence is some kind of ‘change.’ Therefore there is likely to be a change in the person’s life. Now statistics do have a role to play in certain areas of knowledge, but used in the wrong circumstances they can be totally inappropriate and misleading.. In Astrology we are talking about individuals, not groups. The whole meaning and purpose of the craft is lost if one tries to tell the future of the individual on the basis of statistics. There’s harm done to the client who is not treated as an individual but as a cog in a machine.

The question is what does Uranus opposing her natal Venus mean to Ms. Jones? Astrology is a combination of conscious and unconscious, we need to use the conscious (physical body) to get through the unconscious (soul). In my own experience with my clients, I usually do this transmission of conscious to unconscious levels particularly when giving a reading of character and destiny with additional set of Transits or projections for the year, weeks, months, major planetary movements into Houses, solar returns or annual charts and the client gets into an awesome response, “How did you know this was my idea in the first place?”

 It would seem like an angel is speaking to the subject, reading unabashedly his/ her mind about certain plans privately conceived which no one else knows except the subject. But by using our conscious powers too readily we can actually block off our predictive ability. The future should grow out of the present and the past as part of a total organism.

So Mrs. Jones may get divorced when Uranus opposes her Venus. But that is not the point. The divorce may take place if she is unaware. It may equally be the result of a conscious decision. The compassionate astrologer may help her to understand what she needs at that particular time, based upon her individual character as symbolized by her birth chart.

Gregory Zsanto speaks further:
Great care needs to be taken in using Astrology and this applies particularly to predictions. We should not be afraid of the future any more than of the present. If we are in touch with our selves, then we shall inevitably become what we are. The future and present blend into one and then we need only to ask the question for the answer to come.

Why do we need Astrology then? Because we are not in touch with our selves. If we were whole we would not need a doctor. If we were in a state of being, of Tao or grace, we would not need Astrology. Used correctly, Astrology can help people to be in the state of grace, but astrologers first need to be aware of their goal. They have to be in a state of Tao.

The client, too must be aware. Will is as important as freedom as we have pointed out. Many clients come to astrologers, not because they want to understand themselves but because they want someone to take away their responsibility. Freedom is the one thing they do not want. It is all too easy to play God with people like this for that is what they expect. It is very easy to make suggestions, however unintentional, which may have unfortunate results.

At the end of the day, the quality of the astrologer’s predictions will depend on the quality of his own spiritual state. The nearer the astrologer is to divine ground, the nearer will be he to the truth. He does need to be in a state of Tao or grace and to approach his art and his fellow human beings with reverence, humility and love if he is to be of real help to them.

DAEMONIC, CHTHONIC POWERS -- The Meaning of Freedom

Here the impossible union
Of spheres of existence is actual.
Here the past and future
Are conquered, and reconciled,
Where action were otherwise movement—
Driven by daemonic, chthonic
Powers.
         T.S, Eliot, ‘The Dry Salvages’

What is the nature of the freedom we appear to have? Does freedom mean that we can do whatever we like? Clearly this is not the case. Look at the Birth chart illustrated in Figure 1.1. The person born at 7.18 a.m. on 15 July 1944 is stuck with that Birth Chart for life. He cannot escape from having his Sun in Cancer in the 12th House, his Saturn square Neptune. To put it bluntly, he is fated with that birth chart.

For example: Saturn squares are among the most difficult of all aspects for they usually indicate severe obstacles and limitations that frustrate the naïve’s ambitions and desires for happiness. The native must work twice as hard to achieve the same results that someone else may attain with ease. These difficulties tend to affect their careers and homes. Natives must learn to overcome negative thinking and acquire a more positive attitude. Here in a Saturn (karmic direction) square Neptune (simplify, purify life) for example is “the impossible union of spheres (lower ground spirits driven by dark daemonic, chthonic powers and higher forces of light, wisdom, divinity) of past and future that need to be conquered by the self, and reconciled to attain the harmony and serenity of his conscious and unconscious. Although Saturn squares indicate major problems to overcome they also spur the native to greater achievement.

It is no good saying that a person can be whatever he wants to be. He cannot for example, have his Sun in Cancer changed to Sun in Sagittarius. No effort of will can move his Moon into Gemini if it is in Virgo. Not all the understanding and belief in the universe will take his Venus out of the 12th House. So what freedom does he have?

We assume however, that we are given out an individual path in life. But perhaps we chose this path for ourselves when we faced the Karmic Board to help us plan our next incarnation before returning to earth plane. Perhaps our horoscopes are the expression of our free choice. According to Kabbalist tradition, the soul is given freedom of choice and the plan of the task it is to p
erform on earth.

The soul is then shown the model plan of its life to be lived, the people it will meet and the places it will pass through, knowing that its destiny is to realize the presence of God in that particular time and place within the physical Universe. .

This certainly accords with the original meaning of the horoscope’s ‘right time’ to be born. As Plotinus said: “Every soul has its hour (hora) when that strikes, the Soul descends and enters the body suitable to it. We are therefore given the psychological and physical make-up, which can be seen in the horoscope, because that is what we need in this incarnation or lifestream. Thus we see the purpose in having the ‘cards fate have dealt us.’



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