Astrology isn’t always for everyone, often regarded as not real, or a frivolous waste of time at best. Then there are those who see it differently, as a cosmic roadmap of storytelling and ancient mythology, open to interpretation, discussion, thought, and even action.
There are many ways for skeptics to disprove that the planets or stars have any effect on us. And in a lot of ways, they may be right. But not all the ways.
First of all, our entire way of life is based on the sun. Aside from those of us working graveyard shifts, daily life begins when the sun rises and comes to an end as it sets. Same with plants and photosynthesis, and most plants don’t wear watches. We can also harvest energy from the sun, using it to power lights, cities, and machines. That’s quite a bit of influence from one star in our vast solar system, all of 93 and a half million miles away. The sun plays a huge role in the conscious operation of the mechanics of society.
The moon, a much smaller and much closer celestial body, also has a number of effects on the planets. Metaphysically associated with the water elements, the moon literally has a pull on the earth’s tides. There is also something about the moon’s cycle that is inherently feminine, as well.
Additionally, as the saying goes, men are from Mars and women from Venus, signifying a quite clearly defined aspect of society, relationships, and sexual politics. Many people hesitate to buy a new laptop or book a trip when Mercury, known for its influence over communication, travel and electronics, takes its seasonal retrograde cycles.
What about the bigger planets? Slow moving and generational, these planets represent collective social and psychological shifts and transformations. How much do we really notice those in day to day life? But in retrospect, we see a lot of coincidences and peculiar alignments over the course of history.
And if none of that resonates with you, consider the centuries-long myths, stories, analogies, science, and literature that has come from the influence of these celestial giants. Through literature, movies, and pop culture, almost everyone can envision Zeus’s thunderbolt or Poseidon’s trident, both characters based on stories of the planets. Such myths and legends are archetypal and easily recognizable and relatable to almost everyone.
Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth discusses how such stories, concepts, and relationships are timeless, taking place all over our history in different ways. History has given such credence to these celestial bodies, and that cannot be completely coincidental. Gravity is a great word to use here, both its literal sense of the pull of planetary bodies, as well as in its figurative sense, relating the seriousness of the effects that these planets exert. We may experience these effects consciously or unconsciously, or maybe not at all. But it is in the unified thought, the concepts we all fundamentally understand, and the archetypal correlations that give the planets their subtle gravity. The same subtle gravity we cultivate within ourselves as energetic beings.
When we learn how to work with that subtle energy, alone and with others, how it interacts with our environment, near and far, and how things beyond us can affect us, we will develop a great understanding of these great celestial bodies above us. As a planet, we are still learning how to understand, harness, and externalize the energies within us. Perhaps we have a lot more to learn before we can grasp the energies of the heavens.
