Is There Anything Meaningful in Astrology?
Here we go again. In a recent issue of New Scientist magazine¹ the subtitle to an article² opened “Astrology is bunk…”, a phrase I come across frequently. I imagine I’m not alone. This was actually a review of a new book³ and, to be fair, I should note that the continuation was that, even though astrology is bunk, “a new book exploring its ancient history argues that it has crucial lessons for today’s data science with its seemingly opaque algorithms”. That need not detain us here, however. I’ll stick to the main question, is astrology bunk?
The first thing that needs to be said, agreeing with the critics, is that people claiming to be astrologers have in the past said foolish things, and made many incorrect predictions, so that there is a lot of chaff associated with astrology. This leaves it open to ridicule from detractors. So the question becomes, is there any wheat beyond the chaff?
On that point, some religious people believe and say ridiculous things. Should that make us reject religion and spiritual traditions out of hand? I think not. Some scientists believe and say ridiculous things. Should that make us reject science in its totality? Certainly not. There is much chaff in religion and science, so we should not dismiss astrology on that account. Instead we should investigate whether there is anything deeper worth considering.
I have a good friend who is a longstanding member of the Theosophical Society, which describes itself as an esoteric, or occult organisation. In a conversation with her I mentioned astrology in passing, and she replied “astrology is so obviously true”, with an expression and in a tone of voice which suggested that there must be something wrong with anyone who thinks otherwise. She is a highly intelligent woman, neither gullible nor easily led astray by fanciful notions.
I was a speaker at a Theosophical Society conference last year in Leeds. There I met two esoteric astrologers, Gary Kidgell and Ted Capstick. The latter gave a talk entitled The Soul-based Principles of Astrology. Considering the fact that astrology is held in contempt by scientists, rationalists, and sceptics in general, it was interesting to spend a weekend somewhere where it is accepted wholeheartedly, and is almost a way of life. (For a report on the whole conference, click here.)
Some esoteric secret societies, which are maintaining ancient traditions hidden from the general public for long periods of time, study astrology in depth. For example, I have been informed by a friend that the Golden Dawn, and Builders of the Adytum both make it part of their curriculum, and there are compulsory exams.
It is clear, therefore, that the argument over astrology is between the Western scientific mind, and ancient wisdom traditions which have survived for centuries, and despite recent ‘scientific’ attempts to eradicate them. We have to entertain the possibility that this deeper astrology is just too subtle and complex for the Western scientific mind, obsessed as it is with reason and logic, to understand.
Several years ago I was so intrigued by the possibility that astrology might be valid, that I did a lot of research into what astrologers actually believe, and ended up writing a book about it, trying to establish a worldview which would allow astrology. This involved a lot of Jungian psychology and quantum physics. The book is as yet unpublished, but the whole of the first part of it is available on Medium. (For a guide to it please refer to the bottom of this page on my website.)
I was reasonably pleased with what I had come up with. Since then, however, Keiron Le Grice has done a much better job in The Archetypal Cosmos: Rediscovering the Gods in Myth, Science and Astrology⁴. He is influenced by Richard Tarnas and his Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View⁵. These are the books anyone interested in the deeper aspects of astrology should be reading.
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I hope you have enjoyed this article. I have written in the past about other topics, including spirituality, metaphysics, psychology, science, Christianity, politics. All these articles are on Medium, but the simplest way to see a guide to them is to visit my website (click here and here).
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Footnotes:
- Magazine issue 3265 , published January 18th 2020
3. A Scheme of Heaven: The history of astrology and the search for our destiny in data, by Alexander Boxer, W. W. Norton
4. Floris Books, 2010
5. Viking, 2006
