Astrology and Myth

These things never happened

But always are

- Sallust, on the myths

The word 'myth' nowadays tend to mean something like ”untruth” or even ”lie”, but the original meaning of the word was simply ”story” (from the Greek mythos).

Storytelling is as ancient as man. Tradition and knowledge have always been handed down through stories. Everything has its story. Storytelling is a way of interpreting reality in the form of poetry and drama.

Seasons, days and nights, births and deaths – life is made up of cycles going all the way back to the beginning and tuned to the orbits of the heavenly bodies. The ancients realized all this and related life on Earth to the movements of the Sun, Moon and the planets. They realized that the heavenly pattern penetrates and fills all life and everything that happens on the Earth.

The same pattern therefore also informed the stories, sagas, chants and rituals of man. The stories were attired in various garments during various epochs, in different places and among different peoples. Yet the inner core always remained the same. The very same pattern that fills and penetrates everything also filled the stories – the myths – and gave life to them. The myths of ancient heroes, gods and giants are therefore also the tales of the orbiting heavenly bodies.

Astrology shows an archetypal astral pattern which fills and penetrates all life and all movement. Everything is connected. Every epoch, every moment has its character, forming its specific pattern in the constantly changing kaleidoscope of being.

This follows from necessity since the original archetypal pattern is still here, penetrating everything, taking part in all change and also being mirrored in man and in his society, his psyche and body and in all of his life.

In this way the orbits of the Sun, Moon and planets mirror everything on Earth. Cyclic patterns are repeated and united to each other forming the web of life that is our universe and our world.

The same pattern that gives shape to everything also gives shape to the stories – mythos – of man. Therefore there is a deep and profound content in these stories. They speak in symbolic form about our lives. Therefore there is also a close connection between astrology and myth. Both mirror our life and the universal patterns and archetypes that flow forth from the great source of everything and that penetrate and inform all there is...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Seeing the planets and stars shine and twinkle upon the quiet evening sky is a most wondrous experience. So far away and yet in a way so close...

The Galactic Gondolier perceives the starry sky as a deeply poetic and beautiful part of life here on Earth. Silent twinkling stars accompany the Galactic Gondola as it slowly makes its way through the dark waters of the evening...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Astrology as Poetry

Like all ancient systems of knowledge, astrology embraces everything and leaves nothing outside. It mirrors life´s wholeness and therefore it has a deeply poetical dimension.

Life and existence cannot be correctly perceived in case the inherent poetry is not allowed to shine through. Even the prosaic things of life have their quiet poetry.

Everything is in the eye of the beholder!

It is part of reality´s nature to have a poetic dimension. And reality – it consists both of the perceived and the perceiver!

You cannot remove poetry from reality without doing violence to life. Poetry – not necessarily written poetry but rather what I would like to refer to as the poetic dimension of existence – speaks softly, touches deep feelings and makes everything belong together and mean something.

Remove poetry - and reality gets dull, hard, cold, insecure and unreal. Things are put up against each other. What belongs together is separated. The whole is broken apart. Meaning gets lost.

It is in the meaningful affinity of eveything that astrology has its place. It brings all things together, shows that all things have their context and meaning. All things are permitted to work together. Life becomes whole (and holy!). Also that which is difficult and painful has its meaning and place, is explained, listened to and integrated as a part of the one reality that we all share...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Tehuti

Also Mercury in Libra is forming a trine to Chiron and the North Lunar Node in Aquarius in the twelfth house of the Gondola. At the same time it forms a T-Square together with Jupiter in Capricorn in the eleventh house and the Moon in Cancer in the fifth house.

Mercury – Hermes of the Hellenes and Tehuti of the Egyptians – not only rules the Imum Coeli and the fourth house in Gemini but also the Descendant and the seventh house in the quiet sign of Virgo. The very ground from which the Gondola has sprung forth is of course a wish and a need to communicate.

Finally in the horoscope of the Gondola there is fittingly formed a grand water trine between Uranus in Pisces, Mars in Scorpio, and the Moon in Cancer.

Such is the wavy voyage of the remarkable and mysterious Galactic Gondola in its likewise remarkable and mysterious Galactic Venice while the glittering stars of the night are mirrored in the dark deep waters...

Your Galactic Gondolier

A Quiet Symphony

Let our gondola tour continue. High in the sky is standing distant Pluto, the god of death - Hades of the Hellenes - in the sign of Sagittarius. The goal of the journey is the discovery of the deeper or higher meaning of life.

Pluto is forming a sextile to the Sun at the stern in the sign of Libra in the seventh house of the Gondola. At the same time it is squaring Chiron and the North Lunar Node in Aquarius right ahead.

There is something powerful in this pattern, a quiet and friendly yet forceful power, emphasizing the essentials of life and a willingness to go deep into things.

Pluto rules the eighth house in the sign of Scorpio, where Venus – Aphrodite of the Hellenes – is silently reflecting her beautiful light. From Venus there is a trine to the Ascendant and a quintile to Chiron and the North Lunar Node in Aquarius in the twelfth house of the Gondola.

It is as if the planetary energies in quiet silence both surround and fill the Gondola with harmoniously colored lights in a sort of quiet symphony, where the only sound that can be heard is the slow oar strokes of the gondolier in the pitch black water through the starlit canals of Galactic Venice...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Half Man Half Horse

Astrology is based on a correspondence between the planets of heaven and the inner world of man, a correspondence where one mirrors the other. The Discovery of a new heavenly body then means that some new awareness is added to man´s collective consciousness.

The discovery of Chiron inspired the awareness of an inner path of healing along with the development of man´s higher consciousness. Chiron of the myths was half horse and half man. Being abandoned by his parents - Saturn (or Chronos) in the shape of a horse and the sea nymph Philyra - he was taken care of by Apollo, the Sun god with the seven stringed lyre, who became his mentor, teaching him all kinds of arts.

A central theme in the mythology of Chiron is reunion. Man´s reunion both with heaven and earth.

Chiron as both man and horse is telling us that we need to renew our inner contact with the Earth, with our living Earth Cosmos, with our animal instincts and our feelings and also with darker sides of our subconcious. Overemphasis on rational thinking otherwise tend to alienate us more and more from life´s wholeness.

But we have not only lost our inner contact with the Earth and our instincts and feelings. Like Chiron, who was abandoned by his parents, we have also been cut off from our own divine origin. We feel "abandoned" and cut off from our own inner being, our own inner divinity. In this vulnerable state, Chiron, the wounded healer, extends a helping hand until we are able to take full responsibility for our own healing and thus regain our inner contact with both heaven and earth.

Chiron conjunct the North Lunar Node in the sign of Aquarius in the twelfth house in the birth (or launch) chart of the Gondola, hints at the deeply painful theme of humanity´s collective internal wound and the importance and necessity of balance and completeness...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Chiron - The Key to Balance and Healing

The irregular orbit of Chiron brings together the polarities of Saturn and Uranus, earth and heaven, matter and spirit, rational thought and intuition...

Chiron of the myths was both horse and man. His name is from Greek cheir, meaning hand. Chiron was the teacher. The things he taught combined insight and skill. Perhaps it can be described through the word culture. 

The heavenly body Chiron was suddenly discovered by the astronomer Charles Kowal at 10 AM on the 1st of November in 1977. It is remarkable that the horoscope of the discovery - when Chiron was "born" into human consciousness - has Sagittarius the Centaur rising!

Chiron´s Discovery, November 1, 1977, 10 AM, Pasadena, CA

The small planet was first named "Object Kowal" after its discoverer. The symbol of Chiron shows an O with a K on top. It soon came to be looked upon by the astrologers as a key - a key to man´s evolution of a higher consciousness.

Then occured that remarkable and truly magical thing that always seems to happen when a new heavenly body is discovered. The astronomers gave to the new planet a name from the Greek mythology that in a most remarkable and magical way fits into the astrological pattern. They chose the name Chiron.

The astrologers thankfully recognized the new planet´s role as a bridge between the traditional visible planets and the more newly discovered outer planets - Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - which during the last three centuries have been incorporated into the astrological pattern.

Chiron´s discovery chart has Venus, Pluto, and the North Lunar Node in conjunction with Medium Coeli in the sign of Libra, suggesting the necessity of a renewed balance and harmony of human relations.

Neptune in Sagittarius in the 12th house forms a sextile to Pluto and the Lunar Node in Libra, suggesting the great importance of intuition and a spiritual outlook for man to reach a higher and more expanded and balanced state of mind.

The Sun - the portal between spirit and matter - conjunct Uranus and Mercury in Scorpio points to an impending - or perhaps already begun - deep revolution of the human mind...

Your Galactic Gondolier

A Magic Pattern

Jupiter in Capricorn - high in the sky in the eleventh house of the Gondola - stands in opposition to the Moon in Cancer in the fifth house. 

What is the meaning of this?

The Moon reflects its faint light from deep below the keel of the Gondola in the water sign of Cancer. Cold and warmth, outer and inner, high and low, darkness and light...

Is there anything to reconcile the opposites? Perhaps even to bring them together in a higher and more fulfilling unity?

As the picture gradually becomes more clear there appears a beautiful and mysterious pattern in the chart of the Gondola - a pattern where all opposites (Jupiter-Moon and Uranus-Saturn) form diagonals in a "mystic rectangle".

The magic pattern - which also includes Chiron, the Healer, and the Lunar Nodes - in one stroke dissolves all potential trouble! The voyage of the Gondola is blessed and safe! What first seemed to be troublesome now appears to be a most beautiful and reassuring pattern of collaborating planetary aspects, an alchemical dance of the heavenly lights...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Chiron - Centaur and Healer

Chiron, the Centaur, has an important role in the horoscope of the Gondola. Straight ahead, in the East, it travels in the company of Neptune, nautical patron and god of the sea, and the North Lunar Node, the Dragon´s Head - all three in the sign of Aquarius in the twelfth house of the wave-tossed Gondola...

What is it then, Chiron´s role in the play of the planets?

In the mythology he is both horse and man, the son of earth-bound Saturn and the grandson of heavenly Uranus.

- Aha!

Mythic Chiron is the teacher and instructor, the physician and herbalist, the musician, some even say the astrologer, and the archer. He represents insight and skill - the Greek word cheir means hand - and thereby the bringing together of heaven and earth, of intuition and rational thought...

The celestial body named Chiron was discovered late - not until 1977. No one can say with certainty what it is. Is it a minor planet, an asteroid, or perhaps a comet? Chiron´s peculiar orbit agrees in in a marvellous way with the mythology. It orbits between Saturn and Uranus, so that when it is closest to the Sun it circles a bit inside Saturn´s orbit and at its furthest distance from the Sun it is even outside the orbit of Uranus.

Thus, Chiron is the unifyer of heaven (Uranus) and earth (Saturn). The herbalist and astrologer, the musician and archer, the mentor and teacher of heroes...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Structure and Movement

We live in a world of constant change. Nothing stands still but everything is in motion. "We cannot step into the same river twice."

Yet, paradoxically, we also live in a world of form and structure. Everything has its shape, its structure. The form or structure is necessary as it provides continuity and preservation. 

Movement and structure - how can they coexist?

The recently completed opposition between Uranus (movement, change) and Saturn (structure, shape) points to this contradiction. And certainly during the past couple of years we have all witnessed many an old structure that has been forced to adjust and make changes. 

If we observe nature and the cosmos, we easily become aware that movement and change also in themselves have their own structure. Everything moves in cycles. Days and nights and seasons follow each other in an orderly manner.

We will also find that the forms and structures of nature are flexible. They have a built-in ability to move, grow and change!

So there is movement in structure and structure in movement! There is some yang in yin and some yin in yang. And so continues the ever-changing dance of our reality. The only invariant is change itself...

Even the gondola - the traditional Venetian boat type - has changed its design over time to meet new circumstances. Unlike its predecessors, today´s gondola is designed to offer tourists in Venice a romantic boat ride on the city´s waterways. It is designed so that the port side is somewhat broader than the the starboard side. This asymmetrical design compensates for drift and gives the craft a straight course and perfect balance with the gondolier standing on the port side, rowing with the single oar attached to the starboard side. This gives to the gondola its particular elegance and beauty of movement under the starlit skies of Venice...

Your Galactic Gondolier

Uranus and Science

Usually Uranus correlates with modern science and its inventiveness and ingenuity. Yet in a typically Uranian manner I turned the table around in my last blog and associated modern science with Saturn in Virgo!

How come? Are not Uranian words like "modern" and "progressive" words that describe science? Well, they  usually are. But that is not the whole picture. To a large extent modern science has already got stuck in its own dogma. 

The new and revolutionary discoveries (Uranus) of quantum physics - which in reality belong to a future paradigm - have not really sunk into the minds of the science community at large. So we can easily observe a clear Uranus-Saturn polarity within science itself! The real polarity then is not so much between Astrology and modern science as such but rather between Astrology and the outdated materialistic and reductionist view of reality still clung to by mainstream science - despite the revolutionary new discoveries!

Possibly a future more expanded paradigm will allow science to collaborate with or at least tolerate Astrology in a constructive way. Possibly the materialistic and reductionist view will finally give way to a more expansive and all-embracing experience of reality...

Your Galactic Gondolier

An Expanded View of Reality

Let us return to our gently floating Gondola beneath the starry skies of Galactic Venice. As we have seen even the Gondola is colored by the polarity of Uranus and Saturn. And of course it will mirror this polarity in its own way.

Being associated with heaven, Uranus also represents Astrology as a system of knowledge. In the chart of the Gondola the planet dwells in Pisces and occupies the twelfth house ahead, mirroring an intuitive view of reality inspired by the art of Astrology. The opposition from Uranus to Saturn in Virgo in the sixth house astern speaks of an inner urge to influence or counterbalance a more materialistic and limited view of reality.

My website - called the Galactic Gondola and in the process of being translated into English - deals to a large extent with the more intuitive view of reality that comes with Astrology (in the chart represented by Uranus) as contrasted to the more limited view of Western science and society (in this case represented by Saturn in Virgo).

My intention is to point to the more expanded and inclusive view of reality that is opened up to us through Astrology. Yet, having the Sun and Mercury and Mars astern in Libra in the seventh house, the main purpose of the Gondola is to keep its balance upon the undulating waves. After all, life itself is a risky undertaking and an adventurous voyage, isn´t it?

The daring aspiration of this Gondolier is to blend an intuitive view of reality with a more methodical and rational view...

Your Galactic Gondolier