The Practice of Astrology As a technique of human understanding By Dane Rudhyar TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE FIRST STEP To Understand the Nature and Purpose of What One is About to Study THE SECOND STEP To Assume Personal Responsibility for the Use of One’s Knowledge THE THIRD STEP To Establish a Clear Procedure of Work THE FOURTH STEP A Clear Understanding of the Meaning of Zodiacal Signs and Houses THE FIFTH STEP The Use of the "Lights" THE SIXTH STEP The Study of the Planetary System as a Whole THE SEVENTH STEP Acquiring a Sense of Form and Accentuation THE EIGHTH STEP A Dynamic Understanding of Planetary Cycles and Aspects THE NINTH STEP Establishing a Proper Attitude Toward Astrological Prediction THE TENTH STEP The Study of Transits and Natural Cycles THE ELEVENTH STEP The Study of Progressions THE TWELFTH STEP The Significant use of Horary Techniques THE THIRTEENTH STEP The Establishment of Larger Frames of Reference for Individual Charts INTRODUCTION The text-books on astrology which have been written during the last seventy- five years reveal a definite evolution in astrological thinking and even in the character of astrological techniques. During the nineteenth century, English astrologers were in the forefront of the movement toward a restatement and popularization of this ancient system of thought, but they followed strictly in the footsteps of their Medieval and Renaissance predecessors, who in turn did little more than repeat what had been said by Ptolemy during the great days of the Roman Empire, when a vast era of human development was closing which had seen the birth, spread and triumph of astrology. Today, however, four basic trends are definitely manifest in astrology. The first trend is a popularization of the simplest elements in astrology, those referring to the position of the Sun and the planets in the zodiac, and to their "transits" over the important points in the natal chart. This trend seeks to blend in varied proportions the fundamental methods of ancient and Medieval astrology with the broad psychological knowledge which has been spread through-out the United States. The second trend is shown in an attempt to establish astrological findings upon a statistical and empirical basis which would give them a more "scientific" character and which might insure the eventual recognition of astrology by academic thinkers. The third trend, appearing only here and there, is the result of a desire to correlate astrology with new or revised "esoteric" doctrines along the lines of occultism, Oriental or Occidental. The fourth trend originates in the frank recognition of the symbolical character of astrology as a technique for a basic understanding of nature, and, above all, of human nature. Astrology, according to such an approach (which is the one taken by this writer), is shown to have been essentially, from the very dawn of human civilization, the result of man's attempt to understand the apparent confusion and chaos of his life-experiences by referring them to the ordered patterns of cyclic activity which he discovers in the sky. Astrology is born of the poignant need in every man for order. Celestial phenomena reveal such an order; and using this order as a measuring stick and clock, man, by referring all that happens within and around him to it, satisfies at last his yearning for harmony. He learns to identify his consciousness and will with the "celestial" patterns and rhythms. He becomes one with the principle of universal order, which many call "God." And living an ordered life he becomes an integrated person: a man of wisdom. Though the energies of his own nature or of society at war may beat upon his consciousness through the gates of his senses and his feelings, yet he himself, as a centralized and integrated Self, is at peace. For, to him, even the most destructive storm has its place and function within the order of his destiny, or of mankind's destiny. And by "destiny" he means: the complete whole of a cycle of living. Astrology, in such a conception of its character and use, is a technique for the gaining of wisdom through the understanding of the order in human nature and in all phenomena perceived by man: a technique in understanding. Astrology as a technique in human understanding: this is, I believe, the deepest and most vital characterization I can establish of this system of thought which has been so greatly abused and so greatly misused. However, there is no attempt on my part to belittle the possibilities of forecasting the future which astrology undoubtedly offers to the master in this difficult art; and indeed no one acquainted with "horary astrology" can ever deny its amazing potentialities. But in order to use constructively and wisely these potentialities the astrologer need have gained more than mere technical proficiency – difficult even as such a gain is. He must also have reached a high decree of human understanding. For what the sky reveals is nothing but raw materials for human understanding. Everything ultimately depends upon individual understanding. This is so in astrology, as it is in medical or psychological therapy. Knowledge, in these fields, is not enough. Wisdom is needed. The usual astrological text-books, old and new, are filled with data, the memorizing of which insures knowledge. But wisdom is an elusive factor. It can hardly be taught. It may partly be transferred from living person to living person. Yet, because it is based on the full understanding of total situations and of experiences lived without any reservations, it can only be acquired through actual living, through pain, through the discharge of responsibilities, through the courageous and honest putting forth of the whole of oneself in whatever experience is seen as significant. Nevertheless, knowledge can be geared to the attainment of wisdom. And in this work, my aim is to make a presentation of the basic concepts and facts used in modern astrology which is as simple and clear as possible without losing sight of the ultimate goal of this kind of astrology: the development of human understanding. Each chapter of this book is thus conceived as outlining a basic step toward astrological wisdom. If the reader is not yet acquainted with the ordinary methods used in astrology, what is written should provide him with a sound basis for further and more detailed study. If the reader is thoroughly familiar with astrological techniques, I trust that he will find here a challenge to further thinking and the stimulation to seek always for deeper human values while using the astrological tools. THE FIRST STEP - To Understand the Nature and Purpose of What One is About to Study One may acquire knowledge without enquiring into the nature of the subject one is about to study, or into the purpose of the study; but wisdom will ever elude the man who is contented with accumulating facts and technical data. Wisdom is based on useable knowledge — and on the purposeful use of it. Therefore the aimless approach to astrology, or the approach based on mere personal curiosity, should be transformed by a clear recognition of the nature and goal of astrology, if the study of astrology is to orient man toward a deeper understanding of human nature and of all manifestations of life. Every student — however casual his study should ask honestly to himself: what does astrology mean to me? What is my aim in becoming better acquainted with it? No one can answer these question for the student, but the considerations which follow should help to make him more aware of the nature and the limitations of astrological thinking and astrological practice. Astrology and Astronomy Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial phenomena. It studies how things happen in what we call the universe. Astrology, on the other hand, is a technique of symbolization and of prognostication, in which some selected categories of astronomical data are used as indicators of the behavior of the basic functional activities within "organic wholes" and of the structural characteristics displayed by these wholes. Astrology does not attempt to tell in a scientific manner how things happen, either in the sky or in human beings. Astrology does not describe phenomena or events; nor does it seek to grasp the chain of causes and effects in any of the matters it touches. Astrology, as I understand it, has no concern whatsoever with whether a conjunction of planets causes some things to happen to a person or a nation; it only indicates the possibility or probability of a certain type of event occurring in a certain place at a certain time. It does not tell us why or how the event occurs, no more than a clock striking noon tells us why or how the sensation of hunger arises in the consciousness of the worker accustomed to eat at such a time of the day-cycle. The conjunction and the sound of the clock merely point to the normal expectancy of a certain type of condition taking place at a particular time in a man's consciousness. Astrology is primarily a method for the interpretation, at several levels, of the relationship between causally unrelated sets of phenomena. This simply means that astrology "interprets" the observable concurrence between celestial phenomena and more or less definite changes in the lives of individuals or groups, but it is not concerned with the scientific study of the cause of such a concurrence, except on a purely philosophical or metaphysical basis. Such a scientific study could be attempted and some astrologers are making such an attempt on rather slim foundations; but the success or failure of the attempt does not affect the astrological findings and does not add any significant value to astrology as a "technique in human understanding." Astrology is a study of an observable parallelism between the timing of events in the universe and in the individual consciousness.