by Astrology and self-knowledge
Astrology (and the horoscope, one of its implements of analysis) is a knowledge model based not on the separation between the subject of experience and external events but on considering that human consciousness and the cosmos are a single process.
“Cosmos”, according to the Greek etymology, is the order that the conscience imposes on the pre-existing “chaos”, the shapeless matter still devoid of the ordering light of the conscience itself. Interpreting a horoscope, therefore, means “reading” in the sky – what is most remote to the perception of the senses – an order that is right inside us, which we can mirror because it appears external to us. It is the root of magical thinking and astrology, not without side effects like superstition and quackery.
Astrology was born in a historical period in which the human being was not yet closely linked to the individuation process, which imposes a knowledge model based on mental and cause-effect interrelation. As the presupposition of unity of all things failed, it was necessary to refine the intellectual tools to regain possession of the meanings that human beings previously knew intuitively; this is at the origin of the current scientific approach, which tends, as a side effect, to an inevitable disharmony between the opportunities offered and their correct application.
It is necessary to distinguish between the reality of astrology as an instrument of self-knowledge and a specific astrological “culture” that takes its cue from deceptive material through media channels (newspaper horoscopes, etc.); this has nothing to do with astrology. Astrology is now approached with an uncritical spirit, developing an attitude of superstitious dependence that is easily attacked, among other things, by supporters of scientific thought; it has become, like much else, a consumer good. This astrological approach severs the individual’s ties to their responsibilities rather than instructing them.
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