Astrology is purely transpersonal knowledge
Among other things, Astrology is a type of knowledge, a way to "know" (according to the dictionary, to know means 1. to perceive or understand clearly or with certainty. 2. to be acquainted with.)
And why transpersonal?
The transpersonal theory studies doubts, motivations, and experiences which go beyond (transcend) the self or ego. The transpersonal perspective arose from the merging of Western humanistic psychology and Eastern contemplative traditions. What makes the tranaspersonal perspective different is that it requires including the spiritual as part of human nature.
If we conceive the spiritual as a process through which egocentrism and narcissism are gradually lost, I believe that the most important aspect of Astrology is its ability to consciously reconnect us with the Universe, not before reconnecting us with ourselves and our bodies, with those who join us in this stage of the path we call "existence".
Transpersonal Astrology
There are basically three stages in the development of our conscience: prepersonal, personal, and transpersonal.
The prepersonal stage consists of an integration with the cosmos that precedes the full-functioning ego. This integration is essentially physical, and remits to the feeling of boundlessness typical of the intrauterine stage, or of newborns.
During the personal stage, there is a differentiation with regards to unity. This is a healthy development of the conscience, now identified with the mental (rational) realm. The ego is stabilized, and if all goes well it matures successfully.
In the transpersonal stage, conscience transcends the mental realm to identify itself with the soul and the spirit. It transcends the mind, goes beyond it, without denying or repressing it.
If one sees human development as growth (magic, myth, rational, transrational), two classes of non-rationality can be perceived. These are the pre-rational ways of thinking, the magical and mythical ones (where reason does not yet exist or is abandoned) and the transrational ways (where reason remains intact, but is transcended in transmental states). For example, during meditation one is aware of the mind, but it is transcended, without returning to a more childish stage.
Astrology that is transpersonal remits to a more integral look at conscience and the cosmos. This type of astrology connects us with our soul and the anima mundi, the world's soul; with our true or superior Self.
Astrology is purely transpersonal
We could say that divining astrology, which pretends to control events, corresponds to the personal spectrum based on the ego and its needs. Transpersonal astrology corresponds to the needs of the soul…although herein lies the danger, since by straying from rationality one could head towards the pre-rational, magical, and narcissistic.
In other words, to every form of astrology there is a certain field or spectrum, where it can work successfully; without forgetting that initially (and according to the information we currently have) it originates at a mythical level.
As with the words cosmos and Kosmos, Wilber insists on establishing a distinction between nature (lower case) and Nature. This last one not only includes the mineral, vegetable, and animal worlds, but also the cultural, mental, and spiritual levels.
We should perhaps also make a distinction between astrology and Astrology. The first referring to the personal ego, and the second to the transpersonal Self. Astrology is yet another tool of the self, whereas Astrology transcends the Self as if it were an ethereal breath, transcending the ego.
Author: Alejandro Christian Luna ®
Translation: www.ombai.com
