Astrology Should Not Be Popular, Part I: The Danger of Pursuing Professional Respectability

This is part 1 in a series. Here is part 2: Prophet Motives.

A few weeks ago I had a plumber over to fix my kitchen sink, and we had an interesting conversation. I mentioned that I sometimes suffered from migraines, and I explained my herbal protocol for controlling them. He excitedly reported that he, too, sometimes got migraines, due to an injury from a car accident several years ago, and he, too, had found a way to control them. As he described his method, I’m ashamed to confess that it took a lot of self control for me not to laugh.

He said that there are a number of “sacred shapes” that he simply traced over and over again onto a piece of paper.

That’s it. That’s the treatment.

Trace the shape, and watch your symptoms melt away. He showed me the shapes… and they just looked like a child’s doodles. They didn’t look particularly sacred to me. I asked how that was supposed to work, and I got a long explanation involving Something-something energy, something-something vibrations… and voilà, a medical miracle for migraines. And this was discovered by the Ancient Egyptians, don’cha know, and people in France base their hospitals on it… Something about ley lines too, and secrets of miracles “they” don’t want us to know, Etc. (I know people in France, and no, the hospitals are not using sacred shapes, but OK.)

Look…

I believe him that his migraines got better! And I’m so glad he found relief! But, do I believe there are sacred shapes that adjust your magnetic aura and can heal illnesses if you trace them? Well… this strains credulity.

However, no sooner had this thought crossed my mind, than I realized that this is probably how many people view my beliefs. Patterns in the heavens speak to events on earth? Plants have intelligent spirits that interact with humans? My beliefs also surely strain the credulity of the rational-minded.

I reminded myself to remain humble. The universe is a large place. Who am I to judge? There are many paths to truth, and many paths to healing. Maybe those doodles do hold power, I don’t know!

Are We Crazy?

There are certain conversations in the astrological community that resurface from time to time. One of them is about astrology’s social respectability.  Many astrologers are really bothered by the fact that so many people in society see astrology as quackery, akin to people who trace doodles to find healing, or who believe the earth is hollow, or who wear tinfoil hats to ward off aliens.  Astrology is a serious field of study, dammit! It intersects with legitimate history, psychology, mathematics, astronomy, and other academic fields!  According to a certain segment of the community, we are just suffering from a marketing problem.  They are asking what we can do to increase our respectability in the broader world and make astrology a more accepted field.

I don’t have this impulse, so I was curious where it came from. I took a Twitter poll asking people who had this wish what they meant when they said they wanted astrology to be “socially respectable.” I didn’t get a lot of responses, but the ones I got were interesting:

I had assumed going in, that most people meant Option #1, but the biggest response was “just don’t laugh at me.”  I take this to mean that people just want others to be tolerant of their metaphysical beliefs and not try to shame them. Someone selected Option #4 and said they don’t want there to be laws making it illegal to practice astrology. That’s fair. I can agree to all of that.

Don’t laugh at people for their beliefs, folks, even if you think they are crazy. Be nice, OK? And nobody should go to jail here.

However, Option #1 had a fairly significant number of votes as well, and that is what I’m focusing on in this post.  A lot of astrologers think that astrology should hold a place of social authority.

Social Authority and Hegemony

I’m not sure if people who hold this opinion understand that social authority necessarily leads to social hegemony. “Hegemony” means there is a lot of social pressure to believe something, and serious social consequences if you don’t. Hegemony creates an invisible set of “shoulds.” It means there is a social prescription for what people ought to think and do.

Astrology in a place of social hegemony would mean astrology were understood as a way of approaching truth that most people just accepted without question. (And inversely, those who doubted it would be considered the crazy ones.) Astrologers would hold status as professional experts, generally referred to as an authoritative source of truth, on par with scientists, psychologists, doctors, meteorologists, economists, or other professions that make diagnoses or predictions. Some people are even talking about teaching astrology in public schools. Some astrologers believe that such a society would be ideal.  But would it be?

Side note: Let us assume that astrologers could even roughly agree on a universal method first… which is a huge and impossible assumption… but for the sake of argument, let us take that as a given! (P.S. the fact that they don’t and never will should cinch this discussion from the start, but I’m going to ignore that for now. 😉)

In my opinion, social authority or hegemony is not a goal we should concern ourselves with. It is not necessary for astrology to be accepted by the mainstream; indeed, this would actually damage astrology, not help it.  Astrology is an “occult art.”  The word “occult” means “hidden.”  Unlike science or other academic fields, astrology functions best in the shadows. Astrology should be an esoteric option only for those who wish to engage with it.

Note: social hegemony is not always bad.  In fact, it is inevitable to some extent.  However, we should be very careful and selective about what is allowed to enter that space.  I don’t believe that astrology is appropriate for that space.

In this article I’ll cover one reason for my opinion: astrology is a spiritual practice; therefore, it functions best out of the realms of power, and at the level of individuals connecting to Transcendence from the sincerity of their hearts.  I have other reasons for my opinion, which I’ll cover in future articles, because this one alone will need some explaining!

Which Epistemological Category Does Astrology Belong In?

When I say astrology is a “spiritual practice,” I don’t mean that it is like meditation, worship, or religious rituals, although there may (or may not) be some overlap with those fields.  I mean that astrology operates at a level beyond the physical.  (I wish I had a better word than “spiritual” to use here. “Metaphysical” might be a decent replacement?)

Astrology is not like science, psychology, medicine, or weather prediction. Particularly, to be more blunt about it, astrology is NOT a science.  Many astrologers dearly wish to make it so, but this wish betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of both science and astrology.  (It also betrays the high level of esteem science holds in the general culture. Everyone wants to be the cool kid, and science has become the cool kid.  But that is a different topic for a different day.) Science is the study of cause and effect in the physical world.  But astrology is a symbolic language of divination.

Here is the crux of the matter.  Astrology is a symbolic language of divination. 

Divination is the purpose of astrology.  

There is no application for astrology that is not divination.  

You don’t have astrology without divination.

What do I mean by Divination?  Here is my definition: Divination is the act of reading symbolic language to understand deep meaning and interact with Transcendence. 

Transcendence? Some people may use the term “God’s will” for this, or perhaps “Fate,” or “the Universe” or there could be many other terms.  I’m using the word “Transcendence.” Divination allows us to interact with the hidden fabric that connects everyone and everything at the spiritual/transcendent level. It helps us know things we could not know via strictly rational processes.

Some astrologers may argue that astrology is empirical and rational, actually; I mean, look at all the math! And the amazing correspondences!  But I disagree that the involvement of math and correspondences means it functions at the same epistemic level as science. There are empirical and rational tools used, and astrology is much more mathematical than many other forms of divination, but it is not fundamentally a method for gaining firm, clear, empirical facts. Science explores truth with a lower-case t. It speaks to truth in the physical, objective, factual realm. Astrology explores Truth with a capital T. It speak to Truth in the realm of meaning, energy, and fate. I am not saying that astrology doesn’t pertain to tangible events; it does! But the way by which it connects to tangible events happens at the transcendent level.

Astrology is a “way of knowing,” but it is different from the scientific “way of knowing.” One is not better than the other, but they are in different lanes, with different strengths and different purposes.

(I strongly urge everyone to take a fun, quick course in epistemology and then read briefly about “extended epistemology” to understand the various “ways of knowing.”)

I’ll give an example of what I mean. This is empiricism:

This is an outcome that will happen, given the same set of inputs, always, for everyone, every time, no exceptions. This is all knowable due to the laws of chemistry.

Let’s try this for astrology. What if we see this set of inputs?

It is impossible to say what this means without a ton of other contextual information. We can talk about some general qualitative influences we expect to see, but the actual physical manifestion of this is going to vary. Widely.

Here is another graphic demonstrating how astrological interpretation happens. The symbol is given, and astrologers need to know the possible meanings for that symbol. They must then interpret one or several of those meanings to apply them to the situation in question.

I only gave one simple astrological symbol, and already the interpretive possibilities have splintered to at least dozens of potential outcomes. When we add more symbols to create an astrological “sentence” (for example, ♄+♂ in ♒ ), there will be thousands of interpretations possible.  The “art” of astrology involves choosing the interpretation most likely to manifest. Not easy!

The more specific and concrete we try to be in our predictions, the more we are surprised by other ways that the symbol can manifest. I remember once noticing a significant transit coming up on my 7th house, and thinking something important would happen in my “significant partnership” area of life.  Instead, what happened was that my neighbor’s child had a serious accident and went to the ER, and I provided significant support for my neighbor and the child.  “My neighbor’s child” would be the turned 5th house from the 3rd house, which is the 7th house. This is NOT a typical manifestation of a 7th house transit, by any means, but that is what happened! I could never have predicted that exact event, even though I could see that something significant would happen that day. 

Astrology is an oracle, speaking riddles which must be interpreted.  Interpretation is difficult, because there is a staggering array of possibilities for any given astrological configuration. And I don’t need to remind any (honest) astrologer who has been practicing for more than 2 days, that it is possible to get our interpretations wrong.

This is what I mean about astrology being divination. Learning the symbols and meanings only gets you so far. There is a mystical connection, a communication, that must happen beyond that.  Patterns and symbols are used as conventions for communication, not inputs for a causal technocracy.  The longer you do it, the more you get a “sense” for what astrology is saying, but it still always manages to surprise you, (like any great relationship!)

Church and State

Because astrology is, at its core, a divinatory activity, it is unhealthy to make it socially authoritative, just as it is unhealthy to establish a state religion. Now, astrology is not religion, and there are many differences between the two, but as far as providing ways to connect to deeper meaning, religion and astrology have some similarities.

Everyone’s relationship with the Transcendent is personal and different, and that is a GOOD thing.  There are many, many ways for individuals to find meaning and depth in life. People should come to astrology (if they do) because they want to, not because they feel social pressure to.  Astrology is not the only source of Truth or Meaning.  If astrology were somehow put into a place in society where everyone felt like they had to follow it, then it would no longer be a conversation with Transcendence born from a place of authenticity. It would become perfunctory, dogmatic, and ritualistic. It would bind instead of liberate. It would corrupt instead of nourish.

There was a lot wrong with the Enlightenment, and I will join criticisms of its many flaws any day; however, one thing the Enlightenment got right was that society is better when religious and spiritual ideas are divorced both from the state and from social hegemony. Freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, and freedom to pursue the spiritual path one prefers are fundamental for healthy societies. Diversity is strength. Anything that becomes either a state project or a broad, universally-prevailing social artifact necessarily interacts with the dangers of Power. When there is Power, corruption is soon to follow.  Anyone who loves astrology should strive to keep it out of the realm of Power, lest it become weaponized and ultimately corrupted beyond recognition. 

But What About the History of Royal Astrology?

I recognize that my opinion could be seen as deviating from astrology’s historical use as a royal endeavor. For hundreds of years, astrology was only available to nobility, who often consulted astrologers to determine how to rule their kingdoms.  Astrology only stayed alive due to Power; it was in the halls of Power for a long time; and it thrived on Power, right?

Set aside the fact that we live in dramatically different social contexts today. Comparing modern forms of social authority to ancient royal authority isn’t exactly fair.  However, I’m not saying that the context of royal astrology was ideal for astrology either, but being a royal endeavor did not fatally corrupt astrology, for a few reasons:

• First I would point out that astrology was still optional, in the sense that the astrologer advised the king or queen what to do, and they still had a choice about what to do with that information. Astrology was respected but not necessarily hegemonic.  The king would not be executed for ignoring the astrologer; it was the other way around.  

• Second, astrology was for a long time withheld from mass consumption. Royalty would not want astrology (and the requisite literacy necessary to study it in the first place) being accessible to just anyone. So astrology was not socially prescriptive. It was still occult. The state power astrology lived within for centuries was not the type of broad social power that some astrologers today are advocating for.  

• And third, although we cannot know hypotheticals for sure, I don’t believe that astrology necessarily “thrived” due to Power per se. I’d say it thrived despite the corrupting influences of Power. The aforementioned relative secrecy in which it developed actually provided some protective influence against the damaging corruption that otherwise occurred.

Conclusion: Call Me Crazy, I Don’t Care

If you feel called to astrology, you should accept the fact that some people will not understand or appreciate your calling. If you cannot endure this, perhaps another calling is for you. Or perhaps you are meant to practice it privately but not make a career out of it. There is nothing wrong with that. But I think astrology is healthiest when it is practiced by individuals who seek it out of passion instead of obligation. And society is healthiest when there is not a domination of one, single method for understanding Transcendence, but all forms of spiritual inquiry are allowed to flourish.

Hope this makes sense!  I have a lot more ideas for why I do not believe it is good for astrology to be popular, which I will explore in future blog posts.