Pisces 24° (March 15)

Ides of March and Mom’s birthday. S. and I chat. We are trying to slowly chip away. Will have dinner at Fanizzi’s of mussels, mashed and Caesar. I see Audrey which is nice. Lastly, the next in the title points to the fact that (our pop appeal as supposedly smart, sexy and, hopefully, funny books aside) we are respected academics in the field of humanistic astrology and Nextrology, in its own way, evolves that branch of study in which we are considered frontrunners by our respected peers. Our work is continually touted by other popular astrologers and authors working in our genre and, even, outside of it, including award-winning novelists like Eleanor Catton (The Luminaries) and others who have credited us with inspiring their own creative process of divining artistic themes, storylines and characters.

Astrology itself is something of a noble lie. That is to say, one must buy into the notion that the movement of the planets and their relationships to one another has meaning, without having any proof. This is especially true of one’s natal chart, which is a snapshot, a freeze frame, of the planets’ positions, at the time of the individual’s birth. Once we accept this conceit, however, we enter into a world that functions quite scientifically, with rules and math and endless associative, interpretive meanings. Reincarnation, too, is a sort of noble lie that is nonetheless at the center of major religions and belief systems. Like astrology, it can’t be proven but it is the basis for an entire world of philosophy and codes to live by, Karma chief among them. Of course, any belief in God or gods involves acceptance of a noble lie. None of us (that we know of) has ever seen God, and yet nothing impacts our human existence, our morality and our judgements, not to mention the wars we wage, as does our notions of this or that invisible God. At least we can actually see the stars, which appear to us all, nightly. In a sense, our brand of humanistic astrology involves the acceptance of both the noble lies of astrology and reincarnation: you were born the sign you are (with all the intricacies of your individual birth chart, pin in that) to learn a whole set of life lessons endemic, primarily, to the estate of your particular sun- and sex-sign archetype. In this view, astrology, and particularly, the humanistic branch thereof to which we subscribe, is foremost about personal evolution of the individual in this lifetime as it relates to the more esoteric notion of the evolution of an individual’s soul, over many lifetimes. And you can certainly enjoy the exercise of exploring the former application, without accepting the latter, should you find reincarnation a spiritual bridge too far.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go! Copyright 2022 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.