What is the purpose of the astrologer?

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I am a strong believer in fate. I don't totally understand it, but everything I have seen in astrology says that we don't have any choices, it is all mapped out for us, at least between birth and death on this planet. Maybe the choice was made outside of time. And the very word fate comes from the past tense of the French faire to make or to do, meaning, in the words of Jesus on the cross, "it is done", it has been made, it has already happened, the movie has already been made and this life is just a replaying.

Astrologers are limited in that we don't know enough, we can't be absolutely sure that our methods work in certain ways all the time.

What are astrologers actually doing, with our Uranian art, peeking behind the veils of time (Saturn)?
Last edited by fleur on Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:08 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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hi fleur,

speaking for myself, astrology has given me a particular perspective that i don't think i would have been able to get any other way.. understanding what i, or a close friend or family member is going thru is one of the many benefits i see to astrology.. also, the timing of events and the cycles of life seem to be captured with a greater understanding of astrology... i think astrology is hard to replicate... i think the purpose of someone who is doing astrology for a livelihood is to help broaden another persons perspective on all of this and to help put life in a proper perspective for them based on these cycles of change..

on a related note - i recall someone giving an interesting description of the past, present and future... they said that the past is in front of us - we can see it and all the various narratives that can be written or used to describe it.. about the future - it is behind us and we are unable to see it... i like this idea... in so far as astrology tries to see what is behind us, i think it can sometimes do this very well in a generalized way..

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james_m wrote:hi fleur,

speaking for myself, astrology has given me a particular perspective that i don't think i would have been able to get any other way.. understanding what i, or a close friend or family member is going thru is one of the many benefits i see to astrology.. also, the timing of events and the cycles of life seem to be captured with a greater understanding of astrology... i think astrology is hard to replicate... i think the purpose of someone who is doing astrology for a livelihood is to help broaden another persons perspective on all of this and to help put life in a proper perspective for them based on these cycles of change..

on a related note - i recall someone giving an interesting description of the past, present and future... they said that the past is in front of us - we can see it and all the various narratives that can be written or used to describe it.. about the future - it is behind us and we are unable to see it... i like this idea... in so far as astrology tries to see what is behind us, i think it can sometimes do this very well in a generalized way..
Reminded me of this,

https://youtu.be/3xwEQLnvuMU

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I think this question is more so what is the point of astrology? The purpose behind a given astrologer varies - maybe they find it an easy way for them to supplement their income, maybe they believe they help people. Their reasons vary. I believe some people possess the gift of prophecy and astrology is a way for them to reign in that gift. How they use their gift is up to them. Some people use astrology to better understand themselves and/or other people, or for self improvement. I think astrology primarily reminds me that I believe that there is a God and there are many supernatural things I have experienced in my life (but I have Pluto in the 4th and my ascendant ruler is Moon conjunct Neptune, so I have always been a bit of an antenna, whether I want to be or not). As a newer Christian, astrology is a bit at odds with scripture, but at the same time prophecy is a biblical gift and is a way that God makes his presence known. The gift of prophecy has actually been a series of talks at my old church (which I watch online) this month. If you tell someone something they find to be true, they begin to look at how there is something bigger than themselves out there. I often just ramble thoughts and impressions that come to me, and sometimes it has profound impact on people and sometimes not, and that is how those in the church describe their gift too. For some reason, when I just ramble symbolism I see, I tend to make a bigger impact than when I research placements. More often than not, those who seek a reading from me outside of the internet are just looking for their fortune to be read, and so astrology can become another means of entertainment and consumerism. I am sure some astrologers who get paid for it find this frustrating, but others view it as a job and find no difference between that approach and a more philosophical one.

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Tanit3333 wrote:I think this question is more so what is the point of astrology? The purpose behind a given astrologer varies - maybe they find it an easy way for them to supplement their income, maybe they believe they help people. Their reasons vary. I believe some people possess the gift of prophecy and astrology is a way for them to reign in that gift. How they use their gift is up to them. Some people use astrology to better understand themselves and/or other people, or for self improvement. I think astrology primarily reminds me that I believe that there is a God and there are many supernatural things I have experienced in my life (but I have Pluto in the 4th and my ascendant ruler is Moon conjunct Neptune, so I have always been a bit of an antenna, whether I want to be or not). As a newer Christian, astrology is a bit at odds with scripture, but at the same time prophecy is a biblical gift and is a way that God makes his presence known. The gift of prophecy has actually been a series of talks at my old church (which I watch online) this month. If you tell someone something they find to be true, they begin to look at how there is something bigger than themselves out there. I often just ramble thoughts and impressions that come to me, and sometimes it has profound impact on people and sometimes not, and that is how those in the church describe their gift too. For some reason, when I just ramble symbolism I see, I tend to make a bigger impact than when I research placements. More often than not, those who seek a reading from me outside of the internet are just looking for their fortune to be read, and so astrology can become another means of entertainment and consumerism. I am sure some astrologers who get paid for it find this frustrating, but others view it as a job and find no difference between that approach and a more philosophical one.
If Astrology was really at odds with Scripture, how come the latter has so much astrological symbolism in it?

And this holds true not just for the Bible, but for other exponents of Christianity as well. E.g., astrological iconography can be seen in so many churches.

Image
Basilica of St Denis, Paris

Image
Dormition church of Virgin Mary, Jerusalem

Image
St Mark's basilica, Venice
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Michael- I agree or else I would not touch astrology. I think, like most things, it can be good based on how you use it. You will hear many Christians call anything related to divination the work of the devil, but it is a powerful means of prophecy. To some Christians, even yoga is considered demonic.

Thank you for sharing the lovely murals.

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tanit and michael,

you would enjoy seeing the pictures on this link thread i am sharing...

https://pauls-bologna.blog/2017/11/02/t ... -petronio/

""Cassini's Meridian Line
The church hosts also a marking in the form of a meridian line inlaid in the paving of the left aisle in 1655; it was calculated and designed by the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was teaching astronomy at the University. A meridian line does not indicate the time, but instead the day of the year, as well as determining the length of the solar year. At 66.8 metres (219 ft) it is one of the largest astronomical instruments in the world, allowing measurements that were for the time uniquely precise; Cassini and Domenico Guglielmini published an illustrated account of how the meridian was accomplished in 1695.[3]"" from wikipedia..

while we were in bologna, we visited this church... it is indeed as michael notes - the church and christianity were very much into the use of astrology.. it must have been prior to the time christianity devolved into a superstitious religion led by dogma, as opposed to keeping an open mind..

from reading many books on astrology, i do recall the church always accepted a pursuit of mundane or world astrology, but was more opposed to natal astrology... don't ask me to quote the references..

cheers james

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james_m wrote:tanit and michael,

you would enjoy seeing the pictures on this link thread i am sharing...

https://pauls-bologna.blog/2017/11/02/t ... -petronio/

""Cassini's Meridian Line
The church hosts also a marking in the form of a meridian line inlaid in the paving of the left aisle in 1655; it was calculated and designed by the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was teaching astronomy at the University. A meridian line does not indicate the time, but instead the day of the year, as well as determining the length of the solar year. At 66.8 metres (219 ft) it is one of the largest astronomical instruments in the world, allowing measurements that were for the time uniquely precise; Cassini and Domenico Guglielmini published an illustrated account of how the meridian was accomplished in 1695.[3]"" from wikipedia..

while we were in bologna, we visited this church... it is indeed as michael notes - the church and christianity were very much into the use of astrology.. it must have been prior to the time christianity devolved into a superstitious religion led by dogma, as opposed to keeping an open mind..
This is indeed pretty cool! Thanks for sharing. I will have to go there and take a look at this myself the next time I will be in Italy.
from reading many books on astrology, i do recall the church always accepted a pursuit of mundane or world astrology, but was more opposed to natal astrology... don't ask me to quote the references..

cheers james
James, would you PLEASE quote those references?

Just kidding... :P

Here's one for you:

https://www.fisheaters.com/aquinasastrology.html

Thomas Aquinas in particular really pondered on questions of how Astrology relates to free will and - whether we accept his conclusions as valid or not - provided us with food for thought on topics that should still concern us modern astrologers... Happy to discuss this further, if anybody is interested!
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I just had a look at Michael's Thomas Aquinas link. Interesting but I find the language he uses daunting, and I need a Thomas Aquinas for Dummies version in clear English.

It is an important issue for me. We are so used to the new age self help gurus saying that we have free will, but sorry I just don't accept that, something else entirely is at play. I have noticed new age astrologers are so confident of their one size fits all diagnoses that they mostly don't even bother to look at the actual birth chart, they don't see it as important as they believe people can change it anyway, which I think is rubbish.