Return and Renew
How often have you wished you could go back and do it all over again…only “get it right this time”? Regret and remorse often tinge our lives with somber hues, sapping the vibrant color and joy of a life lived to the full. The desire to return to an action, thought, decision, words spoken or unspoken, a judgment, or a chance to recover missed opportunities — is a common human experience. In its essence it is a longing for rebirth, a chance to start all over again with the wisdom of lived experience now to guide you to a new and better life.
Almost every major religion offers some type of rebirth through ritual, meditation, or divine intervention. Baptism, reincarnation, repentance and forgiveness often through an intermediary like a priest or priestess, sacrifice to the gods or goddesses…the list is long and rich. Metaphorically, metaphysically, or miraculously we experience a rebirth through a return to an original wholeness, a new chance, a new life….rebirth.
Our dominant religion and metaphor of the 21st century, namely Science, also has its offer of rebirth and renewal. Of course there are the cosmetic shams of botox, creams, and nips and tucks which are a vain attempt at hiding the truth rather than a genuine return to the original wholeness. However the science of embryonic stem cells offer what may some day be a genuine return to original wholeness with a restored organ or limb, healing from a dreaded disease, etc. Through the marvelous cells present during our gestation, we can truly return to the original state and experience a rebirth on some level.
In all of these scenarios, healing is the central theme. Healing drives us to seek out the priest/priestess, physician, metaphysician, psychologist, shaman, guru. Healing has at its root a desire for the chance for renewed growth, a new life, to be a better and/or different person. Healing is the cry of every human heart and it fills us with hope for a better tomorrow.
Astrology is no different. At its root it too offers the promise of a return and renewal, a rebirth - a rebirth no less real than the rituals of the psychologist’s office, the temple or church, or the shaman’s trance. The natal, or birth, chart is a sacred symbol. It captures the moment of our original wholeness, our moment of birth into this existence. It is a mandala, a sacred symbol of wholeness, an image of our Cosmic Name. The marvelous order and harmony of the macrocosm and the wisdom of its design and purpose are reflected in the microcosm of our own Soul. Our Soul is a divine design of harmony, order, wisdom, grace and beauty. To enter into our birth chart is to enter back into the moment of our birth. There we can glimpse, ponder, and reflect on our deep design and purpose. The harmony and majesty of our original template, free from all the missteps, miscues, wrong choices, and mistakes of the past, stands before us inviting us to rebirth.
By thoughtful reflection upon our original design, we have a chance to rediscover and realign ourselves to that design; and thus rebirth ourselves into a new and fuller reality of Self, a reality of Self closer to the deep wisdom and divine majesty of our Soul’s original intention for us. Astrology, done well, with proper respect for the divine energies and patterns our Soul has chosen for us in this life, can give us a new lease on life, and a renewed hope and passion for living. It is an embryonic stem cell of the Soul, a mandala of wholeness, a baptism in the cosmic waters of divine intention, sacred healing therapy.
The original meaning of the word “therapy” derives from the Greek and means “the service that must be rendered to the gods.” As an astrologer, when I enter the sacred temple of your birth chart, and stand before the divine energies, intentions and wisdom of your Soul (what we once named as gods and goddesses) I am filled with awe and reverence for the majesty of the being who sits before me. As a priest of the Soul, an anam cara, I submit humbly to the service of the gods and goddesses within your Soul, thus helping you to find healing and restoration, a rebirth into new possibilities and empowerment.