This article is the introduction to a series on astrology that will begin in earnest next month. If you are now turning to the next page because "astrology" is just a bunch of bunk, in your opinion, I challenge you to finish reading this article. You might learn something, as I have done. I come from a long line of Puritan astrology debunkers so I know what I'm talking about when I say that there is more under the sun and in the stars than you could ever imagine. I am fully aware that the majority of 21st century Americans still believe, as I once did, that astrology is all a bunch of "New Age superstition" or worse, (although it dates back at least 5000 years), and at best, a complex but "unscientific" and thus unreliable symbol system. I definitely admit even now to backing off some when MFP asked me to do a series on astrology because of all the hackles it raises. I always cringed when someone asked me "What sign are you?" as if all Gemini's or Leo's or Capricorns were all created out of the same mold. And, the "street astrology" printed in the newspapers and magazines is so diluted and generic it could fit most anyone. Remember the fuss when it was learned Mrs. Regan ( and probably Ronald too) consulted an astrologer on a regular basis? After all, "How could someone try to run a country based on the cycles of the stars?" we ask, not realizing that countries and entire civilizations have run for centuries on such principles.

I guarantee that this will be an astrology series like no other you have encountered, not anything like Omar in the newspaper or Linda Goodman's Sun Signs and the like. My study of astrology, as part of Jungian psychology, is rooted in the history of our western traditions, our myths, religions, and calendars of celebration, ultimately our human being-ness. Each month, I will deepen into all kinds of information on the corresponding astrological month which is based on the much more ancient calendar of the cycles of the sun through the four cornerstones of the equinoxes and solstices. It is this circle upon which the zodiac and the astrological calendar is built. With the emphasis on the turning of the New Year and New Millennium 2000, you may recall that only those of us who follow the Roman Julian calendar actually celebrate the beginning of the year on January 1st. The Orthodox Christians, the Islam countries, the Chinese, the Jews and a number of others begin their year and calendar at different times for different reasons. It is a fascinating study to explore all these calendars and discover that all are related to the cycles in the heavens and corresponding terrestrial and historical events. In other words, "As above, so below."

This month, March 21st, is the astrological New Year, beginning with the sun moving into Aries the Warrior. March 21st is also the Vernal or Spring Equinox, a time when the hours of day and night are equal. The Chinese yin yang symbol and the quarter moon are images of this balance between light and shadow that also can occur between our conscious and unconscious psychic material, in our bodies between health and dis-ease and in all the dualities of our very existence, our life and death. Balance is the key word at the time of equinox, so it is a good time to look at the highs and lows of your life. Is there good balance between work and play, relationships and time for yourself, the spiritual and the mundane? If not, what can you do to readjust your priorities to bring balance and harmony once again to your life. Spring Equinox and the month of Aries the Warrior, beginning the end of March and including most of April, is a good time to create a simple but meaningful ritual around letting go of "old stuff" and focusing on the new. Write down what you want to release and drop it in Rock Creek or the Stillwater or burn it in the fireplace. Then, write down what you want to increase and add to your life this year, fold it up and keep it in a safe place. Look at it from time to time to renew your balance and focus. In mundane reality, now is a time to weed the garden and plant new seeds and to clean out the garage and have a sale or giveaway. Why do you think the newspapers are full of garage sale ads in the spring? We are simply following the cycle of the sun, which by the way, is called a planet in astrology.

As I considered how to focus a series on astrology, I realized it is like picking a star out of the Milky Way, since astrology is such a vast and complex system of knowledge. Not only based on the organization of planets moving through constellations visible in our solar system, it was also created by the human psyche and reflects what the eminent pioneering psychiatrist, Carl Jung called "Archetypes" or universal energy patterns within the collective unconscious of all human beings that guide and inform our lives. His goal with patients (as is mine) was to help them "to differentiate oneself from these unconscious contents (archetypes) by personifying them, (as mythological characters, signs, planets and constellations of the Zodiac, dream images, art, drama, poetry and prose, etc.) and at the same time bringing them into relationship with consciousness." In other words, know your Archetypes and you will know your self/Self. Astrology is a system for doing just that. As a Jungian and Archetypal psychotherapist, part of my emphasis each month will be on the archetypes in astrology, for as human beings began to look upward to measure the timing of cycles for agriculture, they also looked inward to understand their own cycles of becoming. In this dance between the cultivation of the Earth (agriculture) and the cultivation of the Self (psychology), astrology evolved as a system of thought.

If nothing else, the longevity of astrology in world cultures as diverse as the Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, the Chinese and East Indians in the Orient and the Mayan and Aztecs of South America, as well as others, should pique our interest in this time honored art/science. In addition, there are so many historical and important people (besides Nancy Regan and Princess Diana) who have studied, used and valued astrology, from the magi, wisemen astrologers, who followed the star to Bethlehem, to Nostradamus, whose remarkable predictions are all based on his astrological calculations way into our modern age, to Albert Einstein who said, "Astrology is a science in itself and contains an illuminating body of knowledge. It taught me many things and I am greatly in debt to it. Geophysical evidence reveals the power of the stars and the planets in relation to the terrestrial. This is why astrology is like a life-giving elixir to mankind."

Astrology, however, is best understood not as a scientific system, but as a symbolic one. It is a philosophical doctrine and complex symbol system based on the Universal Law of Oneness. It uses a symbolic language which seeks to interpret people and events in terms of a deeper cosmic pattern. Astrology reveals that there is an intimate and holistic relationship between all things in the universe. The Lakota Sioux sum it up well when they say, "Mitakue Oyas'in" which means "All of my Relations" honoring that we are all related. Thus, the signs, and planets do not cause events or personality characteristics. Rather, events, people, signs and planets whirl, intertwining their cycles and orbits as a result of a synchronicity and grace within which we all live and have our being.

For the next twelve months, I hope to share with you the knowledge of these cycles, archetypal themes, potentials and possibilities, light and shadow, highlighted each month. I will relate these to your individual lives as well as events in the collective. In the end, you too will know your archetypes. In addition, I will address any unusual planetary happenings and there are some interesting ones coming up in the year 2000. Stories and anecdotes from my own experience and that of clients and students (anonymously of course) will abound. And, as Jung would say, "synchronistically" the timing is perfect, for as I said earlier, the astrological year begins March 21st. Thus, in April, we will begin at the beginning with the Archetype of the Warrior, the Self, the Fool, who begins the journey of the circle of life. Now you know the reason April 1st is called April Fool's Day. With Aries on my ascendant, I know this one well.

Until then…….Aho, Mitakue Oyas'in,
Jaqui