Astrology in Depth                 Astrology Is What You
                                              Bring To It

       Have you ever wondered why so many people can look at the same thing and see it differently? Preconceptions about life, attitudes developed over a period of years, and one's own past experiences make for the differences we see in life.

      Yet, are not some things so obvious that everybody sees them the same way? No. You might think things are obvious, like a bus passing down the street. However, every person looking at it will see some- thing different.

      One person will see the bus and meas- ure it against their memory, trying to remember if it fits their conception of what a bus should look like. Another person makes judgments on whether the bus is moving too slow or too fast. Yet, another thinks there are too many people on the bus, while still another thinks the people on the bus are not dressed well enough.

       The point is, what seems to be an obvious occurrence can be experienced in so many different ways, that it is almost impossible to get a concensus of opinion as to an objective perception.

       Nowhere is this more important than in Astrology, for without objectivity, the reading of an astrology chart is impossible. It is too easy to make hasty decisions about what planetary aspects or placements mean, in relation to their karmic role in the chart.

       People born with similar chart placements (particularly in outer planets, since they move so slowly) may look the same on a chart to the inexperienced person, but the fact is, they havedifferent karmas to fulfill, each and every one of them is a soul with past life lessons to learn and fulfill in the current incarnation.

       A good example of this, is the Moon's Nodes which spend approximately 19 months traversing a sign. Do you know how many people are born with the same Nodes during that time? Enough for you to realize that they cannot all possibly have the same karma to fulfill in this life.

       Maybe a good way to realize this, is that the same clothes appear different on different people. The ability then to see a chart correctly for what it is, involves a lot more than we give it credit for.

       Not only must you be completely objective (a state which is difficult to obtain), but you must have the experience to know what it is that you are seeing in a chart, without injecting your own personal conceptions into it.

       Unfortunately, this is where some of the occult sciences have gotten a bad name. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. People are very complex beings. They have their karma and within that they have issues and lessons and problems that they are dealing with and avoiding all the time.

       To really understand astrology has much to do with what you bring to it. If you spend years studying people, studying life, trying to be as objective as you can, yet trying to see the reasons for things, then maybe astrology holds a lot for you.

       But, never be hasty to judgment. Answers to life's questions, qualify themselves in time. What seems like the only truth today, changes tomorrow as you understand things better, for all life is the unfolding of karma, with each lesson learned making way for new lessons to begin.

       There was a man who went to a guru and asked him.

       "Master tell me what to study."

       The guru thought for a moment, then stared at the man and said.

       "Study yourself, then come back to me in thirty years and I will tell you what to do next."

       The man quietly left and for the next thirty years of his life, he spent every waking hour following the guru's instructions. He studied himself in every way he possibly could. He studied his physical self, his astral self, his spiritual self. He studied his actions and reactions to everything and everyone. As the years went by he felt he really was starting to understand himself.

       When the thirty years had passed, he went back to the guru, anxious to receive his next instruction.

       The guru looked at him for some time quietly, then seeing how much he had studied himself, he said,

       "Now that you have followed my instruction to you so well. I am going to give you your next instruction. Go back and study yourself!"

       This is the way of astrology, for as the planets move, and the aspects change, your karma is slowly revealed to you, making your never-ending study grow more fascinating, for in the end, what you get from astrology will be the awakening you have brought to it.