The universe might be understood as a sequence of events. An event can be characterized as a set of (inter)actions amongst agents or actors.

Where do these actions happen?

In what manner does the agent act?

Evaluate a sufficient number of such events with these questions in mind and one arrives at patterns that underlie the events. These patterns are archetypal in nature. If you were to define 12 archetypes for each of the questions and 7 archetypes for the agents themselves, you might end up with a framework that’s not too distinct from Hellenistic Astrology.

Journey so far

It’s been a year and a half since I seriously started pursuing a study of Hellenistic Astrology. This pursuit was prompted partly due to my desire to understand my self and partly due to a sense that understanding of planetary interactions (aspects/drishti) in Astrology might shine some light on open questions in our scientific understanding of light and gravity.

My path towards Astrology

I was considering exploring this framework for 2y (2017–19) after noticing how Gemini–Pisces dynamic described very well some relational challenges I had encountered in my life. The turning point for diving deep into it happened with my reading of Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas in early 2020. Through our pursuit of material accumulation, powered by the Scientific Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and Colonialistic Capitalism (starting with the rise of the European East India Companies), we have reduced the boundaries of consciousness from the universe to only the human psyche.

Elevating the human being in the consciousness hierarchy and robbing everything non–human of consciousness greased the wheels for exploitation of nature (and also of other humans). For to deem something as purely material, meant to be *used* for some *benefit*, requires one to turn one’s heart away from the harm caused to the thing through such use.

The lack of purpose that is commonly experienced in today’s humanity (and fuels the life coaching industry) is also rooted in this shrinkage of consciousness.

(a screenshot from pg. 32 from Cosmos and Psyche)

Now if I assume that the domain of consciousness extends well beyond the human psyche into the entire cosmos, my selfish desire to understand my self automatically makes space for understanding of everything outside of my self – cosmos. Astrology is a framework that presents a complex system for understanding the cyclic patterns of the psyche and the cosmos.

My studies

Since then, I have studied with Joseph Addeo in NYC and then finished year 1 of Austin Coppock’s Astrology curriculum. I have also read Jan Spiller and Dane Rudhyar, and read close to 40 charts of friends and family.

More complex than other frameworks

Thus far, I’m very impressed with the depth and complexity of the Hellenistic Astrology framework in understanding the psyche. I wager that this depth and complexity trumps any other psychological framework that I have encountered – including MBTI, Enneagram, Big 5.

Astrology and the path to Enlightenment

Personally, I have benefitted immensely from understanding specific aspect patterns in my own chart and the clarity they have provided to my ways of being has been illuminating and made it easier for me to accept my ways of being – a pursuit I have embarked upon since encountering Buddhism. I find that Astrology dovetails very nicely with Buddhism, in that it can provide hints as to what part of one’s consciousness work is most important during a specific period of time. As such, I hold that the inner work described in Buddhism is very thorough, especially layered on top of a strong embodiment practice like Alexander Technique or Ashtanga Yoga. Just that the inner work described by Buddhism can feel very immense – so many mental impurities, so many virtues to be imbibed. Astrology can provide intellectual guidance to what mental impurity is activated and what virtue is ripe for cultivation. At the end of the day, I believe that such guidance can directly come from one’s own body, but while intellectual types (like myself, and perhaps you?) develop the body sensitivity, awareness and consciousness to seek that wisdom, Astrology can be a good crutch.

The Framework

Hellenistic Astrology has 3 major components – planets, signs and houses.

Planets are objects in the sky that move i.e. (astronomical) planets, Sun, Moon. Signs are groups of fixed objects in the sky i.e. constellations of stars. Houses are demarcated sections of the sky.

The birth chart is a snapshot of the sky at the time at which one is born. Here is my birth chart–

Think of the innermost circle as the Earth, with the eastern horizon at the left (marked by As – Ascendant) and the western horizon on the opposite side. The symbols on the inside of the outermost band represent planets. The symbols inside the outermost band represent the constellations or signs. The sky is also then split into 12 Houses represented by the numbers.

One could model every event in a human’s life as a combination of these 3 components.

What part of the human was activated?

Was it the part that speaks, thinks and intellectualizes (Mercury)? Was it the martial part (Mars)? Was it the aesthetic, romantic part (Venus)? Was it the part that radiates and fuels the human (Sun)? Was it the part that feels, needs, emotes (Moon)? Was it the part that expands, grows and pontificates (Jupiter)? Was it the part that disciplines, restricts and has to work hard (Saturn)? Was it a combination of all these parts?

In what manner (how) was it activated?

Is the style of speaking and thinking (Mercury) rooted in cold, hard facts (Earth signs) or emotions or instinct (Water signs)? Is the manner of asserting or aggressing (Mars), fiery and outwards (Aries) or indirect and passive-aggressive (Cancer)?

Where did this event happen? What part of the human’s life?

In family life (House 4)? In career (House 10)?

These are the fundamental layers of Hellenistic Astrology. Such a division into Planets, Signs, Houses allows for answering a wide variety of questions about the human’s life.

There is a lot more to this and I’ve barely scratched the surface here. If this is something that intrigues you, I have started conducting donation–based readings. Please reach out!