1 Segment 1: THE NATAL CHART AND EVOLUTION This chapter will explore the basis behind astrology from an evolutionary point of view. Topics discussed: - Evolutionary states of the soul - The natal chart as a map of the past - The nature and function of free will Part 1: PRINCIPALS OF EVOLUTION A natal chart is just like a body in that a body= a cohesive, unified synthesis of organs, bones, arteries, chemicals, blood, glandular systems etc... And just like a body, when we look at a natal chart we CAN NEVER know anything about who the person actually is, until we begin to pay attention to the person themself. External appearances only reveal a part of the story. Level of Consciousness Two people can have the same chart and have completely different experiences. This is based on the fact that all human beings are vibrating at different levels of awareness. Understanding these natural levels of awareness is a key first step in interpreting a chart. I feel this youtube flick is an exemplification of what I am about to explain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yedgubrzva8 As awareness increases, the sand pattern breaks down. What then follows is a new sand pattern- and it just keeps on going. Breakdown, reformulation. We can liken that to what we all personally know as "death and rebirth". Each time we "die", we are reborn at a new level of awareness. This natural, self evident process of evolution can be categorized as a movement through stages of awareness. As a framework for understanding this process, here are the three primary evolutionary states as taught by Jeffrey Wolf Green. They are: 1. Consensus state 2. Individuated state 2. Spiritual state. Each state has three substages: A. First stage= new to that state B. Second stage= in the midst of that state C. Third stage= completion of that state. Each of those substates also have three substages. x. New to that stage y. In the midst of it z. Completing it. And each of those have three substages etc... As you can tell, I can keep on going. The biggest transitions are when a soul evolves from consensus to individuated, or individuated to spiritual. A smaller, yet still very significant transmutation occurs when a soul evolves from one stage of any particular state to the next stage of that state. And an even smaller, yet still profound, transmutation occurs when a soul evolves from each sub sub stage to the next, and so on. CONSENSUS STATE If you look around you- wherever you are, at any time- you will notice that there tends to be a cultural thermostat that sets certain trends, interests, fads, behaviors, sexual identities, diet choices- EVERYTHING. In many places that might be McDonalds, coca cola, white straight male marries white straight female, and church on Sundays. Depending on the culture, it'll manifest differently from place to place, however this thermostat is always set to conformity. This is the consensus state. Most people alive, it seems, are in this state. You can have a chart full of Aquarian, Uranus 11th house stuff- it doesn't matter. Those signatures alone do not mean that a soul considers itself to be any more or less differentiated than everyone else. In the consensus state- evolution occurs by figuring out how society works, meeting the standards, gaining social acceptance, and in the end being on top. First stage consensus: It's all about survival; making it work. We can poetically say that consciousness is centered in the lower chakras: the need for food, for money, for social acceptance, for a partner, to procreate. At this state a soul will generally follow the trends of its society- in all ways.
2 Anything that deviates from the norm is a threat to a soul s security. The soul s self of self is limited purely to the current times it is living in. Thus, there is an immense amount of growth that occurs as a soul begins to PAY ATTENTION to how things are already established. In applying awareness on how life operates, participation in life becomes easier and more accessible. Second stage consensus: Eventually a soul becomes rooted and established in their culture. It may be making enough money to own its own home, or send its children to school. It is not making the rules or in charge of the societal standards- it is simply participating in it. The struggle has been relatively diminished. Reaching this stage requires great determination for a soul, as it is necessary to sacrifice personal dreams and ambitions in order to find such a level of social stability. Third stage consensus: At this point, a soul has not only figured out how to navigate successfully through life, it has come to understand, and in fact master the "rules" that run its society. By this stage a soul has reached a significant degree of social power. If its culture values being rich, then it will have a lot of money. If its culture values wrinkle free foreheads, no matter what the age, then it will likely not have many wrinkles- or perhaps a forehead made out of plastic. At this stage we have most politicians, religious leaders, Hollywood, ceo's etc. INDIVIDATED STATE: "There's no-where else to go, now what?" syndrome. We all got it. When we've exhausted all of our energy to get what we always wantedand we get it... what happens next? We realize that what we wanted isn't ultimate meaning. In fact, there must be more than what we achieved- always. The individuated state is defined by defying and differentiating oneself from the status quo of one's culture, nation, family, religion etc. In this state, evolution occurs through realizing feelings of isolation and rejection from society, anger and rebellion, forming community, and in the end fully actualizing one s innate individuality within society. First stage individuated: A person with great social power who (whether they consciously know it or not) is at an evolutionary transition from the consensus to the individuated state will in some way or another attract circumstances to shake them out of the herd-like world. These circumstances will perpetuate a deep inner questioning of one's reality. Progressively, one feels more and more alienated and different from one's surroundings. Evolution happens as a soul starts to validate its new awareness of society and sets forth on what is at first, a very lonely process of individuation. Second stage individuated: It takes a lot of courage to confront society and face rejection. By this stage there is no longer any interest in returning to the way things were. A soul has differentiated itself from the status quo, and is fully invested in finding new ways to live; in a way that is more authentic and enlivening for that soul. By this state there is often a lot of anger at society for the way things are. Embracing that anger in a passionate, yet detached way is key here. Evolution proceeds as the soul becomes more and more radicalized to act upon their emotions. During this stage, a soul will also meet others that share similar values and feelings of differentness from the mainstream culture. A key characteristic of this stage is an overwhelming fear that one will be swept back into mainstream society. Thus a soul will often find it necessary to reject all ideas, beliefs, structures, etc that seek to impose any kind of definition upon the soul. Third stage individuated: By this stage, a soul has learned how to channel their emotions towards constructive social change. There are many social activists, artists, teachers, philosophers, food growers, poets, intellectuals and sometimes politicians in this stage. Reaching this point of evolution means a soul has overcome personal feelings of alienation that inhibit constructive action, and has found a way to devote itself to creating infrastructures and communities that help evolve the consciousness of the collective to more equality and acceptance. The essence of this stage is applying none s essential individuality within the social reality to the fullest extent as possible. Evolution happens through this stage by becoming fully actualized in one s creative potential. It is therefore common to find intellectual know-it-alls as well as souls that are very passionate about their cause. SPIRITUAL STATE: Transmutation from the individuated stage to the spiritual stage occurs as one realizes that the hopes and dreams for how the world can be, will never be mightier than how things are in the present moment. By the end of the individuated state, a soul has put in great effort to help improve the quality of life on this planet by fully actualizing its unique essence. At a certain point, the good old question arises: "there must be more to life than this." At this transition, a soul is questioning the value it has put on its own individuality and the aspiration to make a difference. A certain genius is developed during the third stage individuated, and thus a soul expects to have some sort of impact on society relative to its genius. By the beginning of the spiritual state, a soul begins to realize that its uniqueness is in fact not all that important. The spiritual state is characterized by the desire to surrender to existence, as it is. Evolution in this stage occurs through un-doing thoughts and beliefs about existence, cultivating devotion to finding the truth, devoting oneself to be of service in the name of unity, complete disillusionment, and full alignment with the unifying force of Love. Fist stage spiritual:
3 The incessant belief present in the third stage individuated is that life has to be other than what it is in order for it to be what it should be. Eventually, when a soul has reached its maximum potential to rise up against the oppressive nature of society, and to fully devote itself to fully be who it is, there's really no where else to go but inside. A soul will not necessarily reject activism, humanitarianism or anything of that nature, rather it will just begin to question and look for the deeper meaning in things. At first in this stage there isn't a full onset commitment to an active spiritual life of inner realization. The soul is still very identified with the idea that it has to do something in order to live in truth. Gradually, one learns how to surrender its ideas of who it is, and what it must to, to the greater reality of what is. During this stage, there is a growing innocence and openness as a soul becomes attracted to teachers and teachings that offer spiritual guidance. Humility and a deep awareness of one s relative smallness in the scheme of creation become more prominent in the soul s consciousness. During this stage a soul may start to adopt its life to live in a more spiritual community, or train within some sort of spiritual practice or healing paradigm. Many healers and teachers who are excited and enthusiastic about evolution, who devote their lives to karma yoga, spiritual work, are found in this stage. Humble, spiritual service is important at this stage, as it gradually aligns the soul with the truth of oneness, and clears away the debris of trying to be someone special. Based on the necessity at this stage to develop humility, it s very common to for a soul at this level of evolution to develop the psychology of spiritual masochism linked to an inner guilt for not being as pure as it thinks it is supposed to. Second stage spiritual: By this stage, a soul has become rooted in a life devoted to spiritual growth. Reaching this stage takes a lot of devotion, as in the first stage of the spiritual state, the soul is just a beginner when it comes to the spiritual life. Books, practices, ideas, pilgrimages, teachers etc were all sought as the soul is yearning for the truth. However by this stage, the soul has begun to experience immense inner spiritual revelation of Truth itself. A soul may have reached natural levels of sensitivity to subtle energies, enabling it to directly know and experience divine revelation. It may channel volumes of books, have certain healing powers, psychic abilities etc. The tricky thing about this stage is that the soul will always be blind to where it is still identified with being someone. And at this stage a spiritual ego can easily develop whereby the soul regards itself as greater than it actually is. This is linked to not having completed the journey, yet having become intoxicated with the progress that has already been made. Souls at this stage can become overly identified with the natural gifts that emerge on the spiritual path. Many famous spiritual teachers who have made a significant contribution to spiritual literature and the healing arts have been in this stage. Their followers have naturally been souls who are in the first stage of the spiritual state. These followers have however become greatly confused by way of the scandals, manipulation, and corruption of their second stage spiritual teachers. This eventually leads to a great disillusionment amongst the first stage spiritual souls, and eventually, humiliation for the second stage spiritual souls. The hyper focus on oneself in this stage can manifest in various ways. In one extreme it can manifest as the guru that charges exuberant amounts for its teachings, intentionally causes pain to other beings, and the likes, all on the basis of some sort of spiritual enlightenment. Or, it can be the healer with a God complex, or Jesus complex, who thinks it is their divine role to heal others. Both extremes create the karma that will eventually lead to a downfall. Third stage spiritual: Eventually, through utter humiliation, a soul just gives up. At this stage, a soul becomes open and honest about what is, FULLY and completely, no matter what. The transition from the second stage spiritual to this stage will often bring a fall from grace. Reaching many people and raising consciousness becomes less important as a soul becomes FULLY devoted to surrender to life as it is. At this evolutionary stage, a soul will gradually burn out all desires to become or do anything. In having exhausted all aspirations and ideas, the only thing that's left is Truth. Therefore at this stage, a soul progressively aligns itself with the natural will of Creator to act in service on behalf of creator. Service at this stage is purely selfless and benevolent. Nothing is expected in return and the finger is pointed to Source, never to oneself. Furthermore, the teachings of the soul are always a reflected in the actual life of the soul itself. This stage represents a gradual, and all encompassing immersion in LOVE. And by that point, there is no longer any need for human incarnation unless that choice is made by the soul. Evolution proceeds from there- just in much more subtle, non physical way. Further observations about the stages of evolution: As philosopher ken Wilber describes, evolution happens through a process of transcendence and inclusion. When a soul reaches the individuated state, it still exists within a world that is predominately ruled by consensus state souls. An apparent paradox that each soul gradually works out is that it has to take into account, and in fact integrate within its consciousness, the stages it has left behind. For example, in the third stage individuated, a soul has to be familiar and skillful with the structures of society in order to interact with it and create something new. Therefore, in order to determine the evolutionary state of a soul- it is utterly important to observe the totality of its consciousness as it reflects in the choices its is making, the relationships in its life, and the effect it has on other beings. Being at a third stage spiritual evolved state
4 doesn't mean a soul won t be an activist. Likewise, by the time a soul has reached third stage individuated there is often an interest in mind body practices like yoga, meditation etc. We can never judge by appearances alone. Transmutation: The word transmute implies an actual change from one form to the next. Transmutation is the process caterpillar to butterfly, and the curious chrysalis in between. When evolution occurs, we are looking at a foundational change that occurs on the level of the soul. Time is an important factor It takes a lot of time for any soul to move from one state to the next. To consider how this works, think about a random selection of people you have known for a long time. How different are they now from when you first knew them? Certainly some fundamental changes have taken place. In most cases, you will find that in fact not much change has occurred on the fundamental level of soul. Maybe little imprints have been made, maybe they are on their way to a big shift, or maybe they have gone through a couple already. To provide an example: George Bush is in the beginning of third stage Consensus. He is probably not going to reach the spiritual state in this life time. There are no skipping steps. The evolutionary stages are natural stages through which awareness gradually unfolds. It s impossible to jump to the absolute in the same way that a new born is not going to know how to walk right away. It takes time. Excellent resources for Evolutionary Stages: Read it in the words of Jeffrey Wolf Green. He writes about it in his two Pluto books. His article can also be found on this website: http://schoolofevolutionaryastrology.com/school/essence-of-ea/evolution Also, Maurice Fernandez has written an excellent book called "Astrology and the Evolution of Consciousness" made specifically for beginners who are wishing to understand astrology from an evolutionary point of view. In that book, he writes about the evolutionary stages in his own words as well. Part 2: CHARTS AND AWARENESS You are the center Have you ever noticed that you are at the center of EVERYTHING? All of life is happening around you. You are the center of all auditory, olfactory and visual stimuli. Wherever you go, this is the case. We can be scientific about life and say that that nothing is orbiting around us. However in being present with what is, we notice that we are the ONLY experiencers of reality. Everything that occurs is happening within our own field of awareness. What makes that more or less real to us, moment to moment, is the potency of our awareness. Awareness is something we all share. However, the circumstance through which the awareness occurs varies person to person. For example, however we all have different bodies. The same is true for your spiritual roadmap. Your natal chart defines the parameters of how evolution can happen in the same way that the body defines the parameters of your sensual reality. The body and the natal chart both share the same quality of definition. They both imply a fixed context, a template. The evolution of consciousness is an interaction between awareness and these templates. The natal chart The natal chart is a map that can be deciphered. When we grasp that the chart defines the rules of the game, so to speak, we can see that it's EXACTLY what we need. We each chose our chart as a logical next step in our evolution. The chart is a map of the past Lets say a soul incarnates while Venus is in Libra. Anyone with Venus in Libra, in some way or another, will be learning how to hear and honor their own needs. In so doing they attract loving and supportive relationships into their life. This means that prior to this current incarnation, some sort of evolutionary process must have already been in place that has lead a soul to choose Venus in Libra. We can apply this logic to the entire chart. When we see all the placements on a chart: Mercury here, Venus there, Mars there etc... we are actually peering into a process that has been underway for LIFETIMES. Otherwise a soul would not have chosen those placements. There is a reason, from an evolutionary perspective, why every planet is positioned exactly where it is. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From A Course In Miracles: "This is a course in Miracles It is a required course Free will does not mean you can choose the curriculum It means you can elect what to take when.
5 The aim of this course is not to teach Love For love is beyond that which can be taught. It does aim however at removing the obstacles to the awareness of Love's presence. Which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of Love is fear However that which is all encompassing can have no opposite. This course can therefore be summed: Nothing real can be threatened Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the Peace of God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out this video from Adyashanti, one of my favorite teachers: That which always is