The
Astrological Birth Chart - the Sacred Sunrise
Western
Tropical Astrologers (myself included) are all too often found guilty
of flattening out the vibrant, living symbols contained in astrology...
thinking that the numinous active symbols of the psyche can be safely
channeled into nice, neat, and practical categories... that then provide
simplistic 1-2-3 definitions, rules, and answers that we can all "wrap
our minds around."
Sometimes
it's vitally important to step back from the sheer madness of Western
World foolishness and ego-centric thinking that we can maintain control
and be masters of our universe...
So...
in a brief moment of respite from that sort of delusional Western
World left-brained thinking (and respite from using the all too foreign
language of "astrologer-speak"), in exploring the archetypal
nature and experience of the astrological birth chart, let's back
up and take in a good old fashioned dose of awe and imagination, courtesy
of my spiritual mentor, Dr Carl G Jung...
The
Glorious Sunrise
It's all way too easy for me to lose sight of the sheer wonder
and awe of an early morning sunrise. I of all people should be doubly
ashamed... because I grew up in an area of New Mexico that Depth Psychologist,
Dr Carl G Jung, once monikered as the "land of the endless horizon."
You
see... in early 1925, the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl G Jung, MD spent
the better part of a month in the United States of America traveling
throughout the vast Southwestern states of Arizona and New Mexico.
Starting
out at the awe inspiring Grand Canyon of Arizona, Jung then traveled
through several of the Native American Indian reservations of Northwestern
Arizona and the Canyon de Chelly.
In
commenting on Canyon de Chelly Jung shared that apart from the Valley
of Nile (in Egypt) this was the only place he knew of that fully embodied
"the very essence of antiquity." Jung: A Biography –
Deirdre Bair (Mythologist Joseph Campbell would later describe
Canyon de Chelly as the most sacred place on earth.)
Jung
then traveled to and visited the Zuni pueblo outside of Gallup, New
Mexico. Continuing on... Jung then spent two weeks experiencing the
still very primitive Santa Fe/Taos area of New Mexico.
To
get a small feel for what Jung was experiencing in while traveling
through the vast American Southwest:
-
Switzerland
land mass: 15,940 miles
-
Arizona
land mass: 113,998 miles
-
New
Mexico land mass: 121,697 miles
While
visiting the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, Dr Jung met with Mountain
Lake (Antonio Mirabal). Mountain Lake was a Hopi born Native American
Indian that at this time was a leader within the Taos Pueblo. Mountain
Lake, being careful not to give away any closely held secrets, did
however share with Jung about their daily prayers; and that they at
the Taos Pueblo (through their daily prayers) were responsible for
the sun continuing to rise each and every day.
The
Sacred Sunrise in Kenya
Excerpts from: Memories, Dreams, and Reflections; Carl G Jung
about his being on Mt Elgon when visiting with the Elgonyi tribe of
Kenya, Africa in late 1925
"the
sunrise in these latitudes was a phenomenon that overwhelmed me
anew every day… I formed the habit of taking a camp stool
and sitting under an umbrella acacia just before dawn…
At
first, the contrast between light and darkness would be extremely
sharp. Then objects would assume contour and emerge into the light
which seemed to fill the valley with a compact brightness. The
horizon above became radiant white. Gradually the swelling light
seemed to penetrate into the very structure of objects, which
became illuminated from within until at last they shone translucently,
like bits of colored glass. Everything turned to flaming crystal.
The cry of the bell bird rang around the horizon. At such moments
I felt as if I were inside a temple."
As
a typical "modern" adult urban city dweller, it's been incredibly
easy to not fully grasp just why the sunrise was considered such a sacred
moment and experience for ancient peoples...
Jung [in
Kenya] continuing on about sunrise:
"It
was the most sacred hour of the day. I drank in this glory with
insatiable delight or rather in a timeless ecstasy…
For
untold ages men have worshipped the great god who redeems the world
by rising out of the darkness as a radiant light in the heavens…
That
is why the sun’s birth in the morning strikes the [Kenyan]
native as so overwhelmingly meaningful. The moment in which
light comes is God. That moment brings redemption, release.
To say that the sun is God is to blur and forget the archetypal
experience of the moment…"
Dawn
Finally Breaks
Wow! Did you catch that? "The moment in which
light comes is God." Had it ever "dawned" on you
that few ancient peoples ever worshipped the sun as being god, per se?
For many ancient cultures - while the sun itself was considered divine
- it was first and foremost the moment of the sun rising in
the East (releasing us from the darkness of the night) that was set
apart as being most sacred.
“Near
my observation point was a high cliff inhabited by baboons. Every
morning they sat quietly, almost motionless, on the ridge of the
cliff facing the sun, whereas throughout the rest of the day they
ranged noisily through the forest, screeching and chattering. Like
me, they seem to be waiting for the sunrise. They remind me of the
great baboons of the temple of Abu Simbel of Egypt, which perform
the gesture of adoration. They tell the same story: for untold ages
men have worshipped the great god who redeems the world by rising
out of the darkness as a radiant light in the heavens.”
Jung was referring
here to the ancient Egyptian temple, Abu
Simbel, that was dedicated (circa 13th century BC) to Ramesses II,
and a row of carved baboons atop the temple that symbolically greeted
the morning sun each day.
The
Astrological Birth Chart
Your birth chart is a sacred symbol of the exact dawning of your life
on planet Earth; and, in particular, the Zodiac sign in which your Ascendant
(see link below) is placed, uniquely represents the part of the Sky
that came to meet and greet you at the exact sacred moment of your dawning.
In
ancient Greek astrology, the "horoskopos" or the "birth
chart" literally meant "look to the hour [of birth]."
So the Ascendant, along with the rest of our birth chart, is a sacred
and life giving symbol of the unique moment in time and space when we
were born.
Our
birth charts are special "sky maps" that reflect (mirror back)
the quality of the exact moment when we emerged from the darkness of
the womb and then drew our first breath. And with that first breath,
we each began our own incredible and unique hero's journey through life
on planet Earth...
The
ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote that we each choose both the time
and place of our birth - and that we therefore choose the lessons we
will be undergoing...
And
according to the even more ancient Greek thinker Heraclitus (one of
Plato's influences):
"The
soul is its own source of unfolding."
Astrology's
map of the soul is nothing more and nothing less than a mirror that
can symbolically reflect the natural unfolding of our soul and character
over the course of a lifetime. And it takes an entire lifetime to fully
live out and bring meaning to all the symbols and potentials contained
in our birth charts.
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