Astrology and Shamanism

It seems to me that while important distinctions remain, there are overlaps linking Astrology and Shamanism; and I believe we can make the connection thanks to this beautifully written article by an international Astrology expert, Paul Six. It could be that ancient astrologers accessed information about the cosmos with the help of shamanic tools in the first place. Moreover, the planets and astrological signs themselves are described as permutations of different “energies” that become more and less available to humans based on different time windows. This is not such a far cry when we think of the changing feel of the seasons, so why should the same thing not apply to days or hours of the day?


If each planet governs unique qualities that can be made available to us, then it is no wonder that we developed mythologies assigning human featured gods to represent each of the planets. A shamanic empowerment exercise would involve making offerings to those gods as a way of invoking or inviting their energies. Finally, Six’s suggestion that a return to our intuitive natures can allow us to access the map of the planets inside us also corresponds with the notion that we are each carrying every point of the human holographic existence within us. This is a classic paraphrase of our inherent power to “shapeshift.”

I have included excerpts from the article below. For more information on Paul Six, visit his website at http://www.paulsix.com/ .

Astrology is as Real as Anything Else by Paul Six
Every concept we have of time is based on celestial operations. Hours, days, months and years are all solely based on the relationship between the Sun, the Moon and the Earth.

Astrology is a body of knowledge that is anchored in time.

It is true that astrology is the study of patterns in the sky. It is not a study, however, that can be understood at face value. It is a symbol system.

Celestial bodies are not causing things to happen here on Earth… The basic premise of astrology is that different energies prevail at different times.

The greatest fallacy about astrology is that it is about the stars…The truth is the only star that plays a role in the astrological story is the Sun that shines upon us.

“…The astrologers of that time,” --Six is referring to the ancients-- “experienced a more constant connection with nature and a more intimate one, as they lived at a much simpler time. They came to understand that their planetary home was connected to an entire cosmic family and that the sky patterns they observed corresponded with the way their lives were patterned—both seemed to vibrate to the same fundamental rhythms. This supported the notion of the universe as an interconnected network of energies that undergoes constant change in an orderly manner.”

Astrology states that any life that emerges in a moment of time is endowed with the qualities of that moment… When a newborn child takes the first breath, the patterns we see in the sky indicate possibilities the growing child can convert into realities in due time.

The birth chart maps out the potential growth of each individual’s consciousness, just as the genetic code communicates the potential growth of the physical body. The chart captures in freeze frame a picture of the sky… An understanding of any chart gives us an indication of what the individual could do; however, as free will is in operation, it cannot predict what any individual will do.

Astrology is not a science nor is it a religion. It is a language. It is not something to believe in; it is a body of knowledge that can be studied, learned and put into practice. The premise of the astrological language is that the universe has a means of communicating with us.

In many cases the scientifically-oriented individual, having abandoned the value of using the right brain in processing information, will do all it can to invalidate the ancient wisdom.

The answer as to how the astrologers came to understand what they did is that it is because of their innocence that the cosmic principles of astrology were revealed to them.

…In this state of innocence, the universe revealed some of its secrets through revelations to these humble folk living in a humble world for they were not driven by the ego-mind; they were not suspicious and skeptical... They were pure of heart and open to the miraculous and they were entrusted with the most precious knowledge about our lives and our destiny that has ever been brought into the light of human understanding.

What Can Astrology Do For You?
Increasing numbers of people are starting to see how much the world is of our own making and that we attract to us what we think, feel, say and do… Once we accept the truth that we co-facilitate our experience of reality with the creative living process, the information we gain from learning about the potentials of our birth chart becomes as useful and productive as anything that exists in the material world.

NEW VISION IIa

 Image from www.alexgrey.com

Lifting into higher realms
In color coats I shift the walls
They do and don't exist
In radiant hues they bend and penetrate

A threshold to the spirit world
Somewhere in between
Death and invitation to invent
I and future self embrace in soft diffuse

Impatiently debating pulse
I slow mine completely still
Beyond duality’s confines my second core
Awakens many-into-one spins subtlety

It begins an artist’s instrument of thought, an inner sphere’s incision
Unmasked, made weak from all the astral plasma spills
Something sharp has pierced and in the skewering
Instilled a seed of inspiration—cut away my inhibition’s weighty husk

“I want you to create”
A voice astride each minute particle a story weaves
“Take time to be my maker,”
Whispers each tinted splash of brush-blot sheen

Just then an inner light
Shoots in and out of body
To the terrifying wilds
I’m unafraid to go

A barrage of concepts beyond words
A language from the disarray of paint punched through
Imagination’s rainbow merging birth with arcing mind
Blown free of shape, a smeary tale casts back a look in canvas form

I feel the race of heart tear fascination into fashioning
Seed of thought to cellular existence cycles into matter flowering
Left behind through points of skin abrazed empowering
My substance induced altered state is lost, the unseen part of me is gained

Together we progress to any point
To turn illusion on its pregnant skull
My pool of life reflects the me
Concealed in dreams

Alive or dead or
Somewhere in between
I see: a dawn of worlds sees back
—Infinity

Pilgrimages, Mandalas, and Meditations

BoroBudur
As part of this Summer’s creative/spiritual retreat, I made a pilgrimage to the largest Buddhist temple in the world. BoroBudur is an epically-proportioned, three-dimensional tantric mandala, which was constructed sometime between 700 and 800 A.D., with about 55,000 cubic meters of stone. To make the full trip around and up each of the temple’s 9 platforms to the giant stupa in the center is about a 3 km hike, and for much of it, the visitor can experience thousands of detailed ancient carved reliefs, stupas, and statues that line the walls.

I experienced moments of walking meditation stillness, while on this journey. The feeling sporadically resembled the experience of the labyrinth walk. But the intense heat, busy atmosphere from the thousands of other visitors and the visual beauty of my novel surroundings prevented me from drifting into much of a meditative state.

It was also somewhat of a challenge to get to the temple, with hoards of street vendors descending on any tourist in sight. And who can blame them?

BoroBudur is a UNESCO world heritage site and Wonder of the World, and we traveled there on the Buddhist religion’s holiest of days, Waisak—the full moon in May or June. This is an annual Holiday to celebrate the birthday of Gautama Buddha, so there were many saffron robed Buddhist monks on site, as well as other visitors from around the world.

Mandala-the Genesis of Realization
“Mandalas are commonly used by tantric Buddhists as an aid to meditation. More specifically, a Buddhist mandala is envisaged as a "sacred space," a "Pure Buddha Realm,” and also as an abode of fully realised beings or deities.” --Wikipedia

The main reflection that comes to me as I write this entry is how much the Borobudur pilgrimage experience felt like it was there to support a form of creation or genesis. The Mandala is associated with a flower, the womb, realization, and consciousness itself. I believed I was there circling around this mammoth oval symbol of reproductive power to plant a seed of some kind—perhaps to conceive (in the context of giving life to) of something consciously-- and that each step forward on this sacred spiraling walk toward the heart of the central dome would in some way help the process of giving form or shape to whatever inchoate concept I wished to introduce and sustain in my thoughts.

Because of Borobudur, when I now think of a pilgrimage, I consider it as a parallel to the experience of how an idea goes through the different stages of development until it transforms and becomes a creation. As a person makes progress in a grand and spiritually charged environment through forward motion, somehow it makes it possible to bring total attention to the necessary aspects of our lives which need forward motion; to make steps toward fertilizing a dream.

We had been instructed to set an intention when we got to a certain sculpture in the center (the Black Buddha), but now I understand the importance of keeping that intention in mind and alive while journeying through the Mandala’s layers and platforms. I believe this mindful approach can provide an added dimension to the process of engaging in any kind of pilgrimage anywhere, holy or otherwise.

Mendut Meditation
While, I enjoyed the visual beauty of BoroBudur, I would have to wait until dusk, to experience the most memorable and piercing aspect of the trip. This came in the form of a powerful sitting meditation at the nearby Mendut temple. The shrine inside the temple contained a magnificent three meter tall stone Buddha, flanked by Boddhisatvas on either side of him. Flowers, incense sticks, and other offerings adorned the alter in front of the statues.

At every hour on Vaisak, a different contingency of monks would arrive at the temple and pay homage by leading a chant or prayer in honor of their spiritual teacher and prophet.

While it had a tall spiral ceiling, the shrine was a tiny space relative to other places of worship I had visited, and its compactness created a much more intimate setting for myself and the four others in my group who had received special passes to attend the meditations. It was a stark contrast to the heat and vast open spaces at Borobudur and it did not take long to slip into what Arnold Mindell would call the "Second Attention," or the altered state.

The chants were delivered and amplified with such intensity and devotion that it was hard not to be entranced by the worshippers’ voices. But the chants in combination with the ancient temple’s bright colors and visual majesty, the intoxicating aroma of flowers and incense, and the mental image created by the Buddha, made it difficult not to be completely enthralled by the experience.

It was one of those rare and rich spiritually synesthetic moments, when multiple senses feel stimulated at the same time. Except, as a meditator I felt like I had to try and disengage from them all. Of course, I failed miserably and gave up on that task. Instead, I intended to open my heart to the feeling, my Third Eye to the unseen imagery, and my body to the presence of Spirit.

Special thanks to Carrie-Ann and my Alex Grey Retreat friends for capturing such beautiful images of BoroBodur and Mendut.

drum meditation workshop

This is a description of a Rhythm Gym called "A Rhythm Runs Through
It," offered by percussionist Steve Bloom this Friday, July 16, from
7-9 pm at Circle Yoga 3838 Northampton Street Northwest DC 20015
(202) 686-1104

Residing within us all, Grace wishes to inform each expression. This
workshop is designed to enable the body's flowing "connectedness" by
tapping our own natural musicality. We will progress from a warm-up
with synchronous mild breathing, stretching and stepping patterns
driven by selected polyrhythmic music. To further internalize key
rhythms, we'll mimic the recorded voices and instruments vocally and
gesturally, and, "physicalize," do subtle, specific movements and
shifts of body weight that best express the anchor rhythms in the
music. The music calls, and the Spirit responds— through the body.

Together we'll harness the genius of "child's play" for mimicry,
parroting things in the recorded hand-drummers' styles, like timbre,
time, meter, tempo, pitch, and attack. We'll "look over the masters'
shoulders" at their skillcraft: choices like a stroke's dynamic force,
and how they express humor, elegance, technique, and themes and their
variations.

Sufi hand drums may be used for demonstration. Dress light, eat light,
and avoid caffeine prior to the session. Bring a blanket or yoga mat.

http://circleyoga.com/workshops/workshops-and-events
Date and Time: Fri Jul 16 2010, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Cost: $40.00

About Steve Bloom
Steve Bloom has played percussion in thousands of performances and
recordings in over a dozen countries from the Middle East to Nigeria
to Canada with a wide variety of artists including Tito Puente, King
Sunny Ade', Andy Gonzales, and Babatunde Olatunji.

With an academic foundation including Music Theory and Composition,
Piano and Percussion technique, Bloom has since achieved command via
the Oral Tradition of:

* Cuban and related African traditions of drumming and song by the
Oral Tradition, apprenticing with several fine Cuban masters and a
Senegalese Griot. He is initiated to play sacred drums in rituals of
Santeria.
* Middle Eastern, Arabic, and Persian drumming traditions, as a prime
apprentice of three Sufi master drummers: Adnan Sarhan, dervish of
Bagdad, with whom Bloom has trained for several decades; Dr. Ali
Analoui, and Naser Khorasani (both from Iran). With Analoui and
Khorasani, Bloom now co-directs the SAMA Ensemble, featuring ancient
Persian Sufi poetry and drumming. Recently they performed for the
entire United Nations General Assembly, introduced by Ban Ki-Moon.

For more information about Steve Bloom, visit http://www.musicbyhand.com