Night Out With The Stars

To my mind,

There are few topics that are more divisive at a dinner table than the topic of astrology.

Hi,

I'm Bassem.

Thank you for joining me.

Interested in astrology probably when I was about 22 or 25 when a friend of mine presented me with a book,

Soul Astrology,

Written by Chad Spiller.

I was completely blown away.

I could,

For the life of me,

Imagine how something could be so accurate in terms of a description about myself,

Who I was.

I was sold,

To say the least.

Incredible book.

I highly,

Highly recommend it.

When I began to study astrology,

I would have loved to be able to dispute the topic,

To discount it,

But the more I became interested in it,

The more I read,

The more I became an advocate,

And I find it such a practical subject too.

For me,

Astrology is essentially a coaching system,

A self-study system that allows us to deepen our understanding of who we are as incarnate souls,

And the journey that we are on,

Challenges,

Our talents,

Our possibilities that we can develop,

That we can cultivate,

And the more we know,

The more we can orchestrate and organize our lives according to who we are,

Essentially,

As opposed to who we have become according to conditioning and cultural proclivities.

So,

What is astrology?

Simply put,

Astrology is a self-study system that suggests a possible or an intrinsic connection between positions and movements of the planets,

Stars also,

And events on earth,

Including human life and personality traits.

So,

Astrology suggests a connection between the mundane and the divine,

Between the earthly and the celestial,

And this system involves drawing or calculating a natal chart or a horoscope that represents the placements and the movements of the planets at the time of your exact time of birth and place of birth.

A system that is based on the principle that you can derive meaning,

Insights into who you are,

Into your personality trait,

Into your relationships,

Into all of the various life events based on the positions of the celestial planet.

Question,

What is an astrologer?

If you think of astrology also as a language,

The ABCs of astrology,

An astrologer is someone who is learned in this language and is able to read the symbols and the placements and the degrees and the relationships,

And from this graph then,

From this horoscope,

Begins to tell you about yourself and give you insights about your own possibility,

Your own prospects,

Your own purpose.

Who is astrology for?

I would say that astrology is for anyone who's interested in in alternate perspectives,

In metaphysical understanding about who they are.

They don't just want to think of themselves as physical material beings,

They believe that there is more to a human life than meets the eye,

That perhaps though we cannot physically see it with our five senses,

There may just be a relationship between myself as a life form and the greater reality that I call my habitat.

It's a manual,

An instruction manual for how to live not life,

But how to live your life,

Because how to live my life and how to live your life may not necessarily be the same thing.

In fact,

It's rarely the same thing,

Albeit there are universal values that we all ascribe to,

For example,

The universal value of love,

And by universal,

I mean overarching.

We all agree that love is probably a good idea,

As opposed to not love.

This is universal,

It's not personal,

And we're not talking about love that is ruled by Leo,

Let's say,

In terms of loyalty kind of love.

We're talking about universal love,

Right?

It's a more Aquarian type of love.

So many people turn to astrology for various reasons.

I understand that many turn to it for entertainment,

Like astrology in the magazines and in the newspaper column and all that,

But that's not really astrology.

That's just sort of pop astrology,

We might say.

It's just pop culture.

It really doesn't mean anything,

You don't get any significance from that,

Any guidance whatsoever.

On occasion you may find some meaning in one of the comments the astrologer makes,

But it's a generic treatment of what is a science.

Some call it pseudoscience,

That's fine,

We don't really care what they call it,

But it is a science based on definite observations of the astronomical movements of the stars,

The planets,

And the effect that they may have on us.

And anybody who doubts that,

You only need to look into the logs of hospitals during full moons in order to see what happened.

And why do more women believe in astrology or practice astrology than men?

The simple fact that they are under the governance,

More obviously,

Of the moon,

The 28-day cycle of the moon,

Then men are aware.

Women are very clear about the fact that the moon has a definite effect on their emotional well-being,

On the moods,

And on their expressions.

Also,

Many people turn to it for guidance in some way of being able to organize and orchestrate and inform their life.

And the knowledge that they are able to flesh out or to derive allows them to create a more coherent structure for how to live.

For example,

If you understood that you have Saturn,

Which is the planet that governs restriction and initiations,

Wherever Saturn is in the chart is where we experience delay in gratification.

It's where we are being restricted in some way.

It's a life experience.

If you know that,

Then you can understand that your reward will not come until you have paid your dues,

Which Saturn expects you to pay,

Because Saturn is a planet which governs structure and integrity and discipline.

Saturn says,

I'm not going to give you what you want until you have proven yourself worthy of a higher power.

Whereas on the other hand,

Let's say you have Jupiter,

Which is bigger than life.

Jupiter is the planet of good fortune.

Everybody loves Jupiter.

It teaches through abundance.

It gives you everything and says,

Here,

What are you going to do with it?

So wherever you find Jupiter in your natal chart,

Which I remind you is the horoscope that an astrologer calculates according to the exact time of your birth and placement,

He or she can take a look at your natal chart and say,

Oh my God,

You've got Jupiter in the 10th house.

Good fortune in the area of your professional life.

And so you really should think about thinking bigger in that area.

You should really think about preparing yourself for success in that area.

But if you have Saturn there,

Like me,

They can tell you,

Well,

It's a very good idea for you to become more disciplined,

To apply yourself in a certain way,

To prove yourself integral,

To make sure that you do not compromise your standards and so on.

And if you prove yourself worthy,

Saturn will release its restriction and consequently allow you to thrive.

So it's fascinating like this.

You have these kind of two gurus in the chart,

If you will.

You have Jupiter,

The planet of expansion,

The teacher,

The great guru of good fortune.

And then you have Saturn,

The great teacher who teaches through adversity and limit.

If you know that,

Then you can simply work in alignment with your energies.

You're not working against them.

You are using the blueprint,

Which is your natal chart,

Your horoscope,

In order to support your life.

It's not fatalistic.

It doesn't determine that you are exactly like this.

On the contrary,

For the advancing individual who has begun to work on him or herself on a soul level,

The planets become in service of your activity.

Astrology then becomes a tool that the aspiring soul uses in order to increase or potentiate his or her possibility.

Too many words to simply say,

As soon as you begin to work on yourself,

The planets become instruments of service that you can wield,

That you can work with in order to facilitate your higher possibility in service of the one great divine.

By exploring astrology in this way and gaining insights,

You can also leverage a sense of purpose,

Having this greater relationship with the cosmos.

And you can leverage understanding about your tendencies.

What are tendencies?

Think of that which you have practiced over time that now has a control over you.

So karma,

For example.

Karma essentially is the sum total of that which you have practiced in the past that now represents the condition of your reality.

Karma is your condition.

Your current condition is karma,

The things that you've practiced.

If you've practiced intellectual tendencies,

Then intellect is karmically strong,

Emotionally strong,

Or weak,

And so on.

And that strength or that weakness has,

In a sense,

Become habituated.

So it's become your tendency,

The tendency of the mind to think and act in this way,

The tendency of your emotional expression to be a particular way.

When you look at astrology,

You can get a perspective,

You can leverage great insight into your current condition.

And the role that the past,

I'm talking about past lives also,

Needless to say,

Has played in creating this current condition that you call my life,

That contains not only your possibility,

But also your struggle.

Because let's not forget that life,

Whether professional life or a relationship or whatever it is,

Is the byproduct or the result of the interplay between inner energies that are represented by the planets.

Am I losing you?

I don't want to just explain astrology to you in some kind of amateurish way.

If you're thinking about exploring astrology for the first time,

Well,

You can do a course or you can find a book to familiarize yourself with the zodiac signs and planets and all of those other things,

The houses,

The aspects and the degrees and the elements,

And you can begin your journey that way.

I used to teach an astrology fundamental course on a Facebook group.

That was actually,

It was a lot of fun.

It was an eight-week fundamentals astrology course.

Learn to read a natal chart like a pro,

I called it.

I don't know why I stopped that.

Anyway,

So you can do something like that,

Or you can,

As well as I should say,

You can access a resource online.

There is one particular website which is called astro.

Com.

Astro.

Com is a great resource with some wonderful astrologers.

There are some learning tools there,

And it allows you to calculate your own chart.

It does it for you,

And you can begin a learning journey that way.

So,

It's not hard to get started since astrology,

Particularly these days,

Is making a comeback,

If you will.

There are still those who,

Of course,

Still laugh at it.

You can buy a book,

As I said.

You could do a course.

You can go to astro.

Com and study the numerous resources.

Consult a professional to guide you through a learning journey or to do a life reading.

Okay,

Let's have a practical look at astrology.

What is a natal chart?

It is a graph made up of various layers.

It's a graphic representation of the placement of the planets at the time that you were born in their celestial movements around the sun.

They all have different speeds,

And they are all at different distances from the sun.

So,

As they are moving in their orbits in the sky,

They form different relationships with each other called aspects.

And some of these aspects are favorable,

And some are challenging.

And it is the relationship between the favorable aspects and the challenging aspects that essentially creates the internal energetic dynamic of a human being.

This graph,

Typically it is a circle,

Represents space.

And then it says at a particular point in time,

A soul was born into this space.

And then we divide this space into 12 parts.

And we call these 12 divisions the houses.

These are the 12 human experiences that we are aware of.

For example,

Professional life,

Relationship life,

Emotional life,

Creative life,

Etc.

There are 12 facets of human experience.

So,

We divide this circle into 12,

And now we have space and time.

We also have the idea of movement.

First house,

Second house,

And so on.

So,

Movement and progress.

So,

We have space,

Then we have time,

Then we have the idea of progress.

And then on top of all of that,

We superimpose the 12 fields of human experience.

Then at a specific point in time,

When you are born,

The constellations,

The zodiac signs,

Like a clock stop,

Let's say Pisces in the first house,

As well as that,

The planets are found in different parts of the chart.

So,

For some of us,

Jupiter may be found in the 10th house.

For others,

Jupiter is found in the 12th house.

Jupiter,

For some,

May be found in the third house.

We have now the planets,

The constellations that have been stopped at a particular sort of placement at that particular time that you are born.

It's like a photograph of the celestial sky.

The photographer looks at a photograph and interprets it.

Here,

The astrologer looks at it and begins to interpret the placement.

All of this to say simply that this natal chart that the astrologer uses is made up of different layers.

The first layer is the circle,

Then the houses,

The division,

And then the constellations,

The zodiac signs around the zodiac belt,

And then the planets,

And then their relationships,

The aspects.

Can you say something about the history of astrology?

It has roots in the Babylonian,

Egyptian,

And Greek civilizations.

During the Hellenistic period,

Greek philosophers like Ptolemy contributed to the development of astrology as we know it today,

The astrological principles,

Which later influenced Roman and Islamic astrology.

In the Middle Ages,

Astrology also gained prominence in medieval Europe,

Particularly among scholars and rulers and scientists.

I mean,

It is the mother of astronomy.

You have wonderful scientists like Newton and others who were themselves astrologers,

Also a fact that contemporary science would not like to remember.

And then in the Renaissance period,

Astrology experienced also a revival.

There was a renewed interest in the classical text.

Then began this separation between astrology and mainstream science.

Astrology became astronomy,

And alchemy became chemistry,

And so on.

And then in the 19th century,

This incredibly long-lasting thing that just would not go away,

With new schools of thought emerging,

Astrology continued to adapt and to change in philosophical,

Cultural landscapes that were thriving.

All the way to today,

To the 20th century,

It lost a lot of popularity.

But then recently,

In the last 40 years,

It started to gain popularity,

Especially in the counterculture movements in the 60s and the 70s.

Astrologists started to write sun signs,

Horoscopes.

Today,

You have some very serious scholars,

Astrologers,

Who are exploring and shaping the new landscape,

Bridging ancient practice with modern perspectives.

But despite its long history,

Astrology still lacks empirical validation,

As far as the scientific community is concerned.

What are the basic elements of astrology?

You've got the zodiac signs,

There are 12,

Each representing a particular drive.

For example,

Aries is to explore,

Cancer is to nurture,

Gemini is to communicate,

Libra is to connect.

Each one represents a field of experience or experiment.

And then you have the planets,

These are the celestial bodies in the sky.

You've got the Sun,

You've got the Moon,

Then you've got Mercury,

Venus,

Mars,

Jupiter,

You've got Saturn,

Uranus,

Neptune,

Pluto.

And then you also have other significators like Chiron and North Node.

These are not planets,

They're calculations.

Chiron is an asteroid.

And then you've got what are called the houses.

Remember,

I talked about the 12 divisions,

Which give us the idea of movement.

There are 12 of them in astrology,

And they're called the houses.

And each house has a particular lordship.

So one of the signs or one of the planets rules a house.

So the first house,

For example,

The traditional ruler for that house is the planet Mars.

The zodiac sign that is attributed to the first house is Aries.

So you have Aries,

Mars,

First house,

You have Taurus,

Venus,

Second house,

Gemini,

Third house,

Mercury,

You have fourth house,

Cancer,

The Moon,

The Moon rules Cancer,

And the fourth house,

And so on.

You're starting to get an idea,

Which is really my goal in this is to give you an idea to expand your understanding of this subject.

Another element in astrology,

What are called the aspects.

These are the angles,

The relationships between the planets in their orbit around the Sun.

They speak about relationship,

About influences.

Common aspects are things like conjunction.

This is when two planets are in the same sign.

They don't have to be,

But close together.

You got sextiles,

Squares,

Trines,

Oppositions,

Quintiles,

And all of that.

Can one benefit from an astrological life reading,

Even in their later age?

For example,

55.

Life begins at 50 to 52,

As far as astrology is concerned.

That's when we come into our purpose and we become teachers of our experience.

Not at 20 or 30 or all of these sort of conceptual,

Hand-me-down,

Popularized ideas.

Astrology,

Which is based on astronomical factors,

Tells us that 50 to 52 is when a human being,

According to certain celestial formations,

Come into their purpose.

That's when we become teachers of our experience.

Can a 70-year-old man benefit from an astrological life reading?

Absolutely.

Are 70-year-old men needed in the world?

Nevermore.

The dichotomy between wisdom and the youth,

Does it need to be abridged again so that there is a flow of knowledge?

Absolutely.

Transmission of information is an essential component of a life.

50 to 55,

60 years old,

This is when the lived experience,

The insights from your lived experience,

Becomes an important fact in the development and evolution of where we go from here.

Does a natal chart remain the same throughout our life or does it change?

Yes,

Your natal chart is exact.

It doesn't change throughout your life.

You only have one natal chart because you're only born at one particular time.

How important is the time of birth in a natal chart?

The more exact the time of birth,

The more an astrologer is able to guide you.

But if you don't know your birth,

There are different types of astrological readings that you could do.

Aspect astrology,

Based on the relationships between the planets,

It's very profound and you don't need to know your exact time of birth.

Exact time of birth is important if you want to know your ascending sign and the placement of the moon in your chart.

It needs to be exact.

That's it from me.

I hope that you have gotten something from this conversation.

It intended to give you a primer into astrology without treating you like a complete beginner.

All we've said basically is astrology is a system of self-study that can guide your life.

Start by getting interested in the planets.

Read about the signs.

Have a look at astro.

Com.

Get a life reading done.

Thank you for joining me.

I'll see you another time.

Take care now.

Wishing you well.