The Map of Sky

In this time of supreme disorientation, it becomes increasingly important to have a way to get your bearings.

The sky is an impartial map of the moment which is a form of communication for those who speak its language. The sky is its own landscape, which is not an antecedent for what takes place on earth, but an elegant mirror of earthscape. Just as light needs dark (See previous post) so, too, does earth story need sky story. The indigenous perspective is that the story in the sky must be played out on the ground. There are very specific examples of the rising and setting of constellations throughout the year and the events they have trigger on earth throughout human history: from agricultural events to ritual and prayer. The collective eye was once turned toward sky for instructions for daily living. This is how the netted story of life perpetuates itself.

When we opt out of this larger participation—whether knowingly or unknowingly—the story begins to unravel. This unraveling looks like ecological destruction, mental and physical health crises and maybe the most devastating of all: a loss of connection between humans and nature and with it a loss of appreciation for the abundance of beauty that sustains us.

So while astrology may appear “New Age” or as a form of escape from earthly reality, historically it was a map toward becomes more enmeshed in and committed to life on earth—it was a way to know where to be and when, and what prayers to utter at which moment so that life could go on living (in both the human and ‘natural’ worlds).

Pretty much every indigenous culture had a way of interacting with the stars to guide their actions. At that time there is abundant evidence that the intelligence derived from the sky was used much more for the collective well-being than for personal purposes. Even today it can be used that way, to understand how the individual fits into the collective and what the larger purpose is. Transits can tell us where the collective energy is going, where it is disturbed, and if we care to look it can tell us where we might make a prayer.

In this way, astrology can certainly provide a means of orienting to the moment. We are clearly quite lost as a collective. The sky is still spinning its story and still available for guidance to those ears that would welcome its wisdom. Many are turning towards astrology at this moment, almost instinctively, with a sense that humans as a species will need to return to some organic root in order to relocate ourselves in the larger scheme of life and Nature. Indigenously, the stars are considered to be the roots of the trees of the world above ours, their movements literally rooting us in this lovely world of ours that is now in so much turmoil.

If you’re interested in diving into more specifics of how to read this wonderful sky-map, consider joining my upcoming course.