posted January 14, 2004 06:31 PM              

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There are seven different planes of existence, each of which correspond to one of the seven major chakras in our bodies and to one of the seven layers of our auras. In descending order, the first three planes are entirely spiritual. They are the Ketheric Plane (Spiritual Mental), the Celestial Plane (Spiritual Emotional) and the Etheric Plane (Spiritual Physical). The next plane of existence is the Astral Plane, and this is the point of transition from the purely Spiritual realms into the more manifest planes. The last three planes of existence are the Mental Plane, the Emotional Plane and the Physical Plane. Each plane is denser than the plane before it, and travelling from the Ketheric to the Physical is the descent of spirit into matter.

Astrology operates on the Ketheric Plane and forms a Spiritual Blueprint of what we experience on the lower planes. To get from the Ketheric Plane to the Physical Plane, involves a number of steps which take us from the core motivation represented by the astrological influences, through assumptions, beliefs and attitudes until finally the result is a manifest behavior or event. It is much easier to look at an event or an experience in a person's life and link it back to an astrological influence than it is to take a random astrological influence and try and predict how it will manifest for an individual.

There are an infinite number of ways that an Astrological influence can manifest. The simple reason for this is that each of us has absolute free will. Each of us has created our experience of our lives, and each of us chooses, either consciously or unconsciously how we will respond to, experience, and give form to the energy that comes through from the Ketheric level. Astrology is the map, it's not the actual terrain.

Now, this is not to say that a talented Astrologer can't make some very accurate educated guesses about events and behaviors. However, this is not what Astrology is truly about, at least not the way that I personally practice Astrology.

Astrology can help us to understand what the real issues and motivations are behind the events and experiences in our lives by allowing us to follow the path of the symbols back to the Ketheric level. From this perspective, we can then become aware of how we have been experiencing the energy, the influences in our charts, and understand where our patterns originated and what they are really about. We can then choose how we want to express these influences on the physical level.

Astrology can help us to look at the map of our lives and to get some idea of how and where our path may take us. We can then choose how we want to work with this knowledge. It's much the same as it is if we're driving in a car and need to refer to a map to see where we've been and where we're going. For example, the map may tells us that the road we're on is going to dead-end very soon, but that we can double-back a little and then change our course. Since we have absolute free will, we can either choose to double back immediately and try and follow the directions of the map, or we can continue on our path until it's obvious that the map is correct and we see the dead end ahead. We can even choose to ignore the dead-end signs and try and crash through the brick wall for a while. It's entirely up to us. The map can only show us the path, it can't tell the way that we chose to follow it.

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