Walter Benjamin - 'Rational Astrology'

In 1932 Benjamin composed a fragment ('On Astrology') that was to be published posthumously, but which contains the seeds of what he calls a 'rational astrology'. In this fragment, Benjamin's point of departure is that of outlining an idea of astrology that is emptied of any doctrine that speaks of magical influences or radiant energies. The point is that rational astrology does not pivot on astral influences; instead it hinges its communicative properties on the 'mimetic powers' that link all the elements present in the universe. According to Benjamin, the resemblances that we are able to identify in people's faces, in plants, in buildings and so on are but micro details of a universe of resemblances. ... In another fragment ('Experience') ... Benjamin writes that "Experiences are lived similarities".

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)

Thoughts of a non-astrologer on astrology (III) - 'This is your calling'

"The inner structure of astrology cannot be measured or checked as neither can be a painting or a poem. It cannot be proven nor statistically verified. Therefore the astrological view is nowadays said to not be ‘true’. Another question is whether at some time this view would ‘become true’. That would require a change of the inner optic which in our time is shaped by the scientific worldview.

We tend to see fate as happening in a linear way. Probably we come closer to its essence when we see it as a ring or sphere that moves around a center point. That corresponds not only to the great cycles that we observe in the universe but also to the immutability of the law ‘that was your calling’. It points to a stable center."

Ernst Jünger ‘An der Zeitmauer’ (Thoughts of a non-astrologer on astrology), 1959

Galileo Galilei - practicing astrologer

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, but also an astrologer. It was only recently that his astrological practices came to light, when his astrological ‘Manuscript 81’, entitled “Astrologia nonnulla”, got published in 2016 and is now part of his Collected Works. It contains horoscopes of 19 people in Galileo’s own hand, mostly patrons, students and family members; he was obviously seeking to raise some extra money, as we can see in the entries to his accounting books.

Other evidence of his astrological practices include his first investigation by the Venetian Inquisition in 1604, being accused  of practicing deterministic astrology (a heresy, only God knows what is going to come) but he could convince the Inquisition that he was only pointing out and interpreting personal traits of his clients (the Church did not seem to have objected to that), and the case was dropped.

‘Le opere di Galileo Galilei - Testi, Appendice - vol. III’

Galileo facing the Inquisition

Heresy of the moon

The philosopher Hans Blumenberg wrote a book on the heliocentric worldview but had not much good to say about the sun. Yes, it may be a benefactor but, as it goes with all benefactors, becoming a tyrant lingers close by. This philosopher who once explored light as a metaphor for truth described the image of the sun as the despot of reason, bringing about a new madness of the naked, brutal truth.

The alternative, becoming his new guiding spirit, became the moon. It is the poetic expression par excellence. While the sun just condones orthodox members, there are the heretics in their allegiance to the moon. Not only did its poetic qualities not suffer under Enlightenment but quite to the contrary they were set free. Antiquity did not know poetic veneration of the moon, that only started in the 18th century. “Would the moon disappear from our repertoire of our moods and wishes, of the testimonies of our amorous nights, if it were made undoubtably clear to us that it only consisted of rocks?”

Moon is the friend of our bosom, so Schopenhauer said. Its light is mild, fluctuating, holding our senses in thrall. This light does not represent the despotism of one and final reason but the world of conjectures and projections, of phantasy.

Hans Blumenberg, ‘Die Vollzähligkeit der Sterne’, 1965

Lorenz Jäger, ‘Die schöne Kunst, das Schicksal zu lesen’ 2009

The sun

The moon

Conversation at the dinner table (III)

“Totally different from the sun is the story that the moon has to tell”, I interjected, “The moon does not radiate, it shines, its light is mild, its metal silver. The moon opens up a world which is ambiguous as to what is reality and truth, its figures are not yet fully determined, it inhabits a sphere of phantasy, there is the indifference between wishing and fearing, there are enigmatic cues and meanings. Above all its shining is fluid and shifting. It receives, nourishes and protects. But, not to forget, ‘lunatic’ can also mean ‘crazy’ and ‘mad’.

Astrid showed an etching from the Renaissance characterizing the lunar world. “We see the dominating picture of a crab - moon ruling Cancer - and the moving water as its main motif, there are some wandering folks and migrating birds.”

“Similarly”, Juliana adds, “does Regiomontanus see it. Nothing that one wishes to have continuity and lasting imprint should be begun under the reign of the moon. One could say, while Mercury provides one with a plan and intention, with moon one acts out of a mood.”

Lorenz Jäger, ‘Die schöne Kunst, das Schicksal zu lesen’, 2009

The Sign of Cancer

Conversation at the dinner table (II)

“The sun”, said Joachim “is also politically relevant. It is the ruler, the sovereign. To be sovereign, that means above all, to give and spend, to spend lavishly like the sun. Like the pharaohs in Ancient times, building monumental edifices. But in Modern times we are inclined to see this behavior as the madness of tyrants. As if the puritanical effort to save time and cut expenses were the undisputed norm.

The sovereign is not bound by the logic of working and saving, he incorporates the exuberant surplus of a world that otherwise is, as one knows all too well, narrow, small and subject to calculation. It was George Bataille who wanted to ground a whole economic theory on exuberance and expenditure. In the words of this author the first sentence of the solar myth is: ‘The sun gives without ever receiving’. The sun sign of Leo is the favorite animal of rulers. As for metals gold belongs to the sun, equally noble, as it is found only in its pure form, it does not mix with other elements.”

Juliana reads aloud some passages from Regiomontanus, and then added: “One need not to add much more. Sun means a world in which shapes and colors become first of all recognizable - one sees clearer and with greater depth, - it is the big view, the great seeing eye. The sun itself is here portrayed with a face, above all it is laughing, and this gift it shares with its children. Furthermore, the sun is creative and accountable. It stands for sound identity.. The truth of the sun, in the sense of Regiomontanus, you do not come at through intellectual operations or through some theory; perception and grasping the essence is one.’

Astrid looks at a medieval etching representing astrological images of the Sun, and said:” We look at scenes of playful exertions but not bloody and hurtful as in the portraiture of Mars. There is some gift-giving to be seen, and a fool signals gaiety as does music. So it is a serene world: the sun above shines generously.”

Lorenz Jäger, ‘Die schöne Kunst, das Schicksal yu lesen’, 2009

Sign of ‘Leo’

On astrological images

The imagination is a discovery of mediaeval philosophy. In one formulation of the philosopher Averroes, it is imagination, not the intellect, that is the defining principle of the human species.

Walter Benjamin, in the early 20th century immersed himself again in the topic of imagination, and a principle of his was: life is given to everything to which an image is given. — At the same time Aby Warburg developed his project of the ‘Mnemosyne Atlas’, intending to collect the images of Western humanity in an all-encompassing collection.

‘Warburg’s interest especially in astrological images has its roots in the awareness that the observation of the sky is the grace and damnation of man, and that the celestial sphere is the place where men project their passion for images. In this sense, the celestial constellations are the original text in which imagination reads what was never written’.

Georgio Agamben, ‘Nymphs’, 2007

Conversation at the dinner table (I)

“In the horoscope”, Astrid said, “one should not regard Saturn only as a negative force. After all, it is Saturn that gives all ventures the basic structure, authenticity and duration, the order and the ground, the supporting skeleton that has dispensed everything merely accidental and desirable. Having a  good Saturn in the birth chart is in league with the objective, not to say historical, necessity. He will act methodically and on the large scale, and he gives the gift of concentrating on the essentials. Limitation will always be part of Saturn, and all the better for those who have the ability to have self-control, without which no significant achievement is possible. Constant expansion alone does not work. Only through Saturn is the real structure of an enterprise recognizable. Saturn wants to create and give shape, in a rational way, and he has tradition on his side and he can hold his ground against temporary tendencies challenging that spirit. … He is interested in the overarching structure and the staying power of his designs.”

Lorenz Jäger, ‘Die schöne Kunst, das Schicksal zu lesen’, 2009

Lorenz Jäger

"That day the solar system married us ..." Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath

"Our magazine was merely an overture

To the night and the party. I had predicted

Disastrous expense: a planetary

Certainty, according to Prospero's book.

Jupiter and the full moon conjunct

Opposed Venus, Disastrous expense

According to that book. Especially for me.

The conjunction combust my natal Sun,

Venus pinned exact on my mid-heaven."

...................

"That conjunction, conjunct my Sun, conjunct

With your ruling Mars. And Chaucer

Would have pointed to that day's Sun in the Fish

Conjunct your Ascendant exactly

Opposite my Neptune and fixed

In my tenth House of good and evil fame.

......That day the solar system married us

Whether we knew it or not."

Ted Hughes, Poem to Sylia Plath, 1956

Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, 1956

Saturnian poems - Prologue

The Sages of old time, all still highly acclaimed,

Believed -- although never really well explained --

That destinies in Heaven written are,

And every soul depends upon a star.

(Many have mocked -- without remembering

That laughter oft is a misguiding thing --

This explanation of mysterious nocturnal display).

Now all that are born under SATURN’s sway, --

Pale planet, to the Necromancer dear, --

Inherit, ancient magic-books make it clear,

Good share of spleen, good share of wretchedness.

Their imagination, fearful and vigorless,

Makes all resolves of reason vain.

The blood within them, subtle as a bane,

Bright as lava, running thinly, is ravaging

Their sad ideals, all now vanishing.

Such must those born under Saturn suffer and must die, --

For mortality we do imply, --

Their lives being ordered in this dismal sense

By logic of a malign Influence.

Paul Verlaine, ‘Poemes Saturniens’, 1866 (translation C.C.)

Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), French poet

The beautiful art of reading fate

Only once did I really immediately understand the language of the sky; not in a reflective way, but in such a way that it opened up to me as an expressive dimension in the first place. On the horizon the sky was pink to peach colored, higher up it turned into turquoise. In the darker area stood Venus. Something more beautiful can not be imagined.

It was only at that moment that I knew: this was an expression, one just has to learn to understand it. The sky, an aphasic, which has no other possibility of communication than its appearances of light, and with Venus as the evening star it wants to say: this is the most beautiful. Splendor of sun, mildness of moon, pale color of Saturn -  so it speaks to us.

Lorenz Jäger, ‘Die schöne Kunst, das Schicksal zu lesen’, 2009

Lorenz Jäger, 2017, author of ‘Heidegger. Ein deutsches Leben.’ 2021, ‘Walter Benjamin’ 2017, ‘Adorno. Eine politische Biographie.’ 2003

Thomas Mann - astrology in the hands of the magus

Thomas Mann had shown interest in astrology. When he lived in Munich he met up at different times with his fellow writer, and astrologer, Oskar A.H. Schmitz to discuss, among other things, astrology. In his diary he wrote on March 5, 1920: “Rendevous with O. Schmitz in the Cafe Luitpold where we had dinner. First, we addressed astrological matters, my horoscope and that of Heinrich (his brother, C.C.) Then we discussed other matters, philosophy, medical issues and psychoanalysis.”

In many of his works one can find astrological allusions. In “Joseph and his Brothers”, for instance, Jaakob, the father, asks his son Joseph: “How come that your speech has so much wit, that it cascades in such lighthearted way over the cliffs of truth and finds its way into the heart that then starts to beat in rapture?” And Joseph answers: “... because it is of the nature of the messenger through and through”. This messenger being none other than  Hermes - Mercury, the messenger of the gods, the Babylonian Nabu, the Aegyptian Thot, known for his craftiness and cunning with words. And Joseph explains: “This is a god, light and swift, bringing about a good outcome and furthering exchange. This all Eliezer taught me, your wise servant, when he described to me the planetary cosmos and the relation among the stars and their power over the hour as to their aspect at that moment. And he calculated the hour of my birth at Charran in Mesopotamia when schamasch” - that was in Babylon the name of the sun - “was at the Midheaven in the sign of Gemini, and the sign of Virgo was just rising in the East.”  

What Joseph tells us here is none other than the birthchart of Thomas Mann himself.

Adrian Leverkühn, the composer in the novel ‘Dr. Faustus’ was born, as the author tells us early on, in the late spring 1885; in later chapters we get to know that his birthday is June 6: the birthday of Thomas Mann.

Thomas Mann, ‘Tagebücher 1918 - 1921’, 1997

Thomas Mann, ‘Joseph und seine Brüder’, 1928

Thomas Mann, ‘Dr. Faustus’, 1947

Lorenz Jäger, ‘ Die schöne Kunst, das Schicksal zu lesen’, 2009

Thomas Mann (right), 1875 - 1955, with his brother Heinrich

Fernando Pessoa - poet and astrologer

Fernando Pessoa was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.

It is less known that Pessoa also had developed a strong interest in astrology. Plagued by self-doubt it helped him in his lifelong search for identity. From 1910 on he became a passionate practitioner and this interest stayed with him for the rest of his life. Planets and zodiac were for him celestial figurations to be interpreted. “What operates in us is a destiny”, he wrote, “which exists as a spiritual force on a higher plane and is cosmologically represented in the stars.”  

Over his lifetime Pessoa drew up more than 1,500 astrological charts and worked on a "System of Astrology" to be published under the heteronym Raphael Baldaya. Pessoa established the pricing of his astrological services from 500 to 5,000 reis and mused at times to become a professional astrologer should all else fail (just as the poet Ted Hughes would do later, pondering to practice astrology professionally to make ends meet).

Pessoa’s interlinking of his literary and symbolist life are still met with embarrassment by the the academe who also has difficulty to account for the fact that the two greatest Irish poets of the 20th century – Yeats and MacNeice – wrote serious astrology books. For the poets, the astrological charts respond to the poetry, and visa-versa, in a multifaceted and creative interchange.

“Astrology is verifiable, if anyone will take the trouble of verifying it.” (Pessoa, from the unfinished essay ‘Erostratus’, p.182)

Fernando Pessoa ( 1888 – 1935)

Thoughts of a non-astrologer on astrology (II)

If we approach the structure of astrology without prejudice, we soon will become aware that we indeed encounter profound knowledge. We sense that our eyes are sharpened and that we recognize the astrological types. They are not measurable like geometric figures. But that is their quality. They have no value that can be measured by a cipher.

Without doubt there is a basic essence within each of us that rests deep below our personal peculiarities and that shows itself of one cloth in the traits of our body, mind and character. Knowledge that would put us in touch with this essence would be of great value for us.

When we take a look deep inside the individual we reach a primary ground made up of enmity and harmony. This gaze probes to account for the talents and the flaws of the individual which are interwoven like in a play of light and shadow. Taken just by themselves, strengths or weaknesses do not account for much but seen together they could act like lock and key.

Looking at people as one looks at the signs of the zodiac shows them outside the social and moral sphere in their essential makeup. We gain a better judgement how the distinct talents join themselves into a whole and about their individual rank in the constellation.

If astrology would do just this: to sharpen one’s gaze for the essential uniqueness that each person is, that would already be much in a time that blurs, erases and cheapens that distinction. This is not so much a gain of truth but a gain in our creative faculties, as in the visual arts.

The astrological symbols are figures, nothing else but figures in a course on logic that wants to sharpen our mental capabilities. They only point at realities. But with ever accelerating intensity they unlock a latency deep in us. They lead us to buried caverns. Venturing there will not be without rewards.

 Ernst Jünger, 'An der Zeitmauer', 1959 (translation C.C.)                   

Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), Portrait by Horst Janssen

The hostility of 'Science' towards astrology

The hostility of ‘science' towards astrology highlights its own blind spot. They do not even bother to understand the subject, mistaking a hermeneutic topic (like linguistics) one to be judged by natural scientific methods. These are 'Non Overlapping Magisteria’ (a term introduced by Stephen Jay Gould to indicate that science and religion each represent different areas of inquiry). - But it is hard for science not to overreach and play the role of ultimate arbiter. A case in point is the statement ‘Objections to Astrology’, published in 1975 and signed by 186 Leading Scientists (and 18 Nobel Prize Winners!). Both the astronomer Carl Sagan and the philosopher Paul Feyerabend took the scientists to task for their inapt attack on astrology. Being men of reason they felt driven to hold science to its own standards.

The Anti-Astrology Manifesto read, in part:

One would imagine, in this day of widespread enlightenment and education, that it would be unnecessary to debunk beliefs based on magic and superstition. Yet, acceptance of astrology pervades modern society. We are especially disturbed by the continued uncritical dissemination of astrological charts, forecasts, and horoscopes by the media and by otherwise reputable newspapers, magazines, and book publishers. This can only contribute to the growth of irrationalism and obscurantism. We believe that the time has come to challenge directly, and forcefully, the pretentious claims of astrological charlatans.It should be apparent that those individuals who continue to have faith in astrology do so in spite of the fact that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary. (The whole text can be accessed at <www.astrologer.com/tests/objections.html>)

Carl Sagan declined to sign the manifesto, explaining:

“I struggled with [the manifesto’s] wording, and in the end found myself unable to sign, not because I thought astrology has any validity whatever, but because I felt . . . that the tone of the statement was authoritarian. It criticized astrology for having origins shrouded in superstition. But this is true as well for religion, chemistry, medicine and astronomy, to mention only four. The issue is not what faltering and rudimentary knowledge astrology came from, but what is its present validity. . . . Then there was speculation on the psychological motivations of those who believe in astrology. These motivations . . . might explain why astrology is not generally given the skeptical scrutiny it deserves, but is quite peripheral to whether it works. . . . The statement stressed that we can think of no mechanism by which astrology could work. This is certainly a relevant point but by itself it’s unconvincing. No mechanism was known for continental drift . . . when it was proposed by Alfred Wegener in the first quarter of the twentieth century to explain a range of puzzling data in geology and paleontology.” (Sagan 1976)

Feyerabend was even harsher:

“The learned gentlemen have strong convictions, they use their authority to spread these convictions (why 186 signatures if one has arguments?), they know a few phrases which sound like arguments, but they certainly do not know what they are talking about. . . . [The manifesto] shows the extent to which scientists are prepared to assert their authority even in areas in which they have no knowledge whatsoever. “ (Feyerabend 1978)

But, to be fair, it must be said that Feyerabend himself is critical of astrology and he concludes "... It is interesting to see how closely both parties approach each other in ignorance, conceit and the wish for easy power over minds."

Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994), Austrian-born philosopher of science

Thoughts of a non-astrologer on astrology (I)

The astrological constellation is not like a game where the figures are still in starting positions. It is more akin to a card game: the cards were already mixed and the hands dealt. The game reached its high point. Perhaps important figures are missing, others are in a bad position. There is no arguing. Fate hands out the lot.

The question is what we can hope to gain from an interpretation. Is it important to know whether the game will be won or lost? Basically, in the end everyone is losing. The last move will not be ours. This mirrors the the thought of him who said it would be best not to be born.

Also the chess game does not end with a win or loss. It ends with the figures being removed from the board and put in a box. Not win or loss, something else remains - the memory of threads woven together, of a melody that resonates. It is not just Scipio that stays in our mind. It will always be Scipio and Hannibal. In eternity, one could not be without the other. It is not the last move that counts but the game in its entirety.

From a different angle life is akin to a game of solitaire where you cannot change the cards being dealt to you but which do allow certain combinations. The lone player tries to assort the lot and to further it if successful. A promising position can be ruined, an unpromising one can succeed with an unexpected turn.

Surely, that also can be seen as unalterable fate. The argument between freedom and fate pervades all levels. Neither win nor loss can be influenced by astrological insight. It can give diagnosis and prognosis but no advise. Someone living studiously according to his horoscope would be like a student sticking to a set outline. He always would stay a student. Mistakes belong to life like shadow to light. And beside, knowledge of the fateful hour does not undo the grip of fate. A thought that fascinated Schiller and Shakespeare. Caesar and Wallenstein were warned.

After all these reservations the question is what one can expect from an astrological reading at all. It may seem dispensable if it cannot change or better anything, questionable even if something unalterable is signaled. This leads to the question why there should be such a desire for it.

Like any desire it is an expression of discontent. It points to the quest for a complementary factor that is necessary so that the game becomes meaningful. This role is filled by the astrologer who, while not changing anything, can instill this confidence.

              Ernst Jünger, 'An der Zeitmauer', 1959 (translation C.C.)

Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), German writer

A psychoanalyst's thoughts on astrology

Through the horoscope we get to know facets of the patient that would have eluded us had we only stuck with our analytic approach. We gain new distinctions that make us understand better the variety of ways life can be experienced. The importance to know our own horoscope should be obvious - it goes beyond of what we can get to know about ourselves in our training analysis. The comparison of our own chart with that of the client will make us aware of possible counter transferences that we otherwise would have overlooked and can give us a hint how we might misunderstand patients, burden them or frustrate them.

The engagement with our own horoscope is an ever new encounter with ourselves, comparable to the ‘unending analysis’ once the analytic process gets started. Thus the horoscope will give us one more way to gain an understanding of the client - not more and not less. The analyst, by foregoing this possibility, at the least misses out of an equally comprehensive and differentiated method for understanding the client.

Fritz Riemann, 'Lebenshilfe Astrologie', 1976 (trans. C.C.)

Fritz Riemann (1902-1979), at right, with Erich Fromm

Of magic alliance - the Siren stage

Human existence should no longer be understood as the solitary individual confronted with an indeterminable openness nor as the mortal being suspended in nothingness. Being means to be in alliance with others. My existence includes the presence of something floating around me; its purpose is to let me be and support me. I am a floating being with whom geniuses form spaces... The genius does not seek, it has found; the angel does not knock on the door, it is in the room; the daimon does not ask to be announced, it already has the subject's ear!

But how, in this intimate setup, can the one be so sure that the other will hear ? On what ground does this communication rest that allows for such a smooth transfer of feelings? How can it be that for millions of messages I am a rock on which they clash without resonance, while certain voices unlock me and make me tremble as if I were their chosen mouthpiece...? In the Odyssey Homer depicts the primal scene of this kind of aural magic when Odysseus encounters the Sirens. What kind of music is it, what melody or rhythm, that gives the Sirens such power over the ears of mortal men?

Their secret is to render precisely those songs in which the passing sailors' ears yearn to immerse themselves. The Sirens’ art is to address and arouse the thymos of the listener. Seduction is the awakening of the source of that melody which is absolutely mine to sing. The Sirens’ song does not simply move the subject as if from without; it rather sounds as if the innermost sentiment of the person, which now rises up, was being expressed in perfection and for the first time. ... Thus seduced the sailors were unable to resist the call and perished.

The Sirens, painting by Marie Francois Fermin-Girard (1838-1921)

This mythic story testifies to the reality of an archaic Siren stage. Hearing one’s very own motif the individual forms a pact with his own future and lives joyously towards its fulfillment, the intonation brings the subject closest to itself. - Abandon the noise of the world and immerse yourself in your own music, your first and last!  From the stricken ear, one is led to one's self. In the early memory a few magical rhythms accumulate and ring ahead of the individual like leitmotifs - as yet unplayed, yet always on the point of finally being performed. This is how I sound - thus I will be once I am myself. I am the frothing up, the sound-block, the liberated figure, I am the beautiful and bold passage, I am the leap to the highest note; the world echoes with my sound when I show myself as I have been promised to myself.

Peter Sloterdijk, 'Sphären I', 1998 (trans. C.C., text abbreviated and condensed);

Peter Sloterdijk, ‘Bubbles: Spheres I, 2011)

This thought mirrors the basic tenet of astrology: connect with your source, become who you are.

Peter Sloterdijk, *1947, German philosopher

On astrology and superstitions

"The major superstitions are impressive. They are so old, so unkillable, and so few. If they are pure nonsense, why aren't there more of them? But they all keep on reviving with the perverse air of intuitions, never losing their central idea, no matter how richly they proliferate details. The worst thing against them is that they have no means of shedding their rubbish. Astrology is the most outlandishly draped, and the most disreputable. But what vitality!

To an outsider, astrology is an procession of puerile absurdities, a Babel of gibberish. It suffers by setting up as a science, and challenging the scientific eye. As it happens, statistics tend to support some of the general principles, but in a horoscope, cast according to any one of the systems, there are hundreds of factors to be reckoned with, each one interfering with all the others simultaneously, where only judgement of an intuitive sort is going to be able to move, let alone make sense. Some astrologers do make sense.

Whether the genuine astrology works as an esoteric science, like advanced mathematics, as astrologers claim, or as an intuitive art, like throwing the bones, it doesn't matter, as long as it works."

Ted Hughes, 'Winterpollen', 1994

Ted Hughes (1930-1998); English poet, Poet Laureate from 1984 to his death

Astrology - the art and skill of reading signs

Many may not ever have heard of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) but he might just be the most original and the most versatile intellect the US has so far produced. He was an innovative force in philosophy and mathematics, developed pragmatism as a method of research, but considered himself, first and foremost, a logician. He was the founder of semiotics, the science of signs and symbols, i.e. how meaning is created and communicated. It is his invention of the triadic sign system that will interest us here. Getting acquainted with this method we might get a better understanding how astrology works.

What is a sign? According to Peirce any thing or phenomenon may be considered a sign. It is something we notice, we can see it, hear, touch, smell or taste it. A sign always stands for something else (smoke>fire, siren>alarm, flag>country, yawning>boredom etc), something that stays invisible {‘object’). But there needs to be a mediator who brings sign and object into relation, who makes the connection. All and every experience we have can be traced back to this triad. We are generally just not aware of this intricacy.

This may be helpful to understand how astrology works. The signs astrologers observe are the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the seven planets of our Solar system as they appear to us seen from Earth. But we are not looking at the planets the way physicists and astronomers do. We perceive the planets as signs that stand in for something else, for an archetypal realm that in itself can never be accessed. The astrologer’s first task is to give sense of the signs he perceives and then to translate them then into experiences we encounter in our everyday life.

For instance, Mars appearing reddish to the eye and with its forceful zodiacal pace calls up the archetype of the Warrior which can be experienced in countless forms (willful, aggressive, expansive, dynamic). It can also be seen as the sign for the primordial force of cutting/separation/dissonance - in contrast to the corresponding primordial force of binding/union/cohesion as represented by Venus with her brilliant radiance, mild and soothing to behold, when we catch sight of her as the evening or morning star.

We have to keep in mind that a sign is only a sign when interpreted. For those who do not notice a sign nothing will come to mind. For astrology the planets in their constellation are seen as a system of signs to be interpreted. For others they are just a meaningless spectacle. Peirce was a pragmatist, and the ultimate test for any interpretation was that it proved itself: it had to work. And that is the test for astrology, too.

(An older, more theoretical, version can be seen as a blog in ‘On my mind’)

Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist