More on the Planetary Spheres (2)


From the foregoing discussion we can see that astrology is something more than a science that seeks to find a causal connection between the movement of the planets and man`s psyche. Astrology is in fact a contemplation of Adam Kadmon, the universal man who contains within himself the whole of Creation. Adam who is made in the Image of God. This includes all of the planetary spheres. Titus Burckhardt expresses this in the following way,

“Whatever may be the material or subtle effects of their (the planets) rays, the contemplative penetration of the `physiognomy´ of the cosmos considers them more directly as modes of the Intellect in its macrocosmic manifestation, modes which realise or measure the possibilities contained in the indefinite sphere.” (p. 28)

The astrologer should thus internalize a sense for the qualities of time that each planetary sphere is a mode of. If he does so, it becomes clear why the various revolutions of the planets, such as for example a solar return, are so important in traditional astrology. He also comes to understand secondary returns (a day for a year) much better. Here one sphere is “contained” in another in concentrated form. The quality of one sphere is translated into that of the other. In the case of secondary progressions the yearly revolution of the Sun in its own sphere has been translated to the terrestrial sphere where through the revolution of the earth the Sun “returns” in a day.

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s