Why Astrology?: Empowering Self and Others Outside of Capital

Perhaps you are here because you already love astrology. Maybe you are here because you enjoy my writing, or want to know why I write and speak so much about astrology. Or maybe you have noticed a lot of cool gay people and non men in your life speak it like it is a second language (it is) and want to understand the hype. Either way, I think it's best to first establish what astrology is.

I would describe astrology in the following 3 ways:

1. Astrology is the keeping of time. Anyone who has ever worked a job knows some time is our own and other time belongs to others. In the context of work, we are limited in what we can do during other people's time. Capitalism has taught us that what determines "my time" vs "my boss's time" is financial power; how much our time costs and who has the power to pay it.

2. This is why astrology is inherently about power. By keeping time, we can know when we are empowered vs when we are disempowered. By keeping time, we can know when we are able to do what we desire vs when we are limited in our movement. Capitalism has taught us that time can be owned simply by paying for it, astrology is a belief system that assigns the keeping of time to sources of power beyond our world and its economic systems. These sources of power are the stars, which we already use to keep time in days, weeks, months, etc. We practice sun astrology every single day. We practice moon astrology by keeping time in months.

If you're asking yourself: "where do the stars come in?", consider that power isn't only about time and who it belongs to. Whether or not we feel empowered is about both time AND place. If you have free time, but no place to do what you desire, you are still disempowered.

3. So Lastly, Astrology is also about the studying of space. It assigns the keeping of time AND the keeping of space to those same sources of power beyond our economic systems. Astrology still recognizes human power, but only in relation to the space we take up. Astrology suggests that the stars - as bodies even larger than humans but made up of the same stuff, as presences that have kept time long before we existed - are already responsible for whatever time and space we fight over amongst ourselves here and now. Whether or not you choose to believe in the value of this assignment does not negate the fact that the sun rises and sets every day, keeping its own time and ruling its own space.

The truth is, Astrology believes in you far more than you could ever believe in it.

Why Astrology?: Solving for the Never Ending Equation

Astrology is no more abstract or practical than any math. There are rules, there are symbols that represent certain values, and there are ways to solve complex equations using its principles and functions. But the unit of measurement for Astrology is always time and space. The function applied is always power.

If you're asking yourself: "what is its usefulness in my life?" then I would be willing to bet you were one of those kids who asked "when am I gonna use this in my life" to your math teacher. First of all, sometimes shit is just fun, but also the answer for what is useful about astrology and what is useful about math is the same. They are problem solving tools. For math, you use it whenever you want to problem solve and the problem requires the balancing of numbers as a variable. Astrology is a problem solving tool for when the problem requires the balancing of time and space as a variable.

When balancing equations in math, something must be applied to the numbers to make them change. Sometimes we add or subtract, other times we multiply, divide, or raise something to another power in order to change the equation. When you want to understand something enough to solve it, when you want to know what to apply to something in order for it to change; astrology helps identify what power outside this world you can raise the variables to.

Astrology can be such a liberating way to engage with the world if you take the time to learn its functions and powers. The only law of the universe I can really understand is change, and tracking changes over time and place IS power. Perspective beyond my own time and place is inherently empowering. Perspective beyond the time and space wealthy people buy up from others however, has been the most empowering aspect of learning astrology for me.

I hope this short intro has excited some curiosity in you about the usefulness of learning astrology and what its deep and beautiful language seeks to communicate and solve. In my next post, we'll explore some of the astrological alphabet, key terms, and what they mean. We'll revisit the 3 aspects of astrology by asking and aswering the questions:

1. When is my time?

2. Where is my space?

3. What is my power?

My hope is that this blog becomes a place to think, learn, and talk about astrology in relation to your life. Life is not a game, but it does have laws, causes, and consequences. It is only when we understand these things, can we choose to abide by them or discard them. The times and places where these laws, causes, and consequences don't apply are times and places where magic exists. So although astrology is practical, it is also the key to noticing magic when and where it occurs.