As I dive deeper into astrology and its implications for the underlying mechanisms of how consciousness becomes matter, I've become aware of the delightful word play of the angels.
In Astrology it's common to refer to the planets as "Lords" as they rule over specific areas of life and areas of the chart. There are a couple female lords such as the Moon and Venus and so I will refer to them as the lords and ladies of the celestial court.
From an astrological perspective, the lords and ladies of the heavens are like ingredients from which many recipes can be made. They are like colors on a palette, from which a being paints the illusion of reality. As they move through the sky, they animate and stir their energetic counterparts on earth, sometimes in harmony and sometimes in conflict.
The level of awareness we can reach in this game of life, allows us to have increasing power to direct these celestial forces.
When the consciousness is limited in understanding it seems we are puppets subject to a cruel or meaningless fate. When the consciousness expands outward we feel masterful in the realization of our aims. Looking at this free from judgement, understand that an individual will expand and contract in consciousness over many cycles throughout life. This expansion and contraction gives different outlooks on life circumstances in any given area at any given time.
This is often why the spiritual path comes about through suffering. This is when the consciousness is limited in understanding, and so at an unconscious level there is a desire to expand awareness in order to hold or contain a greater level of truth.
Let's return back to the planets and their 'as above so below' relationship to us. The strings or energetic cords is one way to imagine this connection. It's similar to a marionette whose parts are moved from a larger force above. This can create a feeling of being powerless to fate, futility towards efforts at improvement, or resignation to be passive and subject to the 'default mode' of the game. At its worst it can lead to the victim mentality approach to life. For these reasons many will reject the truth of this string or cord connection of influence from the luminary bodies. However one may rebel against this predetermination, it does not alter the truth of its effects.
Einstein's question* must be answered here as well: do you live in a friendly or unfriendly universe?
In this scenario of strings and cords, we can also imagine that we send upwards our intentions and information in addition to receiving the influence from above. We may choose to feel these lords and ladies are friendly towards us, receiving our messages and working together with us for our good. As we build a relationship with their energies, we can get to know them as we would get to know any friend in our life. They will reveal deeper insights and wisdom in how to navigate the astrological weather of each time cycle.
As a person builds their spiritual sovereignty foundation, the luminaries become increasingly like peers or friends. The victim mentality dissolves into a space of intentional co-creation with them. Their aims must be the same as yours in order to remain in harmonious co-creation.
When you're aimed at the highest good, the wholeness and authenticity of growing your consciousness, the dharma, etc., no planetary transit or natal chart placement can stand in your way. Rather they all conspire to awaken you and dispense real spiritual blessings. The fire of spiritual growth burns all resistance, and with humility to understand this process, any adept will reach mastery.
Now let's shift away from the strings into somethings else. The celestial court can also be seen as resonance chambers or toroidal fields. We can take a more quantum style imagining of their influence mechanism.
What is resonance?
In looking at Merriam-Webster's definition, all the suggested uses are insightful and apply in different ways to the influence of the planets on our lives and psyche. For our purpose though let's examine this first definition:
resonance: 1.) a vibration of large amplitude in a mechanical or electrical system caused by a relatively small periodic stimulus of the same or nearly the same period as the natural vibration period of the system
For resonance to occur, there needs to be at least two things. We have in our examination a planet and a person, or a planet and all people. We all have every planet as an influence on us somewhere in our chart.
A planet can vibrate in many ways. In and of itself it carries a base frequency vibration. Every object radiates a base frequency vibration that extends outward in all directions, and the size
and distance of the planets affects the degree and quality of this set of frequencies (light for example). As they cycle around the sun the planets create a periodicity which is another level of vibration. For example the moon monthly cycle, or the 5 pointed shape that Venus creates every 8 years. As planets have apparent retrograde motion they move closer and further from earth, affecting the quality of their resonance.
These periodic stimuli take place in an electro-magnetic system rather than a mechanical system.
We might then re-write the definition towards our specific purpose in this way:
Astrological resonance: A relatively small periodic stimulus causes a vibration of large effect in the electro-magnetic Solar System, wherever there is a natural vibrational match to that stimulus.
The radiating energy of a particular planet will interact with its essence (frequency) where that essence is already present and distributed here on Earth. We all have these planetary essences in our bodies (physical and energetic). As the planets radiate their frequencies and do their dance across the skies, they animate our biology, our psychology, and our human affairs.
The relationships between the planets in astrology are angles: 90, 45, 30, and so on. These angles qualify the interactions of the two planets or points on the chart. Western astrologers use these angles to determine a challenging or harmonious relationship between the two energies.
When two planets are not in angle to each other, they are not relating. There is no interaction of their energies. Angles show the astrologer how the planets relate. Admittedly there are other ways planets relate to each other, via the houses they are transiting and the rulership of that house. These relationships are more likely to communicate via resonance rather than cords.
Cords = Chords.
If we take a moment to examine this word we can see the application of geometry and astrology. A chord of a circle in geometry is "a straight line segment whose endpoints both lie on the circle." And this scenario is exactly what we have when examining the planetary placements along the astrological wheel.
The chord is also a term used in music, whose etymology stems from the string of a musical instrument. As well it means "cat gut" from which strings were made, and comes to mean "gut" in general or any structure in animals that resembles a string. It also means a bind or a restraint.
In the study of astrology, as the planets revolve around the sun they form different angles to each other. For example the moon that quickly makes her way around the circle every month creates angles with the rest of the planets and nodes in the chart on a daily basis. Slower planets don't move as quickly and so their effect is deeper, where the quick moon (indicator of our mind and internal thinking) indicates the noticeable fluctuations of mood.
Over the passage of time, these angles appear and 'light up' or activate a message. They can be understood to transmit/radiate/project that relationship or mixed energy into the game of reality.
The angles are how the planets relate to each other, how they connect, how they communicate. The communications or messages between the planets are the messages of the Angels. In astrology when planets are at 90' they are said to have a conflicting or challenging energy, while at 30' they are relating harmoniously or in support of each other. This technique of reading the angles is a huge clue to what the Angels can be.
The ancient Lords (the EL of Elohim) are the planetary grahas the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Rahu, Ketu, Jupiter, and Saturn. And now Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto as well. These Lords send their Angels to each other, and through resonance, send Angels to us as well. Some Angels bring messages of conflict or strife (the 90 square or opposition) and some Angels bring blessings and harmony (30 trine or 60 sextile). These are the major aspects and there are a number of minor aspects that have been traditionally used as well.
It should be noted that the Angels are a western astrological technique. In Vedic astrology there is not as much emphasis on the specific quality and nature of angles. Oppositions are less exact, and other angles are not accounted for. It's worth a close look, however to see if the Vedic emphasis on house systems is another way of expressing a similar western-angular truth.
If the over-arching quality of the hermetic 'west' is towards left brain linear analysis it makes sense that the astrological science has numerological foundation. And if the 'eastern' quality of the astrological science is right brain oriented (creating links and synthesis through image association) then the nakshatra model and relational Jyotish approach of houses and yogas seems appropriate. Of course neither is exclusive to the other, and I'm pointing out generalities here.
There's more to be said about the possibility of what Angels really are. Once we move beyond
the materialist box and consider angelic representations to have some basis in the human experience, many possibilities become available. And after all that is what we are doing. I suspect we are creating the answers to our questions as we ask them. The more we seek to understand, the more mysteries are revealed.
Perhaps this angelic approach to angles can illuminate the geometry of the natural world, further weaving connections between the manifested world and the subtle realms.
Supposing our goal truly is to bring heaven to earth, to pull the cords of the heavens closer to us until we can at last reach enough to swipe away the veil of ignorance and stand in the full sun of true illumination. Not only for ourselves, but for all beings who are deeply asleep in the dream of suffering.
Do you think angels and angles are related? Do you use astrology in your spiritual practice? Let me know in the comments below. Go ahead and share if you enjoyed this article and don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter!
with love, Maria
*Supposed question as he is often misattributed as a source.