As your spirit developed an awareness of your body, it began to explore through its sensory organs. Prior to your actual birth, your temple or body had come to be inhabited by the spirit (which some call the soul). From the body's perspective, it had become super-sensitive. Living within the protective sea of watery fluids for its entire existence, your skin, largest organ of its precious, little body, was more sensitive than it will be throughout any of its postnatal existence. Life was very protected there, within the womb. There had been no toil to create callouses. Later on in life, you may have stirred subtle memories of this sensual luxury when an afternoon's pleasure was found in a long, soaking bath. As adults we are amazed at how sensitive our skin becomes following a long immersion in water. And yet, prior to birth, not even the ravages of air had begun to dull your sensory perceptions!
At the moment of your birth your physical senses extended far beyond what we imagine. Protected from the harshness of light or of sounds impacting fragile, tiny eardrums, all babies are supersensitive creatures, little wonders of the Universe. Your baby ears had to extend their hearing abilities beyond the structure of the mother's flesh and bones in order to perceive the wonder of sounds beyond the constant, familiar reassurance of your mother's heart, steady and rhythmic. Flavors had not yet begun to affect your sensory memories. And your eyes? Ah, your eyes had never seen the sun rise, had never seen your own face reflected... your eyes had yet to open for their first peek at the "real" world! And the spirit which came to inhabit the temple of your body was also highly sensitive, nurtured and cradled by the womb. It had not yet begun the struggle to develop self-knowledge, to grapple with the questions all must face: "who am I?Ó and Òwhere am I going?"
Reports began to emerge from the medical communities in the late 1970's indicating what many have intuitively known for years: that the baby, prior to birth, draws its identity from the mother, from its environment and surroundings. The prenatal baby does not have an ego as we think of it but creates its sense of self from its environment. Among the interesting facets of the studies are that what the mother does has a strong effect upon the baby. But even more interesting is that what happens to the mother also affects the baby, including emotional events. Perhaps this is why mothers are wont to talk to the little being growing deep within their bellies and perhaps this is why some mothers play music, even tapes of foreign languages, to their prenatal babies.
Prior to birth your relationship has been with your mother. She has been your Universe and your source of wisdom and understanding. In the last three to six months as a prenatal baby, you spent your time beginning to believe Ôthis is meÕ and drawing your experience from the womb. You identified with your mother as you did with any of your environment. And, at the moment of your birth when you were at your most sensitive, suddenly you were brought forth, reaching out to define your sense of self, grasping for your ego as a tiny individual, separate and apart from the protective environment of your mother. You were no longer within your mother and facing the reality of this separation. Astrology begins to measure your relationship with the Universe from the moment of your birth.
And from what environment did you draw your identity? Certainly not the doctor nor father, midwife or taxi driver nor any other human. A baby does not know who, nor what for that matter, these creatures are. It does not know whether it is in a modern hospital or in the forest. All of that information will come later with learning and education. You did not even have your eyes open! Rather, you were extending your super-sensitive awareness outward in all directions. If any being is truly psychic to an amazing extent, it would be the brand new baby! You could sense, feel, then extend your hypersensitivity out to embrace that which you could feel... You felt the Universe, but more directly, you were able to perceive the patterns of the solar system, its gravitational patterns and patterns of energy which were the manifestation of the Divine at that moment. You embraced those patterns of energy which existed at the moment of your birth. You identified with the Universe-made-manifest and said, in a sense of knowing without words, "this is me!" and you, a Divine Wonder and separate entity, arrived upon the Earth. This is the moment the astrologer measures and is why the time of your birth is important for a natal chart.
Having discussed aspects of the Universe and belief systems, I would like to remove another popular myth: astrology is not atheistic. Nor is astrology satanic. Its practitioners are very spiritual and frequently are deeply religious. One of the very common fears held by the public is that consulting an astrologer or having one's natal chart calculated puts one in touch with evil forces. Let us return to the metaphysics of astrology. One of the primary lessons taught in my childhood catechism classes was that "God is Everywhere." In reality, astrology accepts that premise far easier than did the teachers of my Saturday morning catechism! If God is truly everywhere, then "His" essence permeates the solar system, and a natal chart would help the native better understand her/his relationship with God. Astrology believes that you are born in the image and likeness of the Divine. It sees each human being as containing a microcosm of the great macrocosm and accepts the belief that "God is Everywhere." As do many youths, my college years brought me through a period of what I then called "profound agnosticism." Astrology was one of the studies which brought me into a great acceptance of the beauty and power of the Divine Universe, with reverence and awe for all religions.
A natal chart records the position of the components of our solar system: the Sun, Earth and its Moon and the remaining planets. (Some astrologers add other large solids which circle the Sun such as asteroids and planetoids). This natal chart is a map of your relationship with yourself. It represents your potential for realizing and manifesting your Highest Ideal as an integral part of the Divine creation.
The Divine God is everywhere: this is a religious Truth found in many monotheistic religions. Even pantheistic and polytheistic religions inevitably have some unifying force throughout their cosmologies or among their divinities (such as ÔfamilyÕ relationships). God created all that exists, and those things could not exist were they not permeated with the essence of what many call God. In dualistic religions those statements would read the same except that ÔGodÕ would be expressed as a combination of God and Goddess (which modern dualists often write as God/dess) as the primary Divine essence. This religious truth - the Divine being all-encompassing - is found in nearly all religions. Thus, the solar system is a metaphor for the manifestation of the Divine in Its own image. To better understand the nature of the Divine, we may observe and study the solar system.
Relating the solar system which centers around the beautiful star we call the Sun to a deity may seem a bit unconventional for some. And yet, is the concept of our solar system made in the image of God (as is all of creation) so far removed? For thousands of years the Sun and Moon, two orbs which provided nearly all light, were revered by all civilizations. All energy essential for sustenance even today is dependant upon the Sun, even that brought forth from deep within the Earth as fossil fuel. Life could not exist without our star. Small wonder that the very existence of the Sun was a thing of beauty and awe for ancient peoples.
Ours is a solar system. Other than our planet, we know little about the rest of the solar system. In latter half of the twentieth century we have new information retrieved through our own explorations. What a joy to be an astrologer in these times! The space probes of the 1980's have just begun to expand our scientific knowledge and thus far I find this information consistent with the metaphysical knowledge of the solar system developed over the past ages by ancient astrologers.
Our awareness does not yet extend much beyond the solar system. Our solar system, for all practical purposes, is the manifestation of the Divine in our lives. Divine manifestation is found particularly throughout this planet Earth, for it is here we begin our lives and our learning. Thus, to reach out and understand this solar system (as microcosm for the manifestation of the Divine) we must come to terms with our own planet, with our own solar system and, ultimately, with the Universe. It is through this process that we come to understand the Divine Nature which permeates both the Universe and our daily lives.
From Chapter One of Painless Astrology, by Rev. Paul Beyerl