Astrology and Jesus: Don't be afraid. Follow that star.
12/13/22
This is a season of many practices and expressions of spirituality. Only one of them is traditional Christianity and I am a child of this faith, loving my Creator as distinctly life-giving while knowing She takes many names and forms. I speak here from this perspective and from the constant burden of responsible stewardship of Christianity in America, even as we also celebrate the Solstice, Yuletide, Old Christmas and Hanukkah in our home, true to our roots.
One could easily make the case that the earliest "Christians" were (after Mary and Joseph of course) the shepherds to whom the angels said “Do not be afraid,” and the "Wise Men,” who felt led by supernatural inspiration to visit and worship Jesus as a child (and anyone else we didn't hear about).
It's true: The Gospel of Matthew tells us that the earliest devotees of Jesus after his birth were astrologers and poor agricultural workers.
Astrologers. Scandalized? Good. Me, too. That's my sweet spot. Even better, their ability to find Jesus was rooted in their practice, breathed into by Spirit.
In an age where many religious and scientific assumptions are being revisited, it's fair to say that those who have never ascribed any value to astrology before are thinking again. Beautiful images of galaxies are streaming in from powerful telescopes. Clouds of stardust dancing about in forms that seem familiar touch our hearts. Suddenly we wonder again about the patterns of the heavens. In the past, people looked at the night sky every night and were not indoors as much as we are. To counterbalance, our technology has allowed us astounding "sight."
I consider myself a bit of an enthusiast of religious culture and of religious affections (and lack thereof) for astrology and other heretical things.
I'll never forget watching The Star of Bethlehem and experiencing some of the fascinating revelations of this overly apologetic, strictly Christian account of one man's supernatural astrological discovery using modern astronomical software. If you haven't seen it, I would say it's definitely worth the watch despite its self-consciousness. I think my interest in astrology was given some traction when I saw it. Something definitely solidified to grant me permission I wouldn't need now, years later. Here's a link:
Of course, some like to say that astrology is the goofy, flaky snake-oil cousin to astronomy. If you know me, you know that I weigh things analytically and that despite my fascination with themes which break down normative walls, I am practical. I know how to poke holes in constructs and pinpoint questions to test the integrity of ideas and movements.
One cliché pattern I notice in so much of what we do: we toss the baby out with the bathwater. We find charlatans, manipulators or legalists aligned with something that makes us uncomfortable already and then quickly dismiss everything associated with them.
We don't give up on, say, music for the same reasons - just individual artists. So we are inconsistent in our behavior around distaste.
Astrological study and reflection passes my tests when practiced with discernment, and I find it edifying and a great boost to my sense of wonder. Certainly not every astrologer and certainly not every application of astrology has integrity, but the map of the sky on the day we were born and the ongoing spinning out of it has a fascinating implication for how we, ourselves, are patterned. Further, the configuration of the planets around us at any given time seems no less likely to me to affect our ongoing lives than the weather patterns we have already discovered and stamped with approval. There is nothing less likely about the significance of the planets and stars in the sky at our birth than our own fingerprint. It is only our anthropocentrism that gets in the way of feeling such an expansive connection to creation.
If we always study only what has been discovered or approved we miss the ongoing opportunities for co-creation and the awe.
I think another way we get stuck with astrology, or even personality tests for that matter, is forgetting that Creator can intervene and add grace, meaning and life…clearing pathways that are new out of patterns that are set. Creator is always the ultimate third factor. Nothing is ultimately set even though it would appear that it is, because Creator is the divine wild card animating and illuminating everything. Intuitively, we know that we have free will and that everything is not preset for us as playthings. But discovering more of the intricacy that makes us who we are at a baseline makes the story that much more interesting. We are worth exploring. And so is everything we are connected to.
There is a pattern written in the stars on the day that we were born at the exact moment that we emerged, and we are a part of that pattern - not distinct from it. There's so much detail that we can learn from our natal charts - far more than I have ever learned from the best personality tests -even the Enneagram. I cannot overstate that. And as a student of psychology and social sciences, I've taken all the tests.
Yes, among the first people we read about in the New Testament who follow Creator's lead are these Magi who were priests of astrology, alchemy and esoteric knowledge. They listened to wisdom, ventured out and employed their gifts of discernment leading all the way to Jesus. Dig in a little bit to their story. I think it will make this season more fascinating to you.
May we not be limited by what cultural Christianity has taught us is "quacky" or weird or off limits. How boring. That's just fear and control with no solid foundation.
People will misuse Creator's gifts all the time, of course. There is no system in place that is not corrupted to a degree. We tend to be very forgiving of the institutions we use everyday, and very suspicious of those which are not regulated by our standards - standards which we are quickly learning are flawed and have to be constantly revisited.
Please know, I'm not trying to convince anyone. I'm just helping us feel permission. Everything is not for everyone. The details of your bank account are not for your 5-year-old. They will think you are rich and should spend it all on Disney World. Astrology is not for everyone. YouTube is not for everyone. January 6th is proof of that. But if you are a discerning, self-aware human, with a healthy dose of wonder, astrology can be quite a boost to your sense of connection and very freeing to the legalistic mind, constrained by religious fear.
If I had to choose whether to teach my child about God or astrology, I wouldn't choose. I would teach the child about God and in doing so I would point to the beautiful patterns in the heavens and how they are reflected in our souls. I think that's the point of the caution in our the Hebrew scriptures about astrology and divination. Without Spirit and without wisdom, these systems are prone to misuse. But Jesus made it clear : the same is true of the religious law of his upbringing.
I have some good news: We are free to explore. We are free to wander and to listen with our own ears for the sound of the Creator speaking to us and saying, "Go… follow a star." And even telling us to go home by another way than we have known before.
Footnote:
* My layperson's understanding of science is simply as a mode of concrete discovery relying on solid research tools and the studying of patterns. In our culture we tend to prioritize some research over others, but that doesn't mean that citizens don't discover on their own, scientifically, in day to day life. Science doesn't always require money and publication. It requires objectivity, control over significant variables and results. We are all capable of using scientific tools everyday. We are capable of determining if something has integrity. Science and God are not binaries to each other or polar opposites. Science is the ongoing discovery of all that we don't understand yet.
I am convinced that pseudoscience, paranoia and inflammatory misinformation will always run rampant where disempowerment reigns. Systems that disempower are hallmarks of empire. Black and white/ right or wrong/ all or none/binary thinking are often the indicators of such systems. Sometimes we need our systems to be invulnerable, exact and tight for safety or effectiveness. But that doesn't mean we need cultures and people who act that way.