Astrology and spiritual practice

       
    We say never discuss politics or religion - because we know it is going to lead to arguments.   People’s views are firmly entrenched - so they are not going to be changed.     Which is a pity really as they are two very good topics and usually we all have a lot to say about them.
    So let’s talk about religion.    Why I am so proud of the Unitarians is because they are free spirits when it comes to religion.   They are individualists.  They do not have to say what they believe or what they don’t believe;  they don’t have to conform to any doctrine or rules; or say creeds or wear special clothes.    Every Unitarian is an individual when it comes to faith.
    I like that.   I like to feel that I too am an individual.   I have my own views - and if I voice them no one is obliged to listen; no one is required to act on my exhortations.   I plod along, independent, a free socialist, a free unitarian.  
    I should be happy - actually I am.   I thank my lucky stars that I feel I have found my place in the world.   I am doing what I want to do.    I play golf three times a week.  No one really pushes me around.   I am a free radical in the solution that is society.    I have that wonderful freedom to be able to say, ‘I am not going to do that!’
    It’s no wonder that I am a happy bunny.   It’s taken a few years of gentle slog, retirement and a pension to put me where I am - so yes it’s great to be happy.
    As far as religion or fate goes I can only say, ‘Thank You - that I was born in the right country, to a middle income family at the right time, more or less and I have had plenty of lucky breaks.
    My lucky stars say I am a cancer.
    From a web site:
    But with their changeable natures Cancerians are fascinating, mysterious, stimulating and extremely alluring. This sign is one of the most magic of all and once their magic has reached you, they are the most beguiling companions. After all, isn't the Moon the most talked about and romantic galactic identity?-
    but I was born on the cusp so really I feel much more of a Gemini.
    those born under the sign of the 'Twins' are always on the move; thirsty for knowledge and new experiences. Terminally curious and sometimes even mischievous, Geminis are multi-faceted souls who enjoy knowing a little bit of everything but generally not too much about one particular subject. It's just that variety is the spice of their lives!

In Astrology, Geminis have also gained the reputation of being the incessant talkers of the zodiac
   
    I have been very selective in these quotations.

    But do the stars simply tell me who I am - or have they guided me along my path - is my destiny directed from the stars ?
    It’s Pagan nonsense my mother used to say - but she used to dress up as a gypsy for the church fete and read people’s fortunes.
    People paid their 50p and wanted to know what the future held of love, happiness and work.
    She would turn the playing cards over and say things like, I read a disappointment over a fair man, or there’s good news in a letter and so on.    With a lot of intuition and a little bit of magic she coaxed out of them their hopes and fears; identified the objects and obstructions of their lives, their expectations and disillusions.   Told them everything would be fine.   And do come back next year.
    But I had to go to church and believe everything I heard was true. - but eventually I broke free and could eat meat on a Friday without a care in the world, and felt no remorse at all about having Sundays off..
    I was like so many people, church and religion had lost its meaning.
    But I came wandering back - I don’t know why - or was it destiny ? and what I found with the Unitarians was that I could ponder those imponderable questions about life and destiny and fate and the why of life,  - in my own individual way. - And so did most of the others - so it has always been interesting to learn how others explain this sense of wonder about life.
    My friend Bill Darlison has written a book which intrigued me.  It is called ‘The Gospel and the Zodiac’.    The Gospel he writes about is the Gospel of Mark.   He believes it is not simply a history of the ministry of Jesus but actually a guide to spiritual enlightenment using stories based on the Zodiac - and that Jesus is the teacher and guide.  If you knew about astrology you would recognise the signs in the stories and parables - they were steps in spiritual development.    If they were a pathway to heaven - it was an interior pathway of transformation to understanding.
    So it relates astrology to spirituality.     Writers such as Alice Bailey said that astrology is very much spiritual.    She believed there was a positive influence in the universe that individuals could tune into and come to an understanding of the many mysteries about life - mysteries that over the years religion had suppressed.
    She said there were cycles of ages based on the relationship of the earth to the sun and stars.
    Currently we are in the age of Pisces.  Pisces is the age of wars and violence; of religions, of individuals and of illusions and deceptions, she wrote.  
    It is a bad age but the cycle will bring in a new age - and that will be the age of Aquarius and its characteristics are quite different.
    It will be an age of spiritual enlightenment and intellectual freedom for all.    Aquarius will be the age of the groups working together, respecting one another.  Religions will change - to be more like ours - where there is freedom of thought and conscience and a desire to build better communities and a better more friendly world.
    According to Alice Bailey, the age of Pisces affects each one of us - because its influence is to promote the cult of the individual  - at the expense of the group and community.   It has led to he wrong kind of individuality.
    This cult of the individual is based on selfishness; great for the selfish who make themselves successful but who then close the door on everyone else.
    The rest are made to feel inadequate and isolated - and they become unhappy - everyone has to work on the edge of their seats - because life is so competitive and it is all about individual performance and avoiding being labelled a failure and discarded.
    The cult of the individual leads to loneliness and isolation and unhappiness.
    The UK is 22nd in the happiness table - Denmark is top.   People live side by side in neighbourhoods but they do not know each other and they do not speak when their paths cross.     In the cult of the individual you are a competitor with everyone  else - It is the disaster of the age.
    Religion in the Age of Pisces hasn’t done very well either.   Religions have been cruel, domineering, controlling and deceptive.   It has persecuted and slaughtered while holding the cross or the crescent aloft.
    - Conversely, for many, religion has been a personal transcending character forming experience - has it been an insight into the Age of Aquarius?
     How could my Christian religion be so contradictory ?  Maybe because it too was the victim of a power struggle - between the illusory age of Pisces and the spiritual age of Aquarius.
    The Aquarian Jesus of the Gospels taught about being a good neighbour, loving ones enemy, giving away your shirt as well as your cloak, turning the other cheek, about the power of prayer, about the direct contact with the one who was God, about transformation.          That     Jesus was a teacher, a spirit guide, an icon of the perfect being.   He didn’t have to physically exist because his life story was itself a parable.   We had to strive to be as good and as spiritual.   Only then would we see the material world as spiritual too. It will become real - and not an illusion.
    But that Jesus was transformed into a physical being whose God was the Old Testament Pisces God of wrath and punishment - and people had better conform and obey.   That Jesus was the Messiah who would return with hosts of warlike angels to bring the world to an end with fire and sword.
    I am for group religion, Aquarius religion of astrology, I am for reading those gospels again as lessons in spirituality and not as the biography of a God - and I am for reading the teachings of the Buddha and others - because in the age of religions - some truths were revealed but we did not have the eyes to see or the ears to hear.
    I would like to gather our spirits around the flag of Aquarius, link arms and colours and dance our way into a new age of friendship and peace, our hands extended in greeting and the true God of the Universe found at last. 
    In a group we are stronger as individuals.  Individuals are stronger when they care for one another and work together as a group.
    So if there is a place for religion let it be the religion of Aquarius rediscovered.     If it is written in the stars that a new age will come, let us use our strengths and talents to bring it home and feel it in our hearts.