My brother and I return to Hawaii for the 3rd time, and perhaps the last. As we prepare for unfinished island business, we contemplate the value of leaving nothing unsettled. In a spiritual perspective, the business that matters the most to settle are the matters that involve our relationships.

Karma is concerned with how we treat each other while we live, not whether or not our mundane matters like taking out the trash gets done, although our adherence to these responsibilities can determine the quality of our relationships with those that also have to deal with the trash… But what takes the first priority is our conduct with others. We have great power when it comes to affecting the lives of others, and our true power of influence is realized when we take hold of our ability to change now. The future does not have to equal the past. Right?

Think back to those you’ve hurt. If the outer world is a type of reflection of your inner nature, then the pain of your victims is held within you. To go back to them and right your wrongs with words and intention (and it’s likely very easy to get in contact with them thanks to this Facebook age) is to outwardly forgive the inner idiot that caused the pain. In other words, the outward act of sincere apology shows your inner self that you have changed. Whether or not they forgive you is now their work. But only you can apologize for what you have done! Self-responsibility, for me, has been the most valuable lesson to continuously learn.

Self-responsibility is at the root of our freedom–the freedom to respond. Our choices are what make us, and as is understood in astrology, character is destiny.

But when I made the mistake–whether it was the flare of my temper in a moment, or a more elaborate series of mistakes by following fancies that don’t benefit me–what caused me to act that way in the first place? I know it wasn’t the outer stimulus alone. It wasn’t the other person, the environment, or my upbringing. I know there are predisposed qualities within me that I was born with, flavors of character that make me “me.” From whence do they come, and how do I master them if I can’t even see their source?

“Perhaps there is a pattern set up in the heavens for one who desires to see it, and having seen it, to find one in himself.” ~Plato

After high school, I felt I finally had the time to dive into the one subject that has always eluded, mystified, and interested me: my self (which I now understand to be more clearly “the Self”). How can I give who I am to the world if I don’t know who I am? I know my identity is largely by my design, thanks to free will, but as I said, I have definite qualities that make up my personality. They can be built upon, but can they be defined?

In my search for a self, I found that the only psychological system existing today which incorporates nature and the universe as an integral part of myself under the axiom “as above so below,” is also the oldest science known to man, arising from out of the ancient ashes of wisdom, preserved just for me by those who have diligently kept the symbols safe. And this system is known as Astrology.

 “Psychology textbooks of future generations will look back on the modern psychologists working without the aid of astrology as being like the medieval astronomers working without the aid of the telescope.” ~Richard Tarnas, PhD

What the great timekeepers–sun, moon, and planets–have had to say about my existence, by studying my birth chart, has proved invaluable to me. I’ll share my personal insights in the hope that you can see how it may relate to you as well. The ancients said it is by analogy that we come to know the mysteries, and the outer universe is truly a mirror of our inner one. As without, so within.

Astrology has always used the Sun as the great symbol for the Self. This Self has a journey to make, as seen in His passage through the seasons in the yearly cycle. Birth (Spring), Adolescence (Summer), Old Age (Fall), and Death (Winter).

 “Thus the inner meaning of our mortal life was endlessly repeated in the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cycle of the sun’s passage, the seven or twelve divisions of which marked the seven or twelvefold segmentation of our spiritual journey.” ~Alvin Boyd Kuhn

 The sun’s path is divided in 12 segments, and this is called the zodiac, analogous to the earth’s aura. Zodiac comes from the Greek root “Zoon” meaning “Living Beings.” The zodiac was always shown in proximity to the human form, each sign ruling a different part of the body. The ancient’s held that there is something in the psyche that has twelve divisions. We know there are twelve cranial nerves in the brain… but this is just one of many correspondences. The real value of astrology lies in its ability to bring peace to the restless mind that doubts the oneness of the universe, or cannot see meaning where it is everywhere present. Your purpose was mirrored in the skies when you took your first breath on this plane. God’s timing is impeccable.

Let’s forgive those who may have defiled ideas which contain true spiritual value for us, and let us not forget that life is animated by something which is not mechanical, but intelligent. Sometimes we need to go backwards before we can go forward.

 “There are many instances of striking analogies between astrological constellations and psychological events or between the horoscope and the characterological disposition… Astrology, like the collective unconscious with which psychology is concerned, consists of symbolic configurations; the ‘planets’ are the gods, symbols of the power of the unconscious.” ~Carl Gustav Jung

Till next time.
With love,

Christian Klausner