Returning to the Great Mystery

Why did astrology become no more than superstition to modern man, when it was so highly revered throughout human history?

This question arose recently, and with so much tension in the collective psyche at this time, I think it’s important to dive into it because I am finding a great deal of hope for humanity’s future on the other side of this question. It is something I have contemplated often, but this time I felt inclined to sit down, hash it out, and I wanted to share with you all as well as invite you to participate in this thought form. Please do!

It goes without saying that man has evolved to regard consciousness and the material world as supreme. What’s interesting is that the material world, what we consciously see, connotes matter, which connotes the Earth, and Man certainly does not operate as if the Earth, with all of its wildness and mystery, reigns supreme. Somewhere along the way, everything outside of the human species became objective, inanimate, and as a result, humans became completely out of touch with what we now might call the “mystery”. But the mystery is a very new concept in the grand scale of human consciousness…

So, why did we as a species move away from an animistic cosmology? I feel that as a species we consciously wanted to evolve some of our faculties, particularly the part of the rational mind which operates linearly. We found this function was conducive to gaining power and control, which are archetypal functions that naturally involve an element of addiction. Naturally, as we develop and evolve towards one faculty, the faculty that lies in contrast to it falls to the wayside, in this case, our intuitive faculty, but also the side of the rational mind that understands complexity and nuance, for it is in no way logical to destroy one’s own habitat.

The first group of humans who desired power created a domino effect of this desire, enforcing other groups to adopt the need for power so that they would not be subjected to another’s control— so that they would not be dominated…

I feel this is where all hyper individualism stems from, and this is a phenomenon that is easily leading to our downfall as a species. It is very much akin to how teenagers must distinguish themselves from their parents in order to recognize who they are as individuals. It is a most natural process…

And while it is natural on the individual level and the collective level to move through this phase of development, it seems that modern humans are so obsessed with being “authentic” that we have lost the point of what that really means. To embody an authentic truth means nothing if it is not shared, not contributed to the growth and well being of the whole. Because we have separated ourselves so gravely from the whole, from the earth, from the Otherside, we have little of true value to contribute to the whole.

This is why our planet is dying. This is why our spirits are hungry for so much more. This is why we don’t feel whole. This is where astrology, alchemy and magick— the Hermetic arts, come into play… What if we were to individuate away from the dominant culture of rational materialism, and into the loving arms of a cosmology that is rooted in the wisdom of interconnection? What would happen if instead of separating ourselves from that which makes us whole, we separated ourselves from that which created the separation in the first place?

Before modern man, what we now call the mystery was simply the earthen, feminine principle that lives within us all; it was the unconscious. What is so fascinating is that by modern man casting out so much of his lived experience into the darkness of the unconscious, it has grown larger… So large that consciousness is only the tip of a massive ice burg showing itself above the surface. I believe that there was a much greater balance between the conscious and unconscious within man in the not so distant past. In fact, I believe that there was a complete integration between the 2 sides, and that we were able to dance fluidly between them.

I’m not saying that before our belief system created this great divide that humans were living in utopia… What I am saying is that in every culture throughout time and space before this modern, domination culture, man had an intimate relationship to the Otherside. Whether it be through having an intimate relationship with the ancestors, or through a collective reverence of the dream world, which in many cultures was revered even more highly than the waking world… Simply being in a symbiotic relationship with the natural world connotes being in close kinship with the feminine, lunar principle, and the unconscious at large.

The mystery essentially includes that which can’t be seen or quantified. From the dominant world view, if something can’t be seen or quantified, it basically doesn’t exist, and it certainly doesn’t have value. But of course, as more and more of us are remembering— this is a great lie. Even the rigidity of the scientific method has deduced that consciousness itself makes every “factor” variable to change. Nothing is truly black and white, no matter how much modern man has deluded itself into believing it is…

What have we been indoctrinated to believe holds value? Anything that can turn a profit. This is the mindset that objectifies everything, including the feminine, and by extension the Earth, for the root word of “matter”, which is so deeply tied to the earth, translates to “mother”. Mother Earth. Because the dominant culture views the earth as something to be conquered, something to be objectified, and by extension, something to make a profit off of, we find ourselves woefully out of touch, and unable to truly understand our own wild nature. This means that we are woefully out of touch, as a culture, as a species, and as individuals at this point, with half of ourselves. But again, this is where Hermeticism steps in…

The circumstances that we are currently facing as a collective are the same circumstances that precede every Hermetic Renaissance throughout history, and there have been many… Every fall of any “great” civilization or empire has crumbled because there is not a cosmology associated with it that rings true, or that exists at all. Every culture needs to be anchored by a universal truth that holds meaning, and a materialist worldview is devoid of meaning to say the least. Hermetic principles provide humanity with a cosmology that simply can’t disappear. They are so foundational and so undeniably true. They are literally reflected in the earth and stars, in the psyche and in the cosmos.

We are seeing it already with the rise of Astrology making it’s way into the collective conversation and becoming more and more validated by the mainstream. We are beginning to see it in the rise of Alchemy as well, and of course, magick. This gives me hope, and the speed at which the times are changing only indicates that this renaissance is closer than we may expect. Pluto transitting into Aquarius is a beautiful indication of this, where the power structures of the old paradigm are beginning to crumble in the name of a more humanitarian interest.

My beloved mentor, Rachel Capurso, often refers to the sign of Aquarius as the wilderness where one goes to receive divine insight which is then shared with the collective. What a beautiful metaphor for humanity’s return to a Hermetic cosmology?

Thanks for reading, and please share your thoughts!

Much love,
Anna