An Objection and Reply
Admittedly, there are other indicators which we can use to learn about the cavernous human mind which remains directly unobservable. We can tell from someone’s behavior that they are angry, let’s say, and if they are disposed to anger or irritability, we may wonder if the disposition indicates a character trait. That is to say, the tools we use to observe the natural world around us may be employed with the mind, without resorting to interpreting the planets as indicators and the symbolism that goes along with that interpretation. For we can do well enough with modern psychology, where we take subjective reports and counseling as indicators of someone’s mental state, and where we use natural or material means – like medication – to produce effects on behavior or mental practices which are unhealthy. Like the mutable natural world, we can use cause and effect to determine a relationship between circumstances, thoughts, and behavior. Given that these quantifiable, observable means are effective, there is no sufficient reason to resort to symbolism and astronomical indicators, which at best may be only slightly helpful, and at worst can produce more problems.
These considerations are well taken by astrologers and astrology enthusiasts. However, their consideration does not undermine the value of taking astronomical phenomena as indicators, and zodiacal signs as symbols, of our subjective interior world. Rather, the headway made in psychology and social work can be used in tandem with astrology to understand the unknown gods, and there is nothing wrong with that. For that matter, any cosmological framework is compatible with astrology, so long as that framework doesn’t contain any specific injunctions against the practice. That is to say, there are Christian astrologers, naturalistic astrologers, Buddhist astrologers, and atheist astrologers out there, and each person holds a view which is at least practically consistent with his or her astrological beliefs. So just because there are excellent ways of learning about the unknown gods that don’t involve the stars and signs, isn’t to say that the stars and signs cannot be employed to help us understand the caverns of the mind.
Furthermore, we can learn quite a bit more about the influence of the stars through the observation and induction of modern psychology. That season of birth correlates with handedness, sexuality, and certain mental health disorders is a fact corroborated by empirical science – so why not use science and the practice of astrology together to help those who are seeking self-understanding? For true seekers of self-knowledge, any additional tools will be helpful, and the practice of astrology offers one ancient, well-worn set of tools for such personal discovery. Therefore, there is good reason to use the ancient in tandem with the modern innovations of psychology, sociology, neurology and the other relevant sciences.