Joseph Polansky - A Spiritual Look at the 12 Signs: An Introduction to Spiritual Astrology

Astrology is essentially a spiritual science. But because of the way it has been presented especially here in the West the Western reader has lost sight of this. Hopefully this work will help to correct the misperception.

This is not your typical Sun sign book. Having authored many Sun sign books, I know the difference. In the typical Sun sign book, the signs are described in terms of behavioral characteristics i.e. Aries are impetuous and rash, Capricorns are controlling and ambitious, Pisces are dreamy, Geminis talkative etc., etc., etc. Often they are judgmental depending on the mindset of the author. Though these descriptions are valid, so far as they go, the spiritual root causes for these behaviors are left out. Why is Pisces so dreamy and otherworldly? Why are Geminis so talkative? Why are Aries rash and impetuous? It all seems so arbitrary. Little wonder that Astrology is in disrepute in many quarters. The logic behind these things is never explained.

It is only when we understand Astrology as a spiritual science that everything becomes clear. All the behaviors and characteristics of the different signs are eminently rational. For there is a spiritual purpose behind them. These behaviors are the Divine itself seeking to express itself along certain lines and to achieve certain ends. Even the so-called pathologies of the different signs are not pathologies as we understand it. Generally they are Divine gifts and urges very positive things that are either overused or misused. Often, they are gifts misunderstood by others and the label pathology is placed on it. The Divine is working through a mortal personality and it is the mortal mind that distorts the benevolent flow of the Divine impulse. But the original urge the impulse is holy and divine.

The Great Creator created the universe in a certain way, with certain laws. These laws and the laws of Astrology are part and parcel of them do not deny the creator as so many try to claim. They no more deny the creator than the laws of physics or mathematics do. Anything that is part of the original creation cannot be the work of the devil. However, if the knowledge is misused or abused as has often been the case throughout history then yes, it can certainly be turned to diabolical uses. But of itself Astrology is pristine and pure and has always fascinated the greatest minds of every generation.

Because of the spiritual nature of Astrology, some have made a religion out of it. This too seems to me to be error. The Wisdom of the stars stands above all religion. Yet, it does not deny any of them. It is the fount from which all religions proceed. In certain ages one way to worship is emphasized. In other ages, different nuances of worship, different aspects of the Divine, are emphasized. Every religious path can be seen in the Horoscope. Further, a given persons attraction to a certain path can also be seen. See the chapter The Twelve Yogas for more detail.

One of the problems with Sun sign books is that rarely do we find anyone who is purely one sign or another. Generally we are a mix of different signs. The Sun can be in Aries, but the native will have many planets in Taurus or Pisces. In such cases the person will behave more like a Taurus or Pisces than an Aries. If you know your Horoscope you can read the signs that apply to you. If you dont, it might be advisable to have your personal horoscope done. This will add more accuracy to the interpretations.

If the reader comes away from this book with a deeper understanding of who he or she is, a deeper understanding of what Astrology is all about, if the self-condemnation and judgment are removed, then my job has been done.

Joseph Polansky

The central urge of Aries is to begin new things. The soul, symbolically speaking, has just completed a major cycle. It has digested its past. It has died to the old. In Aries the soul is reborn or resurrected into a new cycle of life, growth and experience.

If we meditate on the sunrise or Spring or on newly born infants we can get a feeling of what the Aries nature is all about.

Aries is the spirit of youth unconquerable. There is something of the spirit of eternal youth about them. Though they grow and mature they never quite grow up. In the rare cases where they do grow old it is never gracefully. Aries is fighting that state furiously. It is not their nature. Not in their psychology. Everything in nature including old age and hoary tradition can be overcome by my will, sayeth Aries. This is as it should be. For Aries is here to learn about itself and its power through experience through doing through action.

Many astrologers say that Aries is a soul with no past at its back and this is very true. As far as it is concerned all the lessons of history the imposing weight of past tradition do not exist. And if the Aries acknowledges its existence he/she feels its irrelevant. To talk to Aries about the lessons of history is like trying to convince the sunrise about the tradition of night; or trying to delay the Spring with talk about the great tradition of Winter. All of this may be true, says Aries, but MY coming shall change all that!

Aries is the soul eternally on the rise always on the rise never at its peak though it is destined for the peaks. But in order for it to reach the peaks that it KNOWS MUST happen, the Aries will have to undergo many a metamorphosis many learning experiences.

In Aries, symbolically speaking, the soul remembers its I AM THAT I AMNESS its divine individuality. Unconditioned and unconditional being. I can do and be whatever I will and no man has the right to stop me from expressing the Law of my Being. I am who I am and the world had better accept me as I am or theres going to be a fight. Perhaps no one more than Aries understands the ageless dictum of being true to oneself. Perhaps no one more than Aries lives this truth in experience.