The Question
Let us begin with an astrological chart. We normally think of this as a symbolic representation of our Solar System, as seen from a particular place on the surface of the Earth at a particular time. This chart is also seen, by those of us who have experienced the validity of astrology, as a symbolic representation of an entity born at that point in space-time. The essential question here is how the same chart can represent two separate and entirely different phenomena.This question is of fundamental importance. It challenges the basic assumptions of our culture, forcing us to move beyond them to a larger and more encompassing view of reality.
Science's Answer
Science is our culture's primary tool for answering questions about physical reality. Science views reality as composed of separate material particles that interact through forces - essentially an exchange of energy. This is a causal relationship - the entity that sends the energy causes the change of state of the second entity. For science there is no other rational possibility. From this point of view, if there is any relationship between the pattern of the sky and events on Earth, it must be a causal one. However, no celestial forces have been discovered that are sufficient to shape phenomena on Earth to the extent we see in astrology. Most scientists would take this as sufficient proof that astrology is invalid. If there is no causal relationship, there is no relationship.Fundamental Building Blocks
I share the belief with science that the relationship between the celestial pattern (the macrocosm) and phenomena on Earth (the microcosm) is not a causal one. However, because my daily experience tells me that astrology is valid, I assume that the relationship must be of a different sort. We can approach an understanding of this relationship by engaging in a critique of the scientific, and by extension the Western cultural worldview.Science begins with the assumption that the universe is made up of separate particles. This was modified a bit in response to the discoveries of quantum physics; particles are simultaneously "waves" - patterns of energy that are "spread out" in and moving through space. Thus we have wave/particle units or entities that are separate from one another, interacting through the exchange of energy. But we have already seen that this way of thinking does not lead us to an explanation of how astrology works, of the astrological relationship between the planets of our Solar System and phenomena on Earth. The problem, as I see it, lies in science's starting point. Science begins with the pieces, and then endeavors to put them together. It assumes that the pieces are more basic than the whole. We hear the term "fundamental building blocks", the Universe being built up from the pieces. While this point of view has led to amazing descriptions of reality and equally amazing and useful technologies, it is important to remember that it is just one way of looking at things. We can just as validly begin with the whole, and assume that the whole is more basic than the pieces.
Wholes and Parts
The Universe is the whole, the fundamental whole. The Universe is not made up of its parts; the parts are expressions or manifestations of the whole. The whole is the basis, the ground, the source. Each part of the Universe, whether we are talking about an electron, a galaxy, or a human being, emerges from and is thus a manifestation of the universal whole. Each part is the whole, specifically manifested at a particular point in space and time. The fundamental relationship between the part and the whole is one of identity.Each of us is a manifestation of the universal whole. We are each, at essence, the whole. Atman is Brahman. At the same time, we are each a specific, particular and unique manifestation of the whole. In our coming into being, we differentiate out of the whole, while remaining essentially one with the whole. While this may seem esoteric or spiritual, it is simply a way of thinking that emphasizes wholeness and connection rather than separateness.
Because the part shares an essential identity with the universal whole, the part itself is a whole. It can give rise to its own parts, which, at essence, share an identity with it. A galaxy is a whole, emerging from and manifesting the identity of the Universe in a particular way. Within the galaxy, Solar Systems emerge, each manifesting the identity of the galaxy in a particular way. In turn, each of these Solar Systems are wholes, giving rise to parts - planets, ecosystems, individual organisms. At each level of manifestation, wholes are expressions of and share an identity with the greater wholes they have emerged from. At the same time every whole shares an identity with the ultimate whole - the Universe itself.
Each whole, then, is essence and source. It is also pattern - the template of arrangement in space and time. Each part emerges into manifestation at a particular point in space and time. This positioning is not random, but rather the whole unfolding its essential pattern. Further, because each part is at essence the whole, it shares in the pattern of that whole. Each part, taking its place in the pattern of manifestation of the whole, simultaneously expresses or reproduces that pattern within its own particular domain or limits. The part "inherits" the pattern of the whole.