Zodiac Signs: An astropsychological connection

I often find myself dumbfounded by the fact that one of my dear ones who shares birthday with me, shows similar instincts and personality traits as mine. Most of the times when we go out shopping it doesn’t surprise me much when we manage to choose the same apparel. We often gorge on the same flavour of ice-cream and like the same music and movies. And if this wasn’t enough, we also react to situations similarly and display common gestures .Well one could say that this is mere coincidence or maybe our similarities are the cause of our closeness in the first place. But if that was the case, I wonder how most of my close friends are so different to me in all these aspects. Although I never really trusted any astrological phenomenon for such supernatural “kismet connection”, I couldn’t find any plausible explanation otherwise. So can Zodiac Signs really do the talking here?

Zodiac signs have always fascinated the human race in one way or the other. The term “zodiac” derives from Latin which in turn comes from Greek. Its construction is described in Ptolemy’s Almagest (2nd century AD). However, the classical zodiac is a modification of the MUL.APIN catalogue believed to be compiled around 1000 BC. In Hinduism, these signs are known as “rashees” and have been described vividly since ancient Vedic texts as “Jyotish Shaastra”. The essence of this knowledge derived from planetary motions, has been passed down since ages and is now available in daily newspapers. Most of us tend to take a glimpse of it in the daily horoscope section and most likely shrug it off if it doesn’t suit us murmuring to ourselves, “So much for stars controlling my day”. I for one, am not in a different league here. Maybe the horizon above us all cannot foretell the  future but can it predict our mindset and actions to control our psyche and eventually shape our future? Now looking at it from this angle certainly raises a few eyebrows.

Researchers have long tried to establish a correlation between astrology and psychology. The cross-fertilisation of these fields is known as “Astropsychology”. It began around 1911 when Carl Jung began experimenting with astrology in order to "find a clue to the core of human psychology," as he stated in a letter to Sigmund Freud. Later, in a different correspondence with Freud, Jung stated, “I dare say that we shall one day discover in astrology a good deal of knowledge that has been intuitively projected into the heavens. For instance, it appears that the signs of the zodiac are character pictures, in other words libido symbols which depict the typical qualities of the libido at a given moment." Jung believed that there are reasons to suspect that heavenly bodies actually affect a person's development at birth and that the correlation is acausal and not actually influenced by the planets and stars themselves. He believed that astrology could teach us about the human mind but on a general level. This was the start of Astropsychology which doesn’t directly believe that a person’s everyday life is dictated by the position of the stars but shows that the horoscope is a mere tool to help identify one’s attributes. For example a psychological astrologer might use the horoscope to see if individuals possess specialized abilities or disabilities based on their mindset. Many notable researches till date have been based on this like:

• Establishment of correlation between a person’s profession and astrological birth chart by French psychologist, Michel Gauquelin.
• Predicting mental illness through astrology by psychiatrist Dr. Mitchel E. Gibson.
• Effect on unborn fetuses of Sun, Moon and other planets by Percy Seymour.

Now, this in effect can only be true if our mind and body can be studied as a physical manifestation of the cosmos to some level.

A major principle in astrology is the idea represented by the saying, "As above, so below" or "That which is above is the same as that which is below." In quantum physics terminology, it means that what applies to the very large (the universe) applies to the very small (the atom). No doubt we are looking for Bosons to answer that. In mathematical terms, human beings are like a "fractal" of the universe, each cell in our body is like a "fractal" (DNA) of our entire body, the atom is like a fractal of each cell, and so on, ad infinitum. The ancients believed the study of the stars is a study of the inner workings of the human mind. This does not seem like such an odd idea when you consider that everything - including our minds - evolved from the stars from the Big Bang. Astrology is simply a system of thought concerning the connections between external reality and internal reality.

Hindu astrology in particular recognizes the existence and influence of collective, cosmic and spiritual levels of consciousness which lie beyond our personal mind and which modern psychology is only beginning to explore. Its concern is not just with bringing happiness or harmony to the outer layers of the mind, but with bringing the deeper layers of the mind into function by awakening our spiritual aspiration. It teaches us that we are divine souls with infinite potential that we derive from the same cosmic forces that create the planets and stars. It teaches a real science of psychology because it treats the real psyche or soul, not just the outer mind.

Without doubt, most of us today look to resolve our personal and professional issues using sun signs. However, if the core of the human being is identical to the ultimate reality of the Universe, then it seems that our greatest good lies in the realization of this fact. For if we trust our fate, and realize it is purposeful in a way that transcends the petty concerns that plague our everyday lives, then much unnecessary suffering can be avoided.