Introduction

Evolutionary astrology is based on a spiritual view of the human experience. We are each seen as being, in essence, a soul that lives through many incarnations in order to learn and grow. Astrology can be used to understand and provide guidance for this evolutionary process. My intention is to contribute to the building of a philosophical consensus that would help this exciting field be as engaging and useful as possible. Astrology is an incredibly powerful tool that can expand our self-awareness, help us have compassion for others, and reliably guide us through the most challenging arenas of our lives. Making the spiritual component more explicit can make it even more potent.

Consensus is best found by building on what is already most agreed upon. The main contributions of this work stem from two universally recognized ideas, one from science and the other from religion.

Science informs us that there are two distinct ways in which we approach the world. Although brain functioning is very complex with notable variation, there is a general trend. The left brain analyzes bits of information through rationality. It logically dissects with its objective razor, cutting through any sentiment to get to facts. Realms of language, mathematics, and reason appeal to its precision.

In contrast, the right brain functions in ways that aren't so linear. Intuition, inspiration, artistry, and emotion all color its subjectivity. It naturally flows with a sense of timelessness and engages with the ethereal and the transcendent. These realms, which also include dreams and expansive contemplation, evade the meticulous clockwork of left brain sensibilities.

This is the fundamental duality of our world: content and process, science and art, structure and essence, objective and subjective. Most anything can be split up using this left/right dichotomy-business and pleasure, technical merit and aesthetic presentation, the masculine and the feminine.

Although these pairings seem obvious to the modern mind, the tradition of astrology we've inherited has not included this division, and understandably so. Astrology is far older than our knowledge of brain hemispheres and their respective functions. In the West, the world was approached more subjectively before the so-called Enlightenment; the objectivity of left brain perspectives wasn't yet part of the picture. In the last few hundred years, science has aggressively pushed the pendulum toward the rational/objective end of the continuum. As a result, we have advanced technologically, but we have marginalized and discounted the validity of right brain functions. Collectively, we are currently finding a greater balance between these two necessary and complementary approaches.

We are at a time in history when many people are learning to honor and skillfully employ both left and right brain functions. Now is a good time to incorporate this basic division into the field of astrology. The left/right dichotomy adds new layers of meaning to some of the components of the astrological system. By classifying earth and air with the left brain as neutral elements, and water and fire with the right brain as charged elements, new perspectives emerge that can impact and vitalize the entire system of astrology. Continued »