In the Friendship Bench conversation that took place on Thursday, June 1st, JoAnna Baanana and Kamla Dasrath facilitated an engaging discussion of astrology. During the session, Roger Martin asked how it was that the placement of the sun, the moon, and other celestial bodies at the moments of our births could influence the human beings each of us is. (I deliberately didn’t write happens to be lest there is no element of happenstance about it.)
By way of responding to Roger, Victor Acquista cited myriad forms of energy we know and recognize, given the ways in which their effects are made manifest to us. Then he went on to suggest there are subtle energies and unknown energies that influence us just as much as — if not more than — the energies we recognize do.
The Plot Thickens
According to My Modern Met:
Human beings are narrative creatures, constantly interpreting our lives by weaving together the past, present, and future. Astrology helps us find meaning when we can’t find it anywhere else … Astrology is not a science; there’s no evidence to prove zodiac signs actually correlate with personality. It’s simply a method of predicting earthy and human events based on the placement of the sun, the moon, and the planets within the astrological constellations … Your “sun sign” is determined by where the sun was on your birthday. However, the placement of the moon—and each of the other planets at the time of your birth—provide additional insight into your personality and life events, according to your “birth chart.”
But what if Victor’s correct? What if there’s no evidence to prove zodiac signs actually correlate with personality because we haven’t perceived — thought or sought to perceive — that correlation yet? Further, what if Victor’s comments suggest a relationship between those subtle and unknown energies and faith? Is faith a result or a product of those subtle and unknown energies? And maybe it’s not just a matter of religious faith. Maybe it’s about any or all the things in which we believe at the level of faith; that is, accepting without question.
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. (Albert Einstein)
And beyond all that, what are the relationships between those subtle and unknown energies Victor suggests, faith, and spirit?
About That Proposal
Here’s what I know: I don’t know.
But as a means of exploring those relationships, I propose a Friendship Bench conversation devoted to discussing them. I have no idea if we’ll arrive at any definitive conclusions. But we’ll have a spirited (no pun intended) discussion. And, I daresay, we’ll likely have fun.
Mark, Aside from feeling a little self-conscious at being name checked in your post (thanks for that btw), it seems prudent and it might be helpful to elaborate a little:
1. We know we are exposed to many energies, some of which we understand, some of which we don’t. Let’s just call the combination of earthly and celestial energies that we are immersed in an energy milieu.
2. We know that water can be imprinted with energy and information, and we are primarily made up of water. We know that DNA both absorbs and emits both light and sound energies and presumably it is influenced by many other energies other than light and sound. Indeed, all of our cells, our brains and the subtle energy field that surrounds us (aura, etheric body, etc.) are affected by energetic inputs and outputs.
3. Our understanding of quantum physics is incomplete. Our understanding of quantum biology is in its infancy but we do know our brain and nervous system, and our DNA all respond to quantum influences.
Looking at the macro level of an energy milieu and at the micro level of quantum biology it is easy to understand that at the moment of our birth, there is a dynamic interplay of energies that impact our body-mind-soul unit. If we then postulate that this “sets the stage” or energetically imprints us, and this imprint affects how we interact energetically moving forward throughout our lives, we have a plausible explanation about how this astrology works.
Oversimplifying this, the initial tuning of a guitar string uses mechanical energy applied to a material substance (the string) so that it vibrates at a certain frequency. A string tuned to that frequency makes a sound and interacts harmonically and through resonance with the other strings. In other words, how the material substance of the string is energetically set determines how it vibrates, gives and receives energy. Although we are much more complex materially and energetically than the string, the same principles of vibration and frequency apply.
That is how I understand it, but what do I know, I’m a Libra 😅