the symbolism of energy

For a few years now I've begun to believe that certain parts of astrology may hold some truth. This came in part from conversations with advocates, and in part from observations and the overall compatibility the discipline has with my other hippy beliefs.

One aspect I have struggled with however was the concept of star signs. I failed to understand the correlation of an abstract symbol drawn between seemingly random points in the sky, and the character of real or mythical life-forms in human folklore. After all, space is by essence three dimensional, and the symbols we see in the sky are only visible from our precise point in the universe, as two dimensional renderings.


Then it occurred to me that perhaps this is precisely the point. Perhaps the form given to the lion, the form mapped over its character, is dictated by our perspective of the constellation.

Another life bearing planet, situated at a different angle to Leo, will see a different rendering. Here the animal or spirit which is born under that sign, possessed with that character, will take on not the silhouette of our lion, but of their rendering, their lion. We are not projecting our expectations on to the stars, they are projecting theirs on to us.


The only problem that leaves is that I still fail to see the lion in the sky. To me, that's a mouse jumping from right to left, and as far as I remember lions are scared of mice. This throws the whole notion of the zodiac in to disrepute.

I thought it was a nice idea though.