The dance of the planets, Sun, and Moon around our earth represents a huge and incredibly subtle clock. How do we tell time? Before the invention of clocks, we depended on the daily cycle of the Sun to determine day and night. Months were tied to the cycle of the Moon. Seasons are measured as the Sun moves across the ecliptic past the starry constellations.
In a single year, the Sun will move through all twelve signs of the zodiac, but the same period of time gives us thirteen lunar months. Our daily lives are measured by this dance between our two most visible planets. Our “life clocks” are set by the position of the planets at our births.
The cosmic clock is even more subtle when we include the patterns of all the known planets. When we consider that Mercury circles the Sun three times a year, and Venus faster than once a year we start to get a bigger picture. Mayans linked their whole astronomical system to the 52-year great-cycle of Venus. It takes Mars an average of two years to circle the twelve signs, Jupiter takes twelve years, Saturn 28 years, Chiron is 51 years to make the circuit, Uranus 84 years, Neptune about 173, and Pluto takes 248 years to encircle the zodiac.
When you put these cycles together you have a lot of clocks going at once. Saturn, for example, is the clock regulating responsibility, judgment, hard work, and maturity. Uranus measures excitement, unpredictability, new ideas, and freedom. Mars is the clock of aggression, assertiveness, militance. When an astrologer looks at the planetary patterns, she is looking at the cosmic clock, and can say “It’s TIME for this to happen.”
But must it happen? Does the Sun’s arrival on the eastern horizon force you to wake up? Do you always go to sleep when it sets? Not necessarily. Just as we have developed alternative lighting systems to compensate for the obvious clock of the Sun, we can develop alternative systems for events associated with other cosmic clocks. But if we aren’t aware of the ticking of these clocks, how can we compensate?
Combining the profound psychological and spiritual insights of modern western astrology with the powerful planetary remedy systems of ancient Indian astrology, there are many ways to improve our lives with astrological knowledge. It simply depends on knowing how to live with your cycles.
