128. How Astrology Is Misconstrued – John L Lash
At the end of our previous conversation (released April 2023), mythologist, modern shaman and author John Lamb Lash and I had a brief exchange about astrology. It revealed an apparent difference in how we view some aspects of it. Some time later, we decided to have another conversation to sort those differences out. So, in this episode John takes a deep dive into some basic misunderstandings about astrology, in particular the fact that zodiacal astrology and astrological ages are two completely different models. Main point: ordinary astrology does not have anything to do with star constellations. “How does astrology work?” John asks me, teasingly. I try to present my view, which of course doesn’t offer a comprehensive explanation. “It’s a trick question”, John says. “I have used astrology for decades, and I can definitely say that it does work. But how? I can assure you, Anders, that no one understands why astrology works. No one.” But the topic of this conversation is not zodiacal astrology, it’s the astrological ages. And John makes clear that the two are not the same kind of phenomenon and cannot be interpreted in the same way, which is a common misunderstanding. It’s not helpful to conflate the astrological ages with the zodiacal signs and their association with certain characteristics, John explains. Doing so creates a lot of confusion. Here is one a-ha insight: Ordinary, zodiacal astrology, in the Western world primarily tropical astrology, is a misnomer, because there are no stars in it, except for the sun. The constellations the signs are named after are not neatly placed within each sign, and not only that, they are moving, one degree every 72 years. “Unfortunately, there is a muddled zone, where the ages, the language and the discourse are confused.” Zodiac astrology and astrological ages are two different operating systems. “The operating system of the signs is about psychology, but when you talk about the operating system of the constellations, you’re talking a combined language of history and myth.” To differ between the two, John has decided to name the ages not by the Zodiac signs, but by the “storybook names” of the constellations: the fishes, the ram, the crab, the lion, etc. “We’ve lost a lot of ancient skywatching knowledge.” Here’s a crucial difference, according to John Lash: The astrological ages are not exactly the same size (length in time). As opposed to the zodiacal signs, the ages are in alignment with the expansion of the constellations, which come in different sizes and have differently sized gaps between them. In some cases there is also an overlap. Are the actual stars influencing us? “It’s not a causal relationship, it’s a mirroring relationship. The constellations are signals. The cosmos is a mirror of the psyche.” Do they have certain properties? “They’re all about lessons. Lessons for humanity.” So. Everybody wants to know about the age of aquarius. There has been a hype for at least 50 years. It turns out the constellation of aquarius (which John calls manitu) is overlapping the age of pisces (the fishes). So when does it actually begin? You’ll get John Lash’s answer in this episode. You’ll also get his interpretation of the lessons we are supposed to learn. Plus, as the cherry on the cake, John reveals something fascinating he found in the Egyptian Dendera Zodiac. John's website Nemeta John's book Not In His Image