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All about Astrology Understanding Astrology Articles by Robert Hand Column: Astrology by
Hand The Roots of Astrology

Astrology by Hand
A column by Robert Hand
Robert Hand - first published by StarIQ in November 2000 / re-published on astro.com June
2015
Last week, I introduced the Sepher Yetzirah, which has been described by Aryeh Kaplan (The
Sefer Yetzirah, Samuel Weiser, York Beach, Maine, 1990, where Sepher is spelled Sefer) as an
extremely old text of astrology. A passage in this work presents a system of dimensions that is a
bit mind-blowing given the date of this work. Here is the passage in question:
A depth of beginning/ A depth of end/ A depth of good/ A depth of evil/ A depth of above/ A
depth of below/ A depth of east/ A depth of west/ A depth of north/ A depth of south. [Kaplan, p.
44]

The dimensions here are presented as pairs of opposite directions. The first of these, beginningend, is obviously time. Above-below, east-west and north-south are the three dimensions of
ordinary space. Taken together, these four constitute the four dimensions of the Einstein timespace continuum. Not bad for an ancient work! But what is the second pair listed in the passage,
good-evil? How do we think of this as a dimension?

The Fifth Dimension According to the Sepher Yetzirah

Kaplan says that in the Kabbalah This dimension is called Soul. He also mentions the
traditional phrase, The beginning is wisdom. Therefore, the end is ignorance and evil. It
becomes clear that this is a dimension of consciousness, toward wisdom or perfect
consciousness, or toward ignorance and complete unconsciousness.
So we have a five dimensional system that we would describe in modern terms as the three
spatial dimensions, length, width and height, a temporal dimension and one of consciousness.
This gives us a continuum of four dimensions in which we can also move in consciousness. This
means that multiple four-dimensional universes can coexist in time and space but be completely
separate in consciousness.

Worlds Within Worlds

We actually have this very thing in traditional mystical literature: worlds that differ in
consciousness, but are in the same time and space. I believe that this idea makes possible an
explanation of astrology and also points the way to a transcendent science in which astrology,
magic and pination can live side-by-side with quantum mechanics, physics, chemistry, etc. This
is the necessary change in the scientific viewpoint that I have been talking about.
This teaching of interpenetrating worlds is most developed in Neoplatonism and Kabbalah.
Simplifying their teachings a bit, we have four such worlds tabulated as follows:
The Realm of DivinityThe One
The Realm of IntelligenceNous
The Realm of SoulPsyche
The Realm of MatterCosmos or Nature
The One, the realm of pure pinity, is supposed to produce a second realm, whose function is to
contemplate the One. This is the realm of intelligence, or Nous. In Nous, among other things,
there comes into being the subject-object split that enables awareness. In other words,
consciousness as we know it comes into being.
Notice two things: first of all, consciousness has come into existence prior to matter. This is the
opposite of the materialist viewpoint. Second, the archetypes in consciousness do not come up
from a lower level, a collective unconscious, but come down from the very highest level of
being.

The Realm of Life and Soul

Now we come to the level that may be the most important for astrology. Nous contemplates the
One, and the two of them, as a system, begin movement and life, or soul. While motion is made
possible in Nous, it is manifested in the realm of Soul. And Soul also precedes matter. What
comes into being is the World Soul, which is, according to tradition, the source of all magical and
occult effects.
All individual things that will come into being in the material world are prefigured in Soul. Not
just every category, but every individual thing that will manifest in the physical world. Therefore,
the planets in the material Cosmos are pre-figured by planets in Soul.

Finally, at Last, the Material Realm

The three realms, the One, Nous and Soul interact and produce a body. This is the physical
universe, Cosmos. Everything in this world is predetermined not by mechanical cause and effect,
but by movement in the higher worlds. The indeterminacy that modern physicists see in many
systems of the physical world is due to the fact that the cause-and-effect relationship is not
within the physical world, but is between the physical world and the higher worlds. There is little
or no freedom in the Cosmos. Freedom exists only in the higher worlds.
But there is good news! According to ancient philosophy, human beings and all other sentient life
forms exist not only in the Cosmos, but in Soul and Nous as well. We even share in the oneness
of the One. We are free to the degree, and only to the degree, that we live consciously in the
higher worlds. The more we move in the dimension of consciousness toward wisdom (The
beginning is wisdom), the more freedom we have.
Astrology works because of several things:
1) The planets of our solar system are physical entities. Therefore, their motions are almost
completely predictable. This makes them reliable indicators of movements in higher realms of
which they are the result.
2) But nothing in the physical world (Cosmos) is entirely or only of this world. Everything
participates in varying degrees in the higher worlds. Even the planetary motions have some
degree of indeterminacy. Could this be a kind of freedom? But in any case, all entities in the
physical world can manifest qualities or properties that come from their participation in the
realms of Soul and Nous. This again is the origin of the occult properties of natural magic.
3) Soul prefigures all things in the Cosmos. Therefore, there are planets of a kind in soul.
4) Because the planets in the realm of Soul are the result of planetary forms in Nous, and we also
participate in Nous, the planetary forms in Nous produce parallel movements in us that are also
parallel the motions of the physical planets. And the movements of the planets in our
consciousness (Nous) and Soul manifest with the freedom that is present in Nous and Soul and
not at the restricted level apparent in the movements of the physical planets. The physical planets
do not cause anything within us. Rather the effects apparent within us and the movements of the
planets are both results of the same causes within higher realms.

We will develop this more in the next weeks.