Thanks Max, that all sounds very interesting! I joined the Grow Report yesterday. I was quite surprised that transit astrology was brought up during the forum (by Stanislav Grof). I know it works. There are certain transits that will give you a rough trip, and certain which give an easy or delightful experience. Recently I decided to do ayahuasca, and there were neither negative nor positive transits that evening. So I took the ayahuasca, but aside from a relaxed buzz, it didn't give significant effects (i.e. it was neither positive nor negative). Another time I was dosed unexpectedly with an empathogen, and could only check out the transit afterwards, and it accurately described the effects (Moon trine natal Pluto). I've also noted down when I had a hilarious trip with friends, and checked the transits afterwards, and as Stan Grof said, it happened during a prominent Venus transit. An extremely mystical, but somewhat frightening and disorienting trip occured during a transit of Moon conjunct natal Ketu (the South Node of the Moon, the Dragon's Tail), my first experiment with 8 grams of dried cubensis. A pleasant trip on my own occured when the Moon was conjunct natal Jupiter. So if transits determine the nature of the trip, in what ways are the different levels of consciousness and the larger objects in space related? How are we and this universe related? If everything in our lives runs in synch with the larger universe, to what extent are we and the cosmos separate from eachother? Am I this body of bones and flesh, or are those bones and flesh simply part of the cosmic whirlpool, with only my awareness in the very center being truly "me"?
When we look up at the stars, we see them through different layers surrounding this Earth, such as the stratosphere. And we do so through the lenses of our eyes. Why do we consider the lens part of ourselves, but not the clouds and ozone layer?
I believe neither the atmosphere nor my eyes are truly part of me. They are both part of my experience. Even the thoughts and moods that I go through, they are all part of the dynamic of this world, unavoidable. Suffering and separation are unavoidable, just as pleasure and love are unavoidable. Free will? Well, I wish this body of mine could stay young forever, but it can't. I wish my parents wouldn't die, but they have to. We can't demand too much from this experience. All we can do is go with the flow, unconsciously or consciously. Since true astrology maps the characteristics of time fragments, i.e. the flow of life for each individual, it can be a tool to understand where the flow is heading at any particular point in time. It may not be necessary to know one's chart or one's current transits, but it is an interesting phenomenon, in many ways "psychedelic".
I like the way Alan Watts describes it all. He says that just as the external appearance of the ocean consists of waves, and the ocean thus "waves", this universe "peoples". As human beings, or beings in general, we are waves in an ocean of waves.
By the way, I don't think people should consult astrologers. I think everyone should
become an astrologer. Transit astrology can be learned in a matter of weeks. It doesn't require faith. All one needs is a good program and two books.
I'm rambling. THC...
