Astrology : A Transdisciplinary Approach to Science and Astrology by Alain Nègre The Manifesto|The Dominion|Texts and Articles|Review|Links|ACCUEIL (FR)|HOME (EN)A Transdisciplinary Approach toScience and Astrologyby Alain NègreSummary : In the present state of contemporary knowledge, one recognizes a certain "astrologicalphenomenon". Apparently, an order exists which underlies the world andmay be experienced through the perusal of our birth chart, the latter reflectingthe fathomless structures of our interiority. Nonetheless, with the emergenceof scientific thought three centuries ago, astrology was met with new difficultiesas it tried to coexist with novel approaches to apprehending the "real".In fact, the very validity of astrology is repudiated by those who conceiveof a sole level to reality (which they believe science to reveal) eventhough physics has recently proved the existence of at least two levelsto reality. As a reaction, astrology closes itself off to scientific discourse,or, conversely, dresses itself up as a science. In an attempt to sort throughthe conflicts between science and astrology, this article explores theunconscious foundations which gave birth to astrology. It draws from whatC.G. Jung called the symbolic function and originates in the "place"of the soul where mind and matter may potentially reunite.The impasse over scientific astrology Surveys conducted over the past several yearsprove that the belief in astrology is increasing [1] despite repeated attempts on the part of skeptical movements to show theinconsistency of astrological thought as opposed to scientific experience.From the perspective of physics or biology, such inconsistencies are easilydetected. The principal anti-astrological arguments have not fundamentallychanged since Ptolemy and are regularly trotted out today. However, withoutrehashing these eternal arguments like that of the equinox precession,it is child's play to reveal the absurdity of the astrological word nextto the laws that science has illuminated. Thus, one may easily concludethat if people continue to believe in the effect of the planets or zodiacsigns on their character, qualities, flaws, behavior, and even future,it must be that the concerns of astrology are situated outside the fieldof science. Before trying to clarify the ways inwhich astrology may be considered today, it is essential to emphasize itsorigin. Astrology emerged from a most ancient and harmonious model whichdominated occidental culture for centuries up to the inception of moderntimes. This global vision governed all universal phenomena by several simpleand rational principles. In particular, the planets, or "wandering stars",the moon, and the sun were animated, even divine beings, whose movementsinscribed concentric, interlocking spheres that formed a protective shellaround the earth. Everything between the Earth and the stars' fixed limitconstituted a living being based on a system of correspondence, sympathyand harmony. The visible phenomena of nature were entangled with invisibleforces. Reality included both the natural and the supernatural. The innerorder of an individual mirrored that of the sky while being subjected tothe restrictions of the sublunar realm of generation and corruption. Themoral and physical constitution of a given individual, as well as the pathologicalpredisposition of his temperament, depended on the state of the sky andthe mutual relations between the planets at the moment of his birth. At the beginning of the XVII century,this system of thought was contradicted by new phenomena which could notbe integrated into the previous vision of the world. A novel mode of thinkingemerged, defined with a mechanistic conception of knowledge and symbolizedby the clock and automaton. Nature became an immense machine - a notionwhich would influence all areas of thought. The brilliant success of mechanisticscience relegated astrology to oblivion until the end of the XIX century.Today, regardless of renewed popularity and attacks by skeptics, astrologybarely interests scientists beyond historical curiosity about another ofscience's errors. However, with the emergence of a newphysics which has called into question the mechanistic conception of auniversal machine, the limits of rationality have suddenly burst. Today,we are witnessing an intellectual revolution in which the old dualitiesof body vs. mind and soul vs. matter no longer have the same meaning. Inparticular, quantum physics has found evidence of a mysterious indivisibilityof matter - better known as non-locality. The enigmatic nature ofnon-locality stems from its opposition to classical physics by which theworld may be understood through its division into minuscule parts suchas molecules, atoms, and nuclei. This latter approach reaps results whenone ignores the intimate texture of things, turning a blind eye to a particle'slevel of reality as translated in the infinitely small figure of Planck'sconstant. At this minuscule level, one must use a new form of physics,namely quantum physics. Quantum physics reveals the non-separable natureof matter and thereby presents its ultimate indivisibility. As a conclusiveexperiment has shown, the separation in space of two previously unitedparticles fails to truly divide the particles, for they remain in instantaneouscorrelation with each other. In fact, the measurement of one particle significantlyaffects the other, as if unity perseveres even at great distances. Sincethis correlation is instantaneous, it cannot be explained by an interactionpropagated at the speed of light which, at 300,000 km/s, still takes acertain amount of time. The above-mentioned experiment leadsto the conclusion that each point in the universe is connected to all otherpoints at the quantum level. Such a phenomenon seems reminiscentof the universal interdependence described by the ancients and by whichall parts of the universe are in sympathy - a concept mirrored in astrology'sinsistence on universal interdependence. Some, ignoring the conditionsof validity of this non-locality, have unfortunately used the experimentto affirm that the new data brought forward by modern science grants astrologya scientific dimension. Leaping at this opportunity, others have even triedto show that astrology is a science and elaborate on theories inspiredby physics or biology. As with the proponents of any new scientific theory,one might ask them: "do you have proof of what you advance?" "Have youobserved phenomena or conducted experiments to verify your theory?" Ifsuch is the case, these studies should be published in specialized reviewsand subjected to the analysis and criticism of scientists. Micro and macrocultural and natural rhythms have undergone this process and are now recognizedas examples of veritable scientific research.[2] The submission of its theories to experimentation and observation, hasalso allowed the recent discipline of chronobiology to become a sciencewhich accounts for the cyclical determinism of geocosmic phenomena. Inthe same spirit, recent conferences were presented with works that demonstratethe influence of the lunar and solar cycles on humans.[3] The belated interest in this type of phenomenon on the part of the scientificcommunity is partially due to a perceived relationship with astrology whichcasts studies in a negative light. Here, the great scientist Galileo mayserve as an example to skeptics. In the XVII century, Galileo refused toconsider any possible effect of the moon on the earth's tides, relegatingsuch speculation to the realm of astrology as opposed to that of science.Today, of course, no one would deny the effect of the moon on tides andnumerous other earthly phenomena. To the extent that they respect the scientificmethod, works which aim to elucidate correlation or causal links betweenthe cosmos and human beings are valuable, even if they are inspired byastrological motivations. But by no means should they be confused withastrology. What then may they prove? Quite simply that the laws of physics,chemistry and biology function when applied to geocosmic phenomena. Thisapproach stands in great contrast to the attitude of astrology's defenderswho champion their theories with an absolute lack of proof. Such apologistsonly serve to further confuse a world so adrift in fragmented knowledgethat it has become extremely difficult to reflect on the conditions ofvalidity and the significance of one's own discipline. Those who are inclined to believe inastrology are, to some extent, comforted by the proof-less theories peddledby many of its adherents. In fact, their tactics are far from limited tothe astrological milieu. Faced with a public that is fond of fascinatingtheories which push the limits of space, matter, and time farther and farther,certain researchers go spinning out of control. Their theories introducenotions like the soul and the psyche which science did away with in thecourse of its development. Of course, such reintroductions into the modernscientific method explain everything relating to mind and matter. Whilethese scientists are ignored or upbraided by their colleagues, their aurais celebrated among astrology's amateur public. Science has been burdenedwith a negative connotation since the Second World War. Thus, being anobject of reproach in the scientific world may reward one with a certainamount of sympathy. Take, for example, the physicist Jean Charon who isesteemed for his writings [4] and whose work on relativity was revered by his peers. Later, Charon cameto endow the electron with a soul. In the same vein and with a greaterconnection to astrology, the biologist Etienne Guillé began by theobservation and scientific analysis of metal traces susceptible to fixationon DNA. These same metals were traditionally linked to the seven planets.Subsequently, Guillé defined "vibratory energies" with frequenciesthat are measured by a pendulum.[5] Regrettably, no scientific publication mentions Guillé's theoriesnor any associated experiments or observations by which they might havebeen proven. Moreover, it is questionable that experimental protocols couldever be conceived of allowing for the objective observation of an electron'sspiritual properties or the vibratory energies of DNA. Objection mightalso be raised over falsifiability or the economy principle by which arbitraryand useless entities must not be introduced in a theoretical model. Inany case, it is clear that such theories may be those of philosophy ormetaphysics, but certainly not of science. Other attempts to prove astrology haveadopted a different tactic. Abandoning the research of celestial influenceand causality, some use statistics to show a correlation between the stateof the sky on an individual's chart and his comportment. The skepticalmovements, sometimes in collaboration with astrological associations, areespecially fond of this approach. In every case, the results have invalidatedany astral influence on human personality or destiny. Numerous examplesof this type of experimentation may be found in "The Skeptical Inquirer".[6] Astrological journals and conferences include a plethora of works whichattempt to link a case of alcoholism with the configurations of the planetNeptune or an example of genius and aspects of the planet Uranus. As thesestudies are rarely based on more than fifteen cases, they have no statisticalvalue. Furthermore, they are never placed in the hands of experts for afirst and second assessment. While lacking in depth, such works manageto cloud the issues and furnish astrology with a falsely scientific dimension. At this point, we might turn to two recentlyscrutinized studies that seem to move towards the verification of astrology.Madame Suzel Fuzeau-Braesch, research director at France's National Centerfor Scientific Research, has demonstrated that 238 pairs of twins withnearly identical charts, but for their ascendants, display behavioral differenceswhich correspond to the meanings of their ascendants. Out of 238 responses,these studies reveal 153 which are favorable to astrology.[7] Henri Broch, physics professor at the University of Nice, has exposed myriaddeficiencies in Fuzeau-Braesh's work, such as a dearth of numerous parameters,a refusal on the part of the researcher to communicate precise informationon the procedures and statistical methods used, hypothetical births, andso on.[8] An analogous attempt, albeit on a larger scale,was the work of Michel and Francoise Gauquelin. In 1955, these two researchersattempted to show the link between the position of the planets at the momentof birth and certain human traits. The most striking link studied was the"Mars Effect" by which the position of the planet Mars at the moment ofbirth would have an effect on athletic prowess. Almost thirty years later,in 1981, The French Committee for the Study of Paranormal Phenomena, created,among others, by Nobel laureate Alfred Kastler, worked with the Gauquelinson the same problem.[9] Thissucceeding study expanded on the original by enlarging the sample. It washence revealed that, by weeding their sample, the Gauquelins had managedto find significant deviations from the standard. However, when the samplewas augmented by the CFEPP, the standard deviations vastly diminished,tending towards zero. Once again, the polemic over the Gauquelins' workis not resolved and studies continue to be carried out. For instance, SuitbertErtel, psychology professor at the University of Göttingen, has shownthat the Mars Effect increases with an athlete's eminence.[10] In the anticipation of further studiesbased on the above mentioned works, one might concede that they seem tocorroborate a particular relationship between celestial phenomena and thepersonalities of certain human beings. Nonetheless, one cannot fail tonote the weak results in favor of astrology: only 153 affirmative responsesout of 238 in the twins study. Those who have truly contemplated astrologyand examined their birth map will recognize that, in the deepest regionsof their interiority, astrology is "true." The sensation of psychic coincidenceexperienced with regard to the universe has been present since the dawnof time and has failed to be eradicated by three centuries of scientificmaterialism. An astrological phenomenon does exist and the birth chartreflects the deepest fathoms of the human soul. Why then does this phenomenonnot find substance in statistical studies?The Reality of the Symbol It must be concluded that astrology isnot easily captured by statistic's coarse nets but rather should be perceivedin relation to our interiority. Astrology moves in the realm of a moresubtle reality, far from that studied by natural science. The latter refusesambiguity - a rejection which is patent in classical physics. But, as willlater be discussed, even as quantum physics reveals dualities such as thatof the wave and the particle, the act of measurement leads to the manifestationof a unique, well defined event. Modern science finds its roots in therupture with the use of ambivalent logic like that manifested in astrologyand in the myths of archaic thought. However, in the most profound coreof our psyche, we feel the presence of contradicting forces. Most of theastrological texts underline this ambivalence in the interpretation ofsymbols. To take an example from Sun sign astrology, Valéry Giscardd'Estaing, former president of the republic, well embodied the qualitiesassociated with his sign, Aquarius. From the moment he took office, hewas an innovator, walking down the Champs-Elysées, visiting prisoners,meeting with refuse collectors, and spending time with ordinary peoplein their homes. But the values of his opposing sign, that of Leo, werealso very apparent in Giscard d'Estaing. For example, he admired LouisXV and the tradition of the royal hunt. He reintroduced the ancient customof the kings of France, insisting that no one sit opposite him during meals.And of course, one might refer to the former president's admiration forBokassa's diamonds. Such contradictory aspects of an individual cannotbe rendered by statistics which separate opposing terms and refuses toinclude the aspects of one term in another. The science of statistics allowsthe unveiling of real phenomena but remains limited to the objects of naturalscience in which the notion of the soul has disappeared. If it were tobe proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that the stars tend to determinethe destinies of high level athletes or the distinct characteristics oftwins, scientists would be obliged to take these phenomena into accountand integrate them into an already existing or new discipline. In any case,it would be wise to avoid a new anti-astrology a priori like thatonce mounted against Kepler's idea that the Moon influenced tides or Newton'stheory of remote forces which was reminiscent of alchemy. If, as with Keplerand Newton, the studies of Fuzeau-Braesh and Ertel were confirmed, entiresections of the scientific corpus would be cast in doubt, thus making wayfor progress. However, in no way would such discoveries give astrologya scientific label. At best, astrology would renew science. I will return to thislast possibility in an ensuing discussion of Kepler. Fortunately, the longrefined methodology of science allows us to see our world more and moreclearly, even permitting us to withdraw our projections. Whatever may evolve,astrology will remain astrology, constantly returning to that subtle andinfinite reality even if the Mars Effect and the twin studies fall intothe realm of science. In fact, the fine-spun reality of astrologyis that of the symbol. The proponents of a scientific astrologyoften decry such an affirmation, declaring: "What? You say that astrologyis merely symbolic?" An inherent scorn for the symbol is revealedin their offended protest. And so, something which, in the history of ourown culture and in many contemporary non-western cultures, constitutesa reality as real as material reality, is downgraded to a blatantly inferiorstanding. It is this rejection of the symbol which explains the currentexclusion of astrology by universities and cultured circles. If, in today'sword, astrology gains no acceptance as an authentic field of study, thisresistance is not simply due to the shameless exploitation of astrologywhich can be observed throughout the media. Astrology's low standing ismore likely a result of the devaluation of the symbol over the past twocenturies. Obscured and diluted, the science of the symbol has become sovery enigmatic that it has lost its original sense and finds itself appliedto myriad elements such as traffic lights, logos, mathematical signs anddream images. Hence today's difficulty in differentiating between the aspectsof astrology which fall into the field of natural science and the truenature of astrology which is that of the symbol, existing on a transcendentaland metaphysical plane of essences. Unfortunately, the social sciences disparageastrology and limit their study to the perspectives of sociology, historyand ethnology. Nonetheless, rather than abandoning astrology to horoscopecharlatans, it is of interest to examine the causes for the field's currentresurgence. In other words, instead of letting astrology become a beliefand feeding the sterile debates between science and parascience, it seemsof greater interest to explore astrology's own reality. While astrologycannot be a natural science, it can no better be a science like psychology.The false conception of astrology as the equivalent of psychology is abettedby the insistence on psychology which pervades contemporary culture. Fundamentalexamples of such a tendency may be found in seminal works like The Astrologyof the Personality [11] and From Psychoanalysis to Astrology.[12] Astrologers are thus led to the false belief that astrology supplies conceptualor practical tools that may be used in "astrotherapy". In reality, astrologyprovides no conceptual tool like that generated, for example, by the foundersof psychoanalysis.Astrology and Depth Psychology To sum up, one might say that astrologybelongs to neither social science nor to natural science but, on the otherhand, may be the object of a science: a science of symbolic forms,of religion or of the psyche. Today, an individual who looks into his astrologicalchart or solicits its interpretation commits a psychological act. For hispart, Freud cast aside astrology and other "occult" disciplines, banishingthem to what he called "the black sludge of occultism". Jung, on the otherhand, believed that no element of human invention may be scorned, for everythinghas a meaning in the overall schema of things. Today, what was once seenas originating in the stars is now understood as a projection of the unconscious,and astrology may be interpreted only from this psychological perspective.Jung affirmed that the greater part of things considered psychic residedin the animated matter of the universe: "Since the stars have fallen fromheaven and our highest symbols have paled, a secret life holds sway inthe unconscious. That is why we have a psychology today, and why we speakof the unconscious. All this would be quite superfluous in an age or culturethat possessed symbols." [13] Jung awarded a distinct and separatereality to this interior world which he saw as having been projected ontothe outside world. He deserves credit for having empirically rediscoveredthe soul of the world, comprised of the multiple gods of nature which hecalled the collective unconscious or the objective psyche. For delvinginto astrology and other "ghosts of centuries of imagination", Jung wassuspected of mysticism and even magic. However, he acted as a true scientist,describing his methodology in the following manner: "I observe, I classify,I establish relationships and sequential organization between observedevents, and I even show that prediction is possible. When I speak of thecollective unconscious, I do not present it as a principle, but rathergive a name to the totality of observable events, that is to say, archetypes." [14] As Michel Cazenave explains [15], the clearest definition of the archetype is not that of an original imagenor of the condensation of archaic residues of some unconscious substance.Instead, it is an empty form, an a priori form of perception, astructure of the unconscious which emerges in the world of the senses andremains hidden while taking form in archetypal images or symbols. Cazenavementions the objective kinship between archetypes and the forms of Lacan'scollective field as well as the empty but formative unconscious of Lévi-Straussand contemporary anthropology's works on kinship. Like Freud, Jung solicited the empiricalmethod while rejecting an exclusively causal interpretation of psychicphenomena. The latter are even more clearly oriented towards an end orpath to be followed which Jung called individuation or the fulfillmentof the "Self ": the archetype of human totality. With his bold hypothesisof Synchronicity [16] ,Jung suggested that certain aspects of reality which remain outside thecausal description of nature may be understood as synchronistic phenomenawithout regressing towards archaic forms of magical causal thought. Thus, by the light of Jung's work, theplanets and the zodiac signs are not archetypes, but rather archetypalimages or symbols. In astrology, Mars, Mercury, and Venus represent thepotentials of aggression, of initiative (Mars), of communication(Mercury), and of love (Venus), inherent in us and which we projectonto those planets which seem to best incarnate these qualities. And thefeeling of psychic coincidence that we may have in relation to the universeof our birth is not due to the physical influence of the planets, but insteadto the fact that we are born in synchronicity with the universeof our birth. As Jung contended, "we are born at a given moment, in a givenplace, and we have, like celebrated vintages the same qualities of theyear and of the season which saw our birth." [17]Astrology and the potential unity of the world Through his collaboration with the physicistWolfgang Pauli, Jung came to the conclusion that the unconscious is notlimited to the domain of psychology, but rather is related to the structuresof matter. Thus, matter and psyche are no longer two separate, antinomicspheres. Their roots originate in a common original structure which Jung,echoing the philosophers of the Middle Ages, called the unus mundus.Astrology draws from this source. And science, through its roots, sharesthe same soil. For, the real history of science reveals how itsfounders worked from symbolic forms that rose from the unconscious.[18] Kepler, father of new astronomy in the XVII century, was a devotee of astrology- an aspect of his personality tagged by science's XIX century historiansas the "bad part". Nonetheless, new translations of Kepler's works [19] reveal the integration of astrological symbols with his scientific research.They were, in fact, intermingled. They guided Kepler towards groundbreakinghypotheses which are the foundation of modern science. Newton, Kepler,and all the great innovators of science needed the symbolism of alchemyand astrology, or other elements, in order to invent. In any case, theroots of science always originate outside of its own field. Thus, as theyare built upon a similitude between the unconscious psyche and the exteriorworld, one might say that all scientific or religious attempts to orderchaos and mold reality are projections of the unconscious. Of course, sciencedoes not confine itself to the level of vision. Instead, it puts into placea process of discrimination and organization which, in physics, resultsin laws that are expressed by mathematical language. The human mind tendsto seize these visions as if they were eternal truths, but the moment comeswhen observed events no longer coincide with a given vision or hypothesisand no longer correspond with the relevant scientific theory or model.At this moment, we recognize them as projections and the hypothesis inquestion must be abandoned for new approaches. So science, like astrology, is a projectionby the unconscious onto the unknown. The knowledge of the unconscious isan unknowing knowledge which Jung described as a "cloud of knowledge" andnamed "absolute knowledge". Only at this level of the unconscious' absoluteknowledge, where the potential unity of the universe lies, are scienceand astrology one and the same thing. It is when man or mankind becomeaware of the knowledge of the unconscious, that symbolic forms, scientificconcepts and physical laws can be generated. But, at this stage, a newlevel of reality emerges - that of developed manifestation. Here, religioussystems find their uniqueness and scientific disciplines are defined. Hereappears the distinction between archetypal forms and the empty formsof archetypes. According to Jung, archetypes, the nuclei of theunconscious, cannot be perceived by the conscious but rather are emptymatrices which the conscious fills with the particulars of a dream or theelements of a distinct culture. Hence the absurdity of debates about thevalidity of such and such an astrological system and especially about theequinoctial precession. For roughly 2000 years, the Western world has usedthe mobile zodiac of signs because it best incarnates the constantlychanging occidental way of life. At this level of manifestation,it is therefore an illusion to seek unity between the different systemsof astrology or to seek a relation between science and astrology. Hence,the need to have a vertical vision of reality.Recognizing the existence of different levels of reality Today's scientific spirit is slowly abandoninga strictly materialistic conception of the world and accepting the realityof a world outside immediate reality. Aside from Jung and the physicistPauli, numerous researchers, physicists, and philosophers of science havecome to the hypothesis of a transcendental field, such as that in the implicateorder of David Bohm [20], the veiled real of Bernard d'Espagnat [21], and the subquantum field of Ervin Laszlo.[22] The paradox is that physics, which in the positivist XIX century wantedto explain everything on a sole and unique level, has been obliged to considerat least two different levels of reality: - The reality of macroscopic objectsof every day life, governed by the Aristotelian view of identity, non-contradictionand of the excluded middle. In other words, a table is a table and nota chair. - The reality of quantum objects, alreadyevoked in regards to the phenomenon of non-locality, which is the expressionof the universe as a certain, indivisible totality. If we try to understandthe behavior of these objects by the means of classical logic, we findourselves in a labyrinth of paradox. Such is the case of light which wasfirst interpreted as a corpuscle and then, with the XIX century wave theoryas a wave, until the emergence of quanta theory in 1930. Since then, wehave envisioned light as being made up of novel entities that are bothwave and particle. Thus, classical logic, based on the principleof identity, non-contradiction and the excluded middle, must cede its placeto the logic of the included middle. This included middle reveals anotherlevel of reality where that which appears disunited and contradictory (waveor particle) is perceived as united and non-contradictory. Certainphysicists cannot make room for this concept. Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblondcompares the situation to that of the first explorers who, once disembarkedin Australia, "perceived in the streams where they sought gold, strangebeasts with beaks and fur which they baptized 'duckmoles.' The Aboriginesalready had a name for the animal: 'mallingong' (or boondaburra). Unfortunately,this name was replaced by the heavy and scholarly 'ornithorhynchus' (or'platypus' for the Anglo-Saxons) since the creature was not the combinationof a duck and mole, but rather a newly discovered being. Similarly, thephysicist who manipulates light with his instruments and describes it inequations sees that in neither case is light wave or particle norsometimes one and sometimes the other, as is too often said ".[23] We therefore move to a new level of deeper reality where identity, non-contradictionand the excluded middle simultaneously disappear. It is in the framework of these new epistemologicallandscapes opened by quantum physics that one may situate astrology anddetermine its eventual connection to science. For this, a new rationalitymust come into effect - an open rationality which permits dialogue betweendiffering sciences and inner experience. This new approach is taking formunder the name transdisciplinarity. The name touches upon the twomeanings of the prefix trans: that which is beyond all disciplinesand that which traverses all possible disciplines. Article 3 ofthe Transdisciplinarity Charter specifies that "transdisciplinarity complementsthe disciplinary approach. Out of the dialogue between disciplines it producesnew results and new interactions between them. It offers a new vision ofnature and reality. Transdisciplinarity does not seek a mastery in severaldisciplines but aims to open all disciplines to what they have in commonand to what lies beyond their boundaries." [24] Science, with its protocols, demands,and specific means of existence, operates on a completely different levelthan that of the mind-inspired quest for innerness embodied by astrology.Each decode the same potential unity of the real while working fromdiffering levels of being. In his vast inquiry into the relationship betweenscience and the soul, Michel Cazenave distinguished a hierarchy of fourlevels of existence between ourselves and Being, helping to demonstratewhere and how science and astrology are profoundly united yet totally distinct. 1- The beings or entities : level ofthe psychology of the conscious and of phenomena that are relatively separate,and studied by classical macroscopic physics. Here dwells the excludedmiddle (a is a and not b). For example, Mars is theplanet Mars and not the planet Venus. 2- The Totality of being : levelof the total psyche personified in an individual, of phenomenal relativistphysics and phenomenal quantum physics. Particular entities originate fromthese actual globalities. 3- The plane of Being: realm of thepotential totality of the objective transcendental psyche, of theunus mundus, of the real at the roots of quantum physics where paradoxesand complementary pairs are found (conscious-unconscious, wave-particle).The associated logic is that of the included middle (a is at thesame time a and b). It is also the place of archetypes andastrological symbols which may signify one thing as well as its opposite.For example, the symbol Mars may be manifest both in the destructive behaviorof a serial killer and in the healing hands of a surgeon. 4- The Being: unknowable and imparticipable,beyond all contradiction and all identity as a is neither anor b.[25] Astrology, like any symbolic art, draws onthe last two levels of the above structure where the objective psyche andmatter coincide in their potential unity. Science, for its part,only deals in separate, multiple and actualized objects fromthe first two levels. But, as Cazenave insists, these four levels are mirroredin each other, the last referring to the first.The Zodiac as a mirror of the Being and as a reading grid Thus, while neither astrology nor archetypescan be explained by science, we may perceive reflectionsof astrology in science. Some contend that the future may therein be deciphered.However, with the exception of certain works in mundane astrology, onemight safely say that most astrological predictions would come out falseif exhaustive studies were conducted. The supposed accuracy of certainpredictions thus lies in simple statistical odds. If isolated nationaland world events, such as the changing of a government majority or thefall of the soviet block, have been successfully predicted, this accuracymost likely stems from the predictor's sense of history and geopolitics.Astrology does play its part, but only as a resonance on the grid of possibilitiesthat makes up the infinite game of "astrological aspects". Apparently, the solitude which oftenaccompanies power leads certain heads of state to surround themselves withastrologers. We may only hope that their official advisors adopt the scientificmethods of futurology which, while less poetic and spectacular, are betteradapted to the modern world. For everything dealing with projections onthe future prior to the astrology/astronomy split may be found today inscientific predictions. In fact, one of science's roles is to predict thefuture while specifying the limits of this predictive power. Astrologyshould no longer attempt to assume such a role. In fact, one might notethat neither the founders of psychoanalysis nor contemporary therapistshave encouraged predictive practices. The unconscious knowledge of absoluteknowledge that resides in the deepest layers of the psyche allows one to"fly over time". In fact, this knowledge is out of time or moreover, itis distributed throughout all dimensions of time including the past andthe future. Nonetheless, it is a diffuse knowledge, not allowingfor the precise and exact description of a future event. One may simplyobtain the more or less beclouded image of emerging possibilities whichMarie-Louise von Franz calls the "quality of possible events".[26] The use of astrology to meditate on the unconnected events of the pastin order to stitch them together and invest them with meaning remains valuable.However, too much speculation about the future, can become detrimentalfor it turns one's attention away from the here and now. This distancesastrology from its only possible meaning at the dawn of the XXI century:to present us with the contradictions arising from the non-integrated aspectsof our personalities as reflected in the birth chart, and to permit a dialoguewith these contradictions, ultimately leading to the awareness of the Self- the essential wholeness of our psyche. On another plane, astrology is calledthe "mother of the sciences". One might imagine that astrology's rich symbolicstructure could inspire science to elaborate new tools, aimed at the explorationof the constantly elusive aspects of the real. As Jung contended, archetypescarry out an overall movement known as circumambulatio.[27] By this, he means that they rotate around the central archetype, the Self- orchestrator of the overall organization. The zodiac of the 12 signsis a mandala (symbol of the totality) which perfectly illustratesthe wheel of archetypes. It is harmoniously structured by the numbers andprincipally by the numbers four (the elements of fire, earth, air and water)and three (the qualities which are cardinal, fixed and mutable). In fact,it can be considered as a rich reading grid that uses a potential conceptuallanguage, a sort of "qualitative mathematics". Thanks to its square andopposition features, the circular structure of the zodiac allows for botha diachronic and synchronic reading. Well before it permitted the delineationof an individual or collective narrative, astrology was perceived by theancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, and Islamic traditions as the reflectionof creation and the evolution of the world. Before anything else, astrologyis therefore cosmogony. Today, scientific cosmology brandishes proof toshow that the universe has a history. The universe had a beginning, willhave an end, and by certain interpretations, is susceptible to cyclicalevolution. Remarkably, the different stages of this history match the meaningsbehind the twelve signs of the zodiac.[28] As new cosmological theories lose footing in the approach towards timezero, the zodiacal structure may clarify certain relationships, perhapsleading to a new scientific approach to the singularity of the universe'sorigin. Of course, this use of astrology must not confuse the manifestedtotalities studied by science with the potential totality illustrated bythe zodiac.The truth of astrology Those who attempt to prove astrology throughscience perpetuate the early century belief of Bertrand Russell for whom"the only truth is science". This scientific vision of truth is a prolongationof the traditional conception of truth which has dominated occidental thoughtsince Aristotle. For this philosopher, "true discourse is similar to things"(De Interpretatione). The same concept then returned during theMiddle-Ages when Aquinas insisted that truth is adequacy and in Descartes'conception that truth equals certitude because it guarantees rectitude,an accord with the represented object. More recently, Kant mirrored Aristotlewhen he wrote that "it is only by judgment, in other words, by the relationshipof an object to our understanding, that one finds truth and error".[29] Astrology's truth cannot be defined bythese philosophers' terms. The individual who meditates on his planetaryblueprint does find adequacy between the representation of the universeat his moment of birth and his inner life. But, as far as astrology isconcerned, this remains a correspondence of symbolic proportions.And no symbolic system of interpretation is absolutely true, the symbolbeing characterized by its polysemy and multivocal abundance. The symbol'sopaque language opens to infinite interpretations. Unlike scientific languagewhich seeks to explain and give account of natural phenomena, symboliclanguage such as that of astrology demands interpretation and guidesus towards the core of our interiority. The natal chart is not a conventionalrepresentation. It is a path of a hidden meaning, the meaning of a newunity through which we merge with the archetypal structure of our verybeing. The truth of astrology is thus the truthof the symbol. While another truth assumes adequacy of the thing, astrology'struth belongs to the essence of Being. This is not a truth of agreementbut of unveiling, like that in Plato's cave. Plato and the neoplatonictradition gave truth this status and, during the Middle Ages, Saint Bonaventurereflected a similar vision, meditating that truth "does not come from existingmatter, for matter is contingent, nor from its existence in the mind, asthis would be mere fiction if the thing were not truly present. Rather,it ensues from the exemplary nature of the divine archetype which decidesthe properties and the mutual sequence of all things based on the sketchesof eternal wisdom".[30] This notion of an essential truth is found in Jung's process of individuationthrough which man perceives his own, singular verity. And so unfolds thetruth of the Self which is also that found through meditating on one'sbirth chart.[1] La Pensée Scientifiqueet les Parasciences, Albin Michel, 1993, Paris« Text[2] Jean-Jacques Wunenberger,Les Rythmes, Lectures et Théories, Centre Culturel Internationalde Cerisy, L'Harmattan, 1992, Paris« Text[3] Chronobiology and itsRoots in Cosmos, Bratislava 1997. See also Kosice 1993 and Bratislava1994, Moon and Living Matter, Professor M. Mikulecky, Slovak MedicalSociety, Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medecine, Limbova 14, SK83301 Bratislava, Slovakia« Text[4] Jean Charon, UnknownSpirit: the Unity of Matter and Spirit in Space and Time, Sigo Press,1991« Text[5] Etienne Guillé,Le Langage Vibratoire de la Vie, Le Rocher, 1990, Paris« Text[6] The Skeptical Inquirer,Box 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703 USA« Text[7] Suzel Fuzeau-Braesch, Astrologie: la Preuve par Deux, Robert Laffont, 1992, Paris« Text[8] Henri Broch, L'Extravagante" Manip " des Jumeaux, in Science et Vie n° 916, 1994, Paris« Text[9] Claude Benski and al.,The "Mars Effect", Prometheus Books, 1995« Text[10] Suitbert Ertel, KennethIrving, The Tenacious Mars Effect, The Urania Trust, London, 1996« Text[11] Dane Rudhyar, TheAstrology of Personality, Lucis Publishing Co., New-York, 1936« Text[12] André Barbault,De la Psychanalyse à l'Astrologie, Editions du Seuil, 1961,Paris« Text[13] Carl Gustav Jung,Collected Works, Vol. 9-1, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1959(p.23)« Text[14] Carl Gustav Jung, Letters,1951-1961, Vol. 9 , Princeton University Press, 1992« Text[15] Michel Cazenave, Junget la Modernité, une Introduction, in Cahiers Jungiens dePsychanalyse, numéro 80 (1, place de l'école militaire),Paris, 1996« Text[16] Carl Gustav Jung,Synchronicity : an Acausal Connecting Principle, Princeton UniversityPress, 1972« Text[17] Carl Gustav Jung, ModernMan in Search of a Soul, Hartcourt Brace & Company, 1976« Text[18] Michel Cazenave, LaScience et les Figures de l'Âme, Le Rocher, 1996, Paris« Text[19] Johannes Kepler, TheSecret of the Universe, Abaris Books, 1981« Text[20] David Bohm, Wholenessand the Implicate Order, Routledge, 1996« Text[21] Bernard d'Espagnat,In Search of Reality, Springer Verlag, 1983« Text[22] Ervin Laszlo, InterconnectedUniverse : Conceptual Foundations of Transdisciplinary Unified Theory,World Scientific Pub Co., 1995 « Text[23] Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond,Aux Contraires, Gallimard, 1996, Paris (p. 32)« Text[24] Basarab Nicolescu, Transdisciplinarity: a Manifesto, Watersign Press, Lexington, Kentucky, 1998« Text[25] Michel Cazenave, LaScience et l'Âme du monde, Albin Michel, 1996, Paris« Text[26] Marie-Louise von Franz,On Divination and Synchronicity, the Psychology of Meaningful Chance,Inner City Books, 1980, Toronto« Text[27] Carl Gustav Jung, TheSecret of the Golden Flower, Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1970« Text[28] Alain Nègre, EntreScience et Astrologie, S.P.M. (34 rue Jacques Louvel Tessier 75010),Paris« Text[29] Kant, Critique ofPure Reason, New Ed. Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1992« Text[30] Saint Bonaventure, TheJourney of the Mind to God, Hackett Publishing Company, 1993 «TextEd. N.: This article was first published in Considerations (Issue 13.2: 1998).Alain Nègre is a professor of Electronics at the Universityof Grenoble. He is not an astrologer but has maintained a long and active interest in astrology.You can contact him at Alain.Negre@ujf-grenoble.fr or write him at 16,rue Jules Siegfried (38400 Saint Martin d'Hères, France). His bookEntre Science et Astrologie is available at S.P.M. (34, rue JacquesLouvel Tessier, 75010 Paris) Tel. (33) 1 44 52 54 80 ; Fax (33) 1 44 5254 82To cite this page:Alain Nègre: A Transdisciplinary Approachto Science and Astrologyhttp://cura.free.fr/quinq/02negre2.html-----------------------All rights reserved © 1998-1999Alain NègreHOMEACCUEIL PORTADACentre Universitaire de Recherche en AstrologieWeb site Designer & Editor: Patrice Guinard© 1999-2001 Dr. Patrice Guinard  |
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