The Sky Is Meaningful
One of the oldest accusations against astrology is that it belongs to a discarded universe. Once the Earth was no longer understood as the physical centre of creation, the argument goes, astrology should have collapsed with it. If the planets do not literally revolve around us, how can they meaningfully speak to us?
But this objection misunderstands what astrology is doing.
When I was five, I had my first conversation with my father about the existence of God — or at least the first conversation I can remember.
That I would have such a conversation with Dad was not, in itself, remarkable. He was preoccupied with religion, though very much from his own particular angle. He would talk about God with whomever happened to be available.
Writing has always seemed to me a kind of alchemy.
The old alchemists believed that hidden within common and seemingly worthless substances lay the possibility of transformation. Their work began with the prima materia — dark, unformed matter — and through a long process of purification and refinement sought to reveal gold concealed within it.