Astrology and the Theory of Correspondences
by Ray Grasse
I sense the world might be more dreamlike, metaphorical, and poetic than we currently believe—but just as irrational as sympathetic magic when looked at in a typically scientific way. I wouldn’t be surprised if poetry—poetry in the broadest sense, in the sense of a world filled with metaphor, rhyme, and recurring patterns, shapes, and designs—is how the world works.
— David Byrne, Bicycle Diaries
Over the years I’ve had any number of friendly debates with colleagues as to exactly how astrology works. During those exchanges I’ve come across multiple theories which try to answer that question, drawing on such wide-ranging concepts as geo-magnetism, quantum non-locality, fractals, gravity, string theory, sacred geometry, Jung’s theory of “synchronicity,” or perhaps some subtle-but-as-yet-unknown energy of nature. Implicit in many of these discussions, directly or indirectly, has been the allied query as to just how far science can go towards either proving or explaining astrology.
My own thoughts about this are complex, since there are actually several issues at work here, not just one. But in a broad sense, I’ve come to believe understanding astrology’s worldview requires a fundamentally different way of thinking about the world than what we employ when practicing science, reading a newspaper, or for that matter balancing our checkbooks.
Astrology involves a more symbolic and metaphoric mode of perceiving that “sees through” surfaces to uncover hidden dimensions of knowledge and connections not immediately apparent to the physical eye, and which trafficks in patterns of meaning rather than discrete bits of data. What follows are a few real-life examples which illustrate these nuances, and that I hope will stimulate further discussion into this complex and multi-leveled discipline.
The Many Faces of Venus in Capricorn
A woman came to me whose horoscope showed she was born with Venus in Capricorn. During our conversation she informed me that she’d been married twice over the course of her life—and both of those marriages took place on mountains. I found that fascinating, since mountains are of course associated with Capricorn, and Venus associated with love, so that juxtaposition of planet and sign seemed to find a perfect expression in her own marital experiences. (She had no real knowledge of astrology, by the way, so it was simply her love of elevated areas and scenic vistas that caused her to choose those locations for her nuptial vows, not any conscious preconceptions involving astrology.)
Needless to say, a manifestation like that would be perfectly understandable to any astrologer, because of the symbolism involved. But imagine trying to explain any of this to a hard-nosed scientist. What connection could possibly exist between a celestial pattern in the sky and romantic experiences on mountains down here on Earth? After all, it’s one thing to claim there is a connection between the Moon and the tides, for example, since we can analyze how gravity works, measure the size of the Moon and the Earth, map out the distance between them, and so on, since that’s all relatively understandable within a strictly mechanistic framework. But when you start talking about Venus up in a particular segment of the sky and someone down here on Earth getting married on mountains—what possible causal or mechanical relationship would explain something like that? And why mountains? Why not riverbanks, canyons, seashores, forests, or even alleyways?
But it gets even stranger than that. You see, it just so happened that my client had an identical twin, a brother, born several minutes after her and who had the same basic Ascendant and Moon sign, as well as Venus in Capricorn. But that twin brother never got married on mountains, no. For him, Venus in Capricorn manifested through a profound love of architecture—yet another Capricorn symbol, in keeping with that sign’s emphasis on structures. He designed buildings for a living, in fact, and did so with a beautiful eye for form and patterns.
I could multiply examples of other clients born with Venus in Capricorn who experienced that same planet/sign combination in still other ways—such as the artist who specialized in painting portraits of the elderly, or the woman who married a prominent politician, or even a client whose hobby was raising goats! Capricornian symbols, all. So aside from the question as to how there might be a tangible connection between Venus in Capricorn in the sky and someone getting married on mountains, there is the equally great mystery as to why there might be so many different manifestations of that planet/sign combination in people’s lives, from mountains and architecture to the elderly and goats, and still others. What intrinsic connection could there possibly be among all these diverse forms, so seemingly different from one another on their surface?
The answer, esoterically, lies in a traditional concept referred as the theory of correspondences, an ancient doctrine that suggests all phenomena are embraced in an invisible web of affinities. As such, phenomena that seem completely different on their surface may actually be linked, synchronistically, through a hidden network of “subterranean” resonances and affinities, based in turn upon a deeper ground of archetypal principles—whether you prefer to think of these as geometric principles, Numbers, planets, or something else entirely. Those clients of mine with Venus in Capricorn reflected a connection with that celestial configuration not because that planet in that sign was somehow emanating “mountain-like,” “architecture-like,” or even “goat-like” (!) rays down to us here on Earth, but because all these varied forms were cosmically linked through subtle webs of meaning.
Said a little differently, a person’s horoscope reveals the essential archetypal principles at work in someone’s life, but those essential principles can manifest through a wide range of forms and symbols, which are linked to one another by means of metaphor and analogy rather than via any purely physical forces or dynamics.
Simple, eh? Well, maybe not. But that pretty much sums up the worldview of astrology, and it’s dramatically different from the one which describes the world as seen through the eyes of conventional science.
Science Enters Through the Back Door
But there’s an interesting twist to our story. During the early 1950s, French statistician Michel Gauquelin and his wife Francoise conducted a groundbreaking study into the workings of astrology. As a result of cataloguing literally thousands of birth horoscopes, they discovered that certain planetary patterns appeared with surprising consistency in the charts of prominent individuals in ways that correlated closely with basic astrological tenets. (1)
For example, among their findings was the discovery that a statistically significant number of prominent sports figures were born shortly after Mars either rose or culminated in the sky. On the other hand, Saturn tended to show up more conspicuously in the charts of scientists and physicians, while for actors and politicians Jupiter was more of a factor—and so on. While Gauquelin’s research didn’t support every facet of traditional astrological doctrine—nor was it designed to—it validated one of its most fundamental concepts, namely, there is a relationship between certain planetary positions at birth and certain professions. As John Anthony West used to say, that fact alone is enough to send the materialistic worldview crashing down like a house of cards, since it essentially validates the presence of meaning in the cosmos.
Gauquelin’s work is just one in a series of research projects over the decades which have attempted to apply the methodologies of science and statistics towards testing or validating astrology. Some of the other scientific models which have been applied towards this end are the quantum notion of “entanglement” (2), the principle of fractals (3·, or even the mathematical concept of the fibonacci series (4). But as I believe my earlier examples show, there will always be certain elements of astrology that lie just beyond the grasp of any purely materialistic approach, due to those factors of symbolism and “meaning” implicit in correspondence theory. In the end, it makes for an ironic situation, since science may actually wind up proving astrology works, insofar as showing something is really “there,” without being able to fully explain how or why it does.
Let me explain what I mean by that. I mentioned how Michel Gauquelin’s work revealed that Mars shows up prominently in the horoscopes of many sports champions. That is empirical, repeatable, and bears out a key facet of astrology. But it doesn’t resolve the vexing question as to why Mars should specifically be the planet related to sports, and not Venus? Or the Moon? Or Saturn? Gauquelin’s work is important in at least verifying that these odd connections do exist, but it doesn’t actually bring us closer toward understanding why they do.
Along a similar line, there are intriguing studies which show that certain celestial patterns involving the Sun are linked to the rise and fall of gold prices, and can be predicted in advance. (5) This, too, is empirical and demonstrable. But how do these findings explain why there would be a connection specifically between the Sun and gold—and not, say, with tin, copper, or lead?
As astrologers, we tend to take these correspondences and rulerships for granted, but we shouldn’t, because they hint at something truly profound about our discipline. Take just a moment to reflect, and it becomes clear that astrology incorporates hidden levels of meaning which link diverse phenomena throughout the world in deeply symbolic ways. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it,
Secret analogies tie together the remotest parts of Nature, as the atmosphere of a summer morning is filled with innumerable gossamer threads running in every direction, revealed by the beams of the rising sun.
The Big Picture
To really understand this, I need to place it all into an even broader frame, so I’ll finish with an example that raises more far-reaching questions about not just correspondence but astrology’s larger workings in our world.
This one occurred to me while watching a news story on TV about a local resident who was sitting in the bleachers at a baseball game and became injured by a runaway foul ball. The story caught my attention because of a similar case from my own files involving a client who was also hit by a stray foul ball at a game, and who also sustained an injury to her face. Needless to say, when that client of mine first called to ask what was happening in her horoscope, I was just as intrigued as she was to find out what that might be. Not too surprisingly, I discovered that Uranus was closely squaring her Mars at the time—I say “not too surprisingly” because, as most astrologers know, that’s a planetary combo commonly associated with unexpected accidents, especially those involving the head (the part of the body “ruled” by Mars). To be sure, the symbolism of that ballpark incident fit perfectly for her, and succinctly illustrated the principle of correspondence in action.
But stop and think about that entire scenario for a moment.
Exactly at the point when the woman had an accident-prone aspect firing in her horoscope, a stray baseball hit by a complete stranger careened over 70 feet to hit her on the head.
Yes, the symbolism fits perfectly, but what brought all those disparate factors together at that precise moment: the stranger at bat, the seemingly random foul ball, my client’s face, and the over-arching astrological configurations at the time? Somehow these all coalesced to give rise to that unique situation, all with the intricacy of clockwork. Yet she herself had little control over (let alone conscious understanding of) how that all played out.
In cases like these, astrology no longer seems like just a matter of some mechanistic “force” emanating down from the skies to individuals, or of gravitational energies or quantum principles affecting people’s lives, but of something much larger.
Rather, we begin to see it involves an organizing principle that extends throughout the environment, orchestrating phenomena and diverse people in meaningful ways that lie completely beyond the conscious control or influence of any one individual. Yes, there are correspondences and abundant symbolic connections permeating our world. But what arranges and unifies them in the complex and interlocking ways we see them manifesting in our lives and throughout the entire world?
Perhaps you can see where I’m going with this. It’s hard to avoid using weighty terms like “fate” or “destiny” or even “God” to explain the mysterious ways phenomena converge to fulfill the needs of a single horoscope and life, as well as all lives together. But what do terms like that really mean? One can always choose to fall back on words like “synchronicity,” and I often do, but too often these terms are casually trotted out as if to explain the great mystery at hand when they merely slap a name onto it.
Examples like this strongly suggest the presence of a grand design encompassing our world within which our own destinies are embedded—wheels within wheels, as it were—all seemingly orchestrated by an overarching intelligence that coordinates events like a conductor directing a symphony orchestra, making it possible for diverse phenomena and individuals to coalesce in incredibly intricate and meaningful ways.
Seen through an astrological lens, the cosmos thus begins to look less like a dead machine and more like a vast dream, one that expresses itself in the language of symbolism, analogy, and correspondences rather than frozen, discrete “facts.”
In the end, it’s not that science and astrology are at odds with one another so much as the fact that conventional science is by itself ill-equipped to explain astrology’s more symbolic and meaning-filled workings. As a result, the quantitative approach of science may indeed prove valuable in measuring or even validating some of astrology’s key concepts, while opening new doors to previously unknown techniques and concepts. (6) But to fully explain those principles and methods will require a deeper dive into the philosophical worldview which underlies our practice. In doing so we stand a better chance of grasping the rich depths which lie not only in the poetic heart of this ancient discipline, but within the cosmos itself. (7)
Notes:
The article was first published in Ray Grasseʹs book StarGates and republished in the Astrological Journal (Sep/Oct 2020).
1. Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior, by Michel Gauquelin, ASI Press, 1978. See also http://www.astrology-and-science.com/g-hist2.htm
2. The quantum physical principle known as “entanglement” is based on something commonly referred to as non-locality. Simply put, this theory suggests that our conventional (or “local”) notions of space and distance are actually illusions and everything is really connected at a deeper level beyond visible appearances. Manipulate a sub-atomic particle over on this side of the universe and it somehow seems to affect the behavior of a particular far away, instantaneously, in seeming defiance of the speed of light. Some have suggested this principle might help us understand the workings of astrology, because of that element of “spooky action at a distance” and interconnectedness that it implies. If two particles widely separated in space can be instantaneously be connected, then perhaps this might also help explain astrology, and how humans might be connected to distant planets and stars—right? Well, not really. While that concept does illustrate one relatively small facet of astrology—namely, how distant phenomena can be connected to one another in non-causal ways—it does nothing at all to explain the more mysterious types of connections implied by astrology, specifically with the theory of correspondences. Correspondence theory takes that sense of connectedness one step further by incorporating tendrils of meaning which extend in many different directions—such as when someone born with Venus in Capricorn is drawn toward getting married specifically on mountains, or cause their twin brother to become involved with architecture, or compel another client to become involved with raising goats. These are relationships of a very different sort than those which simply involve particles instantaneously connected through space.
3. A fractal is any geometric form which involves patterns of self-similarity across different scales, similar to the way the fringes of snowflakes mirror the overall shapes of those snowflakes. It’s definitely true that fractals do mirror certain aspects of traditional correspondence theory, as expressed by the Hermetic axiom “As above, so below” (something I pointed out in The Waking Dream), while also resonating well with certain other facets of astrology (e.g., the day-for-a-year method of progressions mentioned earlier, in which a movement of a planet several days past birth mirrors the influence of that planet an equal number of years moving forward into their life). Indeed, the horoscope itself seems to be “fractal-like” in the way a person’s life reflects the patterns of the entire cosmos but in miniature. But here as well, there are dimensions of meaning involved which would completely elude any purely materialistic understanding of fractals. Just try explaining to a skeptically-minded scientist how fractalized principles like these somehow translate into a person’s real-world experiences. For instance, suppose that 30 days after that scientist was born, his/her progressed Venus moved forward to conjunct their natal 7th house cusp, and that’s exactly when they got married. Astrologically, that’s straightforward, and definitely fractal-like. But the scientist would be baffled as to what mechanism could possibly link those mathematical measurements specifically with someone getting married! Here as well, the strictly scientific approach can’t explain the symbolic manifestations which arise out of those abstract principles and processes.
4. Skeptics often claim that the zodiac’s twelve-fold structure is largely arbitrary and not inherent in the world itself. (After all, why not divvy the sky up into eight zodiacal signs? Or fourteen?) Astrologer Russell Ohlhausen argues there is indeed a good reason for this twelve-fold patterning based on something known as the Fibonacci number sequence. (See https://cosmicintelligenceagency.com/fibonaccizodiac/) It’s a brilliant conception, although here as well, one would be hard-pressed to explain why or how that numerical basis specifically translates into the myriad experiences and tangible symbols of actual human life. For example, even if you could show that the zodiacal sign Gemini likely arises out of a specific numerical pattern or sequencing, how would that explain why the Geminian segment of the zodiac should relate specifically to matters like communication and thinking, and not to such concerns as home, mother, and nurturing (experiences normally associated with Cancer)? In short, even this theory of Ohlhausen’s requires a symbolic component above and beyond pure mathematics and geometry to explain its real-world manifestations, which is a component science is unable to fully account for.
5. See www.astrosoftware.com/goldpriceforecast.htm; also http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/astrological-study-on-gold-prices-hits-the-mother-load/
6. For more information about cutting-edge research into the application of scientific methods to astrology, see the work of David Cochrane, whose videos on YouTube are an invaluable resource for astrologers at every level of expertise: www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0hTApPdhw4ImbIGxzyO7g.
7. For a discussion of the deeper role of symbolism, metaphor, and sacred geometry in astrology, see also my essay The Songs of Dismembered Gods: Exploring the Archetypal Roots of Astrology, adapted from chapter 11 of my book The Waking Dream for The Mountain Astrologer (February, 2011), and featured online on the Astrodienst site here: https://www.astro.com/astrology/tma_article181029_e.htm
About the author:
Ray Grasse has been an associate editor of The Mountain Astrologer magazine for over 20 years, and is author of many books, including The Waking Dream, An Infinity of Gods, Under a Sacred Sky, and When the Stars Align. This essay has been adapted from StarGates: Essays on Astrology, Symbolism, and the Synchronistic Universe. His website is www.raygrasse.com
© Ray Grasse 2023
