Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
Albert Einstein
We get that it might not matter if Startelling uses XYZ type of astrology to meet your needs. Still, our mission (not to say duty) is to share with current & future clients—perhaps with the population—that Ancient Astrology can be a source for living a integrated life with the Universe, without being necessarily spiritual about it but rather mysterious.
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Five thousand years ago, people around the ancient region of Babylon began to witness and collect information by observing the correlations between earthly events and the movement of celestial bodies. Over time, this Art was also noticed and improved by Persians, Indians, Egyptians, and Greeks. Part of their knowledge and philosophical schools, such as Neopythagoreans, Platonists, and Stoics, alongside mathematical, metaphysical, symbolical, and linguistic foundations, formed what we call Ancient, Classic, or Traditional Astrology.
The Greek god Hermes Trismegistus' saying, "Above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul," became a motif to exemplify whether a kind would die or people would harvest enough food by looking at how a certain placement in the sky was happening on the earth.
Astrology was considered an academic discipline, and renowned astronomers like Ptolemy and Kepler were also astrologers. In its lengthy background, it created a complete collection of systems and structures to help humanity investigate the cycles of one's life, not limited to it but of things, cities, and countries. This investigation can be internal but, mostly, it will be external. The weather says it will rain, not that you'll be sad or happy about it (psychologists are better on that).
Astrology's roots are based on nature. Therefore, as we know, in the fall, the leaves will fall, we know on a level if one will get married many times during his life. So, imagine shortcutting centuries of knowledge or including other fields of study to make it popular.
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After the Industrial Revolution, i.e., 18th century, Astrology and other esoteric studies started to decline. Some of the reasons are the imposition of Christianity, the replacement of the natural philosophy to the new scientific method, and the refusal of the theory that the human being (the microcosm) is a miniature version of the Universe (the macrocosm), therefore connected.
Around the 1890s, the English author, publisher, and theosophist Alan Leo, whose birth name was William Frederick Allan, added "Leo" to honor his sun sign (lol), brought up the idea that astrology, especially our sun sign, representing our personality, helping popularize horoscopes. Conversely, the psychologist Carl Jung made a bridge by bringing the psyche archetype. Fast forward to the New Age phase, many spiritual beliefs grew during the early 1970s. The contemporary approach was redirected to focus on self-knowledge, analyzing the astrological tools to tell who one is, and the evolutionary side emphasized the karmic aspect.
In practice, what hurts the most in astrology's history is that Modernity turned such a deep study into a cooking recipe: Sun + Zodiac + House =____. The contemporary method, from the technical standpoint, became a mess. It's like adding ground coffee to your pasta because you like them both.
Religion is religion, psychology is psychology, and Astrology is none of them. Astrology is a study based on nature to qualify time. Astrology doesn't imply morals; people do. Nothing is good or bad. Lions can be aggressive. Florida is a hot state. Everything just is.
WHERE WE STAND
Even if you haven't read the other boxes, Startelling is firm that it's possible to make astrology nowadays using only ancient techniques. Yet, you might wonder: “How is an old theory & practice still helpful without being updated?” Well, it's simple: context! Humanity still faces the same dilemmas from centuries ago. The world has changed, and it hasn't.
Startelling is loyal to astrology’s earliest foundation because, in practice, it does improve modern life. But to take advantage of that, we should be open to respecting the sovereignty of what came before humanity: nature. Realizing that a lion will never act like a monkey reinforces that our existence also has a unique modus operandi. While technology has improved bicycle wheels, a bicycle can't have a car's wheels because they are distinctive, although they share the function of transporting. The ancestral philosophy without technology reveals much about our limitations and possibilities by looking at the nature of things. So instead of forcing ourselves, others, or situations to fit our insistent
“rational thought” (which might not be aligned with our cosmic life’s script), we encourage people to reevaluate their logical postures for embodying, adapting, overcoming, and find solutions accordingly to their micro-macrocosm DNA. The ancient astrology takeaway reminds us that we can do anything, but we cannot do everything.
In contrast, Startelling emphasizes people’s creative side through astrology. We learn this innovative perspective is possible while still honoring ancient roots. As much we love being inspired by other fields, like the Arts, we don’t let that mess with the foundation, so we look to draw parallels. Astrology is a symbolic language, but it has a linear methodology. Accommodating the “new” is somehow possible, but this factor shouldn’t be added randomly because it’s trendy, spiritual, or because NASA has discovered a new constellation. Learning and applying minimal historical knowledge should be, at least, a requirement for further & real evolution in our field.
Those who engage in the prediction of the future and the truth, having acquired a soul that is free and not enslaved, do not think highly of fortune, do not devote themselves to hope, nor are they afraid of death, but instead they live their lives undaunted by disturbance by training their souls to be confident, and neither rejoice excessively in the case of good, nor become depressed in the case of bad, but instead are content with whatever is present. Those who do not desire the impossible are capable of bearing that which is preordained through their own self-mastery; and being estranged from all pleasure or praise, they become established as soldiers of fate.
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Vettius Vallens, 2nd-century Hellenistic astrologer, Anthology.