Shamanic Astrology Mystery School

This is an introduction to Shamanic Astrology as taught by Daniel Giamario, and is specifically designed to provide valuable information about your first Shamanic Astrology reading. This introduction covers the philosophy of Shamanic Astrology, how the chart is revealed through the script, the cycles and their significance, and an investigation into relationships through chart comparison.

Shamanic Astrology readings provide clues within an archetypal and mythical framework creating greater awareness for conscious participation with life purpose and the great mystery. Each reading acts to cellularly activate your divine blueprint and bring it further into conscious awareness and understanding, so you can uniquely and creatively express your true essence.

At the Turning Of The Ages our perception of time accelerates and collective confusion is prevalent. Shamanic Astrology provides us with a valuable tool for confirming what we already know, or sense, and assists us in trusting our own inner knowing and inner process. Thus, we can better comprehend and embrace the essence or our original intent, while consciously dreaming the dream onward.

Shamanic Astrology is designed to assist an individual in taking responsibility for their own life. This system is based on the hermetic principle, which says; “As Above, So Below!” This is not operating from the perspective of Cause and Effect!!! Rather, the basis comes from the understanding that the cycles or patterns of the outer world, correspond with the inner cycles and patterns of our own psyche. These cycles and patterns represent the unfoldment of our own lives.Carl Jung referred to this as ‘synchronicity’, meaning events that happen together in time. Thus, it is acausal.

The outer cycles don’t cause the inner cycles; they are reflections of each other. Shamanic Astrology takes this idea beyond that, and suggests the outer cycles and the inner cycles are precisely the same thing. The patternings of the constellations are the As Above representation of our So Below great myths and themes rooted in our culture, and therefore, rooted in our consciousness.

Shamanic Astrology looks at the natal chart as a script with clues about our original intent. Thus, the symbols and archetypes of the script are statements of intent. A human being always has the freedom to choose to cooperate with their original intent. We are not forced to be a certain way. Twelve individuals, with Sun in Aries, and Scorpio Rising, are not all the same, but they do all have the same intent.

The main purpose of Shamanic Astrology is to give a person the understanding of their original intent, thereby assisting them, through the power of knowledge, in taking command and control of their own life, and giving them a vision of possibilities. These possibilities include a sense of life purpose, empowering the person with the knowledge of what their life purpose issues are. This is based on the idea that the predominant human motivation is not survival, not power, not sexuality, but is ultimately the quest for meaning and purpose. The quest for meaning and purpose is the real foundation of what drives people. So, if everything in life is going badly, but the person has a sense of meaning or purpose, they can sort it out. They can go forward. If they can discern what the underlying meaning is, then they can create a life that has purpose and magic.

This is not Sun sign astrology and it does not emphasize Sun signs. The Sun is one of many factors on the natal chart. In the last one-hundred years an emphasis was placed on Sun signs because it was easy for a person to know their Sun sign. Before the popularization of Sun Sign Astrology, people gave their Moon sign when asked what their sign was. The Sun is in a sign for thirty days and the Moon is in a sign for two and a half, so the Moon sign is more individualizing than the Sun sign. However, even using the Moon sign is a limiting approach, because the chart as a whole is important and extracting any one element from it does not adequately identify a person.

In Shamanic Astrology, all the archetypes of the signs and planets are valid and equally important. For example, the Moon can show up in any one of twelve different signs. No one sign is greater or better and no one sign is worse for the Moon (or any other planet). Whether or not a person experiences their Moon sign as comparatively easy or difficult is based upon what the prejudices of the given culture are. Our current culture has rendered judgments in the past that have supported certain approaches to being human and invalidated others.

Shamanic Astrology is a full spectrum approach, presenting the vision and understanding that all archetypal approaches to being human are valid. It is time now to know, understand, and validate the expression of the full spectrum of human potential, including all the archetypes, and all the different possibilities available to the male and female principle.

Shamanic Astrology is an antidote for patriarchal extremes. Patriarchal astrology elevated the Sun sign as one God above all others. Ultimately, it was the elevation of the male principle above all others. Shamanic Astrology looks at the whole horoscope in a polytheistic way. There are many Gods and Goddesses. One principle, or one planet, does not operate in a healthy way without reference to all the rest of them. The Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars, and all the of the planets, represent the complexity of the entire script.

The Script

Shamanic Astrology looks at the horoscope as a symphony of three movements, or as a script for our life, outlining the original intent. The chart as a symphony plays the first movement through the lineage. The lineage refers to the idea that when a person is born, they are not a blank slate. A person comes into the life with a whole series of expectations, habits, addictions, and attitudes that are in place at birth. The Moon position is an indicator of past life themes, what tribe a person comes from, what university they have several Ph.Ds from, the family history, and what is written in the genetic code. Although, past life themes are referred to, this is not literal past life work. We are looking at the past life themes in a mythological way, or as underlying mythos for a person’s life. Whether or not a person has literally had these experiences in past lives is irrelevant, because the stories work.

We are creating a personal mythology for each person from the symbols on the horoscope that have to do with lineage. The Moon position is saying what a person was doing in the past. For example, a person with a Capricorn Moon has mastery in the area of the Capricorn archetype or mystery school. They come into the life with training (or impressions) in that version of reality.

This introduction is not designed to go into the meaning of all the different Moon positions, or the meanings associated with the other portions of the script. Rather, this is designed to share a sense of the scope of the script, so when a person receives their reading they have an idea of the kinds of things that will be covered. Knowledge of the Moon allows us to determine the addictions and attachments a person has. It also represents the areas of life where a person, at a certain point, has to get their power back.

It is important to know it doesn’t matter how perfect a person is with their Moon or lineage; even if they lived the principles of their Moon tribe perfectly, it is insufficient to their liberation. Living according to the principles of the Moon is regressive. At best, the Moon is the foundation, the ground on which all the current life activity stands on, but without attachment. Interestingly, the only portion of the entire horoscope that has much to do with how a person tends to be when they come into the life, is the Moon. Virtually everything else on the entire horoscope are statements of intent. That’s why the Moon position is similar to the portions of astrology describing personality traits, general characteristics, and qualities a person is born with.

Tools and Equipment

The second part of the script has to do with the tools and equipment of the current life. There are five symbols that determine what the tools and equipment are. These symbols are Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. The Sun is best understood as the fuel a person burns, or the type of food a person needs to eat or consume, so they can grow as quickly as possible in the direction of their current life goals. However, the Venus and Mars position are more important with reference to the specific archetype, or images associated with the version of the feminine and masculine a person is working on in the current life.

The male and female principles are like a twelve-spoked wheel. Each spoke of the wheel is presided over by different Gods or Goddesses, different stories, different myths, and a different set of themes. This is a system of twenty-four archetypes. The importance of this is that it gives the entire spectrum of possibilities. Remember, all the Gods and Goddesses, or all the Venus and Mars positions are equally valid and important. There is no judgment about one being better, or worse, than another.

Since the Venus and Mars position are archetype specific they are more dominant than the Sun sign. If the Sun sign is in a different sign than the Venus or the Mars, it is important to first understand the Venus or the Mars. Once the Venus and Mars are understood, then we say they burn the fuel of the Sun. Approximately one out of twelve men have Sun and Mars in the same sign, and approximately one out of three or four women have Sun and Venus in the same sign.

The majority of people have an individualistic feature that requires an understanding of the archetype of the Venus or Mars as something separate from the Sun. Remember, rather than being statements of how a person is, these are statements of intent. As mentioned before, twelve people with Mars in Scorpio may not all be the same, but they do all have the same intent.

Astrology in this form can’t be proven by mechanistic, linear, scientific methods, because intent can not be quantified. Otherwise, correlations could be made about people with Mars in Scorpio, such as they will all end up becoming nuclear physicists, or they will always have a particular sexual style. However, because Mars in Scorpio is a statement of intent, it can’t be quantified. Men with Mars in Scorpio, either, desire to develop the qualities associated with Mars in Scorpio, or they are already in the process of developing these qualities, but because of all these factors, and others not yet mentioned, they are still not all the same. Spiritual psychology can’t be quantified in a mechanistic, left brained, logical, rational way, because it is dynamic and progressive, and needs conscious awareness to activate it.

Next on the script are Mercury and Jupiter. They also represent the tools and equipment of the current life. Mercury has to do with how a person thinks, and Jupiter represents the kind of life experiences that take a person to their life goals as fast as possible.

The Ascendant and Other Angles of the Chart

The third portion of the script has to do with what this is all leading too. This is the most individualizing and important part of the script. It is why we need to know the birth time. Without knowing the exact birthtime, we can not know the angles of the horoscope, the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and Nadir. The angles change degrees about every four minutes, and change signs about every two hours. This is what individuates the horoscope, and describe the uniqueness of each person. Without the exact birthtime about seventy-five percent of the script is accessible, such as what tribe a person is from, who is the emerging God or Goddess, etc. . These are important things to know. However, these factors are not individualistic enough to define what it is that makes a person truly, clearly, a separate, unique human being.

The angles of the chart deal directly with experiential astrology, because the angles are determined by what is happening in the sky when a person is born. The Rising sign is the primary symbol of a person’s current life mystery school, life purpose, or the Personal Identity Project. The Midheaven symbolizes the Right Livelihood Project. Historically, in astrology, what is coming up over the eastern horizon, and what is directly over head at the time of birth are the most important symbols of a person’s fate or destiny. Hence, the comparative high level of importance to those issues are also associated with Shamanic Astrology.

The Shamanic Astrology Medicine Wheel shows how the four angles of the chart work, and it shows the Goddess (Venus) and the God (Mars), the tribal totem (Moon position), and the Spirit Horse or the Fuel (Sun Sign). The Spirit Horse is what we ride to get to our goal. What we ride (represented by the Sun) is a generalized sense of energy. The specific costume we wear to reach our goal is the archetype of the God (Mars) or the Goddess (Venus) that we intend to experience on our journey.

The Outer Planets as Strategy

In Shamanic Astrology, the outer planets represent the strategy. The hard aspects (squares, oppositions, and conjunctions), and the outer planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), define the strategy employed by an individual to WAKE UP. The strategy is designed to assist a person in reaching their current life goals the most quickly. The strategy can include some of the most excruciating wake-up call situations, and defines whether a person has a coasting path (an easy chart where not much is happening). Some people have highly melodramatic lives where they are constantly at the effect of dramatic events, happening to them, where they have to react. There are no judgments, positive or negative, about any strategy. For example, horoscopes with the most extreme versions of Saturn and Pluto strategy, (these are some of the most drastic versions of strategy), are not judged as “bad” in Shamanic Astrology.

In traditional astrology, it is difficult to come up with anything good to say about such aspects. Shamanic Astrology views these aspects as an intelligent strategy for waking up. A person cannot but “get it,” because eventually they do end up getting the joke. The joke involves understanding things about life that the average person may never become aware of or know.

Cycles

First we look at the basic elements of the script, and then we look at the strategy. After the investigation of the strategy, we look at the cycles. Often, the main reason many individuals choose to get an astrology reading is because of cycles, or timings they are currently experiencing. This comes from the idea that…The universe is supportive of a human being who consciously participates with their cycles.

f a person knows what cycle they are in, they stand to benefit. For example, there are times in a person’s life when all the doors are closed. This is a time when there are far better things they can do than keep trying to make things work in the world (similar to beating one’s head against the wall). Conversely, there are timings when all the doors are open, but if a person doesn’t know that, they might just kick back, take it easy, and miss the opening, miss the opportunities. Remember, no cycle, in and of itself, is good or bad. All cycles have a reason for being.

When we know and understand what initiation cycle we are in, we can benefit. There are certain cycles that are experienced as beyond ordinary reality. They are designed to produce a certain type of initiation. When we know we are in one of these cycles, we can consciously give ourselves permission to experience the intent of the cycle. One of astrology’s greatest contributions is to identify what cycles we are in, the intent of the cycles, and how to participate with those cycles!

There are cycles that are totally confusing, a time for a walk-about, a time for vision quest, a time when it is completely okay to not know. Conversely, there are cycles when it is time for the person to be clear and focused, and take some kind of specific action. There are some cycles that are free spaces. Free spaces are times when a person is closer to conscious free will than any other time, so the person can’t blame an astrological cycle for what is happening.

Cycles have a beginning, middle, and end. Knowing what cycle we are in is liberating in our understanding of what process we are undergoing. Knowledge of the precise astrological points of the cycles gives us specific dates we can use in a ceremonial way. These dates do not necessarily indicate some amazing event scheduled to happen to a person from the outside. Rather, knowledge of the timing allows a person the option of letting the universe know, they know what is going on. Then they can consciously choose to cooperate with the cycle taking place in and around them. It’s a process of consciously co-creating with universal intelligence. When this takes place the inward and outward cycles move into alignment.

This information is not only important, but useful with reference to relationships. For example, two people who have been in a long lasting stable and happy relationship may be confused when one partner (or both partners) moves into a new cycle. The person going through one of these cycles is no longer the same. However, knowing a cycle has a beginning, middle and end, helps us to understand the process and intent of the cycle. It helps us know the cycle will end and ordinary reality will return, perhaps transformed into something even more wonderful.

Relationship Comparisons

Relationship comparisons are another important area to look at. Many people getting a reading have questions either about their relationship, about a new person in their life, or their lack of relationship, and what they can do about it. Shamanic Astrology looks at what a person is attracted to, and what the chart indicates relationship intent is. It is important to know these are two completely separate issues. The horoscope includes clues about why a person wants to be in a relationship, or what the relationship intent is. These are similar to the characteristics looked at by cultures who did arranged marriages, or marriages based upon family history, class, and/or economic status.

There are many different possibilities for relationship intent. Shamanic Astrology recognizes and validates each of these. Another portion of the horoscope has to do with romantic love and physical attraction. This is the area of the chart that has to do with the ‘magical masculine’ and the ‘magical feminine’. We are all wired to be attracted to a certain kind of person. About two-thirds of the time what we are attracted to and our true relationship intent are drastically different.

Many of the difficulties people have in relationship are due to this reason. In fact, the great majority of the time when relationships do not work, it’s not because one person lacked merit, and it’s not because one or both partners didn’t know a lot about relationship. It simply has to do with differences in their intent for relationship. This is why it is important to understand the principle of ‘sacred marriage’.

The ‘sacred marriage’ is when a man walks through life with the magical feminine on his arm at all times, regardless of who he is with or whether he is with anyone at all. The ‘sacred marriage’ for a woman is when she walks through life with the magical masculine on her arm at all times, regardless of who she is with or whether she is with anyone at all.

It is owning and taking responsibility for the inner masculine or inner feminine, then it doesn’t matter anymore if a person has a successful relationship or not, because they are now complete, autonomous, and sovereign, on their own. However, once the sacred marriage takes place, some people will be on a path of relationship and others will not. The script helps to sort this out. The people having the most difficulty with relationship are almost always the ones who have set their life up in such a way; they are forced to do the sacred marriage.

These same techniques of chart comparison also work in helping to sort out the circumstances with parents, brothers, sisters, friends, coworkers and business partners. However, for the purposes of a one hour reading we must limit the comparison work to one person. There is an additional $15.00 charge for comparison work due to the extra preparation time.

The purpose of this introduction is to give a sense of the scope of what a person can gain from a Shamanic Astrology reading. Again, the purpose of all of this work is to provide the clues and information that assists a person in the process of waking up and assist them in making conscious choices that supports the awakening process. This provides invaluable tools and helps each individual take responsibility for their own evolutionary path and supports the Aquarian Dispensation that says: “Every human being should have the freedom to take personal responsibility for their own evolutionary path.”

How can we truly live in freedom unless we really know all the possibilities? When there is only a limited range of possibilities available, we can’t really be free. For example, if a person has as their distinct color turquoise blue, and is born into a family that only sees red and white, what happens to turquoise blue? They may be totally ignored. In which case, they don’t get any validation or feedback for how well they are doing with turquoise blue. A more negative example is if the person is punished for being the color they legitimately are. There is no tolerance, or freedom, unless all the possibilities are known and affirmed.

In Shamanic Astrology, the Rising sign indicates a person’s enlightenment path. This is not an attempt to define spiritual enlightenment, as it is an issue beyond duality and difficult to define. Rather, it is acknowledging that different people have different paths to reach their place of self-actualization, or total freedom. Some spiritual traditions refer to it as a person’s way of “getting off the wheel.” It is kind of comprehensive enlightenment where each person is totally free. No path is better than another. There are twelve distinct paths with infinite variations on how to fully achieve mastery of that specific path. This is defined by the Rising sign, and all of the other factors on the chart, identifying the uniqueness of the path.

The following brief examples of rising signs are limited to the rising sign only. All the other factors on the chart are important for a comprehensive picture. Libra Rising suggests a person can’t truly reach enlightenment without experiencing some form of nonhierarchical, conscious equal partnership. It is the process oriented path of relationship. Scorpio Rising requires the person to master life force energy. It is a tantric path, that includes feeling the feelings, especially passion

. The Sag or Aquarius Rising path requires the development of the virtues of detachment and cosmic overview. The Sag/Aquarius path is more closely associated with the idea of getting off the wheel. They desire to disconnect from deep involvement with the physical and emotional.

Capricorn Rising is resonate with karma yoga, or the householder path, where one is developing responsible administration of their domain. These are examples of how different people have different legitimate paths leading them to their own state of freedom or comprehensive self-actualization. When all of the clues start to make sense, then we can begin to clearly answer these questions; “What is my contribution? What is my job? What color am I? What God or Goddess do I most express? What is my unique, individual creative self expression?”

Magic happens in our life when three things are in exact alignment. One, it is the right timing. Two, we have our tools together. Three, our desire is in alignment with what the original life dreams are, or is legitimately part of our script. If those three things are together, life is magical. If any one of those three things is not in place, then at best we must be patient, while expanding our self awareness.

The Turning of the Ages

Collective humanity is at the end and beginning of entire 26,000 year cycle. The exact alignment is happening in May 1998 when the winter solstice point aligns with the intersection point of the Milky Way Galaxy and the ecliptic. At the end of a cycle, everything speeds up and is recapitulated. A 26,000 year time track is reaching its conclusion. The origination point is nearly 26,000 years in the past. This means all of the dreams and visions each of us has had on our personal time track are reaching completion. The dreams we have dreamed are now to be fulfilled. That’s why it is so important to be in touch with what the original life dreams are. We are also dreaming the dream onward into the next cycle. Conscious (and unconscious) dreaming, at this time, is seeding the next 26,000 years.

How You Can Consciously Participate

One way is to know your script, and your timings. Because we are at the end of a 26,000 year cycle most of the principles of traditional astrology, either do not work, or are irrelevant. They represent, or speak of, issues that are not of any particular use to people at this time. In the midst of this speeded up phenomenon we need tools to tune in, as fast as possible, to the original life purpose issues. Equally important is using the astrological timings with as much awareness as possible, so we are consciously co-creating with the intelligence of the universe.

This version of astrology works best as dialogue. The more you can share and bring to the session the more depth that comes from it, and the more insight you will get. The exactness and precision of this process operates directly from the amount of feedback that takes place. It is the soul to soul encounter, it is not an abstraction, or something that can be done on a computer.

Through the soul to soul encounter, the Gods and Goddesses, and symbols and myths, come alive. They are cellularly and consciously enlivened, and this assists us on our journey. This is a journey of discovery. How do the archetypes and symbols express through you? Myths and stories tell us how the archetypes and symbols expressed in the past. Now they are evolving and seeking new expression through each of us. We are the living, evolving archetypes and myths. This process allows us to participate with greater understanding and awareness, so what we are co-creating is magical and in alignment with our greatest good.

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