Medical astrology for your healing
Astrology and new age spiritualism are quite the fad. Should we blame our difficulties on Mercury being retrograde or due to the harsh transits of planets? Is this the case or are we in control? Are the planets dictating our behaviours or not? Is our future cast in stone? Or can we manifest our desired reality, when we really focus and feel it with sincere emotion?
Astrology is a powerful tool, when we understand how to use it with responsibility and humility. Nonetheless an astrologer is still human and susceptible to error. Astrology is a discipline and, when applied correctly, is like a golden key to open up the hidden subconscious.
What if the cosmos were a mirror reflecting us? What if the planets were not in control but you were? Certain events are bound to happen, like the seasons, sunrises and the waxing and waning of the moon. What you can control is your reaction. Your consciousness enables mindfulness. An astrological birth chart, when deciphered with the application of tried and tested techniques, can interpret inherent behaviour patterns. When we know a person’s behaviour pattern, we can generally predict their behaviour and consequent experiences over a time frame.
Behaviour is intimately linked to one’s hormones, genetics, environment and thought patterns. Behaviour determines if we make healthier lifestyle choices or not, if we engage in more enabling or disenabling social relationships and experiences. All of these further impact on the physical wellbeing of the body, which then presents as a symptomatic map for medical professionals to impart a label. For example, is it arthritis, anxiety or frozen shoulder?
Merging medicine and healing with astrology was once the norm but this is no longer the prevailing practice in the west. Interestingly in some eastern cultures, marriages and partnerships are not entered into, until astrological compatibility charts are considered. Does astrology have a place in modern medicine and psychology? Regardless of what you may think, astrology has deep roots within medicine and the psyche.
Have you ever heard someone shout out “lunatic”? Well, hopefully you have because you would understand the context in which such a word is used to refer to someone. The word ‘luna’ is the root for the word lunatic. Lunatic is a crazy or mad person. Luna is the moon. Did our forebears have some wisdom in acknowledging that the moon and her phases were linked to degrees of insanity or mental instability in some people? Or is this another lofty theory our ancestors dreamed of and shared in their bygone European and Middle Eastern medical schools?
There is ample evidence that as far back as 400 BCE in Greece, there was more acceptance of astrology in medical practice. It is reported that a famous medical physician in the classical Greek period, Hippocrates – the father of modern medicine, once said that “A physician without knowledge of astrology has no right to call himself a physician.” Does this statement still hold truth? Regardless, certain eastern cultures believe in the value of astrology in healing to this current day.
An astrological birth chart can reveal so much about how you think, perceive the world, sense the world and behave. We are not all the same. Some people respond better to homeopathic remedies. Others bemoan that herbalism has never worked for them, or may applaud the virtue of acupuncture. Others may rave on and on about how they are ultra-sensitive to the lowest doses of modern pharmaceutical medicines. An astrological medical birth chart can reveal which modality of therapy is most compatible with your constitution.
There is no doubt that psychologists, holistic counsellors/therapists and medical doctors should be working together and not separately. Think of building a house. You have the architect, plumber and the builder. They can hardly work separately to produce a constructed house. The outcome is so much more productive and seamless when they work together. Astrology is like the project manager, linking and facilitating the various skilled craftsmen in building the house.
Astrology recognises that there are multiple factors which contribute to one’s holistic health profile, such as the emotional, mind, physical and spiritual aspects (which includes genetics and environment). By looking at an astrological chart from a psychological and medical angle, some essential ingredients can be sourced to prepare a gourmet health profile.
Medical astrologists believe that each of the planets has rulership or symbolic association with certain systems, organs and parts in the body. The condition of each planet (which is affected by the zodiac sign and house it is in) and the influence of other planets and other points in a chart, will determine inherent imbalances. Imbalances are revealed through symptoms. Symptoms may be physical and/or mental or emotional.
What makes a person’s character? It could be a combination of their soul nature, emotional nature, mental mindset and environmental influences. Psychology is a useful aid in assisting people with mental related issues and that includes physical. Medicine is a powerful aid in assisting people with physical related issues and that includes mental. There is a cross-over, a person with a mental condition may be eating poorly which creates physical problems. This is why considering your holistic health profile is valuable.
The foundations of psychology recognised the four temperaments, namely: sanguine (optimistic), phlegmatic (depressive), melancholic (anxious) and choleric (energetic). These can also be related to the four elements, namely: air, water, earth and fire.
Medical astrology recognises the four elements and focuses on learning how to support inherently weaker systems and /or organs. Medical astrology appreciates that certain belief systems and emotions can be intimately linked to physical and mental ailments. For ethical and comprehensive advice, a medical astrologist should have studied medicine and a psychological astrologist, psychology. To glimpse more into astrological medicine and psychology, we can consider the moon. The moon is an important part to analyse in medical and psychological astrology.
In astrology the moon rules over or is linked with water and forms of liquids. Regardless if you believe in astrology or not, during each lunar month we see the link between the spring tides and the phases of the moon. The question is how powerfully or subtly does the moon affect each human’s behaviour, considering we are mostly composed of water? Human behaviour is changeable and it is an interesting exercise to trace the patterns of your own behaviour.
Moon-based planting calendars have been used since the start of the agrarian age to assist gardeners and farmers. These calendars can help you know which seeds to plant during the various phases of the moon. The moon supports us being fed nutritionally nourishing foods. Such foods support healing.
The moon indicates aspects of the mind and emotions in astrology. Interestingly, degrees of insanity and sanity can be linked to the condition of the moon in your birth chart. The moon can reveal aspects of the cardiovascular system, pertaining to your circulation. If you are open to considering medical astrology, you may soon learn that, during certain phases of the moon, invasive surgery is supported less or more so. Of course, all the planetary aspects and transits would also be looked upon at the time for a selected elected surgery. However, emergency surgery is to be done when needed and should not be held off for an ideal astrologically elected date and time.
Before the time of contraceptive pills or female hormonal medications, the female cycles were more entwined with the moon phases. Bygone times were not necessarily better. The advancements in surgical and medical technology are life-saving in many situations. What medical astrology can still bring to the table, is a more holistic approach to living your life to its full potential. Astrology is not the judge with a gavel declaring the verdict, but rather the deep dive torch of awareness, like a key to unlock magical doors to healing.
Anastacia Sampson, D.N. Med. BA (Hons), has been practising medical and psychological astrology for over 22 years. After obtaining her diplomas in health studies via the UK, she began writing health columns for newspapers and journals. Anastacia completed her honours degree in psychology and was awarded a cum laude pass. She is a registered member of the South African Pharmacy Council and Association of Supportive Counsellors and Holistic Practitioners. She consults from her home base in Knysna and through online platforms both locally and internationally.