Heaven, Earth, & Humankind: Three Spheres, Three Light Cycles, Three Modes

Book excerpt: Heaven, Earth, and Humankind, Volumes I through IV was inspired by a dream in which I witnessed the collision of two worlds, one red and one green, the red cube was the dragon of Chinese Medical Philosophy, the green globe was the holistic cosmos that I already knew well through tropical astrology. The outcome of this dream was this book that integrates the two systems, and illuminates the core they share. Behind every aspect of human experience we find the influence of light and darkness both as a reality and metaphor. Three great cycles of light and darkness govern experience: the seasonal cycle, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the emergence and retreat of daylight. These three cycles connect directly to the triune principle in Chinese philosophy that differentiates three aspects of human endeavor: spirit, body, and social life. Heaven and earth seem to form a polarity. When they interact, they produce all the multifarious form of life near the surface of the earth. The whole ever remains a unity. Heaven floods the earth with both solar and celestial energy. The earth responds to that influx by producing living forms on its surface. The horizon line of the celestial chart symbolizes this plane where energy and matter interact. From this we can assess where a persons focus is and how they balance the three different aspects of human experience. Human beings are thefinest expression of heaven and earth, if and only if we harmonize with the great cycles of light. In Volume IV I connect this core wisdom from Chinese sages with the astrological idea of the three modes of tropical astrology This volume continues the holistic and cyclic approach to astrology developed in the previous three volumes and culminates in a detailed description of the effect of the Sun, Moon, or Horizon in each zodiac sign. Each sign has a mode and the mode has affinity either with heaven and the sun, earth and the moon, or the ascendant and human affairs. The mutable signs are aligned with the sphere of the ecliptic and the mutable mode. Heaven, Earth, and Humankind maps a path to understanding why astrology works in terms that anyone can understand. The operative power of astrology is the three light cycles as all the ancients understood. We have lost the wisdom, but that lost wisdom is recovered somewhat in this valuable book. How is our human experience connected to the greater life of the cosmos?Our answer depends on our degree of self-realization, and we cannot truly know ourselves unless we understand how we feel and react to the cycles of heaven. This book brings some traditional wisdom into focus to help us with these fundamental questions about how to live well.