According to Joseph Campbell, everything that we see, feel or experience is merely the “foreground of a wonder”. That ‘wonder’ being the spiritual mystery compelling everything in the Universe. This mysterium tremendum becomes even more wondrous as you acknowledge the foreground to be a many layered façade projected through the full spectrum of the heavenly light show all around us. This place of wonder is uniquely accessed by a discerning, yet nonjudgmental mind. Only through such a mind’s eye can one gaze beyond the apparent, deep into the complexity of reality, and embrace our part in this fathomless entanglement, in order to perceive the truth and simplicity of it All.
Concordantly, the more spiritually-tuned readers may have earlier intuited that I was drawing your attention to a mind space between dualities by using Joseph Campbell’s quote, regarding the inner revelations on the reflections of good and evil. Weaving more meta into our process, some of you may now have noticed my use of select words from The Architect’s speech, as antecedently foreshadowed, as well as the clues, characters and colors within Alice’s Wonderland. The extremely expanded thinkers among you may have even clued in on the single quotes around ‘brothers’ – making the link to The Wachowskis, having since openly transgendered to the Wachowski sisters, as a subliminal nod to gender fluidity and accordantly, to the binary nature of the cosmos. If you subtly picked up on any or all of that, pat yourself on the back; and if not, your meta-consciousness did. That’s all part of the fun of going meta.
A META-THEORY for EVERYTHING
To begin with, when I look into any subject, review any research project, or entertain the meaning of any truth, I start with the basic premise – that everything is connected… which, in itself, implies a connection to astrology. One of my early astrological mentors once professed to me that she looks at the whole world through an astrological lens. That the way she can best understand something is through this meta-level perspective of reality, that everything has astrological context. The rose bush in the back yard, the petals on the roses, the insect on the petals, each play a part in the earth-heaven experience, unified by the sunlight that shines upon and within them all. I too, no longer view the astrological code as mere signs, cycles and unions of planets but see it equally as sounds, shapes, objects, language, life, synchronicities, feelings, dreams – the infinite parallel parade of intangible dichotomies which make up the whole complexity of existence.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “…that’s so meta.”, over the last decade or so; if not, you have now. Meta- as the prefix handed down from the Greeks, refers to “beyond, after, higher than, or transcended from”. Aristotle’s treatise on Metaphysics, which not surprisingly comes after his work regarding Physics, goes beyond the surface review of natural phenomena, and lays down much of the foundational groundwork for an astrological structure we use today. ‘Meta’, as an emerging stand-alone word, has come to mean “higher or extra dimensions of abstraction”. From this elevated point of view, the when, where, what, why and how, anything and everything relates can be perceived. This is also where astrology can shine its light the brightest into the world.
The term ‘meta’ also denotes a type of communal participation in, be it voluntary or involuntary; It can be also described as “changing places with”. It is also self-referential and self-reflective. Meta in one sense refers to “a thing which studies itself”. I often refer to myself as a meta-physician rather than an astrologer because the current connotation of ‘astrology’ limits a true understanding of something which has always been all-encompassing. The enigmatic idea of meta is what leads one towards exploring the Great Mystery. As with any ambiguously twisty Piscean concept, obviously, there are the obvious points that don’t need to be pointed out, but then there are the points that become increasingly less obvious, obviously, which require further clarity. So let’s get clear; metaphysician, know thyself.
Now, before it multiplies, we will follow this particular white rabbit a little deeper down the hole and put on our specialized mental magnifiers, with a right-eye Sagittarian big picture diffusion lens, a left-eye Virgoan detail enhancer scope, and the third-eye center integrative Aquarian light optic filter, as we investigate the meta concepts of the word ‘professional’. A professional is also “someone engaged in an undertaking or a discipline as a regular occupation”, which OPA aims to support. Professional as a “level of standard”, is also what OPA strives to achieve and reinforce.
A curiosity for the mysteries beyond astronomy is what leads most of us towards the gateway of astrology. Searching outside the boundary of worldly science, we chose a path of celestial destiny guided by free will. We harness the planets through their cycles, mapping the aspects and navigating the transits, through the houses and over an infinite terrain of astrological details, which have all been contrived by Creation itself to revive our common memory of our deepest self-knowledge.
With these newfound powers of deduction, we discover still hidden secrets within the mutual dreams of the stellar mythologies chronicling the enigma of human nature. Along this passageway of new learning, more doors of perception open, leading to an ungrounding truth, that the ‘real world’ exists only as gradations of a virtual reality. We find ourselves in one of these otherworldly layers of existence, where temporality is re-programmed to overvalue the chronos and question the kairos. Through synchronicity, we are able to experience a triplexity folded in between duality and unity, which assesses both the measure and quality of time, as equal and inseparable.
Personal evolutionary processes require that a true metaphysician takes on the responsibilityy of surrendering the uniqueness of one’s natural born talents and carefully studied skills, into the service of these unseen powers. We focus and hone our vision through an instinctive awareness that now coming into view is the big picture at the center of everything. Letting compassion be our example and integrity our watchword, we hold space for others to take consultation with the Heavens and listen in on the cosmic conversation.
Tempering the duty of privileged leadership with the modesty of reverent discipleship, we actively participate in the dynamism of the cosmic network. Tapping a universal longing for empathy, we communicate the guidance of the signs, in order to stimulate an unjudged openness and spiritual flexibility in others. We pursue a new equality, we give hope to those we attend, and we restore dignity to our sacred endeavor. Most play the role of acolyte, while others the entrepreneur. Through both avenues we begin to reclaim our overlooked worldly authority, as true teachers and healers, and recover our spiritual birthright.
You will have probably wondered why certain words in the previous section were both bolded and underlined. Others may have specifically recognized the words and phrases from the cover of this edition. And still others, may have grasped some purpose to the structure of the short inner exposition as another meta-test. In the preceding four paragraphs, you will find each of the terms inside the ‘astrological mind’ on the front image of the magazine. The 4 clauses are arranged representing the yearly quarters, each paragraph is composed of 13 of the phrases totaling 52, one for each week. These are sutured with 365 words, one for each day of the year. This is an example of meta-writing often utilized by ancient astronomer scribes, revealing a refined celestial order and of an over-arching meta-structure concealed in apparent randomness.
It’s A Wonder-Full Meta Jacket Life
As you fine tune your astrological meta-vision within this new world, realize that all of the reflected parts within this entire whole, symbolize and correspond with all other facets of this precious gem of our meta-existence. It is a gift to experience these privileged meta-moments of our awakening consciousness along this journey back to Source. Just ahead, there will be the connections you will perceive, there will be some that you won’t, and then there are those that are meant for only you. I predict that you’ll soon encounter an astro-conscious correlation in a way you’ve never equated before, and you will smirk with that same cat-like catenary curve, and think to yourself, “That’s so meta…”
Russell is a transpersonal ontologist, research astrologer, & consciousness catalyzer; his work reflects a lifetime of study of science, religions, myths, metaphysics & most importantly —nature —and what they reveal about consciousness & human behavior.