0 Here is a thread about #psychology and astrology, about mind and magic.  As always, we must sacrifice accuracy for brevity.  Please let me know if any of the images need attributions, none of them are mine.  Enjoy.

1 “We live in patterns because we have to.  They are inescapable.  The Cosmos is a pattern.  So are we.  There are patterns of Spirit, Soul, Mind, and Body extending through all states of existence.  We can find them readily enough anywhere.

2 Our human bodies are a Magic Maze of patterns throughout their cellular structure.  We have only to look at our own fingertips to observe our individual patterning.

3 Insofar as the pattern of anything may be called a #symbol, each of us are living Symbols forming part of the Great Design we can only think of as Divine Life.” -William Gray, The Ladder of Lights

4 The earliest humans used their senses to look for patterns in the world around them.  They looked for order in the outside world so that they could find meaning in their physical lives and deaths.

5 The movement of the stars, a wondrous sight, gave humans ample opportunity to look for patterns.  According to ancient myth, a divine being (some cultures call him Hermes) taught them to divide the sky into the zodiac, among other astrological and divine wisdom.

6 They learned how to see the relationship between the movements of the heavenly sphere and goings on of the material sphere of existence.  The identities of their gods were connected to the stars, planets, and zodiac above.

7 The earliest records of humankind, therefore, are integrally related to their observation of the heavens.  The cultural stories told and events recorded were deeply interwoven with astrological and planetary significance and meaning.  Beyond being together, they were one.

8 This is not the case for us today.  At least, not consciously.  Where once humanity danced the rhythm of the stars, we now strain to hear the music beneath the din of modernity and progress.  The connection between above and below had been severed.

9 Modern myths and stories are made of narratives about materialism, personal accomplishment, and the unconscious thrashings of the ego.

10 Advertising, Hollywood, and the algorithms of Big Data have replaced the priest class which once carried the stories of the gods.

11 The rich narrative fabric of characters in ancient myth and astrology, by contrast, can be viewed as cosmic forces, conscious entities, or psychological archetypes.

12 Astrology was the medium through which the ancients followed the wisdom of the axiom “Know Thyself.”  It was the psychology of the ancient world.

13 Ancient practices of ritual magic also formed a part of this system of psychology, but we will leave that for another time.

14 The worldview formerly characterized by multidimensional cosmology, narrative mythology, and knowledge of occult science (including #astrology) became one of one-dimensional psychology, egocentric narrative, and knowledge of false doctrine.

15 Personal narrative is, for the modern Western psyche, largely an unconscious facet of the mind.  Instead of being leveraged as a tool to create positive meaning it sits as a mechanical paperweight on the desk of our consciousness, repeating negative self-talk unconsciously.

16 Both fields, astrology and myth, rely on archetype, narrative, and pattern.  So do the fields of psychology and #magic.  This is similar to the idea of entities, attributes, and processes in computer programming.  Thanks to @peterdukephoto for helping with that connection.

17 There are many similarities between occult science and computer programing, an observation which leads to discussions of #simulationtheory.  This is a complex theme which we will visit later.  Varying threads of Gnosticism will also enter into the discussion.

18 “Magic” (not witchcraft nor sorcery) is merely the science of consciously engaging with the cosmic forces measured as astronomy and anthropomorphized as astrology.  We are all constantly engaging with these forces, but few do so consciously.

19 These forces can be thought of as inner psychological aspects of the psyche, as literal multidimensional, spiritual entities capable of manifesting to physical sight, or as ranges of electromagnetic frequency from the sub-Plank scale to the Universal scale.

20 For those with practical experience, consider Jung’s Collective Unconscious, Levi’s Lunar-Solar Astral Light, the Medieval Aether, and Einstein’s Ether. All reach to describe one multidimensional fluid-dynamic fabric.   @nassimharamein’s physics describe it beautifully.

21 The microcosmic expression of engagement with these forces is a process involving one’s own mind -including the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious aspects.  There is a huge difference between these aspects.  We will also visit this point later.

22 The macrocosmic expression of engagement with these forces is a holy process involving sigil, talismanic, theurgic, or astrological magic (or more direct techniques involving self-induced, natural altered states of consciousness, i.e. prayer and meditation, etc.)

23 There is a constant and dynamic feedback process happening between the individual, psychological scale and the cosmic, astrological scale.  They may appear separate and distinct, but they are spun from the same thread and woven into the same fabric of creation.

24 Attuning the physical and metaphysical senses (intuition, knowing, divine revelation) to the harmonies of the astrological system, or ‘simulation’, is the process of spiritual development sometimes referred to as #alchemy.

25 In modern (exoteric) terms, we can call this process of attunement “personal development” or “mindset work” because the focus is not consciously on the cosmic scale of activity or energy.  Such work is usually grounded in the personal world of the ego.

26 It is best to think about the ego as a system and not an entity.  It is actually a myriad of systems and processes all running through each other in a web of boundaries and relationships.  Here is a diagram to help understand this idea better.

27 It ‘begins’ at the bottom and moves towards the top.  Note that there are feedback mechanics within the overall schema.  This is a critical feature for therapeutic applications of these ideas.  It offers modern, wholistic psychology an entirely new vantage point to work from.

28 The lowest box represents all the sense data of reality -literally all the sense data that can be absorbed by the senses including taste, digestion, and thought.  It is not comprehensive, but it does cover some of the largest, most important areas related to the egoic persona.

29 The mind then processes and filters the data-experience, with the subconscious, conscious, and unconscious all playing distinct roles in the system-process.  This diagram lets us view the elements of consciousness-attention operations in an integrative, wholistic way.

30 This is an especially important feature when exploring the relationship between mind and magic (or psychology and occultism.)  The term natural science is more accurate, but the word ‘occult’ has been so distorted by so many groups I hardly think it matters here.

31 Getting a ‘feel’ for the psychological mind and human consciousness in general as an indivisible system rather than separate, factionated components will be necessary for the themes and ideas to follow.  It is also the key mindset shift for mystical approaches to living.

32 I’ll leave you with a second diagram that looks at the psychological self and its 8 core function-systems (shown centrally).  It also delineates domains of the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious aspects of the mind.

33 The two diagrams complement each other.  The first one is focused on processes and the second one is focused on functions.  I’ll explore how they relate and go deeper into both in the next thread.  Thank you for reading.