I'm a little behind on my newspaper reading so I just read the article by Nicholas Wade in the Times last weekend titled The Evolution of the God Gene. The concept of the "god gene" suggests that the desire to believe in a higher power is wired into the genetic makeup of human beings.
Mr. Wade reports that in the Oaxaca Valley in Mexico archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a transition in religious experience from a simple dance floor for communal religious dances in 7000 b.c.e, through ancestor-cult shrines from 1500 b.c.e, to astronomically sophisticated temples beginning in 30 c.e. Mr. Wade makes the point that religion is found in virtually every society at every stage of development and says that religion has been "wired into our neural circuitry."
Religion is the belief system that we develop to give our life meaning, and as such it is represented astrologically by the planet Jupiter. In the chart of an individual, Jupiter's placement shows the way that we construct our reality and what we believe in. It shows where we find meaning in life, and the kind of experiences that give us what we would call a "religious" experience.
Religion occurs when multiple individuals share the same belief system and that belief system is formalized. As Mr. Wade says, religion binds "people together, committing them to put their community's needs ahead of their own self-interest." Religion is about community rather than individual experience, but the urge to devise a theology that gives our life meaning is a universal urge that is symbolized astrologically by Jupiter.
Early discussion of the "god gene" related more to a direct experience of the divine or other mystical experiences, which has more to do with Neptune. Jupiter relates to the beliefs that we create around our experiences, and the way that we share those beliefs with others.
Mr. Wade's article divides people into atheists and believers, but there he misses the point. Everyone believes in something, and if you ask an atheist what he believes in, he will likely say "the power of nature," or "humanity," or "the power of discrimination." They may not share a belief in what one group or another calls "God," but there is a belief system or a set of values that underpins everything they do.
Jupiter extends the personal belief system into a desire to share that belief system with others. In an astrological chart with a stressful aspect from Jupiter to, say, Pluto, the individual will have a tendency to want to convince others of the correctness of their belief system. Jupiter in a harmonious trine to innovative Uranus will have a more open mind, and Jupiter in a challenging square to Uranus will rebel against any organized religion.
Jupiter of course was King of the gods in the Roman pantheon, so it is only fitting that he embody what we are now calling "the god gene." I'm sure he would be very pleased.
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The outer planets may correspond to Christianity, but that doesn't by necessity correlate Christianity to the outer planets. The outer planets have with urges of transcendence and transformation and that translates to all walks of life and all beliefs and is not limited to any one religion or thought system.
Quite true the outer planets correspond to other things and experiences than the Christian Trinity. I never suggested otherwise and thought I did emphasize the point by saying that in a specifically religious context one can empirically find the correlation - like, as I mention in the book I gave an address for, a cancer patient claiming that Christ appeared to and healed him when Neptune was perfectly conjunct his natal sun. I made numbers of pertinent and I hopefully useful comments on planets and little known asteroids for reading the always difficult religious theme in charts.
None so blind as though who will not see! I don't like to say it, but it's almost intellectual/academic lunatic fringe for people of whatever belief persuasion to hold that the historical Jesus never existed. But one would perhaps need to buy into such theories if, when someone makes serious claims about meaningfully pursuing research into Christ astrology (based on solid, already respected scholarly and astronomical research) to just ignore it or start up moaning about dysfunctional religious upbringings. But I'm used to the dismissive treatment, it’s almost the new American New Age style. Mountain Astrologer and others won't even feature my astrology for Pentecost i.e. Christianity, which in all seriousness the whole astro community should know and be using at it works and can be used for events to this day. It’s all part of a larger "no room at the inn" syndrome that wants Happy Holidays and sweet fantasies, not Happy Christmas and if possible Christ associated with nothing.
Sorry, but I’m a bit off-put. Plainly I’m not wanted here, Lynn. You recently couldn’t even direct readers to where I’d given the details for Robert Pattinson which people are supposed to want to know. The line of excuse was lame. I’m sorry that you and your following suffer from a touch of Christianophobia. I resign from comments here as it’s clear they’re not wanted and serve no purpose. That will give everyone a happier whatever holidays.
Great thoughts, Lynn.
As I think that ALL life is ultimately serving the function of bringing us to the development necessary to reunite with God, I have a small problem with trying to isolate that urge into one particular planet. (Only that it's too "piecemeal"...as if, religion and the spiritual quest could all be boxed into one small partition)
If we assume that we all have descended from our spiritual "home" and are working to get back...then that of course, is the prime directive, our ROOT CAUSE. That being the case, it seems that all planets would have that MOTIVATION only in a different milieu.
I DO understand what you are saying relative to Jupiter "ruling" the part of us that wants to form a "life philosophy" and the metaphysical underpinnings of our actual lives, it is only that the thought of a gene (or planet) being somehow responsible is taking something infinitely large, ultimately present (at least to our souls), and trying to attach/subjugate that to a DIVISION OF THE WHOLE. (If your whole Soul wants to get back to where it belongs, we can't say that the drive is found, isolated, in your left, big toe...that LIMITS the reality as well as our understanding of it.)
Again, great food for thought, Lynn. I think any part of our "disagreement" is mostly semantic in origin, but I felt moved to comment... Additionally, I think Jupiter would have a problem with it, in that it is taking something universal and categorizing/compartmentalizing it, where Jupiter does NOT (comfortably) go the Gemini direction of divide, conquer, and NARROW to its goal but the more Sagittarian direction of assimilation, extrapolation, and WIDENING to its goal. Hope that wasn't too obfuscating of what I was attempting to convey...
One place where Jupiter IS so important in this is in the attachment of MEANING. Where someone mired in the mundane existence of life, might not see the full opening of opportunity and of further life development, but instead are concentrated/focused on the material, 3d world, "bottom line"... return-to-God motivations might more often be seen as more of a temporary moral dilemma, than in the light of the true reigning need of their souls.
Take care...I very much appreciate your "musings"
In response to Rollan, I just want to say that the blogosphere offers unlimited opportunities to express your views, just start your own blog!! I started this blog because I wanted to express MY views. Anyone with opposing views is welcome to express themselves in the comments section, but the posts that I write here represent my take on life and religion and the spiritual path. You are welcome to comment all you like, but there's no guarantee that everyone will agree with you, just as there's no guarantee that everyone will agree with me. And lots of people send me stuff that they want me to post, and I will do so if I feel that it's suitable for what I want to express. That's my perogative as a writer of this blog, a labor of love that takes a great deal of my time and is equally rewarding. And like I say, if you aren't happy that others aren't publishing your work, start your own blog and publish yourself!
James, thanks for these excellent comments and for reminding us that every single element in the astrological pantheon contains layers and layers of meaning.
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