Shamanic Astrology

[jhananda]

Hello Michael and friends, I met a guy here in Tucson in the 70s, who called himself a Shamanic Astrologer. His name was Roger Davis. He learned astrology from his mother. In the 80s I met another guy here in Tucson, also claiming to be a Shamanic Astrologer. His name is Daniel Giamario.
[e-mail]
shamanicastrology.com/

What do you think of the idea, and linking your work to jhana? Or would you rather link your work to Ecstatic Buddhism, or to Transcendentalism, or some other movement?

Best, Jhananda

[Michael Hawkins]

Hello dear friend Jeffrey,

I will need to think further on your question (am actually participating in a Chiron workshop today and tomorrow in the Evolutionary Astrology tradition)... but could not help but resonate with the "lineage" page at your Shamanic Astrology link, shamanicastrology.com/about/lineage

The last two entries are claimed by both Archetypal Astrology and Evolutionary Astrology, which are what I practice now.

Will get back to you when time allows....

[jhananda]

I thought Daniel Giamario's list of Shamanic Astrology Lineage was a bit fantastic with little real world references. I asked Daniel if he had every heard of Roger Davis. He said he had not. Nonetheless I recall that Roger Davis was deeply influenced by the work of Dane Rudhyar. I look forward to reading your comments.

Best, Jhananda

[Michael Hawkins]

Hello again dear friend Jeffrey,

In your first post on this thread, you asked what I think about linking my work with jhana, and then asked what I think about linking it with Ecstatic Buddhism.

At this time I am linking them in the sense that -- over here we have the oracular arts (Archetypal and Evolutionary Astrology, Tarot and dreamwork)... while over here we have support services for ecstatic contemplatives who have either given rise to meditative absorption, or wish to do so.

My sense is that the two will merge more and more as time goes by, but I would not advertise this hybrid at this point because not enough of the conjunction between the two has been developed. In readings I frequently suggest meditation as a way of reducing stress and dealing with various neuroses that pop up, but as you know, getting people to move into a rigorous and skillful meditation practice is a pretty hard sell for most. I do believe, however, that the whole concept of leading a simple-yet-dedicated contemplative life is something that clients who have reached a certain stage in their evolutionary journey would benefit from, and I would love to use the oracular arts as a way to assist in situating them in their new life.

I'm finding that Evolutionary Astrology is conducive to other forms of spiritual practice. Maurice teaches kundalini yoga (having learned the Yogi Bhajan method) as a way of attracting fellow travelers into a local community, and he leads kundalini yoga at his retreats. I've set up my website with this approach in mind, and (while everything is brand new at this point) getting a local sitting/study group together is high on my list of priorities.

There's so much to do... but as I implement one thing at a time, I can see where an emphasis on ecstatic Buddhist meditation will set me apart from what others are putting out there (as far as I know, anyway).

Much love,
Michael

[jhananda]

Yes, Michael, I can see that meditation that leads to absorption (jhana), also leads to insight (vipassana), and insight is intuitive, so that same insightful intuition could certainly be used by an oracle, and we could call that path shamanic. Yes, I agree with you, "getting people to move into a rigorous and skillful meditation practice is a pretty hard sell for most," because, sadly, most people want drive-thru enlightenment.

The interesting back-story behind Yogi Bhajan's 'kundalini yoga' is he invented it out of a synthesis of hatha yoga and Sikh mysticism. Since Sikh mysticism (otherwise known as Sant Mat) could be useful companion to Ecstatic Buddhism, then I can see how you might be able to resonate with kundalini yoga.

Since so few are interested in a rigorous contemplative life, and there are so very few meditation groups that are interested in such a lifestyle, then I can see why forming a local sitting/study group is high on your list of priorities.

Love, Jeffrey