and Not the Stars Over Him
Kevin Raphael Fitch
November – December 2025 • Vol 4, No 19
Michael: “Ahmad, what is astrology?”
Ahmad: “That old chestnut…what is astrology?… Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos furnishes some semblance of an answer by its subtitle: Four Books on the Influence of the Stars. Dane Rudhyar’s The Astrology of Personality was a reinterpretation of astrology from the vantage point of psychology. John Addy introduced the concept of harmonic patterns in astrology. Noel Tyl employed psychological need theory in his work… uh, Gauquelin, the French psychologist and statistician, used astrological measurement systems to find patterns between planetary positions and successful people. And while none of these examples really DEFINE what astrology is, still, they do have one thing in common—that the positions of the planets in certain parts of the sky at certain times was the source code from which these astrologers and researchers practiced.”
Michael: “Then would you deem astrology a type of code?”
Ahmad: “Not specifically.”
Michael: “What about, in general?”
Ahmad: “In my experience, I find more freedom in NOT defining astrology as either this or that. The word astrology, from the Greek, literally means the study or logic of the stars. In India, what we call astrology in the west, is called Jyotish and that means the science of light. These two definitions—of that word mind you, and not what REALLY exist behind that word—is sufficient.”
Michael: “So, astrology is the study of the stars.”
Ahmad: “In terms of its accepted definition. Every so-called definition is not absolutely true nor absolutely NOT true. Can you imagine the multi-verse being crammed into a single cubic centimeter?”
Brenda: “I can’t, because there are physical laws that would make that impossible.”
Ahmad: “Someone rhetorically asked, ‘How do you picture the universe?’ The answer was, ‘As a drop of water.’”
Michael: “Ahmad, you haven’t exactly answered our initial question, and I wonder if our viewers are tuning us out—I hope not! Before we go to something else, would you tell us… so, why can’t you define astrology like many astrologers have—in a simple sentence?”
Ahmad: “I COULD define it, and that definition would impose another limiting statement. Here’s an example of a pretty good definition from an astrologer, who said that, ‘astrology is a time-honored science based on the observation of natural phenomena.’”
Brenda: “Nice. That is something our viewers may like. It’s immediately understandable.”
Ahmad: “I am not here to make astrology understandable. If someone thinks they understand it, then they don’t understand. To understand it is a signal that there is nothing more to learn. Do you see? Remember the multi-verse in the cubic centimeter? You said that there were physical laws that would negate the possibility of doing this. But in higher physics, it WOULD be possible to do just that. Now, I am going to quote someone, and I trust after hearing this, your audience can begin to think of the word astrology differently and to understand why I don’t desire to initially pigeonhole it to a singular definition:
‘Time always is. Any number of trillions of years hence, and any number… past, and you are just as near the end or the beginning, of time as now, and no nearer. This moment is the center of time…go to the farthest fixed star and… you have arrived at HERE. Your own doorstep is just as near the limit and no nearer. This is the puzzle of puzzles, but it is so.’ [John Borrows, Journals, Jan. 13, 1882]
“What I am doing here on your podcast is addressing a more intimate notion of this thing called astrology. Will your audience appreciate, now, a more tangible group of words regarding astrology? It’s not a definition. It is a general description that, by grasping some outer features, some penetrating insight can be gained. In the book Esoteric Astrology by Alice Bailey (1951), the author states that astrology ‘deals with those conditioning and governing energies which play through the whole field of space and all that is within that field.’”
Michael: “I like that as someone who has just been introduced… well, for a few months now, this explanation, I won’t call it a definition, of some attributes of astrology. It’s a good idea worth considering. I am so excited that I discovered astrology, and I got carried away to do a podcast for people like me who are interested in it.”
Ahmad: “There is much value in those who have a pure quest for higher knowledge. I am grateful that you put lots of energy into this teaching tool.”
Brenda: “Thank you. Please elaborate on these conditioning and governing energies.”
Ahmad: “The elements of astrology are everywhere around us, like the solidity of earth, the fluidity of water, the air that surrounds us, and the fire of the Sun that invigorates. Here I am talking about what lies BEHIND that word. Astrology, or the currents of the luminaries, including our Earth, are present everywhere and in everything.
“When people go out the front door of their house, they are leaving one field of space filled with those previously-mentioned conditioning and governing energies, and once outside, everything has changed, for there is simply more space in which to move about and experience these constantly flowing energies that emanate from and through planets, stars, and star groups, galaxies and spiral nebulae… In other words, the whole field of space is saturated with spatial currents. The study of the horoscope is there to guide the mind upward.
“What we call astrology is so much more than its definition. Of course, that applies to just about everything. Many people look at a thing in a certain way, but do so in a reductionists sense, as being this or something else. The glyph of Uranus can be seen as a code for sudden change as far as the agreed-upon meaning of that planet’s influence is. The human mind needs to define things in order to manage and control them, and that is the way the so-called left-brain logic functions. This means this and that means that, yet there is more to Uranus than unexpected upheaval in the home, if it enters the 4th House of someone whose family is prone to severe dysfunction. When it comes to astrology as being this or that, we are no closer to defining what astrology IS and even if we could define it, we would be simultaneously confining it to what we think is or isn’t possible. And consigning what we think is limited to what we really know about life.”
Michael: “With so many systems or styles of astrology, like Western, or Hindu, Heliocentric, Sidereal, Tropical—Vibrational Astrology, I mean there are hundreds, maybe several hundreds, of systems that can all appear to… ‘work,’ percentage wise, as far as predictions go, and so far as character effects are concerned. But what is it, though, that you think these methods all have in common, beside the fact that the majority of systems utilize signs, planets, houses, and aspects? By the way, many thanks Mr. Jones for being our guest today and at such short notice.”
Ahmad: “Thank you for inviting me to join you on your podcast, and please call me Ahmad. I see all of these systems, some of which I employ in my work, as simply different formulas… deployed to achieve useful information. For example, Mundane Astrology uses particular formulas to gain an understanding of the conditions of a city, state or country. One formula is called an Ingress chart, which uses the longitude and latitude of a specific place with the beginning of the Sun’s entrance into Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn. This helps to furnish some intel about what the country can expect for a three-month, six-month or twelve-month period, in terms of potential challenges facing that country.
“Horary Astrology is a formula for finding out the way a specific question will unfold—case in point: when a woman asked me, out of the blue, when her baby would be born, the formula I used in Horary Astrology helped me to place the birth on the exact day, which the mother confirmed some four or five months later. John Nelson, the jet-propulsion specialist at RCA, used the angles between Jupiter and the Sun’s barycenter—its center of mass—to determine when radio transmissions would encounter interference. This advanced knowledge helped RCA to avoid these interference patterns. To find the Part of Fortune, which is an important position in the horoscope, for a day of birth, you take the Ascendant’s degree, minute and second of celestial longitude, add the Moon’s longitude, and subtract the Sun’s, etc. To me, all systems and styles of astrology are just so many formulas or techniques to find stuff out.
“Astrology systems are time-honored rules for finding out things, if they are mainly used in the form of a chart to depict them. Just the other day, someone emailed me to arrange a consultation. I noted the time of the email for my specific location and constructed a chart for it, which is called an event chart. This chart is based on certain rules of interpretation to gain a working comprehension of the reason for any event. Usually, the Ascendant, its planetary ruler, the House it’s in, and aspects to it can provide a comprehensive view of the surrounding spatial conditions germane to the event. To put it another way, systems of astrology, or different branches of astrology, are techniques or rule-sets for the chemistry of space. In all branches of astrology, it is the chemistry of space that is the major focus of attention.”
Brenda: “So, you’re saying that astrology’s definition is related to the chemistry of space?”
Ahmad: “That may be as good a definition as any, and yet, while we are talking about how to define astrology, an inexhaustible reservoir of celestial rays of immeasurable intensity are pouring over our heads.”
Michael: “You’re playing with us.”
Ahmad: “And play is a far more efficient approach to finding answers, because what a friend of mine calls paradigm paralysis tends to inhibit the reception of NEW information. Remember those energies moving ceaselessly through the field of space, and yes, over and around our heads? To loosen one’s hold on what is known encourages more wiggle room for consciousness to expand. All of what we’ve talked about thus far in this podcast IS process. Astrology systems, styles, and techniques are all processes that are supposed to get you from A to B. But IS that astrology?”
Michael: “Alright! I’d like to take a different direction, if I may.”
Ahmad: “Certainly.”
Michael: “Using the formula or rules of Mundane Astrology, would you provide an overview of what is happening in the U.S.?”
Ahmad: “The gradual shiftings of the vernal point from the beginning of Pisces to the last degree of Aquarius is related to what is going on in the United States. The spring equinox point is sliding in reverse through the constellations, which is why the Sun’s position is closer to the edges of Pisces-Aquarius now. One astute observer said that the cycles of the Age of Aquarius already coexist with the end of the Age of Pisces.
“Everything appears faster and will continue to increase in velocity as Aquarius’ ruler, Uranus, is becoming more prominent through its affinity with this sign. We are living in interesting times and this new era is marked by the sign of the water-bearer (Aquarius) and Uranus. Now, this alternate influence of Pisces-Aquarius is one factor behind the tumult in the world. In a sense, the world is moving from the frequency of water to the frequency of air. Air molecules move or vibrate much faster than water molecules. There’s a new book by Kevin Raphael Fitch called Astrology, Light and America’s Future. It’s essentially a transcript of the talk I gave in Big Sky, Montana in the spring of 2025. In that book, I discuss all this in more detail.”
Michael: “Where is it available?”
Ahmad: “Amazon carries it and so does Raphael at his website: TheAstrologyConsultant.com. As the compiler of the book, he offers signed copies for purchase.
“So, yes, germane to the United States, Uranus plays an important role in the new trends taking place in America. I will explain it first by referencing the start of the Revolutionary War. When it began on 19 April 1775, in Lexington, Massachusetts, Uranus was at zero degrees 30 minutes of Gemini, a sign that is associated with duality or the pull of the pairs of opposites. If we take the 84-year cycle of Uranus into consideration, then, 86 years after the shot that was heard around the world, we come to the Civil War, on 12 April of 1861. Transiting Uranus was at 9 degrees and 21 minutes Gemini.”
Brenda: “But Uranus was past the 84-year cycle mark.”
Ahmad: “True, and tensions were escalated in 1859, which was around the 84th-year cycle of Uranus, especially by the raid at Harper’s Ferry on 16 October, then Uranus retrograde was at 7 degrees Gemini 17 minutes. On 8 August 1941, Uranus retrograde entered Gemini. The attack on Pearl Harbor happened about 121 days later, when Uranus was at 27 degrees 21 minutes of Taurus. Uranus reentered Gemini on 9 May of 1942. So far, in every instance of conflict involving the United States, the U.S. government’s 6th House of war has always been running an Uranian transit, plus Uranus in Gemini.
“Now today, in the United States, Uranus is in Gemini and there has been much involvement by the United States in a number of conflicts around the world. We are not presently in a war, yet are surrounded by foreign countries in conflict that are seeking America’s input. These two things, being the coexistence of two ages and Uranus’ transit, I trust, will give some context for the state of things in America.
“You asked what these forms of astrology have in common. Besides the usual players, Sun, Moon, planets, signs, houses, and aspects, from my personal experience covering 45-plus years, I’ve accepted the idea that most astrologies that employ a chart or horoscope to measure cycles and periods and destinies of humans—can be ruled by thought.”
Michael: “Well that’s… that’s, uh, very interesting! For a brief moment, I felt an ease, a freeing of energy in my body and mind. That’s a new concept. So, would you unpack that concept more—maybe provide some concrete examples?”
Ahmad: “Indeed, ‘Thought creates around itself a particular atmosphere; in it, the planetary currents can be transmuted to act beneficially.’ I appreciate your physical response to those words and, as you said, the ‘ease’ you felt. No one is really limited BY their astrology, which is touched upon by the humanistic versus the fatalistic approach to astrology.
“The psychological and transpersonal component was given more weight when astrologers like Dane Rudhyar and later, Noel Tyl, Stephen Arroyo, Dasas Yogas, and Bepin Behari focused also on the inner side of the person, rather than on just the externals, like the natal chart progressions and transits, etc. Most people, especially those who are not acquainted with astrology, see transits, for example, as coming from the outside-in—and if it’s a transit of Pluto to their natal Moon in the 12th House, it may be seen as a terrible and frightful transit, especially if other planetary happenings are just as tense at any given time.”
Michael: “You are saying that, simply by a thought, someone could convert, for example, the tensions of a T-square in fixed signs into the ease of a Trine? Sorry for my penchant for the dramatic here, but I am trying to understand how one transmutes planetary currents to act beneficially.”
Ahmad: “NO! A T-square is a T-square, a trine is a trine. I am stating that all energies that impinge or contact a person can be intelligently governed or regulated to flow in a balanced way, for that specific person. This can occur by the right use of consciousness. ‘Thought creates around itself a particular atmosphere; in it the planetary currents can be transmuted to act beneficially.’ The other portion of this maxim is: ‘Whereas, the same currents, when met with a thought of negation, will yield grave consequences.’
“At all times and in all places, we are forever moving through a field of currents of the luminaires, and if people desire to solve their problems, this one fact, comprehended and acted upon, can help them to work with the celestial currents—moment by moment— maybe to the very edge of intensity. It is useful to think of the words of Paracelsus, in this regard, where he wrote that, ‘Know that the philosopher has power over the stars, and not the stars over him.’
“The Trine, the Square, the T-square, Sextile, et al, are different degrees of tension. A horoscope is a chart of intersecting tense currents, so tension is a relative word in that certain types of people can function at highly tensed levels of activity with ease. They may have been acting at this level for so many years that they don’t even notice how intense they are, but the people who associate with these living T-squares and even Grand Squares can be intimidated by contact with them. These powerful individuals may not actively regulate their thinking, as in the above maxim, but they have instinctively, maybe intuitively, learned how to use their life energy to accomplish something. These people, in a lot of cases, are in positions of leadership, whether they are the head of an industry or a corporation, a powerful political influencer, or the head of a crime syndicate. In each, the one at the top functions at the edge of intensity.
“You can say of them that they have a reservoir of dynamite tension. Do the majority of human beings vibrate at such high levels? But I am getting away from the subject of how astrology is subject to thought.”
Michael: “Yes. Please give us a method of using this maxim in one’s life. You talked about the currents of the luminaries as being everywhere, so start there.”
Ahmad: “One need only to consciously accustom oneself to becoming aware of the presence of the living celestial currents in everything. If you can imagine the carefulness of someone walking among live wires, the currents of space are like that, and yet, they are very subtle. Control your thought, and you control your world. This requires a gentle, yet firm, discipline of the mind’s proclivity to flit the attention from one thing to another. Someone said that pure thoughts can create a zone of light in space, and the only just motivation is to bless space and beautify it.
“Anyone who renders a horoscope and looks at it is really studying the chemistry of the field of space, for that one moment or another. So, this is not just some technique to gain control over others or to attract wealth. It is a way to direct the currents of space into healthy and balanced channels for the benefit of life. Astrology—the real energies that exist behind that word—is a means of helping the world through thought.”
Michael: “I see!”
Ahmad: “Don’t wait! Act now on this information. Test it out and notice what’s different in your lives. The currents of space are for use everywhere and in everything. Yes, it is a means of helping your clients through constructing their charts and so on, and yet, the Ontology of Astrology is much more than the reading of charts, which is, of course, a helpful way to aid people. You see, at any moment, the energies and forces flowing through space via the celestial bodies that we know of—and those we don’t—are continually pressing against us like the air surrounding our physical body. As we move through space, we are always in contact with celestial or sidereal currents. These waves can be relatively tensed, or not—it all depends on the quality of space at that moment.
“Thus, every moment has its correspondences. Just the other day, I was thinking about boxing, and so I looked up woman boxing champions, like Clarissa Shields, Alycia Baumgardner, Vonda Ward, and Anne Wolfe. I watched some of their boxing highlights. I even Googled Muhammad Ali’s daughter Leila. The point to this, germane to my saying that every moment has its correspondences, is that I was watching these fight clips as the tropical Ascendant had Aries at around 12 degrees, and its ruler Mars was in Scorpio.”
Michael: “Cool!”
Ahmad: “I stopped watching the fight clips as soon as the local Ascendant passed from tropical Aries to zero degrees Taurus. I looked this stuff up after the fact.
In other words, when I was no longer interested in watching these amazing boxers, that was when I charted that moment, when Aries passed to Taurus.”
Michael: “Wow.”
Ahmad: “How many times in a day do people do something, which is in sync with the agreed-upon meanings of the astrology of that moment?”
Brenda: “By agreed-upon meanings… what are we talking about?”
Ahmad: “Astrology is a useful construct for the mind. And each astrological technique or system has its own morphic field. In other words, the more a technique is practiced among many people, that technique acquires a life of its own.
“Fatalist astrology HAD a strong morphic field in its day. Most people believed that their lives were ruled by the stars. It was a case of limiting concepts, and when Alan Leo, Rudhyar, and Mark Edmund Jones came on the scene, they altered that morphogenetic field of blind belief so that people could regain a sense of what that phrase, ‘character is destiny’ really means. And while a person’s character is a significant component of the quality of their life, purity of character is one of the elements that must enter into this idea that astrology can be ruled by thought. By purity, I speak about the quality of energy, not religion. Again, pure thoughts are said to be able to create zones of light in space and, coupled with the statement I shared earlier, pure thoughts can and DO create around a person a particular atmosphere, where the planetary currents can act more beneficially for a person, a com-munity, a nation, or the world.
“Do you play chess?”
Michael: “Some!”
Ahmad: “Well, we know that national leaders are good chess players—off the board. The more experienced ones can plan many planetary moves ahead to achieve a political goal. This capacity to create a particular atmosphere around oneself, by the power of thought is applying astrology off the board or without the conventional horoscope when engaged in the daily affairs of life. You could say that ALL moments are horoscopes. Those constantly occurring, intersecting currents in space are not being printed on a piece of paper or observed on a screen—on the contrary, these currents of space are being experienced and assimilated through correct thought by individuals who recognize the continuous outpouring of celestial energies and forces playing in and through the whole field of space and everything within that field.”
Brenda: “Ahmad, I’ve been listening to this and have one question: What did you mean about astrology being a construct for the mind?”
Ahmad: “That’s a great question! When Phillip Sedgwick’s book, The Sun at the Center: A Primer on Heliocentric Astrology, came out in 1990, it altered the way people looked at charts. The Houses in astrology, from a certain point of view, are likened to 12 prisons for the ego. By their shape and meaning, each of the 12 Houses are necessarily tied to the interpretations imposed upon them over long periods of time.
“So, if you have Saturn retrograde in your 1st House and have felt constrained by circumstances all of your life, whether you knew you had it or not, that thought-form of Saturn retrograde in the 1st has a morphic resonance with limitation. In Hindu astrology, also known as Vedic astrology, Saturn in the 1st is considered a MKS (Marana Karaka Sthana) planet, or a death-inflicted house. In this case, Saturn is said not to perform well in this house. These are deep things and out of respect for this tradition, I acknowledge that even with an MKS planet like Saturn in the 1st House, a person can work with this energy, real or reinforced by belief over time, whereby the meaning of this planet and the sector or house it is in can perform extraordinarily well. Everything teaches, even if astrology itself is based on the illusion that a planet is in a sign rather than passing between the Earth and a constellation. Again, these are all convenient ways to classify things. No planet is literally in a sign, but the nomenclature is apt and useful.
“Now, to get to your question about constructs… When heliocentric charts are calculated, there are no houses to think about, because this chart setup only uses four quadrants, which follow the signs from Aries to Pisces, where the first 90 degrees represents Aries to Cancer, the second 90 degrees are from Cancer to Libra, the third 90 are from Libra to Capricorn, and the last quadrant is from Capricorn to Aries. So, houses were replaced with more space for the planets. To look at your chart this way presented a freer, more open concept for the mind to inhabit. When I used these charts and told clients that the heliocentric chart had no house and also no Moon, they immediately felt a difference in their energetic field. This is why I pointed out that horoscopes are merely a way of constructing a pattern of intersecting currents. Now, I am mentioning this in order that those who find value in this can prove for themselves if this approach is useful.
“Please consider this maxim: ‘Astrology is a great science, but it can be ruled by the forces of thought. Thought can indeed have a significance in astrology. Thought creates; thought is a chemist; thought even has an influence on Karma. With such powerful laws does thought contend.’”
Michael: “Ahmad, this was great. We would like you to join us for another interview.”
Brenda: “Yes, we so appreciated your insights.”
Ahmad: “Thank you, Michael, and thank you, Brenda. It has been my pleasure.”
Kevin D. Raphael Fitch, is a writer, philosopher, novelist, and professional astrologer. He is the author of “Celestial Configurations of Africa and the Caribbean,” “The End Zone, An Ahmad Jones Novel,” and “Astrology, Light and America’s Future.” He currently lives in Livingston, Montana. For more information and to book a reading, visit: TheAstrologyConsultant.com.