We are absolutely delighted that Evolutionary Astrologer Mark Jones has taken time to respond to our first set of questions and trust that this new feature evolves into a series that supports you in your own life. Other astrologers are invited to participate in this set of questions.

In light of the oounurrent world and political climate, more individuals are having trouble coping with some of the apparent illogical behavior of our political leaders. My experience is with elders who grew up in war-torn countries or fought in wars and fear repeat situations. Some people who have experienced relatively calm lives, also seem to be triggered in quite extreme ways emotionally these days.  Sometimes, this leads to illogical, distressful, erratic and violent behavior. Other times, there is resistance to listening to other points of views. There are those who suffer more internally.

Mark, thank you for taking time for these questions. How would you approach a client who is having trouble coping with what is going on in the world? Alternatively, could you say something about ‘what is going on in the world’? Why does the climate seem more troubling now than previously?

As an evolutionary astrologer, spiritually orientated psychotherapist and hypnotherapist I work with large numbers of people, many of whom struggle to cope with their own lives and with the larger context of the struggles within the world today.

To work with this I tend to want to separate the individual crisis from the sense of the world’s troubles that people can feel so much empathy with. The tendency at times is to project the unresolved aspects of the personal crisis on to the wold situation.

The human world has always struggled. One thinks of the great wars, of the Spanish flu epidemic that followed on from the first world war, or in earlier times the plague that destroyed close to 40% of the population of Europe.

That life contains this essence of suffering was something central to the insight of the Buddha. He was not a depressive! He saw a fundamental truth that underlies the fundamental frailty of the human condition.

In the terms of Ernst Becker, author of Denial of Death and Escape from Evil, humankind has the inner mental and symbolic potential of a god, yet our biological frailty permeates everything we do. This has always been true.

The difference in the modern climate is that we are so much more aware of our inter-connectivity, through the media and other forms. We see so much more of what occurs. This connective technology also includes ways we might destroy everything– the whole world.

This is only a magnification of the previous human situation. There is nothing new in our ignorance and suffering, only in the mass production scale of it all and the way that we might impact the whole planet.

What inspires you about the current world climate?

Ironically, this is redemptive as well– that we are part of a whole. Our action or inaction might impact that whole for good or for ill. This is a profound insight that there is a participatory deal between us and the cosmos. That our lives are necessary.

In Kabbalah there is the idea of the Tikkun Olam, in which the vessels of the world have been broken and that we must all work together to rebuild them. This is the great work. This is the moral, psychological and spiritual imperative of our time.

From the very moment we were born we began that long process of dying. When we accept our own mortality and the mortality of everything that we know and love, we are free instead to chose how we live our endless numbered days.

In all the great spiritual traditions of the world the source of our true nature is posited as existing outside of space and time. Blake said eternity is in love with the productions of time; we find our greater self loves every moment of our precious mortality.

When I work with people I endeavour to encourage a (re)discovery of this preciousness within their own life story. Whether the individual is alone or in relationship, whether they are in good or bad health, I search, with them, for that spark of meaning within their experience.

When you discover the living fire of your own soul, all of life’s challenges are turned around; that which seemed like insurmountable struggle is suddenly suffused with a love so emboldening that one gets up again willing to face the challenge.

This is the heroism of the every day. This is how people bring up children, work challenging jobs, deal with their personal pain and take steps to help the world. In my view it always helps the world to release one’s own pain. For you and the world are intertwined.

From this perspective everything in life is of great importance. It matters in every moment if you can find a way to love or not. It changes the world. It is this change, buried in the mortal, that will shine out into the eternal.

Are there any books you would recommend?

A novelist called Steven Pressfield wrote a short inspirational book on how to overcome resistance and start one’s creative path. The War of Art. Dr David Hawkins wrote an inspirational book on dealing with life’s challenges; Letting Go: the Pathway of Surrender.

 

Mark, thank you for contributing to Scorpio Moon Asks

 

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Mark Jones—an astrologer, Psychosynthesis therapist, and hypnotherapist based in South Wales—works with clients and students worldwide and is a regular speaker and workshop leader in North America and Europe.

Mark’s first book, Healing the Soul:  Pluto, Uranus, and the Lunar Nodes, explores the basis of his astrological approach.  His second, The Soul Speaks:  The Therapeutic Power of Astrology, explores the transformative power of the natal chart reading and the astrologer’s role in that transformation.

In addition, Mark has co-authored Dialogues with Frank Clifford and contributed chapters to Astrology: the New Generation, Transpersonal Astrology, and Insights into Evolutionary Astrology.

www.plutoschool.com  – Marks’ website includes many resources for students including a foundation course in Mark’s method and the Counselling Skills for Astrologers program.
Mark can be contacted – markjones@plutoschool.com

Mark offers readings and ongoing mentoring work after a reading in order to encourage people to embrace their true potential.

Resources from this Article

Classes by Mark Jones

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