Evolutionary astrology

Evolutionary astrology is a theory most often applied to the practice of natal astrology which says that souls evolve over lifetimes and are born with pre-existing experiences and orientations that affect the native's current incarnation. In the evolutionary astrology paradigm, the natal chart is said to hold the soul’s intent and life lessons of a person in their present life as well as insight into their soul’s past incarnations.

History

The history of evolutionary astrology (as a specific term applied to this theory) begins with the work of Jeffrey Wolf Green and Steven Forrest, whose techniques differ but are complementary and based on the same theory. They were applying their similar approaches independently in their work, without knowledge of each other, until an “ethical crisis involving another astrologer” brought them together in 1997. [ [http://www.mountainastrologer.com The Mountain Astrologer Magazine] , Issue #94, Dec 2000/Jan 2001, page 43: "The Pluto Brothers Measure the Night."]

The term itself was used much earlier. It was part of the title of a book by Ray Merriman called "Evolutionary Astrology: The Journey of the Soul Through States of Consciousness". [Revised 1991 title: "Evolutionary Astrology: Journey Through Consciousness".] Jeff Green & Steven Forrest popularized the term, which is really just one of many names for the long history of psychological and spiritual viewpoints applied to astrology by those that came before them. Some of these people include Madame Blavatsky and others in the Theosophical movement, Alice Bailey, Dane Rudhyar, Stephen Arroyo and Liz Greene.

Theory

The theory behind evolutionary astrology has been outlined by the primary creators of the system, Steven Forrest & Jeffrey Wolf Green at http://www.stevenforrest.com/evolutionary.html.

Techniques

Most of the techniques applied in evolutionary astrology are found in natal astrology, but are applied with the understanding that each planetary placement represents a spectrum of possibilities of behavior rather than predictable outcomes and behaviors. This idea is shared by other astrological paradigms such as psychological astrology.

A few techniques of evolutionary astrology:

*The extent to which the moon’s nodes are used in the creation of past life metaphors [Controversy has erupted regarding Evolutionary Astrology’s stance that past lives can be seen in the natal chart. The statement that the creators of Evolutionary Astrology have made in response is that the past life stories that are constructed from the symbolism seen in the natal chart are metaphorical, but it is not claimed that literal details are seen without fail in every case. See [http://www.mountainastrologer.com The Mountain Astrologer Magazine] , Issue #125, Feb/Mar 2006, page 8: Letters to the Editor, letter by Glenn Perry.] , including not only the sign and house of the south node of the moon, but also its sign’s ruling planet, and any aspects to either of the moon’s nodes.
*The extent to which Pluto is used in the understanding of the past life conditioning, including what is called the “polarity point” of Pluto (the opposite point of Pluto’s location in a natal chart) and its use to indicate the soul’s intent in the current incarnation.
*The phasal relationship of the aspects in determining the level of progress of the soul in their efforts to evolve with respect to any particular lesson (represented by the planets of the aspect involved).

While the application of these techniques vary, all evolutionary astrology practice significantly hinges on Pluto and the moon’s nodes as the pivotal pieces of the soul’s incarnation story and current incarnation’s purpose.

ee also

*Natal astrology
*Psychological astrology

References

Further reading

Citation
first = Ray | last = Merriman
title = Evolutionary Astrology: the Journey of the Soul Through States of Consciousness
publisher = Seek It Publishing
year = 1977, 1991

Citation
first = Steven | last = Forrest
title = The Inner Sky
publisher = Bantam Books
year = 1984

Citation
first = Jeffrey Wolf | last = Green
title = Pluto Volume 1: Evolutionary Journey of the Soul
publisher = Llewellyn Publications
year = 1985

Citation
first = Steven | last = Forrest
title = The Book of Pluto
publisher = Astro Communication Services
year = 1995

Citation
first = Jeffrey Wolf | last = Green
title = Measuring the night: Evolutionary Astrology and the Keys to the Soul, vol. 1 | publisher = Seven Paws Press
year = 2000

Citation
first = Steven | last = Forrest
title = Measuring the night: Evolutionary Astrology and the Keys to the Soul, vol. 2
publisher = Seven Paws Press
year = 2001

External links

* [http://www.stevenforrest.com Steven Forrest]
* [http://www.evolutionaryastrology.net Evolutionary Astrology Network (Jeff Green)]