The Sky Within

I still periodicaly go back and read through my own report because I enjoy his style of writing and his unique astrological viewpoints so much. He goes through each of the heavenly bodies as he refers to them as our “Ten Teachers.” He then explains how each planet works and what its lessons are. He then systematically goes through the astrology birth chart and analyzes the each planet in the zodiac sign and astrology house that it is located in. If you’re looking for an introduction into astrology at a lower cost, then this is an excellent way to see the full potential of what astrology can offer you. If, on the other hand, you are like me and simply enjoy Steven Forrest’s masterful storytelling, then “The Sky Within” is perfect as he weaves your very own astrological DNA into the amazing story of your path in this life. What more could you want?

I have inserted a small sample of “The Sky Within” report for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Enjoy!

YOUR TEN TEACHERS

Freud divided the human mind into three compartments: ego, id, and superego. Astrologers do the same thing, except that our model of the mind differs from Freud's in two fundamental ways. First, it's a lot more elaborate. Instead of three compartments, we have ten: Sun, Moon, and the eight planets we see from Earth. As we'll discover, each planet represents more than a "circuit" in your psyche. It also serves as a kind of "Teacher," guiding you into certain consciousness-triggering kinds of experience. The second difference between astrology and psychology is that astrology's mind-map, unlike Freud's, is rooted in nature itself, just as we are.

The primary celestial teacher is the Sun. What does it teach? Selfhood. Vitality. How to keep the life-force strong in yourself. If the Sun grew dimmer, so would all the planets -- they shine by reflecting solar light. Similarly, if you fail to stoke the furnaces of your own inner Sun, then you'll simply be "out of gas." All your other planetary functions will suffer too.

How do we learn this teacher's lessons?

Start by realizing that when you were born the Sun was in Aquarius.

Aquarius is the sign of geniuses -- and criminals. It represents Individuation, which is a five-dollar word meaning the process of being yourself. Set against your individuation are all the social forces of conformity. Buy a necktie! Shave your legs! Get hungry at noon! Outwardly, they show up as peer pressures. Inwardly, those forces are more subtle but even more formidable: all the internalized scripts that go with having once been a very little kid learning how to be human from mom, dad, and the television set.

The Aquarian part of you is odd somehow. It doesn't fit into the social environment, at least not without betraying itself. In this part of your life, the more centered you get, the weirder you'll seem -- to Ann Landers and her crowd. Go for it, and pay the price of alienation or ostracism. It's high... but not as high as the price of living a life that's not your own. With your Sun in Aquarius, the experiences that feed your solar vitality happen to be ones that most people will think are strange. There's nothing spiritually dead about "normalcy;" it just happens that you've come to a point in the soul's journey in which the path wanders through the cultural and social fringes. Don't let that stop you! Be yourself, even if doing that annoys every figure of authority for miles around.

Society will try to coerce you into living a life that's more mainstream than what's good for you. It will bribe, threaten, cajole, and intimidate you. As though that weren't enough, it will send spies inside your fortress-walls: people who love you saying, "Please compromise on this! It tears me up to think what'll happen to you if you don't!" They're sincere, but don't let them sway you. Be yourself. You're sailing in the thin, high atmosphere of true individuality. And one of the prices you pay is that, sadly, you'll have to hurt some people to do it. We can take our analysis of your natal Sun a step further. When you were born, that solar light illuminated the Fifth house. What does that signify?

Start by realizing that Houses represent twelve basic arenas of life. There's a House of Marriage, for example, and a House of Career. Always, we find an element of "fate" in our House structures; the "Hand of God" continually presents us with existential and moral questions connected with our emphasized Houses. How we react and what we learn -- or fail to learn -- is our own business.

One brief technical note: Sometimes the Sun, the Moon, or a planet lies near the end of the House. We then say it's "conjunct the cusp" of the subsequent House, and interpret it as though it were a little further along... in the next House, in other words.

Pleasure -- that's Fifth House territory. It's as though God marched you off the end of the cosmic diving board with the words, "Go down there and try to have a good time!" That sounds pretty lightweight, but think about it: feeling good in this world isn't so easy! We've got global pollution, schizophrenics with AK-47s, ego-maniacs with nuclear warheads... not to mention disease, taxes, mosquitos, cars that won't start....

How do we feel real pleasure here on planet Earth? Alone, the "pleasures of the flesh" can't cut the mustard; money, alcohol, orgasms -- they help, but they're not enough... just look at the usual life-expectancy of a "purely physical relationship." Where to turn? To the pleasures of the mind, the heart, the soul! The joy of learning. The spiritual high of athletic excellence. The bliss of meditation. And, perhaps above all, the sheer pleasure of creative self-expression. Astrological force is focused here in your birthchart. It offers joy -- and warns of the addictions that can overcome you if you miss that joy, or seek it all in one place.

With the Sun in the Fifth House, you're full of charisma and creative drive. Express those qualities, cultivate them, and you'll feel right on target. You're also learning some complicated lessons about the human need for peak experiences. Old-fashioned astrologers would say that you tend toward excesses. That can be true, but those kinds of problems -- with food, drugs, sex, whatever -- arise only when you've forgotten to fully enjoy the bliss of your enormous creative energies. The next step in our journey through your birthchart carries us to the Moon.

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