Wheels Within Wheels: The Cycles of Life (& Astrology)

One of the things I enjoy about astrology is its cyclical nature. Sooner or later, all of the planets return to where they started and then go for another spin around the zodiac. Some of these planetary returns are more frequents than others. The moon cycles every 29.5 days, but Pluto takes roughly 250 years to do the same thing. Some of the slower planetary cycles can indicate significant evolutionary periods in a person’s life while other cycles are things we deal with on a yearly or even monthly basis.

But this particular blog post is not about the returns of specific planets and what they might symbolize in your chart & life. This is about cycles.

All around us, nature and the universe pulse in cycles. Day after day the sun rises. The tides rise and fall daily. Month after month the moon cycles through its phases. Year after year we celebrate another birthday and rotate through spring, summer, fall and winter. Every cell in our body is replaced roughly every 7 years, and yet we go on. Certain insects (like cicadas and scabies) have decade-plus years of population increases and decreases. In the 1970s, the concept of biorhythms became popular, setting cycles for the physical (23 days), the emotional (28 days) and the intellectual (33 days), suggesting we all ebbed and flowed. And science measures energy in terms of cycles and waves

And many religions and people believe in reincarnation, another form of cycling. And Christianity promotes the idea of being forgiven, redeemed and reborn.

I believe this particular universe we are currently living in is a closed system. Although I believe there is much more to all of reality than just this universe, I do believe this system is closed. And science tells us, in the First Law of Thermodynamics: “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change form.” And according to E = mc2, matter is just a different form of energy. Matter is converted to energy and back into matter all the time. In a way, all of us are examples of cosmic recycling. The molecules composing your body could have been, at one time, part of anyone or anything in history.

So I like this idea of planetary returns in astrology, because it means we are constantly returning to our sources, and given another shot at it, given another chance to renew ourselves. It can happen many times in our lives. I like it when I look around me and see the confirmation everywhere. There’s another chance to get it right, or at least closer to right, this time around. In a way, it is a little like the brass ring on a carousel. There is always another chance, the next time the merry-go-round.