Tree of Life Consultation with Mark Lerner (7/21/11)
By Tara McKinney
This is the third in a series of Notes from the Editor in which I share personal reflections on astrological readings I have been very fortunate to receive from each of the gifted consultants on Inner Sight/ILE’s new Astrology page. By the way, I just need to say that it’s part of my job description to do stuff like this, so how great is that?!
In this installment, I share the highlights of an astrological consultation I had with Mark Lerner, Inner Sight/ILE’s intrepid Star Reporter for our Astrology page. Many of you may have first become aware of Mark in his pioneering role as founder, publisher and editor of the magazine Welcome to Planet Earth, in which he consistently broke new ground in the field of Mundane Astrology, combining metaphysics with politics, history, economics, psychology, the environment, arts, social issues and contemporary culture. More recently, you may know him as the publisher of Earth Aquarius News, or as the author of the Daily Cosmic Calendar. I have known Mark over the years in a more personal way, as the ex-husband and close friend of my longtime friend, Isha Lerner, who is now, as of our recent merger, one of Inner Sight’s managing partners.
I had no idea when I asked Mark for a reading that I was in for a big download on the Tree of Life, an archetypal symbol which has special significance for me. In fact, what I actually asked Mark for was a Midpoint reading, after an intriguing conversation in which he mentioned that the midpoint between any two planets in a person’s birth chart can act as a portal into valuable insights and revelations.
In preparation for the reading, Mark sent me a page filled with tiny, midpoint diagrams arranged in dozens of rows and columns. My heart skipped a beat and the wheels in my head started spinning when Mark explained that these little diagrams are known as “trees,” since they do, in fact, resemble miniature trees in both form and function: their tiny trunks splitting the space between two equidistant planets. Not all such Trees are created equal, however, according to Mark. The most significant ones are those in which a third planet happens to be conjunct the midpoint between the other two by less than two degrees. Mark agreed that this astrological formula would certainly qualify as an archetypal Tree of Life configuration in any given person’s chart.
The Tree of Life is, arguably, the most primordial of archetypal principles, symbolic remnants of which have been found in one form or another in all ancient cultures, worldwide. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is the non-anthropomorphic symbol for GOD, the organizing and animating principle for life, itself, as well as for the evolution of consciousness. Along these lines, visionary biologist Carl Calleman has hypothesized that the Tree of Life structure is a holographic fractal which can be found inside subatomic particles, as well as inside atoms, our cells, our bodies (our spinal column, its trunk; our arms and legs, its branches and roots), the Earth (at 12 degrees longitude; its trunk bisecting the planet from Sweden through Rome and into Africa), the Milky Way Galaxy (its roots anchored in the Galactic Center), and, ultimately, the Universe (discovered by astrophysicists in 2005 and promptly misnamed “The Axis of Evil”).
This potent symbol has moved into the foreground of our collective awareness in recent years as we approach the prophesied birth date for a new humanity in 2012 (or late 2011, depending upon your source). A dramatic example of its eruption into popular culture can be found in the blockbuster Avatar, centered around the compelling iconography of the “Tree of Souls.” Another, more explicit, though less well-known, example would be the movie The Fountain.
If it’s true that we are all living, breathing, holographic fractals of the Tree of Life, and I believe it is, then it makes sense that we would each have at least one Tree of Life indicator and probably several, fitting the particular criteria outlined by Mark, in our astrological chart. Mark wasted no time in pointing out my own personal variations on this theme. In fact, he explained that I had a grand total of eight Tree of Life configurations, in which a third planet was conjunct the midpoint between two other planets by less than two degrees. The most significant of these involved the Sun and Moon with my Venus ruling planet smack dab in the middle forming what might be called a Finger of God/Tree of Life configuration. I was, of course, very excited to learn this, given my close affinity with the Tree of Life and all that it entails.
It is no overstatement to say I was stunned by the power of Midpoint astrology, in particular the subcategory I have been calling the Tree of Life reading, to illuminate key issues of destiny. With the wealth of teachings coming from indigenous cultures these days regarding the central role of the Tree of Life in the awakening of consciousness, this type of reading is certainly one of the most timely and relevant divination tools we have available to us, especially in the hands of a gifted and seasoned astrologer such as Mark Lerner. I highly recommend it.
(For a more detailed and personal version of this piece, please see my blog: Midpoint Astrology and the Tree of Life.)
