Translated from the Israeli Magazine " Haim acherim" June 1999 edition.
Translation by Michal Ricardo
2001 edition by Maurice Fernandez

An Astrologer of Processes
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Maurice Fernandez is an astrologer of processes. He learned his teaching from the American astrologer Jeffrey Green, who practices the astrology of the evolution of the soul. And the soul, as we know, does not trouble itself here only once, but passes through many lifetimes, which purpose is to put to right the many damages. A meeting with Fernandez enables us to understand what we are going through, why we are going through it, and what can be done about it.

By Tami Lubitsh

I met Maurice Fernandez at ten a.m. Two and a half hours later I emerged back into the world that looked the same yet was completely different. Suddenly everything was clearer. The individual that was me was transformed in a short and intense time span into a part of a bigger process. Suddenly I got it: I, including all beliefs and doubts, the wondering and the worries, the questions and the answers, the wind and chimes, all of me, everything, is but a tiny dot, a pleasant, graceful comma in a wondrous process of evolution. In a single moment all the pains turned into challenges, and existence obtained a true, solid and simple meaning. How could the idiot that I was not have see it before. It is amazing, what perspective can do.

A few weeks have passed since then. I sank back into life's hot stew, and almost forgot who, what and why. But always a moment before I start to sink into the pot, I remember that all this has purpose, and that it is but another lesson in the class to which I was assigned in this incarnation. And Fernandez is just an astrologer. He is a kind of seer in the stars that does not bother to draw details from the past. His assumption (that is true in most cases) is that we know that anyway better than he does. On the other hand he is not keen on giving us details about specific events in the future. Fernandez is an astrologer of processes. In the chart he examines where we are coming from and where we are heading. Or, as someone formulated it in brief after seeing him: "It is not that I am crazy about all this incarnation rafting, but undoubtedly it gives many explanations to things that happen to us in our everyday life." She, for example, turned the knowledge she received from Fernandez into a crane that enabled her to move out of the way many things that were stuck in her daily life, for many such days.

Fernandez works according to a method developed by an American astrologer named Jeffrey Green: "The Astrology of the Evolution of the Soul." It works like this, sort of: let's say we gathered enough garbage in the can, and it is time to dump it. We can ignore the smell, and put off throwing the garbage until tomorrow, next year, ten years ahead, next lifetime or the coming lifetimes. As far as the garbage is concerned, it is willing to wait patiently until we are ready to empty it. We on our side are completely free to choose whether to face the needed process of taking out the garbage or bear the stench. At one point or another this will take place: the can will be emptied, which will enable us to move to the next garbage pile. The same is true for the treasures we have been accumulating throughout the years in the shape of talents and abilities. We can decide to use them and bring them out into the light, or, alternately to sit on them and realize them in the next round. A meeting with Fernandez gives us an up to date picture of the garbage, which is in his language what we came to correct or to learn; and of the treasures, which are the abilities that will help us do the task. To sum this up, the whole idea enables us to understand what is happening to us, why it is happening, and what can be done about it. Yet what is this astrology of the evolution of the soul that Green developed from a huge ensemble of knowledge available in the field? Fernandez, the Israeli branch of the knowledge, explains: "Theoretically, this is about an approach that is already in existence. The basic assumption is that there is meaning beyond the ego. Every person comes into the world in order to contribute to the actualization of a wider goal, while actualizing the personal goal. When we actualize the personal goal, we take part in a wider process. Through the evolution of the soul we try to identify the basic motives of that soul."

I had to ask carefully: "Excuse me, but what stands behind the term soul?" and he answers, "A soul is force, a kind of energy that changes form and evolves. It has its own ego, and therefore an identity. You could say it is a spark that detached itself from the primal creative force. The detachment is not absolute. It is like a wave that rises and separates from the ocean. Despite its severance it is connected to the ocean, and will return to it eventually. The soul can be seen as small cycles within a grand cycle. Within the evolutionary cycle of one soul there are sub-cycles of incarnations, and in each incarnation there are events of different kinds, which influence the whole process. The soul, in a series of incarnations, develops an independent essence, which purpose is to bring about transformation in the creative essence, which is the essence of the supreme power."

Fernandez began his soul's evolution in this lifetime less than thirty years ago in Burundi, a small country in central Africa. He was born there to a Jewish family, and immigrated to Israel when he was thirteen. And of course all this is not wholly accidental. "What was interesting about Africa is that it is a place connected to nature, and there, from the aspect of soul evolution, I was exposed to all kinds of patterns," says Fernandez about the beginning of his current lifetime. "It means to grow up in a place where you don't feel you belong nationally. On the one hand there is a sense of not belonging, and on the other hand a sense of unity between all kinds of people, who are all in a state of expatriate. I was exposed at an early age to many cultures, a microcosm in one school. This exposure made me understand that we are all a bit different and a bit alike. Besides, this is a country that used to be under colonial regime, the worship of the supreme race. Even with the ending of the colonial era, the relationship between blacks and whites is one of servants and masters, masked as something more polite and liberal. When I came to Israel there were similarities. Israel too is a rich gathering of cultures from all corners, and within this context, there is also a power struggle between superiors and inferiors. I bought the whole story, I was part of the elite race. This lasted until the day when I began to suffer from it, because it was far from what reflected the needs of my soul. This is where I connected to astrology. For me this was a total rebellion against anything linked to conditioning. At eighteen I took my first course in astrology. It interested me. From there I started to be interested in philosophy. All of a sudden I felt I belonged. I found values that were related to me. The more I learned, the more I felt that this is my place. I traveled to the United Stated, where I contacted Jeffrey Green. I took his seminars. The experience was that I did not actually study, but was just reminded. Three years ago he arrived in Israel. During the visit we decided that I would teach his material in Israel in Hebrew."

Thus the first school for the study of astrology was founded in Israel: regular studies that entitle to an official astrologer certificate. Since the approach deals with the evolution of the soul, Fernandez opens with an explanation about the times we live in, and general context from which the life of each of us derives.

"We are now approaching the end of the Age of Pisces," he says, "and the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. We are at the end of the era of the worship of the martyr. Today we are all exposed to new, alternative approaches. We no longer see ourselves as an only source of life. The concepts of the Age of Aquarius start to trickle down. The herd, which is the majority, still does not acknowledge it. We shall know that we are in the Age of Aquarius when these ideas will not be for the elite, but be embedded in the viewpoint of the man in the street. The process we undergo now is expressed as a need to find spirituality and spiritual values. We need to find a balance between these values and the ego's needs. It is very important to nurture our egos in the course of the incarnation. Still, it is important to know not to consider it as a final goal, but as a servant of a more important, more spiritual goal. The basis is that I cannot contribute to the whole and advance things on an empty stomach. The spiritual challenge is to keep proportions, to internalize a kind of humility that arises from the fact that I'm not the one in total control over life. Since we are now in a period of transition between ages, a time of immense developmental potential to build new values and patterns, many souls want to be born now. Everything happens fast. Theoretically, today we accomplish in one lifetime what once took us several lifetimes. This is a period that forces us to undergo transformations on all levels."

This brings us to the month of August 1999, and the day in it that was nicknamed, "Judgment Day," the day that of the fixed cross in the skies, the ultimate astrologers' dread. Fernandez presents to this topic a soothing approach, with a general message that enables us to look ahead without existential anxiety. "We live today in a very intense and tense epoch," he says, "a time of extreme changes. It is important to understand that this will not necessarily happen in a bang, as we expect. These dates testify to a beginning of new processes. We feel it even now. Many people get divorced, change vocations, etc. There is a general dynamic of a wish for something else. This is a state of uncertainty, because it is impossible to know whether the new will bring what we really want. This is a time in which there will be an eruption of evil, but it is not clear yet whether this will happen in a recognizable conscious layer. During this time all the changes may manifest on the DNA level, and the transformation will not always be physical. At the end of September 1999, with the conjunction between Mars and Pluto, things will come to light and become clearer. The change that matures in August will accelerate towards that time."

From the general level we move to the individual level that works on the same principle, only individually. "Through chart analysis," explains Fernandez, "we try to identify where the person stopped last time, and what the developmental motivations are in this lifetimes, that is how he or she will continue to grow to a place of higher values, and within which frameworks he or she will choose to accomplish this. The experiences are not always easy. Part of our development occurs through crises. By identifying the place of the soul at this moment we are able to uncover part of its blockages, and to understand why it is stuck. Pluto, for example, represents the wish for and the necessity of evolution and change. It forces us to leave behind what doesn't work and to adopt new values that will lead to new choices and will create a different reality. Pluto symbolizes power, and power is relative. A person can see power in money, social position, knowledge or physical strength. A man who goes through a Pluto transit will experience it where he defines power. A person for whom money is power can have a crisis in this sphere, in order to exit that place with new values concerning money."

Still, how is this approach different from other astrological approaches?
"Until I met Green, I have not been exposed to a technique capable of identifying the patters in an astrological chart on a level you can reach with Green's way of analysis. Many astrologers don't deal with the evolution of the soul. This becomes a treatment of outcomes, not causes. It gives information on the level of fire extinguishing. I also believe that a psychologist that does not take into account the emotional memories of previous incarnations, the essence of the soul, its motivations, and the higher meanings will be limited in her therapy. Past incarnations serve us because they supply us with memories that influence our choices in this incarnation. We do not know what our past lives were like in terms of time periods or details. We can only know the baggage the person came with and what he is supposed to face. Of course, through personal enquiry, a person can arrive at the same places without astrology. The astrology chart is only a work tool for consciousness, a tool that gives us perspective. Once we understand things logically, we can relate to them. This enables us to plan things, to prevent other things and to filter from the whole what is suitable for our evolution. Instead of being a tennis ball thrown from place to place with the wind, and hit with every stroke, we can understand why things happen to us. If, for example, a person has to learn to give, once he will understand this and act according to this principle, he will avoid many crises that are meant to bring him to this learning."

Can anyone reach the actualization of his or her vocation in this lifetime?
"Usually every person came here to actualize her vocation. The how, the way, is a matter of choice. It can be done through cooperation, which will bring a progressive evolution, or through crises and pain, and forced evolution. The pace of evolution depends on the person's ability to change values."

Is there an evolutionary explanation to calamities that take place in one's life?
"Yes. Every aggressor was once a victim, but not every victim will become an aggressor in another lifetime. Many people who go through hard stuff, this is the price they pay for past lives. The price they pay is eventually for their own good, especially if they use it to develop. This is the boomerang effect: what you throw returns to you. You can change it by throwing to the world something good and beneficent. It is important to take into account that we are at the end of an era with many victims due to suffering worship of the sign Pisces. This is a kind of choice according to which the more I suffer, the saintlier I am."

Can you understand one's course after death?
"From the chart of the time of death you can have information on the resolutions of the last life. This is not always simple, but you can attain a foundation for understanding that person's course."

Can you draw information from this lifetime's chart about the next?
"The next lifetime is resolved on towards the end of this one. It is possible to check what the person realized from the chart and what is left for her to deal with. There is something very logical about the whole structure of practicing astrology. From this tool you can learn not only about the person, but about the whole structure of the universe."

Do you consider astrology a healing tool?
"Certainly. Astrological therapy is seeing and understanding processes. Logic fills an important role in our ability to be freed from traumas. A person, who has experienced a trauma but is incapable of understanding why it happened, will be unable to process the event, and will remain on the pain level. When you understand why, you can start to break free. Astrology is an objective tool that reflects reality. It helps people to look in the mirror. Therefore I see the study of astrology, much more than private consultation, as one of the best therapies I know. You learn to use the tools and draw conclusions. A single consultation is effective for understanding the general overview of life; the study enables you to go into fine details.

These days Fernandez teaches the first class to study astrology according to the method of Jeffrey Green. "The structure of study in Israel is at the moment under examination, and will probably change with time," he says." This is not a school in the official term. It is a binding course of studies. There is a final project, and only those who submitted assignments may request to receive a certificate. The study is intensive, and the purpose is explicitly to prepare responsible and professional astrologers. The structure as of now is made of five sections, each lasting about six days. Between the third and fourth sections there is a weekend intensive. People usually come to this course with some basic background. During the course we give new definitions of classical astrological terms, such as signs, the meaning of aspects, progressions and transits. The intention is to understand the logic behind the system. Since the material is very intensive, and is hard to grasp in one go, a person that finished the course may go over it again if needed free of charge, both in Israel and in other schools of Jeffrey Green in Europe and in the United States."

This means we reached the evolutionary stage where children can come back from kindergarten and ask the parents: "what did you learn about life today?" And they will answer according to transits over their natal chart: "we learned that our soul evolves, dear children." In the next stage astrology may even be taught in elementary schools. When this will happen, we will know for sure that we are safe and sound in the Age of Aquarius.