Shamanism and Astrology: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Souls
Picture this: under a velvet canopy of stars in the Arizona desert, a small group sits around a crackling fire. The shaman's drum beats in rhythm with the pulse of the cosmos whilst participants gaze upward, seeking guidance from planets that shimmer like ancient oracles. This isn't a scene from prehistory—it's happening right now, bridging millennia of human wisdom with contemporary spiritual seeking.
Welcome to shamanic astrology, where the stellar mechanics of the zodiac merge with the soul-deep practices of humanity's oldest spiritual tradition.
The Marriage of Earth and Sky
For most of us, astrology means checking our horoscope over morning coffee. But strip away the commercialised veneer, and you'll find something far more profound. To the ancients, things that moved had desires. They had Soul. And if it had Soul, it had the possibility of Intelligence — what we might call "consciousness."
In fact, the word Zodiac — the band of the heavens through which the Sun and all the planets move — was Zoidia (from the Greek ζῷον, zōion). As Hellenistic Astrologer Joseph Crane points out, Zoidia (pronounced Zoy-ja) is a complex term referring to a "living thing, also the seat of a god, or a picture or icon."
That root word—zōion—also gave us 'animal' and connects directly to animism, the beating heart of shamanic worldview. Everything has spirit. Everything breathes with consciousness. The planets aren't dead rocks hurling through space; they're living beings with desires, intelligence, and wisdom to share.
Suddenly, shamanic astrology makes perfect sense. It's astrology as our ancestors knew it—alive, interactive, and sacred.
Beyond the Chart: Living Astrology
Most modern astrology focuses on chart interpretation—mapping planetary positions at birth to understand personality and predict events. Shamanic astrology takes a radically different approach. Shamanic astrology recognizes that the planets have a living essence. Rather than simply reading about Mars in Scorpio, practitioners seek direct communion with these celestial spirits.
Shamanism uses techniques and tools to induce altered states of consciousness in order to allow us to interact directly with the Spirit world for healing, divination, and communion. These tools have included guided visualizations, energy work, channelling (aspecting), music, drums, chanting, dancing, attuning with natural objects and spirit allies, dreams, and entheogens. And astrology, too.
Think of it as active rather than passive astrology. Instead of waiting for Venus to influence your love life, you journey to meet Venus directly, learning what she truly desires and how you can co-create with her energy.
The Pioneer's Vision
The modern revival of shamanic astrology owes much to Daniel Giamario, the founder, first discovered astrology in 1969, and then through the 1970s was part of Dane Rudhyar's Humanistic Astrology Movement, which was the vanguard of the Astrological Renaissance of the early 1970s. But Giamario's real breakthrough came in 1981.
After a vision quest experience on Mount Shasta in 1981, his astrological vision and spiritual path became more Earth-centered and a shamanically-oriented astrology was born.
Around 1990, the astrological paradigm began to be called: Shamanic Astrology. In the early 1990s, on tour to Arizona, Daniel met up with Cayelin Castell, then known as Carolyn Brent. A seminal series of seminars were held in Tucson that were transcribed by Castell, which then formed the bulk of Giamario's first book: The Shamanic Astrology Handbook. Soon after, Cayelin and Daniel created: The Shamanic Astrology Mystery School™.
What started as one man's mystical experience has grown into a comprehensive system that's now called the Turning of the Ages Mystery School, reflecting our current position at a crucial point in human evolution.
How Shamanic Astrology Works
Unlike mainstream astrology's solar focus, shamanic astrology emphasises different celestial players. Shamanic astrology first considers the Moon and its orbit or node. It then refers to the Venus and Mars sign, and finally the rising sign and again back to the Moon's nodes. These components are the building blocks in Shamanic astrology interpretation
This isn't arbitrary. The Moon represents your lineage—the particular ancestry of a person and where they've come from – what 'tribe' they've descended from in this incarnation. Venus and Mars reveal your sacred masculine and feminine expressions, whilst the lunar nodes map your soul's evolutionary journey.
The beauty lies in its practical spirituality. By working with spirit guides and exploring the birthchart as a sacred map, individuals can deepen their connection to the divine and their own inner wisdom. Clients don't just get interpretations—they receive tools for direct spiritual experience.
Ancient Roots, Modern Applications
Shamanic astrology isn't new—it's actually astrology's original form. As such, shamanic astrology may be the most ancient form of astrology. It certainly predates astrological chart-making. In fact, every indigenous culture on Earth has had it's own version.
For cultures spending long hours under star-filled skies, planetary movements held deep significance. For cultures that spent a lot of time under the night sky, it's clear that the planets are special. Against the background of the fixed stars, the planets MOVE. Our word for planet comes from a Greek word that means "wanderer."
This recognition of planetary consciousness persists in many traditional systems. Indian astrology, called Vedic or Jyotish, never lost its shamanic essence. Planetary invocations and remedial measures are a common part of the practice of this tradition. You can still find altars to the planets (called navagrahas, the "nine who seize you.")
Here at Wilfred Hazelwood, we've witnessed how powerfully ancient wisdom resonates with modern seekers desperate for authentic spiritual connection in our disconnected age.
The Ceremonial Dimension
What sets shamanic astrology apart is its emphasis on ceremony and ritual. Both practices use ceremony to connect with the spiritual world and to gain insight into the physical world. For shamans, ceremony is a way to access the spirits and to ask for guidance. Similarly, astrologers use ceremony to mark important celestial events, such as eclipses or the solstices.
They do however perform rituals, for example ceremonies when Venus is conjunct the Moon, and this strain of astrology really encourages the individual to get in tune with the energies of earth and natures rhythms.
These aren't stuffy academic exercises. Picture drumming under the full moon to connect with lunar consciousness, or creating vision wheels aligned with solstice energies. The ceremonies make astrology visceral, embodied, transformative.
Many practitioners report that you don't even need to be able to read an astrological chart to do shamanic astrology. You may be practicing without realizing it. If you've ever participated in the ritual Drawing Down the Moon, you're doing shamanic astrology even if you haven't called it that.
The Sacred Feminine Renaissance
Modern shamanic astrology places particular emphasis on healing humanity's disconnection from feminine wisdom. Giamario's work includes "Shamanic Astrology especially values the Divine Feminine, the Circle of Grandmothers, and that the Earth Mother is ultimately whom we serve at this Turning of the Ages".
Shamanic Astrology believes that the greater history of global humanity embraced collaboration, cooperation, and a system of non-ranking (gylany) between men and women, with little or no hierarchy or dominator ideals. 200,000 years of our common DNA still reflects this, and these realities can still be accessed. Only in the last 5000 years have we seen the triple aberration of hierarchical patriarchy, patrilineal family structure, and more recently, monotheistic dogma.
This isn't just historical theory—it's practical healing work. Shamanic astrologers conduct ceremonies at ancient megalithic sites, particularly those from the time-frame of 2000-4500BC, the Neolithic and Megalithic Golden Age. They're literally trying to reconnect with pre-patriarchal wisdom and birth it forward into our modern world.
The Living Cosmos
At its heart, shamanic astrology operates from a radically different cosmological understanding. The animistic paradigm is at the heart of shamanism, which is essentially centered on co-creating with spirit. Shamanism celebrates that we are all aspects of an interconnected web–not just an intellectual construct–but rather a living, conscious cosmos, one that you experience all the way down to your bones and DNA.
By believing that we live in a "living cosmos", you may also believe that just like Gaia — aliveness and consciousness that emanates from the Earth — all other planets have their own consciousness as well.
This isn't metaphor—it's lived reality. Each planet has its own evolutionary desire that plays through the filter of our being. Getting to know the desire of a planet in its expression through you is getting to know how to co-create with spirit
A Different Kind of Reading
Shamanic astrology sessions differ markedly from standard astrological consultations. However, shamanic astrology goes beyond standard chart analysis by incorporating rituals, journeying, and connecting with spirit guides.
Practitioners might guide clients through visualisation journeys to meet their planetary allies, or conduct healing ceremonies to clear ancestral patterns revealed in the lunar nodes. The wonderful thing about astrology is that concepts and theories all feed our understanding of interpretation.
Sessions often involve meditation as a way to connect with the spiritual world and to gain insight into the physical world. Astrology can help identify the best time for meditation based on the movement of the planets and stars, while shamanism can help provide the spiritual guidance needed for effective meditation.
Tools of Transformation
The shamanic astrology toolkit extends far beyond birth charts. Both practices use divination as a way to connect with the spiritual world and to gain insight into the physical world. Practitioners might work with crystals chosen based on astrological correspondences, or use sound healing. Astrology can help identify the specific frequencies of sound that may be most effective for a particular individual based on their birth chart, while shamanism can provide guidance on the use of specific instruments, such as drums and rattles, to promote healing.
Dream work forms another crucial element. Both practices view dreams as a way to connect with the spiritual world and to gain insight into the physical world. Astrology can provide guidance on the specific times when an individual may be more susceptible to certain types of dreams based on the movement of the planets and stars, while shamanism can provide guidance on how to interpret the messages of the dreams.
The Modern Revival
Today's shamanic astrology movement represents something profound—a return to astrology's roots combined with cutting-edge understanding of human consciousness. There are modern shamanic astrologers too. Evolutionary astrology's concern with Soul also resonates well with the shamanic worldview. Using active imagination techniques to connect with Soul to find healing certainly has roots in shamanism.
The practice attracts diverse seekers: therapists incorporating celestial wisdom into healing work, spiritual teachers seeking authentic connection to ancient practices, and individuals hungry for meaning in an increasingly mechanistic world.
What makes shamanic astrology particularly relevant today is its emphasis on collective healing. Daniel coined the term "The Turning of the Ages" during this time to reflect the awareness that global humanity was at a great turning point in the 26,000 year precessional cycle.
Finding Your Way
There is no universal governing body or required certification for shamanic astrologers. However, many practitioners have completed training programs or apprenticeships in both astrology and shamanic studies.
The most established training comes through Giamario's Turning of the Ages Mystery School, though numerous other teachers now offer shamanic astrology approaches. When choosing a practitioner, inquire about their specific education, lineage, and experience in combining astrology with shamanic practices.
The field remains wonderfully diverse, with some practitioners focusing on Native American traditions, others working with Celtic or Egyptian systems, and many creating entirely new synthetic approaches.
The Bigger Picture
Shamanic astrology represents more than just another astrological technique—it's part of a broader movement to re-ensoul our relationship with the cosmos. In the past few weeks, I've had several people ask me: "So, exactly what is shamanic astrology?" With interest growing in shamanism of all kinds over recent years, it's not a surprising question.
This growing interest reflects our species' deep hunger for authentic spiritual connection. In our technology-saturated world, shamanic astrology offers direct experience of the sacred, practical tools for personal transformation, and membership in an ancient lineage of sky-watchers and wisdom keepers.
Perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that we're not separate from the cosmos—we're participants in an ongoing cosmic dance of consciousness and evolution.
Looking Forward
The shamanic astrology movement continues evolving as practitioners develop new techniques and deepen their understanding of both ancient and modern approaches to celestial wisdom. In the time frame of the great world changes of 2020-2021, Daniel and the governing council decided to re-boot and re-brand the school in light of the current global conditions.
This newest evolution has lead to the birth of the Turning of the Ages Mystery School. Recreating the school in this way captures a 40-year arc from the original vision of an Earth/Sky version of astrology from 1981, with a shamanic basis, to the present time, as the Turning of the Ages rapidly accelerates.
The field continues attracting innovative practitioners who blend ancient wisdom with contemporary insights, creating new pathways for those seeking to connect with cosmic consciousness in meaningful, transformative ways.
Under tonight's stars, the same constellations that guided our ancestors continue their eternal dance. The planets still wander their ancient paths, still carry their timeless messages for those willing to listen. In shamanic astrology, we find not just a method of divination, but a way of remembering who we truly are—conscious participants in an alive, ensouled universe.
The stars are calling. Will you answer?
