Stargazing Therapy
June 20, 2021
“But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds will separate between him and what he touches. ”
The nature of our heavenly bodies above us emits both the metaphysical elements and philosophical properties to spark expansive waves of introspection that confront our minds to challenge the significance of our troubles and overall existence. "What is your problem little man?" is among the continuous series of responses I reap when sitting to take in the lit-up night sky. On a fundamental level, stargazing is a practice no different than any other form of meditation. It's yet another way to transcend time through one's experience of self by going within, yet this introspective pondering is cultivated by a physical and metaphysical entity that we can perceive.
The physical facet of these stars promotes a sense of perspective as we attempt to scale the vastness of our universe while also trying to maintain some sort of understanding of the independent role our lives play in the mix of this space; a space that we will never be able to grasp. The more thought put into the disparity between the divine bodies above and our own consciousness only propels this cultivation of mindfulness forward. Many of our worries in life stem from the lack of remembrance as to our significance on a universal scale. I use the term 'remembrance' rather than 'understanding' because this notion is innate to the human species in one form or another, given that we derive from the same source that stargazing reintroduces us to. Every single organism on earth that exists today will one day be gone, and even then, the stars will continue to emit their seraphic brilliance. This shift in perspective sparks a rather blissful approach toward life and the events we once thought were of supreme importance.
Using the cosmos as a source of reconnecting with the divinity of human perspective is arguably the rawest form of such connection. The cosmos are an entity of no identity, no religious connotation, or any sort of theoretical characteristic. We view the stars in the purest form and it is only up to our minds to make what we will of ancient light piercing through a silent sky. It is the ultimate guide of retracing us back to our roots, hidden deep within the cosmos. Every single atom of all the matter in this universe derives from the same source, which is no different from our physical composition. Our bodies and all other forms of nature are the results of stellar explosions that cooled and composed their structure of periodic elements in due course. When we look up at the cosmos above us, we are merely gazing at the source from which we were birthed. This is the only true family known to man.
The pinnacle of therapeutic value that stargazing holds is rooted in Gnosticism, independent of associated religious denominations. The practice, along with the constructed perception that follows, is cultivated by no means of intellectual processing. This is because the vastness beheld is not up for comprehension of the human mind. It is a matter of feeling, an innate connection that can only be persued through silence and mindfulness towards nature's divinity. The human mind can only attempt to grasp the concept of observing active rays of light that have been on their course through space for nearly 15 billion years. Yet, this concept is as full of deliverance in striking the human ego to its near-death as being fully capable of the cosmos' value and vastness would manage.
The cosmos are a canvas for the mind and always have been since the dawn of our species. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians and Babylonians utilized the cosmos, for both its capacity for practical application along with its enchanting sanctitude that gave a voice to spiritual advancement.
The framework that stargazing provides is fully and solely up to the mind's own wonders. Like the mind, space and the stars within are a source to be both utilized and remembered of its power. And, like space, there are no boundaries for an existentialist nor metaphysical value that can be reaped from the cosmos' divinity.