Astrology is very important in the hermetic work, to know the cycles and right times for certain operations.
"As Above so Below" - it's easy to understand how the position of the planets can be used as analogy to the circumstances that surrounds one's life. The path can be chosen or not and the same opportunities (usually they appear on "bad times") for growth will appear next time, in 7 or 14 years (or other multiple of 7).

Gustav Meyrink's "The White Dominican" is a book that goes way beyond mere literature. It is a book about Tradition and Initiation, with quite more than hints at initiatic (in the broader sense of the word) teachings, like "It is the longing for gods and the fear of being left alone with himself, to create a world of his own, which hinders man from unfolding the magic powers which slumber within him".