Astrology: Help or Hinderance ?

[JustGeorge]

Not sure if this is in the right area; if not, feel free to move it.

For those of you with a belief in astrology, regardless of what system, do you believe having a forecast of what is to come is more helpful, or detrimental?

For example, knowing a difficult period is coming your way can be helpful to prepare...

Or, it can be harmful, because it can cause one to dwell on that possible outcome, and sometimes result in the person engaging in negative behavior in response to the fear.

Which do you think? Why? Do you have any personal experiences with astrology to share?

(Please note this is not a debate on the validity of astrology. )

 

[Vinayaka]

Not sure if this is in the right area; if not, feel free to move it.

For those of you with a belief in astrology, regardless of what system, do you believe having a forecast of what is to come is more helpful, or detrimental?

For example, knowing a difficult period is coming your way can be helpful to prepare...

Or, it can be harmful, because it can cause one to dwell on that possible outcome, and sometimes result in the person engaging in negative behavior in response to the fear.

Which do you think? Why? Do you have any personal experiences with astrology to share?

(Please note this is not a debate on the validity of astrology. )

I think it's helpful. I'm personally not stuck on it, though, as I tend to just go with whatever happens. You can't change the astrology, you can just change how you react to it.

Astrologers (the ones who read charts) also vary. Some will naturally want to highlight the negative, whereas others will highlight the positives. There are also a few crooks out there, but generally they can be spotted a mile away.

The main reason I think it's helpful is that it's still in wide use. I don't see how people could be so foolish as to use an ancient system that was unhelpful.

 

[Stevicus]

Not sure if this is in the right area; if not, feel free to move it.

For those of you with a belief in astrology, regardless of what system, do you believe having a forecast of what is to come is more helpful, or detrimental?

For example, knowing a difficult period is coming your way can be helpful to prepare...

Or, it can be harmful, because it can cause one to dwell on that possible outcome, and sometimes result in the person engaging in negative behavior in response to the fear.

Which do you think? Why? Do you have any personal experiences with astrology to share?

(Please note this is not a debate on the validity of astrology. )

I used to dabble in astrology when I was younger. Per your wishes and forum guidelines, I have no intention of debating it either. But when I believed in it and did some studying, I realized that it was far more complex than the daily horoscope column in the newspaper. Things like casting a natal horoscope involved getting one's time of birth and location correct - and hoping that the astrologer isn't sloppy with their math. And then there are all the planets and their aspects at the time of birth and as they transit across the sky.

Rising signs, moon signs, midheaven. Each of the signs have meaning, each of the houses, each of the planets and how they angle with each other. For example, if the Moon is transiting through your Sun sign (about 2.5 days every month), that's supposed to be good, while the low point is when it transits through the sign which is on the opposite of your Sun sign. But it's not always the case, depending on what other transits and aspects are going on at the time. When Mercury goes into retrograde, that's supposedly a bad time for making deals or making any permanent decisions. But it doesn't mean that it's always bad, so there seems to be a lot of gray area and room for individual interpretation.

So, in the final analysis, it can still go either way, which is probably why I reached a kind of dead end when it came to astrology. But it did impress upon me just how big the universe truly is and how many celestial bodies are out there. It makes me think that there are so many unknown factors in what makes the universe tick and what drives human choices and behaviors, which is why I tend to leave things open-ended and in the "unresolved" category.

But in a way, it's still kind of fascinating.

 

[Vinayaka]

I used to dabble in astrology when I was younger. Per your wishes and forum guidelines, I have no intention of debating it either. But when I believed in it and did some studying, I realized that it was far more complex than the daily horoscope column in the newspaper. Things like casting a natal horoscope involved getting one's time of birth and location correct - and hoping that the astrologer isn't sloppy with their math. And then there are all the planets and their aspects at the time of birth and as they transit across the sky.

Rising signs, moon signs, midheaven. Each of the signs have meaning, each of the houses, each of the planets and how they angle with each other. For example, if the Moon is transiting through your Sun sign (about 2.5 days every month), that's supposed to be good, while the low point is when it transits through the sign which is on the opposite of your Sun sign. But it's not always the case, depending on what other transits and aspects are going on at the time. When Mercury goes into retrograde, that's supposedly a bad time for making deals or making any permanent decisions. But it doesn't mean that it's always bad, so there seems to be a lot of gray area and room for individual interpretation.

So, in the final analysis, it can still go either way, which is probably why I reached a kind of dead end when it came to astrology. But it did impress upon me just how big the universe truly is and how many celestial bodies are out there. It makes me think that there are so many unknown factors in what makes the universe tick and what drives human choices and behaviors, which is why I tend to leave things open-ended and in the "unresolved" category.

But in a way, it's still kind of fascinating.

It was always fascinating to me that stuff went right down to the minute, even second. Transitions happen in the blink of an eye. We had a very qualified priest here about 25 years ago doing a particular ceremony that was ideally to be done within a certain time frame. I remember that at the moment he finished the final rite, he looked at his watch, and remarked to his assistant, 'We did it, just in time."

 

[JustGeorge]

For myself, I have mixed feelings. I love the compatibility aspects of it. So many people say "you shouldn't use that to judge a potential relationship off of". I don't think its so much an idea of whether or not to associate with a person(after all, we can't choose all people we associate with), but having some kind of guidepost on behavioral patterns. Of course, its hard to glean much information on a person's chart in a casual setting, but I've found any information is better than no information, when you keep an open mind.

I go back and forth on the predictability. It definitely is much deeper than one can pick out of a paper or off the internet, @Stevicus , I agree. I love knowing when it is the proper time to do things, or not to do them(like your priest did, @Vinayaka , but I think my brain runs away with me when a bad forecast may come my way. I wish it was a trait I could break myself of, though. Makes life run more smoothly when you know to carry an umbrella, as opposed to being stuck in the storm.

 

[Vinayaka]

For myself, I have mixed feelings. I love the compatibility aspects of it. So many people say "you shouldn't use that to judge a potential relationship off of". I don't think its so much an idea of whether or not to associate with a person(after all, we can't choose all people we associate with), but having some kind of guidepost on behavioral patterns. Of course, its hard to glean much information on a person's chart in a casual setting, but I've found any information is better than no information, when you keep an open mind.

I go back and forth on the predictability. It definitely is much deeper than one can pick out of a paper or off the internet, @Stevicus , I agree. I love knowing when it is the proper time to do things, or not to do them(like your priest did, @Vinayaka , but I think my brain runs away with me when a bad forecast may come my way. I wish it was a trait I could break myself of, though. Makes life run more smoothly when you know to carry an umbrella, as opposed to being stuck in the storm.

Have you had your chart done?

 

[JustGeorge]

I haven't. Its something I've wanted done, but haven't yet, for various reasons.

 

[Quintessence]

When I studied astrology - something I forced myself to do because of its prevalence within the contemporary Pagan scene - one of the many things I learned is that like any form of divination, it is not really about prognostication. Divination basically just means getting information from the gods or receiving divine guidance through some medium. The nature of that information could be an insight about anything at any point in time: past, present, future, or time transcendent. I very rarely use divination for prognostication.

Astrology isn't a form of divination I have strong interest in, though I developed some appreciation for it after studying it. I have mainly used it in the context of analyzing natal charts for insights into someone's character (usually my own). At the time I worked on that, yes, it was very interesting and useful. I haven't had a professional analysis done and perhaps should - given the complexity of astrology and all the nuances the job I did with it was amateur. Even with that though, there were some interesting patterns to pick out. One learns that sun sign alone is perhaps the most superficial way of using astrology, for instance - there is so much more to look at than that.

 

[Frank Goad]

I think two passages in the christian bible mention astrology:

Judges 5:20

and

Matthew 2:1-2 .

 

[syo]

do you believe having a forecast of what is to come is more helpful, or detrimental?

Helpful.
Detrimental could be, if I am anxious.

 

[JustGeorge]

Helpful.
Detrimental could be, if I am anxious.

I'm finding sometimes it makes me anxious... It seems its easier for me to enquire about a situation specifically than just a general forecast, or I obsess on 'what ifs'.