How To Make Astrology Work For You By Charting Your Future
Whether you believe in it or not, you can still incorporate astrology into everyday life.
getty In today’s uncertain and sometimes scary world, being able to predict or at least imagine a better future brings some comfort.
No wonder astrology has such appeal.
Though there are a range of other sources for guidance, it can provide and add evocative reassurance for understanding and action. You could also benefit from the inspiration you gain from its neat labels for who you are and what you do.
Astrology helps with self-acceptance.
But according to Christine Smallword in The New Yorker, astrology offers distance, rather than certainty.
Deciding you are born under a certain sign may make it easier to accept aspects of your personality and behavior. That may also make it possible to see situations from a less-reactive perspective.
Ultimately, I think the meaning and value of astrology can be in the eyes of the beholder, providing viewpoints to consider.
Consulting the stars is ancient — and ever-changing.
Yet whatever moorings and labels make sense to you, they can shift over time. Just as our relationships that seem embedded in these labes vary, you do, as well.
In fact, astrology itself goes and comes in popularity and interpretation. From ancient times, observers found meaning and symbolism in how the elliptical path of the sun relates to the sun, moon, and the planets within 12 sections of the sky or zodiac.
Used to determine the planting of crops to the significance of personality, and ultimately relationships, Egyptian, Greek, Chinese, and other cultures assumed what was above dictated what is below.
Astrology and science intertwined.
Until German astronomer Johannes Kepler’s time in the middle ages, the study of astrology and astronomy tended to intertwine. Science and the supernatural were not clearly differentiated.
From Roman emperors to American presidents, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, practitioners provided interpretive certainty for some powerful people.
These days, its appeal is often to Millennials and Generation Z who may not divorce science and astrology, either.
I have minor experience with astrology, myself. One cousin studied it for years, offering to do my birth chart. Unfortunately, she long ago passed too young.
Recently, another cousin commiserated with me about her experience of reading her own horoscope, feeling most of the time that it nailed her current situation. But when she read another horoscope for a different sign, it too seemed to apply.
Yet another cousin and her daughter take astrology seriously ─ evidently interest runs in the family, at least among the women.
I wondered how the newspaper horoscope I read almost daily for fun and possible focus would reflect current economic and biological distress.
Except for the following one, they all seemed dated to me: “How you define a new situation could change. The more exposure you get, the less likely you are to come up with a winning solution...”
Updating astrology in your own way.
However enthralling, interesting, or questionable you find astrology, I came across some information that may lead to another frame of mind.
I’m not saying that you should change your attitude toward it or how you use it. Just see how you might want to reframe your assumptions, or get creative with how you want to apply astrology for yourself.
That could range from writing your own horoscope to interpreting written horoscopes by your own lights, to studying the zodiac more closely. Or you might let go of using horoscopes in serious ways, while continuing enjoying ideas and images they raise for you.
In a February 2020 Wall Street Journal article by Jo Craven McGinty, I learned that the Earth’s slow wobble on its axis influences its alignment in today’s zodiac calendar in relation to constellations established long ago.
When I read the article, I was disappointed to learn I’m no longer a Gemini with independent, dual-minded tendencies. Instead, I’m a Taurus!
According to the analysis, the “wobbled” dates for Aries are April 19 through May 14; Taurus are May 15 through June 20; and Gemini are June 21 through July 20.
But I still identify more with Gemini readings than Taurus. (Maybe I am a stubborn Taurus, then!)
This “change” of my birth sign has not dissuaded me from being alert to the influences of horoscopes. They still provide food for thought and sometimes choices and directions during these challenging times, as well as some fun.
As twice Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, “…As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know.”
No one knows what the future holds, especially now.
But you can influence it through your choices and actions. As you know, what you do also affects others, for better and worse.
So, that gives you some power even if you feel powerless, adding roots and tendrils that provide moorings when you feel a little lost or fearful. That also helps you direct yourself to better places and situations.
Ruth Schimel, Ph.D., is a career and life management consultant and author of the Choose Courage series on Amazon. Obtain the bonus first chapter of the upcoming, Happiness and Joy in Work: Preparing for Your Future on her website, where you’ll also find your invitation for a free consultation.