Astrology? Really? But you’re so smart!

While visiting my hometown this weekend, an old friend asked me, on finding out I’m an astrologer, “Do you really believe that? That the planets and stars affect our behavior?”

He wasn’t rolling his eyes. He genuinely wanted to know.

I gulped down my coffee and said, reflexively, “Reflect. Not affect.”

Then I hobbled through an unpondered explanation of astrology that I knew from word one was inadequate. I left understanding only that I had a lot to think about.

So I spent my trip home scribbling madly on 20 sheets of college-ruled notebook paper, trying to iron out my relationship with the metaphors in the stars. What I came to was this:

What Astrology Is: Astrology convenes five critical components of the human experience — time, space, energy, matter and awareness — into a single metaphorical map that reflects the very nature of existence. The map shows where matter, in the form of each planet and sign, exists at a certain time and place. The astrologer’s job is to interpret the nature of energy emanating from the planets and signs in order to expand the client’s awareness.

What’s so remarkable is that the map — the horoscope chart — is different for each individual life, depending on the time and place of birth. What’s more, the symbols on the map shift as time and space shift, showing how energy and awareness change as people grow and experience life.

What I Believe: I don’t know whether the planets and stars actually affect or merely reflect events, feelings and behaviors here on earth. But I do know that, when a horoscope chart is read with intelligence, insight and integrity, it virtually always resonates with the chart “native” — that is, the person whose chart it is.

That doesn’t mean the chart tells the person which career to choose, partner to marry or days of the week to avoid ketchup. Astrology is actually on the side of free will, not against it. What this means is that a solid chart reading gives the native insight into his or her essential psychological makeup — allowing that person to make choices in a way that’s more informed and free than before.

There are two reasons this is so valuable. First, with greater awareness of how matter and energy move through the time and space of your life, you can better harness them to fulfill your will. For example, when you start to understand why your relationships always end in an argument over money, or why you can never seem to find a job that satisfies you, you can begin to make conscious changes that better align with your essential core — and discard the parts of your behavior that aren’t truly you.

But this is true for any discipline that increases self-awareness: journaling, therapy, whatever. So, second, the horoscope chart is especially valuable because it’s extremely efficient — and that’s because it’s particular to you and you alone. The symbols ringing the chart show where the planets were at the time you were born, from the place you were born. They each contain a particular energy that reflects, or perhaps even affects, the direction and drive of your inner life. That is something that therapy can take years to uncover.

Some people get the impression that the chart is static, and I want to address this misperception before I move onto the question of why. The chart is not static at all. It reflects the first imprint of the universe on the individual being — but then the universe and the individual keep on moving. Each of us carries with us that first impression, but neither it nor our surroundings nor our behavior remains unchanged. So although we might respond to the world, from an unconscious level, according to the impulses of our horoscope chart, growing self-awareness gives us the freedom to choose exactly how our basic drives are expressed.

For example, if Venus is strong in a person’s horoscope chart, she might, as a young woman, be very flirtatious and coquettish. But as she grows into self-awareness, she might use that energy differently — to create beauty around her, perhaps, or to render compromise in the midst of conflict. Or, if she has limited nurturing and does not mature much, she might always rely on her surface charms, becoming frustrated or unhappy when they fail.

Even if you don’t believe in astrology, the horoscope chart is an intriguing springboard for self-reflection. The planets, signs, houses and aspect lines collectively symbolize all human impulses, feelings, behaviors and experiences. Read well, the chart expresses eternal truths that help us drop deeper into ourselves and understand our lives better. And whether you believe the planets reflect, affect or do nothing at all, a map of human experience is a wonderful path to self-awareness.

Why I Believe It: I believe in astrology most of all because it’s worked for me — not just once, like a fluke, but over and over and over. And not just with random bits of information here and there, but with regard to the most profound challenges and central experiences of my life: Why did that happen? What compelled me to make that choice? What can I learn about myself from that event, or relationship, or change of course? My self-awareness has deepened immensely because of astrology.

I also believe in astrology because its existence can be traced back at least five thousand years and to every corner of the world. While this is not always a reason to recommend something (women have been subjugated and harmful folk remedies have also been widespread throughout human history, for example) it is a reason, at least, to be open to astrology’s legitimacy. When a way of thinking has been in existence for so long, it’s a good idea to understand why, before dismissing it wholesale: If it weren’t useful somehow, it would probably have died out long ago.

Finally, I believe in astrology because it is based on the natural world. It’s true we don’t know why or how it works, but its components — time, space, energy, matter, awareness — are not fabrications of our collective imagination.

Time and space constitute the canvas on which we paint our lives.

Matter and energy are our brushes and colors.

Awareness is the approach we take toward creating.

Without these things, and especially without awareness, we are impoverished and impulsive, powerless and reactive. Our free will is limited. We cannot create the lives we envision.

The horoscope chart is a profound and efficient tool for that awareness, for that vision, no matter your opinion on what the planets affect, reflect or anything else.

Image credits: Universum, painter