Astrology & Free Will

My first exposure to astrology was a book on sun signs that my mother had laying around the house. I eagerly read the chapter on Libra. It sounded a lot like me. But, as I approached the end of the chapter, I felt let down. I thought, "That was great; but, where's the rest of me?!"

Then, in my twenties, I found a book that taught how to do your own chart with all the planets, ascendant, etc. (instead of just the sun). So, I did my calculations, and found out about my moon, ascendant, venus, saturn, etc.

For a while it was great. It sounded much more like me. Yet, something major was still missing. So, I again blew off astrology for a number of years.

Finally, in my mid-thirties, I got my chart on-line. It had a different ascendant for me than the one that I had come up with before. I noticed that it was using Standard Time instead of Daylight Savings Time. I checked around to find out which was right. They were right, not me. There was no DST where I lived until several years after I was born.

For the first time, my chart really sounded like it was describing me! After all, the ascendant is a pretty major influence.



I know of the stories about how a whole group of people can be given charts that aren't really theirs and be convinced that said charts really do describe their personalities. I wonder how true these stories really are.

True, some people are more gullible than others. Also, some people are just being polite or just not bothering to raise a fuss.

Also, any chart will have something in it that a person can relate to. We're all human and have a lot in common, after all. The first reaction would likely be to see the things that are right. And only afterwards would the discrepancies start to stand out. Like when I read that chapter on my sun sign. I agreed with it at first!



Then, a few years ago, I bought a book that I normally wouldn't have bought. It just seemed like fun. Instead of having to combine the meaning of the sign with the meaning of the planet yourself, it had a couple of pages for each planet in each sign. It did all the interpretation for you.

When I got to my friend's house later, I just had to bring a few of my new books in with me. I couldn't bear not to. (She understands.) We ended up sitting around (3 of us) and reading and comparing the differences in our charts.

It blew me away! I had always thought that astrology was just some vague stuff that would fit pretty much anyone. It was amazing how very different each of us was and how accurate the descriptions were!

Now, I still take it all with a grain of salt. I am by nature a skeptic. I have very little trust in mankind's systems, of any kind. But, the experience made me open my mind just a little. Now I feel like my chart has SOMETHING to do with me. It's an interesting tool to work/play with.



I think we each have ALL within us, as potential at least. So, it can be helpful to focus on the opposite of whatever sign whatever planet is in and try to find (or maybe even awaken) that potential within myself.

After all, isn't the whole point of 'Know Thyself' just to be able to transcend, to break out of the knee-jerk responses that come so naturally? Free will isn't just choosing pizza over pasta. To me, free will is being able to step out of and not be led around by automatic responses that are based on our genes, our upbringing, our chemistry, our charts, etc.