Prediction is the most exacting and the least exact of all the branches of astrology. The technical side of it is nightmarish. There are at least a dozen different predictive methods to choose from, each of which produces gratifying results some of the time. The mathematics involved are time-consuming and picky. Ambiguous, contradictory symbolism is the rule rather than the exception. Still, the ability to “see the future,” however vaguely, strikes a resonant chord deep within the human psyche. Despite its many frustrations, most astrologers soon become fascinated with prediction and do their best to practice it effectively. Over the years, my efforts with the predictive techniques have carried me back and forth between utter embarrassment and complete awe at the power of the art. What are the purposes and the limitations of astrological prediction?
First of all, anyone who asks you your Sun Sign and then tells you that you are going to meet “a tall dark stranger” has probably already pinched your wallet, separated the credit cards from the family portraits, and returned it to your back pocket. To be effective, astrological prediction simply must be based upon an accurate birthchart, something totally unique to each individual. Sun Signs alone are far too general to be of any use in forseeing events. They are simply a broad typology of human character traits. Books which purport to describe what is in store for all Librans in 1978 are virtually useless. One might as well announce that all extroverts will go to Europe this year or that all masochists will suffer romantic reversals.
Even when the “tall dark stranger” prediction is made by someone working from an accurate birthchart, one should still be suspicious. Generally, the more rigid a prediction, the less likely it is to happen. Arguments of fate versus free-will aside, astrology simply does not make reliable prognostications of a concrete “this is what’s going to happen” sort. That is not its intention. In actual practice, all good astrologers, assuming some goon was holding a gun to their head, can hit about three-for-five in that type of work, but the tool is being abused. Properly conducted, an astrological reading should leave a person with a sense of freedom and challenge rather than one of fatalistic detachment.
A given astrological configuration will set up a field of heightened probability conducive to the occurrence of a certain type of event. This field will wax and then wane in intensity over a period of days or months, depending upon how quickly the planets involved are moving. From the modern humanistic viewpoint, the astrologer will view this time in the person’s life as one in which he or she is particularly “ripe” to be dealing with a certain type of issue. If this issue is a central focus within the structure of the birthchart itself, the period may well blossom into a turning point in the person’s life. Otherwise, it may indicate no more than a passing turbulence of a fundamentally insignificant nature.
A planet moving in or out of focus in the life of an individual does not signal an “event” so much as a “call to action.” It is saying only that the time is right for the facing of a certain question. The planet does not give the answer, nor does it say in advance what answer the person will give. It only poses the question. Now, the person cannot simply ignore the problem, nor does he need an astrologer to tell him that the problem exists. With or without the astrological perspective, the psyche will be vibrating to the rhythm of the question at hand. The circumstances of the life will be lining up in such a way as to demand some response. All the astrologer can do to clarify the situation is to describe the choices facing the individual and speak of their psychological and spiritual consequences.
Let’s take a specific example. Say that Uranus is entering a person’s Tenth House, the phase of the birthchart which refers to one’s relationship to society, usually through the medium of a job. Uranus is an independent, rather eccentric influence, one which emphasizes personal freedom and has very little tolerance for any kind of restraint. As this unpredictable influence comes to bear upon the Tenth House, we can reliably predict that the person in question will be ready to go through some far-reaching changes. He or she will feel the need to begin taking charge of destiny, particularly regarding career questions. Even before we include the specific nature of the individual’s needs and strengths (i.e., the birthchart) in our considerations, we can already see several possible responses to the Uranian influence. The person may leave a job and begin a new one, or perhaps become self-employed. He might begin a “free spirit” chapter in his life, unencumbered by bosses or working hours. The influence might work out in a purely externalized way, seemingly by-passing the person’s power of choice. He might, for example, be offered a new job, or a promotion, or be fired. And finally it is always possible for the person to make no obvious response to the vibration. In this case, we might expect a long period of concealed restlessness, frustration, and resentment against a cruel “fate” which has “trapped” the person in a boring, utterly predictable situation. The possibilities are multitudinous, but they all have as their common denominator the interaction of two astrological symbols, Uranus and the Tenth House. How they are actually going to manifest is largely a function of individual choice.
The infinite complexity of human circumstance is one of the many things that makes prediction so difficult. To work accurately without resorting to ethereal abstractions, an astrologer must have some fairly concrete knowledge of the actual opportunity space surrounding the individual. The number of astrological symbols is so small and the possible combinations of events so vast that precision in this type of work demands some comprehension of the flow of the person’s life. As the astrological configuration impacts upon the specific structures of the individual’s circumstance, one can begin to crystallize a set of particular choices. Take, for example, the situation of Uranus transiting into the Tenth House of a birthchart. The ne’er-do-well son of a megamillionaire will respond differently than someone doing ten-to-twenty in Central Prison. Psychologically, intellectually, spiritually, the two might be virtually identical. But each is facing a different set of opportunities, and circumstance will legislate that each make an outwardly different response. The astrologer’s helpfulness is very dependent upon his or her knowledge of these fixed existential factors.
The sheer multiplicity of influences impinging upon a birthchart at any given time has knotted the stomach and tied the tongue of many a beginning astrologer. All of us are juggling dozens of balls simultaneously. A time of heightened creative output, a reconsideration of the meaning of intimacy, and a facing of death in the family may all coincide in time. Each one will add a depth and a poignancy to the others. The real art in prediction, as in natal astrology, is one of blending and balancing, seeking out unifying themes and undercurrents. Each event or realization will draw its meaning from the larger environment. Nothing happens in a vacuum.
Astrology, particularly predictive astrology, can be an awesomely powerful tool. Through it, consciousness is extended beyond its natural limits. Rather than seeing life from ground level as a series of confrontations with specific, seemingly unrelated situations, the awareness rises temporarily into the stratosphere. From that perspective, each event takes its place in a pattern of unfolding themes. All sense of randomness disappears, being replaced by a vivid feeling of life as a path with a clear direction.
It is here that a menacing shadow appears. The consciousness, hypnotized by the compulsive power of the symbolism, is tempted to withdraw from an active participation in shaping its own existence, and to surrender its own instinctive animal vitality to “the will of the planets.” This weak and fatalistic attitude, which astrology is so often guilty of engendering, can turn a personality into jelly. Our lives are subject to celestial influences; the most cursory investigation of astrology will demonstrate that. But our freedom and the cosmos function together, each enhancing the other. If we fail to participate dynamically in this synergistic relationship, all our talk of Saturn and Mars will be for nothing, just a rationalization of our own aimlessness. Properly applied, astrology can sharpen the will-power, but in the end it is the individual will and not astrology which prevents us from being no more than feathers in a hurricane.
