Common Misuses of Astrology

Choice is the Secret Ingredient

This series on Astrology was written by Amy Herring for Kiddiegram.com.

What Astrology Can’t Do: Common Misuses of Astrology

If it sounds like getting your child’s natal report will tell you what to do in every difficult parenting situation and you’re thinking that’s too good to be true, well, you’re right. It is too good to be true. Much like a building has its blueprints, a natal chart can show you the plan. Having a plan gives you a leg up for building a functional and beautiful building! But it doesn’t build it for you. I’ve shown you what astrology can do, now let me show you what it can’t do, and the quickest way to misunderstand and misuse this tool.

Choice is the Secret Ingredient

At the risk of stirring up the great fate vs. free will, or nature vs. nurture debates, it’s helpful to recognize that while a natal chart shows essentially how your child can live a happy and fulfilling life, that doesn’t mean that they are always going to make the right choices, especially not right away. We are all free to sit on the couch and eat potato chips until we leave this earth. Who hasn’t found that to seem like an attractive option at a particularly low point in life? Knowing your child’s natal chart will help you know the major lessons and choices they are going to be faced with, not what they will choose.

Two Children (an example)

If little Jacob has his Sun in Taurus in the 2nd house, he is here with an ultimate goal of learning peace and inner stability, which will both build and rely on his self-confidence. However, Johnny may choose to respond to that urge for stability in him by stockpiling resources, accumulating a lot of stuff such as money, food, or objects, so that he can feel insulated and protected against what can happen out there in the big, bad world to threaten his sense of security. Or, Johnny may choose to build his sense of security through taking appropriate but sensible risks to prove to himself that he has what it takes to survive, so that even when the chaos of the world touches his life, he will have the confidence built from past risks and their subsequent successes to recognize that security comes from a sense of inner strength, not outer control.

What can an astrologer tell you?

A good astrologer will give you insight into the nature of the lessons, needs, and pitfalls that your child will face most prominently, so that you can go into parenting and supporting that child more informed. A good astrologer will not give you a list of stereotypes that will doom your child to failure or promise a charmed life.

It is also important to recognize it is human nature, frankly, to get it wrong before we get it right. Going back to the Sun in Taurus in the 2nd house example, Johnny may choose the former end of that spectrum several times until he can really see the results that he gets from each different choice in his life. It’s often when we’ve tried things the easy but unfulfilling way that we recognize the choices we really need to make. It’s how we get to know ourselves and this is part of the process of living.

To continue, click on Warning Signs and Challenges.

Copyright, Kiddiegram.com, 2008