When will I get a new job?
Will I win Lotto?
When will I get married?
How many children will I have?
How and when will I die?
Do you really think it would be beneficial to know all these things? Sure, we all have a yearning to know the future. And the old debate about “fate” comes up. Do we have destiny? Or is it all chaos? What’s going to happen next? The unknown is scary.
As an astrologer, I obviously don’t believe in chaos. The neat, interlocking clockwork consistency of the revolving and rotating planets comforts me. But I don’t believe in fate. I’m on the side of free will. People make choices. I believe we have choices in how we respond to the celestial clockwork. And yet, I am in the business that allegedly predicts the future.
I don’t predict the future any more than the weatherman does. I can tell you what the upcoming season will be like. I can suggest methods and attitudes to get the best out of it. I know a Saturn transit can focus people, and eliminate the excess from their lives, but I also know if they fight it, it could be a period of loss and deprivation.
But then there is Uranus. Uranus is a planet symbolizing freedom, individual rights, chaos and surprise. You’re not going to know what happens next when you experience a Uranus transit, otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise. And one of the things a Pluto transit can represent is the excavation of entrenched, buried memories and experiences from the past that need to be examined and, ideally, transcended. So Pluto can indicate deep-seated surprise. I could predict surprises in either situation, but the every definition of the word “surprise” uses the word “unexpected.” So often the best I could predict is, expect the unexpected. A neat trick if it was possible.
I believe we need surprises in our lives. I know there have been events and experiences in my life that have ultimately transformed me in a positive and wonderful way, but if I had known about them beforehand I would have run for the hills or hid under my bed. Sometimes we don’t want to take our medicine. Although I very deeply believe that we all create our own reality all the time, sometimes we need to sneak up on ourselves. Sometimes, the things that help us grow the most are the ways we respond to situations, and not just the situations themselves. At times, the best experiences in my life have been when I impressed myself by doing something I didn’t think I had it in me to do, but I was faced with a situation that encouraged me rise to the occasion, and when it was over I discovered myself standing taller than I had expected. Wow. I did it!
You can’t know everything, and I don’t think you should. It may not be in our best interests to always consciously know the future.
One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes… thanks for the analogy: influence vs control.
There’s a great “Twilight Zone” episode that I think every astrologer should watch. It’s called “Nick of Time,” and in it the main character (William Shatner) finds a machine that REALLY DOES predict the future. As the Shatner character gets more addicted to the machine, he becomes more dependent and ultimately less happy.
For me, the most important thing is to know that there are forces beyond my control that influence me but do not control me. You can swim against the current if you want to, but it takes more effort and you can only keep it up for so long.
I agree 100%. Surprises are the spice of life…and yes, sometimes we would head for the hills if we knew what was coming ! But think of how many wonderful learning experiences we would miss if we did that ! Sneak up on ourselves, indeed !!