Lights that Serve as Signs

 God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times" Genesis 1:14 (New International Version translation).

Despite the presence of the Magi at the birth of Jesus, Christians have always been reluctant to accept the validity of astrology, seeing it as a link to pagan times and gods as well as being incompatible with free will. But then no Christian would deny heredity which could equally well be said to determine our behaviour to a certain extent, and a wiser reaction to pagan wisdom would be to baptise it rather than simply demonise it.

It is understandable that astrology as divination is frowned upon when it is tries to second guess God and undermine his will. But if study of stellar patterns is used as a kind of weather-forecasting, something that seeks to understand times and tides, it is less questionable. I personally think there are too many variables for this to be particularly useful other than in a very broad brush way, but astrology as character analysis can be instructive. I found that studying my birth chart gave me added insight into my own psychological strengths and weaknesses, and was a helpful spiritual tool insofar as it showed truths about myself in an objective, dispassionate way that I might have otherwise been reluctant to accept.

Clearly, we are not meant to know the future and to seek to do so is blasphemous as it is an attempt to replace God's will with our own. Moreover, we are nowhere near spiritually mature enough to deal with such knowledge as, in our current state, to know our future would be to nullify its lessons. But that does not mean that astrology doesn't work or that it is in any sense diabolical. As the passage from Genesis makes clear, it is part of the majesty and beauty of creation. It is a profound system of symbolism that is built into the cosmos, and God speaks to us through the heavens as he does through nature. We can misuse the knowledge we gain thereby but if astrology is studied with the full realisation that it is subordinate to Christ, considering it rather like a messenger of God or angel, then it can enrich our imagination and guide us to a deeper understanding of the universe and ourselves.

This is a horoscope cast for midnight in London on 1st January 1900. In terms of planetary positions and relationships it would largely apply to the whole world. Any astrologer who saw this with Sun conjunct Mars, Moon conjunct Saturn and more or less everything else in a stellium opposite Neptune and Pluto would think that the 20th century was going to be a bumpy ride. Be prepared is the old scout motto. The study of the heavens can sometimes help us do just that.