Astrology - k(no)w future?

Let’s start at the very beginning: is astrology a principle or a paradigm?

It fails the criteria of a principle - it is not universal; it is not timeless and it is not self-evident.  So, it is only a paradigm.

Why did people invent astrology? 

People, who became unconscious, i.e., people who moved away from the Source, who became ego-conscious, couldn’t handle the fear of the unknown.  Future is unknown.  So, they tried to bring some level of predictability to the future.  In this quest to predict the future, different versions of astrology evolved across different parts of the world based on the resources available at that point of time.

It’s similar to forecasting models used in marketing.  We study the past behaviors of the people, observe the trends around us and make an ‘intelligent’ guess about the future.  We use analytics and statistical models, very difficult to understand but sounds like some high funda stuff, to make the management team believe in the forecasting.  Many times, this may end up being reasonably accurate, not because the forecasting was right but because the management believed in the predictions and prepared themselves to address it.  It is, in most cases, a self-fulfilling prophecy, i.e., I believe in the prediction and I play an active role, consciously or unconsciously, to make it happen.

In the astrology predominantly practiced in our country, it appears that they have observed some repetitive behavioral patterns over 60 years cycle and have based their predictions on that.  They call upon the planets, the stars, the time and place of birth to add the aura to their predictions.

One major factor unaccounted for in all these predictions is the fact that human beings have the capacity to exercise their choice.  This one factor can trash the entire astrological predictions.

One line that I read in “First Things First”, the book written by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill, had such a profound impact on me: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”  Such a simple but powerful statement casually thrown at us.  And where do you create anything? In the past? In the future? No.  We create in the present.  So, if we live our lives with present moment consciousness, we will come up with creative responses for any challenges thrown at us and break the vicious cycle of cause and effect which is the foundation of astrology.

I’ll finish off with the metaphorical story of Markandeya.  It was predicted that Markandeya will die at the age of 16.  What did Markandeya do to break this prediction?  He took refuge of Lord Shiva.  What does Lord Shiva depict?  Our source of pure consciousness.  How does one take refuge of the pure consciousness - by living in the present.  Present is eternity as both past and future are only in our mind.  By taking refuge in the present, Markandeya moves into the timeless eternal zone and that’s how he remains “Endrum pathinaru” (Eternal 16).