Why astrology is not fortune-telling, but can still tell us something about the future

I have a confession to make.

Although I have been studying astrology for many years and have devoured books about it like candy - I still believed for a long time that if you mastered astrology well enough, you could predict when bad things would happen or when you would be happy about winning the lottery or getting a promotion.

But it's not like that.

And yes, I know, if we leave out those dubious providers who hope to make a lot of money quickly with dubious promises - there are actually also some extremely talented astrologers who make concrete predictions, which are then very often also true. But in the meantime I think that this is not only due to astrology, but that the key to success it is rather a combination of astrological knowledge, a lot of life experience and
a well-developed intuition and, of course, a little bit of luck.

In the meantime, however, I have understood that it is not the purpose of astrological predictions to predict exactly what will happen in life. Do I really want to know when I'm going to be seriously ill? When to break up a marriage or cope with a death?

And not only that it is probably not a very pleasant experience, if I have to live for e.g. 5 years with the knowledge that I will soon get a serious illness and cannot do anything against it - but as every astrologer knows, these are all only interpretations of what we see in a birth picture. And these can also be wrong. What then? Then I may have spent 5 years of my life in fear and terror for nothing. May have even made great decisions. Maybe I quit my job. My house sold. Separated from my husband. Or whatever. Because I might have thought "If I only have 5 years left anyway - well, it's now or never!".

The other possibility is what is called the famous "self-fulfilling prophecy." In medicine, this corresponds to the nocebo effect. Yes exactly, the opposite of the rather well-known placebo effect. One simply means that a negative prediction occurs simply because theperson believes in it.

Apart from the fact that you might not want to know some things so precisely, that it can even lead to these negative things coming true only because you believe in them - wouldn't it also just make life incredibly boring if you always knew beforehand what was going to happen? And doesn't that make the whole thing kind of pointless, too?

This is actually the most important reason, which speaks for me, however, against the fact that exact predictions of the future are possible: Our future is NOT fixed! Because if already at the time of our birth everything would be fixed what we experience in this life - where would be then the sense of our existence at all?

The future always consists of countless different paths of possibility. And with every decision we make (and we make more than 20,000 decisions every day!), we narrow down these possibility paths a little, but at the same time countless new possibility paths are formed. This is how we shape our future. This means, however, that in every single moment there are innumerable possibilities how our further life can develop.



But then what CAN astrology tell us about the future?

Astrology, after all, can tell us a lot of concrete things about ourselves initially through the interpretation of our horoscope: how we think, how we feel, what is important to us, what we are afraid of, what we are good at, where our challenges in life will lie. Even about the most important goal of our soul, about our destiny in this life, the horoscope can give us information.

Astrology's predictions of the future are a bit like the weather forecast, but much more accurate. It is certain when Saturn will next hit the position it was in when I was born. Or when Pluto passes over my ascendant. There are no uncertainties, these are things that you can simply calculate (or let the computer calculate).

So let's assume that weather reports are reliable. Then the comparison fits. Because the weather forecast only tells me what the conditions will be at a given time. He can't tell me exactly how this will affect me and my life and how I will react.

So it is also with predictions of astrological time qualities. The planetary movements are exactly predictable, but the contents (i.e. what impact this will have on my life and how I will react to it) are not exactly predictable. So the future predictions don't tell us exactly what will happen. But they can give us clues as to what decisions we will have to make in the near future and also what areas of life that will relate to. If bad weather is in the forecast, it's unlikely (but not impossible) that it has anything to do with my relationship problems, but rather affects my daily schedule. In the same way, astrological predictions can tell us which areas of our lives certain developments are likely to affect.

If the weather forecast tells me that there will be rain and thunderstorms on the weekend, this information says nothing about what I will do with it. The weather forecast doesn't say whether I'll be going to a barbecue, whether lightning will strike my house, or whether I'll be spending a cozy weekend on the couch with a good book. Because all of these are my choices. I'm deciding how to react to the rainy weather this weekend. Whether I'm defiant and still want to grill. Whether I was careless and my house has no lightning conductor. Or whether I'll be flexible and adapt to the weather, postpone the barbecue until next week and enjoy a lazy weekend instead.

It is the same with astrological predictions.

Whether I ignore my first Saturn return and refuse to give my life meaning and direction, or whether I start putting my money where my mouth is, put my dream of becoming a rock star on the shelf for the time being, and instead start earning a living as a music teacher from now on, will definitely affect my future.

But it is always MY decision. The Saturn return only determines that now is the time for such decisions. How I react to it is always up to me.

Whether I try to ignore this during the time Uranus is transiting my natal Moon or resist the sudden changes in my life with all my might, or whether I realize that such changes may be necessary to give me the freedom and independence I need - that, too, is entirely up to me.

For these reasons, by the way, astrology is also very good for this, Better understand life events in retrospect. If I have perhaps had a painful separation in my life and then realize that Uranus was transiting my Moon during that time - then I may realize that this separation was important and good for me.

This means that an astrological prediction can first of all only describe the "atmosphere" of a certain point in time, can guess what issues might be at stake or how one might feel at that time.

A prediction can become more concrete if the astrologer has also dealt with the birth picture (horoscope) of the questioner in detail. This is because the better one understands what important themes are contained in the horoscope, the clearer one can make guesses as to what certain transits or progressions (these are the main predictive methods in astrology) might mean, or in what ways they might affect one's life circumstances.

This means that astrology can tell us if and when challenging or exciting times are likely to come our way. If the astrologer knows us and our horoscope well, he is also able to make reliable guesses about how and in which areas these things can show up in our lives.

Most importantly, we can mentally prepare for such times without falling into fear or being irritated by false predictions.

So, if you are thinking about consulting an astrologer to learn about the current and upcoming astrological qualities of time, make sure that he or she first takes the time to get to know you and your chart well. With most serious astrologers one deals in the first meeting, first of all in detail with the horoscope. At further appointments, conversations about the current and upcoming quality of time are then useful.

And then ask the right questions.

Don't ask questions like "When will I meet the man of my life?", "Will I finally win the lottery?" or "Will I get the job?".

Instead, you might ask things like, "What do I need to look for in my career plans next year?" or "How can I handle my relationship better?" or "Why do I feel like this is an important turning point in my life right now?"

Because answers to such questions are helpful in making your life better, more fulfilling and happier.

And astrology can help with that.