Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.”
Doris Day
I cannot but marvel at the night sky canvas filled with stars and imagine how they influence our lives on this tiny blue planet. We have various tools at our disposal to try to make sense of what is happening to our human lot down here and they can range from philosophy and religion to astrology and the occult arts and humanities. I am omitting sciences here not because I don’t believe in them or their utility but rather because disciplines like biology tend to be microcosmic and reductionistic in nature and are often set and grounded in their views and outlook; to illustrate, the one astronomy course I took as an elective (and as one of my science requirements) bored me to tears despite its grand scope and scale.
Astrology is to me akin to psychoanalysis like a distant
cousin or a half-sister. It expresses a deep hidden truth that the more
earthbound sciences (choose to?) miss out on. Astrology not unlike Tarot or I
Ching dives into the unconscious and unearths gems and treasures that are not
visible to the naked eye and impervious to cold facts and hard-boiled logic. It
is not about selecting one or the other; it is about acknowledging that reason
is valuable but so is our intuitive sense, something that we often ignore,
underplay, or disregard to our own detriment.
Full disclosure: my own personal relationship with astrology
has been spotty. I have managed to cover the whole gamut and spectrum starting
off with teenage curiosity and with my young adult version casting doubts, as
he was skeptical about its claims whereas at this stage of my life (i.e.
midlife crisis), I find myself on the other side, hence completing my character
arc from a cautious believer to a full-fledged fan and perhaps a few steps
short of being a fanatic.
That I should eventually embrace astrology again and more
warmly should not come as a surprise because I have been a fervent believer in
oracles with some decades-long practice of reading and consulting Tarot cards that
have been spot-on, precise, and uncanny in their predictions, alongside my unusual and uncommon habit of finding numerous playing and occasionally Tarot cards on the streets that would then guide me in
my personal and professional life, including and most notably The World Tarot card, which at the time encouraged me to continue not only with my blog
endeavor (Arash’s World) but to expand into podcast territory. The signs
spoke, and I listened and acted upon them.
All these arts are linked and interconnected and are somewhat
unfortunately labeled, stigmatized, and categorized under the occult
rubric, which if you strip away the negative connotations can be simply seen as
the diving into the unknown, a mysterious and mystic yet certainly existent and feebly
tangible realm of sorts.
So what made me reconsider and turn around and embrace
astrology more firmly? On a more objective level, I began to wonder how large
physical bodies in space can affect each other in different ways. This goes
beyond the gravitational push and pull and I’m not referring to spooky
entanglements (though they are assuredly cool) but it also includes how
emotions and perhaps outcomes may be influenced by a physical body from afar.
The moon does not merely affect the ebbs and tides but also
our emotions, leading to restless and sleepless nights for some or a general
surplus of positive and negative feelings for others. All the while, the moon
is such a small body compared to the innumerable stars and planets all around
us, and so, it is not farfetched to acknowledge that there may be something
there.
Yet, more importantly, I have seen the stars work their
magic on a more personal level. On one hand, there seems to be consensus and
overlap among different readings and horoscopes. Of course, there may be fluctuations
in how the data is interpreted and represented according to the given
astrologer but there tends to be enough common ground across the board. A
parallel I could think of, and I have mentioned earlier, would be psychoanalysis,
another discipline that I moved heartily towards believing in its insights
fervently and with all the fibers of my triple mind-body-spirit being.
Astrology like psychoanalysis is essentially an art form. For
instance, a symbol in a dream may slightly change according to a psychoanalyst or
the patient in question but there tends to be a general agreement and a
baseline consensus among the professionals and practitioners.
Yet the poignant level of detail, depth, and accuracy never
fails to surprise me in these fields. Sometimes my horoscope would not predict
what happens but rather give me a very precise and uncanny snapshot of my
emotional state of a given moment, which I can immediately verify to be true,
and which is a staple of Tarot card readings that are referring to past or
present circumstances.
At times, it may feel as if someone either has found access
to my thoughts or to my journal or even both but that’s crazy talk of course, even
crazier than what I am contemplating and saying in this blog post. But there is
an at times jarring and spinetingling realization that there is more than is
apparent to the eye or the logical brain.
I want to thank astrology and all astrologers that are
engaged in this noble profession and who day in day out face the skeptics and non-believers
with poise and confidence and their heads up; they know this to be true deep in
their hearts and souls and are fully aware that their profession is noble and of
help to others. Astrology is not unlike religion, but it is freer and more
precise while fluctuating according to outward circumstances. It is about
reading the signs and then coloring and interpreting them but one does not
control the signs and becomes only a messenger and transmitter of them.
Also, over the last year or so, astrology has been serving
as my unofficial guide and therapist (interestingly a both cheaper and more accurate
and more competent one). What used to be sporadic findings of cards is now a
regular daily practice for me. Not all predictions and observations are and
come true of course. But when they are right, they are exact. And it is sometimes
hard truths that I must face while also offering encouragement when I find
myself drenched in doubt or stuck in a quagmire. The other benefit is that this
source, like the other occult practices, is wise and sees beyond oneself in
space and time and it can even read other people’s minds and intentions.
In a sense, Doris Day gets it wrong. The future can be read
if you look at it closely. It is like reading tea leaves, runes, or cards; at
the same time, you do not need any of them, you just need to understand to read
the signs, which comes in the shape of coincidences (which incidentally do not
exist and are not coincidental after all), happenstance, synchronicity, and
intuition. The latter is similar to gut feelings but goes much deeper and is
often harder to discern yet much more accurate and reliable with its straight and
express connection line to the heart.
Moreover, there are two realms that exist simultaneously and
may or may not be connected to each other. On one hand, the free will that we
have, and which often comes with a surplus of mistakes and errors (such is the
lot of being an imperfect human), while the other domain is fate, namely that
which is embedded and engraved in the stars and cannot be changed, moved, or
altered. Occasionally, they may be linked to each other in a certain degree or
angle, at least in the sense of awareness, where one needs to come to a certain
conclusion or gain certain insights so that one can fully embrace and embark
upon one’s destiny.
I believe that many of our major life changes, including our
eventual demise, fall into the fixed and permanent category. We can rail
against it; we can try to avoid it, lock ourselves up in a bunker or a germfree
hotel but when the time has come, we must leave one way or another. There’s no
escaping that part of our fate.
Intuitively, I feel that finding true love or encountering one’s soul mate is also part of that domain. This gives me a sense of hope with a
certain relief since I may, with my free will, mess things up (romantically
things almost always go haywire but not always nor necessarily due to my own
fault and misgivings) but that the stars will already know this and take it
into account by correcting, adjusting, and guiding me along the way.
Eventually, they will put me on the path that I am meant to tread as opposed to
the maze I am currently finding myself in. To quote from a motet by Bach (though
not the one you are thinking of), I do not let you, but you bless me, nonetheless.
*
*“Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn” BMV 1164 by
Johann Christoph Bach who was Johann Sebastian’s father’s cousin and not to be
confused with Bach’s son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach.
