Why should you follow astrology? How can people believe that the planet Neptune is affecting our choices and actions here on earth? If it's been studied forever, then why can't they prove it? What benefit is there in knowing about horoscopes and where the planets are at any given time? How does it work? Why does it even matter?
I could answer your questions with vague concepts that don't mean anything to anyone, and say something like "The electroplasmodic waves of the individual planets travel through the quantum solar field to combine with the neurotelepsychic particles within our individual aura fields, thus causing psychoelectron pulses to begin effecting the synapses within our brains." But answers like that don't really mean anything to most of us and besides I made that up! The truth is that science has barely figured out how the moon affects us. We know that it moves the tides through it's gravitational pull. We know that women's menstrual cycles are often in alignment with the moon. We know that the apparent waxing and waning of the moon is really just shadows being cast upon it's surface. It isn't really disappearing and reappearing. We know that more babies are born on full moons then any other time in the lunar cycle. We know that lunacy is the weirdness that sometimes effects people during the nights of the full moon. But why? Why should the size of a shadow effect such things? Isn't the moon the same size and therefore have the same amount of magnetic gravitational pull no matter how much shadow covers it's face? Modern science knows a little bit about our relationship with the moon mostly through observation. When the astronauts walked around on the moon, they didn't find some magical reason for all of these lunar influences.
There was a time in ancient history when mankind thought the moon was a grandmother goddess that decided when women would be pregnant and when they would menstruate instead. If you asked them why they believed it or how did the moon regulate pregnancies and menstrual flows, you would have been told to observe it for yourself. It's no different then the seasons and their continual cycle of birth and death. To argue the point would have been ridiculous. Of course Grandmother Moon is in charge of such things, look for yourself, silly! Mankind hasn't really gotten too much further along in his understand of such things. We put our focus and energy into studying other things, like medicine, weapons, and commerce. There's so many amazing mysteries to explore while we're on this planet, it's not really surprising to me that we still don't know very much about the magical workings of anything. We observe a lot and take notes to compare future events to past events in hopes of finding patterns and cycles that will somehow explain things or at least let us predict what's next. This is most apparent in our scientific study of weather, earthquakes, and volcanoes. The same holds true for astrology.
Astrologers have observed the planets movements and documented what effect those movements seem to have on humanity. They have discovered patterns. Why do those patterns exist? We don't honestly know. They have also found that as the planets line up in mathematical angles to one another, that too seems to consistently create certain predictable cause and effect scenarios. For someone to use the planets to predict the future is a lot like saying, that when the next full moon comes quite a few women will start menstruating. Why? Don't know, but it's true. Will every single woman who isn't pregnant start to menstruate? Of course not. Will every single pregnant woman deliver their baby on that moon? Of course not. But it's a reasonably accurate prediction to say that more women then usual will deliver babies and more women then usual will start menstruating. The art of astrology is a bit scientific observation and a bit psychic premonition. Of all the events that could be predicted, which one will hold true for the most people?
I think of each planet as a different clock in the heavens. Each one has its own pace and it's own season. Each one keeps time with a different season of the universe. Just like the sun and moon each have completely different seasons and completely different effects at different times. Watching the sun's seasonal effects helps the farmer know when to plant his crops. Watching the moon's cycles helps us in other areas. Astrology is taking all of the other planets' seasons and cycles into account too. Imagine a giant cosmic clock with the moon as the seconds hand and the sun as the hours hand. Mercury would be the minute hand. Add to that a hand for Venus, Mars, and the others. Each one a bit faster or slower then the others. Now telling time becomes a lot more complex. Time becomes bigger and more infinite.
To take it one step further, as each of us is born we are handed our own personal clock that is the time by which we will live our lives. To the untrained eye it looks like my clock is hung upside down with the 6 at the top and the 12 at the bottom. Another person's clock is to be hung with the 2 on top and the 8 on the bottom. So to be able to predict someone's future using astrology, you have to know which angle they hang their clock and you have to compare them to all others who hang their clock that way. Sure enough there's another pattern. This time it's a predictable pattern of personality types, styles, and preferences. So as an astrologer you have to be able to know the typical person of that clock position and then read their multi-handed clock. Then with your very best psychic abilities and intuition, tell them what you believe will happen.
Why does it work? Because it's all patterns and cycles and its predictable and it happens the same way over and over. Maybe the planets were put in the positions they were put in just for the sole purpose of keeping time. Maybe they each have their own weird electrical gravitational pull. Maybe the human brain has some sort of odd multi-handed clock programmed into it, each one as different as a set of fingerprints? Maybe some cosmic creator decided that this would be their universal filing system to help them remember who's doing what and where. Honestly, we don't know why it works. We just know that it is patterns and wheels that can be predicted like the weather changes each season.
Why should you bother to follow astrology? For the same reasons that we follow the weatherman's report. We want to be forewarned of the possibility of storms and conflicts so we can protect ourselves accordingly. We want to be forewarned of sunny weather and positive aspects so that we can take advantage of the blessings about to be given to us. If I know that there's a good chance it's going to rain, then I dress appropriately. If I know that there's a good chance that prosperity and abundance are coming my way, then I want to be well positioned and ready to receive my fair share. No weatherman is 100% correct and the same holds true for astrologers. Some are better at reading the signs then others. Some have more tools available for reading the skies then others. Both add valuable insight to the possibilities of how your day could unfold. It's always good to be prepared. You don't plan an outdoor wedding ceremony without looking at the typical weather forecasts for that area. You don't plan an international vacation without looking at the political forecasts for that area. Think of astrology forecasts as one of many tools you have at your disposal for timing and plotting the course of your goals and dreams.
Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow's Edge
Skye Thomas is the CEO of Tomorrow's Edge, an Internet leader in inspiring leaps of faith. She became a writer in 1999 after twenty years of studying spirituality, metaphysics, astrology, personal growth, motivation, soulmates, and parenting. Her books, articles, and astrological forecasts have inspired people of all ages and faiths to recommit themselves to the pursuit of happiness. To read more of her articles and to sign up to receive her free weekly newsletter, go to www.TomorrowsEdge.net. To download free previews of her books, go to www.SkyeThomas.com.