My Astro Journey

Since my last post on Astrology I had some people share more cool links that I will share here in case you want to read along with me.

The Zodiac Testifies of Christ  (Awesome stuff. By John P. Pratt-- the same author of the 1985 Ensign article I posted quoted from in my last post)

The constellations testify of Christ  (also from same author)

The Coming Blood Moons (All the coming blood moons correlate to Jewish Holy days. Coincidence? "I will not forget my covenant people.")

It is interesting to hear how different people interpret the signs in the heavens and the constellations. I love that lots of this work has already been done. John P. Pratt's website is a treasure trove of articles. 

The one thing that I am trying to figure out is the line between astronomy and astrology. Here are some quotes on it from the LDS church website:

Astrology pretends to tell fortunes by deciphering the influence of the stars in people’s lives. Ancient civilizations were frequently deceived by the snares of astrologers. Enlightened members of the Church avoid these things, for they are of Satan.

Astronomy is the science that studies the stars—their creation and motion. The greatest astronomers of history have been prophets like Moses, Abraham, and Enoch. They received their knowledge from the Lord himself. (See D&C 88:41–47; Moses 1:27–39; Abraham 3:1–18.)

“The stars can’t control your acts. … God gave you free agency, and He does not allow even the stars to interfere with it. He is the Creator of the stars but He did not devise the peculiar cult of astrology” (editorial in the Church News, 14 Oct. 1972, p. 16)."--From YW Manual.

It is interesting that these all come from the Young Women's manual. It seems that young women are particularly suggestible to someone who might hold the key to their future or to their problems. So, let me be clear that I don't believe that the stars control our acts. However, I believe they are a reflection of what is going on on the earth, and a portent of what may be coming (if we don't use the energy properly) and the planets and starts and sun and moon, while they can't control our acts, they can influence us--just as everything can. A butterfly flaps his wings in China and it can change weather patterns across the world. A large scale trauma in New York can trigger PTSD in California. A bad hair cut, a lost pet, a vibration in the air. All these things influence us.

The full moon is an amplifier. It will amplify whatever we are experiencing. The moon reflects the light of the sun, which is the power of God, and when it is full, it is reflecting the most light, and when more light shines in the darkness, it's going to amplify and magnify what is there. Also, if it can raise the ocean levels 4 feet, you can bet it will bring up more strongly whatever emotions (the water element) are within you.

You do have agency though, so long as you haven't already given it away to Satan, which most people have without being conscious of it (which you can read about here) which is why they don't feel in control.

The point is, it's clear that Astronomy is from God and the cult of Astrology is not. But the line seems to be fine, and I'm walking it right now. I hope you know my intentions are pure.

The symbolism of Christ's roles in the Zodiac is pretty amazing to read about (the article is linked above) I invite you to read it. It's seriously mind blowing.

Now let's say that you were born under the sign of Libra (I am) and that represents Redeemer in Pratt's article. Knowing that this is your "sign" could be really cool and lead you to learn more about this role of Jesus Christ, who bought us back (hence the scales which represent payment). I think that is the great side of the line.

Here's where I am going next: I'm fascinated by the concept of the natal chart. The idea of the natal chart is that it is a snapshot of the constellations and planets at the moment and location of your birth. So far, that is just astronomy. What astrologers do is they look at this snapshot and attempt to interpret or predict a person's life based on the planets, where they are, and their aspects and angles to each other.

Here is a sample natal chart. This one happens to belong to President Obama.

Obviously birth dates matter. Almost every culture in the world celebrates birthdays. And as we know, God is the one who chooses when babies are born. Even though man may try to interfere, God is still in charge of the date and minute and latitude and longitude in which a baby is born.

Some astrologers will try to use the natal chart as the quote above states, as a way of fortunetelling and leading people far astray. But as I have studied this, I have discovered that there is another way to look at it, and it is that the natal chart may indicate a person's gifts, areas of particular challenge, and may give clues on how to successfully deal with these challenges, use gifts and stay on the divine path that was co-written by you before you were born.

When I think about Patriarchal blessings, they do much the same thing. Both are authored by God, who authored the stars and your time of birth. But the interpretation of said chart should be inspired, like a patriarchal blessing is.

I still don't know how to interpret a natal chart. I have learned a few things from Astrology 101, which is a basic intro to understanding and reading your own natal chart. But then I'd like to incorporate the symbolic roles of the savior that are evident in the zodiac into my understanding of the natal chart.  

If you don't know what the heck a natal chart is, you can get one free at lots of websites. Here is a good one:

www.CafeAstrology.com. But don't get sucked in and pay for anything. 

Another thing I want to share is from Yogi Bhajan, I don't have the exact quote, but he has said it more than once. He said that Kundalini Yoga is a science of angles and triangles. In astrology, squares are unlucky (I have SO many squares in my chart) but triangles are lucky. He said that Kundalini Yoga can dissect the squares, turn them into triangles and totally change a person's natal chart and their give them a destiny, where there was none. I have experienced this. My life used to have some pretty harsh aspects. Now I'm lucky to be walking a super awesome path of destiny. Wahe Guru!