Astrology is intriguing and as my Vedic Astrology studies progress, I can use Astrology to see more and more about the experiences that will show up in a person’s life. I can also see the finer details in a chart. For example, why something will most likely work out for one person, but not another.
So the question comes, “how do we accept if we have the kind of chart that is ‘unlucky’ or has more ‘bad’ indications than good? (or than we would like!)” Answering that question opens several lines of fruitful inquiry … First, we have to consider, why are we taking Astrology’s word for it anyway?!! Let’s face it; it’s pretty hard to come up with any kind of plausible explanation of how the placement of planets at the time of our birth can have predictive accuracy over our life! So my rule of thumb is … take what Astrology has to say if it is interesting, engaging, useful, stimulating etc. for you. But if it makes you feel bad, hopeless, unlucky I think it’s time to let Astrology fall by the way side! Second, if you are willing to believe/accept that Astrology is true – don’t forget that all the Vedic Astrology ‘texts’ were oral traditions for HUNDREDS of years. The chances of them surviving accurately and then being recorded and translated accurately are so slim!! that is it is not worth losing any sleep (self-esteem or self-worth) over. Thirdly, let’s say you’re absolutely committed that Astrology is true and therefore you ARE ‘unlucky’ or whatever … in order to swallow Astrology ‘hook-line-and-sinker’ you’d also need to be comfortable with a whole lot of Vedic philosophy around past lives, karma, consciousness and matter. When one accepts all that – then past lives and karma become pretty solid explanations for why one is ‘unlucky’. According to Vedic philosophy, the chart is reflecting the karma that you have earned AND are willing to experience in this life time. To be harsh, you are ‘unlucky’ because you deserve it, it is fully earned. If one takes that personally, it is a heavy burden indeed. But, we can look at karma as if it is just like other natural laws e.g., what goes up, must come down; energy cannot be created or destroyed. etc. etc. and we don’t take these laws personally, so why take karma personally? If you want to take being ‘unlucky’ personally, make sure you have a rail at gravity, inertia and the weather while you’re at it!! You’re railing will have just as much effect on gravity as it will on your ‘unlucky-ness’. And if we are saying that being ‘unlucky’ is paying our karma, shouldn’t we be grateful for the opportunity to pay some back! Think of what that might do to our account for next life time! Bring it on!! Another angle to examine is the very concept of being ‘unlucky’. Doesn’t that imply that some of us are lucky and some are unlucky? Does that mean we would be OK if Astrology was telling us that we were ‘lucky’, that we would experience good luck and that things would go our way? Would that be OK? And when the reality of our life is that we are unemployed or struggling with chronic health problems or running out of money etc. – would we want Astrology to say we are ‘lucky’, just so we could feel better? Or feel hopeful? The very fact that we ‘want’ Astrology to tell us that we are lucky might be exactly because our experience of reality is somewhat grim right now. But that Astrology is saying that the signs are grim for our luck (right now, or in general) should actually be validating, right? Even more than that, it can lift of some of the heaviness of feeling personally responsible for every bad decision that has led to this point. Astrology can bring back some levity that ‘it was always most likely that it was going to be like this, so let’s not beat ourselves up!’ It’s like asking, why does it have to rain? (on me!) and then looking at the weather chart and seeing that there was an 80% chance of rain today and realising, it’s got nothing to do with you!! Astrology can just help you pack a brolly or wear appropriate wet weather gear – and isn’t that a good thing?! And while we’re at it, let’s not waste time with the ‘but it doesn’t rain so much in someone else’s life’. Sticking with weather as our analogy … there are countries in the world that get more rain, that get more sunlight, that get more heat, that get more wind. This is just a fact. There are birth charts that have more ‘luck’ and less ‘luck’. Here on Earth, you can move from one country to another. It just takes planning, resources, motivation and dedication to follow through your plan to move. You might have to learn a new language, change your religion or culture, save up considerable sums of money and follow the laws of your new country. This is exactly the same with Astrology. If you want to ‘move’ to a ‘country’ with more ‘luck’ (that is, if you want to be more ‘lucky’) you can do that! There is nothing in Astrology that is preventing you using your free will to change your circumstances. But, just like moving country, it will take real effort and dedication. As long as you are prepared to do that, you can ‘change’ anything in your chart. Astrology is really just predicting what will happen if you live your life on ‘auto-pilot’. If you do not apply your awareness to your life decisions, then Astrology will be very predictive. If you focus on making choices that are conscious and you follow through on them, Astrology is not predictive at all!! The fact that we want to ‘rail’ against the unfairness of our chart is also deeply illustrative of the reality that we are a spirit inside a mind inside a physical body. ‘Who’ is the ‘you’ that doesn’t ‘like’ your chart? Who is the ‘you’ that is railing against the ‘astral forces’ of your life? If you are not the experiences of your life, if you are not the astral forces, who are you? When we ponder this we connect more deeply with the truth of who we are. We are like the reality star who has been cast as the ‘villain’ on some TV show. No matter what we do, the producers keep cutting our scenes in such a way that we appear only as a self-centred, manipulative, unhappy, screw-up! So let’s leave the show! Let’s walk out of ‘Reality TV’ and start living from that true, authentic self that is beyond the reach of the ‘producers’. For me, this is why meditation is so important. Being alive pushes one around on so many levels – physically, mentally, astrally. Meditation offers that opportunity to be anchored in the true self and this gives us the ability to withstand those forces. With meditation we are able to stay as close as possible to our highest self and therefore be less reactionary to forces which in turn helps us create less karma for the future. As we conclude this examination of the Astrology of being ‘unlucky’, keep in mind that all humans have the same 7 planets somewhere in their chart. There is no one here who is immune to the forces of good luck and bad. Any examination of a celebrity’s life will show, that for all their fame, wealth or opportunity there are also areas and/or times in their life that have been ‘unlucky’. Making friends with our chart, astral forces and the nature of life is our surest strategy for peace and contentment. Recognising that we are but a small part in an enormous story of life, in an enormous experiment of energy rebalancing, can help us enjoy the experience rather than try to control it. It’s also good to remember that you may be luckier than you think. By focusing on what we don’t have (compared to others?) the mind can become very unhappy and see only the lack. But if you live in a western democracy you are experiencing a level of health and freedom that has been unthinkable in previous times. If you are a woman in a western democracy you have access to education, the freedom to work, the ability to control your fertility etc. that women throughout history could barely dream of. You can fly to the other side of the planet, you can video chat to a loved one far away, you can access all of humanities knowledge from your phone, you can survive horrific accidents and injury with modern medicine. Perhaps ‘lucky-ness’ is more a state of mind than an Astrological doom-sentence :) In love, Fiona
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AuthorI'm an Ayurvedic Life Coach, Teacher and Massage Therapist living on the 'Linha de Cascais' in Portugal. I love sharing Ayurveda and appreciation of Life with others. Archives
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