Understanding Astrology 6: What are some common misconceptions?

There are so many! The most common one, most beloved of those who choose to dismiss astrology as ‘a load of old rubbish’ without actually taking the trouble to study it, is that astrology is about describing a person purely by invoking their Sun Sign. eg “All Capricorns are humourless and boring” or “All Geminis are superficial”.

Mediaeval Stargazer

As should be obvious to those of you out there who have taken the trouble to read these recent posts of mine, there is A LOT more to astrology than eg placing only one character ie the Sun or Star sign on the stage and expecting a gripping three-hour play, full of action, excitement, intrigue and unpredictable turns of events to take place. Human life is complex. History is complex. Individuals are complex. It takes all the symbolic complexity of an art and science going back at least six thousand years to do justice to describing Life in all its richness.

Another misconception is that astrology can be put in the same category as eg fortune telling or mediumship. It cannot, and should not, although regrettably it is – far too often. There is certainly a predictive element to astrology: one can predict very accurately eg when exactly the planet Saturn will return to its natal position, thereby beginning the coming-of-age process known as the Saturn Return. This lasts around a year between the ages of 29 and 30 – but for its precise duration, one would need to consult both tables of planetary movements (the ephemeris) and the exact birth date, place and time of the individual whose life is being considered via their horoscope. 

But, as previously mentioned (i), that predictable Return point can and does give rise to a range of possibilities. One cannot predict exactly which way this process might go, nor should one do so. One can only work with the client, their life circumstances, and their aspirations, to help them meet the planet’s challenges in the most constructive way for them. Definite prediction can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy, remove agency from the client, and transfer it to the practitioner doing the predicting, which may well be more about enhancing the practitioner’s ego than assisting the client’s development.

It should be clear from this that fortune-telling, whatever means are used, is another order of activity altogether, and simply reinforces any feeling that people have no agency, but are indeed ‘pinned to the board of Fate’. As an astrologer, I have had to try in my practice to  undo the damage done by such approaches to coping with the human condition, more often than I care to mention.

There is often a high price to be paid by the client (financially also!!) for attempting to buy into certainties, especially when delivered by people who have no awareness of what their personal power drives or unconscious projections onto their clients might be – or what damage they may cause.

Endnote

(i) Respected academic and astrologer  Dr Richard Tarnas answered this question  by stating that ‘…Astrology is archetypally predictive, not concretely predictive…’  In other words, we can accurately describe the essential core meaning of a particular planet eg Venus or planetary combination eg Venus conjunct Uranus, but can never know or predict exactly either the full range of ways the planet can manifest, or how its combination with another planet or planets will work out.

To be continued.. .

NEXT:
What is the most powerful thing about astrology?

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600 words©Anne Whitaker 2025