Myths about Astrology

I searched on the web for some text on similar title... but not finding any decided to write something myself. Whatever I write is bounded my limited knowledge of the heavenly affairs and should be construed as my personal opnion only.

Astrology seems to be very popular amongst many people all around the world. Come to think of it, its not so unexpected as it speaks of planets and their possible influence on our mundane lives. I am sure there will be very few who shall not be tempted by the promise of a glimpse into the future. However, I believe that just like any other subject of science, astrology too should be strictly observed through a scientifically tuned mind. We should try and understand first what it really means, before we start interpreting it, for unless we know what the domain we are focussing on realy is, there will always be a million inferences.

I read on a site online (http://www.chartplanet.com/html/natal_charts.html) that in Astrology, "Natal Charts" (or Birth Charts) are much different from "Horoscopes". While horoscopes typically consider only the position of the Sun, natal charts includes much more data involving the positions of the planets and astrological houses in the sky at the moment of birth. According to that site:
"Analyzing the planetary positions and relationships in a natal chart affords a remarkably profound and revealing glimpse into your natural character, with its inherent strengths and weaknesses. Among other things, your natal chart will tell you: A) what type of partner and relationship you seek and will be best matched with, B) what type of job or career your natural strengths and weaknesses are best suited for, and C) obstacles that need to be overcome in your life. Most importantly, your natal chart will help you to understand your desires, motivations, and why you are the way that you are."

So what does all this really mean? Does this mean that once we read our natal charts and realize who we are and what we want, we have nothing else to learn from the experiences in our lives? Does it really provide us with a strict guideline to life.. urging us to adopt particular relations or specific jobs?

Well I think its really tough to answer these things in a simple way. The first thing I observe is that the natal charts do not really perform any magic. If its only supposed to tell us about our own personality, we can observe that ourselves if we care to meditate and walk through a process of self realization. Moreover, if we are always true to our hearts, we would fall in love with a person or career that best suits our natural personality. So in that respect, we would not really have to depend on our natal charts to any great amount. All we would need to be is honest, not only with others but mostly with ourselves.

The second thing of importance in my opinion is our perspective. In general, both good and bad is relative to one's point of view. Given that, even if we come to know about some future event through our natal charts, and decide to accept it as inevitable, we shall still have limited idea about our reaction to that event till it actualy occurs. I have read "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is not". So, it is possible that the manner in which we perceive the future event now, may be different from the way we perceive it in future, because of potential changes in our points of view as we walk through life and its bizarre experiences. Also, sometimes the first impression of an event may not be the only one. For example, if a party plans on a picnic in the forest, but the weather predicts rain, they could still go prepared for a rain dance in the middle of the forest and have fun anyway. True, such predictions may help us be better prepared to face unfriendly events, but in the end we still do have a say in how we shall end up dealing with it when it actually happens.

If this were not true, would you not be going in for a job interview with your natal charts along with your resume? After all, if its in your destiny to work there, how can you ever get rejected? So I think what we need is to be cautious of the way we interpret the science of astrology. On one hand, we can take inputs from it and be better prepared, but on the other hand, we should never leave faith in ourselves to be able to live in the moment and build a part of our destiny on the way.