Traditional perceptions of astrology are most often reduced to viewing it as a predictive system. Moreover, astrological predictions are usually divided into favorable and unfavorable for the querent. The querent themselves is perceived as a passive object, helplessly standing in the wind of intense astrological influences, hoping that unfavorable winds will pass and a period of favorable planetary constellations will arrive.
Typically, “bad” aspects, the influence of Lilith (Black Moon), so-called malefic planets—Pluto, Uranus, Saturn—as well as retrograde planets and critical degrees are considered negative in astrology.
We have not yet fully managed to part ways with the astrological habits of the 2000-year-old yin era of Pisces, in which the main theme was resignation to fate and fatal acceptance of external adverse factors as inevitable.
Everyone is familiar with the utopian belief in a good king as a hope that some external force will fulfill a parental function, protecting us from any misfortunes. Yet even now, people often expect that important changes creating a comfortable life can come from outside, beyond our own efforts. This is called infantilism—externally, a person may have grown up, but internally they remain a child, someone who cannot independently overcome external difficulties, improve their life and that of their loved ones, or take responsibility for it.
Unfortunately, most astrological interpretations of problematic indicators in a horoscope boil down to the astrologer, upon seeing these “bad” signs, simply trying to protect the person from them by giving advice like, “Stay quiet, be careful, don’t do anything important, because now is not a favorable time.” At one time, the renowned medium and astrologer Edgar Cayce said, “Anyone who refuses to experience life must stifle their desire to live—in other words, they must commit a kind of partial suicide.” Do not astrologers commit a kind of partial suicide when they try to avoid unfavorable planetary influences?
Sometimes clients come to me frightened after a consultation with another astrologer. The recommendation given by such a misguided astrologer—”For the next 2-3 years, live quietly and do nothing important”—seems highly dubious and futile. As a rule, such advice is given against the backdrop of transits of planets of renewal and transformation (Uranus and Pluto) forming tense aspects to natal planets, when a person is presented with perhaps their only chance in life to radically change and renew themselves! Missing this opportunity by following such advice could result in a bouquet of vague illnesses arising from unexpressed yang energy sent to the person for radical external changes.
All such astrological interpretations, focused on passively perceiving external yang energies of planets as unfavorable factors threatening stability and comfort, must be left in the past.
The new 2000-year yang era of Aquarius, which is beginning, grants people the right and opportunity to consciously use the yang energies of tense aspects, to bring the light of conscious creativity into the unstable energies of Lilith, to constructively navigate the themes of planets at critical degrees, and more.
Our perception of cosmic-astrological factors must shift from the position of a passive participant in our own life, or a child, to that of an independent, conscious individual—spiritually mature and ready to actively engage in the creative process of our own life.
To do this, we must first accept the fact that in astrology, as in life, there is nothing inherently “bad” or “good”—only “easy” and “difficult.” Moreover, difficulties are always an opportunity to become stronger, grow spiritually, transform our level of life, which, with constructive use of tense planetary influences, will ultimately lead to an improvement in its quality and a sense of spiritual and physical fulfillment.
In general, viewing life as a series of favorable and unfavorable periods is fundamentally incorrect. It creates the feeling that if a period is unfavorable, it is somehow “empty,” and one must simply wait it out, lie low, as if temporarily dying. But life is a continuous continuum. There are no interruptions or waiting rooms in it. At any given moment, energetic interactions occur, and life develops through creativity constantly. Therefore, the task of the astrologer is not to “spread soft padding” but to point out the possibilities for radical change offered by tense indicators in the natal chart or temporary charts. By consciously and constructively using the energy of tense aspects, critical degrees, Lilith, and more, we can live our lives to the fullest, feeling alive and passionate about life until old age.
A person is immanent to life. They are not an external subject in relation to it but an inseparable part of it, existing in the image and likeness [of the cosmos]. “As above, so below,” says the fundamental principle of Hermeticism. And humans must learn to live in accordance with inner cosmic rhythms.
Tense astrological indicators can and should be used for self-improvement and full self-realization. Like a surfer, a person can and must use the chaotic yang natural energy to accelerate, live fully, and achieve self-realization.
Therefore, these indicators should be interpreted as opportunities to change and improve one’s life or certain areas of it, to reach a qualitatively new level, to access inner resources, and to become stronger and more perfect.
Hence, the task of the Aquarian-era astrologer is not to state or predict certain future events in a person’s life but to point out new opportunities and tasks that a person can realize as a result of the astrological configurations that arise. By failing to utilize the opportunities given to us by the yang energy of tense indicators, we risk living our lives not to the fullest, missing important storylines, and dying with a sense of having missed something vital.
To summarize our reflections, paraphrasing a well-known phrase by a famous German philosopher:
“Astrologers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it!”
© Natalia Perestoronina
