The Law of Karma and the Divine Providence are two different ways of understanding the laws that rule human destiny. In this article we are going to consider them from an astrological perspective, in order to understand how they are affecting us on a subconscious level. We don’t need to believe in them: they represent nevertheless two different ways of seeing the world and making decisions.
Karma and Providence are two completely opposite concepts—even geographically speaking. They are part of two vast belief systems, far too complex to face in a single article. So, let’s clear up what we mean here when we speak of Karma and Providence respectively.
Karma and Saturn
With the term “Karma” we mean the general belief that good intent and good deed contribute to future happiness (good karma), while bad intent and bad deed contribute to future suffering (bad karma). It is a law of cause and effect, so everyone is responsible for what’s happening to him. It is also a law based on reward and punishment—equally applied to everyone.
You don’t need to believe in reincarnation to have this kind of mindset. If you are a down-to-earth, responsible, self-made person with a strong sense of individuality, you are probably going to resonate with this law which—from the astrological perspective—corresponds to Saturn.
Justice is the moral compass of this law, so to speak, since the point here is to balance back a broken equilibrium. It is also a linear way of thinking, based on moral judgement—good brings good and bad brings bad. From this perspective the Universe is a predictable place. This makes us feel we are in control, that we are the makers of our own fate.
Providence and Jupiter
In Christianity, Providence is generally speaking God’s intervention in the world. As such, what happens to you is always inherently good—even though it’s hard and senseless. As they say, God has a plan for you but from your human, limited perspective you can’t get the bigger picture yet. He may be tough, but God gives you nothing you can’t handle. He knows what he is doing: you just need to trust the process.
Again, you don’t need to believe in God or be a Christian to embrace this mindset. People who consider life as a learning experience—a journey always able to give them teachings—are on this wavelength. They know that whatever happens they will be enriched, because they value their experience more than their material achievements. They are led by a form of wisdom, which in astrology corresponds to Jupiter. They know how to face uncertainty.
Faith is the moral compass of Providence. You just have to trust this force to provide you with everything you need in order to make the experience you are supposed to do. If currently you are not getting something in your life it means that at the moment you don’t need it to make that experience.
Giving a meaning to the Law of Attraction
In the spiritual community the most famous law which describes how destiny works is the Law of Attraction—technically ruled by Venus. From a psychological point of view this law can be summed up by this C.G. Jung’s sentence: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate” (please read the Venus page for further details).
The truth is that the law of attraction doesn’t come with a moral compass: it’s just a vibrational—or unconscious—mechanism. What’s gives this law a direction is the fact we resonate with a saturnian or jovial mindset which are able to give meaning to what we are going through.
Let’s say for example your car broke down. The law of attraction says that you are resonating with this experience, therefore you are attracting it in your life. But this still doesn’t make any sense. It’s like saying: “you are going to Berlin by plane because it can fly”. Describing a mechanism doesn’t necessarily give us an answer.
So why has your car broken down? A Saturn person would react by saying:
How could this happen? Who is responsible for this?
What have I done wrong (in my past/previous life)?
If I’m attracting this into my life, it means I’m wrong
If you are attracting this into your life, it means you are wrong
How can I prevent this from happening again?
You should do this to prevent it from happening again
As you can see this way of thinking follows a punishment/reward mindset with a strong sense of justice and responsibility. Saturn people unconsciously believe in “Karma” because in the end they believe they are causing what’s happening to them.
A Jupiter person would react in a totally different way, by saying:
What am I supposed to learn?
Did this happen before? What do I still have to learn?
If I’m attracting this into my life, it means I need it to grow as a person
If you are attracting this into your life, it means you need it to grow as a person
If it were to happen again it means that I have not learned the lesson yet
I am going to benefit from this experience
They believe in “Providence” because they think the Universe is always going to provide them with what they need in order to make the experience they are supposed to do. Their ultimate goal is expansion and growth which are strong jovial symbologies.
Now you should be able to discern whether you are following a Saturn mentality or a Jupiter mentality in your life, and better understand how they are affecting the way you react to certain situations. This is extremely helpful because it reveals your hidden belief system and allows you to expand your inner awareness.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
