Let’s face it: everybody reads horoscopes sometimes. They are fun and intriguing, and as far as they are used as entertainment I think there’s nothing wrong with that. But when it comes to real forecasts, Astrology—that’s for sure—is a whole different thing. And I know this is an unpopular point of view, but if you want to understand how astrology predictions really work you need to read this.
First of all, all predictive techniques use, as a starting point, your Natal Chart—the astrological chart of the moment of your birth (your exact birth time and location are needed). This means forecasts are made specifically for the individual. On the contrary daily/weekly/monthly horoscopes make general predictions, giving trends for the twelve signs of the zodiac based on the planetary transits of the moment.
So, what’s wrong with that? The fact is that general trends about specific areas of your life (such as work, love, money, children, etc.) have very little to do with your Sun sign (“I am a Leo”). In fact in astrology these areas of life—aka the houses—are determined by the Ascendant, not by the Sun. Sun sign based horoscopes are inherently wrong—there is no other way to put it—so if you want to get a general prediction at least be sure to consult a rising sign (Ascendant) based horoscope!
The bad news is that you’re still going to get a general forecast that probably doesn’t have anything to do with you. This because transits are the only thing taken into consideration. Unfortunately this is the last thing we want to look at when we are making a forecast properly.
Think of transits like the minute hand of the watch; you also need the hour hand to know the time. Indeed, we can say that the hour hand is far more important. In the same way we need to know first what’s the hot topic of the year (through Progressed and/or Solar Return charts), then we can approximate the forecast looking at the month (Progressed and/or Lunar Return charts) and finally the transits themselves, which make sense only in the bigger context we were able to picture so far.
I personally struggled with general horoscopes—whether I should write them or not—because in a way this is what astrologers are supposed to do. People expect you to do it. But I can’t do something that—so far, at least—goes against my intellectual honesty. If you think they are valid please let me know why in the comments, I am openminded and I’d like to hear different opinions on the matter which—as far as I’m concerned—is not entirely closed yet.
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.
