Are Our Destinies Written in the Stars and the Cards?

Starry night at Mount Everest - Wiki Commons

Are our destinies written in the stars?  Or the cards or the Financial Times for that matter?!  This probably seems like a very strange question coming from me, but it’s been one of those weeks.  I’ve been thinking about astrology so much due to the fact that everyone seems to be talking about Mercury retrograde.  I am not an astrologer, but there was a time when I wanted to be, and I am still fascinated by astrology.  I came across a delightful blog article called Trusting the Future in which the author does not believe that the future can be predicted with astrology and talks about trusting the future, as the name of her article suggests.

Her article was hopeful and uplifting, but that’s not what got me thinking.  It was the fact that she pretty much said what I always tell clients; the future is not written in stone.  If that is the case, then how can any of us claim to see into the future?  Am I not a fraud then?  What exactly is it that I see in the cards?  Hold your horses people, lets take a look at this more carefully.

All of us, in just about every area of life, want to know what the future holds.  Just look at the news and you’ve got the government looking at projected forecasts of what their endeavours will mean for the economic future of our country, or scientists trying to predict what is in store for the future of our planet.  Their projections are by no means wrong, but they are also not infallible.  A number of things could affect the futures they currently see.  All they can say for sure is that on this path that we are on, if things continue as they have been or with the changes that we implement, this is what will most likely happen.

Astrology is the same.  The planets, your birthchart, they’re all a blueprint of a set of circumstances.  Mercury Retrograde, for example, could cause you problems at this time of the year, but as Theresa Reed states in her article How to Have a Happy and Productive Mercury Retrograde this does not mean there is nothing you can do about it, that you must just sit back and endure the chaos.

It is the same in Tarot.  When I read for you, I am looking at what the future holds if you continue on the same path.  The cards will often suggest ways you can create the future you desire, but that is the point here; it is you that is the master of your destiny.  You are not a passenger, you are the driver on this journey.  Too many people sit in the car looking out at the road they are on and then wonder why they’re not getting anywhere fast.  Buckle up, check your mirrors and then lets get going.  A tarot reading is like a traffic report; it’ll tell you if there is traffic ahead or if the bridge is out.  Now it is up to you, do you get stuck ahead or find another way around?  The cards will explain your relationship, or your work, or your finances, or whatever it is that you want to know.  They may see that money will be tight ahead, so you can decide you will ask your boss for a payrise or get a second job.  You have created the future you want.  Or they will show that there is no love ahead the way things are.  Don’t get depressed, get rid of all reminders of the ex, join a dating agency and find your man.  The cards may show that things are going great and that you’ll be married by the end of the year, but just thinking about it scares you, so you sabotage the relationship; you’ve just gone and created a different future.

If you expect tarot et al to tell you exactly what will happen no matter what, then you are relinquishing all control.  You become a spectator rather than a player in your own life.  It is important that you realise the power and limitations of the tarot, astrology or whatever means of divination you choose to consult.  Once you do, you are in the perfect position to create the exact future you want and become a real Master of your own Destiny.