A slave of stars or a son of God? Why a horoscope is a prison, and Providence is a quest
January 1 promises us the beginning of the "Year of the Horse" and outlines our fate by the minute. Let's explore why belief in fate demeans a person and how God rearranges the course of our lives.
January first is a strange day. The city is asleep. Strategic reserves of Olivier salad have frozen in the fridge. There is a pleasant, cottony silence in the head. We lie on the couch, lazily scrolling through the news feed, and suddenly stumble upon a headline: "What awaits Taureans in the coming year?" Or: "Global forecast: what should we prepare for?"
The hand reaches to click. Even if we consider ourselves believers. Even if we wear a cross and know that astrology is superstition. We tell ourselves: "I'll just take a quick look, just for laughs." But let's be honest: we do it not because it's funny. We are scared.
The future always frightens with its uncertainty. And now, when the world around us is shaking, this fear becomes almost physical.
We want guarantees. We want the illusion of control. In this sense, a horoscope is the perfect sedative for an anxious mind. It says: "Relax, everything is already decided. The stars have aligned in the right position. Here is your script."
But behind this momentary calm lies a trap that can cost us our freedom. We exchange the right to be sons of God for a cozy cell of fatalism.
The prison we build ourselves
What is a horoscope, in essence? If you strip away the mystical trappings, it is a statement that says: "You are not the author of your own life." Astrology (and belief in fate or destiny in general) claims that our life is a play written without our participation. The script is approved at the moment of birth, and you are not allowed to improvise.
This is the ancient Fatum - Fate. The ancient Greeks believed that even the gods were subject to Fate. If the oracle said that Oedipus would kill his father, Oedipus could flee to the ends of the earth, could gouge out his eyes, but he would still do what is prescribed.
Imagine life as a prison cell. The walls are the positions of the planets. The bars are the date of birth. If the stars said you are a "hot-tempered Aries", then you are doomed to shout at your loved ones, and "nothing can be done, such is the character". If the forecast promises divorce or illness, you sit and wait for the blow, like a condemned person.
We call it "knowing fate," but in reality, it's voluntary slavery.
We give the keys to our will to soulless gas giants and pieces of rock flying in a vacuum. We agree to be biorobots programmed by Mars or Saturn. Is this good news? It's a verdict.
God is not a scriptwriter, God is a navigator
Christianity offers a completely different picture of the world. And it is much more exciting, although more complex. In Christianity, there is no word "Fate." There is the word "Providence" (in Greek Pronoia).
The difference between them is colossal. Fate is the monologue of the stars. Providence is the dialogue of God and Man.
God is not a scriptwriter who wrote a cruel play and pulls us by the strings. God is more like a brilliant Grandmaster or, to put it in modern terms, the perfect GPS Navigator.
How does it work in practice? God has a plan for us. Point "B" is our Salvation, Eternal Life, happiness. God plots the perfect route for us. He says: "Turn right, it's clear and safe there."
But we have the steering wheel in our hands. This is our Freedom. And we often turn the wheel to the left - into sin, into error, into selfishness. We veer into the ditch.
What would "Fate" do? It would say: "You broke the script. That's it, the end. You ruined life."
And what does God the Navigator do? He says: "It can be rerouted."
This is Providence. God does not cancel our freedom, but He takes into account our foolishness and mistakes every moment, rerouting the path so that we can still reach point "B."
Did we sin? God does not cross us out. He sends us people, books, circumstances (sometimes difficult) to get us back on track.
The life of a Christian is not playing a role by notes. It's an open quest. It's co-creation. Your tomorrow is not written in the stars, it is being written right now - by your choice, your prayer, and God's response.
The argument of Nineveh
If it seems to us that this is just a beautiful theory, let's remember the most "scandalous" story from the Bible, which completely destroys the belief in fate. The story of the prophet Jonah. God sends Jonah to the great city of Nineveh with a specific prophecy. This is not a "forecast," this is the Word of God. Jonah walks the streets and cries out: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4).
It sounds like a verdict. Like that very inescapable Fatum. The date is set. The outcome is predetermined. The Ninevites could have said: “Well, that’s karma. The stars aligned that way. We’ll live out what time we have as best we can.”
But what do they do? They do what breaks the "program". They repent. The king removes his crown, the people declare a fast, they stop doing evil. They change their mind. And the incredible happens. The Bible says: "And God saw their works... and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not" (Jonah 3:10).
Think about it. The repentance of people changed God's "plans". The prophecy did not come true! Because a living person who turns to God is stronger than any predestination.
In Christianity, nothing is irreversible except death. As long as we are alive, any "bad forecast" can be canceled by repentance. Any "script" can be rewritten.
The question of royal dignity
Why does the Church so insistently ask us not to read horoscopes? Not because "the priest will scold." And not because God is touchy. It's about our dignity.
Imagine a wise, powerful king. He has advisors, an army, and power. And before issuing a decree, he goes to the closet and asks advice from an old wooden stool. Or throws dice. It doesn't just look stupid. It's humiliating.
Man, according to the Church's teaching, is the Image of God. In us is the breath of the Creator of the Universe. We are destined for eternity. We are above angels.
And the planets are just stones and gas. Beautiful, huge, but soulless pieces of matter. They are created for us, to shine for us, not to control us.
When we read a horoscope, we, royal children, voluntarily kneel before matter. We ask the soulless cosmos: "Can I make a deal today? Can I love today?" We give up our birthright for a lentil stew of "guarantees".
Let's enter this coming year not as "Cancers", "Sagittarians", or "Snakes". Let's enter it as free people. As children who have a loving Father.
We don't need to know the future. It's enough for us to know the One who holds this future in His hands. And if we hold onto His hand, no retrograde Mercury can knock us off course. Because the path can always be rerouted.
