Our lives are monitored or shaped by many forces. Universe, genetics, environment, astrology, god, luck, magic, karma, all matter at some point or the other or they don't, take your pick. There are many parameters and astrology is simply one of them.

Astrology appears to provide answers, but does it really Jeff Jawer of tarot.com feels that a birth chart is a set of symbols that can do an incredible job of describing various aspects of personality and life cycles. After almost 40 years of practicing Astrology, I'm still amazed by the breadth and depth of insight that can be gleaned from a person's natal chart. But it really describes the mechanics of behaviour and not their ultimate source. For example, an individual born with attractive Venus is independent. Aquarius 90-degrees away from active Mars in smothering. Scorpio is likely to encounter these contradictory needs in relationships. For some, this Venus-Mars square will be seen as the reason for romantic disappointment. For others, though, it can be a source of charm and magnetism as they embrace their internal contradictions, Jawer says.

Does that mean that our birth charts influence our behaviour and future to such an extent that our own doings have no meaning Ma Sarawswati Devi, who has spent time in learning tarot and belongs to a sadhu cult, says that astrology cannot be an answer to all queries.

Our karma- past and present - have a lot to do with our future, she says.And this most often does not reflect in our birth charts.

The planets don't make us who we are, agrees Jawer. The self is more mysterious than that. The meaning and origin of the animating force that got us here and keeps us alive - whether called spirit, soul or something else - is beyond Astrology's field of measurement. There are reincarnationally-oriented astrologers who describe that Venus-Mars square as the result of past life behaviour that reappears to work with again this time around. Who knows They may be right, but that's not Astrology; it's their particular belief.

Astrology is what we make of it. Fearful individuals crushed by the assumed weight of fate will see their problems boldly spelled out by the challenges in their birth charts. My Mars in Virgo is never content, one person might say while another states, It's my retrograde Mercury in Pisces that makes me so forgetful. This is like saying that your angry father made you a violent person, says Jawer.

Planets, like parents, are influential factors in our life stories. They can provide explanations and excuses, as does any system of personality analysis. But they are not the only thing. A person is made of what he is brought up on, what he eats, drinks, the company he keeps and much more. And let's not forget the karmic patterns, says Ma Saraswati Devi.

Source: Times of India

BDST: 1633 HRS, SEP- 08, 2015
Edited by:  Sharmina Islam, Lifestyle Editor