Thoughts aligned with God–not the stars

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Not so many years ago, I was plagued by my horoscope. Not only was it often “on the money,” it was often lousy news. Predictions of relationship problems, failed business deals, and health issues regularly popped up under my astrological sign. And I was sick of it. Seriously—did I really want a heads-up that a real estate deal was going to fall through on the day my husband and I were to firm up a contract?

Although I told myself that I didn’t buy into astrological theory, that didn’t stop me from checking my daily horoscope. When our business deal fell through, that was a real wake-up call. Now I was mad. I didn’t like feeling that some random changeable influence could tug on my life. I felt pushed and pulled. So I prayed and engaged in spiritual study to gain a better understanding of control.

Searching the Bible

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always find the biblical kings to be on the up and up! But looking for some biblical insight, I found a reference to King Josiah, who, in an attempt to clean up Jerusalem’s idolatry problem, insisted that those “that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven” (II Kings 23:5), stop these practices and turn back to the one God.

Further research led me to the sweetest thing—to a covenant between God and humanity—God’s promise to put His law (a term that can also be translated from Hebrew as “direction” or “control”) “in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). According to the prophet Jeremiah, this promise is made by the Lord, or divine Principle, that “appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night” (Jeremiah 31:35, New International Version). To me, this says that God cares for His creation directly, not through a material medium, and the sun and planets shine by borrowed light that has its source in God.

I began to think about how God governs me by the inspiration, intelligence, obedience to good, intuition, spirituality, and love He gives me. This is the short list of what are infinite spiritual qualities we all include as God’s image and likeness. These, and more, spiritual qualities are written directly in my heart, my being, my “spiritual DNA.” I could yield all control to these qualities that would naturally bring out the best in my life. I saw that the same divine Principle of good that gives me spiritual light, order, rhythm, and harmonious movement, also directs and maintains the stars and planets. Principle never delegates to the heavenly bodies the control or authority over His creation. The night sky shows the majesty of God’s creation, but it doesn’t control that creation.

The big question

So why do horoscopes seem so right on target sometimes? Well, there are probably several factors to consider. Among them may be the belief in mortal personality. That is at least one of the hooks for most influences—the belief that what is written in our hearts and minds is a material predisposition to be a certain mental or physical type, with each one expressing his or her own unique brand of good and evil—strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. And I’ve discovered that even if you think of yourself as pretty strong-minded, that, too, can be a weak spot!

The night sky shows the majesty of God's creation, but it doesn't control that creation.

Many aren’t too pleased with their genetic, cultural, or personality disposition and think of themselves as small and weak. Me? Not so much. I have a generally positive self-image. But a personality-based positive sense of me was leaving me vulnerable to being typecast by a certain personality, opening the door to astrological influences. A change in the way I identified myself was in order. I saw that giving up an attachment to even the positive elements of my “sign,” or personality profile, and accepting that I have only one true identity—God-derived, spiritual, and comprised only of the qualities of divine good—wouldn’t involve sacrificing anything real or worthy in me. Rather, it would bring more stability and harmony to my daily affairs.

Christ Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), and “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good” (Luke 6:45). The discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote, “The universe of Spirit is peopled with spiritual beings, and its government is divine Science. Man is the offspring, not of the lowest, but of the highest qualities of Mind. . . . 

“This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man’s absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace” (Science and Health, pp. 264–265).

No more pull 

As soon as I saw the link between my belief in a personal mortal me and the downward drag of astrology, I happily traded up by accepting my real spiritual identity as a child of God, universal good, and the peaceful control, harmony, and order that goes with that spiritual view. It didn’t take much time. It did take a little understanding of what God is and what it means to be a divine reflection made in God’s image, and then I was free from personal pulls and pushes. The astrological influence and links in my experience stopped immediately.

For a long time I was unaware of what influence had been yanking me around, but sooner or later any evil or a false sense of things is unmasked as an error, a mistake. With an understanding of the spiritual facts, an error loses its apparent power to control—it loses its hook in our lives—and the negative influence ultimately evaporates.