One of the greatest criticisms I can level against Western Astrology is its emphasis on fatalism. This is something that needs to be remedied. The highest purpose of astrology is not just as a viewing tool which allows us to observe cosmic processes, but as a guideline for how we can become more in tune with those processes. In other words, the primary question should not be what a transit is going to bring us, but what are we going to positively do with that energy?
In India there is a school of thought that I feel is decadent in that it has falling into ignorance. It treats astrological cures in a superstitous manner, for instance, telling a person that under a certain transit they should feed three round crackers to a black dog, or some such ritual action meant to placate planetary energies and by doing so keep them from attack.
There is a fine line here, sometimes. One traditional Indian cure is to have a person go for a walk in a graveyard as a means of attuning to Saturn energy. This could be helpful, but only if it is done as a means of nourishing and harmonizing the being of the person doing it. If a cure is done solely as a superstitous payoff to astrological forces, then it seems to me nothing is really learned. The attitude one has when engaging in an astrological cure needs to be one of openness to personal growth and the raising of consciousness, rather than just some formula one uses to try to escape bad karma for a little while longer.
And one of the astrological cures that bothers me the most is flying to a particular place on the earth to experience one’s solar return. As if I’m going to be a better person and have a more wonderful year if I spend my birthday in Dubrovnik. And of course, if I spend my birtheday in Dubrovnik, there’s no way to prove that it would have been better or worse to spend it in Kansas City. Always remember: the planets are there to help you. Their every placement and action is meant to help you. They are not crime bosses that are looking for such payoffs as three crackers to a dog.
I want to make this as simple as possible, because I want everyone at all interested in astrology to get it and keep it in their mind always. What I’m going to tell you is a basic Kabbalistic idea: When any area of your chart is activated, the best way to prevent anything negative from occurring is to engage in positive, proactive activity associated with the nature of the activation.
For instance: If Saturn crosses your Mars, it is a good time to DO SOMETHING — that is, to exert yourself (Mars), and to do it in a way that is organized and careful (Saturn). It’s also a good time to be careful (Saturn) about what you’re doing (Mars). Since Saturn rules difficulty, this is a good time to do things you maybe don’t want to do but know that you should do. And as Saturn is the most spiritual of the seven traditional planets, Saturn crossing Mars is an ideal time to DO something ON THE INNER PLANE, that is, Meditate, or engage in healing visualizations. The reason that Saturn often stops or blocks outer expression is that it is trying to induce the individual to work and act on the inner planes.
Astrological timing is always in line with soul evolution, that is, every transiting aspect, or aspect occurring in the secondary progressions or solar arc directions or any other system of forecasting is exactly what needs to be happening at the time it happens. and the more we attune to it the more we are in tune with ourselves and the universe. It is also the case that the more fully and harmoniously we attune to the energies happening in the present, the better equipped we’ll be to deal with them when they recur — as all astological energies are cyclic.
As we look at transiting aspects of any kind, we need to continually ask ourselves, “what is the highest and best that could come of this, and what can I do to manifest this energy in the most positive way?” This is the key to astrological cures.