Free Will or Destiny?

Many moons ago I stumbled across a saying which has stayed with me: "What you are is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God." I feel that statement sums up the wisdom which can be gained through the awareness of one's astrological chart--the same type of wisdom available through other metaphysical tools from numerology to palmistry. Although I am not a palmist, it is my understanding that a baby is born with numerous lines on their palms. As people age and make choices in their lives, some lines fade away and others become more dominant. This suggests that we gravitate toward specific areas of our potential. The late French statistician, Michel Gauquelin, became interested in the field of astrology. Like many scientists who feel there can't possibly be anything to astrology, he used his statistical background to examine the evidence for or against astrology and ended up finding that there is an uncanny correlation between planetary positions at birth and professions. Gauquelin divided the 360 degrees of the sky differently from the traditional houses most astrologers use. He found a statistically significant number of professionals have specific planets in certain quadrants of the astrological chart. And, perhaps the most interesting finding was the theory of the eminence effect.* He found that those people who excelled in their fields had a greater likelihood of having those specific planets in the critical quadrants than those professionals who had an average career in their field. For example, physicians were likely to have the planet of Mars in one of the critical quadrants. An average physician with a general practice had a lesser likelihood of Mars occupying that critical quadrant at birth than the physician who was frequently published and noted for significant discoveries in his/her chosen field. What this shows is that such a planetary position suggests a greater propensity for a person to excel in that particular field. However, the reverse is not necessarily true. Just because you may be born with Mars in that quadrant doesn't assure you will choose that field. One of the traits of many flowers is that they exude a sweet odor. However, it does not follow that everything that exudes a sweet odor is necessarily a flower. Similarly someone with certain potential in a chart may choose from any number of potential expressions common to that planetary configuration. The likelihood that one of the most common expressions of that configuration will be expressed is quite high. Which one will be chosen, however, is up to the individual and their free will. Many astrologers speak of an apparently potent configuration called the grand trine. The widely accepted theory is that if you are born with a grand trine (3 -120- degree angles connected to one another) you'll likely find ease and harmony in your life. As a budding astrologer, when counseling clients whose charts possessed this configuration, I concluded that they were lucky individuals and life may present a smoother than normal course for them. However, after revealing this likelihood to such clients I found that they didn't necessarily agree with that observation. They may have had numerous opportunities to utilize lucky influences but may not have had the wisdom to take full advantage at the time. I therefore had to rethink my approach to this configuration. An example of a grand trine in action is seen in the chart of George Bush. Many political pundits site a critical debate between himself, Perot and Clinton as the clincher for Clinton and the downfall of Bush in the campaign of 1992. This occurred when a member of the audience asked Bush how the recession had affected him personally. He was unable to communicate to the public how the recession influenced him. Clinton, on the other hand, took the ball and ran with it, communicating, as trite as it may have sounded, that he felt the pain of others. What was happening to Bush's chart at that time? A grand trine was being created by the transiting planetary positions in relationship to his chart. What that showed is that Bush was given the opportunity to seize that moment. However, he failed to do so, thereby allowing Clinton to appear the victor in that debate, pounding the nail in the coffin of Bush's hopes for re-election. A great deal of information can be gleaned from having one's chart analyzed. It suggests strengths in all areas of one's life from your psychological to your physical makeup. But, your chart in no way assures that you'll be president or a bag lady (or bag man.) The choices are up to you as to how to apply your assets, how you utilize the cards you were dealt.