Julia got ensnared by astrology: It is not just a quirky hobby
A meteor shower. Photo EPA, Eedro Puente Hoyos
Christian Life
Julia Boehme started every day by checking the stars and the charts. However, now she warns: Don’t be as crazy as I was. She means: don’t get into astrology because it comes from another world. It might seem harmless, but it leads down a dangerous path, she warns.
Do you know what Mercury retrograde is? If not – wonderful! It occurs when the planet Mercury appears to be moving backwards and is believed to majorly disrupt any communication for about a month.
This may sound like an innocent superstition, but the idea is powerful! The fear of Mercury retrograde and other perceived malign star alignments had me paralysed before my conversion to the Christian faith.
Each morning, I grabbed my star chart, looking at the daily and upcoming transits, hoping the stars were favourable for that day.
Bad omens
I used to pour my soul into astrology until it started controlling my life. Each morning, I grabbed my star chart, looking at the daily and upcoming transits, hoping the stars were favourable for that day. I clung to these ideas as if they were the Gospel truth. Seeing malign transits in my chart had me panic, even though my then-boyfriend broke my heart on a day that promised to be good and even though I got a job offering on a day with poor omens.
God created the stars and the night sky, which in themselves are not evil. Looking at the moon and being reminded of God's glory is good. Even the Bible says so, for example, in Psalm 19:1 (The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork).
However, putting our faith in magic and divination pulls us away from God. One important pillar in Orthodox theology is the freedom to choose to act in accordance with the Lord and refuse to sin. However, by becoming dependent on astrology or any other sort of divination, we abandon that freedom and give in to despair. In short, among other things, astrology kept me away from repenting and tied me down in hopelessness.
Unresolved conflict
It is not just a quirky hobby, like I thought at the time. Instead, astrology impacted many aspects of my life. For example, even when my heart burned because of an unresolved conflict with a beloved one, I tried to push it away for the entire month of Mercury retrograde until the stars would favour a better chance to have a heart-to-heart conversation.
After all, who suffers from this? I did.
At the surface, it was convenient to blame issues on the stars, “it’s not me miscommunicating, it’s Mercury retrograde ruining the entire world’s ability to communicate thrice a year,” when it kept me from taking action. However, it is incredibly harmful at its core.
After all, who suffers from this? I did, and all those lost in the astrology swamp.
In my case, my silent frustration exploded sometime before the dreaded retrograde had passed, and the conversation that followed was unproductive. Instead of identifying the core issue (my bad behaviour), I pointed at the stars and blamed them.
And in the meantime, my heart bled and I fell deeper and deeper into the pit of pain, while watching the stars more and more closely. The more I learned about astrology, the more my fear grew, especially when I read about upcoming hardships. Wasn’t life already painful the way it was?
Charts
These small snippets of my life before turning to Christ are meant to exemplify that astrology is not a harmless pursuit. It started innocently enough with jokes, and for fun. “I am an Aries, therefore, etc, etc”, and playful banter with my female friends.
It ultimately led to astrology and divination impacting my work and personal relationships in a devastating manner. To make things worse, I had a group of female acquaintances who also stared at their charts, and we fed each other’s terror. If this sounds familiar to you, sorry you had to walk that path too.
If this sounds insane, yes, it is! And even so, it snuck up on me.
I think there is something dark in astrology that draws you in. And once you’re into it, it is difficult to get out. After my conversion to Christianity, it was one of the few things I struggled to let go of, going so far as attempting to hide behind the wise men visiting Christ due to a star. This aspect of the nativity confused me greatly, so my priest explained it. The church fathers interpreted the star as an angel moving across the sky, appearing as a star that moved in an unnatural pattern and thus “speaking” to the Babylonian wise men in a manner they could understand. This does not make astrology Christian.
Sinner
Having been baptised and finding faith didn’t solve all my problems, and my life is far from perfect, but it is better than it was. Today, instead of looking up at the cruel skies and mapping out my life, I can call on the Lord for help in a crisis. When I weep, I try to pull out my Bible and read psalms or from the Gospel.
For such days, one of my favourites is Psalm 6. My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul; save me because of Your loving devotion (6:3-4).
When I have sinned, I can pray for forgiveness and trust that God and the angels are overjoyed at the repentance of a sinner. He will hold my hand even if I feel abandoned, and it is my choice to try to act in accordance with his law.
The point of telling others this story? Don’t be as crazy as I was! Break up with the stars and turn towards the true Bridegroom. Burn any astrology book you might have and warn against it. Pick up your cross, stumble and fall, only to pick it up again. And again. And again. Until at the close, God willing, He welcomes us to live in His light forever. This is not easy; I stumble, I doubt, and I cry.
The good news is that there is hope! Unsure where to look? I find great comfort in the Psalms. Remember Psalm 23:4, he is with us even in the darkest moments in our lives: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
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