When I was a young man I was aware that my aunt, a respected Hollywood astrologer, had checked her astrological charts to learn how each of her nephews would fare in this human experience. As students of Christian Science, my parents explained to us that despite the loving intentions of my aunt, astrology was a false science—that is, not a science at all, but, in essence, a superstitious belief in a power apart from God.
Our parents never read those horoscopes nor did they share them with us. We learned instead that the planets and stars represented the beauty and grandeur of creation. As such, they, like immortal man, were governed harmoniously by a divine Principle—the one and only Principle, which we knew to be God.
I knew that since the universe, including man and woman in their spiritual identities, was made and maintained by God, only God could influence whatever pertained to my life. The positions, movements, and juxtapositions of the stars and planets in the skies could have no effect on my identity at all. The godless predictions/explanations of horoscopes were suggestions that only drew attention to planetary effects coincident with events on earth, and ignored those that did not coincide. To believe in a horoscope was to accept that I was not free to express my limitless individuality as God's likeness (see Gen. 1:26), but that I was subject to the control of occult forces based on the moment of my human birth. Stars and planets had no intelligence to determine or foretell conditions or events since God, the infinite All, is the only intelligence of the universe.
Some years later I experienced the sudden and aggressive symptoms and discomfort of flu. Although I prayed as I has been taught in Christian Science to see my perfection as a son of God, the symptoms did not yield. But as I prayed for guidance, it came to thought to look up the word influenza in one of the several dictionaries and word books we had at home. Rather than focusing on the definition, my eyes came upon an Italian derivation from the Medieval Latin influentia: "flowing from the stars of a fluid that affected human existence and earthly things." It was immediately clear to me that in this particular instance the symptoms of flu were awakening me to the need to spiritually challenge the belief in astrology. I instantly declared I would not give up the dominion that God had granted me, to a constellation, star, or planet. As Jesus vanquished the devil with "Get thee hence, Satan" (Matt. 4:10), I denied astrology any power to exercise influence over me or anyone else. Within minutes the symptoms of flu completely vanished and I felt refreshed and free.
The Bible declares, "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5). There is no need for any other mediator, sign, influence, or basis for understanding who we are. I have been profoundly grateful to glimpse these truths and experience the quick healing and immunity they bring.
NORMANDY PARK, WASHINGTON, US
