FATE AND FREE WILL

How do fate and free will fit together? This is a question long debated by astrologers, philosophers, and theologians and I certainly don't claim to have the final answer on the subject, but I do want to say something about it, as it's one of the most common questions people raise when asking about how astrology works.

Most people would like to believe they have free will. After all, you are aware of yourself making choices throughout life. For some people, the idea of free will is essential to their religious beliefs.

But astrology can sometimes make it seem like certain things are fated, that we are simply destined to have particular experiences at particular times in our lives and there isn't anything we can do to change that.

Personally, I don't see it as an either-or. I believe fate and free will can exist in tandem.

Free will is something we have within a given set of parameters. One of those parameters is that we are human beings and therefore do not have the free will to fly like a bird. Another set of parameters is our birth chart and our karma. There are certain events that we can't do anything about, except choosing how we respond. If your mother dies in a car crash when you're a child, you can't do anything about that, but it will have an impact on you and shape your life. How you allow it to shape your life is going to be up to you.

Sometimes astrology can seem depressing if you're looking at it through the lens of fate and fate alone, instead of rising to the challenge and choosing how to be your best self within the environment you find yourself.

Sometimes too much focus on free will can leave us blind to the things we must deal with in this life or see us wasting our lives in a futile effort to escape what the Wheel of Fortune has dealt to us. 

It's always good to take responsibility for making choices in your life, but it can also be wise to accept that there are certain things that just aren't meant for us in this life.