Media Participation Project (Article for campus publication "The Mitzpeh")

Horoscopes and Zodiac Signs

Horoscopes and zodiac signs, terms we have become readily accustomed too, have been around for quite some time and have become increasingly popular among our generation. A sufficient amount of controversy has always surrounded this subject of whether there is some credibility to horoscopes and zodiac signs, or if they are simply just bits and pieces of random information that people misconstrue as reality. 

The question is where does this infatuation from zodiac signs and horoscopes stem from? Is there some truth to it, or are people so easily manipulated into making any sort of information applicable to their lives. 

Judaism speaks indirectly about the subject of zodiac signs and horoscopes in the form of stars. The Jewish thought is that our future is mapped out in the stars, a manifestation of G-d’s doing of course. Does this mean that there is no such thing as free will? That we are all just G-d’s puppets to control as He wishes? On the contrary, this misconception is explicitly shut down in Parshat Lech Lecha when G-d took Avraham and lifted him “above the stars” (Genesis 12-17). G-d told Avraham that he and his children were no longer subject to what the stars had planned. In this moment Hashem gave us the ability to rise above our destiny by making meaningful choices. 

Rabbi Ari Israel the head of the Hillel on campus contributes some of his thoughts on the issue referencing Maimonides saying that we all contain a superpower called psychological credence. Our minds are so unimaginably powerful that we can make ourselves believe anything to be true. Therefore, though Judaism does speak about the stars and their power, it is forbidden to read the stars or go to anyone who can tell the future. 

In an age where people are desperate for something to believe in and struggling to find their identity, it is very easy to get caught up in reading the tabloids and seeing what our “future” has in store for us. The controversy of whether zodiac signs and horoscopes are true or if they are just vague generalizations people apply to themselves, will probably be a never ending one. However what can be taken from this article and from the Jewish perspective is that in the the end our lives are dependent on what we make of them. We can make the choice to subliminally follow what our horoscopes and zodiac signs tell us, or we can make our own decisions living life and seeing where it takes us as we go along.