Each human being is unique, with an individual personality and destiny. The position of the stars and the planets provides information about events on earth, including the individual’s personality, or their personal life potential. Astrology itself is best seen as a language of symbols which contributes to self-understanding and aids our ability to change, grow and alter our future. While future possibilities are outlined by the planetary cycles, which can be predicted in outline thousands of years in advance, precise events are determined by human actions. The future is negotiable for those who have self-understanding and the key idea is not submission to the cosmos, but participation with it.

Nicholas Campion, What do Astrologers Believe? (Granta Books, London, 2006) p 93

Any understanding of the language of astrology must commence with a realisation of what the birth horoscope can and cannot tell us. The horoscope is a highly complex astronomical map, based not only on the date of birth but on the time, year and place as well …

The birth map does not plot the fate of the individual in a predestined way. Rather, it symbolises the basic lines of their character’s potential development. It takes a minimum of thought to realise that a person will act and shape their life according to their needs, fears and abilities, and that these needs, fears and abilities stem from their inherent disposition. In this sense character is fate, and if we are ignorant of our own natures … then the stars cannot be blamed for the fact that we run headlong and blind along the course we ourselves have chosen.

Liz Greene, Relating – An Astrological Guide to Living with Others on a Small Planet (Samuel Weiser, Maine, 1982) pp 23-24