Astromancy

Astromancy, fortune telling by the reading of the astrological chart, has constituted the major use of astrology in centuries past. It assumes a deterministic worldview in which the stars indicate patterns into which individuals are locked and events are destined to occur. Criticism of astrology has largely been directed at astromancy, with religious scholars attacking the deterministic worldview and scientists attacking the accuracy of astrological predictions.

Contemporary astrology, especially that based in psychology and growing out of the work of Dane Rudhyar, has rejected astromancy as a perspective beyond the ability of astrology. Modern astrologers believe that the horoscope shows planetary influences operating upon a person but the individual remains free to respond to those influences in a variety of ways. In like manner, some astrologers claim that they can predict heightened pressures operating on society but not specific events. Thus astrology can be of practical assistance in a counseling situation and usefully applied to understanding the stock market, but it cannot predict upcoming events in a person's life or relationships or the movement of specific stocks. Most contemporary textbooks carry at least a passing reference to astromancy, and rejection of it, as part of their introduction to the topic.

Sources:

Freeman, Martin. Forecasting by Astrology: A Comprehensive Manual of Interpretation and Technique. Wellingborough, Northhamptonshire, UK: Aquarian Press, 1982.

Lee, Dal. Dictionary of Astrology. New York: Coronet Communications/Constellation International, 1968.

Ronan, Margaret, and Eve Ronan. Astrology and Other Occult Games. New York: Scholastic Books Services, 1972.