This one goes a little farther afield. It's mostly for the astrologers here.

Those of a certain age will remember Bullwinkle Moose exclaiming “Oh, my stars and garters!” whenever something surprised him, and I certainly resemble that remark (chronologically if not semantically since a certain rude three-letter acronym now replaces such quaint language).

AUTHOR’S NOTE: When I began my esoteric journey as an astrologer in 1970, I was trained to see the birth chart as a static “map” of sensitive points showing developmental potential that, for predictive purposes, must be triggered after birth by interaction between the initial placements and the constantly-moving spheres during their observable transits and symbolic progressions through the natal horoscope. The fact that the planets are “out there” at any given time with no demonstrable connection to the nativity means very little at a personal level except to those individuals and entities born at that precise instant. The superficiality of the modern approach to astrological forecasting that ignores this reality has been gnawing at me for years.

In these loopy times of over-hyped mystical excess, it’s impossible to go online without finding “pop” astrologers (who should know better) waxing lyrical about the current phase of the Moon, retrograde Mercury, planetary alignments or ingresses, eclipses and occultations, emerging sky patterns (transitory Grand Trines, Grand Crosses, etc.) and other celestial events they urge us to accept as important, with no acknowledgement that, from an analytical perspective, these are impersonal phenomena unless they energize populated degrees in an existing horoscope or contribute to the zodiacal architecture of an impending “birth event.” Just having retrograde Mars somewhere in the sky as I go about my business without a link to my natal configuration is not likely to make me more accident-prone unless I stumble upon one of its signature public calamities just as it makes its appearance (for example, the projected arrival of a natural disaster, substantiated by transiting Pluto or Uranus and perhaps in concert with a malignant fixed star).

Another fictitious assumption is that all transiting planets are equally potent when it comes to predicting events. The fastest-moving planets (the Moon, Mercury, Sun and Venus) transit natal horoscope features so rapidly (often within a day or less) that visible consequences of any magnitude seldom arise unless concurrent contact is made with other prominent chart factors (ideally, there should be a transiting complex or “aspect pattern” of some kind). The fact that the Sun and Moon are “lights” doesn’t make them any more persistent in their temporary influence, just more evident during their brief stay.

The only exception I can think of occurs when one of these rapid travelers, other than the Sun and Moon (which never go retrograde), makes a “station” in the sky for a few days (i.e. stops advancing clockwise or retreating counterclockwise) at a critical point as it transitions from direct to retrograde and vice versa. I would find transiting Mercury making a station on my natal 10th House Mars in Virgo conjunct the Midheaven to be intellectually stimulating for my professional intentions; that same station in the middle of nowhere and connected to nothing would be unremarkable.

Being able to read an astrological ephemeris and host a YouTube channel can be a dangerous combination when inexperienced followers are hanging on our every word. The fact that something “snaps into place” in the heavens doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to be significant for every last person on Earth (and we don’t have a birth-chart for the entire planet or even for human civilization at large that could show otherwise). Only mundane astrologers can be excused for thinking it might; the online purveyors of “daily horoscope” predictions don’t stand a chance of being relevant. I find myself contemplating the lyrics of the Ten Years After song I’d Love to Change the World: “Tell me where is sanity?”

Horary astrology is much less likely to be abused since its purpose is results-oriented by design and not nearly as impressionistic as other astrological methods of prediction. The chart displays the location and condition of the subject at the instant of its casting, and that situational snapshot is the sole focus of the astrologer’s attention. Astrologer John Frawley observed that a lost item is either where the chart says it is, or it isn’t; there is no room for negotiation. A client is unlikely to be thrilled if we tell them that we “almost found” their missing ring.

In my cartomantic practice I’ve discovered that the Lenormand oracle offers the most sensible approach to prediction. It doesn’t lend itself to personality profiling, nor to mind-reading or fanciful free-association from the rather plain images, and it has much in common with horary astrology in its entirely pragmatic techniques. This is divination plain-and-simple, with few imaginative bells-and-whistles and no socio-psychological embellishments, although “tarot transplants” may try to bring them over.

As for tarot-reading, the risk lies in inflated rhetoric that sounds convincing to an intuitive diviner but may have absolutely nothing to do with the querent’s situation. Interpreting the cards has justifiably been called an “irrational act” but that doesn’t mean it must be presented to sitters in an unconscionably crack-brained manner. It’s best to err on the side of caution when making claims about the possibility that a predicted event might actually occur. Philosophically, the trappings of occult symbolism need not get in the way of clear-eyed discernment. The Devil in a spread should not be any more intimidating as an expression of Capricorn’s sternness than retrograde Saturn transiting one’s natal Capricorn Sun. It’s all a matter of context and perspective, and there is very little left to speculation.