Astrology, Mythology, and Christianity: A Reorientation
I recently when through a phase of returning to my Catholic roots and going to Sunday mass regularly. This behaviour I believe now was probably triggered by my (very Catholic) mother’s death in February 2025 and recent church memorial held in September 2025. (See That event was the catalyst of a major spiritual and intellectual shift that had been brewing for some years. I had been moving away from predictive astrology and the shift has been difficult and convoluted process. So I stopped astrology readings altogether in August 2025 to do some soul searching.
During the COVID lockdowns, I took time away from readings and opened my Etsy shop, Heavenly and Holy. Thankfully, this little artistic project is thankfully keeping me afloat financially during this difficult transition. I tried attending Mass regularly in 2023 because the traditional services with the choir, incense and organ were so beautiful and moving. I realised there was definitely something profound about churches, but I struggled with having to be in a “state of grace” (No astrology!) in order to receive communion.
The problem really lies with divination and the fatalist approach to astrology. Predictive astrology is fundamentally incompatible with Catholic teaching, as articulated by Thomas Aquinas and the broader scholastic tradition. Yet, rather than abandoning the symbolic dimension of astrology altogether, I decided to aim towards a more reflective engagement with mythology—particularly the archetypal figures of the asteroid goddesses—as a way of exploring the human psyche without falling into the errors of divination. In my recent research I have found that rather than Christianity reducing my belief in the validity of astrology it has actually strengthened it. But again, not in the way that astrology is generally used nowadays. More could be said, but my “Moon as medicine” post is a good example of what I mean for now.
The Scholastic Distinction: Natural vs. Judicial Astrology
The medieval Church distinguished between two kinds of astrology. Natural astrology referred to the study of how celestial bodies influence the physical world—tides, seasons, weather, even bodily humors and temperaments. This was considered a legitimate field of natural philosophy. Judicial astrology, by contrast, claimed to predict human affairs, choices, and destinies based on the stars. It was this predictive form that the Church consistently rejected as spiritually dangerous and philosophically unsound.
Thomas Aquinas offers one of the clearest articulations of this distinction in the Summa Theologiae. In Part I, Question 115, Article 4, he addresses whether the heavenly bodies are the cause of human acts. He acknowledges that the stars have real effects on the material world:
“The majority of men follow their passions, which are movements of the sensitive appetite, in which movements the influence of the heavenly bodies is felt. Few are the wise who by reason resist their passions. Therefore, astrologers are able to forecast the truth in the majority of cases, especially in general matters, but not in particular cases, which depend on the reason or will.” (ST I, Q115, a.4)
Here Aquinas draws a crucial distinction. While the stars may incline bodily dispositions—shaping temperament, moods, or tendencies—they cannot determine the rational will. Human beings remain free, capable of resisting passions through reason. As he summarizes:
“Man has free-will, which is not subject to the stars. Hence it is that the astrologers themselves say that ‘the wise man rules the stars,’ forasmuch as he rules his passions.” (ST I, Q115, a.4, ad 3)
This position is often summarized by the phrase astra inclinant, non necessitant—“the stars incline, they do not compel.” While not Aquinas’s exact wording, it captures his teaching: the heavens may influence, but they cannot dictate moral choice.
Theological Dangers of Judicial Astrology
For Aquinas, judicial astrology was not merely a scientific error but a spiritual danger. To attribute human choices or destinies to the stars undermines free will, moral responsibility, and, most importantly, divine providence. In Summa Contra Gentiles (III, c.88), he insists that although celestial bodies may affect human passions, “the free will of man has power to resist them. And so the stars are not a sufficient cause of human acts.”
Moreover, Aquinas warns that demons can manipulate astrological signs to deceive human beings, further illustrating the spiritual risks of divinatory practices. This concern echoes Scriptural prohibitions against divination (Deuteronomy 18:10–12), the mocking of astrologers in Isaiah 47:13–14, and Jeremiah 10:2’s command not to fear the “signs of the heavens.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church follows this line, stating:
“All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead, or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading… contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.” (CCC §2116)
Thus, predictive astrology stands in contradiction both to reason, by denying human freedom, and to revelation, by usurping trust that belongs to God alone.
Archetypal Myth and the Asteroid Goddesses
Yet Aquinas’s rejection of judicial astrology does not require abandoning symbolic or mythological reflection on the heavens. In fact, his allowance for natural influences leaves open the possibility of considering the stars and myths in a non-divinatory way, as part of the broader symbolic language of creation.
In the modern era, depth psychologists such as Carl Jung and James Hillman have developed a symbolic or archetypal approach to astrology. Here, celestial figures are not read as determinants of fate but as archetypes that resonate with the human psyche. Asteroid goddesses like Ceres and Pallas Athena offer particularly rich mythological material for self-reflection. To contemplate these myths is not to predict the future but to engage the imagination in dialogue with timeless symbols.
This practice aligns more closely with literature, art, or psychology than with divination. It treats myth as a mirror of the soul rather than a script of destiny. In this sense, exploring the asteroid goddesses through their myths can enrich self-understanding while remaining faithful to the Catholic prohibition against judicial astrology.
Conclusion
My brush with the Catholic Church had required me to relinquish predictive astrology, but it only amplified what I had been feeling about predictive astrology for many years anyway. Aquinas, shows how the stars may incline bodily dispositions, they do not compel the will. To treat the planets movements as simply determinants of fate is such a reductionist way to use the incredible symbology of the stars. So we cannot throw the baby out with the bath water! My love for the planetary and zodiacal archetypes and their rich mythology remains intact.
Addendum
I have a lot to say about how Christianity and Astrology are, in many ways, the same. Like so many modern polarities, the “Astrology vs. Christianity” divide feels like yet another tool used to separate us through “divide and conquer” techniques. When I was creating my pagan and sacred calendars, the overlap became impossible to ignore. I kept thinking, “Wait a minute… these are structurally and seasonally identical—the only real differences are the names.” Why should I split myself in two?
So, I’ve welcomed the “Astrology” element back into Darkstar once more. Yes, I may flip-flop now and then, but let’s just blame that on my Gemini Ascendant—with Jupiter rising, no less. As I grow older (and hopefully wiser), approaching my sixth decade and the year of the Fire Horse, I feel called to bridge the gap between Astrology and Christianity.
Going forward, I want to highlight the deep and fascinating connections between the two. At their core, both are traditions rooted in reverence for the Sun and Moon: the Sun as creator and bringer of life, shaping the seasons and their gifts; the Moon—Mary—as the nurturer, the primer of Earth, the womb where seeds awaken.
