Master’s Musings, June 2026

Fate versus Free Will – it’s the oldest argument in astrology. The fact that it’s still being debated after all these centuries proves that there must be some truth on both sides. It’s not like fussing about whether two plus two equals four or equals five. That question was settled long ago simply because it’s “settleable.” We can do the math. In my opinion, fate versus free will is a different beast entirely – it’s not settleable at all. To me, the most obvious parallel lies in physics, where you can prove two things. First, that light is a wave and that it could not possibly be a particle. And second, that light is a particle and it could not possibly be a wave. (By the way, if you want that idea spelled out in lucidly clear language, the best book I could recommend would be The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav.) 

The more deeply we come to understand the universe, the more it appears to be ruled by paradox. Maybe the universe is itself a Libra, reflexively saying “on one hand, but then on the other hand.” 

Paradox, paradox, paradox . . . it’s built into the very fabric of reality. For one obvious parallel, I think that there’s a deep interdependency between kindness and truthfulness. Neither has any real meaning without the other. And I believe the same thing is true for fate and free will.

So much for philosophy.

ENTER THE COUNSELING ROOM

The bell has rung and it’s time for us to exit our Philosophy 101 classroom and move on to Psychology 101. There, my client says, “Of course I can’t shut up – I’m a Gemini. I know I drive everyone crazy by being such a motormouth, but you’ve seen my chart. I can’t help it.”

Steve: Gemini is about communication and that’s as much about listening as it is about talking.

Client: But . . .

Steve: You can choose to listen more. You have that power. You can become a better Gemini.

Maybe the client accepts that guidance, maybe not. We can’t control anyone. But clearly in that short exchange, we see a necessary underlying counseling room emphasis on the exercise of  free will – the idea that we are capable of taking responsibility for our own choices. By contrast, imagine how uselessly destructive it would be for an astrologer to agree with a Gemini client that they have no power over their own mouths. That kind of hopeless, resigned passivity has never once made anyone’s life any better. Astrological fatalism actually damages people. In that area, I believe that we are not debating technique, we’re debating ethics.

In my case for free will, let’s call that Exhibit A. 

Here’s Exhibit B: There are in fact yackety-yack Gemini people who improve. They learn to listen. They become more effective communicators. Why? Because they chose to. They exercised their free will. They recognized that they have some degree of agency in their own lives. This is an observed reality and it must be factored into our efforts as we attempt to zero in on the truth.

Here in our Psychology 101 classroom, we recognize that in the context of any kind of counseling, astrological or otherwise, the assumption of free will – and its close cousin, personal responsibility – is absolutely necessary. Failing that, we find ourselves adding an astrological seal of inescapable doom to whatever vices or stuck places a client presents. Our job is to aim people at the higher ground, not to tell them that it’s impossible to reach it. We need to leave them with a map for getting there, along with an empowered feeling that they can in fact succeed. Any kind of fatalism is antithetical to all of that. 

Fate versus free will – as counselors, we embrace freedom as a practical truth that lies at the foundation of everything good that we do. But what is the ultimate truth – the one that embraces both sides of the paradox? 

We graduated from Philosophy 101. Let’s head for Philosophy 102.

IT’S YOUR FATE TO FACE CERTAIN QUESTIONS . . .

Many of my readings for clients open with those exact words. Specifically, I say, “It’s your fate to face certain questions and certain possibilities in this life. How you answer those questions or respond to those possibilities is up to you.” 

To me, those words nicely straddle both sides of the paradox. 

In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo complains to the wizard Gandalf about the burden he is fated to carry. He’s wishing the One Ring had never come to him. Gandalf replies, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.“

There, straight from the wizard’s mouth, is exactly the same principle that I’m espousing here. It’s a middle path between fate and free will – a path that leaves room for both, while ignoring neither of them. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.“

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

Why do you have the chart that you have? Evolutionary astrology is perhaps the only form of our craft in which we attempt to answer that question. The answer is always karmic – the chart you have today is the direct result of actions you’ve taken in prior lifetimes, for good or for ill. As the Tibetan saint, Padma Sambhava put it, “If you want to know your past lives, consider your present circumstances.”

Those past-life actions are done. They’re water under the bridge. Their results, which are evident in your present life, are therefore foreordained and inevitable. All that is clearly “in the hands of fate.” But exactly how do you go about navigating those labyrinths today? What do you do with the time that is given to you? That’s in your own hands. You can respond habitually, repeating old patterns. That’s pure karma: the repetition compulsion. Or you can respond creatively and more wisely – and that’s your evolutionary path. That’s the road to the higher ground.

ENTER THE ASTROLOGICAL HOUSES 

Astrology is really three symbol systems woven into one. We have planets, signs, and houses.

Of the three, “the hand of fate” is most obviously evident in the houses. The reason is simple: houses are linked directly to the kinds of specific circumstances that life presents to us, often whether we like them or not. Meanwhile, signs are more motivational and psychological. They correlate more with a person’s energy than with his or her behavior. Try this: “Jane works ten or twelve hours a day six days a week. Is she an introvert or an extrovert? Notice how you can’t answer? That’s because we gave you “house information” – that is to say, comments about Jane’s behavior – then we asked a sign question.

As we saw, houses represent the circumstances that life thrusts upon us – and circumstances, by their very nature, are obvious. In evolutionary terms, we might make a case that the twelve astrological houses are like classrooms where we are offered the opportunity to learn the lessons for which we’ve signed up in this incarnation. They’re “required courses” too, so we don’t have much choice about skipping them. 

• What that all boils down to is that “fate” will constantly present us with situations that are reflected in the emphasized houses in our natal charts. Our “freedom” lies in how we respond to those situations.

A FEW EXAMPLES

Oprah Winfrey was born in 1954 in Mississippi to an unwed teenage mother. Poverty was obviously a big part of that situation. Nowadays she’s said to be worth three billion dollars. Mercury, Venus, and the Sun are all in her 2nd house. That means that the gods and the goddesses put her in a classroom called “Let’s Think Some Deep Thoughts About Money.” That house focus doesn’t always spell vast wealth – poverty can be a teacher too, as it actually was at first for Oprah. One “fatalistic” statement we can make with good reliability whenever we see a strong 2nd house is that the person’s relationship with money will usually involve many changes, many ups and downs. That’s because the universe wants us to keep thinking about money, what to do with it, and how much to concern ourselves with it. Dealing with those kinds of questions was part of Oprah’s “fate.” She’s faced it pretty much in a “both sides now” fashion.

Actor Timothee Chalamet has Sun, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, and Uranus all in his 5th house, all in Capricorn. The “fates” beckoned him to a 5th house life of disciplined performance and creativity. How? His mother “happened” to have been a Broadway dancer, so he grew up around that kind of energy. Living in New York City, he was able to attend a nearby performing arts high school and make useful connections there. During high school, he actually dated Madonna’s daughter for a year.

Was he “forced” to become an actor? No – but “the fates” certainly beckoned him in that direction through his circumstances.

One traditional meaning of the 5th house is children – and often people with strong 5th houses find themselves interacting with kids whether or not they are parents. We’ll see how that works out for Mr. Chalamet as the years go by, but we certainly already see the way “the fates” led him to become the artist that he is today.

Running parallel to Timothee Chalamet is the life of seminal singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan, whom Chalamet portrayed so brilliantly in the 2024 film, A Complete Unknown. Dylan himself has four planets in his 5th house – Saturn, Moon, Uranus, and Jupiter, all in Taurus. His “fate” involved creativity too. And Dylan has fathered six children.

Princess Diana had a Sun-Mercury conjunction in Cancer in her 7th house. Anyone who knows anything about her tragic life can feel the “hand of fate” operating upon her in terms of the life-shaping power of marriage and relationships.

A 1st house stellium is almost the antithesis of fate in that it puts enormous focus on self-generated, independent decisions – often ones made in isolation or even loneliness. Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, is a fine illustration of that principle. She was born with Venus, the Sun, Mercury, the south node, and Saturn all in her 1st house. At birth, her mother was unable to care for her and quickly put her up for foster care and eventually adoption – her 1st house lessons started early. Perhaps Simone Biles’ clearest demonstration of independent self-mastery happened in 2021 when she shocked everyone by withdrawing from Olympic competition. She said, “I say put mental health first.” Biles could have let herself be railroaded by social pressure and other people’s expectations. In 1st house fashion, she simply made her own decision and said no. Was that choice  “fated?” I don’t think so – but the fact that she found herself in that position was. 

Ram Dass had a Sun/Uranus conjunction in Aries in his 10th house. His Midheaven is in Pisces. Who would have thought that the fates would eventually summon the son of an upwardly mobile Jewish lawyer from Boston to become a semi-Hindu rebel spiritual teacher and role model for hundreds of thousands of young people during a cultural revolution? The gods and goddesses had a different – and very Uranian – plan for his public life.

As a final example, let’s consider Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez – a waitress from the Bronx in New York City who won a shock election and became a U.S. congressional representative. The call of the fates, anyone? “AOC” has a Sun-Mars conjunction in her 10th house and, just like Ram Dass, the Divine Hand had a very public plan for her too.

A FINAL WORD

None of these examples feel even slightly forced. The truth just leaps out from the shape of bare biographical facts, and in it we can sense higher forces working in these people’s lives. It would be fair to call these forces “the hand of fate.” 

Still, the trouble with that kind of language is that a temptation arises to imagine that all of these outcomes were foreordained and inevitable. Don’t succumb to it. Each of these seven human beings co-created their “fates.” They were not mechanically “fated” at all, at least not in any inescapable sense. Each one of them could have slept through the opportunities that life presented them. They could have let fear make their decisions – or the love of money, or status, or sex, or addiction. Or simple laziness. That they did not do that is an expression of their innate freedom. I, for one, would never want to rob them of that dignity. I say that not simply out of respect for them, but for a deeper reason. I say it out of respect for the free will in each one of us and how it dances with whatever doorways the Divine Hand opens before us all – and how it closes them just as quickly if we don’t seize the moment.

Fate versus free will? It’s time to delete “versus” and replace it with an endless interplay of cooperation, mutual potentiation, and interdependency operating between ourselves and forces that are embedded deeply in the mysteries of the universe – forces that call us and guide us, but which do not ultimately control us. As astrologers we should strive to never forget how in our negotiations with those synchronistic energies, we are far from powerless.å