Having existed as a professional astrologer for more than 20 years now, apart from learning and dealing with numerous aspects concerning human life viz. human destiny, interconnectedness of lives, the real purpose of an individual life, and the motives of different religions in context to Vedic Astrology – I have also come to understand why only few people consult astrologers and why most don’t.
Astrology targets a niche market comprising only 10% of the population. The rest of the 90% lack the ability to distinguish among the various components that make up a human being which includes the body, the mind, and the soul.
The majority would approach an orthopaedic when a bone is broken: they don’t wait for it to self heal of course. But if the mind and the soul needs expert attention, they would shirk away believing that time heals everything. The bitter truth being – it doesn’t.
Somewhere mortals have come to accept and believe that struggles and worries are two inevitable pillars for their success and happiness. They are not. There of course is a secret way to live an effortless life unburdening the list of worries, which otherwise every human loves to carry.
The Students
Study well and you can conquer the world as you are the master of your own destiny. If that fat lie wasn’t sellable, schools and educational institutions will shut down in no time. Students tend to believe in that falsehood till they are almost in their late 20s. Reality hits them hard when at 30 they suddenly realise that they aren’t the next Bill Gates. What went wrong? They got their house and car on EMIs and have some real ‘bills’ to pay, and there is no way they can quit the matrix now. They have to hang on to their 9-5 job and no human has ever become an entrepreneur working for others.
Students don’t believe in astrology and in my lifetime I haven’t encountered a single student consulting me.
The In-betweens
They are the ones who are too shy to accept and too scared to deny the existence of this divine subject. They wear gemstones – because their mothers asked them to. They wear a Yantra – because the fathers asked them to. They do a Vastu Shastra puja for their new house – because their grandfathers asked them to. And they performed their marriage in a particular ‘muhurta’ because God knows who asked them to.
The in-betweens consult astrologers only when their children grow up so that the legacy of denial continues..
The Entertainment Seekers
Throw a dime, and you get a dozen. That holds absolutely true for astrologers in India. Temples, shrines, busy bazaars, beaches, under the shades of enormous trees – you would find an astrologer sitting with parrots, guinea pigs, mice or just a few cards claiming to predict your future with acute precision. Not that people don’t understand the futility of consulting one but it is an age-old irrefutable ritual, and everything is acceptable provided ‘entertainment’ comes at a low cost for most Indians.
No family outing to a beach attains completion till you eat those charred corn and sit opposite an astrologer with a parrot, in the dimly lit shoreline listening to at most 50 common statements articulated in different permutations and combinations. The listener is happy hearing the positive statements conveyed to him, and in exchange the astrologer has something to take home for the family that evening.
The Convenient
They neither deny nor believe the existence of this esoteric science. They themselves are never sure whether astrology works or it is just a quackery. But if they come across an astrologer by choice or by accident they would consult them sincerely, and note everything down. If the predictions come right, they hardly are excited. And if the prediction goes wrong, they will make sure they spread the news to everyone around them without fail.
A free reading is what they expect most of the times, and if the prices are high – they will give it a pass for sure. They live in the presumption that they are doing a favour to the astrologer by consulting him.
The Ignorant
They are the ones that amuse me the most! There still exist humans who think predicting human lives is next to impossible. They have the least idea about the subject and they prefer not to waste their precious time, money and energy on any kind of exploration into deeper meanings of life and existentialism. There is no harm in remaining ignorant as long as someone is not detrimental to self, others and the society.
If someone is completely ignorant about Pythagoras theorem, who am I to judge them?
The Rational
They indeed are the most dangerous ones that majority of astrologers don’t want to encounter in their lives. ‘Show me proof, show me scientific evidence, I am literate, I am educated, I don’t believe in anything without authenticated proofs, none can fool me’ – they tire you with their inane questions, and think superior about their existence by challenging practices that don’t have any scientific evidences.
I don’t blame them for their approach because all that I can see is an afflicted Jupiter in their horoscope that makes them behave, how they behave.
The Strugglers
When someone is struggling, they are the most vulnerable. When they are vulnerable, they are the most miserly. When they are both vulnerable and miserly, they approach the cheapest astrologer. And the cheapest astrologer is cheap because he knows nothing. That is a simple logic to remember.
Such an astrologer gases his way through and the client is content because his hard earned money was saved. The prediction goes wrong, and the client starts to blame both the astrologer and astrology as a whole!
If someone dies in a ICU, you can blame the doctor to some extent – yes, you can blame the hospital – yes, but you cannot start to blame the whole of medical sciences.
The Achievers
And then there are a set of very few real achievers, who neither encounter a need to consult an astrologer nor will they on their own. If someone wants something, and the cosmos provides exactly what he wanted in the exact prescribed time frame then that particular individual is never in doubt about his future. He strides smoothly through each tide with the necessary impetus bestowed upon him by the almighty.
Astrologers look out for those individuals in particular, and take selfies to attract other possible clients. The matrix works reverse with them – the astrologers benefit more than the client with the association.