Practical Karma

Many astrologers have opinions on what constitutes one’s karma regarding prior incarnations. Many theorize that certain planets and points in the horoscope offer the key. Still others, myself included, associate different houses with different attributes of karma. Despite what some popular astrologers currently expound upon, full, detailed descriptions of prior incarnations simply cannot be proven. I feel that the best way to judge one’s past lives and the wisdom brought forward from them is through meditation or contemplation, whatever you wish to call it.

Practical karma comes from the realization that you have had some form of dealings with another person in another incarnation or incarnations. Often relationships from a previous incarnation are illustrated by the synastry of two charts. There will often be some aspect or combination of aspects with very close orbs between those charts. The most common type is a conjunction. Oppositions are the next most common. Even quincunxes and semi-sextiles can be seen, but the orbs are always extremely tight, usually less than 2 degrees.

I can give some good examples from my own circle. I was born August 15, 1950 at 4:24 p.m. PDT in the Forest Park neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. The only long-term relationship I ever had was with my wife, Georgie, who was born January 13, 1950 at 7:23 p.m. PST in Medford, Oregon. My Sun is 22:32 Leo, and her ascendant was 21:53 Leo. There was an attraction there, but in the long run, there was also a high amount of competition between us. We had yet another karmic point as well. My Mercury is 19:18 Virgo, ruling the 7^th house. And Georgie's Saturn was 19:14 Virgo, ruling (historically) her own 7^th house. By my estimation, most, but not all, interpersonal karma is shown by the Sun in at least one person's chart.

My father was born in Tsarist Russia in 1909, and my mother was born in the Midwest in 1919. They were a couple who would have probably never even met, much less married and had children were it not for World War II. They found each other in Washington, D.C. It should be noted that her Sun was 26:35 Gemini. His Pluto was 26:50 Gemini. Often Sun-Pluto aspects are seen in cases of inter-cultural attraction. Was their relationship karmic? Of course it was! When my father and mother were 50 and 40, respectively, they had their third child. My father's ascendant was 10:56 Libra, and my 2^nd sister's Sun is 10:28 Libra. It is apparent that my sister's very existence is karmic. Interestingly, when I ascertained my father's birth chart by the process of rectification, I deduced his birth time from some other events, and I just plain forgot to look at the births of my sisters.

My sister has found that many of the relationships that she feels are the most karmic are with people and places with charts that have planets or points at 10 degrees of any sign. Recently, she moved into an apartment when three different transits were 10 or 11 degrees.

In conclusion, I cannot tell you what the content of your past lives have been, but I can be pretty sure who was with you then.

Don Borkowski