Governed by the Planets?
Many people believe the planets control their lives. They believe they were born under a certain astrological sign and must carry on their lives with planetary influences directly or indirectly hovering over them. Sometimes the stars are claimed to be accountable for good influences, but other times not so good.
Yet the Bible tells us that "man"-you and I-was given "dominion" by God "over all the earth" (Genesis 1:26). And while not everyone thinks of the celestial bodies in relation to our own well-being, I discovered the importance of seeing that God is good as is the only true influence on us.
For many years I suffered from severe menstrual problems every month. One particular day I was in extreme discomfort. I decided to look up the word menses in the dictionary and discovered that it refers to the revolution of the moon around the earth, which takes a month.
Lunacy, I found, is another word associated with the moon. It is related to lunar and implies that we can be influenced detrimentally by the phases of the moon. I have heard that in some places it is strongly believed that the growth of agricultural crops can be directly influenced by the moon, and that planting can be carried out successfully by following the lunar phases. On the other hand, it is believed that the effect of not planting at the proper time relative to the moon can be disastrous. It is also widely believed that babies are born according to the cycles of the moon.
None of that seems to leave much room for our dominion.
On that particular day, after I considered these definitions, I remembered a sentence from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Speaking of a woman symbolic of "generic man," described in the Bible's book of Revelation, Science and Health says, "The moon is under her feet" (p. 562). This meant to me that woman has dominion from God over the moon. I saw it as an illustration of the spiritual fact that I had dominion over the menstrual cycle, as well as over anything unlike good, unlike God, including the severe menstrual pain.
After that illuminating discovery, I never experienced monthly cramps again. Everything normalized. From then on, my menstrual cycle was normal and never felt like a "curse," as I'd heard it referred to.
We are given many assurances in the Bible showing us that every man's and woman's life is meant to be a blessing. One such assurance is in a verse from Numbers that says, "Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he [God] hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it" (23:20). God has given a commandment that everyone's life be a blessing, and nothing can overthrow this blessing or condemn any individual. Proverbs declares, "The curse causeless shall not come" (26:2).
Some years later, I again found physical healing by realizing that I am under the influence of God, the only creator, and not under the influence of the planets. This time I was going through menopause. I had experienced some disturbing symptoms associated with this phase of life, which seemed quite severe and appeared extremely excessive for a month, keeping me practically housebound.
One night as I prayed, these two passages from Science and Health came to my thought: "The planets have no more power over man than over his Maker, since God governs the universe; but man, reflecting God's power, has dominion over all the earth and its hosts" (p. 102) and "Reflecting God's government, man is self-governed" (p. 125). The next morning all the severe symptoms I had been experiencing had completely disappeared. Everything had instantly and entirely cleared up. The healing was permanent.
I have been encouraged by these two experiences. I know that we can break the cycle of believing that either man or woman can be influenced, beneficially or injuriously, by the stars. God has given us "dominion over all the earth and its hosts." And many other people have had healing proof of this through their own prayer, and through study of Christian Science, the laws of God by which Christ Jesus healed.
