130. I Used to Read Birth Charts and Horoscopes Until I Learned... | Occult to Orthodoxy Series (Part16)130. I Used to Read Birth Charts and Horoscopes Until I Learned... | Occult to Orthodoxy Series (Part16)
Raised & Redeemed
Michaela reflects on her move from reading birth charts and horoscopes to embracing Orthodox Christianity and a Christ‑centred identity. She contrasts the history and claims of astrology with Church teaching on free will, idolatry and where a person’s true worth is found.
29:42•17 Jun 2026
From Birth Charts to Christ: Rethinking Astrology in Orthodoxy
Episode Overview
- Astrology is presented as historically rooted in pagan practice and reshaped into a modern personality system, yet still clashes with Christian teaching.
- Orthodox Christianity sees astrology as denying genuine free will, promoting fate over repentance and transformation in Christ.
- Trusting horoscopes and birth charts is framed as a form of idolatry and divination that shifts attention from the Creator to creation.
- Michaela stresses that identity should rest in being made in God’s image, not in zodiac labels like sun, moon, and rising signs.
- Spiritual struggle is acknowledged openly, with Michaela emphasising prayer, guidance from a spiritual father, and the wider Church for those leaving New Age practices.
“I wasn’t just a Pisces sun or Aquarius moon. I was a daughter of God.”
What drives someone to seek a life without horoscopes, star signs, and birth charts? This instalment of the Occult to Orthodoxy series follows host Michaela Nikolenko as she talks through her shift from being a yoga-teaching, tarot-reading astrology fan to an Orthodox Christian who now roots her identity in Christ rather than her natal chart.
You’ll hear her candidly recall the days when “my sun in Pisces, my rising Libra, my moon in Aquarius” felt like a fixed script for her life, even as she offered astrology readings alongside tarot and lap dances at the strip club, convinced she was a “light in a dark place”. She now contrasts that with the moment she realised, “I wasn’t just a Pisces sun or Aquarius moon.
I was a daughter of God.” The episode is especially helpful if you’ve ever dabbled in astrology or still secretly check your horoscope. Michaela lays out the history of astrology from ancient Mesopotamia to its modern psychological makeover, and then sets that against Jewish and Orthodox Christian views of the stars, quoting rabbis, Church Fathers, and modern Orthodox voices.
She walks through key concerns: how astrology can deny free will, slide into idolatry, act as divination, and pull identity away from being made in God’s image. Michaela also talks honestly about spiritual warfare, her reliance on prayer, incense and her spiritual father, and the tension of being “just a girl on the internet” trying to point people towards those more qualified.
The tone is warm, vulnerable and conversational, yet packed with quotes from Scripture and saints for anyone wanting something more solid than “what’s your sign?”. If you’re torn between your chart and your faith, or you’re simply curious why astrology and Christianity clash so sharply here, this episode gives plenty to think about and might nudge you to ask: where are you really getting your sense of who you are?
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