What is the Sikh position on superstition, astrology, and omens?

The Guru Granth Sahib takes a clear and unambiguous position on superstition, astrology, and omens: they are all rejected as distractions from the true path of Naam Simran and honest living.

The Guru's Teaching

Guru Nanak Dev Ji encountered widespread superstition in 15th-century India, auspicious days for travel, unlucky omens, astrological charts for marriages, rituals to ward off evil. He rejected all of it, not with contempt, but with a simple, liberating truth: God is the only force that governs our lives.

The Guru Granth Sahib states:

"The astrologers read their horoscopes and make their calculations. The Pandits read the Puranas. The Qazis read the Quran. But none of them knows the secret of God." (Ang 904)

And regarding auspicious days and times:

"The auspicious time is when one meditates on the Lord. The inauspicious time is when one forgets the Lord." (Ang 76)

The Sikh Rehat Maryada

The Sikh Rehat Maryada explicitly prohibits:

• Belief in auspicious and inauspicious days and times
• Consulting astrologers or horoscopes
• Performing rituals based on superstition
• Belief in omens (good or bad)

These are listed as practices incompatible with Sikh belief.

Why This Matters

The Gurus understood that superstition keeps people in fear and dependence, on priests, on planets, on lucky charms. Sikhi teaches that the soul is directly connected to God, and that this connection is not mediated by the stars, the calendar, or any external force.

The only "auspicious time" is now, the present moment in which you can remember God, do an act of kindness, or speak a word of truth.

A Note on Cultural Practice

Many Sikhs, particularly in South Asian communities, continue to consult astrologers for marriage compatibility or choose auspicious dates for ceremonies. This is a cultural practice that contradicts Gurbani. Families who do this are not bad people, they are following inherited traditions, but the Guru's teaching is clear that these practices are not part of Sikhi.