Relative to your last paragraph, that WAS the original purpose of macrocosmic analysis
and prediction (forgive me, that is how the hermeticists always refer to "astrology", and am I guilty of being one of them);
TIMING of events, actions, physical and spiritual, was (once) the all-important thing to know:
the most ancient Egyptian indications show this, and it is also clear
from astrological references in the Vedas and Puranas of India
(dating to as early as 2000/3000BC) , that this katarchic understanding held sway, possibly for millenia.