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Can anyone beat that for sanctimonious crap? :hmph: Next week: How fortune cookies work by spooky invisible rays.
Ever since the dawn of humanity, our species has been fascinated with the sky and the heavenly bodies that move across it, without fail, every day. Archaeologists have discovered several artifacts that hint that the effect of the Sun, Moon, and planets on the earth and its inhabitants was well known as long ago as 25,000 years. In southern France, a horn was found, carved with crude images of the phases of the Moon, which has been dated to roughly that time.
Although there are few written records of astrology up until about 2300 BC, it must follow that it continued to develop in various stages between the carving of the horn and the earliest writings in Mesopotamia. And it has continued to flourish and develop in one form or the other right up until the present.
If a discipline doesn't work, then intelligent people will abandon it. Yet astrology has been around for at least 25,000 years that we know of. So why do so many skeptics out there insist that it's nothing but fantasy? Probably because they know nothing about it! Well, here is a little more knowledge that might enlighten a little.
Myth No. 1:
Astrology is not a true science because its practitioners don't use scientific methods.
As we understand, it, the scientific method has four steps: 1. Observation of specific phenomena; 2. Devising a hypothesis to explain the phenomena; 3. Using the hypothesis to predict similar phenomena; 4. Testing of the predictions through experiments.
Well, isn't this what astrologers have been doing for millennia? We observe that something happens when a certain planet is in a certain sign. We wonder if there might be some kind of correlation between the two events. We observe the planetary movements again, and then we test our hypothesis by detecting if similar things happened under that particular transit. Isn't that the scientific method?
Myth No. 2:
There has never been any scientific testing that has proven the credibility of astrology.
Yes, there has! Beginning in 1949 and continuing for the next thirty years, two French psychologists, Michel and Françoise Gauquelin, performed painstaking research on over 60,000 natal charts, which confirmed that certain ancient astrological tenets overwhelmingly proved to be valid. The most impressive results involved the fact that an astounding number of gifted athletes had Mars within ten degrees of one of the four angles of the chart. The study of Mars effects was only one that produced results at the level of 100,000 to 1 against chance.
Myth No. 3:
Astrology is so general that horoscopes can apply to just about anybody.
Anyone who believes in this statement has ever read a good horoscope written by a skilled professional - and this includes horoscopes based solely on Sun signs. One of the most noted bestsellers of the late twentieth century was Linda Goodman's, Sun Signs, which revealed in detail what to expect from natives of the twelve Sun signs. There was nothing general at all about her analyses of each sign. Each was intricate and individualized. The book sold so well because it obviously struck a chord in readers.
Myth No. 4:
People become astrologers only because they can make a lot of money doing it.
Ha! Most astrologers would laugh out loud at this bit of ignorance. Anyone who believes that has only to gaze at the bank accounts and royalty statements of even the most famous of astrologers to be quickly disabused of this idea. Linda Goodman was the exception - and even she never gave Donald Trump any competition. Most astrologers struggle to make their rent every month. For us, astrology is a labor of love, a way in which we can, in our own small way, make life on Earth a bit easier and, as a great bonus, find fulfillment in what we are doing.
Myth No. 5:
Astrology couldn't possibly work, because the gravitational pull of the Sun, Moon, and planets is too weak to affect life on Earth.
The myth here is that gravity is the force that makes astrology work. To our knowledge, no astrologer, or astrological researcher, has ever made this claim. In his famous TV series COSMOS, the late Carl Sagan made the statement that when he was born, the gravitational pull projected by the obstetrician was stronger than that of the Sun. Yet that only proves that astrology is not connected with gravity - not that it isn't valid. Millions of satisfied clients - plus the work of Michel and Françoise Gauquelin - attest to the fact that it is.
Myth No. 6:
The Bible says that astrology is the work of Satan and thus its practitioners are evil.
A few references in the Bible imply that in ancient Hebraic society, astrology was frowned upon. However, there are so many others which extol astrology that their significance far outweighs those references. There are a number of psalms referring to information gleaned from the stars. Perhaps the most famous is Psalm 19: The HEAVENS declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. The recent archaeological discovery of a beautiful mosaic showing the twelve signs of the Zodiac, in a first-century Jewish synagogue, implies that perhaps it wasn't quite such a taboo after all.
As for evil: Astrology is just a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build a house, or you can use it to destroy something beautiful. But its use for good or evil is up to the wielder, not the hammer itself.
So how does astrology work? We really don't know - though there are a few enlightened scientists out there speculating about it, because of new discoveries and theories made every day confirming a lot of ideas formerly considered ridiculous. But one doesn't need to know HOW it works to benefit from it - and to understand it as beneficial and a force for good.
Can anyone beat that for sanctimonious crap? :hmph: Next week: How fortune cookies work by spooky invisible rays.
