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Truth and Astrology
Does Astrology Really Work?
In a nutshell, we all have our own current version of what we think is true. In scientific circles, astronomy has replaced astrology many centuries ago.
What is True, Anyway?
Between our ears we build own model of the universe we take for real. This is our universe.
Yet there is a physical reality out there, but we never see it directly. We sense it though our senses. It is always second-hand information.
For example take our eyes. Up side down images of the world are sensed by the rods and cones in the retinas of our eyes. Each rod and cone in our eyes produces electro-chemical biological signals which are combined to produce the illusion we call the world which is actually a cartoon version of the world.
This cartoon version corresponds to the real world, or we could not stay alive very long. Our perception is not the outside world, but a sort of TV picture of it. But it could be different and still work. For example, a dog, cat or bird probably sees a different world, with different colors, and different amount of acuteness.
However, Real Truth is Required
If someone takes a driving test and avoids imaginary objects while running over real ones, they flunk the driving course for sure! The better we model the outside world, the better we get along with it.
We need to be real about ourselves too. If we imagine ourselves as someone else, and neglect who we really are, we may find ourselves in a mental hospital.
If you get sloppy then someone could rob you and tell you that we should share the wealth, so thank you for giving me all your money. If we are sloppy then we could trust a really bad doctor who flunked medical school.
The Magic of Framing
But there is a rub. The trouble is we do not know everything. So we have to make some of it up. What we believe most deeply in our hearts is set by our framing belief. This big picture belief holds our model together.
The more in tune we are to the truth, to goodness, to what is right, beyond logic and science, the more our lives become aligned towards goodness. Goodness can be proven scientifically. Just try being bad and you end up in trouble. Being good you end up in a positive world. Place your frame around goodness and then your life responds in a like manner.
My frame is the Church of Religious Science. I believe that all goodness stems from God and I (the experiencer in me) is part of Gods consciousness.
Vehicles of Transcendence
So getting back on track about astrology, if astrology works for you then it does not matter if it is true or not. Wow, this has some explaining. Astrology is a catalyst for some people. That is it does not enter the "chemical equation" of truth, yet it works.
Spiritual and psychological catalysts are termed vehicles of transcendence (VOTs). VOTs help an inner process. It does not matter if they are true or not, all that is necessary is that a person believe in them.
Believing in magic, you see a beautiful pixy out of the corner of your eye and this brings joy to your soul. Is this a bad thing? You have a tarot card reading and it seems that love will be coming your way. Perhaps because you expected it and allowed it to happen, you found the love of your life.
VOTs are fun and part of life. But they should not be the major thing in life, or you loose touch with reality. Astrology, tarot card reading, numerology and related beliefs are VOTs. They like pallor games help the conversation flow.
As I said before, we live in our model of the universe. This model is our world simulator. It is not the actual world. Generally speaking the more we make our simulator match the real world, the better our lives.
We just throw away all fiction and imagination. Yet we put into context fairy stories and the acting in theatre and the movies. So astrology, for me at least is in this context. If we don't use it as fact, don't act on it and use it for fun there is no harm. But branding people according to when they were born I think is a mistake. "You not a Virgo, so you will never understand this."
Science, on the other hand, is our technical friend. We can put real knowledge to work. Ideas that have been tested and tried produce all sorts of rewards. Knowing the laws of physics allows us to drive more safely on icy roads and knowing some electrical laws allows us to mend an extension cord without being shocked.
Science has its limits, and if we think of people as robots or dust in the wind, then science itself is out of its context.
Let's talk about astrology because it has an interesting history.
Ancient Astrology and the Scientific Astronomy
Western astrology tracks an imaginary ancient sun that is several "houses" away from the real sun. For example, the astrology sun is in Virgos on August 27th, and the real sun is in Leo.
Yes, there are two separate sky charts, one that is way out of date by two or three thousand years, and the astronomy sky cards that are kept up to date. These two sky charts disagree with each other. Scientific astronomy puts the planets, moon, and sun when you actually see them and astrology does not.
As a predictor of the future, astrology just does not work either. Many studies have been made, and the results show that it is no more accurate than chance would have it. Astrology is deceptive that it takes away our free will and gives it to the motion of the planets. Astrology is a relic of past ignorance. It is bad to keep believing in stuff that is not logical and does not work. If it really were true astrologers rake in the money by playing the markets and would not waste time doing people's charts.
Sorry, personalities develop from many variables and the location where you born and the stars and planet locations have nothing to do with it.
History
Astrology is very old indeed and began in Mesopotamia (now Iran and Iraq) about 6000 years ago. Some historians think it even older as some astrological artifacts have been dated as old as 12,000 years ago.
It began as a calendar designed to help the farmers way back then. Farmers have always recognized that there is a difference between the quality of morning and afternoon light. They found that there are certain times when it is best to plant, grow and harvest their crops for maximum growth and quality.
On the whole, it must have been man's reverence for the magical, strange moving lights in the sky. These lights were regarded as gods and the star gods led to the development of astrology. Out of the thick mists that conceal earliest history have come down to us a number of cuneiform tablets--brick and stone slabs inscribed with triangular or wedge-shaped characters--recording the very simplest astronomical phenomena: eclipses of the Moon, certain planetary movements, interpreted as
predicting famine, war, peace or plenty.
Babylonia during the 17th and 18th centuries BC was riddled with superstition, and many omens were used and recorded--the bites of certain animals, dreams, patters of bird flight, the appearance of newborn babies. ("When a woman bears a child with small ears, the house will fall into ruin."). Superstitions included such eccentricities as the appearance in one's house of a pig with palm fibers in its mouth.
The sky charts used today by most astrologers today show the locations of the sun and the planets as they were long ago. For example, the sun is placed in the Virgo on September 7th. But in the real world, the sun is in the middle of the constellation Leo on September 7th if you use scientific observation. This is the truth. Over time the Sun position moves due to the precession of the earth (as will be explained).
Using the astronomy program SkyGlobe, I went back in time to find when the sun was really in the middle of Virgo on September 7th. I had to travel back to about the year 1000 BC to have the sun in the middle of Virgo. This was 3000 years ago!
More About Constellations
Constellations are groups of stars, that have become associated with a figure, and myth. The Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and Orion are probably the best-known and easily recognized constellations in the night sky. There are literally hundreds of constellations. Among these are the constellations of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius,, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.
The Planets
Five visible planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were identified as gods. Each planet had interesting names and personalities. Their movement against the background patter of starts were regarded as significant and played a key role in many a Greek story. The planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto could not be seen.
The Ecliptic
The Ecliptic is the path the sun draws as the Earth moves around the sun. The planets also travel in the ecliptic.
Precession and Why Western Astrology Sky Charts are Wrong
A spinning toy top when it starts to slow down, starts to wobble. The axis of the spinning object wobbles (traces a circle) when a torque is applied to it. The axis of a wobbling top will start to trace a circle in the opposite direction of the spinning object.
The drifting of the sky charts is due to the Earth's precession. The axis of the Earth is moving in a circle. This movement is known as precession. It is like a top spinning and as it slows it wobbles.
Technically, precession is due to a combination of the Earth's nonspherical shape (it is an oblate spheroid, bulging outward at the equator) and the gravitational tidal forces of the Moon and Sun applying force (torque) as they attempt to pull the equatorial bulge into the plane of the ecliptic.
The north pole of the Earth goes around in a circle, making one complete precession cycle in a period of approximately 25,800 years. Over this cycle the Earth's north pole moves from where it is now (within 1° of Polaris) in a circle around the ecliptic pole. Back when Western astrology charts where created, the north pole was pointing close to the star Thuban.
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In the centuries centering on the year 2800 BC, the start Thuban was north pole star. About this time, maybe a 1000 years later the Astrology Charts were drawn. For many years there was no north pole star. About the year 1500 AD the star Polaris moved into position (closer than other stars) and could be said to be the north pole star. Polaris will continue to get closer to the North Pole, and will be the closest around the year 2100. Precession is slow and it takes 71.5 years for the earth to tilt one degree.
Precession is caused by the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere. Instead the earth is oblate, that its it bulges in the middle along the equator. This bulge is due to the earth's rotation. The equatorial diameter of the earth is 43 km or 29 miles larger than the polar diameter. This amounts to 0.34%.
The force of gravity weakens with the square of the distance. Both the sun and the moon pull on the earth. Since the earth is tilted in its spin axis in relationship to its orbital plane around the sun, the pull on the earth varies a little. During the summer in the north hemisphere, the pull on the bulge tents to pull up the equator. During the winter the opposite is true. Both the sun and moon try to straighten the rotation axis to bring it in line with the orbital axis. The same forces cause the ocean's tides.
Instead of straightening, the Earth rotation axis precesses, and the north pole sweeping the sky in a slow conical motion that takes 25,800 years to complete a revolution. The north star Polaris will slowly move closer to the north pole until it reaches its closest point in the year 2100.
Calendar Correction
Not only the Astrology Charts were out of date, precession also messed up the calendars making the holidays shift away from their seasons. Easter was being effected. The pope did something about it. On October 4, 1582 the next day became October 15, 1582. Ten days were skipped. The calendar was switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Only the Catholic countries followed the order. England did not switch calendars until 1752. All this was due to precession.
The Zodiac
The word zodiac comes from the Greek word "zoion" meaning animal.
There are two basic types of zodiacs. One is the zodiac defined by astronomy and the other is defined by astrology. Astrology assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs. Astronomy is the science that deals with the material universe beyond the earth.
Zodiac in Scientific Astronomy
In astronomy, the zodiac is a 8°-wide belt in the of the sky that is centered on the ecliptic. As seen from the earth, the sun, the moon, and the major planets all stay in this belt. In modern astronomy, the zodiacal constellations, like all constellations, are recognized as chance visual groupings of stars, with no natural significance.
In astronomy, the zodiacal constellations are aligned to their correct astronomical location. The constellations all take up varying amounts of space along the ecliptic. The zodiac serves as a convenient means of indicating the positions of the heavenly bodies.
Two Schools of Astrology
There are two basic schools of astrology—Western astrology and Vedic astrology and these use different zodiacs. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac and Vedic (Indian) astrology uses the sidereal zodiac. The differences between the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac are due to precession. The source data used by the two schools is not the same and makes their results vastly different.
Vedic (Hindu) astrology is more scientific and uses the sidereal zodiac that loosely matches modern real world sky charts. This astrology at least knows where the stars and planets are located and places some value on modern astronomy charts.
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac charts that are somewhere between 2000 and 5000 years old. It is not based on planets passing through actual celestial constellations, but passing through imaginary houses named for constellations. Western astrology charts are wrong and do not match the real sky. The positions of the sun, moon and planets have moved during the past 2300 years.
The "ayanamsa" is the distance or the difference between the imaginary Zodiac of the Western astrologers and the true Zodiac of the updated Vedic astrology. The ayanamsa continues to grow at a rate of 50.26 seconds per year. After thousands of years this amounts to about 23 degrees!
This is no trivial matter. A Virgo in western astrology is a Leo in Vedic astrology.
In western tropical astrology, the zodiacal year begins at the point where the plane of the ecliptic intersects with the earth's equatorial plane at the vernal equinox. This is when the Sun moves into the northern hemisphere of the earth's equatorial plane. Thus the Sun always enters the astrological zodiacal sign of Aries at the vernal equinox about March 20, but it will not cross into the astronomical constellation of the same name until nearly a month later. So in western tropical
astrology, although the signs derive their names from the constellations, they are not the same thing.
Both astrology systems are otherwise the same. They divided the belt into 12 equal parts called houses of 30°. Each house is named for constellation. These are the Signs of the Zodiac.
The out of date tropical zodiac will coincide with the correct sidereal zodiac in about 25,800 years.
The 13th Sign --Ophiuchus
The astrological zodiacs do not count Ophiuchus as a constellation and thus we have 12 constellations in the astrological zodiac. The astronomers added Ophiuchus as one of the constellations, making 13 constellations around the zodiac. Some astrologers say that Ophiuchus was invented by the Royal Astronomical Society in 1930 to bedevil the astrologers. It is not that simple.
The problem of Ophiuchus is at least nineteen hundred years old, if not more. It dates back to at least the time of Claudius Ptolemy, the Classical father of astrology [c 130 - 170 AD]. Thus, Ophiuchus as a recognized zodiacal constellation predates the 1930 decision by the International Astronomical Union to adopt constellation boundaries by at least 1,700 years.
Ptolemy produced two great works, Al Magest, which charted the heavens, and Tetrabiblos, the seminal work of astrology - a compendium of essentially all the astrological knowledge of the Ancient Greeks. Al Magest contains the earliest Star Catalogue that we still possess.
In Tetrabiblos, Ptolemy treats Ophiuchus as a non-zodiac constellation; he follows the simple, inherited tradition of the twelve part, equal-sign zodiac. However, in Al Magest, Ptolemy actually charts Ophiuchus in the heavens. He looks at the reality of the stars above. He catalogues 29 stars in the constellation. 24 of these he measures to have a latitude above the Ecliptic. But 5 of these he observes have a latitude below the Ecliptic. In other words the figure of Ophiuchus crosses
the Ecliptic [the path of the Sun] making it by definition a Sun Sign
New Planets
The good old way of doing things in astrology was further made complicated by the discovery of two new planets, Uranus and Pluto. These planets move slowly. One might wonder who was the god-like person that figured out what these planets did to a person's chart. A book in 1976 come out giving astrological information about a new planet they called "Transpluto" which had never been discovered.
Does Astrology Work?
We can perform a mental experiment using economics. Astrologers should be rich. If the know anything about the future they would have an edge.
But this is not the case. Assuming that Vedic astrologers like to make money, they seem not to profit from their own craft. If they could predict the future even in a vague way, they would be rich by playing the futures or the stock market. But as astrologers they get most of their income from by doing charts.
Also there have been experiments. When Dr. Petriot's astrology chart was handed out to people answering an advertisement for their free astrology chart, 94% said it was accurate. Trouble was Dr. Petriot was a mass murder.
In 1971 the Survey Research Center of University of California sampled 1000 adults in the bay area, getting their birthdates and their claimed attributes. The astrology did not correlate any better than chance.
The Australian Skeptics in 1982 collected newspaper horoscopes and found they even disagreed with each other and did not have much consistency.
Believing in things that prove not true hurts the creditably of new age movements. It is best to experiment before believing. Have you ever considered using asteroids which are much closer than the Pluto to be included in a chart system? Problem is there are billions of them. Astrology is filled with a lot of cracks!
Is there Value in Astrology?
At first glance one can only say no. But psychologists use word association tests to try to find underlying complexes within a person that might need to be examined. Astrology, even if it does not work can help a person examine themselves. We are made up of archetypes according to Jung, and these archetypes such as father, warrior, mother, prostitute, jester and others can provide substance in our subconscious mind. By using astrology, people may look into things they might see before.
Even if its by chance, looking at one's self is a good thing to do.
However, as far as I am concerned, I would rather work directly with my therapist and not put merit in the pseudo science of astrology as it keeps one ungrounded and puts faith in something that does not even benefit the astrologers themselves.
Other Interesting Beliefs
From crop circles to witches there are many unusual things to consider. For example: The Timeless Myths website is an interesting read.
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