Thursday, December 17, 2015

No, I am not a believer in Astrology


1) Astrology may well be astrolatry, BUT not because of geocentrism "of Babylonians" or of extra month in Pagan Greek calendar. ; 2) No, I am not a believer in Astrology

Text from 9 Amazing Astrology Facts My comments.
 
1.) In 2010, a study by Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee accidentally provided scientific proof that there is a connection between the position of the planets on your date of birth and your personality. The study conducted on mice proved that not only was their behavior affected by their birth date but also their brain activity patterns. Mice are not created in God's image. (Reepicheep is fictional.)
 
2.) There have been many famous followers and believers of astrology throughout history. These include Queen Elizabeth I, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein to name just a few. As you can imagine the astrological advice given to these powerful people could well have had a big influence on the course of history. Didn't you forget Hitler on the list? Or was it some other Nazi?
 
3.) Many words that are used today have a connection to astrology. For example, the word disaster is derived from the Latin word for bad star. The word lunatic derives from the word Luna meaning moon and refers to the impact that the moon is supposed to have on our emotional well-being. Yes. So? Btw, dysaster is Greek (δυσαςηρ).
 
4.) You can study for a degree in astrology at a number of Universities. The Kepler College in Seattle, Washington was the first to offer the degree. You can even do a Master of the Arts (MA) post-graduate degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at the University of Wales in the United Kingdom. You can even study for degrees in psychology and psychiatry, doesn't mean THEY are sciences!

Not to mention you can study astrophysics and evolutionary biology for degrees, doesn't mean THESE are sciences either!
 
5.) Some astrological signs are more common than others. It is believed that Scorpio is the most common sign of the zodiac whilst Aquarius is the least common of the signs. The signs in order of the most common to least common are Scorpio, Virgo, Gemini, Pisces, Libra, Cancer, Taurus, Capricorn, Aries, Sagittarius, Leo and Aquarius. Stamps me as a very common man - especially if it is supposed to affect behaviour.
 
6.) Astrology is older than astronomy. Astrology was very much considered an academic subject. It was not until the 1600s that interest in astrology led to the development of astronomy. Evidence of astrology has been found as early as the 2000 years BC in ancient Babylon in texts found by historians since. This is actually wrong. Astrology always presupposes astronomy. But astronomy can be used for other applications or left practically unused. Also, astronomy is not equivalent to Heliocentrism, an aberration which indeed arose out of astrological interest.
 
7.) Astrologers believe that the moon can affect humans in the same way that it affects the tides of the sea as humans are made of a large percentage of water. They believe that the phase of the moon can impact on human emotions causing feelings of emotion highs and lows. But does not affect the way we deal with it, at any rate.
 
8.) The most famous astrologer in the world is probably Michel de Nostredame who wrote under the pseudonym Nostradamus. In his 66 years of life he reportedly predicted world events both during the time he was alive and long after his death. He has been credited with predicting the great fire of London, the atomic bomb and Hitler’s rise to power amongst others. 
  • a) Nostradamus is not a pseudonym, it is a latinisation. Actually not a quite correct one. The grammatically correct for Nostredame is Nostradomina.

    Perhaps he was playing on an older French (or Provençal, he was from the South of France, from Provence) "dames" = donnons, a form like "sommes", and like the 1p pl of past simple forms. "nous allâmes, nous fîmes, nous donnâmes ...". "Nostra damus" means "we give [what is] ours". So, if Nostredame means "Our Lady", it was a wrong latinisation, but if there was a word play on a French meaning "we give [what is] ours", it was even a right one. I don't know enough French & Provençal historic linguistics to know if this could be the case.

  • b) His predictions were not made primarily by astrology, but by inducing himself into a hypnotic state.

  • c) Whether x has been predicted in them is always very disputable, since his words have less clear meanings.
 
9 a) The word Zodiac is derived from the Latin word zodiacus meaning ‘circle of little animals’.  Correct, except that the word is a loan from Greek, and the complete Greek phrase for it would in Latin letters be "ho zodiacus cyclus" (ο ζοδιακος κυκλος). Also, "little" is probably irrelevant. It is also a fact of astronomy that these stars do exist around the plane where Sun, Moon and other Planets circle around Earth (some would claim : Earth with Moon and other planets around Sun). This is also correctly associated with the seasons. When Sun is in Capricorn, we have Northern Hemisphere Winter.

This remains true whatever the planets and stars may mean for behaviour of mice or for moods even of men.
 
9 b) Libra, the only sign to not have an association with an animal, was not recognised as a sign by the Greeks who used the word Zodiac. Libra came along much later documented by the Romans around the 3rd century BC. Probably false. The fact that most are conventionally beasts does for one thing not prevent one or two exceptions, and also, "to zoon" would involve either man or beast. Or, for that matter, a goddess holding a balance:

Μυθολογικά o Ζυγός σχετίζεται με τη Θεά Δίκη και με την Νέμεσις. Για τους Αιγύπτιους εσήμαινε την κρίση των ψυχών ενώπιων του Aνουβι όπου η καρδιά ζυγιζόταν κι αν ήταν ελαφρύτερη ενός πτερού οδηγούνταν ενώπιον του Οσίριδος. Αν ήταν βαρύτερη καταστρεφόταν από την Αμμούτ. Αν το βάρος της καρδιάς εξισσοροπούσε τότε η ψυχή επανασαρκωνόταν ώστε να λάβει τα απαραίτητα γι'αυτήν μαθήματα.


No mention here of earlier Greeks not using it!

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