Astrology

[stevebabin 0]

Saw it mentioned in another post...
Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

"Science, logic and reason will fly you to the moon. Religion will fly you into buildings."
"Because figuring things out is always better than making shit up."

[AWL71 0]

That would be a NO.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

No ...

However it appears that the Christian religion is plagiarised from ancient Egyptian religions which were nothing more than misinterpretations of how the ancient world observed the stars. Haha ... too funny and to think Christians take their flying spaghetti monster as the truth.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[jakee 1,564]

Quote

Saw it mentioned in another post...
Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

Does anyone? Yes. Some people will take anything seriously.

Do I? Hell no!

But then I have been told that I'm something of a sceptic

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[ExAFO 0]

No, but I really like boobies.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Quote

No, but I really like boobies.

Boobies are good. Save the boobies!!!

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[DSE 5]

I don't think you can discount all of it. The earth is unquestionably affected by universal elements, some of which can be mathematically predicted, right?
Do you believe the Farmers Almanac is generally correct?

[quade 4]

Quote

Saw it mentioned in another post...
Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

Well some people do. Not me, but some people.

I do believe that when certain stars rise in the sky at sunset, then they do predict certain things like "warmer weather is generally on the way". And I also believe that the Moon seems to have a cycle remarkably close to that of the average human female. So, I can understand where certain parts of astrology comes from and can appreciate how the study of it branched in two directions; one making precise measurements of the sky and another attempting to correlate the position of things in the sky with events.

What absolutely slays me though is the hucksters that pass it off to modern day society, but . . . it's generally no more harmful than the belief in say . . . fortune cookies.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[jakee 1,564]

Quote

What absolutely slays me though is the hucksters that pass it off to modern day society, but . . . it's generally no more harmful than the belief in say . . . fortune cookies.

I've never come across a Chinese restaurant that charged for fortune cookie consultations...

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[ryoder 1,590]

"I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical."
-- Arthur C. Clarke

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[kallend 2,108]

Quote

Saw it mentioned in another post...
Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

Nancy Reagan did.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[quade 4]

Quote

Quote

What absolutely slays me though is the hucksters that pass it off to modern day society, but . . . it's generally no more harmful than the belief in say . . . fortune cookies.

I've never come across a Chinese restaurant that charged for fortune cookie consultations...

Oh really? Try getting a few extra ones out of Panda Express and see how THAT goes.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[stevebabin 0]

Quote

I don't think you can discount all of it. The earth is unquestionably affected by universal elements, some of which can be mathematically predicted, right?
Do you believe the Farmers Almanac is generally correct?

I just fail to see how the position of the other planets in our solar system can be used to predict anything of significance in our lives.
Anyone care to explain how this could be done?

As far as the farmers almanac, I haven't read it. Does it base predictions on astrology?

"Science, logic and reason will fly you to the moon. Religion will fly you into buildings."
"Because figuring things out is always better than making shit up."

[quade 4]

Quote

As far as the farmers almanac, I haven't read it. Does it base predictions on astrology?

See that's the issue, it all depends on how far you take the analogy.

Does Mars play a part? No, not at all.

Does the position of the Sun in the sky along the ecliptic play a part? Yes, absolutely. Generally speaking it's hotter in summer than in winter. Certain months will in fact be better times for planting certain crops than others. That about all the "real" guidance that can realistically be gleaned from the Farmer's Almanac, but it's absolutely based on the ancient observations of the sun, sky and stars.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[DSE 5]

Quote

As far as the farmers almanac, I haven't read it. Does it base predictions on astrology?

Depending on your point of view, yep...
"Almanac" roughly translated apparently means "Calendar of the Heavens."

The two used to be tightly tied to each other. I feel there is a foundational relationship between the evolution of astrology and astronomy, and most cultures of the world would agree with that.
The Farmers Almanac is the oldest, longest running publication in the US, FWIW. I use it fairly regularly, although the last two years have been a little bit annoying with all the fru-fru spiritualism stuff ("I'll predict your future for 1.99 on my toll-free hotline" sort of crap).

Myself, I feel certain global events may be predicted with reasonable accuracy based on calculators older than the printed word, but what astrology has become overall in recent times? Can't buy into it. What it once meant? yeah...I can accept a lot of it. It's mostly just math and predictive behavior.

[jdthomas 0]

Hey Steve.
Some people do take Astrology seriously, My good friends X whole heartedly believed in that crap and man was she a freak of the week.
She would come up with oh this planet is in my way and i am going to have a bad day because of it, and because she set it in her mind I think she made her day bad and the those around us annoyed!
Sad enough, but people do believe in foolish things, but thats okay I guess.. because we all have diffrent beliefs and it's super cool that we can have that freedom.

www.greenboxphotography.com

[ExAFO 0]

Boobies.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[Hausse 0]

Quote

No ...

However it appears that the Christian religion is plagiarised from ancient Egyptian religions which were nothing more than misinterpretations of how the ancient world observed the stars. Haha ... too funny and to think Christians take their flying spaghetti monster as the truth.

I like the flying spaghetti monster comparison

[DSE 5]

yeah, but if the moon hadn't been in the 7th house, and Uranus wasn't lined up with the Eurapean Roselin front, then it's entirely probable that the Flying Spaghetti Monster would have just been a gleam in Bobby Henderson's eye, and the Pastafarians wouldn't have existed.

[br0k3n 0]

Quote

Saw it mentioned in another post...
Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

"unbelievable" there are people that actually believe this rubbish..

Here is a good Explanation

-----------------------------------------------------------
--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[SivaGanesha 2]

Quote

Saw it mentioned in another post...
Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

Yes, the position of the planets CAN have a very significant effect on human affairs. And there is a very simple explanation for that. A large number of people believe in astrology and therefore behave differently in response to certain configurations of the planets than others. For example, if a large number of investors in a given stock expect the stock to drop for astrological reasons, then the stock WILL drop because many of the investors believing in astrology will sell.

Skeptics who laugh at astrology may have science on their side but if they own the same stock they, too, will be rewarded for their ignorance of astrology by having their stock, too, drop in value--but unlike the astrologers it will come as a surprise to the skeptics and they won't know what hit them.

As to whether astrology has an original basis in verifiable scientific fact independent of the fact that many people believe in it, I'm not sure. I do know that I've spent a lot of time around people who believe in it. Even if it has value, these people tend to be obsessed with it, and astrology and similar pursuits can become an all-consuming passion. I don't want astrology to be my passion. I've come to realize more and more recently that skydiving is my true passion and, if I ever want to make a significant number of jumps, I'm going to have to spend time around skydivers, not astrologers.

BTW astrologers tend to be very obsessed with Mercury retrograde periods. These are the periods three times a year when the apparent motion of Mercury (of course Mercury's real orbit never changes) is in the opposite to normal direction. Astrologers generally are rather paranoid about these periods and believe that things tend to go wrong during these periods. If they can, people believing in astrology will batten down the hatches and go into hibernation during Mercury retrograde periods to avoid taking any risk. Again, it is good to know about these things, even if you don't believe in astrology, because a significant number of people do, and I believe it does have an effect on human behavior for that reason.

Mercury is retrograde right now.

And Mercury was retrograde when I had my one and only malfunction--but I'm sure that was purely coincidental.

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[GQ_jumper 4]

Astrology is what you make of it, its true that there are some people who base their day to day actions on what the planets are doing and a lot of the times the successes and failures in their lives can more be attributed to how much they convince themselves these things are going to happen than anything else. Some famous astrologers have admitted that basing your life around predictions is going to make them come true because you subconciously make them happen and that can have a very negative affect on your life. Everyone who believes in astrology on some level uses it for different reasons, some people look at astrology as a way to better understand themselves and those around them. It's not completely baseless, I study some aspects of astrology and I personally feel that it has helped me grow a lot as a person.

Just like anything else in life its what you make of it

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[happythoughts 0]

I used to write the astrology column for the school newspaper.

People constantly wrote me and told me how accurate that I was. I know nothing about astrology.

Most of my columns were:
- Pay careful attention to financial matters...
- Your friend could use a friend right now...
- A new door is opening...
- It is time to sit down and prioritize...
- Chaos will arise unless you control it...

All good advice. It fits someone each week.

[smiles 0]

Quote

Does anyone honestly take astrology seriously?

Obviously many people today take the bible very seriously- and obviously the ancient people took the sun & stars very seriously.

The greatest story ever told. This is the Sun-
kind of sums it up great...
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

transcript: http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm

some info quoted below from transcript link above-

Quote

The birth sequence is completely astrological. The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which, on December 24th, aligns with the 3 brightest stars in Orion's Belt. These 3 bright stars are called today what they were called in ancient times: The Three Kings. The Three Kings and the brightest star, Sirius, all point to the place of the sunrise on December 25th. This is why the Three Kings "follow" the star in the east, in order to locate the sunrise -- the birth of the sun.

The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo, also known as Virgo the Virgin. Virgo in Latin means virgin. The ancient glyph for Virgo is the altered "m". This is why Mary along with other virgin mothers, such as Adonis's mother Myrrha, or Buddha's mother Maya begin with an M.
Myrrha, mother of Adonis
Mary, mother of Jesus
Maia, mother of Hermes
Mariana/Mandane, mother of Cyrus
Miriam, mother of Moses
Miriam, mother ofm Joshua*
Maya, mother of Buddha
Maritala, mother of Krishna**

Virgo is also referred to as the House of Bread, and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat. This House of Bread and its symbol of wheat represents August and September, the time of harvest. In turn, Bethlehem, in fact, literally translates to "house of bread." Bethlehem is thus a reference to the constellation Virgo, a place in the sky, not on Earth.

Ever wonder why Jesus and numerous other Sun Gods share the crucifixion, 3-day death, and resurrection concept?

It is the Sun's transition period before it shifts its direction back into the Northern Hemisphere, bringing Spring, and thus salvation.
From the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the days become shorter and colder. From the perspective of the northern hemisphere, the sun appears to move south and get smaller and more scarce. The shortening of the days and the expiration of the crops when approaching the winter solstice symbolized the process of death to the ancients. It was the death of the Sun. By December 22nd, the Sun's demise was fully realized, for the Sun, having moved south continually for 6 months, makes it to it's lowest point in the sky. Here a curious thing occurs: the Sun stops moving south, at least perceivably, for 3 days. During this 3 day pause, the Sun resides in the vicinity of the Southern Cross, or Crux, constellation. After this time on December 25th, the Sun moves 1 degree, this time north, foreshadowing longer days, warmth, and Spring. And thus it was said: the Sun died on the cross, was dead for 3 days, only to be resurrected or born again. This is why Jesus and numerous other Sun Gods share the crucifixion, 3-day death, and resurrection concept. They did not celebrate the resurrection of the Sun until the spring equinox, or Easter. This is because at the spring equinox, the Sun officially overpowers the evil darkness, as daytime thereafter becomes longer in duration than night, and the revitalizing conditions of spring emerge.

The most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus regards the 12 disciples. They are simply the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, which Jesus, being the Sun, travels about with. the number 12 is replete throughout the Bible. This text has more to do with astrology than anything else.
Some instances of twelve in the Bible which, in fact, symbolically reflect the 12 constellations of the Zodiac:
The 12 Apostles
The 12 Tribes of Israel
The 12 Judges of Israel
The 12 Great Patriarchs
The 12 (O.T.) Prophets
The 12 Kings of Israel
The 12 Princes of Israel
The cross of the Zodiac, the figurative life of the Sun, this was not just an artistic expression or tool to track the Sun's movements. It was also a Pagan spiritual symbol. This is not a symbol of Christianity. It is a Pagan adaptation of the cross of the Zodiac. This is why Jesus in early occult art is always shown with his head on the cross,

for Jesus is the Sun, the Sun of God, the Light of the World, the Risen Savior, who will "come again," as it does every morning, the Glory of God who defends against the works of darkness, as he is "born again" every morning, and can be seen "coming in the clouds, up in Heaven, with his "Crown of Thorns, or, sun rays.

Of the many astrological-astronomical metaphors in the Bible, one of the most important has to do with the ages. Throughout the scripture there are numerous references to the "Age." In order to understand this, we need to be familiar with the phenomenon known as the precession of the equinoxes. The ancient Egyptians along with cultures long before them recognized that approximately every 2150 years the sunrise on the morning of the spring equinox would occur at a different sign of the Zodiac. It is a Pagan adaptation of the cross of the Zodiac.

This has to do with a slow angular wobble that the Earth maintains as it rotates on it's axis. It is called a precession because the constellations go backwards, rather than through the normal yearly cycle. The amount of time that it takes for the precession to go through all 12 signs is roughly 25,765 years. This is also called the "Great Year," and ancient societies were very aware of this. They referred to each 2150 year period as an "age." From 4300 b.c. to 2150 b.c., it was the Age of Taurus, the Bull. From 2150 b.c. to 1 a.d., it was the Age of Aries, the Ram, and from 1 a.d. to 2150 a.d. it is the Age of Pisces, the age we are still in to this day, and in and around 2150, we will enter the new age: the Age of Aquarius.

The Bible reflects, broadly speaking, a symbolic movement through 3 ages, while foreshadowing a 4th. In the Old Testament when Moses comes down Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments, he is very upset to see his people worshiping a golden bull calf. In fact, he shattered the stone tablets and instructed his people to kill each other in order to purify themselves. Most Biblical scholars would attribute this anger to the fact that the Israelites were worshiping a false idol, or something to that effect. The reality is that the golden bull is Taurus the Bull, and Moses represents the new Age of Aries the Ram. This is why Jews even today still blow the Ram's horn.

Moses represents the new Age of Aries, and upon the new age, everyone must shed the old age. Other deities mark these transitions as well, a pre-Christian god who kills the bull, in the same symbology.

Jesus is the figure who ushers in the age following Aries, the Age of Pisces the Two Fish. Fish symbolism is very abundant in the New Testament. Jesus feeds 5000 people with bread and "2 fish." When he begins his ministry walking along Galilei, he befriends 2 fisherman, who follow him. It is a Pagan astrological symbolism for the Sun's Kingdom during the Age of Pisces.
"As Moses was created to usher in the Age of Aries, so was Jesus to serve as the Avatar of the Age of Pisces, which is evident from the abundant fish imagery used throughout the gospel tale. This zodiacal connection has been so suppressed that people with the fish symbol on the back of their cars have no idea what it stands for, although they are fallaciously told it represents "ICHTHYS," as anagram for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior," ichthys also being the Greek word for fish."

We have all heard about the end times and the end of the world. Apart from the cartoonish depictions in the Book of Revelation, the main source of this idea comes from Matthew 28:20, where Jesus says "I will be with you even to the end of the world." However, in King James Version, "world" is a mistranslation, among many mistranslations. The actual word being used is "aeon", which means "age." "I will be with you even to the end of the age." Which is true, as Jesus' Solar Piscean personification will end when the Sun enters the Age of Aquarius. The entire concept of end times and the end of the world is a misinterpreted astrological allegory.

Let's tell that to the approximately 100 million people in America who believe the end of the world is coming.

SMiles

[champu 1]

One of the parameters that we use to define our spacecraft orbits is called the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node, and is defined as the longitude where the spacecraft crosses from the southern hemisphere into the northern hemisphere referenced to the first point of Aries. But since this point no longer has any sidereal meaning, the continued use of the name is mostly a novelty.

That's about the extent to which I pay attention to astrology.