Astrology?

[Shadow Wolf]

Heres a look at mine and why I dont claim it, objections highlighted.
My Libra Zodiac Sign: Personality

Intelligent, kind, and always willing to put others before themselves, Libras value harmony in all forms. Ruled by Venus, the planet of beauty, Libra adores a life that looks good. (what does that even mean?) As the master of compromise and diplomacy, Libra is adept at seeing all points of view, and excels at crafting compromises and effecting mediation between others. This sign has a rich inner life (what does that mean?) yet loves other people, and they're always happiest with a large group of friends, family, and coworkers on whom they can count.
...
An air sign, Libra can often be "up in the clouds," and while he or she is amazing at making big plans, follow through can be tricky. Working with detail-oriented signs, like Virgos or Capricorns, can help Libras actually manifest their dreams into reality, especially in the workspace. But don't call out Librans for daydreaming—their imagination is one of their biggest assets, and they often put their imagination to work by finding careers in the arts or in literature.
...
lthough Libra appears self-confident to outsiders, he or she might struggle with insecurity, especially as it relates to personal identity, which sometimes feels mutable. This sign's lifelong question is: "Who am I?" They may find their identity shifting based on where they are in their lives and who they're spending time with. In order to feel more confident in their identity, social Libras need to get comfortable spending time with themselves and getting to know their gut and their internal voice.

Most of these objections revolve around me having Asperrgers. A libra of someone of social finesse. An aspie is someone of social awkwardness. I've also have an acute awareness of myself and identity, do not work in those fields listed, have excellent follow through when I want something, am meticulously detailed, and I am uncomfortable in large groups.
How does this describe me or predict my behaviors?

 

[Good-Ole-Rebel]

I don't see many believers in astrology (of any variety) around RF. Are there any?

Do you believe astrology provides us with consistent, accurate descriptions of people's personalities? Or of future events? Or anything else other than the position of stars and planets in the sky?

My views are based upon me being a born-again Christian who views the Old and New Testaments as the written Word of God and Jesus Christ as the only Saviour.

Astrology is condemned by God in the Bible. Thus I do not see one being able to use it to know the future for himself or others.

But, astrology is the perversion of what God has done with the Zodiac. The Zodiac was created by God. (Job 38:32) And the Zodiac tells a story. It is the ancient revelation from God to man promising a Redeemer to come.

Because we now have a more perfect revelation in the written Word, the Bible, and the living Word, Jesus Christ, not much attention is given to the Gospel in the Heavenly bodies.

Good-Ole-Rebel

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Honestly, I view it all (astrology, tarot, fortune-telling, Ouija) as a form of entertainment. It's "neat" to think about what it would mean if there were actually something to it, and it's simply fun to listen to what craziness someone has to say. It's the same curiosity that leads you to listen to and enjoy a good story told. It is simply interesting to mull over what another person has come up with using their imagination - same with art, film, etc. Otherwise, I don't think there is a single shred of anything serious to these things.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I think astrology is useful in terms of archetypes and can have accurate psychological things to say about a person.

I am similar.

I have enjoyed astrology since I was a teenager, but see it (and use it) as a framework for understanding myself and others. This is rather than necessarily believing the grandiose claims of the mechanics behind it.

 

[Left Coast]

My older brother has been into astrology for decades. He could have been a professional but he never did it to make money.

Yes, I believe that astrology provides us with consistent, accurate descriptions of people's personalities.
It also can predict how we will get along with other personalities.

Fascinating! I didn't know you were an astrology believer, Trail. I'm interested in the evidence of these consistent accurate results, I've never seen it.

 

[PruePhillip]

I don't see many believers in astrology (of any variety) around RF. Are there any?

Do you believe astrology provides us with consistent, accurate descriptions of people's personalities? Or of future events? Or anything else other than the position of stars and planets in the sky?

It's another form of superstition.
It's very easy to verify its claims.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I've studied astrology for many years, and I'm a published author in the field (in a modest way). But I wouldn't say I "believed in" astrology any more than I'd say I "believed in" biology.

A lot of what people think is astrology isn't, like the newspaper sun-sign columns. These have been tested by comparing them with people's diaries and shown to be rubbish — and the test was carried out by the Scottish Astrological Association! That result was what most of us expected, since the method used seemed very dubious.

Back in 1980, an astrological conference in the UK devoted an afternoon to discussing the probable collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the decade. How many political commentators were expecting that event? But it seemed clear that the Soviet government was facing possible collapse, and that the cause would be a number of existing problems combining to create an insurmountable crisis.

Those who say there's nothing in it need to provide me with some evidence — I had a scientific education and I'm not impressed by unsubstantiated claims.

 

[RabbiO]

I'm a Capricorn. We don't believe in astrology. *


*On the off chance that someone does not recognize this post for it is - This is what is known as a joke.

 

[RedDragon94]

Do you believe astrology provides us with consistent, accurate descriptions of people's personalities? Or of future events? Or anything else other than the position of stars and planets in the sky?

I mean, I understand why people would think that astrology makes sense or helps them make sense of things. For me, it's just interesting to think about the symbolism of the planets and other heavenly bodies. Not sure if there's any correspondence to my existence. That feels a little to much like the world revolves around me.

 

[Left Coast]

I've studied astrology for many years, and I'm a published author in the field (in a modest way). But I wouldn't say I "believed in" astrology any more than I'd say I "believed in" biology.

A lot of what people think is astrology isn't, like the newspaper sun-sign columns. These have been tested by comparing them with people's diaries and shown to be rubbish — and the test was carried out by the Scottish Astrological Association! That result was what most of us expected, since the method used seemed very dubious.

Back in 1980, an astrological conference in the UK devoted an afternoon to discussing the probable collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the decade. How many political commentators were expecting that event? But it seemed clear that the Soviet government was facing possible collapse, and that the cause would be a number of existing problems combining to create an insurmountable crisis.

Those who say there's nothing in it need to provide me with some evidence — I had a scientific education and I'm not impressed by unsubstantiated claims.

Sorry, shifting the burden of proof won't work with me. If you believe there is "something in" astrology, the burden is on you to demonstrate it. I look forward to it.

Any notes or documentation from the 1980 UK conference? *

*To be clear, even if a group of British astrologers did predict the fall of the USSR in 1980, that wouldn't demonstrate that their reasons for believing it were justified or that the method was reliable.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Those who say there's nothing in it need to provide me with some evidence

That is not how it works. You make the claim, you furnish the evidence. Stars are suns far, far away, seeming to "pass by" only because that is how it appears asthe gears of the universe turn. We like patterns and meaning, even in arbitrary places and things, amd have looked to the stars. But they are just stars.
And many by the 80s were predicting the soon collapse of the Soviet Union. EvenI remember news stories about how poor it was, and Soviet Russia collapsing.

 

[Trailblazer]

Fascinating! I didn't know you were an astrology believer, Trail. I'm interested in the evidence of these consistent accurate results, I've never seen it.

I am not sure about the consistent accurate results since I do not know as much as my brother, but he has predicted things very accurately.

 

[Riders]

I agree, I would expect more people to be advocates for it. It's fun to play around with as a kind of game, like tarot cards. But I don't think it has any real predictive power.

I do believe there is some power in astrology and some predictions can be made. I relate to a lot of Capricorn stuff.
However not enough to spend time on it much but I have read few books.

 

[Spartan]

I don't see many believers in astrology (of any variety) around RF. Are there any?

Do you believe astrology provides us with consistent, accurate descriptions of people's personalities? Or of future events? Or anything else other than the position of stars and planets in the sky?

Astrology is a pseudoscience. It's a farce. Example:

The myth: That marriages and romantic relationships of people who have favorable Zodiac signs are more compatible and successful.

The science: A major study of divorces in a Midwestern city showed that couples were getting divorced at a uniform rate regardless of what Zodiac signs they had. (Source: "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal," by Terence Hines).

There's also a popular myth that people are more likely to act crazy or commit crimes when there's a full moon. So scientists conducted studies (read "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal," by Terence Hines - our textbook in one of my Psych classes), and what they found was that there was no correlation between full moons and increased crimes, etc. But what they did discover was that the real predictor of violence and wild behavior was Friday and Saturday nights - i.e the weekend.

https://www.amazon.com/Pseudoscience-Paranormal-Terence-Hines-ebook/dp/B003UD7RMS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2OQ7JSBJZ21KL&keywords=pseudoscience+and+the+paranormal&qid=1585003630&sprefix=pseudoscience+and+the+paran,aps,201&sr=8-1

 

[Spartan]

I do believe there is some power in astrology and some predictions can be made.

That's funny. See my post here: Astrology?

 

[Quintessence]

I don't see many believers in astrology (of any variety) around RF. Are there any?

Yes, provisionally.

The problem is the general public doesn't understand divination in general, whether we're talking astrology or any other form of it. Thus, for me to say I "believe in" it would leave the wrong impression, unfortunately.

The long and the short of it is I forced myself to get a basic education in the subject as part of my training program as a new Pagan. And it really was something I had to force myself to do at the time, as I held to the typical (and unsubstantiated) belief that astrology is pure bollocks that prevails in my culture. As it turned out, the only thing that was bollocks was my understanding of what astrology actually was and how it actually worked.

 

[Left Coast]

Yes, provisionally.

The problem is the general public doesn't understand divination in general, whether we're talking astrology or any other form of it. Thus, for me to say I "believe in" it would leave the wrong impression, unfortunately.

The long and the short of it is I forced myself to get a basic education in the subject as part of my training program as a new Pagan. And it really was something I had to force myself to do at the time, as I held to the typical (and unsubstantiated) belief that astrology is pure bollocks that prevails in my culture. As it turned out, the only thing that was bollocks was my understanding of what astrology actually was and how it actually worked.

So what is astrology and how does it work, actually?

 

[Quintessence]

So what is astrology and how does it work, actually?

Haha... I'm hardly an expert and it was quite a few years ago now that I did this deep dive study. What I remember taking away from it is that astrology is incredibly complex and can be used for a great many things - which is true of divination more generally, I suppose.

I remember thinking that all astrology boiled down to newspaper horoscopes, which is retrospectively hilarious and embarrassing. All those cover is a butchered version of sun sign prognostications, never mind that everybody's natal chart has signs associated with all the other celestial bodies and that natal charts aren't the only application of astrology. None of those things I had any awareness of before I looked into it. What I found most interesting about astrology is that it's a rich and fascinating system of symbolism. That is what I took out of it the most, because that symbolic language is used a lot in contemporary Paganism. It can be put to good use in the art of ritual. And art is a big part of practice, yeah?

So that's the main sense I "believe in" astrology - as a very awesome symbolic system that can be integrated into other activities. It is not a form of divination I practice myself because I learned it is way, way, waaaaay to complicated for me to want to mess with, frankly.

 

[Left Coast]

Haha... I'm hardly an expert and it was quite a few years ago now that I did this deep dive study. What I remember taking away from it is that astrology is incredibly complex and can be used for a great many things - which is true of divination more generally, I suppose.

I remember thinking that all astrology boiled down to newspaper horoscopes, which is retrospectively hilarious and embarrassing. All those cover is a butchered version of sun sign prognostications, never mind that everybody's natal chart has signs associated with all the other celestial bodies and that natal charts aren't the only application of astrology. None of those things I had any awareness of before I looked into it. What I found most interesting about astrology is that it's a rich and fascinating system of symbolism. That is what I took out of it the most, because that symbolic language is used a lot in contemporary Paganism. It can be put to good use in the art of ritual. And art is a big part of practice, yeah?

So that's the main sense I "believe in" astrology - as a very awesome symbolic system that can be integrated into other activities. It is not a form of divination I practice myself because I learned it is way, way, waaaaay to complicated for me to want to mess with, frankly.

I'm aware that astrology incorporates more than just a person's "sun sign" and have been told by believers/practitioners that we have a moon sign, rising sign, etc. Which can actually be opposites of each other. So that makes the system basically unfalsifiable because any outcome can be explained through some interpretation of one of the 4 signs that might apply to you, sometimes. So as a serious tool for accurate predictions of events or descriptions of personalities, it seems quite dubious.

What aspects of symbolism do you find yourself drawing from it, and how do you integrate them into your practice? What does your practice involve?

 

[pingpongpal]

Johannes Kepler, a Christian, set about to discredit astrology which I believe he did in showing that the planetary motion is governed by mathematical laws. He discovered that the planets traveled in elliptical orbits around the sun. Isaac Newton, another Christian, determined that the planetary motion is determined by the simple equation of the law of gravity: F = G*(M1 *M2)/ r**2. The Christians knew that the God of the Bible was God of order so they believed that there were simple formulas governing nature.