Does Astrology Deserve a Second Look?
Astrology – that demonic foolishness of psychics, the dreadful life of superstition, the means by which Nancy Reagan corrupted the White House. How many ways can we dismiss Astrology as something not of sane purpose? Have we been unfair? I only know that I have. I never gave Astrology a first look. I dismissed the idea without considering any possibility of right or wrong. My culture said Astrology was at best foolishness and at worst Devil inspired. Today I ask, does Astrology deserve a second look? Bear with me you skeptics of disbelief.
Consider this, when those Mormon Missionaries come knocking at your door do you invite them in for a cold glass of water – or do you dismiss their faith because you already have your own? Or do you dismiss the Mormon faith because you heard about something called polygamy and prefer to think of it as something unique to Mormons rather than think about the behavior in terms of the Old Testament?
How about those Jehovah Witnesses or the 7th Day Adventists? How do you receive them on your front porch at dinner time? Get out of here people, I am trying to eat the body and blood of Christ – (sorry, that is just the Catholics).
Does any mainstream religion ask us to dismiss reason? Actually, all religions ask for some leeway – without the suspension of disbelief we would never take up the mantle of Christ – or any other God like creature. In this case “suspension of disbelief” is called faith. Suspension of disbelief is great while watching that movie about The Avengers – but not so credible when considering matters of the soul itself. For that matter, what the heck is a ‘soul’?
In this quest for truth around the concepts of spirit, soul, salvation, and sanity I have wandered many paths. Back in the 1980’s I walked some distance down the path of Carl Jung – the student of Freud who believed in a spiritual self. That path was so different than my cultural experience of the time that I backed out and took a different route. It turns out that both routes pointed forward – but one has a longer stretch to get to truth. Either that or it just defines truth more simply such that great effort is not required. My travels have brought me back to the path of Jung.
Like Christianity and other faith based practices, there are a couple of leaps of faith one has to take to buy into Jung. The one I like is the process of individuation. Jung hypothesized a process of psychological maturation and attainment of self-knowledge. Now that’s what I’m talking about – if I may be so cliche. Think about that: being psychologically mature. Wow, I know people who live safe lives and never get into any trouble – they are very boring people. The process of individuation requires the acceptance of our being synchronized with nature – synchronization. On the surface this sounds pretty straight forward – but synchronization is a two-way street – we speak to nature and nature responds. Global warming might be an example of nature talking back.
The possibilities of psychological maturation are so inviting that I have to explore the process. Here is where it gets tricky – if you come from a culture similar to mine. Synchronization implies listening to your environment – but is that environment, nature, limited to the planet Earth. You get it now. You see where I am going. But be patient, think about this. Astrology is as foreign to us as the Christian faith was to the Native Americans. And get this, the Native Americans had to choose between the Catholics and the Puritans – or dismiss Christianity all together. If we humans interact with nature then can we consider the entire universe our environment?
I have not studied Astrology, yet. I do accept that Astrology has been given a bad name by the local daily Horoscope. (I read it anyway). Consider that Astrology was perhaps an ancient faith based proposition. Well, the idea of a world wide flood and and Exodus are also ancient propositions. More than that, if the only thing you knew about Christianity was what Pat Robertson says, then you might easily dismiss all Christians as wacky lunatics.
If your judgement of Astrology is based on the daily newspaper horoscope then perhaps you, and I, have done a disservice to an ancient belief system.
I am not advocating for Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Catholics, 7th Day Adventists, or Astrology. I am just proposing that we be less certain of ourselves, that we keep an open mind. Who knows, that Native American may have been more accurate in his spirituality than was the Jesuit Priest trying to civilize him.
Now, how about those solar flares? Do they effect us or not?
Comment by PotterE on 31 October 2012:
I have received Witnesses into my home for discussion, read Joseph Smith’s account of finding the tablets, and, studied astrology. I’m a curious guy.
Raised Lutheran and now a member of the U.C.C., United Church of Crist, I haven’t found any of them superior to my own faith. I don’t hold Mormons in disdain, or Jehovah’s witnesses. Astrology is another system of belief that is useful, in its way, for studying the human condition, but its predictive value is what is suspect. Mormon’s would be just fine with me if Brigham Young hadn’t been the one to become the foundational principle of the LDS. Joseph Smith, despite similarly fantastical claims to the Old Testament, (read similarly plausible,) was from all accounts a decent man.
So, if you’re right in that if we recognize that they all require the suspension of belief at some point, knowing that allows me to look from a distance at the good in the system without judging too harshly or feeling the need to convert. I think that maturation.
Good read. Thank you.
Comment by PotterE on 1 November 2012:
Just this evening I read an article about a Mormon historian. He is described by many in the reviews or his book, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, on Amazon as a peerless scholar of Mormon history. The article, The Case of the Mormon Historian – What happened when Michael Quinn challenged the history of the church he loved, by David Haglund, concerns itself with what happens to him and others who cause Mormons to question church doctrine.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2012/11/d_michael_quinn_and_mormon_excommunication_the_complicated_life_of_a_mormon.html
I think that it might be a good book to read through the winter.
Comment by Bryan on 3 November 2012:
I just read the article “The Case of the Mormon Historian”. That article is absolutely frightening!! For a top Mormon leader to say “Some things that are true are not very useful.”; that is simply frightening. More so, since a Mormon is distressingly close to possibly being elected president of the United States! What is even further unbelievable is that Quinn groveled before Mormon authorities for mercy!!! How can free men be so small?? I will defend a Mormon’s right to his belief but I know that full access to all facts should be the only basis for any belief. I condemn anyone who hides from the truth or intimidates someone trying to tell the truth.