Astrology?

     "This  is a joke, right?" someone asked me when I showed him
the labels I developed for Astr-4.0.  I had said that  I  planned
on mailing  a  copy  to  President Ronald Reagan and Wife.  After
assuring him that my many months of hard work on this program was
no joke, I started to wonder.

     Is Astrology valid?  How in the hell  can  it  be,  when  no
logical scientific vehicle can be found to account for an alleged
astrological influence?      This  question  has  been  asked  by
thousands of men and women throughout history, with few receiving
an answer they can be comfortable with.

     "It's synchronism, like  Jung  taught,"  some  opinion.  "As
Above,  so  below,"  others  say.  "On Earth as it is in Heaven,"
Jesus was said to tell us.  Many have offered  opinions  such  as
different  dimensions,  ethers,  subtle radiation, gravity waves,
and propagating vectors.  Most look for a physical means by which
to prove astrological influences.

     But can astrology be proven as valid?  The mind of humankind
often holds onto ideas and beliefs long after they  are  obsolete
or   no   longer   valid   (bigotry,  over  compensatory  defence
mechanisms, religious  intolerance,  etc.).     This   tends   to
invalidate  the  argument  that  "If  it  wasn't  valid Astrology
wouldn't have lasted 5,000 years."  Humans have been killing each
other for sport for  at  least  that  long,  which  seems  rather
anti-survival,  so the age of an event or belief cannot make it a
viable one.

     "I know it works.  My clients are very  satisfied  with  the
results," is  a  major  argument  made  for astrology.  But valid
though it may be for the individual, it does not offer any  means
for proof.    Satisfaction  cannot  be  placed  on  a scale to be
weighed and measured.  It only offers subjective opinion at best,
where the mind is fraught with mental gymnastics  consciously  or
otherwise.

     These days there are very many astrologers doing "research."
I  put  the word between quotes because their methods show a very
poor understanding of scientific inquiry and methodology at  best
for the  most part.  Some "researchers" into astrology often have
"significant results" at  times,  only  to  have  duplication  by
another team fail.

     Homosexuality  and  astrological indicators of homosexuality
has been sought for hundreds of years.    There  have  been  many
astrologers  who  have come up with indicators that "prove" their
method works,  only  to  have  their  method  fail  when  another
astrologer   tries   it.   (Most   astrologers   now   know  that
homosexuality cannot be deduced from the chart,  but  some  still
try.)

     Astrology is  NOT predictive.  An astrologer cannot say "You
have Sun in the XII and Venus in the IX Square Mars in the VI, so
you're going to be fat and bald by age 32."

     There is a story told by an astrologer about  a  client  who
came to  her  for  advice.    The  client  had  never  been to an
astrologer, and expected the astrologer to  know  all  about  her
(the client)  just  by  reading her chart.  After the client said
several times "Well, can't you tell?" the astrologer called for a
break to give her client a short spill about astrology.

     "Astrology cannot tell me that your husband's name was John,
and that he died in the Navy in 1943, and that  you  have  a  son
who's in the army over seas, and that your son is getting married
next week.  It just isn't possible."

     The  client  looked  up  at the astrologer and said "But all
that's correct. . . ."

     This story may or may not be true.  The point is,  astrology
is not  predictive.  It only suggests, and points a direction for
further questing.

     Astrology is an art form.  As such, the astrologer may  make
up  her  or  his own rules, and apply them as she or he sees fit.
What works for one astrologer may not work for another.    That's
why there  are  so  many  house systems, and even zodiacs!  One's
reality is up to one's self, and what one makes of it.  There are
no rules to astrology.  If you don't like the  way  something  is
done, try something new.

     The houses  don't have to be numbered counter clockwise.  If
you, the astrologer, want the  houses  to  go  clockwise,  that's
fine.  It's  up to you.  I don't presume to tell an artist to use
the colors and tools I prefer.  If you don't want  houses,  leave
them out.  If you don't like Virgo, leave it out too.  See what I
mean?  Your craft, your rules.

     I had written an article called "Asteroids I'd Like To See."
I  gave  them  a  name,  a  suggested  meaning,  and  a suggested
interpretation. "RAMBO" of course meaning that anyone with it  on
their  Moon  likes  to  sweat  a lot and shoot people, preferable
many, many times. "STUPIDITY" is an asteroid  whose  meaning,  no
doubt, you can probably figure out, unless it's on your Sun.

     The point?     If  I  had  given  these  made  up  asteroids
ephemerides of their own, I feel they would  be  valid  in  every
chart I draw up!  They would be valid for me, and they could take
directions, progressions, etc., and accurately time events.

     They  might  even  work  in your charts as well, if you like
them.  If  you  didn't  like  them,  and  thought  they  couldn't
possibly "work,"  they  wouldn't.   They'd just sit there like an
ink smudge on your chart and refuse to perform.

     And this is the heart of why  astrology  cannot  be  proven.
Art,  as is life and love, is always and forever only in the mind
of humankind.  It cannot be measured, sliced,  examined,  or  put
under a microscope.  Indeed, it cannot even be taught.  Astrology
is  an  art  form,  and  as  such  is  beyond  laws,  rules,  and
restrictions.

     With Astr-4.0 you have the brush and  canvas.    Please,  go
paint.

					David Rice Document 2 Astr-4.0