I was going to title this post Science vs. Spirituality, but there has been enough discussion of that topic over the years, and I have participated. I used to get annoyed at the skeptics who demanded repeatable, continually verifiable proof for everything they examined. And I would argue back. “Can you scientifically prove love?” “Can you prove emotions?” On and on and on. I am sure I was as annoying to them as they were to me.
Once I came across a skeptics’ forum online, all of them furiously debunking everything they could get their hands on, and I posted “I am not a fraud. I sincerely believe I am practicing astrology. I have made accurate assessments and have plenty of satisfied clients. How do you explain that?” They theorized I was unconsciously doing “cold readings.” Apparently I tuned in to the person subconsciously and bluffed my way through it, believing I was actually practicing astrology. That didn’t explain the specific notes I made before a reading, and neither did it explain the accurate long distance pre-recorded readings I mailed to people in other locations. Then they wanted me to submit to testing. It involved dozens of detailed chart readings. And they wanted me to do this for free. It was too much. I didn’t want to make astrology a chore, and I didn’t need to prove it to me. Oh… and I’m lazy, too. I am sure they took my passing on the test as proof I was a fraud. Too bad.
There is science at work in astrology. Most astrologers are pretty good amateur astronomers. If they are in the night sky, I can usually find Mars & Jupiter, and on a good night, even Saturn. In the past, astrology and astronomy was the same thing until the history of science rewrote the past and rehabilitated all the astrologers into astronomers.
And I use math & astronomy to set up astrology charts. (Ok, the computer software has been doing it for me for years, but I did originally learn it by hand. I mentioned I was lazy, right?) But faced with all the possibilities inherent in an astrology chart, I have to follow my intuition, too. I have to figure out which planets and aspects will be strongest. I have to decide if this person took the high, low or middle road. And I have to come up with plans of action for areas of difficulty in the chart.
Science has its uses. So does spirituality. We have both a left and a right side to our brain. Thinking & feeling should complement each other. Every day police detectives get hunches, and then follow it up with logic and legwork. Every day a musician or a painter gets inspiration, and they follow it up by working out the details in notes or brush strokes. We need less polarization, not more. Last week I was talking with an acupuncturist. She said Western medicine is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t investigate the root causes of an illness. She said it is medicine based on rescuing you when you “hit the wall.” And I tend to agree, but I wouldn’t dismiss it. If I have burned myself, or injured myself in some other way, or developed some illness, I will be glad to have some pain or symptom relief while I work out the metaphysics of my ailment.
Someday, science and medicine will accept emotions, intuition and faith. I like to believe astrology is already working in harmony with both sides of that fence.
Closed minds are very hard to open. Plant the seed and hope it grows. Some things never change. Tony, you are a true spirit and knowing that is your truth. Keep up Cosmic Tuesday. I wait for it every week and look forward to next Tuesday.
Susie
It is refreshing to engage in dialogue, but once it becomes a debate instead of an exploration or exchange of ideas, my interest “wanes”. I don’t feel the need to convince, only to convey.
Thank you Tony for another great Cosmic post.
Something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while. Take three people, none of whom you know, none of whom know each other, and all of whom are born within a few years of each other. Have someone get the month, day, and year of each person’s birth and present them to you in random order. You get X amount of time to talk to each person. Your job as the astrologer is to correctly match up each person with their birthday.
The odds of getting all three correct by random guessing are 16%. With five people and five charts, the odds of getting all of them correct just by guessing is less than 1%. So, if you could consistently match up the charts right it would be pretty hard for the skeptics to dismiss.
This is not a test that I can pass right now, nor do I have a lot of time/energy to work on it. But, it sure would be fun to do.
It seems to me that every “debunker” I have ever ran into, has not studied astrology, knows little about it. Yet they have an opinion on it. Ain’t that funny.
Instead of you being tested, lets test them. Study it for a pre-determined amount of time, so they can actually form an opinion worth listening to, then get back to us.
It’s sooo easy to debunk something you know nothing about…