How many are already cringing at the mere mention of the word astrologer?
It's almost a gag reflex for some of us. But then, amateur astronomers are practically bred to criticize all things astrologic, and to discourage others from following that blasphemous starpath.
I've certainly done more than my fair share of astrology-bashing (Saber's Fractured Horoscopes is probably still floating around the internet somewhere).
So while it is certainly not my intention to leave readers with a grudging admiration of astrology and its practitioners, I would like to share some accumulated- albeit hard to swallow- perspectives regarding them.
Astrologers used to have one of the best gigs in town. Before telescopes came along, they were considered experts in philosophy, theology, and psychology, as well as masters of the stars. But the problem with being held in such high regard was that they eventually became the scapegoats for the kings' and emperors' bad decisions. This usually meant death or exile, causing many to shy away from professional astrology as a career goal. Still, there seemed to be marked personality characteristics common to different individuals whether it had to do with the stars or not. People continued to explore this, although they would never again bet their lives on it.
Meanwhile, in attempts to explain or disprove the correlation between heavenly bodies and Earthly existence, critical stargazers were noticing discrepancies in the movement of Sol and Luna among the other points of light in the sky. Made aware of these compounding eccentricities, even kings realized that the sky's motion was no longer a viable way to plan their day- much less start a war or run an empire.
Galileo may have turned the world on its ear with his Jovian observations, but he also made it chic to discover new facts about the stars and their motions. And although astrologers had already named most of the constellations and bright stars, the newly motivated astronomers continued using the already familiar terms. Ironically, this shared terminology is pretty much the reason many grit their teeth at astrology. And except for the shared terminology modern astrology and astronomy are totally different animals. They just happened to have been born in the same celestial jungle.
Astrology's relation to the physical universe is purely symbolic. Horoscopes and starsigns, for example, don't allow for precession. I used to joke that the Head Astrologers were simply lazy, and content to wait 13,000 years for the silly ecliptic to realign itself. In actuality, they simply don't care. It's not even fundamental to their pursuit. Horoscopes themselves, like fortune cookies, almost always give vague but sensible, positive advice. Accuracy is only rated by how well it helps one get through their life.
Also, there is no bad publicity. Without astrology and daily horoscopes in thousands of newspapers, how much media attention would the constellations and star-stuff get? Not much except for the occasional Pluto Status Update and some new planet pics every couple of years. Maybe we should instead be thanking astrologers for their misguided but prolific advertising.
While I admire the passionate and thorough spanking Phil Platt (of Bad Astronomy) gives astrology, I've nevertheless conceded two practical- if peripheral- benefits of horoscopes; It's often a daily reminder of- and many people's first exposure to- astronomical terms. And the 12 classic zodiac constellations are usually at least listed in proper order. Good reinforcement for learning ones way around the ecliptic.
Realizing or wanting to realize these astronomy-based benefits is another matter.
As a veteran starparty host, I've also found that astrology fans are some of the most appreciative guests at ones scope, assuming they're not scoffed at once they reveal their own stellar connection.
Lastly, any animosity toward astrology, or anything so innocent in life, only takes up that many more brain cells that could be used to enjoy ones own pursuits and passions. Especially the stars.
And if I've offended anyone over the course of this article I apologize. Unfortunately it's in my nature. I am, after all, a Scorpio.
Stephen Saber does not practice astrology, but defends its existence.
He curses the clouds from his home in Rock Island, Illinois.
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Jack and Jill went up to our moon to fetch a pail of water.
(After breaking his crown and her tumbling after they both got really weird.)
Jill set off to search the far side, while Jack was to take the pail and scout the near side.
Quite suddenly, Jack ran into Luna's only other inhabitant, the Mutant Beaver.
Formerly representing the constellation Beavius (now occupied by the Pleiades), the Mutant Beaver had been forever banished to our moon by Cepheus for gnawing on Perseus' ankle during his fight with Cetus to save the lovely Andromeda.
Finally having someone to talk to, the Mutant Beaver refuses to let Jack pass until he's heard every silly astronomy joke he's been making up during his exile.
Jack, to this day, endures the Mutant Beaver's ramblings.
Jill was last reported near the crater H.G. Wells.
Stephen Saber is an Astronomical League Master Observer and author of the 'Starhoppers Guide to the Herschel 400'.
He curses the clouds from his home in Rock Island, Illinois.
Watch for the children's book Saber's Fractured Astro Mythology coming soon.
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This beautiful parade of 7th and 8th magnitude stars wind south and east from etaTau in the Pleiades.
I imagine this stellar chain as the flowing locks of Lady Alcyone.
Best enjoyed thru binoculars and widefield scopes, the asterism is centered at RA 03 47.5 DEC 23 45.
[image courtesy of DSS]
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For some reason I can visualize a 45 light-minute trip to Jupiter better than the equivalent 5.4 Astronomical Units (810,000,000 km/502,200,000 miles) involved.
It's also an interesting temporal perspective to pass along to the public. When asked "How far is it to Saturn?" at Outreach events, the segue "It's about an hour and a half away" always piques more than sufficient curiosity.
Following are some of the lightspeed distances from Earth to our neighbors during 2008. (Pluto started the year some 10 light-minutes farther than Neptune and put another 1.4 minutes between them by December.)
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