Astrology Explored

Imagine that there are only three types of cats. Over the years, people observed that each type of cat diplayed distinct responses to their environment. One type of cat was very aggressive, we’ll call him the Red Cat type. Another type, the Yellow cat, was not aggressive, and ran away when confronted with trouble. Another type of cat was unpredictible in his responses, sometimes aggressive, sometimes not. We’ll call him the Cerulean Cat. Over the years, the interest in the different types of cats peaked and waned. At times the study of the cats was very serious, with thorough investigations of why the cats acted differently. Other times the study of cat behavior was not deemed worth investigation, and the people who studied it weren’t taken seriously. However, it was clear to people who studied the Red, Yellow and Cerulean cats that the animals acted differently and they continued to their studies. However, despite many years of observations by the people who studied cat behavior, some people refused to believe that the different colors of cats acted differently, and called the people who studied the cats silly and superstitous, even though they didn’t study the subject themselves.

Skeptics who publicly deride astrology as superstition with no basis in fact do no one favors.

People like the Chancellor of Boston University, JohnSilber show a profound lack of knowledge on the subject matter. Furthermore, skeptics even attempt to disprove astrology, without following the guidelines of rigorous scientific procedure. Track this link to check out what The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has designed as classroom activities to “disprove” astrology. The activity Testing Astrology with the Birthdays of Presidents makes a fundamental assumption that:

“astrologers will tell you that the Sun sign (which is the sign of the zodiac the Sun was in when a individual was born) is a crucial factor for the occupation a person chooses”

and then makes the leap that if that is true then all or most of the presidents should share a birthsign. First, the people who wrote this exercise is ignoring what astrologers do say and that is that all the planets, the signs those planets fall in, the houses those planets occupy and the aspects the planets make to each other influence the personality and life choices. In other words, their assumption is too general to test.

Second, the design of this classroom activity is poor. It makes an assumption that there are an equal number of births per month, while in fact, there is significant variation in the number born each month. In the United States, more Leos and Cancers are born than other signs, while Capricorns and Aquarians have the fewest births. Failing to take in account the actual distribution of births skews the results.

This activity only proves that some will bandy about the trappings of scientific inquiry without subscribing to its rigours.

Now take a look at an astrological study of U. S. Presidents that uses method to produce results. U.S. Presidents Astrological Analysis theorizes that the charts presidents will share common features. While again this is a general assumption, here the difference that it is not ignoring the basic tenets of astrology. It is a fishing expedition for sure, but he hauls up a catch; this small group of people do share common elements in their charts. Among other things:

“Actually half of the presidents had an Chiron-Juno aspect. As we all know Chiron is an asteroid which indicates the guide and the bridge between old structures (Saturn) and new ones (Uranus). Juno is about relationships and partnerships. This combination, Chiron - Juno, show us a person which has strong abilities to use ability to make partnerships for promoting an idea or to make a change.

Fifty percent of anything is statistically significant and shows there is something to this astrology business.

While the people of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific are busy putting the “fun” back in fundamentalism, we astrologers will keep working to define and articulate the metrics of our work.