When people talk or debate about Astrology it is nothing but prediction. People who consult an Astrologer do so for prediction, not for figuring out on which day Sri Rama Navami falls or Sri Jayanthi is to be celebrated. How many know why Sri Rama navami is not on a navami sometimes? How many know why Sri Jayanthi is sometimes not on an Astami or Rohini? How many want to understand why there is adhika masam? Even all these little computations are mere trivialities compared to what our ancestors achieved.
Preparing the panjangam is based on tables left to us from hoary ancestors. How many Astrologers even understand why these tables work, I wonder?
So, I think it is not proper to suggest that Astrology is anything more than prediction.
Why?
Governments are not the authority in these matters. Governments are often motivated by political considerations. The current DMK government wants Tamil New Year to be Thai 1st, most TBs resist this idea. Offering university degrees of any kind in Astrology is also politically motivated by Hindutva politicians. So, I see no reason to defer to the government to decide what is art, what is science, or anything like that.
Economics is much more than just prediction. When it come to prediction, they use scientific statistical techniques that try to make the best possible prediction. They provide margin of error and level of confidence for the predictions. Economists are constantly working to reduce the margin of error and improve the confidence level.
None of these is true in the case of Astrology. The only similarity is both economists and astrologers get predictions wrong. This is a superficial similarity. Economists work hard to figure out why their predictions go wrong and are trying to improve their methodologies. Astrologers have no clue. They don't even know why it is supposed to work in the first place, let alone why they get things wrong. But they will grandly proclaim one thing or another as sure shot reasons for their predictions going wrong, never taking any responsibility.
Further, economists never claim the level of certitude the astrologers claim. Economists themselves admit the margin for error. A Standford Economist is supposed to start his lectures with the caveat, "The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”
This why, I think, comparing Economics and Astrology is like comparing மொட்டத்தலை and மொழங்கால்.
I would like to see this stated by Brahmnical Matams. If they do, I will be among the first to applaud. But I don't see it coming in my life time.
I don't think the truth will ever come out. That is a shame because the cloud of suspicion will never get lifted otherwise.
Cheers!
From an e-mail i received,
Why Astrology Works.
Astrology works because we have freewill.
Freedom of choice is wired into the very core of what we are. 1 Human beings, especially, are the “grown ups” all life on earth. We are “adults” with fullest access to our inherent freewill. Adults are held responsible for their actions.
Astrology works because we have freewill and are therefore responsible for our actions. Yes, there is a lot of cool, far-out stuff like electromagnetic ketheric interplanetary gravitons and quantum quarks and all that interesting stuff, yeah. But, none of that is the real reason Astrology works. Astrology works because we are 100% responsible for every decision we make and every action we take.
Plain and simple.
Who holds us accountable for our choices?
The universe herself.
Why does she bother?
Because she is our “mother” and wants to help us evolve. The more selfishly we use our freewill the more she “punishes” us. The more selflessly we chose to live, the more she “rewards” us. This is a simple and effective technique which Pavlov is credited for articulating.
If you are a mother or a father you know how much work it is to take care of a child. But in a sense your work is more or less “done” after 20 years or so, right? Not so with mother nature. A soul takes lifetimes to “grow up”, not years. Mother nature’s work of raising her children by helping encouraging our good choices (selfless) and discouraging our bad choices (selfish) is something which is not so mainly concerned with the very small boundary of the conscious mind in a single lifetime. It works instead in the gigantic subconscious awareness of the soul, which spans countless lifetimes.
We often call this whole shebang “the law of Karma.” But it is not really a law so much as it is love. It is the love of our mother - the universe herself - which causes her to make the enormous effort to help us “grow up” and evolve.
Astrology works because we have a “mother” looking after us.
Does this comfort you? It really should. You should know that you are safe in the lap of your mother. Even though she may be spanking you - her intention is always loving and kind.
How do the signs and planets fit into this picture?
Our sacred mother, the Universe, is in constant complex motion to deliver deserved punishments and rewards to the countless living beings who inhabit her. In that sense she is like the most sophisticated and elaborate clockwork. The gears and wheels of her inner workings are mysterious, quantum things - but the planets and stars that we can see with our naked eyes in the sky are exactly like hands on the face of the clock that is the universe.
Astrology is the science of “telling time.”
When you were born, the universe - all the stars and planets we can see with our eyes in the sky - were in an absolutely unique configuration, like hands on the face of an enormous and complex clock. The universe moved those stars and planets into that configuration as a result of the inner movements of her hidden clockwork, in constant motion to bring you the specific rewards and lessons you deserve and require in your current lifetime to help you evolve as a spiritual being.
This is the real reason why the position of the planets and stars at the time of your birth tells what “destiny” awaits you in your life.
Why has mother nature bothered to create a face for her clockwork?
The give you a chance to evolve faster and more joyfully.
She created a face for the clockwork and taught humanity in very ancient times how to read her clock. Why, so that you can better understand yourself, and the meaning and purpose of the events in your life. And what is the purpose of that? So that you evolve more joyfully and effectively towards your ultimate enlightenment.
Those who she blesses continue to understand the science of astrology. There are very few, but such persons can help humanity evolve at fantastically accelerated rates. So, I would say, it is your amazing opportunity to be one of the rare humans who can avail yourself of the divine blessing of astrology. Perhaps even a few of you are destined to yourself become true astrologers?!
- VDC
1 According the Bhagavad Gita, the spiritual core possesses the same eternal freedom as God posseses: “mamaivamsha jiva-loke, jiva-bhuta sanatana”
