What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

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_Ray A

What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Ray A »

Astrology is supposed to be a perverted form of astronomy.

However:

Astrology (from Greek ἄστρον, astron, "constellation, star"; and -λογία, -logia, "the study of") is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer or, more rarely, an astrologist.

Numerous traditions and applications employing astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings in the 3rd millennium BC. Astrology has played an important role in the shaping of culture, early astronomy, the Vedas,[1] the Bible,[2] and various disciplines throughout history. In fact, astrology and astronomy were often indistinguishable before the modern era, with the desire for predictive and divinatory knowledge one of the primary motivating factors for astronomical observation. Astronomy began to diverge from astrology after a period of gradual separation from the Renaissance up until the 18th century. Eventually, astronomy distinguished itself as the scientific study of astronomical objects and phenomena without regard to the astrological understandings of these phenomena.


Now I don't mean this to necessarily be a serious post, but I'd be interested in your thoughts. Do you think there's anything to astrology? Or is it all just based on superstition?

Do you find that star signs that are supposed to be compatible with yours, really are so? I don't read, and never read horoscopes any more seriously than I did Dagwood and Blondie comics. However, and it's probably all in my imagination, I've found myself extraordinarily compatible with people born under the star sign of Pisces, especially if they were born in early March. So do astrological assessments of star signs, behaviour and personality come anywhere near reality? I'm Virgo, by the way.

I suppose this is also connected to the idea that the Moon influences not only the tides, but brain function, hence the origin of the word "lunatic". Can the stars really influence us?

Is there a "chemistry" between certain people, and if this chemistry cannot be explained by the stars, how else can it be explained? By mutual ideas, likes and dislikes, and two people just happening to be on the same "wavelength"? In short, what creates "chemistry" or "connections" between people? Regardless of astrology, I find myself able to "connect" to certain people much easier than others, even though they have very opposite ideas to mine.

So why do we "connect" with some, but not others?

Contemporary scientists such as Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking regard astrology as unscientific,[43][44] and those such as Andrew Fraknoi of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific have labeled it a pseudoscience.[45] In 1975, the American Humanist Association characterized those who have faith in astrology as doing so "in spite of the fact that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary".[10] Astronomer Carl Sagan found himself unable to sign the statement, not because he felt astrology was valid, but because he found the statement's tone authoritarian.[46][47] Sagan stated that he would instead have been willing to sign a statement describing and refuting the principal tenets of astrological belief, which he believed would have been more persuasive and would have produced less controversy than the circulated statement.[48]


Anecdote: My father was a strong believer in Astrology/horoscopes, and on one occasion paid a princely sum to have his personal horoscope read by a "professional". He was told that he would die abroad, in a foreign country, so he developed a phobia of staying too long in any foreign country. He died in the land of his birth.

Virgo and Friendship:

People look up to Virgo for friends because they are straight thinkers and solve problems logically. They are truthful, loyal and determined. Some people might find them cold or emotionally detached because they live in their minds, not in their emotions and feelings. It might be hard to pin down how a Virgo friend is feeling because they easily live in denial. A person who is able to read deep into another person will notice when Virgo is not well but if they confront them about it, they would rather retreat then talk about it. It is best to keep your emotional distance from a Virgo friend unless they open up to you first. Virgo might try to analyze and control a friend's life but only with the idea that they will improve their life, not purely for the sake of controlling. Be patient with your Virgo friend and understand that their recommendations are only to make your life better.


What's your star sign, and does it reflect your real personality? Or is this all just mumbo-jumbo?
_Jersey Girl
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Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Jersey Girl »

I used to read my horoscope daily as a teenager. I haven't looked at one in years. I think that according to some descriptions, they do fit me. I've referred to my sign online whenever I couldn't make my mind up on a position as "the fishes are talking" as in "two fishes swimming in opposite directions".

You do see where I'm going with this, dontcha?

Ray A wrote:However, and it's probably all in my imagination, I've found myself extraordinarily compatible with people born under the star sign of Pisces, especially if they were born in early March. So do astrological assessments of star signs, behaviour and personality come anywhere near reality? I'm Virgo, by the way.



My birthday is the first week of March.
:lol:
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
_Ray A

Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Ray A »

Jersey Girl wrote:
My birthday is the first week of March.
:lol:


Online or offline? :wink:

For the record, I don't think online personalities have anything to do with this. I'm talking about "real life".

Edit: My ex-wife was an early March Pisces. But we did get along great. Her new partner was also a Virgo, like me.
_Jersey Girl
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Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Jersey Girl »

Online or offline?


Online, offline, in real life, and IUL.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
_KimberlyAnn
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Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _KimberlyAnn »

Horoscopes are lies. Like psychic readings. Like drunken "I love you's." And like when Dad says "I took Geraldo the stray dog to a nice lady who lives on a farm out in the country." :wink:

KA--A Taurus
_Ray A

Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Ray A »

KimberlyAnn wrote:Horoscopes are lies. Like psychic readings. Like drunken "I love you's." And like when Dad says "I took Geraldo the stray dog to a nice lady who lives on a farm out in the country." :wink:

KA--A Taurus


So KA, do you think that there's a "chemistry" between certain people, but not others, which has no rational explanation? Or do you think this is just imagination? Maybe we fabricate the idea that we get along better with some than others, or just make it happen because we want it to? Or is there sometimes a "connection" we can't explain?
_KimberlyAnn
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Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _KimberlyAnn »

Ray A wrote:
KimberlyAnn wrote:Horoscopes are lies. Like psychic readings. Like drunken "I love you's." And like when Dad says "I took Geraldo the stray dog to a nice lady who lives on a farm out in the country." :wink:

KA--A Taurus


So KA, do you think that there's a "chemistry" between certain people, but not others, which has no rational explanation? Or do you think this is just imagination? Maybe we fabricate the idea that we get along better with some than others, or just make it happen because we want it to? Or is there sometimes a "connection" we can't explain?


I am utterly the last person one should ask about "chemistry" between certain people. I dunno. I think maybe it's all just in our heads. Not real.

KA
_Ray A

Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Ray A »

KimberlyAnn wrote:I am utterly the last person one should ask about "chemistry" between certain people. I dunno. I think maybe it's all just in our heads. Not real.


I don't think for a moment there's anything scientific about what I'm saying. I'm just exploring why there seems to me a definite "connection" I have with some, but not others. I really don't think this is my imagination. With some people I can feel like, though I've never met them but once or twice, I feel totally comfortable with them, yet with others others I feel like there's a "strain" there, no matter what is said. And these "connections" transcend personal, political or religious beliefs and differences. It's sort of "I like your company".

Maybe there should be some kind of scientific analysis of why this occurs. After all, science has explained everything else. :confused:
_Paracelsus
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Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _Paracelsus »

Ray A wrote:Now I don't mean this to necessarily be a serious post, but I'd be interested in your thoughts.
At last, two question easy to answer.

Ray A wrote: Do you think there's anything to astrology?
No.

Ray A wrote:Or is it all just based on superstition?
Yes.
I know of nothing poorer
Under the sun, than you, you Gods!
...
Should I honour you? Why?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe : Prometheus
_JonasS
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Re: What Do You Make Of Horoscopes?

Post by _JonasS »

I for one do not believe in the accuracy of horoscopes. Mainly because the sky will have changed and the position of constellations will have changed since horoscopes were first invented. I believe at one time, they would have meant something. I also don't believe that the reason we no longer have snow at Christmas is due to global warming. I believe this is simple due to a global season shift, that is, over time the seasons shift around the year as we know it. Most people will just write anything, or things that are vague enough to pass along as anything relative to the reader. Like the Barnum [sp?] effect. People believe and sometimes people's belief is enough to cause something to happen. Ray, I bet your father's life would have been much different had he not believed that he would die in another country. I believe we chose our ourcome. To conclude this short statement with an answer to the original question, I make bull crud out of Horoscopes, yet at one time I do think they would have meant more. However I do believe Old Wives' tales have something more to them than we know.


Ohh... But I do believe that star signs can describe a person somewhat. Not Horoscopes. When I was younger, I was given an interesting book by this lady my mum knew. She was super intelligent but somewhat, well actually a lot excentric. Pretty cool woman. It had the signs in it and what those signs mean. But not everyone applies to the sign they were born with in my opinion. I am far to lazy to achieve the goals I desire and usually start off well but then flop near the target (almost as though gravity is not 9.81, but heavier just at the end). I am Saggitarian.
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