Two more examples of where astrology fails the test of validity include twin studies and the affect of precession. With twin studies, one sees how two people born at the same time and same place are able to lead lives completely different from each other, even though their astrological horoscope should work for both of them. The affect of precession is even more interesting.

As Earth spins through the universe, it “wobbles” along its axis due to the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. This wobble can be compared to the wobble that we see when we spin a top. Even when the top spins very fast, one can still see it make a small circle on the area it is spinning. The Earth does something very similar to this. The geographic North Pole makes a 23.5◦ arc around, what’s known as, the ecliptic pole. This precession proceeds at a rate of 1◦ for every 180 years.

Because of this, the placement of the constellations in the night sky, no longer conforms to their position in the original tropical zodiac. Every zodiac symbol is now off by 1 month. So if one is born in the constellation Virgo, they are actually in the constellation Libra, and so on. There is a separate type of astrology called: Sidereal Astrology. It does take into account, the precession of the planet. It does this by deducting ~24◦ from the constellations. Both versions still suffer from the fact that the constellations themselves, are not of equal size, and thus, do not fit neatly into the 12, 30◦ “slices” of the sky, that astrologers have assigned them to. As such, constellation overlap still occurs.

More examples include the affect of gravity (why worry about Saturn’s pull, when the moon’s pull is so much stronger!), to magnetic field affects (modern electronics produce magnetic fields much more powerful than Earth’s).

Astrology can be a fun and entertaining diversion for many, but one should always keep in mind that it is for entertainment purposes only.

"There is hardly an absurdity of the past that cannot be found flourishing somewhere in the present." - Will Durant

Page 3 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next