Astrology- Blame it on the Stars !

There was this article in the Newspapers the other day. Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti- an organization that fights superstitions in society, threw the gauntlet at the astrologers in Pune- predict the results of the assembly elections correctly and win Rs. 21 lakh. Given the beeline that politicians make for visiting astrologers during election time, must say- 21 lakh is no big deal ! And even if the astrologers lose the bet, I’m pretty sure that its not going to reduce their customers or anything.

I have always been intrigued by Astrology- or rather, by people’s belief in it. Nearly all people I know believe it at some level or other. Some perfectly sane people actually visit the astrologer ; while for some others, it may be restricted to reading the daily horoscope.

Human beings have always had an inherent curiosity about the future. For tens of thousands of years man has looked up at the night sky and asked himself, “What does it all mean?” Whenever someone is in difficulty ; he is curious to know when his miseries will end. Many answers have been suggested. One of the oldest is provided by astrology: the belief that the stars and planets have controlling influences on our lives. Sometimes, its not just stars and planets- it may be tarot cards ; or may take the form of palmistry; bone throwing, anyone ?

For me, there is something innately senseless that I find in astrology. For example, if you are talking about predictions based on stars – All astrologers say that there are 3 types of astrological signs for each person-
1) Your Sun Sign: Based on the position of the sun at the time of the year you were born in. Simply, the ‘daily horoscope’ in the newspapers. Astrologers claim that your Sun sign describes your basic ego.
2) Your Moon sign: Based on the phase of the moon at the time of your birth- takes into account the time, date and place you were born in- your Patrika. The Moon supposedly symbolizes your inner self, the part of you that responds from habit, feelings, and instinct. Your emotional inner self, known only to you, and your near- and-dear ones.
3) Your Ascendant/ Rising sign: It is literally the sign that was rising on the Eastern horizon of the sky in the place and at the moment of your birth. Now this one is supposed to describe the facade you show the rest of the world.

Given that all the above are true, how can the ‘Daily Horoscope’ guy tell me how my day is going to be, just looking at my sun sign ? Who is gonna consider my moon and ascendant sign ? When someone looks at my palm, and tells me how long I am going to live, more rational questions jump to my mind. Suppose that *God forbid* an earthquake occurs somewhere, and all people living in that area are killed. Then does it mean that at that instant, Death was written in everybody’s horoscope, or on each one’s palm ? It can’t get more ridiculous and far-fetched than this.

On a personal level, I do believe that certain things, which are not always in your control, influence your life. It may be the stars and planets, who knows ? But for one thing- I firmly believe that no person is smart enough to look at my horoscope or my palm or my signs and accurately tell me what is going to happen in the future. No way! One thing that I particularly dislike about astrology is- if you happen to read your horoscope or something, it starts playing on your mind. You start relating things that were supposed to happen and things that actually happened, and then make imaginary connections between them. A fool’s pursuit, if you ask me. And its rather convenient too- failed to do what you wanted to? Blame it on the Stars

At any rate, the ‘Daily Horoscope’ column is a fun read- but just that !