What is Astrology?

How Does Astrology Work?

Astrology works on many levels.

At the simplest level, it is not unlike a complex clock,that uses the motions of the planets in a similar way to the movements of the hands on a clock face.

For example, if someone looked at a clock on the wall, and it said 8:45 am on a weekday, then they may justifiably remark that in all likelihood, there is a lot of traffic right now as people are hurrying to work. The clock is not creating the rush hour traffic. It is simply acting as a reliable indicator of the time, and that information is interpreted by someone reading the dial of the clock.

In a similar manner, someone reading an astrology chart can interpret what the positions of the planets indicate, by interpreting this information, or making predictions based on accepted correlations acquired from practical observations over many lifetimes.

This is a way to use astrology from a linear perspective of time.

 

Part of the Antikythrea Mechanism. Attribution: Wikimedia Commons

We are discovering  ancient analog computing devices, that calculated the positions of the planets, allowing astrologers greater ease in calculating charts.

The Antikythrea Mechanism, uncovered from a ship wreck, is one of the more famous examples. It is dated to about 78 or 79 BC, and consisted of about 37 or more gears, of which 30 have survived. The device is purported to have calculated the movements and positions of the sun, moon and planets as well as eclipses.

Astrology is not tied to causality.

It is this quality of astrology that has placed it under the greatest attack, since a non-linear capability has been taken to imply that it does not have a mechanism and therefore is not really subject to scientific scrutiny or approval.

 In high school, most of us were taught that light behaves as if it were particle or a wave. In fact everything behaves as if it were particle or wave.

Particles interact in a linear way. Two particles colliding, for example, have predictable resulting trajectories. There are scientific laws that determine the behavior of both individual particles, and complex structures of particles. The description of these behaviors is termed the mechanism. When scientists are not provided with such a mechanism, then a description of a process, it's explanation, or it's understanding, is questioned.

Astrology does not work with mechanisms. It works with relationships, patterns, tendencies, and interpretations. It does not always give a yes or no answer. Where else have we encountered this kind of phenomena? Well, how about quantum computing?

As of this writing, various components of a quantum computer have been assembled, but the final construction of such a device has still eluded researchers. Part of the draw of a quantum computer, is its anticipated ability to break out of a linear programming model, vastly accelerating the computing process. However, one of the drawbacks encountered, is that the answer is not always yes or no, but can be maybe, or it depends on the question asked.

Astrology's Greatest Strength:

Perhaps the greatest strength of astrology, is that it works with a fundamental consequence of the universe being described from the standpoint of wave theory and the resulting quantum universe.

When we work with particles, and linear time, we are working with causality. In a causal universe, everything is a consequence of previous actions. In such a universe, if we can define enough of the variables, we are able to predict the outcomes of a present action.

Unfortunately, outside of a laboratory experiment, in the real world, predicting events that result from a vast interplay of underlying factors becomes an exercise in probability and brings into play significant levels of uncertainty.

On the other hand, the advantage that astrology has in revealing patterns and tendencies, is that it shows how we tune to the world around us. It is what we tune to that determines our direction in life.