Astrology & Science

It is not unusual to hear someone ask if I really believe in astrology. It is interesting to note that astrology has been relegated to the domain of belief, of faith. In contrast it is assumed nowadays that science is known and factual. However, since a very small percentage of people actually do research or experiments, for most people, science and scientific findings are actually part of a belief system. Science has become a kind of religion and a very dogmatic one at that. People who question the dogma are quickly and often aggressively disposed of. This is especially true today of medicine and also of the starry heavens. What ever happened to keeping an open mind and the free exchange of ideas?


A new book has just been published that suggests that it is time to reconsider the prevailing views on astrology--Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas. Tarnas takes a broad historical perspective in his approach. He draws on the ideas of Carl Jung regarding synchronicity and archetypes. He suggests that astrological patterns are not concretely predictive but rather archetypally predictive.

The book reports on extensive research done by Tarnas on the changing position of the planets in relation to each other and he relates specific relationships to major events in history. An example is the connection of the planets Uranus and Pluto at the time of the French Revolution and during the 1960’s.

He quotes Johannes Kepler as having said in relation to astrological aspects: Experience, more than anything else, gives credibility to the effectiveness of aspects. This is so clear that it can be denied only by those who themselves have not tried them.







Technorati tags: astrology Cosmos and Psyche