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“It is unkind to point to the Obvious to those who don’t want to see it.
But it’s worse to point out the Invisible to those convinced it doesn’t exist”.
Ingo Swann, advocate and researcher of the exceptional powers of the human mind
This article is about skeptics and Astrology. I tell of my experience with a “skeptic”, who has never read an astrological book in his life and yet claims all Astrology is nonsense.
Astrology, the queen of all sciences for millennia, has been attacked time and time again. A lot of those who criticized Astrology in the past had at least studied parts of it and were somewhat familiar with its philosophy and background. Unfortunately that is not the case the day, not by a long shot!
I am yet to meet, hear or read of ANY person who has studied Ancient Astrology and its philosophical foundations. Clue: it is not about planets causing things in this world to happen. It is about them signifying and mirroring events that happened, happen and will happen.
Skeptics and Astrology: my recent experience
This article is inspired by an experience I just had with a so called “skeptic”. I was not going to get into a conversation about Astrology with him, but since we had to travel together, it just gradually happened.
That person admitted that he has never read a single book on Astrology (or Classical Feng Shui for that matter, but I will leave that for now). Despite admitting that he is totally ignorant about Astrology, he was so certain that it is bogus. He also said that astrologers are charlatans taking advantage of the gullible and naïve problems-ridden people, mostly females. They are able to do that because “people want to be told what to expect, they want to be fed false hope and to be deceived”.
For the record, the word “skeptic” comes from skepsis, which means “doubt”. It does not mean being ignorant and being qualified to dismiss knowledge you do not believe or works or which contradicts your philosophy. Thus this guy was not a skeptic. I have dealt with skeptics before, but these people had read some Astrology, knew about precession, etc.
Skeptics and Astrology: the argument that everything is predetermined
Getting back to my traveling companion, he was unable to accept pretty much anything that I said about Astrology. When he felt he had no counterarguments, he started looking for loopholes saying that if everything is predetermined then there is no point in knowing about it. I never said absolutely everything was predetermined.
He also criticized people in history who spent years and decades trying to solve the issue of fate versus choice. An important clarification is that free will does not exist. It posits one can simply change the Divine Plan. It is a trap made up by Jewish theologians. He did not know about that either.
The argument that Astrology should be able to predict absolute particulars
Nor did my companion know that Astrology cannot predict absolute particulars.
For instance, a skilled practitioner of Ancient Astrology can tell you:
- Whether you will get married
- When you will get married
- How many marriages you will have
The well-trained astrologer can describe:
- Your marriage partners
- Your sexual life and harmony
- Whether your marriage will be praiseworthy, etc
But the astrologer cannot tell you:
- Who exactly you will marry
- What your spouse’s name will be
At least not without having to look at the charts of the candidates.
Likewise with profession. The astrologer can determine your profession. Say they determine that Hermes/Mercury is the planet ruling your profession. Then, based on your whole chart, they narrow down your profession to be an accountant or bank teller, among other money or numbers professions.
But astrologer cannot tell you in which particular bank or accounting company you will work.
The argument that Astrology is not a science and/or that it is based psychological descriptions
Seeing that he was not going anywhere with this, he changed the subject and now started rejecting the complexity of Astrology altogether. First he said that there is no science in it, so Astrology is bogus. Then he said everyone can guess the psychological descriptions of people.
I replied I do not need to see the person, I just need to have their birth details, and I work overwhelmingly through the Internet and do not use psychology. I also said that I consider Astrology much more as a science than as an art, though the art part is also there.
Offering birth time rectification to refute the skeptic
He was getting exasperated and started raising his voice more and more. I had really had enough of this and finally offered a way to settle this. I said that I offer birth time rectification services. That means, provided I have information about the nature and timing of some experiences and other things in that person’s life, I can discover that person’s time of birth within seconds or within a few minutes. Even if their birth time it is unknown. If the final rectification result is within 5 minutes, so 150 seconds on either side, this gives 288/1 odds of achieving this. 24 hours =1440 minutes:5=288.
If the result is within 10 minutes in total, the odds are 144/1. I can do that in several successive charts.
Therefore, multiplying 144x144x144 = 2.985 million/1 odds.
If it is 288/1 and one does it 3 times in a row = 288x288x288= 23,887 million/1 odds.
I told him birth chart rectification without a time of birth is very time consuming and difficult. Few astrologers can actually do this. This type of rectification is also, of course, more expensive.
The argument any mathematician, astronomer or astrophysicist can perform birth time rectification
The “skeptic” said that any mathematician, astronomer or astrophysicist can do such impressive astrological rectification work.
My thanks to the website and the author for the great free picture:
https://pixabay.com/photos/coin-drop-machine-arcade-money-71358/
I said that I am willing to bet money that not a single one of them can do that. I even suggested, because we were driving in the direction of the capital Sofia, that should he agree, we drive to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. I am willing to bet a monthly salary that no one there, and they are considered the brightest, can do that. He declined.
Of course, I am not denigrating these sciences. It is simply not their subject to do that, which is perfectly fine. Yet my traveling companion seemed convinced they could do it, because they are sciences and Astrology is not.
Skeptics and Astrology: challenging them with birth chart rectification as a bet
Then I suggested to him that we do it, that he bet the money and that I can do it. He said he was not willing to bet much money but would agree if the amount was smaller. I told him 24 hour rectification is very difficult and time consuming. It is easy for the astrologer to make mistakes and mislead oneself, so the bet had better be worth my effort. He declined.
When I called into question his manly word and convictions, because he was so adamant that Astrology is bogus and yet was unwilling to meet the challenge, he said that should he win the Bulgarian national lottery some day (he plays very often), he will take on my challenge.
Skeptics and Astrology: How confident are you in your astrological skills
He admitted that there is no possibility, in any Galaxy, that Astrology can actually work and make specific predictions. To contrast his absolute fear of being wrong and his worldview turning upside down, I said I am willing to stake all my possessions and assets on what I do (Astrology, Chinese Metaphysics, Tarot and others). I am also willing to put my life on the line.
This is what it boils down, dear readers.
How confident do you feel in your Astrology?
Is it just another way to impress someone?
To pet your ego or go to a conference, exchange gossip and socialize?
Or is Astrology a system of knowledge of the highest order?
Are you ready to die for Astrology or risk everything that you have? How about your skills? How confident are you in disposing of such ignorant and close-minded people?
Make sure the skeptic has something tangible to lose
So this is the method of handling the so called skeptics. Offer something concrete. They are used to criticizing, doing mental battles and exchanging words and denigrating the other side. But when push comes to shove, the so called skeptics are unwilling to answer the challenge.
It does not have to be rectification, it can be something else. Rectification from scratch is extremely difficult; I am in fact ready to bet money that few astrologers can actually pull it off. But make the skeptic bet money; make them pay you for your effort.
It is really easy to look down on something and have the other side do the many hours of demanding work to prove you wrong. What better way to reinforce one’s convictions by making money? Then again, what better way to crush one’s belief system by having them pay for your expert work? (provided you get it right of course).
Skeptics will likely try to find loopholes in the correct predictions
But keep in mind that if it comes to predictions, a skeptic will most likely try and find loopholes in your predictions. It is not enough for them that Astrology can predict about almost any area months and years in advance. They will want extreme specificity, which Astrology was hardly meant to do, especially the natal branch which I am discussing in this article.
Moreover, it is common knowledge in the astrological or divinatory circles that horary Astrology or any type of divination method, which can get down to tiny details, will not work if the sole purpose is to prove, to someone who does not care in the least about it, whether it works.
Psychological astrology can be easily attacked by skeptics
One last thing I want to address is psychological astrology. I like to call it astrological psychiatry. I do not like nor approve of psychological astrology, but I have tremendous respect for the astrologers who use it to help clients or their loved ones. Psychological astrology is not Astrology in the strict sense. It is incapable or predicting and dealing with objective reality. Astrology cannot be “proven” with it. Thus it is fervently attacked by the so called skeptics and scientists (as modern western astrology is the most famous of all types, at least in the West). The point, however, is this type of astrology is also used to help people.
No one will become filthy rich or world famous with Astrology. That is not the purpose of it. The satisfaction and inner peace that it (Chinese Metaphysics and divination too) provides have simply to be experienced to be appreciated. No financial or any other type of rewards can EVER match the inner fulfillment I am talking about.
Skeptics and Astrology: imagine being an astrologer to the emperor
If you did not know it, ALL emperors and kings had personal astrologers and/or diviners.
To get a feel of what I mean, just please try and put yourself in the shoes of the astrologer in the 4th century who elected the chart for the construction of the city of Constantinople. In other words, the roman emperor Constantine the Great, the most powerful man in the world at that time, comes to you and orders you to elect the most propitious time for building the city named after him.
You look the emperor in the eye, trusting the power of Astrology with your life, and tell him that he has to wait for 14 years before the best planetary configuration is aligned. What the emperor did, of course, was to listen to that advice and wait for 14 years. This is what actually happened according to some Byzantine historians. See this lovely article:
http://science-astrology.blogspot.bg/2014/09/constantinoples-inauguration-horoscope.html
This is the type of Astrology that I practise. This is why I am so confident in what I do and am willing to stake everything on it and my skills.
As I have written, any form of Astrology after the year 1650 has very little to do with the authentic type that I mean.