Question #2 from Nora

Here is Nora's (our young student) second question.

2. For someone who knows nothing of the topic, what would be the best way to approach an understanding for astrology? 

Observation is the best way to learn anything. Observation becomes experience. Every experience becomes your truth. You learn that all the looney birds come to your place of business during the Full Moon. Your favorite policeman eats lunch at your favorite restaurant every Full Moon, because he has the day off.  Soon you begin to draw a conclusion that the Full Moon has a special significance.  You read that surgery during a Full Moon is not a good idea, because the patient tends to bleed excessively. Then you read that women who are not on the pill have their period during the Full Moon.  It doesn't take long to gather a bunch of observations and some conclusions. 

Pretty good Eh?

One day the Chicago Tribune failed to published the horoscope column in the daily paper.  That day still holds the record for the largest number of phone calls complaining about the newspaper's content.

Usually people read their Sun Sign horoscope on the web or in the newspaper.  Usually they say my schedule says nothing like that will happen today and usually it doesn't.  It is very difficult to predict for one-twelfth of the world's population. However some astrologers are very good at Sun Sign astrology and Rick Levine who writes for AOL is one of them.  

Another way to approach the topic is to talk about nature.  There are wall calendars (usually the ones that contain advertising for your local hardware store)that mark the  best days for fishing or for planting vegetables.  Those days are not chosen at random or by magic. They are determined by the sign the Moon is transiting. Farmers and fishermen actually pay attention to them.  

The Old Farmers Almanac is based on a secret formula according to their publisher.  If you know astrology you can decipher much of the formula.  Farmers use the Almanac to plan their crops.   We castrate our animals who need it when the Moon is in Sagittarius because they will bleed less.  We double check with several calendars just to make sure of the date before we call the vet to do the operation.  

Traders on financial markets trade by the phases of the moon. Full Moon sell, New Moon buy.  I usually write about that phenomena. I talk about the research on the topic in my Financial Astrology Textbook. Wall Street traders are not going to talk about buying or selling according to the moon when interviewed by the newspapers or on TV because that would cut into their profits if everyone did it.  But enough traders do know this little secret of the universe that the blips up and down are small.

There are lots of fun books for folks interested in beginning astrology and free websites that will calculate your chart.  However the best way to convince yourself that astrology works is to have a professional read your chart.  One of my friends went to an astrologers convention and had every astrologer she could find read her chart.  That is a pretty expensive way to convince yourself that astrology works, but today she is one of our finest astrologers.