The Folly of Astrology

Astrology has ancient origins . Many ancient peoples mistakenly believed that the stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies influenced their lives. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the sun, moon and other heavenly bodies were gods. The Mesopotamians, Greeks, Romans also believed that the stars influenced their daily lives. In ancient England, the heathen peoples may have built Stonehenge because of this worship of the stars. Astrology has been around a while, but is it accurate?

Science says no. The explanation is surprising. The charts are off.

Imagine that all of the stars and planets and moon and sun lie on the surface of an imaginary sphere surrounding the Earth. At one time ancient people believed this to be the case. Astronomers now know that the heavens are not really a sphere, but it is convenient to imagine the this is so because that is the way it looks to us on the earth. There is a line on that celestial sphere called the zodiac upon which all the constellations of the zodiac appear. Your astrological sign depends upon which constellation of the zodiac the sun was in when you were born. The problem is that this has changed in the last 2000 years or so. That is why the charts are off

Do you own a top? You know, the child's toy. Put it on the floor and push that spindle up and down causing it to spin. Look that the very top of that spindle's handle. Pretend that top is the earth and the spindle that goes all the way through the top is the earth's axis. Like that top, the earth spins on its axis. While the top spins very rapidly on its axis, the axis itself changes position causing the top to wobble or reel slowly. The earth does the exact same thing when it spins on its axis.

The earth is tilted 23 ½ degrees. Today the 'top' of the earth is pointing toward a star called Polaris, the Pole Star or the celestial pole. It takes 26, 000 years for the axis to make one circuit of its movement. How does this matter? Well 2000 years ago the celestial pole was not Polaris. It was another star because 2000 years ago the celestial pole would have been one thirteenth of its circuit removed from its present position. This wobble is called precession.

How does this wobble or precession affect astrology? Supposedly if one is born at certain date, that means that one is a certain sign of the zodiac and will have a certain type of personality. The moon and planets will be in certain signs of the zodiac, which will determine his or her future. However the astrological charts were set 2000 years ago. They haven't been changed.

How does that affect the astrological stuff in your newspaper this morning or all of the predictions of the expensive astrologers some people like to visit?

Let me give you an example. We are told that a person born on March 17 is an Aries because the sun was in the constellation of Aries on the date of that person's birth. Right? Wrong. 2000 years ago the sun was in Aries on March 17, but it won't be anywhere near Aries on March 17 these days. Now the sun will be in Pisces on March 17.

That person born on March 17 isn't an Aries at all. He is a Pisces. So all the personality traits that astrologers say are typical of an Aries wouldn't apply to the person born on March 17. That person needs to read up on the personality traits of a Pisces Why? That wobble moved the direction the earth points. The 'signs of the zodiac' have changed about one month in these 2000 years making the astrological chart off and proving that the practice of astrology exceedingly silly.

Isn't it fun how science once again proves the Bible is true? God said that we not to worship the stars. He said that men who did not worship him would worship the creation.

Lester E. Showalter writes in Discovering God's Stars, "Instead of believing in astrology all men should believe in the unchanging One who came to earth about 200 years ago. In Jesus Christ they would find the answer to the perplexing question of life. What is more, in Christ they could have the hope for a future that extends beyond the temporal life of the astrologers' predictions. "

1. Discovering God's Stars by Lester E. Showalter; Rod and Staff Publishers, Inc,; Greencastle, PA, 1977; page 61