The attitude of Orthodoxy to astrology. Do astrological predictions come true?
Good day everyone! Once my friend asked how astrology does it get along with Christianity in me? It seemed to me that my answer was not entirely convincing. I wanted to expand on this topic a little on the blog. Perhaps this post will be an addition to my answer to a friend :)
In fact, it seems to me that between the real astrology and by sane faith there can be no contradiction. One and the other coexist peacefully in me. After all, the philosophical perception of astrology today is very different
from what it was 2 thousand years ago. Christianity even helps not to transform astrology into religion, as sometimes happens when astrologer- almost a prophet, but natal chart- a fatal sentence of fate. Everything should have its place.
I recently came across an excerpt from an interview with Father Alexander Men. He is a very thoughtful person, so we are talking about the attitude of Orthodoxy to astrology. I hope, dear readers, you will find this interesting.
How does the Orthodox Church relate to astrology? Are there differences with Catholicism on this issue? Is this attitude different today from that which existed in the Middle Ages?
You know, I could limit myself to one word, although I wouldn’t want to. I could say: no way. Because in the Orthodox Church there is no such directive encyclopedia in which answers to all questions could be found, and if you take this encyclopedia, open it at the letter “a”, find “astrology”, and it says: “Don’t study!” . This is not the case, of course. Astrology is acceptable if it does not claim to be an ersatz religion, as is often the case with us. If you take it in her scientific core, then what is it? That at the birth of a person the configuration of our planets solar system shields certain physical or other influences, acts on the newborn and thus leaves its mark on his character, although there is already the mark of genetics, and various pathologies, and so on. This means that there is some kind of cosmic influence, and there is nothing special about it. If this is proven statistically, then we will consider that we have another predetermination, like heredity.
Can we consider these factors to be fate? Christianity knows that there is something fatal in life. Let's say you inherited black eyes - you cannot repaint them. But in fact, in moral life, in spiritual life, a Christian man challenges fate. He has no right to say: you know, my father was hot-tempered, so I can’t control myself. Thus, we would relieve ourselves of all responsibility for our behavior. Or, for example, I was born under the constellation Aquarius or some other, and there’s no escape.
I looked through several dozen volumes of various studies on astrology, where extensive tables were given that, for example, all famous commanders or all famous prostitutes were born under one star. But I don’t believe that this is exhaustive information, because it is necessary to carry out more pure experiments, more careful calculations. And maybe, on these same tables, I can give more more examples, that other people were born under the same stars and they did not make either commanders or women lung behavior, but they were completely normal people. So this is a scientific question, and it must be studied scientifically and faith should not be mixed in here. Astrology as a pseudo-religion is simply harmful. And Catholicism looks the same way, there is no difference in this.
Regarding the question of the Middle Ages, in the Middle Ages astrology was not held in high esteem. During the Renaissance - that's when it began! Here the Catholics were interested, and we were interested quite intensely. Ivan the Terrible, in particular, endlessly questioned astrologers. And all sorts of neo-pagans. And Hitler endlessly resorted to astrologers. When faith begins to waver, it immediately begins to be replaced by ersatz, since man is religious by nature. I am very surprised that astrology was not introduced in our time...
How do you personally feel about astrology?
Astrology is possible as a science when it says that we are influenced by the cosmos, materially and perhaps spiritually. But it can also become a superstition. How? Tamara Globa’s articles very correctly say: when a person believes that astrology has tied him hand and foot, that he is already determined, that there is no escape, that there is no choice, then superstition begins - this is slavery begins.
Cosmic influence is not at all excluded, but this does not mean at all that a person is a slave. Thus, a person with a difficult character can become a saint, a person with a lazy temperament can eventually motivate himself to creative activity, any of us is free to choose our life with God and fight. Otherwise, it will be capitulation to fate, to fate, be it the stars or heredity. And we will nod that “my evil uncle has awakened in me,” as in Schwartz’s famous fairy tale, when the king said: “Now my aunt, an exceptionally evil woman, has spoken in me.” This means that we are no longer responsible for anything and in fact find ourselves simply puppets in the hands of various forces, including the constellations...
Quote by: "A.MEN ANSWERS QUESTIONS OF LISTENERS."
Alexander Men Foundation.
Compilation and literary recording by Anastasia Andreeva.
Editor Vladimir Ilyushenko. - M., 1999
IN modern world astrology and religion are considered completely unrelated fields. Moreover, astrology and the church today are perceived by the average person as two opposites, two enemy camps. Let's find out possible reasons opposition between religion and astrology.
Astrology and religion: common origins
For those who go to church, astrology is prohibited. Orthodox Church I am categorically against people turning to astrologers. Meanwhile, there were times when religion and astrology coexisted peacefully with each other, and there is a lot of evidence of this.
For example, the Apocalypse, one of the books of the New Testament, is an astrological work. We must also not forget that the three wise men who predicted the birthday of Christ and saved him from certain death, were astrologers.
Many religious holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, correlate with the astronomical phenomena of the solstice and equinox. True, the dates of the holidays that we celebrate now have shifted over time, because their basis - natural rhythms - has been forgotten by people and is not taken into account by religious leaders today.
So, earlier the celebration of any event by the people was associated with astronomical phenomena. By participating in the celebration, the people felt their connection with nature and the universe and received strength and power from them. People in ancient times believed that astrological knowledge helps interpret divine messages.
They viewed the earthly and cosmic worlds as a single whole, and the laws that operated above were reflected in life on Earth. Therefore, astrology was treated as philosophical science, because it shaped and expanded man’s views on the structure of the world.
Astrology as the study of planets and stars, the science of the emergence of the world, underlay many other sciences and influenced the formation of the culture and religion of ancient civilizations.
The ancients were sure that thanks to astrology, man could comprehend not only his own destiny, but also the secrets and mysteries of the universe. With the help of astrological knowledge, he could provide a worthy rebuff to the forces of evil and darkness, which are quite strongly represented in our world.
Astrology and the Church: reasons for confrontation and the need to overcome it
Why is astrology today rejected by the church and, according to the majority of believers, is best case scenario pseudoscience?
The thing is that at one point astrology became objectionable to the state and church. In the world and at the level of many states, a struggle has begun for the power and faith of their citizens, for their commitment not to God, but to completely earthly institutions. It follows from this that the conflict between astrology and Christianity is more ideological than socio-political in nature.
Many people misunderstand the essence of astrology and perceive it as some kind of fortune telling. But the task of an astrologer is not at all to pass a “sentence” on a person and deprive him of the freedom of choice granted by the Creator. Professional astrologers, unlike sorcerers, shamans, witches and clairvoyants and fortune-tellers, are not at all competitors of representatives official church, because they, unlike others, do not predict the future unambiguously, depriving the person who turns to them of freedom of will and action.
The task of a competent astrologer is to reveal to a person his own potential, to help him understand strong qualities of your personality and qualities that need improvement, highlight favorable periods for activity, and provide information about the end of a crisis stage in life.
Thus, the astrologer helps a person navigate his life, but does not impose on him a picture of life with a certain set of events. Man, being a creator, creates his own reality and life, and he is also responsible for them.
We can only hope that in the future astrology will be recognized at the state level as a science, and its positive role will also be appreciated by social institutions, because the goal of both religion and astrology is the same: to help a person realize his purpose and role in this world, having known and understood your divine essence.
There was….there was a time in my life when I was involved in astrology. It is unlikely that I, of course, can be called a professional in this field, but for some time I showed a genuine interest in astrology and studied myself using the book by A.G. Kolesnikov. “Astrology with and without a computer.”
Later, when I began to become a church member, I completely abandoned astrology. It is often difficult to say why we make this or that decision in life, how and why our interests change. But now I would like to try to explain what happened to me, how the decision arose in me to leave what interested me so much.
Before saying anything, I would like to define what astrology actually does. Opinions here, naturally, may differ. Some people consider forecasts for the future to be the main area of astrology, others consider the determination of a person’s character and his future destiny, someone - a search for a correlation between a person’s birthday and his character, fate, appearance, etc., thus reducing astrology to a certain field of statistics. However, I would like to start from something single, integral and definite.
This is what they say about the subject of astrology in A.G.’s self-instruction manual. Kolesnikova: All astrology can be divided into three large branches: natal, mundane and legal.
Natal astrology studies life at the level of an individual person, and its main tool is the natal chart, or the horoscope of a person’s birth...
Mundane astrology studies life large communities people and the world as a whole. Here it is not always possible to determine the moment of birth of the entity being studied - say, a city or a state - therefore we use special types astrological charts...
Legal astrology in our century turned out to be almost completely forgotten, and only relatively recently was it revived..... This branch is of a mysterious nature, it is farthest from science and closest to ancient magic. The most famous directions here are horary astrology, in which astrological chart is built at the moment the question is asked, and electoral astrology, which teaches you to choose best moment for various human initiatives.
And yet, I would call the drawing up of natal charts the main and most widespread area of astrology. Therefore, further I will talk specifically about this direction, or natal astrology.
I would divide the process of drawing up a natal chart into 2 stages:
1) astronomical calculations of the position of the planets at the time of a person’s birth;
2) interpretation of this location, determination of the person’s character from the map and, possibly, his future fate.
If everything is clear with the first stage (from a scientific point of view) - these are simply astronomical calculations that allow us to understand what the position of the planets was relative to the Earth at the time of human birth, then with the second stage we enter the swampy soil of the unknown. Here I mean the indefinite in a strictly material sense. Of course, a lot of literature has been written about the interpretation of cards. But, nevertheless, in any case, we have to admit that the interpretation of each individual card is a kind of discovery. Because every person is unique.
I would like to say that in no way can the first stage (calculation) “transition” into the second stage (interpretation). Because the very nature of these stages is different. Here the border is so rigid that it simply makes no sense to talk about any subtle transitions.
Thus, it is obvious that the first stage and the second are connected exclusively by the INTERPRETER. Therefore, the results of natal chart interpretation depend on the astrologer, and the results may vary from one astrologer to another. But how is this so? Is it really necessary to assume that a person has several destinies? Even if a person’s fate can be read by the position of the planets at the moment of his birth, then which interpretation is considered true? The most interesting thing is that no matter how much people debate on this issue, they will not be able to answer this question. Perhaps the question should be asked differently: “Why did we even decide that there is any connection between the fate of man and the location of the planets?” There are no instructions for this in Holy Scripture and Tradition.
Moreover, many saints harshly criticized astrology and denied the existence of such a connection. Yes, of course, astrology arose in ancient times, but, I think, it arose only as a hypothesis and nothing more. That is, to put it bluntly, we believe that our destiny is set out in the arrangement of the planets only because someone, once upon a time, in ancient times, thought this was possible. And this man assumed it on his own, it was not a Divine revelation. Lord, who among us has never made a mistake? What if that person was also wrong?
The Orthodox Church believes the main task saving people. This is why the Church was created, and Christ came to Earth for our salvation. So would God really hide from people the fact that their destiny and their character are set forth in the arrangement of the planets, if this were necessary for their salvation? Of course not. Everything we need is set out in the Holy Scriptures and Tradition, and we don’t need any planets.
Moreover, the entire universe was created by God. And the planets are God’s creations, just like man. However, God can, by His Holy will, change a person’s destiny, as well as his character, revive and revive the whole person, test or punish, or have mercy and forgive. Or do we believe that God will consult the natal chart first before creating according to His will? It is obvious that creation cannot influence the Creator, but a righteous person, through humble prayer, can bend God’s mercy to himself. Because, as it is said, “The Lord does the will of those who fear him.” Yes, a person changes. And under the influence of Grace, a person changes as quickly as his desire to cleanse his heart is greater and his desire for God is stronger. Some people change gradually, others faster, and some immediately take the true path, converted overnight according to the special vision of God. Or is it all laid out in the planetary chart, including a person’s desires in the future?
I compiled about a dozen natal charts, tried to interpret them, somehow predict a person’s fate, talk about his character. And then one day I saw natal chart one girl, what, by all indications, should have been interpreted as negative phenomena in her fate. And I had to tell her parents about it. And these people believed very much in astrology. And then I just felt a pang in my heart, because I don’t know how reliable my interpretation is. This may or may not be the case. How do I know? Is it Christian to tell a person’s broken life and then justify himself: “Well, you see, I, of course, don’t know for sure, but everything suggests that the girl is destined for a divorce...”? And if you don’t know for sure, then what do you say? People will worry, moreover, they will program themselves, they will begin to fear something unknown and expect the uncertain. And then they will drown in the abyss of their own suspiciousness. That's the whole result. This all really upset me, to be honest. And it’s not just about negative information. Let’s imagine that you predicted a wonderful destiny for a person, and he was very trusting. He will understand that there is nothing left to do, everything is determined, he will stop trying and ruin his whole life. In any case, there is too much harm from all these predictions, it seems to me.
We have reached the stage where it is necessary to consider the purpose of astrology. Every person does specific action for some purpose, conscious or unconscious. Some may write forecasts to be considered visionary and to become famous; some are fascinated by the process itself; some want to help a person know himself….in general, there are so many goals for how many people there are. And it seems to me that this is the key difference between an Orthodox believer and an astrologer. I will not consider such a concept as “Orthodox astrologer”, due to the lack of meaning.
What are the goals? Christian life? Seraphim of Sarov said: “The goal of Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.” For an Orthodox person, the main goal of life lies precisely in this. A believer does not want to know his fate; he trusts in God’s providence. The only thing that worries him is that in all circumstances of life, no matter what God sends to him according to His holy will, he remains faithful to His commandments. No matter how hard it may be at times. Therefore, self-knowledge of an Orthodox person is important only insofar as it helps to cleanse one’s heart of passions and keep oneself pure from the inside. Here, of course, trust in God and prayer are necessary. That is, we see that the goal of all Orthodox Christians is the same. There are not many of them, GOALS! She is the only one. Because many goals are born from a person’s desire to act according to his own will, and Orthodoxy calls for completely abandoning self-will. In any case, pray and strive for this.
Someone may say: “What if we try to understand the will of God and His providence regarding man with the help of astrology? For example, I want to do the will of God, but I will try to understand it more deeply with the help of astrology. I do not make it a goal, but a method.” Why is the experience of the Church, Holy Scripture and Tradition not enough for this? Without God himself it is impossible to understand His will. And there is only one way out of this situation - to pray and ask. If we choose this path, then this speaks of our hope in God and trust in Him. If we are trying to find some signs for ourselves and, having solved the “planet puzzle,” to get closer to God, what kind of trust can we talk about? It's just about trusting yourself. Why try to understand the mind of God? To test Him? Why replace the Creator with creations? And again, this desire itself speaks of a desire to develop some kind of vision. What is the danger of wanting to develop it? From my point of view it is as follows. A person, trying to understand God’s providence, and even, say, praying about it, very imperceptibly switches from God to his own personality. And he gradually begins to think that God gave only him some kind of special vision, while others do not have it. And God leaves him for his exaltation. A person who believes in GOD, as I think, only prays: “Thy will be done, Lord!” and accepts everything that comes as a manifestation of the will of God. And most importantly, everything is absolutely the same for everyone else. The person does not feel unique. Here people are distinguished only by their will, to live or not to live according to the commandments. But even God doesn’t limit him. This is freedom that is given by God.
I think that there is a person and there is faith that connects a person with God. And this is the right connection, so to speak. No planets needed. And then there is prayer. Which, having achieved perfection, makes man and God as if one whole. Because Jesus Christ our God is God the Word. IN evening rule There are wonderful words in the second prayer:
To the Almighty, the Word of the Father, who is perfect himself, Jesus Christ, for the sake of Thy mercy, never leave me, Thy servant, but always rest in me...
That is, Orthodox man every day he asks the Lord Himself to be with him all the time and, moreover, to rest in him. God exalts man so much that, with his mercy, he unites with him. Unites through the Word, through prayer and through the sacrament of the Eucharist. So why do we look for truth in the planets? Why don’t we strive for purity of prayer when such gifts are near us? Because we do not believe God, but only ourselves. To yourself and your understanding.
You can talk a lot, prove, explain. However, God is not algebra, and faith is not a theorem. Faith is a gift from God. He gives to us according to His mercy. And in the light of the great gift of faith, all astrology is simply petty and unimportant. Astrology is not needed, it is superfluous, it is a weed in the soul that does not help, but only hinders, diminishing our faith and hope in God. And the whole trick of the evil one is to distract attention from true path.
In conclusion, I want to say that the path of faith is difficult. A lot has been written about this and everyone who follows this path knows firsthand about it. But the reward is also very great. The reward is the Kingdom of Heaven still here on earth, because The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. (Luke 17:21).
Orthodox priests say that practicing astrology is a sin.
M. B. Levin.
Now some priests prohibit their parishioners from contacting an astrologer. There are cases when the priest does not allow you to take communion because of this. But this behavior of the priest does not mean that Christian teaching does not accept astrology. Sometimes a priest, by his own will, goes beyond the limits of his competence. I had to read and hear about how a priest demanded that a parishioner divorce her unbaptized husband, refused to baptize a child if he had unbaptized parents, and similar things. All this categorically contradicts not only the spirit, but also the letter of Christianity. It is enough to read the letters of the apostles. And what about the statement, which one hears at every step, that one cannot pray for people of other faiths, one cannot give for the repose of the souls of deceased loved ones if they were not Christians. And this is what the followers of the teaching say, the Founder of which said: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 44). This means that the point of view of this or that priest is not necessarily the absolute truth.
IN different cultures The relationship between astrology and religion develops differently. In India, China and Japan there has never been a conflict between traditional faiths and astrologers. The respectful attitude towards astrology in these countries has survived to this day. At the same time, the astrologer deals not only with issues everyday life. In many Buddhist monasteries, astrologers help the novice monk choose his path. Astrology occupied the same place of honor in Ancient Egypt and in Babylon. Astrologers were priests and advisers to rulers.
Of course, one can say that all these religions are pagan, so their relationship to astrology should not be taken into account. Then let's turn to Judaism. Judaism is the first monotheistic religion; Christianity and Islam arose from Judaism. Holy books Judaism is revered by followers of both of these religions, the most important of these books called Old Testament entered the Christian canon. How does the Old Testament relate to astrology? In the Old Testament texts we will not find any prohibitions on astrology, although we will not find direct instructions that one should practice astrology. But there is much indirect evidence that astrology was a completely normal activity during the time of the prophets. Reading the Old Testament, we see that the Almighty spoke to the prophets directly, and to the rest through prophets or through signs. And one of the most important signs were astrological signs.
We find the first indication of this at the very beginning of the Bible, in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. This chapter talks about the creation of the world, and in verse fourteen we read: “And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years...” This means that the language of the luminaries was given by the Creator so that people could read heavenly signs in their location.
And in other books of the Old Testament we often encounter astrological and alchemical terms. In the 38th chapter of the book of Job, the Lord, addressing Job, asks him: “Can you tie the knot of Him (Pleiades) and resolve the bonds of Kesil (Orion)? Can you draw out the constellations in their time and lead As (Ursa Major) from her children?" (verses 31 - 32). Here we are talking about how these constellations operate. And further: “Do you know the rules of heaven, can you establish its dominion on earth?” (verse 33). We see that knowledge of astrology (the rules of heaven) is not considered a sin in the Holy Scriptures.
There are other places in the Old Testament where astrological and alchemical symbolism are used. For example, Isaiah is one of the most revered prophets; the New Testament also abundantly refers to his book. In the 25th verse of the 1st chapter of the book of Isaiah we read: “And I will turn my hand against you, and like lye I will cleanse the dross from you, and I will separate from you everything that is lead.” Lead is an alchemical term related to the astrological Saturn, and it is about cleansing from rigidity and selfishness. There are many such examples. Of course, we will not find direct astrological texts in the Bible, but the Bible is not an astrology textbook. However, people who read the biblical books at that time understood astrological terms. In our century, in one of the caves near the Arab village of Qumran in Palestine, it was discovered large number ancient manuscripts belonging to the Essenes religious community. The Essenes are one of the movements in the Jewish religion in the 2nd century BC - 1st century AD. They followed the law very strictly and performed all the rituals prescribed by the law. Any violation of religious precepts was severely punished. However, among the texts of the Old Testament, archaeologists have also discovered purely astrological texts. This means that the practice of astrology, even in such an orthodox community, was considered completely permissible from a religious point of view. And in modern Judaism, astrology is not a taboo activity.
If we turn to another monotheistic religion - Islam, we will see that astrology occupies an honorable place in it. In the Middle Ages, astrology was practiced in religious schools- madrasah. There were many prominent religious figures among the astrologers. We come across such names as Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and Omar Khayyam, Al-Biruni and Navoi. Astrologers were advisors to rulers and spiritual guides to believers. It was in Islam that astrology received a new breath and from there it came to medieval Europe. And today, in the countries of orthodox Islam, astrology has not lost its status, although its influence there is weaker than in India.
And in early Christianity astrology was one of the respected pursuits. The New Testament tells about three eastern wise men - astrologers who came to worship the newborn Jesus. They determined his birth by the star, and brought him their gifts. In this story (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2) we see astrologers among the followers of Christ. Astrological symbolism is also found in the Epistles, and there is especially a lot of it in the Revelation of John. So the apostles - the closest disciples of Christ - were not at odds with astrology.
The situation changes after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In Western Europe in the Middle Ages there were very few educated people. Even in the monasteries there were many monks who, due to illiteracy, could not read Scripture. There was almost no one to study astrology. It was only after the Crusades that the Crusaders again brought astrology to Europe, having learned it from the Arabs. But even then astrology was not prohibited; some of the popes even practiced it. Only in the 20th century did the attitude towards astrology change in orthodox Catholicism. It is beginning to be considered something of a heresy. Today, Catholic priests have an extremely negative attitude towards astrology. Although this is in words, in reality it happens that, if necessary, they turn to astrologers. I once had the opportunity to advise a Catholic priest.
Astrology came to Russia from the West. Our first astrologer was Sylvester Medvedev. But they became more thoroughly acquainted with astrology in Rus' during Peter’s reforms. Among Peter's associates were astrologers such as Jacob Bruce. However, the church did not fight astrology until very recently. It was only about ten years ago that astrology was declared a sinful activity. In this regard, the Orthodox Church was in solidarity with the Catholic Church.
What is the reason negative attitude to astrology? Apparently this is the result of a misunderstanding. Various arguments are given against practicing astrology, but all of them do not stand up to criticism. Let's look at the most important of them.
Argument one: a Christian is prohibited from foreseeing the future. But this is not true at all. In the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 16, Jesus even reproaches the Pharisees for not being able to discern the signs of the times: “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him, tempting him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven. And he answered and said unto them, Evening you say: “there will be a storm, because the sky is red”; and in the morning: “it’s bad weather today, because the sky is purple!” You hypocrites can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times? (verses 1 - 3).
The Bible is riddled with prophecies and predictions. And asking questions about the future is not at all prohibited. The question is who to contact. Reading the Bible, we see that it is forbidden to call the dead, it is forbidden to turn to other gods, to the prophets of other religions. Spirits spoke through the prophets, which is why the Holy Scriptures are so strict about this. But turning to spirits itself is not prohibited; you cannot only turn to false spirits. In 1 John writes: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (chapter 4, verse 1). This is understandable - a false spirit can lead a person astray from the true path. At the same time, turning to signs for biblical characters is a completely natural thing before any serious undertaking.
Argument two: you cannot avoid the trials that God sends you. But only a person who has very little faith can say this. Who can avoid what is sent by God? The story of the prophet Jonah shows the hopelessness of such attempts. Called by God to preach in Nineveh, he tried “... to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and came to Joppa and found a ship sailing to Tarshish.... But the Lord raised a strong wind on the sea...” (book of the prophet Jonah, chapter 1, verses 2 - 4). After difficult trials Jonah was still forced to go to Nineveh. But not all trials are sent directly by God. There are also those that are consequences of the laws of nature. These laws, of course, were also established by the Creator, but they are not God’s punishment sent to us for our sins, and we are given the strength and opportunity to avoid them. In life we encounter this at every step. In winter, even priests put on coats, and no one thinks of saying that this is a sin. Winter cold is a test, but it is a consequence of the cosmic rhythm, and not God's punishment, and we understand this. There are other cosmic rhythms, and we have the right to take appropriate measures in advance. There is no more sin in this than in buying winter clothes.
In general, our whole life is permeated with predictions of the future. We listen to the weather forecast, plan our work, estimate the budget for the month ahead, or even for the year, read the forecasts of economists, etc. In science, the ability to predict is one of the main criteria of truth. The doctor predicts the course and outcome of the disease, and the chemist predicts the course of the reaction. And no one denies communion to an astronomer because he knows how to foresee the movement of celestial bodies.
And astrology should also not be put on a par with magic and sorcery. An astrologer, when making a forecast, does not turn to spirits or otherworldly forces. His prediction is based on knowledge of the “rules of heaven” - cosmic laws, and these are the same laws of nature as physical, biological or psychological. For modern man astrology looks like something mysterious and magical, but in fact it is a science, albeit an unusual one. This is the science of the future. A medieval person could also consider the methods used by modern medicine, say, X-rays or ultrasound diagnostics, to be magic. But we should not confuse knowledge with witchcraft.
The third argument is that it is forbidden to worship the heavenly bodies, that for help one must turn to the Creator, and not to the heavenly powers - his creatures. And the one who worships the luminaries is a pagan.
Yes, indeed, the one who worships the luminaries is a pagan. But an astrologer worships luminaries no more than a doctor worships viruses, or a physicist worships electrons. Celestial bodies for an astrologer what a thermometer and an x-ray are for a doctor, or tests for a psychologist are a means to understand a person’s condition and describe the further course of events. The only difference is that this tool was created by the Creator, and not by human hands, and therefore works differently. Of course, astrology arose in pagan times, as did geometry. And at that time, many religions also included astral cults, that is, cults of worship of stars and planets (from the Latin word aster - star). But I am sure that the astrologers of that time did not worship the luminaries. An astrologer who strictly and scrupulously calculates the position of the planets in the zodiac from tables, or draws a conclusion based on the rules of interpretation, cannot worship the same planets. The astrologer sees very well that the planets obey uniform laws.
Argument four: astrology denies free will. This argument is made very often. Moreover, both religious people and secular people express it. All this is very naive. Firstly, astrology is not an ideological teaching, but a science. You can question the results of scientific research, challenge the methodology of work, etc. But it is hardly worth scolding science because its results do not agree with some ideology. We have already gone through all this many times. And Galileo was tried, and geneticists and cyberneticists were imprisoned. If as a result scientific research we come to the conclusion that human life is predetermined, which means this is how the world in which we live works, and we should not scold science, but think about what to do about it. But! Secondly, if a person says that astrology denies free will, it means that he has not read a single astrology textbook and knows about astrology firsthand. No serious astrologer will say that astrology denies free will. There are moments and situations when prediction is fundamentally impossible until some events have occurred. The vast majority of astrological forecasts leave plenty of room for free will, often more than a person can use. Just as free will is compatible with the laws of physics, it is also compatible with astrological laws.
That's all for now. If you have questions or objections, you can continue the topic later.
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