Newsgroups: alt.astrology,alt.answers,news.answers Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!sdd.hp.com!col.hp.com!csn!oldcolo!lmpm From: lmpm@oldcolo.oldcolo.com (L. M. P. McPherson) Subject: ALT.ASTROLOGY NEWCOMERS READ THIS: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Message-ID: <1994Mar1.183403.120@oldcolo.com> Followup-To: alt.astrology Summary: Answers to questions asked frequently on alt.astrology. Please read this article before posting to the group, in keeping with rules of net etiquette. If you post a question that is contained in this FAQ file, you might become a target of angry criticism ("flames"). Lines: 1495 Sender: lmpm@oldcolo.com (L. M. P. McPherson) Supersedes: <1994Feb6.181127.13784@oldcolo.com> Nntp-Posting-Host: oldcolo.com Organization: Old Colorado City Communications Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 18:34:03 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Expires: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 07:00:00 GMT Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.astrology:11572 alt.answers:1988 news.answers:15879 Archive-name: astrology-faq/part1 Last-modified: 6 February 1994 Part 1 of 2 ****** FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ****** Here are some questions commonly asked by new readers of alt.astrology; the answers to each are given after the list of questions. 1) For what sort of discussions is alt.astrology intended? *** Requests for Services *** 2) Could someone please do a chart interpretation for me? 3) I have no idea what to do with my life. Here are my birth data. Can someone please tell me what I should do? 4) I was born on a day when the Sun changes sign. Which sign is my Sun in? 5) Which Sun-signs are compatible with mine? *** Questions About How Astrology is Practiced *** 6) Is the Sun-sign all that is important for assessing personality and for prediction, or is there more to astrology? 7) How can one predict the nature of a relationship using astrology? *** Questions About Learning Astrology *** 8) Can anyone recommend a good book on astrology for beginners? 9) What is the best approach to learning astrology? 10) Where can I find scientific research on astrology? *** General Questions *** 11) I have seen people born within days/hours of one another whose lives are really different. How come? 12) What is the meaning of the term "the Age of Aquarius"? 13) How is it possible for astrology to work? 14) Does astrology control my future? Is it "wrong" to use astrology to learn what the future holds for me? I'm scared. *** Questions About Birth Data *** 15) I notice that I need to know the time zone used in the place I was born and the latitude and longitude of my place of birth in order to erect a chart. How can I find such information? 16) I do not know what time of day I was born. Is there some way to find out? *** Questions About Astrological Software *** 17) Does anyone know if there is any software available for astrology? 18) Where can I get a copy of the astrological software Astrolog? *** Questions About Alt.astrology Resources *** 19) How can I obtain a copy of the alt.astrology "resource list"? *** Questions About the Alt.astrology Ftp Site *** 20) How do I use ftp to get files from the alt.astrology ftp site? *** Questions About Offensive Postings *** 21) I enjoy many of the postings in this group, but there are one or two people whose postings are offensive and/or there are certain topics that just don't interest me. Is there some way to avoid seeing postings by certain people or concerning a certain topic? *** Questions About Astrology and the Law *** 22) Is it legal to practice astrology where I live, and, if not, what can be done about it? *** Questions About the Alt.astrology Mailing List *** 23) I don't have access to USENET. Is there some other way I can read articles in alt.astrology, such as having them mailed to me? *** Questions Asked With Surprising Frequency by Disbelievers *** 24) Every sensible person knows that astrology couldn't possibly work, so why are you people wasting your time? 25) How could planetary forces, of whatever nature, act upon an infant when it is outside the mother, but not when it is a fetus in the womb? Why should the forces only have effect at the moment of birth? 26) Don't you guys know that astrology depends on a geocentric astronomy? Copernicus blew it away. Astrology can't work because it depends on the view that we are at the centre of the universe, which we clearly are not. 27) Don't you guys know that no cause for astrological effects is known? Therefore such effects cannot exist. 28) Don't you guys know that tests of groups of astrologers show they do no better than chance? Therefore astrology does not work. 29) Don't you guys know that astrology makes an infinity of claims? You could never test them all. Therefore we can dismiss it out of hand. 30) Don't you guys know that you can't really prove a negative, such as astrology never working, anyway? Therefore we can dismiss it out of hand. 31) Legitimate scientists (or educated people, etc., etc.) universally despise astrology. Can such a weight of opinion be wrong? 32) Why don't astrologers consider the fact that when the Sun is in the sign of Aries, it is not really in the constellation Aries? *** Questions About the FAQ *** 33) I have a suggestion for this FAQ list. What do I do? ****** ANSWERS ****** 1) For what sort of discussions is alt.astrology intended? Answer: Alt.astrology is intended as a forum for astrologers of all levels of expertise, from beginners to advanced, to discuss astrological topics. Alt.astrology is *not* intended as a forum for disbelievers to voice their contempt for astrologers or to harass astrologers about their belief in astrology and demand of them scientific proof. Groups discussing the scientific validity of theories are prefixed with "sci." If you wish to discuss the validity of astrology as a discipline (as opposed to the validity of specific theoretical statements within the domain of astrology), the appropriate group on which to post is sci.skeptic. Here is the statement of purpose for that group: "Sci.skeptic is for those who are skeptical about claims of the paranormal to meet with those who believe in the paranormal. In this way the paranormalists can expose their ideas to scientific scrutiny, and if there is anything in these ideas then the skeptics might learn something." Sci.skeptic often contains long discussions of scientific evidence for and against specific astrological hypotheses, and such discussion is welcome in that group. Further, many members of that group are qualified to evaluate scientific evidence. The astrologers in this group who enjoy participating in such discussion with skeptics read and post to sci.skeptic. *** Requests for Services *** 2) Could someone please do a chart interpretation for me? Answer: A complete interpretation of a person's chart takes a great deal of time and energy to prepare. Someone just learning astrology might be willing to do a chart for you as practice, but if you want a high-quality interpretation, you must either find an experienced astrologer on the net who is generous enough to interpret your chart without compensation, or, if that is not possible, you could consult a local professional astrologer (look in the yellow pages or look at ads posted in a local occult bookstore; you might also write to people in the group in your area and ask if they know of any good local astrologers). Professionals are not supposed to use the newsgroup to advertise their services, so you may not be able to tell which astrologers on this group will interpret charts for a fee. (They are in the minority.) Rather than bother non-professionals with requests for charts, it might be safer to consult an astrologer who advertises in your area. If there are no professional astrologers near your place of residence, you might want to take your chances and contact a member of this group if they appear sufficiently knowledgeable to be a professional. If you have a specific problem about which you would like advice, you might find that astrologers in the group are willing to give you free assistance if you post the question for everyone to read. Readers are less likely to respond with free analysis to requests for a complete chart interpretation. No amount of advice can be given unless you provide complete birth data: day, month, and year of birth, as well as the time of day and the place of birth (town or city). If you know the time zone, whether daylight savings time or war time was in effect when you were born, and the latitude and longitude of your place of birth, provide that information as well. 3) I have no idea what to do with my life. Here are my birth data. Can someone please tell me what I should do? Answer: Nobody can tell someone what to do with his or her life. However by studying one's astrological chart, one can gain insights into one's personality, and one can see areas of life where there is harmony or discord. A reading of one's chart by an experienced astrologer would be very valuable (see #1). After you have such a reading done, you could probably benefit greatly from learning astrology yourself and studying your chart at leisure. You can also look at "transits," the interactions of planets in the sky with your chart across time. This tells you when opportunities and difficulties arise in various areas of life, and helps you plan your future. An astrologer can tell you about current transits, or you could learn to read your own transits. With a few good books from your local occult bookstore, it's really quite easy. (See # 8 about books.) Interpreting transits is much easier than reading a natal chart (which involves a synthesis of many factors). 4) I was born on a day when the Sun changes sign. Which sign is my Sun in? Answer: Which sign your Sun falls in will depend on your exact time of birth. There are two ways you can find out where your Sun is in the zodiac. Since the Sun is only one of (at least) ten bodies to consider, and since the whole chart is needed for an understanding of the personality and the life, it might be useful to cast a complete chart, which would tell you the exact position of the Sun as well as the exact positions of all the planets and houses. This is easy to do these days because there exists astrological software for computing charts. The most accessible software is a programme called "Astrolog" which was written by Walter Pullen, a reader of the group. (See # 18 for details of how to get a copy of Astrolog. See # 17 for details of how to get information about other astrological software.) If you do not want to calculate the chart yourself (e.g., with Astrolog), or if you have trouble doing so, another option is to order your chart from a chart calculation service. Some addresses for companies providing this service are listed in the alt.astrology resource list (see # 19 for details). Alternatively, look in an "ephemeris," a book that lists the positions of all the planets (usually at midnight, sometimes at noon) each day. Ephemerides are available in the astrology section at occult ("new age") bookstores, or in some libraries in the astronomy section. They usually list positions for Greenwich, so you must calculate your time of birth in Greenwich Mean Time (e.g., if you were born under Pacific Standard Time, you add 8 hours to your time of birth to get GMT; Mountain Standard Time, add 7 hours; Central Standard Time, add 6 hours; Eastern Standard Time, add 5 hours; if you were born during daylight savings time, subtract one hour before adding [or subtracting if you were born east of Greenwich] the number of hours for the time zone in which you were born). Next, determine if the ephemeris lists positions at midnight or noon. Then work out the number of hours that passed between the time for which positions are given (midnight or noon) and your time of birth in GMT. (e.g., for an ephemeris that lists positions for midnight, if you were born at 4:30 pm GMT, the difference is 16.5 hours). Divide this difference by 24 to get the proportion of the day that passed before you were born. Next, calculate the number of degrees and minutes of arc that the Sun travelled through during that whole day. Multiply that amount by the proportion of the day that passed before the birth, and add the result to the position given for the start of the day (or noon if the ephemeris gives noon positions). The result is the position of the Sun at your birth. 5) Which Sun-signs are compatible with mine? Answer: Some people feel that, in a very rough way, people with Suns in the same element (fire, earth, air, water) or, to a lesser extent, in the same polarity (positive -- fire and air, or negative -- earth and water) tend to get along more easily. (The fire signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius; earth: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn; air: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius; water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.) But interactions among specific planets and houses in two charts are far more important in determining how well people will get along. Your best match may well be someone whose Sun is in a sign of a different polarity, and your worst enemy may well have his/her Sun in a sign of the same element! Real compatibility can only be determined when the complete charts of two people are compared, or a special chart is constructed based on the two people's birth data. See answer # 7 for details. *** Questions About How Astrology is Practiced *** 6) Is the Sun-sign all that is important for assessing personality and for prediction, or is there more to astrology? Answer: The most common misconception about astrology is that it divides people into 12 categories, "Sun-signs" (and may subdivide them further by Moon-sign). This misconception comes from the popular practice of publishing "horoscopes" in newspapers and magazines for different Sun-signs, and the sale of popular books containing predictions for people of a particular Sun-sign. Unfortunately, all such horoscopes provide nothing more than entertainment. Valid predictions cannot be made on the basis of the Sun-sign alone. In actual practice, astrology involves determining the exact position in the zodiac (not just by sign, but by degree and minute, that is, the specific part of the sky) of the Sun, the Moon, and 8 planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) at the time of a person's birth. The zodiacal degree of other points and bodies, such as the Moon's North and South Nodes, asteroids, Uranian points, and Arabic parts, are included by some astrologers. One also calculates the positions of 12 "houses" which are specific to the exact place and time of birth. The location of planets in these houses and the sign on the cusp of each house are important sources of information in chart interpretation. One also looks at the angular distances in the zodiac between each pair of planets; certain specific angular distances, called "aspects," are considered meaningful. All of this information is necessary to determine the astrological influences present at a person's birth and to formulate predictions for the future. The sign in which the Sun and Moon fall is only one very small part of the picture. This does not mean that people who write horoscope columns necessarily just make things up out of thin air. They usually use certain astrological concepts, but the application of these concepts to sign positions of the Sun rarely produces valuable information. To see why, let us look at what typical "Sun-sign astrologers" might do. First, they assume that your Sun is roughly in the middle of the sign. They then look to see if any planets are making aspects to the Sun on the day/week/month in question, and they interpret these aspects. If your Sun is at the beginning or end of a sign, these aspects will be irrelevant in your case. In addition, there may be aspects to other planets in your chart that will affect you strongly, and some of them may even have an effect opposite to the effect of the aspects to your Sun. Sun-sign astrologers might also set up "houses" by assuming that the sign your Sun is in is the first house, the next sign is the second house, and so on. They then look to see if any planets are currently in each "house". A serious astrologer would calculate the positions of houses using data about the exact time and place of birth, and these houses rarely coincide with the Sun-sign astrologer's zodiac-sign "houses." So the Sun-sign technique will only work at all for people who happen to have the Sun and several other planets in the middle of one sign, and whose first house also happens to begin at 0 degrees of the same sign. Such people are extremely rare, so for most people "horoscopes" will be useless. 7) How can one predict the nature of a relationship using astrology? Answer: The most common technique for determining the nature of a relationship is called "synastry." This involves comparing the positions of all the planets in two people's charts. One looks to see where one person's planets fall in the other person's houses, and one compares the positions of planets in the two charts to see whether any pair of planets is separated by a number of degrees in the zodiac that is considered meaningful. (These meaningful distances between planets, e.g., 0 degrees, 180 degrees, 120 degrees, 90 degrees, and so on, are called "aspects".) A couple of newer (and still experimental) techniques exist for studying the nature of a relationship. One is called the "relationship chart" (created by Ronald Davison); the chart is cast for the place in space and time that is exactly half-way between the two people's birth places and times. The second technique is called the "composite chart" (developed by Robert Hand). The Sun in this chart is at the mid-point of the two people's Suns, the Moon is at the mid-point of the two people's Moons, and so on for all the planets. For recommendations of books about all these techniques, see the resource list. (See # 19 for complete details about the list.) The nature of the synastry technique to be applied depends on the nature of the relationship contemplated and also on whether the relationship is between male and female or people of the same gender. If two people are contemplating marriage, the technique used is different than it would be if they were contemplating a business relationship. The technique is also different when evaluating a parent-sibling relationship or a superior-subordinate relationship. As a simplistic example, for marriage, a Sun in Aquarius (female) is an excellent match for Sun in Leo (male) (Sun's position taken alone -- neglecting other planets for purposes of discussion), as long as the two people operate on a spiritual level. This has the potential for the highest type of marriage. However, if it is a father-son relationship where the father has Sun in Aquarius and the son (especially the first born) has his Sun in Leo, they will cause each other frustration to no end. *** Questions About Learning Astrology *** 8) Can anyone recommend a good book on astrology for beginners? Answer: Recommendations appear in the alt.astrology resource list. (See # 19.) Maggie McPherson posted some beginners' lessons that describe some basic concepts used in western astrology; if you would like copies of these, they are available by anonymous ftp at hilbert.maths.utas.edu.au in the directory pub/astrology; the file names are "lesson.intro" and "lesson.aspects." If you cannot use ftp on your machine, write for copies to Maggie at lmpm@oldcolo.com. A huge bibliography of astrology books (all levels) is available at the ftp site in the file win.rowe. 9) What is the best approach to learning astrology? Answer: If you can find a class offered in your area, that might be the best approach. It is difficult for the beginner to assess what is important in chart interpretation. Two lessons on western astrology are available at the ftp site (see # 20) in the files "lesson.intro" and "lesson.aspects". These cover some basic concepts, but they do not explain how to cast or interpret a chart. See # 8 about beginners' books. The most difficult area of astrology is natal (i.e., birth) chart interpretation. It takes years to learn the art of synthesis that allows for accurate readings of a natal chart. Beginners might benefit from concentrating on transits (the movements of the planets in the sky across time in relation to a natal chart), which are relatively easy to interpret, astrocartography (changes in the zodiacal positions of the 12 houses as one moves from city to city), for which clear interpretations are available (e.g., from Jim Lewis' work), or synastry (evaluating contacts between two charts to determine the nature of a relationship). When the basic natures of the planets, signs, houses, and aspects become familiar, then one can begin to study natal charts in earnest, combining ("synthesising") the various factors wholistically to achieve a meaningful reading. An article discussing transits and providing brief interpretations for selected transits appears at the ftp site. An article on astrocartography also appears there. Both were written by Thomas David Kehoe, and they reside in the directory pub/astrology/articles under the titles "transits" and "astrocartography." (See # 20 about getting articles from the ftp site.) 10) Where can I find scientific research on astrology? Answer: Brief summaries of a few scientific studies (written by Thomas David Kehoe) are available at the ftp site (see # 20) in the files "gauquelin" and "jung.synastry," which can be found in the directory pub/astrology/articles. The most famous research is that of Michel and Francoise Gauquelin. Some of their findings have been the focus of decades of scrutiny by skeptics, and their results have held up under this scrutiny. Some of their studies have been successfully replicated with different samples and by independent researchers. The highly publicised CSICOP "failure to replicate" on an American sample for the "Mars effect" (the appearance of Mars in certain sectors with greater-than-expected frequency for eminent athletes) has been shown to demonstrate the effect when the athletes are ordered by eminence (see the article by Suitbert Ertel in the Winter, 1992 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer). After finding the Mars effect on their initial sample, the CSICOP researchers added in a large number of less eminent athletes so that their final sample included far fewer such athletes than did the Gauquelins' sample, and this washed out the Mars effect when the sample as a whole was considered (see Eysenck & Nias, Astrology, Science or Superstition, St. Martin's Press, 1982). When the athletes are divided into groups according to an objective criterion of "eminence," the Mars effect emerges among the most eminent. The Mars effect has been found in two other studies by skeptics' organisations, one in Belgium and one in France. The Belgian study by the Comite' Para appears in Nouvelles Bre`ves, Vol. 43, 1976, pp. 327-343. The study by the French skeptics remains unpublished after a number of years, but analyses of the data by Suitbert Ertel have appeared on the internet and bitnet. The effect has also been found in a sample analysed by a German researcher named Muller, and in several additional samples studied by the Gauquelins, bringing the total number of replications of the finding to eight (see Ertel, 1992). But the Mars effect is just one replicable finding in a large set of Gauquelin findings, including observed associations between various professions and the appearance of planets of related character in "key sectors" (parts of the sky near the points of rising, culmination, setting, and anti-culmination -- the "angles"), associations between the angularity of a planet and certain related character traits, and the "inheritance" of angular planets from one's parents when the birth is natural (i.e., not induced with drugs or occurring by C-section). Some of the Gauquelins' research is summarised in the following books: Michel Gauquelin, "Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior" (3rd edition, published in 1985 by Aurora Press, P.O. Box 573, Santa Fe, NM 87504); Michel Gauquelin, "Planetary Heredity" (published in 1988 by ACS Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 16430, San Diego, CA 92116-0430); Francoise Gauquelin, "Psychology of the Planets" (published in 1982 by ACS Publications, Inc.). For a summary of the Gauquelins' findings and a description of the debate about their work and the controversy over the "Mars effect," see the article by Ken Irving that is stored (in various forms under filenames that begin with "marscont") at the ftp site (see # 20) in the directory /pub/astrology/New. A preliminary report of a study showing the relationship between inspiration in scientific discovery and certain angular separations of planets appears in a booklet entitled "The Eureka Effect," by Nicholas Kollerstrom and Michael O'Neill. It was published in 1989 by Urania Trust, 396 Caledonian Road, London N1 1DN. A complete report on this study and some additional data on inventions will appear sometime in the next few years. A study that is currently attracting interest was conducted by Dr. Suzel Fuzeau-Braesch of l'Universite' de Paris-Sud. The study demonstrated that subtle differences in astrological charts for twins could be used to construct pairs of descriptions in which the twins were contrasted on a set of personality traits. For 238 pairs of twins, a parent or other family member was able to match the correct description (i.e., the one based on the correct chart) to each twin significantly more often than predicted by chance (p < .001). The personality descriptions were based on variables such as the proximity of a planet to the diurnal "angles" (point of rising, culmination, setting, and anti-culmination) -- variables whose values were unlikely to be known by the parents or other family members. This study appeared in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 13, No. 10, 1992, pp. 1135-1144. An attempt at replication is currently being carried out by Michael O'Neill. A type of astrological phenomenon that has been observed in hundreds of experiments involves a change in the behaviour of metal ions when an aspect forms in the sky between planets associated with the metals involved. Here are some of the relevant references. Three of these appear at the ftp site (see # 20) in articles entitled "metals1," "metals2," and "metals3." Faussurier, A. Conscience Ecologique et Cre'ativite' Humaine, Lyon 1975. Fyfe, A. Uber die Variabilitat von Silber-Eisen-Steigbildern, Elemente der Naturwissenschaft, Vol. 6, pp. 35-43 (Easter 1967). Fyfe, A. Moon and Plant, Society for Cancer Research, Arlesheim Switzerland 1967, pp. a7 b37. Hammerton, C. Repetition of Experiment made by L. Kolisko in relation to Observable Effects in Salts of Metals Corresponding to the Planets, Astrology (UK), Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 46-48 (1954). Kolisko, L. Workings of the Stars on Earthly Substance, Parts 1 & 2, Stuttgart 1928. Kolisko, L. Das Silber und der Mond, Orient-Occident Verlang, Stuttgart 1929. Kolisko, L. Der Jupiter und das Zinn, Mathematisch-Astronomische Sektion am Goetheanum (Doirnach), Stuttgard 1932 (available in English as Workings of the Stars on Earthly Substances, Part 4, Jupiter and Tin). Kolisko, L. Gold and the Sun, Kolisko archive (published privately), Stroud UK 1947 (a study of the total solar eclipse of 20 May 1947; a study of the total solar eclipse of 29 June 1927 is given in Workings of the Stars on Earthly Substance, part 2; of 19 June 1936 in Gold and the Sun, London 1937; and of 15 February 1961 in Die Sonnenfinsternis vom 15 Februar 1961, Stuttgart 1961). Kolisko, L. Spirit in Matter, Kolisko archive, Stroud UK 1947. Kolisko, L. Saturn und Blei, Kolisko archive, Stroud UK 1952. Kollerstrom, N. Astrochemistry: A Study of Metal-Planet Affinities, London: Emergence Press, 1984. Kollerstrom, N. The Correspondence of Metals and Planets -- Experimental Studies, The Astrological Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3, 1976, pp. 65-72. Kollerstrom, N. Chemical Effects of a Mars-Saturn Conjunction, The Astrological Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1977, pp. 100-105. Schwenk, T. 1949, quoted in W. Pelikan, The Secrets of Metals, Anthroposophic Press, Spring Valley, NY, 1973, pp. 23-25. Voss, K. Neue Aspekte, No. 5 (1965); summarised by R.C. Firebrace, Confirmation of the Kolisko Experiments, Spica, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 4-8 (1965). The Astrological Association of London publishes a scholarly journal devoted entirely to astrological research. It is called Correlation. (See the resource list for the address and phone number of the Astrological Association; see # 19 for information about the resource list.) Prior to its first publication in 1981, research articles appeared in The Astrological Journal, also published by the Astrological Association. If you are in Britain, all issues of this journal are available at The Astrology Study Centre (396 Caledonian Road, London N1 1DN), the Oxford and Cambridge University libraries, the Scottish National Library in Edinburgh, the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, Trinity College in Dublin, the Warburg Institute, London University, the British Library in London, and the York University library. In the USA, these journals are available at the Heart Center library, 315 Marion Avenue, Big Rapids, MI 49307. Astrologers in your local area may have copies of these journals as well. The International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR, Inc., P.O. Box 38613, Los Angeles, CA 90038-0613, U.S.A.) publishes the quarterly journal Kosmos, which contains reports of research. The journal is sent to members of ISAR. Astrological research appears occasionally in academic journals of psychology, although the work published in these journals is usually by non-astrologers and has little to do with traditional astrological theory. A literature search (e.g., of the database "Psychological Abstracts") for articles containing the keyword "astrology" or "astrological" (or "astrolog?" where "?" is a wild card) would turn these up. Because of the difficulty in publishing astrological research (or any unorthodox research), much remains unpublished. Among such studies are those described in postgraduate dissertations on astrology. A list of these (up to 1981) appears in the December, 1982 issue of Correlation. For more recent dissertations, check Dissertations Abstracts at a university library. (Our very own Mark Urban-Lurain did a multivariate analysis of the birth data of members of Alcoholics Anonymous for his Master's thesis at Michigan State University.) *** General Questions *** 11) I have seen people born within days/hours of one another whose lives are really different. How come? Answer: Even a few minutes difference in the time of birth or having a different birth place can change the chart substantially. Obviously people who have just the same birthday will have different charts. Since Earth is the only planet that makes a trip around the Sun exactly once a year, all the other planets will be at completely different positions in a different year. But even if people are born on the very same day, their charts can differ quite radically. The Moon moves about 13 degrees in a day, and the astrological houses, which are an extremely important element of the chart, move through the entire zodiac in a 24-hour period! And their positions are affected by latitude as well. In addition, even if two people's charts are identical (which is rare), other factors may influence the way the chart is expressed. Some people operate on a material level, some on a mental level, and a few operate on a spiritual level. The same chart can be expressed on any of these levels. An astrological chart does not show the "fate" or "destiny" as such. The person always has a choice, and the free exercise of the will determines how the influences indicated in a chart manifest themselves. 12) What is the meaning of the term "the Age of Aquarius"? Answer: Due to the precession of the equinoxes as explained in question # 30, the Vernal Equinox enters a new sign in the sidereal zodiac about every 2160 years. According to output from Astrolog, at the Vernal Equinox in 1992, the Sun will be at 5^ Pisces 22' in the sidereal zodiac. Because of this, the current age is called the "Piscean" age. The Vernal Equinox will not actually occur in the sign of Aquarius in the sidereal zodiac until the year 2377. Some astrologers, however, believe that the equinox is close enough to the cusp of Pisces that we will begin to see some of the effects of the Age of Aquarius, hence the "Dawning of the Age of Aquarius." Opinions also differ regarding the exact boundaries of the constellations and the length of an astrological age. 13) How is it possible for astrology to work? Answer: There are at least two schools of thought. One common explanation is synchronicity, an acausal connecting principle proposed by Carl Jung. The general idea is that events on earth of a certain nature coincide in time with astronomical events of a similar nature (according to the symbolic significance of the planets and their relations in the heavens). Although synchronicity operates throughout the universe, the planets might have special significance because they are part of collective experience (that is, we can all see them or know about them) and so they can take on a collective meaning -- they can speak to the "collective unconscious." But Jung's synchronicity principle is still hypothetical and still not well understood. Jung's idea is similar to the ancient hermetic idea of resonant bonds of sympathy between "similars" (which share a common essential design) in the microcosm and macrocosm. This was the ancient explanation for the correspondence between cosmic and mundane events. A less popular explanation is that there are unknown and currently undetected forces or energies emanating from the planets that affect life on earth, perhaps something akin to Rupert Sheldrake's "morphic fields." (This type of explanation is unpopular among those physicists who believe that all the forces in the universe are already known.) Biological evidence showing a harmony between celestial rhythms and biological rhythms suggests that known or unknown planetary forces operate on organisms at a material level, sometimes through changes in the pattern of solar radiation. Such biological effects might alter psychological processing and thus human action and the events that arise from it. Whatever explanation is offered, it is evidence from experience and research that convinces people that astrology does indeed work. The rich descriptive theory that has evolved over thousands of years provides for a deep understanding of human nature and the capacity for prediction of the type of circumstances that will prevail during specific time periods. As with most areas of inquiry, the correct explanatory theory to account for the structure of the descriptive theory awaits its discoverer. 14) Does astrology control my future? Is it "wrong" to use astrology to learn what the future holds for me? I'm scared. Answer: In Western astrology, it is not believed that the cycles associated with the planets control your future; it is believed, rather, that YOU have ultimate control over your future through the exercise of your will. The planets only indicate some of the tendencies inherent in your personality and the conditions that surround various areas of life. One cannot determine in precise detail exactly what will happen in one's life from day to day and moment to moment, but only what kinds of influences will be present. There is a famous saying: "The stars incline, they do not compel." Within the situational and psychological context described in a chart, you are free to act and react according to your will, which is in turn guided by the wisdom you possess and your stage in your spiritual evolution. As for good and evil, there is nothing "wrong" with learning what sort of conditions will exist in your life. It may be to your advantage to foresee these influences so that you can be prepared and control your actions to better work in harmony with the celestial cycles.