"Who Believes in Astrology? Who Doesn't?"

This is taken from the Turkish Daily News:

Astrology is actually considered a pseudo-science whose practitioners study the planets and other celestial bodies and their effect on humans and human affairs to predict the future. It used to be considered the same as astronomy Astrology is strictly forbidden in Islam, in the Qur’an and in the hadith or traditions that were written down and offered guidance for Muslims’ daily lives… Mohammed believed that astrology was some kind of sorcery.

GÜL DEMIR and NIKI GAMMISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

Is it possible to meet someone who could tell one the future and then have that future come true? Would one believe anyone who said such and such was going to happen? And if it did happen, how would one feel? Astrology has been around for some 10,000 years and astrologers believe that they can predict an individual's future (This could be a city or even a country) by determining the position of the planets and stars. Certainly it is based on observations of individual traits and cosmic correlations over those many centuries. One can easily surmise that people who believed that substances in nature such as trees, rocks and streams were animate would also believe that the stars and planets might be animate, especially since they could see them move in the night sky over the course of a year. This study of the heavens at night was also very useful for telling time and the seasons and for navigating ships while at sea.

Astrology is actually considered a pseudo-science whose practitioners study the planets and stars and their effect on humans and human affairs to predict the future. It used to be considered the same as astronomy, the oldest of sciences that today is one of the most progressive sciences. The main difference is that astrology includes the individual in its system while astronomy does not. The Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were among the earliest believers in astrology.

The astrologer has developed a system in which the location of the various planetary bodies and their locations may determine how and why a person may behave in a certain way or undergo some action directed at him or her. For the astrologer, it definitely does determine this but for the nonbeliever, there's no way to tell. It may be merely coincidence that a prediction comes true forgetting all the other predictions that did not.

Telling the future was not just left to the astrologers. There were sacred oracles such as Delphi in Greece or prophets like Homer's Cassandra who always prophesied the truth but was cursed that no one would ever believe her. Human beings seem to like knowing the future, however perfect or imperfect a science or pseudo-science might be. On the other hand, we see that on critical occasions in ancient Rome, those who prophesied were banished lest they be bought to say something less than the truth.

In astrology, the first step is to draw up a birth chart that is based on the date of one's birth. One's sun or main sign of which there are 12 is determined by that date so if one is a Scorpio (born between Oct. 23 and Nov. 22), one will exhibit characteristics that have been imputed to the sign of Scorpio such as determined and forceful, jealous and resentful. In addition, if one knows the time of birth, the astrologer can provide much more accurate information about one and one's personality because a person is not just affected by the sun sign, one also bears the characteristics of other signs and the planets and moon. Perhaps as a Scorpio, one of the other influences might be Virgo who is disciplined so if your Scorpio is particularly well organized, one must blame Virgo's influence. There are also suggestions that the electro magnetic waves that reach earth from the sun and planets also have an affect on human beings.

The horoscope that is developed from the information provided by a birth date has been described as a reference map. It will show where all the planets were on the day one was born and someone trained in reading it, will be able to say what kind of character one has and for instance what obstacles one might encounter in future and therefore can avoid.

One has to then assume that a person's life is based on the birth date and the influence of other signs. This is startlingly close to statements made about DNA, that it contains the elements that will determine one's entire life. Research carried out involving the DNA of identical twins who were separated at birth has shown similarities that would be unbelievable if they were merely coincidental. It is suggestive of predestination in certain areas such as sickness.

Astrology in Islam
Astrology is strictly forbidden in Islam, in the Koran and in the hadith or traditions that were written down and offer guidance for Muslims' daily lives. In Islam the Prophet Mohammed is considered the last prophet and there were to be no others after him. So the Prophet could prophesize but no one else could. That ruled out anyone attempting to tell the future. In addition it is known that Mohammed believed that astrology was some kind of sorcery. Others condemn astrology as practiced by those ignorant of true knowledge and by the unbeliever.

Even though anyone transgressing the prohibition would be unable to achieve whatever he might have expected to for 40 days, it didn't stop people from going to people who told the future. Today among the popular ways of doing so are reading coffee grounds, bones, palms, horoscopes and tarot cards. Although most people in the Middle East drink tea, it is made in such a way that the leaves are strained out and so the tradition of telling fortunes with tea leaves never began.

In the early days of the Turkish Republic, many people were going to fortune tellers and astrologers to learn whatever they could about the future. They were interested in what would happen in Turkey and even more so, wanted to know about the country's leaders like Atatürk. It became so ubiquitous that the government outlawed it. You would think it some kind of witchcraft. Keep in mind that readings can be for cities and countries as well as people, if you know the birth date or founding date. The Internet can even provide a birth chart for the Turkish Republic.

In spite of the prohibition on fortune telling, today it's no problem to find a café in Istanbul where there's a professional coffee cup reader and it's a normal question to ask when a group of friends get together and drink Turkish coffee – someone almost always knows a little bit, taught from childhood by older women. Like other old laws still on the books, it's ignored.

What's in store for 2008?
Well, most astrologers believe that 2008 will not be a great year for the world. For example they say: The housing market crisis will continue and have a strong impact on the worldwide economy; the crisis over the value of the dollar will lead to more and more countries to look to the Euro; the Internet will gain even more popularity although it already has millions of users; developing countries will cease to provide regular telephone service encouraging the further use of the mobile telephone and saving billions of dollars in providing telephone cables; Turkey will again have negotiations on full membership in the European Union postponed for its attacks on outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists; and the weather will continue to be wildly unpredictable as climate change speeds up.

A year from now we will look back to see just how accurate these and other predictions were. Until then, Happy New Year!

I don't know if I believe in it or not. It sounds nuts, but then again, who is to say? It makes sense, too. But I like suspending my belief and I certainly can't see disallowing it in religion - talk about the suspension of reasonable belief! That is the ultimate in hocus-pocus. I would much sooner throw in my lot with astrology and Nostradamos!