How does astrology work?

Theoretically, there could be some truth there. If you think about all the different seasonal changes, it’s not that difficult to imagine that there would be some effect in utero.

Take for instance, viruses. They tend to thrive under certain conditions. Different seasons usually bring particular changes. (ie rotavirus seems to like cold dry weather) If an expecting mother were to be exposed, I’d imagine it would affect the infant in some developmental way.

Then there’s food. Certain crops grow during certain seasons. I can also imagine that diet would affect development.

And depending on which trimester the expecting mother is in, that would also narrow the exposures along a seasonal framework.

That being said, astrology probably “works” because people believe it.

Here is how it works:
You make some generalised “predictions” that could fit almost anything and anyone, and lace it with generalised flattery that also fits everyone.
And then you take their money.

It doesn’t.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetype#Jungian_archetypes

This is a trick question.

@secondhandstoke How is it a trick question?

As it doesn’t work.

The information has no practical application.

@Rarebear is addressing those who do believe in astrology and asking them about the nature of their belief:

I’m genuinely curious as to what you believe the mechanism is.

If I were a believer in astrology, which I’m not, I wouldn’t risk responding in this thread at this point because of preemptive sneering.

Information doesn’t have to have a practical application in order for someone to take an interest in it.

For what it’s worth, it was a former employer of mine, a hypnotherapist and a firm believer in astrology, who introduced me to the concept of Jungian archetypes and how they relate to astrology. She also said much of it was “intuition”. You basically stare at your natal chart until it makes sense to you.

She also built a shrine and prayed to the fairies she wrote about in a couple of children’s books, but who’s keeping the crazy score? She does have a doctorate.

@jeruba. I tried to coach it as best I could. I can’t control what other people write and I’m on an iPhone so I can’t flag. I really am interested.

I know you did, @Rarebear. Unfortunately some flutherfolk have the habit of pouncing on questions (often, apparently, without even bothering to read the details) and mocking or critiquing them instead of leaving the field to those who actually care to answer what’s being asked.

Oh well. I did try.

My aunt likes astrology and so does my MIL. They seem to believe that everything is connected. The universe, the plants, people, animals. They look at things like the moon’s cycle being 28 days and a woman’s cycle being 28 days as some sort of cosmic connection. They also point to things like high tide and low tide and that the earth is made up of a high percentage of water and so are we humans, and again they feel it is all a sign of how we are interconnected. If the moon can influence the waters of our seas, so can the moon, stars, and planets influence us.

They read the horoscopes and feel they can relate to them, they see truth in them. My MIL is a very religious Catholic. I think they aren’t supposed to believe in the astrological stuff. She doesn’t live by it or anything, but I think she believes there might be some truth in astrology. She also believes in past life hypnotism to cure fears and anxieties. She will believe almost anything maybe? Or, at least give it a chance. My aunt is an atheist Jew. She believes in psychics and astrology, but also doesn’t live by it in any way, but she really likes it. Likes the idea of it. She always has told me I am psychic (she does not say that to other people) and we are both Capricorns and she thinks that gives us a special connection. She will call me if her life has been really shitty and ask if mine is too. She means because of the Capricorn connection.

You wrote the question just fine. I hope you get some more serious answers from people who believe. I ask a lot of Christian questions, and that too can be difficult. Christians all too often afraid to answer, and people who criticize their beliefs when no one was asking them to comment.

Thanks @jleslie

@Rarebear Sure. Do you think the gravitational pull of the moon might influence us in some way? Or, influence other things on earth besides the oceans?

I don’t think that those who believe in astrology can formulate an answer. It is the kind of thing that people accept on faith.

I would think that the heliocentric view of the solar system had an adverse effect on astrology. If you think that the universe revolves around the earth then the position of the stars of the zodiac could at least be interpreted as signs of forces in the universe. It takes something away from all this once you realize that all the stars of the zodiac appear overhead every time the earth rotates, with the ones being visible being the ones that are overhead at night.

@jleslie tidal forces certainly affect life on Earth in profound ways. Just look at ocean tides. It is also argued that the tidal forces help fuel the movement of tectonic plates which in turn move the carbon cycle.

But having an effect on an individual person? No, I don’t know of any evidence to that.

I didn’t know about the tectonic plates. Interesting.

Some people here are confusing Astrology with Astronomy and Cosmology. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell the difference.

@Espiritus_Corvus I think JLeslie and Rarebear I’m guessing about who you might be referring to were just pointing out how elements of Astronomy and Cosmology have been used to argue in favor of Astrology.

@Rarebear Do you think disease and diet could affect development and personality? I have no attachment to my previous comment. I just made it up on the spot. Just curious as to what your take on it is.

@Nimis I just wanted to use the term “rocket scientist” in an appropriate context for once. Didn’t mean it to be snarky.

@Espiritus_Corvus
Lurve for being such a dork.

@Espiritus_Corvus I know the difference. @Rarebear definitely knows the difference. Astronomy is a special interest of @Rarebear. @Nimis is right that people who believe in astrology look for explanations in astronomy, in our understanding of the universe, to support their ideas about astrology. It’s like explaining the parting of the seas as a tsunami. Or, the extremely bright north star as an alignment of the star and a planet on that night that caused an unusually bright “star.”. It could historically have happened, those things possibly were actually observed. Then we are still left with how to interpret the events. Was it God or just natural science at work? It’s not really a perfect analogy. My only point is mixing all those things together isn’t unusual I don’t think.

The North star is interesting, not because it is “extremely bright,” which it is not, but because of its position in the sky. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.97, which is considered only moderately bright.

Unusual sky events, such as novae and supernovae were observed and reported. The change in magnitude of the various kinds of variable stars is now common knowledge. The path of the visible planets is also common astronomical knowleges and can be charted weekly at sites like “Sky& Telescope.” When they are going to appear to be close to a very bright star, it’s common knowledge.

Here is this week’s sky at a glance for this week:

@gailcalled I’m not sure what point you are making? That’s what I said, the north star appeared extremely bright that night probably because of some cosmic event.

@JLeslie I don’t think that’s what she was saying. The North Star wasn’t bright because of any cosmic event.

@Nimis I still don’t get. I’m missing something. I remember as a young child going to the planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and watching some explanation about how possibly Jesus was born in 4 BC (This is from my childhood memory many years ago and I easily could be remembering details incorrectly) because the alignment of what appears in the night sky would have caused a very bright light in the north sky.

^ The Star of Bethlehem was in the Western sky. The “wise men” were supposed to be Asian kings following the silk road.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_Bethlehem#Astronomical_object

According to this, the planetary conjunction hypothesis is unlikely, as the Jupiter and Saturn (the ones hypothesised to be in conjunction) were quite a bit off at the time, and wouldn’t have been visually striking.

The most plausible theory seems to be a comet or nova, since the sight of one was recorded by Chinese and Koran astronomers around the same time, but they were usually seen as a bad omen, not a good one.

The dating of Jesus’ birth surrounds the life of King Herod more than anything else, because he was a historical figure the dates of whose reign and death we actually know.

Thanks to those who tried to answer the question.

As to the other points, Polaris is relatively bright as it can be seen in skies with significant light pollution. Although through precession it will move away from celestial north. That said it most likely has not changed in brightness by a significant degree (although it may be a variable star-I don’t know offhand)

If the star if Bethlehem really happened it was probably, as Seek said, a transient cosmic event. The astronomers at that time were smart enough to know a planet when they saw it.

Interesting. Thanks everyone.

Completely off-topic but interesting….

@Rarebear :I got curious enough to do some research; it turns out that Polaris is the 48th, 49th or 50th brightest star (depending on whom you ask) and actually a triple star system, or three stars orbiting a common center of mass…. Polaris A is a supergiant with about six times the mass of our sun. A close companion, Polaris Ab, orbits 2 billion miles from Polaris. Much farther away, ...is Polaris B. Polaris B is located approximately 240 billion miles from Polaris A. The two companion stars are the same temperture as Polaris A, but are dwarf stars.

Apparently, Polaris is also the closest and brightest Cepheid variable star. I always thought that that was delta Cephei.

Ok off my iphone now.

@Nimis Just so you know, I’m an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer.
@gailcalled I thought I remembered Polaris being a Cepheid variable but I wasn’t sure. I don’t think it gets bright enough to be the Star of Bethlehem, though. Also, as Seek said, the SoB (heh) was supposed to be in the West, and Polaris is in the North.

Anyway, I was just curious as to what astrologers believe is the mechanism of action.

I know that I wandered very far afield. As a Capricorn I am much too opinionated to discuss the merits of astrology.

Polaris was never, ever, in the running for the SoB IRL. was it?

From the Wikipedia article on The Star of Bethlehem.

“Astronomers have made several attempts to link the star to unusual astronomical events, such as a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, a comet or a supernova.”

Many modern scholars doubt the historical accuracy of the story and argue that the star was a pious fiction created by the author of the Gospel of Matthew.”

Urrgh, I wish I had my old boss’s book at hand. It’s in my “stuff to sell” storage. It’s humbly titled “Your Mind: The Owner’s Manual”.

Also a Capricorn, I too am disinclined to give it credence, but my Cancer moon softens me with a desire to educate in a motherly fashion

Here you go

I’ll save you the read.

Blah blah, ancient wisdom fallacy, blah blah, mystery and personal truth, blah blah it’s not really the stars causing anything, it’s all about self-discovery and self-enlightenment, and don’t confuse me with your science babble.

(By the way, in case you’re interested, we’re live right now.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lCtGKQ2u88&feature=youtu.be

Wish I had the connection speed to play. I’m at little better than dial-up right now.

@Rarebear: Forget counting galaxy clusters; aren’t you cute.

Adorable! And one of those other guys lives in my old hometown, about 30 minutes away from me.

@Seek_Kolinahr Which one?

Forget the other guys, Rare. where are you?

Uhm… why am I bad at names?

The guy who was outside, in Hudson, FL.

David Dickenson.

David is a writer for Universe Today and ubiquitous on Twitter at @astroguyz

Followed! As well as the bald guy. ^_^

LOL! Scott is everywhere right now in the social media astronomy sphere and is a great guy.

So, I’m currently following 55 people on Twitter, and 15 of them are astronomers/astrophysicists/astronauts. Most of the rest are actors from Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica.

* geeksnort *

Another Q full of Capricorns :).

Off topic, but related, my husband was the first Aries I ever knew I knew. I assume I had met others, but since astrological signs don’t always come up, I wasn’t aware of it. Many people around me are earth signs. My husband and his family are the only fire signs in my personal life I think? His family is full of them. None of my closest friends are fire nor family members on my side.

It reminds me of one of the explanations in Many Live Many Masters, where the author suggests sould stay near each other in each life. Your husband in this life might have been your sister in a past one. Maybe part of what we like about astrology is feeling connected to others. I think human beings naturally try to find things in common and group people. We also seek explanations.

Reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s concept of granfalloon

Astrology IS a science and a very ancient science. There is a ton of information on the net, as well, there are a million books about how it works. As with all things, some are of course better than others.

It would take a great deal of explanation to try and write it all out on Fluther. I would Google your question if I were you. Then you can begin to get an understanding of the basics by perusing the websites.

May I also say that there is an incredible accuracy rate with Astrological configuration and prediction. That is because of the fact that it IS mathematical, and as one explores it, increasingly complex.

People who don’t lift a finger to study it, then profess to arrogantly deny it’s validity are fakes. They haven’t earned the right to place judgment on it. They are naive and clueless, yet they feel so superior. Its hilarious.

Therefore, I encourage exploration. It is fascinating, and you will be in some very good company.

@Skylight There you are! I was hoping you’d answer.

Can you give me a short primer on the mechanism on how it works? How does the position of Saturn in a particular constellation affect me?

In terms of internet searching, I have. I haven’t been able to find anything that could have a plausible mechanism. That’s what I’m after. To give you an idea of what I’ve looked through:
http://www.astrotheme.com/files/astrology_testimonial.php
http://www.astrobarry.com/basics.php
http://astrology.about.com/od/foundations/a/HowAstroWorks.htm
http://www.examiner.com/article/why-does-astrology-work

All basically say, “We don’t know how it works, but it does”.
My question is, “How?”

If you can give me some idea, I’d be grateful, thanks.

Prenatal hormones influenced by seasonal changes.

↑ That’s what I was trying to say.
But, you know, way more succinct.

Actually, I’d broaden it from neonatal hormones to stages in neonatal development.

Damn it. Even my compliments aren’t even succinct.

I believe in astrology;

As in I believe it exists.

@SecondHandStoke That’s fine. I’m not questioning your belief. What I’m trying to figure out is how it works.

@Seek_Kolinahr

Capricorn here too!