Astrology in 2008

The other day, on a stroll in the East Village, I stopped by an elderly, rotund and wise looking woman. She inquired as to whether I would like my chart read, for a fee. I kindly replied that I would not and continued on my walk. Not but fifteen minutes later did I receive a phone call from my mother informing me to listen to horoscope as she read on about the future love life of a Virgo.

In fact, I am confronted by astrology so often that I find myself wondering what place astrology could possibly have in modern society. In addition, I am fascinated by those who are drawn to astrology. Are they scamming artists trying to make a buck off my naïveté? Were they raised to believe in astrology? Like my mother, are they simply brief astrology enthusiasts? In order to understand what place astrology has in modern society it is necessary to understand what it is.

Astrology is defined on dictionary.com as “the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs”. By heavenly bodies dictionary.com is referring to pretty much anything out of our atmosphere such as planets, the sun and stars.

Astrology was once much like that of a religion and worked in conjunction with astronomy. Unlike today where astrology is more commonly regarded as the antithesis of astronomy. The rise of Christianity took the place of astrology in terms of the popular belief but as we know, astrology is all but gone. In fact, there are practicing astrologists in NYC.

It is simple to find pages and pages of astrologists willing to do chart readings at parties or in private by simply typing “NYC” and “Astrology” into Google. In fact, there is a large subset of astrologers listed under the Entertainment section of a variety of search engines.

Thus, it seems that the role of astrology today is that of entertainment. It is a sort of parlor trick to amuse and to swindle. However, the astrologists offering their services would disagree. Astrologists today consider it a valid science based on a well dated practice.

I had always been under the impression that astrology was an outdated way of thinking. That is was a common belief system before the scientific age but no was no longer held any sway. I was incorrect.

Astrology has not been written off by all as a superstition such as I have written it off. In fact, there are astrology consultants. People make a living through astrology. Horoscopes, chart readings, schools. The astrology industry is booming. It is alive and well and it feeds off of us. Those who want to know how our month is going to shape up based on the month we were born in. Perhaps it is curiosity that keeps astrology alive.

Interesting Links

Astrology Micro Blog

Micro Blog

Scientists Micro Blog

Basic Understanding of Houses in Vedic Astrology
Yet another tradition of Astrology, Vedic astrology is also known as Indian astrology or Hindu astrology. It has three branches. Siddhanta is traditionally Indian astronomy. Samhita, is similar to the western version of mundane astrology. For this branch, the positioning of celestial bodies are used to analyse events. Hora is a predictive form of astrology that analyses the natal chart based on the moment a question is asked.

Astrologers believe that manglik boy should marry manglik girl
Horoscope matching plays a very significant role in India for settlement of marriages. Hindu families generally act according to the state of horoscope. In fact, In India, all the ceremonies, marriages and festivals are planned according to the astrological positions of planets. Matchmaking is determined by the celestial positions of planets in the bride and the groom in astrological charts. According to Hindus, planets determine the relationship and bond between husband and wife.

Learn Free Vedic Astrology Online - Jupiter
Vedic Astrology Center has free daily horoscopes and many online astrology classes and readings. This is a short, online astrological lesson about Jupiter, the planet of meaning and purpose.