ASTROLOGY

4 September 2005

By: Ali Ismail

E-mail: aliismail_uk@yahoo.co.uk

Telephone: 0778-842 5262





SHOULD ASTROLOGY DRIVE BANGLADESH?




Schema such as these drive the destinies of nations




One Bangladeshi minister wants astrologers to advise on social policy

Last Wednesday I was surprised but not actually very much so to discover that astrology continues to have a strong and stable presence in Bangladesh. That appears to be the case in all the South Asian countries bordering India and in India itself.

It seems that no less a person than the Commerce Minister, Air Vice Marshal (retired) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, had said on Tuesday, 30 August that astrology in our times in Bangladesh is being used in the fields of politics, economics and even in medicine.“This science now is not confined to mere predicting an individual’s fortune. Rather, it is now involved in the socio-political domain of the country (sic),” he said as the chief guest at a reception to honour nine eminent national personalities at the National Press Club that afternoon. The event at which the minister was speaking had been organised by the World Astrological Association. In his speech, Mr Chowdhury opined that in his view astrology could be used to cure psychosomatic illnesses. He even said that he was in favour of the World Astrological Association’s request for astrology to be included as a topic in psychology courses.Taking a swipe at those who ridicule astrology and its practitioners, Mr Chowdhury asked rhetorically whether or not the physical sciences could give “full explanations” for what he described as the “dark portion of the world.” He declared that astrology is a methodology for understanding the body and the soul.Another speaker, Gaziul Hasan Khan said that astrologers are unable to decide anyone’s future but were able to predict “possibilities.”

My contention and the reason for my writing this article is that the above is symptomatic of what ails our people and our cultures and that that approach to life and the universe is lethal for those who use it. In short, it is our death knell.

Anyone who has been through journalism schools as I did, however, is trained to present both sides of any argument and even in a newspaper feature with an ‘angle’ a variety of different viewpoints have to be presented to a thinking readership.

Columbia University Press’ electronic dictionary defines astrology thus:

‘Astrology, form of divination based on the theory that the movements of the celestial bodies - the stars, the planets, the sun, and the moon - influence human affairs and determine the course of events. Celestial phenomena have been the object of religious sentiment since earliest times (see moon worship;sun worship). The Chaldaeans and the Assyrians were the first to discard their sky gods in favor of a nondeistic system of divination founded upon astronomy and numerology. They saw the heavenly bodies as exerting an influence upon the lives of individuals and the destinies of empires. Generally, future events were believed determined beforehand by a universal order that was a result of the motions of the planets and stars. The practices of astrology spread throughout the ancient Middle East, Asia, and Europe, but with the rise of Christianity, which emphasized divine intervention and free will, interest in astrology subsided, although astrologers continued to flourish. During the European Renaissance astrology as a form of divination regained popularity, due in part to the rekindled interest in science and astronomy. The European astrologer, considered a scholar exploring the mysteries of the universe through science and reason, was held in high esteem in the community for many years. However, in the 16th and 17th cent., Christian theologists waged war against astrology. In 1585 astrology was officially condemned in a bull of Pope Sixtus V, and in 1631, Pope Urban VIII reinforced this with another bull. At the same time the astronomical work of such men as Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo was undermining the tenets of astrology. Astrology, however, continued to be practiced. All of the aforementioned scientists remained practicing astrologers, as did other great thinkers such as Descartes and Newton; moreover, Copernican theory did not find sudden and widespread acceptance. Gradually, however, astrology declined, although this form of divination is still very much alive. One's horoscope is a map of the heavens at the time of one's birth, showing the position of the heavenly bodies in relation to the 12 “houses” or signs through which they pass (see zodiac) and their positions in relation to each other. Each house has as its “lord” one of the heavenly bodies; the one in the “ascendant” is the one of greatest significance to the inquirer, supposedly endowing him with his temperamental qualities, his tendencies to particular diseases, and his liability to certain fortunes or calamities’.

Miss Rita Ball at the Astrology Shop on Neal Street, Covent Garden in London is, not surprisingly, a firm advocate of astrology.

She said: “It is an objective language. It has systems and rules. There are structures. Some say it is a half-science and a half-art. It is a symbolic language. Everyone has different facets. Astrology discovers what is specific to an individual. How anyone deals with anger, for example, is singular to himself.

“Being objective, it has nothing to do with ‘sun signs’ in the newspapers. That is the way it has been popularised throughout the world. That is not astrology.

“Every culture in the world has its system of astrology.

“The Chinese classic the I Ching teaches that wisdom entered the world when the first wise man gazed up at the heavens and noticed the patterns there and then contemplated the Earth and noticed the patterns down below and matched them up.

“There are two schools of astrology: the cause and effect school and the reflection school. The first teaches that heavenly bodies cause effects on us on Earth. The second teaches that the states of the heavens are mirrored by reflections on Earth but that neither has a causative effect on the other.

“The Moon is crucial in astrology. We all know that it affects the tides. There is a basis. There is a pattern. As regards the more distant planets and the stars we do not know why, for example, Mars has an effect on us in linear terms but it does. There is no evidence but there is a pattern.

“I don’t understand numbers but the inherent laws of numbers work notwithstanding. It works. Newton believed in astrology, as did Copernicus. The Romans believed in astrology. The Sufis believe in astrology. Ibn Arabi believed in astrology. He studied the Indian system.

“In India the government is putting astrology back into the universities as a subject in its own right. Over there it is called ‘Jyotish’.

Mr Dan Harding at Blackwell’s Bookshop, Charing Cross, London who has a degree in the History & Philosophy of Science from Leeds University has ably spoken for the reverse side of the coin.

He said: “I don’t agree that astrology has much value. Essentially, it is not open to experiment. It can’t be proven. Things like that are basically psychological. It is a group delusion. If enough people believe it, then it is taken to be true.

“I would say that it is very dangerous. It is all about somebody with a vested interest giving you advice.

“Newton believed in astrology but he lived in a time when science was in its infancy. Early scientists were alchemists and from alchemy our established sciences emerged ultimately into their present forms. Perhaps their experiences gave them reason to believe. People believe in all kinds of strange things. People still believe in God.

“Lots of scientists think that that the sciences point to the existence of some kind of Creator.

“I don’t know about Bangladesh particularly but I do know that India has a very good scientific ground. Nevertheless, we over here are more exposed to new ideas.

“Tony Blair is a devout Christian, or says he is. That is superstitious. Most of the Church establishment are highly educated but still believe in religion.

“Gravitational fields do exist but it is problematic whether or not they affect our personal lives. The gravitational fields are very weak. The stars have virtually no gravitational fields here at all. People who are socially and intellectually inferior believe what is said when authority figures tell them things without evidence. Others want proof or near-proof.”

What struck me with both the above telephone interviews is that both Miss Ball and Mr Harding spoke of authority figures. If you scan the pages of appropriate magazines, gentle reader, you will soon find that most of the astrologers, mediums, soothsayers and clairvoyants use tremendous titles such as ‘Professor’, ‘Dr’ and ‘Master’. Most of these titles are either self-awarded or have been bought from non-registered ‘universities’. Most people, on reflection, would conclude that these name-handles are being used to create an aura of authority to reinforce the claimed validity of what is being said by the holders thereof and to justify the large fees which they invariably charge. Nobody would expect a man with a doctoral title, for example, to work at or near national minimum wage levels of remuneration.

Quite apart from the fact that in South Asia astrology is mathematically different to its counterpart in Europe there are special factors which make it signally important for us. I will address two of them:

The first is that astrology is used among us to indicate career destinations; in other words, astrology takes the place of career counselling and the astrologer stands in the place of the educational psychologist who, as a part of his stock in trade, points young people into suitable businesses, trades and professions in the West.

For example, in South India and in Sri Lanka the Tamils consult astrologers when their children are born. Each time, if the astrologer says that a farming career is indicated by a chart of the heavens at the time and place of birth, the parents push the boy towards a life of working the land. If a legal career is recommended, then the parents will spend more money on formal education and push the youngster into applying to law school.

I submit that this is an inherently dangerous practice. There is no proof positive that any of the heavenly bodies have individual or collective influences such that little Subramanium or whoever has to work the land for the rest of his active life. Yet parents in our part of the world do make such career decisions for their children and in our kinds of family environments their wills prevail.

Secondly, astrology is heavily used in South Asia to govern marital partner choices. The same weaknesses as for careers surely apply and are liable to result in domestic as opposed to workplace misery. An examination of the news stories flowing out of Bangladesh shows instances of husbands killing their wives daily, frequently over dowry disputes. This indicates that marriage partners as stipulated by professional astrologers are most probably not compatible - whatever the stars.

The most disturbing aspect of the news story that gave rise to this article is that Mr Chowdhury, apparently, wants astrology to direct social policy and politics. In South Asia astrologers are consulted over the dates and times of opening and closing parliaments. The birth-charts of presidential and prime ministerial candidates are printed out in newspapers in order that the hoi polloi can study them and the accompanying astrologers’ opinions as guides as to how to vote on Election Day

In my mind this is a situation of near-insanity and will guarantee that in the difficult times to come we will never be able to deal with Europeans on equal terms in any major regards.

THE END