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OMENS? DIVINATION? HOROSCOPES?
THE ORIGIN OF
ASTROLOGY
Polls show that millions of Americans firmly believe that astrology works.
But most have no idea how this ancient practice actual/y began. Read
here the eye-opening account of the origin of astrology.
S
lowly the aged. white-ha ired
Chaldean priest raised the long,
sharp kn ife above his head. He
paused for a moment, reverently ad–
dress ing a prayer to the sun god
Shamash , then swift ly plunged the
blade deep into the belly of the
young sheep tied across the temple
altar. Blood spurted from the in–
cision as the priest, assisted by ju–
nior temple officials. deftly sli t the
an imal open. Th e priests expertly
12
DOES
ASTROLOGY
WORK?
Does astrology have a rationa l sci–
entific basis? Is there any conceiv–
able way that the ce lestia l locat ion
of st ars. planets. and nebulae at the
time of one's birth could influence
an individua l's persona lity, hcalth.
marriage, carecr. and a host of other
personal events?
The accompanying article shows
that the origin of astro logy lies in
pagan su perstition. But does astro l–
ogy work?
UntiJ the sixteenth century, the
earth was believed to be the center
of thc universe. with the sun. moon.
plane ts. and stars revolving around
this all-importaJll center ofact ivity.
Bu t the heliocentric universe of
Copern icus ( 1543) dethroned the
by
Scott G. Rockhold
examined the now steaming li ver.
lungs. and intestines of the sheep.
Suddcnly the elderly chicf priest
gasped with fear and surprise as he
saw a long yellowish mark on one
side of the liver - a certain sign of
coming destruction .
Hastily, the old p riest scurried out
of lhe temple and called for hi as–
sistants to prepare a boal for the trip
up t he Euphrates to Babylon. He
had lo warn the king al once not to
ea rth . And si nce then. lhe advance
of astronomical knowledgc has re–
lentlessly pushed the eart h farther
a nd farther from any privileged po–
sit ion in the cosmos. The sun, too.
has been demoled lo a n inconspic–
uous suburb in a ra t her
unexcep tional ga laxy in a relative ly
small g roup óf galaxies in a uni verse
of uncoun tcd billions ofstars .
In such a universe. it becomes in–
creasi ngly difficult to believe the
heavens were created to have a spe–
cific inftuence on the earth and on
individual humans in particular.
1-low would s uch an inftuence occur?
Through gravity? Radiation?
The ímmense d ist ances encoun–
te red in lhe un iversc- usually mea–
su red in light years - rule ou t any
such influences. The gravitational
attraction of the doctor standing at
the delivery table wou ld be far
greater than tbe gravi tational in–
tl uence of any star or galaxy on a
new-born baby.
·
And the radia tion from cvcñ the
campa1gn against the Elamites in
th e east this year. The great gods
had spoken through the body of the
sheep - the abnormal mark on th e
liver meant t he king and his army
were certain to meet disaster!
Babylonian Divination
Ceremonies simil a r to t he one de–
scr ibed abovc were carried out
thousands upon thousands of times
during the history of ancient Baby-
brightes t star would be lhousands of
times wcaker than a single ligh t
bul b in the delivery room.
The conclus ion seems in–
escapable: No knówn force emánat–
ing from the constellations of the
heavens could be expected to exert
a unique. life-long influénce on any–
one.
Even if the stars did exert an
eve r-so-subtle inftuence a t the time
of an ind iv idual's birth, can anyonc
seríously belicvc their influence is
important when compared to thc
multitude of much stronger environ–
mcnta l forces on earth that dircct ly
affect our lives?
All life on earth is affected by
periodic changes in thc environ–
ment. Such cyclic variations are
often the basis for natural rhythms
callcd biological docks. The most
obvious cxample is the rising and
setting of th e sun. a daily' cycle of
light and dark which directly affects
lhe activities of virtually a l! p lants
and animals.
The
PLAIN TRUTH November 1976