Dear KMAG: 20220608 Open Topic

Based on personal observation and research, I believe there’s some truth to astrology. President Reagan had a personal astrologer and the ancient Greeks believed in it, and they weren’t stupid. What filters down to the public, though, like daily horoscopes, is questionable and largely driven by money.
Many astrologers don’t see it as “planets having direct influence on humans.” Instead, they see planetary alignments as a map of energy. It’s more “Mercury in X position indicates Y” rather than “planet Mercury caused ____.” It’s the energy that caused ___, not Mercury itself. Mercury’s position simply showed you which direction the energy was flowing.
Here’s an example. Mercury is retrograde from June 18th – July 12th this year. To astrologers, it means odds are more favorable that objects will break down and plans will be disrupted during that time period. Let’s say there’s a resting 50% chance your car will break down on any given day. During Mercury retrograde periods, the chance increases to 70%. It doesn’t mean your car will break down with certainty, but an astrologer who believes this with complete sincerity would advise you to to avoid a long car trip “just in case.”
Why does Mercury’s position indicate increased chances for repairs and disrupted plans? I don’t know, and I’m sure the real answer is probably hidden from the public. All I know is that it’s a recurring pattern in my life that when things break down in my house or my plans get disrupted by some strange incident, the first thing I do is Google to see if Mercury is in or near retrograde and it usually is. At a certain point, it stops being a “coincidence.”
The real meat of astrology is birth charts. A birth chart is the planetary alignment at the exact time you were born. The general public knows about sun signs (“if you were born on ___ date, then you’re this sign.”), but there’s a whole lot more to it like moon sign, rising sign, and “houses.” Astrologers believe this gives great insight into your personal strengths and weaknesses. It’s supposed to help guide your decisions in life. People who are seriously into astrology tend to focus more on birth charts than horoscopes. Part of the reason I believe there’s some truth in astrology is that my own birth chart is scary accurate.
Beyond looking up full moons and mercury retrograde periods, I avoid astrology these days. I learned the hard way that taboos against divination are there for good reason.
[My wild and completely unsubstantiated speculation about why astrology “works” is because they’re not telling us something vitally important about the nature of space and the planets. By current textbook understanding of astronomy, astrology is all very absurd. But maybe there’s information out that reconciles all of this with science. The ancient Greeks, ancient Indians, and ancient Chinese all thought it important enough to keep detailed astronomical observations and astrological charts. They had to have a reason.]