(no subject)

[degringolade]

 
Early Bloom

 

---

 

Astrology looks at specific occurrences.  It simply says that the stars are in a specific place in the sky and the planets have wandered into a specific place in the sky.  These are concrete physical occurrences.  Astrology then ascribes tendencies to those physical occurrences that correlate with actions and events here on lovely ma’am Gaia.

Astrology seems to get it right sometimes.  Whether or not this is a statistically significant occurrence is quite the ongoing debate.

Tarot goes another direction.  It lays out a random spread of cards that represent symbols of tendencies.   These tendencies are then assigned to specific areas of human consequence.

Again, tarot seems to get it right sometimes.

Both attempt, to a lesser or greater degree, to predict the future trends.  If the practitioner is at all honest, they will not assign  specific action events, but will assign a verbal/squishy set of probabilities.

I am a free-will kind of guy.  I tend to think that an individual's actions can have a small (miniscule) effect outside of his own life.   This makes me leery of astrology.  Not that it is wrong per se, but that it seems way too much like predestination.  You look at a fixed set of variables and extrapolate from them what the future holds.  To me, that seems to slide the dial for correlation-causation too far to the causation side of the scale.  It might well be true, but I think that I will steer clear of it anyway because if it is predestined, I would prefer to be surprised.

Tarot seems to me to be a much more random thing.  Who knows what cards will turn up?  You ask a question and the answer isn’t preordained, but is just what drops out of the deck that time.  This seems to me to be more the way the world rolls.  Maybe it is the way that I pose my questions to either; I am not looking for absolute answers, but simply a heads up on what is likely heading my way.  

I wonder sometimes (and this is a question, not an observation) about how astrology better suits the western idea of monotheism and an all-knowing god?  Because to me astrology reeks of predestination.

Comments

Everything connected

[claire_58]

Both systems work on the principle that everything is connected to everything else. The perceived movement of the planets isn't so much deterministic as it is a reflection of what is going on in the human world. The human world and the astrological alinements are both affected by the same influences.

The tarot is the same. The influences that are impacting your life, or your day, will also have an impact on the apparently random draw of the cards.

Both will give you some insight into human affairs or personal conduct if you can figure out the meaning contained in those associations. Both the astrological alinements and the cards can indicate many different things even within the set interpretations laid down over the centuries. Figuring out which meanings are significant is the tricky part.

For me the ultimate test is does it provide anything useful. Does it illuminate the situation?

instant reply á la romana

[chefxh]

That is why astrology is a SIN, duh. *grin*

Re: instant reply á la romana

[degringolade]

Hell, they hate the tarot too so I don't get any traction there either.

I stopped paying attention to anything the church said decades ago, I do like the new american pope, at least I can understand the words when he says something irrational. He seems to mean well though, and I prefer him to the pentecostals.