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4th December 2006.

Over 95% of Astrologers are fake.

Part 5. The enthusiastic amateur. 

Now please don't get me wrong. Everyone has to start somewhere, so there is nothing wrong with being a beginner. However, you will come across people who have little or no knowledge of the subject other than what they have gleaned for the odd book; most of their knowledge having been obtained through hearsay or simply made up as they go along. Evidence of this can be seen in some Astrology forums in which would-be experts seek to show off their knowledge to all and sundry - knowledge that is seriously flawed, or ideas that bear no relevance to the subject. It is a free for all in which anyone can say anything and no one is seriously challenged. In my own experience of these places an attempt to bring some common sense into the equation resulted in a barrage of insults. Little wonder that professional Astrologers don't waste their time here. These are not always the best place to learn about Astrology and in some cases can give a completely inaccurate picture. Astro-babble, that is flattering one's ego by giving the impression you are an expert through long-winded [inaccurate] explanations, is generally the norm, together with a good measure of back-slapping and chants of 'yeah man - you are really cosmic'

The real problem is when the enthusiastic amateur decides to set himself up as a fully-fledged Astrologer and give advice. Quite often these people use free software that has not even been customised properly to produce charts which are inaccurate and mostly unreadable - so what chance have they of advising you or I? Beware of the Astro-babblers. Genuine Astrologers use uncluttered charts and don't try to be 'clever'. They only seek to be helpful.  

5th December 2006.

Over 95% of Astrologers are fake.

Part 6. Misinformation.

One of the greatest problems afflicting Astrology today is the sheer amount of inaccurate and often highly speculative ideas being put around by people who should know better, or would if they bothered to study the subject properly. As I commented earlier, you will see a lot of this on Astrology forums and hear even more waffle from the enthusiastic amateurs, but far worse are those who have attained celebrity status, and therefore a large following of believers, who continually send out the wrong messages to all and sundry. 

King of the Sun Sign Cowboys - Jonathan Cainer - highlights this problem on his Thought for the day page. Here is an example of how things can be willfully misrepresented.

Why does Venus rule both love and money? I feel a little depressed to think that in the eyes of the cosmos, these two topics are intrinsically linked.
Nick

Dear Nick,
Actually, Venus doesn't rule money. Matters of cash and commerce are entirely in Mercury's domain. Venus governs luxury and opulence. It's a planet of wealth, just as much as it is planet of attraction and seduction. The Moon, meanwhile, represents love of a less passionate, more permanent kind. So you needn't feel too depressed. The ancients simply saw Venus as the goddess of all things elusive yet desirable.

This is ludicrous. 

Venus does not rule luxury and opulence - Jupiter does. 

It is not a planet of wealth - Jupiter fits that role. 

Mercury ruling cash and commerce? Anyone with just a grasp of basic Astrology knows full well that Venus acting through the 2nd House rules money matters. 

The ancients did not regard Venus as the goddess of all things. 

The Moon dos not rule love - it rules one's emotions, which is not the same thing. 

I am not sure if Cainer is genuinely ignorant of the rules of Astrology or is simply making his own rules - either way the public are being mislead. As a last thought, I wonder what sort of 'spookily accurate report' one would get from Cainer given the lack understanding shown here. 

8th December 2006. Multiple conjunction in Sagittarius.

At the moment there are no less than 6 planets in the Sign of Sagittarius, prompting certain Astrologers to go into raptures about the possibilities. Fake Astrologer Jonathan Cainer describes three of these, Jupiter, Mars & Mercury, as being 'deeply auspicious', but to Cainer almost everything comes under this heading, so I think we can ignore this flush of enthusiasm. 

The reality is quite different as has been proved time and time again when anything seemingly out of the ordinary occurs in the heavens. The vast majority of phenomena have little or no effect on our lives or that of our Nation state. The only time they can affect us is:

a] If they are 'frozen' in time. By that I mean occur in a birth chart of people born while the phenomenon is occurring. 

b] If they occur in someone's Solar Return chart.

c] Are aspecting an existing birth chart.

Whether they are auspicious or not depends entirely on the aspects formed or, in the case or in the case of the Solar Return, on the aspects within the chart itself. So do ignore the hype. 

12 December 2006. Dawkins attack.

I note that Professor Dawkins is about to mount one of his vicious attacks on Astrology on TV in the near future. Dawkins is a person who believes that science has all the answers and that logic can explain away anything,  especially Astrology - a moron in other words. I confidently expect a pile of inaccurate assumptions based on the antics of Sun Sign Astrologers. Why doesn't Dawkins ask genuine Astrologers? Because , like James Randi, he has a closed mind and an arrogant personality, so he ensures that no one will ever prove him wrong by cherry-picking his facts. Pity that Dawkins couldn't spend his time clearing up the mess his scientific colleagues have got the world into - nuclear weapons, biological weapons, pollution that kills and injures wildlife and humans, wonder drugs that are eventually spirited away due to 'unforeseen' side effects, not to mention money wasting on grandiose schemes to flatter scientist's egos. Why don't you do the decent thing Mr. Dawkins and at least apologise to the people whose lives you scientists have ruined? Better still, why don't you go and live next to a nuclear reactor and take some of the poisons your fellow idiots have foisted off as 'cures'? 

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