Religion and Spirituality Category Regulars (see details) (What is your sign I am a Taurus)?

Question

I'm a Taurus what are you? Do you believe there is value in the astrological signs?

I used to think no there is not, but lately, I'm seeing "patterns".

Answer 1

Libra with Sag rising and born in the year of the snake. I match the descriptions pretty well. As for whether there's value, I'm not sure. It's certainly interesting, but I'm not going to plan anything around it.

Answer 2

I'm a Leo.

I don't believe in that weekly horoscope thing "you're a Leo, you will have a succesfull business this week, you'll get a lot of money but be careful in love because the whatever planet is retrograde."

I do, however, think that the certain signs do show specific personality traits more than the others. In certain cases, it can be used quite accurately to describe people's personality traits. I had a friend who would look at people for half an hour and then guess 95% accurately what star sign they were. I was creeped out by that. I guess that experience convinced me there must be something about it.

Answer 3

As a rule I say that astrology and such has as much validity as Christianity or any other religious thought,in other words none. But I'm a Leo and why is it that most of the descriptions I see that describe Leo's are so freakishly accurate then. Just odd,but I have never had a horoscope that I would say was that accurate,make enough predictions over enough time with enough vagueness and eventually you hit the big one. Kind of like the bible,Christians have been predicting the end of the world for 2000 years,eventually they'll be right.

AD

Answer 4

I'm a Pisces, but my moon is in Taurus and my rising sign is Cancer. My son is also a Taurus.

I wouldn't swear by astrology, but I think it's fun to look for patterns and I've had my full star chart done along with those of my children. It's like a personality analysis that are so popular in business. There are always exceptions, but it's interesting when you see certain things.

Answer 5

Leo with Leo rising.

I think it's about 99% hogwash. Then again, it's hard to think of anything that isn't!

People DO seem to partake of the traditionally ascribed nature of their rising sign. It's easy to write this off in the usual way as people reading their lives into their signs like an ink blot test; but I don't suppose it's going too far off the rocker to hypothesize that the position of the earth relative to the sun and planets may actually have some sort of subtle effect on the infant at birth.

It seems MUCH more superstitious to sneer "I was born under the Sign of the Cross." Yeah, I'm sure we're all impressed.

Answer 6

Astrology, a form of divination, also became popular during the twelfth century renaissance. Astrology saw an interconnection between the physical world's microcosm and macrocosm to human endeavors and natural phenomena that reflect one another. Some examples of natural phenomena that were used for divination included:

- weather;
- animal behavior, e.g., a bird's crowing; and
- cycles of moon, often used to determine favorable and unfavorable undertakings such as travel or weddings.

The church opposed using natural phenomena as being superstitious, but not magic. Unusual natural events were often interpreted as omens having some bearing on human affairs. For example, comets were viewed as foreshadowing the death of kings since time of Julius Caesar, whose death was preceded by a comet in 44 B.C.E. When Halley's Comet appeared on the eve of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror, it was viewed as a sign of Harold's pending defeat by William. Indeed, Harold was slain in the battle of Hastings and William made King.

Astrology in the Places of Power

Astrologers and sorcerers frequently served as court advisors as aids to decision making. Astrologers were consulted by emperors and popes. Even Galileo, Johannes Kepler, considered to be the first theoretical astrophysicist, were astrologers. Emperors that relied upon astrology included Charles IV and Charles V. The papacy also used astrology: Sixtus IV, Julius II, Leo X, and Paul III. According to the Catholic encyclopedia, ambassadors were not received in papal courts until astrologers were consulted:

"When these rulers lived astrology was, so to say, the regulator of official life; it is a fact characteristic of the age, that at the papal and imperial courts ambassadors were not received in audience until the court astrologer had been consulted."
(See http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02018e.htm)

Astral Magic

Beginning with the twelfth century, astral magic was widespread among European Jewish intellectuals. Astral magic was based on the concept celestial forces could be used for personal benefit. The idea was that the stars and zodiac signs release constant emanations ( also called, spirituality) that contain extraordinary forces. Influencing signs and planets' locations in heavens determined the quality of these emanations and the character of the forces. These emanations and forces could be absorbed and "drawn down" on earth using an image, effigy, or amulet that symbolized planets or constellations. The magician "draws down" this spirituality to change the course of natural forces, to predict the future, or to heal the sick.

Condemnation

Divination was the most strongly condemned form of magic by the church. In condemning divination, the Catholic church argued that divination,

-circumvented or ignored the will of God;
- ignored pious prayer and supplication in favor of human manipulation; and
- saw a person's destiny as subjected to fate or predetermined, thereby denying God's granting of free will to mankind.

In the thirteenth century, Gerard of Feltre defined the problem of divination in his Summa on the Stars: "If the stars make a man a murderer or a thief, then all the more it is the first cause, God, who does this, which is shameful to suggest." Here the use of the term, "first cause" is an allusion to the cosmological argument for the existence of God:

1. Everything that had a beginning had a cause.
2. The universe had a beginning.
3. Therefore the universe had a Cause.

Divination essentially removed God from the religious equation. Divination meant that mankind's actions were subject to the control of nature and the heavens by astrologers, oneiromancers, or chiromancers, and not orthodox priests. If these phenomena were the only things controlling persons' lives and destinies, why would anyone need the church or lead a pious life?

Answer 7

Is Astrology Kosher?

By Levi Brackman


Predicting the future is big business. From newspaper astrologers to corporate consultants, there are many people out there ready to profit from our insatiable desire to know the unknown. Often, when contemplating major changes in my life, I am tempted to check my astrological reading. Is there anything wrong with this? Can an intelligent person believe in astrology without feeling ridiculous?

It is fascinating to note that the rabbis of the Talmud gave considerable credence to astrology. The Talmud states that, "upon entry into the month of Adar one should become increasingly joyous. Rav Papa said: 'Therefore a Jew should avoid litigation with Gentiles in the month of Av, because his mazal is bad; and he should move the court case to the month of Adar, when his mazal is good.'"1 The Hebrew word which Talmud uses here, mazal, is usually translated "luck" but literarily means "constellations."

Astrology is not only a factor to be taken into account when planning future events--it also influences human nature. According to the Talmud, one born under the constellation of the sun will achieve eminence and one born under Venus will become wealthy and immoral. One born under Mercury will be wise and have a retentive memory. One born under the Moon will suffer evil. One born under Saturn will suffer frustration, one born under Jupiter will be righteous and one born under Mars will become either a surgeon or a slaughterer.2 A birthday is therefore viewed by the rabbis as a day on which personal astrological fortune is at its most potent.

Answer 8

i'm a capicorn. I don't believe in astrology signs or paml readings or anything of the sort. Whne I was in college I had to do a short 'study' on my capicorn sign. I read my sign from the newspaper every morning. Then every night I read the other signs. What all the signs said fit into my day. I did this for 6 weeks. And I didn't know what the other readings were until the end of the day, so I couldn't have subconsciously made things happen from what I read becuz I didn't read them in the morning. All astrology readings fit every personality on any given day.

Answer 9

I'm a Sagittarius. I don't believe in daily horoscopes and that sort of thing, but I find it curious that people fit their profiles for the most part.

I wonder if it has something to do with the progression of culturally significant events and season changes with early childhood development. It would make some sense that people born in the same month would go through similar experiences that would influence their personalities in some way.

Answer 10

I'm a Pisces. I do think that the natural world, including the sun, moon, and stars, influence people. I act like the classically "deep" yet flaky Pisces description, and I love water, too. I also won't eat fish because I feel too much of a kinship to them. (They're so pretty in the water!) However, I am not inclined to believe my daily newspaper or Yahoo! horoscope, nor will I plan my day around it. I don't think 12 signs can account for everybody.