It
is reported that astrology/the Zodiac is gaining in popularity among the
younger bairn-teams (generations), at least partly as a reaction against the
mechanistic tech world in which they are all so deeply immersed.
But
the problem is that they are jumping from one mechanistic system into
another. The Zodiac is as destructive of
free will as the specialization, division of labor, repetitive work tasks, etc.
that are the result of the triumph of technology.
For
those willing to listen, here are a few words of warning from a Holy Father, St
Basil the Great (+379), about the Zodiac:
5. But those who overstep the
borders,1582
making the words of Scripture their apology for the art of casting nativities,
pretend that our lives depend upon the motion of the heavenly bodies, and that
thus the Chaldæans read in the planets that which will happen to us.1583
By these very simple words “let them be for signs,” they understand neither the
variations of the weather, nor the change of seasons; they only see in them, at
the will of their imagination, the distribution of human destinies. What
do they say in reality? When the planets cross in the signs of the
Zodiac, certain figures formed by their meeting give birth to certain
destinies, and others produce different destinies.
Perhaps for clearness sake it is not useless
to enter into more detail about this vain science. I will say nothing of
my own to refute them; I will use their words, bringing a remedy for the
infected, and for others a preservative from falling. The inventors of
astrology seeing that in the extent of time many signs escaped them, divided it
and enclosed each part in narrow limits, as if in the least and shortest
interval, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,1584
to speak with the Apostle, the greatest difference should be found between one
birth and another. Such an one is born in this moment; he will be a
prince over cities and will govern the people, 85in
the fulness of riches and power. Another is born the instant after; he
will be poor, miserable, and will wander daily from door to door begging his
bread. Consequently they divide the Zodiac into twelve parts, and, as the
sun takes thirty days to traverse each of the twelve divisions of this unerring
circle, they divide them into thirty more. Each of them forms sixty new
ones, and these last are again divided into sixty. Let us see then if, in
determining the birth of an infant, it will be possible to observe this
rigorous division of time. The child is born. The nurse ascertains
the sex; then she awaits the wail which is a sign of its life. Until then
how many moments have passed do you think? The nurse announces the birth
of the child to the Chaldæan: how many minutes would you count before she
opens her mouth, especially if he who records the hour is outside the women’s
apartments? And we know that he who consults the dial, ought, whether by
day or by night, to mark the hour with the most precise exactitude. What
a swarm of seconds passes during this time! For the planet of nativity
ought to be found, not only in one of the twelve divisions of the Zodiac, and
even in one of its first subdivisions, but again in one of the sixtieth parts
which divide this last, and even, to arrive at the exact truth, in one of the
sixtieth subdivisions that this contains in its turn. And to obtain such
minute knowledge, so impossible to grasp from this moment, each planet must be
questioned to find its position as regards the signs of the Zodiac and the
figures that the planets form at the moment of the child’s birth. Thus,
if it is impossible to find exactly the hour of birth, and if the least change
can upset all, then both those who give themselves up to this imaginary science
and those who listen to them open-mouthed, as if they could learn from them the
future, are supremely ridiculous.
6. But what effects are
produced? Such an one will have curly hair and bright eyes, because he is
born under the Ram; such is the appearance of a ram. He will have noble
feelings; because the Ram is born to command. He will be liberal and
fertile in resources, because this animal gets rid of its fleece without
trouble, and nature immediately hastens to reclothe it. Another is born
under the Bull: he will be enured to hardship and of a slavish character,
because the bull bows under the yoke. Another is born under the Scorpion;
like to this venomous reptile he will be a striker. He who is born under
the Balance will be just, thanks to the justness of our balances. Is not
this the height of folly? This Ram, from whence you draw the nativity of
man, is the twelfth part of the heaven, and in entering into it the sun reaches
the spring. The Balance and the Bull are likewise twelfth parts of the
Zodiac. How can you see there the principal causes which influence the
life of man? And why do you take animals to characterize the manners of
men who enter this world? He who is born under the Ram will be liberal,
not because this part of heaven gives this characteristic, but because such is
the nature of the beast. Why then should we frighten ourselves by the
names of these stars and undertake to persuade ourselves with these bleatings?
If heaven has different characteristics derived from these animals, it is then
itself subject to external influences since its causes depend on the brutes who
graze in our fields. A ridiculous assertion; but how much more ridiculous
the pretence of arriving at the influence on each other of things which have
not the least connexion! This pretended science is a true spider’s web;
if a gnat or a fly, or some insect equally feeble falls into it it is held
entangled; if a stronger animal approaches, it passes through without trouble,
carrying the weak tissue away with it.1585
7. They do not, however, stop here;
even our acts, where each one feels his will ruling, I mean, the practice of
virtue or of vice, depend, according to them, on the influence of celestial
bodies. It would be ridiculous seriously to refute such an error, but, as
it holds a great many in its nets, perhaps it is better not to pass it over in silence.
I would first ask them if the figures which the stars describe do not change a
thousand times a day. In the perpetual motion of planets, some meet in a
more rapid course, others make slower revolutions, and often in an hour we see
them look at each other and then hide themselves. Now, at the hour of
birth, it is very important whether one is looked upon by a beneficent star or
by an evil one, to speak their language. Often then the astrologers do
not seize the moment when a good star shows itself, and, on account of having
let this fugitive moment escape, they enrol the newborn under the influence of
a bad genius. I am compelled to use their own words. What
madness! But, above all, what impiety! For the evil stars throw the
blame of their wickedness upon Him Who made them. If evil is inherent in
their nature, the 86Creator is the author of evil. If they make it
themselves, they are animals endowed with the power of choice, whose acts will
be free and voluntary. Is it not the height of folly to tell these lies
about beings without souls? Again, what a want of sense does it show to
distribute good and evil without regard to personal merit; to say that a star
is beneficent because it occupies a certain place; that it becomes evil,
because it is viewed by another star; and that if it moves ever so little from
this figure it loses its malign influence.
But let us pass on. If, at every
instant of duration, the stars vary their figures, then in these thousand
changes, many times a day, there ought to be reproduced the configuration of
royal births. Why then does not every day see the birth of a king?
Why is there a succession on the throne from father to son? Without doubt
there has never been a king who has taken measures to have his son born under
the star of royalty. For what man possesses such a power? How then
did Uzziah beget Jotham, Jotham Ahaz, Ahaz Hezekiah? And by what chance
did the birth of none of them happen in an hour of slavery? If the origin
of our virtues and of our vices is not in ourselves, but is the fatal
consequence of our birth, it is useless for legislators to prescribe for us
what we ought to do, and what we ought to avoid; it is useless for judges to
honour virtue and to punish vice. The guilt is not in the robber, not in
the assassin: it was willed for him; it was impossible for him to hold
back his hand, urged to evil by inevitable necessity. Those who
laboriously cultivate the arts are the maddest of men. The labourer will
make an abundant harvest without sowing seed and without sharpening his
sickle. Whether he wishes it or not, the merchant will make his fortune,
and will be flooded with riches by fate. As for us Christians, we shall
see our great hopes vanish, since from the moment that man does not act with
freedom, there is neither reward for justice, nor punishment for sin.
Under the reign of necessity and of fatality there is no place for merit, the
first condition of all righteous judgment. But let us stop. You who
are sound in yourselves have no need to hear more, and time does not allow us
to make attacks without limit against these unhappy men.
Source: The
Hexaemeron, Homily VI, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf208.viii.vii.html,
opened 29 Jan. 2018
Holy
Basil, pray for us sinners! (Holy icon
from https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/cPath/27_50_78/products_id/195,
30 Jan. 2018)
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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