‘The study of the assumed influence of stars on human affairs’: This tame, tentative and rather toned down definition of ‘Astrology’ in English disctionaries belies reality. Now, whether the stars guide human affairs or not, astrology does, in Bharath and globally too, notwithstanding rational skeptics. Indeed, a matter as profoundly influential as astrology deserves to be treated with more credence. In that context, the psychic Octopus Paul, the latest mascot of this age-old practice (call it science, art, habit, belief or whatever) of humanity appears to have given it a shot in the tentacle.
Astrology is one of the biggest playgrounds of human hypocrisy. Everyone believes or wants to believe in it but would want the rest of the world to believe that he or she does not believe in it. An individual’s intelligence invariably raises the intellectual hackles against it, but when all street smartness fails against the vagaries of the inscrutabale at some point in life, the planets, stars and satellites suddenly make their dramatic entry. And when they do, it is always with retrospective effect, wiping your past rational slate clean. After all dasas, bhuktis et al were in operation, whether you were aware of them or not! Astrology is about predicting the past too!
But while many modern ‘consumers’ prefer to partake of it on the sly lest a blot attaches to their modern outlook, the practitioners, purveyors and peddlers in this prediction profession/business, however are quite candid about their job. They know the mechanics of a mortal’s mind as also the immense market it opens up. This is not to suggest that all astrology is commercial, but the fact is the demand has always outstripped supply and the spurious invariably emerges to fill the gap. Reason why, from nadi olai to computerised horoscopes, from oracles to octupuses, from your extended palms to the www way beyond but at your fingertips, or from parrot to tarot, nameology or numerology, gems and crystal balls, astrology has thrived and throbbed across time and space, in minds and media.
So what is the appeal of astrology that makes it transcend even science and hold sway over our psyche? As alluded to earlier, the obvious explanation is that it is a genetic pull that gets a push when material and mental troubles torment an individual. But most are natural believers with a predisposed burning urge to know the post-facto this instant itself. This is also combined with the hope that if a bad thing is in the offing, steps can be taken in the present to prevent it. This doubtless creates a paradox, for the prediction gets frustrated if it does not happen and the only test of the prediction is its inevitability. And if what is going to happen will anyway will, what is the point in dreading it or attempting to avert it? In that sense, astrology defeats itself, but to be sure, never the astrologer. And if it succeeds it often sustains itself at the expense of the astrologer’s client.
All said, I have a confession to make and knowing public trends, I am pretty sure it would be a collective confession. I too share the universal infectious itch to know what is in store. Of course, it evokes my professional interest too, particularly when most readers would want to read tomorrow’s news headlines today itself on their mental monitors. So, I have had my palm read and the scope of my horoscope certified, though parrots have somehow remained out of bounds. To me, the ‘science’ of astrology, if in its pristine form, sounds quite credible and authentic. The logic is unassailable and the methodology as empirical as with any of the modern disciplines. But the practitioners and interpretations often leave me confused and disoriented. Forget the familiar conflict between the raasi system of bharath and the zodiac regime of the West that puts the Vrichika against the Gemini eternally. No two Josiers agree either and the same horoscope brings out diametrically opposite predictions from them. Now what do I do? Believe the best or provide for the worst? The only option, it appears, is to call for the Octopus which has a better track record!
And to do it within two years. That clairvoyant sea creature which can see through football fates is not expected to see a single day beyond that year. No clue, which octopus or parrot has predicted that one!
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