Astrology - Science or pseudo-science ?

This is one of the most common debates..something that one can never convince somebody on the other side of the fence. Most people are sitting on the fence regarding this issue. Even before delving into pros & cons, we need to have a clear understanding of what 'Science' really means to us. As commonly accepted, it is a set of laws based on observation of phenomenon & characterized using a formal methodology which we call as Mathematics. Inherently, what you can express in words is limited by the language you use. So also is the case with Science, often limited by the observable phenomenon & the Mathematical conjectures developed over 1000s of years. What if the formal body of knowledge had come to be defined in a different way ? Would that have changed our concept of accepted beliefs ?

One of the foundational reasons why we call some conclusion Scientific is usually because of the certainty we associate with it. I feel I know with 100% conviction that the apple that detaches itself from the tree will fall only down & not up. In practice, every prediction is probabilistic, always lying between 0 & 1, but never either of these. It is on this premise that Astrology can be called a Science, albeit a probabilistic one, just like anything else. Now it becomes much easier to understand that perhaps some planet somewhere has an effect, however small on us.

There is a much deeper significance to astrology. The planetary system is a macro-cosmic model of the human micro-cosm. The planets relate in some way to the chakras, subtle sources of energy as yet un-discovered by mainstream Science. Everything in the Universe being interconnected in some way, it is not preposterous to assume this just because the laws of interaction are unknown! By themselves they have neither a good nor a bad effect. However, what they do is to activate the karmic tendencies already present in the psyche. I’ve been amazed by the accuracy with which the astrologer can predict your nature & the past without any prior information.

Some pointers to astrology is the chapter from “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramhansa Yogananda discussing this subject in depth. This book, by the way is my all time favorite read & it’s what got me started & interested in self-discovery.

Finally, information is constantly present in the universe. It is up to us to make sense of it & apply it to the task at hand. That is all astrology does – provide a means where information can be meaningfully interpreted. I say this from a simple experience. It was in the back of my mind for past few days to buy additional stock of bathing soap, but I kept forgetting. Yesterday, while on the bus back home, I saw this ad. for soap & it suddenly reminded me to do the needful! All the ad. did was to activate the intent for action already at the back of my mind. So do the planets & the horoscope is merely capturing details of that! All this is in a probabilistic sense as I mentioned earlier!