MADRID (Pijamasurf) – The influence of the stars in our lives has been despised by science, probably also influenced by its own skeptical (and dogmatic) stars and by the charlatanism industry—the pocket horoscope—that has been generated around astrology, a 'science' (which is also an art) that in its esoteric origins was only practiced by the initiated.
Great personalities have used and believed in this discipline—which we could call one of the oldest and at the same time least known sciences: President Ronald Reagan consulted an astrologer throughout his entire presidency to make decisions (John Dee, Queen Elizabeth's astrologer, was a fundamental part of the empire's strategy); one of the fathers of the scientific method, Francis Bacon, acknowledged the influence of the planets; like Bacon, Isaac Newton also studied alchemy, the sister science of astrology, and defended astrology against the skeptic Edward Halley; the psychologist Carl G. Jung, without necessarily believing in the magnetic influence of the stars, saw in astrology an intuitive discipline that through synchronicity and the archetypes reflected in the constellations, allows man to communicate with the deepest part of his being, and obtain divination answers from his unconscious (in the mirror of the cosmos).
Although there are some other studies that we will refer to later, this week a study from Vanderbilt University was released that inadvertently suggests that astrology has a scientific basis, that is, the moment one is born influences the behavior and physiology of living beings. In this case, different groups of genetically modified mice were studied which were exposed to artificial winters or summers at the moment of their birth.
Scientists noticed that even though these mice were switched to a different group after birth they continued to exhibit characteristics typical of the season in which they were born; that is, mice born in artificial winter when placed in summer light conditions continued to maintain characteristics such as a decrease in their activity rate during the day. This is the first time that an imprinting or impression effect of the conditions in which an animal is born has been observed. Something that scientists call "seasonal biology."
The study is aimed at investigating why people born in winter months have a greater propensity to develop neurological disorders, such as seasonal affective disorder.
"What is particularly notable about these results is the fact that imprinting effects affect both the behavior of the animals and the neural cycle of the master biological clock in their brain," states Vanderbilt University.
In the case of mice born in the equinoxes, intermediate corresponding effects were observed that are in line with what was observed.
Now, this study has generated conflicting versions; praised by astrologers as proof that this discipline has scientific bases, and by the mainstream as only proof that light conditions affect the biology and personality of mammals. Analyzing the study we see that on one hand it indicates that the moment of birth—not necessarily the position of the planets (but yes the position of our planet)—affects the personality and biology of a baby in such a way that it generates an imprint that accompanies him throughout his life (the mice in their maturation maintained characteristics imprinted at their birth). Scientists believe that the imprint occurs because light affects the development of some parts of the brain in its gestation stage, which can have lasting effects.
If there were an effect of the planets how would it occur from physics? Dr. Percy Seymour, member of the Royal Astronomical Society, believes that there is indeed a physical effect caused by the position of the planets at the birth of a person, that is an influence of the magnetic field of the Sun and some planets on that of the Earth, actually a network of interaction between the various planets affecting the magnetic fields of each. Seymour in this article cites a series of proofs of how the magnetic fields of Jupiter and Saturn, for example, affect solar cycles, or the magnetic field of the Moon affects that of the Earth (something that becomes evident if we observe the tides, menstrual cycles and agriculture). Variations in the Earth's magnetic field have been shown to have effects as diverse as the intensity of dreams or even fluctuations in the stock market.
What Seymour proposes is a sophisticated version of Pythagoras' music of the spheres, where the harmony—gravity, position, mass, and magnetic field—of each celestial body forms part of the great symphony of the universe.
Seymour believes that the fetus in the mother's womb receives magnetic signals through the cells of its nervous system, which act as an antenna, and even the moment of birth is triggered by this magnetic influence. Throughout his life a person would maintain his biorhythms and cellular cycles according to this imprint regulated by the influence of certain planets.
Astrology traditionally explains the effects of celestial bodies on the human body under a mirror concept: "as above, is below" (urbi et orbi) goes the hermetic maxim. This suggests that the design of the universe obeys fractal cycles, in the microcosm and in the macrocosm, man is in the image of the universe. In this sense, the zodiac would be an animated mathematical code in an intuitive and symbolic way to reflect these processes that the universe and our solar system carry with its particular characteristics. Key to this understanding is the holistic conception of a system, in which each part influences all others with differences in magnitude, such as the proximity of a planet or its size and electromagnetic intensity. The stars: an Indra's necklace where each pearl not only reflects every other pearl but each of the reflections that intersect in the tangle?
It is curious that people born in winter months have a higher risk of so-called winter depression, this corresponds to Capricorn, the melancholic Saturnian temperament, a fact that, although isolated, seems to show a certain intrinsic wisdom in the zodiacal planes.
On the other hand, it is interesting to consider that there are various astrological systems, such as the Chinese and the Mayan, in addition to the Babylonian, which seems to indicate that this is a complicated science, requiring deep understanding and mastery beyond the horoscope on the back of a cereal box: that in the future would perhaps require allying again with astronomy—as alchemy did with chemistry to transmute the body—to obtain greater precision, to know the true interactions between magnetic fields (for example, details that might not be insignificant, such as the fact that every 8 minutes a magnetic portal opens between the Earth and the Sun, through which tons of energetic particles penetrate through the magnetosphere. Could this affect a person's imprint according to the minute they are born? And how much do we know about the physical effects of the Sun's high-energy particles, which cause auroras borealis, but in certain cases disrupt the electrical systems of our planet (and we are also electrical systems)?
Among other studies conducted on the scientific validity of astrology is the famous "Mars effect." Michel Gauqelin documented a highly significant statistical correlation in the position of Mars, the vigorous planet of war and iron as an element, in the birth of professional athletes. Something that was later corroborated by independent studies.
Dr. Mitchell E. Gibson found an effective method of predicting depression in a person by observing their birth chart. A similar method seems to occur when observing the birth charts of serial killers. In this article, 10 supposed proofs that planets affect the personality of human beings can be investigated.
And perhaps beyond the proofs of a paradigm of knowledge such as science (a change of focus: "I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10000 stars how not to dance" (E.E. Cummings), there is the daily intuition of each person. In that sense, the best opinion on the validity of astrology is held by the reader. Do you find in your life that certain people of certain signs, with certain planets in their houses, behave according to a pattern? Do you notice a difference in your personality or in nature according to the phase of the Moon? But to what extent can you distinguish your psychological projection mechanisms from the patterns you observe in nature? To what extent does the suggestion of this narrative come from the material, objective world and not from the narrative of culture and collective consciousness? But, and above all, to what extent can you separate these narratives, the physical and the supposedly objective world from your mind and the subjective world? Is it not possible that they are the same thing and this is the key to astrology: that the planets in the sky are also inside your brain and the same universe has a kind of mind and a psychological pattern, as you have a body made of the same substance as the stars in their basic constitution?