The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: astrology

  • Predicting What the New Decade Will Bring

    Predicting What the New Decade Will Bring

    Three methods of thought going into the new year reveal a time of dedication and hard work

    Three different pseudoscientific approaches, including astrology, numerology and the Chinese calendar, investigate information both singularly and as a whole. Together, these pseudosciences may predict what the new year and decade may bring.

    Astrology is the study of celestial movement and positioning. This ancient method of predicting and explaining is most commonly associated with horoscopes.

    The astrological movements for 2020 are even more significant than in other years because it’s not just a new year, but a new decade. The birthing of the new decade will cause pain, discomfort and confrontation resulting in struggle and challenges. However, this endurance will allow for active change and role assertion coming into the new year. This is important, as the beginning of a new decade and astrological era comes with growing pains, challenge and a call to overcome.

    Celestial movements predicted to impact 2020 most intensely involve the interactions between three planets: Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto.

    Jupiter and Saturn are social planets that rule in opposition. They command two different branches of thought towards social interaction and understanding.

    Using the three pseudosciences above, 2020 supports a year of hard work and challenge.

    Jupiter is one of two social planets. Jupiter controls development and knowledge towards self-growth and understanding. Saturn, meanwhile, is in control of responsibility and judgement toward creating boundaries and restrictions as well as wisdom.

    Pluto, although found at the very end of the solar system, rules forcefully, bringing both rebirth.

    The interaction of these three planets will most heavily affect social structure and reform. The initiation for change and reform will become most dire towards the end of 2020. The defining celestial movement of 2020 will be Dec. 21, where the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn will unite air signs until the year 2159. This conjunction will challenge society, affecting it in all ways: structurally, fundamentally and economically.

    Numerology, or the study of numbers, looks into the meanings and relationships with coinciding events. Numerology focuses on the divine number, which is the sum of information in numerical form. This number is then compared to a list of fixated numbers ranging from one through nine with attached meanings.

    Dates are easiest to calculate due to the numbers already being assigned. For example, last year 2019 was 2+0+1+9=12. However, because the list ranges from one to nine, 12 is broken down further to 1+2=3. 2019’s divine number was three. The divine number for 2020 is broken down by each digit in the year, 2+0+2+0= 4. Therefore, four is the divine number of 2020.

    Four symbolizes masculinity and strength with a focus towards responsibility, hard work and discipline. Four is a stagnant and comfortable number basking in dedication and consistency, rather than imagination and creativity. While Four sounds bland, the value is on hard work and finishing the job, making 2020 a year of drive and dedication.

    Lastly, the Chinese New Year zodiacs. There are 12 Chinese zodiac animals corresponding with specific years. The last year of the Rat was 2008 and has cycled around again to 2020.

    The Rat is the first zodiac sign in the zodiac chart and symbolizes fortune and personality. Rats are witty, quick thinkers who can accomplish great things and live contently and peacefully. However, the Rat is also considered too feeble and, at times, overly conservative.

    Along with a corresponding animal, a new year is also assigned an element. The five elements are Metal, Wood, Fire, Water and Earth. 2020 is a Metal year. Metal symbolizes determination, hard work and persistence.

    Collectively, 2020 is the year of the Metal Rat and will be a year of work and persistence. The drive to accomplish will come to those who remain patient, dedicated and loyal in the process of great reward for great work.

    Using the three pseudosciences above, 2020 supports a year of hard work and challenge. A time for reform will become evident in the year that demands patience and control. The beginning of 2020 may seem challenging and overbearing, with constant need to troubleshoot and refocus on finishing the job. Though difficulty so early in the year is distasteful, the hard work will reveal rewards. Dedication will reap benefits if one can endure the hardships.

  • Astrology versus Astronomy

    Astrology versus Astronomy

    Similar origin stories don’t change the fact that one tends to be taken more seriously

    Astrology is the study of how the planet’s movements affect our human sphere. Astronomy is the study of celestial objects and these objects are said to surround earth. Both of these fields originated from our ancestors’ observations of the skies.

    Astrology was first recorded in about 3000 B.C., by the Mesopotamian Babylonian people. They believed the stars and planets represented the heavens and used their observations of the sky to create the Zodiac. The Greeks continued these advancements by linking constellations to the planets. The ancient civilizations would use their observations to make decisions about their lives. The Indian civilization created what we use today for astrology predictions in about 1000 B.C.

    Sabrina Ourania is an astrologer at the Arcata Healing Center and has been studying astrology for 10 years. Ourania described how people could have perceived the stars. She said that some people felt that astrology is the divine celestial realm where different gods live.

    “It’s predictable, the sun always rises, the moon is always up,” Ourania said. “It was such a contrast to what the experience was on earth, it brought a lot of awe and admiration and devotion.”

    20190130_164057.jpg
    Sabrina Ouriana, owner and astrologer at Godless Alchemist. | Photo by Maia Wood

    People are still just as interested in how our sky affects us on the inside. According to a Gallup Poll, 25 percent of Americans believe in astrology. The field is more popular now than ever. Though, science has debunked most of the predictions in astrology, people are more connected to these ideas.

    Humboldt State’s astronomy professor, Ryan Campbell said that people want to believe in astrology because it’s fun.

    “People want to believe in astrology because it’s comforting, we engage in motivated reasoning to reach conclusions that we want to reach,” Campbell said.

    20190129_144708.jpg
    Ryan Campell, Humboldt State University physics and astronomy professor. | Photo by Maia Wood

    With astrology being used as a way to experience the world around them, it makes sense that some of these traditions would still be used today. This said, the Greeks and Mesopotamians had very little understanding of modern day science. Why are these traditions still being used in our modern societies?

    For Ourania, astrology is more than science can explain.

    “I see it as a deeper lay of reality and has a lot do with our own psyche,” Ourania said. “We’ve taken the experiences of our psyche and have projected them onto these planetary bodies.”

    Humboldt State students Norma Warren and Trena Neel agree with professor Campbell. Astrology is not something to believe in but is just something fun.

    “I believe that astrology is something that people believe in, but I don’t treat it as good model about making predictions about the universe,” Campbell said.

    Astronomy and astrology were very closely related throughout history. According to Ourania, many of the great astronomers such as Kepler and Galileo were also astrologists. To fund their discoveries, they would make predictions for wealthy individuals.

    “Back then there were not universities offering grants for new discoveries. But was happening wealthy patrons or leaders were coming to know, should they go to war etc. Astronomers day jobs were astrologers, because that is what they were getting paid to do,” Ourinia said.

    This close tie to astronomy is what keeps astrology alive today. As we try to move forward in advancements in how we perceive the world, it makes it hard to let go of some traditions. As a science-based society, we can appreciate the past while still having a health perception of reality.

    “The history of astrology and astronomy are really tied and I appreciate the historical background that came out of astrology, but I think we have better models now,” Campbell said.