OCCULTISM—ASTROLOGY
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
—Revelation 18:23
3938 10,000 Astrologers In U. S.
There are between 5,000 and 10,000 astrologers in the U. S. today. Astrologers’ names fill two columns of the New York City yellow pages; the subject requires a full drawer in the Library of Congress and catalogue.
3939 32 Million Americans Interested
Americans spend over $200 million a year on astrology alone. A 1976 Gallup Poll indicated that those who take astrology seriously may number as many as 32 million. That is double the estimated total of the early 1970s. The survey also found that 22 percent of adult Americans said they believe in astrology and 24 percent read an astrology column regularly.
It is estimated that 1,200 of the 1,700 U. S. daily newspapers regularly print horoscope columns. Astrology magazines which used to gather dust in newsstands are sold by the millions.
3940 Computerized Horoscope
A full-page ad in a 1970s newspaper offers to tell one’s personal future for one year in advance. Using a computer, this company will “prepare for you a complete, confidential, personal astrological blueprint of your life for only $15.00.”
Another organization has programmed a computer with 25 million pieces of horoscope information, and when the client’s date, hour and place of birth is fed into the machine, a 20,000-word character analysis, list of aptitudes, and a forecast for the year ahead comes out.
On 2,000 campuses of the nation, a computer network provides horoscopes 24 hours a day.
3941 Astrology Books And Courses
In 1970, Dell Publishers sold eight million purse-size horoscope books (compared to one million in 1962). Courses in astrology—as well as in other occult arts—are offered at colleges, high schools and even in Washington, D.C., at the Young Women’s Christian Association.
3942 Astrology For Pupil Misbehavior
The president of the New York City board of education suggested a novel teacher’s aid: astrology. At an educational forum, Isaiah E. Robinson said that “if astrology is correct,” some classroom problems of misbehavior may be caused by pupils whose birth signs conflict with those of other children, or possibly their teachers’. It may be, Robinson suggested, that teachers should take the planets into consideration to understand the kids better. Presumably, a Taurian heaving erasers at an Aquarian may have his cosmic reasons.
—Time
3943 Horoscope And Minister
A minister paid an expensive fee to have horoscope cast for himself, with purpose of trying to prove it wrong and that astrology is nothing but ignorance and superstition.
So, he waited confidently, BUT he was astonished to find his prophecies coming true, even to the smallest details. As years went by, he was uneasy and tried to find a rational explanation for this.
Finally, he concluded that he had sinned in the experiment—becoming a victim of evil spirit powers through horoscope. He immediately repented and renounced all connections with astrology. To his surprise, his horoscope no longer was correct!
3944 Ancient Basis Of Astrology
The ancients considered the world as a living being; the sun and moon being its two eyes, the earth its body, the ether its intellect, and the sky its wings. When man was looked on as the world in miniature, it was thought that the movements of the world and of man correspond, and if one could be ascertained, the other could be easily inferred. Hence arose the system of astrology, which professed to interpret the events of a man’s life by the corresponding movements, etc., of the stars.
—E. Cobham Brewer
See also: Heavenly Phenomenon.