Perhaps it was written in the stars that Republicans would sweep the recent mid-term elections. At least that’s what some Democrats are apt to believe. According to the Chapman Survey on American Fears, which studies irrational beliefs, Democrats are more likely to embrace in astrology – the belief that the position of the stars influences events in our lives – while Republicans are more apt to believe bad things are the work of Satan.
It is tempting to see Satan’s hand in recent reports of cannibalism in Africa and the on-going depredations of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. And it isn’t that hard to see why some people believe in astrology. After all, the position of the sun in the sky determines whether it’s morning or evening, summer or winter, and our behavior and bodily rhythms can be affected by both. And it’s understandable that ancient people – who had nothing better to watch at night than the stars – would have reckoned the time of the year according to which constellation the sun rose in.
The moon, too, has an effect on the terrestrial world. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the tides, but many inlanders plant crops, butcher livestock and even get their hair cut according to the phases of the moon.
Over time people came to believe that, like the sun and moon, the other moving heavenly bodies also influenced conditions on earth. These additional moving bodies were the five visible planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Just as the position of the sun in the sky determines the hours of the day and months of the year, the positions of the other moving bodies were thought to exert an influence as well.
Indeed, our seven day week derives from this, though since we’ve mixed planetary names from Roman and Teutonic cultures many people no longer realize it. Sunday is the day of the Sun, Monday the day of the Moon, Tuesday the day of Mars, Wednesday the day of Mercury, Thursday the day of Jupiter, Friday the day of Venus and Saturday the day of Saturn. And each day was once felt to embody characteristics of the heavenly “god” it was named for.
Researchers in Hungary recently demonstrated that the season a person is born in affects everything from intelligence to a tendency towards mental illness. They speculate that the weather during pregnancy affects a mother’s activities and health and this in turn influences a baby’s development. But right now that’s just a guess.
And though scientists are quick to point out that this has nothing to do with astrology, it seems a moot point. Since the time of year does impact our temperament, what difference does it make if we say that people born in the Spring are more intelligent or if we say people born when the sun is in a winter sign are more prone to depression?
Still, no matter how tempting it is to blame things on the stars or the devil, the truth is that it’s people who ultimately bear responsibility for the decisions they make and the actions they take. After all, it’s an ancient aphorism that while the stars may impel us, they do not compel us – we are the masters of our own fate and need to behave accordingly.