Your Horoscope: Is It Satanic?

Robert C. Newman

Each day, thousands scan their daily newspapers for theirhoroscopes. Is this merely aharmless pastime – or involvement in something more serious?

If one morning you accused your fellow employee, as he thumbedthrough the day’s newspaper to find his horoscope, of practicing “divination,”you may have drawn a blank stare – or a questioning frown.

But “divination” is the name given to mystic or occultpractices by which people have, for thousands of years, sought security throughsecret information from the gods, God, or nature. Some examples of divination in use today involvecrystal-ball gazing, examining tea leaves or Tarot cards, astrology,bio-rhythms, Ouija boards and seances. Astrology is a complicated form of divination based on the theory thatour lives are governed or influenced by the stars and planets.

Naturally, no one denies that our lives are influenced bythe sun – without which there would be no life – and to a lesserextent by the moon, which produces tides. But the particular claims of astrology are open to serious scientificand Biblical objections. Let uslook first at its scientific problems.

Historically, astrology arose among the pagan Babylonians,who believed that the stars and planets were gods. It later spread into Judeo-Christian circles.  There it was characterized by thebelief (not taught in the Bible) that these heavenly bodies were angels.  Modern scientific investigationsindicate that neither stars nor planets share the characteristics ofpersonality which gods or angels were thought to have.  Planets now are known to be worlds likeour earth.

When astrology first became popular, it was thought that theearth was the center of the universe, with the stars and planets movingoverhead for our sole benefit. Insuch a case, astrology seemes reasonable to many. Today it is known that the earth revolves around the sun, anaverage star among billions in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is only one ofbillions of galaxies in the universe.

Classical ancient astrology and most modern astrology arebased upon only seven “planets”: the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiterand Saturn. The discovery of threemore planets since 1781 – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – seems to havegone unnoticed by most moden astrologers. If astrology really has anything to do with the planets and stars, whydo most modern astrologers ignore these discoveries? And why are their results as good (or bad) as those of thefew modern astrologers who do use the newly discovered planets?

If you look in most books or newspaper columns on astrologyto learn what sign of the Zodiac you were born under, you will find the informationabout two thousand years out of date! For instance, I was born on April 2, and according to classicalastrology, would therefore be an Aries. Yet the sun is not in Aries on my birthday because, in the 2,000-oddyears since the Greek form of astrology used today was developed, a change inthe earth’s orbit (know as the precession of the equinoxes) has caused the sunto enter each constellation about a month late. If you thought you were an Aries, you really are a Pisces;or if a Taurus, you really are an Aries, and so forth.  Yet one of the major claims ofastrology is that our personality reflects our sun-sign.  But which sun-sign?  It is is the old sun-sign, why realsun-sign (the one the sun was actually in on the day of your birth), why domost astrologers ignore this precession of the equinoxes?

Astrology has never dealt satisfactorily with the twinproblem. Why are people born underthe very same star and planet configurations often so different inpersonality? Why do they have suchdifferent experiences, successes and failures?

In fact, the Zodiac itself is arbitrary.  Anyone who has looked at the night skyfor himself knows that it takes great imagination to see the various animalsand people which are supposed to be represented by the star patters.  The boundaries between constellationsare arbitrary as well. The year of12 months apparently has been to construct an arbitrary division of the Zodiacinto 12 constellations of equal extent.

For those who accept the Bible as the message of God, theCreator of mankind, the problems of astrology are even more serious.  Although it is possible that the wisemen who came to the baby Jesus were astrologers (Matthew 2:1-12), this does notnecessarily indicate God’s approval of astrology. In the parable of the prodigal son, the fellow’s own sin andhis employers refusal to help him when in need were used to bring him back tohis father, yet neither of these things was good in itself (Luke 15:11-32).

In fact, the Bible calls all forms of divination“abominable” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13). Apparently this is because they represent our attempts to find securitywithout facing up to God’s demands upon our lives. In place of divination, God sent the Biblical prophets(Deuteronomy 18:14-22), whose words are written in the bible.  All we need to know about the future isto be found in its pages.

Astrology does not provide security, according to theBible. Speaking to theBabylonians, the inventors of astrology, God says, “Let now the astologers …save you from what will come upon you … They cannot deliver themselves …” (Isaiah 47:13-14).

To Bible believers, God says, “… do not be terrified by thesigns of the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them; for thecustoms of the peoples are delusion” (Jeremiah 10:2-3).

First published in Christian Life (October 1979): 43.