Astrology in the News!

Always interesting to see how astrology pops up in the news. First mention is today in the Washington Post

Note that the heliocentric perspective is presented as objective truth while the geocentric perspective is simply an illusion. In fact, if you watch Mercury in the sky from Earth it will indeed appear to move backwards. Of course the video itself is an illusion, being a series of still pictures that change so quickly that they appear to move. Clearly everything we see via video is therefore also false!

I, along with Plotinus, agree with astronomers that the planets and stars are not actually causing effects on Earth. Instead the underlying spiritual cycles control both the cycles of the Heavens and cycles on Earth. Either that or the planetary archangels!

Finally it is very cute of the Washington Post to have it both ways, they report Mercury retrograde, explain what it is, give useful information on when Mercury is retrograde, all definitely aimed at an audience who are receptive and interested in astrology, then in the end denounce astrology. Same old media strategy, as Billy Bragg says, "Where they offer you a feature On stockings and suspenders Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders"

Next example is the New York Times continuing expose of the evils of fortunetellers

And yes this appears to be pretty heinous fraud. But this story links back to an earlier one on fortunetellers who are not simply using this as a con, but believe in what they are doing

The NYT's attitude is the traditional one, all fortunetelling is fraud, no matter what the fortuneteller themselves believe. Under New York Penal Law §165.35, entitled, "Fortune telling"

"A person is guilty of fortune telling when, for a fee or compensation which he directly or indirectly solicits or receives, he claims or pretends to tell fortunes, or holds himself out as being able, by claimed or pretended use of occult powers, to answer questions or give advice on personal matters or to exorcise, influence or affect evil spirits or curses;  except that this section does not apply to a person who engages in the aforedescribed conduct as part of a show or exhibition solely for the purpose of entertainment or amusement.

Fortune telling is a class B misdemeanor."

So as long as you admit it is fake, you are ok. If you believe that you can predict the future and charge to do so, you are a criminal in New York.