Out of whack with stars and science

Years ago, the editor of Truth newspaper commissioned my brother-in-law to write the weekly horoscope column.

My brother-in-law's zodiacal advice to readers started plainly enough but grew progressively more adventurous.

He advised Capricorn women, for example, to "wear no knickers this week" or that Gemini women "would discover their soul mate if they visited Westland carrying a red handbag".

Did readers take this advice seriously? Apparently they did because it was impossible to catch a flight to the West Coast the following week as all seats were booked by single women carrying red handbags.

My brother-in-law's star sign advice became so outrageous that the editor closed down the column altogether.

However, he was not prepared for the deluge of panicked complaints that followed.

It seems that thousands of New Zealanders, particularly women, cannot face the week without astrological direction.

With this in mind, you can understand why I'm a bit sceptical about horoscopes. But there's more.

A Frenchman once offered to analyse the personalities of any Parisian newspaper readers who sent him the date and time of their births. He cast their many horoscopes and later posted each reader a profile of their personality. Of the 150 people who replied to his enquiries, 130 were astonished and impressed with the accuracy of his assessments.

Only then did the Frenchman reveal that he was not an astrologer at all but a statistician who had sent them all copies of the same horoscope – that of a notorious Parisian war-time mass murderer who had buried 63 of his victims in a lime pit.

The statistician then looked into the horoscopes of 623 Parisian murderers who had been guillotined. He found their horoscopes were no different from those of law- abiding citizens and gave no hint of their miserable fates. Nor was there any difference in the star signs of 5000 historical French generals and the peaceable rest of the citizenry.

American psychologist Nona Press compared the horoscopes of 311 New Yorkers who had killed themselves with 311 still-living New Yorkers born on the same days. There was no difference in the star signs of the suicidal and the living.

American astronomers Roger Culver and Philip Ianna followed up the predictions of 20 leading American astrologers for 10 years and found that only one in 10 of their predictions came true.

Astronomers have a serious complaint with astrology. They say the Earth wobbles on its axis so that the stars have shifted from where they were when the zodiacal signs were invented more than 2000 years ago. Many of today's calendar dates and the zodiac signs are out of whack.

Scientists, sceptics and rationalists rail against astrology but nobody takes the slightest notice. These days, astrology and star signs enjoy a popularity unmatched since Roman times.

The Dominion Post's astrologer, I must say, does an excellent job. This week he advises me to carry a mood-busting green jade to offset malign planetary influences, to abandon myself to bliss, and to invite friends over and treat them to chocolate fondue.

- © Fairfax NZ News