This paper analyses architectural alignments and reports the results of interviews with priests and lay persons at those temples in the Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu in which sunlight of the rising or setting sun enters the sanctum, primarily near equinox. The event, known as Surya puja, occurs most frequently in Shaivite temples and is most often understood to be a case of the sun worshipping Lord Shiva. At some temples it is believed the sun suffers from leprosy, which may be associated with an outbreak of sunspots in the late 11th century. Many of today’s Surya puja rituals have strong astrological dimensions, which have probably grown in intensity since the temples were built.

The years between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were troubled by political conflicts and plots generated by an unbridled ambition for power. In those dark ages the figure of the astrologer stands out as a firm reference point in the shrewd and often merciless political game. Biagio Pelacani of Parma perfectly embodies this character of learned adviser. The actions of the powerful men of the time depended on his predictions.

Sigmund Freud’s psychology was influenced both by traditional Jewish mysticism and the cosmobiological theories developed by Wilhelm Fliess (1858-1928). Fliess argued that biological processes were partially regulated by 23-day and 28-day cycles, time of conception and birth, the solar year and the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. We can term these theories cosmobiological. Freud adopted these ideas although he was apparently hostile to the ‘occult’. He investigated traditional astrology, represented by the casting of horoscopes, but concluded that its efficacy was due to telepathy

Following the First World War there was an increase in the use of psychics and clairvoyants as the bereaved attempted to contact their dead relations. Sigmund Freud saw this as a dangerous development and in 1921 set out to study it. As part of this he considered the visit of one of his patients to an astrologer, placing the incident in its historical context, looking at the causes and possible consequences of the occult boom.

Social scientists have suggested several different hypotheses to account for the prevalence of belief in astrology among certain sections of the public in modern times. It has been proposed: (1) that as an elaborate and systematic belief system, astrology is attractive to people with intermediate levels of scientific knowledge
Social scientists have suggested several different hypotheses to account for the prevalence of belief in astrology among certain sections of the public in modern times. It has been proposed: (1) that as an elaborate and systematic belief system, astrology is attractive to people with intermediate levels of scientific knowledge
[the superficial knowledge hypothesis]; (2) that belief in astrology reflects a kind of ‘metaphysical unrest’ that is to be found amongst those with a religious orientation but little or no integration into the structures of organized religion, perhaps as a result of ‘social disintegration’ consequent upon the collapse of community or upon social mobility [the metaphysical unrest hypothesis]; and (3) that belief in astrology is prevalent amongst those with an ‘authoritarian character’ [authoritarian personality hypothesis]. The paper tests these hypotheses against the results of British survey data from 1988. The evidence appears to support variants of hypotheses (1) and (2), but not hypothesis (3). It is proposed that serious interest or involvement in astrology is not primarily the result of a lack of scientific knowledge or understanding; rather, it is a compensatory activity with considerable attractions to segments of the population whose social world is labile or transitional; belief in astrology may be an indicator of the disintegration of community and its concomitant uncertainties and anxieties. Paradoxical as it may appear, astrology may be part and parcel of late modernity.

The Reformation coincided with a boom in the publication of astrological almanacs and astrology became a potent means of propagandising for differing political positions. One of the most notable Reformation astrologers was Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), professor of Greek at Wittenberg from 1518, where he became one of Martin Luther’s closest friends and collaborators. In 1521 he briefly found himself leader of the Reformation when Luther was confined in the Wartburg. His interest in astrology and his position at the centre of the Reformation raises important questions concerning the possible use of astrological forecasts of the Reformation’s future course. Martin Luther’s birth chart was to become a focus of debate amongst astrologers who wished to establish whether he was a new messiah or the Anti-Christ.

A brief comment on “Is Astrology Revelant to Consciousness and Psi?” by Geoffrery Dean and Ivan Kelly, Journal of Consciousness Studies (2003) 10: 6-7, pp 175-198

There are no solid data on the magnitude, determinants and processes of trafficking in Nepal, and the needs of those trafficked who return. The contributing causes and structure of sex trafficking in Nepal are largely unknown, and most figures are at best educated guesses. Very limited information is available about the family environment, economic and social situations of the sex workers. Many astrologers in Nepal believed that significant numbers of parents will have surrendered their daughter into prostitution on the basis of astrological indicators, but there is no empirical evidence to support this. Thus, by using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the present study explored the socio-cultural and astrological aspects of sex trafficking and examined whether the trafficked girls have any unique clusters of astrological profiles. No link with astrological profiles was found and the patterns observed being completely random.

Evidence is presented that warfare and economic growth are correlated with outer-planetary fundamental waves and harmonic waves during the 500-year period from 1500 to 1999. This period represents 1 cycle of the combined fundamental waves of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Three war indexes (civil, international, and global) and real economic growth of 7 industrialized nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States) are tested for significance with planetary fundamental waves and harmonic waves. Graphs of outer-planetary fundamental waves from 1450 to 2050 are presented, and general comparisons are drawn between the Renaissance and New Age periods.

This report provides primary credence to evolution of the human organism beneath the heavens. Natural selection has favored vertebrates attuned to heavenly rhythms. The lower vertebrates including salamanders undergoing selection, feed, reproduce and migrate in accord with solar and lunar rhythms. As descendants of these successfully adapted creatures, humans possess brain circuits reflecting hundreds of millions of years of inherited genetic programs linked to sun and moon cycles overhead. Humans appear to be sensitive to subtle energy shifts associated ultimately to trajectories of the ancient sun and moon through the heavens. These chronomic genes accompany emergence of mental function in humans enabling them to survive and succeed in diverse environments. Rising interest in chronomics as a mental science requires careful enumeration of the multiple cycles driving human mental function. The recent advances in measuring human unconscious mental processes promise growth this decade of a new quantitative science raised to a level of sophistication comparable to molecular measurement in genomics. In empirical studies the author has devised novel approaches to detecting multiple intermeshed cycles in salamanders and in humans. Emergence of this new understanding can be illustrated by application of an analytic genomics method to detect an otherwise inaccessible human 260-day cycle. Future advances in this new biological discipline promise powerful new perspectives on the evolution of cosmic influence.