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Astrology
Question: I am wondering what your opinion on Astrology is? Is it a fraud as I believe or do you believe it is demonically influenced like say Edgar Caysee?
Answer: Here are some Scriptures that show God's warnings concerning astrology. The first two imply that the focus on the "host of heaven" included divination. [See Deut 18:9-12] The people "walked by" spiritual insight from astrological signs rather than from God's loving guidelines.
“They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped." Jeremiah 8:2"I will cut off ... the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests — those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops... those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” Zephaniah 1:4-6
"And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage." Deuteronomy 4:19
"And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven." 2 Kings 23:4-5
"So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. And He said to me [Ezekiel], “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here?" Ezekiel 8:16-17
"...they left all the commandments of the Lord... and worshiped all the host of heaven... practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel...." 2 Kings 17:16-18
"[Manasseh] rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed... and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the Lord.... And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he ... practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger." 2 Kings 21:1-6
“Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven...." Acts 7:42
Follow-up question from Dan: Although I did not fully understand your answer, what I seem to understand is that you believe that Astronomy is much the same as Witchcraft where as I believe it is along the same lines as tricks played by magicians.
However I agree with you that astrology should be stamped out, first belief in astrology is a belief a kin to racism and sexism and should be stamped out. It characterizes people in groups instead of as individuals. There is very little, if anything, different between saying Gemini's have short tempers and Blacks can not control their emotions. Saying that Pisces are more intelectual than other signs is just as bad as saying that women are less inteligent than men.
Second, belief in Astrology is incompatable with belief in free will. If God allows astrology to exist and work, he does not allow free will; therefore, astrology must not work and is a magician's trick, nothing more.
Is astrology is a hoax or for real? First, astrology does not take into acount the precession of the equinoxes. Second, it neglects atmospheric refraction. Third the list of supposedly significant celestial objects that is mainly limited to naked eye objects know to Ptolemy (Where is the astrology of near-Earth asteroids?); there are inconsistant requirements for detailed information on the time as compared to the longitude and lattitude of birth; astrology fails to pass the identical twin test; there are major differences between horoscopes cast by different astrologers using the same information; there is no correlation between horoscopes and such psychological tests as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
Finally, people can easily mistake horoscopes cast for other people as theirs. A Paris newspaper placed an ad offering a free horoscope and filled each of the over 150 requests. 99% of those interviewed after recieving the horoscope said that they were reconizable, 94% had friends that agreed they were recognizable. However, each person recieved the EXACT same horoscope, one drawn up for a French serial killer. This proves nothing except that it is VERY easy to trick people using a cold read.
Considering all this, how can Astrology exist outside being a fraud?
Answer: Astrology blended with occult ritual worship to become a sophisticated system for divination back in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Babylon and Persia, etc. Similar astrological calculations were used by alchemists -- and respected wizards -- through the centuries.Until recent times, many of the mysteries of astrological alchemy was hidden behind the veiled chambers of secret societies -- including the higher echelons of freemasons. See the last symbol on this page: Symbols and their meaning