Time (as we generally see)- the good, the bad and the ugly but consulting astrologer for that is a curious case of mistaken identity, mischievous indeed. I am not an atheist, not even agnostic but I believe religious faiths have their own share of superstitions and they are bestowed upon generations to generations. If certain superstitions succumbed to death due to sublime and obstinate efforts of benevolent religious saints or of radical non-religious men or of both, newer and newer ones emerge and sometimes the old ones reborn again with time. Once I was told my time of birth was auspicious as five planets were aligned at that time. I do not consider certain time is auspicious and certain time is bad, time has nothing to do with it, if there is anything it is our state of mind and physical condition and if they are aligned according to the need, output of the work is proper otherwise not . But I was little curious about five planets being aligned, though it is neither auspicious nor bad to me but it is a rare happening. I eventually turned to internet and to my disappointment did find nothing as such. I questioned and I was told five planets aligned means five planets are in a same house according to astrology. What the hell !
If astrology is atleast a faith than a superstition, why not any mention of it in Srutis- Vedas and Upanishads or in epics- Ramayana, Mahabharata ? Why not any marriage in those happened according to it ? No one could either think or question ? If any marriage dents, or if any undesired result happens in life, they think that they should have contacted a better astrologer rather accepting their too much dependence on this particular superstition than their own self, atleast they do not even recognize that this is indeed irrational and we should shun this. I personally never had any contempt for the people those who believe in it but what worries is they are been exploited and the status-quo though producing undesired results is not stopping. Swami Dayanada Saraswati, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, every great spiritual person condemned and confronted this but today after seeing people getting stick to early morning Raasiphala shows, their efforts seem to be in vain.
Indians used to study the movement of celestial bodies and developed a science which is useful for the agriculture, calculation of time, predicting the astronomical events so on and so forth. Indian calendar is lunar calendar, based on phases of the moon and the star nearer to the moon. That is why mention of Nakshatras (Stars) in our olden scriptures for any event but not Raasi (Zodiac sign). It was purely for the purpose of time notation but later when Greeks arrived to India they brought with them Zodiac signs and they took astronomy. In course of time, when India fell into superstitions, these Nakshatras, Zodiac signs, and other such things intermingled and a course of study was formed with predictions based upon them and compared them afterwards with events as they happened. This was done for years, until certain agreements were found, these were recorded, genearalised and eventually turn into astrology. That is why one could not find all these things except Nakhatras (that to for the sake of recording events) in Srutis or epics (as they were all composed before 3000BC atleast and Greeks came to India around 100 or 200 AD).
There is a story- there was once lived a household and he had a pet cat, though he used to look after it with affection but due to its natural tendency it used to create slight unrest running here and there whenever there was a substantial gathering in his house. He got fed up and used to put it under a big metal pot whenever there was a function in their house. In course of time, the cat died, and the household too died. Generations passed, later in time there was a marriage in the same house (the groom may be grand-grand-grand son of that house hold), the groom’s father brought a cat from somewhere outside and had put it under a metal pot. When he was asked, why was he doing so by the guests, he replied ‘It is our tradition and faith. It bestows good to all of us and the marriage happens smoothly without any odds and if it is not done, it goes the other way.’ An act once done for some reason has been followed superstitiously without a single proper thought about it.
Swami Vivekananda says, ” It is the cowardice to say ‘This is fate’, the strong man stands up and says, ‘I will make my fate’……. If a star disturbs my life, it would not be worth a cent……it is our duty to ignore them rather than hearken to them and make ourselves nervous…. You will find that astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind;….This I lay down as the first essential in all I teach: anything that brings spiritual, mental, or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feet….. Good is life, evil is death…. what infinite souls you are! And to be tricked by twinkling stars! You are divinities; the twinkling stars owe their existence to you….. Be strong, get beyond all superstitions, and be free.”
satta king