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Subject: cool article
Date: Sunday 28 August 2005 12:19
From: Linda Page <
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Today's Horoscope: Now Unsure
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: August 28, 2005
IN the not-too-distant future, maps of the solar system may be redrawn
to add another planet - or perhaps take one away. Last month, when
scientists announced the discovery of a possible 10th planet, some nine
billion miles from the Sun, they reignited a long-running debate about
what a true planet is. They are grappling with whether the newly found
celestial body, known for now as 2003 UB313, should be granted planetary
status, and if it is not, whether Pluto, a like-size ice ball in a far
orbit of the Sun, should be stripped of the title.
John Hryniuk for The New York Times
Astrologers like Richard Brown are excited about the discovery
of a possible new planet. They will be watching to see its effects on
human lives.
Astronomers are afire over the shake-up, and their musings have been
lighting up the news media. But they aren't the only ones excited about
the discovery. Their mystical cousins, astrologers, have also been
jolted; they are speculating about what it might mean for their cosmic
readings and prophecies. After all, they, too, are students of the solar
system.
Astrologers often employ the maxim "as above, so below." Now suddenly
that which is "above" may be radically changed.
"It's exciting," said Richard Brown, an astrologer from Toronto. "I'm
immediately on the Internet, and I'm just jumping up and down."
Michael E. Brown (no relation to Richard), an astronomer and a member of
the team that discovered 2003 UB313, said he has been peppered with
inquiries from astrologers seeking to know the exact moment he made his
observation. Dr. Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at the
California Institute of Technology, subsequently posted the time of
discovery on his Web page for their benefit, he said, because he has
always appreciated astrologers' enthusiasm for the heavens. "The
astronomical world frequently sits around and bickers," he said. "It's
nice to see a group sit around and take pleasure in new discoveries."
If 2003 UB313 is a 10th planet, astrologers say it may have a profound
influence over people's lives, and thus on the forecasts astrologers
make. But its potency cannot be discerned until perhaps several years
after the astronomical debate is settled, when astronomers have had time
to chart its orbit. So astrologers are not inclined to do anything
hasty. There will be no tearing up of charts, no hurriedly penciling in
a new planet and certainly no crossing out of Pluto, a body that many
astrologers hold near and dear.
On the contrary, astrologers seem to have reached an unspoken consensus
to take a wait-and-see approach. Wait and see if there is a 10th planet.
Then wait and observe its influence on human life. Astrologers have been
searching the sky for centuries for clues to how the positions of stars
and planets could affect life on Earth. Their celestial observations
intrigued Chaucer, Shakespeare and even Galileo. The profession still
thrives, supported in no small part it seems by people who say they do
not really believe in it, as evidenced by the enormous popularity of
horoscopes in magazines, newspapers and on the Web. Last year America
Online's most popular search term was "horoscope."
A Gallup Poll telephone survey conducted in June found that 25 percent
of Americans believe that the position of the stars and planets can
affect people's lives.
"We like to think of ourselves as the second-oldest profession," said
Mr. Brown, the astrologer.
Dr. Brown said, "I think of it as entertainment," adding that his wife
reads her horoscope in the newspaper each morning, though not because
she believes the predictions will come true.
But to some critics, the discovery of a potential 10th planet is just
more evidence that astrology is humbug. If astrologers were able to
detect the influences of planets on people's lives accurately, should
they not have noticed the influence of a 10th planet long before
astronomers detected it?
"You would think astrologers would have noticed after 2,000 years of
making predictions that every 20 years or so things would get messed
up," said Phil Plait, an astronomer at Sonoma State University, in
Rohnert Park, Calif. "And then someone would say, 'Maybe there's another
planet out there.' "
Astrologists argue that they have never asserted that the known planets
and stars account for every last detail of human life. "We assume there
are going to be other planets," said Deb McBride, an astrologer in
Brooklyn.
Leigh Oswald, an astrologer in London, said unknown forces may determine
when scientists discover new planets. "A planet is discovered when it's
appropriate for humanity to understand it," she said. "In other words,
when we are ready for it."
Throughout history, when faced with the addition of a new planet, many
astrologers have duly figured out how to use it in their calculations.
Pluto, the most recently discovered planet, is so tightly woven into
astrological charts, to lose it would be unthinkable, Ms. Oswald said.
"It's been observed to have a huge influence on people's lives."
Because Pluto is an outer planet, it operates on a level that affects
humanity as a whole as well as individuals, astrologers say. (The
farther out a planet is, theoretically, the more global its effects.)
Named for the Greek god of the underworld, Pluto brings about unexpected
changes. "It's usually dark," Ms. McBride said. "It's usually a huge
upheaval in someone's life." That upheaval - in a person's health,
family or career - is generally followed by a rebuilding, a
resurrection, she said.
Pluto is in Sagittarius right now, which to astrologers means it is
exerting an influence on larger social forces like religions, ideologies
and cultural traditions. "When you put Pluto in a sign like Sagittarius,
you start getting religious wars, differences in cultures," Ms. McBride
said.
Astrologers are especially eager to learn 2003 UB313's permanent name,
because in their business, a celestial object's name is essential to its
interpretation. "Naming is important, particularly when a name has a
mythological charge to it," said Barry Perlman, a San Francisco
astrologer. "You're connecting it to a lineage of cultural traditions."
Even though a planet's name is chosen by mere mortals, astrologers do
not consider the choice a matter of chance. Rather, they see it arising
from an alignment of unseen forces that affect the collective human
unconscious. They find it no accident that Pluto, for example, was
discovered in 1930, in the era of the rise of Nazism and the development
of the atomic bomb.
Dr. Brown has been informally calling the possible new planet Xena,
after the title character from the cult television series "Xena: Warrior
Princess." (He has given equally playful nicknames to other planetary
bodies he has discovered, including Santa, Easter Bunny and Flying
Dutchman.)
The official name of 2003 UB313 has yet to be determined however. First
the International Astronomical Union, which has the last word in naming
celestial objects, has to decide if it is a planet, something that is
unlikely to happen before 2006, Dr. Brown said. He would not reveal the
name his team has nominated, but allowed that it is neither Xena nor the
name of any Greek or Roman god.
With or without a new planet, some astrologers say they already have
plenty to study, because they believe that celestial bodies, from the
Moon to the billions of stars, can be incorporated into readings.
"There's a whole treasure trove that we haven't used," said John Cook,
an astrologer from New York City.
Like many astrologers, Mr. Cook is fascinated by the work of
astronomers, but he knows the feeling is rarely mutual. "Every time
people meet an astronomer, they ask them what their sun sign is, and
they hate that," Mr. Cook said with a chuckle.
But Dr. Brown, a Gemini, doesn't mind. "I'm happy that they're thinking
about the solar system," he said, "even if I don't agree."
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