All About Astrology

Yesterday, I drove out to the Forest Heights branch of the Kitchener Public Library to hear Bryan Trussler discuss the art and science of astrology.

A professional astrologer for about twenty years, Brian has bachelor's and master's degrees in religious studies. He started by discussing some of the problems with horoscopes that appear in newspapers and magazines. It is very difficult for an astrologer to distill the necessary information into a handful of sentences.

Interesting comments...

• Carl Jung referred to astrology when counselling his patients.
• To produce an accurate chart, an astrologer needs to know your day, time and place of birth.
• It is possible to predict death from a chart, but astrologers do not share this information with their clients.
•  Astrologers had predicted problems with the marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. While their signs, Cancer and Scorpio, are compatible, they are in each other's 12th house. The 12th house deals with hidden enemies.
• The expression, "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" makes sense astrologically. The male and female gender identification signs correspond to Mars and Venus.
• We often hear the expression: "Mercury has gone retrograde." Mercury rules communication, mental acuity, and speed of thought. The expression is appropriate when cell phones or BlackBerrys don't work, Internet is slow, and there are misprints in the newspapers.

When one of the audience members challenged Bryan, he commented: "The stars impel, but they do not compel."