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Subject: Astrological Predictions
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HomePage of Prof. Subhash Kak === http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/
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http://www.sulekha.com/column.asp?cid=211324
Astrological Predictions
Subhash Kak ~ Jun 17, 2002
The year is 1986. The Soviet Union and the United States are
locked in a mighty worldwide struggle, with no certainty which
side will win. According to the CIA, the Cold War might go on for
decades. But that year Hinduism Today, a magazine from Hawaii,
publishes three specific forecasts made by G.S. Hiranyappa, a
Bangalore astrologer:
1. Russia will abandon Communism in the middle of 1991.
2. There will be a 7-year war between the Middle East and China
on one side and the West and India on the other, starting in
1999.
3. A prediction about the distant future, that need not concern
us here.
As a subscriber to the magazine, I recall being annoyed by the
audacity of the predictions. But as we know the first prediction
was right on the dot -- the year the Soviet Union broke up and
abandoned Communism is 1991!
The second prediction hasn't come true although some might look
at Sept 11 as the delayed beginning of such a war; others will
see the beginning of the Second Intifada in 1999 as the predicted
conflict. Many would dismiss it as a typical end-of-the-
millennium prediction.
The third prediction, being projected into the future, doesn't
count. In brief, Hiranyappa was impressive, even if only half
right.
But a critic would say that astrologers make such divergent
predictions that we must consider Hiranyappa's forecast no more
than a lucky hit. If it was so clear in the charts, why didn't
other astrologers make the same forecast?
What is Astrology?
This brings us to the question: What is astrology? And how does
an astrologer make his predictions? I use the term 'astrological'
in the generic sense of 'astral' (of stars), the lights of the
cognitive firmament. This would then include all kinds of
predictions, including those based on intuition or oracle, or by
the use of history, economics, or other rational methods.
Astrologers insist that their methods, using numbers and
formulas, are rational. In any event, astrologers do not merely
look at recipes related to movements of planets; they must look
at them in the context of the specific situation of the subject.
Astrological chart-reading is like a doctor's diagnosis: it is
based on the insights of the astrologer regarding the human
condition and the situation of the subject. To this extent, the
astrologer's prediction is conditioned on his wisdom.
It couldn't be any other way, because the astrological manuals
are sketchy. How could detailed predictions about the world ever
be made merely based on the formulas in a manual?
At its core, astrological reading is either a mystical art, where
the chart triggers a higher intuition of the astrologer and,
without consciously knowing how, he arrives at his pronouncement,
or it is a deliberate use of all the information that the
astrologer possesses about the subject. Either way, a good
astrologer is a sage.
I, personally, have no experience with astrologers, and I have
never consulted one. I had a horoscope, commissioned when I was a
child by my parents, but it was lost several years ago. It
consisted of several pages of charts followed by a vague
narrative that could be taken to mean almost anything one wanted.
Although I haven't felt the need to consult an astrologer, I can
see how such consultation may be beneficial to someone needing
advice from a wise person. As I mentioned in an earlier column,
an astrologer is primarily a counsellor.
It is good that astrology's basic tenet of cycles of good and bad
periods is supported by data from biological and business cycles.
One might complain that it is a big leap from there to cycles for
individuals but, lacking refuting evidence, one may tentatively
use the correlations in the manuals as a working hypothesis. Even
if these manuals are wrong, there is the possibility that
research will uncover cycles that are true for individuals. On
the other hand, it is possible that no evidence for such
individual cycles will emerge.
I am impressed that Vedic astrology does not speak of predictions
as events that will happen, but rather of good and bad phases,
which are woven into rich narrative by the astrologer using his
intuition. Vedic astrology may be seen in terms of probabilities
that the subject, by active action, can change in his favour.
This, to my mind, promotes agency and mindful action by the
subject, who remains free.
A few years ago, I received a phone call out of the blue from C.
Muses, the Canadian mathematician who died just a couple of years
ago. Muses wished to chat with me about my work on Indian science
and, in passing, he mentioned how a few decades earlier he had
learned Indian astrology with a mind to disproving it. But over
the years, he had found it extremely useful and accurate.
Thinking that Muses may have used the seven-and-a-half year
(saardhasati) cycle of Saturn in his calculations, I decided to
look at correlations between this cycle and the life-spans of
American presidents. I was astonished to find an anomaly, which
was later picked up by the popular press (See Note 2 below).
Grand Prophecies
Aztec astrologers had predicted that white people riding on
horses would defeat them. This may have led to a defeatist
mentality that made it possible for Cortez and his 100 odd
conquistadors to defeat the Aztec empire. Likewise, Pizarro in
Peru was helped by prophecy. (But these stories about the
prophecies may have been invented later to give religious
sanction to events to mitigate the horrors that the Spaniards
inflicted on the American Indians.)
Eschatology (eschatos: end, logos: meaning) is the theological
doctrine of the end of the world. Jews, Christians, and Muslims
share a belief in a final cataclysm and the appearance of a
messianic redeemer. Part of the intractability of the conflict in
Israel is that each side is reading its own eschatology in the
unfolding events. For the Christians, there is:
* The second coming of Jesus Christ, when he returns to earth
after almost two millennia.
* The war of Armageddon -- a massive battle in Israel.
* The arrival on earth of the Antichrist, an evil political,
military leader.
* The Tribulation, a seven year interval of great suffering and
death.
* The Rapture, when Christians who have been born again -- both
living and dead -- will rise into the sky towards Jesus.
It was the expectation of this second coming that caused many to
fear the onset of the new millennium. In order to forestall panic
withdrawal from banks, the US printed a lot of extra money which,
in turn, added to the Wall Street bubble and its subsequent
crash.
For the Muslims, the coming of the Mahdi is accompanied by minor
signs, such as: wine drinking, love of this world, hatred of
death, neglect of prayer, interest on loans, and popularity of
singing women.
The major signs include the emergence of the Deceiver (Al-
Dajjal), who is the equivalent of the Christian Antichrist.
Amongst the followers of the Deceiver will be seventy thousand
Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls. The Dajjal is not only an
incarnation of evil in the guise of a global leader, but can also
be a system of social and cultural phenomena, as well as an
unseen power. Some say that Western democracy could qualify as
the Great Deceiver. Another major sign is that the sun will rise
in the west.
The Last Hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight
against the Jews and kill them and the Jews would hide themselves
behind a stone or a tree, and the stone or the tree would say:
Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come
and kill him (Hadith Abu-Harayah in Book 40, Number 6985).
This transforms the ongoing reforestation in Israel into a
defensive maneuver to delay the day of judgment.
The Hindus have their own belief in an avatara, Kalki, who will
arise at the end of the present Kaliyuga and, after vanquishing
evil forces, usher in a new Golden Age (Satyuga) of prosperity
for Mankind.
The World as Will and Idea
The world may be seen at the two different levels of the body and
mind. The material world works according to laws of nature, with
events strung together in cause-effect chains. If laws govern the
world of mind as well, how do the two worlds function together?
One view is that the two have independent existence but they are
synchronized. By peering into the future of mind-world, one can
predict things about the material world, and the other way round.
The world's future may be seen as based on will and ideas, in
this view.
At the individual level, we all work to fulfill a belief about a
personal future. For most, this vision is prompted by
expectations, but there is the exceptional person whose vision is
so unique that he is able to shape events.
Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena, predicted years
ago that his daughters would be the two top players in the world.
Bill Clinton predicted he would be president after he shook hands
with John Kennedy as high school student.
Indian legend has the story of how Panini was born a fool, but
was transformed after he set his mind on becoming the greatest
grammarian of his time.
An American physicist friend told me that when his son was born
he had an astrological chart made for his own personal
investigation into whether astrology works. But he has never let
his son take a look, lest it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I once read a delightful comedy on this idea. The subject is told
that he will murder someone. He tries to kill three different
people, without success. Finally, in desperation, he murders his
astrologer!
The Most Amazing 'Prediction' in History
Predictions are generally no more than wishes, which is why they
are disregarded by most people. But are there predictions which
do not belong to this type?
The mention of the speed of light in the Indic literature,
several hundred years before it was measured scientifically,
qualifies as the most amazing prediction of history. The number
mentioned is the exact speed of 186,000 miles per second.
I, for one, don't believe that Indians, 700 years ago, possessed
the technology to have done this actual measurement. Neither do I
believe that extra-terrestrials were responsible.
The only conclusions that I can see as being credible are:
(1) the number was a lucky guess;
(2) that there exists a web across time and space that connects
human minds. By looking within the mind, one can obtain
foreknowledge of events.
Personally, I think it is a bad idea to believe in astrological
predictions. One should have faith in oneself and work on, hoping
for the best.
Notes:
1. The astrologer Hiranyappa announcing in December 1986 that
“Russia will abandon Communism in the middle of 1991”:
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/1986/12/1986-12-07.html
2. Statistical anomaly regarding American Presidents:
http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/prez.pdf
3. Panini's astonishing achievement in the history of ideas:
http://www.sulekha.com/column.asp?cid=108397
4. The most amazing 'prediction' in human history:
http://arXiv.org/abs/physics/9804020
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