MIDTERM/FINAL/RESEARCH PAPER DECISION DUE TODAY TWO OBSERVING PROJECTS NOW OVERDUE

Transcription

1 ANNOUNCEMENTS MIDTERM/FINAL/RESEARCH PAPER DECISION DUE TODAY TWO OBSERVING PROJECTS NOW OVERDUE FISKE PUBLIC SHOWS FOR EXTRA CREDIT including NOVEMBER 6 th AND 12 th ON SECRETS OF POLYNESIAN NAVIGATION. Free to CU Students on Nov 12 th. HOMEWORK #7 DUE THIS COMING THURSDAY. Homework Club as usual. THE DIFFICULTY OF DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME IS NOW OVER MORNING PEOPLE REJOICE! VOTE!!!!!

2 GREAT WORLD AGES DEFINED BY THE PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES THE PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES IS THE SYSTEMATIC SHIFTING OF THE SPRING EQUINOX LOCATION THROUGH THE ZODIAC CONSTELLATIONS DUE TO A WOBBLING OF THE EARTH S POLAR AXIS IN SPACE. INSTEAD OF FALLING OVER THE SPINNING EARTH IS A STABLE GYROSCOPE. It s great mass creates a huge inertvia against being tipped over. Instead it precesses! Precession of the Earth is VERY SLOW one rotation every 26,000 years. SPINNING TOP PRECESSES AS GRAVITY OF EARTH TRIES TO PULL IT DOWN DIRECTION OF PULL OF GRAVITY SPINNING EARTH PRECESSES AS GRAVITY OF SUN & PLANETS TRIES TO PULL IT DOWN

3 ASTRONOMICAL COLURES = location of Solstices and Equinoxes amongst the stars TODAY CORRESPONDENCE ABOVE BETWEEN STARS AND TIME OF YEAR WAS NOT ALWAYS THE WAY IT IS TODAY! {THE WORLD HAS SHIFTED!!!}

4 SPRING EQUINOX COLURE 2000 CE 200 CE 2000 BCE AGE OF TAURUS

5 MYTHIC TIME: THE GREAT WORLD AGES AGE APPROX. SUN IN? RULING POLE MAR 21 st PLANET STAR GOLDEN BCE GEMINI SATURN (CHRONOS) SILVER BCE TAURUS JUPITER THUBAN (ZEUS) COPPER BCE ARIES MARS (ARIES) IRON CE PISCES VENUS POLARIS (APHRODITE) NEW CE AQUARIUS MERCURY (HERMES)

6 PERSEUS AS MITHRAS. KILLING THE BULL. METAPHOR FOR THE END OF THE AGE OF TAURUS DUE TO THE PRECESSION. MITHRAS IS THE GOD SO POWERFUL THAT HE MOVES THE WORLD!! MITHRAIC MYSTERIES WAS POPULAR IN ROMAN ARMY. CHALLENGED CHRISTIANITY FOR ADOPTION AS STATE RELIGION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

7 DEPICTIONS OF CONSTELLATIONS OF PERSEUS AND TAURUS IN THEIR APPROXIMATE CORRECT ORIENTATION IN THE SKY IN THE MITHRAIC RELIGION, THE RITUAL SLAYING OF THE BULL IS CALLED A TAUROCTONY

8 PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES: Officially Discovered by Hipparchos of Rhodes c. 200 BCE BUT almost certainly known to the ancients for millennia. THE PRECESSION OF THE EARTH S AXIS IN SPACE MOVES THE LOCATION OF THE SUN RELATIVE TO THE STARS HOW THE ANCIENTS WOULD HAVE KNOWN: EQUINOX SUN RISES DUE EAST 2000 BCE Pisces in sky at dawn O BCE Pisces rises with the Sun THE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN BY ~ 1 ZODIAC CONSTELLATION SINCE PTOLEMY S TIME VERNAL EQUINOX = SPRING EQUINOX = MARCH 20 OR 21ST TODAY Pisces rises after the Sun Pisces has been drowned!

9 IN VIRTUALLY ALL ANCIENT WORLD VIEWS, THE SUN, MOON, PLANETS AND STARS RISE OUT OF AND SET INTO THE PRIMEVAL OCEAN EVERY DAY.

10 MYTHIC TIME: THE GREAT WORLD AGES AGE APPROX. SUN IN? RULING POLE MAR 21 st PLANET STAR GOLDEN BCE GEMINI SATURN *** FLOOD *** (CHRONOS) SILVER BCE TAURUS JUPITER THUBAN (ZEUS) *** FLOOD *** COPPER BCE ARIES MARS (ARES) *** FLOOD *** IRON CE PISCES VENUS POLARIS (APHRODITE) *** FLOOD *** NEW CE AQUARIUS MERCURY (HERMES)

11 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE PRECESSION see: HAMLET S MILL by Giorgio de Santallina and Eva van Dechend And THE ORIGINS OF THE MITHRAIC MYSTERIES: COSMOLOGY & SALVATION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD by David Ulansey

12 THE ZODIAC SPRING EQUINOX COLURE 2000 CE 200 CE Astrological signs are codified with respect to the seasons, not the stars! 4000 BCE ANCIENT SYMBOLS OF TRANSFORMATION

13 ASTRONOMICAL COLURES ASTROLOGICAL COLURES CORRESPONDENCE ABOVE BETWEEN STARS AND TIME OF YEAR WAS NOT ALWAYS THE WAY IT IS TODAY! {THE WORLD HAS SHIFTED!!!}

14 WESTERN ASTROLOGY IS ONLY ONE OF MANY ANCIENT RESPONSES TO THE PRINCIPLE OF HERMES WESTERN ASTROLOGY (BABYLONIAN/GREEK) Developed out of the millennia old system of star divinations used by the Chaldeans, Babylonians & Egyptians Codified by Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria in his Tetrobiblos,c. 150 CE. The Tetrobiblos codified the relationship between the zodiac signs and the seasons and made them the same as the stellar constellations AT THAT TIME (e.g., First degree of Aries happens on March 21 st, the Vernal Equinox). Philosophical idea upon which ASTROLOGY is based is called the Principle of Hermes = As above, so Below...and was the ancient attempt at unifying the heavens and the Earth.

15 Principle of Hermes = As Above, so Below...and was the ancient attempt at unifying the Heavens and the Earth. Various Expressions All forms of ASTROLOGY; Babylonian/Greek, Vedic (Indian), Chinese Years and Problems in Ti en, Maya Venus Astrology, Polynesian Rising Star at birth, etc etc. Lakota Celestial Mirroring of Earth and Sky CELESTIAL ALIGNMENTS bring heavens down to earth in Buildings, Monuments, Temples, City planning, etc. HIEROPHANIES Modern Science ( NEWTONIAN PRINCIPLE = The assumption that the guiding physical principles (laws) of the Universe are the same everywhere)

16 MANY PEOPLE HAVE OPINIONS and CONFUSIONS ABOUT ASTROLOGY AND CONFUSE OTHER SIMILARLY SOUNDING FIELDS OF STUDY: ASTROLOGY ASTRONOMY COSMOLOGY COSMETOLOGY ALCHEMY CHEMISTRY

17 IS ASTROLOGY A VALID BELIEF SYSTEM? What is your view? 1. YES I read my horoscope daily and it is always right on 2. YES It s appealing to me philosophically ---it uses scientific measurement and so it must be true. 3. NO I read my horoscope for amusement because it never makes any sense. 4. NO, it s a silly, primitive belief and without validity. Due to precession the zodiac stars aren t even in the same place. 5.??? I don t care.(my mind is on Thanksgiving Break)!!

18 ASTROLOGY: DIFFERENT THAN MOST PEOPLE THINK NOT JUST DIVIDING UP ALL HUMANS INTO 12 GROUPS BY THEIR SUN SIGNS. AN ASTROLOGICAL BIRTH CAHRT RECORDS THE LOCATION OF ALL THE PLANETS RELATIVE TO THE STARS AND THE HORIZONS PRECESSION IS A RED HERRING. IT CHANGES THE LOCATIONS OF THE CONSTELLATIONS OF STARS RELATIVE TO THE SEASONS. ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS FIXED BY THE SEASONS; e.g. ARIES means the first month following the Spring equinox. ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS (UNLIKE astronomical zodiac constellations) ARE DEFINED TO BE EXACTLY 30 DEGREES ALONG THE ECLIPTIC. {The Ophiuchus Argument }

19 Zodiac signs Houses A CONJUNCTION Planets Personal Horoscope observer or instrument of time Is the way the sky looked when the person was born. BUT NOT THE ONLY SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION!!!! NO PERSONAL HOROSCOPES UNTIL c. 300 BCE IN GREECE.

20 ASTROLOGICAL BIRTH CHART IS A COMBINATION OF THREE WHEELS 1. HOUSE SYSTEM FIXED TO EARTH SURFACE WITH RISING, SETTING POINTS + MID-HEAVEN AND NADIR 2. ZODIAC SIGNS ROTATE ONCE THROUGH HOUSE SYSTEM IN 24 HOURS (by ancient reckoning) 3. PLANETS ROTATE AROUND AT THEIR OWN SPEED ALLOWING INTERPRETATION ON A VARIETY OF TIMESCALES: SUN MOVES THROUGH ZODIAC SIGNS ONCE PER YEAR MOON ONCE PER MONTH INDIVIDUAL DAILY AND YEARLY PERSONAL CHANGES INNER PLANETS (MERCURY, VENUS, MARS) MONTHS TO YEARS INDIVIDUAL /SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND CHANGES OUTER CLASSICAL PLANETS (JUPITER & SATURN) TIME OF LIFE NEWLY DISCOVERED PLANETS (URANUS, NEPTUNE, PLUTO etc) GENERATIONAL CHANGES CONJUNCTIONS & TRINES USED TO DETERMINE AUSPICIOUS TIMES FOR BUILDING DEDICATIONS (e.g., MASONS); OPPOSITIONS AND SQUARES INAUSPICIOUS TIMES *** (IN CHINESE ASTROLOGY, CONJUNCTIONS ARE WARRING PLANETS )

21 SPRING EQUINOX COLURE 2000 CE 200 CE Astrological signs are codified with respect to the seasons, not the stars! 4000 BCE

22 How was it used? Birth Chart calculator? THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM: c. 200 BCE

23 IS ASTROLOGY A SCIENCE? What is your view? 1. YES IT USES ASTRONOMICAL MEASUREMENTS AND SO MUST BE SCIENTIFIC 2. YES IT APPROACHES THE WORLD LOGICALLY AND SO MUST BE SCIENTIFIC 3. NO JUST BECAUSE IT USES ASTRONOMY AS A BASIS DOES NOT MAKE IT A SCIENCE 4. NO IT S A SILLY, PRIMITIVE SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF WITHOUT VALIDITY 5. I don t know and I don t care.(i have global warming to worry about).

24 IS ASTROLOGY A SCIENCE? WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF SCIENCE?

25 IS ASTROLOGY A SCIENCE? (just the facts) SCIENCE HAS A SPECIFIC METHODOLGY AND DOMAIN OF APPLICATION BASED UPON LOGICAL/RATIONAL INFERENCE CHANGEABLE DUE TO INHERENT BELIEF IN RELATIVE TRUTH ; TRUTHS THAT ARE POTENTIALLY FALSIFIABLE ASSUMES CAUSALITY. OBJECTIVITY WHICH REQUIRES THE SUBJECT/OBJECT SEPARATION BETTER AT QUANTITIES COMPARED TO QUALITIES

26 IS ASTROLOGY A SCIENCE? (just the facts) SCIENCE HAS A SPECIFIC METHODOLGY AND DOMAIN OF APPLICATION BASED UPON LOGICAL/RATIONAL INFERENCE CHANGEABLE DUE TO INHERENT BELIEF IN RELATIVE TRUTH ; TRUTHS THAT ARE POTENTIALLY FALSIFIABLE ASSUMES CAUSALITY. OBJECTIVITY WHICH REQUIRES THE SUBJECT/OBJECT SEPARATION BETTER AT QUANTITIES COMPARED TO QUALITIES USES SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS BASED UPON INTUITIVE INSIGHTS OF PLANETARY OBSERVATIONS NOT CHANGEABLE BUT RATHER CODIFIED BY ANCIENT TRADITIONS & BOOKS; NOT SPECIFICALLY FALSIFIABLE DOES NOT ASSUME CAUSALITY OR SUBJECT/OBJECT DUALITY ULTIMATELY DEALS WITH QUALITIES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND SO IS NOT SPECIFICALLY MEASURABLE

27 IF ASTROLOGY (OR OTHER BELIEF SYSTEMS) ARE NOT SCIENTIFIC, DOES THAT PRECLUDE THEM FROM SEEKING (AND FINDING) TRUTHS? IS SCIENCE THE ONLY METHOD FOR FINDING TRUTH?

28 ANCIENT (AND INDIGENOUS) PEOPLES DID (DO) NOT PRACTICE SCIENCE AND YET HAVE SIGNIFICANT UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND THEMSELVES; e.g., THE BARASANA OF THE AMAZON BASIN HAVE NO WORD IN THEIR LANGUAGE FOR TIME. How can they apply causality to their understandings? TO BELIEVE THAT ALL TRUTH CAN BE DETERMINED BY SCIENCE OR RATIONALITY IS TERMED: SCIENTISM ; BASICALLY MAKING SCIENCE and RATIONALITY INTO A BELIEF SYSTEM

29 ASTROLOGY BEST DESCRIBED AS A SYSTEM OF BELIEF LIKE RELIGIONS IF ASTROLOGY (OR OTHER BELIEF SYSTEM) IS NOT SCIENTIFIC, DOES THAT PRECLUDE IT FROM SEEKING (AND FINDING) TRUTHS? e.g., How do I know that my Mother loves me? OR How do we define what is just, beautiful, happiness or love? BELIEF SYSTEMS BETTER AT DEFINING QUALITIES COMPARED TO QUANTITIES and OFTEN RELY ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO DETERMINE TRUTHS.

30 Differences between ancient and modern ways of knowing MODERN SCIENCE Modern scientific world view based on observation, experimentation and application of reason Largely quantitative in outlook; seeks measurables Compartmentalizes knowledge into specific subjects. Experts go deep rather than broad Separates, and in some sense, downplays knowledge based on faith (religion, intuition, qualitative understanding) Extremely powerful method for discovering, predicting and controlling the physical world. Facilitates and accelerates technology ANCIENT WAYS : Ancient and Indigenous worldview based on observation and application of reason and belief. Quantitative and qualitative Integrates knowledge from any and all subject areas. Experts (shamans, holy people, scribes, etc) have significant depth and breadth of knowledge Science and religion are one and the same way of knowing. Methods include strengths and weaknesses of both faith and reason Does not necessarily facilitate technology or even change. IS THERE A PLACE FOR BOTH SCIENCE AND BELIEF IN THE MODERN WORLD?