Do astrological predictions come true? The attitude of Orthodoxy to astrology
Various predictors were in great demand. Some of them determined the future by the entrails of animals, some intoxicated themselves with narcotic substances and “prophesied,” while others preferred to draw horoscopes based on the stars. The latter has survived to this day and, despite the complete discrepancy with the arguments of science and common sense, astrology is quite popular.
Orthodox view of star divination
The attitude of the Church towards astrology is unequivocally condemning, as well as towards all other pagan superstitions. First of all, the very concept of a predetermined future contradicts Christian teaching about freedom and responsibility of a person for his life.
More about superstitions:
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to astrology
According to star forecasts and predictions, people are simply puppets of inanimate astronomical objects. When a person is born, his personality traits are already determined by the “position of the moon.” An experienced astrologer, as follows from his own teachings, can identify a potential serial killer or drug dealer when they are not even an hour old.
Whether a person is good or evil, everything is already predetermined. The heavenly bodies endow some with nobility and selflessness, while others will turn out to be scandalous, vengeful egoists. Freedom of conscience does not exist.
But “character definition” is not enough, the stars do not let humanity out of their tenacious clutches for a minute, and do not give people a single day free from their influence. If, for example, a businessman wants to conclude a business agreement with a competing company, no matter how mutually beneficial his proposals may be, the negotiations are doomed to failure if Sagittarius is in an unfavorable combination with the moon this month.
So, people should not waste time on entrepreneurship courses, but rather go to a fortune teller or psychic for advice more often. Abilities and knowledge don’t really mean anything; the main thing is to catch the time when those born under the sign of Sagittarius simply cannot help but get rich.
How does the church view astrology?
All this goes completely against Christian anthropology. There is no predestination. God gave man reason and complete freedom. There are some innate inclinations of character, there is an environment in which a person grows, and which is not chosen, but what traits to develop in oneself, and what inclinations to fight, how to respond to the influence of the environment, is decided by the person himself. The choice between good and evil is made freely.
Important! People are responsible before God for all their actions. A person shapes both his life and his soul himself; shifting the blame to the stars will not work.
What does the Bible say about astrologers?
IN Old Testament There are several places where star divination is frowned upon. Particularly noteworthy are the words from the book of the prophet Isaiah, they are talking about people’s attempt to avoid responsibility before God for their evil with the help of astrology :
“Stay with your sorceries and with your many sorceries, which you have practiced from your youth; Maybe you’ll help yourself, maybe you’ll resist. You are tired of your many advice; Let the observers of the heavens and the astrologers and the foretellers of the new moons come forward and save you from what is about to happen to you. Here they are, like straw; the fire burned them; They did not deliver their souls from the flames...” (Isa. 47:12-14).
What else you need to know about the Bible:
In the New Testament, pagan magicians, which include astrologers, are also condemned :
“The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, "...", drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21).
There is one place in the Gospel that astrologers love to refer to, claiming that it supposedly proves the correctness of their teaching. These are the passages that speak of the birth of the Savior. About how wise men from distant lands came to worship him, having seen “His star in the east.”
Star of Bethlehem
But that star could hardly really be an astronomical object. It was some very strange star, which led the wise men all the way to the cave in Bethlehem, showing them the way. Since such routes completely contradict the physical and astronomical laws of the motion of stars, John Chrysostom was probably right when he suggested that the Magi saw an angel who took the form of a heavenly body.
And the meaning of this phenomenon was not to prove the truth of astrology, but, on the contrary, to lead people away from the false service of the stars to the knowledge of the True God. This is sung in the Christmas troparion: “ Your Christmas Christ Our God has risen into the world, the light of reason. In it there are those who serve the stars, and by the star I learn to bow to You, the Sun of Truth.”
What do the Church Fathers say about star divination?
Astrology was condemned by the most authoritative of the theologians of the Church, such as Basil the Great, John Chrysostom or St. Augustine and many others. They all wrote that man was created by God free and there can be no predestination.
For example, St. John of Damascus noted that if a person’s actions were determined by the movement of the stars, then the very concept of sin would be absurd:
“We, created free by the Creator, are masters of our affairs. And if we do everything due to the flow of the stars, then what we do, we do out of necessity. What happens out of necessity is neither virtue nor vice. And if we have neither virtue nor vice, then we are unworthy of either rewards or punishments, just as God will turn out to be unjust, giving blessings to some and sorrows to others.”
And Anthony the Great wrote that legal concept crime turns out to be meaningless if astrologers are right: “And why do judges honor doing good, but punish evildoing. Then the thief and robber had no sin, and no one would have caught them by the hand, since the arrangement of the stars prompted them to do so.
Practicing astrology, like any other types of pagan occultism, is always a serious sin for the Church. This was written about in many church decrees.
More about sinful hobbies:
For example, in the rules of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, those who turned to fortunetellers were entitled to six years of penance. From later resolutions, we can mention the definition of the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1994, which lists modern occult movements, including mention of astrology, and then says:
“People who share the teachings of these sects and movements, and even more so contribute to their spread, have excommunicated themselves from the Orthodox Church.”
The harm to the soul caused by such teachings depends on how seriously a person has immersed himself in them. If he read a horoscope in some newspaper, smiled and forgot, it’s not scary. If he began to feel faith and interest in astrology, it means that he has already become carried away by superstitions, which put a barrier between human soul and God.
And if he is so immersed in all this that he builds his life, guided by the advice of astrologers, especially if he directly turned to a fortuneteller, then he is already completely involved in the occult, and his soul is in a very dangerous sinful state.
Orthodoxy about astrology
The Holy Fathers of the Church throughout its history paid great attention to the fight against magic and astrology. For example, St. Maximus the Greek said: “As I, created in Your divine image and likeness, that is, awarded the gift of free will, received the power and effect of goodness and righteousness - can I, through the action of some unkind star, be drawn to commit evil, like dumb cattle, which the owner drags along on a leash? No, I will never agree with this godless teaching of crazy stargazers, which deprives me of free will!”
Tertulian: “Among the various human occupations one cannot help but notice some arts or professions that are favorable to idolatry. It’s not even worth talking about astrologers, but since one of them decided to justify himself in continuing to engage in this profession, I intend to say a few words on this matter. I will not say that placing the names of false gods in the sky, attributing to them, as it were, omnipotence, and turning people away from offering prayers to God, instilling in them the belief that their fate is invariably determined by the stars, is all tantamount to the worship of false gods. But I argue that in this case, astrologers are like fallen angels who departed from God to seduce the human race... If magic is punishable, and astrology is its variety, then along with the species, the variety is also subject to condemnation. So, from the time of the appearance of the Gospel, all kinds of sophists, astrologers, sorcerers, magicians, sorcerers must inevitably be punished” (On Idols).
Tatian in his “Speech against the Hellenes” writes: “The demons made people victims of their apostasy. They, having shown people the order of the stars, like those playing dice, introduced fate, which is alien to justice, for whether a judge or a defendant, they became such by the definition of fate... the demons invented fate. The basis for this was the placement of animals in the sky. For they awarded heavenly honor to the animals with whom they lived after being cast down from heaven - reptiles that swim in the waters, four-legged animals that live in the mountains - in order to make them think that they too are in heaven, and to convince them through the arrangement of the stars that life on earth, alien to reason, agrees with reason: thus, whether someone is angry or patient, whether someone is temperate or not, whether someone is rich or poor, this happens according to the purpose of those who have birth; for the distribution of the Zodiac is the work of the gods. If the light of one of them, as they say, is stronger, then it takes away the glory of the others, and whoever is now defeated can again be victorious. They enjoy playing with the seven planets like dice players. But we are above fate, and instead of wandering demons we know one unchanging Lord and, not submitting to fate, we reject its lawgivers.” (Speech against the Hellenes).
St. Augustine: “As for their all kinds of ranting about the influence of the stars and their imaginary experiments in astrological science, we must in every possible way protect the purity of our faith from them: with such verbal disputes they try to eliminate in us the impulse to pray, and in bad, deserving of the most just censure, deeds with ungodly perversity tend to blame God, the creator of the stars, rather than the human criminal.” (About stargazers).
Even in the Old Testament, the Lord, through the prophet Moses, forbade turning to magicians, astrologers and fortune-tellers.
Let us repeat the quotation from the prophet Isaiah, who, predicting the death of Babylon for its wickedness and destructive practice of magic and astrology, on behalf of the Lord says with irony: “Stay with your sorceries and with your many sorceries, which you have practiced from your youth; Maybe you’ll help yourself, maybe you’ll resist. You are tired of your many advice; Let the observers of the heavens and the astrologers and the foretellers of the new moons come forward and save you from what is about to happen to you. Here they are, like straw; the fire burned them; They did not deliver their souls from the flames...” (Isa. 47:12-14).
“And do not listen to your prophets and your fortune tellers and your dreamers and your magicians and your astrologers, who say to you: You will not serve the king of Babylon. For they prophesy lies to you in order to remove you from your land, and so that I will drive you out and you will perish” (Jer. 27:9-10).
“Thus says the Lord: Do not learn the ways of the pagans and do not fear the signs of heaven, which the pagans fear” (Jer. 10: 2).
“...Don’t go to wizards, and don’t bring yourself to the point of being desecrated by them. I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).
“...And lest you look up to heaven and see the sun, the moon, and the stars [and] all the host of heaven, and be deceived and worship them and serve them, since the Lord your God has allocated them to all the nations under the whole heaven. But the Lord [God] took you and brought you out of the iron furnace out of Egypt, that you might be a people for His own possession.” (Deut.4, 19-20)
“Whether it be a man or a woman, if they call forth the dead or practice magic, they shall surely be put to death: they shall be stoned; their blood shall be on them” (Leviticus 20:27).
“...There shall not be among you one who guides his son or daughter through fire, a soothsayer, a fortune-teller, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, a charmer, a conjurer of spirits, a magician, and one who inquires of the dead; For everyone who does this is an abomination to the Lord, and for these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you; be blameless before the Lord your God; For these nations, whom you are driving out, listen to fortunetellers and soothsayers, but the Lord your God has not given you that” (Deut. 18:10-14).
Here is an excerpt from the definition of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (November 29 - December 2, 1994) “On pseudo-Christian sects, neo-paganism and occultism”:
4. Under these conditions, old Gnostic cults are being revived and so-called “new religious movements” are emerging, which revise the entire system of Christian values and try to find a ideological basis in the reformed eastern religions, and sometimes turn to the occult and witchcraft. These movements purposefully undermine centuries-old traditions and foundations of peoples, come into conflict with public institutions, and declare war on the Church of Christ.
5. Unfortunately, our countries have their own false prophets... Paganism, astrology, theosophical and spiritualist societies have been revived...
13. The Consecrated Council of Bishops, following the apostolic tradition, testifies: all of the above sects and “new religious movements” are incompatible with Christianity. People who share the teachings of these sects and movements, and even more so contribute to their spread, have excommunicated themselves from the Orthodox Church.
14. The Council of Bishops considers unacceptable the use Orthodox symbols(icons, frescoes, images of temples and monasteries) in publications of an occult-pagan and sectarian nature, condemns the broadcast of recordings of Orthodox music in radio and television programs promoting the above cults, and also does not bless the participation of Orthodox Christians in events organized by the groups specified in this Definition.
Some astrologists do not agree with this decree of the Orthodox Church and accuse its hierarchy of incompetence and bias. But anyone who has read the previous sections is unlikely to wonder why the Church treats astrology this way.
In general, one can make a small reproach to astrologers: having read a lot of books on astrology, and in general being inquisitive people, they have the darkest and most confusing concept of Christianity, at the level of some kind of fable. Despite all their reading, they do not consider it necessary for themselves to familiarize themselves with the basic concepts of Christianity, to read several patristic books about the faith, the Church and its Sacraments.
This is a science that can predict the future and that the good and perfect will of God can be learned from astrologers by paying a certain bribe. Modern academic science does not consider astrology to be a science, but astrologers claim precisely the scientific agreement of their predictions. If authority modern science is not enough to convince the proponents of astrology that their self-assessment is false, it is clear that this is not a matter of science, but of faith. They don’t argue about faith, they choose faith. Astrology is not a subject of debate, but a matter of faith. The term "astrology" appeared in the Middle Ages. In ancient times, astrologers were called wise men or magicians, and astrology in modern sense was an element of magical knowledge. To the question whether the predictions of astrologers are being fulfilled, we must give an affirmative answer, yes, they are being fulfilled. So, the gospel wise men determined by the stars that the King of the Jews was born, but, having come to Jerusalem, they were forced to turn to the scribes and Pharisees to find out in which city He was born? “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east and came to worship him.” (Matt. 2.2).
Thus, the Gospel story about the worship of the Magi testifies to the limited possibilities of astrology: some predictions are fulfilled exactly, but not all. Another question arises: what is the price of these predictions?
St. Augustine answered those who believe that at least sometimes horoscopes predict something correctly: “Since this serves to ensnare people, it is the action of seduced spirits, who are allowed to know something true from the realm of temporary objects, partly because they have a more subtle sense, or more subtle bodies, or richer, thanks to their long life, experience. Therefore, a true Christian must beware of both astrologers and all soothsayers, especially those who speak the truth, lest, with the assistance of demons, they catch his soul and entangle him in their community.” W. Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth", based on historical legend, corresponds to the words of St. Augustine. All the predictions given to Macbeth by the witches were completely fulfilled, he became king, but from a valiant warrior he turned into a bloody murderer who found his destiny, as was predicted to him, from not born of a woman a person, but taken from the womb of a mother who died in childbirth. In classical literature, the image of an astrologer is due to the genius of A.S. Pushkin, who described to us the “astrologer (astrologer) and eunuch.” The prediction also turned out to be a high price: the death of the princes, the king, and the “astrologer and eunuch” himself.
Holy Scripture warns us: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? or what ransom will a man give for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26,27). One of the pillars of the Church, St. Basil the Great, resolutely opposed astrology: “And at the moment of birth, as they say, it has very great power to be in mind of a beneficent or a malefic star. But in these words, of course, there is much that is unreasonable, and much more that is wicked. For the evil stars transfer the cause of their malevolence to their Creator. If evil is natural to them, then the Creator is the creator of evil. And if they become evil at will, then, firstly, they are living beings, gifted with arbitrariness, indulging in spontaneous and free aspirations. To assert this about inanimate things is the height of madness. Then how much it is incongruous with reason that evil and good should be given to each not according to their dignity, but that the star should be beneficial because it is in such and such a place, and that it should become evil because it is seen under such and such a star, and again immediately I forgot my malignancy if I deviated somewhat from a famous figure!
Moreover, if the principles of vicious and virtuous actions do not depend on us, but are necessary due to birth, then it is in vain that there are legislators who determine what we should do and what we should avoid, and in vain there are judges who reward virtue and punish vice. Neither the thief nor the murderer is guilty of a crime; even if he wanted to, it was impossible for him to restrain his hands, because necessity inevitably prompted him to such actions. And those who work on the arts are the most deceived. On the contrary, the farmer will reap abundant fruits without throwing seeds into the ground or sharpening his scythe, and the merchant will become rich, whether he wants it or not, because fate will collect heaps of money for him. The great hopes of Christians will turn into nothing among us, because neither righteousness will be honored, nor sin will be condemned, since people do nothing of their own free will. For where necessity and fate reign, there is no place for reward according to merit, which is the advantage of justice. (CONVERSATIONS FOR SIX DAYS. Source: The text of the first nine conversations is given according to the publication: Works like the saints of our father Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia. 4.1. -Moscow, 1891. - P. 5-149. Conversations 10 and 11 according to the "Moscow Journal" Patriarchy", 1972, No. 1.) St. speaks about the same thing in “Fundamentals of the Orthodox Faith”. John of Damascus: “The Greeks say that all our affairs are governed by the rising, setting and approach of the stars, as well as the sun and moon; This is what astrology does. We, on the contrary, affirm that they give omens of rain and lack of rain, wet and dry weather, as well as winds and the like; but they are in no way omens of our actions. Indeed, we, created free by the Creator, are masters of our affairs. And if we do everything due to the flow of the stars, then what we do, we do out of necessity. What happens out of necessity is neither virtue nor vice. And if we have neither virtue nor vice, then we are unworthy of either rewards or punishments, just as God will turn out to be unjust, giving blessings to some and sorrows to others. Even more than that: since everything is led and driven by necessity, then there will be neither God’s government in the world, nor God’s providence for creation. Moreover, we will not need reason, for since we have no power in any action, then we do not need to think about anything. Meanwhile, reason is undoubtedly given to us to think through our actions, which is why every rational being is at the same time a free being. Therefore, we affirm that the stars are not the cause of anything that happens in the world - neither the emergence of that which arises, nor the death of that which perishes.”
Denounces astrology and St. John Chrysostom: “it is said that at the birth of Christ a star appeared: this means, they say, that astrology is an undoubted science. But if Christ was born according to astrological laws, then how did He destroy astrology, reject fate, stop the mouths of demons, drive out error, and overthrow all kinds of sorcery? Saint Gregory the Theologian writes that astrology insults Divine Providence. “For many, born under different stars, the fate is equal both at sea and in war. Those who were connected by the stars were not connected by the same end. And others, although separated by the stars, were united by the same death” (Homily 5, on Providence). Modern life testifies to the destructiveness and extreme foolishness of those, perhaps unfortunate, people who turn to occult knowledge.
Several years ago I had to administer communion and unction to a woman who was terminally ill with cancer. Before turning to the Church, she used the services of healers - Filipino doctors who operate without a knife. In the Philippines, she was given a memo in Russian, an excerpt from which we present, preserving the original spelling: How to consecrate your talismans, necklaces, amulets, scarves, magic herbs and books so that they retain their magical power.
Based on our latest research, each talisman must be consecrated by you personally in order for its effect to be more effective. Only The right way the consecration of our Talisman to preserve its Mystical Power is as follows:
1) This must be completed strictly on the first Friday of any month.
2) Consecration should take place in the morning between 7:00 -9:00. Or during the day from 3:00 to 6:00.
3) It is better not to repent of sins three days before consecration.
We do not provide further text of the instructions for the “blessing of talismans”, since it includes a translation into Russian of prayers well known to every Orthodox person, probably distorted deliberately. And just below is a warning:
1. Do not let anyone touch your talisman and do not lend it to anyone.
2. If you are married, remove the talisman before going to bed.
3. Do not wear the talisman to nightclubs, saunas, motels and brothels.
It is obvious that the memo was compiled by a person who is not only far from Orthodoxy, but hostile to it. It is designed for non-believers, those with little church, or, more correctly, superstitious people. Why is it necessary to “bless” the talisman on Friday? Church man cannot help but know that Friday is the day on which the Savior was crucified, just as he cannot help but pay attention to the fact that he is advised “not to repent of sins three days before “sanctification.” An unfortunate Russian woman who could never even think of visiting a motel or night club, only because she was far from the Church and paid three thousand dollars for a dubious permit to visit places of entertainment...
Christianity teaches that life is a gift from God. Live according to the will of God.....
“A vain gift, an accidental gift”…. For a person, life is an accident, but not for God. What random possibility is realized is known only to God and astrologers, who claim, Of course, a Christian strives to build his life according to the will of God.
Let us ask the question - what is the meaning and purpose of Christian life? Is it to try by any means to find out his future?
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires they will heap up for themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they will turn away their ears from the truth and turn to fables” (2 Tim. 4.3,4).
St. Maximus the Greek writes a great work against astrology, calling it “throwing down the charm of stargazing and all magical frenzy invented by demons.”
St. Ephraim the Syrian: When you approach virtue, remember the poverty of your mind and do not shy away from the grace of God. Actually, trying to find out the details of your future is contrary to human freedom itself. God created man free and gave him commandments. The Lord wants man to inherit eternal life. This is God’s will for man, and the Lord gave man all the knowledge necessary for salvation. There is no doubt about the facts of the clairvoyance of some saints, but this also happens by the will of God and as a result of fervent prayer, sincere appeal to God and the high spiritual life of ascetics, and not because of fortune telling by celestial bodies.
Therefore, for a full Christian life, astrological predictions are unnecessary and, based on the testimony of the Church, sinful. And to be with Christ or to be with the stars - each person chooses for himself. Moreover, astrology also limits God’s freedom to save a person, showing him the saving path. If we assume, in accordance with astrology, that the will of God is revealed in accordance with their predictions, then what to do if there is no astrologer nearby, or if a decision must be made immediately?
The main thing is to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Fathers left many instructions on how to achieve this. Among these instructions there are no recommendations to use astrology.
The preaching of the Gospel began with the words: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” God cannot be seen through a microscope or a telescope. The hero is not the one who takes cities by storm, but the one who defeated himself.
“And quite a few of those who practiced sorcery collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. (Acts 19.19).
“The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations,) heresies, hatred, murder, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5. 19-21).
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, which is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12.2).
“His commandment is eternal life” (John 12:50).
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
“Show me the path that I should follow, for to You I lift up my soul. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You” (Ps. 143:8:9).
“And all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and deceivers will prosper in evil, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:12, 13).
“Whoever teaches otherwise and does not follow the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching of piety is proud, knows nothing, but is infected with a passion for competitions and verbal disputes, from which come envy, strife, slander, crafty suspicions, empty disputes between damaged people minds, alien to the truth, who think that piety is for profit. Stay away from such people. It is great gain to be godly and content” (1 Tim. 6:3-6).
“And what else can I say? I have not enough time to tell about Gideon, about Barak, about Samson and Jephthah, about David, Samuel and (other) prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, did righteousness, received promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, they were strengthened from weakness, they were strong in war, they drove away the armies of strangers” (Heb. 11:32-34).
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden and the sin that so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Think about Him who endured such reproach from sinners, so that you do not grow weary and weakened in your souls. You have not yet fought to the point of blood, struggling against sin, and have forgotten the consolation that is offered to you as sons: my son! Do not neglect the punishment of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whose son he receives. If you suffer punishment, then God treats you as sons. For what son is there who is not punished by his father? But if you remain without the punishment which is common to all, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb. 12:1-8).
The saints are the ones amazing people, whose feat of life pleased God, whose faith we must imitate. Apostle Paul, St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky, St. Nikolai, Rev. Seraphim of Sarov. New saints - how many martyrs for Christ the 20th century brought - these are the people who lived next to each of us. People with the radiance of eternal life in their eyes. The Holy Scripture calls us precisely to this: “Remember your teachers who preached the word of God to you, and, looking at the end of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Do not get carried away by different and alien teachings.” (Heb. 13:7-9) These are the ones we should focus on. But the saints actively opposed astrology. Biblical truths are revealed to the great ascetics of Orthodoxy, and often from the events of their lives we learn how sin is punished. Here is an excerpt from the life of Macarius of Egypt, described in the Lives of Saints Demetrius of Rostov.
One day, “Reverend Macarius was walking through the desert and found a dried human skull lying on the ground. Turning it with his staff, the monk heard as if he had made some kind of sound. Then Macarius asked the skull: “Who are you?”
“I,” he answered, “was the leader of the pagan priests who lived in this place.” When you, Abba Macarius, filled with the Spirit of God, having mercy on those in torment in hell, pray for us, we then receive some relief.
“What kind of relief do you get,” asked Macarius, “and what are your torments, tell me?”
“How far the sky is from the earth,” the skull answered with a groan, “so great is the fire among which we are, scorched from everywhere from head to toe.” At the same time, we cannot see each other's faces. When you pray for us, we see a little of each other, and this serves us as some consolation.
Hearing this answer, the monk shed tears and said:
- Cursed is the day when a person transgressed the Divine commandments.
And again he asked the skull:
- Are there any other torments worse than yours?
“Below, much deeper below us, there are many others,” he answered. “Who is among those fierce torments?” - asked Macarius.
“We, who did not know God,” answered the skull, “albeit a little, still feel the mercy of God.” Those who knew the Name of God, but rejected Him and did not keep His commandments, suffer below us with much more severe and cruel torments.
After this, the Monk Macarius took that skull, buried it in the ground and left from there.
“Blessed are they who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter into the city through the gates. And outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters” (Rev. 22: 14-15).
We live in difficult times. Many of us have not had the opportunity to receive any spiritual upbringing and education and therefore have no idea how many dangers a person can face. spiritual world. Modern people Most of them are deprived of spiritual immunity, and therefore so often become easy prey for the evil one. “Be sober and watchful, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8), said the Apostle Peter. The Apostle tells us about danger, but not in order to scare, but so that, having accepted his words into our hearts, we are always, every minute, ready to repel an enemy attack. The Lord desires only salvation for every person. He sent the Savior into the world to reveal to people the truth about future life, about repentance, about eternal values.
“Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth, for the Lord says: I raised and raised up sons, and they rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's manger; But Israel does not know Me, My people do not understand. Alas, a sinful people, a people burdened with iniquities, a tribe of evildoers, sons of destruction! They forsook the Lord, despised the Holy One of Israel, and turned back” (Isaiah 1:2,4).
“As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then they, having fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, sent them away. These, having been sent by the Holy Spirit, came to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus; and being in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; They also had John with them to serve. Having passed the entire island as far as Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew named Barijesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a wise man. This man, calling Barnabas and Saul, desired to hear the word of God. And Elymas the sorcerer - for that is what his name means - resisted them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, filled with the Holy Spirit and fixing his gaze on him, said: O full of all deceit and all evil, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness! Will you stop turning aside from the straight paths of the Lord! And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you: you will be blind and will not see the sun until the time comes. Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, marveling at the teaching of the Lord” (Acts 13:2-12).
“It happened that when we were going to the house of prayer, we met a certain maid possessed by a spirit of divination, who through divination brought great income to her masters. Walking after Paul and after us, she shouted, saying: these men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation. She did this for many days. Paul, indignant, turned and said to the spirit: in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her. And the spirit went out that same hour” (Acts 16:16-18).
“Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches. This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva. But evil spirit He answered: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you? And a man in whom there was an evil spirit rushed at them, and, having overcome them, took such power over them that they, naked and beaten, ran out of that house. This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds. And quite a few of those who practiced sorcery gathered up their books and burned them in front of everyone” (Acts 19:13-19).
“Arise, accursed man, to God, remembering your sins, falling before the Creator, weeping and groaning, He, who is Merciful, will give you the mind to know His will” (Canon of Repentance, canto 6).
Based on the Holy Scriptures, the experience of holy people, classical literature it can be argued that astrology not only does not contribute, but directly hinders the achievement of the main goal - the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thus, in the life of a Christian there is no place for astrology, but there is a place for the stars: “When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, at the moon and the stars that You have set, then what is man, that You remember him, and the son of man that you visit him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:4,5).
The world is ruled by four and seven,
Slave magic numbers- I humble myself and drink
Still seven planets and four elements
They don’t put my free will at a price.
Omar Khayyam
“Question: ... Should we be branded as a sin? ancient science astrology?
Answer: It is absolutely necessary, precisely because it is not science.
Natural sciences - such as medicine - have material phenomena as their subject: they can be good, evil or neutral in relation to good and evil. Astrology, on the contrary, is a connection with the invisible, immaterial world, an occult service to the forces of evil: therefore it is always sinful.
...you need to improve your knowledge material world, psychology, philosophy, theology, history. Our own ignorance, unwillingness to think plays a decisive role in the current successes of the occultists. If we were more inquisitive, more attentive and more serious, we could easily leave them without a clientele.
All occultists, false healers..., witches, etc. there is one common feature, and to find it we do not at all require knowledge of the occult sciences. This common thread is a lie.
“Your father is the devil...,” says the Savior, “he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Occultists cannot help but lie: if they stop lying, they need to change their profession. Moreover, in most cases, their lies, like donkey ears, are detected very easily: it is enough to get acquainted with their reasoning on historical, social, religious or technical topics.
There are any number of examples of such lies: a whole book could be compiled from them. Let's consider...an example - from disputes about astrology. In response to the ironic remarks of skeptics that distant celestial bodies cannot in any way influence earthly life, astrologers will remind you about the forces of gravity: it is they, acting between distant bodies, that hold the Earth in its orbit, and the entire solar system, and the unknown galaxies to us. While you are thinking about how to respond to this, they will throw a couple more phrases down at you about “perturbation of the gravitational field” due to the movement of the planets, and if you doubted and retreated, then the job is done: astrology is justified, and you are in the eyes of others, as well as in your own , appeared ignorant.
But under no circumstances should you doubt or retreat! There is no need to talk about the inhomogeneity of the gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon, as evidenced by sea tides (it is useful to check yourself and remember why it is the Moon, and not the Sun, that mainly affects the tides, although its gravitational force is 200 times less). But the planets - do they really “disturb the gravitational field” so much as to justify the existence of the astrological industry? Here, most likely, they will shout at you: who are you, they say, to judge whether it is strong or weak? The impact exists, period! Don't rush to put an end to it. Remember: gravity is universal. This means that it can be compared with any objects, both distant and close. Which planet are you interested in? The largest and not too distant is Jupiter? You probably don’t remember by heart the mass of Jupiter and the distance to it, but don’t be lazy, reach out your hand to encyclopedic dictionary. Take a pencil, a piece of paper - and show the curious that half a billion kilometers away Jupiter attracts to itself with the same force as a loaded railway car standing a few meters away from you... Or is all this astronomical tinsel just a camouflage for astrologers and occultists, a verbal facade , behind which intangible forces are hidden, and all their amazing “revelations” and “previsions” are connected not with the gravity of distant planets, but with the fact that people consciously and voluntarily subordinate their lives to these forces?
From a conversation with Hieromonk Macarius (Markish)
"...Do not go to wizards, and do not allow yourself to be desecrated by them. I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19, 31).
In Deut. destruction, but he gives that land to Israel, who was faithful to Him.
<Когда ты войдешь в землю, которую дает тебе Господь, Бог твой, тогда не научись делать мерзости, какие делали народы сии. Не должен находиться у тебя... прорицатель, гадатель, ворожея, чародей, обаятель, вызывающий духов, волшебник и вопрошающий мертвых. Ибо мерзок пред Господом всякий, делающий это, и за спито мерзости Господь, Бог твой, изгоняет их от лица твоего. Будь непорочен пред Господом, Богом твоим. Ибо народы сии, которых ты изгоняешь, слушают гадателей и прорицателей; а тебе не то дал Господь Бог твой. Пророка из среды тебя, из братьев твоих, как меня, воздвигнет Господь Бог твой, - Его слушайте...>(Deut. 18:9-15).
The Prophet Isaiah, predicting the death of Babylon for its wickedness and destructive practice of magic and A., on behalf of the Lord says with irony:
<Оставайся же с твоими волшебствами и со множеством чародейств твоих, которыми ты занималась от юности твоей; может быть, пособишь себе, может быть, устоишь. Ты утомлена множеством советов твоих; пусть же выступят наблюдатели небес и звездочеты и предвещатели по новолуниям, и спасут тебя от того, что должно приключиться тебе. Вот они, как солома; огонь сожег их; не избавили души своей от пламени...>(Isa. 47: 12-14).
Prophet Isaiah
Here we have a direct indication of the powerlessness of all types of magic before the will and power of God and the inevitable punishment that befalls those who practice magic and A or resort to the help of occultists. When magicians and wise men collide with prophets and other spirit-bearing men, the sons of darkness invariably suffer defeat. Thus, in the book of Exodus (7-9) we read about how the wise men and sorcerers, resisting Moses, performed many miracles before Pharaoh with the help of witchcraft spells, but could not resist the power of God and in the end were forced to admit their defeat from the prophet Moses . The book of Genesis tells of the triumph of righteous Joseph over the magicians and wise men of Egypt, who, with all their magical skill, were unable to correctly interpret Pharaoh’s dream. The prophet Daniel also repeatedly puts the Chaldean wise men and magicians to shame (Dan. 2-4, 5).
Astrology focuses - pseudoscience, this article on exposing false ideas. is explained by the fact that the sons of light always perform their miracles and prophecies by the power of God, the Holy Spirit; the sorcerers, magicians, astrologers who oppose them, using the art of magic, act with demonic power and naturally suffer defeat, opposing God. In the New Testament we see the same irreconcilable attitude towards all types of sorcery, as in the Old, and the same constant victory of the forces of God in encounter with sorcery.
Thus, the Apostle Paul drives out the spirit of divination from a servant who predicted the future (Acts 16:18), although it would seem that she was proclaiming the truth, following the apostles and saying that those<рабы Бога Всевышнего, которые возвещают нам путь спасения>.
But the apostle did not want the truth from the unclean lips of demons, thereby giving an example of how to treat demons, even if they sometimes speak the truth. Because behind this there is only one desire to involve in communication in order to gain trust, in order to then destroy.
The same Apostle Paul punishes Elymas, a sorcerer who opposes the gospel preaching and tries to turn people away from the true faith, with blindness (Acts 13:8-II). And finally, from the book of the Acts of the Apostles we learn that under the influence of the apostolic preaching<...из занимавшихся чародейством довольно многие, собрав книги свои, сожгли пред всеми>(Acts 19:19). Thus, they renounced their connection with demons and testified to the incompatibility of faith in Christ and witchcraft.
In Nomocanon (collection church rules and resolutions) is stated very clearly:<Которые ходят к волхвам или волхвуют или звездословят (т. е. зазанимаются А - Прим. авт.), шесть лет да не причастятся по 1-му правилу Трульского собора и по 80-му правилу Василия Великого, священник же, творящий это - да извержится>. (Trebnik, 1904, p. 195). Here we see a clear indication of the church consciousness about the demonic origin of all types of magic, including A, the inadmissibility of communication with them by Christian believers and the strict punishment of those who, for any reason, decide to communicate with demons.
How can “innocent” curiosity about the weekly horoscope end?:
“..This is what St. writes... Ignatius Brianchaninov: “All demonic phenomena have the property that even due to insignificant attention, allowed without any sympathy for the phenomenon, one can be imprinted with the most harmful impression and be subjected to a grave temptation.”
Astrological twins,
Astrological twins, time twins (English astro-twins, time twins) - in astrology, people who have exactly the same astrological charts (horoscopes) at the moment of their birth. Two people would be considered perfect astrological twins if they were born at exactly the same point in time in exactly the same place.
Since the 20th century, studies of astrological twins have been undertaken to establish the influence of the moment of birth on the similarity in people's behavior. The experiment with astrological twins, begun in 1958 by English scientists and continuing to the present day, is considered one of the most convincing evidence of the falsity of astrology. Scientists studied more than 2,000 people born an average of 4.8 minutes apart and tracked them future fate. According to astrology, such people should be close in profession, in mind, in habits, etc. Observations were made on health, occupation, marital status, level of intelligence, ability for music, art, sports, mathematics, languages, etc. d. In total, over a hundred parameters were taken into account. No similarities were found between the “temporal twins.” They turned out to be as different from each other as people born at different times under any other constellations.
Questions
To begin with, (according to a television broadcast in 1990) a large group of scientists opposed the publication of astrological forecasts. Did they have reasons for this? Undoubtedly. In particular, this is what he wrote in 1989. in the magazine "Sky and Telescope" American astronomer Andrew Franknoy: " The best way to begin to think about astrology is to ask a few skeptical, quite friendly questions that will help you think through the logical consequences of the principles of this teaching.”
These are the questions:
“Is it possible that every day one twelfth of the Earth’s population has the same fate as two peas in a pod?” (according to the astrological teaching about 12 signs).
"Why is the moment of birth, and not conception, important for astrology? After all, now science has refuted the idea that the moment of birth is the moment of the emergence of a new life. Childbirth is only the culmination of a long, nine-month process of development in the womb. Science has shown that many features personalities are established long before birth.”
“If the heavenly bodies begin to influence a person’s fate only from the moment of birth, is it not possible to take advantage of this and try to change the fate of the newborn? If we see that a child should be born at an astrologically unfavorable moment, is it not possible to immediately place the newborn in a shell made of raw beefsteaks -” film ” from the bad influence of a layer of meat simulating the walls of the uterus and the abdominal wall of the mother? And then take the child out of there when the heavenly signs become more favorable?”
"If astrologers are able to predict the future, why haven't any of them used their abilities to get rich quick? (At least by predicting the behavior of stocks on the stock exchange or real estate prices. When the stock exchanges of many capitalist countries collapsed in October 1987, none of the astrologers warned their clients about this).
“Can horoscopes drawn up before the three ... planets of the solar system were discovered be considered correct?” Serious astronomers argue that the influence of all large bodies must be taken into account in the horoscope. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were only discovered in 1781, 1846 and 1930 respectively. But the authority of astrology rests to a large extent on the fact that this art has given accurate predictions of destinies for many centuries. If Pluto was discovered only in 1950, then all previous horoscopes were incorrect. “What if astronomers discover a tenth planet in the solar system? And why do horoscopes not take into account the influence of large asteroids and large moons orbiting giant planets?”
“Doesn’t astrology lead to discrimination? ... Astrologers begin to evaluate a person based on a random sign - the location of celestial objects at the moment of birth. And, if at the same time someone is refused a job just because he was born under the sign of Leo, or a refusal to marry because the bride was born under the sign of Virgo, then isn’t this, from a moral point of view, the same as refusing a job to a black man or refusing to marry a believing Catholic?”
"Why do different schools of astrology differ so much in their theories?... Read the predictions in 10 newspapers, go to 10 astrologers and, most likely, you will get 10 different interpretations. If astrology is truly a science, why haven’t its adherents, over millennia of collecting and interpreting data, come to a unified theory?”
"If astrological influence is based on any of known to physicists strength, why special meaning is given specifically to the influence of the planets?" Astrologers believe that the planets influence people by gravity, tidal forces, magnetism. However, calculations made characterizing the magnitude of these forces show that "an obstetrician receiving a child has a gravitational effect on him six times stronger , and the tidal action is two trillion times stronger than Mars. The mass of a doctor is immeasurably less than that of a planet, but he is much closer to a child."
“If astrological influence is carried out by an unknown force, could it be that this force does not depend on distance? ... All known active forces weaken with distance... Mars influences your horoscope in the same way both when it is on the same side of the Sun as the Earth, and during this period when it is seven times further from us, that is, on the other side from the sun. To discover a force whose action does not depend on distance would shake the foundations of physics."
“And if astrological influence really does not depend on distance, then why don’t astrologers take into account the influence of stars, galaxies and quasars?” In this case, as the French astronomer Jean-Claude Pequer noted, astrologers should not limit themselves to one solar system." Are the billions of huge celestial bodies scattered throughout the Universe not adding their action to the influence of our tiny Sun, planets and moon? Is it possible to count Is a horoscope complete if it does not include Rigel, the Crab Nebula pulsar, and the Messier 31 galaxy?”
How to expose astrology?
For a person who perceives rational arguments, exposing astrology is not difficult: it is enough to get acquainted with the statistics of the accuracy of its predictions. Here are the results of some work
Psychologist from the University of Michigan B. Silverman studied the influence of the zodiac sign corresponding to the birth of each spouse on the likelihood of their marriage or divorce. Data were used on 2,978 weddings and 478 divorces recorded in Michigan in 1967-1968. The scientist compared real data with the predictions of two independent astrologers regarding favorable and unfavorable combinations of zodiac signs for married couples. It turned out that there was no coincidence between predictions and reality, so B. Silverman concluded: “The position of the Sun on the zodiac at the time of birth does not affect the formation of personality.”
Astrologers claim that with the help of a horoscope it is possible to determine a person’s predisposition to a particular profession. If so, this promises significant economic benefits. This is probably why J. Bennett and J. Barth - economists from the University of John Washington - tried to find out whether the position of the planets relative to the zodiac signs affects the professional inclinations of people, in particular the frequency of young men entering the military service. The signs “ruled” by Mars were studied especially carefully. This study did not confirm astrological predictions. American physicist J. McJervey examined the distribution of birth dates of 17 thousand scientists and 6 thousand political figures relative to the zodiac signs. It also turned out to be completely random.
The quality of complex predictions of people's character by astrologers was also checked. For this purpose, Chicago psychologist J. McGrew turned to the Indiana Federation of Astrologers. Six experienced star reading specialists volunteered to participate in his experiments. At McGrew's request, 23 volunteers responded in writing to a questionnaire containing both astrological and traditional questions about their character traits, jobs, etc. The volunteers' time and place of birth were then reported to the astrologers and six members of a control group unfamiliar with astrology. After this, the characteristics of the volunteers indicated in the questionnaire were compared with the predictions of a group of astrologers and a control group. The result was the following: the predictions of the astrologers turned out to be no more accurate than the predictions of the members of the control group, and both of them did not correlate at all with the true qualities of the tested volunteers. The most curious thing is that the characteristics of the same volunteers, given by different astrologers, diverge greatly from each other.
It should be noted that the testing of the predictive power of “star reading” is not carried out by astrologers themselves, but by “outsiders”. Most scientists believe that astrology, as the prototype of all pseudosciences, is not at all interested in precisely substantiating its foundations. Scientists are not so much angry as they are upset: they simply do not understand how a pseudoscience like astrology can flourish in the most technologically advanced society in the entire history of mankind?
Professional scientists trying to find a rational grain in astrology believe that the most interesting results in this area were obtained by the Parisian statistician M. Gauquelin. Gauquelin studied archival data containing the date, time and place of birth of 41 thousand European inhabitants; among them are 16 thousand famous scientists, artists, writers, athletes, etc., as well as 25 thousand “ordinary” people. He compared the position of the planets and constellations at the time of a person’s birth with his personality type and occupation. It turned out that horoscopes are completely false: there is no connection between the character and activities of a person and his zodiac sign and the location of the planets at the time of birth. Therefore, Gauquelin classified astrology as a chimera. However, he managed to notice some interesting patterns that, as he believes, give him the right to consider his work the cornerstone new science- cosmobiology.
It turned out that for “ordinary” people the moments of birth do not depend on the configuration of the planets, but for famous people they do. Taking into account the patterns known to demographers in the frequency of births of people in different days year and at different times of the day, Gauquelin established that outstanding representatives of their profession are born predominantly at a certain position of certain planets relative to the horizon. He showed that the position of the Sun, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto does not affect the profession, but the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn do. Thus, in a group of 2088 famous athletes, many were born when Mars was rising or was close upper climax. For famous military men the same is true, but only in relation to Saturn.
Gauquelin's conclusions were repeatedly verified: some researchers partially confirmed them, others refuted them. Gauquelin himself is looking for the possibility of explaining the patterns he found at the level genetic information, which, in his opinion, can be controlled by rhythms that are common both for biological objects and for the Universe. Well, searching is a noble cause; however, there are no serious results on this path yet.
Is it necessary to “fight” with astrology?
So, from the point of view of natural science, astrology is an empty flower, soap bubble devoid of rational content. Where possible, science creates forecasting methods and does not shroud them in mysticism. And where it is impossible, he directly states this, without promising empty hopes, like astrologers. Science and astrology are not on the same path. And if astrologers had not shamelessly arrogated to themselves the high reputation earned by science, in particular astronomy, then there would not have been articles like this, and we would not have paid attention to them special attention, would not be distinguished from a number of other manifestations of mass culture. But when a television announcer declares that “today, according to the astrological calendar, there will be the shortest day and the longest night,” and a bearded astrologer “appoints” a solar eclipse for tomorrow, you want to shout: “People, what does astrology have to do with it? These are the results of normal scientific calculations.” , made by astronomers (show me an astrologer who can independently calculate at least the length of the day, not to mention the circumstances of a solar eclipse!) People, do you really think that if an astrologer could read in the Astronomical Calendar about tomorrow’s eclipse, then he is so. will he be able to easily read the book of your destiny? After all, this book, unlike the Astronomical Calendar, cannot be bought in a store.”
It happens that its adherents call opponents of astrology “dogmatists and scholastics, unable to sense the emergence of a new science.” I leave it to the reader to judge for himself the justice of these accusations.
What we habitually call “the fight against astrology” is not at all tantamount to the desire to eradicate it. IN in this case the position of the scientist is the desire to protect science, its “copyright”, its honestly earned authority from encroachment " uninvited guests", eager to exploit this authority for their own gain.
As you know, scientists are skeptics, and believers are dogmatists. This is why science and faith are incompatible. They can complement each other, but do not have the right to dictate their principles to each other. This idea, now obvious to us Russians, would seem to separate science and faith (in the broad sense, not just religious) in different directions, leaving them no points of contact. But that's not true.
The fact is that the position of science and faith differs significantly. Science has virtually no competitors in its field: it has clearly proven its ability to solve assigned problems. Attempts to proclaim “alternative”, “unofficial” sciences - ufology, parapsychology and others like them - practically do not affect Big Science.
In the area of faith, the situation is completely different: there is fierce competition in this field. And the fact that astrology existing in society relates specifically to this area is recognized even by scientists who are very favorable towards it: “Not all people need the truth, as it is understood in science. In astrology, since ancient times, there have been currents of the occult and mystical kind. If a person feels comfortable within the confines of such an ideology and it helps him to bear the burdens of life with dignity, then such an ideology has the right to exist (as long as it does not contain obvious antisocial elements)."
Not being a science, astrology is looking for its niche, its original image and finds it on the path of mimicry, dressing up in scientific clothes, surrounding itself with computers and scientific terminology, but at the same time completely not recognizing the scientific method.
It is difficult to agree with the statement of A.L. Chizhevsky that “astrology, if we discard all its mystical delusions, teaches about the connection of all things and phenomena.” Astrology without mysticism is no longer astrology, but something else - cosmobiology, heliobiology, rhythmology, and finally, philosophy. If you constantly change the content of a concept, then in the end it becomes completely meaningless. Today, as always, astrology is understood as a technique for predicting the fate of an object based on the relative positions of stars and planets at the moment of its birth. Different content requires different terms.
Western astrology originated in ancient Sumer, when people who did not understand the causes of the phenomena occurring around them began for the first time to grope for connections between seemingly random events. This motivation, generally speaking, even in our time stimulates the pursuit of both science and its surrogates (if a person does not want or cannot “play by the rules” of science).
Educators are faced with this problem: scientific knowledge does not create reliable immunity to pseudoscience. Obviously, part of class time should be devoted to critical analysis of pseudoscience. Through simple experiments, anyone can easily see for themselves that horoscopes are not capable of predicting events at a level above random coincidences. Teachers must try to understand the reasons for the fascination with astrology if they want to effectively combat this pseudoscience, which claims to be a science, but is not one.
Now, when, in view of all of the above, we can draw a conclusion about the demonic origin of magic and astrology, about their destructive influence on the civilizations that perceive them, about the unequivocally negative attitude of the Christian Church towards all types of occultism, let's look at the modern picture of the development of astrology in our country.
Here, first of all, it is necessary to turn to such famous and popular astrologers as the Globa spouses... Who are they and what are their tasks? First, let's give the floor to them.
In the magazine “Rabotnitsa” in the article “Who are the stars talking to?” we read: “Paul’s ancestors maternal line- Persians from the family of coats of arms in Iran - from ancient times devoted their lives to astrology, the grandfather also taught Paul astrology, and, dying, the grandfather gave his grandson a password word that gives the student access to teachers, great astrologers... And bequeathed to look for them in India.” When Pavel grew up, he went to India, and this is what he says about this journey: “I found... Teachers recognized me - the treasured password words helped. They were allowed to study - the most secret thing that is passed on from mouth to mouth, they gave books... they taught how to find a wife and added that when your lives unite, you will initiate her into what you yourself own, and a great mission will be entrusted to you.”
As can be seen from what Pavel Globa said, he consistently underwent all types of ritual magical initiation into “secret knowledge.”
“In 1991, the first post-revolutionary astrological collection called “Tamara” was published with a circulation of half a million copies. Tamara is the name of Pavel Globa’s wife, she was also the author of this collection. Let's look at an article taken from there called “The Avestan School of Astrology.” In this work, Tamara indicates that her astrological school is based on the Avestan astrological tradition, the vehicle of which is Zoroastrianism. However, throughout this article, Tamara quotes the Gospel several times and quotes the statements of the 17th century church leader Simeon of Polotsk, so that an inexperienced reader may have the illusion that Tamara’s teachings correspond to the teachings of Christ. But this is only an ideological device, which, with the authority of Christianity, is intended to remove the reader’s distrustful attitude towards astrological teaching. In fact, from beginning to end, the content of T. Glob’s article not only does not correspond to the Gospel teaching, but also directly contradicts it...
Thus, Tamara, in her words, proceeds from the basic law of Avestan teaching, “the law of Karma..., the Circle of Incarnation, i.e. repeated birth of the human essence..." (stands) "in the position of reincarnation - reincarnation and evolution - from mineral, plant, animal, human to higher essences." All of the above is a clear heresy, condemned by Christian Ecumenical Councils. Christianity teaches that a person is given life only once and his eternal fate depends on the life he lives. Before Last Judgment The state of souls through the prayers of the Church and loved ones can change, but after that it remains unchanged: either heaven or hell, there are no middle states.
Also in his work T, Globa states that “Avestan teaching is our traditional teaching. In Russia, it was passed down for a long time by pagan priests, from father to son, and the Magi carefully carried it through the centuries.” Here I will not dwell on the historical unreliability of this statement; something else is interesting - a call for a return to paganism, to the “religion of our ancestors.” Essentially this means: down with Christianity, away with Christ, back to idols, to the wise men, magicians, witchcraft, that is, to communication with demons.
And at the end of such a “glorious” sentence, T. Globa says: “... if you invariably follow this path, transformations of the psyche, the Spirit of the body begin, which cannot be explained by any specialist in the modern scientific world. A complete alchemy of the body occurs, the worldview and reality change.” Tamara is absolutely right here. Unclean spirits completely enslave the soul that has surrendered to them. But, writes T. Globa, “people will be equal to gods,” says the Avesta... All abilities that are now unique: clairvoyance, telepathy, teleportation, healing - will become natural phenomena for people. They will communicate at the subconscious level, and the word will become magic sign, as it was with magicians in ancient times." It was these gifts... that demons awarded to warlocks, magi, astrologers and magicians who surrendered to them in exchange for an immortal soul and the creation of evil in the world.
“T. Globa saw her task as helping people “... to prepare consciousness for the coming changes, so that as much as possible more people managed to reach the required level..." - to accept the new messiah who will appear in Russia."
This statement of hers was confirmed by Timur Sviridov, one of prominent representatives Globa schools. In the article “What Aquarius has in store for us,” he says: “Today a new type of people, new race, which will have abilities unknown to us - occult... And we need to develop strong astrological thinking in people.” And further: “Paul Globa predicts that in 1999 the Messiah will come, who will be born in Russia and give new era Aquarius has its own worldview, a different type of religion.”
From the above, we see that the propaganda of astrology and magic in our country ... pursues its goal - astrology and magic are intended to become another means of shaping people in a non-Christian, demonic spirit. There is an attack of occultism on the modern world, a fierce struggle against a pre-prepared background of godlessness...
Unarmed with the Christian faith, knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and prophecies about the future of the world and the coming of the Antichrist, modern man unable to correctly evaluate the occult teachings offered to him…. This is used by soul catchers who, like T. Sviridov, ... do not hide their intentions. They need to educate a new type of people with “occult abilities”..., in a spirit that will determine the possibility of the coming of the false messiah, the Antichrist, who will try, as predicted in the Apocalypse, to destroy Christianity and introduce “another type of religion”, which consists in worshiping him, the Antichrist.”
Does astrology give us the opportunity to look into the future, explains Andrey Muzolf, a teacher at the Kyiv Theological Academy.
- Andrey, why? astrological forecasts come true very often?
– As practice shows, most often it is not so much astrological forecasts that come true, but rather a person, believing and completely surrendering to them, builds his life in accordance with such forecasts. Astrology, as the Holy Scripture says about it, is one of the types of paganism, that is, serving not God, but demons. In the Old Testament we read that all prophecy is an abomination to the Lord (Deut. 18:14), and if we turn to the advice of astrologers, we thereby directly resort to the “help” of demons. According to the Monk John Climacus, demons do not know our future, but, being creatures more ancient than us, and therefore having certain experience, they can predict it. That is why it may seem to us that astrology gives us the opportunity to look into the future. But actually it is not. This is only a demonic trick, the purpose of which is to try to lead a person as far as possible from faith in God and devotion to Him.
– It’s no secret that almost every Orthodox Christian knows who he is according to his zodiac sign, what his strengths and weak sides according to the horoscope. And in many cases, these descriptions correspond to the character and type of person. How do you explain this?
– The fact of the matter is that we all know who we are according to the sign of the Zodiac, in the year of which animal we were born, but at the same time we forget that each of us is the image of God, called to be like God. The statement that belonging to one or another zodiac sign determines a person’s character is very doubtful and very often does not correspond to reality. Even Blessed Augustine, touching on the topic of astrology, said that the stars do not influence human life at all, because the human soul by its nature is not subordinate to celestial bodies. And if a person’s character largely depends on when he was born, then how can we explain the radical contrast in the characters of twins? Thus, we can be convinced that the character and type of a person do not depend at all on the location of the heavenly bodies, but on completely different realities.
– Something can be learned from astrology Orthodox Christian?
– From the history of the Church we know that the holy fathers often used certain achievements of pagan sciences (for example, philosophy) in order to transform them and put them at the service of Orthodox church life. Thus, Saint Basil the Great said that even in poison you can find at least a drop of useful substances. However, such a comparison is not at all applicable to astrology, because the latter is outright paganism and service to dark forces and, therefore, cannot lead us to anything good. A person may not even notice how, while relying more and more on horoscopes, at the same time he belongs less and less to Christ.
Passion for astrology is nothing more than a rejection of two basic principles of man’s relationship with God: God’s Providence and human free will. By being carried away by astrology, we thereby deny the participation of God in our lives. Each of us has received priceless gifts from the Almighty - reason and freedom - in order to use them for the benefit of our own souls and our neighbors, but in the end we voluntarily reject them and subject ourselves to blind fate. Unfortunately, we very often forget that the main goal of man - achieving the Kingdom of God - does not depend on when, where and under what planet we were born, but only on how open our heart was before the Lord.
– How to explain the craze for horoscopes?
– The famous English writer-apologist G. K. Chesterton once very accurately noted: “When people stop believing in God, they begin to believe in everything else.” It is easier for a person to live, thinking that everything around him happens only by some purely mechanical coincidence, only because this is how the stars “aligned.” Then you don’t need to think about God, about your soul, no moral deeds are required. Why pray to the Creator if it is much easier to adapt to the results of horoscopes?!
In addition, after the Fall, man always wanted to look beyond the unknown, to know his future, even if only the most immediate. And in this we also see a discrepancy with the patristic tradition. Many ascetics knew their future, for example, the time of their death, but they did not seek such knowledge: God Himself revealed to His chosen ones the hour of transition to Eternity so that they could prepare as much as possible. But today, unfortunately, people want to know their future not at all in order to become at least a little more moral or spiritual: they do this mainly for certain petty, mercantile purposes, for example, to invest money more profitably, develop their business or to avoid any troubles, which is a sign that we do not believe God, do not rely only on Him, but ourselves strive to arrange own life. And in such a life, unfortunately, there is simply no room left for God.
Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova