Classtrology

Today - March 02 2002 - Marijke and I, Tiny, visited the paranormal exhibition in the Brabanthal in Leuven. There were a lot of fortune tellers, mediums, and many more, but only one astrologer was present. Conclusion: He would be our victim today. He preferred to talk to us without a tape recorder, because he knew that he would speak less spontaneously if we used one. 'He' is Herman Hacherman, a man who has his own little business interpreting horoscopes, called URANIA ASTROLOGY.
Although I consider(ed) myself as a die hard sceptic and I still am not fully convinced of his point of view, this astrologer sowed the seeds of doubt. He gave a couple of good arguments to illustrate the sense of astrology to our fellow students. The following text contains a summary of his answers to our questions.

What is astrology?
Herman places much emphasis on the fact that astrology is nothing more or less than the study of 3 data namely somebodies day of birth, hour of birth and place of birth and the interrelationships with the planets at that (exact!) moment. If the information about the hour of birth is not correct, even if it differs only a few minutes, the prediction can be completely wrong. Based on the study of these facts (it might not seem so, but 'astrology = calculating'), astrologers can tell who someone was when that person was born and who he is becoming, what ones character will be like, how ones life will develop, "and all of this with a high level of certainty". An important remark that Herman made here is that astrology is about personal horoscopes. Whether a horoscope is made for a person or a company, it is something personal. If a horoscope is not personal, it may be considered as nonsense.
Astrologers also try to predict the future, but the level of certainty is not as high as with the description of the character of a person. "No, predicting the future is not that easy", so says Herman. Herman also noticed that "astrology is not about 'what is written in the stars'. It is about planets and their relation to earth. Astrologers consider the earth as the middle of everything, because it is the planet we humans live on. If we lived on Mars, we would calculate everything from that perspective.".

Do astrologers have to study, maybe at a college or other institution to practice astrology?
According to Herman, astrology is a science - comparable to mathematics - and studying is required to learn it, just as in any other scientific discipline. Beyond that, understanding and learning astrology is only possible by practicing. "Everybody is able to study astrology, but some people are good at math or at languages. I happen to be good at astrology.", says Herman. Astrologers also use the same books as astronomers do to study the position of the planets.

Doesn't education interfere with who we are and will become?
"Once, in England a son of a king and a son of a blacksmith were born at exactly the same time and place. Of course they were different because of their different status in life. But when one of them had marital problems, the other had problems in his marriage as well. So, even though their situation was different, their lives evolved in an equal manner." (Even though Herman states that education will only have a slight influence on who a person will become according to his/her horoscope, I still think it is an important factor in our lives. Miss Greenman, our English teacher, also pointed out that there is a logical question here, namely 'Why would their lives be identical on the marital level if their wives have different birth moments and also statistics tell us that every marriage goes through 7 year 'blips'.?", which is indeed something to think about).
Hermans point of view is a bit more radical. He is convinced that when someone is born, with his/her first breathing, he/she inhales a unique life energy. To illustrate the point that this energy is truly unique Herman noticed that even twins differ, although it might be just a bit, they do differ.
This cosmic energy is created by the interaction between the 10 planets (the moon and the sun are also considered to be planets in astrology), the moon knots and the black/dark moon. They all interact and thus create cosmic energy. We are all born in a particular place, at a particular moment and we get a specific life energy according to that time and place. We sort of breathe it in. This inner energy stays the same for the rest of our life. Every place on earth has its own cosmic energy and this cosmic energy interacts with our inner energy. According to Herman, it is this energy that defines our lives and determines our decisions. A huge and painful consequence of this way of thinking is that no matter how hard one tries, it is impossible to change a persons character/nature. "If someone chats a lot, the reason for it will be in his horoscope. If someone is very quiet, look at his/her horoscope to discover why. If your children are rascals - or on the contrary very good - it will be due to their horoscope. Herman also added that we prefer to think that we have a will of our own, that we accomplish things ourselves. But, according to Herman, that is not the case."Everything is prescribed in the planets. There is no such thing as free will or coincidence. Our future is written in the planets!" (Painful indeed!)

What do you think about the horoscopes in magazines such as Flair etc.?
To this question Herman replied that "There are bricklayers and there are bricklayers, if you know what I mean. Just as there are astrologers and astrologers. You have to distinguish the real astrologers from the fakes. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff. Only, the true problem is, the so called horoscopes that appear in those magazines you are talking about, are not even chaff. This is just no astrology". So, concerning this question, we could conclude that these 'invented' horoscopes from the magazines are the biggest problem for the credibility of astrology because most people think that this is what astrology is all about.

What about the star signs and the characteristics that are ascribed to them? Are all Geminis alike?
"What is said about the characteristics of star signs (as described on our website) does not say anything about individual persons. Most people think that the description of the star signs counts for every single person born in that period, but that is not so. These characteristics should not be considered as characteristics of persons, but as characteristics of star signs. Sometimes a person with a certain star sign has a couple of characteristics of that star sign, but people will rarely have all the characteristics. I also sell pamphlets with the descriptions of the star signs. This is not astrology, real astrologers know that. It is something fun to read and to give to someone but it should not be generalized. Every single person is different because of their different day, hour and place of birth, because of the different inner energy they have."

Have you always been devoted to astrology?
"No, not at all. If you would have told me more than ten years ago that I would once believe in astrology I would have called you crazy. I was a real sceptic as well. But then, ten years ago, I quite suddenly got interested in astrology and I just kind of rolled into it. Now I know it was meant to happen, my horoscope told me so. It was written in the planets. I consider it as my destiny to convince people about the sense and usefulness of astrology, to 'carry out the truth'."

Can you tell us something about yourself and your company? Can you make a living?
" I have developed a computer program to calculate horoscopes. Ten years ago I bought a computer and started designing this program. I worked on it for two whole years. It is the best on the Belgian market at this moment, maybe even the best in Europe. I can calculate your personal life horoscope, your personal astrological prediction of the future, your numerological horoscope, make a comparison of you and your partner (and how you match), help you to get insight in your relational problems and even your love- and sex life. Of course the personal calculations are much more accurate than the others. They are also more expensive. We also used to teach an astrology course but that was too time consuming. You see, I can't make a living out of this business alone. I consider it as a supplementary income. I have another job as well. "
"A lot of people call me when they have a problem and then they are surprised when it appears I already knew what the problem was because I read it in their horoscopes. Once people have experienced this, they come back for advice again and again."
"I also studied the horoscope of my business. I know that it will never be successful. You ask me why I still do it then? To test my horoscope. And because it is in the planets. Every life is determined by the planets. Also the 'life' of a company. "

Conclusion?
"It is hard for students like you to really prove the sense of astrology because you know too little about it. But, in answer to the sceptical responses of your fellow students, I would like to notice that it is unwise to dismiss things we do not understand or have no knowledge of. Armand Pien sometimes laughs about astrology on the radio, but he does not know what it is all about. I do not tell him anything about the weather either, do I? People usually tend to be sceptical towards things they do not know or are not familiar with. However, once I have made a personal horoscope for someone, people usually instantly get convinced of the sense of astrology. They then discover that I have not been lying or telling them stories just to keep my business running, they understand that it was all true, that it fits."