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As one with an interest in etymology (the study of the meaning and origins of words), I was fascinated to learn from my reading of Carl Sagan of some terms whose etymon is astrological in nature.
Sagan, in his prodigious book “Cosmos,” informs his readers of how the word influenza is from the Italian, meaning “astral influence.” There are others he highlights. Disaster is derived from the Greek for “bad star,” and mazeltov from the Hebrew language, which means “good constellation.” (Who knew?)
Two very important points that Sagan makes in regards to astrology have to do with horoscopes and the matter of twins. He offers the example of horoscopes, and how on any given day these are printed in dailies across the world and that many of these read differently from one another. Then there is the problem of twins. Sagan makes note of how twins share the same birthdate and are born under the same sign and how one may die young and the other live on to a ripe old age. (How does the astrologer explain that one?) And, of course, which in regards to this one I was already well familiar with: Of how the word lunacy is from the belief that many had at one time that the moon can cause some people to go mad (e.g. as with the werewolf of folklore).
Interestingly, the Bible, not normally associated with this topic, has its Magi, described in a neutral if not a favorable light, and the book of Genesis seems to allude to the significance of heavenly bodies beyond their mere practical purposes (Genesis 1:14).
I’ve often wondered how much the idea of self-autonomy comes into play, if at all, within the astrological worldview?
Is there anything to astrology? Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe were two highly renowed astronomers in their time who felt there was something to it all. Still, for many, astrology is not a science but a pseudo-science. These naysayers consider the reading of horoscopes on par with the reading of fortune cookies – their messages are vague and open to interpretation. Their conclusion is that this belief that the other planets in our solar system affect our everyday lives is a pre-scientific superstition.
Then again, such critics might be totally off-base and there might be quite a bit of validity to the whole thing, after all. People see omens in some of the oddest things, sometimes. In ancient times, they were seen in the entrails of fowl. One comedian joked of how some people find significant meaning in the analyzing of skidmarks in their underpants. (To each his own.)
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