Anyone else get a message from Hanged Man?

by pale.emperor 37 Replies latest jw experiences

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    Don't jump to premature conclusions without learning the evidence. Remember that religious belief has always evolved but it has to originate somewhere, where then did it come from?

    It came not from astrology or horoscopes but the stories, myths or legends if you like, about the constellations, stars and movements of the heavenly bodies as symbolic of the activities of heavenly heroes. The places where the sun rose and set on key days of the year were the markers for festival days, symbolic of the rebirth of the sun in mid-winter, and the sacrificed sun god going to his father at the spring equinox, these being among the main events of the pagan solar year--as they still are in religious circles today, namely Christmas and Easter.

    Before the Bible existed in the fourth century, there was another 'Bible'-- people looked to the stars, sun, moon and constellations for insight and wisdom. It was alas, no more reliable than the Bible for prophecy!

    The links with the occult and 'paganism' were condemned by the Roman Church especially in the fifth century and under penalty of death for infringements.This disguised the fact that the source of their religious power was actually drawn from folk tales and the Catholic religion held itself to be sophisticated and superior to the idle stories of mere rustics.This blanket condemnation and the enforced destruction of virtually all pagan documentation was successful in concealing the origins of Christianity but it did not negate the fact that there are tangible links of Bible text with the folk stories of the constellations stars Sun Moon and planets, not just coincidental patterns or similarities.

    Here's the rub, we humans are pattern spotters, that's what gives us the edge over all other living things on the planet. But we should approach evidence in the spirit of the courts of law. If we spot patterns because we want to pursue a private hunch it is usual that we see the patterns we want to. It's called confirmation bias. If though we are scientific about it we will weigh the evidence dispassionately and see the pattern or links for what they are. In the end all assessment of truth is by the force of evidence for a thing on one hand outweighing the facts on the other hand. Knowing from JW experience that "new truths" are something of a con, it is from the history of ideas and the knowledge of universal myths and folklore which should inform our investigations on this particular subject, not the knee jerk response to say that "astrology is wrong".

  • waton
    waton
    not the knee jerk response to say that "astrology is wrong".

    Astrology as it is thought of these days, Horoscopes printed, assuming that the positions of planets could cast a spell on personal fortunes is clearly wrong, but

    There are numerous example of the profound influences of the Sun and Moon on life. example timed to Moon and 55 minutes after sunset.


    https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/glowing-bermuda-fireworms-1.4783163

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    The key point is that the origins of the Bible do not represent astrology, the Bible is not astrological.

    Astrology came from a divination of the night sky. Astronomy and astrology use the Zodiac (a word drawn from Greek referring to a circle of little animals) but that does not make astronomy false or astrology true. It was in the same way that Tarot was an ordinary card game which by the eighteenth century, superstitious people began to take it to have mystical predictive qualities. Humans are like this!

    The Bible stories parallel many of the myths and legends but not astrology! which were developed as mnemonics (memory pegs) to fix in mind the succession of the twelve constellations of the zodiac and the stars in relation to them.

    During the long Stone Age era of mankind and afterwards, people needed the Zodiac-- it was their map and compass, their calendar and their bible.

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    The witness who converted me into the religion didn`t know the difference between Astronomy and Astrology and I still converted ?

    what fool am I ?

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    @ waton

    "female fireworms come up from the bottom of the sea to spawn at precisely 55 minutes after sunset on the third night after the full moon."

    Astonishingly good time measurement by anyone's standards-- but from a 4 centimeter worm!!

  • Fred Franztone
    Fred Franztone

    I'm still struggling to see what the real point is, if the bible has elements of astrology woven into it, where is the controversy? I get that it may be interesting, but you're presenting it as if it's more significant. I concede that you admitted it was all bullshit in the opening post, but I still don't get why it matters beyond simple curiosity, nor why one should go to great lengths to decipher it.

  • Fred Franztone
    Fred Franztone

    The witness who converted me into the religion didn`t know the difference between Astronomy and Astrology and I still converted ?

    what fool am I ?

    You were only fooled once, so the shame is on them.


  • Vidiot
    Vidiot
    Half banana - "...If though we are scientific about it we will weigh the evidence dispassionately and see the pattern or links for what they are..."

    Ah, but then, we might end up finding evidence that contradicts our belief system, and that's never gonna fly...

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