An analogy for astrology

I have often thought about our tendency to blindly believe in something and call it a miracle, supernatural, divine or to blindly dismiss it because it cannot be explained. And, astrology is one of those subjects that fit in this. Some believe every word that an astrologer says and some disregard. I have had more than a cursory interest in astrology as my dad used to practice palmistry as a hobby and would visit astrologers every now and then.

Back in the early 90s Nadi Josiyam was a rage. It involves reading old palm leaves based on your thumb print. And, the text is interpreted by the astrologer. The premise behind the whole thing is that all our lives have been documented by some of the top Hindu saints (boy, they must have been one job less lot). And, I am not sure if it was ego or lack of a central repository these guys seem to have documented the same person. Anyway, my dad did take our thumb prints and get our past and future read and recorded (the astrologer recorded his interpretation on a tape).

The thing that blew me away was how the astrologer figured my name from my thumb print (a name like shikari shambu is not that easy ;) and a few questions like “does the name have an ‘s’ ” (bit like Jeopardy but without the prize money). And, how the near term predictions that the astrologer made came true. But, over years there are a number of predictions that he made that were not true.

While I have not been able to figure out how the astrologer was able to “read” my name from the thumb or predict the near term things I have created an analogy to explain the process. To me Nadi Josiyam is like asking someone to figure where I am going (my future) by just reading the map (thumbprint). The map has a number of roads, forks and turns. By asking questions and guesses the reader (the astrologer) is able to figure out the route (my past) I have taken to get here. And, since the road does not have a fork or turn for the next few miles (near term) he is able to predict immediate future. Of course, sometimes I feel it is also because we will it to happen. But, longer term is a different story. Based on the turns we take (decisions we make) we may be on a different road (different future) from what the astrologer read. Or, the astrologer reads only one of the many possibilities. Is this right? I don’t know. But, I think it is a cool analogy.

And, what about the palm leaves. Did these sages document every single human being? How did they account for population explosion etc…? Maybe, we are all “connected” like the Net of Indra.