Cosmology brings us face to face with the deepest mysteries.. With questions that were once treated.. Only in Religion and Myth..
Most intelligent human cultures noted and calibrated the cycles in nature. The rising and setting of the Sun and Stars. The phases of the Moon. The passing of the seasons. Most cultures imagine the universe to be only a few human generations old. No one guessed that it might be far older. But, the Ancient Hindus did. Their cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma. Which is 8.64 Billion years long. Longer than the age of Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And, their are much greater time scales still. These time scales correspond to those of Modern Scientific Cosmology.
Who Knows For Certain? Who Shall Here Declare It? Whence Was It Born? Whence Came Creation?
The Gods Are Later Than This Worlds Formation. Who then can know the origins of the world? None knows whence creation arose. Or, weather he has or has not made it..
He who, surveys it from the lofty skies. Only he knows.. Or, perhaps.. he knows not.
Their is the deep and appealing notion that the universe is but the dream of the God. Who dissolves himself into a dreamless sleep.. And, the universe dissolves with him.
Meanwhile.. Elsewhere, their are an infinite number of other universes. Each with it's own God.. dreaming the cosmic dream.
These great ideas are tempered by another, perhaps still greater. It is said that, Men may not be the dreams of the Gods. But rather.. That The Gods Are The Dreams Of Men.
Their are two ways to view the planets and stars.. As they really are.. And, as we might wish them to be..
Astronomers see the planet Saturn as an immense globe made mostly of hydrogen and helium in circled by a ring of snowballs 50,000 kilometers wide. And, that Jupiter's great red spot is a giant storm raging for perhaps a million years. But, the Astrologers see the planets as effecting human character and fate. Jupiter represents a regula bearing and a gentile disposition. And, Saturn the grave digger, fosters they say.. distrust, suspicion and evil. To the Astronomers, Mars is a place as real as the Earth. A world awaiting exploration. But, the Astrologers see Mars as a warrior. The instigator of quarrels, violence and destruction. Astronomy and Astrology were not always so distant. Throughout most of human history one encompassed the other. But, there came a time Astronomy escaped the confines of Astrology. The two traditions began to diverge in the life and mind of Johannes Kepler. It was he who de mystified the heavens by discovering that a physical force lay behind the motions of the planets. He was the first Astrophysicist and the last Scientific Astrologer.
The intellectual foundations of Astrology were swept away 300 hundred years ago. And yet, Astrology is still taken seriously by a great many people. Ever notice how easy it is find a magazine on Astrology? Virtually every newspaper has a daily column on Astrology. Almost none of them have even a weekly column on Astronomy. People wear Astrological pendants, check their Horoscopes before leaving the house. Even our language preserves an Astrological word or two. For example take the word, Disaster. It comes from The Greek, meaning.. Bad Star. The Italians once believed that disease was caused by the influence of the stars. It's the origin of the word Influenza.
What is all this Astrology business? Fundamentally, its the contention of which constellations are in at the moment of your birth, profoundly influences your future. A few thousand years ago, the idea developed that the motions of the planets determined the fates of kings, dynasties and empires. Astrologers studied the motions of the planets and asked themselves, what had happened last time that say.. Venus was rising in the constellation of the goat? Maybe something similar would happen this time as well. It was a suttle and risky business. Astrologers became employed only by the state. It was a capital offense for anyone but the official Astrologer to read the portents in the skies. Why? Because a good way to overthrow an empire was to predict it's downfall. Chinese court Astrologers who made inaccurate predictions were executed. Others simply doctored the records so that they would be in perfect conformity with events. Astrology developed into a strange discipline. A mixture of careful observation, mathematics and record keeping, with fuzzy thinking and fraud.
Nevertheless, Astrology survived and flourished. Why? because it seems to lend a cosmic significance to the routine of our daily lives. It pretends to satisfy our longing to feel personally connected with the Universe. Astrology suggests dangerous fatisum. If our lives are controlled by a set of traffic signals in the sky.. Then, why bother to try and change anything?
The desire to be connected with the Cosmos reflects a profound reality. We are connected. Not in the trivial ways that the Pseudo Science of Astrology promises. But, in the deepest ways. Our little planet is under the influence of a star. The Sun warms us. It drives the weather. It sustains all living things. Four billion years ago, it brought forth life on Earth. But our Sun, is only one of a billion-trillion stars within the observable universe. And, those countless Suns all obey natural laws. Some of which are known to us. How did we discover there are such laws?
If we lived on a planet where nothing ever changed.. there wouldn't be much to do. There would be nothing for us to figure out. There'd be no reason for Science. And, if we li
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Cosmology brings us face to face with the deepest mysteries..
With questions that were once treated.. Only in Religion and Myth..
Most intelligent human cultures noted and calibrated the cycles in nature. The rising and setting of the Sun and Stars. The phases of the Moon. The passing of the seasons. Most cultures imagine the universe to be only a few human generations old. No one guessed that it might be far older. But, the Ancient Hindus did. Their cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma. Which is 8.64 Billion years long. Longer than the age of Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And, their are much greater time scales still. These time scales correspond to those of Modern Scientific Cosmology.
Who Knows For Certain?
Who Shall Here Declare It?
Whence Was It Born?
Whence Came Creation?
The Gods Are Later Than This Worlds Formation.
Who then can know the origins of the world?
None knows whence creation arose.
Or, weather he has or has not made it..
He who, surveys it from the lofty skies.
Only he knows..
Or, perhaps.. he knows not.
Their is the deep and appealing notion that the universe is but the dream of the God.
Who dissolves himself into a dreamless sleep..
And, the universe dissolves with him.
Meanwhile.. Elsewhere, their are an infinite number of other universes.
Each with it's own God.. dreaming the cosmic dream.
These great ideas are tempered by another, perhaps still greater.
It is said that, Men may not be the dreams of the Gods.
But rather.. That The Gods Are The Dreams Of Men.
From.. The Rig Veda.
Their are two ways to view the planets and stars.. As they really are.. And, as we might wish them to be..
Astronomers see the planet Saturn as an immense globe made mostly of hydrogen and helium in circled by a ring of snowballs 50,000 kilometers wide. And, that Jupiter's great red spot is a giant storm raging for perhaps a million years. But, the Astrologers see the planets as effecting human character and fate. Jupiter represents a regula bearing and a gentile disposition. And, Saturn the grave digger, fosters they say.. distrust, suspicion and evil. To the Astronomers, Mars is a place as real as the Earth. A world awaiting exploration. But, the Astrologers see Mars as a warrior. The instigator of quarrels, violence and destruction. Astronomy and Astrology were not always so distant. Throughout most of human history one encompassed the other. But, there came a time Astronomy escaped the confines of Astrology. The two traditions began to diverge in the life and mind of Johannes Kepler. It was he who de mystified the heavens by discovering that a physical force lay behind the motions of the planets. He was the first Astrophysicist and the last Scientific Astrologer.
The intellectual foundations of Astrology were swept away 300 hundred years ago. And yet, Astrology is still taken seriously by a great many people. Ever notice how easy it is find a magazine on Astrology? Virtually every newspaper has a daily column on Astrology. Almost none of them have even a weekly column on Astronomy. People wear Astrological pendants, check their Horoscopes before leaving the house. Even our language preserves an Astrological word or two. For example take the word, Disaster. It comes from The Greek, meaning.. Bad Star. The Italians once believed that disease was caused by the influence of the stars. It's the origin of the word Influenza.
What is all this Astrology business? Fundamentally, its the contention of which constellations are in at the moment of your birth, profoundly influences your future. A few thousand years ago, the idea developed that the motions of the planets determined the fates of kings, dynasties and empires. Astrologers studied the motions of the planets and asked themselves, what had happened last time that say.. Venus was rising in the constellation of the goat? Maybe something similar would happen this time as well. It was a suttle and risky business. Astrologers became employed only by the state. It was a capital offense for anyone but the official Astrologer to read the portents in the skies. Why? Because a good way to overthrow an empire was to predict it's downfall. Chinese court Astrologers who made inaccurate predictions were executed. Others simply doctored the records so that they would be in perfect conformity with events. Astrology developed into a strange discipline. A mixture of careful observation, mathematics and record keeping, with fuzzy thinking and fraud.
Nevertheless, Astrology survived and flourished. Why? because it seems to lend a cosmic significance to the routine of our daily lives. It pretends to satisfy our longing to feel personally connected with the Universe. Astrology suggests dangerous fatisum. If our lives are controlled by a set of traffic signals in the sky.. Then, why bother to try and change anything?
The desire to be connected with the Cosmos reflects a profound reality. We are connected. Not in the trivial ways that the Pseudo Science of Astrology promises. But, in the deepest ways. Our little planet is under the influence of a star. The Sun warms us. It drives the weather. It sustains all living things. Four billion years ago, it brought forth life on Earth. But our Sun, is only one of a billion-trillion stars within the observable universe. And, those countless Suns all obey natural laws. Some of which are known to us. How did we discover there are such laws?
If we lived on a planet where nothing ever changed.. there wouldn't be much to do. There would be nothing for us to figure out. There'd be no reason for Science. And, if we li