PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2181, 19 December 1895, Page 30

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Astrology. A corresponds- has been kind enough to favour me with the loan of Zaakiel'a Almanac. 41 Who is he 1 " you ask. Wa colonials don't know much about him, but the older folk will smile when they read the word. " Why, bless my heart," said a friend from Home (why is it we Australasians call Britain " H*. me " 1 No matter why, but long may wo do ii)— " Why.blesa ray heart," said he, 44 dear old Ziakiel-many a time did my uncle cast our horoscope for up, and ha believed it too. I hadn't heard his name till now since I .left England," and so on. Well, Z-iakiel was the name assumed by Biohard Jameß Morrison, a retired commander of the Eoyal Navy, a Hebraist, mntlierm'iciaD, and scholar, and evidently a firm believer in astrology, which he popularised by his almanac, which is said to have reached a gale of porhapa 200,000 copies annually. Z.\akiel died in 1874, but his almanac lives on. 11, i 3 hard to say, howsver, how many would buy it if it contained nothing but astrology. Astrology, which really means the science of the stars, originally included the study of the heavens, but only as a means to find out the supposed influence of tho cslestial bodies on buuian and terrestrial affairs Now ifc has only tha former meaning ; and the latter, the study of the heavens itself, comes under astronomy. It is easy to see how the study of astrology arose. It was s«en that the sun and its position in the heavens exercised a great influence ovor nature.^nd it was natural for the ignorant to imagine that it «orci«ed a similar influence on human life. At the sun day by day rose higher and higher in the heavens until it reached its highest point in midsummer, and while ascendicg caused nature to become fruitful ; and as it gradually declined until it reached its lowest point in midwinter, and with its declining brought cessation of growth and the decay of plant life—so it became customary to associate happiness with tho ascendancy of the nun, and unhappiness with its declination. -And bo with the plants— some bring curse?, otbera blessing*. • Astrology was to be reckoned with at one time, andindead is still believed in my many. It was claimed that an astrologer prophesied the execution of Caarles I and the g reat fire of London. Dryden, the poet, had his children's horo3copo cast, and shout the sume time an astrologer was peneioned by the Parliament to give information. Have you read 44 Kenil worth" or "John Inglesant, Gentleman " ? Read both, and you will have a very good idea of the science (so called) snd its influence upon the people. Bat Newton really killed it as science when he showed that the suns and stars were not rulers of destiny, but " great earths vehemently hot." Superstitions die hard, however, for the astronomer royal at Home is often asked to draw the horoscope of children or to help by the stars to find lost property. Judicial astrology, which predicts earthly events, as distinguished from natural astrology, which predicts the motions of the heavenly bodies — modern astronomy, In fact — judicial astronomy, to repeal, is comparatively simple. The heavens are divided into 12 eectionß, called " houses of heaven." The power of these " houses " depends on their positions — the stars may be ascending or descending in them. Then each " house " bad influence over a different subject. I e?j«!l give 12 examples :— l, life ;_ 2, riches ;3, brethren ; 4, parents ; 5. cbiidren ; 6", heal.U? ; 7, marriage; 8, death; 9, religion; 10,dignities; 11, friends; 12, enemies. Then, thirdly, each "house" belongs to certain planets which have peculiar influences. To this day we use astrological language,