Going to Astrology College

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from the Associated Press, August 2001, with a headline:  “Mom, Dad, I’ve Been Accepted to AstrologyCollege.No, it’s legit,” dateline, Scottsdale, Arizona:  “The stars were favorably aligned this month for the Astrological Institute,” says founder, Joyce Jensen, whose students learned to write horoscopes and give advice about the future.  The modest school in suburban Phoenix won accreditation from a federally recognized body in what’s believed to be a first for a school of astrology.  Now the Institute can seek approval from the U.S. Educational Department for its students to get federal grants and loans.  From her observation of the celestial array, Jensen said she now sees that this was a very good time for her school.  But, Jensen, a 60 year old Scorpio, also noted she’s been seeking accreditation for years and wouldn’t have stopped no matter what the stars indicated.  Her institute, where courses include: a master class on the asteroid goddesses, and how to write an astrological column, offers one program, a diploma in astrology and psychology.  “The Institute received accreditation from the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology after demonstrating that it’s teachers are qualified and it’s graduates can be placed in jobs,” said Elise Scanlin, head of the Arlington, Virginia based commission.  Scanlin and other officials in her field knew of no other accredited astrology schools.  Judith Eaton, head of the Council for Higher Education and Accreditation in Washington, said, “The accreditation doesn’t validate astrology but only recognizes that the school fulfills what it promises its students.  Tuition is $5300.  Full-time students can earn a diploma in 12 months.  Most of the 32 students enrolled come at night, after working day jobs.  

Tom:

Dave, one of the things I think about, when I get into something like this, is “how’s it work?”  This goes back to—astrology goes back to the time of Babylon.  So, it’s been around for awhile.  They’ve had plenty of time to refine it, to really make it work, to see its effectiveness, its fruitfulness, etc.  And, from some points of view, it’s deterministic.  It’s all laid out; it’s a science, Dave.  But, why doesn’t it work?  Why aren’t we reaping the fruit of this so-called science?

Dave:

Well, you have a number of problems.  This goes way back to the days of Ptolemy and there’s a wobble in the earth’s axis, and that has thrown this astrological chart out a little bit more than one full house, or whatever they call it.  So a Leo isn’t a Leo anymore.  And, that may be why I remember as I was a, I think a junior in high school, or whatever, I was working in a feed store in the summer. I remember a big black guy—he could have been a linebacker today, you know, this is 50—maybe more than that—years ago.  More than that wow, yes, 60 years ago.  And there was this little scrawny, white guy with him, I mean, you could almost blow him over, just blow on him, and I remember this big black guy—somehow this white guy was getting him into astrology, and the black guy pointed to the little, scrawny, white guy and said, “Yeah, he’s a Leo, he’s really powerful!”Well, I guess maybe that’s because of the wobble in the earth’s axis.  It doesn’t seem to work.  We’ve got a lot of problems, Tom.  Well, look; you’ve got things to say on this, I keep doing all the talking.

Tom:

No, Dave, I want to ask you this question.  “How does it work?”  Can you give us a simple explanation on how this is supposed to work?  For some people who—oh, they look at the horoscopes, and so on, but they’ve never really—

Dave:

Well, Tom, supposedly the relationship that your body at the moment of birth, bears to certain heavenly bodies out there, determines your personality, the events that will happen in your life, etc., and this is why they go back to the date of birth.  Now, you have to ask yourself a simple question:  wait a minute; a human being is a very complex person.  The brain in the most complex organ in the entire universe.  And, you mean, my choices— I have all of this power to make choices, morals, and ethics that determine circumstances —everything in my life is all determined by the position some stars at the time of my birth?  You’ve got to be kidding.  It simply isn’t true.  We are now making an inorganic body, the moon, the stars, and so forth, govern not only organic life but thinking, rational beings.  It’s something that people want to believe.  It’s a superstition, and interestingly, they are tying it in with psychology which is certainly true—it’s very closely aligned with it, and I think you have a quote there from Carl Jung.

Tom:

Well, Jung was an interesting character.  You know, we’ve been mentioning—search some of these things out.  What we’re saying aren’t things that we make up.  We look to these writers, people like Carl Jung, other psychologists, and so on.We understand where they’re coming from.  But, as you said, I’m going to give you a quote by Carl Jung with regard to his enthusiasm for astrology:  “In cases of difficult diagnosis, I usually get a horoscope.”

Dave:

This is Carl Jung—

Tom:

You’re paying big money?I don’t know what he charged—

Dave:

Carl Jung, the great psychiatrist, (he was a psychiatrist) who had his own spirit guide, remember?Philemon the demon, who was a person, that’s where he learned many of—

Tom:

Well, he didn’t call him a demon.

Dave:

No, but Philemon, Fi-lee-mon he called him, what else could he be?  He was a real entity that Carl Jung saw—walked up and down the garden together.That’s where many of his theories come from, as well as from a screeching chorus of ghosts that he says filled his house there near Zurich, and inspired him.  Come on, and yet Carl Jung has influenced Christian psychology probably more than anyone.  Certainly far more than Freud.  Well, people want to believe what they want to believe.  That’s one of the problems they have.  Paul tried to persuade people.  God says, “Come, now, let us reason together.”  Let’s be reasonable about this, check it out.  And, above all, search the Scriptures daily.  

Tom:

And, Dave, just going back to the article.  Now, the Institute can seek approval from the U.S. Education Department for its students to get federal grants and loans.  Once, again, another thing that’s a myth that we’re paying for.