Sunday, March 22, 2009

What sign?




It must be nice to go through life thinking that everything is preordained or pre-fated. That if everything goes wrong it was just fate, or Gods will. I’ve never been that fortunate, I don’t believe in luck. I don’t believe that one person can be luckier that another. I don’t believe that if you believe in something strongly enough, that I will happen. I don’t believe that when it’s “your time, it’s your time”, and you might as well resign yourself to it.


We all open our fortune cookies after Chinese dinner and chuckle at the, sometimes, benevolent predictions that are found inside. We read our horoscopes in the morning with hopeful anticipation that this will be our lucky day. I don’t believe the predictions about how your day is going to happen, but what sign of the Zodiac that a person is born under does seem to influence people to the point that their character and nature can be uncannily predicted. I don’t believe that it is magic, but there must be some sort of external force that determines who you will become. The incubation temperature egg of the snapping turtle and the alligator determine whether they become male or female, which effects the outcome of their whole life. The male snapping turtle becomes much larger than the female. All of these differences are formed for their whole lives by a few degrees difference in the temperature of the hatching egg.


Although I believe that you can influence the things that you do, much as the snapping turtle determines which pond that it is going to live in, you have much conscious control over your own life.


It seems that many things are decided at birth which you have no control over, like whether you are male or female. It has been proven that whether you become a male or a female has much to do with what time of the ovulation cycle that your mother was in when you where conceived. Genetics determine most of who you become, but how many other factors determine who you are. Can the cool of the night that you were conceived influence your personal make up? Can the amount of daylight at the time of conception change you? Can the cycle of the sun or the moon when you are conceived change who you later become.


I’m certain that external influences change us mentally and physically. Have you ever read your horoscope and said “how did they know that about me”. I don’t think that man can precisely predict our nature, and I think that the strength of our will has the most influence on the direction of our lives. But there just seems to be some influence by those stars that we were born under. Have you ever noticed that?

27 comments:

Kym said...

My faith in astrology stopped abruptly when my sharp-tongued aunt raised one eyebrow and inquired in a bitter tone, "You're a Pisces, aren't you? Gentle, spiritual, loving?" When I nodded, she added with a knowing smirk, "So am I."

Anonymous said...

What's even more uncanny, Ernie, is to look up your Chinese astrological sign and read a composite of, say, a Libra and a Monkey.

The results practically give your picture and street address in describing your personality, strengths and weaknesses.

Ernie Branscomb said...

“My faith in astrology stopped abruptly when my sharp-tongued aunt raised one eyebrow and inquired in a bitter tone, "You're a Pisces, aren't you? Gentle, spiritual, loving?" When I nodded, she added with a knowing smirk, "So am I."

As I said before I believe that, you can overcome most of what you are predestined to be, by using strength of will and stubbornness, But that’s probably just because I’m an Aries.

\ said...

i think its dumb.. Suzy was born a gemini and i read about geminis and it told me that im sposed 2 b like 2 differant poeple or some shit but thats like toltally crazy... Suzy isnt 2 people!!! how could i be 2 people? Its soooo dumb. Suzy is obviously only one person --so that prooves its a lotta BS, but i guess, Ernie, maybe if my will was stronger i could be 2 or even 3 people or something but why would Suzy wanna be that? But then it says too that Billy is a tuarus which means that hes a bully, now that makes a lotta sense 2 Suzy... and him being strong willed on top of it makes my soulmate even harder LOL to deal with --Bully Blah Blah is what i call him sometimes ... and then i wave the red cape. Its like i said --totally dumb but hey sometimes if i wanna squint at it a certain way it can, just like everything else in life, make some sense.

signing off,
s

Ernie Branscomb said...

Back in the late sixties there was a woman who worked at the Benbow Inn as a house keeper. She was short with dark hair and dark eyes, she had a New York accent and seemed exotic to me. She reminded me of a gypsy fortune teller. One day when my first wife and I had a small disagreement she was working in the bottom story of the building, where the refrigeration and laundry area was. She sensed that there was something wrong in my life and she started talking to me. Not long into the conversation she asked me a few questions about my wife, one of them being my wife’s birth date. She then went on to describe my wife, both good and bad things. She nailed what she was like to perfection. She said that all these things were part of her astrological make up, and that she was not likely to change. Boy was she right!

That was the first time that I ever gave astrology any credence. I always though that it was a game that fortune tellers played to get suckers money away from them. But just like religion, astrology can be used to control other people and it would be awfully good to realize that anybody quoting astrology is likely to be a charlatan.

I think that there must be many things that influence who we are to become that are predetermined at birth. Just like all things, I usually won’t accept anything without proof. So that leaves much of astrology out of bounds for me.

Anonymous said...

"Did you know that 98% (+/- 2%) of all bloggers have Aries somewhere in their charts"

uncanny

sayings of Charles A Tan
What time of day were you born Ernie...heh heh heh?

Indie said...

I'm an Aries blogger. I don't give astrology much thought

As for horoscopes and fortune cookies, you can try what my more immature friends and I sometimes do: after you read the glib little one-liner, you add the words "in bed."

Try it; it's always good for a laugh.

Anonymous said...

There is so much more complexity to astrology than a simple reading of sun signs.
A birthchart is not the definition of the person, but a reading of influences that shape the personality. Just like the right diet can change genetic disease predispositions, we are not bound by our astrology.
Like a sailor studies the charts, monitors the winds, etc... the astrologer follows the transits of the planets over their natal positions. It is in the transits that the anecdotal proof of the system reveals itself as events in our lives get our attention.
One example of this would be the nonplanet formerly known as Pluto transitting into the sign of Capricorn. There is not an astrologer who didn't read that as economic and social structure convulsively changing. We have been watching this coming up in articles for years. None of us predicted the extreme rapidity of the tumbling down in the first few degrees of Capricorn. There is a long way to go.

Believe it or not, it can be a great ally. But then, to paraphrase Henry Ford..."Whether you believe it works, or believe it doesnt'--you are right"

Anonymous said...

great tip indie! thanks.

spyrock said...

i don't believe so much in astrology as i do some of the astrolgers who really study hard to know all there is to know about it. i had a girl friend back in the 60s who said that she was related to eric the red. she did a 20 page typed report that wasn't computer generated. i didn't agree with much of it but it was very professional. because she took it so seriously, i took it more seriously.
quantum physics says that everything is a wave until the observer looks at it and the wave collapses into a particle or matter. so reality depends pretty much on who is looking at it. and what their conditioning is. what they identify themselves with and what they believe. so if i'm going to listen to an astrologer out there or anyone else that wants to tell me the way it is, i always choose to listen to the parts of the story that resonate with who i am.
and i try to forget the negative parts or the parts i don't like.
i don't give that negative point of view any energy, i don't collapse it into matter, i just let it go.
the proof is in the pudding as they say, so if something actually manifests then i would return for another reading. otherwise, there seems to be no end of people who know whats best for you and are only happy to tell you so for free.

Anonymous said...

Spyrock has it nailed - ERE

Anonymous said...

well said spyrock.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Spyrock said:"there seems to be no end of people who know whats best for you and are only happy to tell you so for free."

Whaaaa... The buggers are always trying to get me to pay them!!!

Ernie Branscomb said...

I've always thought that astrologers put enough stuff out there that you want to hear, and a little bit that you don't want to hear, that it sounds like the truth.

What I would still like to know is what, scientifically, happens at conception that can affect you for the rest of your life. Simple little things like egg temperature, that will turn a male to a female. Or Vaginal ph that may determine the sex of a human being. The length of the daylight hours that may have something to do with a persons disposition. What kind of drugs a mother or father is on may cause any number of conditions. The fluoride in the water may cause birth changes. Or any of a number of completely natural things that may determine who we are.

Do we become who our horoscope tells us we are supposed to be? Through a process of positive reinforcement? If that is so, shouldn’t we, as parents, start telling our kids how wonderful they are, instead of criticizing them? How many times have you heard a parent say; “no kid of mine is going to be like that”? Doesn’t that take the initiative and credit away from the child, and guarantee that they do the opposite?

Too many people match what their horoscope tell them that they are. If that is the case there has to be an answer. So far I has seen too many coincidences and not enough science.

\ said...

quantum physics says that everything is a wave until the observer looks at it and the wave collapses into a particle or matter. so reality depends pretty much on who is looking at it. and what their conditioning is.

Xactly Spy, and so it is that with the wave/particle relationship now being scientifically studyed by scientists and everything being adjusted to that new qantum knowledge that thruough the studys that have been made and studyed that there is proof positive now that if a tree falls and nobodys there to observe it as it collapses into a horizontal position it doesn't make a suond. You can obsserve particle board at the builders supply place as Suzy did becuz i wanted to fruther proove my thesis and show Billy how it worked and when we observed the particle board it was completely silent and so i said "see that prooves it, knock on wood" andbut when i knocked on it it made a sound which means that it is a wave until somebody comes along to proove that it isnt and when they 'knock on wood' then it becomes particle board. You can observe the wavy pattern on plywood but particle bard doesnt have that its more chunky like. Theres soooo many things that science is now finding out to be true that Suxy already knew by common unlabratoryied street observation... and uh, what was i saying --oh yes, the falling tree, it is completely silent. But if someone is there observing then it makes a sound as it collapses. Of course those of us who have traveled in other dimensions and experianced expanded forms of forestry conscuosness knew that before the scientists prooved it of course because we observed the tree without being there and were as usual one step ahead of the scientists even though that step cannot yet be measured scientifically... but thats not to say the scientists are not doing good work, its all good but they are scientists and so they are just a little bit slow when it comes to learning these mysterys is all. They need to take the next big step which is embroidering some colorful pshychodelic patterns onto theyre nice white coats.

waving atcha til i collapse,
s

Anonymous said...

Someday a scientist is going to try and look at a Wave/particle under a scope and scream when he sees Suz surfing it.
You definitely have a Gem-in-an-Eye sunsign...didja know that the sign gemini is made up Castor the horseman and Pollux the boxer? You have to have a powerful microscope and look through the wrong end to see them.
If Castor falls off his horse in space, does anyone hear it?
Thank you suz for 'splaining physics so good.

\ said...

Someday a scientist is going to try and look at a Wave/particle under a scope and scream when he sees Suz surfing it

well yeah thats been my piont all along --that we who have extended our visionary capability by taking some substance or other are able to see things long before the scientists claim 2 have discovered them. LIke for instance drunkards have been seeing pink elephants daily for eons and now these smartypants scientists are claiming a rare sighting --gimme a brake.

im outa here
s

\ said...

smoke sygnals from cross the crick

Ernie Branscomb said...

Thank-you Suzy, now I’m glad that I dropped all those hints that it is my birthday.

Anonymous said...

It's your birthday and you can cry if you want to, cry if you want to, cry if you want to.

It's lyrics from an old song I'm SURE you remember old man. I hope you have a Wonderful Beautiful Day and I will too.

There's nothin' like Aries time to get me out of the winter doldrums. New beginnings, better weather, sunshine and creativity abounds. Can you feel it Ernie? Love you man.

Carol said...

Happy Birthday, Ernie! Are you an Aries? (Just Kidding) Have a great birthday!

Blog hugs!

Robin Shelley said...

Happy birthday, Ernie!
Nine months til Christmas!

Robin Shelley said...

P.S. I'm sure you do remember the song Bunny referred to... so tell her the girl cried at her party because her boyfriend left her NOT because it was her birthday - LOL!

Anonymous said...

a very happy birthday Ernie!!!!
you deserve the best!

spyrock said...

have a wonderful birthday earnie, you've earned it. my sister was an aries. april 9, 1944, beautiful green eyes and lots of curls. she looked like her dad and he had jet black hair. only thing was that she was tall, she was the biggest person in her class in 8th grade. hard for her to get a date. she used to break brushes on my head and had quite a temper. she died of smoking the white man's weed, cigarretes, back in 93. the price we paid for mixing into wyatt earps blood, even if it was just indirect. doves husband mike was also an aries. about the same age. he was a navy seal in nam. went back for a 2nd tour. was on the board of the world business academy when he died in a boating accident on the delta the same day my ex prada told me she wanted a divorce, mothers day 2002. in other words, life is short.
have a good one. i would hope you could see some flying pink elephants for suzes sake but we all know that they would probably be flying pink pigs in your laboratory.

Anonymous said...

that ghost dance post is pretty good but i wanna know what your birthday consisted of...what was the favorite food du birthjour?
how did it go with the candles?

Joel Mielke said...

"It must be nice to go through life thinking that everything is preordained..."

It sounds so depressing, but predestination is the essence of Calvinism. I don't know why anyone would be attracted to the theology of that unhappy, finger-wagging wet blanket John Calvin.