The sky could tell stories, it held omens. It foretold conditions and told the world's first poems.
Since prehistoric times, humankind has attempted to fathom its earthly experience. The sky predicted weather conditions, which in turn affected travel, migration, hunting, and agriculture. Daylight and darkness were measured by the rise and fall of those two majestic objects, the Sun and the Moon. The ancients used the sky as their blueprint for action. Observations were made regarding how Mother Nature mirrored events in the heavens. Father Time sure bagged a beauty, didn't he? Shellfish activity and the rhythms of the tides coincided with phases of the moon. (Apparently so do women's menstrual cycles) Seafaring peoples, lacking compasses, used the North Star and other constellations for navigation. Egyptians repeatedly observed that the Nile flooded every time the star Sirius rose with the Sun. The clockwork - turn it around like clockwork - that the ancients observed in the sky shaped and defined their annual calendars. No mistakes - no leap years - no daylight savings. Those are new school 46 BC Julius Caesar glitches. Et tu Brute? Bottom line: The time-honored system of celestial phenomenon worked.

But how did it work? What was the direct correlation between earth and sky? It is no secret that certain predictions made from horoscopes can be explained logically and tested scientifically. But this very notion is too often dissed and dismissed. I get disappointed because theories get left in the distance. Disturbed, because it's clear the earth and stars are related, but any mention gets no attention, thoughts get discombobulated. Either way - the science of astrology is no stranger to intolerant criticism and has been often considered a laughing matter. Propose any theory about astrology and people assume you are mad. Percy Seymour, world-renown astro-physicist, put his theory of astrology on record. "It is plain and simple...astrology is not mystical or magical but magnetic. It can be explained by the tumultuous activity of the sun, churned to a lather by the motions of the planets, borne earthward on the solar wind, and perceived by us via the earth's magnetic field while we grow inside our mother's wombs." Lather, Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Simple, right? Maybe not so simple, but give it a thought. Percy put it on wax. What if Kanye did a remix - would you hear it then? Goooood! Anyway, read it over - compare the knowledge, connect the facts. Get it, got it? Or is it already forgotten?

ASTROLOGICAL EMPIRES AND WATERPROOF SOULS: JANTAR MANTAR
(pronounced Jun-thur Mun-thur)
Right thurrr! The Jantar Mantars in India are six major observatories built by the Maharajah in the early 1700s. The one in Jaipur ('Pink City') Rajasthan not only follows the movements of the sun and the moon to help determine auspicious dates for events, it also helps map out the position of the stars in the sky. The cost alone of building just one of these observatories shows the importance placed on the study of the stars in ancient India. Later the astrological movement was encapsulated by the British, but the inspiration lives on. Initially both astrology and astronomy were reasons to build these structures. Unlike the "West", Astrology did not become pseudo-science as Astronomy became more factual and experimental. Instead, both were considered an integral part of society. Imagine that! It was the position of stars that led to choosing appropriate mates for the youth, arranging their marriages, and the same positions that governed the names of newborns. History teachers were fortune tellers. Priests and scientists were one in the same.

BASICALLY…

Until articles are published in respected journals that validate or invalidate astrological principles, the question of astrology's status as a science is undetermined. BUT! Anyone who reads the work of researchers - old and new (i.e. Aryabhatta, John Nelson, Mark Urban-Lurraine, Ann Parker, Ray Merriman, and Seymour) will be impressed and enlightened by the findings. There is validity and unquestioned value to astrology. Through astrology one can begin to see and understand the pattern of chaos within life, identify the inner-drive and meaning behind behavior, and can really appreciate and respect, not just intellectually understand, existence and people in a way that is difficult to achieve with other tools. (like a Young Jeezy mixtape or Coo Coo Cal's greatest hits album)

The sunlight raised me. BrownskinZ Productions. You need it. We need it.