My Take on Astrology

Hey guys, Christen here. This week on the podcast we dove into the topic of astrology.  Well, I guess you could say we cannonballed into it. I know that the three of us,  Amber, Cindy and I, really enjoy discussing topics like astrology, numerology, tarot, crystals, and spiritualism. There are so many topics that I know we want to discuss, and during the podcast we  sometimes barely scratch the surface. 

Observing  the Earth’s position with regards to the sun, stars and moon has been a practice for thousands of years. Only in the last few centuries has that science diverged into astronomy, leaving astrology in the dust. Many consider astrology to be a pseudoscience.  There was a strong pull away from astrology when scientists argued that it could not be proven by fact. Ultimately, once we were able to prove that the earth revolves around the sun, the two “sciences” split ways, and astrology became the scientific fact, and anything else is considered pseudoscience and parapsychology. So Capernicus, the leading mathematician and astronomer of his day, decided that he would follow astrological phenomena, and not astrology, and boom, astrology is “fake news”. He was a Pisces (just saying), and he studied at the University of Bologna - no joke! The shift actually happened over a longer period of time, but astronomy phased in and astrology phased out. But astrology has never died. Over the past 200 years, there has been a new wave of interest in the occult, esoteric topics, and parapsychology. In the 1840’s with spiritualism, and in the 1970’s with the New Age movement, many of the beliefs within astrology have seen a resurgence and are still followed today.

Even so, I will sometimes swap out the words astrology and astronomy by mistake. I have always enjoyed the study of outer space and the ideas of the beyond pertaining to astronomy, the study of space and the universe, but astrology is a topic that has piqued my interests far beyond the facts and figures of astronomy. I was drawn to it at a young age. I know we have mentioned that my mom used to have some books by Linda Goodman, Sun Signs and Love Signs , that went into detail about each zodiac personality type. I discovered those books and was hooked. 

When I got older, I bought a book for myself that I highly recommend called The Secret Language of Birthdays: Your Complete Personology Guide for Each Day of the Year by Goldschneider and Joost. This book features a two-page, in-depth personality report for each day of the year. I have lugged this book from home to home, and it was always a favorite when guests came over. I could almost guarantee that someone would open it and take a look. I often would crack it open myself if I met a new person and happened to know their birthdate. It was an easy way to “get to know'' someone without having to be too nosey.

I will admit though that using the book, or any horoscope, zodiac website, or book to discern a person’s characteristics is not the best way to get to know someone. In reality, it can create a biased opinion of someone, and cause you to inadvertently treat them differently than you would if you had met them and learned about them organically. It is like knowing the future or a possible future outcome, and making different choices based on something that might or might not happen in reality. For example, I know that people born under the Cancer sign are prone to be temperamental according to many personality trait sources, however one Cancer in my life that I am very close to is probably one of the most level-headed people that I know; I actually admire her for it. Had I read that she was temperamental, I probably would have avoided her, and missed out on an opportunity to build the relationship that I have with her today. I know another Cancer, and love-her-to-death, she has a volatile personality that is easily triggered. Cool as a cucumber and volcanic emotions are far from similar, yet they both have the same astrological sign. I have to consider Nature vs. Nurture and wonder how their environment and raising come into play. But I digress... astrology is a tool, and just like a hammer, you can build things, and you can smash things, so use the tool wisely.

Another tool that interests me is Witches’ Almanacs. I have never purchased one, but I am thinking of getting one this year. Very soon actually. The LLewellyn’s 2023 Magical Almanac should be available here in July, from my favorite publishing company, Llewellyn. This almanac, like the Farmer's Almanac, gives the reader guidance based on the sun, moon, and stars, but from a metaphysical approach. If any of this interests you, I recommend checking it out. I have used the internet to pull dates and put them into my own day planner in the past, so I look forward to adding this to my planning rituals. 

I will be sure to follow up once I get one and look forward to sharing it with our readers. I would love for you to share as well. We love to carry the conversation over to our MMC chat group on Facebook. I hope that you enjoy listening to our podcasts as well, if you are not listening, then you are missing out on part of the conversation. Be sure to click on the Listen link at the top of this page or find us on Apple Music or wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a YouTube channel where you can listen to the podcast or watch an instructional video.

Hocus Pocus or Bogus... You Decide

Hi everyone, Christen here. Earlier this week on the blog and yesterday on the podcast we discussed bargain shopping where we touched on common household items and quality vs price. I wanted to chat about something a little different today. I'm still discussing shopping, but I want to dive a little deeper.

I was at a holistic-wellness fair over the past weekend, which showcased many booths offering crystals, lotions, art, oracle cards, and jewelry. I noticed that many vendors are offering items made from resin too. Resin is a versatile material, it comes in a clear liquid state and can be poured into molds to create an innumerable amount of goods in varying shapes and colors. The neat thing about it is that you can put things in it, like glitter, color, charms, and even printed images. After many hours, the resin sets into a hard plastic. I have seen resin items cropping up in the metaphysical shops around town, too. Sometimes they are in the form of a “polished stone” but most of the items I have noticed were in a pyramid shape, typically two to three inches in height. I always wondered how and why those stores were “getting away” with selling resin and hoped that buyers were aware that they were paying for plastic-like material, albeit very beautiful. I hope that people are not buying them thinking they are actual stones or crystals! I wanted to know more about these pyramids I kept seeing everywhere! 

I will admit I almost bought one when I was at the fair; it really spoke to the sci-fi girl in me. The resin pyramid had a base of small crystals and suspended in the middle was a perfectly polished crystal or mineral, that looked like a planet hovering over a disc with a metallic or engraved Metatron's Cube. It was very beautiful, but I knew it was resin, and I did not know what the purpose was, so as I had done in the past, I moved on to look at other products. Later in the day though, I came to yet another booth with these pyramids for sale. This vendor actually took a moment to explain what it was! She asked if I had heard of Orgonite. I explained that I had seen the pyramids, but had no clue!
She informed me that Orgonite is a special substance of organic material (the resin is supposed to be organic) that is combined with metals and crystals. The combination creates a tower that “attracts negative energies”. So the curiosity in me has not put this subject down ever since. I wanted to know who coined the term “Orgonite”, and what the scientific evidence was behind it. Keep in mind, I took geology in college, and never heard of Orgonite, so I was already looking at this lady with one eyebrow raised in disbelief. I am a believer in many things that are unseen by the eye, but I am not a blind believer; I need more facts. My findings so far have been all over the place, so I will just bullet point it out rather than regurgitate word for word what I have researched so far.

• Orgone is labeled as pseudoscience and fringe medicine and science (according to Wikipedia).
• It is a term created by Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian Psychoanalysis from the 1930’s
• Orgone is esoteric energy, life energy, spiritual energy; it can be more commonly called Chi/Qi, vibe, vibration, aura, light, or simply just energy, to name a few.
• Wilhelm Reich created an Orgone Accumulator that was a large wooden box which had specific layers to it. The subject would sit inside and the energy around and within would (in theory) be transmuted.
• Orgonite reportedly absorbs negative Orgone energy flow (DOR - Deadly Orgone Radiation) and transmutes it into POR (Positive Orgone) and releases it back into the atmosphere.
• DOR is said to be harmful to your mind and body.
• Resin is an electrical insulation material - remember I said it was versatile!
• Resin is not plastic, although it is similar, it can actually be made from vegetable oils. Here is a cool site where you can get all your questions answered about resin. 
• The resin pyramids are called Orgonite or Orgone Accumulators because they follow the same principle as Wilhelm Reich’s original Orgone Accumulator.
• According to some, a proper Orgonite, or Orgone Accumulator will have a resin outer shell, a quartz stone, metal shavings and/or a metal coil. These parts aid the mechanics of the device.

So what did I learn? I learned a lot about resin, that's for sure, I legit thought it was plastic! I also learned that there is a whole subtopic within holistic health that I did not know was even there. Let's call it a can of worms that I opened, which I now cannot shut. I will continue my research into Orgonite, as I am intrigued. The more I read about the concept, the research that has been done, and the theories behind them, the more interested I am. I believe that there is a lot in our world that is yet to be seen, and although I am skeptical, I am also open to the possibilities. I believe in the human aura, and always have, and I am also a firm believer that what you believe in is your reality. So if you believe that the Orgonite pyramid is cleansing the energy around you, then by all means it must be. What’s to say that it isn’t, it is only considered pseudoscience now because no one has been able to actually provide strong evidence either way. We all know that trees convert carbon dioxide, even though we cannot see the process happening. I‘m not against owning an Orgonite pyramid now. Actually, I am more inclined to purchase one now that I have done some research. I mean, what’s the harm in trying it, right? I was actually just thinking that it would be nice to have one on my desk.

I keep the motto “Quality over Quantity” in my foremind when it comes to shopping for my altar or my homeopathic and holistic uses. The main reason is that unnatural substances are not as powerful, or do not have the same effect, and of course, I also appreciate the hand crafted aspect of things, especially when it comes to metaphysical products. I could go on about sourcing, ethics etc., but let's circle back to that another time. To ensure that you are buying something hand-crafted I encourage you to ask the vendors where they acquire their products and materials. Ask if their products are hand crafted, manufactured etc., and if they are handcrafted, who made them. Oftentimes, vendors at booth fairs fall into one of the two categories: artisans selling their hand crafted items, and stores, who are selling their stock of mass produced items and consignment all mixed together.

I might be over generalizing on many things, and if I glazed over something or misinterpreted the science, I apologize. This was a lot to wrap my mind around. If I mentioned something incorrectly, please let me know in the comments! I would love to know if you have used or own an Orgonite product and what you believe! Do you think it is Hocus Pocus or Bogus?