It's telling that the majority of comments here are obviously from people who didn't read the f-ing interview, where Woodruff states clearly that astrology is not a science, it's an art form that involves one's imagination with the larger cycles that define our day-to-day reality on earth.
The movements of the sun and the moon, the four seasons, all of our holidays, all of the names that demarcate the days of the week are part and parcel of the same ancient astrological origins. So you might deride astrology but you live, move and have your being within it 24/7.
There's a cogent quote from Camille Paglia on Woodruff's site and I'm gonna leave it here as she parses out succinctly the entire puzzle of rationality, ignorance, art, divination and astrology:
“People who dismiss astrology do so out of either ignorance or rationalism. Rationalists have their place, but their limited assumptions and methods must be kept out of the arts. Interpretation of poem, dream or person requires intuition and divination, not science.”
I do disagree with Woodruff on Astrology being wholly an art form. I have been an Astrologer for 60 years. Astrology, in my opinion, is similar to Psychology in being both art and science. Of course you are correct in how much of an influence Astrology is on our lives, whether or not we believe in it. It was our first science and our first religion. Should we tell them that Christmas is a celebration of the Winter Solstice, the (re)birth of the Sun, not the birth of the son, or let them continue to believe the mythology rather than the facts?
I'm surprized at all the negative comments here, something I haven't seen much on Substack. Astrology is "anti-science" when Mr. Woodruff clearly states that it's an art, not science? Also, there's nothing "absolutely true" about science; f.e. Descartes declared that animals can't feel, not pain, not joy, not sorrow. Because they don't have a soul and therefore are nothing but machines. This "scientific truth" has changed considerably, although there are still some scientists who don't have a problem with Descartes's view. Read Thomas Kuhn: "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" and paradigm shifts.
It’s so interesting and disappointing to see so much negativity here on Substack!
Like you said, he mentioned it’s an art, not a science.
Confirmation bias is coming in hot here: when we (I’ve done the same if I don’t catch myself) hear one word or phrase we don’t like we shut down to anything else from that source that DARES take away from our echo chamber of beliefs and personal lens.
The places people ran with this article is very interesting to see and witness of the human experience and mind and how we can interpret things.
Just sad to see here on Substack, but again interesting nonetheless.
You're so right about this personal lens: it's like a self-inflicted prison. It shuts out so much of the world and seriously limits our experience. And that doesn't mean one has to "believe" in astrology; just keep an OPEN mind.
An open mind and just be respectful! But I think the reason some people went on attack was because they didn't read it as someone loving this self-expression. They immediately played out their internal narrative and didn't truly see the reality of what was being said.
YOU'RE so right about the self-inflicted prison! Self-awareness is so important!
It's so cool of substack to feature an astrologer who uses Jungian archetypes and next-level psychology in his readings. I've read Woodruff for a long time now. The wit, the smarts, the art references. I suppose whenever you do something different, shine a new light on an old subject, all the trolls come out to tell you how they would do it differently. Of course, the trolls' whole trip is to complain as they are unable to create.
I need only repeat what Susan Sontag said when Pop Art was causing hysterics, dismissed as unserious or, by the real idiots, as anti-American. Sontag said:
"The only valid criticism of a work of art is another work of art. "
FYI, my interview with SS’s editors was conducted way before the ’badge’ hoopla.
Prior to the new badge feature being implemented I had SS’s engineers remove the code from my landing page that touted my paid subscribers count as it felt like bragging to me.
Lunatics attempting to explain the houserules for the inmates. Forecasting anything using the infinite complexity of the layout of our entire universe of universes, is an ethereal dream/scam. Nice gig if you can get it - hope they don't have to pay by the hour. Bye-bye Substack.
I think there's truth in everything including the Bible. However, the men who wrote the Bible claiming worship of a jealous controlling god didn't like competition.. They never do. Have you read Lost Book of Enki? Supposedly written thousands of years before the bible, it reads like Genesis as written by Captain Kirk.
I've read the entire bible, old and new testament. Mostly about violence, murder, revenge. And then of course there's the millions of women (and some men) the catholic church burned at the stake as witches who were actually in competition with men who had decided to create a male monopoly on health care. Comparing that to the number of christians the witches burned at the stake, I think i'd just a soon put my trust in the witches.
Be very interesting to ask FW to have a look at the I Ching.
As a divination tool the I Ching does actually tap into one's own subconscious directly.
I understand his use of computers to draw charts.
The electronic I Chings are useless. As a major facet & important part of the process, requires the seeker to handle the sticks that will make up the hexagrams.
Thanks Frederick, just trying to understand how this works. My first wife was a Tarot reader... still is I imagine, from that cool pool of IS'ness where she lives now. Got stuff to do right now but I think you must be on my list now...
You can call me double 00Fuzz... or Fuzz for short.
Well, if anyone would like any life advice based on the wisdom found in movies, which includes ancient wisdom as well as modern understanding, "moviewise: Life Lessons From Movies" is here:
Really? I'm surprised that Substack would highlight anti-science superstition that increases the sum total of ignorance in the world. But that's the way of the world these days, I guess.
Personally I like reading the entrails of a goat or the casting of the bones but to get the best results, you have to smear bear grease all over your naked body and be in a clearing in the forest with a small stone altar and a full moon while standing on one foot and whistling "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window".
Somehow this showed up in my email. I read it and thought, "Oh goody a BBS for the superstitious." What a hoot, a bunch of the gullible, sitting around in the lotus position, holding crystals, chanting some goofy mantra and actually thinking all of this hooey works.
Oh wow! You must be a serious student of Astrology to have discerned from your intense studies that it's all superstititon. Certainly you wouldn''t be judging a subject about which you yourself are completely ignorant. As Isaac Newton, also an astrologer commented to a non-believer "I have studied the subject sir, you have not". It's always okay to decide what does and doesn't make sense to you. It is never okay to pass judgement on a subject about which you know nothing.
Newton was a genius but he was also a product of his time where people believed that your blood flowed with the tide.
I would no more study astrology than I would witchcraft which has been around as long as astrology. Does longevity make witchcraft valid?
If it is so accurate, how come Hitler's astrologer couldn't discern that Germany would fall to the allies? How come psychics and astrologers can't predict the winning lottery numbers?
Bleeding and leeches were around for hundreds of years and how did that work out? Just because a lie, superstition, is old doesn't mean it's not a lie.
Gazing at the stars goes back thousands of years. The Egyptians had astrologers, the Chaldeans had astrologers as did the Greek, the Romans and the Indians in India. All systems were different so which was valid and why?
Some had major differences. Does making them old make them valid? Which system is the real, the correct system? Who made up the rules and stories? Is western astrology more valid than Indian? If so, why?
Western astrology was made up by people that thought the sun was carried across the sky in a chariot. That myth is very old. Does that make it valid? It seems to me that the myths behind astrology are as valid as the myth of Apollo.
The age of astrology is not an argument for its predictive accuracy. For centuries, people believed that mice were produced spontaneously in mounds of hay.
I'd be delighted to be shown that astrology has ever produced accurate predictions. (Actual evidence--not fanciful nonsense.) I'd also be delighted to be shown exactly how the location of the planets influences human behavior. Of course, no such evidence exists, and it never will.
I honestly don't know what you mean by "data scientist." I know that science--the disinterested pursuit of knowledge through falsifiable, objective, and self-correcting methodologies (the very opposite of the superstitious nonsense you would like to peddle)-- is the antithesis of astrology. Ever has it been, ever will it be.
So can I assume your opinion is based on your study of the subject? I don't believe in Germ Theory but my decision is based on a number of books I've read about it and openness to the possibility that I could be wrong.
I am an American living in Lithuania near Ukraine.
We help Ukrainian refugees fleeing from Russian Terrorists. We have Ukrainian volunteers who risk their lives bringing food and supplies to the innocent civilian population. We care we share. I simply publish firsthand accounts of the Ukrainian people's stories of what it is like to be the target of Putin's Terrorist war on the people. I will have a new post this week. I was visiting my family in the US the last 2 months.
It's telling that the majority of comments here are obviously from people who didn't read the f-ing interview, where Woodruff states clearly that astrology is not a science, it's an art form that involves one's imagination with the larger cycles that define our day-to-day reality on earth.
The movements of the sun and the moon, the four seasons, all of our holidays, all of the names that demarcate the days of the week are part and parcel of the same ancient astrological origins. So you might deride astrology but you live, move and have your being within it 24/7.
There's a cogent quote from Camille Paglia on Woodruff's site and I'm gonna leave it here as she parses out succinctly the entire puzzle of rationality, ignorance, art, divination and astrology:
“People who dismiss astrology do so out of either ignorance or rationalism. Rationalists have their place, but their limited assumptions and methods must be kept out of the arts. Interpretation of poem, dream or person requires intuition and divination, not science.”
I do disagree with Woodruff on Astrology being wholly an art form. I have been an Astrologer for 60 years. Astrology, in my opinion, is similar to Psychology in being both art and science. Of course you are correct in how much of an influence Astrology is on our lives, whether or not we believe in it. It was our first science and our first religion. Should we tell them that Christmas is a celebration of the Winter Solstice, the (re)birth of the Sun, not the birth of the son, or let them continue to believe the mythology rather than the facts?
Or how about that Easter is determined by the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox?
I'm surprized at all the negative comments here, something I haven't seen much on Substack. Astrology is "anti-science" when Mr. Woodruff clearly states that it's an art, not science? Also, there's nothing "absolutely true" about science; f.e. Descartes declared that animals can't feel, not pain, not joy, not sorrow. Because they don't have a soul and therefore are nothing but machines. This "scientific truth" has changed considerably, although there are still some scientists who don't have a problem with Descartes's view. Read Thomas Kuhn: "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" and paradigm shifts.
It’s so interesting and disappointing to see so much negativity here on Substack!
Like you said, he mentioned it’s an art, not a science.
Confirmation bias is coming in hot here: when we (I’ve done the same if I don’t catch myself) hear one word or phrase we don’t like we shut down to anything else from that source that DARES take away from our echo chamber of beliefs and personal lens.
The places people ran with this article is very interesting to see and witness of the human experience and mind and how we can interpret things.
Just sad to see here on Substack, but again interesting nonetheless.
You're so right about this personal lens: it's like a self-inflicted prison. It shuts out so much of the world and seriously limits our experience. And that doesn't mean one has to "believe" in astrology; just keep an OPEN mind.
An open mind and just be respectful! But I think the reason some people went on attack was because they didn't read it as someone loving this self-expression. They immediately played out their internal narrative and didn't truly see the reality of what was being said.
YOU'RE so right about the self-inflicted prison! Self-awareness is so important!
What a breath of fresh air this interview is!
It's so cool of substack to feature an astrologer who uses Jungian archetypes and next-level psychology in his readings. I've read Woodruff for a long time now. The wit, the smarts, the art references. I suppose whenever you do something different, shine a new light on an old subject, all the trolls come out to tell you how they would do it differently. Of course, the trolls' whole trip is to complain as they are unable to create.
I need only repeat what Susan Sontag said when Pop Art was causing hysterics, dismissed as unserious or, by the real idiots, as anti-American. Sontag said:
"The only valid criticism of a work of art is another work of art. "
this guy was the guy complaining loudest about the new verification badges
I guess you complain loudly enough and they will feature you out of pity
FYI, my interview with SS’s editors was conducted way before the ’badge’ hoopla.
Prior to the new badge feature being implemented I had SS’s engineers remove the code from my landing page that touted my paid subscribers count as it felt like bragging to me.
Victimhood mentality is profitable.
Lunatics attempting to explain the houserules for the inmates. Forecasting anything using the infinite complexity of the layout of our entire universe of universes, is an ethereal dream/scam. Nice gig if you can get it - hope they don't have to pay by the hour. Bye-bye Substack.
Don't leave! It gets better! I am looking forward to reading more posts from the deluded.
I would appreciate that you totally ignore me and my life. Thank you.
Astrology is actually witchcraft. (Not astronomy; ASTROLOGY.-don't confuse the two) The Bible warns us very clearly to steer clear. 💥💥💥💥
Do we really need more deception? 🤦♀️
This is a factual lie. Read history. Not fantasy (bible).
I think there's truth in everything including the Bible. However, the men who wrote the Bible claiming worship of a jealous controlling god didn't like competition.. They never do. Have you read Lost Book of Enki? Supposedly written thousands of years before the bible, it reads like Genesis as written by Captain Kirk.
I've read the entire bible, old and new testament. Mostly about violence, murder, revenge. And then of course there's the millions of women (and some men) the catholic church burned at the stake as witches who were actually in competition with men who had decided to create a male monopoly on health care. Comparing that to the number of christians the witches burned at the stake, I think i'd just a soon put my trust in the witches.
You should consider getting a paper route, and learn to earn a living like the big boys who wear long pants.
You made me laugh.
Thank you for this post.
Be very interesting to ask FW to have a look at the I Ching.
As a divination tool the I Ching does actually tap into one's own subconscious directly.
I understand his use of computers to draw charts.
The electronic I Chings are useless. As a major facet & important part of the process, requires the seeker to handle the sticks that will make up the hexagrams.
Thanks Frederick, just trying to understand how this works. My first wife was a Tarot reader... still is I imagine, from that cool pool of IS'ness where she lives now. Got stuff to do right now but I think you must be on my list now...
You can call me double 00Fuzz... or Fuzz for short.
Well, if anyone would like any life advice based on the wisdom found in movies, which includes ancient wisdom as well as modern understanding, "moviewise: Life Lessons From Movies" is here:
https://moviewise.substack.com/p/movie-advice-column
Really? I'm surprised that Substack would highlight anti-science superstition that increases the sum total of ignorance in the world. But that's the way of the world these days, I guess.
Personally I like reading the entrails of a goat or the casting of the bones but to get the best results, you have to smear bear grease all over your naked body and be in a clearing in the forest with a small stone altar and a full moon while standing on one foot and whistling "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window".
You made me laugh.
About as effective as pseudo science like astrology.
So out of all the newsletters you could be reading on Substack, why would you choose to read one on a subject you apparently hold in contempt?
Somehow this showed up in my email. I read it and thought, "Oh goody a BBS for the superstitious." What a hoot, a bunch of the gullible, sitting around in the lotus position, holding crystals, chanting some goofy mantra and actually thinking all of this hooey works.
You are kidding. Right?
Oh wow! You must be a serious student of Astrology to have discerned from your intense studies that it's all superstititon. Certainly you wouldn''t be judging a subject about which you yourself are completely ignorant. As Isaac Newton, also an astrologer commented to a non-believer "I have studied the subject sir, you have not". It's always okay to decide what does and doesn't make sense to you. It is never okay to pass judgement on a subject about which you know nothing.
Newton was a genius but he was also a product of his time where people believed that your blood flowed with the tide.
I would no more study astrology than I would witchcraft which has been around as long as astrology. Does longevity make witchcraft valid?
If it is so accurate, how come Hitler's astrologer couldn't discern that Germany would fall to the allies? How come psychics and astrologers can't predict the winning lottery numbers?
I eagerly await your mystical excuses.
Hitler's top advisor was an astrologer. Churchill's top advisor was a scientist. The proof is in the pudding.
If it does not equal causation, what does it show?
It shows me that Churchill was an educate pragmatist and Hitler was a nut.
Bleeding and leeches were around for hundreds of years and how did that work out? Just because a lie, superstition, is old doesn't mean it's not a lie.
Gazing at the stars goes back thousands of years. The Egyptians had astrologers, the Chaldeans had astrologers as did the Greek, the Romans and the Indians in India. All systems were different so which was valid and why?
Some had major differences. Does making them old make them valid? Which system is the real, the correct system? Who made up the rules and stories? Is western astrology more valid than Indian? If so, why?
Western astrology was made up by people that thought the sun was carried across the sky in a chariot. That myth is very old. Does that make it valid? It seems to me that the myths behind astrology are as valid as the myth of Apollo.
Prove me wrong.
You're the one claiming astrology is real. Enlighten me.
The age of astrology is not an argument for its predictive accuracy. For centuries, people believed that mice were produced spontaneously in mounds of hay.
I'd be delighted to be shown that astrology has ever produced accurate predictions. (Actual evidence--not fanciful nonsense.) I'd also be delighted to be shown exactly how the location of the planets influences human behavior. Of course, no such evidence exists, and it never will.
I honestly don't know what you mean by "data scientist." I know that science--the disinterested pursuit of knowledge through falsifiable, objective, and self-correcting methodologies (the very opposite of the superstitious nonsense you would like to peddle)-- is the antithesis of astrology. Ever has it been, ever will it be.
Fair enough, Eric. I don’t agree that qualifies as evidence but I appreciate your thoughtfulness.
I also agree that data scientists and the algorithms they design do little in the way of prediction as well.
I suspect we would have a civil conversation in person; too few of those however you slice it.
Eschew the woo.
I eschew obfuscation.
So can I assume your opinion is based on your study of the subject? I don't believe in Germ Theory but my decision is based on a number of books I've read about it and openness to the possibility that I could be wrong.
You'll see......everyone will.
How can I respond to some of his questions?
I am an American living in Lithuania near Ukraine.
We help Ukrainian refugees fleeing from Russian Terrorists. We have Ukrainian volunteers who risk their lives bringing food and supplies to the innocent civilian population. We care we share. I simply publish firsthand accounts of the Ukrainian people's stories of what it is like to be the target of Putin's Terrorist war on the people. I will have a new post this week. I was visiting my family in the US the last 2 months.