Topic started by Karthi on Wed Aug 11 12:26:27 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

(Re-posted from TFMPAGE.COM)

Topic started by karthi (@ 1cust165.tnt1.rantoul.il.da.uu.net) on Wed Aug 11 10:45:05 EDT 1999.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Have you heard of this Solar Eclipse which started yesterday and continues onto today? It seems it's an astronomical wonder in many many years in that the sun, eclipsed by the moon, forms the top corner of a diamond, whose other corners are occupied by mars, uranus and saturn respectively anti-clockwise. This is called the cosmic cross and it's believed to bring a lot of changes in good faith to this earth and mankind! There's an interesting astrological site called stars.metawire.com which is dealing this lately in depth. It also gives promising daily and
weekly forecasts - especially the daily forecasts are worth reading - sometimes they reflect exactly what you think! I check it almost daily!
This time when you go to the daily forecast page, click on the top to see the effect of this cosmic cross on your zodiac.

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Wed Aug 18 11:52:03
  
  ravi,
  
  your comment about pvjaiyyar and kansas was good :-) when i wrote "Such psuedoscientist/pseudoscience always has a purpose", i meant every cult, from the atlantists/lemurians to aiyyars/aiyengkArs kkk/panthers to military 18(?). some of them might seem innocuous and others very dangerous but they all have the same motive - racial superiority.
  
  
  
• From: Mani (@ pc-242-57.corp.3com.com) on: Wed Aug 18 16:28:29
  
  Ravi
  
  I resent your smug put down. That was an unfortunate remark and uncalled for. It is a fact of human history that in the last 7000 years several urban civilizations rose to dizzying heights and vanished, quite periodically. Scientists are seriously considering the possibility of minor global climatic changes caused by meteorites or other environmental damage caused by the civilizations themselves. What may appear to be meaningless rituals may be just cultural and racial memories of something important. And just because, today, we cannot explain them does not mean that the ancient people who practiced them were fools or charlatans. After all, western science used to laugh at Yoga and traditional medicine not too long ago. And there are lots of "dangerous" things in Western Science and medicine that thrive despite the pretense of "rational" mind.
  
  
• From: ravi SUNdaram (@ 192.149.1.168) on: Thu Aug 19 15:29:38
  
  Mani I am sorry if I have offended you. The remark about not being grown up was directed at the JDIyer, the sastry who wrote the preface, the vice changellor, the black supremacist prof, kansas educ board and the likes. I should have been careful with my wording and made sure there was no misunderstanding. my apologies.
  
  Your statement, "Just because one does not understand the significance and usefulness of a ritual does not mean it has none. It should not be ridiculed just because we dont understand it" is a very reasonable one. Infact I would go a step further and say whether or not it has usefulness, relevance, understandability, as long as it is not obviously harmful, there can be no objections to any ritual.
  
  So by all means let us stay up all night on siva rathri or viakunda Ekaathasi and play snakes and ladders. Sun worship, eating ahaththi keerai on ekaathasi etc seem to do more good than harm.
  
  But we can not extend the statement to say, "Every ritual which one does not understand has a deep significance and meaning".
  
  Again, whether or not we can understand or explain the basis for the rituals, we cant call the ancients fools or charletans. They did the best one could do in their framework and circumstances. I said what is said in Vedas qualifies for the word "science". Pseudo science is saying "one can solve particle physics problems using vedas".
  
  
• From: Mani (@ pc-242-57.corp.3com.com) on: Thu Aug 19 16:51:54
  
  Ravi,
  
  I was offended by the apparent comparison to Eric von Daniken and not the other opinions. It is Mr. von Daniken who I consider to be a classic charlatan.
  
  I agree with you about the pseudo-science aspects of modern explanations and I have pointed out such efforts in other fora. However, all ancestral rituals have significance and meaning to me primarily as historical markers and secondarily in enabling me to understand my culture.
  
  An unbroken chain of cultural practices has power to unite. It also has the power to enslave and demean. Thus, while I accept and subscribe to the practice of wearing the sacred ash and sacred kungumam, I puzzle over the shameful practice of untouchability and caste hierarchy. I also believe that unless you understand the culture that generated these beliefs, it is impossible to eradicate evil practices.
  
  
• From: ravi SUNdaram (@ 192.149.1.168) on: Fri Aug 20 08:15:41
  
  Sorry about Eric von Daniken too, I tried putting in a smiley, but should have been more careful.
  
  BTW It is a long time since I talked to someone who knew about Eric von Daniken. I am glad I found this site
  
  
• From: JayBee (@ sp-69-56.tm.net.my) on: Thu Sep 2 08:10:25
  
  How does one categorise whether such and such custom is true and good and such and such is false and hence bad?
  
  
• From: Karthi (@ 1cust42.tnt1.providence.ri.da.uu.net) on: Sat Jun 9 18:53:50
  
  JayBee, is that an exclamation or are you really eager to know it???
  
  
• From: shard (@ lan-202-144-125-38.maa.sify.net) on: Mon Jun 11 06:30:42
  
  I wake up every morning and I go through the two papers I subscribe to. Just before I leave for work i look at the astrological prediction for the day...I don't believe in it, but it has a psychological significance. If my horoscope says it is going to be a bad day ('...you may meet with an accident'), I tend to be careful, drive more carefully etc. If it says it's going to be a good day, it sort of perks up my spirits. That's it. It's like my daily dose of cartoon strips.
  As for astrology as a serious science...I have very strong doubts. Yes it is true that global events have occurred in cycles, but that can be attributed to wehter conditions (drought and floods and the following sufferring have contributed to destroying civilizations more than disease). Rule of thumb, any kingdom can grow only so much beyond that it crosses the critical border for sustenance and crumbles (decadence, bad infrastructure etc)...it's all basic economics, not the influence of Mars on the house of scorpio or whatever.
  I guess those of us who believe that astrology cannot be considered a science need to frame our rhetoric more compulsively than brushing aside opposing ideas as mere products of superstition. It becomes all the more important when the government is trying to push the study of astrology into university syllabi. For years now, the aim of education has been to suppress superstition, this move may reverse the process. True, there may be a few people who will treat astrology as a science, there are a whole bunch of people who will go whole hog to use it to con gullible people.
  As for Von Dainiken, don't be too harsh on the man. He wrote a few books which were bought voluntarily and read with avid interest. He merely put forward his views and it was up to us to accept it or not. Admit it...quite a few of us were taken in by his arguments. But he didn't start a religion or cult or anything. I personally still find his books entertaining and rather informative in a round-about way...my wife on the other hand swears by him. That pyramids were built by aliens was merely an opinion that he had. He published, we bought...end of story.
  
  
• From: nora (@ ) on: Fri Nov 7 04:23:27
  
  kindly provide details of the eclipse taking place tomorrow i.e 8-11-03
  
  
• From: nora (@ 61.1.75.82) on: Fri Nov 7 04:26:27 EST 2003
  
  reply
  
  

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