The Column and the Astrological Magazines

At this point, it may be pertinent to characterize briefly the difference between the column and astrological magazines such as Forecast, Astrology Guide, American Astrology, World Astrology, True Astrology, Everyday Astrology and other publications of the »pulp« type. While no systematic study of this material could so far be undertaken, it has been perused to a sufficient degree to allow a comparison with the Los Angeles Times column which contributes toward an understanding of the latter's proper setting. There are numerous shades in the magazine material ranging from very harmless, though utterly primitive, publications such as World Astrology, to wilder ones such as True Astrology or Everyday Astrology to paranoid ones such as American Astrology. No degree of secondary occultism has been forgotten. Our observations, however, seem valid for all these magazines on the basis of a cursory comparison.

It goes without saying that such magazines directed at a nucleus of astrological followers rather than at the public at large contain more »technical« astrological material and try to impress the readers both with »esoteric« knowledge and with »scientific« elaborateness. Terms such as »house,« »square,« »opposition,« etc. occur all the time. Astrology is not taken for granted, but attempts with some violence to defend its »status.« Thus, the issue from which our examples are chosen, contains a polemic against some doctor of science who criticized astrology as a superstition and compared in with fortune-telling from the entrails of animals or from the flight of birds.⁵The magazines seem to be particularly sensitive about any such comparison. The doctor's charges are denied through the somewhat tautological assertion that astrology never busies itself with entrails or birds. It pretends to a higher level of scientificness than the supposedly more primitive forms of esoteric wisdom without, however, entering into the argument itself: the lack of a transparent interconnection between astronomical observations and inferences pertaining to the fate of individuals or nations.

The only substantial difference more sophisticated astrologists can point out between themselves and the tribe of crystal-gazers is their aversion to unqualified prophecies – an attitude presumably due to caution. They reiterate continuously that they are not determinists. Here they fall in line with the pattern of modern mass culture which protests the more fanatically about the tenets of individualism and the freedom of the will, the more actual freedom of action vanishes. Astrology attempts to get away from crude and unpopular fatalism by establishing outward forces operating on the individual's decision, including the individual's own character, but leaves the ultimate choice to him. This has significant sociopsychological implications. Astrology undertakes the constant encouragement of people to make decisions, no matter how inconsequential they may be. It is practically directed towards action in spite of all the lofty talk about cosmic secrets and profound meditation. Thus, the very gesture of astrology, its basic presumption that everyone has to make up his mind at every moment falls in line with what will later come out with respect to the specific content of astrological counseling: its leaning towards extroversion. Moreover, the idea that the freedom of the individual amounts to nothing more than making the best of what a given constellation of stars permits implies the very same idea of adjustment the affinity to which has been pointed out previously as one of the traits of astrology. According to this concept, freedom consists of the individual's taking upon himself voluntarily what is inevitable anyway. The empty shell of liberty is solicitously kept intact. If the individual acts according to given conjunctions, everything will go right, if he does not, everything will go wrong. Sometimes it is quite frankly stated that the individual should adjust himself to certain constellations. One might say that there is in astrology an implicit metaphysics of adjustment behind the concretistic advice of adjustment in everyday life. Thus the philosophy expressed by the speculations of the magazines provides us actually with some background for the understanding of the down-to-earth statements of the Los Angeles Times column.

It may be reiterated that the climate of semi-erudition is the fertile breeding ground for astrology because here primary naiveté, the unreflecting acceptance of the existent has been lost whereas at the same time neither the power of thinking nor positive knowledge has been developed sufficiently. The semi-erudite vaguely wants to understand and is also driven by the narcissistic wish to prove superior to the plain people but he is not in a position to carry through complicated and detached intellectual operations. To him, astrology, just as other irrational creeds like racism, provides a short cut by bringing the complex to a handy formula and offering at the same time the pleasant gratification that he who feels to be excluded from educational privileges nevertheless belongs to the minority of those who are »in the know.« In accordance with this kind of gratification, the whole atmosphere is much more grandiloquent and boastful of the wisdom of the initiated and bombastic predictions go to much greater extremes than the Times column. As was to be expected, there are frequent sinister hints such as those of the beginning of the new era heralding a major world catastrophe and implying a war between the United States and Russia in 1953 without however committing itself definitely on this score.

Nevertheless, the caution prevailing in the Los Angeles Times column is also shown to a certain extent even in such scurrilous publications. Thus it is stated in one article with amazing frankness that there is no uniformity about the basic interpretation of heavenly signs among astrologists, probably an attempt to ward off any attacks based on the inconsistencies between various astrological forecasts. As a matter of fact, there are flagrant contradictions to be found among various articles in a single issue. The publisher and editor in one case wrote a lead article tuned to the impending doom idea and the prediction of a terrible battle in which the American »majority« – a notion which might have a racist slant while sounding democratic – is going to win. This, however, is followed immediately by another article which heralds the new year as one of bliss promising that it will relieve innumerable people of worries and pressures. Obviously an attempt is being made to cater to various layers of demands in the readers, to those more deep-lying ones where the spectacle of the twilight of the gods is hoped for as well as to the level where one wants to be reassured about a raise in one's salary.

A kind of middle way between realism and paranoid fantasies is sought in the political harangues of the magazine. Several times, though always somewhat vaguely, the magazines accuse disruptive minorities, leaving it open who is meant. Some of the imagery reminds one of that used by fascist anti-Semitic agitators of the pseudoreligious brand. Thus reference is made to the apocalyptic battle of Armaggedon which played a large role in the speeches of a Los Angeles »radio priest« who created quite a stir during the thirties. However, it is possible that such biblical imagery is used independently of the vernacular of political agitators and draws its strength from the tradition of revivalism. Nevertheless the heavy employment of the »impending doom« device is hardly accidental. It encourages the addressees' destructive urges and feeds on their discomfort in civilization, while at the same time stirring up a bellicose mood.

Altogether, however, the American cultural climate seems to demand at least a veneer of common sense and realism. This leads to the truly unexpected features of the magazines which happen to be just the opposite of the eccentricities just referred to. There seems to be more implied than merely American common sense and realism. In the magazines, one finds entirely different zones, carefully kept apart from each other. On the one hand, there are general astrological speculations involving conjunctions, oppositions, houses, etc. They are being applied to mankind as a whole, or at least to the American nation as such. On the other hand, there are detailed predictions from what will happen on each day to any person born under a specific sign of the zodiac. The main difference between the Los Angeles Times column and the astrological magazines is that the column carries only the latter predictions and the horoscopes of children born on a particular day and omits the »speculative« and world-historical material contained in the magazines. However, if one compares predictions in the column and in the magazines, there is, apart from individual difference of style and preferences of the writers, a striking similarity.⁶

Winter Issue (1953) of Forecast

»Daily Advice for Virgo,« p. 59.

MON. Feb. 16 – Don't attempt to tell someone what you think of them or to criticize unfavorably. Be wise and know that silence is the best part of valor today. Put your energies into some needed work or a job that has been awaiting your attention.

TUE. Feb. 17 – There seems to be considerable tension around you; see that you do not add fuel to the fire. Relax; read a good book or do something that will occupy your mind and hands in a constructive manner. Retire early.

WED. Feb. 18 – All constructive effort, whether of a personal or business nature, should bring good results and benefit to you. Make dates, appointments, or interviews.

THU. Feb. 19 – Get started early with your personal plans; travel, write, seek aid or instruction, see lawyers, advisors or instructors, doctors, nurses, agents, or repairmen, friends or teachers.

FRI. Feb. 20 – Don't attempt to do the impossible; finish the routine work or job, and wait for a better time to start new or important projects. Enjoy some special friendship or a show in the evening.

SAT. Feb. 21 – The day can be slightly difficult unless you are willing to cooperate and adapt to present conditions. Don't be too critical; display a sense of humor.

SUN. Feb. 22 – Whatever it is that you want to do today, if it helps another in any way, do it. Work or pleasure shared will be pleasant and beneficial in many respects.

MON. Feb. 23 – You must exercise caution with all associates, and keep out of disputes or arguments which could lower you in the estimation of some important people.

TUE. Feb. 24 – This is a good time to take stock of your assets and see where you can make some advantageous changes or investments. See officials, make agreements or appointments, phone, visit or write.

WED. Feb. 25 – If you expect progress in anything today, you must put forth some extra effort and work. See that all jobs, tasks of a home nature and belated correspondence is brought up to date.

THU. Feb. 26 – Early hours of the day give the best chance for attending to any important matters or the starting of anything new. Be a little cautions in dealing with legal matters, foreign correspondence and financial affairs later.

FRI. Feb. 27 – Don't be too disturbed by news or commotions around you. Confine your efforts to the worth while activities in connection with your home or place of business. Keep calm, relaxed and ready to cooperate with all people.

SAT. Feb. 28 – Take it easy, and don't let your temper or impulses rule your better judgment. It pays to ignore the things or statements you don't like, and take a constructive viewpoint of things.

Carroll Righter's »Astrological Forecast«

Column for Saturday, January 31, 1953.

ARIES: Make your appearance more charming early. Then, contact co-workers and make plans for a more efficient and harmonious arrangement of future routine chores.

TAURUS: Attend to essential home duties early; then venture forth and make yourself more charming by means of beauty treatments, haircuts, dieting. In P.M. have fun; be happy.

GEMINI: Contact all and complete business and correspondence early. Later, pitch in and make home, family and property conditions more satisfactory through cooperative measures.

CANCER: Find out early just where you stand financially and then go out and attend to necessary red tape. Confer with associates who understand your urges; seek their help.

LEO: Decide early what you want, and then study your income and expenses; then, devise new imaginative ways to increase your revenue to take care of new expenses; seek abundance.

VIRGO: Consult a confidante early and plan for attainment of mutual desires; make sure you know your specific part in the arrangement. See all who can help your advance.

LIBRA: A good friend points the way to your desires: in appreciation, do as suggested; quietly channeling your efforts without fanfare, for, in this case, secrecy is best.

SCORPIO: Find out early exactly what an important person expects from you; then, contact a good friend who can help you; be readily cooperative and success will follow.

SAGITTARIUS: Early in the A.M. a prophetic hunch requires that you contact a powerful person who is able to make your inspiration a success. Be exact all through the day.

CAPRICORN: Make a working plan early for increasing joint revenue. Then, get in touch with new acquaintances who can use their expert knowledge to make the project a success.

AQUARIUS: Placate your opponent and huddle with a partner early in the A.M. Then, make a specific outline of an effective working arrangement and all concerned are delighted.

PISCES: Complete all your duties at breakfast time and leave the rest of the day free to have fun with all associates. Take no chances; discuss all points of interest.

The striking feature which the personal predictions in the two kinds of publications have in common is their »practicability« and the almost complete absence of any reference to the major and mostly solemn speculations about the fate of mankind at large. It is as though the sphere of the individual were completely severed from that of the »world« or the cosmos. The slogan »business as usual« is accepted as a kind of metaphysical maxim.

In view of the obvious absurdity of tendering petty advice to people who at the same time are fed with glowing images of all-embracing conflicts, this dichotomy calls for an interpretation. Mention should be made of the theory of Ernst Simmel that delusions such as totalitarian anti-Semitism are within the individual »isolated« and at the same time collectivized, thus preventing the individual from actually becoming psychotic. This structure is reflected by the dichotomy here under discussion. It is as though astrology has to provide gratifications to agressive urges on the level of the imaginary, but is not allowed to interfere too obviously with the »normal« functioning of the individual in reality. Rather than impairing the individual's reality testing, it at least superficially tries to strengthen his capacity.

In this respect, some similarity to the function of the dream suggests itself. As is generally known since Freud, the dream is the protector of sleep by fulfilling conscious and unconscious wishes, which waking life is incapable of gratifying, by hallucinatory imagery. The dream content has often been likened in its function to psychotic delusions. It is as though the ego protected itself from the onslaught of instinctual material by its translation into dreams. This is relatively innocuous because it is generally confined to the ideational sphere. Only in isolated cases, such as sleep walking, does it gain control of the motoric apparatus. Thus it may be said that dreams not only protect sleep, but also the waking state in as much as the »nightly psychosis of the normal« prevents the individual from psychotic behavior in his reality coping. Astrology offers an analogy to this split between irrationality of the dream and rationality of the waking state. The similarity may be characterized not so much by delusion as by the function of keeping the individual »normal,« whatever that may be, by channelizing and to a certain extent neutralizing some of the individual's more threatening id impulses. Yet the analogy has to be qualified in various directions. To the individual, astrological belief is not a spontaneous expression of his mental life, not »his own« as much of the dream content is, but is, as it were, ready-made, carefully prepared and predigested irrationality. In so far, the term »dream factory« applied to the movies applies also to astrology. It is precisely this predigested character of astrology which produces its appearance of being normal and socially accepted and tends to obliterate the borderline between the rational and the irrational that is generally so marked with regard to dream and waking. Much like the culture industry,^[7] astrology tends to do away with the distinction of fact and fiction: its content is often overrealistic while suggesting attitudes which are based on an entirely irrational source, such as the advice to forbear entering into business ventures on some particular day. Though astrology does not have as wild an appearance as dreams or delusions, it is just this fictitious reasonableness that allows delusional urges to make their inroad into real life without overtly clashing with ego controls. Irrationality is covered up very carefully. Most of the raw material coped with as well as the advice tendered by astrological sources are extremely down-to-earth, in fact too much so, but their synthesis, the law according to which the reasonable attitudes are applied to »realistic situations,« is arbitrary and entirely opaque. This may be an adequate description of the configuration of the rational and the irrational in astrology which is actually the object of this study. The confusion of these elements is also likely to define the potential danger represented by astrology as a mass phenomenon.

It is a moot point whether people who fall for astrology show, as it was taken for granted by Simmel, a psychotic predisposition, whether »psychotic characters« are especially easy to be caught by it. It may apply to the psychotic element in the normal as well and not require any special psychological susceptibility such as so-called ego weakness. In fact quite a few astrology addicts seem to enjoy a rather strong ego in terms of reality functioning. The lack of manifestly delusional content, as well as the collective backing of astrology, makes it comparatively easy for the »normal« to embrace the apocryphal creed. It should also be noted that quite a few disciples of astrology accept it with a kind of mental reservation, a certain playfulness which tolerantly acknowledges its basic irrationality and their own aberration. Yet the fact that people »choose« astrology – which is not presented to them as natural as religion is to traditionally brought up persons, but requires some initiative on the adept's part – somehow indicates a lack of intellectual integration which may be partly due to the opaqueness of today's social world calling for intellectual short cuts and partly also to expanding semi-erudition.

The ready-made, »alienated« character of astrology, however, should not lead us to the oversimplification that it is something entirely ego-alien. As a psychological device adopted by the individual, astrology is in some respects reminiscent of the symptoms of the phobic neurotic which channelize, focus and absorb his free-floating anxiety seemingly in terms of objects of reality. However, in phobias, no matter how rigidly structured, this channelization is by necessity impermanent and fluctuating. A phobia uses existent objects for the individual's own psychological needs. The realistic object of commercial astrology is specifically conceived and constructed in order to satisfy those psychological needs that astrologists assume to exist in their audience. In both cases, the psychological gain is extremely questionable in so far as it tends to hide actual circumstances and obstructs true recognition and correction. Interest in astrology, like a phobic symptom, may well absorb all other anxiety objects and may ultimately become an obsessive interest of the afflicted individual or group.