Spirituality is all about connection. Spiritualism, Gordon Haber writes for Killing the Buddha, “encourages self-involved people to become more self-involved.” In an amusing shot at astrology adherents, Haber mercilessly mocks the recently released book Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World, written by psychic medium Carole Lynne. “As much as I’d like to be tolerant of other’s beliefs,” Haber writes, “I’d rather have my eyes put out than suffer through another page of such unbridled narcissism.”

The problem isn’t in the spiritual beliefs, it’s in the way people use the spirituality as an excuse to disconnect from the real world. Haber writes: “I’ve never heard of anyone visiting a psychic in order to learn how to be more generous with other people.”

Source: Killing the Buddha

Cosmic forces are combining in strange and astrologically stressful ways leading up to the 2008 election, Barry Orr writes for Reality Sandwich. On election day, November 4, 2008, Saturn and Uranus will be in direct opposition with each other. Saturn is a force for conservatism, according to Orr, while Uranus is a force for reform. Having these two planets 180 degrees apart from the earth, as they will be on election day, could be cataclysmic. Orr suggests a number of astrologically possible situations:

1. “The election will be postponed or canceled due to some ‘national emergency.’”
2. “One or more candidates will leave the race.”
3. “There will be rampant fraud or data foul-ups on Election Day, and yet another election will be stolen.”

The fates laid out by Orr and other astrologers aren’t deterministic. There were, however, a number of prescient political readings made by astrologers before. Orr gives the example of astrologer Jim Shawvan, who predicted before the 2000 election: 

The election may be so close in some states that it may be several days before the actual electoral college votes can be tallied with accuracy. This could involve the counting of absentee ballots, and possible charges of fraud or irregularities in some places. As of election night, it may look very much like a Bush victory, but uncertainty may develop as the count goes on.

People with zodiac tattoos take heed: your astrological sign probably isn’t what you think it is. In an article for LiveScience, Pedro Braganca tears down some commonly held notions about the signs of the zodiac. Braganca writes that astrological signs were determined 2,200 years ago, based on the position of the sun in relation to the constellations. The problem is that the alignment of the stars has changed over time. Since the astrological positions were first recorded, the Earth has shifted on its axis due to a natural phenomenon called precession, caused by the Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth’s equator. “This [shift],” writes Braganca, “means that the signs have slipped one-tenth—or almost one whole month—of the way around the sky to the west, relative to the stars beyond.” In other words, your actual astrological sign is probably not the one you thought it was. It may be the one directly before. If you think you are a Cancer, chances are you’re actually a Gemini. If you’re still interested, try LiveScience’s Starry Night program to determine your real, astrologically consistent zodiac sign. 

—Morgan Winters